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Editorial

Cover Feature - 18

The multiplier effect A

new generation of solutions have been coming along, sometimes even with less fanfare, but at most times driven by the multiplier ‘innovation’ effect of the various emerging technology frameworks. Cloud computing, IoT, software defined computing etc – they are radically defining what the blueprint of regular ICT infrastructure needs to be like.

Together, they are allowing a quantum leap for scale of ICT deployments. For channel partners that are dabbling in some of these frontier technologies, there is also a challenge to understand how they can build out solutions to customer needs and also drive markets to adopt. Some of these solutions that they deploy for customers could enable them in turn to enhance their service offerings to market.

The need for innovative and tailor made ICT solutions for Businesses has never been more. While we may have harped earlier about the coming of age of ICT as an enabler for Businesses, it indeed seems more tangible now that the competitive advantage a company boasts of will for most part be enabled by the ICT backbone and front end it has. And for most part, legacy ICT as we have known it will remain in the background but by itself will not be a differentiator.

For this reason alone, companies need to scout and identify what are some of the most innovative applications out there that could benefit some of their customers in specific verticals. Having done that, they need to bring them to the customer’s notice and convince why they need to consider that solution. And then they should have the competence to deploy that for the customer.

A challenging industry outlook demands innovations from everyone, channel partners included. Step it up or you could be left far behind.

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

At the next level

Enterprises are embarking on the next phase of adopting more cloud services

News In Detail

Connected solutions in focus at Arab Health 2016 - 10

VMware Collaborates with Intel Security - 12 Point2Point

Customized Approach - 14

AnandChouda, Managing Director, Spectrami discuss the outlook in the industry today

Proven Expertise - 22

Srikanth Sridhar, Business Head, Gulf Infotech discusses the company’s focus areas

Partners in success - 24

A conversation with Eng. Mostafa Fawzi of Musallam Trading and Nadeem Azhar of Promise Technology

TechKnow

Simplifying Network Security - 15

Alain Penel, Regional Vice President - Middle East at Fortinet shares market insights

Unlocking the magic of Hybrid WAN - 16 Mike Hemes, Vice President-Sales EMEA, Silver Peak discusses how hybrid Wan delivers efficient networks.

Driving cloud traction - 26

Fadi Moubarak, Channel Director, Asia, Middle East and Africa, Avaya discusses Avaya’s cloud strategy

Insight

SD-WAN: Enabler towards the Cloud - 28

Taj ElKhayat, Regional Vice President, Middle East and Africa at Riverbed Technology discusses SD-WAN

Brace for ‘The Security of ‘Everything’ - 30 Abdul Rehman, Regional Manager, Pulse Secure discusses key trends across the security landscape

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News Bytes EyeTech Market Stats

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Help AG and Pulse Secure partner Help AG has revised its go-to-market with secure access solutions vendor, Pulse Secure, to capitalize on the region’s growing BYOD and enterprise mobility market. By strengthening its ties with the vendor, Help AG aims to soon become the biggest partner for Pulse Secure in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

“Mobile applications are redefining the enterprise user experience, giving workers anytime access to corporate information. At the same time, due to improper management and ineffective security tools and policies, these devices are becoming the weakest link in enterprise IT security. We want our customers to leverage the benefits of BYOD while securing their data and mitigating the threat of data leakage and loss,” said Nicolai Solling, Director of Technology Services at Help AG. Help AG believes the Pulse Workspace solution’s ‘containerized’ approach of segmenting corporate and employee data, apps, and connectivity is key to addressing privacy issues plaguing the security of employee owned devices.

"Help AG is a key partner for us within the region. We look forward to accelerating our close working relationship and together taking innovative solutions into the Middle East market to help organizations overcome a growing range of security challenges,” said John Mitchell, EMEA Partner Director at Pulse Secure.

4 | February 2016

Ingram Micro announces Cisco Learning Partner status in Gulf Ingram Micro announced its Authorized LearningPartner status from Cisco across the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Afghanistan and Yemen.

"Our global relationship with Cisco is paramount to our success as a Cisco Learning Partner, and adding the Gulf to the training partnership only further underlines the mutual importance of this affiliation," shared Zornitza S. Hadjitodorova, head of Ingram Micro Training MEA. "Ingram Micro Training in MEA has seen tremendous growth since the official inception of the regional business unit two years ago, and Cisco is an essential vendor to add to our training portfolio. As a distributor of Cisco equipment, we are well positioned to be a strong training partner as well. We plan to first and foremost support ourdistribution sales team to further strengthen the channel.”

To qualify for Cisco Authorized Learning Partner status, Igram Micro had to meet minimum curriculum, course delivery, lab and staffing requirements, including the use of Certified Cisco Systems Instructors (CCSI). The Cisco Learning Partner program focuses on core technology training and preparing IT professionals for career certification by delivering industry leading Cisco Authorized curriculum.

Ingram Micro Training is a one-stop shop for the skills development needs of IT professionals worldwide. The company offers award-winning instructor-led classroom, virtual and onsite IT training.

Allied Telesis aims to increase presence in IP surveillance market Allied Telesis aims to increase its presence in the growing IP surveillance market. The vendor was a participant at this year’s Intersec event that was held from 17th to 19th January 2016 at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Intersec is an annual confluence of leading local, regional and international security and safety companies in Middle East.

Sabbahuddin Khan, Regional Manager at Allied Telesis Middle East said, “Allied Telesis brings both video expertise and complete range of IP functionality necessary to deliver the highest quality IP video possible. Over the years, our high performance and affordable solutions with features like low latency, efficient and resilient core that delivers improved video quality have become the first choice for Video based networks by the enterprises in the region. Our powerful suite of management tools, Allied Telesis Management (AMF) can reduce the operational expenses by 80% that is very exciting for large enterprise customers.”

Government regulations, declining prices, growing consumer awareness, and remote accessibility are few of the key factors that have contributed to the growth of IP video surveillance in the region. According to a recent forecast by 6Wresearch, the video surveillance market in Middle-East is likely to reach $1.8 billion by 2021.

Khan added, “We believe that mega projects like World Expo 2020 in Dubai will further fuel the demand for IP Video Surveillance, which will open up new business opportunities for us and our partners alike. We will be happy to work closely with our partners to explore these opportunities.”

At Intersec, Allied Telesis showcased its latest innovations such as Switches, Media Converters, among others. The company’s stand at Intersecwas located along with its partner Milestone Systems.

Awards Survey 2013

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PROMISE Technology sees record visitor turnout at Intersec PROMISE Technology, a leading developer of open platform storage solutions for video surveillance, stole the show at Intersec 2016 in Dubai with its PROMISE Presentation Theater and partner demonstrations receiving enormous interest and traffic. The PROMISE Presentation Theater offered attendees a rare opportunity to participate in insightful sessions led

by Aimetis, Axis, Axxonsoft, CAMIQ, Digifort, HitekNOFAL, Milestone, PROMISE, Securitas, Seetec and Toshiba on the key trends shaping the surveillance industry. The response from the attendees was outstanding with participants eager to learn more about key aspects of video surveillance deployments - from what is important in selecting IP cameras to the latest features in analytics and key considerations when deploying storage infrastructure.

“It was absolutely fantastic to see countless attendees so captivated by the presentations PROMISE and its partners hosted at Intersec in Dubai,” said John van den Elzen, Managing Director, PROMISE Technology EMEA. “The quality of its surveillance partner ecosystem really sets PROMISE apart in the industry and we want to thank all of our dedicated partners for helping make this event so special for us and for all of those in attendance.”

To thank all of its visitors for their outstanding support at Intersec, PROMISE offered a 10% discount on its Vess A2000 NVR appliances and R2000 storage solutions for all EMEA customers.

6 | February 2016

SAP and Accenture join forces for SAP S/4HANA SAP SE and Accenture are joining forces in the core and industry development and go-to-market of SAP Business Suite 4 SAP HANA (SAP S/4HANA), the next-generation business suite from SAP built on the industry’s most advanced in-memory platform. This unprecedented collaboration intends to accelerate development of SAP S/4HANA as well as industry and line-of-business solutions, with a view to simplifying and fast-tracking customers’ journeys to digital businesses. ”Our enhanced agreement with Accenture signifies another key step to further strengthen our commitment to SAP S/4HANA,” said Bernd Leukert, member of the Executive Board, Products & Innovation, SAP. “We look forward to working with Accenture to drive digital transformation for businesses with even simpler solutions that accelerate time to value. Our comprehensive portfolio allows companies to successfully tackle the diverse challenges of the digital economy across the whole value chain, today and beyond, and make them ready for the future.”

In addition to co-development activities, a unique go-to-market approach will build on joint value-proposition capabilities and collaborative delivery efforts between SAP and Accenture. The result would be differentiated solutions with flexible delivery options for bundled industry cloud deployment. The companies will co-invest in resources and appoint dedicated executives to bring maximum value to mutual clients.

Axis Communications showcase during Intersec 2016 Axis Communications showcased its latest video surveillance products at Intersec 2016 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. The company’s co-founder Martin Gren, who is widely credited with inventing the first ever network camera, was also present at the show.

As the Gold Sponsor for the event, Axis Communications displayed its latest cutting-edge innovations and diverse selection of network cameras (fixed network, fixed dome network, PTZ, covert, thermal, panoramic, HD and megapixel, as well as outdoor cameras), encoders and accessories. The stand presented new camera solutions across-the-broad portfolio of security solutions, catering to varied industries such as banking, critical infrastructure, education, healthcare, transportation and retail.

Among the cemeras displayed at the show were the 4K Ultra HD, new PTZ camera, that was being displayed for the first in the Middle East market and provides up to four times higher resolution than standard HDTV 1080p resolution. Also showcased was XP40-Q1765, an Explosion protected Network 1080p PTZ camera designed for the harsh environments of the oil and gas industry.

Martin Gren, Co-Founder of Axis Communications said, “The security market in the Middle East is dynamic and fast growing, with the UAE being one of the highest adopters of the latest IP network technologies in the world. And, we remain focused on providing cutting-edge innovative products that contribute to a smarter and safer world.”

Axis participated along with technology partners EMC, NEC, ISS & Imron.

Awards Survey 2013

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ICT Health showcases cloud services ICT Health, leading clinical technology systems integrator, announced its plan to launch a set of cloud services that monetizes collaboration between care stakeholders whilst helping care providers virtually engage their patients. Traditionally, most hospitals have focused on adopting Health IT to drive efficiencies through process automation in the hope of improved clinical and financial outcomes.

However, in today’s connected world, a true digital care facility has to look beyond its physical boundaries and leverage mobility.

“ICT Health’s digital destination has always been collaborative social care.

Our upcoming cloud service ‘HinaiX’ draws inspiration from mainstream social media technologies and is designed to work in convergence with our flagship HINAI Web platform enabling interconnected networks of practitioners, care facilities and service providers which we believe will enhance the levels of patient care. With regional governments encouraging investment in healthcare IT, there is a growing demand for integrated solutions,” said GautamDey, MD & CEO, ICT Health.

With HinaiX, ICT Health plans to interoperably link ambulatory and acute care encounters with home care and wearable data through secure exchange of meaningful and standards-based health information.

8 | February 2016

Sage Middle East forum discusses trends in disruptive technology Sage Middle East, a leading provider of business management solutions delved into the complex and exciting world of ubiquitous computing trends in business by hosting a luncheon discussion on trends in disruptive technologies at Dubai’s Shangri-La Hotel on 20th January.

The luncheon held in Dubai was the latest edition of Sage’s GCC series of discussions on trends in technology for business. The distinctive event focusing on technological trends and developments is a part of Sage’s efforts at invoking discussions and knowledge sharing amongst thought leaders, government personnel, entrepreneurs, managers, and C-level executives across the UAE. “One of our goals at the luncheon was to outline to the business community here in the UAE, the trends and their accompanying challenges to be mindful of, and highlight the Sage products and services to mitigate and manage these challenging but fascinating changes,”said Jeremy Waterman, Managing Director Sage ERP Africa & Middle East said in relation to Sage’s commitment to driving and managing technological change and development.

The UAE’s drive towards entrepreneurship, promotion of SME’s, and policy documents that support smart initiatives are instrumental in the development of non-oil sectors such as logistics, manufacturing, and construction in the country. The use of technological innovation such as Industry 4.0, data analytics, cloud computing, will lead to value creation along entire product life-cycles, reduced risks, increased utilization of opportunities, increased competitiveness, and development of human capital.

Cisco unveils Cloud Consumption as a Service To help CIOs manage their shadow IT issues, Cisco is launching Cloud Consumption as a Service—a new software-as-a-service product that discovers and monitors public cloud services an organization is using.

Recent analysis by Cisco reveals the extent of the shadow IT challenge. The average large enterprise now uses 1,220 individual public cloud services. That’s up to 25 times more than estimated by IT. And the average number of public cloud services has grown 112 percent over the past year, and 67 percent over the past six months. Even worse, there are significant business risks associated with uncontrolled adoption of public cloud services. These range from regulatory compliance and data protection, to business continuity, cost and service performance.

Cisco Cloud Consumption, when combined with detailed analytics and benchmarking from Cisco, helps businesses reduce security risks and better understand and manage costs. To help customers understand how cloud governance can be simplified, Cisco is offering a free 30-day trial.

“Cisco's Cloud Consumption as a Service offering gives CIOs better visibility and insight into what services are being used and what they can do to control them. It helps our customers mitigate cloud risks, uncover redundant services to reduce costs, and compare providers and benchmark usage. It helps organizations strategically manage their cloud use,” said Rabih Dabboussi, General Manager, Cisco UAE.

Awards Survey 2013

Oracle creases Investment in the Middle East To keep pace with growing customer demand for Oracle’s complete cloud portfolio, Oracle has announced its intent to open a new Cloud data center in Abu Dhabi. The new Abu Dhabi data center will enable Oracle to better deliver high performance Cloud computing services to customers throughout the UAE. Oracle also announced plans to continue increasing its sales resources throughout the region by hiring more than 250 sales professionals. The move comes as the company has more than doubled its workforce in the Middle East in the past three years.

“As companies turn to cloud computing to modernize their business and drive innovation, we are seeing significant demand for Oracle Cloud – in the Middle East and around the world,” said Loic Le Guisquet, president, EMEA and APAC, Oracle. “We are investing in the infrastructure to support this demand by hiring new, top sales talent and by building new data centers. The Middle East is an important region for us and we will continue to invest here.”

The state-of-the-art data center in Abu Dhabi will allow Oracle to better manage the service level objectives and data governance for customers throughout the Middle East.

The system environment at the data center in the United Arab Emirates will be built using Oracle Engineered Systems to give customers high performance, and reliable and secure cloud services.

In the course of 2016 Oracle plans to open new offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai Internet City, Amman and Riyadh.

StarLink becomes distributor for Darktrace StarLink has signed a distribution agreement with Darktrace, a world leader in Enterprise Immune System technology for cyber security. StarLink will sell, install and support Darktrace products through its extensive network of Channel Partners to enterprise and government organizations throughout the Middle East and Turkey regions.

Darktrace is one of the world’s fastest-growing cyber threat defense companies. Its unique Enterprise Immune System, powered by advanced mathematics and machine learning developed at the University of Cambridge, marks a new era of self-learning cyber defense by detecting advanced external and insider threats within computer networks, in real time. Darktrace’s Enterprise Immune System proactively learns ‘normal’ behavior of every device, user and network, and can identify subtle changes across the entire organization, without requiring prior knowledge or rules.

“Darktrace’s Enterprise Immune System is a unique cyber intelligence platform and we are excited to take it to our partners and customers across the region. The ability to self-learn the behavior of every device, user and network to stay ahead of external and insider attacks is truly cutting-edge.” said Avinash Advani, VP Business Strategy at StarLink. “We believe that using machine learning for anomaly detection is the future of next-generation threat protection and Darktrace is at the forefront of that revolution.”

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TechAccess joins Huawei Regional Partner Network Huaweihas announced a new partnership agreement with TechAccess—a leading regional Value Added IT distributor headquartered in Dubai, UAE. TechAccess (TA) will now be able to offer Huawei’s wide range of enterprise ICT products including servers, storage and networking solutions to key customer and verticals through its specialized IT partner base and play a leading role in developing a strong channel for Huawei enterprise products. TA will offer Huawei partner and their customer’s access to its own state-of-the-art solution center for Proof of Concept and trainings.

TA will also provide comprehensive support in terms of partner recruitment, enablement, product marketing, channel support & readiness, and partner-centric loyalty programs.

Both companies will focus on bringing Huawei’s solutions portfolio to key industries such as telecommunications, banking, government and the oil & gas sector across the GCC as well as Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Shomail Ghalib, CEO and President of TechAccess, said: “We are truly excited about partnering with Huawei and in playing a pivotal role in Huawei’s channel distribution strategy for this region. Huawei has a very strong product portfolio and this will now empower our partners to offer a very robust end-to-end solutions portfolio in key segments and markets.”

February 2016 | 9

News In Detail

Connected solutions in focus at Arab Health 2016

L

eading suppliers including Royal Philips and Honeywell showcased their connected range of solutions for healthcare at the annual Arab Health Exhibition & Congress held in January 25-28, 2016, in Dubai.

At Arab Health 2016, the world’s second largest healthcare exhibition and medical congress, Honeywell showcased how its ‘Connected Hospital’, ‘Connected Clinician’ and ‘Connected Patient’ initiatives use technology to integrate infrastructure, systems, clinicians, and patients in innovative ways to deliver better care through streamlined operations, reduced errors and a smoother patient journey.

“Governments and private sector operators in the Middle East are intent on leveraging technology to improve the quality of healthcare delivery in the region, but also want to reduce overall operating costs,” said Peter Costa, vice president, Honeywell Automation and Control Solutions, Middle East.

“With billions being invested in healthcare infrastructure, we at Honeywell are working with

10 | February 2016

our partners to ensure the right technology is being utilized to ensure better outcomes for administrators, clinicians and patients.”

Honeywell’s ‘Connected Hospital’ proposition integrates infrastructure to ensure rapid information flow and more agile operations for a smoother patient journey. The ‘Connected Clinician’ initiative, on the other hand, automates workflows and communications to help reduce errors and increase productivity for greater clinician satisfaction.

The ‘Connected Patient’ initiative improves the health of patients through effective monitoring in the hospital and beyond, while reducing costs and readmissions.

In its 2015 healthcare outlook for the Middle East, global advisory firm Deloitte found that ambitious medical infrastructure projects are driving healthcare industry growth in the GCC states, and that governments are looking to leverage technology to raise the quality of healthcare services in the region. The report also found that Gulf States are keen

to optimize current operations, something Honeywell is very well positioned to deliver.

At the show, Royal Philips introduced a range of connected solutions across the health continuum, from healthy living and disease prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and care at home. Philips is leveraging its deep clinical expertise, data management, consumer insights as well as partnerships to help shape the future of healthcare in the Middle East. The aim is to provide more predictive and more personalized care to enable people to take charge of their own health, as well as first-time-right diagnoses and more effective treatments.

Arjen Radder, Philips CEO Middle East and Turkey said, “Today, digital technologies are empowering people to take more control of their health and lead healthier lives. Data and connected solutions help deliver the relevant information at the right time – enabling healthcare professionals to make first-time right decisions, achieve better outcomes at lower costs, and

facilitate care models that put patients at the center of care.”

To further leverage its vision on connected innovations across the health continuum, Philips shed light on its Telehealth programs. It includes the Tele-ICU program which clinically transforms the ICU, using a proactive care model that provides a solution to growing physician and nurse shortages while improving critical care delivery 24/7. The Telehealth program aims at combining clinical expertise, leveraging advanced medical technology and reducing time from the ICU, the ward, to the home, improving financial outcomes by reducing the costs of acute and long term care by 32% according to Philips’ Banner Health Study (US).

Philips Personal Health Programs empower people to take greater control of their health. These app-based solutions help people establish and maintain healthier habits. They are designed with a unique combination of professional healthcare and consumer insights.

Awards Survey 2013

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News In Detail

V

Mware announced an expansion of its collaboration with Intel Security to include joint solutions for customers using the AirWatch

by VMware Enterprise Mobility Management platform. The two companies have partnered on two initiatives to enable technology integrations that will help enterprises meet today’s complex mobile security challenges more effectively and efficiently.

VMware is now a member of the Intel Security Innovation Alliance, a worldclass technology partner program that streamlines integration and accelerates the development of interoperable solutions by Intel Security and its partners. VMware and Intel Security plan to offer joint capabilities to their mutual customers, including sharing advanced mobility data via the McAfee Data Exchange Layer, a key component of Intel Security’s open, connected security system. McAfee Data Exchange Layer is a bidirectional communications fabric that distributes global and local security intelligence across Intel Security and third-party security products, including mobile clients and gateways, Intel Security threat intelligence technologies, and the McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator management platform. The integration of AirWatch with Intel Security technologies will be designed to help customers maximize the value of their current security investments, resolve mobile threats more quickly and reduce operational costs.

This joint initiative augments the current portfolio of VMware and Intel Security solutions, which includes advanced security for the softwaredefined data center.

12 | February 2016

VMware Collaborates with Intel Security Additionally, Intel Security joined the AirWatch Mobile Security Alliance (MSA).

AirWatch solutions empower organizations to focus on enabling business mobility rather than dealing with the ever-changing complexities of managing and securing mobile devices. As part of this commitment to reducing complexity, AirWatch launched the MSA to provide customers with advanced, flexible and simple options so that they can be more confident that their mobile applications, devices and networks are free from mobile threats. This allows organizations to easily improve their risk posture with the foremost cybersecurity leaders and the industry-leading EMM platform.

The alliance forged by Intel Security and VMware addresses three vital areas of enterprise security – data protection, threat detection and prevention and security management with integrated workflows. AirWatch together with multiple Intel Security technologies will offer

customers the opportunity to extend advanced security across mobile devices, PCs, operating systems, the network and the cloud. The solution will make it easier to flow mobile device data, such as device attributes and location, into security management tools. This can help eliminate the “mobile blind spot” that currently exists in many enterprise security infrastructures and will allow security teams to better manage events and incidents across a variety of devices and operating systems. The solution is also designed to protect data regardless of where it resides— in the cloud, on premises, on the endpoint or in the mobile device—so users will be able to access data more securely anywhere, anytime.

Additionally, correlation of threat event information from mobile devices, other endpoints and the network can facilitate better visibility and quicker incident response.

“To drive mobile business transformation, organizations need their foundational

security elements they already leverage across their enterprise work seamlessly across their mobility assets,” said Noah Wasmer, vice president of mobile engineering and product management, EndUser Computing, VMware.

“This partnership with Intel Security will help deliver more a complete mobile security solution and affirms our commitment to making the shift to the mobile-cloud era seamless for our customers.

Through McAfee Data Exchange Layer, enterprises will be empowered to communicate essential threat intelligence that can help drive faster response and remediation.”

D.J. Long, head of the Intel Security Innovation Alliance said, "The VMware and Intel Security partnership is the an integral part of our mobile security strategy and is an important step toward improving our mutual customers’ threat defense lifecycle and providing better data protection, regardless of where that data resides or travels.”

Awards Survey 2013

Point2Point | Spectrami

According to you, what are the key challenges that IT managers are facing in today’s ICT environment?

Today, the ICT have become hyper converged and as a result, the overall scenario have become complex. Now, according to my observation, one of the major challenges for CXOs is to managethe risk factors. Security threats have become very advanced and in case of any cyber attack it takes considerable time and efforts to identify the right technology to secure data in an optimal way.

However, in today’s market, it also becomes a great challenge for IT managers to select the best solution for their complex environment. According to me, the best way to get the right solution, IT managers need to identify their key objectives, what sort of data they produce, where do they store their data, and so on.

Once such profiling is done, it becomes easier for the organization as well as for the solution provider to suggest best available solution. As an example, the financial services sector r the banking sector faces different set of challenges as compared to the hospitality sector or any other sector for that matter.

The government sector, oil and gas sector, education, healthcare and so on.Each respective industry vertical has it’sown set of business parameters which require an exclusive solution.

Now, the market has evolved and grown big. There is no such solution which fits all. Tailored approach works in most cases.

What are your views on ICT security market in the

14 | February 2016

Anand Chouda, Managing Director, Spectrami discusses the outlook in the industry today and emphasizes why channel partners must work upon upgrading their knowledge

Anand Chouda Managing Director Spectrami

levels and always remain obsessed towards exploring the new

Customized approach region? How is the customer behavior changing?

We are witnessing an increase in the security spending in the region. The market is growing at 50% to 60% growth rate. Middle East is globally acclaimed as early adopters of innovative solutions or applications. Many advanced innovation are getting used in the region which leads to the adoption of best in class security solutions among Middle East based enterprise.

The infrastructure in the Middle East is far better than most of Africa. Companies here have already deployed the basic infrastructure in the last several years. The basic level of networking and the basic level of security is

also in place. And they are now looking at addressing advanced security threats. In Africa though, companies are still looking at implementing the basic IT infrastructure now. Unless you have basic infrastructure in place, you won’t be able to deploy solutions that address advanced security issues.

Please share a glimpse about Spectrami’s market outreach in the region?

We are covering almost all the key markets in the GCC and MENA region. Now, we are expanding our local presence.

The key regions for our business are Oman, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and KSA. Qatar is also an emerging region we

are focused on strengthening our presence in that region as well. The GCC market accounts major portion of our business.

To be precise, the three core markets for Spectrami are UAE, KSA and Qatar.

Please share your company’s channel strategy.

We are a 100% channel driven company. We actively engage with channel partners.

We have a well defined partner on-boarding process, through which we train the partners and constantly work on upgrading their understanding and skill set for handling new technologies.

This gives them confidence in front of their respective customers.

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TechKnow | Fortinet

Alain Penel Regional Vice President, ME Fortinet Alain Penel, Regional Vice President Middle East at Fortinet shares an insightful overview of the network security market

new threats?

These days the most damaging attacks are Advanced Persistent Threats (APT), and cybercrime is no longer random or about brute force, it’s more subtle - aiming to infiltrate, stay hidden, and extract data without detection.

The threat evolution is faster than ever – we are, on average, discovering more new threats every day than identifying already known malware. The need for vigilance, intelligent security solutions and comprehensive policies is growing in the Middle East – this is obvious considering the number of regional incidents that have been recorded in recent times.

Fortinet has introduced solutions that will help regional businesses ‘break the kill chain’ and take preemptive action against cyber threats.

offering for SoftwareDefined Network Security (SDNS) framework which is the first of its kind across the industry to provide a dvanced threat protection through the integration of security into the modern agile data center environment. The new Fortinet SDN Security framework exemplifies the company’s innovations across all principal layers of the network architecture.

Internet of Things has also become an emerging market for network security. What are your views on this?

No doubt IoT have emerged as a great enabler for the IoT security is another burgeoning issue that Fortinet will tackle during the exhibition. IoT has the potential to transform the way people and organizations interact but there is also potential for data loss, as IoT

Simplifying network security How is the network security market evolving in the region?

The market in the Middle East region is growing and graduating into the next level. Trends such as Software defined networking have made a lot of changes in the market. Network security tools have to become smart and responsive towards technology advancements such as SDN. According to IDC, the network security solutions are defined as a combination of hardware, software and networking technologies whose primary function is to protect corporate networks and network-embedded resources from disruption caused by external threats. In this market, IDC includes firewall, unified

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threat management, intrusion detection and prevention and virtual private network products.

Another important market observation says that close to 90 per cent of the Middle East market is appliance based. Product categories like UTMs have performing very well in the Middle East market. In addition to these trends, we also see a great demand from the information security managers and network managers is to have a simple security solution which can easily handle the complexity of networks.

What kind of network security threats existin today’s market? How is Fortinet addressing those

How does the Fortinet ATP framework ensure security in the network?

Fortinet’s ATP framework enables businesses to protect themselves from Advanced Persistent Threats (APT), which are, today, viewed as the most damaging attacks. ATP attacks infiltrate networks, stay hidden and extract data without detection.

Breaking this kill chain calls for a holistic approach to security, and by relying on Fortinet’s ATP framework, businesses are protected from known threats, can detect unknown threats and mitigate intrusions.

How is Fortinet addressing the opportunity of SDN? Fortinet has a comprehensive

puts more devices, information and activities online. Fortinet’s intelligent solutions, wellcrafted company policies and vigilant staff are a must to ensure that businesses don’t lose their data.

How is business for Fortinet Middle East market?

The market is very positive for Fortinet. We continue to gain market share and our leadership in the region simply validates our value proposition, continued innovation, and consistent security vision. Since Fortinet understand the exact pain points of network security and our products addresses the network security challenges through innovative solutions.

February 2016 | 15

TechKnow | Silver Peak What are the core solutions from Silver Peak?

We are among the leaders in building hybrid WANs and Broadband networks. Our solutions enable enterprises and service providers to securely connect users to applications via the most cost-effective WAN connectivity available. Our solutions are designed in a way that they ensure flexibly at the deployed premise.

With Silver Peak’s solutions, customers can augment or replace MPLS networks with secure broadband connectivity, leveraging existing WAN investments while dramatically reducing ever-increasing WAN costs and complexity.

Mike Hemes Vice President-Sales, EMEA Silver Peak

Unlocking the magic of Hybrid WAN The efficiency of today’s networks depends on their ability to respond. Mike Hemes, Vice President-Sales EMEA, Silver Peak discusses how hybrid Wan delivers efficient networks. He also elaborates on the company’s go to market strategy in the region

16 | February 2016

What are the key advantages of Silver Peak for the Middle East Market?

We have developed expertise in creating efficient wide area networks. The Middle East is a potentially rich market from the perspective of emerging business areas such as retail, telecom, hospitality and much more. The smart cities project is also a great attraction for our organization as well as it will transform the whole ICT landscape. We foresee great action in this region.

Discuss highlight of Hybrid WAN as solution for enteprises?

As we see network complexity becoming a common entity, application versatility have become very in-depth. And on top of it, the cloud is gaining popularity in a big way. As applications are moving to the cloud, companies are finding MPLS is no longer sufficient to address today’s WAN requirements. There is a desire to operate at "cloud speed," but many IT

organizations may be reluctant to transition to a broadband WAN (often referred to as an SD-WAN) overnight.

While the ultimate goal may be an all-broadband WAN, enterprises can begin their journey with a hybrid WAN. As an organization, Silver Peak understood this demand and came up with a robust solution which acts highly adaptive and responsive in nature. As MPLS upgrades arise, businesses can explore lower-cost broadband Internet services as an alternative for connecting to Cloud applications. This provides an opportunity to downsize MPLS bandwidth and only use that connectivity for remaining data center applications.

Elaborate on Unity EdgeConnect We featured Unity EdgeConnect solution at GITEX. The solution enables enterprises to dramatically reduce the cost and complexity of building a WAN by leveraging broadband to connect users to applications.

Delivered in both physical and virtual form factors, Unity EdgeConnect creates a virtual network overlay, so that enterprises do not have to replace existing routers and firewalls at branch offices. With Unity EdgeConnect, users can move to a broadband WAN at their own pace, whether site-bysite, or via a hybrid WAN approach that leverages both MPLS and broadband Internet connectivity.

What is your go-to-market and channel strategy for the Middle East market?

We have a two tier distribution model. We have signed up with FVC recently Awards Survey 2013

and with this opportunity partnership we are for customers "While the ultimate goal may be an all-broadband confident that the to reduce the WAN, enterprises can begin their journey with a hybrid market will get to high cost and WAN. As an organization, Silver Peak understood this see some great complexity of innovative products MPLS networking demand and came up with a robust solution which acts for enhancing their by deploying highly adaptive and responsive in nature." network. As an broadband. organization we Customers give a lot of focus towards benefit from unprecedented has great understating and global go-to-market strategy, the skill development of levels of visibility, control experience of the Middle East. as it takes the complexity out partners. We understand that and security over all traffic of building WAN solutions each industry trend needs to traversing the WAN, while How do you handle the for enterprises and service be addressed carefully with improving application and growing customer concern providers. exclusivity. For example, SDN network performance. With towards TCO in today’s is an important market trend.

Silver Peak, sites can be enterprise network?

What are the key Hence, we have recently rapidly and non-disruptively expectations you have from With Silver Peak’s solutions, launched a Global Partner expanded, moved or changed customers can augment FVC? Program specifically designed as business demands evolve. or replace MPLS networks From FVC, we are looking for to attract, educate and enable This offering itself gives with secure broadband market education, outreach valued channel partners to great advantage to the connectivity, leveraging potential customers and capitalize on the burgeoning partners to become their existing WAN investments educate partners. This is software-defined WAN (SDcustomers’ trusted advisor while dramatically reducing very important to have a WAN) market opportunity. when they bring such great ever-increasing WAN costs localized approach in order This channel program is value preposition for the end and complexity. Silver Peak is to capture any new market. fundamental to Silver Peak’s customer.

FVC as a distribution company providing an unprecedented

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February 2016 | 17

Cover Feature | Cloud Computing

At the next level Benefits of cloud based infrastructure are tangible to enterprises who have deployed a private cloud or consumed public cloud services and they are embarking on the next phase of further adoption of more cloud services

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doption of cloud based applications and services is steadily gathering momentum with each passing year.

More and more enterprises globally and in the region are turning to cloud based options as and when they come upon the opportunity. This is also encouraged by the fact that most vendors now do offer cloud based options and there is also a rising number of cloud services providers.

According to IDC, total spending on IT infrastructure products for deployment in cloud environments increased by 24.6% in 2015 to reach $32.8 billion. Spending on cloud IT infrastructure grew from 28% of overall spending on enterprise IT infrastructure in 2014 to 32.9% in 2015.

Shams Hasan, Enterprise Storage Manager, Dell Middle East says, “Over the last few years we have seen cloud computing services move from the discussion board to tangible adoption, and believe that the benefits and opportunities are vast. Cloud computing offers tremendous untapped opportunities for MEA enterprises looking to develop agility and up-to-the-times business practices.

He adds, “More organizations are looking to leverage benefits that range from cost-saving to security and agility.

The rise of converged infrastructure technologies and the ability to remove infrastructure modules as needed should make private clouds an even more agile and attractive options for CIOs looking to reap the other benefits of private clouds.

We continue to see the growth of local service providers in the region enabling cloud partnerships and an increased uptake on the adoption of cloud by enterprises in the region.”

Organizations are seeing that investment in cloud is correlated with revenue growth. According to Dell’s Global Technology Adoption Index 2015, organizations actively using big data, cloud and mobility have up to 53 percent higher growth rates than organizations not investing in these technologies.

In the Middle East, cloud is driving significant IT infrastructure spending in enterprises and government departments.

“As private sector is embracing the digital transformation, governments are also launching initiatives such as e-learning, healthcare and smart

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technologies. According to Frost & Sullivan the GCC’s cloud market will grow to USD 216 million in 2020, with the UAE playing a leading role in cloud security,” says Chris Burnet – Cloud Services and Software Solutions Manager – MEEEAR and CIS in the region.

Ayman El Sheikh, Solutions Architect Manager, Middle East, Turkey and Africa, Red Hat opines that today there is more pressure in organizations across different industries to adopt federated clouds that can serve various ministries as well as various departments within the same business group.

Further, organizations that have deployed a cloud services ecosystem are now looking to extend services with value-adds to customers.

Shams Hasan Enterprise Storage Manager Dell Middle East

"If a telco operator has an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offering, then a semi-government or private sector organization can have its own offering on top of this in order to bring more value to the customer.”

He adds, “We have also seen in this region that a lot of organizations are looking to monetize the cloud business by providing cloud services similar to public cloud providers with cloud scale, to a certain industry or a certain group of users. Organizations are also looking for a cloud brokerage model where they want to provide their value added services on top of the existing clouds. For example if a telco operator has an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offering, then a semigovernment or private sector organization can have its own offering on top of this in order to bring more value to the customer.”

Further ahead, instances of building and deploying cloud native applications seems to be a trend likely to gain traction, although it is in the initial phase as of yet.

Shams agrees. He says, “Globally this is the case. In the Middle East, even though developers are not building cloud applications, there is uptake by customers and we expect developers to take advantage of this.”

Investing in microservices for instance could help companies enable their infrastructure to be more scalable and amenable towards adopting cloud.

Microservice architecture includes breaking the application into smaller services which makes it easier to update and scale the services.

Ayman says, “A lot of organizations are thinking about how they can move from their traditional workloads to cloud workloads and they are assessing how to come up with a container strategy for testing and development and some are February 2016 | 19

Cover Feature | Cloud Computing

Chris Burnet Cloud Services & Software Solution Manager MEEEAR & CIS, NetApp even looking into how they can do these lightweight applications even in production.

When talking about new technologies like containers, it goes hand in hand with microservices –lightweight technology for developing loose coupled applications.

We have seen a big trend of organizations wanting to move to microservices. They are thinking about how they are going to design their applications to be loosely coupled and scalable which is related to cloud applications as well.”

Interoperability

standards and in this scenario open source is no doubt going to be instrumental.”

Acording to Chris, while the market for hybrid cloud is likely to grow, in this hybrid cloud approach, seamless data management across cloud resources is critical.

“There is a need to enable IT organizations to complement a private cloud with a public cloud strategy that doesn’t introduce new risk, complicate policies, or result in the loss of control of valuable business. Storage is undergoing its most exciting transformation yet, driven by the disruptive forces of flash and cloud.

In 2016, we expect to see products and solutions respond to the market needs for simplicity, easier management, better economic returns, and a need to integrate data management across the hybrid cloud.”

Private to hybrid Shams elaborates that Dell and Dell’s partners do see a significant interest in the private cloud vis-à-vis the public cloud model and have successfully worked with many organizations to build and evolve their data centres into a private cloud business model.

He says, “In the past year as customers and regional service providers develop a better understanding of information in the cloud, we have seen the private cloud become more mainstream. It also offers resellers and the channel a huge opportunity to tap into bespoke customer requirements and configurations that will need to be wrapped around with services and added value. In the Middle East, private clouds provide control to the organization over its assets and data and their adoption is increasingly being considered as a viable alternative to public cloud offerings.”

Shams adds that customers are increasingly turning to hybrid cloud as a way to achieve the agility and cost-savings

of the cloud while maintaining control of their assets. In fact to capitalize on this, Dell recently announced with Microsoft Cloud Platform System Standard, an integrated system with a hybrid cloud experience, built on optimized Dell modular infrastructure with pre-configured Microsoft CPS software, including the proven Microsoft software stack and popular Azure services.

Those who have already seen the benefits of a private cloud are also easily convinced about taking the journey further into a hybrid cloud model that converges the best of the private and the public clouds.

Ayman says, “Organizations that already have a private cloud right now are looking at the next level. Most who have deployed an Infrastructure as a Service model mainly for compute, are now looking at network and storage and are then looking to move some of their workloads to the public cloud. But mostly they want to ensure that they have proper utilization of their private cloud environment and they are looking to optimize it further and move to the next level of automation.”

Many of the organisations planning to move towards hybrid cloud computing also want to keep factors such as maintaining control, compliance, privacy and security around data and IT systems in perspective.

Chris adds, “With a hybrid model in place, the CIOs can still have their data under complete control as it resides within the organization’s firewalls – yet gain more flexibility, agility and cost savings. Due to these benefits, CIOs are increasingly looking at hybrid cloud storage options for their organisations.”

Interoperability is something that enterprises have been demanding for many years now and it is becoming more important with growing cloud adoption.

Ayman says, “Most of the customers that we have met want the interoperability option and this is a decisive factor when moving to the cloud – either with a private or a public cloud services provider. They don’t want to be locked in. Its quite easy A challenges of skills to move into one of the public cloud As the private cloud and hybrid cloud services provider solutions, but you can deployments make more inroads into the never get your data or applications back enterprise segment, partner enablement once you decide to and trainings on go move out. We have to market strategies seen customers continues to be a "Organizations that already have a private cloud right now asking key factor. now are looking at the next level. Most who have questions about Shams says, interoperability, “Moving from an deployed an IaaS model mainly for compute, are now conversion from old IT trend to looking at network and storage and are then looking to one format to a new IT trend move some of their workloads to the public cloud." another and open requires a skillset

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solutions available evolution. We in the market and understand that “Essentially, the CIO is no longer a builder, but an SMB customers can partner enablement customise them starts with sales internal service provider. The role is as much about the according to their and technical management of services as it is about understanding requirements.” trainings and we the deep technicalities of the IT infrastructure."

With the believe in equipping UAE leading the our partners with region in terms needed knowledge of ICT deployments including smart city transfer and empower them to be the service offerings for customers using cloud. initiatives, companies based out of here first line of support to our customers.

Shams says, “We continue to see SMEs need to keep pace in terms of their Partner training embodies our endless adopt opportunities in the cloud to grow own technology infrastructure to stay commitment to our partners, at the same their companies. A lot of SMEs do not competitive. On the other hand, budgetary time we equip our partners with needed have the opportunities of large enterprises constraints are also an inescapable truth business tools, access to partner portal to invest in local companies. Through and this means that there is a growing for product and solution documents, tech our partnership with Microsoft, we can need for solutions that are flexible, agile, notes, case studies, knowledge base etc., enable a company that wants to build a scalable, manageable, and affordable, as additionally we also provide them with private cloud for their own use or a service well as secure. With its efficacy proven, updated marketing collaterals and leadprovider or software for a service company the cloud in its various manifestations generation kits.” that wants to build out cloud data solutions and most significantly as private or hybrid Chris believes that CIOs and IT for its customers.” cloud is therefore likely to continue gaining managers now have to manage increased Cloud deployments are likely to gain further traction in the region. demand for data management and new traction at an accelerating pace in the applications. This is coupled with working region. This is also due to the fact that with a number of cloud service providers. there are plenty of application options He elaborates, “Essentially, the CIO is being made available by vendors no longer a builder, but an internal service in the cloud. provider. The role is as much about the Ayman says, “There is a fair management of services as it is about amount of cloud applications understanding the deep technicalities of for SMBs and this is bound to the IT infrastructure. CIOs have much more increase in the upcoming years in common with the service providers since a lot of companies when they partner with than ever before, and looking to provide cloud solutions it is the role of the channel to understand in the Middle East are targeting these new pressures and be the partner SMBs since they realize that in that enables the CIO to serve his “internal this region, SMBs account for a customers” in the best way possible.” high percentage of the overall Although there are a rising number numbers. Some of the popular of channel partners who have created a solutions being developed focus in cloud services, the vendors would keeping SMBs in mind are CRM, always need to be at hand to guide them ERP, collaboration tools, e-mail as and when they experience a gap in security applications etc.” dealing with customers.

Chris adds that the fact Ayman opines, “There are definitely that the cloud model enables challenges in terms of technical expertise companies to leverage brandwhen it comes to cloud, but these are new solutions and only pay normal challenges that can be combated what they consume makes it by cloud solution vendors helping the extremely attractive for SMBs. channel and customers by bringing in their He elaborates, “As a own technical experts to help with training consequence, IT decision makers as well as implementation." in the SMB now increasingly look to move to the cloud. One Cloud for SMB important step here is to analyse Ayman El Sheikh The SMB segment is not far behind in which business applications Solutions Architect Manager, META embracing the cloud. There are plenty of are cloud-ready and are the Red Hat options for them to choose from to scale easiest to be migrated. There up their capabilities and also to create are multiple cloud based storage Awards Survey 2013

February 2016 | 21

TechKnow | Gulf Infotech

Proven Expertise Srikanth Sridhar Business Head Gulf Infotech

What are the company’s focus areas in terms of solutions?

Our goal is to provide businesses with the right mix of Cloud Services to achieve their business objectives’. Right now, moving your business to ‘The Cloud’ is a smart move for a company of any size.

The cloud is a cost effective way to move your business forward. It can also increases the productivity within your regular work day with you and your team. With our expertise in cloud Technologies, alongside our experienced professionals, we are dedicated to help customers embrace cloud services, allowing them to enjoy the benefits of the services and increase productivity & efficiency. We operate on the unchangeable

22 | February 2016

Gulf Infotech is a pioneer provider of cloud services in the Middle East. Srikanth Sridhar, Business Head, Gulf Infotech discusses the company’s focus areas principle that “Customer is King” while offering superior services. As a leading Cloud Service Provider in the Middle East, we want to make sure you are fully satisfied, so we offer a 100% satisfaction and customer service guarantee.

Our customer service team is strictly trained to resolve concerns quickly and efficiently.

What is the outlook for the industry in the year ahead in terms of spending on ICT infrastructure solutions and with specific reference to cloud solutions? Do you believe more customers now willing to invest in cloud based solutions instead of premised based solutions?

2016 looks very much promising and exciting for

cloud service providers. As a focused cloud services provider, Gulf Infotech has the right resources and skillsets to help companies to move to the cloud. That is one of the competitive advantages we possess. All the vendors have started offering cloud based solutions, which makes the companies to consider opting for cloud offerings. Companies have realized the value and power of cloud solutions in terms of efficiency, security and productivity. When we look at on-premises solutions vs cloud deployments, on premise solutions include a lot of liabilities and risks in terms of hardware and other cost.

One of the key disadvantages is the time to deploy is much longer in the case of onpremises solutions. In this

context, the organization’s productivity could take a hit.

The clear advantage with cloud solutions is that the vendor gives the solutions with the SLA and everything else taken care of. The major shift for business is that their IT infrastructural expenses shifts from the CAPEX to OPEX model. There are huge benefits in terms of costs which those who have already deployed cloud based solutions will be convinced about. In our efforts to broaden the market, we also want to work with traditional system integrators and enable them with desired knowledge of cloud offerings.

Do you focus on mobile apps and web apps development?Is there a large focus on customized Awards Survey 2013

solutions along helpdesk front.

"We have done both mobile application and web with the vendor This is again a solutions you cloud solution application development for B2B and B2C segments. deploy? for managing Many of our existing clients want to build mobile There are a the customers applications for their customers and web applications to good number of efficiently. For streamline the process and increase efficiency." companies who Backup, we offer are looking to different solutions develop mobile and web like Google Vault and spanning have moved 350 companies performing over the year? apps. We have done both which is for mails. On the We focus on the SMB segment. from on-premises solutions mobile application and web security front, we offerg to cloud solutions. All our We focus on diversified application development for Control for Google Apps for resources have a minimum businesses which include B2B and B2C segments. Many Work of three yearsof experience Construction, Health Care and of our existing clients want on cloud and certifications services. In the past year, our to build mobile applications How has 2015 been in terms Business has seen good growth on different platforms. It is a for their customers and web of growth for the company? must to have certifications in in construction and services. applications to streamline the What are your key plans of all the technologies. Our sales process and increase efficiency. Since you are reselling and growth for the new year in team is also up to date with Most of the web apps and terms of new markets or sales certifications, so that deploying cloud platform mobile apps are hosted on new solutions? they have good information solutions from three of the cloud infrastructure and not at We saw our revenues for2015 about the products and they major vendors, discuss the the premise. Vendors like AWS reach $ 2 million. Our key are in position to offer proper technical resource strength and Microsoft have separate focus market will still remain consulting to the clients. across these platforms? Do offerings for the same.

UAE and Oman, because we you have multiple certified Briefly elaborate on the other are physically present in both consultants across these Which are your key verticals solutions you focus on such as of these locations. We are also different platforms? of focus? Which among helpdesk, backup, security etc planning to cover rest of the Yes, we have the right them have been the best GCC and African countries.

We offer Freshdesk on the resources; we currently

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February 2016 | 23

Point2Point | Promise Technology

Partners in success

Eng. Mostafa Fawzi Business Development Director Musallam Trading

Eng. Mostafa Fawzi, Business Development Director, Musallam Trading and Nadeem Azhar, Regional Sales Manager, Promise Technology discuss how they have come together to address the needs of the market for cost effective storage solutions and NVR appliances Can you please introduce Musallam Trading and more about your partnership with Promise in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region?

Fawzi: Musallam Trading is a Value Added Distributor who has extensive experience in a range of vertical markets, such as video surveillance, media and entertainment, cloud and datacenters. A few years ago both Musallam and Promise were looking to grow their presence in the region and since there is so much synergy between the two companies and the vertical markets it was a natural fit.

Ever since we partnered with Promise, we have been

24 | February 2016

able to work together to provide high-performance solutions designed specifically for the unique needs of the customers in this region.

Together we are able to provide superior service and support to a growing number of customers eager for highquality, reliable and costeffective storage solutions.

Musallam and our customers have been very happy working with Promise and we look forward to more projects in the future.

Can you describe more about Promise and what they offer to the video surveillance market?

Fawzi: Promise Technology

develops open storage platform solutions for surveillance, and are active in all segments of the surveillance industry.

Promise NVR appliances and storage solutions can be found at airports, banks, casinos, governments, highways, hospitals, hotels, metro and trains, mines, oil companies, prisons, shopping malls, warehouses and many more locations.

In all of these segments Promise is able to provide a solution for deployments of any size – from standalone units to scale-out solutions for large deployments and video surveillance cloud services.

Discuss your participation at Intersec along with Promise – what were the larger outcomes and how do you intend to build on this?

Fawzi:Intersec in Dubai was really a fantastic event for Musallam and Promise. The reception was outstanding and we were really pleased to be able to get to know so many security professionals from around the MENA region. Also, Promise had a presentation theater where the leading companies in the industry shared their knowledge on new trends and technology.

From speaking with all of the visitors at the show, there is a strong passion for video surveillance and an eagerness

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hardware to expand their and software knowledge "Promise works closely with us and its end customers, maintenance base. One very installers and integrators, to create optimized storage costs, plug and effective approach solutions for the industry. Musallam and Promise are play convenience, which we have anytime and previously hosted able to offer a range of open platform solutions for IP anywhere viewing with Promise video surveillance." and ensures a to build on this reliable and highlypassion is to host scalable video service and Software vendors in the certified trainings. The course Vess Series of NVRs which are storage solution. We are really surveillance market. Why is includes demonstrations, reliable integrated server and looking forward to continuing this important to you? hands-on training on real storage solutions that we have to strengthen our position as a Azhar: One of the things equipment, and an overview deployed together for many trusted cloud solution provider Promise prides itself on is its of the unique selling points customers in the region. and offering the Promise strong collection of ecosystem for Promise solutions in the Azhar:What makes this Surveillance Cloud to service partners. This is obvious if video surveillance market. solution stand out is how it is providers in the MENA region.” you have ever visited us at Participants who complete specifically tuned to deliver the an event or spoke with any the training become Promise highest levels of performance How else is Musallam and of our team. Our solutions Certified Professionals who to surveillance customers.

Promise active in the cloud are compatible VMS partners have the knowledge to It is not just a standard IT market? including Aimetis, Axxonsoft, successfully install, configure server, but Vess NVRs include Fawzi: The cloud and mobile CamIQ, CSVi, Digifort, OnSSI, and maintain Promise storage technologies to overcome devices have had such an SeeTec, Genetec, Milestone solutions in the field. This is a performance bottlenecks that incredible impact on our daily and others. By ensuring our huge asset that has profound enable it to handle a higher lives. The MENA region is one solutions are compatible with impacts on the security number of IP cameras than of the fastest growing and all the top VMS, we can work professional’s bottom-line as it competing solutions. One largest markets for mobile together with Musallam to equips them with the knowexample of many is Predictive offer a solution to the customer users in the world so there how to deliver the best service Playback, a unique feature to are many opportunities for that ensuresthe specific needs for their security projects. “ Vess NVRs that utilizes idle cloud-based technologies.

Azhar: We are going recording times to monitor read of their project are met.

Musallam and Promise are to organize new certified patterns to predict where the very active in this industry What impact do you see training sessions for the year next playback will be needed and in fact Promise just cloud-based technologies 2016 with all our distribution so the hard disk drives are not introduced a new solution having on video surveillance partners in the region and competing with the workload called Apollo for these types in the MENA region? the first sessions will start in of the system. It is a whole of users. It is a personal Cloud Fawzi: Cloud-based February. This session is already range of features like this that appliance and app that gives fully booked but if people are reduce overhead on the system technologies have had a users and their circles or profound effect on making interested in joining our next to offer the best recording groups full control over the video surveillance solutions training sessions in the region performance on the market. storage and selective sharing more accessible to a range of they can send us an email at Plus, they are compatible with of their digital content. users. We are always looking promisecertified@eu.promise. all of the leading IP cameras Designed with families, small for ways to offer solutions that com. and video management businesses, and small office offer new and improved ways software so we are able to / home office in mind, Apollo for our customers to work, offer a solution to meet the What are the Promise makes it easy for a group of share or play and Promise’s specific needs of the customer. solutions you offer to your members to store, access Surveillance Cloud is one Fawzi:This is really customers for IP video and share selected data from solution they offer that does important to us as it enables surveillance? wherever they happen to be. just that.”

Musallam to really illustrate Fawzi: Promise works closely Azhar: We are really Azhar:The Promise why we are partnering with us and its end customers, excited about this product as Surveillance Cloud is designed with Promise and show our installers and integrators, we feel it meets the needs of for service providersoffering customers the solution we are to create optimized storage many customers who want Video Surveillance as a building for them is the best in solutions for the industry. the convenience of the cloud Service. It offers customers, the industry.

Musallam and Promise are without sacrificing security. such as retail stores or small able to offer a range of open Apollo will be available soon businesses, great simplicity, platform solutions for IP video Promise collaborates with so stay tuned. minimal initial costs, reduced surveillance,including the different Video Management

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February 2016 | 25

TechKnow | Avaya

Driving cloud traction Fadi Moubarak Channel Director, Asia, MEA Avaya

Fadi Moubarak, Channel Director, Asia, Middle East and Africa, Avaya discusses Avaya’s go to market strategy on cloud and the traction for cloud services in the market Discuss in brief Avaya’s approach towards customers looking to move to cloud infrastructure?

Avaya has been building its cloud solutions portfolio over the past several years.

Our cloud strategy is to provide a choice for subscription based on consumer consumption models that gives our partners and customers the flexibility they need to scale up and down based on their business needs. This serves to increase their time to market, shifts costs from capital expenditures to operating expenditures (lower TCO) and provides agility and global dynamic scalability.

Avaya has been successfully bringing to market carrier-grade services that leverage our virtualized platforms to enable our SP-SI, Enterprise and Midmarket partners as well as more than 9,000 Avaya Channel Partners to host, deliver, brand and resell the industry’s broadest portfolio of collaboration and communications services available in the marketplace.

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Avaya channel partners have a significant role to play in cloud deployments for midsize companies with their established knowledge of the customer and expertise with Avaya products. Now, they have even more flexibility with which to approach the customer by offering hybrid cloud solutions in a market that has considerable growth potential and is looking for a cost-effective path to advanced communications How are you working with partners on these initiatives?

We are working with partners in different regions of the world to bring our cloud offering to customers everywhere.

Leveraging Avaya Powered Cloud Services to help stand up a cloud service can increase speed to market and offer agility, and mitigate risk, as well as enhance SI-SP/Partner capabilities for a specific solution set. Avaya Powered Cloud Services can also provide a set of managed and

professional services to help an SI/SP/ Partner accelerate the market introduction of Avaya Powered Cloud Services.

In January, we announced our first agreement with a service provider in the Middle East to deliver Cloud services, with VIVA Bahrain agreeing to host our innovative Unified Communications, Video and Contact Center solutions and make them available to enterprises in a cloud services model, enabling organizations to purchase the capacity and services they require, as and when needed, without large upfront costs.

Do you see challenges in terms of skillsets for technical experts for cloud computing in channel and among customers?

The Middle East in General has always offered quality resources to the IT industry and partners generally compete on value, mainly created by the quality of their staff. Nevertheless, the adoption

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of new technologies like cloud is putting stress on all stakeholders involved due to the complexity and sensitivity of the issue at hand. What we can do however is continue to work with the channel to enhance their skills and ensure that customers are in good hands. It is a responsibility that Avaya takes very seriously as we continue to invest in shaping and sharpening the skills of our channel partners.

As we continue to evolve into a solutions and services company, it is strategically important for us to reflect this transformation to the channel partners we work with. Key for us is value-based selling and the ability of channel partners to understand the IT requirements of customers and their business outcomes as well. This process will show value in the near term, and will also differentiate our partners as they expand into new solutions and new verticals.

We are building specialisation with verticals with a view to building relevance; it is one thing to apply technology horizontally, but it’s much more powerful when you can address the unique business challenges faced by players in each vertical. We are also working with our channel partners to empower them as they go after customers in vertical, with packaged solutions that are proven business-ready.

All of these are complemented with our solutions-oriented sales trainings, our rebate programs, and supported by our channel strategy as a whole.

Are there enough options of cloud based solutions for SMB customers in market?

The cloud is increasingly taking a front seat among IT decision-makers, and for good reason. On-premise communications solutions like PBX and e-mail have stagnated, while cloud-based unified communications is growing 20% yearon-year globally. We are seeing similar demand for contact-center-as-a-service offerings.

This rising demand for cloud services is creating new opportunities for those channel partners who leverage cloud offerings to customers and bundle multiple services. The disruptive shift to a cloudbased model gives partners new touchpoints with customers, creating new opportunities for relationship-building, management, ongoing revenue streams and new customer acquisition.

Midmarket customers are also increasingly moving to the cloud and in light of this Avaya launched Avaya Midmarket Cloud solutions – two flexible deployment options to enable Avaya channel partners to seamlessly evolve midsize companies to the advanced capabilities needed for digital business.

Both options, Powered by Avaya IP Office and OnAvaya - Google Cloud Platform, can enable true, hybrid clouds that allow customers to maximize their investments in more than 1 million Avaya systems worldwide.

This is Avaya’s first complete unified communications and contact center cloud

offers for midsize businesses, bringing an unparalleled full-stack solution that will enable seamless integration and migration between premises-based and cloud. This will enable channel partners to seize untapped market opportunities and evolve over a million existing Avaya systems to the cloud, globally.

The Avaya solution provides unmatched flexibility in deployment along the customer journey, without compromise and absolutely no feature loss. Partners and customers can effectively ‘have it their way’ at the speed and timing that is right for them.

This is currently the most-integrated globally available deployment options, and with on-premises, hybrid, and full cloud solutions (one code base), Avaya offers the most flexible options for partner growth.

How different is 2016 looking in terms of acceleration of cloud computing deployments?

As enterprise CEOs increasingly place digital transformation at the center of their corporate strategies, demand for “as a service” cloud-based solutions are outpacing overall IT industry growth.

Investment in public cloud services across the Middle East, Turkey and Africa alone is set to grow almost 23% this year, according to industry firm IDC, as organizations seek ways of overcoming budget constraints, and look to transform capital expenditure into operating expenditure.

Avaya Midmarket Cloud solutions

A

vaya has announced its first complete, multichannel unified communications and contact center cloud offers targeted for the midmarket.

Avaya Midmarket Cloud solutions are two flexible deployment options, enabling Avaya channel partners to seamlessly evolve midsize companies to the advanced capabilities needed for digital business. Both options, Powered

by Avaya IP Office and OnAvaya – Google Cloud Platform, can enable true, hybrid clouds that allow customers to maximize

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their investments in more than 1 million Avaya systems worldwide .

Based on the world-class, Avaya IP Office Platform, Avaya Midmarket Cloud Solutions are unified communications and contact center cloud offers for midsize businesses in the market and utilize the same code base as those installed onpremises.

For channel partners, this is arguably the easiest, most flexible and profitable means of moving customers to cloud, offering a full stack solution

anyway customers want it, simplifying integration, leveraging product knowledge and experience and reducing the need for investment in new skill sets.

For customers, a hybrid cloud option based on Avaya IP Office enables the deployment of new capabilities based on business needs, while leveraging existing investments in call control, phones and more.

According to Avaya, companies have more control over expenses and the rate at which full migration to cloud occurs, in addition to quickly bringing on new locations.

February 2016 | 27

Insight | Riverbed

SD-WAN: Enabler towards the Cloud Taj ElKhayat, Regional Vice President, Middle East and Africa at Riverbed Technology discusses how SD-WAN is emerging as a game-changing technology at the frontlines of the enterprise

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one is the time where IT assets were limited to a handful of data centers. Gone is the time where users and applications were all bound by one unified MPLS network. Gone is the time where the enterprise perimeter was limited to a few centralized Internet breakouts. Today, businesses are increasingly mixing offpremises assets to their existing IT infrastructure. Many have moved commoditised workloads like collaboration (Office 365) to SaaS. Some are moving custom workloads tied to their critical business process to IaaS (in Amazon or Azure). Productive users are everywhere, onpremise but also on the road or at home. The Internet is becoming the backbone of enterprise communications.

As enterprises are becoming more hybrid, the shape of the network itself is dramatically changing. The underlying networks are getting more

28 | February 2016

diverse in terms of performance and security. MPLS is now combined with the Internet using a variety of transports from DSL to fiber and even 4G/ LTE. The network perimeter is getting more distributed.

Branches are now directly connected to the Internet. Onpremises assets are directly tied to off-premise assets to form hybrid cloud workloads. Users in the branch are connecting to off-premise applications and users at home are connecting to on-premise applications.

The traffic mix and the communication requirements are getting richer and more dynamic. Users adopt applications at a faster pace.

HD Internet video can rapidly create contention even on fiber. Unified Communication and Collaboration (UCC) is dramatically increasing traffic variance and branch-to-branch flows.

The number of service

Taj ElKhayat Regional Vice President, MEA Riverbed Technology

providers involved in the network and connected assets is exploding. Enterprises are going from one network service provider to multiple, one or more for MPLS, plus one or more for the Internet. Just like network services, SaaS and IaaS services need to managed and monitored.

The network has never been so heterogeneous and distributed. The complexity of configuration and change management of network elements has never been so high. Architectures built for the network as it was 10 years ago are rapidly losing relevance.

• Managing multiple WAN paths is becoming crucial but existing path selection mechanisms are not aware of the applications and of the underlying network, they cannot efficiently manage/hide their diversity.

• With local Internet breakouts, the security perimeter is

becoming distributed but existing solutions, including firewalls, Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS), Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS), Advanced Threat Protection (APT) that were designed for central locations are too costly to be distributed in the branches.

• Re-creating both a consistent and efficient security perimeter between on-premise assets, off-premise assets, on-premise users and off-premise users is nearly impossible with existing VPN solutions.

• QoS that was already difficult to manage becomes a nightmare to manage. Static policies are not able to follow the dynamics of usage, the traffic matrix is more meshed and complex.

• While network performance can be controlled and optimized on-premise, guaranteeing performance for mobile users and/or off-premise applications Awards Survey 2013

is extremely capabilities. While "Today, vendors are emerging with solutions to deliver challenging. some capabilities • Holistic visibility like optimization guaranteed application performance to the modern on the traffic are praised for users and workloads of the hybrid enterprise, by and the network their ease of use, applying the SDN principles to the WAN in the form of becomes a for years, control distributed problem capabilities like so called SD-WAN solutions." and requires more QoS, path selection instrumentation or VPN that the devices than ever. industry has delivered have • Dynamic tunnelingwith game-changing technology at • Managing SLAs delivered been a nightmare to manage. central control plane allowing the frontlines of the enterpriseby the multiple network Ideal SD-WAN management secure backhauling of branch branch offices, manufacturing service providers is getting consoles expose to the users traffic to the corporate sites, retail stores, consulting more complex. Visibility on the an intuitive interface and datacenter across the Internet. offices, and all the other tens, performance delivered by offmanagement plane based on • A simple interface to hundreds, or even thousands premise cloud service providers high level abstractions like zScaler or other cloud-based of remote locations where is a new problem without a applications, sites, uplinks or security services enabling local business must get done. For practical solution. networks that matches the way Internet breakouts without IT and business leaders, SDOver the past few years, a they see their IT environment. requiring further investment in WAN offers cost-effectiveness, novel architecture has emerged Ideal SD-WAN solutions shall on-premise Internet security agility, and levels of automation to solve similar problems at rely on a control plane designed appliances. that are essential when the data center level: Software to support intent based • Inbound QoS to manage local accommodating dynamic Defined Networking (SDN). SDN configuration that provides a Internet breakouts and protect business and application provides multiple benefits that translation of global parameters business Internet against surges requirements. can be summarized by having a into local policies. in recreational Internet.

While the market for an network that is able to support Thanks to SD-WAN, • Deep and wide visibility on SD-WAN solution begins to the most modern datacenter customers should be able to all assets interconnected by the grow, the requirements for workloads and create Opex and implement new, more efficient, SD-WAN with holistic visibility an excellent SD-WAN solution Capex savings at the same time. appear clearly: configuration and change on network usage, performance Today, vendors are management workflows that and integration with end-user • Optimization capabilities for emerging with solutions to make hybrid-networking experience monitoring of onon-premise and Cloud based deliver guaranteed application capabilities really usable. SDpremise and SaaS applications. applications like Office 365 or performance to the modern users Salesforce.com.

WAN has the potential to deliver In addition, a proper SDand workloads of the hybrid to the business, the performance WAN central management • A network and application enterprise, by applying the SDN and agility they need for console is one that marks the aware path selection capability principles to the WAN in the form to direct traffic on the business critical applications, start of an era of dramatic of so called SD-WAN solutions. while controlling and reducing improvement of manageability appropriate network (MPLS, SD-WAN is emerging as a network costs at the same time. and usability of control Internet…).

Riverbed acquires SD-WAN Provider Ocedo

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iverbed Technology announced the acquisition of Germany-based Ocedo, a leading provider of software-defined networking and SD-WAN (softwaredefined wide-area-network) solutions.

The acquisition furthers Riverbed’s strategy to deliver next-generation, software-defined networking solutions that provide superior application performance and business agility for today’s hybrid enterprises. The acquisition of the privately-held company will expand and accelerate Riverbed’s delivery of best-in-class SD-WAN

Awards Survey 2013

solutions to customers, while creating significant new growth opportunities for Riverbed and its partners.

“Ocedo is a compelling and strategic acquisition for Riverbed. Their innovative software-defined networking solutions perfectly complement our own strategic investments in R&D, expanding our position to aggressively compete in the emerging markets for softwaredefined networks and SD-WAN, bringing disruption to the multi-billion dollar branch router market,” said Jerry M. Kennelly, Riverbed Chairman and Chief

Executive Officer.

The SD-WAN market is expected to grow significantly in the next several years. An early pioneer in software-defined networking, Ocedo has developed an advanced softwaredefined branch office networking solution, with a portfolio of products that include secure gateways, wireless access points and switches, and an integrated cloud management system that enables zero-touch provisioning and centralized control of remote devices and network services.

February 2016 | 29

Insight | Pulse Secure

Brace for The Security of ‘Everything’ Abdul Rehman, Regional Manager, Pulse Secure discusses key trends that could influence the security landscape in the next few years

Abdul Rehman Regional Manager Pulse Secure

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here is no disputing the fact that 2015 wasn’t a great year for IT security. We saw a number of high profile breaches and this was also true for the Middle East. The rise of BYOD, Cloud, IoT and Virtualization have only added another layer of complexity when it comes to enterprise security.

As we head in to 2016, it is worth reflecting on some of the trends that will shape the security landscape for the next few years.

CASB is not a silver bullet Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) have gained some interest and serve a valid purpose but 2016 will see the shine wear off for some early adopters. The first issue is that it adds another disparate layer to the security management stack.

A layer that is, at least for the moment, not well integrated with the devices, workflows

30 | February 2016

and policies of the organisation.

The second issue is duplication; many of the functions offered

by CASB are already available in solutions already deployed and understood by the enterprise.

For green-field sites with no IT security infrastructure and complete reliance on cloud based apps, CASB shows potential but for the majority of enterprises that mix and match on-premise, hosted, cloud, offshelf and bespoke applications across multiple OS’ and devices; CASB, at least at this generation is more of a hindrance than a benefit.

freedom exposes. What started as employees wanting to use laptops with corporate apps has quickly spread to tablets, phones and in the future might include a lot more devices.

The rise of Bring-your-own“X” could mean that last letter will include apps and cloud resources that allow knowledge workers in particular to do more than the limits of corporate provided technology.

In 2016, expect employees to want to bring data into other areas like surveying tools, analytics and knowledgebases that are not directly in the control of corporate IT. Organizations need to be ready for this new wave of device demands and think about building platforms that can cope with the X factor.

The continued rise of BYOx

Embrace the amorphous perimeter

Now that bring-your-owndevice (BYOD) is firmly in the lexicon of most enterprises, 2016 and beyond will start to unlock far more potential as organizations start to fully appreciate both the benefits and perils that individual

We have reached the era of the amorphous perimeter where insight into who, what and the why of access is critical to enable successful and dynamic business processes.

The old notion of the firewall as the center has passed and

2016 onwards will be more about identity which will help build flexible access based on authenticating the user. This will not be at the expense of security which is enhanced by having more visibility.

Time for the Security of Things According to the analysts at IDC, the Internet of things will generate $7bn in revenue by 2020, a year in which telecoms firm Ericsson estimates that 25 billion devices will be connected. The larger impact to society is probably a much larger order of magnitude as transportation, energy and healthcare amongst an almost endless list gain benefits from connected devices. However, as more devices become exposed to open networks connected ultimately to the internet, security needs to be at the forefront of the revolution.

As witnessed in the history of IT, getting agreement on standards is a hard battle and IoT with its multiple and largely competing technology blocks is no exception. What is clear is that security technologies need to be transparent to the

Awards Survey 2013

user experience. Hopefully, 2016 onwards will see these competing groups at least agree on common security mechanisms, effectively a security-of-things coming together that can create some basic building blocks to mitigate risks and pave the way for wider adoption of IoT.

Building the new security stack There is a realization that the wave of new operating systems and devices arriving from the consumer space, with iOS and Android leading the charge, are here to stay in the corporate IT world. What started out as BYOD projects or in some cases ignored by formal IT has become a fundamental component of the landscape which cannot be ignored. This shift is forcing organizations to fundamentally redesign the

Awards Survey 2013

security stack. The old mindset of company owned and controlled devices created a desire for rigid device builds and software stacks, often underpinned by PKI and fixed VPN requirements. Instead of Identity Access Management (IAM) being viewed as a standalone asset, in the future, it will be joined by Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) as part of a coherent and seamless security stack.

Analyst firm Gartner predicts that by 2017, EMM integration will become a critical IAM requirement for 40 percent of enterprises, up from fewer than 5 percent in 2014. The new security stack also needs to take the cloud into account but the likelihood is that security systems will stay in-house as few organizations are willing to outsource control of the keys to the kingdom.

Switch to an identity and device based model Mobile access to IT is on the rise from using remote systems during customer visits to collaboration with partners; access to IT needs to be more flexible. What has gone from a physical, location centric activity is now shifting towards an Identity and device based security model.

Looking forward, more organizations are going to start to look at the security benefits offered by mobile devices that are generally tied to a single user. This requires acceptance that BYOD is more than just a fad and a slight shift in mindset that embraces rather than fights against more freedom of IT access. With all the very public security breaches at household names, users are actually more accepting of

security measures insisted upon by an IT department that make their personal/work devices more secure. Considering that human error is consistently a top root causes for security breaches, 2016 will see an increase in the number of very large organizations that start to mandate Enterprise Mobility Management across not just one device but every device that a user interacts with and can have an impact on the IT environment.

If we learned anything from 2015, it is clear that security can no longer be an after-thought or just another IT to do. While enterprises will continue to invest in the Cloud, IoT and Virtualization, the onus is on enterprises and IT teams to ensure that security does not get lost in the shuffle and if anything, actually is at the top of the priority list.

February 2016  |  31

EyeTech

Latitude 5000 Series

VB-M641VE

Overview: The newly refreshed Latitude 5000 Series is a fullyfeatured business-class notebook loaded with the new 6th generation Intel Quad Core processor for the highest level performance, plus industry-leading security and durability, all in a beautiful design. Available in both 14-inch (E5470) and 15-inch (E5570) form factors, the new Latitude is up to 27% thinner and up to 18% lighter than the previous generation, making it ideal for mobile professionals.

As Dell’s commercial customers expect, the new Latitude 5000 Series still touts the world’s most secure, manageable and reliable features as those of its predecessors, with improvements and enhancements Key features: • Built with enhanced carbon fiber reinforced polymer

materials for a thin and light design; with recycled excess carbon fiber used in each new Latitude 5000, reducing landfill waste • Added scalability in performance and features across screen sizes • 6th gen Intel Core vPro quad core processors • USB Type-C cable docking for quick and efficient

connectivity (Latitude 15 5000 Series quad core only) - a first for the Latitude line, with more to come early next year • Optional touch displays with Corning Gorilla Glass NBT • Ergonomic business-class ISO keyboard with backlit option • High density batteries for longer battery life (up to 17 hours on 15H with 84Whr battery) • Flexible connectivity for at-the-desk productivity with E-family docking or Dell Wireless dock and Intel Pro WiDi • Purpose-built accessories for on-the-go, such as the Dell Power Companion • Designed with Windows 10 in mind – fast, smooth and more secure • Backed by basic warranty and Dell ProSupport Plus for proactive and predictive automated support and accidental damage protection

32 | February 2016

Overview: The VB-M641VE Vandal Resistant Outdoor Fixed Dome Network Camera is both IP66 and IK10 rated, and is designed to provide extremely high-quality images in a range of environments and applications. The new infrared (IR) corrected Canon 2.4x Optical Zoom lens with its 111.5° angle of view incorporates Super-UD elements to help reduce chromatic aberrations and an anti-reflective infrared (IR) lens coating to help improve IR sensitivity and reduce ghosting and flaring in night mode. The cameras advanced optics, combined with a 1.3 megapixel high-sensitivity CMOS sensor and Canon's advanced DIGIC DV III Image Processor help to ensure exceptional image quality and low-light performance.

Key features: • IP66 Rated & IK10 Vandal Resistant Enclosure • Canon's Unique Remote Adjustment Function for Easy Post-Installation Changes to the Camera's Pan/Tilt/ Rotation Angles and Zoom • Canon 2.4x Optical Zoom Lens with 111.5° Angle of View • 1.3 Megapixel High-Sensitivity

CMOS Sensor with Exceptional Low-Light Performance • Advanced DIGIC DV III Image Processor to help Maximize Image Quality • Haze Compensation, Smart Shade Control and Auto Gain Control Limit

Awards Survey 2013

Smart store monitoring

XP40-Q1765

Overview: The role of the store has expanded from a location where a product is selected and purchased to a local distribution center, online pick-up and customer service location.

This creates new pressures on store managers and their teams to undertake new fulfillment activities while assuring top-level customer service.

Smart store monitoring powered by Software AG’s Digital Business Platform is critical for a digital business and integral to the store's role as the execution hub of the omni-channel fulfillment processes. Smart Store Monitoring provides retailers with real-time and predictive analysis capabilities in their ‘brick and mortar’ stores by enabling them to access, monitor and analyze large volumes of streaming data from in-store sensors and appsThe solution uses real-time analytics and reporting while connecting individual technologies at the store to monitor, direct and streamline in-store and merchandising activities.

Key features: • Retailors can now gain immediate, actionable insights into how their promotions are performing and exploit the full value of the Internet of Things.

• Understand what’s happening in your stores right now concerning traffic and sales • Enable store staff to improve customer service with visibility into store operations • Automate in-store actions based on specific situations

Overview: XP40-Q1765 Explosion-Protected PTZ Camera is an AXIS Q1765LE Camera (excl. IR LEDs and SD card, incl. wiper and support for washer, as well as pan/tilt) mounted inside an explosion protected stainless steel PTZ housing. The camera provides superb image quality and color fidelity, and offers Full HDTV 1080p resolution at 25/30 fps. With 18x optical zoom and autofocus, the camera is ideally suited for remote monitoring situations common in hazardous areas.

The camera features an electro-polished 316L stainless steel housing certified for hazardous areas according to, among others, ATEX and IECEx. The PTZ camera delivers 360º endless rotation with up to 45º/s pan speed and ±90° tilt with up to 24º/s tilt speed.

XP40-Q1765 is ideally suited for large area video surveillance monitoring in hazardous areas in critical infrastructure such as onshore, offshore and marine environments in the oil and gas industry. In addition, typical application areas are also dusty environments in other industries, for example, paper and textile industries, and grain handling.

Key features: • Certified for hazardous areas by Oxalis Group Ltd. by Eaton • Electro-polished 316L stainless steel housing • Full HDTV 1080p resolution • 18x zoom and autofocus • Two product versions, depending on temperature range needed • Continuous 360° pan, ±90° tilt

Awards Survey 2013

February 2016 | 33

Stats & Trends

EMEA Big Data Datacenter infrastructure market to triple

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DC has completed an indepth market sizing of the EMEA Big Data infrastructure market focusing on servers, storage, and cloud resources used for Big Data–related activities. These include value creation from merging different data sources, various analytics, log files, and metadata that help identify patterns and generate predictions.

IDC forecasts that Big Data– related server shipments will increase from 6% of all servers shipped in EMEA in 2015 to 16% by 2019, and server values from $1 billion in 2015 to $2.7 billion by 2019.

Big Data storage capacity share of new shipments is expected to reach 20 exabytes

by 2019, with a value of $2.7 billion.

According to our market sizing, 134,000 server units were shipped for Big Data purposes in 2015, and 764 petabytes of storage capacity deployed, with the majority being external storage.

While most current Big Data projects are starting off in companies' own datacenters, analytics workloads are increasingly being moved to the public cloud while sensitive data needs to remain on-premises in many cases for compliance reasons. IDC expects the public cloud infrastructure share of Big Data workloads to increase from 13% of server shipments in

2015 to 34% by 2019, and new storage capacity deployed on public cloud infrastructure to increase from 25% of Big Data workloads in 2015 to 55% by 2019. Most customers are expected to deploy some form of hybrid solution.

"Big Data and analytics have risen to the top of executives' and developers' agendas as the technology has evolved and mindsets are starting to change in organizations in EMEA," said Andreas Olah, senior research analyst, European Datacenters and Big Data, IDC. "The main challenge is not the data or its volume, but the ability to generate value from it.

Many customers are still at

the beginning of their journey and still don't know where to start. Others have high ambitions and clear ideas but are slowed down by increasing complexities and the lack of highly skilled data scientists and developers."

Big Data can no longer be ignored in European organizations in view of heightened competition from disruptive market entrants, Olah added. "While a lot of the focus is on choice of applications, it is crucial to get your infrastructure right to unlock and merge various data sources for value creation while avoiding running out of capacity or going over budget," he said.

Cloud email market shows traction

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he cloud email market is still in the early stages of adoption with 13 percent of identified publicly listed companies globally using one of the two main cloud email vendors, according to Gartner, Inc. A recent study by Gartner found that 8.5 percent of public companies in the sample use cloud email from Microsoft's Office 365 service, while 4.7 percent use Google Apps for Work. The remaining 87 percent of companies surveyed have on-premises, hybrid, hosted or private cloud email managed by smaller vendors.

These are the findings of a Gartner research study based on an automated examination of a large number of publicly

34 | February 2016

available email routing records. Gartner used the email server addresses in the domain records of nearly 40,000 public companies globally, to find out which ones point to cloud email services from Google or Microsoft.

"Although it is still early days for cloud email adoption, both Microsoft and Google have achieved significant traction among enterprises of different sizes, industries and geographies," said Nikos Drakos, research vice president at Gartner.

"Companies considering cloud email should question assumptions that public cloud email is not appropriate in their region, size or industry.

Our findings suggest that many varied organizations are already using cloud email, and the number is growing rapidly."

Among organizations using cloud email from Google and Microsoft, Microsoft is ahead in most industries, particularly in regulated industries including utilities, energy and aerospace. Google is ahead in industry segments with more competition and less regulation, such as software publishing, retail, advertising, media, education, consumer products, food and beverage, and travel.

"Among public companies using cloud-based email, Microsoft is more popular with larger organizations

and has more than an 80 percent share of companies using cloud email with revenue above $10 billion," said Jeffrey Mann, research vice president at Gartner.

"Google's popularity is better among smaller companies, approaching a 50 percent share of companies with revenue less than $50 million."

In some industries — such as travel and hospitality, professional services and consumer products — the highest usage levels are among the companies with the biggest revenue. More than a third of companies in these industries with revenue above $10 billion use cloud email from one of these two vendors.

Awards Survey 2013

Security Alliance

MANAGE

Your Users When They Are Out of Corporate Network Security Solution for Small Offices and Remote Users SECURITY

SIMPLICITY

Implementing of corporate on roaming laptops.

Traditional and dynamic real-time URL filtering.

Eliminates complex point solutions.

Forwarding traffic to the cloud is quick and simple.

Granular Web 2.0 controls - keep the good, block the bad.

The cloud can protect every device - desktop, laptop.

Dynamic approach to data leak prevention.

Allotting time quota and bandwidth quota to roaming users.

ADMINISTRATION & REPORTING

COST SAVING

Manage all users from a simple cloud based administration portal.

No appliances.

Simple yet comprehensive reporting at a company and individual level.

No buying excess capacity - cloud scales as you grow.

Ability to receive automated activity reports and abnormal activity alerts.

Multi-WAN Management

Complete Visibility

Zero Hour Protection

Data Leak Prevention

Pro-active Security

Cloud Security

Ap tec – an I n g ram M icro Compa ny P. O. Box 33550 Dubai Internet City, Dubai, UAE E-Mail: sdawda@aptecme.com

Tel.: (+971 4) 3697 111 Fax: (+971 4) 3697 110 www.apteconline.com

www.dlinkmea.com

The Harmony of Creativity and Crafts POSIFLEX World Leading Innovative POS

POSIFLEX Middle East & North Africa 17th Floor, Emirate National Tower, Business Bay, Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 (0) 4 551 5657 www.posiflexmena.com

info@posiflexmena.com