60mins Day 3 - 7 PM (2013)

Strategic ICT Partner

Technology Partners

60 Mins Show dates: 20-24 October 2013, Dubai World Trade Centre

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AT GITEX TECHNOLOGY WEEK

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Exhibition hours: 11am -6pm

FVC highlights new vendors, innovative kiosk solution at GITEX

WHAT’S INSIDE

Massimo Cannizzo, Managing Director of Technology, Consulting Lead, Accenture FVC ramped up its annual participation in GITEX this week, thanks to the addition of four new vendor-partners to its portfolio.

Along with new solutions from its already known usual vendorpartners, the Middle East-based distributor is now showcasing products from Watchful Software, Barco, Datwyler, and Cyan.

The new vendor-partners are spread across a range of various 4 CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

HP announces mobile print solutions

Accenture tackles Big Data and cloud at Gitex

UAE keen on mobile marketing: Study

Accenture has chosen Big Data and cloud as focal points this GITEX, the Middle East’s annual premier technology trade show and conference. The themes are being addressed during

Veeam Software doubles revenue growth in the Middle East

presentations given by company representatives.

According to Valerio Romano, Managing Director, Technology 4 CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

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Accenture...

Consulting for Communications, Media and Technology at Accenture, there is a lot of growth and increasing interest for cloud computing seen in the Middle East region.

“Accenture believes it is time to change the conversation on Cloud computing. The digital future is not talking about Cloud computing itself; rather, it should be about solving business problems with the latest technologies,” says Romano.

“What we are seeing at present is a hybrid model, which involves a mix of private and public Cloud offerings. This creates some challenges, namely in terms of orchestration and integration capabilities. Therefore, an intelligent Cloud infrastructure will be needed to ensure control and smooth execution.”

One of the beneficial drivers of Cloud computing is that Cloudenabled enterprises will be an agile, fierce competitor, says Romano. “Cloud computing creates value opportunities on three levels – it optimises existing IT, it optimises the current business model and processes using Cloud, and it also creates new Cloud-enabled business models.”

Big Data too can fuel business growth, says Massimo Cannizzo, Managing Director of Technology – Consulting Lead for the Middle East.

“The digital world is changing rapidly and the future growth is staggering. Today, the number of networked devices equals the global population. By 2015, it will double population. This means that being able to separate the

“The digital world is changing rapidly and the future growth is staggering. Today, the number of networked devices equals the global population. By 2015, it will double population. This means that being able to separate the signal from the noise is a key challenge.”

Massimo Cannizzo, Managing Director of Technology, Consulting Lead, Accenture

signal from the noise is a key challenge,” he says.

“There has been a shift in the way businesses gain insights from data analysis. The

traditional approach has revolved around structured and repeated analysis where the business sets the IT agenda. The new fundamental shift is for iterative and exploratory analysis where IT creates the platform and the business explores what questions could be asked.

“Big Data essentially brings together a very large volume and variety of data to find new insights. It is the next generation of data warehousing, business analytics and business intelligence. It also offers cost-efficient top-line revenue opportunities, more agile analysis and deeper analytics. And recent research has shown that companies that use Big Data to make decisions are more productive and generate more revenues.”

HP announces mobile print solutions

HP announced today secured mobile print solutions that make it easier for business customers to print whenever and wherever they need.

The company has used GITEX 2013 unveiled new single-function

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FVC...

technology areas. For instance, Watchful Software deals with data security and data leakage prevention (DLP), while Barco supplies imaging solutions. Dharmendra Parmar, General Manager, Marketing, FVC, explained that the distributor was going big on some of its new vendors this week.

“Barco is already known for its large-format screens, video walls and projection systems, but Barco is also moving into the meeting room solutions as well, so that’s what we’re representing,” he said about

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printers, multifunction printers (MFPs), scanners and solutions that streamline customers’ digital and paper processes and increase business productivity.

HP also launched the HP Officejet

Pro X, the world’s fastest desktop printer as recognised by Guinness World Records.

The proliferation of data created by a growing mobile workforce is driving organisations to rethink how

they conduct business and manage their information. HP addresses this challenge with a “new style of IT”, which includes delivering business printing technologies that accelerate productivity in a hybrid paper-anddigital world.

“Organisations need to adapt quickly to the changing landscape of information technology, which includes dealing with the vast amounts of data and processes created by a growing mobile workforce,” said Robert Dinkelacker, Director Printing, Personal Printing Group Middle-East, Mediterranean & Africa, HP. “New innovations and an updated LaserJet printing portfolio help improve customers’ mobile print experience and transform the management of digital and print workflows for potentially greater business performance.”

one of them.

Meanwhile, Darwyler provides cabling solutions for the enterprise as well as data centres – right from cables, racks and even air conditioning, Parmar said, adding that the vendor also provides tools to lay out fibre in a city-wide infrastructure.

The last of FVC’s new vendors, Cyan, provides solutions for software-defined networking (SDN).

“With Cyan, we’re mainly targeting service providers, as well as people with their own large networks – large enterprises and such,” said Parmar.

FVC isn’t only relying on its new vendor-partners to turn heads at

GITEX, though – the distributor is also showing off a new, purposebuilt solution it calls the Cylex kiosk.

Targeted at banking, retail and education environments, the kiosk is fully interactive and promises to provide the kiosk format with much more functionality, Parmar said.

“For example, in a banking environment, next to an ATM machine, you could use one of these. You could be browsing through some offerings and you could talk, face to face, with an agent, who can help you on video chat to complete formalities,” he explained.

One of the more impressive

features of the kiosk comes with its ability to produce original signatures.

A print-out of a digitally signed document does is not recognised as original by most authorities, meaning people still need to physically sign a form with a pen. At the other side of FVC’s kiosk, however, features a piece of equipment that gets around the problem.

“The equipment on the other side is actually a pen, so when you sign on the screen, the pen on the side signs in exactly the way you sign it.

That makes it an official document, and this is already recognised by the government of Canada, and it’s used in the US,” Parmar said.

UAE keen on mobile marketing: Study

Digital security firm Gemalto today published the results of a new survey conducted by IFOP in Dubai that reveals the willingness of respondents to engage with mobile marketing – provided that businesses respect the ‘golden rules’ of messaging, and offer real and immediate incentives to those who respond.

On the sidelines of GIEX Technology Week 2013, the research shows that Dubai residents are particularly receptive to targeted campaigns, and highlights the untapped potential for businesses to

build closer links with their consumers via mobile marketing.

The survey underlines the fact that mobile messaging is already part of everyday life in the UAE, with 99 percent of those interviewed receiving messages from chains, brands and their mobile operators.

The study also shows that consumers have clear expectations regarding the way mobile marketing campaigns should be run: the overwhelming majority insisted that their permission is asked before texts are sent, that the sender is clearly identified, that an opt-out facility is provided and messages are pertinent to individual interests.

Overall, 83 percent of respondents stated that such solicited text messages would be well received.

Another key finding of the research is the UAE residents’ preference for

immediate and tangible benefits out of mobile marketing campaigns; 46 percent favored instant rewards or discounts and 32 percent showed appetite for regular updates from preferred brands.

Finally, the research indicates that two-thirds of the adult population would be won over by mobile marketing that respects the ‘golden rules’: successful mobile marketing is about meeting customers’ requirements for relevant messages and implementing strategies that put the end user in control of the conversation.

Furthermore, for those companies that are already observing these straightforward guidelines the results speak for themselves. For example, large mobile operators in Saudi that have started using Gemalto’s Smart Message solution have reported a

sixteen-fold increase in the number of subscribers to the services being promoted.

Whilst the lessons learned in this survey are just as applicable to other parts of the world, it appears that the mobile phone is particularly wellsuited to be the medium of choice for mass marketing in the UAE, said Nadia Gonzalez, Vice President Mobile Marketing, Gemalto.

“Given the UAE’s diverse population and vibrant media industry, the mobile phone can genuinely claim to be its true common denominator,” she said.

“With a remarkable penetration rate of 171 percent*, it offers brands, chains and mobile operators the potential to turn mobile phones into the primary direct marketing channel to reach out to individual consumers across the country.”

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Veeam Software doubles revenue growth in the Middle East Veeam Software today announced record results for the second quarter of 2013. Globally, total bookings revenue increased 100 percent in Q2 13 compared to the same period in 2012, and business in the Middle East region doubled over the same period.

In the UAE, Veeam’s Middle East regional headquarters, the company’s revenue booking increased by 87 percent in Q2 13 compared to the same period in 2012, while in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, revenue booking grew by 100 percent in the same period.

“Looking at our two largest markets in the Middle East, Veeam grew its customer base in the UAE by 55 percent, and 45 percent in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over the same period,” said CEO, Ratmir Timashev. “The Middle East region represents tremendous potential for us. Our office in Dubai grew rapidly from 1 to over 20 people since its inception in 2011. This is a direct link to the number of customers we are acquiring.”

To meet this demand, Veeam has expanded its business operation footprint by bolstering its presence in the UAE, and expanding its network and partners in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the remaining GCC countries, the Levant and Egypt.

“The GCC represents a success for us. The UAE, specifically,

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Ratmir Timashev Veeams, President and CEO, Veeam Software is a significant growth market, experiencing rapid economic growth and driving the technology with its forward looking, progressive vision.

We are pleased to see our business grow throughout the region,” added

Timashev.

During GITEX, Veeam Software announced the immediate availability of Veeam Backup & Replication v7 in the Middle East region.

Among an array of market-leading

features, the solution introduces two disruptive innovations, Built-in WAN Acceleration and Backup from Storage Snapshots.

These developments have paved the way for Veeam plans to roll out a new marketing and business development initiative across the region to acquire more marketshare within its major vertical focus groups, those being government institutions, media and broadcasting, healthcare, financial and oil and gas sectors and telecoms. Major announcements within these sectors are expected in the near future.

Gregg Petersen, Veeam’s Regional Sales Manager in the Middle East, believes that the backup, replication and virtualisation sector is set to continue its double digit growth.

“We’ve seen tremendous growth over the past years and we now feel that enterprises across sector in the region understand the criticality of protecting their data assets,” he said.

Petersen has built a team of professionals to manage the region.

Omar Akhtar was hired as regional channel responsible for developing and managing strategic channel partner relationships and overseeing technology alliances, while Hazem Hakam was hired to manage Veeam’s business in Saudi Arabica, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.

GITEX highlights

Publisher Dominic De Sousa, COO Nadeem Hood, Commercial Director Rajashree R Kumar, Group Editor Jeevan Thankappan Editors Ben Rossi, Tom Paye, Janees Reghelini, James Dartnell Circulation Manager Rajeesh M, Production Manager James Tharian, Senior Designers Analou Balbero, Glenn Roxas, Digital Services Manager Tristan Troy Magma Web Coordinator Jarris Pedroso Photographers Jay Colina, Abdul Kader

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