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Don’t miss the opportunity

ontents

Editorial

Cover Feature - 18

The road to SDN gets busier

Larger organizations take the lead in adopting SDN in the region

News in Detail - 12

I

T is often recommended as Business enabler but are the majority of small to medium sized companies leveraging IT tools optimally? Do they use their right tools for the processes that are part of the Businesses? Are they also sufficiently aware of how they could possibly source the right IT tools?

If they aren’t, then it is possible that they are also not being consulted enough by their existing supplier or approached by other companies from ICT ecosystem to make them aware of what solutions could suit them best. Either way, there is a glaring gap and opportunity.

Among the emerging start-ups in the region, there are several ambitious companies who have innovative Business models across verticals. It is likely that they will benefit from some of the cloud based workflow and Business applications . So there is room for innovative cloud based service providers that can cater to the SMB segment in the region and customize some of the solutions. The shift towards cloud based apps is gathering momentum away from on - premise solutions and the channel needs to take the lead in helping established SMB companies make that migration within a reasonable period of time.

Opportunity beckons for partners who are quite tied in with the business models of their different customers and can offer consulting on what best tools they can adopt at any given point of time. Of course they should also take into account ROI concerns for sunk costs in prior investments.

The growing prevalence of shadow IT in organizations partially proves that solutions that are deployed through proper channels may not be sufficiently addressing the needs of the concerned departments or personnel. It is for IT suppliers to the SMB segment to ensure they keep pace with the expectations and needs of the SMB customers, so that they retain their clients and help them grow.

R. Narayan Managing Editor Founder & CEO: Vivek Sharma Managing Editor: R. Narayan Art Director: Faiz Ahmed Sr. Sales Manager: R. Subramanyan Sales Coordinator: Smitha Jithesh

Microsoft’s cloud tools take Analytics and Artificial Intelligence a step further Techknow

Proactive security - 14

Nader Baghdadi, Regional Enterprise Director, South Gulf and Pakistan discusses the security vendor’s focus

Dynamic security - 16

Lee Copland, Managing Director, Maxxess EMEA opines that physical security investments today need to be dynamic, with the ability to adapt and evolve

Enabling the control mode - 24

Raj Sabhlok, president of ManageEngine discusses the company’s approach to IT Management solutions

Deception strategies for security - 26

Raviraj Doshi, CTO at Smokescreen discusses the approach of deception in the company’s solutions

Point2point

A specialist approach - 22

Garreth Scott, Sales Director at Credence Security discusses the distributor’s specialist focus

Insight

xPaaS Revolution and rise of BizDevOps - 28 Mike Piech, VP and GM,, Middleware, Red Hat opines that DevOps movement is increasing collaboration

Ransomware riot is rocking cyberspace - 30 Simon Reed, Vice President of Sophos Labs, Sophos discusses the threats from Ransomware and tips to counter it

Regulars

News Bytes EyeTech Market Stats

Published by: JNS Media International MFZE

P.O Box 121075, Dubai UAE, Tel: +971-4-3705022 Fax: +971-4-3706639, website: www.VARonline.com Sales Inquiries: sales@var-mea.com All other Inquiries: info@var-mea.com | Editorial: editor@var-mea.com Disclaimer: While the publishers have made every attempt possible to get accurate information on published content in this handbook they cannot be held liable for any errors herein.

News Bytes

Trend Micro finalises acquisition of TippingPoint Trend Micro announced the close of an agreement to acquire TippingPoint, a leading provider of next-generation intrusion prevention systems (IPS) and integrated network security solutions, from Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).

Terms of the $300 million agreement to acquire TippingPoint were initially disclosed in October 2015.

“We are very excited to see this agreement come to fruition as it demonstrates our ongoing commitment to enterprise security,” said Eva Chen, CEO, Trend Micro.

Evanssion signs distribution agreement with vArmour Evanssion has signed a distribution agreement with data centre and cloud security, and leader in application-aware micro-segmentation with advanced security analytics, vArmour, to provide its Distributed Security System to customers in the region. Evanssion can now provide government entities, enterprises and service providers with security solutions that enable them to visualize and protect the new “data defined perimeter.” vArmour’s DSS Distributed Security System protects enterprise data – whether on-cloud or on-premise with a simple to deploy, simple to use software based solution. vArmour is the industry’s first distributed security system that provides insight and control for multi-cloud environments. The partnership enables Evanssion to strengthen and bridge their specialized domains of cloud transformation and information security. “vArmour complements our vision of modern Virtual Data Centres, and we are excited to be working with the company to deliver unprecedented visibility and security for east-west traffic in private and hybrid cloud environments,” said Ashok Chakravarthi Arulmozhi, MD, Evanssion. “Large organisations are transforming their individual data centres to multi-cloud networks that require security controls to be integrated into the cloud architecture. With vArmour’s Distributed Security System, customers will be able to fully protect their most critical applications and meet stringent security standards.”

“With the addition of TippingPoint, Trend Micro provides customers with the unmatched ability to respond to known and unknown threats, exploits and vulnerabilities across the entire attack lifecycle. Trend Micro is now in a unique position to deliver these integrated, layered capabilities to address the complex network security challenges facing global companies today.”

Trend Micro TippingPoint includes the threat intelligence from Digital Vaccine Labs (DVLabs), as well as the power of the Zero Day Initiative (ZDI), the industry-leading bounty program that encourages and rewards independent security researchers to identify previously unknown vulnerabilities. When combined with Trend Micro Smart Protection Network, the company offers the industry’s most advanced capabilities to protect enterprises across the network, data center, cloud and endpoints.

4 | April 2016

eSentire Partners with Credence Security eSentire, a leader in Active Threat Protection solutions and managed security services, has partnered with Credence Security, a leading provider of cybersecurity, digital forensics, and IT technologies and solutions, to provide mid-sized enterprises in the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa regions, with advanced cybersecurity capabilities and threat protection.

This announcement follows eSentire’s recent launch of its new global channel partner program, which spans North America, EMEA, and Asia Pacific. eSentire recognizes that security is a business issue across the globe and has invested in the creation of a Security Operations Center that will support customers in the Middle East and Africa.

“As a new entrant in to the region, it is essential to partner with a company that is solely focused on cybersecurity, has strong technology and sales support capabilities, in-depth knowledge and understanding of the local market, and most importantly, relationships with resellers and end customers,” said Mark Adams, Vice President of Channels, eSentire. “As a value-added distributor, Credence Security has the pre-requisites to help us ‘tell the eSentire story’ and work with us to deliver best-in-class cybersecurity solutions to mid-sized enterprises in the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa.”

Partnering with Credence Security allows eSentire to gain market presence and access to a key part of the EMEA market, connecting its service capabilities to partners and customers in that region. By partnering with eSentire, Credence Security can further strengthen its portfolio of complementary security solutions, creating opportunities for growing its business with existing accounts, and adding new customers.

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GBM wins awards at Cisco summit Gulf Business Machines (GBM), the region’s number one provider of IT solutions, has announced that it was been named the winner of three prestigious awards at this year’s Cisco Global Partner Summit. Cisco revealed the winners during its annual partner conference which took place in San Diego, California, United States. The awards GBM received are ‘The Best Enterprise Partner of the Year’, ‘The Best Services Partner of Year’, and ‘The Best Partner in the Middle East’.

Hani Nofal, Vice President of Intelligent Network Solutions (INS), was in attendance to receive the accolades on behalf of GBM. “We are very pleased to receive these recognitions at the Cisco Global Partner Summit, and are honored to have been named the Cisco Best Partner in the Middle East. For the past 17 years, GBM has been working closely with Cisco to develop solutions that enhance digital business operations in the GCC market. We believe these awards only further solidify GBM’s position as the largest and one of the most capable and strategic partners for Cisco in the Middle East.” said Hani Nofal.

The event gathered more than 2,100 participants from Cisco’s ecosystem of partners, representing more than 1,000 companies worldwide, from more than 75 countries. Awarded to exemplary channel partners, the Cisco Global Partner Summit awards are designed to commend top business practices and serve as a model to the industry.

6 | April 2016

Microsoft releases enterprise-class SaaS ERP Microsoft launched its nextgeneration cloud ERP solutions, Microsoft Dynamics AX and CRM Online, on Tuesday 22 March at the Dynamics Summit 2016, held at the Waldorf Astoria, The Palm, Dubai.

Now available in 137 markets with support for 40 languages, the enterprisegrade suite is built on and for Microsoft’s cloud platform Azure and harnesses all the power and advantages of the cloud, for businesses.

Dynamics AX forms yet another milestone in Microsoft’s cloud journey, and offers businesses access to the kind of intelligence that will allow them to transform their operations. Built with all business departments in mind – from the shop floor to the back office – Dynamics AX and CRM deliver slick interoperability with Microsoft Office 365 and Power BI, for the best possible productivity and collaboration experiences available.

The Dynamics Summit reinforced Microsoft’s commitment to the future of technology solutions in the region, exposing customers and partners to the true power behind Dynamics and the cloud, and highlighting the sweeping changes to technology solutions architecture taking place across the Gulf and wider Middle East.

“As governments across the GCC embark on more and more ambitious e- and m-government programmes, it will fall upon businesses to keep up with citizens’ expectations,” said Karim Talhouk, Microsoft Business Solutions Director-Gulf. “By placing the power of Dynamics in the cloud, Microsoft is bringing a core operations component to these businesses and allowing them to achieve more. Collaboration and business analytics have never been easier, now that we’ve introduced the most seamless integration yet with Office and Power BI.” Microsoft customers, partners and suppliers were present at the summit.

Malwarebytes to open UAE operations Malwarebytes, a leading advanced malware prevention and remediation solution for consumers and businesses, will begin operations in the Middle East. The global firm, which is based in Santa Clara, California, will begin operations in Dubai in April and make significant hires in the coming weeks.

Malwarebytes has other EMEA operations in Ireland, The UK, Estonia, France and Germany and will look to take advantage of the significant demand for security solutions in the region. The firm’s strategy in the Middle East will be strongly channel focused and it will announce distribution partners in the coming months.

The Middle East has some of the largest malware infection rates in the world.

Since 2012, every country in the region has had at least double the number of infected systems than the global average. This, according to Anthony O’Mara, Malwarebytes Vice President of EMEA, makes the region highly important for the company.

“Our mission is to create the best disinfection and protection software to combat the world’s extremely harmful threats and ensure that organisations across the Middle East benefit from a malware free existence,” O’Mara said.

“We are extremely excited to be setting up in the Middle East and are looking forward to partnering with some of the region’s most respected resellers and distributors to ensure thousands of companies are protected and malware infection rates fall significantly as a result.”

Awards Survey 2013

Established in 1999, Credence Security, the region's speciality distribution company, is a leader in Cyber & IT Security, Digital Fraud Detection & Forensics, Security Analysis & Incident Response, GRC, Business Recovery, and Mobile Security. Working closely with leading IT security vendors including AccessData, Digital Guardian, eSentire, Fidelis CyberSecurity, and RedSeal, Credence Security delivers Cyber and IT Security technologies and solutions that protect organisations against advanced persistent threats, malicious adversaries and internal malpractice. The company also specializes in Security Awareness Trainings which help cultivate a security-minded culture with an organization's workforce.

Credence Security is headquartered in Dubai, UAE and serves enterprises across the Middle East, Africa and India through a network of over 70 resellers across the territory.

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Promise to host Surveillance Solutions Summit Promise Technology s hosting its inaugural Promise Surveillance Solutions Summit at the Palace Downtown Dubai on May 12, 2016.

Along with its distribution partner Musallam Trading, Promise is bringing together industry heavyweights, including Microsoft, Intel, Toshiba, and Axxonsoft in one event focusing specifically on the newest trends and solutions for the video surveillance market. The event provides guests with invaluable access to the latest intelligence in topics ranging from VMS, Operating Systems, Processors, Server and Storage Technologies etc.

“We are really looking forward to showcasing how Promise is working together with the major companies throughout the surveillance ecosystem to develop solutions that ensure a safer future and a more efficient realization of security objectives,” said John van den Elzen, General Manager, Surveillance Business Unit, Promise Technology.

“Musallam has become one of the leading Value Added Distributors in the region by consistently bringing an unprecedented level of knowledge and resources to our customer base of integrators and dealers,” said Eng. Mostafa Fawzi, Business Development Director, Musallam Trading. “The Promise Surveillance Solutions Summit is another example of how our understanding of the leading technologies helps Musallam offer the best solutions for our customers.”

8 | April 2016

Attivo Networks opens Middle East Office Attivo Networks, a leader in deception for cyber security threat detection, has opened an office in the Middle East, the hiring of multiple industry veterans and partnering with StarLink, a leading value-added distributor focused on security solutions in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa.

“Companies are realizing the importance of including advanced deception technology as part of their defensein-depth strategies, this was clear to us from the unprecedented interest in Attivo solutions at the recent RSA security conference and recent award recognitions Attivo has earned,” said Attivo Networks’ CEO Tushar Kothari. “Our powerful deception platform combined with an experienced team and a strong channel partner will open up exciting new opportunities for the company and address the region’s demand for a comprehensive approach to protecting critical IT infrastructure.”

Attivo’s new office is located in Dubai’s Jumeirah Lake Towers, which will serve the Middle East, Turkey and Africa. The company provides the most comprehensive and advanced deception platform, built on real operating systems and capable of detecting all classes of cyber threats including reconnaissance, stolen credentials, phishing and ransomware attacks.

Attivo provides a non-disruptive, scalable solution that instantly detects the presence of attackers, identifies their intent and provides intelligence to stop the attack. The deception platform includes a wide variety of deception techniques, decoys, and engagement servers, and is designed for user networks, large data centers, VMware and Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud and Industrial Control System ICS-SCADA environments.

GCC keeping pace in cyber-preparedness GCC countries are among the global leaders in cybersecurity preparedness, with the region’s network security spend tripling to USD 1 billion by 2018, industry experts announced at Infosecurity Middle East, part of ISNR. With the region’s rapid economic development and connectivity in the Internet of Things era - especially in critical national infrastructure, oil and gas, and financial services - the GCC’s network security spend is set to grow from USD 340 million in 2012 to USD 1 billion by 2018, according to a new Frost & Sullivan report.

At Infosecurity Middle East’s 6th International Cyber Crime Conference, localized from Europe’s leading cyber security exhibition, law enforcement, legal, and business and IT experts debated and discussed Smart City, Internet of Things, and financial cyber security, the UAE National Agenda for Information Security, and online safety and privacy for children.

“As cyber-threats grow in complexity and severity, GCC organizations are among the world’s most advanced in deploying solutions that proactively protect devices, user information, and corporate data. Infosecurity Middle East is an ideal platform to promote the global Mobile Security Alliance and our enterprise mobility management and end user computing solutions,” said Ian Evans, Vice President of End User Computing at VMware, and EMEA Managing Director at AirWatch.

VMware AirWatch joined over 100 leading international exhibiting companies at Infosecurity Middle East, including Bitdefender, Blue Coat, Cyberoam Technologies, Dionach, Elettronica, Exclusive Networks, Huawei, QinetiQ, and Winsted.

Awards Survey 2013

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Trend Micro appoints Redington Gulf as the first ATC in the Region Trend Micro has appointed Redington Gulf as the first Authorized Training Center(ATC) to conduct certified training courses here in the region.

Redington Gulf trainers are now able to offer courses to industry professionals looking to be Trend Micro Certified on Office Scan, Deep Discovery, and Deep Security products. Redington Gulf is a value added distributor for Trend Micro.

“Working with Redington Gulf, we are now able to offer our partners and end-users a more flexible timeframe to be Trend Micro certified. We are confident that industry professionals will quickly benefit from this new channel initiative. In Redington Gulf we have a trusted distributor who has all the right requisites to offer a robust training program. We are always looking to encourage and support our channel partners to be able to sell and service Trend Micro’s security suite to their customers in the best possible way, and in the process increase their revenue stream,” commented Ihab Moawad, VP Mediterranean, Mid. East, Africa, Russia & CIS at Trend Micro.

Redington Gulf has a new stateof-the-art training facility in their new office in Dubai, where majority of the training will be taking place. The company also has certified trainers in other countries ensuring that Trend Micro certification can be locally achieved.

10 | April 2016

Lenovo and Juniper partner Lenovo and Juniper Networks have announced the commencement of a global strategic partnership to leverage synergies in their respective product and technology portfolios to build the next generation of converged, hyper-converged, and hyper-scale data center infrastructure solutions for enterprise and web-scale customers. The alliance reflects a shared commitment to deliver simplified, flexible, and high-performance solutions that will provide customers faster time-to-application value with reduced operating costs.

With an extensive portfolio of x86 based servers and switches, Lenovo is at the forefront of the movement toward converged and software defined offerings. Juniper is a market leader in networking innovation with its comprehensive portfolio of routers, switches, network management software, network security products and SDN technology. The partnership is expected to enable customers to leverage Juniper’s strengths in networking and Lenovo’s recognized leadership in x86 server reliability and networking access to derive manageable, scalable, and simple infrastructure for their data center.

“Lenovo is on a mission to become the market leader in datacenter solutions. We will continue to invest in the development and delivery of disruptive IT solutions to shape nextgeneration data centers. Our partnership with Juniper Networks provides Lenovo access to an industry leading portfolio of products that include Software Defined Networking (SDN) solutions – essential for state-of-the-art data center offerings,” said Gerry Smith, Lenovo executive vice president and chief operating officer, PC and Enterprise Business Group.

Qlik in the Leaders Quadrant for BI and Analytics Platforms Qlik, a leader a visual analytics, has been positioned

by Gartner, Inc. in the Leaders Quadrant of the 2016 Business Intelligence and Analytics Platform Magic Quadrant report. This designation marks the sixth consecutive year that Qlik has been positioned in the Leaders Quadrant based on completeness of vision and ability to execute.

Lars Björk, Qlik chief executive officer said, “As the pioneer in this market, Qlik will continue to make bold moves in building a modern platform that delivers not only beautiful visualizations, but a platform for enterprise-class governance and manageability that can grow with customers on their visual analytics journey.”

In April 2015, Qlik announced the latest version of its modern, platform-based approach to BI with Qlik Sense Enterprise 2.0. The offering spans use cases across the organization ranging from self-service data visualization, to reporting and dashboards, to guided analytics, and embedded analytics, all based on the patented QIX Associative Indexing Engine. The company also introduced the Qlik Analytics Platform, specifically designed to make it easier for developers to build any data-driven app they can imagine, as well as Qlik Cloud which allows free sharing of applications and enhanced collaboration with the ability to publically share interactive charts through Qlik Sense Charts. With the acquisition of DataMarket, Qlik now enables seamless access to ondemand external data sources.

Qlik introduced Qlik Proactive Support, a first in BI industry proactive monitoring-as-aservice solution for issue prevention and resolution.

Awards Survey 2013

STME becomes NetApp’s first ‘Star Partner’ in the UAE STME, a regional IT solutions provider and systems integrator has been appointed as a Star Partner by NetApp, a leading computer storage and data management company. The company achieved the Star Partner status for successfully integrating NetApp’s data storage and management solutions to deliver unparalleled solutions to the customers.

STME is the first company in the UAE and the third in the Middle East region to have been recognized as a Star Partner.

Furthermore, as STME has a vast network of branches across the GCC and MENA region, it has also attained the status of being NetApp’s first regional Star Partner.

“Becoming a NetApp Star Partner required hard work and commitment as well as establishing relationships with key companies in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt. We are delighted to receive this recognition and accolade from NetApp. It is a big achievement which is a testament to our professionalism and technical knowledge,’’ said Ayman Al Bayaa, CEO of STME.

TechAccess hosts cloudenablement session for new partners TechAccess, the leading value added distributor in the Middle East, North Africa, LEVANT & Pakistan, has held its first cloud training session in collaboration with Oracle. The ‘Database As A Service and Enterprise Management 12C’ enablement session was conducted for 20 sales and pre-sales staff of five new partners at TechAccess’ Oracle Authorised Solutions Center.

The workshop gave partners hands-on experience with the critical elements of a private cloud such as planning, deployment, monitoring and engagement. Partners were also introduced to the concept of defining and publishing of standardised templates for database services, managing the database lifecycle when consolidating to the cloud, and scaling resources for better cloud management.

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News In Detail

T

o demonstrate the advancement in cloud technology, Microsoft showcased live demos on Emotion Detection, IoT Remote Monitoring solutions and Social Analytics at the Big Data Show held at the Dubai World Trade Center.

Demonstrations highlighting customers leveraging Microsoft technologies were also presented.

Attendees at the Microsoft booth were able to experience the power of Microsoft Cloud technology through the emotion detection application, by uploading their photographs. The emotional API in this latest cloud tool uses photo images as an input and runs a set of operations using the Face API, generating results through analyzing facial expressions. The new cutting edge cloud based technology provides emotion recognition algorithms that enable users to build more personalized applications. Emotions API in the tool identify eight core emotions-anger, fear, contempt, neutral, happiness, sadness and surprise- based on facial expressions and allocate numerical values for them accordingly.

Microsoft’s Azure IoT Suite was developed to provide a complete end to end solution for its customers. The first pre-configured remote monitoring solution delivered on the Azure IoT Suite was also demonstrated at the Big Data Show, revealing the ease of monitoring telemetry from devices over time for receiving actionable results. The IoT hub in the Azure IoT Suite has the capability to process massive volumes of data, and the stream analytics service helps detect anomalies and aids in archiving data from various IoT

12 | April 2016

Microsoft’s cloud tools take Analytics and Artificial Intelligence a step further devices. This enables users to customize solutions and get the best of both worlds.

The third demonstration at the event utilized the tremendous influx of data extracted from social media for listening and analyzing it for intelligent actions. Social Media Analytics solutions have the ability to listen to social networks in real time and create analysis and visualizations through Power BI. Unlike many other dashboard solutions, Power BI can render live dashboards with moving charts and continuously updated visualizations for monitoring real-time streams from supported data sources.

Sample dashboards displaying predictive maintenance and health monitoring scenarios were also shown at the Big Data Show, focusing on Microsoft

customers ThyssenKrupp and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Healthcare Systems.

ThyssenKrupp draws on the potential of IoT and connects its elevators to the cloud to gather data from its sensors and systems that aid in transforming data into valuable business intelligence.

While Dartmouth-Hitchcock Healthcare Systems is using Microsoft’s Cortana Analytics Suite and Microsoft Dynamics to utilize predictive analysis for prevention, lower healthcare costs and better patient care.

The audience were able to experience how Microsoft technologies can be used to garner insights for improving business intelligence.

Necip Ozyucel, Cloud & Enterprise Solutions Lead, from Microsoft Gulf said “Cloud technology is fast becoming ubiquitous and is permeating all aspects of our daily lives.

Demonstrations at the Big Data event are meant to communicate the relevance of latest cloud tools and the possibility of computers performing human functions.

Always a step ahead, Microsoft aims to revolutionize modern technology usage by building applications that can also be used as tools for insights and intelligent actions, thus enabling our users to achieve more.”

More than 1500 regional business leaders linked to different industries were present at the Big Data show, in order to gain access to leading technologies for improving big data analytics practices in their domains.

The technology breakthroughs presented at the event served to validate the power of cloud based innovation and reflected accurately upon Microsoft’s aims for what the future of cloud services has in store.

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TechKnow | Fortinet

There are multiple niche players who are offering new approaches to ATP. Discuss if that is making the market a crowded lot?

ATP is a holistic and collective set of solutions, hardware devices and services. There are some niche players that are offering some services that may be unique offerings but they become part of the overall ATP framework or strategy.

There is no silver bullet so to say or a single offering from a single vendor that can claim to be one solution that fits all threat requirements. That is not the case and that is also because the threat landscape is changing on a daily basis, minute by the minute and becoming more sophisticated.

While, there are more niche players today in the market, there is also enough opportunity for improvement in the market.

Security is a complex and large environment. It requires more innovation and more new comers in the market to fuel the improvement. While some companies specialize in some areas, they remain specialists in that domain for a certain time. As we have seen, in the industry, such players either get acquired over a period of time by larger companies or they become stronger and larger because they have more solutions and expertise to offer.

The same goes for us when it comes to innovations. Fortinet is investing on a daily basis in improving solutions we offer to our customers, to improve their ROI and meeting the requirements of combating the threat landscape. We are also investing in our channel on a consistent basis .

Discuss sandboxing as part of ATP? There are several components

14 | April 2016

that enable the ATP framework.

Sandboxing is a technique that helps catch the threats from the grey list- usually what are unknown attacks when they are released. We look into that, analyze and give a final answer to that at a later stage. FortiSandbox is a key part of Fortinet’s integrated and automated Advanced Threat Protection solution and is designed to detect and analyze advanced attacks designed to bypass traditional security defenses. It offers inspection of all protocols and functions in one appliance and can integrate with your existing Fortinet infrastructure.

Is there a significant demand growth for ATP solutions via virtualization?

ATP can be delivered also on an appliance basis and some technologies that we offer can delivered on a VM basis. The market for virtualised solutions is growing. Some customers want everything hosted on their location. They go for appliance based solutions. The virtualised application and cloud services are a good option for those whose spend on infrastructure is limited.

In the channel, do you work with many partners or do you work more closely with select partners?

Typically, the top three to four vendors in a certain area in a country or market will have a select few partners that are comfortable doing business with them. These are usually larger sized companies in the channel and are strong in certain verticals like Banking, Oil and Gas, government etc.

They have required skillsets that vendors see as relevant.

We try to have a vertical focus with our partners but there

Nader Baghdadi Regional Enterprise Director, South Gulf & Pakistan Fortinet

Proactive security At GISEC, Fortinet announced its latest initiative - the Worldwide Network Security Academy and also highlighted their various Advanced Threat Protection Solutions, Internal Segmentation Firewalls and Secure Access Architecture systems.

Nader Baghdadi - Regional Enterprise Director - South Gulf and Pakistan discusses the security vendor’s focus in more detail

Awards Survey 2013

international FNSA are also partners sites for success who work with a "Fortinet is investing on a daily basis in improving in a career in horizontal focus as solutions we offer to our customers, to improve their ROI network security, well as those who and meeting the requirements of combating the threat obtaining both the work on opportunity theoretical lectures basis. But we try landscape. We are also investing in our channel on a and hands-on and support them consistent basis." laboratory practice all on an equal basis needed to achieve so that they have a Fortinet certification. Seven the infrastructure part so that the required solutions to take to spam, database security, and organizations from the United every device that connects to network and web application market.

States, Canada, and EMEA have the internet is secured. The control capabilities to enable Discuss recent highlights joined the Academy now, with technology is not mature yet unified protection against on product strategies?

20 additional global FNSA sites – while the concept is right, multiple threats. This is based We have been working expected to open within the there is a long way to go. on the threat intelligence we towards re-engineering our next quarter.

What we have to ensure is that can collect on a global level and blueprint to improve how when we do so, we have the ensuring all of that is actually we play an effective role in Elaborate how you are placed right technology with secured translated into actual signatures protecting the customer’s in the region’s market? services for consumers. All that we push out on a assets. For instance customers Our portfolio is quite wide, from devices with an IP address that worldwide level to our installed can greatly enhance their the mainstream firewall devices will eventually start connecting devices with customers via the network protection by to other solutions, adding many to the internet would have FortiGuard Distribution Network implementing our Internal layers of security. Through some form of security.

(FDN). As you might be aware, Network Segmentation the complete Fortinet suite of we are the leading vendor Firewalls to prevent the products, we can offer customers Discuss the new in terms of installed security proliferation of threats inside a complete network and wireless devices footprint worldwide. The announcement about the their network. Once threats range of security devices.

Fortinet academy?

FortiGuard Distribution Network gain entry they can take Fortinet has been ranked The Fortinet Network Security (FDN) is a global distribution advantage of a flat and open number one vendor across Middle Academy (FNSA) is for students network that delivers updates network. Therefore there is an East throughout last year and at university level. The FNSA is to FortiGate, FortiWiFi, FortiMail, urgent need for the internal now. Our market share has grown designed to develop and train FortiAnalyzer, FortiDDoS, segmentation firewall (ISFW). exponentially. We are the leaders action-oriented cybersecurity FortiDB, FortiWeb, FortiSandbox, While we also did introduce in firewalls. We have grown our experts to manage new and FortiClient, and FortiManager other applications and channel relationships over the past advanced threats on the products. technologies to the mix, there year. horizon. The Academy is is a significant focus on our In terms of market outlook, designed to provide industryWhat is the outlook for FortiGuard security subscription Security is a must on an individual recognized Fortinet training securing IoT as it ramps up? services. This service provides and company level. In all markets I and certification opportunities While there are not too many IP reputation updates, intrusion oversee, there is demand growth. to students around the world. deployments for IoT as of today, prevention, web filtering, Students are prepared at many vendors are working on antivirus/anti-spyware, anti-

Fortinet receives NGFW Recommendation The results of NSS Labs’ recent Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) Comparative report revealed that Fortinet provided the highest protection, blocking 99.97% of exploits used by threat actors in active campaigns during continuous live testing from December 1, 2015 through January 31, 2016.

• Fortinet’s Enterprise Firewall received top marks in all testing categories, and earning NSS Labs’ coveted “Recommended” rating.

• Security Effectiveness: Fortinet tied for the highest overall security effectiveness score with 99.6% and lead all next generation firewalls by blocking 99.97% of exploits in continuous, live testing.

• Network Performance: Results reveal network performance

Awards Survey 2013

gains of 37% above Fortinet’s data sheet specifications: delivering the lowest latency (average of 4.2 microseconds) of all vendors regardless of packet size, offering the highest number of maximum TCP connections (30 million), and receiving the second highest network performance scores (averaging over 19 Gbps). These results ensure that organizations can handle the exponentially increasing network demands from growing technology trends like Mobile and IOT, while operating the lowest-latency, highestperforming infrastructures required today.

• Value: The testing results show that Fortinet offers a winning combination of effectiveness, performance, and cost. Fortinet’s TCO was far lower than their nearest performance competitor.

April 2016 | 15

TechKnow | Maxxess So, it’s all those factors combined that has seen Maxxess grow significantly in the Middle East in the last few years, and we’re on track for further growth in 2016 and beyond.

Lee Copland Managing Director Maxxess EMEA

Elaborate on your approach towards physical access control solutions?

Whereas many organisations still see physical security as a “grudge purchase” at Maxxess we believe it is the very heart of the enterprise as it impacts people, properties, assets and processes. Today’s most effective security solutions need to be dynamic, with

legacy hardware and the newest technologies in access control, video surveillance, intruder, fire, perimeter, building management systems and smartphone apps. Where budgets are stretched this can give customers a staged migration path from analogue systems to IP. In fact, eFusion has over 50 different off-the-shelf integrations, more than any other security management platform available. In addition, eFusion is specifically engineered to scale and grow with our customers’ businesses whether it is a single facility or large-scale, multi-site

Dynamic security Lee Copland, Managing Director, Maxxess EMEA in an exclusive conversation with the Integrator Mgazine opines that physical security investments today need to be dynamic, with the ability to adapt and evolve in response to rapid changes and threats What is driving physical security investments in the region? Is Maxxess seeing continued growth?

At Maxxess, we predominantly see physical security spending driven by changes in security needs such as expansions or moving of premises, the protection of sensitive data or expensive assets, heightened terror threats, migration to IP-based solutions, the failure of existing legacy systems and the expense of maintaining them as well as the protection of people.

In addition, we are still seeing significant infrastructure development in the region and all new buildings need a level of security that typically includes surveillance, access control and intruder systems as standard. In addition,

16 | April 2016

many of these buildings are multi-tenanted with each company having specific security requirements, while also wanting to integrate with the core security applications in those buildings. That’s great news for Maxxess, as our forte with eFusion is being able to integrate more security equipment and software than anyone else.

Further, organisations are realising that security goes beyond just the protection of facilities, particularly with the continuing prevalence of mobile workforces and the many large and complex facilities such as oil and gas plants in the region. And by launching ambit in 2014 this is precisely what we are helping companies from a range of industries do.

the ability to adapt to and evolve in response to rapidly changing environments, threats, procedures and requirements.

In order to provide this, we focus on the design and delivery of truly open systems.

We believe customers should have the freedom to choose the best equipment to fit their needs and without being locked in overtime to an inflexible proprietary system.

What are the highlights of your key solution eFusion?

Our eFusion security management platform is developed with utilities that allow us to modify and tailor the configuration to meet each of our customer’s particular requirements. eFusion easily adapts to accommodate both

operation, so we effectively futureproof our customers’ security investments.

While eFusion has its own access control modules and the company grew from being an access control specialist to now a software vendor, we also integrate with a range of other access control solutions including Salto, Assa Abloy and Vinguard to name a few. We’re also seeing high demand both here in the Middle East for wire free locking, as it allows businesses to quickly lock down a building in the event of an incident, while being less expensive to install and maintain.

Integrating these and other disparate security systems into one single platform allows organisations to close security gaps and provides complete

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situational awareness. For example, if a door is forced eFusion will automatically display the nearest camera view, so the security operative can quickly verify the incident and respond appropriately.

How are you enhancing your value propositions to customers?

Since we provide off-the-shelf integrations, we’re not asking customers to pay for those integrations though annual license fees as with many other security management platform vendors and video management systems, which ensures a low total cost of ownership. We have very simple and clear pricing structures, and in addition, we offer MaxFinancing giving businesses a 0% operating lease (not capital) over 36 months, which is helps our customers quickly realise the benefits of new system implementations, expansions or upgrades.

Tell us more about your new cloud-based solution ambit and how it is currently being applied in the region.

Organisations need to provide a duty of care to employees wherever they may be and they want to remotely manage real-time events, view, verify and validate facts to optimize operational efficiency and benefit from big data intelligence. To do this, organisations want know exactly where their workforce is, monitor people on the move, track products and vehicles and speedup processes.

So ambit is ideally suited

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"Whereas many organisations still see physical security as a “grudge purchase” at Maxxess we believe it is the very heart of the enterprise as it impacts people, properties, assets and processes." to any situation where remote real-time visibility of people and products via smartphones and tablets can help a business deliver a faster, more responsive and secure service.

By capturing detailed information from every event, organisations can benefit from the big data intelligence needed to drive continuous improvement across operations and facilities. Cloud-based, built on open-standards, ambit is extremely user friendly, while being both scalable and highly cost effective–enabling organisations to build more value into their business.

So for example, on a large university campus in KSA, we are making it easy to establish instant access points where traditional methods would have been infeasible.

Security staff remotely verify the identity of students and staff using biometrics on mobile devices anywhere across the campus. A local organisation has deployed it to not only track vehicles, but the driver and the assets in

the van. At a large industrial field, ambit is allowing security personnel to perform access control transactions anywhere, verify staff credentials and perform mustering in the event of an emergency. It is also empowering security operatives to perform spot checks and confirm workers with the right skills are permitted to be in certain areas, and in addition gives first responders information at their fingertips to ensure a rapid and appropriate response to incidents. At the same time, ambit also has lone worker functionality, so staff with the app on their mobile device can summon help in the event of an incident.

Elaborate on your key customer segments/ vertical solutions in the region?

At Maxxess we work across a wide range of industries with industrial, transportation, retail, leisure (including hotels and theme parks), logistics, property management and multi-tenanted buildings, education and healthcare

being our core focus markets in the region. It’s these types of large organisations that have complex security and operational challenges that require the integration of multiple technologies in order for them to mitigate risk and improve operational efficiency.

And that’s precisely what Maxxess is good at doing through both eFusion and ambit.

Is there a challenge of trained resources in new emerging areas of physical security in the region?

In this regard, kindly elaborate on your training focus There’s pretty much a skills shortage in the physical security industry globally across all types of disciplines not just implementation, commissioning and maintenance of security solutions, but also highlyqualified and experienced sales and marketing professionals.

We have a very focused partner program and work with a few select and specialist systems integrators both here in the Middle East and indeed globally. All installers and integrators of Maxxess solutions have to complete our comprehensive training programs, which we offer both on and off-site. In addition, we are currently hiring newly qualified engineers and training them become experts, which supports their career and our business as we expand both our customer and partner base, and bring new technologies to market.

April 2016 | 17

Cover Feature | SDN

THE ROAD TO

GETS BUSIER Larger organizations take the lead in adopting SDN in the region

18 | April 2016

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S

DN has seen growing adoption in the past couple of years or so, by companies looking to upgrade their network performance and meet their business growth requirements. For companies looking to make their networks agile and be able to launch new services and applications without performance lags, SDN seems to be the answer.

According to a recent IDC forecast, the global SDN market, which comprises physical network infrastructure, virtualization/control software, SDN applications, and professional services, will be worth nearly $12.5 billion in 2020 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 53.9% from 2014 to 2020. The Middle East & Africa SDN market is estimated to grow from $5.1 million in 2013 to $118.0 million by 2019 at a CAGR of 77.3% according to a report by the Micromarket Monitor.

Maan Al-Shakarchi, Head of Networking in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific, Avaya says, “The year 2016 will continue to witness SDN and NFV deployments especially in this region, where large government and enterprise organizations are moving from being late adopters of technology to being at the forefront of implementing new technologies. “ He adds, “Almost all enterprises we talk to want mobility, security, and the ability to launch applications and services either to their customers or their employees almost faster than the speed of business. New technologies based on software-defined networks (SDN) and network-function virtualization (NFV), can optimize performance for individual users according to their unique needs—for example, in the case of telcos, it dynamically increasing speed or bandwidth as needed.”

The perception is gaining currency that SDN is the way forward for network design as it does away with most bottlenecks that legacy networks are besieged with. As a strategy, SDN decouples the control plane which decides how to handle the traffic and the data plane, which forwards traffic according to decisions that the control plane makes. With SDN, the control plane, as a single software control program Awards Survey 2013

controls multiple data-plane elements including routers, switches etc through an API (Application Programming Interface) such as OpenFlow.

SDN enables network administrators to centrally configure, manage and monitor resources with a network, removing the disadvantages of over provisioning in traditional network architecture and provisioning as required.

As digitisation drives service providers to find new ways to do things better, faster and with lower costs,, many are moving toward virtualisation and simplified programmability solutions for their networks. Network functions virtualisation (NFV) and software defined networking (SDN) are the popular software-based approaches that service providers are using to design, deploy and manage their networks and

Maan Al-Shakarchi Networking Head Avaya

“Almost all enterprises we talk to want mobility, security, and the ability to launch applications and services either to their customers or their employees almost faster than the speed of business. New technologies based on SDN and NFV, can optimize performance for individual users according to their unique needs." services.

Ashley Woodbridge, Customer Solutions Architect, Cisco UAE says, “Software-defined networking (SDN) is rapidly changing the way that organizations view and operate networks, and seeks to address the lack of agility found in existing networks. The Middle East is very much at the forefront in adopting SDN. We are seeing strong demand for SDN from industries with complex networks that need to quickly process large amounts of data – especially service providers, banking and finance;

energy, oil and gas; aviation and transportation; malls and retail; and safety and security.”

He adds that currently Middle East companies rolling-out changse across network infrastructure face a complex and time-consuming process by configuring networks box-by-box. SDN uptake is being seen in response to networks across the MEA region facing an increase in processing growth, driven by:  Cloud: MEA is set to have the world’s-fastest cloud growth, from 17 exabytes in 2012 to 157 exabytes in 2017; April 2016 | 19

Cover Feature | SDN

 Mobility: that capability.

“Our answer to SDN across both the Data Center MEA is projected to Therefore, and Enterprise Networking environments is ACI, have the world’sAvaya claims that which is a holistic architecture with centralized fastest growth in SDN Fx is a game automation and policy-driven application mobile data traffic, changer, proving profiles. ACI delivers software flexibility with the growing 14-fold to ease of deployment 1.49 exabytes in scalability of hardware performance." without 2018; complexities. This  Internet of architecture can Everything (IoE): MEA’s smart devices set centralized automation and policy-driven support a wide range of use cases, such to grow from 133 million to 598 million application profiles. ACI delivers software as supporting the security and mobility of in 2018, and 50 billion objects around the flexibility with the scalability of hardware devices connecting to the ever-growing world to be connected to networks by performance. At Cisco, we like to think Internet of Things.

2020. of ACI as SDN++, as ACI has a number of As the number of people, devices, Adoption trends unique features from the traditional SDN machines and sensors coming online Leading networking companies advocate approach including a 360-degree feedback a phased approach to SDN adoption. A across the IoE, Middle East organizations loop that enables the monitoring of endtransition towards SDN needs to ensure require new capabilities to lead in the to-end application performance.” that current infrastructural assets are delivery of value-added, cloud-based Avaya on the other hand claims its leveraged to justify prior investments. services and applications.

SDN Fx Architecture promises a smooth Maan says, “Leverage your current evolution and transition to SDN. SDN investment and use it as a transport for Approaches Fx supports the legacy protocols on the the new SDN infrastructure. Replacing is While various implementations of SDN same nodes while running its Fabric with new nodes will simply trigger huge have emerged within the industry, each Connect solutions, allowing customers to cost which some vendors may favour but seeking to address specific environments simultaneously run both the legacy model certainly not aligned with reduction of TCO. and use cases, one size may not fit all, and the SDN enabled architecture. In He adds, “SDN is not something that opines Ashley. addition to this, SDN Fx also introduced the you can turn on overnight – it is a journey He adds, “At the operational level, concept of “Fabric Extend” which provides that involves different technology aspects. for example, manufacturing, medical, the ability to traverse any competitor’s That journey has already been started by public-sector, and cloud environments all network and even a carrier MPLS network many organizations in the region and this have very different IT requirements. At over the WAN if required. The SDN Fx year we see the acceleration in that. SDN the technology level, data center, WAN, model therefore enables customers to is about an evolution not a revolution. It and campus networks also have very transition to a new model without having is imperative that customers can maintain different requirements. These differences to replace the current infrastructure. their current assets while evolving towards in requirements create the need for a Avaya Open SDN Fx architecture is also SDN, but it would be wrong to have portfolio of solutions to address SDN and arguably the first to deliver automation vendors promote a forklift of their existing achieve the agility, portability, security, and programmability from the network infrastructure to deliver on SDN promises.” and cost savings that it promises. core to the user edge.

According to Ashley, SDN deployment Cisco’s vision for SDN is to provide Maan says that while other vendors’ is based on three factors: industry true network programmability, enabling SDN offerings are heavily focused on the segment, complexity of the network, and developers to write applications that data center, Avaya offers it to the entire culture of the organization. SDN is seen as extract real-time intelligence from campus, for ‘connect anything, anywhere’ especially effective for sectors like banking the network, and apply analytics and simplicity, shaving weeks in provisioning and telecommunications, which have intelligence to determine the appropriate time by allowing devices and users at several hundred locations and complex policy. the network edge to be added easily to networks.

Ashley says, “Our answer to SDN the network. Surveys show 99 percent He adds, “One of the benefits of the across both the Data Center and of IT professionals expect SDN to extend Middle East market is that it is a lot more Enterprise Networking environments is beyond the data center, but are not “greenfield” than other regions, with ACI, which is a holistic architecture with confident in current SDN models delivering

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Awards Survey 2013

organizations not having large existing legacy investments that they need to protect. Conversely, organizations here are a lot more willing to adopt new technology than we see in other markets, as they are eager to leapfrog other businesses and reap the benefits.

We are seeing explosive growth in interest for SDN and our own ApplicationCentric Infrastructure (ACI) and we see a lot of opportunities in the pipeline.”

He adds that Telecom sector is leading the way when it comes to verticals and it is the networking vendors when it comes to the IT sector. du was the first telecom company in the world to deploy Cisco ACI for its nextgeneration data center. Cisco’s largest ACI installation in the Middle East to date is with Saudi Telecom Company (STC), which is building three data centers to accelerate and streamline cloud adoption in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Training focus SDN promises to do away with unnecessary complexity and protocolsan approach that doesn’t work in today’s application-driven environment. As value creation moves from traditional networking products to innovative, agile, software solutions, there is also a requirement for reprogramming the training focus in the networking industry from traditional to SDN oriented frameworks.

Maan comments, “Successful reconfiguration of the enterprise and taking full advantage of SDN, requires a non-traditional approach to embedding IT into business processes. It also requires different skills and processes in the IT organization, with multi-domain knowledge and DevOps capabilities being key requirements. All this offers exciting new opportunities for IT staff willing to take the plunge.”

To enable networking engineers and IT professionals to deliver on the

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potential of SDN, Avaya offers the Avaya Certified Expert Fx (ACE-Fx) program.

This is an SDN-focused certification and training program and bridges the gap in knowledge and skills of traditional networking technologies and next generation SDN architecture. Avaya kicked off the ACE-Fx program last year in the United Arab Emirates and since then, has held courses in South Africa, Russia and Saudi Arabia. The company is taking it global this year, with courses everywhere for Australia to the US. Ashley concedes that skills shortage is one of the major challenges when it comes to SDN and NFV. He adds, “In order to capitalize on these technologies, enterprises will need well-trained and skilled staff. Cisco predicts that approximately 220,000 new engineers will be needed globally every year for the next 10 years to keep up with the technological surge of IoT. This is a gap that must be filled if the potential of IoT is to be realized.”

Enabling agile networks SDN deployment make networks more scalable and easier to control right provisioning for preferred workloads.

For business leaders, a top priority is to increase business agility – that is, to become an organization that can respond to new opportunities or competitive threats as quickly and effectively as possible. If the IT organization is to truly service the business it must contribute to business agility which is achieved by delivering an agile IT environment.

Maan says “By fundamentally changing the way that the network is built and operated, businesses can shift their focus from mundane, time consuming maintenance to value adding initiatives; re-directing precious skills to enhance the business’s operational efficiency and competitive capability.”

He adds that with Avaya SDN Fx, IT can dramatically revolutionize their

Ashley Woodbridge Customer Solutions Architect Cisco UAE

ability to deliver agile services. With the SDN Fx Architecture, Avaya claims to make it possible for the network to handle once-manual functions automatically, reducing the potential for error, and accelerating time-to service.

Ashley says, “SDN and NFV are expected to see an increased uptake in 2016 from service providers and enterprises. Customers no longer want to buy a series of boxes and are looking to vendors to deliver end-to-end systems.

CIOs are expecting simple, flexible, automated, and agile infrastructure, so SDN is definitely going to be here for the long haul.”

The gradual and accelerated adoption of IoT is only a matter of time and can become more pervasive in the next couple of years. However, in most instances as of today, for most companies, their networks are not ready for IoT. That calls for faster SDN deployments that will offer an automated provisioning process suitable to support IoT and Smart Services enablement.

April 2016 | 21

Point2Point | Credence Security

A specialist approach

Garreth Scott Sales Director Credence Security

Garreth Scott, Sales Director at Credence Security discusses the distributor’s focus on providing specialist cyber security solutions in the region.

Is there a significant spend in the region on cyber security and is that growing?

Given the ongoing, evolutionary nature of cyberattacks, coupled with the relatively low share of total IT spend security, it seems that even if companies were to cut overall IT budgets, the cybersecurity spend will remain the same and may even see an increase. This creates immense opportunities for innovative cybersecurity companies. The growing sophistication and proficiency of cyberattacks is prompting governments and organizations in the region to invest in more secure I.T. infrastructure to protect against cybercrimes.

Due to the increasing cyberattacks such as phishing, hacking, fraud and cyberterrorism, companies are forced to combat progressive cyber threats and to help improve businesses and

22 | April 2016

individuals’ capability to deal with internet-based crimes.

Your portfolio seems to be focused more on nontraditional solutions and towards incident response and forensics solutions.

Please elaborate.

As a regional speciality distribution company, we focus on bringing leading vendors with complementary technologies within the Cyber & IT Security, Digital Fraud Detection & Forensics, Security Analysis & Incident Response, GRC and Business Recovery to our channel community. We have a strong portfolio to offer in the segments we focus on.

Discus your focus in the Middle East region. Which are the key customer segments/ vertical solutions in the region?

We focus on Middle East, Africa and India. Our vendors

have customer within all verticals, across the entire region but our initial and primary focus for most vendors are the UAE, Oman, KSA, Egypt and India.

How are you enhancing your value propositions to partners and customers?

We provide our channel community with pre-sales, POC and post-sales support throughout the sales cycle. We have a vendor enablement training within the region, offer end user focused events to assist with lead generation.

We enable a good frequency of vendor presence, offer healthy margins and quick response times as part of the support we provide.

One of the key reasons that system integrators and channel partners in the region choose to partner with Credence is because, unlike most other distributors, we

focus on taking a consultative solution approach – we collaborate with our partners and their customers to understand their needs both from a technology and business perspective and then work very closely with our partners to deliver tailor made solutions. As such, our clients rely on us and trust us to deliver best in class IT security solutions that will protect their organisations from some of the most severe and malicious attacks Is there a challenge of trained resources in new emerging areas of information security in the region? In this regard, kindly elaborate on your training focus I don’t think there are any challenges specific to our region when it comes to information security. However, among challenges we all face

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them stay one is the fact that our step ahead of the region is large and "As a regional speciality distribution company, we attackers. logistically getting focus on bringing leading vendors with complementary people to attend technologies within the Cyber & IT Security, Digital Are SMB training classes or Fraud Detection & Forensics, Security Analysis & companies also to do web based Incident Response, GRC and Business Recovery to our more aware of training in areas need to have that do not have channel community." robust security good internet solutions in place like connections can sometimes be industry leader, keeping midincluded in the list of “Cool enterprises? challenging. Getting resources Vendors” in the Cool Vendors size organizations safe from Everybody has to have a with the required training/ in Cloud Security Services, constantly evolving cyber security appetite but what hands on experience is also a 2015 report by Gartner. attacks that traditional security makes the difference is the challenge we all face within Cyber-attacks like phishing defenses simply can’t detect. budget. As long as you have the region and globally. and watering hole attacks eSentire combines people, the right products that are are growing more and more process and technology scalable and different sizes Do you see Managed sophisticated by the day and to deliver an unmatched, to fit all, you will be able to Security services taking off can easily bypass traditional premium level service that offer something to the SME in the region? Do you offer security technologies that detects, remediates and market. Vendors need to Managed security services as communicates sophisticated focus on perimeter defense. offer products that scale, and a turnkey solutions?

Backed by eSentire’s best-incyber threats in real-time, I can say all of our products Yes, we are the regional class technology solutions, 24/7. Protecting more than cater to small as well as large distributor for eSentire. skilled security analysts, $2.5 trillion in Assets under enterprises / government etc. eSentire have already closed threat intelligence team, and Management (AuM), eSentire With all the recent attacks and deals within the region and we is an award-winning choice global network of sensors, brands being affected, people are very happy to say, there we can now offer mid-sized for security decision-makers understand that everybody can is a great demand and we enterprises in the Middle in mid-size enterprise. In be a target and cybersecurity are excited to be representing East the most advanced 2015 eSentire was named should not be taken for them in the region. cybersecurity-as-a-service to Deloitte’s Technology Fast granted. eSentire is a proven available, ultimately helping 50 TM and Fast 500TM and

250+ Professional Team | 150+ Enterprise Clients | 20+ Nationalities | 15+ International Awards | 10+ Global Locations +971 4 368 7855

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info@finessedirect.com

www.finessedirect.com

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April 2016 | 23

TechKnow | ManageEngine

Raj Sabhlok President ManageEngine

Enabling the control mode ManageEngine, the real-time IT management company, hosted the fourth Middle East User Conference between March 7 and 8, 2016 at The Address Dubai Marina. In this two-day conference, senior global executives and technology experts from ManageEngine presented IT management trends, conduct product training, and discussed use cases. Raj Sabhlok, president of ManageEngine, in the following interview discusses the company’s approach to IT Management solutions

24 | April 2016

Are Businesses aware of the need to deploy IT effectively? What is the state of shadow IT deployments in organizations?

Businesses run the risk of becoming obsolete if they don’t keep up with user expectations and therefore need to deploy new tools. From an IT perspective, organizations need to be forward thinking. In many organizations, IT is becoming separated based on needs of organizations. Reality is you need a semblance of control for security purposes. IT needs to own that responsibility as an overarching strategy.

Shadow IT is a good thing as companies should be able to find the right tools to grow their businesses. What IT needs to do is to absorb the technologies at a rapid pace and ensure their networks are kept safe, that these new applications are not removing corporate data and putting them outside. They need to manage the shadow IT tools being deployed, whether devices or applications. The solution is not to stop people from using tools which can help them grow their business.

Unfortunately that was the first responses of IT around the time when the social media apps like Facebook were cropping up. Right now these tools have become a huge marketing tool used by companies. It is the same with the mobile devices – if we could not use them at our workplaces, how would it be?

IT was reluctant and in some instances, they completely shut them down in many organizations which I believe affected them.

What are the outcomes that you seek from your User group events?

We do these events every

year. It has become the way to connect with ManageEngine directly. This happens worldwide in major countries. Partners as well as customers look forward to it. Enterprise software has changed dramatically. We have played a significant role in how enterprise software is acquired, deployed, managed and optimized. When we started our business, we competed with the likes of IBM and CA and just simply based on the fact that we were a start-up, we could not compete within that model. Thankfully, we thought of getting our products and technologies to customers in a disruptive way, directly from our web and as easy to deploy and use. We have kind of propelled the 'do it yourself' mindset within IT, which fast forward to today’s scenario, is exactly the kind of approach we need. IT needs to be quick to adopt new technologies or else they will be left behind. Quick getting, easy to deploy, do it yourself technologies from companies like ManageEngine are critical.

But at the same instance, many of the companies that are using our technologies have wondered who we were and perceived us an enigma. So these user group events are good opportunities for us to connect with those companies.

It is also a great way for us to understand the issues they face and how we can address them moving ahead. It gives us an opportunity for us to present our new products, technologies and roadmaps.

What was your product announcement at the event?

At this year’s event, we announced the launch of OpManager Plus, the latest edition of our network

Awards Survey 2013

funding as a management "Shadow IT is a good thing as companies should be company. We have platform. able to find the right tools to grow their businesses. sought a pragmatic OpManager Plus approach to growth. sets a new standard What IT needs to do is to absorb the technologies at a We have grown for unified IT rapid pace and ensure their networks are kept safe, that with that mindset monitoring with the these new applications are not removing corporate data over the past twenty industry's first EXEand putting them outside." years. We have level integration stayed private and of five network only listened to our customers. instance. Security is another management functions. With idea of taking the service desk We have seen other companies aspect - we can understand OpManager Plus, users get and extending it beyond IT. go through upheavals from trends and impact based on one application for NetFlow We will start addressing the public to private and private anomalies seen. Looking at all monitoring, configuration idea of having an IT help desk to public listing several times. the machine data that is being management, firewall log as an internal CRM resource generated, you can sit back and Then there is no way you can analysis and compliance, IP to manage internal business stay focused on customers. We delve on the security issues. address management, and processes– managing HR, decided not to go through all We also have our cloud switch port management. The finance or legal. Some of the of that. We decided to keep it based ZOHO business and single OpManager Plus console repetitive tasks that happen simple, build products and listen those are business applications provides in-depth visibility within these functional groups to our customers. We spend to help automate business and control of all aspects of can be replicated. functions for small and medium about 40% of our revenues into network management for We are introducing a new our R&D. faster troubleshooting.

Business intelligence application sized businesses. We are also We are up by over 35% finding that as we are trying to Most vendors offer which will initially take all the in the region over the year in automate business functions disparate tools for various data that is processed out by terms of growth. It continues in ZOHO, there is some overlap aspects of network the Management tool, initially to be a good market for us. with IT. We always have management such as the ManageEngine tools and We are vigilant in terms of the had a cloud based reporting bandwidth management, churn out reports that are economic trends and don’t take applications called ZOHO firewall log analysis, useful for trend analysis and it for granted. One of the big reports and we have taken this configuration management making better decisions. They reasons that companies turn to technology and application and and more. Though these can turn out reports all the way our solutions is because of the adopted it for ManageEngine tools can integrate with one from what is relevant for the as the basis of its BI application. value propositions we deliver. another, they do not provide departments, all the way to the Our products offer maybe You will start seeing other a holistic view and, therefore, CIO and the CEO. ManageEngine over 90% or more of the cloud based applications that make admins juggle between BI application will deliver this functionalities of competitive will adopted by ManageEngine multiple tabs. Maintenance of reporting. product at maybe 10% of and some we already do today all these different tools is also We want to know how the cost. We have seen that such as zoho creator, a low hectic because they require efficient IT is being from the it is in the time of economic coding platform to build online separate backups, service packs tools but in today’s world, downturns that we get our database applications. and licenses. since a lot of our products and bigger customers as they are services are dependent on IT, then more aware of the value Discuss your growth Please elaborate on the so want to know the business propositions they get from their strategies roadmap for new products details such as webclicks from investments.

We have never taken venture We are now considering the visitors to your website for

The All-in-One Advantage The single product, single console design of OpManager Plus increases IT teams' visibility and control over their network and enables real-time troubleshooting. OpManager Plus includes the following network management modules: • NetFlow monitoring module - provides visibility into network traffic by analyzing NetFlow, sFlow, jFlow, IP FIX and other flows. It identifies top bandwidth consumers by device, application and user.

• Firewall management module - collects, archives and analyzes all firewall logs for auditing and compliance. It tracks

Awards Survey 2013

user activities and bandwidth consumption and triggers alerts to admins if blocked sites are accessed.

• Configuration management module - backs up, restores, pushes and reverts configurations on network devices, with no device login required. It issues notifications via email and SMS for unauthorized configuration changes.

• IP address management module - manages IPv4 and IPv6 addresses for free space and availability. It tracks the entire history of an IP address, including the devices to which it was allocated.

April 2016 | 25

TechKnow | Smokescreen

Raviraj Doshi CTO Smokescreen

Deception strategies for security Smokescreen, a new generation security vendor that offers deception technology to thwart hacker attacks has tied up with Spire Solutions to offer its solutions to market. Raviraj Doshi, CTO at Smokescreen discusses the approach of deception that the company’s solution offers in more detail What is the approach the company brings into the solutions it offers?

My co-founder and I have been in offensive security for the past ten years. We have been breaking into Banks, critical national infrastructure, stock exchanges etc – we have been employed by those companies to break in and test the security of their networks. Over the last ten years, we have maintained

26 | April 2016

a 100 % track record, managing to break in every single time, no matter what security systems were in place.

The fact is once we broke in, there was nothing stopping us insides the networks – we had a free run. That was alarming to realize how vulnerable these networks are once an attack gets in. The genesis of the company was based around the idea of what

could have stopped us. When we did some research, we came across military strategies of deception that have been used over generations to win battles.

We bring the same methodology of deception to cybersecurity to thwart attacks, using decoys or traps. Regular users know the way around the network, from point A to B but the hacker doesn’t and is wandering around, which is why the decoys laid at multiple points can get him. For instance if he is coming into a Banking network, our traps that are decoys of the real systems of the organisation, will lure the hacker. The decoys emulate real systems with fake records that look real but the hacker doesn’t know. We detect the hacker and what he is after.

Once we know how he has got in, what he is after and how he is getting the information out, we can shut down the attacker.

It doesn’t matter whether it is zero day, the tools that are used or whether it is an insider – we catch all.

Do you support all platforms?

We are agnostic to methods and support all platforms. We can customize decoys in key verticals. We already have decoys of major platforms built into the system. Customization takes a couple of weeks.

Our ILLUSIONBLACK platform detects, deflects and defeats advanced hackers in a manner that is false-positive free, and easy to implement. It effectively handles multiple avenues of attack and the limited response capabilities that most companies have.

How is the solution implemented?

The solution is implemented through an appliance that plugs into the enterprise network

and it projects the decoys onto the network. It is not an in line device and doesn’t need to be connected to any production server or need any access to critical data. Which is why this can reside side by side with critical infrastructure. The entire solution is however agentless and we run no software on any real systems, so we do not access any real information.

Discuss how the decoy strategy is effective to trap the attacker?

We have different types of decoys that are independent and we have decoys on real systems as well. So decoys come in all shapes and forms.

There are decoys of systems, people, files and data. A decoys file can be left on real systems.

We create fake persona and leave profiles on social media, because before a hacker attacks, he seeks people who work in the company. Some of the phishing emails reach these profiles and even before an attack happens, we know these hackers are targeting the organization. We find out all profiles throughout the organization that may have received such fake emails. We know the intent of the hackers before they get in. The minute anyone opens those fake files, we get them. We also leave fake credentials which we leave on production servers, which the hackers may want to use somewhere else in the network.

Any instance, when those credentials are used, our system flags it.

So the deception is laid deep and at multiple levels which makes it quite impossible for hackers to evade. The decoys constantly evolve and even the decoy map does. The assurance we give our customer is that we will catch the hacker before he does damage.

Awards Survey 2013

Insight | Red Hat

The xPaaS Revolution and the Rise of BizDevOps Mike Piech, vice president and general manager, Middleware, Red Hat opines that DevOps movement is increasing collaboration between developers and IT operations professionals, enhancing the awareness of developers of applications' operational attributes

P

latform-as-a-service, or PaaS, is an increasingly popular cloud offering that enables developers and IT operations professionals to build and maintain applications while avoiding many infrastructurerelated challenges and expenses. According to a 2014 IDC report, the global PaaS market is expected to reach $20.3 billion in 2018 as enterprises continue to adopt this new technology.

Playing on “PaaS,” Gartner coined the term xPaaS in 2013 to describe the broad spectrum of specialized middleware products that IT vendors offer as services, like integration Platform-as-a-service (iPaaS) or business process management Platform-as-a-service (bpmPaaS). xPaaS seizes the opportunity cloud computing provides to reimagine application development and

28 | April 2016

operations, making these processes faster, easier, less risky, and more flexible.

Middleware meeting the cloud has facilitated the DevOps movement and predictably transformed how developers create applications and IT operations professionals manage them. But enterprise IT is only starting to experience the xPaaS revolution's most surprising and exciting consequence as line of business managers become more closely involved in the software development process than ever before. The rise of "BizDevOps" is leading not only to tighter collaboration between IT departments and business managers, but also to heightened expectations, with businesses increasingly relying on technology to carve out unique competitive advantages.

Mike Piech VP & GM, Middleware Red Hat

Accelerating time to market One major benefit of xPaaS is accelerating applications' time to market. Innovation demands the ability to experiment, fail fast, and deliver before the competition. Developers must be free to focus on their applications, unhampered by the need to provision, configure, and secure their application infrastructure. IT operations can't take on even more maintenance responsibilities, especially when many stacks deployed for the sake of rapid innovation may be extremely short lived. Architects need to provide an environment that maximizes productivity, minimizes cost and risk, and scales rapidly and securely.

The last generation of application platforms, integration buses, and process automation suites, while an

improvement over earlier home-grown solutions, fell short of delivering critical functionality on-demand without the need to acquire, provision, and maintain application infrastructure. xPaaS automates tedious tasks like setup, configuration, and integration.

Traditionally, developers performed each of these functions for each middleware product manually—a timeconsuming, error-prone process. To communicate with the database, for example, developers needed to obtain a connection string in one place and input it into a configuration file somewhere else. With xPaaS, intuitive menus help developers select their database and get their systems up and running quickly. xPaaS also speeds time to market by accelerating trial and error. Engineers and architects

Awards Survey 2013

can often approach But the most "One major benefit of xPaaS is accelerating applications' development surprising and problems in exciting aspect of time to market. Innovation demands the ability to multiple ways, the xPaaS revolution experiment, fail fast, and deliver before the competition. several of which is that business Developers must be free to focus on their applications, may appear equally people are starting unhampered by the need to provision, configure, and viable, leaving to collaborate more secure their application infrastructure." teams uncertain of closely with their which to choose.

IT organizations in Instead of having to sit and creating new applications. With application along with it. In the creating the application. Once envision every scenario before the waterfall model, business xPaaS world, IT organizations developers build an application writing a single line of code, people used to imagine a new can improve their flexibility using xPaaS, the underlying developers working in an xPaaS application, write a detailed by thoughtfully employing machinery can produce environment can simply try spec, throw it over the wall containers and microservices. however many instances are different solutions and find out to development, wait a year needed. which works best. or more, and then receive BizDevOps: the new Improving flexibility relationship between an application that might or Reducing risk might not turn out to be what Microservices and containers development, The same xPaaS features that they needed. In the world of are the latest in a long line of operations, and accelerate time to market xPaaS, business people can technology that has catalyzed business also reduce development and conceive of new applications the xPaaS revolution and The xPaaS revolution is deployment risk. An intuitive in a more iterative, trial-andimproved IT organizations' fueling the rise of DevOps, the GUI presents the simple logic of error fashion. Developers can flexibility. increasingly popular software the situation and automates the quickly create draft applications Containers allow developers development methodology complex, underlying processes, to show business people, who to decompose applications into that emphasizes collaboration shielding applications from a can give immediate feedback a greater number of smaller between developers ("Dev") major source of risk: human or launch the applications and modules, or microservices. and IT operations ("Ops"). error. xPaaS takes advantage see how customers respond.

Before containers, a cloudDevelopers used to create of the fact that computers are Enabling more trial and error based module had to run applications independently better at repeatedly executing on the business front is on a full virtual server, a in their own environment. tedious tasks, which frees perhaps the greatest value of heavyweight operating system, After a certain point, they up humans to focus on what xPaaS. In the beginning, there and all the virtual hardware threw applications over the they're better at: higher-level were three siloed groups: underneath. In those days, wall to operations, who had logic, thinking, and creativity. development, operations, and it didn't make sense for to figure out how to install xPaaS also de-risks the business. Then came DevOps, developers to place only a them, configure them, and delicate transition from which improved cooperation few lines of code on a virtual make them work in a real development to production. between development and server. Now, using lighter production environment. The In the past, developers would operations. Now the prevailing weight containers, developers DevOps movement is making cobble together an intricate development model won't be can run microservices on developers and IT operations and fragile environment on DevOps, but BizDevOps, and all commensurately small professionals work more their workstations, miraculously three groups—development, infrastructures. At the same closely together. As a result, get their application running, operations, and business— time, xPaaS has made developers are more aware and the moment they needed can collaborate and iterate deploying and maintaining a of applications' operational to recreate that environment more tightly, creating better proliferation of microservices attributes, which reduces the on the way to production, outcomes for all. tractable. risk of operational errors. The forget how they built it—which BizDevOps is a new By breaking down developer's role has shifted. versions of which modules term, but in practice, it's applications into loosely-coupled In exchange for the speed they used, for example. already here. The sooner microservices, developers and gains associated with working But for developers working enterprises take advantage IT operations professionals in an xPaaS environment, in an xPaaS environment, of the tighter collaboration gain the ability to create, developers now have to replication is much easier, partly modify, restart, and scale each between developers, IT complete many infrastructurebecause the platform built the operations professionals, and microservice independently. If a related tasks previously environment automatically, and business people that the xPaaS particular microservice becomes performed by operations. Of partly because the platform revolution has facilitated, a performance bottleneck, for course, operations still has a consistently documents and the greater their competitive example, operations can scale role running and managing audits the steps that go into rewards will be. it without scaling the whole applications.

Awards Survey 2013

April 2016 | 29

Insight | Sophos Labs

Simon Reed Vice President Sophos Labs

Ransomware riot is rocking cyberspace Simon Reed, Vice President of Sophos Labs, Sophos discusses the threats from Ransomware and tips to counter it

T

he year 2015 was rocked by a series of Ransomware attacks, with CryptoWall, TorrentLocker, CTB–Locker, TeslaCrypt and their variants making major headlines across the globe. While Windows and Mac users are the easiest targets, in 2015 attackers also developed capabilities to breach Linux servers – which means that not only individuals but businesses are now also at risk.

What is a Ransomware?

Ransomware is a type of

30 | April 2016

malware which encrypts files on a computer and demands ransom from users to provide the keys or access to their own data.

Does paying a ransom guarantee data recovery? In most cases, yes. Ransomware has been highly lucrative for attackers; according to the FBI, CryptoWall alone has earned cyber criminals an estimated $18 million.

As mentioned, attackers do not restrict themselves to the private data of individuals and even corporate websites are now being held ransom to DDoS.

CryptoLocker has used in such attacks since 2013.

It typically targets Windows users, usually entering a corporate network disguised as an email attachment. Once opened, it affects the system and then starts to encrypt network files. Although antivirus (AV) can often prevent ransomware, it can fail to detect new versions of the malware, and systems running outdated antivirus software are more vulnerable to such attacks. Similarly, running older versions of an OS or browser can also increase the probability of infection from such malware.

We have also seen many variants of Ransomware starting to use Darknets for either command or control or to receive payments. Darknets arenetworks often used by cyber criminals for anonymity as these can only be accessed with specific software using non-standard communications protocols.

How to counter Ransomware?

While unpatched software and outdated antivirus increases

your chances of getting hit by any malware, what makes Ransomware more successful is the fact that most users do not back up their data. Hence, when they get a pop up message asking them to make a payment, they often take the easy way out.

All this can be avoided by following the easy steps below: 1. Back up your files.

The best way to ensure you do not lose your files to ransomware is to back them up regularly. Storing your backup separately is also key – as discussed, some ransomware variants delete Windows shadow copies of files as a further tactic to prevent your recovery, so you need to store your backup offline.

2. Apply windows and other software updates regularly.

Keep your system and applications up to date. This gives you the best chance to avoid your system being exploited using drive-by download attacks and software

Awards Survey 2013

(particularly Adobe Flash, Microsoft Silverlight, Web Browser, etc.) vulnerabilities which are known for installing ransomware.

3. Avoid clicking untrusted email links or opening unsolicited email attachments.

Most ransomware arrives via spam email either by clicking the links or as attachments. Having a good email anti-virus scanner would also proactively block compromised or malicious website links or binary attachments that lead to ransomware.

4. Disable ActiveX content in Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, etc.

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"Most ransomware arrives via spam email either by clicking the links or as attachments.

Having a good email anti-virus scanner would also proactively block compromised or malicious website links or binary attachments that lead to ransomware."

We’ve seen many malicious documents that contain macros which can further download ransomware silently in the background.

5. Install a firewall, block Tor and I2P, and restrict to specific ports.

Preventing the malware from reaching its call-home server via the network can disarm an active ransomware variant. As such, blocking connections to I2P or Tor servers via a firewall is an effective measure.

6. Disable remote desktop connections.

Disable remote desktop connections if they are not required in your environment, so that malicious authors cannot access your machine remotely.

7. Block binaries running from %APPDATA% and %TEMP% paths.

Most of the ransomware files are dropped and executed from these locations, so blocking execution would prevent the

ransomware from running.

So what lies ahead?

In our recent whitepaper, The current state of Ransomware , we have covered the technical details on how Ransomware has evolved and how variants have morphed themselves to evade detection. The paper paints a gloomy future for Internet users; however, you can find some solace in the fact that most major cybercrimes instead of employing highly sophisticated attacks depend on common human errors which could be easily avoided, provided you remain alert and follow standard safety practices online.

April 2016  |  31

EyeTech

Thunder SSL Insight (SSLi) Overview: A10 Networks announced the worldwide availability of Thunder SSL Insight (SSLi), a standalone security product built on A10’s market-leading SSL inspection technology and ACOS Harmony platform.

The adoption of encrypted Internet traffic has exploded in recent years due to security and privacy concerns. Today, it is estimated that over 65% of Internet traffic will be encrypted by the end of 2016[1]. As a result, enterprise security products are blind to encrypted traffic, and protection is failing, despite billions of dollars of investment per year. The lack of security effectiveness has led to widespread breaches—resulting in increased customer costs, lost revenue, regulatory fines, and other issues. Thunder SSLi eliminates the SSL blind spot in corporate defenses and enables security devices to regain their effectiveness.

Key features: • High-performance encrypted traffic visibility and broad SSL/TLS coverage. Comprehensive inspection of multiple ciphers, including ECDHE with Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS), with up to 48 Gbps of SSL inspection throughput.

• Decrypt once/Inspect many times with traffic steering.

Built-in load balancing to scale security infrastructure, including Firewalls, IPS, UTM platforms, DLP products, Threat prevention platforms, Network forensics and web monitoring tools • Intelligence for smarter protection policies with URL classification and filtering plus Threat Intelligence Services.

• The A10 URL Classification Service monitors, blocks, or selectively bypasses specific websites to provide privacy for healthcare and financial Internet activity.

• The A10 Threat Intelligence Service blocks users from accessing known bad IP addresses, preventing access to websites that cause data theft, and other malicious activity.

32 | April 2016

New NAS series from QNAP

Overview: QNAP Systems has announced the release of the new enterprise-class rackmount TVS-ECx80U-SAS R2 and TSECx80U R2 NAS series. Both series include two built-in SFP+ based 10GbE ports while keeping the same price tag as the previous TVS-ECx80U-SAS/TS-ECx80U series.

The TS-ECx80U R2 series also includes models featuring an Intel Core i3 3.5 GHz processor and 8GB DDR3 or 4GB DDR3 ECC RAM, providing businesses with more options to satisfy demands for higher-speed Ethernet solutions.

The TVS-ECx80U-SAS R2 series is equipped with a powerful Xeon E3-1246 v3 3.5 GHz processor and 16GB DDR3 non-ECC or 8GB DDR3 ECC RAM. The TS-ECx80U R2 series provides models powered by an Intel Xeon E3-1246 v3 3.5 GHz processor and 4GB DDR3 ECC RAM, and further adds options with an Intel Core i3 3.5 GHz processor and 8GB DDR3 non-ECC or 4GB DDR3 ECC RAM. Key features: • Both new NAS series offers not only four inbuilt Gigabit Ethernet ports but also two 10GbE SFP+ ports to fully support 10GbE high-speed networks, making them beneficial for IOPS-demanding applications such as virtualization, databases, high-resolution video editing, and sharing workflows.

• Being 10GbE-ready, both new series support Qtier (Storage Auto-tiering), SSD caching, excellent cross- platform file sharing, iSCSI-SAN and virtualization, as well as feature-rich business applications including Virtualization Station for hosting VMs, Container Station for containerized virtualization, and Qsirch, the near real-time NAS search engine.

• The new series can fully satisfy mission-critical storage needs, delivering persistent throughput to balance resource-demanding applications.

Awards Survey 2013

Panasonic’s LB-DH8 Series Optical Drive

New IP deskphones

Overview: Panasonic showcased its latest data archiving solution LBDH8 Series Optical Drive at the Big Data Show, in Dubai World Trade Centre, from 29 – 31 March 2016. The new technology promises businesses a 50 years of seamless data storage and archiving.

The reliable new LB-DH8 Series optical disc library system is a long term data archiving strategy designed for sustainability. This system will meet the most complex data challenges, attracting organizations with its ability to store data for an extended period of time.

Key features: • Panasonic's LB-DH8 Series optical disc library system combines sets of Data Archiver Magazines, with 12 reliable Blu-ray Disc™ media in each one. This allows a storage life of more than 50 years which is safe and secure for large volumes of data at a low running cost.

• It is an excellent solution for the mid to long-term storage of information assets. The device provides a large-volume recording media that is optimal for data archiving in an age when data is increasing exponentially.

• This Data Archiver uses Panasonic’s unique robotics technology to archive as much as 91.2 TB of data allowing up to 6 Expansion Modules to store 638.4 TB of data.

Overview: ALE, operating under the Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise brand has announced the expansion of its deskphones portfolio.

The latest Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise communications product enhancements enable companies to create a personalized connected experience, while Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise business partners benefit from offering a wide range of simplified communications tools.

The complete product line of deskphones available for customers now fit the demands of customers who have various budgets. Each phone caters to a customer looking for specific requirements. The extensive line-up of deskphones include multiple feature-set capabilities on every wired and wireless phone. “Stacking” features meets the range of needs of a business, from basic to industry specific. Also, available for businesses is a cost-effective video conferencing tool with a plug-andplay system that is as simple as using a phone. The new products added are the 8018 DeskPhone, the 8088 Smart DeskPhone as well as the 8262 and 8212 DECT Handsets.

Key features: • The Alcatel-Lucent 8018 DeskPhone is built on the success and practicality of the Premium DeskPhone line and offers IP telephony with numerous features, a full- duplex speakerphone and is eco-friendly.

• This entry level phone offers companies a modern business-grade design with useful features for a user friendly experience. It maximizes advanced telephony features from OmniPCX Office RCE and Enterprise communication servers.

• The Alcatel-Lucent 8088 Smart DeskPhone merges telephony and video into a cost-effective experience.

Designed for small meeting rooms, it makes video communications as simple as making a phone call.

Awards Survey 2013

April 2016 | 33

Stats & Trends

Worldwide Converged Systems revenue increases

A

ccording to the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Converged Systems Tracker, the worldwide converged systems market increased revenue 8.5% year over year to $3.1 billion during the fourth quarter of 2015 (4Q15). The market generated 1,547 petabytes of new storage capacity shipments during the quarter, which was up 26.9% compared to the same period a year ago. For the full year 2015, worldwide converged systems market revenue increased 8.3% to $10.6 billion when compared to 2014.

"We are seeing some of the market demand move into deals with lower average selling prices (ASPs), which is driving a shift from traditional converged systems to hyperconverged systems," said Kevin M. Permenter, senior research analyst, Enterprise Servers. "Right now, most of the growth is coming from the mid-market, which is heavily

skewed toward hyperconverged systems. We are expecting to see this trend continue into the near term."

IDC distinguishes between three market segments: Integrated Systems, Certified Reference Systems, and Hyperconverged Systems.

• Integrated Systems are pre-integrated, vendor-certified systems containing server hardware, disk storage systems, networking equipment, and basic element/systems management software.

• Like integrated systems,

from other integrated systems is their ability to provide all compute and storage functions through the same server-based resources.

During the fourth quarter of 2015, the Integrated Systems market generated revenues of more than $2.0 billion, which represented a year-over-year increase of 6.7% and 65.6% of the total market value. VCE was the largest supplier of Integrated Systems with $743 million in sales, or 36.3% share of the market segment.

Certified Reference Systems are pre-integrated, vendor-certified systems containing server hardware, disk storage systems, networking equipment, and basic element/systems management software. Certified reference systems, however, are designed with systems from multiple technology vendors.

• Hyperconverged Systems collapse core storage and compute functionality into a single, highly virtualized solution. A key characteristic of hyperconverged systems that differentiate these solutions

Top 3 Vendors, Worldwide Integrated Systems, Fourth Quarter of 2015 (Revenues in $ Millions) Vendor

4Q15 Revenue

4Q15 Market Share

4Q14 Revenue

4Q14 Market Share

4Q15/4Q1 4 Revenue Growth

1. VCE

$743.01

36.30%

$522.88

27.30%

42.10%

2. HPE

$398.97

19.50%

$361.08

18.80%

10.50%

3. Oracle

$362.48

17.70%

$375.95

19.60%

-3.60%

All Others

$541.03

26.40%

$656.94

34.30%

-17.60%

$2,045.50

100.00%

$1,916.86

100.00%

6.70%

Total Factory Value

Source: IDC Worldwide Converged Systems Tracker, March 31, 2016

Public Cloud Services in MENA to reach $864.2 Million in 2016

T

he public cloud services market in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is projected to grow 18.1percent in 2016 to total $864.2 million, up from an estimated $731.6 million in 2015, according to Gartner.

Business process as a service (BPaaS), the largest segment of the cloud services market by revenue in MENA, is expected to grow 6.4 percent in 2016 to reach $262.4 million. The largest growing

34 | April 2016

market, cloud management and security services, is projected to grow 27.5 percent in 2016, followed by software as a service (SaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) with growth of 26.4 percent and 23.4 percent .

"The forecast for overall cloud services in the region shows sustained momentum with a projected growth rate of 20.6 percent in 2017 . Global market dynamics, currency and exchange rates

remain a determining factor in this growth trajectory." said Sid Nag, research director at Gartner. "BPaas revenue remains the largest segment with enterprises continuing to move to cloud based models as opposed to the traditional business process outsourcing (BPO). Furthermore, growth of SaaS and PaaS is an indicator of organizations and vendors moving away from on premises license based application software

and application development platforms to subscriptionbased SaaS and PaaS models."

Gartner predicts that in 2019, total public cloud services spending in the MENA region will rise to $1.42 billion, with the largest growth coming from cloud management and security at 21 percent, followed by SaaS and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) with growth rates of 20.2 percent and 19.3 percent respectively.

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