Strategic ICT Partner
Technology Partners
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60 Mins Show dates: 14-18 October 2012, Dubai World Trade Centre
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| AT GITEX TECHNOLOGY WEEK | Exhibition hours: 11am -7pm
Fluke Networks promotes Network Expert products at GITEX
Werner Heeren, Regional Sales Director, Fluke Networks Fluke Networks is exhibiting its extensive range of products at GITEX which aim to offer the level of support that a present technician would, according to Werner Heeren, Regional Sales Director, Fluke Networks. The Network Trouble-Shooting and IP Security Value Kits are offered with additional accessories and functionality
than previously available and Heeren believes that the products are so unique, they’re creating their own market. “We don’t have any competitors in this market really,” he said. “We saw that these tools needed to be created to fill a very big gap and we created them. Therefore, we own
the majority of the market share in this region for this type of solution and we don’t have any direct competitors with this kind of tool.” The other main topic that Heeren is promoting at GITEX is wireless performance. Fluke Networks delivers three Wi-Fi Expert value kits which are based on Airmagnet technology, focused on installing, inspecting and clearing airspace of wireless networks. “Our products are like having a technician by your side, but the technician is replaced by this simple tool. That’s what special about our technology, it’s powerful and unique,” says Heeren. Even though Fluke holds such a strong position in the market, Heeren still sees the importance in exhibiting at GITEX. “We get to see current customers and new customers all the same place. They come to the booth, they learn about what we have to offer and they become excited,” he said. “It’s our 12th year now at GITEX and we will continue to come back.”
14 -16 MAY 2013, QATAR
picture of the hour
Qnbn partners with Ericsson
Qnbn and Ericsson announced an agreement to empower the Qatari nation with high-speed broadband fiber access to citizens and businesses alike and will see the leading provider
of communications technology and services deploy a broadband network infrastructure using optical fiber (FTTx) in Qatar. The agreement, which was signed during the ITU Telecom
Our tools are just like having an extra technician by your side
World event held in Dubai, is described as the largest of its kind for Ericsson in Qatar will begin rolling out immediately. It will also facilitate competitive, high speed broadband services in Qatar through the deployment of Ericsson’s Fiber Optic Solution, Fiber Cables and Central offices. Qnbn will deploy a passive network infrastructure, providing equal and open access to operators to offer choice for the end-user and efficiently leveraging existing and new infrastructure in Qatar. “Qnbn represents a bold step forward in Qatar’s drive to be a leading knowledge based economy and continuous access to a high-speed network is essential for economic development and innovation,” said Mohamad Al-Mannai, Qnbn’s Chief Executive Officer. “Together with Ericsson we hope to be able to enrich connectivity in Qatar and continue to provide
an ideal environment for business development and economic growth.” “Having high speed broadband access with faster connectivity has become a major component for today’s Networked Society” said Ray Hassan, President, Ericsson Gulf Council Countries (GCC). ”We are excited to work with Qnbn in Qatar to help turn the Networked Society vision further into reality.” Qatar’s government established Qnbn in 2011 to accelerate the rollout of a nationwide high-speed, accessible broadband Fiber to the Home network. Qnbn aims to provide fiber access to citizens and businesses across Qatar, achieving coverage targets of 95 percent across Qatar. The resulting high-speed broadband connectivity will enable the effective use of multimedia and communications applications that are central to developing Qatar’s knowledge based economy.
New Price for FiberQuick Map
Learn more at www.flukenetworks.com/verificationtool Printed with GIT cartridges
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GITEX TECHNOLOGY WEEK 2012 HIGHLIGHTS
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Digital Forensic Investigations of Any Kind Incident Response & Remediation Training and Services Geoff Brooks Regional Sales Manager - Middle East, India & Africa PO BOX 211364, Dubai UAE Mobile No : +971 506 527659 gbrooks@accessdata.com www.accessdata.com
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Commvault happy to exhibit in ‘refreshing market’
Fiona Moon, Managing Director, Commvault
Global back-up software provider, Commvault, is exhibiting its wide portfolio of back-up recovery solutions at GITEX, and claims the Middle East is a highly opportunistic region, due to its relatively short infrastructure history. Fiona Moon, Managing Director for the EMEA region, claims that areas such as Europe and the U.S. have such a large legacy, that they’re simply adding to existing infrastructures which can result in a very complicated system. “In the Middle East people will sit back and look at the wider picture,” she said.
“It’s such a refreshing area to work in. Simple infrastructure can be grown here and that’s very helpful to us because of the nature of our product. We supply a simple, singular package which can then be expanded if necessary. Therefore, applying our products from scratch is far more beneficial for businesses than adding it to other existing infrastructures.” Moon believes that the endless growth of data and the issues it presents around the world will be huge. “Big data is a nightmare, and will continue to be so. With cloud computing now being an almost fully
adopted system, security risks are at an all time high and so when those walls are breached, we’re there to provide the back-up recovery. Implementing our infrastructure into businesses in this region is so easy for us because of the lack of legacy here. It all ties in so well for us here.” “GITEX is a brilliant opportunity for us to speak with local customers and really get a feel for what they want and we’re so happy to do so because of how willing they are to listen to our entire story here. Other regions around the world aren’t so willing to do that,” she concluded.
NEC looks to improve regional presence Displays solutions company, NEC, holds an 80% share in the global market of flight information technology and arena signage, but General Manager for the MENA region, Ian Gobey, believes that the company is still a new comer to the Middle East and has much to gain in the coming years. NEC has been in the region for around five years and Gobey said that it was making steady growth, but it wasn’t secure enough to survive the crash around 2009. Therefore, it has been slowly rebuilding its presence ever since.
“We hadn’t cemented a stable foundation by the time the crash happened,” he said. “The region is growing quickly here, that’s no secret, and so we’re investing heavily and believe that we’re on the right tracks to applying our success here.” NEC has recently won back a contract which it previously held for the signage information displays in Terminal 2 at Heathrow Airport, the largest airport in the world. Gobey believes this was a huge victory for NEC and says it’s close to being replicated locally.
“We are on the verge of signing a contract for new airports in Oman, and there are many more popping up all over the region. We’re confident we’re going to play a huge role in these projects and the result will be an increased awareness within this region,” he said. “The active nature of construction and investment in this emerging part of the world is what makes it so opportunistic for us. We want to take advantage of those opportunities.” Contrary to his enthusiasm for the MENA market, Gobey
believes that events like GITEX are losing value. “Due to the internet and new technologies, these types of events are shrinking in importance. You can contact people anywhere around the world whenever you need now. I think trade shows are slowly dying out, but we’re happy to be a part of it and still meet our customers. NEC is one of those companies which people interactive with daily, but perhaps don’t know it. With events like this we can put a name and a face to our products,” he concluded.
Publisher Dominic De Sousa, COO Nadeem Hood, Managing Director Richard Judd, Commercial Director Rajashree R Kumar, Group Editor Jeevan Thankappan Editors Pallavi Sharma, Ben Rossi Sub-editor Joe Lipscombe Circulation Manager Rajeesh M, Production Manager James Tharian, Design Director Ruth Sheehy, Senior Designers Analou Balbero, Froilan Cosgafa IV, Glenn Roxas, Digital Services Manager Tristan Troy Magma Web Developers Erik Briones, Jefferson De Joya Photographer and Social Media Co-ordinator Jay Colina
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High grades
As competition between educational institutions heats up, schools are increasingly investing in new technology as a way to differentiate their instructional offerings and drive operational efficiencies. Budgets are being spent in the classroom and in the back office. To prepare students for a global, technology-driven economy, a growing number of classrooms are beginning to incorporate technology that reflects a more personalised, collaborative, interactive and mobile learning experience. A case in point is the Indian High School (IHS), which was founded in 1961 and offers education right from pre-primary up to grade 12. IHS has the distinction of being the only school in the region with 340 connected classrooms in one single premise. The school functions in three campuses with close to around 20,000 students and more than 800 teachers in addition to 200 plus support staff. IHS is equipped with a number of libraries and computer labs and even boasts of its own radio broadcasting station. IT is not always a priority for school but IHS is an exception to the rule, where it plays a pervasive role in augmenting the teaching process. The school has been one of the Printed with GIT cartridges
early adopters of the smartboard technology and its IT department has developed a new rubrics system called SAT (Student’s Academic Tracker) which takes care of the evaluation of students on all grounds. What is probably unique is that the school’s IT department comprises mostly of teachers and ex-students. IHS has a complex network, which supports e-learning platforms, and other applications such as database, and runs on a campus-wide fibre backbone. The wireless coverage is ubiquitous and students are encouraged to bring their own devices to access the learning resources. “IHS is run on a not-for-profit model so funding and hiring and keeping good people are major challenges. But we have been able to develop most of our applications in-house, which helps us to keep the costs down. Of course, there are areas where we can’t do everything in-house and we have alliances with vendors such as Microsoft, which provides us technologies at hugely discounted rates,” says MN Chaturvedi, IT Advisor to the school. ICT has been embedded in the curriculum at all levels and is an integral part of the learning process at IHS. But the journey hasn’t been very smooth. For teachers, technology is a mixed
“IHS is run on a notfor-profit model so funding and hiring and keeping good people are major challenges. But we have been able to develop most of our applications in-house, which helps us to keep the costs down.” blessing. It threatens them, and excites them. It is a great educational tool but there is a new set of skills that need to be learned…and for many teachers it is just too strange and new to integrate into old teaching habits. “We had to go a very lengthy change management process with the teachers with the introduction of technology into classrooms. Teachers took time to adapt and we took them through extensive training. Now they see technology as an efficient tool to augment the teaching process,” says Ashok Kumar, CEO if IHS. Through the training programme that lasted three years, educators were shown techniques that allow them to be better teachers
and take back the initiative in the classroom with a better set of tools. “Technology provides new ways of communication information, as well helping teachers in grading and managing their classes – and gives them access to huge resource of content. We are now in the process of starting podcasts for revision chapters,” says Kumar. Chaturvedi says the school’s IT infrastructure is very robust and scalable to meet the future growth needs. “We upgrade our infrastructure to match increases in the volume of content and number of users. We go through software upgrades every three years and hardware is refreshed every five years. We do provide advanced IT support services, and back office applications and storage to support student data and online supports. IHS also have a green agenda as energy efficiency is a top priority.” It is mandatory for schools these days to provide secure networks for learners, staff and parents. IHS takes security seriously and have put in place multiple layers of defense mechanisms to prevent data breaches. IHS, which has been rated in the outstanding category, has recently opened a new campus in Dubai Silicon Oasis, which is a perfect showcase of the positive impacts of exploiting technology in education. The new school boasts of a converged IP network with a stateof-the-art data centre, which is fully virtualised and terabytes of storage. “It is still in a work in progress. We are in the process of adding video streaming and IP surveillance. Thanks to virtualisation, we will also be able to build a private cloud that will take care of our future computing needs,” says Chaturvedi. IHS is a trailblazer in many ways and there are many schools in the region that have emulated the school’s model and its approach to harnessing technology to provide better education.
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