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WWW.CNMEONLINE.COM ISSUE 244 |MAY 2012

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EDITORIAL

Taking a risk

Sathya Mithra Ashok Senior Editor Talk to us: E-mail: sathya@cpidubai.com

Here  at  CNME  we  have  been  looking  for  people  to  join  our  team.

As  with  any  other  established  organisation,  our  hiring  process  is  quite  ™‡ŽŽ †‡Ď?‹Â?‡†Ǥ Â?…‡ ™‡ Šƒ˜‡ ‡•–ƒ„Ž‹•Š‡† –Š‡ ‡šƒ…– ’”‘Ď?‹Ž‡ –Šƒ– ™‡ Â?‡‡†ǥ ƒÂ?† –Š‡ ’ƒ”–‹…—Žƒ”• ‘ˆ –Š‡ Œ‘„ ”‘Ž‡ –Š‡ ’‡”•‘Â? ‹• ‡š’‡…–‡† –‘ Ď?‹ŽŽǥ ™‡ ƒ†˜‡”–‹•‡ –Š‡ ‘’‡Â?‹Â?‰ ‹Â? ƒ ˆ‡™ Œ‘„ •‹–‡• Č‚ „‘–Š ‹Â? –Š‡ ‹††Ž‡ ƒ•– ƒÂ?† ‘—–•‹†‡Ǥ We  then  wait  for  the  resumes  to  come  in,  sift  through  them  to  identify  –Š‡ ’‘–‡Â?Â–Â‹ÂƒÂŽÂ•ÇĄ •‡– —’ ‹Â?–‡”˜‹‡™• ƒÂ?† –Š‡Â? Š‘’‡ –Šƒ– ™‡ Ď?‹Â?† –Š‡ ”‹‰Š– ’‡”•‘Â? ˆ‘” –Š‡ Œ‘„Ǥ Š‡ ’”‘…‡•• ƒ’’‡ƒ”• •‹Â?’Ž‡ǥ „—– ‹– ‹• Â?‘–Ǥ Š‡ ‡Â?–‹”‡ ”‘—–‡ ‹• Ď?‹ŽŽ‡† ™‹–Š ’‹–ˆƒŽŽ•Ǥ ƒ”– ‘ˆ –Š‹• ‹• „‡…ƒ—•‡ ƒ ”‡•—Â?‡ Â?‡˜‡” ”‡Ď?Ž‡…–• –Š‡ –”—‡ Â?ƒ–—”‡ ‘ˆ ƒ ’‡”•‘Â?ǯ• …ƒ’ƒ„‹Ž‹–‹‡•Ǥ ‡ ‘” •Š‡ Â?‹‰Š– Šƒ˜‡ –Š‡ ”‹‰Š– …‘ŽŽ‡‰‡ †‡‰”‡‡• ƒÂ?† ‡˜‡Â? Â?‹‰Š– Šƒ˜‡ –Š‡ ƒ’’”‘’”‹ƒ–‡ ‡š’‡”‹‡Â?…‡ǥ „—– –Š‹• ‹• Â?‡˜‡” ƒ †‡’‡Â?†ƒ„Ž‡ Â?‡ƒ•—”‡ ‘ˆ Š‘™ ™‡ŽŽ –Š‡› ™‘—Ž† Ď?‹– ‹Â?–‘ ›‘—” •’‡…‹Ď?‹… ‘”‰ƒÂ?‹•ƒ–‹‘Â? ‘” Š‘™ –Š‡› ™‘—Ž† ’‡”ˆ‘”Â? —Â?†‡” –Š‡ †—”‡•• ‘ˆ –Š‡ Œ‘„ ‹Â? ’ƒ”–‹…—Žƒ”Ǥ Â?† –Š‡ •‡…‘Â?† ’ƒ”– ‹• …Ž‘•‡Ž› Ž‹Â?Â?‡† ™‹–Š –Š‹•Ǥ ƒ…Š ‘”‰ƒÂ?‹•ƒ–‹‘Â?ǯ• ”‡“—‹”‡Â?‡Â?–• ˆ”‘Â? ƒ …ƒÂ?†‹†ƒ–‡ ƒ”‡ •‘ ˜ƒ•–Ž› †‹ˆˆ‡”‡Â?– –Šƒ– –Š‡ ’”‘…‡•• –‘ ‡Â?•—”‡ ƒ ’‡”•‘Â? Ď?‹–• –Šƒ– †‡Ď?‹Â?‹–‹‘Â? ‹•ǥ „› ‹–• ˜‡”› Â?ÂƒÂ–Â—Â”Â‡ÇĄ Ď?Žƒ™‡†Ǥ Š‹• ‹• ‡•’‡…‹ƒŽŽ› •‘ ™Š‡Â? ›‘— ƒ”‡ –”›‹Â?‰ –‘ Š‹”‡ •‘Â?‡‘Â?‡ ˆ”‘Â? ‘—–•‹†‡ –Š‡ …‘—Â?–”›Ǥ ‡– Â?‡ ‰‹˜‡ ›‘— –Š‡ ‡šƒÂ?’Ž‡Ǥ ‡ ƒ”‡ ƒ ‰”‘™‹Â?‰ǥ †›Â?ƒÂ?‹… publication,  with  multiple  projects  taking  place  simultaneously  at  any  point  ‹Â? –‹Â?‡Ǥ —” •–ƒˆˆ Žƒ”‰‡Ž› …‘Â?•‹•–• ‘ˆ ƒ ›‘—Â?‰ •‡– ‘ˆ ’‡‘’Ž‡ Č‚ ƒŽÂ?‘•– ƒŽŽ —Â?†‡” the  age  of  40  –  who  work  with  passion  and  are  dedicated  to  the  tasks  at  ŠƒÂ?†Ǥ ‘Â?•‹†‡”‹Â?‰ –Šƒ– ™‡ ˆ‘ŽŽ‘™ –Š‡ ‹††Ž‡ ƒ•– ’”‹Â?…‹’Ž‡ ‘ˆ ‘’‡”ƒ–‹Â?‰ with  lean  teams,  this  means  that  most  of  us  work  late,  spend  an  unusual  ƒÂ?‘—Â?– ‘ˆ –‹Â?‡ ‹Â? –Š‡ ‘ˆĎ?‹…‡ǥ ƒÂ?† Šƒ˜‡ Â?‘ ™‘”Â?ÇŚÂŽÂ‹ÂˆÂ‡ „ƒŽƒÂ?…‡ –‘ •’‡ƒÂ? ‘ˆǤ —Â?ƒÂ? ”‡•‘—”…‡ ”‡Žƒ–‡† †‹•ƒ†˜ƒÂ?–ƒ‰‡• ÂƒÂ•Â‹Â†Â‡ÇĄ –Š‹• Â?‡ƒÂ?• –Šƒ– ™Š‡Â? ™‡ ƒ”‡ Š‹”‹Â?‰ ™‡ Šƒ˜‡ –‘ Ž‘‘Â? ˆ‘” ’‡‘’Ž‡ ™Š‘ Šƒ˜‡ –Š‡ •ƒÂ?‡ ÂƒÂ–Â–Â‹Â–Â—Â†Â‡ÇĄ ‘” ƒ”‡ Ž‹Â?‡Ž› –‘ ƒ†ƒ’– –‘ –Š‡ Â?‘‘† ƒÂ?† ”‡“—‹”‡Â?‡Â?–• ‘ˆ –Š‡ ™‘”Â?’Žƒ…‡ –Š‡ „‡•–Ǥ Â?† Â–ÂŠÂƒÂ–ÇĄ Â?› ˆ”‹‡Â?†•ǥ ‹• ‡š–”‡Â?‡Ž› †‹ˆĎ?‹…—Ž– –‘ ƒ•…‡”–ƒ‹Â? ‘˜‡” ƒ Ž‘Â?‰ †‹•–ƒÂ?…‡ Â…ÂƒÂŽÂŽÇĄ ƒÂ?† ƒ ™”‹–‹Â?‰ ƒ••‹‰Â?Â?‡Â?–Ǥ

ƒÂ? •—”‡ –Š‡ †‹ˆĎ?‹…—Ž–‹‡• ‹Â? Š‹”‹Â?‰ ƒ”‡ ”‡Ď?Ž‡…–‡† ‹Â? –‡ƒÂ?• ƒ…”‘•• –Š‡ ”‡‰‹‘Â? ĥ ™‡ŽŽǤ ‘•– • •–‹ŽŽ Š‹”‡ ƒ Š—‰‡ Â?—Â?„‡” ‘ˆ –Š‡‹” •–ƒˆˆ ˆ”‘Â? ‘—–•‹†‡ –Š‡ …‘—Â?–”›Ǥ Š‹• ‹• Žƒ”‰‡Ž› †—‡ –‘ –Š‡ …‘•– ƒ†˜ƒÂ?–ƒ‰‡• –Šƒ– •—…Š Š‹”‡• …ƒÂ? Â’Â”Â‘Â˜Â‹Â†Â‡ÇĄ ƒÂ?† ƒŽ•‘ –Š‡ ˆƒ…– –Šƒ– ’‡‘’Ž‡ Â?‡™ –‘ –Š‡ ”‡‰‹‘Â? …ƒÂ? „‡ ÇŽÂ?‘—Ž†‡†ǯ ˆƒ” ‡ƒ•‹‡”Ǥ ˆ …‘—”•‡ǥ –Š‹• ƒŽ•‘ Â?‡ƒÂ?• –Šƒ– –Š‡› ™‘—Ž† ”‡“—‹”‡ Â?‘”‡ ŠƒÂ?†nj holding  and  training  in  the  initial  weeks,  but  in  the  long  run  this  initial  ‹Â?˜‡•–Â?‡Â?– …ƒÂ? ’ƒ› ‘ˆˆ ™‹–Š Ž‘Â?‰nj–‡”Â? Ž‘›ƒŽ–› ƒÂ?† Ž‡•• •–ƒˆˆ –—”Â?‘˜‡”Ǥ Â‘Â™Â‡Â˜Â‡Â”ÇĄ ™Š‡Â? Š‹”‹Â?‰ ˆ”‘Â? ÂƒÂ„Â”Â‘ÂƒÂ†ÇĄ ƒ’ƒ”– ˆ”‘Â? ƒ ˆ‡™ ”‡ˆ‡”‡Â?…‡• ƒÂ?† Â?ƒ›„‡ ƒ –‡Ž‡’Š‘Â?‡ Â…ÂƒÂŽÂŽÇĄ –Š‡ Šƒ• Ž‹––Ž‡ –‘ ‰‘ ‘Â?Ǥ – ‹• ƒ Š—‰‡ ”‹•Â? ˆ‘” Â?‘•– organisations,  and  one  that  could  either  pay  off  or  end  up  being  a  decision  –Šƒ– –Š‡› ”‡‰”‡– ‡Â?‘—‰Š –‘ ŠƒÂ?’‡” ˆ—”–Š‡” Š‹”‹Â?‰ ˆ”‘Â? „‡›‘Â?† •Š‘”‡•Ǥ Unfortunately,  there  is  nary  a  foolproof  process  around  to  ensure  that  future  organisational  disappointments  can  be  controlled  or  done  away  ™‹–Š ‡Â?–‹”‡Ž›Ǥ • –”ƒ‹Â?‡† •–ƒˆˆ ”‡Â?ƒ‹Â? ‘Â? ƒ ’”‡Â?‹—Â? ‹Â? –Š‡ ”‡‰‹‘Â?ÇĄ Â?‘•– • Šƒ˜‡ no  option  but  to  keep  hiring  from  outside,  and  often  trust  their  instincts  to  Ď?‹Â?† –Š‡ ”‹‰Š– ’‡”•‘Â? ƒÂ?‘Â?‰ –Š‡ Â?ƒÂ?› –Šƒ– Â?‹‰Š– „‡ ‹Â?–‡”‡•–‡†Ǥ • ˆ‘” ÇĄ ™‡ ƒ”‡ •–‹ŽŽ ‰‘‹Â?‰ –Š”‘—‰Š ‘—” •‡– ‘ˆ ‹Â?–‡”˜‹‡™•Ǥ ƒ–…Š –Š‹• •’ƒ…‡ –‘ Â?Â?‘™ Š‘™ ™‡ŽŽ ™‡ †‹† ™‹–Š ‘—” Â?‡™ Š‹”‡Ǥ Do  you  think  CIOs  and  IT  teams  can  enforce  different  procedures  in  order  to  ensure  a  more  reliable  rate  of  success  from  their  recruitment  process?  If  so,  let  me  know  at  sathya@cpidubai.com.

Publisher Dominic De Sousa Group COO Nadeem Hood Managing Director Richard Judd richard@cpidubai.com +971 4 4409126 EDITORIAL Senior Editor Sathya Mithra Ashok sathya@cpidubai.com +971 4 4409111 Senior Editor Jeevan Thankappan jeevan@cpidubai.com +971 4 4409109 Assistant Editor Pallavi Sharma pallavi@cpidubai.com +971 4 4409103 Sub Editor Ben Rossi benr@cpidubai.com +971 4 4409114 ADVERTISING Commercial Director Rajashree R Kumar raj@cpidubai.com +971 4 4409131 CIRCULATION Database and Circulation Manager Rajeesh M rajeesh@cpidubai.com +971 4 4409147 PRODUCTION AND DESIGN Production Manager James P Tharian james@cpidubai.com +971 4 4409146 Art Director Kamil Roxas kamil@cpidubai.com +971 4 4409112 Designer Analou Balbero analou@cpidubai.com +971 4 4409104 Photographer Cris Mejorada cris@cpidubai.com +971 4 4409108

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EDITORIAL Our events

The future of security

Jeevan Thanpakkan Senior Editor Talk to us: E-mail: jeevan@cpidubai.com

Last month, I’d the opportunity to moderate a panel discussion at our Security Strategist event. ϐ ǡ Ǧ Ǥ ǡ breed of threats, which is more malicious, sophisticated and targeted. ϐ Ǥ panellists agreed that we need a completely different security architecture, ϐ Ǥ ǯ Ǥ along, the focus has been on processes and technologies, with little attention ǡ ± Ǥ spend a fortune on security products and solutions, but precious little has Ǥ ϐ crafted security policies if your employees are still writing down passwords?

As one of the panellists noted, the new perimeter is the human being and it’s time for IT decision makers to take the lead and crate the culture of security in Ǥ Ȃ Ǥ

Ǥ Ǥ in point is Microsoft, which has recently announced that it is looking to share Ǧ Ǥ ǡ ǡ ǯ information on dangerous threats to organisations ranging from business Ǥ ǡ Ǥ ǡ good idea for enterprises to also share their security threat information and Ǥ

Our online platforms

STRATEGIC ICT PARTNER

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Contents ISSUE 244 | MAY 2012

ANALYSIS 8

Line of defense

ǡ ǡ ϐ the region to discuss some of the pressing security challenges facing Ǥ

12

Data in the cloud

ϐ Ǥ ǡ Ǥ ǡ ǡ Ǥ

14

Video for the enterprise

ϐ Ǥ ǡ YouTube also has great potential as a business tool for enterprises,

ǡ Ǥ

26

Fast recovery ȋ Ȍ Ǧ

Ǥ

16

A hedge action

ǯ Ǥ

18

Round-up

NETWORK WORLD

Ǧ Ǥ

46

Making the leap

ͶͲȀͳͲͲ ǡ Ǥ

CASE STUDY 30

Strategy from scratch

48

Eliminating inefficiencies

ʹͲͲͻǡ ͳ͹ Ȃ

Ǯ ǯǤ

ǯ ȋ Ȍ ǡ ǡ Ǧ ǡ Ǥ

SOLUTIONS WORLD

STORAGE ADVISOR

38

Getting Trends-as-a-Service

54

Gain with intelligence

There has been a momentum of shift towards management software in recent years, particularly as companies attempt to get to grips with Ǥ ǡ ǫ Ǥ

ǡ intelligence from analysing the data and then pump it back into the ǫ

Ǥ

6

Computer News Middle East

MAY 2012

www.cnmeonline.com

Strategic ICT Partner

Strategic IT Transformation and Big Data Partner

Strategic IT Networking Partner

Strategic IT Storage Partner

Our Strategic Partners

SECURITY ADVISOR 62

Virtually secure

ϐ ȋ ȌǤ ǡ Ǥ

ǡ Ǥ

TELECOMS WORLD 70

This bill is for you

ǡ

Ǥ

72

Wi-Fi, small cells could disrupt mobile

The new network gear may open doors for equipment makers and Ǥ

INTEGRATION ADVISOR 76

Choice partner

Ǥ ǯ Ǥ

CAREERS ADVISOR 84

Focus on research

Ǧ

Ǥ

INTERVIEW 90

Aim for transformation

ǡ

ǡ ϐ Ǥ

96

A delicate balance

ϐ ǡ ǯ

ǡ ϐ Ǥ ǡ Ƭ ǡ

ǡ ǡ ϐ Ǥ

LAST WORD 98 ǡ ǯ ǡ Ǥ

www.cnmeonline.com

MAY 2012

Computer News Middle East

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EVENTS Security Strategist 2012

LINE OF DEFENCE The third edition of Security Strategist, organised

by CNME, rallied together the information security officers and industry experts from the region to discuss some of the pressing security challenges facing the regional businesses.

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www.cnmeonline.com

H

Ǧ ϐ a security blueprint for the enterprise-­‐ the event addressed the growing risks of information security and how best to address the challenges of new technology opportunities such as cloud, mobility and social networking.

protect at more points against more threat

ϐ

ǯ Ǥ

ǡ Architect with Etisalat, who spoke about securing the information and

the threat landscape before prioritising Ǥ

Ǥ Dz Ǧ

Ǥ more sophisticated and they are using Ǥ engineering is now the number one threat

Ǥdz Abdella added that today’s security

persistent threats and the system needs Ǥ Dz and you need a combination of continuous monitoring, user authentication and Ǥdz Kamran Ahsan, head of information security at Injazat Data systems, echoed ǡ Ȃ ǡ Ǥ

“You should evaluate the threat landscape before prioritising treatment strategy.

Businesses should ask themselves if they do really know where the sensitive information resides and how to protect it.”

- Reham Sami, Solutions Architect, Etisalat Enterprise Business Dz

ǡ Ȃ ʹ͵Ψ Ȃ Ǥ

simple controls and businesses should ask

ǡdz Ǥ

ϐ ϐ ǡ ϐ ϐ Ǥ Ahmed Abdella, regional director of ǡ in a digital world, and pointed out there has been a shift in paradigm in the digital

ǯ

through prudent application of basic to Ǥ Ǧ

especially in light of challenges associated ǡ ǡ Ǥ Arun George, regional manager at ǡ

security and urged the user community to take a risk based approach and think like ǡ Ǥ “There are four stages in the lifecycle of Ȃ ǡ ǡ Ǥ

www.cnmeonline.com

“Social engineering is now the number one threat vector and the new perimeter is the human being.”

- Ahmed Abdella, Regional Director of RSA ϐ ǡ Ǥ ϐ ǡdz Ǥ

the dominant themes in the security world Ȃ ǡ ȋ ȌǤ ǡ strategic security consulting at help AG, tackled this topic and said there is no right Ǥ Dz ϐ

Ǥ Ǧ ϐ Ǥ ǡ

Ǥ ǡ

Ǥdz

“You should take a riskbased approach and think like your adversaries. Being proactive is definitely better than being reactive.”

- Arun George, Regional Manager, HP Enterprise Security Products

MAY 2012

Computer News Middle East

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EVENTS Security Strategist 2012

Š‡ ƒ††‡† –Šƒ– ‘”‰ƒÂ?‹•ƒ–‹‘Â?• •Š‘—Ž† choose  what  suits  them  and  risk  management  –Šƒ– ™‹ŽŽ ‡˜‡Â?–—ƒŽŽ› ”‡•—Ž– ‹Â? ƒ •‡– ‘ˆ …‘Â?–”‘Ž• –‘ Â?‡‡’ –Š‡ ”‹•Â?• —Â?†‡” …‘Â?–”‘ŽǤ Š‡ ’‘•–njŽ—Â?…Š •‡••‹‘Â? ˆ‡ƒ–—”‡† presentations  from  some  of  the  prominent Â

• ‹Â? –Š‡ ”‡‰‹‘Â? ‹Â?…Ž—†‹Â?‰ ƒ”‹’”ƒ•ƒ† Š‡†‡ǥ ‘ˆ ƒ–‹‘Â?ƒŽ ƒÂ?Â? ‘ˆ Â—ÂŒÂƒÂ‹Â”ÂƒÂŠÇĄ who  spoke  about  information  risk  Â?ƒÂ?ƒ‰‡Â?‡Â?– ˆ”‘Â? –Š‡ Š—Â?ƒÂ? ’‡”•’‡…–‹˜‡Ǥ

“Autonomy, mastery and purposes are the three key things which will help us manage the right security culture in the workplace.�

- Hariprasad Chede, CISO, National Bank of Fujairah Dz ÂŽÂŽ „—•‹Â?‡••‡• •Š‘—Ž† Šƒ˜‡ ‰‘‘† •‡…—”‹–› …‘Â?–”‘Ž• ƒÂ?† ’”‘…‡•• …‘Â?–”‘Ž•Ǥ —–‘Â?‘Â?›ǥ mastery  and  purposes  are  the  three  key  things  which  will  help  us  manage  the  right  •‡…—”‹–› …—Ž–—”‡ ‹Â? –Š‡ ™‘”Â?Â’ÂŽÂƒÂ…Â‡Ç¤Çł ‡ ”‡…‘Â?Â?‡Â?†‡† „—•‹Â?‡••‡• –‘ Šƒ˜‡ constant  user  awareness  training  to  change  the  culture  of  people  and  said  organisations  •Š‘—Ž† Â?‘˜‡ ’‡‘’Ž‡ ˆ”‘Â? …‘Â?’Ž‹ƒÂ?…‡ –‘ ‡Â?‰ƒ‰‡Â?‡Â?– ƒÂ?† …”‡ƒ–‡ ƒÂ? ‡Â?˜‹”‘Â?Â?‡Â?– ˆ‘” –Š‡ —”‰‡ –‘ †‘ „‡––‡”Ǥ Â?‘–Š‡” ‡Â?†nj—•‡” ’”‡•‡Â?–ƒ–‹‘Â? ‘ˆ Â?‘–‡ ™ƒ• ˆ”‘Â? ŠÂ?‡† ÂƒÂ‹Â‰ÇĄ ‘ˆ „— Šƒ„‹

‘˜‡”Â?Â?‡Â?– Â?–‹–›ǥ ™Š‘ •’‘Â?‡ ƒ„‘—– –Š‡ security  challenges  of  mobility  and  cloud  …‘Â?’—–‹Â?‰ ‹Â? ‰‘˜‡”Â?Â?‡Â?–Ǥ Dz Š‡ „‹‰‰‡•– challenge  most  of  us  face  is  the  concept  of  „”‹Â?‰ ›‘—” ‘™Â? †‡˜‹…‡Ǥ ‘„‹Ž‡ …‘Â?’—–‹Â?‰ should  only  be  allowed  in  companies  ™‹–Š †—‡ †‹Ž‹‰‡Â?…‡Ǥ Ž‘– ‘ˆ ‘”‰ƒÂ?‹•ƒ–‹‘Â?• don't  look  into  the  data  when  they  look  ƒ– ‹Â?ˆ‘”Â?ƒ–‹‘Â? •‡…—”‹–›Ǥ Š‹• ‹• ƒ …‘Â?Â?‘Â? Â?‹•–ƒÂ?‡Ǥ Â?† ƒ Ž‘– ‘ˆ …‘Â?’ƒÂ?‹‡• •–‹ŽŽ Šƒ˜‡ ”‡•‡”˜ƒ–‹‘Â?• ™‹–Š Â?ƒÂ?ƒ‰‡† •‡”˜‹…‡• ƒÂ?† Š‘•–‹Â?‰ •‡”˜‹…‡• Â‘ÂˆÂˆÇŚÂ’Â”Â‡Â?‹•‡ǥdz Š‡ ƒ††‡†Ǥ Š‡ ‡…—”‹–› –”ƒ–‡‰‹•– ‡˜‡Â?– ƒŽ•‘ featured  a  panel  discussion  on  the  need  to  ”‡–Š‹Â?Â? ‹Â?ˆ‘”Â?ƒ–‹‘Â? •‡…—”‹–› ‹Â? –Š‡ …‘Â?–‡š– ‘ˆ …ŠƒÂ?‰‹Â?‰ –Š”‡ƒ– ŽƒÂ?†•…ƒ’‡Ǥ Š‡ ’ƒÂ?‡Ž agreed  the  new  type  of  threats  call  for  a  completely  new  way  of  thinking  and  a  security  architecture  that  is  more  dynamic  ƒÂ?† Ď?Ž‡š‹„Ž‡Ǥ The  panel  also  debated  the  ways  to  bolster  security  with  a  special  emphasis  on  user  training  and  awareness,  which  is  •‘”‡Ž› Žƒ…Â?‹Â?‰ ‹Â? –Š‡ ”‡‰‹‘Â?Ǥ Â?‘–Š‡” –‘’‹… of  discussion  was  the  rise  in  the  number  ‘ˆ • ‹Â? –Š‡ ”‡‰‹‘Â? ƒÂ?† –Š‡‹” ”‘Ž‡• ‹Â? •–‡Â?Â?‹Â?‰ –Š‡ ”‹•‹Â?‰ –‹†‡ ‘ˆ †ƒ–ƒ Ž‘••Ǥ –Š‡” •’‡ƒÂ?‡”• ƒ– –Š‡ ‡˜‡Â?– ‹Â?…Ž—†‡† ”Ǥ Ihab  Ali,  security  practice  lead  at  Dell,  who  •ƒ‹† Š‹• …‘Â?’ƒÂ?› Ď?‹Ž–‡”• ͜Ǥ͡ –”‹ŽŽ‹‘Â? ‡˜‡Â?–• ˆ‘” …—•–‘Â?‡”• ‡˜‡”› ›‡ƒ” ƒÂ?† ƒ”‘—Â?† ͳ͚͡ „‹ŽŽ‹‘Â? •‡…—”‹–› ‡˜‡Â?–•Ǥ ‡ŽŽǥ Š‡ …Žƒ‹Â?‡†ǥ †‡–‡…–• Íš Â?‹ŽŽ‹‘Â? ƒ††”‡••‡• ‘ˆ Šƒ…Â?‡”• ‡˜‡”› ›‡ƒ”Ǥ Š”‹•–‹ƒÂ? ‡™‹––ǥ •‡Â?‹‘” –‡…ŠÂ?‘Ž‘‰› …‘Â?•—Ž–ƒÂ?– ƒ– ÇĄ Š‡Ž† ƒ ™‘”Â?•Š‘’ ˆ‘”

• ‘Â? ‡ ÇĄ ƒÂ?† •ƒ‹† …‘Â?’ƒÂ?‹‡• Â?‡‡† –‘ Šƒ˜‡ ƒ ”‡ƒŽŽ› •–”‘Â?‰ ‰‘˜‡”Â?ƒÂ?…‡ •–”—…–—”‡ and  to  bring  a  lot  of  threat  intelligence Â

“Measuring compliance can be difficult because it involves getting the feedback from all elements in the IT infrastructure, relating events to applicable policies and procedures, and being able to bring logs and reports from different sources together.�

- Dr Angelika Plate, Director of Strategic Security Consulting, help AG 10

Computer  News  Middle  East

MAY 2012

www.cnmeonline.com

“We need to rethink IS strategies in the wake of challenges associated with cloud computing, virtualisation, mobility and critical infrastructure protection.�

- Kamran Ahsan, Head of Information Security at Injazat Data systems

‹Â?–‘ ’Žƒ›Ǥ Dz ‡ •‡‡ ƒ Š—‰‡ ‹••—‡ ™‹–Š ’‘Ž‹…› management  in  organisations  and  lots  of  ’‘Ž‹…› ‹Â?ˆ‘”Â?ƒ–‹‘Â? ‹• •…ƒ––‡”‡† ƒŽŽ ‘˜‡” –Š‡ ’Žƒ…‡Ǥ Šƒ• „‡‡Â? ƒ ‰‘‘† •–ƒ”– „—– ‹– Â–Â‘Â†ÂƒÂ›ĚľÂ• ™‘”Ž† –Š”‡ƒ–• ƒ”‡ †›Â?ƒÂ?‹… ƒÂ?† Šƒ˜‡ Â?‡˜‡” „‡‡Â? •‡‡Â? „‡ˆ‘”‡Ǥ ”ƒ†‹–‹‘Â?ƒŽ ‹• Â?‘– ‡Â?‘—‰Š ƒÂ?† ‹– Â?‡‡†• –‘ …ŠƒÂ?‰‡ǥdz Š‡ ƒ††‡†Ǥ

“The biggest challenge most of us face is the concept of bring your own device. Mobile computing should only be allowed in companies with due diligence.�

- Ahmed Baig, CISO, Abu Dhabi Government Entity ‡…—”‹–› –”ƒ–‡‰‹•– ʹͲͳʹ ™ƒ• •’‘Â?•‘”‡† „› Â–Â‹Â•ÂƒÂŽÂƒÂ–ÇĄ ÇĄ Â˜ÂƒÂ›ÂƒÇĄ ƒÂ?† ‡ŽŽ Č‹Â•Â–Â”ÂƒÂ–Â‡Â‰Â‹Â… ’ƒ”–Â?Â‡Â”Â•ČŒÇ˘ ÇĄ Š‡Ž’ ÇĄ ƒÂ?Œ‰‡Ž ‘Ž—–‹‘Â?•ǥ ÇĄ Â?Œƒœƒ– ƒ–ƒ ›•–‡Â?•ǥ Â™Â‹Â˜Â‡ÂŽÇĄ ’–‹Â?—• ‡…ŠÂ?‘Ž‘‰› ĆŹ ‡Ž‡…‘Â? ƒÂ?† ‹–†‡ˆ‡Â?†‡” Č‹Â‡Â˜Â‡Â?– ’ƒ”–Â?Â‡Â”Â•ČŒÇ˘ ƒÂ?† –‘Â?‡•‘ˆ– ƒÂ?†

Č‹Â…ÂƒÂ–Â‡Â‰Â‘Â”Â› •’‘Â?Â•Â‘Â”Â•ČŒÇ¤

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ANALYSIS Big data

Data in the cloud Cloud and big data are two big trends influencing the current business landscape. However, they have yet to have been spoken of as a service together. Andrew Sutherland, senior VP of technology at Oracle EMEA, anticipates big data to be offered as a cloud service in the near future.

O

racle were talking big data in Naples, Italy where Oracle Racing were competing to defend Team USA’s America’s Cup trophy. The software giant previewed the new AC72 catamaran, ϐ sailing boat to allow onboard data analysis to make tactical decisions. ǡ ǯ data and in particular its big data appliance, Ǥ ǯ ǡ whilst a physical appliance is the best

12

Computer News Middle East

MAY 2012

ǡ Ǥ Dz

Ǥ Ǥ ϐ ϐ

Ǥ

ǡdz Ǥ

years ahead big data will change from something that companies should be ǡ

comes from how the data is analysed and Ǥ

www.cnmeonline.com

“I think what we are going to see links to Ǥ some oil out there but you’ll start to see a Ǥ didn’t think they could use certain data will ǡ Ǧ ǡdz Ǥ “Then they’ll start instrumenting more of Ǥ and integration between multiple sources will ϐ Ǥ Ǧ Ǥ ǡdz Ǥ

of social media leaders like Twitter and

ǡ

ǡ Ǥ

networks offering basic analytics tools and ϐ answering personalised questions, which Ǥ “What big data offers you is a playground Ǥ you can not only collect and take in all the Ǧ actually start asking and getting answers Ǥ ǡdz Ǥ Uptake When it comes to the uptake of big data tools,

Ǥ ǡ

ǡ something that has mainly been capitalised Ǥ ǡ companies of all sizes should be looking into

Ǥ “There is actually quite a lot of big data in the public domain that can be brought in and analysed, so a company doesn’t necessarily

ǡdz Ǥ Dz

would be surprised with how much big data ǯ Ǥ

ǯ

Andrew Sutherland, senior VP of technology at Oracle EMEA

ǡdz Ǥ

useful tool that any company can utilise ϐ ǡ Ǥ “There may well be comments on Ǥ are tools that can be set up to see what the sentiment is about an organisation or Ǥ ϐ ǡdz Ǥ Despite many IT managers recognising ϐ ǡ

Ǥ Dz ϐ Ǥ about the technical hurdles and what tools

Cloud will release big data to the mass markets. A lot of people who find it difficult to purchase their own equipment will have access to big data through the cloud. So I do see in the future big data offered as a cloud service.” www.cnmeonline.com

we should be using, but the most important question to management is always going to ǡ ϐ ǫdz Ǥ Dz

ϐ your organisation and partly through the ǯ Ǥ ǯ

Ǥ

ǯ ǡdz Ǥ

particular models IT managers can show to management to demonstrate ways of ϐ Ǥ Dz Ǧ Ǧ Ǥ ǯ

ǡdz Ǥ Dz

big data itself – it’s going to depend so much Ǥ Ǥ We are starting to see common industry

Ǥ ǡdz Ǥ

MAY 2012

Computer News Middle East

13

ANALYSIS YouTube

Video for the enterprise Much has been spoken of the benefits of using Facebook and Twitter for a company to reap the rewards of the social revolution. However, YouTube also has great potential as a business tool for enterprises, according to Matthew Glotzbach, MD at YouTube EMEA.

M

any people see YouTube as a place to watch funny videos or listen to music, but Glotzbach says the website, which is owned by Google, is a powerful medium for a company to engage with its audience. Dz ϐ type of enterprise, but creating a channel and Ȃ your products but to engage your audience – ϐ ǡdz Ǥ Glotzbach goes as far as saying

Dz dz

Ǥ “You can make the parallels to the Ǥ

ͳͲ ǡ you needed people who understood the ǡ Ǥ ǯ

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Computer News Middle East

MAY 2012

Ȃ ǡdz Ǥ Dz ǡ ǡ Ǥ ǡ ǡ ǯ not really embracing the platform in terms Ǧ ǡ which is where you’ll see the most business ǡdz Ǥ Glotzbach especially emphasises the Ǥ

Ǥ Ǥ Ȃ Ȃ ʹʹ ϐ ϐ Ǥ Ǥ Ǥ

Ǥ Dz ǯ Ǧ ǡ ϐ

www.cnmeonline.com

ǡdz Ǥ A later phase, of which the data has not been announced, will see the local Ǯ Ǧ ǯ Ȃ Ȃ Ǯ ǯ Ȃ

Ǥ Dz ϐ Ȃ Ǥ Ǥ

ǡdz Ǥ ͳ͸͹ Ȃ ͳʹͲΨ Ǥ “YouTube in the region is phenomenally Ȃ

Ǥ is just tremendous, it has continued to ǡdz Ǥ Dz ǯ Ǥ ǯ

platform – and YouTube is at the centre of ǡdz

Ǥ Dz ǯ Ǥ ǯ ǯ ǯ ǡdz Ǥ

ǡ ͺͲͲ

͸Ͳ Ǥ ͸ͲͲ ǡ ͹ͲͲ

͵ͲͲ Ǥ

ANALYSIS WYSE Acquisition

A hedge action Analysts believe that Dell’s recent announcement to acquire Wyse Technology is a move to hedge against slowing PC sales.

16

Computer News Middle East

MAY 2012

www.cnmeonline.com

D

ell’s plan to buy Wyse Technology is an effort to boost its client hardware portfolio and protect the company from the effects of the recent slowdown in PC sales, according to analysts. Ǧ

Ǧ Ǥ ǡ client portfolio not only to keep enterprise customers engaged, but also to catch up Ǧ ǡ Ǥ

Ǧ

ǡ ǡ channel and intellectual property, said Jeff ǡ ǯ ǡ Ǧ ǡ Ǥ Wyse’s thin clients run on the proprietary ǡ ǡ and the company also offers a software stack ǡ Ǥ now resold Wyse technology, and also offers

Ǥ Dz computing is a trend that we see many

ǡ Ǥ

ǡ ǡdz Ǥ

is growing at a rate somewhat similar to ǡ Ǥ

ǡ ϐ ǡ and management rules are especially strict, Ǥ “I would emphasise we don’t see the entire world going to thin clients, we still ǯ Ǥ ǯ computing that allows people to take ǡ

Jeff Clarke, Dell’s vice chairman and president, global operations and end-user computing solutions

ǡdz Ǥ Wyse was once a competitor with Dell, Dz dz Ǧ ǡ said Tom Mainelli, research director for

Ǥ

Wyse’s website, though a webpage on Google cache still shows Wyse using the logo as a way to Ǧ Ǥ

the last few years and has taken on a more Ǧ ǡ Ǥ

ǡ ϐ Ǥ

Wyse’s thin clients run on the proprietary ThinOS, Linux and embedded Windows OSes, and the company also offers a software stack compatible with Microsoft, VMware and Citrix virtualised environments.

Dell until now resold Wyse technology, and also offers virtual desktop options throughpartnerships with companies like Desktone.

www.cnmeonline.com

“I would argue that Dell is buying Wyse because Dell has been traditionally weak in Ǧ ǡdz Ǥ

Ǧ ǡ ǡ ǡ Ǥ ϐ ǡ Ǥ “The infrastructure demands of

ǡdz Ǥ While Wyse’s hardware products are ǡ more on infrastructure tools to keep the ǡ Ǥ ϐ Ǥ Dell is also building its client computing portfolio to catch up with competitors like Ǧ ǡ Ǧ ǡ ǡ

Ǥ

product portfolio internally, but with a Ǧ ǡ Ǥ “The results were lackluster, and for ǡdz ǡ

ǯ Ǥ ͳͺͲ ͵ǡͲͲͲ Ǥ ǡ

ǡ Ǥ Wyse some heft and credibility to compete on sales to customers that would otherwise Ǥ Dell did not disclose what it’s paying for ǡ ϐ ϐ ̈́ͶͲͲ ̈́͸ͲͲ Ǥ ϐ ǡ Ǥ ʹͳǤ

MAY 2012

Computer News Middle East

17

ROUND-UP Month in view

GCC opts for SAP solutions to increase Middle East presence Gulf Consolidated Contractors Co. (GCC) has selected SAP to bolster its IT solutions ϐ Middle East.

ǡ Ȃ Ǧ ȋ Ȍǡ Ǥ Ǧ ǡ Ǧ Ǧ Ȃ

ǡ ǡ

ȋ ȌǤ

ϐ ǡ

ǯ Ǧ Ǧ ǡ ϐ ǡ ϐ ǡ Ǧ Ǥ Dz

ǡ the foundations for this bold new future must Ǥ ǡ Ǧ

Ȃ ǡdz Ǥ ǡ Ǥ Dz ǡ ǡ

digital platform – be it on site, in the cloud Ȃ Ǧ Ǧ ǡ practices and dramatically enhances acuity Ǧ ǡdz Ǥ ǯ Ǧ Ǧ ǡ ϐ Ǥ

ǡ from project management, procurement ϐ ǡ Ǥ Dz

ǯ ǡdz ǡ Ǥ “The company’s determination to

best and adopt the latest IT technologies is

ǡ ǯ Ǥ ǡ

ǡ ǯ

ǡdz Ǥ

strong growth and ambition for the company ǡ

ǯ ȋ Ȍ Ǧ Ͷ͵ǤͷΨ Ǥ ǡ ǯ

ͳʹ

Ǥ Ǧ ̈́ͶͷͲ Ǧ

Ǥ The plan includes recruiting more than ͷͲͲ ǡ ϐ ǯ

Ǥ ǡ ϐ

ǡ Ǥ

Ǯ ǯ ʹǡͲͲͲ Ǥ

TIME Hotels deploys Avaya’s hospitality solutions UAE-­‐based TIME Hotels has selected Avaya ϐ Ǧ Ǧ apartments with hospitality solutions for wireless and telecommunications services.

ǡ ϐ ȋ Ȍ

ϐ

ǡ

single, central network for guest and staff Ǥ Dz

ǯ ǡdz ǡ Ǥ

18

Computer News Middle East

MAY 2012

Dz

ǯ ǡ has ensured an affordable yet robust communications solution which affords

ǡdz Ǥ ͷͻͲ

ϐ Ǧ client to ensure that calls bound for an ǯ ϐ Ǥ

www.cnmeonline.com

In addition to enhancing employee ǡ ǯ enable TIME to centrally manage its entire Ǥ In addition to the TIME properties, leading hotels in the Middle East such as ǯ

Ǥ Dz communications network is critical to

ǯ ǡdz ǡ

ǤǤ

ROUND-UP Month in view

IBM team arrives in Sharjah for e-literacy, social development programme

An international team of 14 IBM employees chosen for the company’s Corporate Service Corps (CSC) programme have arrived in the UAE to volunteer their expertise to e-­‐literacy and social development in Sharjah.

As part of the project, the team will Ǧ ǡ Ǥ The Middle East and Africa are a key

ǯ ϐ Ǧ ǡ Ǥ

ͳͶ

ǡ ǡ ǡ ǡ ǡ ǡ ǡ Ǥ Ǧ

ϐ Ǧ Ǥ

ǡ

Ǧ

Ǥ ǡ

will help roll out a strategy plan to increase ǯ Ǧ

Ǥ Dz

ǡ

contribution towards addressing some of the dz ǡ

ǡ Ǥ

ȋ Ȍ

small businesses, educational institutions Ǧ ϐ markets with sophisticated business

Ǥ

around the world representing IT, research, ǡ ϐ ǡ ǡ ǡ Ǥ Ǧ organisations and businesses on projects that ǡ Ǥ ǡ

ͳǡͷͲͲ

ͳͷͲ ͵Ͳ Ǥ

entrepreneurs and small businesses trying

adoption of new and smart technological Ǥ

Qtel, Cisco to collaborate on new services in Qatar Qtel and Cisco have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that will see the companies collaborate on a range of new services for business customers and consumers across Qatar.

Ϊ ǯ

Ǥ

will allow corporate customers to work

ǡ ǡ ǡ

Ǥ agreed to pursue a range of solutions aimed at some of Qatar’s most dynamic Ǧ Ǥ

20

Computer News Middle East

MAY 2012

The signing ceremony was held at Qtel’s headquarters in Doha and was

ǡ ǡ Ǥ Ǧ ǡ ϐ ǡ ǡ ǡ ϐ ǡ ǡ ǡ Ϊ ϐ ǡ Ǥ

opportunities to bring the latest cutting Ǣ ǯ ʹͲ͵Ͳ a knowledge based society and preparing ʹͲʹʹǤ “Qtel has a bold strategy for ensuring that we hold a leadership position in

www.cnmeonline.com

customers, and strategic partnerships

ǡdz Ǥ Dz ǡ recognised global leader, will enable us to

ǯ ǡdz Ǥ

strong opportunities in the oil and gas sector, as Qatar’s status as a world leader

Ǥ

sport, hospitality, health, education, retail, Ȃ Ǥ “As cities continue to grow, the challenge continues to be in making these Ǥ ǡdz Ǥ

ROUND-UP Month in view

UAEU deploys integrated educational system The United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) has successfully deployed Arrive Systems green technology by Visionaire, Dubai’s homegrown ICT and Intelligent Building Management company.

The new system architecture at UAEU ϐ its size in the region, equipping the campus with a reliable cloud network that promotes ǡ ϐ Ǥ In a bid to keep pace with international ǡ implemented the new system, powered by

ǡ ͳͷͶ ǡ ͳͲͲ ǡ ʹͷͻ ǡ ͷͲ lecture rooms, two auditoriums and more ʹͲ Ǥ

Ǥ

RoomPoint, which uses 2nd generation Intel

ǡ ǡ ǡ Ǥ ȋ Ȍ eliminated the need for faculty to bring a laptop to the classroom as the cloud makes

Ǥ ϐ been replaced by ceiling mounted microphones ǯ Ǥ “The strategy to standardize on the educational technology and cloud

open standards Intel based architecture,

ǡdz

ǡ Ǥ

ǡ small touch screen with an embedded

Intel Atom processor to display timetables,

Ǥ The UAEU is headed towards a Dz dz Dz dz

Ȃ

Ǥ

Ǥ “The Intel Atom is designed to make it ϐ of the Intel Architecture based on their ϐ Ǥ

performance and sustainability – much like

ǡ ǡ ǡdz ǡ Ǥ The UAEU replaced equipment racks with a wall mounted modular media

Ǧ Ǧ Ǥ ͳͲͲΨ therefore reduces carbon footprint and Ǥ ǡ

Ǧ ǡ Ǥ

Webair deploys EMC solution Web hosting and managed services company Webair has deployed EMC Isilon scale-­‐out NAS to provide its clients with cloud storage.

Ǧ to replace Webair’s legacy storage systems, which the company said were costly to Ǥ

ǡ ϐ ǡ Ǥ Prior to the deployment of the

Ǧ ǡ Ǥ

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Computer News Middle East

MAY 2012

ǡ ǡ

ϐ Ǥ ϐ

ǡ number of storage systems Webair had ǡ Ǥ

ǡ on an Isilon infrastructure, the company

and speed limitations associated with standalone systems, reduce data centre ǡ

www.cnmeonline.com

clients with a more scalable and redundant ǡ Ǥ Dz

functionality so that we can match the ϐ Ǥ in dedicated storage systems based on ǡdz ǡ Ǥ “Instead, they can order a cloud ǡ memory, and storage resources they need, pay only for what they use today, and Ǥ ǡdz Ǥ

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Analysis:

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BYOD battle: A tale of two opposing IT viewpoints Read more online

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Blogs: Stay afloat with big data Ben Rossi. Sub Editor, CNME

Read more online

http://bit.ly/K11hfv

Changing the game Sathya Mithra Ashok, Senior Editor, CNME

Read more online

http://bit.ly/HYwnHg

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What to consider before signing up for Google Drive Read more online

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CASE STUDY KPC

26

Computer News Middle East

MAY 2012

www.cnmeonline.com

K

uwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) is the state-­‐owned entity responsible for Kuwait’s hydrocarbon interests throughout the world. As part of the global energy industry, KPC supplies the world with its vital oil and gas needs by exploring for, producing, ϐ ǡ precious natural resources both in the home country and internationally.

means the IT team has to be on its toes to meet the changing requirements of the Ǥ Dz

Ǥ Ȁ

Ǥ Ǥ each year we get a new budget for the IT ǡdz ǡ Ǥ Dz ǡ Ǥ

͵Ǥ ǡ and any changes that we need to make has Ǥ ǡdz Ǧ ǡ Ǥ The process for selecting solutions Ǥ ǡ information from business users are

Ǥ

ǡ

ǡ

Ǥ

Khaled Al-Faili, senior analyst for network and data communications at KPC

ǡ

ϐ Ǥ “We do some research on different products and then do a comparison across Ǥ usually choose the three best companies that ϐ Ǥ

based on the quality of the presentation we ǡdz Ǥ Backup demands When the company felt the need for a

ǡ ϐ ϐ Ǥ “We were using a range of solutions ǯ

We were using a range of solutions across multiple vendos including Symantec’s NetBackup, CA’s ArcServe and NetApp’s SnapVault. However, we felt the need for a solution that would be more comprehensive in nature and offer the end-user more control over storage.”

www.cnmeonline.com

ǡ ǯ ǯ Ǥ ǡ

Ǧ ǡdz Ǧ Ǥ After researching the market and putting ǡ ǯ Ǥ “It was a backup solution that worked Ǥ

to restore a message from his email, he

Ǣ Ǥ

ǡ Ǥ ǡ was not just a backup solution, it comes with ǡ ǡdz Ǥ Dz ǡdz continues, “was the easy user interface, Ǥ ǡ Ǥdz After due consideration, and a proof of ǡ Ȃ

Ȃ ʹͲͳͳǤ Dz Ǥ ǡ Ǥ hardware issue rather than a software issue ǡ ϐ Ǥ ǯ ϐ Ǥ ǯ Ǥ ǡdz Ǧ Ǥ “Recently we were trying to do a dash ǡ terms, where we can replicate the data from Ǥ ǡ ǯ Ǥ ǯ Ǧ Ǧ the data, and we had issues where it Ǧ Ǥ

Ǥ ǡ ͹ ͺ Ǥ is that when you set that time all the copies Ǥ

ϐ Ǥ

MAY 2012

Computer News Middle East

27

CASE STUDY KPC

ǯ Ǥ

ϐ ǡdz Ǧ Ǥ According to AlDoub, the company has

ǡ Ǥ Dz Ǥ

Ǥ upgrade cycles for most of our solutions Ǥ ȋ ȌǤ where we are right now and we are going to go ahead and see if we need to upgrade Ǥ Ǥ ǯ whether in two years we are still going to be Ǥ ǡ there are other solutions out there that can

Qais AlDoub, senior analyst for network and data communication at KPC

actually be better, then we would certainly be ǡdz Ǥ

Constant improvement “We just upgraded our network ͳͲ Ǥ ǯ ϐ Ǥ ǯ the process of integrating Microsoft Lync ǡdz Ǧ ǡ

Ǥ Apart from the Lync project, which is ǡ

Ǥ “We are considering a project wherein we will update the network Ǥ

mentioned, we just upgraded the network Ǥ Ǥ What we’re going to do is to upgrade the ͳ

ͳͲ ǡdz Ǥ

CASE STUDY Oman Oil Company

Strategy from scratch When James Halluk joined Oman Oil Company as IT senior advisor in 2009, the company was only six months old with 17 employees – Halluk was the sole member of the IT ‘team’ but he had a blank seats to start off it.

C

EO Salim Sibani tasked Halluk with designing Oman Oil’s entire IT strategy, outfitting the new office with IT infrastructure and developing software solutions across the company. Dz

30

Computer News Middle East

MAY 2012

Ǥ build an IT solution – both infrastructure and software – for a company that was

ǡdz Ǥ Dz

Ǥ ǯ Ǥ ǡ

www.cnmeonline.com

a number of engineers, an economist, Ǥ get the system in and then get the people Ǥ we got to the implementation we had two or three more finance people and three or ǡdz Ǥ

ʹͲͲ ͵ͲͲ Ǥ

̈́ͳǤͷ ̈́ͳǤ͹ ǡ Ǥ It is now a limited liability company with plans this year to start producing oil ǡ Ǥ

Ǥ “We were always implementing for the

in comparison to the functionality and what Ǥ to build with all the functionality as if we ʹͲͲ ͵ͲͲ ͶͲͲǦ ǡdz Ǥ “A robust integrated software solution Ǥ needed something where as we continue to add people, the software and business

ǯ worry about redefining business solutions ǡdz Ǥ Vendor analysis ǯ ǡ ǡ

ǡ ǡ Ǥ Dz because it had a number of applications for Ǥ

Ǥ solution that fit in as many departments Ǥ ǡ ǡ one solution that fits the majority of the ǡdz Ǥ Dz Ǣ ǡ ǡ management, planning and finance – and then the ability to add on it for business intelligence and other software

Ǥ ǡ Ǧ ǡdz Ǥ ǡ ʹ ȋ ʹ Ȍǡ

Ǧ Ǥ ǯ ǡ ʹͲͳͳǤ Dz oil and gas, and we had a number of joint ǡ ʹ Ǥ

Ǥ ʹ modules, joint billing accounting modules and it had some other specific related oil ǡdz Ǥ

first and the foundation, and then we built Ǥ ǡ ǡdz Ǥ

Ǥ

ȋ ȌǤ “When we selected the people to join

Ǥ

Ǥ

ǡ ǡdz Ǥ Challenges ǡ

When I arrived our only IT solution was Microsoft Office and we had to basically start from scratch.

We had to build an IT solution – both infrastructure and software – for a company that was going to grow rapidly over the next two or three years.” ǯ

infrastructure, it pushed through with a fast ǡ ʹͲͳͲ Ǥ

finance and procurement modules, before Ǥ Dz

ǡ Ǥ

Ǥ ʹͲͳͲ then the second stage of implementation ʹͲͳͳ ʹͲͳͳǡdz Ǥ Dz Ǥ the finance and procurement modules in

www.cnmeonline.com

was not without challenges, which mostly came in the form of a lack of required knowledge transfer of the solution to Ǥ “The biggest challenge was getting people to make time for the Ǥ

Ǥ ask their staff to commit to work more Ǧ Ǧ Ǥ

ǡdz Ǥ “Training became somewhat Ǥ There were some personnel changes – some people that had came in then left – Ǥ Ǧ

MAY 2012

Computer News Middle East

31

CASE STUDY Oman Oil Company

support to ensure that all the modules implemented were used as intended and all the users that didn’t get enough training ǡdz Ǥ ǯ ǡ ǡ Ǥ Dz Ǥ the personnel to implement it on our side and Ǥ

ǡdz Ǥ Success

Ǥ “We’re pretty happy with our accomplishments and we’re able to use the

The reason why we chose Oracle was because it had a number of applications for the most departments. The strategy was to have the least amount of software vendors as possible. We wanted one integrated solution that fit in as many departments as possible. The biggest consideration, as per our mandate from the CEO, was one solution that fits the majority of the company and everybody can use.” Ǥ ǡ ǯ analysing it and making business decisions ǯ ǡdz Ǥ Dz Ǧ Ǥ ǯ Ǥ We’re pretty happy and are looking to build ǡdz Ǥ ʹͲͳͲ ǯ ǡ implementation of the ERP package

32

Computer News Middle East

MAY 2012

happened in parallel to the opening of its ϐ ǡ ʹͲͳʹ Ǥ Dz Ǥ ǡ was a fairly small location to quite a large

Ǥ ǡ Ǥ

Ǥ ͳͲ ǯ

www.cnmeonline.com

ǯ ǡdz Ǥ “The idea was for the data centre to be scalable enough to add storage as Ǥ ǯ

Ǥ that initially the ideal was to outsource or

ǯ Ǥ

ǡ build around hiring an IT manager then ǡdz Ǥ ǡ looking at implementing a business Ǥ Dz Ǥ

Ǥ two or three years of data to analyse so we Ǥ

Ǥ ǡ ǡdz Ǥ

Q4, 2011

Q1, 2012

Nokia E5-00

Samsung GT-I9100 (Galaxy S II)

Apple iPhone

Q1, 2012

3.6%

4.8%

12.1%

Total impressions 11.7 billion

82% Smartphone Impressions

Handset Share Of Impressions

Total impressions 8.0 billion

80% Smartphone Impressions

Growth in smartphone impressions in the Middle East mobile market

50%

Apple 16%

Samsung 16%

RIM 13%

HTC SonyEricsson 2%Others 3% 4%

Nokia 46%

Manufacturer’s Share of Impressions

Growth in mobile impressions over the past 3 months

46%

11,667,345,891 Quarterly Mobile Advertising Impressions on the InMobi Network

MIDDLE EAST MARKET OVERVIEW

MOBILE ADVERTISING

18.3%

37.6%

16.3%

iOS

+ 2.4%

Since Q4, 2011

has shown strong growth in Q1 2012

iOS

Android

- 0.7%

Symbian OS

– 4.4%

Q1, 2012

OS Share Of Impressions

3.2%

RIM BlackBerry 9780

Since Q4, 2011

3.2%

RIM BlackBerry 8520

Apple

Samsung

4.0%

LEBANON

FASTEST GROWTH

45.5%

SAUDI ARABIA

#1

Top Countries by Region

Nokia

11.5%

UAE

14.9%

IRAN

RIM

INFOGRAPHICS | MAY 2012

www.inmobi.com

Q1, 2012

SonyEricsson

Q1, 2012

Q4, 2011

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SolutionsWorld

SOLUTIONS WORLD Management software

Getting trends-as-a-service There has been a shift towards management software in recent years, particularly as companies attempt to get to grips with trends that are changing how they do business. But what are those trends, how have they affected management software and what is next? Ben Rossi reports.

U

nsurprisingly, the key trends vendors say have affected their management software offerings are virtualisation and cloud. Dz

ǡ ǡdz ǡ manager for the Middle East, Pakistan and

Ǥ “The new approach takes into account that the physical infrastructure is now a

38

Computer News Middle East

MAY 2012

shared resource, applications are in motion,

Ǥ

ǡ ǡdz Ǥ

ǡ business group lead at Microsoft Gulf, says ϐ Microsoft approaches its management Ǥ

www.cnmeonline.com

Dz ǯ

Ǥ ǡ ǡ

ǡdz Ǥ “It integrates all of these management capabilities – like health management, operations management, deployment

– and not just for Microsoft platforms, but all

Ǥ

ϐ ͵͸ͷ ǡ ǡdz Ǥ Mobility ǡ ǡ ϐ different trends as the key game changers Ǥ Dz ϐ today are the need for the software to be made customisable because most of the trends we see are towards mobility Ǥ be an increased need for things like sales

ǡdz Ǥ “The trends we see clearly are towards smartphones, mobility and the software to be Ǥ for us our strategy has been quite aligned with Ǥ

ǡ

Goksel Topbas, server and tools business group lead at Microsoft Gulf

Ǥ

ϐ ǡdz Ǥ Asheesh Raina, principal research analyst at Gartner, says globalisation – and Ǧ

Ǥ “There are a lot of companies going global Ǥ

Ǥ Ǥ Ǥ Ǥ Ǥ Ȃ ǡ Ȃ

ǡdz Ǥ Dz to become a little global in nature and get Ǥ

and want cheaper forms of management Ǥ

creating low functionality management software that we can adjust to quick ǡdz Ǥ As well as management software ǡ

further accelerated as enterprises race to Ǥ Dz as increasingly more types of workloads Ǥ

ǡ orientation, which surfaced as operational

Michel Nader, regional sales manager for the Middle East, Pakistan and Africa at EMC Infrastructure Software Group.

maturity across a number of measurement ǡdz Ǥ Cloud

ǡ

ǡ Ǥ Dz against these customer needs with increased ǡ ǡ integrated management of the physical, ǡ continuous compliance against industry and

ǡdz Ǥ

Ǥ

Source: Gartner (2012)

BY THE NUMBERS

$12.3bn Worldwide softwareas-a-service (SaaS) revenue in 2011

$14.5bn Amount worldwide SaaS revenue is forecast to reach in 2012

17.9%

Forecasted increase in worldwide SaaS revenue in 2012 from 2011

www.cnmeonline.com

MAY 2012

$22.1bn Amount worldwide SaaS revenue is forecast to reach by 2015

Computer News Middle East

39

SOLUTIONS WORLD Management software

Dz

the world we see that there is a far greater adoption rate to cloud computing and the way management software is distributed Ǥ ǡ

ǡ things that come into play, like security,

ǡdz Ǥ ǡ ǡ

enterprises and are able to customise their Ǥ Dz IT must be able to support the business

Ǧ ǡ Ǧ Ǥ

which reside on the network, whether ǡ ǡdz Ǥ

Asheesh Raina, principal research analyst at Gartner

“It is only through integrated management that network managers will be able to see where to adjust capacity needs ǡ data being pushed out to the cloud or ensure

ǡdz Ǥ Hype cycle ǡ changing, Raina says, and it is important Ǥ Ǯ ǯ implement something just because it is ǡ Ǥ Dz is like a baby in that we think it’s going to do Ǥ

ǯ Ǥ ǡ are a lot of concerns beneath it that need to be addressed, like with security, data protection, data portability, interoperability Ǥ ǡ ǡdz Ǥ “There will be a lot of companies that adopt it just because it is so hyped up, but they ϐ Ǥ in they will become a mature user and realise that cloud can only be used for some part of ǡ Ǥ

management software will change this year in that all organisations will look at cloud in a Ǥ also means the transformation will be high so ǯ Ǥ some will abandon it because it doesn’t work ǡdz Ǥ

management software this year, but it will Ȃ

Customers are continuing to virtualise their applications and move more to cloud computing, which is driving a new approach to management.”

40

Computer News Middle East

MAY 2012

www.cnmeonline.com

Vikram Suri, MD at Sage Software

Ǧ Ǧ Ȃ Ǥ Dz

Ȃ ʹͲ ͷͲ ǡ Ǧ solution, because the sheer cost of deploying and running the infrastructure would Ǥ of people in Asia or the Middle East, or ǡ Ȃ organisations of up to three of four hundred people – still be debating whether or not they ǡdz Ǥ Dz ǯ ǡ Ǥ ǡ ǡ ǯ ϐ disparate people and organisations to work together, despite the fact that it’s well known Ǥ ϐ Ǧ ǯ ǡdz Ǥ George Petrides, director of enterprise management solutions at Emitac Enterprise ȋ Ȍǡ ǡ ǯ infrastructure of a management software

Ǥ “In terms of the infrastructure, when we ǡ ǡ applications, it’s still the same thing when

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SOLUTIONS WORLD Management software

it comes to the infrastructure. Whether it’s virtual or physical doesn’t make a difference,” Petrides says.

“Where the management software makes a difference when it comes to the cloud is we now have software to automate the provisioning of service and applications. We can enable a customer – or even a service provider – to have a portal to automate all the processes behind it in terms of provisioning and providing the services to the rest of the organisation, by just clicking a mouse button,” he adds.

BYOD Cloud and virtualisation may be the trends that have mostly affected the current management software offerings, but moving forward vendors identify BYOD (bring your own device) as the issue enterprises will want addressed.

“Today’s youth have been spoilt with the choice of multiple handheld devices.

This is an inevitable change that is gaining high momentum. Going forward there’ll be a whole lot of infrastructure built around it and ϐ Ǥ They will allow their employees to use these multiple handheld devices and to access company information on them. Along with that they will need management software that can do information management protection across the devices,” he says.

George Petrides, director of enterprise management solutions at Emitac Enterprise Solutions

42

Computer News Middle East

MAY 2012

Bryan Mackenzie, GM at Quintica

enterprise policies, security and all the necessary needs of the enterprise platform.

Also it will let them use all the consumer-­‐ based offerings and applications so in a way it will help accelerate the consumerisation of IT in a much more secure and controlled way,” he adds.

Looking forward, vendors predict further changes to the management software scene.

“Up to now we’ve been addressing only the high-­‐end enterprises, but we think being able to offer software-­‐as-­‐a-­‐service will make these platforms more cost-­‐effective for SMBs. They’ll be able to afford the management platforms, opening up the market a little bit.

From our side we keep investing in people

“I think the significant trends we see today are the need for the software to be made customisable because most of the trends we see are towards mobility and social networking. There seems to be an increased need for things like sales force automation and customer service automation.”

“So if I lose my mobile phone and somebody else gets it they will not be able to access that data. There has to be some kind of remote control on that information as well. So going forward I think there will be some kind of software that is platform-­‐independent, operating system-­‐ independent, application-­‐independent, and something that will integrate the safety of the information that resides on the devices,” he added.

Topbas says BYOD was a main driver behind Microsoft’s recently released 2012 edition of System Center, its system management software solution.

“We’re very proud that with System Center you can manage mobile devices, slates, tablets, laptops, desktops, servers and network devices. It’s really helping our ϐ devices to their environment,” Topbas says.

“Customers will be able to get those devices integrated with the current

www.cnmeonline.com

– our main goal is to have highly skilled consultants,” he says.

Topbas adds that Microsoft is shaping its future offerings to give customers a more collaborative and integrated management solution.

“I think management software will be required to manage the whole device platform and integrate public cloud and private cloud. Going forward we will see some interesting offerings coming from the public clouds,” he says.

“Windows Intune, for example, will probably become available in the Gulf in a year. It will help our customers manage their devices from the cloud so wherever you are you just need an internet or GPS connection to be managed and get the same policies and security features. I think in the future we’ll see acceleration in the adoption of management across different platforms and managing the whole infrastructure rather than just portions of it,” he adds.

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NetworkWorld

STRATEGIC IT NETWORKING PARTNER

NETWORK WORLD Ethernet

Making the leap If you are considering the move to 40/100G Ethernet, here is what you need to keep in mind.

S

tandards-­‐based 40-­‐ and 100-­‐gigabit Ethernet switches and routers are starting to show up in enterprise networks, and it’s easy to understand why – fast downlinks require faster uplinks. The current solution of aggregating multiple 10G links works well but only scales up to a point.

There are a number of factors of driving the adoption of 40/100G in enterprise networks. Servers for some high-­‐performance application now use 10G interface cards requiring a faster uplink at the switch. It won’t be long before 10G interfaces will be a standard part of server motherboard, just as gigabit Ethernet comes standard today.

“Future growth in the Ethernet switch market is expected to come primarily from the data centre, with compute changes

46

Computer News Middle East

MAY 2012

Saad Khan, Regional Managing Director of Ciena

www.cnmeonline.com

such as server/storage consolidation, virtualisation and fabric infrastructure increasingly demanding a change in the way data centre networks are designed, and also greater bandwidth,” says Severine Real, Senior Principal Research Analyst, Gartner.

Data centre is expected to be the ͶͲ ͳͲͲ ϐ its place core network aggregation, mainly in carrier networks. “Data centres need to need to go beyond the redundancy requirements of yesterday to a more future-­‐ proofed infrastructure in order to support the demanding availability requirements of today’s applications. This requires organizations to support new and upcoming technologies like 40G/100G Ethernet and standards, and also to choose solutions that ϐ to support the evolving needs of businesses,” says Sakkeer Hussain, Sales & Marketing Manager at D-­‐Link MEA. Markus Nispel , Chief Technology Strategist at Enterasys, agrees that for the enterprises it will be clearly the data centre.

“Service providers might require it for core

aggregation but in the enterprise core 40G and ͳͲͲ ̵ ϐ Ǥdz Vendors also say that the market for 40G will grow faster than 100G as the latter is not cost-­‐effective now. “Both 40G and 100G have their place in the network, as needs of every individual network operator are unique.

This said, one of the strong determinants of growth in both 40G and 100G is pricing, and as volumes of 100G systems sold worldwide increase (with time), one can imagine it will also become more economical for network operators to deploy this higher-­‐capacity option,” says Saad Khan, Regional Managing Director of Ciena.

Ashish Saxena, Solution Architect, Alcatel-­‐Lucent Enterprise, adds that this would depend on the services and applications as well as the needs of various enterprises. “Currently, we are seeing a growing demand for 40G. 100G is already in discussions and is an aspiration. Network convergence and new devices on the network will continue to grow and the demand for bandwidth will continue to grow too.”

Steven Huang, Director of Solutions and Marketing, Huawei, says demand in data centres has mainly been for 40G up until now in the region, although we are seeing 100G per second links between large switch and router points beginning to emerge in data centres.

“As network architecture evolves, internet ϐ ǡ

Severine Real, Senior Principal Research Analyst, Gartner

ϐ faster connectivity more affordable for businesses in terms of power consumption ϐ Ǥ ͳͲͲ

grow as the industry is already paving the way for 400G to a terabit and beyond,” he adds.

Currently the cost of a 40G Ethernet ϐ ϐ of a 10G link, and a 100G Ethernet link can cost up to twenty times the amount of a 10G Ethernet interface. “Such economics, coupled with the fact that the IEEE 802.3ba standard for 40/100G Ethernet is still three to four months from approval, is keeping the demand subdued even though the interest in these technologies is relatively high.

Economic studies based on this say that 40G can expect a similar price decline curve as 10G when it ships in increasing volumes, whereas 100G is expected to follow the decline of 40G,” says Hussein.

Gartner hasn’t published a forecast for 40/100G yet but it plans to do so later this year, as it is still a very small market. “For the market for 40/100G switches to start off, prices will have to decline to be more enticing, and cost effective. Otherwise, enterprises will keep trunking 10G links together to avoid the costly expense of bandwidth,” says Real.

Though there is no doubt the adoption of high-­‐speed Ethernet will help to push the prices points of 10G down, Nispel from Enterasys says it will take another round of switch architecture before the 10G pricing for high-­‐end switches and routers will come ϐ Ǥ What changes do companies require to do in order to migrate to 40/100G? Saxena from Alcatel-­‐Lucent says companies must plan for the long term today. “The investments that are made today must be well protected for the future migrations to QSFP+ transceivers for 40G, making migrations to 40G/100G just a minor hardware change with bare minimum investment. At Alcatel-­‐Lucent, we have designed our switches with future readiness for 40G/100G and with minor hardware changes.”

Samer Ismair, Systems Engineer at Brocade, adds that as with any new

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Sakkeer Hussain, Sales & Marketing Manager at D-Link MEA

generation of technology, one design goal was to leverage as much existing technology as possible. By minimising the number of new interfaces, the interfaces become less expensive and take advantage of volume production and simplicity. To meet this design goal, only three media modules will be ϐ ͶͲ

100 Gigabit Ethernet: QSFP, CXP, and CFP. While many enterprises may have to redesign or optimise their networks to migrate, they will also have to look at the physical infrastructure layer. “The 100G ϐ ʹͲͳͲ

802.3ba committee for transmissions up to ͳͷͲ Ͷ ϐ Ǥ distances for both 40 and 100G rates are the result of using inverse multiplexing ϐ ǡ are transmitted over multiple lanes, each operating at 10G. The 40G interface employs four of these lanes in each direction, while the 100Gb/s interface employs ten,” says Ciaran Forde, VP of CommScope.

Migrating to high-­‐speed Ethernet will certainly require changes. The good news is that the changes are evolutionary in nature, and can be rolled out incrementally.

Ethernet has undergone many changes ǡ ϐ Ǧ Ethernet networks retains the same basic characteristics as previous generations. In the end, it really is "just Ethernet."

MAY 2012

Computer News Middle East

47

NETWORK WORLD DCIM

Eliminating inefficiencies Today’s data centre infrastructure management (DCIM) tools can improve planning and reduce operational costs, writes Soeren Brogaard Jensen, VP-Enterprise Software, Schneider Electric such as speeding up fans to dissipate a hot spot or moving VMs away from a rack with compromised power or cooling.

Newer management tools are designed to identify and resolve issues with a minimum amount of human intervention. With less need for on-­‐going process and manual intervention, today’s DCIM systems are more likely to provide the business value they’re advertised to give. However, not only are they more automated than before, their scope has also been greatly extended making them much more useful and capable of providing value. By correlating power, cooling and space resources to individual servers, DCIM tools today can proactively inform IT management systems of potential physical infrastructure ϐ IT loads. Particularly in a highly virtualized and dynamic cloud environment, this real-­‐time awareness of constantly changing power and cooling capacities is important for safe server placement. These more intelligent tools also enable IT to inform the lines of business of the consequences of their actions before server provisioning decisions are made.

Business decisions that result in higher energy consumption in the data centre, for example, will impact carbon footprint and carbon tax.

Charge backs for energy consumption are also possible with these new tools and can alter the way decisions are made by aligning energy usage to business outcomes.

S

ome data centre managers were ϐ DCIM tools because the tools were limited in scope and involved considerable human intervention. These ϐ pre-­‐loaded list of devices and warn that a CRAC unit inlet temperature had exceeded

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an established threshold. The operator would then have to determine on their own what equipment was affected by the error. The tools were not capable of generating a correlation between a given physical infrastructure device and a server. Nor were these tools capable of initiating actions to prevent downtime,

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Planning tools Newer planning software tools Illustrate, through a graphical user interface, the current physical state of the data centre and simulate the effect of future physical equipment adds, moves, and changes.

This capability provides answers to some common and important planning questions such as, “where should the next physical or virtual server get placed”, or “what will

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the impact of new equipment be on my redundancy and safety margins?” For example, modern planning tools can predict the impact of a new physical server on power and cooling distribution. Planning software tools also calculate the impact of moves and changes on data centre space, and on power and cooling capacities. This enhanced planning based on modeling and simulating proposed changes can save time, effort and money when compared to just simply making the change and hoping for the best.

These planning tools also help operators understand the impact of potential failures.

Business executives and data centre operators share the goal of maintaining operational integrity even when failures occur in the data centre. Insight into the impact of potential failures helps business management feel secure about business process availability.

More importantly, this insight can help data centre operators prepare for problems to shorten recovery times, or even avoid them ϐ Ǥ ǡ help maintain business continuity while providing peace of mind.

Operations tools ϐ operators to assign work orders, reserve space, track status, and extract an audit trail for complete visibility and history to the change cycle when equipment goes in and out. These tools facilitate, automate or supplement existing operations processes to ϐ ǡ cooling, and space resources even as the data centre changes and evolves over time. And, in part thanks to the tools, this is done without wastefully over provisioning infrastructure capacities as has been traditionally done.

Today’s planning & implementation software management tools allow for improvements to standard operational procedures that helps get more done in less time. Here are two examples of how this might work. The traditional method for tracking IT room equipment in/out logs involves either removal or installation of a device and then logging the device into a book (by a designated person). This

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procedure is followed for any device the size of a disk/tape and larger. All drive bays are audited nightly by security and if drives go missing, security reviews the access logs and server room security footage to see who might have taken them. Operations software can provide data centre inventory information from a hand held device while ϐ Ǥ ϐ implementing work orders and identifying equipment. Using a wireless network, server locations are automatically synchronised, and device and asset attributes are detailed.

name, model, and type. Information can also be exported to an Excel format.

Next, consider a scenario where the data centre operator is attempting to determine

the same rack at the same time every night, and the spike is dangerously close to tripping a breaker threshold, then a decision can be made ϐ peak for that rack can be reduced.

Analysis of physical infrastructure operational data can also determine the cause of problems (i.e., what is slow, what is costly). Combining analytics and predictive simulation is yet another way the data centre can help to generate business value. Performance reports track outages, for example, by rack, row, and power distribution zone. When servers fail more frequently in one area, an underlying reason can be determined. Without a frame of reference, the value of data centre metrics is limited if the purpose of the operator is to ϐ Ǥ

If a spike in power demand seems to occur on the same rack at the same time every night, and the spike is dangerously close to tripping a breaker threshold, then a decision can be made to modify workflow so that the consumption peak for that rack can be reduced. the overall health of the power and cooling physical infrastructure. In a traditional data centre the operator would have to measure and interpret the health of each individual device. This measurement information would have to be kept on spreadsheets. The data would have to be manually aggregated for reporting. Management tools are capable of 7x24 centralised device discovery, management, and monitoring. When problems occur, instant infrastructure alerts and alarms are triggered based on user ϐ Ǥ and graphs are quickly generated to help diagnose the nature of the problem.

Analysis tools The goal with analysis is to arrive at an optimal or realistic decision based on data. For example, an audit trail can be generated for all changes to assets within the computer room.

If a spike in power demand seems to occur on

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tools can answer include things like, “what do I have in my data centre”, “when will I run out of power and cooling capacity”, “do I have any stranded power, cooling or space capacities”, and “when will the next large infrastructure investment be needed?”

Holistic management capabilities described above (and available today) can enable data centre professionals to maximise their capacity to control their energy costs and to advise the business on how to utilise IT assets more effectively. By sharing key data points, historical data, and asset tracking information, and by developing the ability to charge back users, these newer tools allow users to take actions based upon data centre business intelligence. In short, effective use of today’s data centre IT infrastructure management software will help make your ϐ increasing its overall business value.

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Contact your nearest Dell Authorized Distributors for further details: UAE: Aptec - Manojpk@aptecme.com, +9714 3697111, Mindware - Dell_sales@mindware.ae, +9714 4500600, Unatrac -Shamdy@mantracegypt.com, +97155 7204338 KSA: Aptec - Dell.sales@aptecsa.com, Riyadh (966 1) 4601950 Ext 1404, 06, 07, Jeddah (966 2) 2832365, Mindware - Dell_sales@mindware.ae, (966 1) 215 3126, Unatrac - AShabaan@mantracegypt.com, (966 5) 614 98556 Egypt: Aptec - Dell@aptec.com.eg, (202) 2648 1179, Mantrac - Ashabaan@mantrac.com.eg, (202) 3300 4178, Raya - Hesham_hassan@rayacorp.com, (202) 382 76000

Copyright © 2011 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Dell Corporation Limited, Reg. No. 0208136 9, Dell House, The Boulevard, Cain Road, Bracknell, Ber kshire RG12 1LF.

StorageAdvisor

STRATEGIC IT STORAGE PARTNER

STORAGE ADVISOR Business intelligence

Gain with intelligence Storing data is one thing, but how does a company actively gain intelligence from analysing the data and then pump it back into the company to achieve business gain?

Ben Rossi speaks to industry experts to understand what importance enterprises should be placing on business intelligence and the best ways to implement it.

D

ata has been mentioned more times this year than most people would wish to hear.

Whether it is virtualising data servers, storing data in the cloud or the big data explosion – there’s no other word that has been escaping the mouths of IT players at such ferocious frequency as ‘data’.

However, this will -­‐ probably to the relief of most readers -­‐ be the last mention

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of virtualisation, cloud and big data in this feature, because it is in fact business intelligence (BI) that Gartner predicts will remain one of the fastest growing software ϐ Ǥ Gartner also predicts that companies that implement the solution, which ensures enterprises are making use of the hoards of data that pour through their organisations ǡ ϐ that don’t by 20%.

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“We would rate the importance of such a solution as being absolutely critical for companies to thrive in the future. Having an understanding of who are your important clients and how to best serve them is certainly a crucial competitive differentiator ǡdz ǡ the data computing division at EMC. Hammad Bin Arif, technology solutions

ȋ Ȍǡ

decision making and organisations that fail to properly implement it put themselves at a competitive disadvantage.

“Business intelligence plays an important role in helping organisations from all industry verticals to meet their short and long-­‐term strategic goals. In business, it is imperative to know everything about your product, operations, market and competitor,” Bin Arif says.

“Furthermore, there is a recent trend of using BI to get better understanding of the KPIs that drive the business successfully.

Organisations can only be successful if they are able to assess their readiness for overcoming the challenges posed by business realities, and take a holistic approach to anticipate hidden costs and leverage best practices,” he adds.

Convincing management

ϐ business intelligence, sometimes it can often ϐ to the key management decision makers.

However, Bin Arif says management buy-­‐in is very critical for any BI project to succeed.

“The CIOs can convince the top management only if they have the right understanding, appropriate strategy and suitable tools in place to implement it.

Hence, CIOs must consider business value, bottom line, data-­‐quality, choice of vendor, investment and have a proper understanding before starting the BI journey to ensure that it does not end up in a failure,” he says.

“Considering various purchase approaches like build vs. buy and implementation focus like customers, ϐ ǡ

period for business intelligence projects varies from anywhere between one to three Ǥ

ͳͲͲͲΨ ϐ years,” he adds.

Neil Chandler, research director at Gartner, says the research company has ϐ Ǥ Dz ϐ ϐ

ϐ Ǥ ϐ Ǧ ǡ lower infrastructure costs, less maintenance Ǧ ϐ Ǧ revenues, alignment with business goals, ϐ ǡ reductions in user time,” Chandler says. Ǧ other project -­‐ to set the right expectations and closely monitor execution against these set objectives.

Hammad Bin Arif, technology solutions manager for Microsoft services at Enterprise Software Technologies division

increased and models need to be run daily. ǡ ǡ ϐ and measurable KPIs need to be set. Churn

We would rate the importance of such solution as being absolutely critical for companies to thrive in the future. Having an understanding of who are your important clients and how to best serve them is certainly a crucial competitive differentiator for organisations.” Dz ϐ see how this work has – or has not – had a positive impact on the business, at particular points in time,” he says.

He cites an example of such an approach: “All data is to be loaded before 8am periodically or the depth of report is to be

is to be reduced by 5%, fraud by 10% and penetration of the marketing campaign needs to reach 40% after segmentation is rebuilt.”

Metrics Another key selling point of a business intelligence solution is the long term cost reduction for the organisation.

Source: Gartner (2012)

BY THE NUMBERS

$12bn

Amount organisations spent on business intelligence, analytics and performance management software in 2011

16.4%

Growth of spend on business intelligence, analytics and performance management software between 2010 and 2011

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No.1

Analytics and BI is the number one technology priority for CIOs in 2012

MAY 2012

20%

Companies who embrace BI technologies will outperform those that don’t

Computer News Middle East

55

STORAGE ADVISOR Business intelligence

Kevin Ashby, application platform marketing manager at Microsoft, says it ϐ ϐ the enterprise.

“I think you’ve got to look at it in terms of if you were going to analyse and use data through more traditional approaches or approaches you would have used a few years ago, how long would it take you to go through the cycle of creating and reporting?

Now you can do these things much quicker Ǧ ǯ ϐ of cost reduction,” Ashby says.

“You can then measure the business impact of this is by looking at is as being able to answer questions you couldn’t answer before and what you can then do with that knowledge. If that allows you to, for example, get something out to market quicker -­‐ then you’re more reactive and agile,” he adds.

Chandler says in most cases the ϐ emerge during usage and drive additional performance improvements. But Thomas Popp-­‐Madsen, manager of enterprise performance management at Oracle, says there is a bottom line.

“The bottom line is the mitigation of risk. By having end-­‐to-­‐end visibility ϐ ǡ ϐ

Neil Chandler, research director at Gartner

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can avoid undesirable surprises, ensure ǡ ϐ in their numbers, and complete the close Ǥ ϐ cycles, operational dashboards and reports ϐ ϐ performance so they can spot potential issues and take corrective action before the period-­‐end close is processed,” Popp-­‐ Madsen says. ǡ ϐ of BI, many companies are still not implementing, and many that do are falling short of the aims.

“Digital data volumes are increasing ϐ ǡ of executives say they are not getting the

Kevin Ashby, application platform marketing manager at Microsoft

Bi is better adopted when ‘pulled’ by the business in aid of specific business issues rather than ‘pushed’ by IT. Organisations must see beyond traditional approaches and incorporate more sophistication such as packaged applications and analytics.” information they need to make important decisions. In spite of the widespread implementation of analytics, its promise of operational effectiveness has not been fully realised. According to a recent survey, adoption of BI remains surprisingly low— reaching only 25% of potential users,” he says.

“For many, the BI tools available are difficult to use, slow to respond and the content they deliver is of little relevance. As a result, business users default to making decisions based on incomplete information or a gut feeling. The same survey also noted that while 26% of respondents reported that their BI deployments were successful, the vast majority of BI programs are falling short of their potential to increase revenues, improve customer service, reduce costs, and use strategic insights to create innovative new products or services,” he adds.

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Challenges These aren’t the only challenges vendors says enterprises come across with business intelligence solutions. Bin Arif emphasises that BI relies on data collected from other systems, so the quality and availability of the data is highly important.

“Data quality should be built into processes so that data is correctly captured and stored and errors are not introduced to other processes that use the same data. At the same time, the data has to be properly integrated. Lack of management support and changing the information culture of an organisation has normally been an unrealistic goal in a short term,” he says.

Chandler adds that IT departments will always struggle to sell BI to the business users and that many BI programs get stuck in ‘reporting’.

“BI is better adopted when ‘pulled’ by ϐ rather than ‘pushed’ by IT. Organisations

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STORAGE ADVISOR Business intelligence

must see beyond traditional approaches and incorporate more sophistication such as packaged applications and analytics,” Chandler says.

“Technology is rarely the culprit if the BI program is considered a failure. It is mostly organisational resistance generated as a consequence of an IT-­‐only approach. A hybrid business and IT competency centre developing and executing on a business centric strategy is the optimal approach,” he adds.

To get around these challenges, there are plenty of suggestions of best practices from vendors too, in order for an enterprise to get the most out of a BI solution.

Ashby says companies have to look at the quality of data that comes in and “cleanse” it to make it useful to them.

“You need to look at it in terms of if you are getting lots of different data from

Philip Roy, director of the data computing division at EMC

lots of different places, how do you make sure that you don’t get duplication. Make sure you can deduplicate properly if that’s the case. You also should make sure what you’re doing to cleanse the data works in a sensible way,” he says.

Bin Arif believes the key is to avoid the enticement of tackling every issue at once.

“A better approach is to start with a smaller implementation that targets a high impact business function and can

Ǥ incremental approach is critical when each Ǥ user interfaces help reduce or even avoid training costs,” he says.

“Involving business users in the system design, ideally starting with a prototype and then a pilot run are also important. A growing number of users are now using mobile devices for their professional tasks and BI solution should provide controlled empowerment to users for democratisation of information assets,” he adds.

Commitment Companies can get the most out of BI by working closely with the business ǡ Ǥ Dz ϐ and understanding of business intelligence grows,” he adds.

Chandler advises companies to develop and execute a phased multi-­‐year BI ϐ ǡ measurable and timely business goals.

“Establish a hybrid business and IT competency centre. Envisage a wider business analytics scope incorporating BI,

Technology is rarely the culprit if the BI program is considered a failure. It is mostly organisational resistance generated as a consequence of an IT-only approach. A hybrid business and IT competency centre developing and executing on a business centric strategy is the optimal approach.”

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analytics and performance management on a well established information management foundation,” he says.

He adds that is important to remember

ϐ Ǥ Dz ǡ have peaks and troughs of activity but it will ϐ change,” he says.

There must be a continuing commitment and support from both multiple departments of a company to ensure BI is a consistently useful tool, Bin Arif says.

“Business Intelligence is in a way a decision support system. The commitment and sponsorship of senior management is utmost important. Having strong management backing will help overcome shortcomings of the project. Companies should note that even the most elegantly designed DW/BI system cannot overcome a lack of management sponsorship. It is important that the management has a ϐ drawbacks of implementing the BI system in the organisation,” he says.

“However, the commitment not just lies in the management team. From operational users to knowledge workers to power users and executive users, everyone has to do their bit to ensure its success based on usage. Collaborative decision making is also important aspect of BI and teams are usually empowered and expected to measure their own performance. Executive users can take the advantage of mobile BI to quickly identify problem areas and take action accordingly,” he adds. ǡ data coming in must never take their eyes off of the goals and needs of the business.

“Context is everything when it comes to business intelligence. What is required both of the end-­‐users and the IT department supporting them, is to make sure that all results that come out, are used to feed and reinforce the strategy of the company. End-­‐users need to closely monitor that what is analysed is analysed for a reason and fits in with the overall goals of the company,” he says.

FOUNDATION OF

IT TRUST EMC2, EMC, RSA, the RSA logo, and the EMC logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of EMC Corporation in the United States and other countries. Š Copyright 2012 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved.

SecurityAdvisor

SECURITY ADVISOR Intrusion prevention systems

Virtually secure Difficulties have arisen this year in the area of intrusion prevention systems (IPS). Vendors have struggled to recast their appliances for use in virtual environments. Ben Rossi examines why the switch from physical to virtual is causing problems for IPS, what effect it has had and what the future is for the security solution.

Fortinet Introduces FortiDDoS Family Fortinet® introduced the FortiDDoS product family for enterprises, Web hosting and cloud service providers. The new FortiDDoSplatforms are dedicated appliances that are designed to detect and help protect against today’s most damaging and sophisticated DDoS attacks.The appliances feature custom ASICs that are capable of mitigating DDoS attacks while maintaining incredibly-low latency (less than 26 microseconds), preventing loss of availability to critical systems, servers and applications.

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Contact For more information please call us at +971 4 375 7612 or email us at fortinet@secureway.ae

In Association with

I

PS has become a vital part of an organisation’s security infrastructure and as such has been a solution vendors have easily sold to enterprises wanting to prevent threats. Dz

door – it is an absolutely necessary security control and an absolute must have for all ǡdz ǡ security architect at Paramount.

Markus Nispel, chief technology strategist and VP of solutions architecture at Enterasys Networks, says every company should have

architecture. “It is mandatory in today’s enterprise environment,” he adds. ϐ ǡ implementation has taken a hit as vendors work to adapt it to virtual environments.

One of the key selling factors of ϐ company’s infrastructure, making all servers visible and manageable from a single

Markus Nispel, chief technology strategist and VP of solutions architecture at Enterasys Networks

Ǥ

virtual environments has been far from simple -­‐ and visibility has been more of a challenge ϐ Ǥ Dz

has struggled to adopt its use in virtual environments. This is because there are many providers for virtual environments.

Performance numbers are based on hardware resources allocated to that virtual machine.

ϐ appliance-­‐based software to be recompiled into the virtual image," says Bashar Bashaireh, regional director at Fortinet.

“One of the major issues with virtual environments is that in order to protect Ǧ ϐ into what is going on in the hypervisor (the communication path within a virtual ȌǤ ϐ

ǡdz ǡ technology services at help AG ME. Carvalho adds: “You’ve got to understand the difference between virtual and physical environments when it comes to security. In the physical environment it is very easy to ϐ ǡ but in a virtual environment you can’t see ϐ the server from one machine to the other.”

Dynamic He also refers to the ‘dynamic’ nature of a virtual environment, compared to a ‘static’ physical environment where intercepting ϐ

subsequently a lot easier.

Furthermore, with most companies only virtualising around 50% to 60% of their

Simon Carvalho, principal security architect at Paramount

ǡ

enforce a single consistent security policy across both environments.

paradigms that vendors can use to adapt their appliances for virtual environments. Dz ϐ

device can be achieved with most solutions, but the scalability and latency impact of the solution needs to be accounted for,” he says.

“Another option is internal integration by adding kernel extensions to the hypervisor operating system, which is probably the most ϐ hypervisor. This approach generally scales very well, but many vendors do not have solutions that are compatible with this approach,” he adds. ϐ

as a client on the guest operating system, though he doesn’t recommend it above the other two, which help AG’s solutions typically fall under.

Contact For more information please call us at +971 4 375 7612 or email at fortinet@secureway.ae

STRIP AD HERE

In Association with

SECURITY ADVISOR Intrusion prevention systems

“This  approach  generally  scales  quite  poorly  and  has  more  resource  demands,  both  on  guest  and  host  operating  systems.  It  complicates  manageability  as  the  client  needs  to  be  deployed  and  maintained  on  any  server  or  client  operating  system  in  the  virtual  environment,â€?  he  says.   Demand Whilst  vendors  have  staggered  in  trying  to  recast  their  appliances  for  virtualised  companies,  this  certainly  hasn’t  affected  –Š‡ †‡Â?ƒÂ?† ˆ‘” Ǥ Â? ÂˆÂƒÂ…Â–ÇĄ –Š‡ ”‹•‡ ‘ˆ virtualisation  has  rocketed  companies  security  concerns.  “With  increasing  interest  in  building  virtualised  environments  -­â€?  both  private  ƒÂ?† ’—„Ž‹… ÇŚ –Š‡ †‡Â?ƒÂ?† ˆ‘” ˆ‘” –Š‡•‡ ’Žƒ–ˆ‘”Â?• Šƒ• ‹Â?Â…Â”Â‡ÂƒÂ•Â‡Â†ÇĄÇł •ƒ›• ‹Â?ƒ ÂƒÂ”ÂƒÂˆÇĄ technical  team  leader  of  advanced  networking  and  information  security  at  FVC. Carvalho  adds  that  Paramount  has  seen  a  clear  increase  in  interest  and  awareness  of  •‡…—”‹–› •‘Ž—–‹‘Â?• Ž‹Â?‡ Ǥ

Bashar Bashaireh, regional director at Fortinet

Dz ‘Â?‡ ‘ˆ –Š‡ Â?‘”‡ Â?ƒ–—”‡ ‘”‰ƒÂ?‹•ƒ–‹‘Â?• are  aware  of  the  risks  that  virtualisation  introduces  as  far  as  the  security  posture  ‘ˆ ƒÂ? ‘”‰ƒÂ?‹•ƒ–‹‘Â? ‹• …‘Â?…‡”Â?‡†Ǥ ‘ •‘Â?‡ organisations  are  aware  of  this  and  are  now  –ƒŽÂ?‹Â?‰ –‘ —• ƒ„‘—– Š‘™ ƒÂ?† ‘–Š‡” •‡…—”‹–› solutions  will  address  that  risk  of  security  in  the  virtual  environment,â€?  he  says.

Despite  the  increase  in  demand,  the  general  ˆƒ‹Ž—”‡ ƒ…”‘•• ˜‡�†‘”• –‘ …”‡ƒ–‡ ƒ •–”‘�‰

solution  suitable  for  a  virtual  environment  has  ultimately  led  to  a  decrease  in  uptake.  “With  the  increased  demand  on  virtualisation  towards  cloud-­â€?based Â

Nicolai Solling, director of technology services at help AG ME

With the increased demand on virtualisation towards cloud-based computing, and attempts by end users to reduce their environmental footprint and CAPEX, the uptake of IPS and probably other security services have been affected by a lower adoption of virtualised ecosystems by some vendors.â€? computing,  and  attempts  by  end  users  to  reduce  their  environmental  footprint  and  ǥ –Š‡ —’–ƒÂ?‡ ‘ˆ ƒÂ?† ’”‘„ƒ„Ž› ‘–Š‡” security  services  have  been  affected  by  a  lower  adoption  of  virtualised  ecosystems  by  some  vendors,â€?  says  Bashaire. ‹•’‡Ž •ƒ›• Â?Â–Â‡Â”ÂƒÂ•Â›Â•ÇŻ ”‡˜‡Â?—‡ Šƒ• „‡‡Â? Ç˛ÂƒÂŽÂ?‘•– Ď?ÂŽÂƒÂ–Ç¤Çł ‡ ÂƒÂ†Â†Â•ÇŁ Dz ‡ •‡‡ –Š‡ –”‡Â?† –‘™ƒ”†• ˆ‡™‡” —’–ƒÂ?‡• ĥ ƒ’’Ž‹ƒÂ?…‡• ƒ–‡ up  the  increase  demand  in  the  market  overall.â€? Â? –Š‡ ‘–Š‡” ŠƒÂ?†ǥ ƒ”ƒˆ •ƒ›• ‹– ‹• –‘‘ •‘‘Â? –‘ –ƒŽÂ? ƒ„‘—– Š‘™ –Š‡ †‡Â?ƒÂ?† ˆ‘” ’Š›•‹…ƒŽ

solutions  will  be  affected.  “In  a  virtualised  environment,  you  are  still  sharing  multiple  technologies  and  services Â

on  a  physical  appliance  and  that  scares  the  IT  •‡…—”‹–› ‘ˆĎ?‹…‡”• ĥ ˜—ŽÂ?‡”ƒ„‹Ž‹–‹‡• ƒ”‡ ”ƒ–‡† higher  and  successful  attacks  will  have  a  huge  ‹Â?’ƒ…–Ǥ Â?‡ Ď?Žƒ™ …ƒÂ? ‡š’‘•‡ ƒŽŽ •‡”˜‹…‡• ƒ– once,â€?  he  adds.

Uptake Carvalho  says  he  doesn’t  think  the  lack  ‘ˆ ˜‡Â?†‘”• ‡Â?„”ƒ…‹Â?‰ ˆ‘” ˜‹”–—ƒŽ‹•‡† environments  has  decreased  uptake,  and  instead  points  to  the  low  maturity  of  Middle  East  companies  in  the  security  domain. “In  my  personal  experience,  I  have  not  •‡‡Â? ƒÂ?› ’”‘Œ‡…–• „‡‹Â?‰ †”‘’’‡† †—‡ to  lack  of  support  for  virtual  environments. Â

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SECURITY ADVISOR Intrusion prevention systems

Many organisations in the Middle East are not completely virtualised or fully aware of Ǥ virtual environments is not being given that much importance currently in the Middle East,” he says.

to become more and more relevant in the coming months, particularly in the Middle East scenario.

“Organisations in the region are now being targeted by other nation states, so in this world

ϐ ϐ be increasing as we go ahead,” he says. ϐ of web 2.0 applications like Facebook and Twitter in enterprise as increasing the ϐ ǡ exposing organisations to a “new generation of web-­‐based threats and malware.”

“More than ever, it’s important for the business to monitor and control the use of web-­‐based social networking applications and cloud-­‐based services in order to safeguard sensitive information and maintain compliance with government regulations and industry best practices,” he says. Dz

very fast, evolved and embedded attacks. To be able to do so the response time for the new discovered attack should be minimal,” he adds.

Nispel believes it will be the bring your own device (BYOD) trends that will shape the

Ǥ “In the next year the relevance and important which still be very high. BYOD increases the number of threats, which increases the need for more threat

Ǥ

ǡdz Ǥ Future With no apparent doubt that its relevance is going to continue to increase, the more

to change in order to become more useful in a virtual environment. Dz

won’t change too much but we do expect the ability to integrate natively into the hypervisor layer of the virtualised environments and the adoption of that capability to increase,” Nispel says.

Nima Saraf, technical team leader of advanced networking and information security at FVC

In the next year the relevance and important which still be very high. BYOD increases the number of threats, which increases the need for more threat management and IPS in the infrastructure over time. So there will be more demand for IPS driven by BYOD.” “You will see more and more distributed

the server on the hypervisor layer and that will basically change today’s architecture from a pure centralised system to a more distributed architecture with smaller virtual appliances,” he adds.

vendors supporting APIs as the only ϐ can be inspected.

“We will also see vendors supporting their appliances as soft appliances directly in the virtual machine environment. But in my view, this is just a way of minimising the cost

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of operating a solution without emphasis on ǡdz Ǥ

ǯ ǡ will evolve to be better for the virtual world. Dz

ǡ ǯ ǡ virtualised platform or maybe one day cloud-­‐ based. It will not change much in terms of technology but we can expect it to become more intelligent by having next generation functionality such as intelligent network monitoring and host-­‐based vulnerability scan engines to make it more sophisticated and powerful,” he says.

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TelecomsWorld

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

TELECOMS WORLD Convergent billing

This bill is for you

customers  or  attract  new  once.  Internally  the  move  to  convergence  will  help  the  ‘’‡”ƒ–‘”• –‘ ”—Â? ‘’‡”ƒ–‹‘Â?• Â?‘”‡ ‡ˆĎ?‹…‹‡Â?–Ž› as  they  can  avoid  redundancy  in  systems  and  organisations,â€?  says  Klaus  Middeler,  Head  of  Market  Development  for  Operations  Ə —•‹Â?॥ —’’‘”– ›•–‡Â?•ǥ ”‹…••‘Â?

Middle  East.

Tony  Jackson,  Director  of  Telecom  ‘Ž—–‹‘Â?• Â–Â”ÂƒÂ–Â‡Â‰Â›ÇĄ ‘Â?˜‡”‰›• Â?ƒ”– ‡˜‡Â?—‡ ‘Ž—–‹‘Â?•ǥ ƒ‰”‡‡• –Šƒ– –Š‡ ‰”‘™–Š ‹Â? †‹ˆˆ‡”‡Â?– kind  of  services  and  the  need  to  differentiate  to  compete  are  the  primary  drivers.   “I  would  say  that  the  growth  in  different  kind  of  services  and  the  need  to  differentiate  to  compete  are  the  primary  drivers.  Operators  want  to  offer  new  and  innovative  services,  but  also  want  to  protect  themselves  and  their  customers  from  bill-­â€?shock  and  any  credit  risk.  This  dictates  that  they  need  to  monitor  and  control  services  in  real-­â€?time,  regardless  of  whether  a  customer  is  pre-­â€?paid  or  post-­â€? paid.  Having  a  convergent  charging  capability Â

With the regional telecom landscape getting more competitive, convergent billing is no longer a business option but a strategic requirement for service providers.

T

he  value  of  convergent  billing  is  becoming  de  rigueur  in  the  Middle  East  telecom  industry.  The  term  originally  meant  the  ability  to  bill  more  than  one  service  on  a  single  invoice.  Now,  however,  convergent  billing  encompassed  the  much  larger  concept  of  using  the  monthly  tally  as  a  tool  to  keep  customers  happy  and  to  cross-­â€?market  other  products.  And  combining  customer  information  from  disparate  systems  into  one  bill  lets  companies  build  detailed  …—•–‘Â?‡” ’”‘Ď?‹Ž‡• –Šƒ– Š‡Ž’ –Š‡Â? ƒ‹Â? marketing  pitches  at  that  consumer's  or  business's  particular  needs.

The  drivers  for  convergent  billing  are  pretty  much  the  same  all  over  the  emerging  Â?ƒ”Â?‡–•ǥ •ƒ›• ƒÂ?Ž‡•Š ÂŠÂƒÂ–Â‹ÂƒÇĄ ‡•‡ƒ”…Š Director,  Gartner.  “It  is  the  way  forward  for  telcos.  Consumer  market  is  getting  increasingly  complex  and  in  a  bid  to  stem  †‡…Ž‹Â?‹Â?‰ •‡”˜‹…‡ ’”‘˜‹†‡”• ƒ”‡ rolling  out  value-­â€?added  services  including Â

70

Computer  News  Middle  East

MAY 2012

m-­â€?commerce,  cloud  services  for  enterprise,  all  of  which  require  a  billing  mechanism  across  pre-­â€?paid  and  post-­â€?paid.  You  need  a  charging  ‡Â?˜‹”‘Â?Â?‡Â?– –Šƒ– ‹• ƒ‰‹Ž‡ ƒÂ?† Ď?Ž‡š‹„Ž‡ǥ ™Š‹…Š can  help  service  providers  keep  the  cost  of  operations  down  and  centralise  all  customer  data  on  a  single  platform.â€?  In  addition,  the  convergent  bill  acts  as  a  primary  communications  vehicle  for  many  telcos,  allowing  them  to  strengthen  their  customer  relationships  and  build  brand  loyalty. “Convergence  in  pre-­â€?paid  and  post-­â€? paid  systems  serves  various  purposes.  Externally  operators  will  be  able  to  unify  their  offerings  towards  their  subscribers  hence  bundle  marketing  messages,  avoid  …‘Â?ˆ—•‹‘Â? ƒÂ?† ‹Â?…”‡ƒ•‡ Â?ƒ”Â?‡–‹Â?‰ ‡ˆĎ?‹…‹‡Â?…›Ǥ Convergence  for  mobile  and  wireline  systems  will  provide  operators  with  the  ability  to  get  a  360  degree  view  on  their  subscribers,  enable  them  to  create  product  bundles  and  provide  incentives  to  retain Â

www.cnmeonline.com

Kamlesh Bhatia, Research Director, Gartner

also  allows  them  to  offer  services  to  a  wider  range  of  customers  and  to  create  different  forms  of  bundles  and  packages  that  go  across  all  their  service  lines.â€?  Marcos  Malzone,  Director  of  Business  Line  Management  –  Convergent  Billing, Â

Klaus Middeler, Head of Strategy and Market Development, Operations & Business Support Systems, Ericsson

ǡ providers to monetise new technologies as LTE, WiMAX are the major drivers for billing replacements. “As data services grow, service providers will look at ways ϐ Ǥ As a result we have seen increased demand for billing solutions that are fully integrated with policy control, allowing full monetisation of data services, and at the same time they keep network costs under control,” he adds.

While the concept of a bill that does more than demand money sounds great, implementing such a scheme can be a ϐ ǡ cutting across organisational silos and dealing with a host of business, technical and regulatory issues. “We expect to see a gradual migration to convergent billing as most operators in the region still have a large base of pre-­‐paid customers. But, most of the network based billing systems are coming to end of life and most operators would move to convergent charging

ϐ ǡdz says Bhatia.

Middeler adds that converging pre-­‐paid and post-­‐paid systems or merging various ϐ effort. This effort will in most cases require an update of the existing solution.

“Operators need to choose carefully which path they would like to follow. They need to assess if their exiting solution has a convincing roadmap and their solution partner a healthy market position. This evaluation will lead to the decision whether ϐ current solution or replace it with a future proof one.”

approach, which involves a phased approach towards full convergence where the service provider can migrate services one by one. For example, the operator wants to introduce spend control in real-­‐time for a selected group of postpaid customers. This approach does not require a full rip and replace of both the pre-­‐paid and post-­‐paid billing systems. Malzone says an adjunct billing solution can be quickly deployed and help the service provider to monetise from new convergent services before they can achieve a full convergent billing architecture. This approach can shorten the time to launch new convergent services from two years (the average time for billing transformation projects) to less than six months.

The emerging paradigm of M2M communications and services such mobile wallet are expected to further drive the adoption of convergent billing systems in the region. “Any additional service will increase the operational cost and marketing efforts needed to make the service

While the concept of a bill that does more than demand money sounds great, implementing such a scheme can be a different kettle of fish, as it often requires cutting across organisational silos and dealing with a host of business, technical and regulatory issues.

www.cnmeonline.com

Marcos Malzone, Director of Business Line Management – Convergent Billing, Redknee

successful. Therefore with an increasing number of connected devices through M2M and subscribers using additional services the return of investment into convergence ϐ run operators operations,” Middeler says.

Contrary to the popular perception that it is relevant only for wireless operators, convergent billing can be a boon for wireline operators as well, looking to move into quad play services. “When you look at the market drivers for convergent billing they are common across wireless and wireline. If either type of service providers offers multi-­‐play services then the business ϐ can be more evident. Nevertheless a number of issues related to existing legacy systems will continue to drive billing conversions whether you are a wireless or wireline ǡdz Ǥ He adds that the most important decision is how billing conversion will help these operators to improve their performance in the marketplace within an acceptable timeframe and investment cost. This is an equation that many service providers got wrong in the past and have now been a lot more careful on the approach they take.

For telcos the message is loud and clear – you need to think about about convergent billing now and if you don’t invest in it, chances are you are going to be thoroughly bypassed.

MAY 2012

Computer News Middle East

71

TELECOMS WORLD Mobile Networks

T Wi-Fi, small cells could disrupt mobile The new network gear may open doors for equipment makers and service providers 72

Computer News Middle East

MAY 2012

www.cnmeonline.com

he rise of mixed mobile networks of Wi-­‐Fi, small cells and traditional base stations may change the competitive landscape of both service providers and equipment vendors.

Numerous infrastructure vendors, including major suppliers such as Alcatel-­‐ Lucent and Ericsson as well as smaller and newer players, introduced small base stations for use inside buildings and in outdoor spaces that are dense with cellular users. These will complement the traditional macro cells typically found on cell towers and roofs, which can cover entire neighbourhoods.

Though carriers have used smaller radios such as picocells in the past to aid

coverage  indoors,  those  have  been  relatively  expensive,  specialised  devices,  planned  and  installed  by  carrier  engineers,  that  ‘ˆ–‡Â? —•‡ ƒÂ? ‹Â?nj„—‹Ž†‹Â?‰ ȋ†‹•–”‹„—–‡† antenna  system).  The  new  generation  of  base  stations,  including  femtocells  already  deployed  in  many  homes,  are  intended  to  be  less  expensive  and  closer  to  mass-­â€?produced  consumer  electronics.  Wi-­â€?Fi  is  also  poised  to  play  a  bigger  role  in  mobile  networks,  both  in  hybrid  small  cells  and  through  new  standards  for  making  access  points  act  more  like  cells.  Like  other  new  technologies,  going  back  to  the  Internet  and  cellphones  themselves,  these  small  network  elements  and  tools  for  making  better  use  of  them  could  disrupt  both  the  network  gear  business  and  the  market  for  mobile  services,  according  to  analysts  and  some  in  the  industry.  More  competition  should  mean  more  options  and  lower  prices  for  service  providers,  and  ultimately  for  consumers.  But  there  are  constraints  on  new  players,  and  it's  too  early  to  know  how  successful  the  emerging  players  may  be. Š‡ Â?ƒŽŽ ‡ŽŽ ‘”—Â?ÇĄ ƒÂ? ‹Â?†—•–”› group  promoting  femtocells  and  other  new  types  of  network-­â€?edge  equipment,  envisions  a  small-­â€?cell  industry  that  would  look  more  like  the  Ethernet  LAN  ecosystem  than  current  cellular  infrastructure  business.  The  Forum  has  published  APIs  (application  programming  interfaces)  that  †‡Ď?‹Â?‡ …‘Â?•‹•–‡Â?– ‹Â?–‡”ˆƒ…‡• „‡–™‡‡Â? –Š‡ components  of  small  base  stations.  Today's  macro  base  stations  tend  to  be  specialised  designs  rather  than  standard  hardware  made  from  common  types  of Â Â’ÂƒÂ”Â–Â•ÇĄ •ƒ‹† ‹Â?‘Â? ƒ—Â?†‡”•ǥ …Šƒ‹”Â?ƒÂ? ‘ˆ –Š‡ Â?ƒŽŽ ‡ŽŽ ‘”—Â?Ǥ ‹Â?‡™‹•‡ǥ –Š‡ ‡•–ƒ„Ž‹•Š‡† vendors  of  cellular  equipment  often  use  their  own  interpretations  of  standards  for  signaling  between  the  components  of  a  network,  he  said.  That  model  needs  to  change  because  smaller  cells  need  to  be  made  in  larger  numbers,  at  a  lower  cost.

"Macro  cells  only  get  produced  in  their  tens  or  hundreds  of  thousands,  and  right  from  the  beginning,  we've  known  we  needed Â

to  add  triple  zeros  to  that  in  the  world  of  ˆ‡Â?–‘…‡ŽŽ•ǥ̜ ƒ—Â?†‡”• •ƒ‹†Ǥ Ěś – „‡…‘Â?‡• proportionally  more  important  to  take  the  steps  to  allow  reusability  of  parts."

But  it  remains  to  be  seen  whether  this  type  of  revolution  will  take  hold,  said  Mark  ‘Ž‡ǥ ‘ˆ …‡ŽŽ—Žƒ” Ď?‹Ž–‡” Â?ƒÂ?‡” Â‡Â•ÂƒÂ’ÂŽÂ‡ÂšÂšÇĄ which  has  built  up  several  wireless  startups.  "When  it's  a  paradigm  shift  that's  happening  with  a  shift  to  the  small  cell  ...  it  creates  an  opportunity  for  new  players.  How  will  it  play  out  in  the  long  term,  where  will  –Š‡ •…ƒŽ‡ „‡Â?‡Ď?‹–• ”‡ƒŽŽ› …‘Â?‡ –Š”‘—‰Šǥ Â–ÂŠÂƒÂ–ĚľÂ• the  interesting  part  of  it,"  Bolo  said.

operator  networks  even  without  selling  cellular  radios  itself.  However,  established  vendors  including  Ericsson  and  Alcatel  are  also  integrating  Wi-­â€?Fi  themselves,  unveiling  strategies  and  products  at  the  show  for  the  heterogeneous  networks  that  carriers  are  expected  to  start  building.  Better  integration  of  Wi-­â€?Fi  into  mobile  networks  may  also  open  doors  to  new  competitors  to  the  established  …ƒ””‹‡”•Ǥ ‡Â?Â?‹• –‡‹‰‡”ǥ ‘ˆ Šƒ™ Communications,  sees  new  competitive  potential  in  mobile  through  Wi-­â€?Fi.  The  cable Â

Better integration of Wi-Fi into mobile networks may also open doors to new competitors to the established carriers.

"It  creates  an  opportunity,  but  can  that  opportunity  really  be  seized  by  the  new  players?"  he  added.  Even  if  small  cells  are  built  around  interoperability  standards,  the  pervasiveness  of  traditional  macro  cells  from  the  big  vendors  may  turn  compatibility  with  that  older  gear  into  a  gating  factor  for  startups  after  all,  said Â

ƒ„”‹‡Ž ”‘™Â?ÇĄ ƒÂ? ƒÂ?ƒŽ›•– ƒ– ‡ƒ˜› ‡ƒ†‹Â?‰Ǥ The  new  prospect  of  using  Wi-­â€?Fi  as  a  more  integral  part  of  mobile  operator  networks  may  also  open  the  door  to  new  players.  Vendors  both  large  and  small,  ‹Â?…Ž—†‹Â?‰ ‹•…‘ ›•–‡Â?•ǥ —…Â?—• ‹”‡Ž‡•• andip.access,  introduced  products  designed  –‘ —•‡ –Š‡ ‘–•’‘– ʹǤͲ •’‡…‹Ď?‹…ƒ–‹‘Â?Ǥ ‘–•’‘– 2.0  is  an  open  standard  for  making  Wi-­â€?Fi  hotspots  available  without  the  need  to  enter  usernames  and  passwords,  and  to  help  users  roam  from  cells  to  hotspots  seamlessly.  —…Â?—•ǥ ƒ •’‡…‹ƒŽ‹•– ‹Â? ‹nj ‹ ˆ‘” Žƒ”‰‡ venues  and  service  providers,  debuted  as  a  provider  of  hybrid  access  points  with  both  cellular  and  Wi-­â€?Fi,  and  of  equipment  for  managing  cellular  networks.  And  though  Cisco  already  sells  a  mobile  packet  core  product,  the  growing  role  of  Wi-­â€?Fi  could  Â?ƒÂ?‡ ‹– ƒ Â?‘”‡ •‹‰Â?‹Ď?‹…ƒÂ?– ’Žƒ›‡” ‹Â? Â?‘„‹Ž‡

www.cnmeonline.com

operator  in  western  Canada  plans  to  build  an  extensive  network  of  Wi-­â€?Fi  hotspots  using  Cisco  gear  and  participate  in  a  trial  of  Hotspot  2.0  using  Cisco's  service-­â€?provider  Wi-­â€?Fi  products.  Š‘—‰Š Šƒ™ ‘”‹‰‹Â?ƒŽŽ› ’ŽƒÂ?Â?‡† –‘ bring  its  customers  mobile  services  through  a  traditional  macro  cellular  network  using  LTE,  it  later  decided  that  Wi-­â€?Fi  hotspots,  with  a  lighter  overlay  of  LTE,  better  suited  its  •—„•…”‹„‡”•̾ Â?‘„‹Ž‡ Â?‡‡†•ǥ –‡‹‰‡” •ƒ‹†Ǥ Šƒ™ ‹• ƒŽ”‡ƒ†› †‹•…—••‹Â?‰ ’‘••‹„Ž‡ roaming  agreements  with  mobile  operators,  which  could  weave  its  Wi-­â€?Fi  network  in  with  ™‹†‡Ž› ƒ˜ƒ‹Žƒ„Ž‡ Â?‘„‹Ž‡ •‡”˜‹…‡•Ǥ —„•…”‹„‡”• to  established  mobile  carriers  are  likely  to  see  more  Wi-­â€?Fi  sites  opened  up  to  them,  offering  opportunities  to  save  money  or  hold  ‘ˆˆ †ƒ–ƒ …ƒ’• „› ‘ˆĎ?Ž‘ƒ†‹Â?‰ –Š‡‹” ƒ…–‹˜‹–‹‡• from  the  cellular  network.  However,  those  opportunities  will  probably  come  mostly  in  the  subscriber's  own  country.  Even  a  technology  revolution  is  unlikely  to  make  international  data  roaming  cheap  or  free,  at  least  for  now,  said  Ovum  ƒÂ?ƒŽ›•– ƒ”›Ž …Š‘‘Žƒ”Ǥ "There's  a  lot  of  money  in  that  roaming Â Â•Â–Â—ÂˆÂˆÇĄĚś …Š‘‘Žƒ” •ƒ‹†Ǥ

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IntegrationAdvisor

INTEGRATION ADVISOR CIOs speak

Choice partner CNME asked CIOs to name and explain the elements that they believed made for a strong partnership. Here’s what they had to say.

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When  choosing  a  partner,  we  usually  look  into  the  integrator’s  “—ƒŽ‹Ď?‹…ƒ–‹‘Â?• -­â€?  are  they  gold  partners,  or  …‡”–‹Ď?‹‡† „› –Š‡ manufacturer  or  other  agencies.  Is  the  partner  Abdulsalam Bastaki, well-­â€?known  in  VP-IT, DSOA the  local  market,  their  success  history,  references  and  number  of  locally  available  expertise.

When  asked  about  what  makes  for  a  great  partnership  Bastaki  responds,  “Our  partnership  with  Microsoft,  Oracle,  IBM,  Avaya  and  F5  has  allowed  us  to  develop  a  corporate  infrastructure  that  leverages  present-­�day  solutions  to  build  a  foundation  for  future  and  cloud  computing.   They  understand  our  needs  and  know  what  it  takes  to  accomplish  our  goals.�

He  names  limited  resources,  standards  ƒÂ?† • ˆ‘” Ž‡˜‡Ž –™‘ •—’’‘”–ǥ ’”‘ƒ…–‹˜‡ recommendations,  working  closely  with  other  partners  and  proactively  leveraging  full  systems/applications  capabilities  as  some  challenges  faced  by  them.  “To  ensure  a  long  term  lasting  partnership,  both  parties  should  recognise  the  importance  of  continuously  reinforcing  support  approaches  and  pay  attention  to  factors  such  as  technical  knowledge  transfer,  †‘…—Â?‡Â?–ƒ–‹‘Â?ÇĄ ‹Â?Â?‘˜ƒ–‹‘Â?ÇĄ Ď?Ž‡š‹„‹Ž‹–›ǥ Â“Â—ÂƒÂŽÂ‹Â–Â›ÇĄ …‘•–•Ȁ„‡Â?‡Ď?Â‹Â–Â•Č€Â•ÂƒÂ˜Â‹Â?‰•ǥ …‘ƒ…Š‹Â?‰ǥ ƒ™ƒ”‡Â?‡••ǥ • ƒÂ?† •‘ ‘Â?ÇĄÇł •ƒ›• ƒ•–ƒÂ?‹Ǥ ‡ Â?ƒÂ?‡• Â”ÂƒÂ…ÂŽÂ‡ÇĄ ÇĄ ÇĄ Â˜ÂƒÂ›ÂƒÇĄ Ž’Šƒ ÂƒÂ–ÂƒÇĄ ÇĄ ‹’”‘ǥ ƒŠ‹Â?†”ƒ ƒ–›ƒÂ?ÇĄ

—Œ‹–•— ‹‡Â?‡Â?•ǥ Â?Â‹Â–ÂƒÂ…ÇĄ ÇĄ ÇĄ ComputerLinks,  EMW,  Microsoft,  F5,  Atos  ”‹‰‹Â?ÇĄ ‡ ‘•–‹Â?‰ ƒ–ƒ ‘”–ǥ ‡…—”‡ ÂƒÂ›ÇĄ ‡–ƒ and  HCL  as  some  of  the  best  integration  ’ƒ”–Â?‡”• Šƒ• ™‘”Â?‡† ™‹–Š ‹Â? –Š‡ recent  past

Dz Š‡ Ď?‹”•– –Š‹Â?‰

look  for  in  choosing  any  integration  partner  is  the  organisation’s  market  standing.  The  other  factors  which  are  seriously  considered  are  Arun Tewary, VP-IT and CIO, the  focus  area/ Emirates Flight Catering core  expertise  and  the  overall  approach  of  the  integration  partners  while  dealing  with  the  customers,�  says  Tewary.

He  continues,  “The  basis  for  good  partnership  is  the  mutual  understanding  of  each  other’s  requirements.  The  common  objective  between  the  integration  partner  and  the  customer  should  be  to  create  a  win-­� win  model,  thereby  enriching  each  other  in  all  possible  domains  and  establishing  credibility  in  the  industry.�

He  names  the  biggest  challenge  as  the  lack  of  other  comparable  projects  and  …‘Â?’ƒ”ƒ–‹˜‡Ž› •Â?ƒŽŽ ‹Â?†—•–”› •‹œ‡Ǥ ‘Â?‡ partners  have  a  very  narrow,  short-­â€?term  approach,  which  also  hampers  the  growth  of  a  relationship. “The  regional  integration  partner  can  make  partnership  more  relevant  by  strategically  planning  higher  investments Â

To ensure a long term lasting partnership, both parties should recognise the importance of continuously reinforcing support approaches and pay attention to factors such as technical knowledge transfer, documentation, innovation, flexibility, quality, costs/ benefits/savings, coaching, awareness, SLAs and so on.� www.cnmeonline.com

‹Â? ĆŹ ™‹–Š‹Â? –Š‡‹” ‘”‰ƒÂ?‹•ƒ–‹‘Â?ÇĄ ™Š‹…Š eventually  would  enable  them  to  effectively  suggest  and  implement  the  best  practices.  This  would  also  give  them  a  broader  outlook  and  industry  understanding.  Partners  can  add  value  to  any  organisation  by  taking  a  holistic  approach  rather  than  being  only  commercially  driven.  The  integration  partner  can  also  add  value  by  drawing  the  knowledge  and  based  practices  from  international  organisations,â€?  says  Tewary.

He  names  GBM  as  one  of  the  best  integration  partners  EKFC  has  worked   with  recently.

Dz Ž‘‘Â? ˆ‘” •’‡…‹Ď?‹… subject-­â€?matter  skills,  experience,  Ď?Ž‡š‹„‹Ž‹–›ǥ •—’’‘”– and  price  when  looking  for  an  integration  partner.  The  drive,  enthusiasm,  high-­â€?standards  ƒÂ?† Ď?Ž‡š‹„‹Ž‹–› –‘ deliver  in  line  Bas Wijne, director of IS-IT at Orbit Showtime Network (OSN) ™‹–Š ǯ• expectations  is  key  to  a  great  partnership.  This  almost  always  means  we  push  the  boundaries  of  the  integration  partner,  but  that  also  means  they  come  out  as  a  stronger  team,â€?  says  Wijne.  As  for  challenges,  Wijne  believes  that  some  partners  are  really  just  order-­â€?takers,  ™Š‘ Šƒ’’‡Â? –‘ Šƒ˜‡ ƒ ‰‘Ž† …‡”–‹Ď?‹…ƒ–‹‘Â?Ǥ ‘Â?‡ ‘–Š‡”• •–”—‰‰Ž‡ –‘ Â?‡‡– ‹Â?–‡”Â?ƒ–‹‘Â?ƒŽ standards.  “The  biggest  change  I  would  like  to  see  from  integration  partners  is  if  they  could  start  offering  opex-­â€?models  rather  than  only Â Â…ÂƒÂ’Â‡ÂšÇŚÂ?‘†‡Ž•Ǥ ‘Â?‡ ’ƒ”–Â?‡”• Šƒ˜‡ ƒŽ”‡ƒ†› pro-­â€?actively  started  offering  this  and  I  think  ‹– ™‹ŽŽ „‡ ‘ˆ ‰”‡ƒ– „‡Â?‡Ď?‹– –‘ –Š‡Â? ƒÂ?† –Š‡ ÇŚ market,â€?  says  Wijne. “I  would  like  our  partners  to  invest  time  and  money  to  truly  understand  our  business  Â?‘†‡ŽǤ ‘Â?‡ ‘ˆ –Š‡ „‡•– ’ƒ”–Â?‡”• –Šƒ– ™‡ Šƒ˜‡ ™‘”Â?‡† ™‹–Š ™‘—Ž† ‹Â?…Ž—†‡ ÇĄ ÇĄ ‡”˜‹‘Â? ƒÂ?† ÇŚ Â‹Â‰Â‹Â–ÂƒÂŽÇĄÇł ‹ŒÂ?‡ ƒ††•Ǥ

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INTEGRATION ADVISOR CIOs speak

“Good  business  values,  a  proven  track  record,  an  existing  business  relationship,  reliability,  technical/ business  development  expertise,  and  good  value  for  Maisam Zaidi, IT manager, ALEC money  are  some  key  elements  in  choosing  a  systems  integrator,�  says  Zaidi.  According  to  Zaidi,  projects  are  successful  if  they  are  planned  and  implemented  as  per  an  organisation’s  project  management  methodology,  which  should  be  somehow  adapted  by  the  integrator.  A  Good  communication  plan,  including  formal  feedback  process  immediately  after  the  project  ends,  and  a  proper  risk  management  plan  are  vital. “The  greatest  challenge  is  lack  of  expertise  and  agility,  we  have  a  lot  of  partners  that  do  work  on  multiple  technologies  and  tend  to  lose  focus  on  a  particular  technology  as  soon  as  a  good  resource  departs  the  organisation.  It’s  hard  to  replace  good  human  resources  in  the  region  as  well,�  he  adds.

Zaidi  says,  “Partners  have  a  role  to  play  from  start  to  the  end  of  any  engagement.  A  simple  tip  will  be  to  build  good  internal  teams,  including  sales,  pre-­â€?sales  and  technical  consultants  that  complement  each  other  and  also  have  the  capacity  to  make  the  client  feel  and  become  part  of  the  team.  The  ‘–Š‡” –‹’• ƒ”‡ Ď?Ž‡š‹„‹Ž‹–›ǥ ’”‘ˆ‡••‹‘Â?ƒŽ‹•Â?ÇĄ eagerness  to  go  an  extra  mile,  and  to  under  commit  and  over  deliver  to  the  client.â€?

Our  best  integration  partners  include  Â?Â‹Â–ÂƒÂ…ÇĄ ƒÂ?† Â?‘„‹–•Ǥ Â

“We  look  for  clarity  in  vision,  strategies  and  objectives  in  the  local  market,  continuous  engagement  of  executive  management,  desire  to  make  long-­â€?term  Muhammad Ali AlBakri, VP of IT business  at Saudi Arabian Airlines relationships,  regional  technical  support  capability  as  well  as  Ď?Ž‡š‹„‹Ž‹–› ƒÂ?† ƒ„‹Ž‹–› –‘ —Â?†‡”•–ƒÂ?† •’‡…‹ƒŽ circumstances  that  force  clients  to  request  urgent  solutions,  products  and  support,  when  we  are  choosing  an  integration  partner,â€?  says  AlBakri.  While  focused  effort  to  achieve  business  strategies  is  essential  for  a  great  partnership,  inability  to  build  proper  understanding  of  client  environments,  drivers  and  pain  points,  an  instable  workforce  and  management,  ™‡ƒÂ?Â?॥ ‹Â? ƒ†Š‡”‹Â?‰ –‘ •ǥ ƒÂ?† ˆ‘…—• on  the  commercial  aspect  as  opposed  to  building  true  business  value,  are  named  as  potential  challenges.  AlBakri  states  that  partners  can  make  his  life  easier  by  thinking  of  a  business  model  where  rewards  can  be  linked  to  the  success  of  their  solutions  in  the  business  environment.

In  giving  tips  to  partners  AlBakri  states,  “Be  more  direct,  clearly  state  what  is  of  critical  importance,  understand  client’s Â

The biggest change I would like to see from integration partners is if they could start offering opex-models rather than only capex-models. Some partners have already pro-actively started offering this and I think it will be of great benefit to them and the SI-market.�

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business  models  and  challenges,  and  avoid  treating  clients  as  mere  sources  of  revenue,  without  worrying  too  much  about  the  failure  of  business  to  adopt  technical  solutions.â€? ‡ Â?ƒÂ?‡• ÇĄ ÇĄ ‹’”‘ ƒÂ?† ĥ some  of  the  best  integration  partners  to  work  with.  Â

“You  need  to  select  a  partner  with  a  strong  record  of  success  in  similar  integration  projects,  competent  with  in-­â€?depth  technical  and  functional  Sa’di Awienat, CIO at knowledge,  Qatar Foundation having  genuine  commitment  to  customer’s  success,  and  possessing  great  Ď?Ž‡š‹„‹Ž‹–› ‹Â? Â?ƒÂ?ƒ‰‹Â?‰ •…‘’‡ ˜ƒ”‹ƒ–‹‘Â?•ǥdz •ƒ›• Awienat.

He  continues,  “A  great  partnership  requires  a  win-­â€?win  strategy.  If  all  parties  ”‡ƒŽ‹•‡ ƒÂ?† ”‡•’‡…– –Š‡ ‘–Š‡”•ǯ ”‹‰Š– –‘ „‡Â?‡Ď?‹– in  a  way  or  the  other  from  this  partnership,  then  this  will  lead  to  great  results  and  sustainable  partnership.  On  the  other  hand,  I  have  witnessed  many  customers  who  are  very  demanding  and  constantly  going  beyond  logical  limits.  They  mandate  unrealistic  deadlines  even  when  it  is  not  really  urgent,  scope  changes  are  the  norm  for  them,  and  yet  expect  the  integration  partner  to  always  have  the  magical  solutions  at  no  additional  cost  nor  delays  in  schedule.â€?

Awienat  says  that  Qatar  Foundation  faces  challenges  in  getting  the  right  subject-­â€?matter  experts  within  the  region.  Most  of  the  partners  have  sales-­â€?oriented  organisations  in  the  GCC  with  few  technical/ functional  experts  in  the  region.  They  rely  heavily  on  their  global  pool  of  resources  and  subcontracting. “Partners  can  make  life  easier  for  us  by  focusing  on  long-­â€?term  partnerships Â

INTEGRATION ADVISOR CIOs speak

rather than just quick-­‐wins that meet sales targets. And this can be achieved by doing more investment in understanding the customers’ needs and priorities, educating the customers with new trends and offerings that could add value to them,” says Awienat.

He adds, “Each organisation has unique requirements and needs. Trying to impose one standard offering on all organisations is simply going to lead to failure. I urge integration partners to always try to understand the nature/priority of ϐ knowledge gaps within the customer’s staff.”

Awienat names Microsoft and EMC as partners with leadership abilities and ground-­‐breaking strategy initiatives.

Oommen looks for reliability, technical competence, quality of service delivery and price when choosing an integration partner.

“Consistent track record of performance Saji Oomen, group director of IT at Al Batha Group exceeding customer expectations is the foundation for great partnerships. Behaviours based on ethics, trust and mutual respect from both sides will help to cement successful and long-­‐ term partnerships. The partner should be willing to invest with the customer long term and deliver consistent service levels,” says Oommen. Ǧ this region, attrition rate of key resources, adequacy of investment in terms of resources and infrastructure are the challenges faced

by Al Batha Group.

“Just like their customers, regional partners should maintain long-­‐term loyalty for this region and it can make

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long-­‐term partnerships. They should understand the business requirements of the customers which will help to deliver more successful projects. Partners also should forge strong partnerships with principals (leading hardware and software vendors) at the regional level. Quite often, their international partnerships are not converted into similar partnerships at regional level which will add more value and less problems for customers,” says Oomen.

HP and IBM are the best integration partners that Al Batha has worked with, according to Oommen.

“The key is passion to work with customers, because not all partners have the mindset to be solution based.

Technical skills and subject-­‐ matter expertise are the next key Thameem Rizvon, group components in CIO at Kamal Osman making a choice.

Jamjoom Previous experience of working in the region are also critical elements in choosing a partner,” Ǥ ǡ necessary elements for a great partnership, Ǥ disconnection from pre-­‐sales and post-­‐sales, and limited functional skills are some of the major challenges faced by KOJ in working with partners. Dz relationship from a long-­‐term perspective and not just as an on-­‐off sales opportunity.

They should have a solutions approach, have the right costing and keep in house subject matter experts. In the last 18 months Infogain, Zensar and Accel Frontline are the best integration partners we have worked ǡdz Ǥ

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“What I look for when choosing an integration partner is professionalism of the company, technical resources within that company, history of delivering similar Trevor Moore, director of IT type projects on snd communications at AUD time and on budget so basically references I can contact to discuss their experiences with the integration partner. To do this at Abu Dhabi university we have a strict procurement process to select an integration partner. In fact for any project the same process is followed,” says Moore.

He adds, “One of the biggest challenges

ϐ process tend to be of very high quality, but the staff disappear during the implementation step of the project and lower skilled staff are used. These new lower skilled staff tend to take more time to get up to speed on the project since they were not involved initially and they do not have the overall technical skills needed. To mitigate this risk we now

Ǥdz Partners should provide updates on time, and meet customers regularly in order to make enterprise clients lives easier, says Moore.

“One of the tips I can give to an integration partner is to stick to delivery dates. Any missed deadlines can have a massive impact on an organisation and ϐ Ǥ ϐ they come up, rather communicate them and a plan can be made to resolve those issues,” says Moore.

“The two partners who have stood out ͳͺ

ϐ Ǥ Dhabi university with two projects and they exhibited the qualities I look for in a partner,” he concludes.

CareersAdvisor

CAREER ADVISOR EBTIC

Focus on research EBTIC is working to create a self-sustained ICT community in the UAE by encouraging a focus on research and innovation.

E

BTIC  is  a  jointly  established  research  and  innovation  centre  by  Etisalat,  BT  and  Khalifa  University  in  the  UAE.

Šƒ• Šƒ† ƒ •—……‡••ˆ—Ž Ď?‹”•– Í´ ›‡ƒ”• which  is  demonstrated  through  its  numerous  research  and  innovation  projects  with  its  founding  partners,  the  number  of  published  •…‹‡Â?–‹Ď?‹… ’—„Ž‹…ƒ–‹‘Â?• ƒÂ?† ’ƒ–‡Â?–• „‡‹Â?‰ Ď?‹Ž‡†ǥ ƒŽŽ ‹Â? •—…Š ƒ •Š‘”– –‹Â?‡ˆ”ƒÂ?‡ ƒÂ?† ‹Â? ƒ number  of  technical  areas. “It  was  a  conscious  decision  that  EBTIC  should  be  operated  from  Khalifa  university  campus.  We  have  tried  to  establish  what  we  call  ‘Khalifa  University  and  EBTIC  joint  university  programme’   to  identify  very Â

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capable  graduates  to  join  EBTIC.  While  they  ™‘”Â? ƒ– ÇĄ –Š‡› …ƒÂ? ’—”•—‡ –Š‡‹” Â… research  at  Kahalifa  University  as  well.  This  allows  people  with  a  good  degree  and  credits  to  leverage  both  options,  while  enhancing  their  skills,â€?  says  Dr  Nader,  director  of  EBTIC.  EBTIC  currently  boasts  28  full-­â€?time  UAE  and  ex-­â€?pat  staff.  Furthermore,  EBTIC  collaborates  with  and  has  the  support  of  ”‡•‡ƒ”…Š‡”• ˆ”‘Â? ĆŹ Žƒ„• ‹Â? –Š‡ ÇĄ a  number  of  UAE  national  students  and  interns,  as  well  as  a  number  of  visiting  international  research  fellows.  EBTIC  aims  to  continue  growing  its  full-­â€?time  workforce  in  the  future.  It  also  aims  to  advance  intelligent Â

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systems  technologies  for  Next  Generation  Networks  (NGNs)  and  NGN-­�enabled  ICT  applications  and  services,  in  order  to  put  in  place  the  support  infrastructure  to  facilitate,  develop  and  enable  the  Digital  Networked  Economy  in  the  UAE  and  beyond.

Following  the  success  of  the  past  two  and  a  half  years,  EBTIC  is  currently  planning  to  initiate  a  transformation  programme  that  will  see  the  centre  growing  to  become  a  UAE-­�based  national  research  and  innovation  organisation.  Fundamental  to  this  transformation  is  the  expansion  of  EBTIC's  partner  base  and  collaboration  beyond  the  current  three  founding  partners  (Etisalat,  BT  and  Khalifa  University).

On  the  academic  front  EBTIC  has  already  moved  towards  engagement  with  other  universities  in  the  UAE  such  ƒ• Â?Â‹Â˜Â‡Â”Â•Â‹Â–Â›ÇĄ Šƒ”ŒƒŠ Â?‹˜‡”•‹–› ƒÂ?† –Š‡ Â?‡”‹…ƒÂ? Â?‹˜‡”•‹–› ‘ˆ Šƒ”ŒƒŠǤ More  work  is  underway  to  expand  this  collaboration  further.  EBTIC  is  now  aiming  to  start  constructive  discussions  with  key  ICT  industry  players  in  the  UAE  to Â

extend  EBTIC’s  industry  partner  base  and  collaboration  scope.  EBTIC  has  already  developed  a  research  and  innovation  programme  to  tackle  key  ICT  industry  challenges  which  is  in  addition  to  EBTIC’s  programme  to  tackle  societal  challenges  in  the  UAE  such  as  education  and  healthcare.  Therefore,  EBTIC’s  vision  of  being  an  enabler  for  innovation  in  the  UAE  is  already  well  under  way  but  can  be  more  effectively  achieved  through  increased  collaboration  and  engagement  with  government  agencies,  academia  and  other  industry  players.  This  would  enable  a  larger  scale  exploitation  of Â

ǯ• ‹Â?Â?‘˜ƒ–‹‘Â?• ”‡•—Ž–‹Â?‰ ‹Â? ƒ •‹‰Â?‹Ď?‹…ƒÂ?– ‹Â?…”‡ƒ•‡ ‹Â? ”‡ƒŽ‹•‡† „‡Â?‡Ď?‹–•Ǥ “We  obviously  in  doing  this  research  we  work  closely  with  our  partners,  identify  key  strategic  objectives  (Etisalat  and  BT),  NGN,  area  of  operational  management,  enterprise  management  services,  green  ICT  etc.  Important  for  other  areas  like  public  sector  ƒÂ?† ‰‘˜‡”Â?Â?‡Â?– –‘‘Ǥ ‡ŽŽ †‡Ď?‹Â?‡† •…‘’‡ǥ and  engagement  with  government  bodies,  identify  societal  challenges  in  the  UAE  but  globally  applicable  as  well  such  as  health  and  education.  For  instance,  working  with  Khalifa  —Â?‹˜‡”•‹–› ‘Â? ‡†—…ƒ–‹‘Â? –‘ †‡Ď?‹Â?‡ Â?‡š– ‰‡Â? iCampus  initiative  and  health  authority  AD,  key  issues  and  challenges  they  face  and  how  –‡…Š …ƒÂ? Š‡Ž’Ǥ ‘ –Š”‘—‰Š …Ž‘•‡ ‡Â?‰ƒ‰‡Â?‡Â?– ™‹–Š ’ƒ”–Â?‡”• ƒÂ?† –Š‡‹” Â?‡–™‘”Â?• ƒÂ?† Ď?‹‰—”‡ out  what  is  important  for  the  nation  and  industry,â€?  says  Dr  Nader.

EBTIC  research  currently  consists  of  three  main  themes  and  two  initiatives  that  tackle  societal  challenges.  These  themes  and  initiatives  are  derived  from  EBTIC’s  strategic  founders’  priorities  as  well  as  an  understanding  of  the  UAE’s  priorities  and  strategy.  EBTIC’s  Enterprise  and  Distributed  applications  team  is  developing  technologies  for  delivering  and  managing  a  new  generation  of  applications  and  services  –‘ Â?‡‡– –Š‡ ˆ—–—”‡ Â?‡‡†• ‘ˆ •ǥ Žƒ”‰‡ corporations  and  government  organisations.  At  the  heart  is  the  research  in  innovative  solutions  for  differentiated  customer  service  and  business  operations,  in  addition  to  ICT  infrastructure  and  management  capabilities  needed  to  support  the  advanced  customer Â

•‡”˜‹…‡ ˜‹•‹‘Â?Ǥ ‘”‡ •’‡…‹Ď?Â‹Â…ÂƒÂŽÂŽÂ›ÇĄ ™‘”Â? ‹• being  carried  out  on  a  new  breed  of  tools  to  discover,  monitor  and  optimise  the  business  processes  of  the  enterprise,  to  effectively  manage  the  underlying  IT  infrastructure  that  supports  the  business  operations  and  to  address  security  and  architectural  challenges  of  cloud  computing  platforms.  The  second  research  theme  of  computational  sustainability  and  green  ICT  aims  to  investigate  and  transform  the  relationship  between  information  technology,  energy  management  and  environmental  sciences.  Our  medium-­â€?term  objective  is  to  provide  EBTIC  partners  with  guidelines  and  tools  for  the  energy  optimisation  of  critical  facilities  (such  as  data  centres  and  mobile  access  networks).  Our  long  term  goal  is  to  generate Â

For  network  optimisation,  different  advanced  optimisation  techniques  are  explored  to  devise  new  solutions  to  practical  network  design  and  planning  problems  that  are  faced  by  service  providers.  Modelling  real  world  problems  and  applying/combining  different  techniques,  such  as  meta-­â€?heuristic,  linear  and  non-­â€?linear  programming  to  solve  them  ‡ˆĎ?‹…‹‡Â?–Ž›ǥ ƒ”‡ –Š‡ ƒ”‡ƒ• ‘ˆ ”‡•‡ƒ”…ŠǤ “The  Open  Innovation  Program  allows  EBTIC  to  work  with  third  parties  as  well,  and  focus  on  current  trends  like  cloud  computing.  We  currently  have  work  in  progress  in  conjunction  with  two  prominent  cloud  solution  providers  as  well.  Etisalat  and  BT  have  constant  engagement  with  vendors  and  our  topics  of  research  are  comprehensive  and  up  to  date  with  the  industry  as  a  whole,â€?  adds  Dr.  Nader.

EBTIC currently boasts 28 full-time UAE and expat staff. Furthermore, EBTIC collaborates with and has the support of researchers from BT R&D labs in the UK, a number of UAE national students and interns, as well as a number of visiting international research fellows. EBTIC aims to continue growing its full-time workforce in the future. “know-­�how�  and  novel  solutions  to  secure  the  role  of  ICT  players  as  stakeholdes  in  a  carbon-­�neutral  economy.  EBTIC’s  research  theme  on  next-­�gen  communication  network  architectures  and  optimisation  focuses  on  two  main  areas:  packet-­�based  communication  networks  and  network  optimisation.

Packet  communication  networks  have  „‡…‘Â?‡ –Š‡ ˆ‘—Â?†ƒ–‹‘Â? ˆ‘” Â?ƒÂ?› Ď?‹š‡†ǥ mobile  and  converged  networks.  This  acceptance  has  been  equally  driven  by  the Â Â…Â‘Â•Â–ÇŚÂ‡ÂˆÂˆÂ‡Â…Â–Â‹Â˜Â‡Â?॥ ‘ˆ Ď?‹„”‡ ƒ……‡•• ƒÂ?† Č€ –Š‡”Â?‡–Ȁ –‡…ŠÂ?‘Ž‘‰‹‡•ǥ ĥ ™‡ŽŽ ĥ by  the  ability  to  act  as  the  uniform  and  unifying  layer  for  many  underlying  transport  technologies.  Packet  communication  networks  have  gained  wide  acceptance  because  of  their  many  advantages.

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EBTIC  initiatives The  educational  landscape  is  changing;  some  have  termed  it  the  ‘climate  change’  in  education.  The  traditional  landscape  is  often  perceived  as  ‘formal’,  ‘passive’,  ‘direct’,  and  ‘push’  learning  environments  designed  largely  for  the  knowledge  consumers;  and  the  modern  landscape  is  often  perceived  as  ‘informal’,  ‘active’,  ‘collaborative’,  ‘social’,  and  ‘pull’  learning  environments  designed  not  only  for  the  knowledge  consumers  but  also  for  the  knowledge  creators.  The  attempt  –‘ ”‡†‡Ď?‹Â?‡ –Š‡ ‡†—…ƒ–‹‘Â?ƒŽ ŽƒÂ?†•…ƒ’‡ has  gathered  a  lot  of  interest  among  the  academia  and  the  industry.  In  recent  ›‡ƒ”• ˜ƒ”‹‘—• –‡”Â?•ǥ •—…Š ĥ ÇŽ …Š‘‘Ž ʹǤͲ Architecture’,  ‘Virtual  Campus’,  ‘Education  3.0’,  ‘Edutainment’,  ‘Hyperconnected  Learner’,  ‘mLearning’,  and  many  others,  have  been Â

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CAREERS ADVISOR EBTIC

coined to signify and describe this paradigm shift in the campus environment.

To keep up with the changing landscape, the EBTIC’s iCampus initiative will address the various pertinent topics of interest, so as to adapt/create the next generation intelligent campus environment that is wellsuited for the 21st century. To do this, a new paradigm of thinking pertaining to a holistic intelligent campus (iCampus) environment will be investigated which encompasses several domains of intelligence.

STUDENTS SPEAK

Nuha Al Khanbashi Puruing an MSC by reasearch in Communications Engnineering at Khalifa University At what age did you first pick up an interest in information and communications technology?

(What aspect of technology was this, a gadget or a particular software/solution etc.)

I would say when I chose my specialisation at university (19 years old); at that time my interest was focused on the applications of mathematics and physics in engineering and especially the telecommunication track. Later on, during my work placement course at the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) and one year prior to my graduation, I was introduced to the state of the art in wireless technologies that enticed me to learn more about the ICT sector.

Why did you choose EBTIC to enhance your exiting knowledge base?

EBTIC has a strong research program in the field of ICT and has a number of high class researchers who carry out such research projects. In addition, and from what the name implies EBTIC’s research is relevant to industry needs (Etisalat and BT) which makes the research applied and with high potential for industry down-streaming. The above mentioned reasons, ensure that EBTIC

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EBTIC currently boasts 28 full-time UAE and expat staff. Furthermore, EBTIC collaborates with and has the support of researchers from BT R&D labs in the UK, a number of UAE national students and interns, as well as a number of visiting international research fellows. EBTIC aims to continue growing its full-time workforce in the future.

The second EBTIC initiative is focused around healthcare.

Today’s health care systems are bound to big, unwieldy monolithic systems.

Information is isolated in silos (desktops of general practitioners) and health care entities (doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, crisis coordination centres, patients/victims) are disconnected.

Two of the biggest research challenges in ICT health care are a) to cope with the burden of chronic disease stemming from an aging population, and b) to manage and mitigate crises stemming from man-­‐made and natural disasters. In both cases, the ICT in our current health care system is far removed from coping with these challenges.

To ensure the future of our health care standards, our current world of centralised “mainframe” systems need to be transformed into a world of intelligent, connected and autonomous enterprise services. In crisis situations, communication services need to

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be resilient and reliable to provide critical information to individuals and health care entities. In chronic disease management, services need to be smart in assisting health care providers to customise and execute complex collaborative long-­‐term plans for a patient.

Ǧ ICT technologies on 21st century intelligent Ǥ Ǧ and extend software architectures and algorithms addressing the most urgent needs in the primary and preventive health care sector EBTIC is currently in the process of initiating a constructive dialogue with the key industry players in the UAE to explore the potential for collaboration and to build an understanding of the required mechanisms for this planned expansion. These mechanisms will create an environment that encourages additional partners to join EBTIC and extend the reach of its research and innovation exploitation, while at the same time it needs to

CAREERS ADVISOR EBTIC

preserve the value of the initial and continuous investment of its original founding partners.

The mechanisms will need to be fair and formulated in a way that encourages additional investment and involvement from new partners where appropriate and incorporate their strategies and objectives within EBTIC’s programme while continuously managing the alignment with the national interests.

Beyond research “The main objective of EBTIC is to create skillsets and invest in people in the country.

We want to train the next generation of innovators and researchers in the UAE. Future recruits of EBTIC can get a real

STUDENTS SPEAK is the best environment for anyone who has an interest in enhancing not only their knowledge base but also many other skills like time management, presentation skills and industry engagement and so forth.

How relevant do you think the course is to the current ICT landscape?

The current ICT landscape is a fast growing field.

The study I am conducting in EBTIC is based on innovation by designing new techniques/ systems that are compatible with the existing wireless communication standards. The main purpose of the study is to discover new techniques that can be implemented in real life, so it’s absolutely relevant to the ICT landscape.

Could you tell us how your faculty add value to this course?

EBTIC and Khalifa University make sure that the research being conducted will be published to the international community and thus it will add value not only on the local scale but also in an international scale that might help other researchers in this area.

What subject matter/module within your course is of particular interest to you? How do you intend to use this specialisation in the

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taste of research and innovation in the organisation. Then it will provide them the opportunity to engage in on-­‐the-­‐job ǡ Khalifa University. We want to create future Ǧ ϐ local ICT industry,” says Dr Nader.

“EBTIC is thinking beyond research and development centre into a national research centre with more industrial partners and universities and turning the UAE into a regional innovation hub. We want to be at the forefront of value creation, to licence technology and to have more start-­‐ups.

The ultimate goal would be to create an environment for innovation,” he adds.

future (to start your own business or for further research)? Where do you see yourself five to seven years from now?

What I like most is the opportunity that EBTIC provides me with to strength on my technical knowledge (in telecommunication engineering) and presentation skills. I believe these two keys are the most important ones that make someone successful in any job/business he/she will undertake. Following the successful completion of my Msc. I will probably continue with a PhD.

Abdulrahman Al Mahmoud ECTIC researcher persuing MSC by research in Computer Engineering at Khalifa Universtiy At what age did you first pick up an interest in information and communications technology?

(What aspect of technology was this, a gadget or a particular software/solution etc.)

When I was about eight or nine years old I found an old game console that belonged to my older brother, I tried to set it up and then play it.

This was probably the first time I got interested in information technology. A few years later I learned how to use a personal computer.

I focused on information systems for my bachelor degree, and am now pursuing an MSc by research in computer engineering.

Why did you choose EBTIC to enhance your exiting knowledge base?

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EBTIC is currently still working on its Phase 1 activities, and expects to start the second Phase in 2013.

“Our engagement with UAE nationals is not just for recruitment, the idea is to Ǥ ͳͶ Ȁ ϐ ǡ 12 of whom were UAE nationals. Etisalat sends some UAE national engineers to EBTIC as part of a secondment scheme for six months to work on relevant research subjects -­‐ another form of training. We work with them to create self-­‐sustained skill sets, enable them to work independently or within organisations and pursue their own goals,” concludes Dr Nader.

EBTIC’s links to industry and academia is of great interest to me, and I am keen on having exposure to both. I would like to explore both fields before I settle into a career in one of them.

How relevant do you think the course is to the current ICT landscape?

We are working closely with the industry to solve actual problems they face, I believe what we are learning/researching is the core of what the ICT industry requires.

Could you tell us how your faculty add value to this course?

We work very closely with the faculty on a daily basis. I believe their experience and advice is a great help to us. My MSc. course is jointly supervised by an industry (EBTIC) supervisor(s) and an academic (Khalifa University) supervisor(s). This is the uniquness of this course.

What subject matter/module within your course is of particular interest to you? How you intend to use this specialisation in the future (to start your own business or for further research)? Where do you see yourself five to seven years from now?

Secure channels and encryption in enterprise applications is the most interesting part and the core of my research. I think companies can benefit from this as they usually outsource such services or neglect them. As for where I see myself in 5 to 7 years, I probably will continue my phd degree with EBTIC and Khalifa University.

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INTERVIEW Pat Gelsinger

AIM FOR TRANSFORMATION Pat Gelsinger, the driven President and COO of global IT solutions provider EMC, talks about the next steps for the company and for the organisations of the world in the move to achieve higher efficiencies with every investment dollar.

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Y

ou  called  EMC  the  smallest  of  the  big  in  the  IT  industry.  As  you  aim  to  become  the  biggest  of  the  big,  how  are  you  working  to  differentiate  yourself?

A:  We  are  the  smallest  of  the  big,  and  so  we  have  to  be  nimble  and  disruptive.  We  can‘t  lead  by  size  because  we  are  not  the  biggest,  so  we  have  to  lead  by  value  and  innovation.  Look  at  products  like  VMWare,  when  we  acquired  it.  It  was  a  very  disruptive  product  –  to  the  value  proposition  of  the  data  centre  and  servers  at  the  time.  You  look  at  products  like  DataDomain  –  it  is  re-­� architecting  tape  and  how  backups  are  done  –  very  disruptive  to  the  current  industry.  Look  at  products  like  Greenplum,  it  is  very  disruptive  to  the  database  and  how  data  analytics  and  data  warehousing  is  done.  That  to  us  is  the  key  –  to  be  that  disruptor  –  to  do  fundamental  innovation  and  to  aggressively  drive  it  forward  into  the  marketplace.  We  want  to  be  an  innovative  trusted  partner  for  our  customer.  And  to  us  that  is  the  opportunity  for  fundamental  differentiation  versus  the  big  of  the  big  today.

Q:  What  is  the  next  big  frontier  for  EMC? A:  First,  there  is  a  lot  left  to  do  in  our  domains.  In  the  cloud  we  have  a  long  way  to  go.  On  trust  we  think  we  have  a  long  way  to  go.  And  on  big  data,  we  are  just  about  •–ƒ”–‡†Ǥ Š‡ Ď?‹”•– ’‘‹Â?– ‹• –Šƒ– –Š‘•‡ ƒŽ‘Â?‡ are  tens  of  billions  of  dollars  of  business  that  will  be  made  available  to  us  in  the  future.  When  we  look  beyond  that,  what’s  interesting  is  that  it  changes  the  nature  of  who  our  customer  is  and  how  we  work  with  our  customers.  The  key  customer  for  EMC  in  the  past  was  the  storage  admin  –  that  was  the  guy  we  talked  to.  But  the  key  customer  for  EMC  in  the  future  is  the  CIO  and  CEO.  Now  we  are  talking  about  how  to  transform  their  business  as  well  as  how  to  transform  –Š‡‹” ‹Â?ˆ”ƒ•–”—…–—”‡Ǥ ‘ ™‡ Â?‡‡† –‘ …ŠƒÂ?‰‡ how  we  sell,  who  we  sell  to,  what  we  sell,  as  well  as  who  we  sell  with.  Look  at  our  partners  in  the  past  versus  our  partners  in  the  future.  We  are  announcing  partnerships  with  Atos  like  we  did  a  few  weeks  ago.  We ʠܠ Â?‘– ‡˜‡Â? Â?Â?‘™ Š‘™ –‘ •’‡ŽŽ Č‚ Â?‘™ we  are  doing  a  partnership  with  them  in  the Â

area  of  Greenplum  and  analytics.  Before  we  ™‡”‡ ‹””‡Ž‡˜ƒÂ?– –‘ ÇĄ Â?‘™ ™‡ Šƒ˜‡ ˆ‘”Â?‡† ƒ Â?ƒŒ‘” ’ƒ”–Â?‡”•Š‹’ ™‹–Š –Š‡Â?Ǥ ‘ ‹– ‹• changing  who  we  sell  to,  what  we  sell,  how  we  sell  it  as  well  as  who  we  sell  with.  This  is  a  very  transformative  phase  of  the  company.  Q:  What  do  you  think  is  the  next  big  disruptive  technology  of  our  times?

A:  I  will  say  big  data,  in  the  sense  that  we  think  that  big  data  has  barely  started.  We  really  do  think  that  this  entails  10  or  more  years  of  work  in  front  of  us.  And  as  I  have  described  the  four  big  IT  trends  –  social,  mobile,  cloud  and  big  data.  Those  are  the  big  four  trends  today,  and  if  I  knew  what  the Â

will  transform  that  industry.  We  can  explain  this  across  multiple  industries.  As  we  engage  with  customers  in  these  industries  we  expect  that  one  or  two  of  these  potential  combinations  are  going  to  be  seeds  that  lead  us  to  make  the  next  big  thing.  Four  years  ago  there  was  no  mention  of  big  data,  but  it  came  into  existence  only  as  we  saw  the  interplay  of  cloud  and  social.  When  you  think  about  Google,  Amazon  and  Facebook  –  what  are  they  doing  –  they  are  doing  big  data.  We  didn’t  call  it  big  data,  we  didn’t  really  think  about  it  as  big  data,  at  the  time.  ‘ „‡Ž‹‡˜‡ –Š‡ Ď?‹ˆ–Š ™‘—Ž† ‡Â?‡”‰‡ ˆ”‘Â? understanding  some  of  the  vertical  market  use  cases  of  cloud  and  big  data.

We are the smallest of the big, and so we have to be nimble and disruptive. We can‘t lead by size because we are not the biggest, so we have to lead by value and innovation. Ď?‹ˆ–Š ‘Â?‡ Â™ÂƒÂ•ÇĄ ™‘—Ž† ’”‘„ƒ„Ž› ‰‘ •–ƒ”– ƒ company  to  do  that.  We  are  really  not  sure  what  it  would  be.  What  we  are  seeing  is  that  innovations  are  happening  in  the  mashup  of  those  ˆ‘—”Ǥ ‘ ˆ‘” —• ‹– ‹• ƒŽŽ ƒ„‘—– ™Š‹…Š ‘ˆ –Š‡•‡ different  factors  come  into  play  and  how.  And  in  that  we  think  that  there  will  be  major  disruptions,  major  new  opportunities.  Let  us  take  an  example,  in  the  combination  of  cloud  and  big  data  for  healthcare.  We  think  there  is  enormous  transformation.  The  healthcare  ‹Â?†—•–”› ‹• ͳ͚Ψ ‘ˆ –Š‡ ‡…‘Â?‘Â?›ǥ ‹– ‹• ͳ;Ψ ‘ˆ –Š‡ ™‘”Ž†™‹†‡ ‡…‘Â?‘Â?›Ǥ ‘ ‘ˆ ‡˜‡”› Â†Â‘ÂŽÂŽÂƒÂ”ÇĄ 13  cents  are  being  spent  on  healthcare.  And  we  see  cloud  and  big  data  as  enabling  an  entirely  new  model  of  evidence-­â€?based  healthcare,  and  outcome-­â€?based  healthcare,  with  a  full  corpus  of  all  of  the  prescribed  models  of  how  people  have  treated  that  disease,  combined  with  an  increasingly  personalised  view  of  your  data,  and  having  the  full  synthesis  of  having  your  personal  health  records  and  all  of  your  data  being  made  available  in  every  health  experience.  That  is  a  cloud,  big  data  experience  which Â

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Q:  What  does  EMC  look  for  in  global  partnerships?  What  could  be  the  reasons  for  ending  a  partnership?

A:  ‡– —• –Š‹Â?Â? ‘ˆ –Š‡ –™‘ ‡šƒÂ?’Ž‡• ‘ˆ ƒÂ?† Ǥ Â? „‘–Š …ƒ•‡• ™‡ Ď?‹Â?† –Šƒ– ™‡ are  highly  complementary.  I  can  go  to  Jim Â

‘‘†Â?‹‰Š–ǥ –Š‡ ƒÂ?† ˆ‘—Â?†‡” ‘ˆ Ǥ …ƒÂ? ‰‘ –‘ ‹ŽŽ Â… ‡”Â?‘–– ƒÂ?† ‹Â? …ŠÂ?ƒ„‡ ƒÂ?† say  hey  we  have  a  few  little  skirmishes  of  areas  that  we  overlap,  but  fundamentally  we  are  complementary.  We  see  that  we  are  complementary,  we  are  growing  in  the  same  direction  for  the  future,  so  we  share  a  vision  –  and  then  we  have  to  put  tires  on  the  car.  We  have  got  to  get  stuff  done  –  so  we  need  to  be  able  to  go  and  deliver  ”‡ƒŽ ˜ƒŽ—‡ Č‚ •‘ ™‡ Â?‡‡† –‘ ‰‡– ˜‡”› •’‡…‹Ď?‹…Ǥ Šƒ– ‹• ‰‘‹Â?‰ –‘ „‡ –Š‡ Š‹‰Š ’‡”ˆ‘”Â?ƒÂ?…‡ ƒ’’Ž‹ƒÂ?…‡ –Šƒ– Ď?‹–• ‹Â?•‹†‡ ƒ ”‡‡Â?’Ž—Â? ÂƒÂ”Â”ÂƒÂ›ÇŤ Šƒ– ‹• ‰‘‹Â?‰ –‘ „‡ –Š‡ ”‡ˆ‡”‡Â?…‡ †‡•‹‰Â? ˆ‘” ˜‹”–—ƒŽ‹•‡† ‡Â?˜‹”‘Â?Â?‡Â?–•Ǎ ‘ –ƒÂ?‡ ‹– –‘ very  tangible  things  that  we  can  build  on  our  products,  and  turn  on  real  sales,  and  get  them  to  our  mutual  sales  teams.

On  the  other  hand,  what  ends  a  partnership.  Well,  we  just  ended  one.  Dell. Â

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INTERVIEW Pat Gelsinger

After a very successful decade, they gave us a divorce. We did not ask for a divorce, they gave us a divorce. They took us to divorce court.

Ultimately it was their decision that they wanted the margin of storage as well. It was not our decision – we worked very hard –

ϐ way to complement them.

As it goes forward, we think that our objective is just to build and expand those partnerships, and they have to be sustainable over the long term. Otherwise it is not worth it. We are in partnership discussions across cloud, big data and trust.

Q: Has entrepreneurship efforts decreased during the recession and what role does EMC Ventures play in keeping such efforts ongoing?

A: We have not seen a slowdown in the amount of venture activity in terms of new companies being formed. There clearly has been a slowdown in terms of IPOs, but in terms of the core innovative companies that are relevant to us, we see a lot in storage, cloud, in big data, also a lot in security.

We call it the golden triangle of innovation. We believe that a sustained model of innovation needs three likes – a corporate like, a venture like and a university like. And a successful company keeps all three of these underway. You Ƭ ideas. You are participating with the venture community – their ideas and which ones are important to be worked on – and also identify the M&A opportunities.

And the third is the university community – that is either the source of students or ideas – or it is a source of new start-­‐ups from those.

We formalised EMC Ventures for a ϐ venture community. We have also formalised EMC Labs, which we have announced, for Ǥ two years, we have formalised the other two aspects of our triangle, and now engaging across all three of these have become a very big part of my job.

The programmes are global in nature even though in the venture case, it is mostly Ǥ Ǥ Europe and Israel – we are active in those markets – but most of our focus happens to Ǥ – it's our home court and its where most of

Valley phenomena. But our intention is to make those uniformly representative on a global basis.

The university programme is a global programme as well. We will be formalising more of these relationships on a global basis.

Q: The chosen topic of EMC World this time is IT transformation. Can you expand on what we are likely to hear?

A: We have said that the theme is transformation and we have said transform IT, business and transform yourself. For IT, the message is about the cloud, driving

Ǧ Ǧ Ǧ ϐ ϐ around it. Business transformation is very much around big data. And then there is transforming yourself.

As we look across that spectrum you will see some new product announcements – we are sort of calling it Mega LaunchII. We have MegaLaunch I – was January a year ago. We are also going to be announcing a number Ȃ programme – what that means for people to

Social, mobile, cloud and big data are the big four trends today, and if I knew what the fifth one was, I would probably go start a company to do that. We are really not sure what it would be.

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become data scientists. How we are going to enable it as a proper discipline – in the future and so you will see things from us in that area.

And then as the staple of EMC World – it is about the detailed training and the ϐ global partners.

Q: You mentioned earlier that EMC is 86% done with its journey to the cloud and providing IT as a service. How do you get to 100% at all and what is the timeline?

A: We have a major systems upgrade coming in the middle of this year. We are doing a

our manufacturing supply chain management Ǥ ϐ 90s. And then we are also delivering many of the IT-­‐as-­‐a-­‐service mechanisms in the ϐ next year. One of those is lab as a service so my engineering groups will give up control of their own labs and they will get it as a shared service across all of the labs.

Lab as a service is one of our initiatives.

There are others such as BI-­‐as-­‐a-­‐service, or

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INTERVIEW Pat Gelsinger

ϐ Ǧ Ǧ Ǧ Ǧ these service models for our internal disciplines and our internal infrastructure Ǥ ͻͲ by the middle of this year – in terms of percentage virtualised. And then its going to be a year and a half more until we have delivered all of the mechanism for these as Ǥ next year we feel we are going to be most of the way there.

ǯ ϐ Ǥ You climb, you get over the station and you see some of the next things that you have to go do. But we have a pretty clear path of the major things that we are doing by the end of next year – to deliver hundred percent virtualised and IT-­‐as-­‐a-­‐service mechanisms across the major disciplines of EMC.

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Q: How can emerging regions like the Middle East leapfrog to the next stage, and avoid making the same mistakes as their developed peers?

A: I think that is the right way for the Middle East to think about these environments. It is to really leapfrog. You have never needed to build a copper telephone network after you had a wireless phone. You just leapfrog that entire generation and all the capital expenses associated with it. That is very much saying every dollar should be a cloud dollar – and if it is not a cloud dollar, it is not your best investment.

Instead of building traditional databases and data warehouses, they have to be big data environments, and if they are truly not scaleable at that level, it is not the best investment that you could be making.

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investment/strategy towards these key trends so that they are not investing to catch up, they are truly investing to leapfrog. As we see regions do that, it really does provide them the opportunity to close the gap. There is a meaningful gap – here is the state of the art cloud and here is where mature market telcos are and here is where emerging market telcos are. And that gap was measured in years – at this point.

And our goal would be that the big data space that tthat gap is measured in months instead of years – so there really is this opportunity to very quickly come alongside and put these latest mechanisms in place – never meaning to make capital costs in existing environments and being able to take full advantage of the most modern tools as they emerge today.

INTERVIEW Sergio Restrepo

A DELICATE BALANCE With the rise in the influence of social media on the business, it’s time for CMOs to get better acquainted and rethink how companies market their products and services, finds a recent IBM global study. Sergio Restrepo, VP of Marketing & Communications, General Business Enterprise, IBM, discusses the key findings.

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W

hat brings you to the region?

The growth in the region and the opportunities we see are tremendous. I lead marketing for what we call the general business enterprise, which is a very good portion of our business. Within this, we have established global business units to address major markets and the HQ for the Middle East and Africa region is in Dubai. In order to pursue the growth initiatives we need to make sure that our sellers are properly enabled to get to those opportunities. The purpose of my visit is to understand what the local teams needs so that we can support them.

Why would an IT company like IBM survey CMOs? Very often, CIOs and CMOs don’t speak the same language or play well together…

We have been doing CIO studies for years now. We have done CEO and CFO studies ϐ CMO study. The reason we did this was because the overall IT investment does not relate only to CIOs. C-­‐level executives have a lot to say about how IT investments are made depending on their needs. We are Ȃ ϐ we instrumented the world, and then we interconnected and now we are talking about how we make it intelligent. No one has really looked at the CMO and said, your function evolves because of the digital world and what are the changes you need to make. Our intention was to do 1000 interviews and we ended up doing 1700 CMOs in 64 counties and 19 industries, and 60 plus were from this region. It was a truly global interview and CMOs were eager to respond because no ϐ really need or how does he deal with change. ϐ ǫ What we are seeing is an explosion of data today and approximately 90 percent of all the real-­‐time information being created today is unstructured data. CMOs are looking for the skills and ability to tap into this information to gain the knowledge to make the right decisions.

CMOs who successfully harness this new source of insight will be in a strong position

to increase revenues, reinvent their customer relationships and build new brand value.

What are the challenges CMOs face in today’s changing environment?

Companies are dealing with the challenge of who is controlling the brand. The question is, the positioning that you project in the market place, is that really what the marketplace perceives? There are so many people communicating about your brand across multiple channels. Everyone has a voice now, in many dimensions and the challenge is how do you make sure your message is relevant and get to the right audience in a way you intend to.

Ǥ and CFOs are asking a very fundamental question – when I am investing in marketing what does it bring back to me in terms of

This also represents both challenges and opportunities for CMOs. If they ignore social media tools, they run the risk of communicating one way and not incorporating the feedback from potential customers. It is also an opportunity to communicate openly to the marketplace.

Are CMOs aware of this changing landscape?

Yes but they are struggling to respond. Only 26 percent of CMOs surveyed said they are currently tracking blogs, while less than half are tracking third-­‐party reviews and consumer reviews.

How does IBM deal with social media? ϐ ǡ which we later bought. It allows you to have marketing touches in a more intelligent way.

Then there is the element of ROI. CEOs and CFOs are asking a very fundamental question – when I am investing in marketing what does it bring back to me in terms of growth and revenue.

CMOs are being called to the table to demonstrate that marketing investment is paying off. growth and revenue. CMOs are being called to the table to demonstrate that marketing investment is paying off. Marketing is also being forced to answer questions about the overall company culture – are the employees ǫ just external marketing, it is internal as well.

Is social media one of the biggest challenges? Are CMOs ready to handle social media and the corresponding increase in collaboration with customers?

It sure is a big challenge because now organisations will have to make fundamental changes to traditional brand and product marketing methods. Customers are now in the driver’s seat in their relationship with the makers of their favourite products. We are at ϐ ǡ which represents a permanent change in the nature of customer relationships.

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If I invite you to an IBM event, and if you say not now, maybe next time, I shouldn’t send you a reminder. I should react depending on your reaction and give you what you ask for.

We are building our capabilities in social media, and we are very proactive across social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. We have key messages from business leaders and subject matter experts being posted on YouTube. The things that have been ϐ out on social media. As a company, we are trying to a drive a culture of communicating with and through these new channels.

There is a shift in balance and the traditional ways of marketing are over.

Customers are taking to social media sites to share their experiences with and opinions of ϐ Ǥ to accept this reality, get into this new brave world and manage it the best way we can.

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Last word

Next issue

Security Advisor Compliance

June 2012

As the governance, risk and compliance market matures, users are struggling to make

Ǥ

ǫ ǫ We answer some of these burning questions.

Solutions World

Training and certification CNME explores the all-­‐important ϐ

in their new hires based on the industry trends that are sweeping the Middle East.

It also examines what courses they should train their staff on going forward.

Storage Advisor

Using data to drive your business Organisations might have the right storage and big data solutions in place, but how can they ensure that they are getting the intelligent information they require out of the same, and how can they drive this information back into decision-­‐making ǫ ϐ Ǥ

What we’re reading The Social Organization: How to Use Social Media to Tap the Collective Genius of Your Customers and Employees Anthony J. Bradley and Mark P. McDonald Organisations make mistakes when it comes to social media. Many don’t want to invest in bringing in a social media specialist or going through a third party agency – which is fine. But assuming that an existing member of staff, who is web-savvy and spends a lot of time on Facebook and Twitter, can set the company up to capitalise on the social revolution will probably not get you far. It’s a different ball game, and it’s not easy.

Up until now, most of what you’ve heard regarding social media in the enterprise has been about the wonders it can do for your business and how everybody should be embracing it. It’s all true, but only if done well and properly. The Social Organization is unique in that it doesn’t waste any time in convincing you of the benefits of social media – it assumes you already know

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Integration Advisor

Telecoms World

Much like all ongoing assignments and tasks, partnerships have to be constantly evaluated and measured against set KPIs. CNME examines what CIOs consider key in evaluating and maintaining partnerships, and the value they place on long-­‐term relationships.

Machine to Machine Communication may have had a subdued year in 2011 but it sure is back with a vengeance in 2012 with the foundation being laid with upgrades to wireless networks across the Middle East.

CNME scratches the surface.

Network World

Careers

With Gigabit-­‐speed WLAN products based on emerging IEEE 802.11ac standard slated to ship this year, we take a deep dive into the world of fast Wi-­‐Fi.

CNME looks into the emiratisation initiatives within end-­‐user organisations in the UAE, and asks what they look for in their hiring initiatives.

Evaluation of partnerships

High speed wireless

this, and instead gets down to finally giving you what you need. It tells you exactly HOW to do it.

The authors, lead analysts from Gartner, reveal the findings from their study of successes and failures at more than four hundred organisations that have attempted to utilise social media. The findings, and the subsequent analysis, show you all the mistakes you now won’t make and all the tips you can now follow.

Bradley and McDonald really know what they’re talking about . They have developed a well thought-out plan of how to become a ‘social organisation’ and present the procedure of making employees, customers and everyone else involved in the business direct participants of the process.

The book is not the smoothest read, and you’re not going to read this all in one go. But it’s not designed to be that – it is ultimately a guide and reference book that can be picked up when you reach different stages in your social implementation.

It’s the type of book you’ll scribble notes on, underline certain phrases and photocopy pages of most relevance to you. The content is focused and sectioned, rather than being long, and rambling.

The Social Organization is a must-read for any CEO or CIO wanting to take their company to a new level by utilising social media. It succeeds by focusing on implementation and giving you the tools to change your business for the better.

- Review done by Ben Rossi

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M2M Communications

Emiratisation in IT

Events Software Congress 2012 05th June 2012 The Address Hotel, Dubai Marina http://www. softwarecongressme.com/2012/

RME Partner Excellence Conference and Awards 2012 12th June 2012 http://www.resellerme. com/awards-­‐2012-­‐draft/ conference.php

Online

For the latest in news, analysis, features, case studies, and blog articles on trends and issues in the ICT industry across the globe and in the Middle East, please visit www.cnmeonline.com

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Not all servers are the same Because Dell knows it’s possible to deploy virtualisation on a wide range of servers, it’s made sure that PowerEdge gives you more of what you need, and less of what you don’t. Designed to provide the best-performing virtualisation possible, PowerEdge servers are optimised across the entire portfolio to meet your density, flexibility and performance needs, without locking you in to proprietary infrastructures.

The edge for all your business needs The PowerEdge range has a server to suit your specific business needs, from tower servers, ideal if you’re just starting to build your network to a rack server infrastructure that consolidates your hardware in one enclosure.

Do more with less ŕ Tower servers For businesses looking to start and expand their server network, including connectivity and providing the ability to grow ŕ Rack servers Ideal for customers with multiple servers or with limited storage space ŕ Blade servers For customers seeking highestdensity form factors for their server environment ŕ Rack Infrastructure Holds a wide range of IT equipment

Windows® 7 Professional and the Windows Server® 2008 family All PowerEdge servers run Windows Server to deliver rich, powerful features that help you complete

mind knowing that the data on your personal computers, network, and servers is highly protected. Together, a great way to get more out of your existing IT investments and deliver better service to your customers.

Contact your nearest Dell Authorized Distributors for further details: UAE: Aptec - Manojpk@aptecme.com, +9714 3697111, Mindware - Dell_sales@mindware.ae, +9714 4500600, Unatrac -Shamdy@mantracegypt.com, +97155 7204338 KSA: Aptec - Dell.sales@aptecsa.com, Riyadh (966 1) 4601950 Ext 1404, 06, 07, Jeddah (966 2) 2832365, Mindware - Dell_sales@mindware.ae, (966 1) 215 3126, Unatrac - AShabaan@mantracegypt.com, (966 5) 614 98556 Egypt: Aptec - Dell@aptec.com.eg, (202) 2648 1179, Mantrac - Ashabaan@mantrac.com.eg, (202) 3300 4178, Raya - Hesham_hassan@rayacorp.com, (202) 382 76000

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