GUIDING THE FUTURE by cxoinsightme

ISSUE 60 \ JANUARY 2024

GUIDING THE FUTURE HOW TEKLOGIX IS PIONEERING THE TRANSFORMATIVE JOURNEY FOR ORGANISATIONS THROUGH NEXT-GENERATION TECHNOLOGIES.

Unified SASE Bringing security and networking together

CONTENTS

46 PRODUCTS

HOW TEKLOGIX IS PIONEERING THE TRANSFORMATIVE JOURNEY FOR ORGANISATIONS THROUGH NEXTGENERATION TECHNOLOGIES.

GUIDING THE FUTURE

OUTLOOK 2024

VIEWPOINTS OUTLOOK 26 AFORPOSITIVE BUSINESSES

BEWARE THE FUTURE

CHANGE AND 32 AI-DRIVEN DATA MANAGEMENT

THE 38 POWERING GREEN HYDROGEN AGE

6 NEWS

OF INNOVATION 42 AANDYEARGROWTH

HPE BUYS JUNIPER NETWORKS FOR $14 BILLION

RISING THREAT OF 44 THE LOOKALIKE DOMAIN

GOOGLE APPOINTS ZIAD JAMMAL AS GOOGLE CLOUD COUNTRY MANAGER IN THE UAE

ATTACKS

INTERVIEWS

SIMPLICITY

28 THE INEVITABLE SHIFT

YEAR OF AI’S 36 THE PC ASCENDANCY

CLEAN 34 EMPOWERING ENERGY ADOPTION

PUBLISHED BY INSIGHT MEDIA & PUBLISHING LLC

ETISALAT BY E& AND CISCO SIGN MOU TO ELEVATE CONNECTIVITY AND COLLABORATION SERVICES FOR BUSINESSES IN THE UAE SAP APPOINTS EMMANUEL RAPTOPOULOS REGIONAL PRESIDENT FOR EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA JANUARY 2024

CXO INSIGHT ME

EDITORIAL

NAVIGATING THE YEAR AHEAD

s is customary, at the beginning of every year, I stick my neck out and make predictions about what is going to be hot in tech. Make no mistake; this year is going to be all about AI. Though the hype has reached a crescendo, you can expect to see some real-world use cases emerging this year. Generative AI is already being widely used in enterprises in the region, and the emergence of localised LLMs will further accelerate adoption. However, many vendors are now trying to cash in on the hype and exaggerate AI capabilities in their products. These days, the AI label is being applied to just about everything, and users will have to beware of these tall claims. Another trend that I see gaining currency is Cloud FinOps. In the feeding frenzy that we have witnessed in the last couple of years, many enterprises have moved their workloads to the cloud without realising costs can spiral out of control if resources are not managed efficiently. The FinOps framework helps enterprises rein in their cloud spending by rightsizing instances and maximising the business value of the cloud.

On the cybersecurity front, VAPT is going to be a number one priority, enabling organisations to adopt a comprehensive approach to testing to identify weaknesses and gaps in their networks, applications, and infrastructure. In the ever-evolving threat landscape, VAPT is going to be absolutely crucial in the security arsenal of CISOs to stay ahead of threats. Finally, the sustainability mandate is going to be crucial for IT, with many countries in the region striving to achieve their net-zero goals. CIOs, in addition to reducing the carbon footprint of IT operations, will have to play a huge role in ESG initiatives of their enterprises by collaborating with other business stakeholders. By leveraging technologies such as cloud and by selecting vendors that provide sustainable products, technology leaders can play a pivotal role in contributing to a more sustainable future. I wish our readers a happy new year, and may the pages of this magazine continue to inspire you.

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JANUARY 2024

CXO INSIGHT ME

NEWS

HPE BUYS JUNIPER NETWORKS FOR $14 BILLION

ewlett Packard Enterprise and Juniper Networks announced that the companies have entered a definitive agreement under which HPE will acquire Juniper in an allcash transaction for $40.00 per share, representing an equity value of approximately $14 billion. The combination of HPE and Juniper advances HPE’s portfolio mix shift toward higher-growth solutions and strengthens its high-margin networking business, accelerating HPE’s sustainable profitable growth strategy. The transaction is expected to be accretive to non-GAAP EPS and free cash flow in the first year post close. The acquisition is expected to double HPE’s networking business, creating a new networking leader with a comprehensive portfolio that presents customers and partners with a compelling new choice to drive business value. The explosion of AI and hybrid cloud-driven business is accelerating demand for secure, unified technology solutions that connect, protect, and analyse companies’ data from edge to cloud. These trends, and AI specifically, will continue to be the most disruptive workloads for companies, and HPE has been aligning its portfolio to capitalise on these substantial IT trends with networking as a critical connective component. Combining HPE and Juniper’s complementary portfolios supercharges HPE’s edge-to-cloud strategy with an ability to lead in an AI-native environment based on a foundational cloud-native architecture. Together, HPE and Juniper will provide customers of all sizes with a complete, secure portfolio that enables the networking architecture necessary to manage and simplify their expanding and increasingly complex connectivity needs. Leveraging industry-leading AI, the combined company is expected to create better user and operator experiences, benefitting customers’ high-performance networks and cloud data centres. 6

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Through its suite of cloud-delivered networking solutions, software, and services, including the Mist AI and Cloud platform, Juniper helps organisations securely and efficiently access the mission-critical cloud infrastructure that serves as the foundation of digital and AI strategies. The combination with HPE Aruba Networking and purposely designed HPE AI interconnect fabric will bring together enterprise reach, and cloud-native and AI-native management and control, to create a premier industry player that will accelerate innovation to deliver further modernised networking optimised for hybrid cloud and AI. Upon completion of the transaction, Juniper CEO Rami Rahim will lead the combined HPE networking business, reporting to HPE President and CEO Antonio Neri. “HPE’s acquisition of Juniper represents an important inflection point in the industry and will change the dynamics in the networking market and provide customers and partners with a new alternative that meets their toughest demands,” said Neri. “This transaction will strengthen HPE’s position at the nexus of accelerating

macro-AI trends, expand our total addressable market, and drive further innovation for customers as we help bridge the AI-native and cloudnative worlds, while also generating significant value for shareholders. I am excited to welcome Juniper’s talented employees to our team as we bring together two companies with complementary portfolios and proven track records of driving innovation within the industry.” “Our multi-year focus on innovative, secure AI-native solutions has driven Juniper Networks’ outstanding performance,” said Rami Rahim, CEO of Juniper Networks. “We have successfully delivered exceptional user experiences and simplified operations, and by joining HPE, I believe we can accelerate the next phase of our journey. In addition, this combination maximises value for our shareholders through a meaningful all-cash premium. We look forward to working with the talented HPE team to drive innovation for enterprise, service provider and cloud customers across all domains, including campus, branch, data centre and the wide area network.”

GOOGLE APPOINTS ZIAD JAMMAL AS GOOGLE CLOUD COUNTRY MANAGER IN THE UAE

oogle Cloud announced the appointment of Ziad Jammal as UAE Google Cloud Country Manager to further drive digital transformation for UAE businesses in the new AI era. Ziad brings extensive experience in the technology industry and

a deep understanding of the UAE’s digital landscape to this strategic role. As Google Cloud Country Manager, he will oversee Google Cloud’s go-to-market strategy, support partner relationships, and drive customers’ success across the UAE. He will focus on scaling Google Cloud’s offerings in the UAE to help organisations across various industries, including the public sector, financial services, media, aviation, telco and retail, innovate faster. “We are delighted to have Ziad at the helm of our UAE operations,” said Abdul Rahman Al Thehaiban, Google Cloud Managing Director, Middle East, Turkey and Africa. “His leadership, expertise, and knowledge of the region will be instrumental in elevating customers’ experience with Google Cloud while ensuring businesses benefit from both cutting-edge solutions and the trusted support needed for their unique cloud journey.” Ziad has over 20 years of experience in information technology and tech sales

leadership. He joined Google Cloud in 2017 and has since played a pivotal role in expanding the company’s value proposition in the UAE. In his most recent role at Google Cloud, he led the Startups and Digital Natives team where he successfully developed the go-to-market strategy to support, grow and empower local businesses and entrepreneurs. “I am excited to take on this new challenge and to spearhead the next chapter of Google Cloud’s journey in the UAE,” said Ziad. “The UAE has long championed ambitious plans for its digital economy and looking at an entirely new era of digital transformation fueled by generative AI, there are unprecedented opportunities for businesses in the country to transform their operations and disrupt industries. With this, our AIinfused solutions for data, infrastructure, productivity, and security will help organisations achieve transformative business outcomes and leverage new technologies like generative AI.

ETISALAT BY E& AND CISCO SIGN MOU TO ELEVATE CONNECTIVITY AND COLLABORATION SERVICES FOR BUSINESSES IN THE UAE etisalat by e& and Cisco announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on advanced connectivity solutions and services for businesses in the UAE. The MoU outlines the principles by which the companies intend to collaborate on go-to-market activities, serving enterprises and SMB business customers by enhancing engagement, co-developing innovative products, and strengthening managed services capabilities. Masood M. Sharif Mahmood, CEO of etisalat by e& UAE said, “This MoU marks an important step in our vision to create a more connected and sustainable UAE. The agreement is driven by a mutual desire to develop new value propositions and enhance existing solutions. Through our collaboration with Cisco, we endeavour to deliver pioneering connectivity and managed services solutions that enable our clients’ digital transformation journeys and contribute to the success of their business objectives.”

Reem Asaad, Vice President of Middle East and Africa at Cisco said, “Our collaboration with etisalat by e& underscores Cisco’s dedication to delivering innovative solutions to businesses in the UAE. Together with etisalat by e&, we aim to enable digital transformation while helping our customers achieve their sustainability objectives. By combining our expertise, we will provide the advanced foundation for businesses to accelerate their journey towards digitally advanced operations in UAE.” This strategic alliance leverages the strengths of both organisations, combining etisalat by e&’s extensive reach and robust infrastructure with

Cisco’s innovative technology solutions. The collaboration is set to deliver more efficient and effective advanced connectivity solutions, which shall ultimately enhance customer experience while enabling their growth and transformation. In addition, the collaboration will see the companies working together to develop a broad range of consultancy services for various commercial segments, such as business continuity, disaster recovery, tech-refresh framework, and sustainable tech-enabled solutions. Mahmood added: “We firmly believe that advanced connectivity is vital for enduring business success. With such partnerships, we’re poised to help our customers reach their business objectives as well as remain committed to sustainability and digital transformation. This will pave the way for operational efficiency, and growth of various companies, along with a positive impact on the UAE economy and society.”

JANUARY 2024

CXO INSIGHT ME

NEWS

PAYMOB AND TAMARA PARTNER TO POWER GCC SMEs

aymob has announced its partnership with Tamara, the shopping and payments platform in the GCC region. The strategic partnership integrates Tamara’s Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) service with Paymob’s secure gateway to power seamless payments by enabling customers to split their payments in four without any hidden fees or interest. Paymob’s omnichannel payments infrastructure serves 250,000 merchants in the region, while Tamara has over nine million registered users and more than 30,000 partner merchants. The agreement between two of the MENA region’s fastest-growing fintech companies creates a payments ecosystem that enables merchants to offer more comprehensive solutions and seamless customer experiences. Both companies have partnerships with some of the region’s biggest brands, however, this agreement is designed to fuel the growth of small and mediumsize enterprises (SMEs) which are the greatest contributors to GDP in MENA. For businesses of any size, comprehensive

SAP APPOINTS EMMANUEL RAPTOPOULOS REGIONAL PRESIDENT FOR EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA

AP has appointed Emmanuel (Manos) Raptopoulos as the President for SAP’s newly created EMEA region. The new territory comprises Benelux, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Nordics, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the whole of the Middle East and Africa. In this capacity, Raptopoulos will be responsible for overseeing 14,000 employees across 53 offices, servicing customers in 90 countries. The region 8

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payment offerings ensure increased sales and conversions. With Tamara’s BNPL solution, merchants gain a 40% increase in average order value, a 15% increase in online conversion rates, and a 50% increase in repeat purchases. The addition of Tamara’s BNPL solution to Paymob’s gateway is via a simple integration that reduces merchants’ barriers to entry and ensures transactions are processed seamlessly and securely. The partnership will initially serve merchants in KSA and the UAE in the first phase, with more countries planned to go live in later stages. Islam Shawky, Co-founder and CEO of Paymob said, “Our partnership with Tamara delivers on Paymob’s mission to fuel SME growth in the digital economy. There is a massive opportunity to enable merchants

in the GCC to capitalise on the power of alternative payment methods and we are thrilled to partner with Tamara to fuel this growth in MENA.” Turki Bin Zarah, Co-founder and CCO of Tamara said, “This partnership with Paymob provides seamless access to Tamara’s services to thousands of SMEs to enable their growth across the region. As a commerce enabler, we are revolutionising how people shop, pay, and bank and are thrilled to partner with Paymob as we deliver on this goal.” Tamara and Paymob are currently experiencing rapid growth fueled by recent funding. Riyadh-based Tamara secured a $150 million debt facility earlier this year from Goldman Sachs, the first deal of its kind in the region. The company is actively expanding its product lines and verticals. Paymob’s growth across the region is driven by its 2022 Series B funding which was led by PayPal Ventures. As a result, the company expanded to the UAE in 2022 and secured PTSP certification from Saudi Payments in Q2 2023 making it fully operational in KSA.

is significant to SAP’s business – the power of cloud technology, combined with the possibilities of AI, provides a unique opportunity to drive customer transformation and value. Prior to this appointment, Raptopoulos was the Regional President for SAP EMEA South, now a subset of the larger EMEA region. He joined SAP in 1998 and has held several leadership roles in General Management, Sales, Operations and Consulting in both Europe and the Middle East. “For more than 25 years, Manos Raptopoulos has successfully grown customer-facing businesses at SAP. I have confidence in his leadership and know that he will continue to champion

the growth and innovation of our customers in this strategically important region for SAP,” said Scott Russell, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE and head of Customer Success. “Manos is a staunch advocate for the voice of customers and partners and is an empathetic and inspirational leader of people. I am excited for Manos to lead our EMEA Region to new heights, together with our outstanding team.” “Our customers have high expectations. They rely on SAP to run their most critical business processes, to digitally transform, to boost their sustainability, and to future-proof their organisations,” says Raptopoulos. “EMEA’s next chapter will be fueled by accelerated cloud and AI innovation, underpinned by our purpose, our people, and our partnerships. I feel honoured to lead this diverse and talented team of professionals. Together, we can make a significant impact, in this region and beyond.”

HUAWEI CLOUD ADVANCES CLOUD OPERATIONS IN THE KINGDOM WITH NEW LICENSE

uawei Cloud has recently received a Class C License from the Communications, Space, and Technology Commission (CST) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, marking the commission’s highest certification for Cloud Service Providers (CSPs). The recognition follows a thorough evaluation by the National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA), assessing Huawei Cloud against the Essential Cybersecurity Controls (ECC) and the Cloud Cybersecurity Controls (CCC). Alan Qi, Chief Executive Officer of Sparkoo Saudi Arabia (Huawei Cloud), said: “Huawei Cloud is honoured to receive the prestigious Class C License from the CST, signifying a major milestone in our commitment to advancing cloud services in the Kingdom. This certification underscores

our unwavering dedication to upholding the highest cybersecurity standards and facilitating the nation’s digital transformation journey.” This pivotal license empowers Huawei Cloud to deliver cutting-edge Cloud Services to both public and private sectors across the Kingdom and the wider region. The rigorous criteria for obtaining a Class C License include adherence to the Cloud Cybersecurity Controls (CCC) for the Government Sector, aligning with Class A and Class B standards and requirements, and obtaining necessary approvals in compliance with prevailing laws, regulations, policies, and governance models. Under this license, Huawei Cloud is now authorised to handle government data classifications, encompassing public data, restricted data, secret data, and top-secret data.

ADVANSYS EXPANDS PORTFOLIO THROUGH STRATEGIC ACQUISITION OF FORTE CLOUD

Advansys announces its acquisition of FORTE CLOUD – a Cloud Service Provider and Consulting Partner. The acquisition is one of the main milestones in achieving Advansys’ aggressive expansion plan.

This acquisition is not just a merger of two entities, but a fusion of expertise and innovation. Advansys will incorporate FORTE CLOUD’s expansive range of cloud services, including advanced cloud architecture and migration solutions. This integration is set to revolutionise Advansys’ portfolio driving unprecedented value for customers and partners alike. “FORTE CLOUD is a strong, strategic fit for Advansys and the combination of our two companies will drive significant value for both our partners and customers” said Advansys Chairman and CEO, Ahmed ElMoghazy. “FORTE CLOUD’s leading services in the MEA

This licensing achievement follows the recent launch of the Huawei Cloud Riyadh Region. Aligned with the goals outlined in Huawei Cloud’s commitment to significant investments in cloud infrastructure within Saudi Arabia, declared during LEAP 2023, this milestone reinforces Huawei Cloud’s dedication to fostering digital-led economic growth and prosperity. This pivotal step is part of Huawei Cloud’s broader strategy, rooted in Saudi Arabia, aligned with the nation’s 2030 vision. Huawei Cloud aims to catalyse the digital transformation and intelligent upgrade of Saudi enterprises through cutting-edge technologies, enhanced user experiences, and a collaborative ecosystem. Huawei Cloud plans to employ cutting-edge technologies such as Cloud Native 2.0, GaussDB, Digital Human, and Pangu Model 3.0 for Government, Electricity and Meteorology services, to boost intelligence in Saudi Arabia. The Pangu 3.0 AI model specifically tackles challenges in AI adoption, using industry knowledge to improve AI capabilities in areas like finance, government, manufacturing, and beyond.

region will add to Advansys, creating a world-class portfolio of offerings. Also, the addition of exceptional talent to our team brings in new expertise and proficiency.” As the two companies join forces, Ahmed ElMoghazy is appointed as the Chairman and CEO of FORTE CLOUD, Abdelrahman Elposhi is appointed as the Chief Technology Officer, Yasser Mamdouh is appointed as the Chief Financial Officer, and Moheeb Darwish is appointed as the Chief Commercial Officer. Abelrahman Elposhi, founder of FORTE CLOUD, shares his optimism “This announcement is a testament to our shared vision of innovation and excellence. The synergistic potential between Advansys and FORTE CLOUD promises to elevate our service capabilities and create a transformative impact in the technology sector.”

JANUARY 2024

CXO INSIGHT ME

NEWS

TA TELECOM UNVEILS ANTETHINK

A Telecom is thrilled to announce the launch of AnteThink, a state-of-the-art AI-driven tool that marks a significant milestone in the company’s continued evolution in the tech sector. AnteThink is designed to enhance decision-making processes with advanced AI capabilities, catering to both personal and professional scenarios. Over the years, TA Telecom has profoundly influenced the technology landscape by developing advanced mobile solutions, high-volume payment platforms, and launching innovative business units in e-commerce, fintech, and analytics. Serving 40 million users and processing 15 billion transactions across its platforms, TA Telecom has solidified its status as a tech industry leader. Several of these ventures have grown into successful entities, some achieving the distinction of becoming Y Combinator companies. Sameh Ibrahim, the CEO of TA Telecom, highlights the transformative

potential of AnteThink: “At TA Telecom, we’re committed to leveraging technology to make a substantial impact. AnteThink epitomises this commitment. It’s crafted to instil calm, clarity, and conviction in decision-making for both personal and professional scenarios. This tool is a game-changer, not just for startup founders and executives but also for individuals navigating life decisions. AnteThink empowers them with enhanced foresight and deep insights, thereby reducing the stress and uncertainty that often accompany critical decision-making processes.” Mostafa Ashour, CEO of NowPay, a Y Combinator startup, shares his experience with AnteThink: “Using AnteThink transformed our strategic planning. It helped us visualise multiple

CYBEREASON AND TAMKEEN TECHNOLOGIES ANNOUNCE NEW PARTNERSHIP IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Cybereason and Tamkeen Technologies a Saudi company specialising in providing end-to-end solutions to the government sector, announced a partnership to host and promote Cybereason’s On-Premises solution to both the government and private sector organisations. Government agencies are required to meet strict data regulations and controls demanding the protection of high-assurance environments including air-gapped and other private networks. 10

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The joint Cybereason and Tamkeen Technologies solution tailor’s deployment around an organisation’s specific data sovereignty requirements and compatibility with legacy and niche IT systems and maintains an auditable trail of detection and response activity to meet compliance needs. “We are delighted that Tamkeen Technologies will be hosting Cybereason On-Premises. Their deep understanding of the government and private sector security challenges combined with Cybereason’s market-leading solution will enable Tamkeen Technologies customers to detect and predictively respond to cyberattacks at speed and scale. What sets Cybereason apart from our competitors is our ability to empower security analysts to see the

future paths and prepare for different outcomes, making our decision-making process more robust and forwardlooking. It’s like having a roadmap for success in the complex business world.” AnteThink is a reflection of TA Telecom’s unwavering dedication to innovation, with a special focus on enhancing the startup ecosystem. The tool is expertly designed to aid leaders and executives in mastering the complexities of business management and strategic development. By offering a vivid depiction of potential outcomes, AnteThink significantly reduces uncertainty and equips decision-makers with the confidence to make informed choices. AnteThink’s advanced AI technology guides users through the intricate maze of decision-making, reflecting TA Telecom’s dedication to pioneering emotionally resonant and functionally robust solutions. Its sophisticated algorithms, user-friendly interface, and insightful analytics make it an indispensable asset for anyone seeking to make well-informed decisions.

full attack story across every networkconnected device, user identity and cloud deployment by leveraging the patented MalOp (malicious operation) Detection Engine” said Hussam Sidani, Regional Vice President Middle East & Türkiye – Cybereason. “We are thrilled to embark on a transformative partnership with worldrenowned Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) specialists, Cybereason. As a local cloud service provider, this strategic alliance goes beyond conventional collaboration, marking a revolutionary integration of Cybereason’s elite EDR technology with our stateof-the-art Security Operations Centre (SOC) and comprehensive security solutions. This synergy is designed to propel a new wave of innovative solutions, empowering our clients to not only meet, but exceed regulatory compliance,” said Dr. Mohammed AlShaibi, CEO – Tamkeen Technologies.

SENTINELONE TO EXPAND CLOUD SECURITY CAPABILITIES WITH ACQUISITION OF PINGSAFE

entinelOne announced that it has agreed to acquire PingSafe. The acquisition of PingSafe’s cloudnative application protection platform (CNAPP), when combined with SentinelOne’s cloud workload security and cloud data security capabilities, is expected to provide companies with a fully integrated platform that drives better coverage, hygiene and automation across their entire cloud footprint. The planned integration of PingSafe’s CNAPP into SentinelOne’s Singularity Platform signifies a paradigm shift in cloud security. Rather than relying on point solutions or a standalone cloud security platform, companies can now access a unified, best-of-breed security platform complete with advanced, real-time, AI-powered security operations to protect the entire enterprise across endpoints, identities, and clouds. “With the addition of PingSafe, we intend to redefine cloud security by fusing best-of-breed cloud workload protection, AI and analytics capabilities with a modern and comprehensive CNAPP,” said Ric Smith, Chief Product and Technology Officer, SentinelOne. “This new approach to cloud security will eliminate the need for companies to navigate the complexity of multiplepoint solutions, triage and investigate with incomplete context, or pipe data between disparate data silos. Instead, they can comprehensively manage their entire attack surface from a single platform that, unlike legacy CNAPP and standalone

providers, delivers the full context, real-time interaction and analytics needed to correlate, detect and stop multi-stage attacks in a simple, automated way.” Transforming Cybersecurity SentinelOne has been steadily extending its cloud security capabilities beyond cloud workload security, and the acquisition of PingSafe will accelerate this strategy. The move also aligns with the Singularity Unity Release strategy SentinelOne announced in November to transform security operations centres. “SentinelOne is a pioneer and leader in AI-powered security, and we share a common mission to secure the cloud and make the Internet a safer place,” said Anand Prakash, founder and CEO of PingSafe and one of the world’s top five white hat hackers. “The combination of our cutting-edge CNAPP capabilities with SentinelOne’s market-leading AI security platform will supercharge cloud security by providing world-class protection for multi-cloud infrastructure, from development to deployment.” Leading Cloud Security with Enterprise-Wide AI and Analytics PingSafe is a robust CNAPP solution that delivers dynamic, real-time monitoring of multi-cloud workloads, simple setup and configuration and low false positive rates. And customers view it as superior to alternative solutions in the market. “With more than $100 billion in transactions flowing through our network, nothing is more important than ensuring the security of our environment,” said Ashwath Kumar, Principal Security Engineer at Razorpay, one of the largest payment processors in India. “With PingSafe, we can cut through the noise delivered by many CNAPP solutions to identify and prioritise the most critical threats and take an offensive approach to preventing them before they impact our business.” “We operate in a regulated but growing industry. It is an industry where one needs to adapt to change at lightning speed, and ensuring compliance in doing so is a key requirement,” said Prajal Kulkarni, CISO Groww. “We must be able to quickly identify, prioritise and respond to cloud misconfiguration seamlessly and correlate issues across our large cloud environment, and PingSafe provides us with a centralised dashboard that makes this easy and cost-effective to do.” With the acquisition of PingSafe, SentinelOne will offer differentiated capabilities such as advanced secrets scanning of runtime and build-time environments and an attack surface management rules engine that runs breach and attack simulation scenarios against Internet-exposed cloud assets to identify how an adversary could compromise those assets. These capabilities will be in addition to core CNAPP capabilities like cloud security posture management, Kubernetes security posture management, agentless vulnerability scanning, and shift-left Infrastructure as code scanning. “Combined with our Singularity Data Lake, Purple AI, endpoint security, and identity security capabilities, PingSafe will enable us to provide a compelling and cost-effective alternative to standalone CNAPP offerings unlike anything else in the market and a superior, more integrated user experience,” Smith said.

JANUARY 2024

CXO INSIGHT ME

COVER STORY

GUIDING THE FUTURE

DAVID TEKLIT, CEO OF TEKLOGIX, DISCUSSES HOW THE TECHNOLOGY CONSULTING AND INTEGRATION FIRM IS GUIDING ORGANISATIONS THROUGH THEIR TRANSFORMATIVE JOURNEYS WITH THE POWER OF NEXT-GENERATION TECHNOLOGIES.

CXO INSIGHT ME

JANUARY 2024

hat are the key challenges organisations face when migrating to the cloud on a massive scale? Typically, challenges revolve around people, processes, and technology. On the people front, assembling the right team is crucial. Decisions shouldn’t be made in isolation; key stakeholders from the business should be involved to avoid resistance to change. To address concerns about perceived job security and legacy models, organisations need to place the right individuals in their migration program and provide upskilling on cloud and new operating models. In terms of processes, organisations lacking a clear cloud strategy and governance structures face migration hurdles. Designing and articulating enterprise architecture and target operating models ahead of migrations at scale is essential. Building a tested migration runbook is critical for success. On the technology front, compatibility issues with legacy applications are common. Choosing migration strategies, from lift and shift to replatform, refactor, or replace, requires careful consideration. Addressing potential challenges during the initial assessment or discovery phase is crucial, especially for applications designed for local clientserver delivery models. Decisions on cloud migration must involve key business stakeholders, typically at the CIO or CTO level, with a well-documented, communicated, and endorsed cloud strategy to simplify the process. Can you share examples of successful large-scale cloud migrations you’ve been involved in? We recently spearheaded a multi-year, multi-national cloud migration for a global corporation with a presence in over 110 countries. Our partnership approach, from initial strategy development to comprehensive migration plan and execution, proved

DECISIONS ON CLOUD MIGRATION MUST INVOLVE KEY BUSINESS STAKEHOLDERS, TYPICALLY AT THE CIO OR CTO LEVEL, WITH A WELL-DOCUMENTED, COMMUNICATED, AND ENDORSED CLOUD STRATEGY TO SIMPLIFY THE PROCESS. successful. Despite the challenge of migrating 47 data centres (regional colocation DCs and server rooms) across 45 countries to the AWS cloud within a tight timeframe, our well-executed plan and a dedicated, cohesive team led to a successful migration. Our success is attributed to engaging with the client as partners throughout the entire cloud journey, focusing on understanding business objectives, developing robust strategies, and implementing the client’s desired cloud target operating model. Obviously, this level of engagement requires working embedded in the client’s IT team as one team in order to execute such large-scale migration. This is where the tightly weaved partnership is essential. As lead consultants, one of our key roles was orchestrating with many third-party service providers, the cloud provider, application vendors and regional telcos, etc., to create a symphony of smooth migration. Do you foresee Cloud FinOps becoming more significant in the future? Absolutely. Cloud cost management is crucial, and the emergence of dedicated Cloud FinOps functions

JANUARY 2024

CXO INSIGHT ME

COVER STORY

attests to this. Failure to prioritise Cloud FinOps can lead to significant cost overruns. Public cloud environments often involve technical personnel provisioning workloads without a clear understanding of operational costs. Mature Cloud FinOps functions, whether embedded in IT or finance, are essential to managing and optimising costs effectively. Is the cloud inherently more secure than on-prem environments? The cloud offers enhanced security due to continuous investments by hyper scalers and adherence to compliance requirements. However, the level of security depends on operational practices. When using Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) or Platform as a Service (PaaS), securing applications, runtime OS, etc., becomes the organisation’s responsibility. Adopting cloud security standards such as CCM (Cloud Control Matrix) and establishing clear boundaries are crucial for a robust security posture. Is cloud security a shared responsibility? Yes, it depends on the type of cloud implementation and services used. SaaS offerings typically shift all responsibilities to the service provider, while public cloud services involve a shared responsibility between the cloud vendor and the customer. Cloud vendors manage physical infrastructure, while customers handle compute workloads, virtual data centers, virtual networks, apps and data. So, overall, in many cases, it is a shared responsibility between the broader organisation and the cloud provider. What factors influence the choice between public, private, or hybrid cloud solutions for large-scale migrations? The choice depends on specific business needs and objectives. Security, compliance, skillsets, cost, and legacy system considerations 14

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a good integration plan should include well-thought-out change management.

OUR CUSTOMER-CENTRIC CULTURE IS OUR KEY VALUE PROPOSITION, PROVIDING PEACE OF MIND TO CLIENTS. WE BRING A VAST SKILLSET FOR SUCCESSFUL DIGITAL TRANSFORMATIONS, PROJECT SCALABILITY, AND EFFECTIVE CHANGE MANAGEMENT.

are key factors. Examples include a telecom client opting for a private cloud for complete control, and another organisation leveraging a multi-public cloud approach based on specific industry needs. Using AWS for the general line of business applications and data-intensive workloads while leveraging Azure as its primary identity provider using Microsoft productivity tools such as O365, Teams, SharePoint, etc, for its large user base. And still rolling out a third cloud platform in a SaaS offering for an industry-specific solution. What are common IT integration challenges post mergers and acquisitions? Post-M&A integrations pose challenges, starting with budget considerations. Initial deal makers often overlook technology due diligence, leading to insufficient integration budgets. People-related challenges, such as cultural changes, are prevalent. IT leaders must focus on soft skills, communication, and change management for successful integration. People are harder to integrate than technology. Culture change is the hardest part; therefore,

How do you minimise disruptions during M&A IT integrations? Minimising disruption involves detailed planning, preparation, and a focus on maintaining day-to-day operations. Identifying potential disruptive elements, prioritising areas with minimal disruption, and executing mitigation plans are essential. Effective communication with stakeholders, managing expectations, and assessing IT capabilities ensure successful integration. Which verticals do you focus on? Our primary focus is on the hospitality and telecommunications industries. In hospitality, we provide end-toend services, including technology concept design, project rollouts, system integration, and M&A activities. In telecommunications, we offer services around cloud-enabled service aggregation platforms, A2P messaging, and contact center solutions. What is your technology outlook for 2024? In 2024, we anticipate significant trends in AI, RPA, cloud dominance, and tools for data management and cybersecurity. AI will take centre stage, transforming business models. Cloud adoption will continue, with a focus on low-code platforms. The growth of RPA will offer automation opportunities. We expect enterprise IT investments to concentrate on these areas. What is your value proposition? Our customer-centric culture is our key value proposition, providing peace of mind to clients. We bring a vast skillset for successful digital transformations, project scalability, and effective change management. Our partnerships with leading technology providers ensure value creation and our ongoing certification processes guarantee topnotch service. Our aim is to go beyond scope to ensure client success and drive innovation and business value.

EXPERT ADVICE

OUTLOOK 2024

Leading industry experts share their insights on the upcoming developments in the tech landscape for this year.

KEY TECHNOLOGIES SET TO SHAPE THE LANDSCAPE IN 2024. The technology landscape is constantly evolving, and telcos must adapt to meet the changing demands of our customers. In the coming years, we can expect to see key emerging technologies that will significantly impact the industry. One such technology is the Internet FAHAD AL HASSAWI of Things (IoT), which CEO, du will continue to grow and evolve. Telcos are wellpositioned to be a critical partner in IoT deployments, providing connectivity, security, and management. We are already offering IoT solutions to our customers and will continue to invest in this area. Another technology that is set to reshape the landscape is Artificial Intelligence (AI). Telcos are increasingly incorporating AI algorithms and machine learning models into their solutions to offer enhanced customer experience, operational efficiency, and new revenue streams. We see a significant opportunity in AI to bring new levels of automation and intelligence to networks as well as other areas of our business. Drones as a Service (DaaS) is another exciting technology that we see as an emerging opportunity in the market. Telcos can play a key role in providing drone services, which would allow businesses to automate various tasks and provide access to new data sources. This service could help to revolutionise industries, such as agriculture, logistics, and construction. The role of telcos has evolved to become full-fledged 16

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technology providers, offering a comprehensive suite of advanced solutions to meet the evolving demands of our customers. We see emerging technologies such as IoT, AI, and DaaS as key opportunities to create real value for our customers and propel our business forward.

In 2024, the technological landscape will be characterised by gradual advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and a concentration on perfecting existing technologies. Several key technologies are emerging as significant contributors to this landscape this year. Quantum computing platforms are still in their early stages but have already demonstrated their potential to revolutionise computational capabilities. These platforms allow the execution of complex algorithms on quantum and hybrid processors, unlocking new possibilities in different scientific and technological fields. The use of Synthetic Data is increasing in popularity. This innovative approach involves generating artificial data highly representative of real-world data while maintaining compliance with regulatory standards and protecting privacy. This technique is proving to be incredibly beneficial for businesses because it allows for the creation of large amounts of data for analysis and machine learning. By revolutionising datadriven strategies while safeguarding sensitive information, Synthetic Data is helping businesses take their operations to the next level. SHOAIB YOUSUF Edge Intelligence Managing Director & Partner, transforms how data is Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

processed in real-time across devices and networks. This technology significantly improves user experiences in retail, smart homes, and manufacturing sectors, indicating a shift towards more efficient data processing and response optimisation. In the field of AI, Explainable AI (XAI) addresses the trust issues traditionally associated with AI technology. By making AI outputs more understandable, XAI is essential for decision-makers facing trust challenges with AI. This trend is vital in enhancing the transparency of AI and the reliability of decision-making processes. TuringBots in software development are demonstrating the impact of AI-enhanced tools in this field. These bots are transforming the landscape of software development by automating tasks and enhancing productivity. This marks significant progress in automating software development’s design, build, and testing phases. Lastly, Extended Reality (XR) is transforming the way users interact with digital content. By integrating AR, MR, and VR technologies, XR is leading toward more immersive and interactive digital experiences, promising to revolutionise how we acquire and interact with content. In 2024, these technologies collectively signify a maturing landscape, one that’s less about disruptive breakthroughs and more about the sophisticated evolution of existing technologies. This year is about building on the foundations laid by previous innovations, focusing on refinement and practical application.

Dark NOC, also known as lights out NOC, is rapidly becoming a reality with the advancement of AIOPs. Networking companies are expected to further integrate AIOPs into their operations in 2024, aiming to enhance network quality, support engineers, and modernise infrastructures. BURCAK SOYDAN Managing Executive for Middle 2024 will see increased East at Dimension Data investment in AI-driven energy supplies for data center infrastructure, with enterprises collaborating with energy providers to explore sustainable options. Sustainability will be a crucial factor in IT procurement, impacting investments and innovation, especially as stringent regulations are expected to increase their influence in the coming year. Focus on network efficiency, reliability, sustainability,

and future-readiness will bring optical networking to the forefront in 2024. The combination of IoT, Private 5G, and edge computing can enable organisations to gain real-time insights and make informed decisions based on device data. As the IoT ecosystem expands, businesses will increasingly adopt edge solutions to seamlessly integrate their enterprise networks. In 2024, vertical specific clouds package software, PaaS, and IaaS layers are also expected to be used to deliver industry-centric use cases focused on business outcomes. In 2024, several Middle Eastern nations are poised for tech-driven growth. The UAE, notably Dubai and Abu Dhabi, continues substantial investments in AI, smart cities, fintech, and healthcare, solidifying its regional tech prominence. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 focuses on economic diversification, propelling advancements in renewable energy, AI, robotics, and digital infrastructure. Qatar, aligning with National Vision 2030, prioritises tech and innovation, channeling resources into smart cities, cybersecurity, and digital healthcare, anticipating economic expansion and technological progress in these sectors. Qatar also continues its momentum post World Cup in terms of digital transformation of key industries along with accelerated shift to cloud. These countries’ strategic tech investments position them as key drivers of innovation, fostering a dynamic technological landscape in the Middle East.

Generative AI, cybersecurity, sustainability & Green tech, VR and AR, and edge computing will remain at the forefront in 2024. A PwC study estimates that AI could contribute up to $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030, with a significant WALID GOMAA portion attributed to CEO, Omnix International generative technologies. Gartner predicts an increased usage of conversational AI, of which 40% will use Generative AI. In cybersecurity, one in two businesses has faced a cyberattack, costing $8 trillion in 2023, potentially increasing to $10.5 trillion by 2025. Due to this, technology solutions designed to fortify defences and

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provide effective countermeasures are a priority now for organisations. AR and VR will be integrated into various industries to teach surgical procedures, support educational experiences, and create immersive marketing campaigns. Edge computing is also valuable for processing timesensitive data in remote locations with limited or no connectivity to a centralised location, essentially serving as mini data centres.

In 2024, we can expect to see key emerging technologies beginning to disrupt the business landscape in the UAE, with AI and Machine Learning at the forefront. These technologies promise automation and efficiency, freeing up resources for higher-value tasks and optimising processes BIJU UNNI Vice President at Cloud Box across various business Technologies functions. AI-driven analytics will empower SMBs with data-driven insights for informed decision-making, while personalised customer experiences will enhance satisfaction and loyalty. The popularity of the Metaverse and Immersive Technologies, particularly VR and AR, will revolutionise collaboration, communication, and customer engagement. Virtual showrooms and immersive experiences will extend reach and captivate potential customers in novel ways. The UAE being an early adopter we could see a lot more of integration of these technologies in business. Edge Computing and Decentralisation is the future of computing, the distributed infrastructure enables real-time decision-making. Scalability and flexibility are further advantages, allowing SMBs to dynamically adjust computing needs cost-effectively. Cybersecurity continues to be the buzzword in the industry, and we can only expect more comprehensive and sophisticated approaches to address the evolving threat landscape. The key for SMBs lies in strategic adoption, aligning technologies with business goals, and ensuring seamless integration into operations. Early adopters stand to gain a competitive edge, efficiency improvements, and enhanced customer experiences. 18

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In 2024, enterprises will continue to embrace further updates to technological measures that design a better digital environment for everyone. Enterprises will be keen to adapt to purpose-built LLMs: Developing an enterprise-focused large language models (LLM) enables deep-nested RAJESH GANESAN President, ManageEngine conversations, aligning employees and customers alike with the enterprise’s existing tools and data. Ideally, LLMs will be deployed to address creative and redundant workloads, but they can also protect data, reduce biases, and provide detailed audit reports for a better understanding of AI decision-making. Power of orchestration across an enterprise: While many businesses have been empowered by digital transformation, the transition has posed the challenge of fragmentation, which hampers the flow of information and leads to data being split into organisational silos. By harnessing the power of orchestration, organisations can overcome this challenge, which allows for the construction of interconnected digital pipelines that lead to workflow automation and streamlined operations. The power of orchestration will enable organisations to achieve complex tasks and strive for digital survival. Digital-first experience will evolve into secure digitalfirst experience: Enterprises will continue to adopt an identity-centric approach, ensuring authorised access and data protection. Cloud infrastructure and entitlement management (CIEM) will enhance visibility, minimise threats, and provide a worry-free digital experience for the end users.

DAVID BOAST

General Manager - MENA, Endava

While the past few years have seen a steady focus on initiatives that embed operational stability into their systems, businesses are now preparing to ramp up innovation to gain a competitive advantage. Endava data shows that only 15% see operational stability as the top priority for their technology, and cutting-edge tools will take precedence. AI will be at

the top of the agenda, as almost 80% of organisations are prioritising it highly or very highly, and only 2% don’t see it as a priority. As well as a growing appetite for AI, 75% have their sights set on big data and predictive analytics as key technologies to help them adapt in the everchanging business world. However, as companies weigh up their strategic investments across these areas, they will have to be careful to strike the balance between innovation and stability to prevent disruption. Assessing the integrity of existing processes and systems will be critical to seeing whether they can successfully adopt cutting-edge tools in an iterative manner, or whether these changes will potentially upend infrastructure.

THE PROGRESS OF AI/ML AND HOW IT AFFECTS DIVERSE INDUSTRIES The evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) is expected to have a profound impact on various industries in the coming years. While it’s challenging to predict the future with certainty, several trends and possibilities can be anticipated in many PHILIPPE JARRE President, Mindware Group industries : 1. Manufacturing: AI and robotics will continue to automate routine and dangerous tasks in manufacturing, leading to increased efficiency, reduced costs, and improved safety. 2. Transportation: Autonomous vehicles and smart logistics powered by AI will likely become more prevalent, transforming the transportation and logistics industries. 3. Healthcare Transformation: AI will play a crucial role in personalised medicine, drug discovery, and diagnostic tools. ML algorithms will analyze data sets, helping in early disease detection and treatment optimisation. 4. Hospitality, and e-commerce, AI will be used to personalise customer experiences, offering tailored recommendations and improving user satisfaction. 5. Financial Services: AI will continue to be used for fraud detection, risk management, and algorithmic trading in the finance sector. Chatbots and virtual assistants powered by AI will enhance customer service in banking and insurance. 6. Education and Training: AI-powered tools will be

increasingly used for personalised learning experiences, adapting content to individual needs and learning styles. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) may play a role in immersive educational experiences. 7. Cybersecurity: AI will be crucial in identifying and responding to cyber threats, improving the overall security posture of organisations. 8. Energy Efficiency: AI will be applied to optimise energy consumption, improve grid management, and enhance the efficiency of renewable energy sources. 9. Edge Computing: AI models will be increasingly deployed at the edge, reducing latency and enabling real-time decision-making in various applications like IoT devices and autonomous systems. It’s important to note that along with these opportunities, there will be challenges such as ethical concerns, job displacement, and the need for robust regulatory frameworks to ensure responsible AI deployment. The evolution of AI and ML will likely be a dynamic and iterative process with ongoing advancements and adaptations across diverse industries.

The evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) is poised to significantly impact industries, particularly in the realm of security. As these technologies advance, there’s a growing emphasis on ensuring ethical and responsible applications. AI and ML integration into FIRAS JADALLA various industries will Regional Director – Middle East, Turkey & Africa, Genetec streamline operations, enhance decision-making processes, and foster innovation. Specifically in the security landscape of the Middle East, these advancements will revolutionise threat detection, response mechanisms, and overall cybersecurity strategies. AI’s predictive capabilities will play a crucial role in anticipating and countering evolving threats, ensuring a proactive approach to security. Additionally, the integration of AI-driven analytics and automation tools will empower security professionals to navigate the complex landscape effectively. In the coming years, physical security technologies will integrate with AI for advanced surveillance, while cybersecurity products evolve to combat sophisticated threats with AI-driven

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threat detection and response. Cloud security solutions will also gain prominence, addressing the challenges of decentralised data storage. A recent Genetec survey revealed that 40% of end users reported that over 30% of their physical security setups are now in the cloud or use a combination of cloud and on-premises solutions. As businesses increasingly rely on cloud infrastructure, the demand for innovative products that leverage AI and ML will continue to rise.

In business, insights are everything. And with insights, data is everything. Through 2024, it will be imperative for IT teams to transform their organisations into being data-led. Unlocking the value of enterprise data demands having an AI strategy in place – one that encompasses daily VIBHU KAPOOR use and is underpinned by RVP for Middle East, Africa & India at Epicor governance that ensures that data gathering, data storage, model building, model maintenance, and more are consistently compliant and continually adding value. This being said, a data-driven company is one in which people are empowered, not replaced. Models built around leveraging trends, alleviating stress points, and replacing outdated processes only work because they are empowering the employee. A secure and reassured workforce will serve customers better, innovate more freely, and stay longer. What this means for data and AI/ ML initiatives is that you must pick the right use cases having identified who does what, when and how.

SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES AND GREEN TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL GAIN PROMINENCE IN 2024 Sustainability initiatives and green technologies will continue to gain traction and prominence in 2024, driven by the growing global emphasis on addressing climate change and environmental concerns. Firstly, renewable energy expansion, particularly in solar and wind power, will grow with advancements in efficiency and cost-effectiveness. There will be a push towards 20

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enhancing energy storage solutions, like advanced batteries and grid-scale storage, to enhance the reliability of renewable sources. Also, there will be a rise in electric vehicles supported by accessible charging infrastructure and improved battery technology, reducing carbon emissions. Circular EZZELDIN HUSSEIN Regional Director, Sales economy initiatives will Engineering, SentinelOne emphasise waste reduction and optimising resource use through circular economy models and focusing on sustainable product design, manufacturing, and end-oflife recycling or repurposing. Green building and sustainable architecture will witness increased construction and retrofitting with energy-efficient designs and sustainable materials along with the Integration of IoT and AI for better energy management and sustainability in buildings. Additionally, advancements in CCS technologies will mitigate emissions from industries like power plants and manufacturing. Furthermore, agrotech and sustainable agriculture will embrace technology-driven methods for resource optimisation, reduced waste, and improved yields in farming. 2024 will also see a rise in vertical farming and urban agriculture, reducing food miles and water consumption. Water conservation will benefit from smart solutions to reduce wastage. Sustainable finance will also see growth, with a rise in carbon offset projects, green bonds, and sustainable investments. The emphasis on sustainability will drive innovation and collaboration across industries, with businesses, governments, and consumers increasingly prioritising environmentally friendly practices and technologies in their operations and lifestyle choices. This collective effort is crucial for mitigating climate change and creating a more sustainable future.

Given the focus on sustainability, I foresee two key trends as it relates to storage: Trend 1: Energy consumption and power costs will accelerate the shift from CapEx to OpEx. Continued concerns about the state of the economy, difficult business conditions and high energy costs will have a significant influence on the tech market in 2024. This will accelerate the trend towards OpEx spending over CapEx. Subscription services will continue to be very attractive as customers only want to pay for what they use,

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OUTLOOK 2024

scale up and down as needed and, avoid the need for large CapEx outlays. Besides direct budget constraints, we’ll continue to see subscriptions growth being driven in part by uncertainty about the full utilisation of new assets. It makes sense to opt for a subscription FRED LHERAULT to a service and avoid CTO Emerging, Pure Storage CapEx expenditure when there’s a reasonable possibility that a CapEx asset will not be used to full capacity. However, subscription services will only succeed if they are backed by relevant SLAs. With so many subscriptions available on the market, buyers are becoming more discerning about what to invest in, and are demanding SLAs which guarantee crucial areas of the service including data protection and energy efficiency/sustainability. This trend is also being observed in data centers, with operators beginning to favour on-demand models that enable just-in-time provisioning of assets. This allows them to better control energy costs through lower power consumption, which also helps them realise their sustainability goals. From a sustainability point of view, platform usage in data centres over a three to five year period is going to be the biggest factor in carbon emissions. Organisations are becoming aware of this and factoring it into their purchasing decisions for the year ahead and beyond. Trend 2: Demand for greater efficiency and innovation in data centres to grow as capacity crunch hit. Many organisations that are reliant on data centers are reporting that their most pressing issue right now is one of capacity. A growing number of data centers are full, and don’t have the space or power available to deploy new platforms. In 2024, this will result in widespread efforts to achieve efficiency gains, even on existing data center platforms, as this is the only way they will be able to reclaim space and power to accommodate the use of new technologies inside the data center. To optimise the sustainability of existing data center footprints, we’ll see operators looking to switch to new, more power efficient technology, with smaller space and cooling requirements. This is in essence extending the life of the data center — an essential factor when considering the need for new technologies in the wake of the rise of AI. 22

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With sustainability becoming a topic of increasing prominence, businesses will benefit from adopting an approach of ‘continuous improvement’. For example, at SolarWinds, where possible, we have measured the energy consumption and efficiency of our IT SASCHA GIESE Technical Evangelist processes and are now in for Observability at the process of creating SolarWinds baselines. Following this, we will analyse the data to uncover opportunities for improving either the technology or the process. As with any organisation, we anticipate ‘easy wins’ such as optimising software to reduce power consumption, and more labor and cost intensive undertakings such as optimising the hardware refresh cycle. But having the baselines in place enables us to seek tangible outcomes and focus our efforts on areas that deliver the greatest impact.

2024 will witness a growing convergence of technology and sustainability, setting the stage to foster a more eco-friendly and resilient future. The integration of AI, IoT, and cloud computing emerges as a potent force for sustainable technology innovation, OSSAMA EL SAMADONI General Manager at particularly, in sectors GBM Dubai like utility services and transportation. Smart City initiatives, incorporating smart sensors, 5G, and Machine Learning, are expected to further optimise resource use and reduce carbon emissions, for example in use cases such as dynamically managing traffic flow. Also, cloud computing, particularly within a multi-cloud strategy, will play a pivotal role in supporting business operations with scalability and energy efficiency, contributing to emissions reduction targets. Moreover, sustainable practices in cybersecurity

will become more emphasised, as ensuring the resilience of digital infrastructure is becoming integral for uninterrupted efficiency. These technologies can collectively propel a greener, more sustainable future by addressing ESG challenges across various sectors.

learning, especially in AI security and awareness training, will be crucial for professionals navigating this dynamic landscape. As the region stands at the crossroads of technological evolution, staying informed, agile, and adaptive will be key to successfully navigating the transformative era ahead.

NOTABLE CYBERSECURITY TRENDS ANTICIPATED FOR 2024 In 2024, the cybersecurity landscape in the region is poised for transformative shifts. Generative AI (GenAI) is a key trend, presenting challenges as cyber attackers automate phishing and social engineering, while offering opportunities for defenders to enhance analysis and communication. This PAUL LAWSON Executive Director Cyber marks a significant force Defense, CPX shaping the industry. Geopolitical tensions are expected to impact cyberspace, leading to increased cyber-activism, misinformation campaigns, and targeted communication with malicious payloads. Cyber defenders must strengthen security measures across various channels and work together on international cybersecurity initiatives to counter these evolving threats. Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks are anticipated to intensify, posing a formidable threat, especially for digital service providers. As Gulf economies undergo digital transformation, Managed Security Service Providers and Cloud Service Providers will play a pivotal role, emphasising trustworthiness, resilience, and client privacy. With the significant increase of migration to cloud computing a further increase in Cloud-based threats is expected. Organisations will need to further mature their cloud governance and enhance cloud security posture with appropriate security controls. With the increased automated phishing and social engineering threats, phishing-resistant multi-factorauthentication (MFA) will become the standard for all access in 2024. MFA will be a non-negotiable security measure as it reduces the risk of unauthorised access, making it a critical component of cybersecurity strategy. The workforce of 2024 will see a shift in demand from specialised niche skills to abstract skills applicable across challenges like AI and data synthesis. Continuous

Cybercrime consultancy services: Rather than conducting full RansomOps campaigns in 2024, we will see threat actors do the initial scouting and sell what they find. If they discover a zero day, they might sell it to the highest bidder. Likewise, inside information on a MOREY HABER Chief Security Officer, specific business’s setup BeyondTrust — misconfigurations, unpatched flaws, and other inroads — could be sold along with customised AI tools to those that run the attack. This isolates the original scout from the damaging phase of the campaign and decreases the chances of their discovery. Standardisation of cyber insurance: We have seen cyber insurance become more expensive and difficult to obtain of late, with insurance companies insisting on certain levels of security hygiene and sometimes even limiting coverage when drawing up policies. We see 2024 as the year these policies become standardised. As the field of cyber insurance has matured, we have seen new categories such as “Acts of War” spring up and gain acceptance among providers. As such, 2024 will see the emergence of a framework-based approach to cyber insurance, enabling insurance companies to standardize their services against all threats when it comes to reducing risk and liability.

Security takes ownership of data: Since data sits at the heart of so many core business applications, 2024 will be the year that security finally, and uniformly, addresses the need for organisation-wide compliance. We will see security being involved in every instance of data access. This security presence will extend to everyday operations. Even the machinery of OT will not be exempt. Security teams will end up conducting performance diagnostics

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because such screenings require data, and data is going to be the domain of security. While this may appear to be the end of autonomy for business units, we have long seen technology professionals from inside and outside the security function talk about information silos and their potential to stymie HADI JAAFARAWI Managing Director – effective operations. By Middle East, Qualys placing data in the hands of a single function, we won’t slow down operations, instead it’ll allow the security team to offer consistent protection while adding business value.

Threat Actors will mix and match Digital Identities to cause highprofile breaches: The 2023 surge in credential harvesting attacks – like the Citrix NetScaler flaw and September’s casino cyberattacks – means cybercriminal groups are sitting on millions of potential logins. In 2024, CHRISTIAN BORST CTO EMEA, Vectra AI we’ll see stolen credentials used to compromise digital identities and breach enterprises more successfully than ever before. In the past, stolen credentials may have gotten threat actors into a handful of corporate accounts, but most wouldn’t give them admin rights or privileged access to steal sensitive data. However, as enterprises use more cloud services, third party software, and open APIs in 2024, each account will give users varying degrees of privilege. Each source on its own may not seem like a big deal, but we will see cybercriminals mix and match their stolen access to get hold of sensitive data and breach organisations. To protect against a flood of cloud-based account hijacks, organisations must improve their visibility into cloud environments so they can bolster resilience and spot attacks before they become a breach. Widespread LLM usage will fade away, but deep fakes will skyrocket: Many organisations are exploring ways to use Large Language Models (LLMs) following the initial wave of hype in 2023. But when you scratch beneath the 24

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surface, it’s clear the novelty factor will soon evaporate. LLMs are typically quite difficult to use, because they are unable to understand context or provide reliable outputs, so the wider practical use of LLMs is restricted. This year we will therefore see businesses scale back their use of LLMs as they wait for these tools to become more functional and user-friendly. Threat actors will face the same issues with using LLMs, so we likely won’t see much complex activity like AI generating malicious code. But, we can expect cybercriminals to harness generative AI to create more realistic and sophisticated deep fakes. This will give them a better chance of tricking users into giving up sensitive data or clicking on something malicious through more convincing audio or visual phishing lures.

Supply Chain Attacks Against Managed File Transfers Solutions: Managed file transfer (MFT) solutions, designed to securely exchange sensitive data between entities, inherently hold a treasure trove of confidential information. This ranges from intellectual property, customer data, financial records, and much more. MFT solutions play a critical role in modern business operations, with organisations relying heavily on them to facilitate seamless data sharing both internally and externally. Any disruption or compromise of these systems can lead to significant operational downtime, tarnished reputations, and financial losses. This makes them highly attractive targets for ransomware actors who are aware of how the potential impact enhances the potency of their extortion demands. Furthermore, the complexity of MFT systems and their integration into the internal business network often creates security weaknesses and vulnerabilities that can be exploited by cybercriminals. In late 2023, we saw the Cl0P group exploiting the Go-anywhere MFT solution and the MOVEit breach, turning one successful exploit into a major global software supply chain breach. This year, we expect these types of attacks only to increase, with participation from numerous threat actors. Organisations are strongly advised to thoroughly review their managed file transfer solution, JOHN FOKKER implement DLP solutions Head of Threat Intelligence, and encrypt sensitive data Trellix Advanced Research Center to protect themselves.

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VIEWPOINT

A POSITIVE OUTLOOK FOR BUSINESSES JEFF STEWART, FIELD CTO AND VICE PRESIDENT OF GLOBAL SOLUTIONS ENGINEERING AT SOLARWINDS, DISCUSSES THREE IT SUCCESSES IN 2023 OFFERING BUSINESSES AN OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK FOR THE YEAR.

ith technology’s pivotal role as an enabler of the modern enterprise, it’s rare that IT teams have the luxury of pausing even for a moment. Rather than offering respite, the successful completion of one project only opens doors to the possibility of further innovation in the never-end endeavor to give the business a leg up against the competition. The pressures regional technology professionals are under to constantly advance their organisations’ IT environments is evidenced in the fact that businesses in the Middle East and North Africa spent US$176.8 billion on IT in 2023. And with this figure projected to grow to US$183.8 billion in the year ahead, there isn’t likely to be any respite. But before we double down on our investments and prepare for another year of innovation and digital acceleration, it is worth taking stock of just how far we’ve come. The start of a new year, perhaps more than any other time, is the perfect opportunity to acknowledge the progress made in the world — digital or otherwise — around us. 2023 significant advancements in technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, and cloud computing. AI, in particular, has made a profound impact across diverse industries, making mundane tasks more efficient and allowing IT professionals to focus on more important tasks. The furthering of immersive-reality technologies, growing connectivity, and advancements in generative AI have grabbed the world’s attention and shown endless potential for transformative

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impact on nearly every industry. Over the last 12 months, this digitalisation journey has been characterised by the integration of AI capabilities, enhancements in cybersecurity, and increased agility and flexibility in the IT stack. The IT sector has witnessed staggering growth over the past year. In a world teeming with innovation, the industry has not only kept pace — but has surged ahead, holding onto spectacular momentum. AI has proven itself a true game-changer, making a profound impact across diverse industries. From chatbots offering personalised customer support to predictive algorithms optimising supply chains, AI has become a driving catalyst for efficiency and innovation. The integration of AI into various solutions, including observability, IT Service Management, and database solutions, has allowed for greater automation of the mundane tasks that often bog down IT pros and hinder organisations from accelerating their digital transformations. AI-powered capabilities free up valuable time for

IT pros, allowing them to focus on the most important tasks at hand. Autonomous operations, enabled by purpose-built models for IT operations and large language models, are poised to revolutionise IT environments in the coming years, reducing operation costs and bettering the lives of those in the tech workforce. Another significant area of transformation last year was cybersecurity. Cyber threats have become a major global concern, and IT professionals have risen to the occasion by developing and implementing cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions that not only thwart known threats but also employ advanced threat detection systems, AI-driven security protocols, and robust multi-factor authentication to anticipate and mitigate emerging threats in real time. The cybersecurity developments we have witnessed are not merely technological upgrades but demonstrate a profound shift in the mindset and approach to safeguarding digital landscapes and data, with progress toward the industry becoming more Secure by Design as a whole. The IT industry has a smorgasbord of accomplishments that enriched the digital lives of organisations in 2023. The industry’s cloud migration journey, in particular, has played a central role in allowing organisations to scale their operations and pivot rapidly in response to market conditions. The cloud journey has transformed the way businesses operate, offering scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency. This technological shift enables companies to quickly adapt to changing market conditions, resulting in a more agile response to customer demands. In addition, the cloud has democratised access to advanced technologies, empowering startups, and established businesses alike to harness powerful computing resources. As we look back on all the successes that IT team have had in the last year, let’s also look ahead with optimism. The IT industry’s growth and accomplishments serve as a testament to its resilience and innovation.

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INTERVIEW

THE INEVITABLE SHIFT DURING A RECENT VISIT TO THE UAE, WE INTERVIEWED JOHN COLGROVE, CO-FOUNDER OF PURE STORAGE, ON THE ASCENDANCY OF FLASH OVER DISKS IN STORAGE.

hat makes you believe it’s the right moment for flash to replace traditional disks? The biggest thing we’ve been talking about in the evolution of storage is we’ve reached a point when it’s time for Flash to replace the last hard drives. When I started the company, that was the vision eventually. If you think about it, replacing an existing technology is always quite challenging, but it reaches a tipping point where the transition accelerates faster than anyone can imagine. Economics often plays a dominant role in this process. So, while Flash has already replaced performance disks for many people in the past, the giant disk farms have persisted. However, the disk industry has seen a reduction in its customer base, with hyperscalers purchasing most of the Nearline disks, which represent a significant portion of the industry’s revenue. When they decide that the economics have shifted in favor of an alternative and they transition away from traditional disk vendors, the entire disk industry will collapse more rapidly than anyone anticipates. Do you believe that disks would still have a role in backup and archival? Not at all, and let me tell you why. When you think about the cost of a disk, there’s the cost of buying the bits. But then there’s the cost of powering it. It will cost you as much to power the hard drive over its lifetime as it costs to buy it. The hard drive typically lasts for five years, and then it starts failing at a ridiculous rate. With DirectFlash, these devices will last for ten years. So, you know, you buy them half as often. They take up, you know, the same power as a 512-gigabyte drive from 10 years ago but offer 75

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terabytes of storage. So, from a power and space perspective in the data centre, this is significant. When you put the disks into a server and include the disk shell, the disk shelf costs as much as the disk itself. All of these factors mean that disks are actually a lot more expensive to run than just buying the media. So, when you look at the total cost of ownership, the flash products we introduced earlier this year with our E product family are designed to compete with disks in terms of acquisition cost, which is about equivalent. Currently, the archive disks you can buy are still cheaper, but that may not be the case for much longer. Isn’t disk still an attractive proposition if you consider the perGB pricing? If you look at the per-gigabyte price of the media, the disk is still at 4x that

WE’LL PROBABLY START TO SEE THE DECLINE OF HARD DRIVES IN THREE OR FOUR MORE YEARS. AND BY THE WAY, 150 TERABYTES ISN’T THE END OF IT. ABOUT A YEAR LATER, TOWARDS THE END OF 2025, WE’LL BE SHIPPING A 300-TERABYTE DEVICE.

of flash. However, there are all the other costs associated with running it, where flash technology is so much cheaper. Now, consider this: one of our 150-terabyte flash modules, which is being shipped out this year, will replace the equivalent of five or six hard drives. Think of all the power savings and the added reliability. The direct flash modules fail at a rate of about one-sixth of one per year, whereas hard drives fail at a rate of one and a half percent per year, and this rate increases as they age. So, even though you’re storing more data in one flash device, you’ll have far greater reliability because you have fewer devices that could potentially fail. Each device is ten times as reliable. Consequently, when you approach any large data center or hyper-scaler and discuss these 75 and 150-terabyte DirectFlash modules, they turn out to be significantly more cost-effective than buying hard drives. We are now reaching that tipping point where we can go to companies like Google, Amazon, or any major hyperscaler, and demonstrate that even with the bulk purchasing power they have for hard drives, they are better off with this technology. Once one of them switches to all-flash, the others will follow very quickly. They’ll either purchase from Pure or develop their own solutions. However, it’s becoming increasingly evident that the era of hard drives is coming to an end, and we’ll witness a rapid decline in the hard drive industry. When do you think flash will completely replace disks? We’ll probably start to see the decline of hard drives in three or four more years. And by the way, 150 terabytes isn’t the

end of it. About a year later, towards the end of 2025, we’ll be shipping a 300-terabyte device. Remarkably, it weighs about the same as your cell phone and consumes roughly the same power as a 150 terabytes device. This is why traditional disks will become obsolete. Disks have improved about five times over the last decade, while flash technology has advanced by 150 times. Over the next couple of years, we’ll see another fourfold improvement in flash technology. That will make it 600 times more efficient over a span of 12 years, compared to hard drives, which will have improved by six times over the same period. This kind of exponential improvement is the key difference.

How has this industry evolved since you started out? When we first started, nobody believed that an all-flash solution made sense in a data center. We weren’t the first flash company. Prior to us, companies like Fusionio produced ultra-high-speed, albeit ultra-expensive, PCI cards that you’d insert into a server. So, before Pure, people generally considered flash as something you’d add in small quantities to a server, primarily to act as a cache for your highest-speed data. We were the ones who truly introduced the concept that Flash could be the sole storage medium for high-performance storage.

As an engineer, I’d like to think that it’s all about the technology, and having great technology is crucial. However, you also need to have economics on your side. When we started, for instance, flash storage cost 30 times as much as a high-performance hard drive, and high-performance hard drives cost five to ten times as much as capacity-oriented drives. The most significant change since our inception is that initially, everyone considered us crazy for attempting an all-flash approach. They believed hybrid solutions were necessary due to the perceived unaffordability of allflash. However, now, flash technology completely dominates all performance use cases. Meanwhile, we have seen the rise of the cloud during that time. When we first started the company, cloud computing and cloud storage weren’t as prevalent. We went through a cycle where people believed everything would migrate to the cloud. There was the notion that only three data centres would exist globally—one for Amazon, one for Microsoft, and one for Google—and everyone would exclusively use those. Looking back, it seems somewhat laughable. Now, people better understand that the cloud is a tool that needs to be used judiciously; it’s not a one-size-fitsall solution. For example, I would hope to never visit a hospital that operates entirely in the cloud. Nevertheless, the cloud is a valuable tool that has transformed the computing landscape significantly. I believe it’s one of the most significant evolutions of the last 15 years. We’ve also witnessed the rise of containers, succeeding virtual machines. The tech industry continues to undergo substantial changes, and this transformation began in the 1990s with the emergence of the Internet, which some might find surprising due to its recent nature. It has profoundly affected the world in unimaginable ways, and we’re still in the early stages of this transformation. We have another 50 years ahead of us to witness these changes.

JANUARY 2024

CXO INSIGHT ME

VIEWPOINT

BEWARE THE FUTURE JIM DOWNEY, SENIOR PRODUCT MARKETING MANAGER, F5, ON GENERATIVE AI AND THE AUTOMATION OF SPEAR PHISHING

ot long ago, we could pick out phishing emails by their bad spelling, grammatical errors, and non-English syntax. We could spot widely used, generic ploys like the Nigerian prince scam. Most of us have not faced well-polished, targeted spear phishing because researching our background and crafting personalised messages has been too costly for criminals. With generative AI, that’s rapidly changing, and as security professionals, we need to prepare for the consequences. Generative AI enables end-to-end automation of spear phishing, lowering its cost and broadening its use. Think

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of the work that an attacker must go through to craft an effective spear phishing message for a business email compromise (BEC). The attacker picks a target, researches their social media, discovers their closest connections, and picks out the target’s interests. With this information, the attacker crafts a personalised email in a tone of voice intended to avoid suspicion. This requires a thoughtful following of leads and psychological intuition. Could this work be automated? Certainly. Attackers automate the scraping of social media content and use credential stuffing to take over accounts for information gathering.

Similarly, through automation, attackers can build a knowledge graph about the life of a target. With this knowledge graph, attackers can feed highly personal information into a ChatGPT-like service–one without ethical safeguards–to create targeted and effective spear phishing messages. The attacker could create entire sequences of messages that span multiple channels from email to social media with messages originating from multiple fake accounts, each with a well-crafted persona generated based on the target’s trust propensities. There are signs that this threat is imminent. Reports of new attack tools

THE ATTACKER COULD CREATE ENTIRE SEQUENCES OF MESSAGES THAT SPAN MULTIPLE CHANNELS FROM EMAIL TO SOCIAL MEDIA WITH MESSAGES ORIGINATING FROM MULTIPLE FAKE ACCOUNTS, EACH WITH A WELL-CRAFTED PERSONA GENERATED BASED ON THE TARGET’S TRUST PROPENSITIES. for sale on the dark web, including WormGPT and FraudGPT, indicate criminals have begun to adapt generative AI to nefarious purposes, including phishing. While the use of this technology has not yet reached large scale end-to-end automation, the pieces are coming together, and the economic dynamics of cybercrime make the development nearly inevitable. Within the economy of cybercrime, there is a specialization that drives innovation. The World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates that cybercrime is now the world’s third-largest economy, coming in behind the United States and China, with costs expected to reach $8 trillion in 2023 and $10.5 trillion in 2025. The cybercrime economy includes vendors with specialisations: there are vendors who sell stolen credentials, vendors who provide access to compromised accounts, and vendors offering IP address proxying over tens of millions of residential IP addresses. Moreover, there are phishing-as-aservice providers offering complete toolkits from email templates to real-time phishing proxy sites. As

vendors compete to win the business of criminals, the highest prizes will go to those organisations providing an end-to-end service at the lowest cost —a dynamic likely to drive forward the automation of spear phishing. We can imagine organisations that specialise in various types of data gathering around targets, data aggregation, and LLMs focused on specific industries or that excel at distinct types of fraud. Given the likelihood of increases in spear phishing to new targets, organisations need to bolster their existing anti-phishing practices: • Uplevel phishing awareness training: It has long been important to regularly educate employees about the dangers of phishing, how to recognize suspicious emails, and what steps to take if they encounter a potential phishing attempt. However, many organisations train employees to recognise phishing emails by their spelling and grammar mistakes. Instead, training is going to have to go deeper to train people to look out for any request from a non-trusted, non-verified source. In conducting simulated phishing campaigns to test employees’ ability to identify phishing emails, use phishing messages that are wellwritten, professional, targeted at specific employees, and originating from sources that appear legitimate. • Defend against real-time phishing

proxies: Attackers often use phishing to bypass multi-factor authentication (MFA) via real-time phishing proxies. The criminals use phishing to fool users into entering their credentials and one-time password into a site that they control, which they then proxy to the real application to gain access. • Defend more rigorously against account takeovers: Criminals gain control of massive numbers of accounts through credential stuffing using bots. In addition to financial fraud, criminals gather additional personal data through scraping that they can use in further phishing attacks. Defending effectively against bots requires rich signal collection and machine learning. • Use AI to battle AI: With criminals exploiting generative AI to commit fraud, organisations should leverage AI in their defence. F5 partners with organisations to take advantage of rich signal collection and AI to battle fraud. F5 Distributed Cloud Account Protection monitors transactions in real time from across the user journey to detect malicious activity and deliver accurate fraud detection rates. If you can detect fraud within applications, it reduces the harm of phishing. Inspecting traffic with AI requires decrypting traffic efficiently, which you can accomplish with TLS orchestration. What’s next? Generative AI clearly poses a new set of security challenges. With the onset of automated spear phishing, we need to unlearn many of our heuristics of trust. While in the past we may have trusted based on the appearances of professionalism, we now need more rigorous protocols for determining the veracity of communications. We need to become more suspicious in this new age of misinformation campaigns, deep fakes, and automated spear phishing, and organisations will need to deploy AI in defence at least as rigorously as criminals use it against us.

JANUARY 2024

CXO INSIGHT ME

VIEWPOINT

AI-DRIVEN CHANGE AND DATA MANAGEMENT SIMPLICITY DATA STREAMING IS ON THE CUSP OF SOMETHING SPECIAL AS DEMAND FOR AI AND DATA MANAGEMENT SIMPLICITY TAKE CENTRE STAGE, WRITES RICHARD TIMPERLAKE, SVP EMEA, CONFLUENT

s interest surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) gathers pace — and organisations begin the task of trying to understand how best to leverage this technology — one thing is becoming increasingly apparent. AI is nothing without access to accurate, real-time data. Here are the key trends that I expect to see gaining momentum as we start 2024, from organisations looking to simplify their data management, to businesses introducing new processes around building AI models, as the technology continues to dominate the agenda.

2024 is going to witness an increased uptake of data streaming Businesses and organisations are only just starting to truly understand the value that data streaming can deliver. For those that are joining the dots, they are on the cusp of something truly transformational. It reminds me of the emergence of customer relationship management (CRM). Back in the early 2000s nobody

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had heard of CRM. Yet today, it’s impossible to imagine a world without the likes of Oracle, SAP and Salesforce. There’s a strong resonance between where CRM was 20 years ago and where data streaming is today. That’s why, when looking at the months ahead in 2024, the future is incredibly bright — and all signs point to a significant acceleration in the take-up of data streaming. The message I’m hearing from businesses is simple. They’ve tried out data streaming on relatively small use cases. Now they want to make this ‘mission critical’ across multiple lines of business — and even make this the central nervous system across their entire enterprise.

Companies are looking to simplify their data management Over the last 20 years or so, IT environments have become increasingly sophisticated and complex — and that’s made tool sprawl a big problem. Increasingly, we’re seeing companies wanting to simplify their data management — moving away from using specialised tools to manage data, especially those designed to do one particular task within the life cycle of the data. Whether this growing trend is being adopted to make systems less complex or to cut costs is up for debate. What can’t be ignored is that this rationalisation process will gain momentum this year to deliver quicker insights and more useful information to the businesses that take it on board.

Financial services will continue to lead in data streaming Although there’s an uptick in the

number of industries interested in data streaming — including the manufacturing, telcos and government — financial services continues to lead the way. In the world of payments, for example, we expect to see growth amid pressure to provide robust and secure systems that meet ever-tighter regulations. We have one customer currently processing hundreds of billions of dollars worth of payments every year in an environment that is secure, resilient and well governed through Confluent, and we’ll see examples such as these increase further this year.

AI-driven change is unstoppable, but guardrails are essential And finally, all types of AI — especially generative — will continue to dominate the agenda. In the wider world, it faces legal and regulatory challenges that need to be addressed, not least in areas such as copyright. Businesses need to introduce due diligence before data is used — and some kind of remediation if it’s used incorrectly. Closer to home, businesses need to develop processes around how they build different models that will deliver value to their organisations and their customers. This can only be successful if the bedrock of source data is secure. After all, you can’t simply build a model and flood it with data without understanding the quality and veracity of the information. Looking ahead to 2024 I’m positive about my outlook for this year and we should build on this wave of opportunity. If nothing else, the twin concerns of inflation and high interest rates are being tamed, and in turn this means organisations and businesses should have more confidence to invest in technology. Increasingly, that means optimising the use of data and investing in datacentric systems that help provide even deeper commercial insights and improve customer experience. Through this lens, and viewing data as a product I expect to see customers driving the monetisation of data even more as we go through 2024.

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INTERVIEW

EMPOWERING CLEAN ENERGY ADOPTION AN INTERVIEW WITH ENACT CEO, DEEP CHAKRABORTY, ON THE COMPANY’S MISSION TO REVOLUTIONISE THE CLEAN ENERGY INDUSTRY.

Our founding team holds decades of solar industry experience across North America, Asia and Europe, which has uniquely contributed to our understanding of current gaps in the industry. As of early 2023, California already has over 1 million buildings installed with Solar, 50,000 new customers a month and batteries now get paired with 30% of new solar installations every month. This market provided the initial launchpad for the growth of the Enact platform, spreading to a dozen additional US states. Enact’s success story in the U.S. was quickly replicated in several new markets, such as the UAE, South Africa, South Asia and Europe, and now caters to thousands of consumers and installers in over 25 countries worldwide, processing $1.5 billion in projects annually.

ould you provide an overview of Enact’s core mission in the clean energy industry? Since our inception, Enact’s core mission has been to simplify the customer journey from solar power design to cost savings. Our primary and enduring goal is to improve the customer’s purchase and ownership experience for solar and storage projects, and accelerate the clean energy revolution. 34

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What makes Enact’s digital platform unique, and how does it contribute to the adoption of clean energy solutions? Enact is the only two-sided platform that enables both residential and commercial users to simplify their entire solar and energy storage purchase and ownership journey. The platform is two sided – we help solar installation professionals to design and sell remotely, and the end-customer, as well on their lifetime of ownership.

Can you explain the benefits of Enact’s platform for both residential and commercial users? While it may seem like residential and commercial uses would be completely different, the benefits are fundamentally similar. Our platform can help homeowners and businesses save on solar by providing the best price as we work with our customers to design a system that is optimal for their roof space, meaning that they are not over or undercharged during the installation process. We also take them through the all the equipment and pricing options, informing them of suitable external financing possibilities

so that everyone gets the best deal. Using the Enact app, homeowners and business owners can track how their system is working, which shows them how the investment is worth it. We take our homeowners’ previous energy bills into account when considering the size of their solar system. Consumers can use their renewable energy credits (RECs) as an additional source of income, as their excess solar-generated energy is sold and they earn cash-back to reinvest in their solar systems, their household goods – or however they see fit. Enact helps users design their solar system to optimize their roof space, helping them save by preventing situations such as purchasing too many or not enough solar panels. We also consider future plans, such as investing in an electric vehicle (EV) or an electric water heater, into their systems. We coordinate installations with local providers and make sure city / utility planning permissions are obtained by them. As commercial properties are often bigger, there are more options for placement. Enact helps businesses understand their options and helps them design the best possible system, whilst also coordinating the installation and permitting process to save our customers time. Could you share some success stories or examples of projects that Enact’s platform has facilitated? In 2019, we partnered with the Pebblebrook Hotel Trust. We helped them design the solar system at their recently acquired resort in Santa Cruz. The project is a 385kW ground mount, and it has saved the resort over $135k annually. Around the same time, we partnered with Holiday Inn, San Diego for their 190kW rooftop solar project as well, which has saved them $60k annually. Enact partnered with Sharaf DG Energy, a subsidiary of the Sharaf group, in the UAE market. Since its inception in 2017, Sharaf DG Energy, has successfully completed over 85MW of commercial and industrial projects along with more than 1100 residential

installations in the UAE, facilitated by the strategic partnership with Enact What features and tools does Enact offer to help customers track the performance and savings of their solar and energy storage systems? After installation, we provide our customers with an app called Enact Home that allows them to track their savings, return on investment (ROI), energy generation, and usage. By monitoring their energy usage and savings, it promotes sustainability and can help users reduce their carbon footprint. It also allows customers to control their system remotely, so they can turn it on or off wherever they might be. We also use the app to notify customers if there are any maintenance problems with their system, so the problem can be addressed immediately, avoiding costly outages. Finally, with historical performance analysis, users can see how their systems have worked over time and can monitor trends and changes. How does Enact contribute to reducing carbon emissions and supporting sustainability efforts through its solutions? Enact has always supported homes and businesses in their journey towards clean energy. We deploy data as a key tool in the pursuit of a sustainable future. The Enact solar platform employs advanced monitoring technology, which provides real-time renewable metrics to our customers, so they can keep an eagle eye on their carbon footprint. In practical terms, for businesses this translates into two key advantages for their Environment, Sustainability and Corporate Governance (ESG) efforts. The first is tracking environmental impact. By quantifying the positive environmental impact of solar energy usage, businesses can monitor their reduced carbon emissions and resource conservation. This tangible evidence of sustainable practice strengthens their position as leaders in ESG efforts. Secondly, our platform has an enhanced ESG tool for fleet-based

management, which is armed with comprehensive renewable metrics. Through this, businesses can bolster their sustainability reporting across their organization – maybe all their facilities or all their employees – showcasing their dedication to the environment. Investors, stakeholders, and customers value transparent and quantifiable environmental efforts. Can you tell us more about your partnership with Sharaf DG Energy in the UAE market? We’ve long supported and applauded sustainability and solar implementation in the UAE. Enact has empowered installers and consumers in the UAE since 2017 as part of our efforts to help the UAE in their ambitious climate goals. Our partnership with Sharaf DG Energy is one indication of our commitment to work side by side with great energy companies as they work hard to leverage the abundance of sunshine in the region to boost the use of renewable energy for real-estate developers, home-owners and businesses. Since Sharaf DG Energy launched their solar energy business in 2017, they have used Enact’s platform to help thousands of residential solar customers and businesses to transition to solar with both on-grid and off-grid solutions. Through our partnership, every Sharaf DG Energy solar customer has access to the Enact Consumer App that tracks solar savings, system performance and carbon dioxide (CO2) offset benefits. One of the main reasons behind the partnership with Sharaf DG Energy in the region is to improve ongoing efforts to boost sustainability across the region. Solar projects deployed by Sharaf DG Energy in the UAE market are generating over approximately 140,000 MWh of clean energy every year which is the equivalent of offsetting approximately 100,000 metric tons of Carbon Dioxide (CO2). We’re committed to building on this impressive achievement and to continue to play our part in clean energy acceleration in the UAE and beyond, through this partnership.

JANUARY 2024

CXO INSIGHT ME

VIEWPOINT

THE YEAR OF AI’s PC ASCENDANCY AHMED IBRAHIM, DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT – SERVICE PROVIDERS AT INTEL, PREDICTS THAT 2024 WILL MARK THE PINNACLE OF AI’S DOMINANCE IN PC.

rtificial Intelligence was the trending topic of 2023, with Collins English Dictionary awarding “AI” its ‘Word of the Year’ title. Governments, businesses, unions, and academics all over the world debated the good and bad elements of the trending technology, particularly in its generative form, while public discussion ranged from the fearful to the enthusiastic. Whichever way you look at it, AI is without doubt the biggest game-changing technology in recent times, with some of the many benefits including easing workplace demands and life’s challenges, heralding healthcare breakthroughs, improving smart living systems, and increasing the democratisation of education. With 2023 being the year of generative AI development, 2024 will be the year AI moves from the debating and development platforms into lives everywhere. Intel is so convinced of its spread that it has unleashed a portfolio of AI products to enable customers’ AI solutions everywhere across the data centre, cloud, network, edge, and PC. Intel launched the Intel Core Ultra mobile processor family, the first to benefit from Intel’s largest architectural shift in 40 years, which delivers the brand’s most power-efficient client processor and ushers in the age of the AI PC. The 5th Gen Intel Xeon processor family is built with AI acceleration in every core, turbo-charging overall performance and lowering total cost of ownership. The company signalled more

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advances with the planned 2024 launch of the Intel Gaudi3 AI accelerator. During an ‘AI Everything’ event held in the US and live-streamed across the globe, Intel’s CEO Pat Gelsinger sounded a positively bullish outlook of the benefits of AI innovation, which he says is poised to raise the digital economy’s impact up to as much as one-third of global gross domestic product. With 2024 set to be the year of ‘AI Everywhere’ and Intel moving to ensure that becomes the reality of the next 12 months, the company is partnering with more than 100 software vendors to bring several hundred AI-boosted applications to the PC market. We can, says Gelsinger, look forward to a wide array of highly creative, productive, and fun applications that will massively change the PC experience with Intel Core Ultra bringing AI to more than 230 designs from laptop and PC makers worldwide

with an arsenal of new tools reshaping the way we work, learn, and create. Intel’s new AI line-up will be everywhere, even in the places we might least expect. Imagine a restaurant that guides our menu choices based on our budget and dietary needs; a factory floor that catches quality and safety issues at source; an ultrasound that sees what human eyes might miss; or even a power grid that manages electricity with careful precision, helping to mitigate energy crises. Of course, AI is already operating in many everyday scenarios. Zoom, for instance, runs AI workloads on Intel Core-based client systems and Intel Xeon-based cloud solutions to deliver the best user experience and costs. Zoom uses AI to suppress the intrusive external sounds and to generate meeting summaries and emails. Then, of course, we have seen strong take up of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which is now in the mainstream and other competitors coming to the market, with Microsoft planning to launch its Copilot generative AI assistant in spring 2024. Soon we will all be using AI or exposed to it in one form or another. Of course, the debate on its benefits or otherwise will continue, as well as the governance and ethical frameworks needed to guide its further development and use. But make no mistake, AI will be on the ascendance in 2024 – and with partners and a broad ecosystem, Intel will be using it to unlock new growth opportunities, taking the on-trend tech everywhere in the new year.

VIEWPOINT

POWERING THE GREEN HYDROGEN AGE OPTIMISING GREEN HYDROGEN PRODUCTION WILL RELY ON VISIBILITY ACROSS THE VALUE CHAIN, WRITES HARPREET GULATI, SVP - HEAD OF PI SYSTEM BUSINESS AT AVEVA

In the future, hydrogen-powered vehicles could improve air quality and promote energy security. Hydrogen can also store energy from renewable sources, making it a crucial component of the transition to a low-carbon economy. Ultimately, a globally sustainable and reliable energy system could be realised through hydrogen, using renewable energy sources instead of fossil fuels like natural gas. Yet, given the complex perspectives and diverse networks within the global energy ecosystem added to the challenge of reducing the levelised cost of hydrogen (LCOH), a considered, collaborative approach is required. Defining how we best build production facilities and infrastructure, produce, store, transport, and consume green hydrogen needs to encompass all stakeholders. Collaboration will be key. Optimising production will rely on visibility across the value chain. And it will be down to data transparency and connectivity to power the global green hydrogen network – from early stage engineering development all the way to production and end consumers.

reen hydrogen holds great promise for meeting the world’s future energy needs. Strong demand for hydrogen and the adoption of clean technologies for its production will play a significant role in decarbonising sectors such as heavy industry, manufacturing and transport. And it needs to with the industrial sector accounting for 23% of global 38

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emissions in the US alone. Meanwhile, the global hydrogen sector was valued at USD$155.35 billion in 2022. It is expected to increase at a compound annual rate of 9.3% until 2030. This growth will be driven by surging global electricity demand and the pressing need for cleaner fuels. What’s more, major distributed power and utility projects are predicted to bolster the industry’s growth over the forecast period.

Shining a light on complexities Companies around the world are investing USD$25 billion in hydrogen infrastructure, according to a 2022 report by the Hydrogen Council and McKinsey & Company. These investments – through to 2030 – include refueling stations, pipelines, terminals, and ships. Pipeline hydrogen projects are currently part of multibillion-dollar national strategies in Japan, South Korea, and Australia.

This represents a serious commitment to hydrogen. However, on a global level, projects are routinely progressing more slowly than required to achieve 2030 and 2050 goals. The fastest way to accelerate project feasibility and lower risks is to adopt digital solutions. New software in the engineering space is enabling new technology and processes, as well as new ways of working with increased agility, transparency, and collaboration. Avoiding the conventional errors and delays of how projects were executed in the past is the only way to be able to design and build new facilities and adapt existing infrastructure attending the desired time frames for the energy transition. An end-to-end digital engineering approach enables producers to circumnavigate conventional errors and delays and build new facilities and adapt existing infrastructure within much faster timeframes. A case in point is German engineering giant Thyssenkrupp. It has been commissioned to construct an 88-megawatt water electrolysis plant for Hydro-Québec – one of the largest hydropower suppliers in Canada. The plant will produce 11,100 metric tons of green hydrogen annually. Both hydrogen and oxygen, a by-product of the electrolysis process, will be used to produce biofuels for the transportation sector. ThyssenKrupp’s engineering team is using AVEVA engineering software in green hydrogen plant design, together with AVEVA PI System data to optimise operational design. By using data visualisation tools, ThyssenKrupp is able to improve collaboration, increase operational efficiency and drive sustainability throughout its design process and project execution. Breaking down barriers Improving how green hydrogen is processed and used by the consumer will require extrapolating insights from existing projects, learning more about the yields from our most viable

GREEN HYDROGEN AND GREEN HYDROGENBASED FUELS ARE AMONG THE MOST SIGNIFICANT SOURCES THAT INDUSTRIES CAN USE TO REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS, DRIVE ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND MITIGATE THE IMPACTS OF ENERGY PRODUCTION. technologies, and deciding the role that utility companies will play in tomorrow’s green hydrogen ecosystem. These complexities and interdependencies across the extended value chain make a compelling case for a new data infrastructure model, one that connects all stakeholders, plant infrastructure, and process chains through enterprise-level visibility and real-time status. Through a strong data-driven approach, the global green hydrogen ecosystem can collectively progress based on its unique traits and circumstances.

Today’s best-in-breed software can go beyond slash cost and optimise hydrogen plant efficiency. By collecting and measuring operational data through embedded IoT devices and incorporating AI-powered digital twins and predictive analytics into their daily operations, organisations can ensure stable, reliable and profitable clean hydrogen supply. Today’s clean hydrogen economy players must carefully manage how production meets demand, by mastering heavy industrial equipment reliability, and the complexity of balancing green hydrogen (which depends on weather conditions for renewable power generation) and other sources of energy. Dominion Energy, a renewable power supplier, transformed its business by sharing data with its customers and partners in the cloud. With this innovative capability, , customers can demonstrate they are complying with the environmental commitments using power from renewable sources. This example demonstrates how hydrogen economy players can work together to share relevant information to ensure all parts work together to optimise the entire chain. Ushering in a new age through data Green hydrogen and green hydrogenbased fuels are among the most significant sources that industries can use to reduce carbon emissions, drive energy efficiency and mitigate the impacts of energy production. On a worldwide scale, connecting the hydrogen ecosystem through intelligent optimised data creates a path to quicker plant set up, costeffective operations, and production efficiency. The global energy ecosystem is making steady progress and the green hydrogen era will test our abilities to make decisions amid the complexities and competing objectives. Integrated data-driven insights and new ways of work are essential to this journey and helping power our net zero future.

JANUARY 2024

CXO INSIGHT ME

REPORT

DDoS ATTACK TRENDS CLOUDFLARE HAS ANNOUNCED ITS 2023 Q4 DDoS REPORT – THE COMPANY’S SIXTEENTH EDITION. THIS REPORT INCLUDES INSIGHTS AND TRENDS ABOUT THE DDOS THREAT LANDSCAPE — AS OBSERVED ACROSS THE GLOBAL CLOUDFLARE NETWORK.

Cryptocurrency sector was initially leading in terms of the volume of HTTP DDoS attack requests, a new target emerged as a primary victim. The Environmental Services industry experienced an unprecedented surge in HTTP DDoS attacks, with these attacks constituting half of all its HTTP traffic. This marked a staggering 618-fold increase compared to the previous year, highlighting a disturbing trend in the cyber threat landscape. There is a growing intersection between environmental issues and cyber security, a nexus that is increasingly becoming a focal point for attackers in the digital age.

023 was the year of uncharted territories. DDoS attacks reached new heights — in size and sophistication. The wider Internet community, including Cloudflare, faced a persistent and deliberately engineered campaign of thousands of hyper-volumetric DDoS attacks at never before seen rates. These attacks were highly complex and exploited an HTTP/2 vulnerability. As part of this DDoS campaign, in Q3 Cloudflare’s systems mitigated the largest attack it has ever seen — 201 million requests per second (rps). That’s almost 8 times larger than its previous 2022 record of 26 million rps. 40

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Growth in network-layer DDoS attacks After the hyper-volumetric campaign subsided, Cloudflare saw an unexpected drop in HTTP DDoS attacks by 20% compared to 2022. On the network-layer, the company saw a completely different trend. Cloudflare’s automated defenses mitigated 8.7 million network-layer DDoS attacks in 2023. This represents an 85% increase compared to 2022. DDoS attacks increase during and around COP 28 In the final quarter of 2023, the landscape of cyber threats witnessed a significant shift. While the

DDoS attacks and Iron Swords Cyber attacks, and particularly DDoS attacks, have long been a tool of war and disruption. Cloudflare witnessed an increase in DDoS attack activity in the Ukraine-Russia war, and now again in the Israel-Hamas war. Operation “Iron Swords” is the military offensive launched by Israel against Hamas following the Hamas-led 7 October attack. During this ongoing armed conflict, there continues to be DDoS attacks targeting both sides. Relative to each region’s traffic, the Palestinian territories was the second most attacked region by HTTP DDoS attacks in Q4. 90% of these DDoS attacks targeted Palestinian Banking websites. Another 8% targeted Information Technology and Internet platforms. Similarly, Cloudflare’s systems automatically mitigated over 2.2 billion HTTP DDoS requests targeting Israeli websites. Of those Israeli websites attacked, Newspaper & Media were the main target —

in third. Taiwan came in as the fourth most attacked region — amidst the upcoming general elections and the tensions with China.

receiving almost 40% of all Israelbound HTTP DDoS attacks. The second most attacked industry was the Computer Software industry. The Banking, Financial Institutions, and Insurance (BFSI) industry came in third. HTTP DDoS attacks • Top origins of attacks In the third quarter of 2022, China was the largest source of HTTP DDoS attack traffic. However, since the fourth quarter of 2022, the US took the first place as the largest source of HTTP DDoS attacks and has maintained that undesirable position for five consecutive quarters. Together, China and the US account for a little over a quarter of all HTTP DDoS attack traffic in the world. Brazil, Germany, Indonesia, and Argentina account for the next twenty-five percent. • Most attacked industries By volume of attack traffic, Cryptocurrency was the most attacked industry in Q4. Over 330 billion HTTP requests targeted it. This figure accounts for over 4% of all HTTP DDoS traffic for the quarter. The second most attacked industry was Gaming & Gambling. These industries are known for being coveted targets and attract a lot of traffic and attacks • Most attacked countries Singapore was the main target of HTTP DDoS attacks in Q4. The US followed closely in second and Canada

Network Layer DDoS attacks • Target Countries China is the number one most attacked country by network-layer attacks. 45% of all network-layer DDoS traffic that Cloudflare mitigated globally was China-bound. • Most attacked industries On the network layer, Public Relations and Communications was the most targeted industry — 36% of its traffic was malicious. This too is very interesting given its timing. Public Relations and Communications companies are usually linked to managing public perception and communication. Disrupting their operations can have immediate and widespread reputational impacts which becomes even more critical during the Q4 holiday season. This quarter often sees increased PR and communication activities due to holidays, end-ofyear summaries, and preparation for the new year, making it a critical operational period — one that some may want to disrupt. Attack vectors and attributes The majority of DDoS attacks are short and small relative to Cloudflare’s scale. However, unprotected websites and networks can still suffer disruption from short and small attacks without proper inline automated protection — underscoring the need for organisations to be proactive in adopting a robust security posture. The use of Miraivariant botnets is still very common. In Q4, almost 3% of all attacks originate from Mirai. Though, of all attack methods, DNS-based attacks remain the attackers’ favorite. Together, DNS Floods and DNS Amplification attacks account for almost 53% of all attacks in Q4. SYN Flood follows in second and UDP floods in third. Commenting on the report, Bashar Bashaireh, Managing Director & Head of Sales - Middle East and Türkiye at

Key findings 1. In Q4, Cloudflare observed a 117% year-over-year increase in network-layer DDoS attacks, and overall increased DDoS activity targeting retail, shipment and public relations websites during and around Black Friday and the holiday season. 2. In Q4, DDoS attack traffic targeting Taiwan registered a 3,370% growth, compared to the previous year, amidst the upcoming general election and reported tensions with China. The percentage of DDoS attack traffic targeting Israeli websites grew by 27% quarter-overquarter, and the percentage of DDoS attack traffic targeting Palestinian websites grew by 1,126% quarter-over-quarter — as the military conflict between Israel and Hamas continues. 3. In Q4, there was a staggering 61,839% surge in DDoS attack traffic targeting Environmental Services websites compared to the previous year, coinciding with the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 28).

Cloudflare, said, “Cloudflare’s mission is to help build a better Internet, and we believe that a better Internet is one that is secure, performant, and available to all. No matter the attack type, the attack size, the attack duration or the motivation behind the attack, Cloudflare’s defenses stand strong. Since we pioneered unmetered DDoS Protection in 2017, we’ve made and kept our commitment to make enterprise-grade DDoS protection free for all organisations alike — and of course, without compromising performance. This is made possible by our unique technology and robust network architecture.”

JANUARY 2024

CXO INSIGHT ME

VIEWPOINT

A YEAR OF INNOVATION AND GROWTH 2024 IS EXPECTED TO WITNESS SIGNIFICANT ADVANCEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTION AND ENGINEERING, DRIVEN BY A NEED TO INCREASE BUSINESS COMPETITIVENESS, SAYS KENNY INGRAM, VICE PRESIDENT, CONSTRUCTION AND ENGINEERING, IFS.

s the industry faces ongoing challenges such as increasing labor shortages, they are exploring the adoption of digital technologies like AI to automate and optimise their operations. To develop consistent revenue, businesses are transitioning to become total asset service lifecycle providers. Moreover, outdated and disorganised businesses will look to restructure and streamline their operations through real-time data for accurate project budgeting and forecasting. To explore these trends further, we asked our IFS Construction and

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Engineering global industry directors, Kenny Ingram and Chris Knight, to share their insights and predictions for the future. From prioritising digital technology adoption to expanding business growth opportunities, they focused on three trends which will characterise the next year in construction and engineering. Prediction 1: 30% of construction and engineering companies will deploy AI and automation within the next 3 years. AI and automation in construction is the use of machines and computer systems that can perform tasks that normally

require human intelligence, such as design, planning, monitoring, and analysis. Examples include: • Data analytics: Using AI to collect, process, and analyse large amounts of data from various sources, such a business systems like ERP, to provide insights and predictions for construction projects, such as site conditions, project risks, forecast future project costs and margins and performance indicators. • Wearable tech: Devices that can be worn by workers to enhance their safety, productivity and communication, such as smart helmets, glasses, vests, and gloves. • BIM & AI: Integrating of building information modelling (BIM) and AI to improve the design, coordination and management of construction projects, such as generative design, construction optioneering, and data analytics. • Tool tracking technology & the Internet of Things (IoT): Using AI to monitor and track the location, usage, and status of tools, equipment, and materials, using devices such as RFID tags, GPS trackers, and smart sensors. • Planning and Scheduling Optimisation Intelligent planning and scheduling using mathematical models can improve business performance both in terms of productivity and improved project and maintenance service delivery performance. This impacts all types of resources including labor, equipment, materials and subcontracts. Prediction 2: Construction and engineering companies will have

>30% of their revenue coming from operational and maintenance services within 4 years. Construction and engineering companies design and build assets as their primary focus. However, in 2024 it will become increasingly common for C&E companies to evolve to a servitised business models, also providing the services that support the operations and maintenance of an asset’s lifecycle. Many sectors face the challenge of low project margins, exacerbated by macroeconomic conditions that complicate investment in new capital projects. Moreover, accurately forecasting which projects contractors will secure a winning project margin on is a difficult task. These factors make it risky to operate a business that relies on a small volume and poses potentially serious implications. As a result, this can lower their stock market valuation as they are characterised as volatile investments. To address this, companies are actively seeking to diversify their businesses and reduce the impact of large value, unpredictable, low volume projects. By offering asset operations and maintenance services, C&E companies have an effective way to grow, and foster resilience in their business. There are many additional advantages to adopting this strategy that benefits the construction companies and their clients: • Aligns with asset owner’s strategy and objectives Construction and engineering companies have detailed knowledge of the asset they build. Therefore, they are in the strongest position to understand how it should be maintained in order to maximise its performance and cost efficiency. We see this trend moving towards a “Contracting for Outcomes” model where the client asks the company to design, build, operate and maintain the asset. In IFS we describe this as transitioning from being a construction or engineering contractor to becoming a “Total Asset Lifecycle Service Provider”.

• Improved Resource Utilisation Contractors have a skilled labor force that have the knowledge to construct install, repair and maintain the elements that comprise an asset. These skills will be employed by the main or speciality subcontractors. By expanding the work beyond construction and installation tasks to maintenance work offers a way to increase labor productivity,. leading to improved margins for the contractor, faster response times for the asset owner, and higher quality service. • Improved Asset Design When contractors are involved in the day-to-day operations and maintenance activities, they have valuable insights into its performance. These insights can be fed back to the engineering function to inform future designs and improvements – a mutual benefit for both the asset owner and the contractor. • Improved Safety and Regulatory Compliance When the contractor takes responsibility for all stages of the asset’s life, they are exposed to how the asset is performing in terms of safety and compliance. This increases their knowledge and allows for continuous improvement, again benefitting the asset owner and end user community. Prediction 3: 90% of construction companies will simplify their business system landscape with cloud-based technology in the next 5 years Construction and engineering companies

are involved in designing, building, operating, and maintaining complex assets. To facilitate these complex business processes, companies have traditionally invested in a wide variety of specialised software applications for individual departments, and then attempted to integrate these systems together to provide efficient business processes. Due to the complexity of integrations, implementation is almost impossible to execute. Indeed, as a result of inconsistent data structures many organisations are resorting to Excel spreadsheets to link processes and provide accurate management information. What is driving this change? To face these challenges head on, companies need to become more efficient, agile, and resilient. What’s holding them back? A disjointed business system landscape constrains companies and has many disadvantages, including: • Expensive to maintain and increases business risk with unsupported software systems. • Cannot move to a Cloud-based, open platform architecture. • Many processes are manual and inconsistent • Excessive use of Excel is laborintensive, provides inaccurate data that is not real-time and can be manipulated, leading to uninformed decision-making. • Standardised, repeatable best practice processes cannot be implemented. • Difficult to change strategy and diversify by acquiring new businesses or offering new solutions. An effective digital strategy needs to be implemented, led by senior leadership. It should not be seen as an IT or even a tactical business project, but as a strategic, high-level business initiative. This transition needs to be part of a continuous improvement plan that aligns with business goals for significant value improvements.

JANUARY 2024

CXO INSIGHT ME

VIEWPOINT

THE RISING THREAT OF LOOKALIKE DOMAIN ATTACKS MOHAMMED AL-MONEER, THE REGIONAL SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR META AT INFOBLOX, EMPHASIZES THE VITAL SIGNIFICANCE OF ANALYZING DAILY DNS EVENTS TO IDENTIFY AND WARN ORGANISATIONS ABOUT FOUR SPECIFIC TYPES OF LOOKALIKE DOMAIN ATTACKS.

f you think you’re seeing double, you probably are. Website domains, that is. Yet, despite the growing threat of lookalike domains, a targeted form of phishing where malicious actors use visually similar website domains to deceive unsuspecting users into clicking links or visiting fake websites, they can be overlooked as a key attack vector for threat actors. As users have learned to scrutinise links in emails they receive – and while the security industry has increased their ability to automatically 44

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detect threats, cyber criminals only continue to innovate and get smarter in their tactics. Threat actors have successfully driven people towards lookalike domains in their attacks via SMS messages, direct messages on social media, and QR codes. Clicking on these links can lead to identity theft. Wondering how hackers are able to easily reach and trick unsuspecting victims to click on suspicious links? It’s because lookalike domain attacks

often start at the domain name system (DNS) level, which is the first point of attack for many threat actors. The most common use of DNS is for computers to be able to find content on the internet for a domain name. Facebook/Meta, for example, can be accessed through the domain name facebook.com. However, DNS is often overlooked and unprotected, meaning that if hackers break through that initial DNS layer with a lookalike domain attack, they can often gain access to an entire network.

Even though users are suspicious of email from unknown senders, these domain names may appear indistinguishable from the expected domain and the user may be caught off guard. The use of lookalike domains is profitable for threat actors because it is an asymmetric attack. Cheap domain registration prices and the ability to distribute large-scale attacks unfortunately give actors the upper hand. While techniques to identify malicious activity have improved recently, it’s still become increasingly difficult for organisations to keep pace. In fact, hackers can buy tool kits on the dark web for just $300, allowing these attacks to be launched at scale with little to no effort. Infoblox analyzes over 70 billion DNS events daily to find new and potential threats. Here are four types of lookalike domain attacks, in particular, that all organisations should be on the lookout for: • Homographs or homoglyphs use visually similar characters from different character sets such as Cyrillic or Greek to create domain names that appear identical to legitimate ones (e.g., substituting “o” with “0”). What makes homographs particularly effective is that the difference between individual characters is not always clearly distinguishable, depending on the fonts and typesets used.

• Typosquats include sneaky typing errors by registering domains that closely resemble popular websites (e.g., substituting “amazonn[.] com” for “amazon[.]com“) to take users to a fraudulent website. Often, typosquats will be used for popular domains that are already registered for financial gain and to draw in advertising money, but malicious actors also ‘squat’ in these domains with websites that are visually close to what users are expecting to see. • Combosquats combine well-known brand or company names with other keywords such as “mail”, “security” or “support”. For instance, the domain wordpresssecurityt[.]store might be searchable on Google for WordPress users seeking help, but actually has a Russia-based IP address. According

to Infoblox’s report, around 60% of these abusive combosquatting domains stay active for more than 1,000 days, and only 20% are reported and blocked after 100 days. Combosquatting is around 100 times more prevalent than typosquatting. • Soundsquats are the most recent form of lookalike threats, using domain names that sound similar to legitimate ones when spoken aloud (e.g., “hsbsee[.]com” instead of “hsbc[.]com”). This can trick users who hear a domain instead of reading it, and has been researched for its potential impact on smart devices such as Google Home, Siri, and Alexa. While these four emphasize different types of attacks, threat actors rarely stick to one of these lanes. They often attempt to use a combination of these techniques to defraud users and target businesses. Lookalike domains are designed to trick consumers, and while some may be good at spotting them, it only takes one or two people to engage with these domains to activate the effects of the attack. While knowing how to spot lookalike domains is key, it won’t completely protect you from falling victim to one. One of the best ways to stay protected from lookalike domain attacks is having a strong DNS security strategy already in place, as it can help to detect and block lookalike domain attacks sooner. At Infoblox, we’re proud to be the first DNS security solution to offer a Lookalike Domain Monitoring capability that works to identify sites attempting to impersonate company brands that are increasingly used to deceive consumers with phishing, malvertising and similar attacks. Detecting and not falling prey to these kinds of attacks are crucial, but the ability to takedown lookalike domains is equally important. Lookalike domain attacks are increasing in sophistication and prevalence, making specialised solutions like DNS security a must-have for all.

JANUARY 2024

CXO INSIGHT ME

PRODUCTS

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Super Series At CES 2024, NVIDIA announced the GeForce RTX 40 SUPER Series family of GPUs — including the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER and GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER — which supercharge the latest games and form the core of AI-powered PCs. This latest iteration of NVIDIA Ada Lovelace architecturebased GPUs delivers up to 52 shader TFLOPS, 121 RT TFLOPS and 836 AI TOPS to supercharge gaming and creating — and provide the power to develop new entertainment worlds and experiences. The GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER starts from $599. PC gamers demand the very best in visual quality, and AI-powered NVIDIA Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) Super Resolution, Frame Generation and Ray Reconstruction combine with ray tracing to offer stunning worlds — just a click away in titles such as Diablo IV, Pax Dei and Horizon Forbidden West. With DLSS, seven out of eight pixels can be

ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES MC9400 SERIES Zebra Technologies has unveiled its new ultra-rugged mobile computer, the MC9400 Series. Equipped with public and private 5G (data only) and Wi-Fi 6E connectivity, the MC9400 Series is designed to enhance workflow efficiency and device security across the retail, warehouse, manufacturing, and transportation and logistics industries. 46

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AI-generated, accelerating full ray tracing by up to 4x with better image quality. The new GeForce RTX SUPER GPUs are the ultimate way to experience AI on PCs. Specialized AI Tensor Cores deliver up to 836 AI TOPS to deliver transformative capabilities for AI in gaming, creating and everyday productivity. The rich software stack built on top of RTX GPUs further accelerates AI. NVIDIA TensorRT is software for high-performance deep learning inference, which includes a deep learning inference optimizer and runtime that delivers low latency and high throughput for inference applications. TensorRT-LLM for Windows is an open-source library that accelerates inference performance for the latest large language models. In AI workloads, the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER generates video over 1.5x faster and images over 1.7x faster than the RTX 3080 Ti.

The MC9400 Series is an evolution of Zebra’s ultrarugged mobile computers – it’s the first of its MC9000 family of devices to offer 5G (data only) and Wi-Fi 6E connectivity, the fastest connection speed available today. The MC9400 provides a cost-effective, wireless solution imperative to efficient operations in challenging industrial environments–inside and outdoors–including cold storage. With maximum speed and performance, the MC9400 improves front-line workers’ productivity as they are crossdocking in a warehouse, tracking items in a manufacturing plant or managing assets in a port, yard or other tough edge environments. Beyond providing the latest in wireless connectivity, the MC9400 Series is enhanced with Zebra’s new SE58 extended range scan engine with IntelliFocus technology. The new expanded range enables workers to scan barcodes up to over 100 ft./30.5 m away. The scanner’s new green laser dot provides more visibility – even in daylight – than the typical red dot, making it easier for workers to scan items in hard-to-reach locations, such as a high warehouse rack. It can be added to customers’ existing fleet of MC9000 mobile computers without requiring new accessories, minimizing operational disruptions.

Your PARTNER in PROTECTING YOU from Cyber-Attacks FVC is a value added distributor (VAD) that provides tangible solutions across essential areas of enterprise computing: uniﬁed communications, uniﬁed collaboration, audio-visual, infrastructure and information security.

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