THE PROMISE OF DIGITAL

SHUMON ZAMAN, CHIEF INFORMATION AND DIGITAL OFFICER, ALI & SONS HOLDING, ELABORATES ON THE COMPANY’S VISION TO BECOME A CLOUD-NATIVE, AGILE, FULLY AUTOMATED AND DIGITALLY EMPOWERED ENTERPRISE IN THE NEXT THREE YEARS.

Founded in 1979 under the direction of H.E. Ali Bin Khalfan Al Mutawa Al Dhaheri, Ali & Sons was established to serve the oil and gas and power and water sectors.

It began its operations in contracting and interiors in 1980 – and from there the business only expanded and flourished to include a number of other sectors as well as its own brands and concepts.

Today, the 41-year-old company has grown into a successful conglomerate that has a strong standing in areas such as automotive, construction, oil & gas, real estate, investments and retail.

While the group has gone from strength to strength in its operations, the technology supporting the company’s ambitions and future plans now needs to undergo a major overhaul.

Industry veteran Shumon Zaman joined the company recently as its

Chief Information and Digital Officer, to lead the digital and technology transformation for Ali & Sons.

“Digital disruption is taking place across many industries and the board felt it was the right time for us to go through the transformation to ensure we become more agile and develop new digital business models. This will allow us to expand our operations and grow our products and services portfolio,” says Zaman.

Ali & Sons was looking to leverage its experience of operating in many different industries when it comes to developing digital ventures.

“Our immediate priorities include moving everything to the cloud, building our ERP infrastructure and above it all, working on the complete digital transformation layer,” explains Zaman.

As the person leading this mandate, Zaman along with his team have developed the strategy and will soon commence the execution phase of this multi-year program.

The team identified a crucial first step in the transformation journey, which is ensuring that the business processes across the whole group are welloptimized and are as agile as possible.

“In this regard, we’re going to run the Lean Six Sigma methodology to improve performance of all processes by systematically removing waste. This will result in the most optimized processes, which we will then automate using the latest cloud-based ERP. We then aim to add more best of breed business applications for various different types of industries that we’re in. Additionally, we will add layers for analytics and AI,” he says.

According to Zaman, this will help the conglomerate to gain new insights from the data collected and help in enhancing focused decision-making. It will also allow the company to develop new products and services along with new digital business models.

“In terms of technologies, we’re at the moment looking at the top tier one ERP vendors and cloud ERP solutions. We’re also working with Microsoft, Microsoft Azure and M365 along with different applications vendors,” he adds.

Zaman point out the primary challenge in achieving this goal is defining digital transformation and getting everyone to understand what it really means. “Many people understand digital in different ways. For me, it’s all about creating different business models, new ways of generating revenue, using digital tools such as AI, machine learning, big data, cloud and so on.

“However, people tend to think a simple automation of a process counts as digital. But that’s only the very initial stage. Currently, we are working on getting everyone aligned as to where we want to go, how we want to get there and the driving reason for us to achieve digital transformation. This is very important,” he says.

The motivating factor for Ali & Sons to go digital is business continuity, he adds. “We want to be one of the leading family-led conglomerates in the region. We want to achieve double digit growth and disrupt areas that are being transformed so that we are not left behind. It’s all about safeguarding what we do, but also prolonging the life of our business because we need to keep up with what’s happening globally.”

Upon the completion of its digital transformation, apart from being an agile organisation, one of the biggest advantages that Ali & Sons will enjoy

is having insights from data at its fingertips. “We are excited to embark on this journey as once we complete it, the potential is infinite. We can create new insights using digital tools such as AI and machine learning. We will be in a better position to understand the trends across the different industries that we operate in and look at ways how we can take advantage of what the data is telling us. This is key to our business continuity in the long-term,” says Zaman.

The past year has further cemented the company’s decision to begin its digital transformation.

“It has made the board realize that unless it’s an agile organisation, it is very difficult to make decisions and take advantage of opportunities that might arise during a crisis like the ongoing pandemic. In order to do this, we need to nurture a digital mindset within the organisation and invest in advanced technologies. Today there is a sense of urgency to become a digital enterprise. Those with digital capabilities were able to make the transitions quickly during the pandemic.”

Zaman expects it to take three to five years for the organisation to grow by double digits. For this to happen, the company will have to create several different digital enterprises, become digitally-enabled and more mature in its digital usage.

“One of the key aspects of my vision is making sure that every employee, no matter where they are and what device they have, should be able to access decision making information powered by AI and do their jobs from wherever they are. Everything should be accessible from the palm of their hands. This is the vision that we want to execute very quickly and this will also give us the agility that we need.

“As an established and well respected business, we want to attract and retain the best talent to come and work with us. In order for that to happen, we need to give them the best tools.”

Zaman explains that attracting the younger generation, especially Emirati nationals, to its workforce is key to the long-term growth and success of the organisation.

“Developing a digital environment will allow that to happen and attract the right kind of talent,” he concludes.

VMware

AHMED AUDA Managing Director, Middle East, Turkey and North Africa

What are the top tech trends we need to watch for in 2021 and beyond? Digital transformation will be high on the agenda for organisations in the Middle East in 2021, and this is in large part driven by the commitment of governments in the GCC to introduce smart government and smart city initiatives. Private enterprises also recognise the need to transform and they understand that modern applications are the fuel for digital transformation. As such, they need to be built, run, managed, secured and connected in the right way, allowing them to add immense value to all industries and verticals, from retail, to energy, healthcare and education.

Digital transformation is being powered by the growth and development of technologies including cloud, 5G, AI and data analytics, which will each experience rapid growth in 2021. In combination, these technologies provide phenomenal potential for organisations across all sectors to transform and have a positive impact on society: from the automation of transport, to advances in healthcare and medicine, and improvements in agriculture. New ways of analysing and using data, combined with seamless communication will transform all aspects of society and we will see continued moves in this direction in 2021 and beyond.

How do you help your clients to accelerate business growth? Organisations need flexibility more than ever: They want the flexibility to launch new products and services, expand in new markets, and boost the efficiency of their operations, all while ensuring their systems and services are fully secure. We help organisations to achieve this by helping them on their digital transformation journey. We enable our customers to build, run, manage, connect and protect all of their apps on any cloud, which allows them to respond rapidly to market opportunities, challenges and their customers’ needs.

Moreover, by helping organisations embrace cloud solutions, we provide them with the flexibility they need to scale up or down, without the costs associated with physical network infrastructure.

Our solutions also allow organisations to manage their distributed workforces efficiently and securely, just as if their employees were all in a physical office.

These solutions are all vital to business continuity and growth, especially at the current time with the uncertainly and volatility caused by COVID-19.

Are you seeing any significant shift in the technology investment priorities of your customers? In 2020 we saw a rise in demand for remote working and cloud solutions. Organisations in the region are aware that while life will start returning to normal in 2021, it will not be quite the same as before the pandemic. We expect to see many organisations adopt a more flexible approach to managing their workforces, allowing teams to work remotely some of time, if not permanently.

Organisations are embracing the cloud more than ever and this is partly due to volatility caused by the pandemic. Companies don’t want to buy expensive IT infrastructure, especially when it’s difficult to accurately forecast demand. Cloud solutions were already on a growth curve, and the trend strengthened in 2020. We expect to see continued strong growth in 2021.

Is intrinsic security the key to future of work? In 2020 the world saw a rise in cybercrime targeting both public and private organisations. VMware Carbon Black’s recent Global Incident Response Threat Report revealed that 53% of Incident Response managers had encountered or observed a surge in cyberattacks exploiting COVID-19, specifically pointing to remote access inefficiencies (52%), VPN vulnerabilities (45%) and staff shortages (36%) as the most daunting endpoint security challenges.

In this scenario it is imperative that organisations ensure they have the highest levels of cybersecurity in place, in terms of both IT systems and software, and education and awareness among employees.

At VMware, we have developed the concept of Intrinsic Security – a strategy for leveraging your infrastructure and control points in new ways—in real time—across any app, cloud, or device so that you can shift from a reactive security posture to a position of strength.

Our commitment to Intrinsic Security also means that all our solutions are designed with security in mind from the beginning, rather than being an afterthought.

Intrinsic Security is vital to the future of work. Whether your workforce is at the office, at home, or a combination of both, cyber attacks are on the rise and Intrinsic Security is an important way of mitigating the risk.

R&M

NABIL KHALIL Executive Vice President of Middle East, Turkey and Africa

What are the top technology trends to watch in 2021? The consumer telecoms market is relatively resilient even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumer services, which account for most of the telecoms providers’ revenue, tend to be more resilient during economic downturns. The restrictions of movement in place in many countries and the emphasis on home working and entertainment means that fixed broadband services will continue to perform relatively well. This will continue to make many regional operators expand their capacities and connected households. So, we see Telecom Market should stay healthier than almost any industry in this crisis. 5G is another major trend in this sector. Once rolled out, 5G should be able to link 100 billion devices. Connecting 5G base stations using radio links will no longer suffice - antennas must be integrated into fiber networks and connected to edge data centers. The required small cells, 5G macro cells and antennas require considerable bandwidth and low latency. Without ubiquitous fiber, introducing 5G would make little sense. Service providers are combining FTTx and 5G rollouts to benefit from a common infrastructure that supports both platforms. In fact, according to studies by the FTTH Council Europe, investing in fiber means operators can get 5G practically ‘for free’.

Wider availability of fiber and 5G will bring demand for a wide range of new products and private, business and industrial applications, such as hidden or camouflaged antennas, PoE-equipped devices and solutions for bridging short distances. Low-latency connectivity will support everything from self-driving cars to remote healthcare services, machine communication, smart city services and extended mobile communication including UHD, AR, smart home, and highspeed internet. How are you helping your customers to adapt to the post-pandemic normal? We recognise that despite the challenges that have resulted because of the pandemic, we are obligated to ensuring our partners and customers continue to receive the highest quality of training. Of course, this has called for a paradigm shift in the way we deliver trainings. Traditionally, our Qualified Partner Program (QPP) trainings have been class-room style with emphasis on hands-on practice. Recognising that such sessions would not be possible during lockdown, we conducted in-depth analysis of virtual tools and invited select partners to help us create and finetune an effective online live training program.

How are your adapting your product portfolio to meet the new market demands? In the coming year, the solutions that R&M will be focusing on include: R&MhealthLine: Our antibacterial R&MhealthLine range is especially relevant for the post-COVID world as it lets hospitals and other facilities reduce the risk of cross-contamination between patients and visitors while simultaneously extending IT risk management to include the area of hygiene. These products represent a complete and consistent solution for the whole network infrastructure that can be touched by the user in patient rooms and comparable, highly frequented areas of use. Moreover, our implementation partners require no special training for the installation of these solutions as the R&MhealthLine range offers the same installation and userfriendliness as standard products and fits into the R&Mfreenet range. Polaris: The Polaris family of FO terminal boxes comprises five models. The fiber optic terminal boxes help network operators to connect and manage the growing number of FO cables in the tightest of spaces. The smallest variant can accommodate up to four adapters for FTTH subscribers, the largest up to 36 adapters or 288 splice connections. ODF Prime: At maximum capacity, 5,376 optical fibers can be connected in an ODF with the R&M PRIME modules, setting new density standards for the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) market. Above-ground street cabinets and basements, main distributor frames, central offices and POP sites are some of the most important locations for the PRIME ODF racks. Here they can form the nodes of local broadband networks such as city rings and feeder networks. The platform is also suitable for fiber optic distribution in data centres, and the backhaul networks of mobile communication providers. Netscale: R&M Netscale solutions combine unmatched fiber cable management with automated connectivity tracking and an innovative tray design to deliver the world’s highest port density for 10/40/100G Ethernet.

Most existing high-density fiber solutions for data centers offer up to 72 LC duplex ports per rack unit and pose great difficulties for management. Thanks to R&MinteliPhy technology, Netscale delivers a density of up to 80 RFID-monitored LC duplex or MPO ports, and even 120 standard LC duplex or MPO ports per rack unit.

SentinelOne

TAMER ODEH Regional Director, Middle East

What will be the top trends that will transform the Middle East tech landscape in 2021? We expect that 2021 will see greater adoption of automation in cybersecurity and response. The frequency and effectiveness of attacks have rapidly gone up during the course of 2020, and the inadequacy of depending solely on human intervention is now more apparent than ever before. Such an evolution of cyberattacks requires us to also take lead, innovate, and come up with machine-speed solutions and other means for protection. The next-generation antivirus and endpoint detection & response (EDR) capabilities in SentinelOne are extremely powerful tools for cybersecurity defense, allowing analysts to find a needle in a haystack and then take immediate action – with minimal effort.

As human resilience takes on a new meaning in the coming year, as staying connected and cultivating an attitude of positivity will determine factors for success. New leadership styles must emerge to communicate, collaborate, and operate in the increasingly complex environment of this virtual era. For technology leaders, this is the best opportunity to move away from outdated schemes and adopt bolder and more effective AI-based solutions.

How are you helping your customers adapt to the new normal? 2020 was a busy year for the cybersecurity industry; with employees distributed between home and the office, the rising rate of cyberattacks, and the lack of proper infrastructure to protect sensitive data remotely and offline. With such severe challenges, we had to innovate in order to meet our customers’ needs. In the past couple of months, technology and cybersecurity designed for remote work have become a top priority. From endpoint device to server and cloud workload, cybersecurity platforms are now being built for a new world where physical locations are irrelevant. The past couple of months were deemed as a learning experience for most people; we took a pause, examined the novel needs of our market and customers, and made sure to offer the needed solutions during these unprecedented times.

Can you share some business highlights from this year and customer successes? On the onset of the COVID-19 virus, businesses worldwide took a deep breath as they waited to see the effect of the global pandemic on the normality of life. We were all able to see the macroeconomic impact; economies worldwide were severely hit by the challenges that came with the occurrence of the pandemic. With the enforcement of lockdowns, there were several challenges in certain sectors globally – the hospitality sector being the most prominent. However, given those challenges, we were able to sign customers in even the worst-impacted domains. We provided solutions for businesses in travel agencies and hotels, and we are proud to have been able to offer effective solutions to businesses who were severely hit during these unfortunate times. Moreover, when the work-from-home phenomena saw great attraction during the first half of the year, SentinelOne’s solutions were deemed to be effective for users worldwide and in the Middle East in particular.

Throughout the year, were able to pivot our target markets depending on global restrictions, and naturally, we turned towards digital conferences and roundtables with CIO’s in Africa and the GCC. We were constantly busy as we did not want to stand idle in such challenging times, and we took this opportunity to learn about different markets and keep up the momentum of the previous year. As tough as this year has been on a global scale, we are happy to have been able to offer support and effective solutions to our partners and customers worldwide.

ManageEngine

RAJESH GANESAN Vice President

What will be the top trends that will transform the Middle East tech landscape in 2021? The year 2020 was challenging for organisations around the world. However, with the lessons and experiences from the past year, we hope 2021 is full of possibilities and new opportunities. We’re especially optimistic about the technology industry, which is going to lead major transformations as organisations reinvent and execute new business models and new players arrive with fresh ideas. In 2021, 5G networks, IoT, and smart devices will disrupt how every industry operates. Technology will be a key underpinning for businesses regardless of their size and location. Also, that underpinning means the teams responsible for running the technology infrastructure will literally progress to the front line, leading their business to achieve higher objectives such as delivering on user experience and business outcomes as opposed to just maintaining systems. And they will need tools to manage all of the rapid transformation and stay on top of their game. As their supplier, we at ManageEngine are excited to be building the tools they need. We are investing heavily in bringing AI and ML capabilities to our tools, and we envision a fully integrated suite that will help our customers manage their users, endpoints, and infrastructure components holistically, from both operations and security perspectives. The IT industry has been particularly resilient over the past year, and we expect that to continue throughout 2021. As more users, companies, and regulators become concerned with user data privacy practices, we will see increased regulation on that front. Due to COVID-19 and the rise in remote work, endpoint protection and security tools with data analytics will remain especially important.

How are you helping your customers adapt to the new normal? Remote working is not entirely new and has been prevalent at least over the last decade. It let people get their normal work done regardless of their location. That said, mission critical work was still done at the office premises. In 2020, the pandemic forced everyone out of the office premises for extended periods, which brings with it new data security risks, especially the risks of unintentional and malicious data exfiltration. Our solutions that harden IT security like Desktop Central and Password Manager Pro help manage and secure endpoints and passwords, respectively. With sophisticated phishing attacks on the rise, it is important that organisations monitor users who log on from multiple locations simultaneously or who access multiple resources in a short period of time. Therefore, our new-gen SIEM solutions like Log360, which includes user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA) capabilities, and our privileged access management solution, PAM360, are very useful for enterprises.

We also exclusively launched a couple of products in the first quarter of 2020 to help enable secure remote access for all employees. Remote Access Plus enables employees to initiate remote connections to Windows, Linux, or Mac computers regardless of the user’s or device’s location. It also allows technicians to remote access into users’ computers at home for troubleshooting assistance. Access Manager Plus lets administrators launch RDP, VNC, and SSH connections to critical infrastructure components without the need for VPN or any special software in employee devices. Both products come with complete session monitoring, shadowing, and recording capabilities to augment the remote access convenience with high levels of security and compliance.

We also understand the growing need for businesses to adopt technology into every department, and we are here to help them manage their IT from the cloud with our IT management and security solutions hosted on the Zoho platform.

CommScope

EHAB KANARY Vice President of Enterprise Infrastructure for MEA

What will be the top trends that will transform the Middle East tech landscape in 2021? Covid-19 changed business priorities, and with them the role of networks in buildings and campuses. In 2021, we see companies embracing remote networking as some offered employees the opportunity to work remote permanently while other companies adjusted their offices to accommodate social distancing, meaning less employees back in the office. The network that connects those remote workers with their companies has become more important than ever. With a focus on employee and customer health and safety, building owners will continue to roll out secure VPN connections and manage their networks differently.

In addition to fewer people and more important networks, 2021 will see the accelerated deployment of new and evolving technologies in the data center. For example, in the absence of “business as usual,” enterprises and small businesses are moving to the cloud, and this trend will only accelerate in 2021 no matter what happens with the COVID-19 pandemic. Companies that were eyeing an eventual migration are now quickly moving to adopt a cloud-based paradigm for their businesses. Indeed, many companies that told workers to stay home have adopted remote working policies that rely on cloudbased applications, while retailers follow the lead of industry giants like Amazon and Alibaba in shifting sales tools to the cloud. In fact, these online retailers see triple-digit profit growth thanks to the pandemic.

Data centre capacity must continue to grow, however, there must also be a continuous improvement in DC efficiency. This is precisely why fibre networks are shifting the bandwidth of network optics up – creating a need for more efficient network switching elements and driving the use of “fibre to the server” as previous generations of copper cabling reach speed and distance limitations. The IEEE 802.3db task force targets 100, 200 and 400Gbps speeds for short reach server connections which will aid in the development of lower cost VCSEL based optics.

Can you share some business highlights from this year and customer successes? One of CommScope’s key business highlights includes providing the necessary infrastructure to enhance connectivity in buildings and campuses. In the region, we helped Al Qasimia University, Sharjah, build new high-performance physical infrastructure to support their digital needs and serve high-density and high-capacity needs.

The University recognised that its infrastructure couldn’t keep up with the rising demand and Wi-Fi needs of its 1,200 students, across a 1.4 sq km campus with new academic and residential buildings. Along with the University’s IT team, we deployed 1,000 indoor and outdoor wireless access points (APs) all over the campus, updated over 800 km of cabling infrastructure with SYSTIMAX GigaSPEED X10D cabling and 10,000 Category 6A outlets.

The modern infrastructure allows Al Qasimia University to support new applications and increased demand. The technologies built into the APs ensured enhanced performance at the University’s busiest locations, to handle hundreds of concurrent users and their multiple devices.

How are you helping your customers adapt to the new normal? The COVID-19 crisis has affected individuals, businesses and communities in a way we’ve never seen before. Government-imposed lockdowns have resulted in demands on businesses changing, with the physical moving to digital seemingly overnight. Weeks became months, and what started with business continuity is now seeing organisations shift their focus towards what’s next.

Delivering operational efficiency and improving the digital customer experience, must play centre stage for businesses if they are going to survive – as well as thrive – as we move throughout the pandemic the businesses that can adapt most effectively will fare best.

IDC estimates there will be 41.4 billion connected IoT devices, or “things,” generating 73.1 zettabytes (ZB) of data in 2025 – and deploying such technology will alter the demands placed on the network. Different network architectures will be required in buildings, for example, in order to meet this new requirement.

Deploying thousands of connected ‘things’ that consume data requires strong and reliable connectivity, of course, but consideration must also be given as to how to power those devices. Many connected devices – such as radios, security cameras and sensors – also house high bandwidth applications. These enable an organisation to consume data quickly and deliver it to cloud applications for processing and analytics – but they also often need power. Many devices won’t work with traditional Power over Ethernet (PoE) cabling, so IT and operations must look towards industry leading solutions, such as single pair Ethernet, which combine power and connectivity to simplify installation and management processes.

As we look forward to 2021, we see the opportunity to leverage the network to improve organisations, driving business outcomes such as increasing efficiency, cutting costs, improving health and safety, and the customer and employee experience.

Checkmarx

SHABIR BHAT Regional Sales Director – Middle East

Can you elaborate on two milestones from Checkmarx over the past 12 months? First and foremost, Checkmarx achieved unicorn status in 2020 when we made a deal with U.S. private equity firm Hellman & Friedman to be acquired for $1.15B. This was a pivotal moment in the industry, as it was the largest acquisition of an AppSec company to-date. Not only does this signify just how essential application security has become, but it also recognises our unique approach to AST, our business model, and overall trajectory. This partnership will further propel us forward and strengthen our ability to grow and innovate.

Second was the launch of our new, next-gen software composition analysis solution, CxSCA. With this, security and development teams are empowered to easily identify, prioritise, and remediate vulnerabilities within open source software. The true value of CxSCA is realised when combined with our SAST solution, CxSAST, allowing developers to secure both custom and open source code via one unified platform.

How is Checkmarx enabling businesses to stay secure and identify vulnerabilities efficiently? Developers are under immense pressure to develop and deliver software as quickly as possible in order to keep their organisations competitive and relevant. This has only been further exacerbated in the past year, as the global pandemic has put digital transformation on steroids, so to speak.

However, this heightened focus on speed often causes security to fall by the wayside. By not embedding security into software development from the start, organisations are ironically setting themselves up for slowdowns or, worse, security incidents down the line.

We’ve placed a big emphasis on educating the market about the value of automated application security testing (AST) and how industry-leading solutions can help developers achieve both speed and security with their software development efforts. Traditional approaches like pen testing and one-stop shop solutions are no longer enough for securing today’s complex software. Platforms that insert automated security testing throughout all stages of the SDLC are critical.

What are the cybersecurity trends that will shape the coming year? For the Middle East specifically? There are a few things in particular I’m expecting: Shift to the cloud: Many of our customers and prospects are interested in building and deploying applications in the cloud and the tools that enable them to do this in a secure manner. This is unsurprising given the digital-shift that occurred throughout 2020 and will be a continuing trend. Securing open source: We discussed earlier the importance of software development speed. Utilising open source packages is essential for this. But, open source is also an easy target for hackers, and securing these components must be prioritised. SCA solutions are highly-valuable in this regard. Prioritising API security: APIs are still a relatively new territory for many security teams. Our customers are eager to learn more about the security pros and cons of these endpoints. APIs, containers, microservices, etc. are all common in modern software, and understanding the intricacies of these components is essential.

What is Checkmarx’s business objective for 2021? The same as always - we’re focused on enabling all organisations and developers to build and deploy more secure software so that they can expand, innovate, and flourish. We’ve had an immensely successful 2020, and we’ll look to continue this momentum into the New Year.

What can the regional market expect from Checkmarx in the New Year? As we continue to expand our global presence, we’ll have more ‘onthe-ground’ resources in the Middle East to support our customers’ and prospects’ needs. As part of this, we’re also increasing our regional partner ecosystem to extend our reach, providing each of these teams with comprehensive training, PRM, and more. Spreading education to our customers and prospects about changes in software development and security testing - whether on-prem, in the cloud, or a mix of both - will also continue to be a priority. While we’re clearly dedicated to providing the industry’s best solution for comprehensive AST, we also pride ourselves on being informative, and trusted, resources for the broader DevOps, developer, and AppSec communities.

How are you helping your customers adapt to the new normal? At the end of the day, going down a path of digital transformation shouldn’t be done alone, especially with security being mission-critical. We constantly strive to be the best possible partners for our customers as they navigate the rapid evolution of software development and the diverse security challenges that crop up along the way.

AppDynamics

TY AMELL CTO, AppDynamics

2020 was a year that will go down in history as one of the most challenging, tragic and complex years of our lives. And yet, amid all of the loss and hardship of this year, it has also shown how resilient and strong human beings can be when we work together toward a common goal.

In the technology industry, we watched IT leaders become the overnight superheroes of their organisations. They enabled entire workforces to shift to working remotely, supporting the IT needs and their entire businesses to be set up and supported while working from home. They accelerated digital transformation projects, delivering in weeks what would normally have taken months, empowering their organisations to deliver flawless customer experiences as businesses shifted to a digital-first approach. From supporting hospital management to COVID-19 contact tracing applications and contactless grocery orders — IT teams played an essential role in all aspects of our lives throughout the course of this unprecedented year.

Technologists have never been more critical to the success of the businesses they support, and I see 2021 as being the year they have the biggest opportunity to elevate their careers and truly change the perception of the IT industry and its impact on meaningful business outcomes.

It will be paramount that IT teams are granted the tools, technologies and support needed to deliver on this opportunity. Research we conducted in May found that 97 percent of UAE technologists believe that having visibility and insight into the performance of the technology stack and its impact on customers and the business is the most important factor right now.

It’s that opportunity for technologists that has me excited about 2021 and all of the meaningful change these teams can bring to every industry around the world. As we look to the new year, here are the top IT trends I predict will be most critical to the technologists looking to grab hold of this opportunity:

Observability will take centre stage As more organisations have shifted to accommodate our new digital lives, observability connected to business outcomes is now a necessity.

The past year has been incredibly transformational for teams across industries. 2021 will be the year of observability as companies continue to develop more complex IT systems and expand their technology infrastructures. Using observability solutions will enable developers to cut through the noise and focus on the performance issues that have the biggest impact on the business.

User experience will determine business decisions Part of the reason it is important to keep technology solutions operating at their highest level is to maintain a consistent digital user experience. In 2021, user experience will matter more than ever before as workers and consumers become more accustomed to digital solutions across their day-to-day lives and their expectations for flawless engagement increase significantly.

To successfully navigate this need for a seamless digital user experience, organisations will need to view maintaining their applications and technology stack as not just one-off projects, but as business-critical solutions that serve as the backbone to providing the ideal experience for end users.

Another element of this renewed emphasis on user experience in 2021 will include an elevated focus on observability not just at the application level, but beyond. For businesses that want to thrive in 2021, incorporating network visibility into existing monitoring efforts can ensure that nothing impedes the user experience, whether it’s an anomaly in an application or an issue that stems from the Internet. This enables end-users to have the best possible experience as IT teams are able to spot and address issues efficiently.

Technology will bring even bigger impact to business outcomes This year has put a spotlight on IT teams and demonstrated just how important technologists are to the success of any organisation. In particular, the Agents of Transformation, those elite technologists driving successful digital transformation within a company.

The AppDynamics Agents of Transformation Report 2020: COVID-19 Special Edition showed 85 percent of UAE technologists said the rapid response of their IT team to the pandemic positively changed the perception of IT within their organisation and 86 percent said digital transformation projects that would have taken years for sign off were now being approved in a matter of weeks. 2021 will be the year that positive perception will kick into overdrive and technologists will have the opportunity to impact business critical outcomes more than ever before. The emphasis that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the need for flawless digital experiences will have lasting impacts in 2021. Organisations are already seeing the benefits of enabling their IT teams to take calculated risks and drive a faster, more innovative approach and will continue to invest in those teams and solutions in the new year.

Thales

SÉBASTIEN PAVIE VP Sales Southern EMEA, Data Protection Solutions

A Distributed Workforce is Here to Stay and Will Evolve to Arenas Never Imagined The remote work trend, already steadily increasing pre-pandemic, accelerated exponentially in 2020 as a result of the pandemic Some workers will return the office, but many will indefinitely continue to work from anywhere. The lessons learned in 2020 will force IT organisations to invest more in physical and digital security to address new threat vectors resulting from a remote work culture. With more and more devices connected to networks, employee cybersecurity training will become a top business initiative as individual accountability increases. Organisations will require more cyber distancing to reduce the mixing of personal devices and corporate data to support compliance requirements. There will also be a new wave of remote workers.

The Password Will Finally Disappear as Digital Identity Becomes a Great Equaliser As mobility reached a new level of critical need in 2020, the need for digital identity capabilities also crystalised. Lockdowns and remote work on a global level meant strong identity verification became the lifeblood for enrolling new customers, payment data encryption, and multiple authentication schemes, including biometrics. In the New Year, digital identity capabilities will become the great equaliser in the fight against fraud. Financial services, healthcare, government, mobile and other industries will need to build and maintain trust as data breaches continue with regularity and compliance mandates get more stringent.

The Fight for Data Privacy Will Make Bigger Headlines Demand for privacy protection, snowballing for years, stole much of the spotlight in 2020 as data breaches soared. Global Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) fines added up and the first company to be fined under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) surfaced, all while individual states continued to refine their privacy laws. The sudden invalidation of the legal framework known as Privacy Shield, by European Union ruling called Schrems II, dealt a blow to nearly 6,000 companies in the U.S. who rely on trans-Atlantic data flows, renewing debate over whether and when a federal privacy law might come into existence. With consumers’ heightened awareness of their privacy rights, companies that leverage data discovery technologies and protect sensitive data (with encryption) will keep themselves out of unwanted headlines in 2021.

5G Will Provide New Capabilities and the Biggest Attack Surface Ever As expected, 5G began to fuel the proliferation of IoT. The push for more mobile services, demand for streaming, touchless interactions via mobile devices and the need to accommodate a remote workforce sped up appetite for this new generation of capabilities. In 2021, the continuation of the 5G rollout which will allow billions of connected devices, will create the largest attack surface that’s ever existed, making early threat detection a top protector of data. Enterprises and employees, eager to capture new capabilities, must make access management, authentication and data discovery a top priority as data sprawl pushes the boundaries of computing devices.

Cybercrime Rings Will Be Well Funded and Motivated As organisations – including hospitals and other healthcare entities – struggled to contend with the global pandemic, organised cybercrime rings wreaked havoc. Ransomware-as-a-Service rose up with an alarming potency that crippled government agencies, schools and businesses. Unfortunately, one of the biggest threats in the New Year will be devastating: The United Nations estimates that organised cybercrime will cost the global economy around $5.2 trillion between now and 2025.

In Response, Businesses Will Take the Fight to the Hackers It was predicted that the volume and efficacy of cyberattacks would increase in 2020, but no one knew the true extent and speed to which malware and ransomware would explode. For 2021, Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that a business will fall victim to an attack every 11 seconds, and the estimated cost to businesses will be around $20 billion. In the New Year, business will finally take the fight to hackers and go on the offensive by using deceptive technology to proactively set traps and allow access to fake data to frustrate attackers. These tactics, along with multi-factor authentication and access management controls, will reign supreme.

Quantum Will Make Significant Headway The race for quantum supremacy is on as major players like Amazon, Google, IBM and others heavily invest in research and development. Advances made in 2020 will drive momentum in the New Year. Universally regarded as among the most significant threat to cybersecurity in history, quantum computing in the hands of bad actors will put data protected by today’s conventional encryption methods at risk. Enterprises that hold the world’s most sensitive data have no time to waste in rolling out plans for enabling quantumresistant algorithms in the data security products they deploy.

VISIT: www.cxoinsightme.com/cxo2021/50/nomination.php

The coronavirus crisis has accelerated the adoption of digital technologies in the Middle East. The pandemic has demonstrated the importance of business continuity plans and the need to improve operational efficiencies through digital business.

In its third year, CXO 50 Awards seek to recognise IT leaders who have taken the reins during the crisis to shape the new normal. The award is designed to honor innovative and forward-thinking IT executives whose actions have had an impact on their own organisations and the industry they work in.

The awards are open to IT executives anywhere in the Middle East and all entrants for CXO 50 Awards will be evaluated by a judging panel comprising industry stalwarts. So, if you are an IT pro who has demonstrated innovative leadership with real-world results we would like to hear from you.

PLATINUM PARTNER GOLD PARTNERS SILVER PARTNERS

Red Hat AVEVA

ADRIAN PICKERING Regional General Manager, EMEA

What are the biggest trends that will change the regional technology landscape in the next 12 months? Over the next 12 months and beyond, one of the biggest trends we will witness is the continuous evolution of new and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), big data analytics, and blockchain. From our perspective, what’s important here is that these same technologies are all contributing factors behind the vast benefits of open source. As their potential continues to come to fruition over the coming period, their power and influence will, in turn, drive the growing trend of open source adoption and implementation. It is also essential to note that because digital transformation, the cloud, and demand for open source have become more mainstream, the required digital skills to manage and maintain such environments call for urgent attention. Therefore, another major trend that we will see moving forward is widespread efforts to bridge the digital divide and ensure emerging talent have the competencies and skills to succeed professionally in tomorrow’s digital environments.

How is your company helping its customers adapt to the new normal? At Red Hat, we have always aspired to be a catalyst for clients and customers’ communities by providing them with world-class technology from which they can learn and harness their potential. Now that we have been propelled into the new normal, our efforts help those we work alongside adapt to this new reality have only increased as the demand for open source solutions continues to rise exponentially. After all, open source technology fosters public sector innovation and, by driving innovation quickly, bridges the digital divide, empowers people and projects, and enables organisations to unlock their full potential through corporate action and social activism. Today, we are helping more enterprises than ever before become acquainted with the new normal by sharing our expertise and experience and providing them with the open source software and products they require to succeed in the new digital landscape.

DR TARIQ ASLAM Head of MEA

What will be the top trends that will transform the Middle East tech landscape in 2021? As we look ahead into 2021, four key technology predictions stand out for the Industrial sector. First, digitisation will continue to spread and mature within organisations – connected IIoT will go deeper and wider across the core of many businesses. Second, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) enabled technologies will continue to automate processes to deliver improved performance and agility. Third, there will be greater focus on sustainability as businesses look to become cleaner and more efficient in their use of natural resources. Fourth and not least, businesses will look to unlock critical insights from data.

How are you helping your customers adapt to the new normal? Digital capabilities are increasingly acting as a barometer for economic resilience in this ‘new normal’ and the industries that will thrive post this crisis are those that can digitalise completely. COVID-19 has forced organisations to consider how they can expedite their digital transformation while still operating. They are opting for cloud, digital twin, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation technologies to address the complexities of today’s challenging macro-economic environment. With unified data and analytics, companies are empowered with better information, which means they can make more informed decision to optimise operations for the new environment.

Cloud is especially critical right now and we are working across our customers to expedite their use of the technology. New technologies like AI enable four key areas to mitigate business and operational risk, improve workforce safety and efficiency, and forge a more reliable and secure enterprise - the four Ps: Predictive, Performance, Prescriptive and Prognostic.