Network World Middle East | Issue 03 | 2019

ISSUE 03 / 2019

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KEEPING THE MIDDLE EAST SECURE SCREENCHECK MIDDLE EAST ON HOW IT REMAINS AT THE FOREFRONT OF HIGH-TECH SECURITY SOLUTIONS PUBLICATION LICENSED BY DUBAI PRODUCTION CITY, DCCA

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EDITORIAL

Safe and Sound

Talk to us: E-mail: giorgia.guantario@ cpimediagroup.com

Giorgia Guantario Deputy Editor

Security is the hot topic of the moment – the public and private sector are increasingly concerned with securing their assets and premises, resulting in more investments in security solutions.

ScreenCheck Middle East’s CEO Faisal Mohammed, and COO Shaji Abdul Kadar, are well aware of the opportunity for the company as they explain in this month’s cover feature. ScreenCheck Middle East is determined to remain at the forefront of high-tech security solutions in the region thanks to their innovative approach to the market. Turn to page 10 to find out more about the company’s latest products and plans for the future.

Talking about the future – we talked to Riverbed’s Regional Sales Director Moueen Zahreddine, to discuss what’s in store for the company and what we can expect from them at GITEX, which includes SD-WAN, Application Acceleration and Network Performance Management. More at page 14.

Fans of our Cabling Planners supplement will be happy to turn to page 18, where Werner Heeren, Regional Sales Director at Fluke Networks explains how the certification, troubleshooting and installation company is meeting the growing requirements for critical network cable infrastructure with a string of new products.

The public and private sector are increasingly concerned with securing their assets and premises, resulting in more investments in security solutions.

CONTENTS

ISSUE 03 2019 technologies will bring for du customers.

26 How AI can improve

government services

10 6

ScreenCheck Middle East is determined to remain at the forefront when it comes to high-tech security solutions.

Faisal Mohammed, CEO and Shaji Abdul Kadar, COO describe the latest developments.

A quick roundup of some of the latest developments in the world of regional and global networking.

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Keeping the Middle East secure

News

32

Taking networking to a new level Moueen Zahreddine, Riverbed’s Regional Sales Director for the Middle East at Riverbed, talks about what’s in store for the leading IT-company.

Dave Russell, VP of Enterprise Strategy at Veeam, he gives his take on how to build a more intelligent business.

an eye on

region’s networking needs Fluke Networks’ Regional Sales Director, Werner Heeren, describes the latest developments to their new string of products.

24 Driving the 5G ecosystem

The key to an intelligent business

36 Five trends CIOs should keep

18 Supporting growth in the

Artificial Intelligence can be the key to government’s digital challenges, says Shukri Dabaghi, Vice President for the Middle East & Eastern Europe at SAS.

Saleem Al Blooshi, CTO, at EITC, explains the challenges surrounding the definition of 5G use-cases, and the benefits next-generation

Brian Burke, Research Vice President at Gartner, analyses the Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies 2019 and how emerging technologies will impact businesses.

38 SaaS is here to stay

Krupa Srivatsan Director, Product Marketing at Infoblox, gives her take on why Softwareas-a-Service will benefit both consumers and vendors.

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Printed by Al Ghurair Printing and Publishing © Copyright 2019 CPI All rights reserved While th e p ub lish ers have made ever y ef for t to en sure th e accur acy of all information in this mag azin e, th ey will n ot b e h eld re sp on sib le for any errors th erein .

NEWS

LINAGORA TO ANNOUNCE NEW SOLUTIONS AT GITEX

Alexandre Zapolsky, Founder and President, LINAGORA

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INAGORA, one of the leading Open Source Software company in the world, will announce the launch of OpenPaas, a Smart Open Source Digital Workplace and OSSA, an Open Source Software Assurance service for the first time in the Middle East at GITEX.

LINAGORA will attend GITEX to share their vision of how open can aid organisations in the Middle East accelerate their digital transformation goals, whilst maintain their privacy and most importantly owning their transformation.

“Our new solutions are a truly revolutionary offering that will empower businesses in the region and allow them to pursue open source innovation with more confidence.

GITEX also offers us a unique opportunity to partner with other leaders in the region in order to collaborate together and bring around open source sustainable innovation as a vehicle to drive forward and achieve the visions of the GCC countries,” says Alexandre Zapolsky, Founder and

President of LINAGORA. LINAGORA has recently worked with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority in the UAE to pilot their open source enterprise file sharing solution, Linshare.

“We installed Linshare on their servers and now they are providing a demo platform to other ministries in the UAE as we are able to provide a multi-tenant infrastructure that serves their needs.

“Simply put they are using our technology as it provides them with a secure and private platform that they can tailor to their needs with no vendor lock-in and since it is open source they will be able to use it to innovate and integrate more services as they grow,” explains Zapolsky.

BLUE WHALE COMPANY ANNOUNCES NEW 4G/5G PRODUCT LINE AT GITEX

Thierry Sartorius, Chief Executive Officer, Blue Whale Company.

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Blue Whale Company, the specialist of IoT for water management, will announce a new 4G/5G product line at this year’s GITEX. The new products will be on the market by the end of 2019 and will be LTE-M and NB-IoT with a 2G fallback.

“The Middle East market is one of the most advanced markets in the world. Our new 4G/5G network creates an opportunity for an increased market base for IoT,” says Thierry Sartorius, Chief Executive Officer at Blue Whale Company.

Blue Whale Company aims to focus on providing more connectivity and autonomy to their regional customers.

“Blue Whale Company is looking permanently at market needs with

the objective to develop products that answer specific needs. Blue Whale Company has developed special products to measure, control and at the same time to action valves, flaps or motors. This is what makes the Blue Whale Company offer very specific. On top Blue Whale Company takes the opportunity of the new NB-IoT to offer improved performance and connectivity,” explains Sartorius.

Blue Whale Company has also recently developed cooperation with the Abunayyan Group in Saudi Arabia and more projects are underway for water management using their SP data Can for water consumption monitoring with the possibility to open and close the vales, or stop the water, in case of leakage.

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DUBAI’S EMIRATES NBD INTRODUCES NEW VOICE BANKING SERVICES WITH ALEXA

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mirates NBD customers in the UAE will soon be able to ask for any banking updates, listen to daily market briefings as well as track spending on their Amazon Alexa devices.

As the bank continues with its digital innovation strategy in the MENA region, it has introduced new Voice Banking solutions powered by “Amazon Web Services” (AWS).

Using the Emirates NBD skill for Amazon Alexa, customers will be able to ask for their account and credit card balances, as well as details of their recent transactions

using conversational language through an Amazon Echo smart speaker from the comfort of their home or office.

Emirates NBD has always been at the forefront of banking innovations and Voice Banking is another step in this direction as we utilize new technologies to enhance overall customer experiences”, said Suvo Sarkar, Senior

Executive Vice President and Group Head – Retail Banking and Wealth Management at Emirates NBD. “Customers are increasingly looking to connect with banks using natural speech as it provides significantly enhanced convenience and our introduction of Voice Banking is a step towards building an AI based conversational ecosystem for our customers across all touch points”.

The new service builds on Emirates NBD’s collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), announced earlier this year, to leverage AWS’ artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and other technologies as well as cloud computing services to better engage with customers and simplify banking.

DUBAI RTA AND CAREEM’S HALA E-HAILING SERVICE LOGS OVER 1 MILLION TRIPS Hala, the joint venture between Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) and Careem that offers an innovative way to get around Dubai by enabling customers to book a Dubai Taxi on the Careem app, has achieved its landmark one millionth trip booked through the e-hailing service.

Highlighting the significance of the remarkable achievement, Clemence Dutertre, CEO of Hala, said, “This is indeed a key moment for us.

It reflects the incredibly positive reception our service has had in Dubai, being embraced by riders as a booking method they have been waiting for and have now made Hala their first choice.

“Naturally, we are overwhelmed by the response, and would like to thank our customers and captains for their

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continuous support and trust. This is just the beginning of our journey,” she added.

Hala has been ramping up its fleet to reach over 5,500 Dubai taxis available on the Careem app by mid-September, and trained over 10,000 captains to manage e-hailing requests from customers.

The new e-hailing service enables residents and visitors of Dubai to locate the closest Dubai Taxi on demand, see a fare estimate and time of arrival before booking their ride.

They can also connect their credit card for easy, hassle free payment via the Careem app. It provides all customers who book a Dubai Taxi on the Careem app the full Careem app benefits, including Careem loyalty program Rewards.

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NEWS

HTC NAMES FORMER ORANGE EXEC AS NEW CEO

Yves Maitre, CEO, HTC

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TC Corporation has announced the appointment of Yves Maitre as CEO of HTC, effective immediately.

Maitre joins HTC from Orange

where he served as EVP of Consumer Equipment and Partnerships, overseeing Orange’s connected technology strategy and business.

Cher Wang will continue as Chairwoman of the HTC board, in which she will focus on future technologies that align with HTC’s expanding portfolio and vision of VIVE Reality.

“When I took over as CEO four years ago, I set out to reinvent HTC as a complete ecosystem company and lay the foundations for the company to flourish across 5G and XR. So, now is the perfect time to hand over the stewardship of HTC to a strong leader to guide us on the next stage of our journey,” said Cher Wang, chairwoman, HTC. “I am truly delighted that Yves is taking the reins; he has a long association

HUAWEI RELEASES WORLD’S FASTEST AI TRAINING CLUSTER

At HUAWEI CONNECT 2019, Huawei announced its strategy for the computing market and released Atlas 900, the world’s fastest AI training cluster. A powerhouse of AI computing, Atlas 900 will help make AI more readily available for different fields of scientific research and business innovation.

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“The future of computing is a massive market worth more than two trillion US dollars,” said Ken Hu, Huawei’s Deputy Chairman. “We’ll keep investing with a strategy that focuses on four key areas. We will push the boundaries of architecture, invest in processors for all scenarios, keep clear business boundaries, and build an open ecosystem.”

with our company, and he shares our passion for innovation. I firmly believe Yves is the right leader to continue to lead HTC to its full potential.”

“HTC has long been a bellwether for new technology innovation and I’m honored to be selected by the Board of Directors to lead the next phase of HTC,” said Yves Maitre, CEO, HTC. “Across the world, HTC is recognised for its firsts across the mobile and XR space. I am incredibly energised to grow the future of both 5G and XR alongside HTC employees, customers and investors. We will set out immediately to continue the transition from building the worlds’ best consumer hardware to also building complete services around them to make them easy to manage and deploy.”

Building on the technical strengths that Huawei has developed over the past decade, Atlas 900 combines the power of thousands of Ascend processors. It takes Atlas 900 only 59.8 seconds to train ResNet-50, the gold standard for measuring AI training performance. This is 10 seconds faster than the previous world record.

Atlas 900 is a powerhouse of AI computing, and it will bring new possibilities to different fields of scientific research and business innovation – anything from astronomy, weather forecasting, and autonomous driving, to oil exploration. Huawei also deployed Atlas 900 on Huawei Cloud as a cluster service, making extraordinary computing power more broadly accessible to its customers across different industries. Huawei has offered these services at a great discount to universities and scientific research institutes worldwide.

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AVAYA READYNOW EXPANDS DATA CENTRES TO EMEA AND APAC REGIONS

Ayman Majzoub, Senior Director of Sales for Avaya Enterprise Cloud, Avaya

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vaya Holdings has recently announced that its private cloud offering, Avaya ReadyNow, is now available with the launch of new Avaya and partner hosted data centres across the EMEA and APAC regions.

The announcement comes ahead of the firm’s participation at GITEX

Technology Week 2019, where the solution will make its regional debut.

Avaya ReadyNow gives enterprise customers access to Avaya Unified Communications (UC) and Contact Centre (CC) solutions delivered in a secure private cloud environment, providing enterprises with convenient and automated path to the benefits of cloud communications.

The private cloud offering is delivered under a single global delivery model across its international network of Avaya-hosted and partner data centres, providing availability in 34 countries, with consistent and predictable levels of service provided from all locations.

Both a UK and a Germany-based Avaya-hosted data centre are now live, enabling enterprises based in these locations the ability to address local data security and compliance requirements.

Ayman Majzoub, senior director of Sales for Avaya Enterprise Cloud, said, “Many enterprise IT leaders are interested in the benefits of a public cloud offering, such as an opex-based consumption model, flexibility and speed of deployment. But control and security concerns, along with the more limited manageability and customisation options from upstart cloud CCaaS and UCaaS vendors, have slowed adoption for the larger requirements.”

NETAPP UNVEILS INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS FOR VMWARE PLATFORMS

Fadi Kanafani, Middle East Managing Director & General Manager, NetApp

NetApp has announced new combined solutions for VMware platforms that offer simplified, scalable, high-performance infrastructure for any cloud.

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Showcased at VMworld 2019 in San Francisco, the company debuted a new virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solution, NetApp HCI for VDI with VMware Horizon 7. The company also announced the availability of NetApp Kubernetes Service (NKS) and NetApp HCI Implementation Services for VMware Private Cloud, all designed to accelerate VMware workloads and make it easy for customers to run their applications where they want.

VMware administrators who create, deploy, maintain, and optimize a network and server infrastructure are increasingly challenged to meet the high expectations of the business for scalability, agility, affordability, and performance. Achieving the ideal infrastructure often comes at a high cost when IT is forced to

make tradeoffs between simplicity, scalability, and performance.

With these new solutions from NetApp, VMware admins can efficiently manage and monitor their environments, scale up or down as required, and secure and protect their data wherever it resides.

“In today’s data-driven world, faster, simpler access to applications and data is critical to business success,” said Fadi Kanafani, Middle East Managing Director & General Manager at NetApp, “As a result of our ongoing partnership with VMware, we offer breakthrough management solutions for virtual infrastructure, private cloud, public cloud, and desktop virtualisation—in any cloud, in one experience—that offer superb simplicity for highperformance, complex environments.”

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COVER FEATURE • SCREENCHECK

KEEPING THE MIDDLE EAST SECURE ScreenCheck Middle East is determined to remain at the forefront when it comes to high-tech security solutions.

Faisal Mohammed, CEO and Shaji Abdul Kadar, COO at ScreenCheck Middle East describe the latest developments.

SHAJI ABDUL KADAR, COO, SCREENCHECK MIDDLE EAST

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FAISAL MOHAMMED, CEO, SCREENCHECK MIDDLE EAST

hat characteristics make ScreenCheck Middle East the top distributor in its field?

We are known in the market as a value-added distributor in identification, biometrics, and radio frequency identification (RFID).

We add value to our partners by providing consultancy, solution design and training in addition to the products. Innovation is in our DNA. The brands we distribute, like Suprema, Zebra, Datacard, Impinj and others, are the global leaders in their industries. We make sure that all the products we distribute come in the top three globally in their respective markets.

Factory-trained engineers, well-maintained inventory, presale support and RMA, all these are available under one roof.

This makes us different from competitors and helps us to remain as the top distributor.

How is the technological landscape in the MENA region changing and what trends in the market are affecting ScreenCheck Middle East?

In the Middle East, the UAE is the trendsetter. The UAE has always distinguished itself as a leader in innovation and technology, and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

Artificial intelligence, IoT, robotics and blockchain are a few technology trends that are changing the landscape of the MENA region.

Solutions that do not adapt to the new

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landscape will not survive in the market. We have already adopted AI and IoT in our solutions.

Another trend in the region is increased awareness of security.

Governments and organisations are increasingly concerned with the security of people, assets, and premises, leading to greater spending on security products and solutions. It has had a very positive impact on our business as we provide security and monitoring solutions for people, assets, and premises.

What plans for growth does the company have for the MENA region?

As a leader in its domain, ScreenCheck has its own rich experience in the field of security and is now expanding its reach to the rest of the world through its value-added channel partner network.

In the MENA region, we already serve more than 25 countries through offices in the UAE and Saudi Arabia and through our channel partners.

An office in east Africa is on the road map for 2020. For some of our solutions, like identification, Africa is a booming market.

How important a market is Saudi Arabia for ScreenCheck and which parts of your operations offer the greatest prospects for growth there?

Saudi Arabia is a huge market for our products and solutions. The current transformation happening in Saudi Arabia has created a great potential for technological solutions.

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COVER FEATURE • SCREENCHECK

Solutions related to efficiency improvement and security are welcomed by both the private and public sectors.

Our focus in Saudi Arabia is RFID, biometrics, IoT and security solutions. We see tremendous growth there.

We have a highly experienced team based in our Riyadh office who support our partners from pre-sales to implementation and training.

The UAE authorities have enthusiastically adopted biometrics. How has their use developed in the country?

Biometrics have evolved a lot in the last decade and today they are a mature and dependable type of technology.

The UAE authorities have embraced biometric technology and have used it in public security solutions. For example, the eGate at Dubai International Airport was implemented a long time ago.

And today Emirates Airline is implementing a facial recognition-based boarding system at the airport.

One of the trends we see in the market is that touchless biometric technology like facial recognition, iris recognition and touchless fingerprint recognition are gaining acceptance due to their flexibility and for reasons of hygiene.

How does the safe school solution work and why will this be a gamechanger?

Safe school is an RFID solution that monitors students in school buses and inside the school campus.

The solution uses AI to understand abnormal scenarios

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and to send alerts to the relevant people. It can prevent child deaths inside buses because of abandonment, and can monitor students entering unsecured areas and the like.

It also helps the school to monitor attendance in classes, how punctual teachers are in reaching classrooms, and whether or not the classrooms are checked post-school by security staff.

It empowers the student with a panic button. Just at the press of a button, the school security team is alerted with the precise location of the child within the school.

Parents are always worried about the safety of their children. With such technology, children are in safe hands.

The solution uses BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), which can communicate up to 30 metres from the student ID card. BLE is the most advanced technology for people monitoring with RFID. What is Bene and how does it work? What organisations will make use of this RFID-based tracking solution and what level of interest from the market has there been?

Bene is a complete, easy to deploy RFID-based tracking solution for assets, people and files. A live dashboard presents you with realtime data that helps you save time in tracking and loss prevention.

Specialized RFID tags, combined with fixed RFID readers or handheld RFID readers, make the solution ideal for organizations and events.

We are receiving a tremendous reception for Bene in the region because of the

ease of use and the flexibility to upload any floor plan to the solution and to see the movement of assets on the floor plan in a graphical manner.

Bene is suitable for various industries, such as healthcare, hospitality and government, as well as for supply chains.

The solution helps in loss prevention, and it offers better control, and visibility to the dark areas of operations to improve business profitability.

How does your visitor management system, VAMS, work? How popular has it been and what are its key selling points?

VAMS is the most advanced visitor management system in the market today. It allows organisations to register visitors within a short time, to verify their identify

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documents, to issue badges, and to monitor and control their movement at the premises.

The unique selling point of VAMS is that you have complete visibility of your visitors in the premises, including details of the visitor and the host, the time spent at the office and the areas accessed.

It also helps to get the details of visitors in the building in case of an emergency evacuation.

What are Centena Group’s plans for the region and globally? What are the group’s key subsidiaries?

The key for Centena is to build beyond business and to create transformational impacts on people’s lives.

Our efforts have been focused on giving back to society. Businesses have often played a major role in transforming societies and

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Governments and organisations are increasingly concerned with the security of people, assets, and premises, leading to greater spending on security products and solutions. It has had a very positive impact on our business.

changing people’s lives for the better, and Centena Group has been doing just that.

Maritronics has been at the forefront of providing cutting-edge marine solutions in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent.

ATLAB, Centena’s education division, has been working to implement STEAM-based education and training through its teaching modules.

The group’s Industrial Automation and Life and Analytical Sciences divisions have been at the forefront of promoting process automation and improving standards in diagnostics, life science research, food, ecology, and industrial testing.

ScreenCheck ME is in sync with the other businesses within the group and aims to make society more secure and safe.

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INTERVIEW • RIVERBED

MOUEEN ZAHREDDINE, REGIONAL SALES DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST, RIVERBED

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TAKING NETWORKING TO A NEW LEVEL Riverbed is at the forefront of new developments in networking, and it plans to showcase its most exciting innovations at this year’s GITEX. Moueen Zahreddine, the company’s regional sales director for the Middle East, talks about what’s in store.

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hat has the impact of cloud and mobility on networks been?

How is Riverbed enabling its customers to adapt their infrastructure to these trends?

Cloud and enterprise mobility have been the recent trends with the greatest impact on how networks are designed and operated. Both have resulted in services being accessed from anywhere, at any time, and from any device with the expectation that, irrespective of where applications and data are hosted, end-user experience must be consistent.

Organisations with cloud-only and mobile-centric strategies can forge ahead with their plans confident that Riverbed has the experience and technology to help them be successful.

We offer: – SD-WAN that enables agile,

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intent-driven, secure connectivity from on-premises to the cloud, as well as from cloud to cloud.

– World-leading, enterprise-class application acceleration for both office and mobile workers accessing IaaS and SaaS hosted services.

– Network, application, and enduser performance monitoring tools to ensure that business runs like clockwork and any issues with cloud communication are proactively and swiftly resolved.

Extending this focus on being cloud enabler, at Riverbed we are increasingly engaging with cloud providers including Microsoft and AWS, as well as with regional telecom service providers, to optimise the delivery and performance of their cloud services.

Many of these providers themselves now deploy our SD-WAN

and application-acceleration solutions, enabling them to position these market-leading solutions as value-add services to their customers directly.

What key benefits do Riverbed’s solutions offer in terms of the design, implementation and administration of enterprise networks?

Large-scale networks in enterprises today are complex and costly to manage and maintain. Riverbed enables businesses to digitally transform by empowering them to build state-of-the-art SD-WAN networks that leverage the power and flexibility of the internet.

This means that, as their businesses expand across borders, CXOs can reduce CapEx and OpEx while still enjoying the security and reliability they’ve come to expect from MPLS and private networks.

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INTERVIEW • RIVERBED

Our solutions simplify management, security and control by providing software-defined network technology and services, connecting users and applications together between premises, out to cloud, and cloud to cloud. With simplicity comes ease of use and agility, and the ability to adapt to change and maximise investment.

What are the key trends shaping the networking industry?

SD-WAN continues to mature and will become the de facto building block for organisations’ infrastructure, replacing legacy network technology, bringing a new era of business agility and ubiquitous connectivity.

The arrival of 5G will act as a catalyst for more “data-rich” applications to evolve, transforming the way humans and smart devices interact with each other and between themselves.

Security will remain high on the agenda for all businesses, with multifactor authentication and biometrics increasingly replacing traditional user access control methods.

What are the implications of Riverbed’s strategic partnership with Versa Networks?

This partnership enables us to offer an expanded portfolio of SDWAN solutions alongside Riverbed SteelConnect, including a new enterprise offering leveraging Versa Networks’ Secure Cloud IP software platform.

We will be able to provide our customers with a broader set of choices and address the modern networking needs of organisations of all types and sizes – large, medium and small, cloud-first, hybrid and traditional – across the globe.

Riverbed will continue to

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Large-scale networks that we see in enterprises today are complex and costly to manage and maintain.

Riverbed enables businesses to digitally transform by empowering them to build state-of-the-art SDWAN networks that leverage the power and flexibility of the internet. offer SteelConnect SD-WAN and will leverage Versa Network’s technology for larger-scale enterprise deployments, offering a family of Riverbed SD-WAN solutions that can now address the digital networking needs of all types and sizes of organisations worldwide.

What will Riverbed be showcasing at this year’s GITEX? This year, the focus areas for our solution demos at GITEX will be: – Software-defined WAN (SDWAN): We will highlight how Riverbed SteelConnect unifies connectivity and orchestration across the entire distributed network, simplifying the way networks are designed, deployed and managed.

We will also highlight the global original equipment manufacturing (OEM) agreement that we recently signed with Versa Networks. This partnership extended our reach and ability to address larger and more complex enterprise SD-WAN deployments.

– Application Acceleration: We now deliver the only cloud-based SaaS acceleration service and will use GITEX as a platform to showcase how this solution significantly

accelerates the performance of leading SaaS apps, such as O365, Salesforce, ServiceNow and Box, by up to 10 times.

– Network Performance Management (NPM): We will highlight how our NPM solution makes it easy to monitor, troubleshoot, and analyse what’s happening across hybrid network environments.

In addition, Riverbed is unveiling the latest additions and enhancements to its portfolio on a semi-annual basis and we will announce our next set of upgrades later this year. Given that, earlier this year, our launch included the introduction of the industry’s first SaaS accelerator, we will have some exciting innovations in store.

As the region’s largest and most prestigious IT exhibition, GITEX presents an unmatched platform for Riverbed to highlight its latest solutions, technology upgrades, and roadmap for the region.

Our value proposition is simple – Riverbed is here to help you optimise the delivery of any application, over any network, to anyone, anywhere.

The simplicity and relevance of this commitment is sure to resonate with any organisation.

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INTERVIEW • FLUKE NETWORKS

SUPPORTING GROWTH IN THE REGION’S NETWORKING NEEDS As the Middle East’s requirement for critical network cable infrastructure grows, the certification, troubleshooting and installation company Fluke Networks has launched a string of new products.

The company’s Regional Sales Director, Werner Heeren, describes the latest developments.

WERNER HEEREN, REGIONAL SALES DIRECTOR, FLUKE NETWORKS

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ast year at GITEX, Fluke Networks launched its Versiv Value Campaign.

Can you say something about how this has gone in the past year and the level of growth that Fluke Networks has seen in the Middle East over that time?

The Versiv Value Campaign has helped potential users understand the impact that Fluke Networks’ solutions bring in their daily work.

Versiv offers the fastest test speed, in both copper and fibre.

Versiv has the fastest project set-up time and the fastest troubleshooting tool available in the market. Consolidating data through the cloud is faster than any alternative.

Technicians do the right thing from the beginning and don’t waste time when setting up the project, or waste time in traffic jams when returning to the office to transfer the result. As the transfer now happens now in the cloud, there is no need to come to the office.

We even go now a step further and show that “It makes sense” to use Versiv, as job completion ontime and within budget becomes the norm.

Fluke Networks has seen doubledigit growth in the Middle East over the past year and this is continuing.

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Growth is even in the high double digits in some countries and we have up to triple-digit growth in others.

How valuable is GITEX to Fluke Networks?

GITEX is a great place to interact with potential customers, existing customers and our representatives. In a few days you can discuss multiple opportunities and get up to speed with new and existing projects.

What new products has Fluke Networks launched this year?

Fluke Networks has brought several new products to the market in 2019.

There is MicroScanner PoE, which is the first technician’s tool to cut through the costly confusion of new and emerging Power over Ethernet (PoE) devices.

There has also been M12-X, our new adapter for our DSX CableAnalyzer family of network cabling certification tools. This is a standardised connector designed for harsh Ethernet environments.

However, if we wanted to select one major new product, we would showcase a new device for inspecting Multi-fibre Push On (MPO) connectors: the Fi-3000 FibreInspector Pro. This offers an extensive feature set that makes testing MPO trunks easy and efficient.

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INTERVIEW • FLUKE NETWORKS

The multiple camera design with autofocus provides a Live View of the entire end-face on a smart phone or Versiv.

Touching “Test” provides an automated pass or fail result compliant with IEC 61300-3-35 in seconds for any one and tworow configurations or 8, 10, 12, or 16 fibres.

While the FI-3000 offers breakthroughs in speed, documentation, and ergonomics, our users tell us their favourite feature of the product is the Live View user interface.

This allows them to see the endface of the connector as soon as it’s plugged in and then touch any fibre to zoom in on it.

After certifying, users can switch from a summary view of pass/fail results to an image of each individual fibre with defects highlighted, and they can use simple gestures to pan across the entire connector. This gives complete confidence that the MPO is ready to connect.

The FI-3000 features unique ergonomics that support easy inspection of panels or cables, with controls on the back which make it easy to operate with one hand.

The built-in PortBright illumination makes it easy to find the right port in dark or crowded patch panels. LEDs indicate pass or fail conditions, and the handy holster not only keeps the FI-3000 at hand, but also includes room fibre cleaning supplies.

At launch, the tester works with iOS or Android smart devices through the FI-IN App. The app allows users to store results, or even share them with others as an image

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We see a huge increase in cabling systems for intelligent buildings.

The younger generation (generation Z) thinks that technology makes anything possible and would become upset if they had to give up the Internet. or a PDF. Later this year, the FI-3000 will work with the Versiv Cabling Certification System. That will allow Versiv users to generate inspection reports using LinkWare PC or LinkWare Live – just like they do today for copper, fibre loss, and OTDR – and integrate them into a single, complete project report.

With over 40,000 users and 17 million results uploaded to the cloud, LinkWare is the industry’s leading cable test reporting solution.

What technological trends that could impact on Fluke Networks’ business are being seen in the region?

We see a huge increase in cabling systems for intelligent buildings.

The younger generation (Generation Z) think that technology makes anything possible and would become upset if they had to give up the Internet.

There have been no significant advances in building technology for the last 50 years, up to now. Not so long ago, a typical office property supported very basic services like phone and electrical systems,

HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), and an IT network.

But an average building of today is more digital – just think of the Burj Khalifa, which has a plethora of advanced building networks.

The ever-increasing array of building networks is making buildings extremely complex.

Sub-systems like security cameras, lighting, advanced sensors, badging systems and the like are siloed and difficult to manage. All these systems are more prone to failure and hacking.

Buildings of today have a lot more needs than buildings of yesterday and need to be enhanced with connectivity. The question is how you bring it all together. That’s why building networks convergence has become a necessity.

Digital transformation is essential in the communities of the future.

Smart infrastructure will play a major role.

For Fluke Networks, IoT brings new opportunities, as all these sensors and devices will require PoE (Power-over-Ethernet), hence improved quality norms, which will require additional measurement standards. .

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FEATURE • ORACLE

THE COMFORT OF ORACLE CLOUD Deputy editor Giorgia Guantario sat down with Arun Khehar, Oracle’s Senior Vice President of Business Applications for the Middle East, Africa and India, to discuss how the tech giant is supporting their new and existing regional customers in their journey to cloud.

ARUN KHEHAR, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT – BUSINESS APPLICATIONS, MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA AND INDIA, ORACLE

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n recent years, CIOs and IT decision-makers in the region have been facing increasing pressure to meet the new and ever-changing requirements of the digitised world.

The IDC predicted that by 2022, more than 60 percent of global GDP will be digitised, with growth in every industry driven by digitallyenhanced offerings, operations, and

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relationships. Those who fail to take on the digital transformation challenge risk seeing two-thirds of their addressable market vanishing by 2022.

In this fast-paced environment, organisations are constantly looking for innovative solutions that are flexible, scalable, and secure – and cloud seems to be the answer to their needs.ey can tackle digital disruption head-on.”

Driving the transition to the cloud across all enterprise segments and industries is no easy task, but cloud provider Oracle has risen to the challenge to deliver the necessary level of comfort their customers need to move forward in their journey to the cloud.

“Back in February we opened the Abu Dhabi data centre because we believe it was the natural progression for us and our customers. We recognised a huge potential in the region – customer needs were changing and having data stored in the region became part of their digital journey checklist.

“We knew that in order to complete that checklist we had to invest in regional data centres. This allowed us to give them, and our partners, an increased level of comfort to transition to the cloud,” told us Arun Khehar, Senior Vice President of Business Applications for the Middle East, Africa and India at Oracle.

With over twenty years of business leadership experience, Khehar believes Oracle is in a very unique position to help CIOs overcome the many different challenges that have arisen in the past five years.

“The market and investments have changed profoundly. Organisations used to spend a lot of money to update old infrastructures just to keep the lights running. End-users would get the short end of this. This old model has now changed: end-

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users expect newer applications, faster implementation and lower cost of ownership. If in the past speed of implementation was no issue, now every second counts to keep afloat. On top of this, security has also become a major focus. Because of the extreme customisation of old on-premise, organisations had to deal with a growing number of security holes. In light of these factors, having a clear cloud strategy has become the most viable solution, has become all providers have what it takes to meet the end-user’s needs.

“Oracle has the most complete cloud offering out there. With our unique ability to deliver solutions at every layer of the cloud stack, SaaS, IaaS, DbaaS and PaaS – they can tackle digital disruption head-on. We understand every organisation has different needs, and we have the capabilities to deliver accordingly. We provide a very unique level of comfort and flexibility to new and existing customers.”

Change is inevitable, according to Khehar. 77 percent of Oracle new business in the region is on the cloud, and the SVP expects this number to reach a hundred in the next two to three years.

“Nowadays retailers have to be as digitally advanced as the telecoms or IT industry, and this applies to all industries. When we look at some of our customers, this is very clear.

“Real estate developer Emaar has been one of our customers for many years, but as they kept on growing, so did their and their shareholders’ needs and expectations. We sat down with them and spent months analysing what they had, what they needed, and how to meet their new requirements.

“While some years ago companies took baby steps in cloud implementation, now companies like Emaar understand that an end-to-end implementation delivers the highest value, and Oracle is capable of providing that,” said Khehar.

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REGIONAL INNOVATORS The launch of the Abu Dhabi data centre has greatly supported the UAE’s strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, but even before that, Oracle had been part of government’s initiatives in the country for over twenty years, and Khehar recognises how lucky the company is to work in the region.

“In this part of the world being innovative is taken for granted. Rulers and ministers are innovators themselves and are always on the lookout for new technologies that will improve their citizens’ lives and the country overall.

“We have recently announced a collaboration with Microsoft to interconnect Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud. This is a great opportunity for our customers.

It allows them to capitalise on their investments even more.

We recognised that some of our customers were also using Microsoft Azure and vice versa, so it was important to us to make sure we could provide a higher investment value to them.

“Multi-cloud is the reality of today’s world – unlike others, we are able to offer it to our customers. It’s enhancing

“Oracle has the most complete cloud offering out there. With Oracle’s unique ability to deliver solutions at every layer of the cloud stack, SaaS, IaaS, DbaaS and PaaS – they can tackle digital disruption head on.”

“We work very closely with the government and understand their vision. We constantly make sure they understand our technologies and what’s available to meet their expectations. We help them fill any gaps they may have by implementing IoT, AI, Blockchain and security into their plans. One of the key contributors to realising this is our ‘Zayed Innovation Hub’ – the hub has now trained 500 Higher Colleges of Technology students who will be able to drive the country’s private and public sector forward with a better understanding of new technologies.”

THE MULTI-CLOUD REALITY In a bid to optimise cost and leverage existing investments, many organisations have embraced the opportunity to access a multi-cloud strategy for their business – and Oracle is well aware of this.

the relationship we have with them and I am sure it will soon become a much bigger enhancement for them.”

A GLOBAL OUTLOOK Landmark Group, Apparel Group and Fine Hygienic Holding are just a few of Oracle’s growing number of customers leveraging the power of Oracle Cloud. These all have one thing in common, says Khehar – their role as global players in their industries.

“Our customers in the region have transformed their businesses and have expanded beyond the Middle East – this is only possible with an IT strategy running on the cloud.

“Nowadays they just need a browser and internet connection to run Oracle Cloud. It’s an amazing shift for them in terms of investment and it enhances the relationships and trust they have in our offering,” concluded Khehar.

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INTERVIEW • EITC

DRIVING THE 5G ECOSYSTEM Editor Mark Forker spoke to Saleem Al Blooshi, Chief Technology Officer, at EITC, to find out when 5G will become commercially available in the UAE, the challenges surrounding the definition of 5G use-cases, and the benefits next-generation technologies will bring for du customers.

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SALEEM AL BLOOSHI, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, EITC

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ITC ANNOUNCED AMBITIOUS PLANS TO DEPLOY AROUND 700 5G-ENABLED BASE STATIONS BY THE END OF 2019, WHICH WOULD ENSURE IT WOULD BE ONE OF THE FIRST OPERATORS IN THE WORLD TO PROVIDE 5G SERVICES IN 2019. ARE YOU STILL ON TRACK TO MAKE 5G COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE THIS YEAR? We’ve been rolling out our commercial 5G since early Ramadan.

On June 12th, we launched 5G in distributed locations in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. We are adding new sites every day, and we have now over 100 sites across the two locations out of the 700 5G-enabled base stations we planned to have live by the end of 2019.

The target of deploying 700 5G sites is dependent on the pickup and adoption of 5G-enabled smartphones. The First 5G device that is commercially available is the ZTE Axon 10 Pro 5G smartphone.

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We were the first to make the ZTE handset commercially available in the UAE. Currently 5G powered handsets manufactured by Huawei Mate 20X is available to our customers , whilst Samsung is expected to launch their 5G devices in August.

In addition to this, Huawei announced that the UAE will be the first international market that it launches its 5G handsets, so based on the availability of the handsets, now that ZTE, Huawei and Samsung all have 5G devices in the UAE market, we believe that September will be a good time for us to check the status of the market. We believe that there will be a significant adoption in 5G handsets from consumers in the country, and we’re projecting that we will accelerate our rollout of 5G as a result.

As I’ve already highlighted the target of 700 5G sites was from our Q1 plans for 5G in 2019, if customers adopt 5G handsets as we project them to do, then we’ll reach that target in Q4. However, as I’ve stressed this is all dependent on market dynamics.

WHAT IMPACT WILL THE COMMERCIAL DEPLOYMENT OF 5G SERVICES HAVE FOR EITC CUSTOMERS? WE KNOW 5G WILL REDUCE LATENCY AND ENHANCE THE CONSUMPTION OF DIGITAL CONTENT FOR CONSUMERS, WHAT OTHER TANGIBLE BENEFITS WILL IT PROVIDE? The deployment and maturity of next-generation technologies will deliver three variables, which are higher speeds, latency and Internet of Things. However, at this stage of the 5G standardization process, the only aspect it is currently delivering on is in relation to speed.

It’s very important that we set the right expectation for customers as we continue to rollout our 5G infrastructure and technologies.

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We’re currently using non-standalone 5G, which relies on the existing 4G networks. So there hasn’t been an independent implementation of 5G. 4G remains the underlying technology.

We expect that by the end of 2020, the standard bodies will be ready with the standardization of standalone 5G. When the standalone 5G becomes available that’s when we’ll be able to utilize the capabilities of the three variables we already discussed which are latency,

AND WHAT ARE YOUR OPINIONS ON THEIR TREATMENT AT THE HANDS OF THE US? From a technology perspective, Huawei has the competitive advantage. They’re the leading vendor globally in terms of developing 5G solutions and that is a fact. However, we’re also working with other ICT vendors such as Nokia, and they have a clear roadmap on how to bridge the gap to Huawei.

Obviously, there’s been a huge

“We’re currently using non-standalone 5G, which relies on the existing 4G networks. So there hasn’t been an independent implementation of 5G. 4G remains the underlying technology.” connected devices and speed.

There are two challenges surrounding 5G and one of them is defining the use-cases. What killer application is going to be created that monetizes the high throughput and the lower-latency capabilities of 5G? It’s obviously not clear at this stage and that’s why many operators are reluctant to over invest in their 5G infrastructure until concrete usecases emerge.

We have so many creative minds and ambitious entrepreneurs that we know they’re going to utilize the capabilities of 5G. We had the exact same discussion when leveraging investment in 4G. The dynamics in relation to how we engineer the networks are continuously evolving and we expect 5G to go through the same life cycle as 4G EITC ENJOYS A CLOSE PARTNERSHIP WITH CHINESE ICT VENDOR HUAWEI. HOW IMPORTANT IS YOUR COLLABORATION WITH HUAWEI,

amount of publicity surrounding Huawei due to the current trade war between the US and China. However, for us it’s business as usual with Huawei in the UAE. We have not seen any security threats from Huawei and we’ve got a specialised security team within du that regularly and robustly tests our networks. When we implement new technologies like 5G, we send our engineers to the manufacturing entities’ labs to inspect the hardware from an end-to-end perspective in a bid to identify whether there are any abnormalities in the system.

This is also the case internationally, with the UK announcing recently that it hadn’t detected any security concerns with Huawei. For us it’s business as usual, and we strongly value our partnership with Huawei.

However, if Huawei was exposed as a security risk, our 5G aspirations would be largely unaffected as we work in a multi-vendor environment and have close collaborations with Nokia, Ericsson and ZTE.

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INSIGHT • SAS

HOW AI CAN IMPROVE GOVERNMENT SERVICES Governments across the region are being challenged to deliver digital services and meet citizen expectations, often even before the citizenry realise the need. Artificial Intelligence can be the key, says Shukri Dabaghi, Vice President for the Middle East & Eastern Europe at SAS.

SHUKRI DABAGHI, VICE PRESIDENT FOR THE MIDDLE EAST & EASTERN EUROPE, SAS

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ne of the maxims of governments all over the world has long been ‘doing more with less’. To strengthen their competitiveness, nations today are under pressure to adopt the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and automation more effectively.

Why do Governments need to be competitive? They compete to attract investment, as well as to consistently deliver on an ever-widening range of services to an increasingly tech-savvy population.

There is one key resource, however, that governments definitely don’t lack; and that is data.

According to projections by Seagate in its recent research, the Europe, Middle East and Africa datasphere will increase to 48.3 Zettabyte in 2025. To visualise the vastness of this number, think of it as greater than the estimated number of grains of sand in the entire Arabian Desert! That the region will generate this much data from everyday citizen actions should not be surprising – the Middle East is one of the most digitally connected regions in the world, with smartphone penetration above 100% in some GCC states, and some of the world’s highest social media usage rates.

Governments in the region have plenty of big data to work with, and doing more with it requires the power of advanced data analytics.

Put simply, big data analytics enables governments to examine large amounts of data to uncover hidden patterns, correlations, and other insights, and effectively convert the swathe of data into a platform for AI. Governments must

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be able to separate the relevant from the insignificant and the public from the confidential to ensure effectiveness and excellent stewardship. Analytics is the key to unlocking the true AI value hidden in this ever-growing data.

While governments have been collecting data for years, they have been slow to realise the benefits they could realise from it. The opportunity is in unifying data silos so that government leaders can pinpoint the intelligence in their data. The AI capabilities that are now enabled on big data – the bigpicture view of what is happening, why it happened, and what is likely to happen next – enables authorities to build connections across agencies that help to better serve citizens.

A recent example is how the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD) applied AI-based analytics solutions to make the most of its data and deliver value by enabling quicker and better decision-making. The department implemented machine learning capabilities to easily identify and segment customers, process their requests in a timely manner, enable more informed decision-making using analytics, improve access to data, enhance the quality and consistency of its judgements, and prepare customised, real-time reports for the management and customers.

By using tools such as AI and machine learning, administrators can gain deeper insights across a wide spectrum, and go as specific as individual sectors and even organisations. For instance, healthcare authorities are using AI on data gathered from hospitals, research institutes and other bodies to nip epidemics early, by detecting patterns in reported illnesses, determining the best

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“By using tools such as AI and machine learning, administrators can gain deeper insights across a wide spectrum, and go as specific as individual sectors and even organisations.” response and care, and enforcing preventive measures.

The amount of data available to governments is only going to increase. Interconnectivity and interoperability between smart devices is growing and producing even more data, helping to drive the Internet of Things (IoT). We are moving from smart devices to smart cities, with Dubai and other cities in the region focusing on digitising their services. The young, tech-savvy population in the region increasingly expect government services to provide the same level of service they receive from the private sector. Governments’ investment in infrastructure must include smart technology to promote AI-enabled efficiency, to deliver quality, digitally-powered citizen experiences.

One of the big fears around a growing reliance on AI is the potential impact on jobs, with the very mention of automation immediately throwing up fears that long-held jobs may be eliminated.

While this may be true in certain instances, it is by no means at the

scale that many fear. According to Gartner, AI will stimulate 2.3 million new jobs by 2020, while HSBC Bank has identified a number of new job titles – including algorithm mechanic, conversational interface designer and digital process engineer – that could become commonplace in the future.

Whether spurring the Government to take action in preparation for the labour market of the future, or actually preparing employees for tomorrow’s work environment, we once again turn to analytics to understand the best tasks to automate, the processes to digitise, and the roles to modernise.

A recent EMEA survey commissioned by SAS states that nearly three-quarters of organisations (72%) claim that analytics helps them generate valuable insight and 60% state their analytics resources have made them more innovative. Greater use of analytics-powered intelligence in workforce planning will enable government employees to serve the public more effectively.

Across sectors and focus areas, AI is slated to be a tremendous disruption to the public sector.

Whether tackling national health issues, responding to a local disaster, protecting against the loss of sensitive information or intellectual property, or simply making government more efficient, the analytical insights you can gain from your stores of big data can improve outcomes that have a direct impact on citizens.

The data revolution has transformed the world as we know it. It’s disruptive, exciting, and, let’s face it, a bit overwhelming! It is, however, a significant opportunity for governments to become more data-driven and forever change the way they serve their citizens.

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INSIGHT • PALO ALTO

HOW TO BUILD AN EFFECTIVE SECURITY OPERATIONS CENTER Haider Pasha, Senior Director and Chief Security Officer, Emerging Markets at Palo Alto Networks gives his take on the importance of building an effective SOC.

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HAIDER PASHA, SENIOR DIRECTOR AND CHIEF SECURITY OFFICER, EMERGING MARKETS, PALO ALTO NETWORKS

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oday, businesses spend heavily on cybersecurity. But to get value for their money, they need an overarching strategy. The state-of-the-art approach is to build an effective security operations center (SOC). A SOC is commonly referred to as the central command center for cybersecurity operations. A team of security analysts uses advanced detection tools to identify, record and repel cyberattacks. The analysts work with a playbook of processes laying out the steps they need to take to keep their organisation secure.

Many large businesses have implemented successful SOCs, especially those dealing with sensitive data such as personally identifiable information (PII).

Typically, these include financial and retail companies but also those working with governments and organisations looking to digitise services and use big data.

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More mid-sized businesses are following suit, though the majority prefer to outsource their SOC to reduce costs. Companies that offer outsourced cyber protection are known as managed security services providers (MSSP).

Organisations often build a SOC when they have dozens of security tools operating across their network but struggle to make sense of all the data they produce. Large organisations typically have products from between 40 to 60 security vendors, from endpoint protection and intrusion detection systems to firewalls and scanning tools. Each security tool can generate large volumes of data about network activity and any suspicious exploits.

For organisations about to embark on the SOC journey, there are five important questions that boards and chief information security officers should ask before they start building a SOC that is both customised and effective.

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Why build it? Be clear about what you plan to achieve with a SOC. The aim is to reduce cybersecurity threats, defend the organisation’s data, and protect its reputation.

What will be the key performance indicators (KPIs)? These could include incident response times.

There should also be agreements between the CISO and the board that set out the level of services the SOC will offer. These can be listed in service level agreements (SLAs) which specify areas such as the speed of response and processes for reporting critical threats.

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When to deliver? With over 30 possible SOC services, a common pressure is to try and launch everything from day one.

Instead, the services should be introduced in logical stages. This could follow a capability maturity

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“What is so powerful about a SOC is that it goes further than simply identifying and dealing with security incidents.” model, a methodology for laying out the evolution of software processes, typically in five stages. The SOC would complete the first phase, then the CISO and board would check and assess this before moving on to the following stage. This means each stage is fully implemented and functional before going to the next.

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How do you deliver? Decide on the processes you need to follow to make the SOC efficient. Playbooks and process diagrams are a key discussion point.

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Who is responsible? Outside of the security division in an organisation, who else has a say to make the SOC effective?

Departments such as human resources, compliance, and public relations are some common examples.

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What is the technology set up? A key decision is which SOC tools should be used. This will depend on the objectives, budgets and preferences of the security analysts and the CISO. Tools usually include a security information and event management system (SIEM).

This is a dashboard which analyses all security events – possible threats – which affect an organisation’s computer network. It is important to remember that a SIEM is not a

replacement for a SOC, but just one tool in the SOC’s armoury. There must also be a ticketing system, so when a threat is identified, a ticket or record is created. This allows teams to seamlessly hand over their workload to other shifts. There could also be a security orchestration and response tool (SOAR), which automates the collection and analysis of low-level threat intelligence.

What is so powerful about a SOC is that it goes further than simply identifying and dealing with security incidents. Threat hunting is a vital part of the work of security analysts.

They will work with cybersecurity vendors to list possible threats.

And they may work with computer emergency response teams (CERTS), which are industry-wide groups that analyse security incidents. The goal is to gather data on so-called indicators of compromise – as cyber threats are known – and allow analysts to compare the threats they receive with other companies in their field.

Building an effective SOC requires clear thinking and strong vision.

Done well, a SOC is not a cost but an investment in data protection and corporate reputation. As you plan the cybersecurity strategy for your organisation – and consider the essential tools – here are some key takeaways: Organisations create a security operations center when they have dozens of cybersecurity tools operating across their network and need visibility and context to identify threats and reduce risk.

A SOC not only identifies and responds to security threats, it also hunts and predicts possible sources of attack.

The what, when, how, and who questions can only be answered when we can clearly articulate why we are building a SOC. A SOC helps organisations move from reactive to proactive threat management.

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INSIGHT • F5

CLOSER WITH MULTI-CLOUD Tabrez Surve, Regional Director for Gulf, Levant & Turkey at F5 Networks, assesses how multi-cloud is changing the app development game and bringing previously siloed teams closer together.

TABREZ SURVE, REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR GULF, LEVANT AND TURKEY, F5 NETWORKS

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ulti-cloud has moved from tentative experiment to a fundamental component of IT strategies. From developers to security teams, workloads are migrating to the cloud in one way or another, whether you know it or not.

Significantly, cloud adoption has powered a fundamental shift in how organisations think about app development and delivery. This is particularly evident with SaaS-based cloud models, which give businesses the freedom to choose exactly where cloud operations are deployed while also minimising cost.

Working in a multi-cloud context has clearly spurred more agile and holistic ways of doing business.

Take for example the increasingly widespread adoption of DevOps, NetOps and SecOps. As app development moves from on premises to cloud infrastructures, businesses must rethink how different functions engage with new approaches to software development. All teams have different requirements and ways of working, so it is critical to strike a balance that delivers results across the board without friction or compromise.

Delighting DevOps A DevOps culture is all about velocity and continuous innovation. The cloud enables developers and DevOps to achieve exactly that by providing a standardised, efficient and centralised platform for testing, deployment and production. It enables a more fluid development process that matches the pace at which DevOps can crank out applications, without sacrificing stability, scalability and security.

There is always wiggle room for any rapid, last-minute changes related to continuous integration and delivery.

DevOps teams should treat the cloud as the new norm and

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“DevOps teams should treat the cloud as the new norm and an extension of their network infrastructure.” an extension of their network infrastructure. This means fully embracing public cloud native environments to manage application performance within the cloud, as well as leveraging SaaS models to keep costs low and support innovation scalability.

Keeping NetOps happy The role of NetOps is changing from teams that own and monitor hardware and software assets, to those focused on building a multi-component network ecosystem supporting a variety of business objectives. As more workloads move into the cloud, the pressure is mounting for NetOps teams to rapidly adapt and transition from manual tools and slower processes to more efficient systems compatible with agile DevOps models.

NetOps also face pressure to reach automated parity with app development teams. They will soon become an application development bottleneck if they cannot keep up with continuous application updates.

Fortunately, the problem is eased with SaaS cloud services. NetOps can now address specific areas of the business where legacy networks limit innovation, and subsequently target more fluid, digital infrastructures to collaborate better with other teams.

Giving security teams confidence IT operations have KPIs around

security and service levels, which can explain their generally more conservative approaches to technology adoption. Given the choice, security teams would operate with zero-trust networks – and rightly so. In fact, a recent F5 survey focusing on DevOps and NetOps behaviours discovered that security in the cloud was an ‘afterthought’ for many developers, as they prioritise speed over security and reliability concerns.

It is important to understand that cloud services can work as an extension of security teams, equipping them with the insights and tools required to keep up with the changing threat landscape. They can also ensure the right governance so they can monitor and balance the needs of innovation and control (i.e. via dashboards and reports).

Better together In today’s software-defined era, cloud adoption can only be positive for business-critical application development. The market not only demands more effective production process, but our application-centric world requires speed and stability of service.

It is important to remember that everyone is working towards the same end goal: supporting the continuous delivery of quality applications to market. Collaboration and partnerships are easier to establish when all parties share the platform that delivers the apps and have access to the underlying analytics to refine and shape objectives. The right multi-cloud approach and support must be inclusive and treat infrastructure teams, developers, and business users as equals. Multi-cloud’s cultural barriers are disappearing, and it is essential to collaborate in the cloud or risk falling behind the innovation curve. Make sure you are ready for both the implications and opportunities.

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INSIGHT • VEEAM

THE KEY TO AN INTELLIGENT BUSINESS Strong digital foundations will need to rely on data availability, says Dave Russell, VP of Enterprise Strategy at Veeam, as he gives his take on how to build a more intelligent business.

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n today’s rapidly changing digital landscape, organisations are increasingly facing the need to implement strategies to manage and protect their data, especially when the data growth rate is not slowing down. IDC reported that companies will have 175 ZB of data by 2025, which combined with a highly competitive environment can be the recipe for a business disaster.

Building strong digital foundations that focus on data availability will be vital to the future of every organisation. They must implement effective intelligent data management strategies that help them being able to access the right data at the right time and recover it when it’s lost or damaged.

Building A More Intelligent Business Veeam’s 2019 Cloud Data Management report, found that most organisations (73%) are unable to meet users’ demands for uninterrupted access to applications and data, but almost half of reported individuals (44%) see data management as critical

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“Building strong digital foundations that focus on data availability will be vital to the future of every organisation.” to their businesses’ success in the next two years.

For data management strategies to be successful, enterprises need to follow four core components that not only encompass the technology but the people and the data-culture of the organisation.

Component 1: The rise of the cloud Cloud Data Management, an intrinsic part of Intelligent Data Management, enables data availability across the business. Whether it is a hybrid, a cloud or a multicloud approach, leaders recognise the advantages,

from reliability and flexibility to competitive costs and data security, the cloud allows them to manage and locate data where it will deliver the most value.

An organisation can aggregate large amounts of data but if it doesn’t have an efficient way to store it and make it accessible to business users, it will turn against them. Having data that is stored through a reliable and manageable process directly correlates to corporate stability and improves the ability to forecast and make better informed decisions.

Component 2: Your capabilities matter Business leaders reported that they will spend an average of $41 million on deploying technologies to help transform their operations within the next 12 months. However, for technologies such as backup, disaster recovery and data protection to have the expected business impact, organisations need to invest in their talent, giving them the tools and training to nurture their skills to successfully manage new programs.

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DAVE RUSSELL, VP OF ENTERPRISE STRATEGY, VEEAM

The digital journey’s outcome is intrinsically related to the level of technological capabilities of its userbase. Upskilling employee’s digital skills will be vital to the success of the company and should not be overlooked when allocating company resources. After all, it is the people who make a company successful.

Component 3: Make it a data-driven culture A corporate culture should be welcoming to innovation, support the introduction of new technologies and speed the process of digital transformation.

As companies move through this transformation, their culture needs to become more datadriven. Businesses already produce

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huge amounts of data, but it is not about just gathering data anymore, it has to be managed, analysed and used to inform faster and make more effective decisions.

And it is in the hands of the C-level to convey this way of thinking, from top to bottom leadership should demonstrate the business relation and how technology supports the organisation to uncover insights for better services and products.

Component 4: Confidence is key The level of confidence in an organisation’s capability to meet digital challenges naturally increases as the businesses progress on their digital transformation. However, the potential risks increase as well.

Addressing the first three components not only gives piece of mind internally but to customers and partners. Investing in robust, scalable and flexible solutions to address mission-critical issues, while allocating resources to improve internal skills will lay that much needed strong digital foundation.

Maximising the value of data, has never been as important as today, and as organisations take a leap onto their digital journey and work to become more intelligent businesses, they need to rely and trust their data will be available whenever is needed.

Technology, people, new capabilities and a data-driven mentality will help take the steps towards enabling the next-generation of industry disruptors and innovators.

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INSIGHT • EPICOR

ERP IN THE ERA OF INDUSTRY 4.0

SVP and Head of Sales, International, at Epicor Software, Andy Coussins discusses how ERP can help organisations overcome the challenges of Industry 4.0.

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ANDY COUSSINS, SVP AND HEAD OF SALES, INTERNATIONAL, EPICOR SOFTWARE

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ot long ago, Industry 4.0 and digital transformation were the domain of first movers only. Today they are high on the agenda for every regional manufacturing business.

In fact, 62 percent of Middle East respondents to a PwC survey on Industry 4.0 were expecting to be at a high level of digitisation and integration in 2020, compared with only 41 percent reporting such a high level in 2015. This investment is driven by the expectation of results. At the top end, around a third of respondents expected Industry 4.0 implementations to result in both cost savings and revenue gains of more than 20 percent within five years.

As organisations in the Middle East start executing their Industry 4.0 agendas, a major focus will typically be on applications that use artificial intelligence (AI), big data,

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cloud, and the Internet of Things (IoT). While the advantages are well-documented, they do come with technology challenges of their own, specifically around the continuous need for vertical and horizontal integration, effective management, and use of all the data generated, as well as the need for more complex risk management.

Many regional manufacturers are addressing these challenges by investing in key supporting business technology—specifically, the right kind of ERP software— as one of the first steps on their transformation journey.

INTEGRATION While the right industry-specific ERP solution will fast-track your implementation, right out of the box, it will still need to be integrated with other systems—such as your IoT implementations—to achieve the depth and breadth of integration and automation called for by Industry 4.0. To simplify this integration—both internally and with suppliers, partners, or customers, the architecture and interfaces of your chosen ERP solution must to be streamlined, flexible, and based on standard open protocols. It also helps if the solution is designed specifically to take advantage of cloud computing frameworks, because a cloud-based platform can be ideal for integrating different business entities and locations, and in extending integration to suppliers and customers.

But don’t forget the human element―as much as integration in Industry 4.0 is driven by automation, it isn’t always about robotics, IoT, or AI. For the foreseeable future, most of the functions you’ll be integrating will still rely on human interactions. It’s therefore important to think about how easily your ERP

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“Good mobile and social capabilities in an ERP solution will help your people integrate more effectively into your factory of the future.” solution supports the human side of integration. Good mobile and social capabilities in an ERP solution will help your people integrate more effectively into your factory of the future. They’ll be able to work smarter and more productively, making your business more efficient and responsive as a result.

ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS For the small-to-midsize manufacturer, analytics can be one of the biggest stumbling blocks, as it takes specialised skills to turn data into insight that you can act on.

Ideally your ERP system won’t ask you to do all the hard work to pull actionable insights from data.

Look for easy-to-use, pre-built, analytic functionality that is already mapped to your most likely common needs, such as materials handling, financials, sales, or production. This is particularly important when it comes to analytics that help you answer those all-important ‘why’ questions.

If the ERP solution is designed specifically for manufacturing and this extends to its embedded analytics, you’ll be able to get going quickly with analytics that deliver real insight. Make sure you have the flexibility to customise and build

your own views, queries, reports, and dashboards, as you gain confidence and discover new needs.

RISK MANAGEMENT No ERP system is going to eliminate all potential risks, but it helps if your chosen ERP solution—the backbone of your business—is itself secure, reliable, and scalable. It should also give you the visibility to simplify governance and compliance.

Many small-to-midsize manufacturers choose softwareas-a-service (SaaS) ERP because they can’t devote nearly as many resources to infrastructure, application, and data security—or to IT maintenance and support—as a specialised IT service provider can.

As well as offering a more reliable and secure service, a SaaS ERP solution can give you automatic access to updates and upgrades that keep you compliant with regulatory changes.

At the same time, even if you don’t want to take advantage of ERP delivered through a SaaS model, look for a solution that offers a flexible cloud-based architecture in an onsite hosted option. That way you get most of the benefits of a cloud model—but in your preferred hosting environment. Ideally, you also want the flexibility to move to a SaaS version in the future that will be better for your business.

Irrespective of whether you call it Industry 4.0 or digital transformation, it doesn’t change the fundamental nature and scale of the revolution taking place, nor the challenges facing regional manufacturers as they try to identify and take the right steps to survive. But by investing in the right ERP platform, manufacturers can face these challenges head on and not just survive, but go on to thrive, and grow.

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INSIGHT • GARTNER

FIVE TRENDS CIOs SHOULD KEEP AN EYE ON Brian Burke, Research Vice President at Gartner, analyses the Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies 2019 and how emerging technologies will impact businesses.

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BRIAN BURKE, RESEARCH VICE PRESIDENT, GARTNER

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oday, companies detect insurance fraud using a combination of claim analysis, computer programs and private investigators.

The FBI estimates the total cost of non-healthcare-related insurance fraud to be around $40 billion per year. But a maturing emerging technology called emotion artificial intelligence (AI) might make it possible to detect insurance fraud based on audio analysis of the caller.

In addition to catching fraud, this technology can improve customer experience by tracking happiness, more accurately directing callers, enabling better diagnostics for dementia, detecting distracted drivers, and even adapting education to a student’s current emotional state.

Though still relatively new, emotion AI is one of 21 new technologies added to the Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2019.

“The 2019 Hype Cycle highlights the emerging technologies with significant impact on business, society and people over the next five to 10 years,” says Brian Burke,

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Research Vice President, Gartner.

“Technology innovation is the key to competitive differentiation and is transforming many industries.”

This year’s emerging technologies fall into five major trends: Sensing and mobility, augmented human, postclassical compute and comms, digital ecosystems, and advanced AI and analytics.

Sensing and mobility This trend features technologies with increasingly enabled mobility and the ability to manipulate objects around them, including 3D sensing cameras and more advanced autonomous driving. As sensors and AI evolve, autonomous robots will gain better awareness of the world around them. For example, emerging technologies such as light cargo delivery drones (both flying and wheeled) will be better able to navigate situations and manipulate objects. This technology is currently hampered by regulations, but its functionality continues is continuing to advance.

As sensing technology continues to evolve, it will aid more advanced technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT). These sensors also collect abundant data, which can lead to insights that are applicable across a range of scenarios and industries.

Other technologies in this trend include: AR cloud, autonomous driving levels 4 and 5, and flying autonomous vehicles.

Augmented human Augmented human technologies improve both the cognitive and physical parts of the human body by including technologies such as biochips and emotion AI. Some will provide “superhuman capabilities” — for example, a prosthetic arm that exceeds the strength of a human arm — while others will create

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“The 2019 Hype Cycle highlights the emerging technologies with significant impact on business, society and people over the next five to 10 years” robotic skin that is as sensitive to touch as human skin. These technologies will also eventually provide a more seamless experience that improves the health, intelligence and strength of humans.

Other technologies in this trend include: Personification, augmented intelligence, immersive workspace and biotech (cultured or artificial tissue.)

Postclassical compute and comms Classical or binary computing, which uses binary bits, evolved by making changes to existing, traditional architectures. These changes resulted in faster CPUs, denser memory and increasing throughput.

Post-classical computations and communications are using entirely new architectures, as well as incremental advancements. This includes 5G, the next-generation cellular standards, which has a new architecture that includes core slicing and wireless edge. These advancements allow low-earthorbit (LEO) satellites to operate at much lower altitudes, around 1,200 miles or less, than traditional geostationary systems at around 22,000 miles. The result is global broadband or narrowband voice

and data network services, including areas with little or no existing terrestrial or satcom coverage.

Technologies in this trend include: Next-generation memory and nanoscale 3D printing.

Digital ecosystems Digital ecosystems are web-like connections between actors (enterprises, people and things) sharing a digital platform.

These ecosystems developed as digitalization morphed traditional value chains, enabling more seamless, dynamic connections to a variety of agents and entities across geographies and industries.

In the future these will include decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), which operate independently of humans and rely on smart contracts. These digital ecosystems are constantly evolving and connecting, resulting in new products and opportunities.

Other technologies in this trend include: DigitalOps, knowledge graphs, synthetic data and decentralized web.

Advanced AI and analytics Advanced analytics is the autonomous or semi-autonomous examination of data or content using sophisticated tools beyond those of traditional business insights.

This is the result of new classes of algorithms and data science that are leading to new capabilities, for example transfer learning, which uses previously trained machine learning models as advanced starting points for new technology.

Advanced analytics enables deeper insights, predictions and recommendations.

Other technologies in this trend include: Adaptive machine learning, edge AI, edge analytics, explainable AI, AI PaaS, generative adversarial networks and graph analytics.

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OPINION • INFOBLOX

SAAS IS HERE TO STAY

KRUPA SRIVATSAN DIRECTOR, PRODUCT MARKETING, INFOBLOX

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aaS (software-as-aservice) is here to stay.

This is evident from the widespread adoption of business applications hosted in the cloud such as CRM, payroll processing, collaboration and human resource management software over the last decade. And it is not just business applications these days.

Increasingly, networking and security has also moved to the cloud.

SaaS is a delivery model where the software is centrally hosted by a vendor and buyers consume the service from the cloud. Whether you are an organization using applications to run your business or a vendor providing critical software as a service to your customers, there is something for everyone in a SaaS model.

What’s in it for consumers of SaaS: Reduced IT overhead – Organizations consuming services from the cloud do not need to install or maintain expensive hardware or infrastructure onpremises. If consuming security from the cloud, this is a big advantage because now security can be deployed even in locations where no IT expertise is available.

Immediate Access to Functionality – Customers get access

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Krupa Srivatsan Director, Product Marketing at Infoblox, gives her take on why Software-as-a-Service will benefit both consumers and vendors. to the SaaS service immediately upon signup without having to wait for shipment and installation of hardware or software. For example, organizations can immediately improve their security posture by signing up for a cloud based security offering.

Flexible licensing/payment options – SaaS model provides companies an alternative to the traditional capex model where they pay upfront for any hardware needed and a perpetual software license.

By shifting to an opex model, they can take advantage of lower upfront costs and more predictable recurring costs thereafter.

Seamless upgrades – Customers don’t need to worry about updates for latest features or patching their software for vulnerabilities. The SaaS provider always has the latest secure code in the cloud. This enables customers to get immediate access to new innovations and features.

Scale as you grow – Organizations don’t have to plan for peak capacity like they do when purchasing infrastructure. They can scale by purchasing higher tiers of the service as they grow.

Extend reach – Since SaaS services are delivered from the cloud, it is possible to extend the usage of

the services to beyond the traditional on-premises network. For example, security delivered from the cloud can easily be applied to devices on or off premises which greatly expands the use cases that can be addressed.

What’s in it for vendors: Latest code for all customers – Vendors can allocate resources to provide the latest and greatest to all their customers at the same time, without having to worry about a legacy of old software they may need to support.

Speed of innovation – The speed of innovation is also much greater as vendors can make available new features and functionality to their customers much faster than with a traditional 6-month release cycle for on-premises software.

Better Customer Insight– Companies with SaaS offerings are much closer to the customer than companies with only a traditional model because of more frequent involvement with users of their service. This means they can provide features that the customers actually need based on the feedback loop.

Many businesses are in the process of making a shift to consuming services from the cloud because they see greater business value through SaaS.

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