CXO Insight Middle East - Observe what matters - by cxoinsightme

ISSUE 29 \ MARCH 2021

OBSERVE WHAT MATTERS AppDynamics reveals the need for full-stack observability with business context to tackle IT complexity

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CONTENTS

PRODUCTS

APPDYNAMICS REVEALS THE NEED FOR FULL-STACK OBSERVABILITY WITH BUSINESS CONTEXT TO TACKLE IT COMPLEXITY

OBSERVE WHAT MATTERS

NEWS

16 TRUST NO ONE

DIGITAL 36 SECURING TRANSFORMATION BY DESIGN

POWERING DIGITAL 20 TRANSFORMATION

A 38 BUILDING SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

PROVEN ARABIA LAUNCHES AI TECH START-UP

THE 22 WHY EDGE MATTERS

OUT 40 BOFREAKING LEGACY

HUB71 LAUNCHES NEW VALUE CREATION PROGRAM

26 LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP

SECURING DIGITAL 42 INNOVATION

32 TRANSFORMING SMALL BUSINESSES

NETWORKING 46 OPTIMISING AT THE EDGE

PUBLISHED BY INSIGHT MEDIA & PUBLISHING LLC

ZAHID TRACTOR TURNS TO INFOR FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION VMWARE EXPANDS REGIONAL HQ IN DUBAI

MARCH 2021

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EDITORIAL

FULL STEAM AHEAD

e are starting to see the end of the pandemic with the rapid rollout of vaccines. At the time of going to press, more than 420 million doses have been administered globally, and in the UAE alone, seven million people have already been vaccinated against the deadly virus. Covid-19 turned out to be the perfect storm for digital adoption, giving rise to the digital economy. Now, the question is whether it is time to take the foot off the pedal. It is estimated that the pandemic has brought about seven years of change in the way companies in all verticals do business in a short span of time. In other words, enterprises will have no option but to move forward with their digital transformation initiatives to do business in a changing world. No one can afford to go back to their pre-covid old and established business operating models to survive in a contracting economy where time to market and user experience

will be key deciding factors. It makes me wonder if digital transformation would ever end, and the general consensus is that it is an ongoing process that never ends. On the flip side, the pace and scope of the shift to digital technologies have resulted in an unprecedented increase in cybersecurity risks. Cybersecurity teams are struggling to keep pace with new attack surfaces opened up by digital transformation and enterprises need to rethink their security strategies for a post-pandemic world. One way to do this is to adopt new security models such as zero trust – a concept that requires enterprises to authenticate and verify all users irrespective of whether they are inside or outside of their networks. In this edition, we had spoken to industry experts to demystify what zero trust means and why companies in the region need a different mindset to deal with the dark side of the digital revolution.

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While the publisher has made all efforts to ensure the accuracy of information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors

MARCH 2021

CXO INSIGHT ME

NEWS

PROVEN ARABIA LAUNCHES AI TECH START-UP

roven Arabia has announced the launch of Proven Solution, a technology start-up that will offer a range of Artificial Intelligence (AI) apps powered through cutting-edge robotic products. Proven Solution will provide advanced portfolio housing AI, Robotics, Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) technologies. These innovative products and solutions can be customised to fit business needs, enabling local and regional organisations to take full advantage of emerging applications and solutions. Zaid Al Mashari, Group CEO of Proven Arabia, said, “Businesses are driving the adoption of new technologies in the wake of the pandemic, resulting in a rapid

ORACLE ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF JAVA 16

Oracle has announced the availability of Java 16 (Oracle JDK 16), including 17 new enhancements to the platform that will further improve developer productivity. The latest Java Development Kit (JDK) finalized Pattern Matching for instanceof (JEP 394) and Records 6

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(JEP 395), language enhancements that were first previewed in Java 14. Additionally, developers can use the new Packaging Tool (JEP 392) to ship self-contained Java applications, as well as explore three incubating features, the Vector API (JEP 338), the Foreign Linker API(JEP 389), and

pace of automation in the region. Building on this momentum, Proven Solution is founded on our vision of providing innovative applications and exceptional customer services that will help streamline business processes and drive efficiencies. We aim to offer advanced products that will play a vital role in the transformation of the tech and robotics industry.” The company’s technology solution start-up will cement the success of innovative technologies in the GCC market and help spearhead revolutionary changes in the industry. The brand will also tap into the US and European markets, extending its expertise and solutions internationally. Proven Solution has already formed partnerships with several key industry leaders such as Softbank Robotics Europe, as service providers for their humanoid robots.

the Foreign-Memory Access API (JEP 389), and one preview feature, Sealed Classes (JEP 397). Oracle delivers Java updates every six months to provide developers with a predictable release schedule. This offers a steady stream of innovations while also delivering continued performance, stability and security improvements, increasing Java’s pervasiveness across organisations and industries of all sizes. “The power of the six-month release cadence was on full display with the latest release,” Georges Saab, VicePresident of development, Java Platform Group, Oracle. “Pattern Matching and Records were introduced a year ago as part of JDK 14 and have since gone through multiple rounds of community feedback based on realworld applications. This process has not only given Java developers the opportunity to experiment with these features before they were finalised, but also incorporated that critical feedback which has resulted in two rock-solid JEPs that truly meet the needs of the community.”

IFS LAUNCHES IFS CLOUD

FS has launched IFS Cloud, a single platform that innately connects all its products to deliver the end-toend capabilities a company needs to orchestrate its customers, people and assets and deliver amazing Moments of Service, said the firm. Customers can choose to deploy best-of-breed or leverage the power of connecting their value chains across capabilities such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), human capital management (HCM), asset management (EAM) and field service (FSM). Darren Roos, IFS CEO, said, “The path to digital transformation is not a simple one. Most businesses are complex and have intricate value chains, which is why few organizations succeed and even fewer vendors provide the tools to truly enable it. At IFS, our single most

important goal is to deliver value to our customers, and we want to provide a clear path for them to evolve to new business models, compete and win.” With IFS Cloud, the company offers a unique and single technology platform with one common user

SANS INSTITUTE TO OFFER ONLINE TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR SAUDI

experience, one data model and one consistent support offering. IFS Cloud brings simplicity, choice and innovation to organisations that need to evolve to new business models, control costs, expand faster and serve their customers better.

SANS Institute has announced its upcoming live online training program ‘SANS Riyadh March 2021’, to be held from the 21st of March to 1st of April. The program is designed to give professionals flexible access to indepth and practical courses online. It offers courses on security essentials, cloud security, incident handling, web applications security, and advanced network forensics CISSP Certification GISP. According to IDC’s annual Saudi Arabia CIO Survey 2020, 25% of enterprises in Saudi Arabia plan to deploy on-premises, dedicated private clouds, multiple public clouds and legacy platforms to meet their infrastructure needs. However, security concerns form one of the three main obstacles towards cloud adoption. Ned Baltagi, Managing Director, Middle East and Africa at SANS Institute, said, “The Gulf region, including Saudi Arabia, has been significantly exposed to geopolitical threat actors. In the current post-pandemic era, with looming lockdowns, closed borders, and remotely dispersed workforces, adopting cloud platforms is the way forward for enterprises. With SANS Riyadh March 2021, we continue to place emphasis on building skills to manage security practices in the cloud, as well as offer web application security.”

MARCH 2021

CXO INSIGHT ME

NEWS

HUB71 LAUNCHES NEW VALUE CREATION PROGRAM

ub71, Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem, is doubling down on scaling startups and enabling founders by introducing a value creation program. Tech startups from around the world will benefit from increased access to market as Hub71 actively facilitates business opportunities to enable their

sustainable growth, globally. Hub71 launches its program by embarking on a four-month roadshow across the emirate to create opportunities for collaboration with leading Abu Dhabi corporates, particularly assets under Mubadala Investment Company and ADQ’s portfolio, as well as local and federal

government agencies that govern and regulate national priority sectors and industries. The roadshow aims at strengthening Abu Dhabi’s innovation cluster and reinforcing Hub71’s intention to partner with like-minded organisations that share its mission to accelerate the emirate’s digital transformation. Building on Hub71’s Corporate Engagement program, the global tech ecosystem is launching a new annual partners challenge, “The Outliers”, supported by leading entities in the public and private sectors to search for the boldest ideas to solve real challenges. This will foster new opportunities for startups worldwide to work alongside and support Abu Dhabi’s leading corporations and government agencies across various sectors, solving industry challenges with innovative new concepts. The initiative aims to build a solid pipeline of high-quality startups to consider doing business and relocating to Abu Dhabi.

solution was no longer feasible and could not support Zahid Tractor’s aggressive digital transformation drive. With the ambition of streamlining all facets of the business as part of its “Ethos of Excellence” and deploying state-of-the-art technologies (such as business intelligence, artificial intelligence and machine learning), Zahid Tractor commissioned one of the

big four consulting firms to oversee the due diligence process in selecting the ideal ERP solution. Upon completion of the due diligence process, Infor M3 for Equipment (manufacturing, distribution, equipment dealership and rental ERP solutions) was selected as the ideal solution in achieving Zahid Tractor’s ambitious digitalization aspirations.

ZAHID TRACTOR TURNS TO INFOR FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION Infor has announced Zahid Tractor, a Saudi Arabia-based Zahid Group company that supplies construction machinery and commercial vehicles, is now using Infor enterprise resource planning (ERP) to streamline and gain visibility across all departments. The integration of Infor M3 for Equipment allows Zahid Tractor to continue to distinguish its customercentric offering and commitment to excellence across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s construction, transportation and rental sectors. Zahid Tractor originally depended on a bespoke homegrown enterprise information technology solution. As the company continued to grow, this 8

CXO INSIGHT ME

MARCH 2021

3M TO INVEST $1 BILLION TO ACHIEVE CARBON NEUTRALITY

M has announced it expects to invest approximately $1 billion over the next 20 years to accelerate new environmental goals: achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, reduce water use by 25% at its facilities, and return higher quality water to the environment after use in manufacturing operations. “As we grow 3M, we will lead in

environmental stewardship, social equity and justice, and corporate governance,” said 3M chairman and CEO Mike Roman. “We are taking action now to bend the curve on carbon emissions and water use and improve water quality. Our investments will make us more effective and efficient and drive growth. Today’s announcements demonstrate again how 3M applies science to improve lives to

help shape the world through cleaner air, better water quality, and less waste.” The company’s long-term investments will help advance waste reduction and pollution control programs, reduce water usage, and acquire and apply best available technology. The investments further accelerate 3M’s continuous improvement of its manufacturing operations and ability to deliver on its environmental goals. “We start 2021 with a firm assertation to implement practices that addresses the global environmental challenges facing our world today. At 3M, we are building a solid foundation and further embedding ESG into the core of our business operations to drive growth that is truly sustainable. We understand our obligation to the environment, and we are one step closer to achieving the goal we set ourselves of carbon neutrality,” said Robert Nichols, Managing Director Middle East and Africa, 3M

IBM CLOUD SATELLITE TO HELP DELIVER CLOUD SECURELY

address critical data privacy and data sovereignty requirements. Industries including telecommunications, financial services, healthcare and government can now benefit from reduced latency that comes with analyzing data securely at the edge. Workloads related to online learning, remote work, telehealth services and more can now be delivered with increased efficiency and security with IBM Cloud Satellite. As workloads shift to the edge, IBM Cloud Satellite will help clients deliver low latency, while still enabling them to have the same levels of security, data privacy, interoperability and open standards found in hybrid cloud environments. IBM is also extending Watson Anywhere with the availability of IBM Cloud Pak for Data as a Service with IBM Cloud Satellite. This gives clients a flexible, secure way to run their AI and analytics workloads as services

across any environment – without having to manage them on their own. EquBot, a fintech firm helping global investment professionals, is already seeing early benefits. The work has shown reduced latency from ten seconds to under one second on some of the time critical models. This allows investors to make better-informed decisions across financial markets.

IBM has announced that its hybrid cloud services are now generally available in any environment – on any cloud, on premises or at the edge – via IBM Cloud Satellite. Lumen Technologies and IBM have integrated IBM Cloud Satellite with the Lumen edge platform to enable clients to harness hybrid cloud services in near real-time and build innovative solutions at the edge. IBM Cloud Satellite brings a secured, unifying layer of cloud services for clients across environments, regardless of where their data resides. This is essential to help

MARCH 2021

CXO INSIGHT ME

NEWS

VMWARE EXPANDS REGIONAL HQ IN DUBAI

E Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), has inaugurated the newly expanded regional HQ of VMware Middle East, highlighting the role of digital technologies in developing innovative services in the UAE and the entire region. “Moro Hub, a subsidiary of Digital DEWA, the digital arm of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), works to achieve the vision and the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, aiming at strengthening the leading position of the UAE and Dubai in the digital and smart solutions sector in the world. As a leading data hub, our key goal is

to build strategic partnerships with multinational technology providers like VMware,” said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer. “The newly expanded regional VMware HQ in Dubai comes as a result of this partnership, and reflects our keenness to streamline access to data, championing digital transformation, diversified economic growth, and embracing innovation agendas in alignment with Dubai 10X initiative and UAE Centennial 2071 that aims to make the UAE a global hub of advanced digital solutions. Today, partnerships among organizations sharing common goals are more important than ever, as they play a crucial role in supporting digital transformation at the organisational and national levels,” Al Tayer added Since opening its first regional

TENCENT CLOUD DEPLOYS INTERNET DATA CENTRE HUB IN BAHRAIN

Tencent Cloud has announced its collaboration with the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) – the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Investment promotion agency. The two parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with the aim to drive the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Internet Data Centre (IDC) development and support its rapid 10

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emergence as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s hub for the cloud and IDC sectors. The MoU signing also marks a significant milestone for Tencent Cloud as it deploys its first public cloud infrastructure in the MENA region. H.E. Khalid Humaidan, Chief Executive, Bahrain Economic Development Board, said, “As a global

office in Dubai in 2012, VMware has developed its Middle East operation from an entity with 26 employees to a regional hub with 480 staff committed to helping organisations in the UAE and beyond achieve their transformation goals by enabling unprecedented flexibility in how they build and evolve their digital environments and serve customers.

leader in technology, innovation and cloud services, the EDB is very proud to be partnering with Tencent to set up their first MENA data center hub in Bahrain. We are confident that Tencent will be able to leverage on the Kingdom’s regional connectivity, local talent, and business friendly environment to expand their services and reach clients across the region.” According to research by MarketsandMarkets, the Middle East’s cloud market is expected to reach $4.5 billion by 2024, with a CAGR of 17.5 percent over the same period, highlighting the growing opportunity in this region. The MoU between Tencent Cloud and the Bahrain EDB will allow for substantial opportunities to boost the local digital economy, empowering local organisations to expedite their digital transformation journey. It will also allow Tencent Cloud to leverage on Bahrain’s regional position, and the EDB’s connectivity with local and regional stakeholders, including Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat.

COVER STORY

THE RISE OF

FULL-STACK OBSERVABILITY APPDYNAMICS, A PART OF CISCO, HAS RECENTLY RELEASED A STUDY THAT EXPLORES THE IMPACT OF THE RAPID ACCELERATION OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION, CREATED IN RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, AND THE REPERCUSSIONS FOR GLOBAL TECHNOLOGISTS. NICK BOGATY, CHIEF REVENUE AND CUSTOMER OFFICER AT APPDYNAMICS, DISCUSSES THE DRAMATIC INCREASE IN IT COMPLEXITY CAUSED BY THE NEED FOR URGENT INNOVATION AND TELLS US WHY THERE IS AN UNPRECEDENTED DEMAND FOR FULL-STACK OBSERVABILITY WITH BUSINESS CONTEXT.

an you share with us the key findings of the Agents of Transformation research? In February, we released ‘Agents of Transformation 2021: The Rise of FullStack Observability’. The report comes at a time when many organisations are reflecting on a year of unremitting fire-fighting following the initial shock of COVID-19. In response to the pandemic, technologists across the world delivered incredible achievements - under immense pressure, as they pivoted their organization’s IT strategy. The report found that technologists implemented digital transformation projects faster in 2020 than in any previous year - on average, three times faster. This is pretty incredible. But as a consequence, technologists are now struggling to manage crippling IT complexity caused by the rapid digital transformation and technologies required to support this change. 83% of technologists told us that their own job had become more complex over the last year. To get a handle on this spiralling complexity, 95% of technologists overwhelmingly agreed that having real-time visibility across the entire IT estate is important. More specifically, 12

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we found a clear and pressing need among IT teams to implement fullstack observability solutions to solve these challenges. IT has always been complex, but what is making it worse now? For some years now, consumer appetite for digital services has been increasing. Brands have had to adapt to deliver tailored, intuitive customer experiences across all digital channels, at all times. And this has led to a progressive increase in complexity across the IT environment. Many businesses have redefined their priorities, placing digital at the heart of their customer experience strategies. The pandemic has accelerated this change. Enterprises shifted to digitalonly propositions and remote working almost overnight, and complex IT project rollouts were delivered in weeks rather than months or years. Many technologists fast-tracked the move towards cloud computing in order to respond quickly to the changing needs of their organisation. This gave them flexibility and the ability to spin services up and down. But they now face the challenge of managing IT systems both within and outside of the core IT estate and the complexity that comes with it. Furthermore, the sheer amount of data that IT professionals are monitoring from all these services is staggering. We’re at the point where customers are overwhelmed and cannot cut through the noise, with huge numbers of technologists (75%) struggling to manage ‘data noise’ without the resources and support they need. Why do we see the move to fullstack observability versus traditional monitoring? Monitoring individual elements of the IT stack - applications, databases, servers, etc. - is critical, but for modern, digitallyfocused organisations, the stakes just got much higher and monitoring alone just isn’t enough anymore. Technologists now require complete and real-time visibility across the entire IT estate and

the ability to monitor and correlate data across the stack. To achieve this, they need full-stack observability. Full-stack observability is a hot topic right now. Why is that? A buzzword or mainstream technology? The Agents of Transformation report showed that technologists are overwhelmingly keen to embrace full-stack observability, and they understand the benefits. But it also exposed a level of confusion and uncertainty among technologists with regard to the types of monitoring and observability solutions that are now available to them - 65% say it is difficult to distinguish between monitoring and observability tools. There is clearly a need for greater transparency and clarity around full-stack observability within the market. AppDynamics is committed to providing technologists with the information and support they need to make informed decisions about their full-stack observability strategy. The research revealed that 73% of technologists believe that the inability to connect fullstack observability with business outcomes will be detrimental to their business in 2021. Enterprise organisations have to act now, and while visibility across the entire IT stack might seem like the answer, it will only succeed when technologists can connect IT performance to business impact. What key areas of the IT stack do technologists want to monitor? Technologists require complete and real-time visibility across the entire IT estate, from traditional IT systems to new, hybrid cloud environments. In my conversations with customers, they talk about wanting to ‘connect the dots’ up and down the stack. This goes from the customer or employee-facing application all the way down to the lowest level infrastructure (compute, storage, network and public internet). They need a platform which is capable

of receiving data from multiple sources to accurately understand and represent topologies and dependencies, and to drive actions. Who should be driving digital customer experience? Is it the CIO, CMO, or someone else in the C-suite? In a high functioning digital organisation, the IT department is in partnership with the business. We all know that IT used to be relegated as a back-office function, and now they are literally building the business. We started Agents of Transformation specifically because we could see individuals within our customers who were leading business transformation and digital customer experience within their organisation and putting technology at the center. We wanted to champion these people. Full-stack observability with business context is about giving IT leaders the information they need to focus on what matters most to the business. How do you connect full-stack observability with business performance? IT teams need a single platform that enables them to monitor the full IT stack and quickly navigate through the data deluge to pinpoint the most critical data and contextualize IT performance insights with real-time business data. They need to observe what matters most by quickly understanding how it impacts the business, this means identifying the impact on tangible business outcomes such as customer experience, sales transactions and revenue. This will help them to prioritise actions, innovations and investments based on the direct impact to customers and the business. Monitoring the internal IT environment is relatively easy. Is it challenging to keep track of what is outside of a company’s own environment? The data that is within a company’s environment has traditionally been monitored by agents that you deploy

MARCH 2021

CXO INSIGHT ME

COVER STORY

enormous pressure and being asked to perform new tasks. Can they rise to meet these challenges? The pressure on the CIO - and the wider IT team - is very real. In 2020 technologists achieved incredible feats as they responded to the challenges posed by the pandemic. But the speed of innovation and change isn’t going to end. It’s only going to get more intense. Our data shows that 88% of technologists predict that the biggest challenge they will face in 2021 will be the need to drive through transformation at speed. Enterprise organisations need elite technologists with the skills, vision and commitment to drive positive and sustainable digital transformation within their organisations to meet these challenges. At the same time technologists need specific resources and support from their organisations if they are to step up and operate at the highest level. and have control over. Now - for all the reasons we’ve discussed - there is a technology sprawl across onpremise and cloud architectures and it is harder to monitor the technology you don’t directly control, such as the public internet and cloud. The Agents of Transformation data backs this up - 77% of technologists said that acceleration to cloud computing had been a contributing factor to increased technology complexity in 2020. What are the barriers to the adoption of full-stack observability platforms? Willingness and desire to embrace this technology among IT teams isn’t an issue. 96% of technologists recognise that having the ability to monitor all technical areas across their IT stack and directly link technical performance to business outcomes will be important during 2021, and 75% want to do this within the next 12 months. But there are still barriers to overcome. Most common issues include a lack of skills within their IT department, developing a robust business case for investment, and potential integration issues. And 14

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our research also exposed a level of confusion and uncertainty among technologists with regard to the types of monitoring and observability solutions that are now available to them. At AppDynamics, we guide our customers to determine which applications to start with and what types of business transactions should be monitored. We do a lot of consulting and get our customers up to speed. Many products out there allow you to collect data and correlate it in many different ways, but they don’t offer out-of-the-box insights correlation, and from what our Agents of Transformation have told us, that is critical to their business. Do you leverage AI and ML to automate the process of finding issues and fixing them before it impacts business performance? AI, machine learning and automation are built into our products. These technologies offer our customers the opportunity to fix digital problems before they even happen. The Agents of Transformations report shows that technologists are under

Do you think the role of IT is more important now than ever before? Absolutely. This is a career-defining moment for technologists. They are in a position to step up and deliver the transformation their organizations need to compete and thrive in a turbulent and highly uncertain market. What sets you apart from the competition? AppDynamics is on a mission to help companies see their technology through the lens of the business so they can work together to prioritize what matters most. As a part of Cisco, AppDynamics is uniquely positioned to leverage the breadth of Cisco’s domain expertise in network, application, infrastructure and security - while also providing the business context they are known for. We’re delivering full-stack observability that helps customers see, understand, and optimise what happens inside and beyond their architecture - all through the lens of business impact. The AppDynamics Business Observability platform will enable technologists to better prioritise and deliver the biggest impact for their business.

How can public sector organisations build secure, robust applications… fast?

Public sector organisations face a daunting set of challenges as society adjusts to the current COVID-19 environment. Citizen services that previously depended on in-person processes have been forced to pivot to digital alternatives at an uncomfortable speed.

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FEATURE

TRUST NO ONE HOW A ZERO TRUST MODEL CAN BOLSTER YOUR SECURITY ENVIRONMENT

he pandemic has triggered an unprecedented rise in cyber-attacks. The growing reliance of digital platforms has opened up new avenues for bad actors to exploit. Cybercriminals have used the trend of remote work to launch phishing and ransomware attacks targeting employees working from home. This has sharpened the need for zero trust security, a model that calls for strict authentication and verification of access to all resources. Zero trust is starting to become an integral part of basic security architecture and according to industry experts, will soon become the new normal for cybersecurity. “The age of the corporate network

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and single security perimeter is coming to an end,” says Ajay Nawani, Director Sales Engineering, MEA, Sophos, explaining why zero trust will become the new normal in 2021. “In today’s time of fluctuating lockdowns and the new normal of work life, users are increasingly working remotely, conducting their work over the public internet. The pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation needs and has given rise to usage of software-asa-Service (SaaS) apps, cloud platforms, and other cloud-based services that have eroded the efficacy of using the network as the primary element to secure a resource. In this new normal way of working, organisations can no longer rely on a single, sealed-off corporate network and afford trust to

all the systems that reside within it. All these have made zero trust the only approach for cybersecurity in today’s dynamic times.” Emile Abou Saleh, Regional Director, Middle East and Africa at Proofpoint, say zero trust was already a buzzword in cybersecurity before the pandemic. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has paved the way for organisations to look more closely at zero trust security. “COVID-19 has triggered a shift to

Ajay Nawani

Ahmed Safwat

remote working globally, which in turn has increased organisations’ attack surfaces, making them potentially more susceptible to targeted attacks and cementing the notion that people are the new perimeter,” he says. The latest Proofpoint report has shown that while 82% of infosec professionals admitted their workforce shifted to working from home in 2020, a mere 30% trained users on safe remote working habits. While some offices are reopening, remote working will continue to be more prevalent and further amplify the need for a tighter, more flexible security strategy; and this is where zero trust will become crucial, coupled with an ongoing, comprehensive employee security awareness training programme. Ahmed Safwat, Presales Consultant at A10 Networks, agrees that the pandemic has accelerated the investment in zero trust access. “2020 was the year of understanding what the zero trust model is in a practical sense. Throughout the year, we saw security vendors align their solutions with the zero trust model, adjust the model as we got more clarity on what it means to be a zero trust user, device, or network, and explore the policy changes necessary to a successful implementation of the zero trust model. As the COVID-19 pandemic fast-tracked the move to SaaS and made the “work from home” model mainstream, the importance of zero trust security has gained critical importance,” he says.

Ram Narayanan

WHILE SOME OFFICES ARE REOPENING, REMOTE WORKING WILL CONTINUE TO BE MORE PREVALENT AND FURTHER AMPLIFY THE NEED FOR A TIGHTER, MORE FLEXIBLE SECURITY STRATEGY; AND THIS IS WHERE ZERO TRUST WILL BECOME CRUCIAL, COUPLED WITH AN ONGOING, COMPREHENSIVE EMPLOYEE SECURITY AWARENESS TRAINING PROGRAMME. What are the key factors for security pros to consider while planning for a zero trust architecture? Ram Narayanan, Country Manager, Check Point Software Technologies Middle East, says implementing zero trust security can dramatically decrease an organisation’s cyber risk. Additionally, this model can help to improve threat detection and increase visibility into an organisation’s internal network. “The key factor is to create a network segmentation by placing multiple

Giuseppe Brizio

inspection points within the network to block malicious or unauthorised lateral movement; so in the event of a breach, the threat is easily contained and isolated.” Toufic Derbass, MD of Middle East and Africa at Micro Focus offers, another perspective: “Zero trust is not a single technology (though it’s sometimes described that way), but a collection of activities working together to give you the best protection possible as your information travels across devices, apps, and locations around the world. You don’t have to have all these technologies or adopt them all at once. Just keep in mind that they function best in concert, so it’s important to sync everything up as you go along.” Giuseppe Brizio, CISO EMEA, Qualys, says it is essential to start defining a strategy and creating awareness about zero trust within the organisation by engaging key stakeholders and explaining how cyber risks could endanger business whilst explaining how the zero trust strategy will mitigate those risks. “Considering the wide span of the zero trust model, the strategy jointly developed with business functions, combined with rigorous risk-based approach, will help you define priorities when it comes to applying zero trust,” he says. Never trust, always verify With credential stealing emerging

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FEATURE

Sinan Eren

Candid Wüest

Sam Curry

CXO INSIGHT ME

MARCH 2021

as a key attack vector, multi-factor authentication is a core pillar of the zero trust model. “Based around the notion of ‘never trust, always verify’ zero trust is built on secure authentication techniques such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) and authorisation policies like least privilege access to ensure only legitimate users and devices get access to the corporate resources they need, and no more. It also supports the flexible, remote workforce of today by working anywhere, anytime, on any device,” says Sinan Eren - VP, Zero Trust Access – Barracuda. MFA, which requires users to complete two or more verification methods to access a company network, system, or resource and should be the standard for all organisations, according to Candid Wüest, VP of Cyber Protection Research at Acronis. He adds zero trust goes beyond MFA. “It will analyse the requests made by the user even if the first authentication succeeded, as it could be a compromised machine where the attacker hijacked the legitimate VPN connection, an elaborate phishing attack that stole and reused the MFA token in real time or even an insider attack. For example, you would not want to grant ‘Paul’ from marketing full access to the financial salary database, just because he authenticated his VPN correctly with MFA.” Mistakes to avoid Zero trust isn’t free from pitfalls and implementing it is not an easy feat. It’s important for CISOs to understand the risk factors and how to overcome them. “Don’t set up zero trust as synonymous with a point in time or with a product. In that lies pain and disillusionment. Instead, use it as a guiding principle and use it to solve the biggest problem in security — the lack of alignment with most businesses. Remember it’s one factor in the architecture, not the only one, and it’s a good tool to use for progressive improvements to a

security program,” says Sam Curry, chief security officer, Cybereason. Shift your current mindset and don’t think of networking and security as separate, says Ali Sleiman,Regional Technical Director, MEA at Infoblox. “The implementation of a Zero Trust architecture requires you to step back from your current architecture and begin with basic analysis. You must identify your sensitive data stores, both in the cloud and on-premise. These are the data stores that contain critical information that is protected by regulation (compliance) and hold critical customer, partner, and employee sensitive data that must be protected by many layers of policy related to security, governance, and more,” he says. He adds you also need to identify which data is toxic and restricted to the absolute minimum based on demystifying the user and driving access to your network and data based on authoritative real-tme information that can determine what role in organisation this user has, where are they connected from (location and device) and what is their destination. Narayanan from Check Point says zero trust is useless without the ability to enforce it. An organisation may develop role-based access control policies, but, if inappropriate access requests are not detected and blocked, then this provides little benefit. Even inconsistent enforcement across the enterprise network is problematic since sensitive data and resources may be located in areas with weak enforcement, enabling an attacker to gain access to them. “Designing and implementing an effective zero trust architecture is a multistage process and organisations must follow the best practice of identifying data and assets that are valuable, classifying the level of sensitivity of each asset, create data flows and group assets with similar functionalities, define a segmentation gateway – physical or virtual, and finally define a least privilege access policy for each asset,” he sums up.

THE EXPERTS SPEAK

ZERO TRUST IS NOT A PRODUCT OR A SOLUTION: IT IS AN APPROACH OR FRAMEWORK THAT IT CAN USE TO ENABLE SECURE ACCESS FOR ALL APPLICATIONS, FROM ANY DEVICES, BY NOT ONLY ESTABLISHING TRUST BETWEEN THE DEVICE AND AN APPLICATION ONLY AT THE TIME OF LOGIN, BUT ALSO BY CONTINUOUSLY EVALUATING TRUST AT EVERY TOUCHPOINT. Taj El-khayat, Regional Director Middle East & North Africa, Citrix

ZERO TRUST ARCHITECTURE HAS RECEIVED TREMENDOUS INTEREST IN THE CYBERSECURITY FIELD AND GAINED MARKET TRACTION OF LATE. WITH CYBER BREACHES ON THE RISE, THE WIDESPREAD SHIFT TO THE REMOTE WORKFORCE AND THE BUSINESS TRANSITION TO THE CLOUD HAVE POSITIONED THE ZERO TRUST APPROACH VERY STRONGLY AND FAVOURABLY AMONG CYBERSECURITY PRACTITIONERS AND OFFICERS. THE ZERO TRUST PHILOSOPHY IS BASED ON THE IDEA THAT USERS SHOULD HAVE ONLY THE BARE MINIMUM ACCESS THEY NEED TO PERFORM THEIR JOB. Ray Kafity, Vice President - Middle East Turkey and Africa (META) at Attivo Networks

ZERO TRUST WAS ALREADY A KEY TOPIC IN SECURITY LONG BEFORE THE SPREAD OF THE COVID-19 VIRUS, BUT THE PANDEMIC DEFINITELY HELPED GENERATE MORE INTEREST IN THIS IDENTITY-BASED APPROACH TO SECURITY. AS ORGANIZATIONS SHIFTED TO REMOTE WORK, THE NETWORKS WERE NO LONGER SECURE AND THERE WAS A SENSE OF VULNERABILITY DUE TO THE LACK OF A CONTROLLED OFFICE ENVIRONMENT. AS MORE ORGANIZATIONS LOOK INTO IMPLEMENTING ZERO TRUST, IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT WHILE IT IS ADVANTAGEOUS, ORGANISATIONS MUST IMPLEMENT NEW TECHNOLOGIES THAT PROVIDE ROBUST SECURITY MEASURES WITHOUT COMPROMISING THE USER EXPERIENCE. Amir Nooriala, chief strategy officer, Callsign

IN THE CONCEPT OF ZERO TRUST, CYBERSECURITY ADMINISTRATORS MUST RIGOROUSLY VERIFY THE IDENTITY OF EACH PERSON OR ENTITY THAT ATTEMPTS TO ACCESS NETWORK RESOURCES, FROM WITHIN THE COMPANY PERIMETER, OR REMOTELY. HOWEVER, EVEN ZERO TRUST MAY NOT GO FAR ENOUGH. THE NEW NORMAL OF WORKING HAS HAD A PROFOUND IMPACT ON THE NEW NORMAL OF CYBER SECURITY. WITH AN ENTERPRISE’S NETWORK EXTENDING TO WORKER’S HOMES AND PERSONAL DEVICES, THE NEW AGE OF THE ‘UNBOUND ENTERPRISE’ WILL DEMAND AN ADOPTION OF GARTNER’S SECURE ACCESS SERVICE EDGE (SASE) AS AN ARCHITECTURE FOR BRINGING SECURITY INTO A CONVERGED, CLOUD-DELIVERED PLATFORM. Gihan Kovacs, Senior Country Sales Manager UAE and Pakistan, Forcepoint

ZERO TRUST IS A HIGH-END GOAL THAT WILL BECOME THE NEW NORMAL FOR CYBERSECURITY. THAT BEING SAID, REALISTICALLY, THE SUCCESSFUL ZERO TRUST IMPLEMENTATIONS THAT HAVE GONE FROM MARKETING TO REALITY ARE ONES THAT HAVE HAD ZERO TRUST DESIGNED IN FROM DAY ONE. TYPICALLY, THIS IS NOT SOMETHING EVERYONE CAN DO UNLESS THEY ARE EMBARKING ON A BRAND NEW INITIATIVE. TO PUT IT SIMPLY, IF YOUR ORGANISATION HAS NOT YET EMBRACED THE CONCEPTS OF PASSWORD MANAGEMENT, LEAST PRIVILEGE, AND SECURE PRIVILEGED REMOTE ACCESS, OR STILL MAINTAINS SHARED ACCOUNTS FOR ACCESS, ZERO TRUST IS A DISTANT GOAL AND NOT SOMETHING YOU CAN EMBRACE FIRST. Morey Haber, CTO & CISO, BeyondTrust

THE ZERO TRUST PRINCIPLE HAS BECOME MORE AND MORE COMMON IN RECENT YEARS FOR MANY OBVIOUS REASONS. DX IS TRANSFORMING IT ENVIRONMENTS FROM THE LEGACY, DC-CENTRIC, PERIMETER BASED ARCHITECTURES TO A HIGHLY INTERCONNECTED MESH OF DISTRIBUTED NETWORKS, DEVICES, APPLICATIONS, WORKLOADS, DATA AND IDENTITIES, WHICH OPERATE IN A COMPLETELY HYBRID MODEL OF ON-PREM, CLOUD AND REMOTE SETUPS. IN ORDER TO SECURE THESE PERIMETERLESS DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENTS, AND BE ABLE TO SEAMLESSLY AND RAPIDLY ADAPT, THE ZERO TRUST SECURITY FRAMEWORK HAS BEEN DEVELOPED. Wael Jaber, Vice President of Technology and Services at CyberKnight MARCH 2021

CXO INSIGHT ME

INTERVIEW

We also see the adoption of cloud-based and remote work solutions to ensure users are using technology with ease and in a way that meets business needs from anywhere anytime. Another trend is taking mobility to the next level. As contactless becomes increasingly needed in 2021, the value of intuitive and personalised communications will allow companies to stay engaged with their customers in a meaningful way.

POWERING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION ANAS JWAIED, VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER FOR EMERGING MARKETS AT MICRO FOCUS, EXPLAINS HOW HIS COMPANY CAN HELP YOU WIN AT DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION WITH A RICH PORTFOLIO OF SOLUTIONS.

hich are some of the top trends shaping digital transformation in 2021? As the world continues to pace towards the new normal, some of the digital transformation priorities we see in the marketplace have been reshaped for 2021 to cope with the new “life and business 20

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style.” These include automation and AI initiatives for both IT (ITPA) and business (RPA) processes to enable innovations and raise productivity. In today’s world, making IT resilient to disruption with business continuity plans and securing perimeter is a must, and organisations are investing in data analytics to gain more business insights to meet evolving customer expectations and outrun the competition.

Should CIOs take a business-focused view of digital transformation? Definitely, they should. In fact, most companies’ board of directors have given CIOs a clear mandate: Use technology to speed the enterprise faster to its business goals. Regardless of where organisations are in their digital transformation journey, CIOs must seize this opportunity to take stock of their progress and re-align these priorities for the year ahead. Despite the challenges, a significant great opportunity exists to transform business operations and models from the ground up, enabling the business to respond to future disruption quickly and strategically. Furthermore, IT leaders expect an average 2% increase in IT spending in 2021, which contrasts with the overall economic downturn. CIOs hold a huge responsibility in ensuring that these commitments ladder up to their businesses’ overall digital transformation efforts. Do you think boosting business resiliency should also be part of digital transformation? I would say that digital transformation is key to business resilience both now and in the future. As a company or business, being responsive requires embracing digitisation for how companies manage and trust their information, enable their workforce, automate where possible, and improve their productivity. First, it starts with how firms manage information. Constant change and disruption put greater pressure to ensure all stakeholders work with and make decisions using trusted, governed information. Furthermore, with the pandemic nowadays, successful business continuity

means truly extending the office. The organisation’s value streams virtually and remotely, which requires looking at the organisation, its people, processes, information, and technology holistically. As I said earlier, all this is harder to deliver by organisations that have not embraced digital transformation. How do you help your clients navigate the digital transformation journey and avoid the common pitfalls? At Micro Focus, we help customers run and transform their business so they can succeed in the digital economy. With a broad software portfolio, underpinned by a deep inventory of advanced analytics, we help customers bridge existing and emerging technologies to achieve long-term success. That’s Smart Digital Transformation. Our methodology and transformation roadmap focuses on four key objectives CIOs typically look for as they digitally transform their enterprises. First, simplifying IT transformation by cutting complexity, building with agility, and driving services. With the Micro Focus Service Management platform, you can deliver smarter service management to IT and business users with intuitive self-service powered by AI. You’ll address issues, deliver new services, and extend support to business teams with greater speed and agility while reducing service impacts with hybrid IT asset discovery, proactive impact analysis, and service dependency mapping in your CMDB. Our Service Fulfillment and infrastructure modernisation platform allows you to design, deploy, and govern your in-cloud and on-premises resources from an automated portal. DevOps, infrastructure, and IT teams can choose from a unified set of offerings for enterprise-wide, flexible service fulfillment across cloud and on-premises environments. Not to forget the ability to deploy workloads to the latest platforms while leveraging trusted business logic and data. In addition, Micro Focus Service Assurance platform will help you to adapt to change with full-stack AIOps for automated discovery, monitoring, and remediation. You’ll regain full IT

observability, repair problems faster, and redirect savings to digital innovation. Our AIOps solutions build on what works to deliver the speed you need. We also help organisations to take a proactive, consistent approach to patch compliance, backups, and budget control across heterogeneous servers, databases, middleware, networks, and cloud services with our Service Governance platform. The second is accelerating application delivery, which allows you to reliably scale Agile and DevOps across all your environments, from mainframe to cloud. With Micro Focus quality and test management you will gain real-time insights, including the health and risks associated with every application release. As a result, your team can now deliver software up to 40 percent faster and improve developer efficiency by 25% and reduce application testing time by 40% in highly regulated environments. When it comes to DevOps and managing CI/CD, Micro Focus solutions will enable you to prioritise and measure value of the delivery pipeline with ALM Octane as well as to improve project visibility, efficiency, and fast decisionmaking to support major business transformations. Another key focus for organisations in the wake of Covid-19 is implementing 360 degree of Cyber resilience. Micro Focus will help you achieve this in seven stage capabilities: · Strategise your Cyber governance, structure, and sensing capability to anticipate and address adverse business or cyber events. · Withstand in an adaptive way your mission-preserving cyber defense framework that can withstand threats to the business. · Defend against disruptive cyber events based on a robust, self-healing digital immunity and active cyber defense. · Inspect in real-time cyber threats through machine-added detection, automated hunting, and advanced situational awareness. · Observe by reliance on automation, machine learning, and adaptive cyberthreat detection to address future threats to the business.

· Recover rapidly and restore your digital platforms, adapt, and recover mission-critical systems to avoid business interruption. · Adapt by continuously self-assessing and measuring the state of cyber performance and continuous improvement to support the business. Finally, the urgent need for monetising and analysing data in time to act. Micro Focus enables data-driven organisations to manage and analyse massive volumes of disparate sources of customer data at exabyte scale and extreme speed to gain an in-depth, actionable 360-degree view of customer interactions. Powered by artificial intelligence, we provide cognitive search to deliver contextually aware information that is highly relevant to the user’s information quest. It understands the user’s intent, and the patterns and relationships that exist within the data, regardless of the format. What is your advice for CIOs looking to future-proof their IT investments? The first advice to CIOs is to nurture a culture of “digital adoption” following the digital transformation to ensure that customers and employees make use of the new digital tools in place and protect the related investment. For that CIOs have to ensure they put in place tools like Micro Focus solutions to measure the user experience and satisfaction on the digital services, as well to give them visibility and insights to measure this usage and quality such as business value dashboards to make sure the usage and adoption are also optimised. To guarantee the best ROI, companies and CIOs have to trust and use enterprise IT management tools from leading vendors such as our Micro Focus to guarantee any desired ROI, where we have proven professional services that can successfully deliver on any customer requirements, whether out of the box or specially tailored to fit for a particular organisation. Last but not least, customers can leverage our world-class professional support and commitment to our product roadmap and lifecycle for continuous improvement.

MARCH 2021

CXO INSIGHT ME

FEATURE

WHY THE EDGE MATTERS WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN BUILDING A STRATEGY FOR THE EDGE COMPUTING

dge computing is a distributed computing paradigm the brings processing power closer to data sources. Bringing compute horsepower closer to the edge means low latency and a significant reduction in bandwidth requirements for organisations. Though relatively new on the scene, edge computing is already being hailed as a transformative foundational technology that can be used in many applications. Frost & Sullivan estimates that 90 percent of industrial enterprises will utilise edge computing by 2022, spawning a wide range of use cases, 22

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including robotics, autonomous vehicles, and smart factories. Why do you need to capture, store and analyse data closer to the sources instead of processing it in a centralised data centre? Dr. Chris Cooper, General Manager, Lenovo DCG Middle East and Africa, Lenovo DCG, explains why: “Today, more and more of our data is generated outside of the traditional data center and network perimeter - instead, data is coming from the edge of the network – connected devices, remote workers, IoT sensors and more. To be able to use that data in the same way

that we can use data in the data centre – applying analytics, automation of decisions, gaining actionable insight etc – we need to move to a distributed model of computing, where more of the computing power and processing is available closer to point of data generation.” Talal Shaikh, Director of Undergraduate Studies at the School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, Heriot-Watt University Dubai, says edge computing helps businesses make faster data-driven decisions in response to their consumers’ needs. For instance, edge computing can help detect high traffic areas at the store,

Dr. Christopher Cooper

and hence, the staff can learn about fast selling products and replenish stock on time – ultimately improving customer experience and profitability. “With edge computing, accumulated data does not need to go back to the central server for the device to know that a function needs to be executed. That results in operational cost savings and reduced storage requirements,” he says. According to Adrian Pickering, regional general manager, MENA, Red Hat, implementing edge solutions can help IT teams identify the architectural design changes needed to mirror shifts at the application layer. Breaking data centres down in this way can result in a faster, more consistent user experience, with low-latency, highly available apps for organizations in any industry. “Greater resiliency, real-time decisionmaking, the ability to conduct on-site data analytics and aggregation, and enhanced sensitive data security are all advantages - and edge computing can also provide benefits in a large variety of use cases, including utilities, transportation, healthcare, energy, retail, and telecommunications. The majority of organisations across all verticals expect cost reductions and savings via edge computing, which can help create the infrastructure to accommodate specific customer demands that traditional IT models cannot address,” he adds.

Talal Shaikh

THOUGH RELATIVELY NEW ON THE SCENE, EDGE COMPUTING IS ALREADY BEING HAILED AS A TRANSFORMATIVE FOUNDATIONAL TECHNOLOGY THAT CAN BE USED IN MANY APPLICATIONS. FROST & SULLIVAN ESTIMATES THAT 90 PERCENT OF INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES WILL UTILISE EDGE COMPUTING BY 2022, SPAWNING A WIDE RANGE OF USE CASES, INCLUDING ROBOTICS, AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES, AND SMART FACTORIES. What are some of the popular use cases of edge computing today? Azz-Eddine Mansouri, General Manager at Ciena Middle East, says one of the use cases is related to the remote monitoring of assets in the oil and gas industry where edge computing

Adrian Pickering

will provide real-time analytics and processing much closer to the asset, without the need to rely on a good connectivity to a centralised cloud. “Furthermore, edge computing is also a core technology to foster the adoption of smart grids and can enable enterprises to better manage their energy consumption, which will also drive the advanced adoption of green energy.” Edge computing is necessary to address shortcomings in cloud-based applications and services with respect to performance and regulatory requirements, says Antoine El Hakim, Edge Business Development Manager for MEA at Schneider Electric. In short, cloud computing can’t always meet the required demands in terms of response time that critical applications require. Companies that face government regulations regarding where data is stored may also find cloud computing can’t deliver the local storage they need. “It’s an issue because the trend toward digitization to improve efficiency and business performance is fueling demand for applications that require peak performance, particularly Internet of Things (IoT) applications. IoT applications often require lots of bandwidth, low latency, and reliable performance while meeting regulatory and compliance mandates, making them classic candidates for the edge,” he says.

MARCH 2021

CXO INSIGHT ME

FEATURE

Azz-Eddine Mansouri

Antoine El Hakim

Christian Bartosch

CXO INSIGHT ME

MARCH 2021

Christian Bartosch, Partner & Associate Director at Boston Consulting Group, points out edge computing has already seen proposals for a multitude of use cases. The most successful use cases, which have been deployed on near-edge or on-premise edge computing often make heavy use of AIpowered image processing and pattern recognition such as video-based quality management in manufacturing because it is often not economical to provide the latency and bandwidth required for such applications from the core of the network. Other examples also include the use cases of Augmented Reality or Virtual Reality in gaming and guided tours as seen in South Korea, he says. Early adopters Edge computing is steadily gaining steam and early adopters include manufacturers, retailers and healthcare providers. “Edge computing is key in industrial automation as it helps machines carry out near-real-time analysis on the production floor, which in turn creates an opportunity to enhance operational efficiency and profit margins vastly. As with most industries in need of digital transformation, retailers are in need of innovating their customer experiences. In this regard, retail organisations are investing aggressively in edge computing. Examples include digital mirror and smart dressing rooms that provide different clothing options without needing the consumer to try on the items,” says Shaikh from HeriotWatt University. Cooper from Lenovo DCG says healthcare providers are moving to adopt edge computing. “Healthcare has obviously come to the fore because of the pandemic, where healthcare providers and health authorities need to access patient data, record test data, and process samples, while operating from temporary sites. During the pandemic, we have seen temporary facilities such as field hospitals, COVID testing centers and immunization centers set up in locations like

showgrounds, exhibition centers and even car parks. With edge computing, healthcare professionals can access data at these ties, quickly and securely, even though they may be miles from an established healthcare facility.” Core hurdles One of the main challenges related to edge computing adoption is the number of physical edge cloud data centers that will have to be built, which is estimated to be three to five times the number of existing centralised data centres. “These centralised and decentralised data centers will have to be interconnected to create a hybrid and multi-cloud environment that must be easily managed and orchestrated. This is because the physical location that hosts the application or virtual RAN function will depend on its specific performance requirements,” says Mansouri from Ciena. Pickering from Red Hat comments across the region and beyond, edge computing is mainly a problem of highly-distributed scale, which is a key adoption barrier. Irrespective of business or sector, scaling out to many small sites can be more complex than adding the equivalent capacity to a single core data centre, while the increased overhead of physical locations can be particularly difficult for small companies to manage. “At the same time, edge computing sites are usually remote, with limited or no on-site technical expertise. If something fails on-site, infrastructure that can be fixed easily by non-technical local labor and further managed centrally by a small number of experts located elsewhere is a fundamental requirement. It’s also important to note that site management operations need to be highly reproducible across all edge computing sites to simplify management and enable troubleshooting, while a greater risk of malicious or accidental situations can arise because physical site security is often much lower,” he concludes.

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CXO 50 AWARDS

LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP CXO INSIGHT MIDDLE EAST HOSTED THE THIRD EDITION OF CXO 50 AWARDS, HONOURING IT LEADERS WHO HAVE LED THE CHARGE DURING THE CRISIS TO SHAPE THE NEW NORMAL.

he virtual event began with MC Basil Ayass, a technology industry veteran, introducing the day’s proceedings. Kelly Latza, Senior Manager, UAE, VMware, presented the keynote address on ‘Future Ready with VMware: Respond, Adapt, Accelerate.” She said, “Our mission at VMware is to really be there for our customers and assist them navigate the new world. In rapidly changing and uncertain times, business and technology leadership together will lead organisations towards the future. VMware has mapped out a clear future ready roadmap to helps organisations respond, adapt and accelerate their operations digitally.” Latza’s insightful presentation was followed by a thought-provoking and rich panel discussion featuring top technology chiefs from the industry. Moderated by Jeevan Thankappan, Managing Editor at Insight Media and Publishing and CXO Insight Middle East, the panelists included Jassim Haji, President, Artificial Intelligence Society of Bahrain; Vinay Sharma, Group IT Director, Gulftainer; Jayakumar Mohanachandran, Group Head of IT, Easa Saleh Al Gurg and Khalid Rashid Moh’d Jalal, Senior

CXO INSIGHT ME

MARCH 2021

Group ICT Manager, Garmco. The conversation ranged from several key themes and trends that the industry must prepare for as businesses increasingly embrace digital and cloud strategies. The panellists agreed that digital and smart transformation is a continuous journey and innovation is critical for enabling digital focused initiatives. A key takeaway was that organisations must prioritise technological investments in processes and people to emerge successful in the new normal. Next up was the technologyfocused panel discussion by five

top cybersecurity leaders who defined the new normal in terms of cybersecurity innovation in today’s evolving landscape. Moderated by Jeevan Thankappan, Managing Editor at Insight Media and Publishing and CXO Insight Middle East, the panel featured Ajay Nawani, Director Engineering, MEA, Sophos; Yasser Elmashad, Cyber Security Specialist, F5; Fadi Yehia, Regional Director, Dubai, NE, Oman and Pakistan, Fortinet; Bhawani Singh, APAC Principal Solutions Architect, Checkmarx and Mohamed Arafa, Country Manager KSA, Micro Focus.

According to the panellists, businesses will have to invest more on cloud platforms for better employee and customer experiences and collaborations. As hyper-connectivity becomes even more of a must-have, the new normal will drive extreme automation, making cybersecurity a critical element. The main takeaway from the discussion was that security has to be thought of at the beginning of any new deployments or initiatives and organisations must create cyber-resiliency to effectively operate in these changing times. The high-profile event concluded with the awards ceremony, where an exclusive set of 50 individuals were handpicked by CXO Insight Middle East’s esteemed judging panel featuring – Arun Tewary, VP-IT, Emirates Flight Catering; Jassim Haji, President, Artificial Intelligence Society of Bahrain; M N Chaturvedi, Director of IT, Al Shirawi Group and Sebastian Samuel, CIO, AW Rostamani. The judges selected these innovative and forward-thinking winners based on the impact they have had on their own organisations as well as the industry they work in. CXO 50 Awards was sponsored by Platinum Partner: VMware; Gold Partners: Checkmarx, Fortinet, F5, Micro Focus, Sophos, Software AG and Silver Partners: D-Link, Exclusive Networks, Finesse, VisionTech and Huawei.

MARCH 2021

CXO INSIGHT ME

CXO 50 AWARDS

Walid Nsouli Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge

Samir Khan African & Eastern

Hajar AlMaazmi Ajman Bank

Shafique Ibrahim Al Fardan Group

Frank Watts Al Tayer Group

Sreedhar Reddy Aldar Properties

Nithin Geo Thomas Amity Education

Shrikant Kaboor ARADA Development

Shaker AlOwainati Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance

Madhu Suthanan Bahri & Mazroei

Mubarik Hussain Bloom Holding

Ali Mohamed Al Ali Department of Health

Salem Al Katheeri Department of Municipality and Transport

Arul Jose Vigin DIFC Courts

Anindo Banerjee Dubai Holding Entertainment

Abdalla Al Ali DMCC

Hossam Abbas Barakat Egypt Gas

Shah Room Khan Emirates College of Technology

CXO INSIGHT ME

MARCH 2021

Bilal Ahmed Emirates Float Glass

Rachid Hamida Enova

Javiera Aijaz Farnek Services

Manish Bhindra Galadari Group

Khalid Jalal Garmco

Mustansir Aziz Gulf Diagnostic Center Hospital

Vinay Sharma Gulftainer

Mustafa Gangardiwala Industrial Bank of Kuwait

Dr Mustafa Qurban King Fahd Military Medical Complex (KFMMC)

Ammar Alhusaini Kuwait Central Agency for Information Technology

Dr Jamal Al Enezi Kuwait Oil Company

Thomas Joseph Majid Al Futtaim Cinemas

Mathew Sheath Majid Al Futtaim Ventures

Ali Al Yafei Ministry of Education

Ali Jassim Ahmed Alaradi Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bahrain

Mufarraj El Hajiri Ministry of Interior, Kuwait

Ahmed Mohammed Hasan Buhaza Ministry of Finance and National Economy

Khalfan Mattar Al Hassani Monitoring and Control Centre

MARCH 2021

CXO INSIGHT ME

CXO 50 AWARDS

Mohannad Hennawi NAFFCO

Nawaf Al Sahan National Information Centre, KSA

George Eapen Petrofac

Khamis Awadh Abulani Rabadan Academy

Saji Oommen RAK Ceramics

Dr. Mohamed Abdullatif Khalifa Al Shehhi RAK Human Resources Department

Walid Abdulrehman Mohammed RAK Wastewater Association

Fru Christian Bills SADAD Electronic Payment Systems

Muhamed Felemban Saudi Industrial Development Fund

Anish Varghese Skelmore Group

Mohamed Abdel Razek Standard Chartered

Meshal Alotaibi Specialised by STC

Nadia Obaid AlQabanji Zayed University

Aliasgar Bohari Zulekha Hospital

CXO INSIGHT ME

MARCH 2021

INTERVIEW

TRANSFORMING SMALL BUSINESSES SAKKEER HUSSAIN, DIRECTOR OF SALES AND MARKETING AT D-LINK MEA, EXPLAINS HOW SMBS CAN BENEFIT FROM DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION.

hat are the priorities for SMBs in today’s evolving digital business landscape? The evolving digital business environment is compelling SMB customers to increasingly take advantage of the emerging technologies to boost their operations. SMBs are also looking at growing their productivity with remote working cultures, especially in today’s circumstances. The top-most priorities for SMB firms are finding ways to save on time and costs to improve business efficiency. SMBs are realising that automation and smart technologies can play a big role here. They are embracing cloud, automation and Artificial Intelligence tools and solutions. They need to invest in Internet of Things (IoT) and fast and stable Wi-Fi connections to truly leverage the technologies their business depends on. Networking technologies perform a crucial role in enabling SMB companies to stay connected and put their efforts towards growing their revenues and reach. What are the technologies that D-Link specialises in to empower SMBs with their digital transformation goals? Robust, fast and reliable Wi-Fi connections are central to the smooth operation of a SMB company embracing smart solutions. At D-Link, we are market leaders in Wi-Fi, cloud and networking technologies, serving both enterprise and SMBs for decades in the region. We 32

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understand regional SMBs’ business needs as they get along their digital transformation journeys. From, Mesh routers – cutting-edge technology modernisation for home and SMB Wi-Fi setups to pioneering remote networking solutions, cloud-based offerings, networking solutions and Wi-Fi 6 routers, we have an extensive range of products and services specially curated for this segment. AI, IoT, mesh, Wi-Fi 6 routers and 5G technologies dominate the new launches planned for this year from D-Link. How are SMBs leveraging remote working solutions from D-Link? Can you elaborate on your key offerings? SMBs are searching for cost-effective ways to deploy innovative enterpriselevel digital solutions that will help drive their businesses in the new normal and ensure business continuity. D-Link’s Nuclias Connect and Nuclias Cloud remote network management solutions are our flagship remote working offering for SMBs and enterprises alike. SMB firms across verticals are able to quickly and easily deploy, configure, manage, monitor, troubleshoot, and scale their networks remotely – via web browser or app. The Nuclias portfolio is cost-effective, efficient and features easy and zero touch deployment with hassle-free cloud-based management – all the features SMB companies are looking out for. In addition to the Nuclias solutions, SMBs can also leverage our robust Wi-Fi, wireless and 5G-enabled solutions to support their remote working models.

Can you elaborate on the market response of your flagship offering Nuclias product line? We have observed a huge adoption rate for the Nuclias portfolio since its launch last year. We aim to grow the portfolio with new features and better market segmentations to provide even more value-add for our customers. What are the growth drivers for this segment? How will D-Link power SMBs’ transformation over this year? Without a doubt the rapid digital adoption by the SMB segment is continuing to accelerate the industry’s growth in the region. They are looking for flexibility and innovation to help future proof their business operations. Smart and digital technologies allow them to have these advantages in cost-effective ways. D-Link’s objective continues to be a one-stop-shop for the end-toend digital requirements of the SMB segment in an ever-evolving tech and market landscape. From housing dedicated solutions and products for the SMB sector, we also have specific partner programs, training workshops and relevant service opportunities to empower our channel partners to serve SMB customers and help solve their business challenges. Over the course of the year, the market can expect to see more innovations targeted towards the SMB sector from D-Link.

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INTERVIEW

REDEFINING ENTERPRISE STORAGE BIBIN GEORGE, SALES REPRESENTATIVE MENA, ENTERPRISE AND SYSTEMS, SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY, HIGHLIGHTS THE FIRM’S RECENT DISTRIBUTION PARTNERSHIP WITH ASBIS MIDDLE EAST AND MARKET PLANS FOR THE YEAR.

an you give an overview of the current data landscape in the region? Are there key trends customers and partners must keep an eye out for? The datasphere is growing at an unprecedented rate. By 2025, IDC predicts the global datasphere will grow to 175 zettabytes. Data is fuelling a smarter and more responsibly connected world and will continue to play an instrumental role across all business segments. As the world adopts IT 4.0, customers and partners should transform the storage infrastructure at the granular level and reconsider the hardware they implement in their systems in order to maximise performance at every stage of the data flow, from the edge to the cloud. Why should regional customers capitalise on Seagate’s latest data management offerings in today’s new normal? We store most of the world’s data, shipping over 400 Exabytes per year. From petabyte to exabyte, we offer the best storage solutions at the best value with industry-leading capacity, firmware, and multi-core capabilities. Also, as Seagate develops technologies such as HAMR and MACH.2, valued Seagate customers will be able to get a first-hand experience with such solutions. Can you elaborate on the recent distribution partnership with ASBIS Middle East for Seagate Storage Systems? How do you expect ASBIS 34

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to help scale your business to new heights in the region? Seagate never had a distributor for Seagate Systems in the Middle East region. Now, signing up with ASBIS would help us to grow this business across the entire Middle East. ASBIS boasts over 30 years of experience in the Middle East market and a dedicated team for value solutions. We will work together with their existing base of SIs and VARs, as well as target the channel of our trusted global partners to develop a successful business. How can channel partners build value-added offerings around data management for their end customers? Channel partners should emphasis to customers that Seagate is the only enterprise storage manufacturer that designs and builds its entire system (including ASIC) and leverage our global partnerships to address

their growing challenges with the ever-increasing data growth and associated costs. How does Seagate support and enable its channel ecosystem with resources and trainings to help stay differentiated in the post-pandemic era? All our channel partners have access to Seagate Insider portal where they can access on-demand training and knowledge base which can be used to empower their team. Product Marketing collaterals are also available to promote the Seagate portfolio of products. Apart from that, we as Seagate along with our authorised distributor ASBIS run regular on-line trainings and webinars. What kind of Data Migration Services does Seagate offer? Seagate offers Lyve Services which includes data migration as well as tape migration services to customers. Migrating data from a tape/disk legacy environment into a cloud environment (public/hybrid/private) can solve data management issues such as data retention and compliance. Working across different verticals such as the oil and gas, telco, media and entertainment, we have global experience to engage with complex data migration projects. What can the regional market expect from Seagate during the course of this year? Customers can expect CORTX, a 100% open-source object storage that enables efficient capture and consolidation of massive, unstructured data sets for the lowest cost per petabyte. Designed, built, and maintained by Seagate and a community of data scientists and enterprise storage experts, CORTX will bring exabyte scalability for their private cloud. Also, Seagate will be coming out with our Lyve Drive Solutions later this year. It is a revolutionary system of modular solutions that will help you to efficiently move data around your enterprise, cloud, and edge.

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EVENT

SECURING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION BY DESIGN

CXO INSIGHT MIDDLE EAST, IN ASSOCIATION WITH CHECKMARX, ORGANISED A VIRTUAL C-LEVEL ROUNDTABLE TO DISCUSS THE KEY APPLICATION SECURITY TRENDS IN 2021.

he coronavirus pandemic has dramatically accelerated the pace of adoption of digital transformation across businesses of all types. However, as companies adopt new technologies and agile and DevOps methodologies to improve time to market, security issues continue to rise. Managing cybersecurity risks in the digital ecosystem requires enterprises to follow security-bydesign principles and build in security from the earliest point of software development. CXO Insight ME rallied together some of the top IT and security leaders from the UAE to discuss the cybersecurity challenges in the wake of the Covid-19 related digital adoption and ways to improve application security. Bhawani Singh, principal solution architect at Checkmarx, kicked off the discussion with security predictions for 2021. “The rapid push to DX has increased speed and app complexity, and at the same time, we are seeing a proliferation of applicationlevel attacks. The shift left movement is transferring security and IT ownership to developers. We are also seeing a shift towards open source and hackers find open source an easy way into organisations,” he said. Referring to this, Hamad Musabeh, director of information security at Smart Dubai Government, said Covid-19 is forcing businesses to adapt to disruptions and market realities. “If you look at retail as an example, this sector had to implement web and mobile apps to meet customers’ demands in a record time during the lockdown, and this is where open source comes in handy. Security teams will have to keep these business requirements in mind and look to reduce risks associated with open source tools.” Singh predicted that the demand for cloud-based security and proliferation of containers would increase the use of infrastructure as a code (IAC). “We also 36

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expect to see malicious actors exploiting developers’ missteps in these flexible environments.” Pointing out the security risks associated with this trend, Mohamed Morsy, senior security engineer at Talabat, said hackers could exploit any unpatched vulnerability in the IAC pipeline processes. “You have to watch every step and have standard operating procedures for things like user privileges.” Jurageswaran Shetty, security and infrastructure manager at Gulftainer, brought to the table another challenge facing the CISO community in the region. “We are seeing that SaaS providers are now getting compromised like in the case of Solarwinds. We see the emergence of in-memory malware that EDRs can’t detect. It’s time to protect against these risks by using CASB and cloud security applications.” During the discussion, Illyas Kooliyankal, CISO of ADIB, spoke at length about the need for agile security. “We can divide security approaches into pre-and postcovid. Security has to enable business, and digital transformation and cloud adoption are going to continue. In fact, some forward-thinking businesses are adoption cloud-only approach for cost optimisation and speed of delivery. It is important for

security leaders to be part of this journey. Security just can’t be an after thought.” Another key prediction made by Checkmarx was around API security. With the move from monolith applications to microservices and containers, vulnerable APIs will be most responsible for software and application-related breaches. Though awareness around API security has improved, APIs will remain one of the top attack vectors for bad actors, said Singh. Jeevan Badigari, information security and governance manager at Majid Al Futtaim, agreed with this point: “We have many digital initiatives that make use of APIs. The earlier three-tier architecture is no longer valid when you move to micro-services. We harmonise our API infrastructure and use API security gateways. It is still an unknown area and it is growing. We are all new to this game, and maturity is going to be key.” Singh concluded his presentation by urging the participants to take a holistic view of applications to improve security posture and make security part of the development workflow. “If the security tool doesn’t integrate into your SDLC in as many ways as possible, reconsider. We train the developers to write secure code and the threat modeling part. Our platform will help you to improve your app sec posture.” Other participants in the roundtable included: Taimur Ljlal,Head of Cloud Security & DevSecOps at Network International; Anoop Paudval, information security manager of Gulf News; Aliasgar Bohari, IT director at Zulekha Hospital; Kausar Mukeri, head of information security at Invest Bank; Shah Khan, IT manager of Emirates College of Technology; Muhammad Zia Rehman Principal Infrastructure Systems Engineer at Emirates News Agency; Sankar Ragothaman, head of architecture and innovations at Saal.ai; Shabir Bhat, regional sales director at Checkmarx; and Sagar Chopra, vice president, sales at RNS Technology Services.

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VIEWPOINT

BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE CRAIG HAYMAN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, AVEVA, ON HOW THE ACCELERATED PACE OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IS DRIVING SUSTAINABILITY ASPIRATIONS IN A NEW DECADE OF ACTION

his year marks a significant turning point for industries in a variety of sectors around the world. It’s the dawn of a new decade, and it began with the most significant global crisis in a generation. Yet, despite the apparent economic turbulence caused by the pandemic, businesses are more committed than ever to not only weathering the storm, but coming out of the other side with new-found aspirations to tackle the global issues of the day. While 2020 will have been the most challenging year on record for most businesses, there is a silver lining. In an effort to adapt rapidly to the ever-changing ‘new normal’, companies accelerated their digital transformation strategies and, in doing so, threw open a world of possibility regarding their approach to climate change, circularity, renewables, and the transparency and traceability of supply chains. From aspiration to action In order to build a more sustainable world for everybody, each business must play its own part. The United Nations has dubbed this the ‘Decade of Action’, calling on businesses and governments worldwide to do their part to meet 17 different sustainability development goals by 2030. Over the last few years, we’ve begun to see this narrative sway industry leaders into a more sustainable-oriented approach. Indeed, the CEOs of 2023 or 2026 are going to be incredibly unpopular if they continue to perpetuate what some have referred to as a ‘deliberate

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delay’ tactic, with no sustainability agenda to speak of. With organisations like the UN working hard to raise awareness, and environmental issues now a top priority for the public, organisations are becoming far more aspirant with their sustainability ambitions. The next challenge lies in turning that aspiration into action, and that’s where technology comes in. Uncovering hidden potential As any business leader will confirm, in order for an organisation to outrank its competitors it must find new operational efficiencies. It does this through acquiring insight and streamlining its operations to save on things such as time and cost. But what if the parameters were to shift? Instead of gathering data with the intent to simply make things faster, what if organisations started collecting data to make things faster and more sustainable?

By incorporating sustainability into its own KPI frameworks, businesses can begin to move the dial and have a material impact on the environment, as well as improving their bottom line. While sectors such as retail and fintech are already quite digitally mature and well versed in the use of data to drive optimisation, industrial organisations are really only scratching the surface. For example, take National Grid UK. Through a combination of wind, solar and nuclear, the company is committed to providing affordable, low-carbon energy for its customers. These renewable sources delivered 49% of Britain’s electricity in 2019 compared to 43% generated by fossil fuels. Reliance on renewables could be higher, but National Grid faces the unique challenge of having to cope with a notoriously intermittent supply of wind and solar energy. It’s a delicate balancing act in which there’s a direct overlap between the business’ service and sustainability goals. When National Grid UK partnered with AVEVA, it gained access to technology that allowed it to process 1.2 million data points in real-time, allowing it to strike this balance more effectively. By optimising energy traffic in real-time, the company is able to better serve its customers while simultaneously decreasing its dependence on fossil fuels. A decade of change There’s no reason profit and principle can’t go hand-in-hand. As with the National Grid UK, it’s perfectly possible for businesses to expand and increase profits whilst also helping to drive the sustainability agenda. The UN Global Compact is a new initiative with this idea at its core. It’s the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, and its purpose is to secure sustainability commitments from CEOs and other business leaders. To date, more than 12,000 businesses from around the world, including AVEVA, have already joined the UN Global Compact to share and collaborate in the pursuit of a more sustainable future.

VIEWPOINT

BREAKING OUT OF LEGACY MAKING THE MODERN NETWORK FOR NEXT GENERATION APPLICATIONS IS A MUST FOR THE BOARD, SAYS AHMED EL SAADI, REGIONAL SALES DIRECTOR / METNA & SSA, VIRTUAL CLOUD NETWORK & SECURITY AT VMWARE

here’s a saying in football that you never notice a good referee. Yet they have the most important job – ensuring the match runs as smoothly as possible. Without a referee to police the action, countless games would descend into chaos. The same principle applies to the IT network. Its traditional role is to direct and deliver data smoothly and quickly, from data centre to cloud to edge to device, transparently and efficiently. And just like the referee in a football match, its power and importance can’t be overstated. In the boardroom however, it can be a hard sell to talk specifically about networking. But, in the today’s business world, it simply isn’t possible to run modern, cloud-native apps and get them (and the burgeoning volume of data they consume) into the hands of users without the right network. By extension, networks are critical to enabling employees to work anywhere, and improving customer experience – and thus improving revenue and competitiveness. In that 40

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light, it becomes abundantly clear that networking deserves pride of place on the board agenda. With an increasingly disparate and distributed workforce, and our reliance on modern apps, clouds and new devices, organisations need to recognise the incremental value that a modernised network delivers. A modern network is delivered in software and is self-driving, self-provisioning, self-healing, intrinsically secure, and above all, scalable. But how and why has networking evolved to this point, in its efforts to facilitate modern business IT? Networking in the context of businesswinning modern apps and data There are two key agents of change driving network transformation, the first being the end user. Users are increasingly data hungry, and expect an ever-richer experience, meaning apps need to deliver data in larger volumes, to more places, on more devices, more often, and in a more consumable, user-friendly format. The nature of all this data, and where

it lives, has changed radically over the past few years. Data is now everywhere, existing anywhere from data centre, to the edge, to endpoints, and everywhere in between – creating distributed ‘centers of data’ rather than traditional data centers. Overall, IDC predicts that between 2019 and 2025, the amount of new data that is captured, created, and replicated every year will grow at a 61% compound growth rate. The second key agent of change in network transformation are applications the primary modern vehicle for delivering data and experiences to end users. By 2024 there will be more than three quarters of a billion applications – a sixfold increase in just ten years. This is huge. Just like consumers in any other walk of life, users want these new apps delivered faster and faster as their needs change. Developers, therefore, need to develop new apps fast. They need a network that supports this new rapid development process and that seamlessly and automatically scales with the needs of new applications. It’s becoming

increasingly obvious that traditional network infrastructures are no longer fit for purpose in this regard. With so much riding on the success of these new, cloud-native applications, businesses must understand the value that a modernised network infrastructure can release, and to give them the boardlevel consideration they deserve. Networking in the context of deperimeterisation Security and networking have always gone together, but as the threat landscape has deteriorated and the demands on networks have grown, we are seeing an even faster convergence. As a result, deperimeterisation – the blurring of an organisation’s network boundary with the outside world – is becoming the norm, whether by accident or design. Why? Because of increasing cloud adoption, and because modern cloud-native applications are based more and more on distributed architectures, such as microservices and containers, that exist outside of the core network. The extraordinary events of 2020 have also accelerated this trend towards modern apps even further. Deperimeterisation brings challenges, however. The first is complexity. With organisations implementing modern applications that in some cases span onpremises, cloud and edge environments, it’s extremely challenging for IT to manage application and service portfolios with any level of consistency. The second is an

expanded attack surface - the increase in network communication between and within distributed applications creates many more potential opportunities for hostile breaches. The traditional model of being comfortable solely with perimeter-based security, i.e. a ‘hard’ firewall-protected exterior and a largely unprotected ‘soft’ network interior, is now largely redundant. Organisations need to get at least one step ahead of possible threats, using networkdelivered capabilities such as microsegmentation to make their infrastructure and applications intrinsically secure, both inside and out. Delivering improved security via the network, rather than by a plethora of discrete point solutions, facilitates a universal ‘zero-trust’ approach to security, and the added intelligence, automatability and agility it provides. This is a key attribute of a modern network. Key factors of a successful Modern Network Modern networking demands a softwaredefined, virtual evolution of the traditional physical network, which leverages whatever existing infrastructure is available to support dynamic modern applications. In effect, we can now tell the network what we want to achieve through network and security policy (rather than telling it how to achieve it), and let the network get on with implementing it through Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence-driven automation. It is an evolution that drives universal and consistent connectivity, and delivers intrinsic security to modern and traditional applications, to both meet user demand at speed and supports business priorities. A successful modern network infrastructure consists of three core elements, namely: • Modern app connectivity services A consistent end-user experience is a business imperative. Organisations need to know exactly what users are on the network and the apps they’re using. A modern network uses capabilities such as service mesh so applications can

communicate internally and with one another, and security models such as Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) to give networks the agility to adapt to changing business needs in real time. • Multi-cloud network virtualisation A modern network must also be agile in response to changing business priorities. It needs to be self-driven and self-healing, using AI and machine learning to reconfigure networking and security policies while in progress. This again is where SASE comes in, steering traffic on a packet-by-packet basis across multiple clouds and locations to achieve the highest quality of user experience. • Independence from the physical network infrastructure Software-defined networking is what delivers a modern network’s agility, but the underlying physical network infrastructure still plays a core role - that of physical connectivity for the network traffic. It acts as a generic all-purpose platform, controlled by the overlay virtual network, that can be reconfigured and rerouted as required in real-time, flexing capacity up or down as needed. The physical infrastructure can sit anywhere, with its capacity being added or subtracted seamlessly to the virtual network, without impacting security. This allows businesses to make cost effective use of multi-vendor physical infrastructures, wherever they may be. Mastering a modern network to drive business success Customer experience is directly linked to business success and is fed both by modern apps and the data that flows through them. A successful modern network ultimately puts the end-user first, intelligently and automatically adapting to match whatever journey they are on. By enabling greater alignment with business outcomes, modern networks provide the invaluable and dependable digital foundation needed to flourish in the unpredictable world that we find ourselves in.

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VIEWPOINT

SECURING DIGITAL INNOVATION RENEE TARUN, DEPUTY CISO AND VICE PRESIDENT INFORMATION SECURITY AT FORTINET, ON HOW BUSINESSES CAN TACKLE CHALLENGES OF SECURING THEIR INNOVATIONS AS CYBER THREATS GROW.

he demand for digital innovation (DI), driven by shifting markets, evolving consumer expectations, and digital competition, has done far more than just transform networks. It has completely changed the organisation, including how lines of business are structured, how teams and individuals collaborate, where and how employees work, how success is measured, and how leaders execute against business objectives. One of the most profound changes has been the increased reliance on applications to support every aspect of the business. This has led to a number of critical structural changes, such as the adoption of cloud-based infrastructures, the adoption of SaaS applications and services, and the need to provide fast, flexible and secure connections to these resources to any user on any device in any location. The COVID pandemic accelerated 42

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the adoption of innovative work-fromhome solutions to accommodate the need for social distancing while maintaining business operations. Others, such as implementing network upgrades or expanding network edges, are designed to improve a company’s efficiency and customer experience. However, this need to compete in today’s digital world also means that many of these business-critical initiatives can only be realised by deploying new systems and solutions. But deploying new devices as part of a DI initiative also increases the complexity of network environments and creates new security and operational complexities that open up an organisation to new cyber risks. Part of the problem occurs when a security team attempts to address new risks, especially in a new edge environment, by deploying point security products inside the growing digital attack surface. However, the additional

complexity associated with monitoring and managing these point solutions, exacerbated by new data protection regulations, actually fragments visibility and reduces control, leaving security teams less prepared to protect the organisation against new cyber threats, especially those that utilise a multivector approach. New Devices Create New Threats When DI initiatives add new devices and work locations to the distributed network, they not only expand the organisation’s attack surface but they can also introduce new holes in the security framework. These new systems and solutions typically include Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, mobile devices, distributed cloud computing, new branch locations, and home offices. Each one of these introduces new threats that have to be monitored and responded to by security teams. IoT

do not inspect traffic. A compromised home network simply means that a VPN provides a secure tunnel through which bad actors can inject malware into the corporate network. Monitoring and securing these new devices and environments often requires specialised security tools, increasing the workload overhead on security teams.

devices often use insecure protocols that can’t be patched and default passwords that are targeted by malware. Mobile devices commonly hop between being on- and off-network, potentially dragging malware with them behind the corporate firewall. And home offices often include older, unpatched devices that can be easily exploited and used as conduits back into the corporate network. When these solutions are protected with different, isolated point security products, it can be impossible to deploy, manage, and ensure consistent policy enforcement or to correlate threat events across the network. Cloud computing, for many organisations, is especially challenging, as nearly three-quarters of cybersecurity professionals have trouble understanding the foundational cloud shared responsibility model. Next-gen branch networks expand security requirements as each new location has devices that must be secured. And for organisations increasingly relying upon latency-sensitive Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications, relying on traditional connections to apply corporate security solutions also means routing all traffic through the headquarters network, impacting user experience, and the bandwidth required to scan these applications for malware simply exacerbates the problem. Similarly, telework introduces new challenges, such as relying solely on VPN connections to provide security. VPNs

Growing Cyber Threats Versus the Cybersecurity Skills Gap At the same time that networks are being transformed, the cybercrime industry continues to grow. Overburdened security teams, stretched thin across the expanding attack surface and suffering from the cybersecurity skills gap, are often unable to keep up. Deploying “best-ofbreed” standalone cybersecurity solutions to address each potential attack vector as it is discovered simply makes the problem worse. Recent research shows that IT teams now have an average of 45 security solutions deployed across their networks. Rather than enhancing security, this level of vendor and solution sprawl actually diminishes their ability to not only detect, but also defend against active attacks. Complicating this problem further is the lack of integration between these tools. This means security teams must manually collect, aggregate, and analyse data from multiple platforms to gain the context required to detect and remediate threats on their networks. Leveraging expert security analysts might save time by collecting only a subset of significant data. But such experts are hard to find with a cybersecurity skills gap of over 3 million unfilled positions has left organisations understaffed and existing teams overworked. The addition of new devices and solutions that require manual security processes absorb essential time from security teams. And this is made worse because these manual correlation processes do not scale with the frequency and complexity of cyberattacks. Solutions for Securing Digital Innovation Initiatives To address these challenges, CISOs must create security strategies and deploy

solutions capable of providing scalable, integrated security that provides broad visibility and enables automated threat detection and response across their organisation’s security architecture. This starts by deploying an expansive security platform designed to function seamlessly within and across different environments. This platform should serve as a central point of control for seeing, managing, and orchestrating a suite of fully integrated solutions deployed at every edge. And it should support common standards and APIs to connect existing solutions into a single security framework. By converging networking and security, CISOs can ensure that dynamic changes to the network are automatically protected without impacting performance or productivity, ensuring the best user experience for employees and customers alike. A zero-trust access strategy helps ensure secure access to protected resources, identify unmanaged devices, and monitor for unusual behaviors across a highly distributed workforce. An adaptive cloud security protects applications and infrastructure in and across cloud environments, as well as extends security to users both on and off the network. When all of these systems are working together and sharing a common threat intelligence framework, real automation can be put into place to detect events, conduct an investigation, and coordinate a system-wide response without requiring human intervention. Which means your security team can focus on strategic solutions for DI initiatives. Digital innovation and rapidly adopted realities like remote work have led to a complex and expansive digital attack surface that threat actors are taking full advantage of. By integrating security into every facet of the network, CISOs can ensure that their team dynamically adapts to challenges and remains agile in the face of adversity. Breaking down the traditional walls between network and security and creating a more integrated and automated fabric ecosystem should be top of mind for CISOs who need to be prepared for any eventuality in order to thrive in the new digital marketplace.

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VIEWPOINT

EXPLODING NEED FOR BANDWIDTH THE DEMAND FOR BANDWIDTH IS EXPLODING, NOT ONLY BECAUSE OF REMOTE WORKERS, BUT ALSO BECAUSE OF THE INCREASED DEPENDENCE THAT BUSINESSES TODAY HAVE ON APPLICATIONS AND DATA, WRITES SHIBU VAHID, BUSINESS HEAD - SPECIAL PROJECTS, MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA & TURKEY AT R&M.

cross the public networks, telecom, Internet, and data centre segments, we see cabling infrastructure investments increasing. Above all, telecoms are investing in the expansion of fiber optic high-speed broadband networks, with this trend set to continue throughout 2021. Ongoing growth extends throughout the entire chain – from residential home networks to colocation and hyperscale data centres as well as wireless infrastructures. The key driver remains the exploding need for bandwidth everywhere. End devices are exponentially increasing in number and generating more and more data, driven by developments like 5G communications, smart cities, the Internet of Things (IoT), Wi-Fi 6, Industry 4.0, and edge computing. From enterprise and residential sites to data centers, generated data needs to be handled and managed in near real-time across all these different environments. So, bandwidth is needed nearly everywhere – whether it is inside and outside cities. As important as Power Although bandwidth is a basic need – and should be considered a utility like electricity and water – there’s still not enough of it. There is a growing awareness that infrastructure needs to be right for the type of data transport that end users are demanding – or it will simply collapse. Even the most advanced end devices will be severely compromised if the network behind them is outdated. The uptake of remote working, online collaboration, and online gaming, driven by Covid-19, is expected to last. It underlines just how vital bandwidth, uptime, and latency have become. Fibre will remain the medium of choice. Making it possible to cater to the vast need for ultra-high bandwidth, stability, and

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stringent security criteria that technologies such as 5G need. As demand grows, technology has to keep up – and the clock is ticking. So with this setting the stage for the telco sector in 2021, let’s take a closer look at the key developments we can expect. 5G requires dense FTTx In 2021, growth in telecom will continue to be at a higher-than-average rate. 5G remains an essential driver. Bandwidth and latency performance can only be realised by bringing FTTx networks closer to the wireless connection point. It requires a dense optical backhaul network with antennas integrated into fiber networks and connected to edge facilities. Densification of FTTx networks and a growing number of small cell connections is resulting in special demands. More compact solutions and large quantities of network components are required for outdoor use. The rollout of 5G wireless and the resulting expansion of radio cells is mainly taking place in conurbations. The main focus is on macro cells, small cells for urban and industrial applications and Pico cells for indoor applications. However, the vast increase in working from home means that bandwidth demand has grown faster than usual. Also, in rural areas where uptake of fibre and future mobile services such as 5G has grown. 5G development will also continue to attract alternative network operators. However, there is also an increasing tendency to move towards the periphery. Throughout and beyond 2021, installation work will provide a boost to the market. For example, there will be a requirement for

huge numbers of (camouflaged) antennas, powered over PoE across relatively short distances. Besides private internet traffic, these will be used in numerous other (industrial) applications. Further drivers include the need for low latency communication, for example, self-driving cars or healthcare applications, machine communication, smart cities, and extended mobile communication (Video UHD, Augmented Reality, smart home, highspeed internet). All of these applications require fibre, power, and data management. The needs of urban areas According to the UN, 68% of the global population of 9.8 billion will live in urban areas by 2050. Making Smart City applications – and therefore the quality and reliability of networks – more important than ever. Infrastructures for smart cities require a highly flexible, future-ready approach to architecture and data traffic, with devices and systems connected by fiber extending deep into the network. This allows transport of very high data volumes with ultra-low latency, ensuring smart city applications run without interruption. Strategies need to be aligned We will continue to see 5G and FTTx infrastructure merging, where the FTTx access network is used for 5G deployment. Around the world, there is a growing trend toward developing above-ground networks (Aerial Deployment). In FTTH, Aerial Deployment will expand and Plug and Play. In the Middle East, Turkey and Africa, pre-terminated rollout solutions are being favored and developed. 5G is more than an evolution of 4G/LTE to 5G. It requires fixed and mobile networks to converge and densify. The fixed and mobile 5G strategy needs to be aligned and physical assets can be shared.

VIEWPOINT

TAKING BACK CONTROL OF THE NETWORK COVID-19 ACCELERATES CLOUD TRANSFORMATION AND STRETCHES THE NETWORK TO ITS LIMIT - SD-WAN ENSURES YOU STAY IN CONTROL, WRITES MOHAMMED RETMI - HEAD OF REGIONAL DOMAINS, MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA - ORANGE BUSINESS SERVICES

mong all the disruption of the current crisis, we can see a very clear pattern emerging across our regional enterprise customers and this is a shift to the cloud, which is rapidly becoming the limit of the network as more customers recognise and respond to the need to digitally transform. Customers are looking for the ultimate prize of lower costs (moving from a CAPEX to an OPEX model), agility and improved customer experience. But the concern we hear regularly is that when moving applications to the cloud, there may be a corresponding loss of visibility and control. Our own experience is reflected in the recent IDC white paper – Redefining Customer Experiences with Cloud and Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Contact Centers. The paper comments on the rising demand and increasing uptake of cloudbased solutions in the Middle East, shown by the increase in the deployments of software as a service, platform as a service, and infrastructure as a service. It also highlights some of the challenges of adopting cloud, from security concerns to lack of adequate quality of services, and integrating systems with third-party applications. However, successful digital transformation requires network transformation and the tools to optimise the network. As enterprises go through digital transformation and they harness the applications they need to transform, bandwidth requirement leaps and the network has to transform in order to respond to meet the needs of the emerging digital business model. Cloud migration is the main driver of SD-WAN transformation among our customers and when migrating to cloudbased infrastructure or software, they need

robust and manageable communications infrastructure to support the cloud resources on which their business processes rely. According to the IDC paper, most companies identified data residency and governance, and industry-specific regulations as major discouraging factors when considering a cloud-based solution. Despite this, it also shows that through digital transformation, 57% of organisations aim to improve customer experience and strengthen customer engagements, while 55% intend to develop innovative products and services. Of course, it’s not a uniform shift to the cloud and companies are migrating at different rates mirroring the local country regulatory developments – but the major cloud service providers are now here in the region and regulators are increasingly looking at the opportunities and advantages of cloud as a driver of digital business transformation with data at the heart of the business. When it comes to customer experience, voice connectivity remains a critical element of CX – 50% of customer interactions still happen through the voice channel and our customers are looking for a voice-ready solution that facilitates the smooth transition of voice and data to the cloud. Just recently, Orange Business Services announced a global strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to help enterprises accelerate their digital transformation and leverage the benefits of the cloud to adapt quickly to market changes and user needs. This will deliver new solutions for migration, data analytics, innovation and security, along with training and certification, with new products and services fast-tracking customer journeys to the cloud. A one-stop approach removes multivendor complexity

for customers, speeds up digital transformation and enables innovations to enhance cloud applications. SD-WAN is becoming an essential tool for IT departments which are increasingly becoming service brokers for a variety of SaaS applications. By using SD-WAN to manage multiple applications across different service providers, the IT department can offer a diverse portfolio of applications while managing end-to-end visibility and service quality over the supporting network. So, digital and cloud transformation is also an opportunity to move to nextgeneration SD-WAN transformation in order to optimise the network and deliver all the benefits to the business of the increased flexibility and agility – essential to business at any time but vital factors in times of dramatic change. We can see the sectors that are transforming at the fastest rates and not surprisingly, these include retail, retail banking, transport and logistics, all of which are very active. In the banking sector, for example, cloud migration and digital transformation starts at the first level which covers the non-banking applications and offers flexible costs and a basis for unified communications services in the cloud. Beyond this, the next level involves a shift of the datacenter to the public cloud and moves the network from Software-as-aService to Platform-as-a-Service. This is where the benefits of SD-WAN transformation really start to kick-in. These include additional flexibility, agility and scalability and the option of pay-as-you-go. The value proposition for SD-WAN is taking back control and even if the transformation process is underway, SD-WAN can be retrofitted to ensure you can monitor performance and accelerate your network transformation. The enterprise needs a network that provides the benefits of greater visibility and control, including security controls, with accelerated service deployment, speed and much more agility. SD-WAN delivers it.

MARCH 2021

CXO INSIGHT ME

VIEWPOINT

OPTIMISING NETWORKING AT THE EDGE ALI SLEIMAN, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA AT INFOBLOX, SAYS, TRADITIONAL NETWORKING ARCHITECTURE IS NO LONGER EFFECTIVE FOR MANAGING THE EXPLOSION OF WORKFLOW AT THE EDGE.

n a cloud-first world, the nexus of activity is no longer in your data centre; it’s at the network edge. The hub and spoke way of networking cannot keep up with the soaring demand for direct-to-cloud access at the edge. Unfortunately, many organisations are still relying on siloed hardware that locally manages DNS, DHCP and IP address management (collectively known as DDI) individually for each site. Why does that matter? Because fast, reliable DDI services are essential to all modern networking, including the cloud. Consequently, the “local hardware” management of core DDI services creates a host of problems, 46

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including higher costs, higher latency, manual errors, slower performance, security gaps and no local survivability. Your organisation wants to embrace the cloud and all its benefits—yet you need a simpler, more reliable way to manage your network, devices, apps and services across all locations. Enter cloud-managed DDI By moving the management plane for DDI from the appliance to the cloud, it enables you to centrally manage your borderless enterprise—and with far greater elasticity, reliability, security and automation than traditional on-premises DDI solutions provide. Plus, cloud-managed DDI reduces

latency by ensuring that traffic from all locations connects directly to the cloud through the closest point of presence (PoP). As a result, critical cloud-based apps like Microsoft Office 365 run faster. With today’s rapidly expanding distributed workforce, getting secure access to cloud apps and data as if working from headquarters is a game changer for your employees—and your network management team. What does cloud-managed DDI look like? DDI (DNS, DHCP and IP address management) services play a central role in every network interaction. They

are what keep your enterprise network running. They’re involved in all of your digital business workflows, services, applications and data—regardless of location. DDI unifies the management and automation of these services so your network is always on and runs efficiently as it scales to new users and devices. For many organisations, cloudmanaged DDI provides a more flexible, agile and cost-effective complement to on-premises, server-based DDI solutions. By using lighter virtual or physical appliances at each remote location, core services can be centrally managed in the cloud. No more local configuring of appliances or complex on-site service provisioning. With cloud-managed DDI, you get the benefit of full DDI visibility, automation and reliability—but with lower hardware and operating costs, fewer errors and total control. This opens the door to building a faster, more reliable network experience for users at the edge who want instant access to cloud apps, and a more controlled and efficient management experience for IT pros in the network operations centre. Centralising Control of the Edge Cloud-managed DDI offers a bridge that allows organisations to integrate core network services, bringing DNS, DHCP and IPAM together on a unified platform. By replacing siloed on-prem DNS and DHCP controllers with cloudnative technology, organisations can take a huge step toward digital transformation through integrated DDI services they can centrally manage in the cloud across all locations, ensuring better branch performance, faster access to cloud-based applications and higher availability. Increasing Agility at the Edge For some borderless enterprises, fully-featured, enterprise-grade DDI services are not needed in all of its branches or remote sites. For example, an organisation may already have a DNS service that meets all its needs in every location, but it wants to deploy only DHCP

or IP address management services in small regional offices. Similarly, it may wish to expand DDI capabilities in some branches but not others. Just as common, especially for enterprises that are undergoing digital transformation, it’s important to have the flexibility to roll out DDI capabilities incrementally. They may wish to upgrade DHCP in the near term while keeping their current IP address management solution. They need a DDI solution that protects them from overprovisioning services in remote sites that may go unused for some time yet. Cloud-based DDI provides the flexibility and agility for enterprises to achieve the right size DDI implementation for every location.

Simplifying Application Access at the Edge For the borderless enterprise, with growing numbers of remote workers and branch locations, simple, reliable access to mission-critical applications at the network edge is paramount. This requires organisations to move away from traditional MPLS architectures. Backhauling network traffic through the data centre creates severe latency and bottlenecks for end users in branch offices and remote sites, preventing them from moving at the speed of business. Modernising with more agile cloud access to applications like

Microsoft Office 365 requires a different infrastructure. One where DDI services can be delivered and managed centrally via the cloud and where traffic from remote locations can connect directly to the closest local PoPs in the cloud without the backhaul bottleneck. Boosting Survivability at the Edge Application latency is not the only downside to traditional backhauling of DNS and DHCP through a headquarters data center. Backhauling also puts business continuity at risk for branch offices and remote sites because backhauling does not provide local survivability for DNS and DHCP services. If the link to headquarters goes down, because of a power outage or natural disaster, remote locations are not able to reach the central data center for DNS and DHCP resolution. As a result, they lose access to the Internet and cloud-based apps. To ensure always-on networking for all locations, remote and branch offices need the ability to maintain DDI services locally. Scaling at the Edge Typically, core DDI services like DHCP are managed by hardware routers or servers located at each site. A large enterprise may have hundreds of these throughout its borderless operations. These on-premises devices are often resource-intensive, error prone, cumbersome and hard to scale. In addition, they provide no easy way to monitor and manage multiple locations. For cloud-born businesses, cloudmanaged DDI makes it simple to eliminate resource-heavy physical appliances in branch and remote offices. Instead, lightweight devices or virtual appliances can be deployed in all locations, which enables DDI to be centrally managed in the cloud across all sites. In conclusion, traditional networking architecture is no longer effective for managing the explosion of workflow at the edge. Cloud-managed DDI is a great modern networking solution for the borderless enterprise.

MARCH 2021

CXO INSIGHT ME

VIEWPOINT

THE IMPORTANCE OF DIGITAL SKILLS WHILE THE PANDEMIC HAS ACCELERATED DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION, IT HAS ALSO BROUGHT INTO FOCUS THE NEED TO REBUILD AND ACQUIRE DIGITAL SKILLS TO HELP DELIVER WHAT THE BUSINESS CAN DO BEST, EXPLAINS RANJITH KAIPPADA, MANAGING DIRECTOR AT CLOUD BOX TECHNOLOGIES.

vailability of high-level technology skills whether for hardware or software have always experienced a mismatch between demand and supply. But with the pandemic accelerating digital transformation to become a priority for all businesses and all industries, the pressure on availability of skills, whether for technology or for digital has also been accelerated. This is making the human resources department along with top executives relook at the complete gamut of skills. These skills are required to take an organisation over the peak of transformation challenges, and into the post-pandemic world and beyond. Those organisations that are able to identify the new set of skills required, and actively develop them internally or source them externally, across their workforces, will be able to better manage digital transformation. With this capability, they will pull ahead of other competitors and deliver better value to both shareholder and customers. The pandemic while accelerating digital transformation, has also significantly altered the task of identifying and acquiring the skills required to manage digital transformation. Here are some of the principal deviations: Digital skills are no longer technology skills The skills required to see an organisation through the dual challenges of digital transformation and remote workforce management are no longer just IT skills. Along with IT, they are also a blend of the organisation’s business, its various departmental functions, and a range of

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soft skills. According to a survey by Gartner TalentNeuron, digital leaders like Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple, look for a blend of computer science, engineering, technology infrastructure, security, amongst others. What skills does your business need Most organisations are still struggling to identify what skills they require, and at what level. The new skills are required to manage business in the post-pandemic era, as well as to cope with the accelerated pace of digital transformation. Adding pressure to this mismatch between supply and demand is the understanding that digital skills are now getting integrated into almost every job role. According to a recent independent survey by TalentNeuron, inability to identify the skills required inside an organisation to lead transformation is amongst the top inhibitors for digital transformation. How digital impacts business Industry experts estimate that anything digital has been accelerated

five years forward by the pandemic. How organisations need to cope with these changes has now created a formidable jigsaw puzzle. Some of the big missing pieces are the skills required to map the business impact from digital technologies. As well as the business skills required to reengineer the business to cope with these digital changes. If the jigsaw puzzle is not solved, and the right skills not identified and recruited, it is unlikely that the organisation will be able to cope with the transformation required. Focusing on the end game Every organisation is being impacted by digital transformation. The end game comes into sight, when a business can focus on what value they plan to deliver through digital transformation. Senior executives will need to reskill themselves to understand what digital transformation means for their business, and how they are going to deliver the new set of values that works best for their business. Legacy HR cannot manage agile workforces Remote working has demonstrated very well, that how work gets completed and how work is designed to be completed can deviate. Under digital transformation the nature of a workflow changes continuously and deviates from the planned one as well. Rigid and inflexible rules of working, that are part of legacy human resource practices do not work well in an agile organisation that is transforming around digital technology platforms. This is becoming more and more visible in the post pandemic world. Arrival of the robot worker Lastly, organisations need to relook at all their employee job roles in terms of them being replaced by automation and artificial intelligence. If a role is being impacted, organisations do not need to eliminate the role entirely. Relook at how that role can deliver the next level of value for the internal or external customer. With a balanced outlook towards improvement and innovation for the customer, most organisations can move to the next level of workforce agility, distancing themselves from outdated skills and practices.

VIEWPOINT

HOW ETHICAL HACKERS CAN IMPROVE YOUR SECURITY POSTURE ESTEBAN HERNANDEZ, SPECIALIST SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT, SECURITY, AMAZON WEB SERVICES (AWS), DISCUSSES HOW GLOBAL BUSINESSES RELY ON ETHICAL HACKERS TO TEST SECURITY INFRASTRUCTURE AND DEVELOP ROBUST CYBERSECURITY PRACTICES.

ybersecurity professionals see some threat actors or outside-parties as the enemy. However, challenging this mindset is important; you can better protect your organisation against outside-parties if you understand how they think and operate. With this in mind, businesses around the globe have turned to hackers to test security infrastructure and develop stronger, more robust security practices. Before integrating penetration testing into your security policy, it is important to understand the different types of hackers that exist. Each group has differing motivations, and you must be clear on which of their skills can be used to your organisation’s advantage. Black hat Black hat hackers are cybercriminals motivated by personal or financial gain. They range from teenage amateurs to experienced individuals or teams with a specific remit. However, over recent years, several high profile black hat hackers have refocused on using their cyber skills to protect organisations. An example is Kevin Mitnick aka Condor, who was just sixteen years old when he gained access to a Department of Defense computer. Following this and numerous other hacks, Mitnick spent five and a half years in prison. Upon his release set up his own company, Mitnick Security Consulting, which now runs penetration tests for clients. The issue of whether to work with a previous black hat hacker is a contentious one. Some, including David Warburton,

senior threat evangelist at F5 Networks, believe that hiring ex-hackers is critical in staying ahead of the threat landscape. However, others are concerned about allowing this group access to corporate systems and customer data. The latter group should, however, consider other approaches to working with hackers. White hat Often referred to as ethical hackers, white hat hackers are employed by organisations to look for vulnerabilities in security defences. Despite using the same tactics as black hat hackers, this group has permission from the organisation making what they do entirely legal. While they use their knowledge to find ways to break the defences, they then work alongside security teams to fix issues before others discover them. Many of the biggest organisations in the world, including General Motors and Starbucks, are turning to white hat hackers to help identify fault lines and proactively enhance security posture. White hat hacking can offer an interesting and lucrative career path for people with technical skills. Drawing attention to the important role white hat hackers play can encourage more talented individuals to take a positive path instead of becoming black hat hackers. Nurturing talent There are many programmes in place to find, encourage and support the next generation of white hat hackers. An example, supported by AWS, is r00tz Asylum, a conference dedicated to

teaching young people how to become white-hats. Attendees learn how hackers operate and how cybersecurity experts defend against hackers. The aim is to encourage people with technical expertise to use it for good in their career. By equipping aspiring cybersecurity professionals with knowledge and skills, they can bake security into infrastructure, from the ground up. AWS’s support for r00tz is our chance to give back to the next generation, providing young people who are interested in security with a safe learning environment and access to mentors. Building on solid foundations For those responsible for maintaining customer trust and protecting data, an end to end approach to security is critical. As we have seen, working with ethical hackers is a powerful way to view security posture from a cyber-criminal’s perspective to identify and tackle vulnerabilities. However, it’s also important to remember that security needs to be baked in throughout an organisation’s infrastructure. This is where partnering with a cloud platform can be beneficial; the best of these are developed to satisfy the needs of the most risk-sensitive organisations. Cloud platforms also offer automated security services, which can proactively manage security assessments, threat detection, and policy management. In so doing, these platforms take on a lot of the heavy lifting for security professionals, including ethical hackers.

MARCH 2021

CXO INSIGHT ME

VIEWPOINT

MOVING TO THE EDGE PREM RODRIGUES, DIRECTOR OF SALES AND MARKETING FOR THE MIDDLE EAST, INDIA AND AFRICA AT SIEMON, EXPLAINS WHY THE PHYSICAL IT INFRASTRUCTURE OF EDGE DATA CENTRES REQUIRES SPECIAL CONSIDERATION

dge computing promises to provide faster, smoother delivery of online services and better performance of online applications to users. At the same time, machine-to-machine devices will rely on edge computing for real-time communications with local processing resources to guarantee safety and avoid accidents. And many other technologies including 5G mobile networks, augmented reality and artificial intelligence will benefit from high-speed, low-latency processing of applications and data that edge computing can deliver. Edge computing relies on a distributed data centre architecture, in which IT cloud servers housed in edge data centres are deployed on the outer edges of a network. These edge data centres can take the form of modular, containerised, micro or office-based facilities and will essentially require power, cooling, connectivity and security in the same way as centralised data centres. However, the difference in physical size and the physical location of an edge data centre impacts IT infrastructure decisions and components will have to be selected carefully to ensure reliable operation and support of a growing, more demanding network. Since edge data centres will be deployed in multiple geographically distributed areas, they will require a modular approach that uses modules and configurations that – once specified - can easily be replicated from one site to the next. This will allow for a fast set-up process and for growth in line with local demand as it changes over time. Pre-configured and pre-assembled solutions can speed up the deployment of a large number of geographically dispersed facilities. Pre-terminated copper and fibre cabling for example can save up to 30 per cent on time and

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labour compared to installing individual components. These factory-terminated and tested solutions provide guaranteed performance levels. Many edge data centres could be unmanned, or site-access may be limited. Automated infrastructure management tools allow for remote management and monitoring of these sites. Monitoring may extend to copper and fibre connections (i.e. a cable connects/disconnects) but also to security locks (i.e. a cabinet door opens) with real-time alerts of network and security events to help detect unauthorised access and prevent downtime. Additional monitoring and control features provided by intelligent power distribution units (PDUs) can also be useful for managing unmanned sites. Switched PDUs offer remote outlet control by enabling data centre managers to restart or shut down a piece of equipment remotely. Fully managed PDUs offer the highest level of control with outlet-level monitoring and outletlevel switching for remote monitoring and control of individual receptacles. Intelligent PDUs with sensors for cabinet-

level environmental monitoring (e.g. temperature and humidity) can provide an extra layer of control. Compared to large centralised facilities, edge data centres will have to manage a much larger number of physical connections within a much smaller physical space. Category 6A/ Class EA copper cabling solutions such as high density 48-port patch panels and patch cords that feature a reduced outer diameter are perfectly aligned to meet these high-density requirements. Highcapacity fibre designs, such as enclosures that can house 144 LC fibres or 864 MTP fibres within 1U offer superior port density, whilst also providing easy access to fibre ports and cable management. In high-density edge data centre environments, proper cable management will become more critical than ever in supporting airflow for appropriate cooling. Excess cables should be avoided, and cable bundles should be neatly dressed within the racks. Cables that come in shorter (e.g. half metre) increments will avoid high amounts of cable slack inside the rack for improved cable management and better airflow. Patch cords with a reduced diameter also offer a significantly tighter bend radius for easier cable routing and better cable management and to facilitate moves, adds and changes in tighter spaces. Different colour options with help identify resilient connections (A&B routes) and/or different services and applications supported in the edge environment. Whilst edge environments will not differ too much from traditional centralised data centres in terms of essential infrastructure components, careful choice is key to ensuring reliable operation in support of these mission critical facilities.

MARCH 30, 2021

VIRTUAL EVENT https://www.cxoinsightme.com/css/2021/

The pandemic has fueled an alarming increase in cyber-attacks, making it harder for enterprises to maintain their security posture. The trend of remote work and new operating models makes it imperative for companies to rethink their cybersecurity strategies in the changing technology landscape. With the rapid adoption of new digital technologies, the need for rigorous security has never been more critical. There are significant challenges organisations face when it comes to securing digital transformation projects. Put simply, cybersecurity must be built into every aspect of your digital business strategy. The “Cyber Strategists 2021” conference organised by CXO Insight ME is a platform that will bring together industry practitioners and security experts in the region to explore new ways to build cyber resilience and discuss innovative solutions. This virtual conference will feature presentations from the industry leaders on best practices for combating new threats and an overview of the ever-evolving threat landscape.

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Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro

oundcore, Anker Innovations’ premium audio brand, today introduces the next generation in its popular Liberty true-wireless earbud line, the Liberty Air 2 Pro, featuring advanced active noise-cancellation (ANC), transparency and PureNote driver technology. The Liberty Air 2 Pro was designed to sound great, even with noise-canceling turned on. To do this, Soundcore engineers developed PureNote driver technology, that utilizes ten hardened nano layers to make up the 11mm driver in each earbud, offering accurate sound and clarity at all frequencies. Soundcore then worked to tune the earbuds, both with ANC turned on and off, to make sure that music always sounded like artists originally intended. The Liberty Air 2 Pro offers users the ability to change between three noise cancellation modes including Transport mode, when needed to block out low frequency noises from airplanes, trains or city buses; Outdoor mode, which use a less powerful ANC setting but wider bandwidth to block out street noise, and finally Indoor mode, which primarily reduces mid-range frequencies to help block out voices that are commonly found in an office or at a café. Additionally, the Liberty Air 2 Pro also features Transparency mode with two different settings. Mode 1 is for total transparency which helps enhance all ambient sounds. This is ideal for runners and bicyclists that need

OPPO RENO5 SERIES

OPPO has launched its new, first-ever, all-5G Reno5 series comprising Reno5 Pro 5G, Reno5 5G and Reno5 Z smartphones. 52

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to safely hear noises around them on a city street. The second transparency mode focuses on vocals to enhance voices in the immediate vicinity while simultaneously reducing background noise. This mode is ideal for users who may be waiting for a flight or a bus but still need to hear announcements from a P.A. speaker or flight attendant.

The Reno5 series establishes itself as the photography expert in any scenario with AI-powered features that allow users to master every single moment. The new AI Highlight Video, available on both Reno5 Pro 5G and Reno5 5G, combines OPPO’s Ultra Night Video Algorithms and Live HDR Algorithms to significantly enhance video quality in dim light and backlit scenes. Together with a 32MP front camera, 16MP Ultra Wide-angle Camera, 13MP Telephoto Camera, 2MP Macro camera, and a Color Temperature Sensor, the 50MP Sony IMX766 on the OPPO Reno5 Pro 5G supports All-Pixel Omni Focus, in which every pixel is used in focusing the image. The result is a significantly superior video and photo shooting experience that provides consistent high-quality images with optimum brightness and sharp focus even in the most challenging of circumstances. A brand new dual-view video enables both the front and rear cameras to work simultaneously, effortlessly stitching the shooter and the subject in the same video frame – ideal for vloggers who always want to remain in the action.

Avaya collaboration devices Avaya has announced new devices designed to significantly improve workstream collaboration. This includes a redesigned Avaya Vantage K155 with Amazon Alexa builtin, as well as a new Avaya IP Conference Phone B129, and Avaya Huddle Camera HC010. The Avaya Vantage K155 has been redesigned to deliver a new level of simplicity and productivity for the home office worker, providing a horizontal touch screen and physical keypad. It is integrated with the Avaya Spaces workstream collaboration platform for immersive virtual communications and team collaboration, and extends Avaya’s Composable Home Office. Leveraging the Avaya OneCloud portfolio of UCaaS, CCaaS and CPaaS solutions, the Composable Home Office empowers businesses to create personalised and more productive home office

LENOVO HPC SOLUTIONS Lenovo Data Center Group (DCG) has announced new industry leading ThinkSystem and ThinkAgile hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) solutions to support edge-to-cloud computing. These new and enhanced hybrid cloud solutions are designed to help organisations of all sizes, modernize, better secure their IT infrastructure, and deliver faster data insights – all powered by the new AMD EPYC 7003 Series processors. Specifically optimised to run demanding cloud computing workloads such as VDI, database and analytics, artificial intelligence and more, these solutions have built-in security features to help protect against data integrity and firmware threats. To help customers maximize their IT investments, Lenovo extends the ThinkSystem server portfolio to include the new 2-socket Lenovo ThinkSystem SR645 and SR665 and new Lenovo ThinkSystem 1-socket SR635 and SR655 servers, powered by AMD EPYC 7003 Series processors. These solutions can take advantage of the AMD EPYC 7003 series processors’ ~25% more generational performance in its 16 core category. The combination of Lenovo’s industry leading server reliability and performance enhancements are ideal for customers building their edge-to-cloud infrastructure. Beneficial for research and development, financial services, retail and manufacturing, these new platforms are designed to accelerate computational power to deliver business insights. Lenovo launches new ThinkAgile VX Series hyperconverged platforms combined with third-generation AMD EPYC processors. These solutions are tightly integrated with VMware vSAN to enable public cloud-like simplicity, in a private or hybrid cloud environment.

experiences for employees and customer service agents. Avaya Vantage K155 provides a highdefinition camera, wideband audio, wireless connection and new “screen shifting” technology to enable new flexibility when participating in a meeting. Content, meeting participants, or both can be shifted to a larger screen based on the meeting dynamics at any given moment. For presenting content, one touch on the Avaya Vantage opens the same meeting on a laptop to enable presentation sharing options.

EMERSON ROSEMOUNT 4390 SERIES Emerson introduces a complete corrosion and erosion monitoring portfolio with digital capabilities and full integration with the Plantweb digital ecosystem through the new Rosemount 4390 series of corrosion and erosion wireless transmitters and Plantweb Insight Non-Intrusive Corrosion application. The monitoring portfolio turns existing offline corrosion probes into online tools to monitor for the risk of corrosion or erosion in oil and gas processing. Combined with Emerson’s class-leading range of nonintrusive Rosemount Wireless Permasense sensors for monitoring metal thickness, which is a major factor in determining the health of piping and other fixed equipment, Emerson now offers a comprehensive solution to monitor both the risk of corrosion or erosion, and the impact of that risk on the health of the plant or asset. When instrumented with inline probes, changes in corrosion risk can be detected in minutes, enabling sites to take corrective actions before damage occurs. The Rosemount 4390 series of corrosion and erosion transmitters leverage WirelessHART for reliable and robust data retrieval and work with Emerson’s inline probes that measure the corrosive and erosive nature of the fluid and provide early risk detection for a site. The Plantweb Insight Corrosion applications allow users to access and analyze data from pipe thickness monitoring sensors and inline probes at their desk and gainrealtime advanced analytics to assess the risk and impact of corrosion or erosion on the asset or plant.

MARCH 2021

CXO INSIGHT ME

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EMPOWERING YOUR SOC SUNIL PAUL, MD OF FINESSE, ON HOW TO TRANSITION TO AN INTELLIGENT SOC

yber adversaries have pushed the boundaries of engagement, expanding the ever-evolving attack surface, especially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Security chiefs across the globe have their hands full addressing immediate threats brought on by digitalisation and large workforces moving to remote working models. The UAE alone recorded at least a 250% increase in cyber-attacks over the past year, according to the country’s Government Cybersecurity Head Mohamed al-Kuwaiti. Even as we gradually settle into the new normal, cybercrime shows no sign of abating. In fact, during this year, we can expect to see a cyber-attack incident occur every 11 seconds, costing the world in excess of $6 million annually, revealed a Cybersecurity Ventures report. It’s not that businesses are not taking any action – a recent Canalys forecast expects cybersecurity investments to increase by 10% worldwide in the best-case scenario in 2021. But is this enough to face what we are up against? Many businesses have introduced or doubled down on Security Operations Centers (SOCs). But the traditional SOC may drastically come up short when addressing today’s advanced cybercrime. Now more than ever, organisations must equip SOCs with all the right ingredients to make it an intelligent one. This means ensuring your security professionals manning the SOCs have the right tools to do their jobs effectively. SOCs house people, software and hardware. It is the nerve center for security operations at an organisation. SOC analysts are tasked with monitoring and assessing

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systems for vulnerabilities, collecting and analyzing information, proactively taking action to prevent potential threats and so on. The volume of data and potential attack surfaces exponentially increases when businesses expand and grow their operations. But often the investments do not simultaneously translate to strengthening its cybersecurity postures. Without automated smart intelligent technologies and tools, the SOC teams are essentially set up for failure. A powerful blend of cloud native and evolved SIEM tools, AI, machine learning, automation and advanced analytics capabilities form the core of a modern SOC. This allows for continuous threat detection and monitoring, intelligent and faster analysis of large datasets, and enables automated responses. An intelligent SOC helps a company derive maximum value across its security investments, namely people,

process and technology. It also empowers SOC professionals to be more productive and make quick strategic decisions to secure the enterprise against digital risk. Enterprises have to remember that investing in technologies solely is not sufficient. A huge challenge that CISOs face today is the shortage of skilled SOC professionals. Businesses must foster a learning culture and encourage collaboration and innovation to retain and upskill talent. Switching to an intelligent next-gen SOC may not be a necessity right away for all businesses. Take the time to evaluate if your current business growth stage warrants additional security investments. If your SOC team is able to perform efficiently and is not struggling with a mountain of alerts, and the attack surface is well covered, then the transition could be gradual. But there is no denying that intelligent modern SOCs will shape the future of cyber resilience.

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CXO Insight Middle East - Observe what matters -

Articles inside

OPTIMISING NETWORKING AT THE EDGE

CONTENTS

SECURING DIGITAL INNOVATION

BREAKING OUT OF LEGACY

SECURING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION BY DESIGN

TRUST NO ONE

WHY THE EDGE MATTERS

POWERING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

TRANSFORMING SMALL BUSINESSES

NEWS