Enterprise Channels MEA Dec 2015

DE LL U NVE I LS FUTU R E-R EADY SE RVE RS /06

PA G E S 5 6 VOLUME O3 | ISSUE 05 DECEMBER 2015 WWW.ENTERPRISECHANNELSMEA.COM

PATROLLING THE STREETS OF SECURITY WIth the soul of a veteran, eyes of a hawk and instincts of a policeman, Rapid7 together with Partner in Security- Spire Solutions dawns upon the region with its magic concoction /30

INDIAECM112015

COREY THOMAS, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF RAPID7

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EDITORIAL

Good Bye 2015

S A N J AY M O H A PAT R A S A N J AY @ A C C E N T I N F O M E D I A . C O M

Year 2015 has been quite a challenging year for all of us. Purely from the perspective of technology evolution, IOT and Big Data have offered us a great level of challenges this year, and all of us including customers, partners and the media have worked towards decoding the code as to how successfully we understand and start implementing various solutions around these technologies.

Similarly, cloud computing has thrown great amount of challenges in terms of making it mainstream and we have not been so successful yet in giving it its deserved space. Today we are toggling between private cloud and only private cloud; we have not been able to scratch the surface as far as hybrid cloud is concerned and public cloud certainly remains a little far from our reach.

This year has certainly been very challenging from the enterprise security perspective. In 2015, 38% more security incidents were detected compared to the previous year. Similarly, this year saw 56% increase in the intellectual property theft over previous year. There was a considerable rise in the DDoS attacks.

Enterprises have tried to redefine the data centre. Many CIOs tried Software Defined Architecture and in some cases converged infrastructure in order to accommodate the growth in applications. Networking also got influenced by software defined architecture. The enterprises have certainly seen surge in the applications owing to their growing dependence on social applications and analytics.

In the last six to twelve months, we have seen a lot of events in the region around IoT and analytics. The CIOs of the region were seen quite excited in those topics and took part in the discussion.

We, at Enterprise Channels MEA also invested in some meaningful events and attracted good attendance from various vertical industries. We not only conducted events from the technology perspective but also from the networking perspective. GEC Open - the Premium Charity Enterprise Golf tournament, especially, attracted several top C-level execs in the region to interact with each other.

Although the year 2015 has been challenging and stressful, it has also opened so many possibilities and opportunities, and we are hopeful that 2016 would be much better and less stressful for the entire industry. ĂŤ

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2015 CONTENTS

VOLUME 03 ISSUE 05 DECEMBER 2015 W W W. E N T E R P R I S E C H A N N E L S M E A . C O M

COVER STORY

NEED FOR SPEED

As corporate circumstances change in a dynamic market, IT has to match them by making its own changes quickly and effectively. IT departments must make it easier to deliver new applications, add new features and functionality, and scale infrastructure quickly — both up and down — as demands change. /24

COVER FEATURE

/30

INNOVATIONS /53

PATROLLING THE STREETS OF SECURITY

MAILSTORE SERVER V9.5

COREY THOMAS, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF RAPID7 GUEST TALK

/48

SECURING THE SDLC FOR BETTER MSERVICES NICOLAI SOLLING, DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY SERVICES AT HELP AG MY VIEWS

/49

RE-INVENTING THE WHEEL HENDRIK VERBRUGGHE, MARKETING DIRECTOR, CANON MIDDLE EAST

FEATURE Wiring a Wireless Future /36

Mailstore has launched updated version of MailStore Server v9.5 to provide complete data security and protection for email archiving.

EDITORIAL :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 04 CHANNEL STREET ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 06 VCE -MINDWARE PARTNERSHIP :::::::::: 22 CIO STORY ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 34 SUCCESS STORY: FINESSE :::::::::::::::::: 44 GUEST TALK-FORTINET :::::::::::::::::::::::::: 47 INNOVATIONS :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 49

ADVERTISER INDEX: HELPAG 02, GFI 03, SPIRE SOLUTION 07, A10 09, BULWARK 11, STARLINK 13, AOC 15, GEC OPEN 17, FINESSE19, GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION 21, PURE STORAGE 23, OXYGEN 35, VCE 41, GENOME (MHI) 45, DELL 55, UNIFY 56

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STREET HIGHER SECURITY AND PRIVACY LEVELS NEEDED ON SMARTPHONES

Research by Kaspersky Lab and B2B International, indicates that while GCC businesses are increasingly adopting ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD) policies to promote more flexible working conditions and improve employee satisfactions rates, almost 20 percent of business owners say that loss of employee devices account for the largest source of data breach.Smartphone users are also entering sensitive banking information into their devices as they increasingly use their mobile phones for banking and online shopping. With approximately 57 percent of online purchases made using a smartphone, a PayPal-Ipsos report released earlier this year ranks the UAE as the second strongest mobile commerce market in the world. This is only surpassed by China with 68 percent online purchases made via smartphones.

OPENING NEW WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES AT IOTWF 2015 John Chambers, Executive Chariman of Cisco will be attending the 3rd Internet of Things World Forum (IoTWF) to be held in Dubai on December 6 - 8, 2015, at the Dubai World Trade Centre. John Chambers will deliver a keynote on how the IoT is creating a new world of possibilities.

Inbar Lasser-Raab, Cisco VP Products and Solutions Marketing & Executive Sponsor of IoTWF said, “Dubai has established a proven track record in accelerating all aspects of city planning and realization, and we expect to mirror this success in advancing the IoT industry as the basis for country, city and industry digitalization and we will have the opportunity to showcase first-hand the path breaking technological initiatives. I look forward to the Forum and the announcements, speaking sessions, panels, and connections we will make next week.”

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ASHLEY GORAKHPURWALLA, VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER, DELL SERVER SOLUTIONS

Dell Unveils Future-Ready Servers

Dell has new additions to its highly successful Dell PowerEdge 13th generation servers, helping small and midsize businesses (SMBs) prepare for future growth with the introduction of four new entrylevel servers that provide greater performance, flexibility and efficiency. According to recent global research of IT decision makers, the top IT pain points of small and medium businesses (SMBs) around the globe include performance, hardware capacity and IT complexity. Designed with future growth in mind, the latest Dell PowerEdge servers address these specific pain points to help customers accelerate performance, adapt to changing application demands and attain greater operational efficiency.

“Dell has a long history addressing the unique needs of small and midsize customers . Dell’s mainstream server portfolio is growing, and their new entry-level PowerEdge servers will be appealing to additional SMBs around the world who are hoping

to save time and money while reducing business risk.” said Jed Scaramella, Research Director, Enterprise Servers, IDC. The new Dell PowerEdge servers include the PowerEdge R330 and R230 rack servers and the PowerEdge T330 and T130 tower servers. For the first time, Dell’s entry-level server T130 features Dell’s leading OpenManage systems management portfolio giving SMBs simple and intuitive tools that reduce deployment time by up to 40 percent and provide streamlined management.

“There are over 125 million SOHO and SMB customers around the globe.These customers require IT solutions that help them prepare for future growth, drive application performance and improve operational efficiency,” said Ashley Gorakhpurwalla, VP and GM, Dell Server Solutions. “Dell has been helping customers in this space for decades and our new entry-level PowerEdge servers have the performance, expandability and flexibility to help them do business even more efficiently.”

CHANNEL STREET

Migration to Windows 10 Will Be the Fastest Ever Windows 10 is poised to become the most widely installed version of Windows ever. Gartner predicts that 50 percent of enterprises will have started Windows 10 deployments by January 2017.

“In the consumer market, a free upgrade coupled with broad legacy device support and automatic over-the-air upgrades ensures that there will be tens of millions of users familiar with the operating system (OS) before the end of 2015,” said Steve Kleynhans, research vice president at Gartner.

“For enterprises, we expect that implementation will be significantly more rapid than that seen with Windows 7 six years ago.”

Gartner made three additional endpoint technology predictions: By 2019, Organizations Will Deliver Twice as Many Applications Remotely Compared With 2015.

By 2018, Touchscreens Will Be Shipped on One-Third of All Notebooks.

By 2018, 30 Percent of Enterprises Will Spend More on Display Screens Than on PCs.

OXYGEN BREATHES TRUST INTO TRUSTWAVE Oxygen has partnered with Trustwave to bring Trustwave’s highly competitive IT security solutions to the Middle East market to help customers with cyber security. Trustwave technologies and managed security services are backed by global threat intelligence from world renowned Trustwave SpiderLabs ethical hacking and security research team, allowing real-time response to emerging threats.

The relationship between Oxygen and Trustwave is based on the VAD’s extensive expertise in the security market, and the value added services they offer to the network of resellers in the region. With Oxygen, Trustwave further extends its geographic reach and presence in the Middle East. Serving enterprise customers in financial sector, oil and gas, hospitality and retail among others, Trustwave delivers the visibility and insight customers need to detect, identify and remediate increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. Trustwave enables businesses to transform the way they manage their information security and compliance programs. Philip Cherian, Business Unit Head for Security, Oxygen Middle East, comments, “Many of Trustwave’s solutions are available across various delivery mechanisms, giving customers the flexibility they need to design and implement their security infrastructure.”

OOREDOO DEPLOYS VOICE OVER LTE FOR QATAR Ooredoo has achieved amajor technology breakthrough on the Ooredoo Supernet with the implementation of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) across large parts of Doha.VoLTE will enable customers to make crystal clear HD voice calls over the 4G data network and provide faster call setup. In addition, customers will be able to switch between ongoing voice calls and high-quality video calls as they want.

They will also be able to browse the Internet on the 4G network while still on a call – the first time they have been able to do this.

The implementation is based on software-defined data centre architecture and a range of cutting-edge technologies including network function virtualization and softwaredefined networking. The success of this implementation positions Ooredoo in a leadership position on the global innovation path toward fully-converged Information Communication Technology (ICT).

With today’s launch of the pre-commercial phase, Ooredoo becomes the first operator in the GCC to introduce VoLTE across a substantial part of its nationwide network. Like a handful of other elite operators, Ooredoo has successfully trialled the service at its headquarters and in its state-of-theart technology test facilities, and the company has decided to deploy the service on a mass scale now.

ARUBA ‘CONNECTIONS’ AT GITEX 2015 Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) has partnered with Aruba to provide ‘always-on’, secure and high speed wireless internet access across the venue at the recently concluded GITEX Technology Week 2015.

Mr. Zeeshan Hadi, Country Manager of Aruba Middle East said, ““Our work with DWTC reinforces our position as the most trusted wireless network solutions provider in the region, with

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MR. ZEESHAN HADI, COUNTRY MANAGER OF ARUBA MIDDLE EAST

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MR. FARID FAROUQ, VICE PRESIDENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AT DWTC

the capacity to provide tailored solutions to a large varied audience.”Mr. Farid Farouq, Vice President of Information Technology at DWTC, said: “. We have received positive feedback about Aruba’s technology performance at the event this year and the internet usage statistics are a good indicator that everything went according to plan.

Encouraged by another great showing by Aruba, we intend look forward to building on their relationship in the future.”

CHANNEL STREET

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IN PUBLIC

“IoT services are the real driver of value in IoT” JIM TULLY, VP AND DISTINGUISHED ANALYST AT GARTNER

SECONDS

BYE BYE CATRIDGES

Listen to the Sophos Heartbeat Sophos has introduced the first synchronized security protection against today’s sophisticated threats with the Sophos Security Heartbeat. This new technology directly links NGFWs and UTMs with nextgeneration endpoint security to share threat intelligence that enables faster detection of threats, automatic isolation of infected devices, and more

KRIS HAGERMAN, CEO AT SOPHOS.

Ideal for price-conscious office users, the new Epson L655 ink tank system 4-in-1 printer features an integrated ink tank for fast, reliable double-sided A4 printing that ensures an ultralow cost per page. In fact, it can save you up to an impressive 90% on your printing costs.

Khalil El Dalu, General Manager, Epson Middle

immediate and targeted response and resolution.

“Only Sophos links leading network security technology with leading endpoint security technology together in a coordinated and integrated approach. This is synchronized security for organizations of any size.” commented Kris Hagerman, CEO at Sophos.

East, says: “Refilling using individual ink bottles is quick and easy thanks to fast ink top-up technology, clearly labelled bottles and drip-free nozzles.”

SELF-SERVICE PASSWORD MANAGEMENT FOR WINDOWS 10 ManageEngine’s ADSelfService Plus, its selfservice password management solution, now supports Windows 10. Available immediately, the latest version of ADSelfService Plus allows password self-service right from the logon screen of Windows 10. As a result, users can

AMD Launches ‘Boltzmann Initiative’ Building on its strategic investments in heterogeneous system architecture (HSA), AMD has launched a suite of tools designed to ease development of high-performance, energy efficient heterogeneous computing systems. The “Boltzmann Initiative” leverages HSA’s ability to harness both central processing units (CPU) and AMD FirePro graphics processing units (GPU) for maximum compute efficiency through software. The tools are designed to drive application performance across markets ranging from machine learning to molecular dynamics, and

from oil and gas to visual effects and computergenerated imaging.

“AMD’s Heterogeneous-compute Interface for Portability enables performance portability for the HPC community. The ability to take code that was written for one architecture and transfer it to architecture without a negative impact on performance is extremely powerful,” said Jim Belak, co-lead of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Exascale Co-design Center in Extreme Materials and senior computational materials scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

easily reset their domain passwords and unlock their accounts from their own machines, reducing the number of password-related help desk tickets and improving employee productivity.

BRIDGING DATA ISLANDS ACROSS UAE BANKS SAS is offering the SAS Risk Data Aggregation and Reporting to help clear mismatched data infrastructures and siloed processes within banks by building the needed bridges between these data islands or stores. Resulting in a single, comprehensive look at data, SAS provides a solid foundation spanning all key facets of risk data aggregation and reporting using powerful analytics and visualization aligned to robust data management capabilities.

GULF AIR AND AHLIA UNIVERSITY SIGN MOU Gulf Air has signed a Memorandum of Under-

‘BE SMARTER THAN YOUR SMART DEVICE’- DSG

standing (MOU) with Ahlia University providing

Dubai Smart Government (DSG) conducted a number of talks on information security titled ‘Be smarter than your smart device’ at Mirdif City Centre. The talks were part of DSG’s participation in the UAE Innovation Week between November 22 and 28 in response to the call of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai for innovation and best practices. H.E. Ahmad Bin Humaidan, DSG Director General, said: “DSG strategy 2014-2017 stresses the necessity of applying the highest information security standards to all our services to ensure the provision of highly reliable smart services that bring happiness to customers and meet their satisfaction.”

training and internship opportunities: to enhance

select students and graduates with on-the-jobtheir professional capabilities and in support of their academic research projects and graduation requirements. The signing ceremony took place at Gulf Air’s headquarters in Muharraq between Mrs. Sohair Faisal Khalfan, Gulf Air Senior Manager- People Development and Mr. Husain Habib, Ahlia University Manager Professional Relations.

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CHANNEL STREET

EES achieves Microsoft Gold SAM Competency Emitac Enterprise Solutions (EES) has attained Gold SAM Competency in the Microsoft Partner Program. EES demonstrated the highest level of SAM competency, meeting Microsoft’s rigorous standards for software asset management and licensing experience, service and support to accomplish this achievement.

As a certified Microsoft SAM Gold Competency partner, EES is now geared to offer qualifying organizations a complete Microsoft SAM review. By doing so, Microsoft customers can get full insight to software usage and identify

if an organization is completely utilizing their software licenses with absolute minimum costs and reduce the risk of non-compliance with EES Software Asset Management services. This also helps organizations in building a strong practice around managing and optimizing their software licenses. In addition to solid and professional Software Asset Management service, EES licensing specialist also helps with Software Licensing Consulting, Audit & Pre-Audit scans, contract negotiations and licensing maintenance.

BROCADE JOINS INTEL SECURITY INNOVATION ALLIANCE Brocade has joined the Intel Security Innovation Alliance program. Under the program, Brocade intends to integrate Intel Security products and technologies with Brocade solutions, enabling enterprises to deploy more secure New IP networking solutions that leverage Intel’s industry-leading security technologies.

“By joining forces with the Intel Security Innovation Alliance program, Brocade intends to offer an enhanced and fully integrated security layer to Brocade data center solutions,” said Ken Cheng, CTO, Brocade. “We’re pleased to collaborate closely with Intel Security, as it addresses an industry need for more secure, agile and scalable networks.” The Innovation Alliance will aim to enable Brocade and Intel Security customers with advanced levels of network security.

TECHACCESS APPOINTED AUTHORIZED TRAINING CENTER PARTNER OF HDS Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) has appointed TechAccess as its sole Authorized Training Centre Partner for Middle East, Saudi Arabia, North Africa & Pakistan. The authorized training centre is based in Dubai, UAE and will feature a comprehensive set of courses and certification accessible to all of HDS’ partners and customers. “TechAccess has invested over US $1 mm into equipment and resources for the training centre. This will not only help to educate partners and customers but also help to facilitate an increase in the market share for HDS and TechAccess in the region,” said Dimuth Wijeratne, General Manager, HDS Products – TechAccess at the opening ceremony of the authorized training centre.

DIGITALIZE WITH CONFIDENCE

With the unveiling of its Digital Business Platform MetaArc, Fujitsu has outlined its vision for enabling customers to digitalize their business with confidence. Fujitsu MetaArc encompasses the technologies, tools, services and partnerships needed to establish a strategic cloud foundation with a choice of cloud deployment methods – public, private and hybrid. It supports the delivery of cloud-based ‘Fast IT’, usually driven by business units and generally used for initiatives that explore and exploit innovative digital solutions. MetaArc also supports the modernization of what Fujitsu calls ‘Robust IT’ systems and enables customers to monetize the value locked in existing data and systems.

Joel O’Halloran, Senior Vice President, Head of Managed Infrastructure Services and Digital Business Platform, Global Delivery at Fujitsu, says: “Fujitsu reduces the complexity and risks of managing the emerging Hybrid IT environment by providing cloud solutions, expertise and services for both Fast IT and Robust IT systems that integrate and orchestrate both Fujitsu and third-party cloud services.”

FINESSE SHAKES HAND WITH VCE Finesse has partnered with VCE to provide services expertise in consulting, gap analysis and suggesting the optimum infrastructure requirements to meet the constantly increasing demand from customers for converged infrastructure and cloud services based on Vblock Systems from VCE in the UAE. Said Akar, Regional Director, TEEAM at VCE, said: “Finesse will

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leverage the entire Vblock Systems portfolio to provide its customer with a simple, agile and effective way to deploy, operate and manage our industry-leading converged infrastructure solutions that facilitates business efficiency.”

Sunil Paul, Co-founder and COO of Finesse said, “We strongly believe that the data center provisioning market is quickly moving

towards converged infrastructure to ensure efficiency through IT infrastructure transformation. Our partnership with VCE, the market leader in converged infrastructure, will support our endeavor to be trail blazers with our solutions and services for our clients. ”Finesse was accepted as a VCE partner for its expertise in integrated systems management.

CHANNEL STREET

Time to Bid Adieu to Rigid Software Licensing

WEB CLIPS POWER OF 2 TO BOOST DUBAI COURTS The Dubai Courts and Avaya have signed

Gemalto’s State of Software Monetization Survey results reveal that enterprise software customer demands are evolving and software vendors and intelligent device manufacturers need to adopt flexible and adaptable licensing and packaging techniques in order to meet these needs and generate more revenue opportunities.

“The way that software is consumed is changing ,” said Shlomo Weiss, Senior Vice President, Software Monetization at Gemalto. “Independent software vendors (ISVs) have to keep up with the changing demands of their customers. We see that piracy, reverse engineering, and deliberate

and unintentional misuse are all still monetization concerns for ISVs. However, now more than ever, delivering software in ways that customers want to consume it is critical for creating a user experience that sells.”Enterprise software consumers expressed their frustration with traditional, rigid software licensing, packaging and delivery options. They are increasingly looking for online software delivery, metered usage and device-agnostic licensing.

Compliance – whether intentional or unintentional – is still a primary concern among ISVs.

a strategic contract that will see the Dubai Courts implement a range of Avaya solutions, including Unified Communications, a revamped Contact Center, video conferencing, and Avaya Scopia, a web-based collaboration platform. Prologix Distribution has been tagged along for the implementation of this agreement DVCOM ENHANCES UC PORTFOLIO WITH YEALINK DVCOM Technology has updated its UC product portfolio with the first two Yealink IP Phones certified for Microsoft Lync 2013/ Skype for Business. “Yealink’s IP Phones with support for Skype for Business extend the communication experience and facilitate

MUBADALA AND IBM UNVEIL ‘COGNIT’

better collaboration. Customers can expect

Mubadala Development Company (Mubadala) and IBM have launched ‘Cognit Technology Solutions LLC’ as the business entity to provide IBM’s computing system Watson to organizations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Cognit has been established specifically to apply IBM’s Watson computing capabilities to local industries and to support a regional ecosystem of entrepreneurs, app. developers and startups who are creating Watson apps and services throughout MENA.

to also work with Skype for Business.” said

the same features that work with Lync 2013 Renjan George -Managing Director, DVCOM Technology XEROX UNVEILS NEW PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTIONS To keep business flowing, employees are responsible for time consuming, manual processes like sharing, annotating, storing and securing documents and data. New

MOVEMENTS SHERIF SEDDIK has been appointed by Citrix as Managing Director and Vice President for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

TP-LINK has appointed RAM PRAVEEN as the new Associate Vice President, SMB for Middle East and Africa (MEA).

Reichle & De-Massari (R&M) has appointed NABIL KHALIL to the position of Executive Vice-President for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa Acronis has appointed STEVE GOH as Vice President/GM of Sales for Asia-Pacific & Emerging Markets

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NUMBER GAME

6.4 billion

connected things will be in use worldwide in 2016.

releases of Xerox Digital Alternatives and Xerox DocuShare personal productivity solutions improve office efficiency by automating document processing. The products offer enhanced security and drag-and-drop interfaces for more convenient sharing of documents and data.

SAP EMPOWERS EGYPT’S NEXT GEN SAP will help prepare a third group of young professionals for technology jobs in Egypt, aiding the next generation of talent in a country where ICT revenue is set to double over the next five years. “This program will benefit youth in Egypt and help them contribute to stability and prosperity in the region,” said Marita Mitschein, Managing Director, Training and Development Institute, SAP MENA. SAP has taken a further step by collaborating with ‘Education For Employment Egypt’ (EFE|Egypt).

U3277PQU

UltraWide viewing, enhanced productivity The AOC U3277PQU helps you stretch your productivity to the limits. 4K Ultra HD resolution reveals the finest details on a large 32-inch 16:9 screen that is ideal for multitasking. Featuring advanced IPS panel technology, you’ll enjoy accurate color reproduction (100% sRGB, 1 billion colours), wide viewing angles and quick refresh rates, no matter what you’re doing. A range of connectors like HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort and DVI-D makes it easy to hook up your PC, laptop and other devices, plus built-in speakers deliver clear sound for music or video. Whether you’re editing photography, working with CAD/CAM, or designing a new website, the height-adjustable ergonomic stand tilts, swivels and pivots for hours of comfortable viewing.

www.aoc-europe.com One World Computer Networks Algeria - Tunisia +971 42868330 khalid@oneworld.ae

Online Distribution Pakistan +971 50 389 6542 farhan.naqvi@odl.com.pk

Trigon LLC UAE, Yemen, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain +971 4 342 6060 kamran@trigon-gulf.ae

Redington Gulf Saudi Arabia +966 1 4625323 Bilal.ahmed@redingtongulf.com

CHANNEL STREET

HP Reinvents AEC’s Printing Landscape

HP has unveiled five new HP DesignJet technical printers, including the flagship HP DesignJet T830 Multifunction Printer (MFP) and the HP DesignJet T730 Printer, reinventing how

architect, engineering and construction (AEC) professionals print, scan and copy. Engineered to withstand tough environments, these new devices make large-format printing faster and easier from the office to construction sites.

“HP’s innovative new large-format printers and MFPs simplify collaboration with next-level features and mobile printing capabilities to meet this blended reality and print whatever and wherever AEC professionals need.” said Xavier Garcia, vice president and general manager, Large Format Printing, HP. The HP DesignJet T730 Printer and T830 MFP help eliminate traditional printing pain points.

BULWARKS BRINGS NETSUPPORT DNA VERSION 4 TO MIDDLE EAST Building on its already-comprehensive hardware and software inventories and licence management modules, NetSupport’s latest release NetSupport DNA version 4 introduces dedicated versions for the corporate and education sectors – plus a range of proactive features such as device auto-discovery, endpoint security, proactive alerting, application and internet metering, print monitoring, energy power management, mobile inventory plus much more.

Distributed in the Middle East by Bulwark, NetSupport DNA is a complete IT asset and desktop management solution designed to save organizations time and money − whilst increasing productivity, ensuring reliability and adding security to their IT systems.

PALADION PARTNERS WITH COUNTERTACK | MCSI CyberActive SOCs are Paladion’s new breed of Security Operations Centers that employ an active approach to combat a constantly in-play threat landscape. “CyberActive is an active cybersecurityservice model that merges leading-edge security technologies and our proprietary RisqVu ADR platform with the best security talent from around the world. Our partnership with CounterTack takes our Active threat detection capabilities one step further by enhancing our SOCs’ capabilities in endpoint threat context and visibility,” said Rajat Mohanty, CEO, Paladion Networks.

DELIVERING ENDTO-END VALUE

STEPHAN BERNER, MANAGING DIRECTOR AT HELP AG

Help AG has reinforced its position as a top regional partner for Palo Alto Networks having achieved the premier status of Certified Professional Services Partner (CPSP). By meeting the rigorous qualification requirements of the program, Help AG will be able to offer its customers end-to-end services on Palo Alto’s next-generation firewall solutions with the highest standards and quality.

“From a technical standpoint we are now positioned to deliver an unmatched level of value-addition to customers that hope to leverage Palo Alto’s market leading security technologies,” said Stephan Berner, Managing Director at Help AG. As a member of the CPSP program, Help AG will now have the best preparation, training, tools, techniques and information on Palo Alto technologies.

“We have also won their partner of the year award five times in just six years.

This makes us one of Palo Alto’s most qualified partners across the Middle East,” said Stephan Berner.

STARLINK PARTNERS WITH NUTANIX “Partnering with StarLink is an important milestone for us to bring invisible infrastructure to companies of all sizes in the exponentially growing Middle East market.” said Jan Ursi, Sr. Director, Channel Sales & Marketing EMEA and India at Nutanix. Nidal Othman, MD at StarLink commented “We

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recently released the StarLink Vertical Security Trends Matrix, which showcases the key drivers in the IT industry that are rapidly gaining momentum amongst customers, as well as, driving innovation: Behavioral Analytics, Cloud, Mobile, IoT and Incident Response. These are the development areas for

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our portfolio’s evolution, and we decided to start with our Cloud offering, the foundations of which, are built on datacenter technology. Nutanix with its truly hyperconverged platform, combining compute, virtualization and storage, is fundamental to our Cloud journey.”

NIDAL OTHMAN, MD AT STARLINK

GEC OPEN GLOBAL ENTERPRISE CONNECT

BAHRAIN | UAE | INDIA | SAUDI ARABIA OMAN | TURKEY | QATAR I N A S S O C I AT I O N W I T H

BROUGHT BY

ORGANISED BY

GLOBAL ENTERPRISE CONNECT

WWW.GECOPEN.COM

CHANNEL STREET

Expanding Portfolio with a ‘Thunder’ A10 Networks has unveiled the A10 Thunder Convergent Firewall (CFW) a standalone security product that leverages the ACOS Harmony platform with cutting-edge innovations.

Thunder CFW’s key benefits include, High-performance Secure Web Gateway with integrated explicit proxy, URL filtering and SSL Insight; High-performance data center firewall (DCFW) with integrated network denial-ofservice (DoS) protection and Server; Highperformance Gi/SGi firewall with integrated network DoS and Carrier Grade NAT (CGN); High-performance IPSec site-to-site VPN;

Galaxy Centralized Management System support for Thunder CFW. “Thunder Convergent Firewall provides a highly effective, highly scalable all-inclusive converged secured application network platform to protect organizations’ assets. Thunder CFW is a testament to the power and versatility of the ACOS Harmony platform and we’ve worked with our customers in implementing some of the key security modules.” said Lee Chen, CEO of A10 Networks. “Thunder CFW is a logical extension of A10’s security strategy,” said Brad Casemore, Research Director, Datacenter Networks, at IDC.

ERICSSON AND OOREDOO GROUP TO WORK TOGETHER FOR 5G Ericsson and Ooredoo Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for 5G development with the ambition of developing use cases, requirements and deployment scenarios for 5G technologies. Rafiah Ibrahim, President of Ericsson Region Middle East and Africa, says: “At Ericsson, we are looking forward to our joint exploration of the possibilities and opportunities that 5G technologies will enable. We believe that next generation networks will have a profound impact in the future by enabling anything and everything to connect, bringing value across a number of verticals in the Networked Society. ”

MOBILE BANKING MADE SAFER HID Global has enhanced its ActivID authentication offering for digital banking with a push notification solution that gives financial institutions a secure channel and easy method for notifying customers about pending transactions on their phones or tablets, and then proceeding with execution after receiving their authorization. “With our ActivID Trusted Transactions solution, banks can offer far more convenient out-of-band transaction notification and authorization on mobile devices, which provides customers real-time alerts prior to a suspicious transaction being applied to their account. This places the control back in the customer’s hands by providing them with simple way to confirm the legitimacy of a pending transaction.” said Tim Phipps, vice president of product marketing, Identity Assurance with HID Global. HID Global’s “phone as a token” out-of-band verification solution uses transaction signing with private key cryptography over a trusted and secure electronic channel. All communication is encrypted with mutual authentication between the user’s mobile device and the financial institution’s online banking application.

GEMALTO AND NETAPP TO JOIN FORCES Gemalto has geared up to partner with NetApp to offer an integrated storage, encryption and key management solution for Amazon Web Services (AWS) customers. The solution brings together SafeNet Virtual KeySecure and NetApp Cloud ONTAP as a unified offer on AWS Marketplace and enables organizations to seamlessly store and encrypt their data and applications in virtual environments while maintaining business agility and complete ownership of their encryption keys.

SafeNet Virtual KeySecure for NetApp Cloud ONTAP addresses this scenario by offering efficient, centralized key management for virtualized environments by enforcing customizable security policies for data access.

It combines NetApp’s modern storage infrastructure with Gemalto’s industryleading SafeNet key management, protecting customers’ data and encryption keys against unauthorized access, while simultaneously making the most efficient use of their storage investments.

“AWS users can now turn to NetApp to manage, store and protect their data can do so even more confidently than ever before, while maintaining 100 percent ownership of their encryption keys.” said Todd Moore, VP of Data Encryption Product Management at Gemalto. Tim Russell, VP of Product Management for NetApp said, “The combination of NetApp Cloud ONTAP and Gemalto SafeNet Virtual KeySecure extends data management services in the AWS Cloud to help secure access to sensitive data for our joint customers.”

THE ERA OF SOT IS HERE! The world is getting ever more connected – and because of this businesses must recognize the need to re-invent the way in which they support their customers.

This new approach to support is known as the Support of Things (SoT) and allows organizations to effortlessly support their customers in a world of connected, and soon to

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be connected, products.

LogMeIn explored in depth these topics at the 2nd Annual Customer Experience Management Summit at the Al Murooj Rotana Dubai.

“Many companies still rely on old models of customer support – models that will collapse under the weight of this shift. To keep pace with the heavy proliferation of these

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‘connected’ devices, companies need to re-invent the way they approach customer support,” explains Gary Nolan, Vice President for the EMEA region at LogMeIn. “The re-imaging of customer support models to better suit connected products and services – the Support of Things – will allow to optimise customer experience, now and in the future”,

he adds.

The firm also highlighted its support technologies, such as its Rescue Lens solution, which allows support teams to provide real-time, video-assisted support, giving them a first-hand look at the end users’ issues, and mitigating possible limitations of remote support.

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CHANNEL STREET

Aramex Embraces TCS for ERP Consolidation

LEADING TRANSITION TO THE ALL FLASH FUTURE

MICHAEL SOTNICK, VP OF GLOBAL CHANNELS AND ALLIANCES AT PURE STORAGE.

Pure Storage has enhanced its FlashStack Converged Infrastructure (CI) offering with the addition of the FlashStack CI Accreditation partner tier under the P3 Partner Program as well as the availability of new solutions.

FlashStack CI streamlines the implementation of all-flash infrastructure for enterprises and service providers.

FlashStack CI now offers the Pure Storage FlashArray product family with Microsoft SQL Server and Citrix XenDesktop, adding to previously published configurations for Cisco UCS Blade Servers, Cisco Nexus switches, VMware vSphere 5 and VMware Horizon 6.

“FlashStack CI equips our customers and partners with the performance, simplicity, high-availability and reliability they need to increase revenue opportunities and lead their respective markets.” said Michael Sotnick, VP of Global Channels and Alliances at Pure Storage. The Pure Storage FlashStack CI for Citrix XenDesktop 7.6 delivers virtual applications and desktops to allow enterprises to securely mobilize business at the speed of flash memory.

The new FlashStack CI Partner Accreditation makes FlashStack sales opportunities available to an expanded group of Pure Storage P3 partners.

Tata Consultancy Services has been selected by Aramex to carry out and implement “ERP” platform consolidation.

Aramex aims to simplify and transform its business globally by migrating its Finance, Human Resources, Procurement and Operations functions onto a single ERP system.

MR. VARUN KAPUR, VP AND HEAD OF MEA, TCS Commenting on the agreement, Iyad Kamal, COO of Aramex, said, “This is a natural, logical step in

further streamlining our global business operations. Having TCS implement the program will ensure the transition to the new platform will be efficient, effective and seamless.”

Mr. Varun Kapur, VP and Head of MEA, TCS, said, “Aramex has been a pioneer in the industry and TCS is excited to be the strategic partner in this journey.”

STME EXPANDS FOOTPRINT IN SAUDI Having entered the Saudi Arabia market 25 years ago by setting up their first office in Riyadh, STME has expanded to Al Khobar and Jeddah, to be able to provide their products and services at a higher level and in a prompt way. “Our growth in Saudi Arabia is due to a combination of our strengths, which include three decades of experience in the Middle East region and our good reliable partner products,” said CEO Ayman Al Bayaa while speaking on STME’s phenomenal growth in Saudi Arabia. Some of the biggest partners of STME in Saudi Arabia are NetApp, HDS, Symantec, Veritas, Quantum, VMware, Oracle, and IBM, along with many other critical ones. Speaking of future plans in Saudi Arabia, Mr. Ayman said the company aims to “Be a key player in the End-to-End Data Centre and Cloud Services provider sector.’’

ENTREPRENEURS PUT FUN & FAMILY ON THE ALTAR FOR DREAM BUSINESS The world’s SMB owners have contributed AED 30.5 (US$ 8.3) trillion to the global economy by working beyond the standard industry hours for their businesses, according to a new global survey by Sage. But this contribution comes at a price. Nearly half of all global business owners work over 40 hours a week. Stephen Kelly, CEO of Sage comments: ‘We know it takes hard work and human sacrifice to turn a dream business idea into a way of life. We should do all we can to support these heroes and recognise all those hours of hard work they are putting in ‘SMEs are quite numerous in Dubai. Considering this environment and trajectories, support infrastructure needs to be developed for SMEs. This is one of our priorities at Sage,’ added Mr. Reggie Fernandes, Regional Director for Sage ME

BOOSTING NETWORK CONNECTIVITY IN AFRICA NTT Communications is partnering with Workonline Communications to provide enhanced IP network connectivity services in Africa. Workonline will be able to provide seamless connectivity to customers in areas it was previously unable to reach. NTT Com will be able to access new

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network opportunities provided

by Workonline, particularly in metro areas in the sub-Saharan African region.

“This partnership also fits our strategy to take NTT Com’s Global IP Network into some of the fastest-growing Internet markets in Africa and offer our customers

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more connectivity options in the region,” said Clive Hamilton, vice president of Network Services at NTT Europe. “Our goal is to provide our partners such as NTT Com with innovative and cost-effective solutions on a global scale, whilst maintaining the highest standards of design, build

and deployment,” said Edward Lawrence, Director of Business Development, Workonline Communications. “By collaborating with NTT Com, we will be able to improve our ability to provide our partners in the Africa region with further connectivity into key global markets.”

PARTNER STREET

VCE –MINDWARE

Combining the best of both worlds

Drastic times call for drastic measures. When the market is going through a frenzy, the smart ones chose to join league with their smart counterparts across the market so that together they become a force to reckon with. VCE recently signed a partnership with Mindware and uniting their strengths, they are all set to transform the IT market.  W O R D S : S O U M YA < S O U M YA @ A C C E N T I N F O M E D I A . C O M >

T

he fluctuations in the oil prices have invariably created a chaotic uncertainty in the market. Companies’ balance sheets have been affected; so have been the strategies to cope up with the changing market dynamics. In such a situation, the competition towards succeeding in the race of “survival of the fittest” becomes fiercer than ever before. When the pie is shrinking, the struggle to capture a bigger share is definitely becoming more competitive. Partnerships at such a juncture become very crucial to the slope of the growth curve of the companies involved. VCEthe leading buzz maker in converged infrastructure has entered into a strategic partnership with the prominent infrastructure VAD of the region, Mindware.

Commenting on the partnership, Said Akar, Regional Director for Turkey, Eastern Europe, Africa, and Middle East at VCE said, “VCE is one of the pioneer companies focusing around converged infrastructure. Middle East is one of the fastest growing markets that we have worldwide.

One of the most important things is how we can cover the market and have the right go-to-market strategy. This is the main reason why we are signing this partnership with Mindware in order to have a better reach to the market and continue the journey of growth and success. In this region, we operate through an indirect model and drive our business through channel. Therefore, we needed a strong Value Added Distributor in order to manage the partners and the system

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SAID AKAR,

REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR TURKEY, EASTERN EUROPE, AFRICA, AND MIDDLE EAST AT VCE

integrators and this is where Mindware was the perfect choice for this partnership.”

Mario Gay, GM at Mindware remarked, “We started the journey with EMC. The recent market happenings have been evident of how powerful they are from a technology point of view. VCE is one of those products of EMC family which was missing from our portfolio. It was extremely

MARIO GAY,

GENERAL MANAGER AT MINDWARE

important to have it, so that we could offer more value to the market. So, we were very keen to have them in our portfolio and hence the partnership with them.” Mario remarked that these are tough times.. The need of the hour is to consolidate and work with the market leaders. The VCEMindware partnership is definitely a strategic move in that direction. ë

NOT PURE

PURE

Named a leader two years in a row in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Solid-State Arrays All-flash storage is what we do. Which is why we’ve become the natural choice for accelerating the next-generation data center. Pure Storage FlashArrays are purpose-built to deliver the full advantages of flash, pushing the speed limit for business with disruptive innovation that’s hard to imitate.

Pure Storage is a leader again in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Solid-State Arrays.

Find out why, visit: purestorage.com/gartner

© 2015 Pure Storage, Inc. Pure Storage and the Pure Storage Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Pure Storage, Inc. or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries.

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Solid-State Arrays, Gartner Magic Quadrant for Solid State Arrays June 2015. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

COVER STORY

ENTERPRISE NETWORKING

Need For Speed As corporate circumstances change in a dynamic market, IT has to match them by making its own changes quickly and effectively. IT departments must make it easier to deliver new applications, add new features and functionality, and scale infrastructure quickly — both up and down — as demands change.Businesses are demanding the same agility they see in virtualized compute across the entire converged infrastructure, and the network is holding them back. The network needs to deliver the same operational performance and efficiency enabled by virtualization.  B Y: S O U M YA < S O U M YA @ A C C E N T I N F O M E D I A . C O M >

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 PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

COVER STORY

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he need to adopt cloud, mobility and big data technologies has increased the demand for increased agility and flexibility of IT Services, forcing IT departments to ascertain how they can do it while enhancing employee and customer experience. It is in such scenarios that technology decision makers are turning to adopt technologies such as SDN to provide faster, more agile and scalable networks while managing cost effectiveness.

The idea of programmable networks has regained

considerable momentum due to the emergence of the Software-Defined Networking (SDN) paradigm. SDN, often referred to as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;radical new idea in networkingâ&#x20AC;?, promises to dramatically simplify network management and enable innovation through network programmability.

According to various estimates, the Middle East & Africa (MEA) software defined networking market is estimated to grow from $5.1 million in 2013 to $118.0 million by 2019, at a CAGR of 77.3%, for the given period. The market is primar-

ily driven by the prominent network infrastructure requirements in the MEA region

SDN VS TRADITIONAL NETWORKING SDN, in a nutshell, provides holistic network management, the ability to apply unified security policies while reducing operational costs and increasing efficiency. SDN allows for management of both physical and virtual switches and devices from a central controller and a single set of APIs

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COVER STORY

ASHLEY WOODBRIDGE CUSTOMER SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT, CISCO UAE

SHAMS HASAN ENTERPRISE PRODUCT MANAGER, MIDDLE EAST, DELL

TOM O’REILLY CTO FOR MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA AT VCE

“The Cisco vision for SDN is to provide true network programmability, enabling developers to write applications that extract real-time intelligence from the network, and apply analytics and intelligence to determine the appropriate policy.”

“Dell is bringing the era of closed, proprietary networking infrastructure to an end and leading the way as the first major networking provider to embrace the new standard of open networking.”

“VCE is well-equipped to provide the ecosystem and cater to the evolving converged infrastructure market and networking and SDN are a big component of that.”

LOOKING BACK TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN HISTORY OF SDN From the mid-1990s to the early 2000s

From around 2001 to 2007

From 2007 to around 2010

Active networks, which introduced programmable functions in the network, leading to greater innovation

Control- and data-plane separation, which developed open interfaces between the control and data planes

Openflow API and network operating systems, which represented the first widespread adoption of an open interface and developed ways to make control- and data-plane separation scalable and practical

Network virtualization played an important role throughout the historical evolution of SDN, substantially predating SDN yet taking root as one of the first significant use cases for SDN

(something that was not possible earlier). Thus enterprises are able to scale to meet the growing size and demands of network and customers through resilience and high performance.

Although SDN offers benefits from network abstraction and the agility for network adminis-

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tration and automation, the specific advantages of SDN will vary from network to network. As Amanulla Khan – Managing Director MEA – Linksys explains- “By decoupling the data and control planes of traditional networks, SDN promises a new generation of low-cost hard-

ware that software development communities can work around to create cost-effective, robust network services tailored to individual needs.”

He adds that SDN will be a critical enabler of everything to do with Internet of Things.

SDN will support IoT by centralizing control, abstracting network devices, and providing flexible, dynamic, automated reconfiguration of the networks. SDN enables the radical simplification of network provisioning with predefined policies for plug-and-play set-up of IoT devices, automatic detection and remediation of security threats, and the provisioning of the edge computing and analytics environments that turn data into insights.

SDN – THE MIDDLE EAST SCENARIO Global organisations are adopting the softwaredefined data centre as an open, agile, secure and

COVER STORY

TRIGGERING THE UPTAKE OF SDN IN THE MEA

MOBILITY

CLOUD

MEA is projected to have the world’s-fastest growth in mobile data traffic, growing 14-fold to 1.49 exabytes in 2018.

MEA is set to have the world’sfastest cloud growth, from 17 exabytes in 2012 to 157 exabytes in 2017.

INTERNET OF EVERYTHING

(IOE)

MEA’s smart devices set to grow from 133 million to 598 million in 2018, and 50 billion objects around the world to be connected to networks by 2020.

efficient architecture to simplify IT and transition to the hybrid cloud. According to forecast by Markets and Markets the SDN and NFV market is expected to grow from USD 2.02 Billion in 2015 to USD 45.12 Billion in 2020.

IDC forecasts that the SDN market will reach more than $3.5 billion in revenues by next year and this market is set to grow globally from $960 million in 2014 to more than $8 billion by 2018.

Ashley Woodbridge, Customer Solutions Architect, Cisco UAE is of the opinion thatSDN is still in an embryonic stage in the Middle East.

Currently Middle East companies rolling-out change across network infrastructure face a complex and time-consuming process by configuring networks box-by-box. Shams Hasan, Enterprise Product Manager, Middle East, Dell echoes similar sentiments, “SDN and NFV adoption is still at an early stage in the Middle East, primarily due to the life-cycle of network infrastructure in general. But the migration is happening and every time a company looks at updating their networking or deploying new networking, SDN is usually carefully considered.

Right now, companies with legacy networking infrastructure are the early adopters transitioning their data centres to the trend.” He adds, “A challenge is that many SMBs fall into the trap believing such new IT trends are only for large enterprises – when interestingly enough the Software Defined (SDx) trend is most beneficial to small scale businesses.”

TICAL INDEED? Customers no longer want to buy a series of boxes and are looking to vendors such as Cisco to deliver end-to-end systems. CIOs expect simple, flexible, automated, and agile infrastructure, so SDN is definitely going to be here for the long haul.

Customers are relying on partners to help them take important decisions when it comes to deploying efficient SDN infrastructures. It is important for a partner to understand the enduser’s requirements and how to meet those.

Improved network performance, reduced costs and increased agility, the ability to manage the end-to-end network, and a solid network architecture and design that provides a future roadmap are just some of the benefits that

BENEFITS OF THE MEA MARKET

•

•

Middle East market is a lot more “greenfield” than other regions, with organizations not having large existing legacy investments that they need to protect.

Organizations here are a lot more willing to adopt new technology than we see in other markets, as they are eager to leapfrog other businesses and reap the benefits

partners need to take into consideration before deploying SDN for the end-user. The partner needs to enable his team with the required skills and certifications that are essential to deploy SDN.

WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO BUILD YOUR SMARTER NETWORKS? Typically, the organizations that have embraced Cloud or virtualization in their data centreenvironment or have started the journey down that path are the ones that benefit most from SDN, as it gives the customers the promise of achieving in their network what virtualization has given them in the data centre. Keeping that in consideration, channel players who have already invested in virtualization skills and cloud delivery services have a competitive advantage over traditional hardware resellers.

“With change comes opportunity, and for partners the evolving service provider market opportunity is huge. Partners need to respond quickly to new market trends in order to stay

SOFTWARE DEFINED APPROACH- HOW PRAC-

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COVER STORY

VITTORIO BRINI SENIOR MANAGER – STRATEGY & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, INS – INTELLIGENT NETWORK SOLUTIONS, GBM

“The competitive edge of our SDN solution brings an application centric policy model, native bridging between physical and virtual environments, open APIs/open source, interoperability and security.”

competitive, monetize new services and drive optimization while continuing to deliver quality services to customers”, comments Ashley.

Dell is bringing the era of closed, proprietary networking infrastructure to an end and leading the way as the first major networking provider to embrace the new standard of open networking. Shams tells us, “Our new, second generation of open networking solutions give customers the flexibility to choose the best hardware and software for the way they work. From cloud computing to big data to virtualization, the new portfolio of 1-to100GbE switches expands on that leadership.

Dell is one of the only vendors that maximizes your choice by offering a complete, unbiased approach to SDN.” “By choosing Dell to support your IT needs, we can assure our clients that we’ll streamline and expand your business to a new level”, he adds.

In response to a rapid increase in process-

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SUNIL PAUL CO-FOUNDER AND COO OF FINESSE

AMANULLA KHAN MANAGING DIRECTOR MEA – LINKSYS

“We would be looking at investing in the large enterprises which are showing ready acceptance for adopting SDN. Typically, these are enterprises with huge data traffic, scattered network and devices.”

“SDN promises a new generation of low-cost hardware that software development communities can work around to create cost-effective, robust network services tailored to individual needs.”

ing growth in the region, Cisco is driving the uptake of SDN, a network solution that provides adaptability, simplicity, flexibility, and agility.

“The Cisco vision for SDN is to provide true network programmability, enabling developers to write applications that extract real-time intelligence from the network, and apply analytics and intelligence to determine the appropriate policy”, comments Ashley. Cisco’s answer to SDN across both the Data Centre and Enterprise Networking environments is Application-Centric Infrastructure (ACI), which is a holistic architecture with centralized automation and policy-driven application profiles. ACI delivers software flexibility with the scalability of hardware performance. At Cisco, we like to think of ACI as SDN++, as ACI has a number of unique features from the traditional SDN approach including a 360-degree feedback loop that enables

the monitoring of end-to-end application performance.

As the journey to the hybrid cloud continues to take shape, the requirements of both traditional and new, ‘born in the cloud’ applications are evolving and putting entirely new demands on IT organizations. “Customers are looking for the flexibility of softwaredefined network (SDN) virtualization with the simplicity of converged infrastructure and, in recent months, we’ve seen a number of customers look to make VCE the foundation for their Software Defined Data Centre (SDDC)”, remarks Tom. “As a vendor that has been recognized as a leader, both for its vision and ability to execute, in the recent Gartner Magic Quadrant for Integrated Systems, I think VCE is well-equipped to provide the ecosystem and cater to the evolving converged infrastructure market and networking and SDN are a big component of that”, he adds. Converged infra-

COVER STORY

structure directly helps businesses bottom line by making IT staff more efficient. It’s more cost-effective, agile, reduces time spent on system maintenance, and increases overall IT performance.

Commenting on the value proposition from GBM, Vittorio Brini, Senior Manager

The global software defined networking market will grow from $960 million to $8 billion-plus in 2018.

Source- IDC, 2014

– Strategy & Business Development, INS – Intelligent Network Solutions, GBM comments, “By simply separating control and data planes will not result in achieving customer goalsThe competitive edge of our SDN solution brings an application centric policy model, native bridging between physical and virtual environments, open APIs/open source, interoperability and security.”

PARTNERS’ FANCY SDN may not be the right approach for every network environment; howsoever, there will be cases when there are clear benefits, and SDN could be just the solution one might need to optimize his data centre.

So, which are the organizations partners would prefer to invest in when it comes to SDN. Sunil Paul, Co-founder and COO of Finesse says, “We would be looking at investing in the large enterprises which are showing ready acceptance for adopting SDN. Typically, these are enterprises with huge data traffic, scattered network and devices. We are focusing on enterprises who have deployed virtualization of their organizations and who are looking to benefit from the physical and virtual mobility between their data centres.

Enterprises that have to deal with dynamic changes to their network will also benefit by adoption of SDN because it will help them to cope with their speed of business.” He adds that SDN is especially effective for sectors like banking and telecommunications which have several locations and complex networks.

Vittorio comments, “Being the leading partner of the region, SDN is the prime focus for us in the upcoming years. We fully understand and realize that customers are quickly embracing consolidation, virtualization and hyperconvergence technologies; network has to meet the agility, performance and automation requirements. We have focussed and converged DC/SDN practice in-house, already established ecosystem/partner-

ship with leading SDN vendors, significant SDN projects in-hand, early and continued investment towards SDN, skillset development and regular marketing and customer awareness campaigns, to execute our SDN strategy. We expect to grow our SDN market share proportional to the overall projected SDN spending by 2019-2020.”

FACING THE CHALLENGES ON THE WAY Like with most new technologies, skill shortage is a major hurdle on the uptake of SDN on a wide scale. In order to capitalize on these technologies, enterprises will need well-trained and skilled staff. For systems integrators and resellers to be successful in this area, they need to play key roles in defining, selling, deploying and optimizing these Next-generation networking trends that will deliver clear business outcomes and meet customers’ needs.

To enable partners to excel in the evolving service provider marketplace and address market trends in routing, mobility and optical technologies, Cisco has introduced four new service provider technology specializations. These new specializations provide partners with the training and tools necessary to sell the Cisco technologies that are evolving the service provider market today.

MOVING FORWARD WITH SDN It’s plausible to dwell upon how the CIOsshould approach the SDN fabric because their organizations might have spent good investment in the networking infrastructure and data center. Shams comments, “In business terms “a past investment is a ‘sunk cost’”, and this is crucial to any investment decision standing in the present. Traditional networking infrastructure comes with heavy maintenance costs; and not investing in changing mindsets may force a CIOs hand to reacquire the same expensive legacy networking architecture when the time comes.”

CIOs should scrutinize all costs involved in their existing legacy networking infrastructure against practical and phased adoption of SDN. They should also ensure their team has an open mind towards innovation with a single minded focus on responsible technology adoption and deployment towards serving the business’ objectives. With this approach – SDN is a difficult trend to ignore.

As Vittorio further elaborates, typically there are two types of deployments, Greenfield and Brownfield. In Greenfield networks, CIOs can choose to deploy SDN from day-1 to maximize the business benefit, increase operational excellence and

reduce overall risk. However, in case of Brownfield deployments, CIOs/Senior Managers intend to follow a gradual migration path from traditional to SDN fabric with minimal to zero interruption, this can be achieved through a parallel SDN setup, then migration of services with complete risk avoidance and mitigation planning.

SDN has the capability to gather information related to the network and users and can be used to optimize network utilization and application performance to enhance user experience. Such data can be shared with third party service providers enabling the introduction of new network and applications functionalities, lesser time to market thus enabling innovation and investing in newer applications. “Combining network data and user data allows for intelligent resource allocation and provisioning, allows for better performance to support new technologies. Enterprises should be typically looking at leveraging the capabilities of SDN as a forward moving strategy”, comments Sunil.

Studies have also shown that by 2019–2020, 40%–45% of the overall network spending will be on SDN. How are the leading vendors keeping up? Shams remarks, “The only limit with software development is the human element that creates it. At Dell, we have some of the best minds in the world developing solutions for customers. We can’t preach about agility and flexibility without being so ourselves, so we can confidently say that we will roll with the punches and tailor the best plans and activities with the market in the future.”

FINALLY Networking has seen a great deal of change over the last few decades. SDN is an innovative and evolutionary approach to network architecture. In order to realize the full value of server virtualization, enterprise networks need the agility to move workloads among servers in a matter of seconds.

Unlike legacy networking architectures that are vertically integrated from the underlying hardware, through the operating system, and into the network application functionality, the inherently open nature of an SDN represents a fundamental shift in power giving one choice, agility and automated network operations not previously possible.

Though the SDN journey is still in early stages, it won’t be very long before the importance of it is realized on a wider scale. SDN has the potential to revolutionise networking . The demand by Middle East CIOs for more agile data centre infrastructure will fasten the adoption of SDN in the days to come.

When the speed of businesses is determined by the agility of the networks, latency has no place in the scenario. The current scenario calls out aloud and clear- NEED FOR SPEED !!! ë

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COVER FEATURE

COREY THOMAS, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF RAPID7

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COVER FEATURE

RAPID7

Patrolling the Streets of Security At a time in history when securing corporate data assets has become a paramount priority and challenge given the the cost and consequences of surrender to these attacks—Rapid7, together with its ‘Partner in Security’, Spire Solutions dawns upon the region with their magic concoction  WORDS: ANUSHREE DIXIT <ANUSHREE@ACCENTINFOMEDIA.COM>

A

t a time when Security was operating in silos and organizations did not have a solution that could singlehandedly identify vulnerabilities across the entire IT ecosystem, Rapid7 was born.

realized the value of intelligence, Rapid7 as a company grew and gained popularity.”

RAPID7- THE GENESIS

Rapid7’s Threat Exposure Management and Incident Detection Response have been truly embodying the commitment for which the company was created. There was a time when IT was just a part of the business, but today the scenario is entirely different. We have events specially dedicated for security and the amount of coverage, attention, and observation that this celebrity gets is beyond ratings. “Security is a practice and a skillset. IT is all about how you build, deploy and implement technologies that meet your business goals on time and on budget. A ‘Good’ security is that which enables your business with minimal risk” says Corey.

With the advent of IoT, security is definitely taking a roller coaster ride. According Corey, IoT is all about how well the businesses have understood their IoT systems and the environment and how well they have managed their information.

“For Rapid7 it is all about providing the data, analytics and the insights for the companies to have effective security program and practices. For us security is a ‘discipline’. You can take the example

Rapid7 got its name from New York’s Rapid Transit system’s “Rapid7” train on which the founders used to travel when they embarked on their quest to simplify complexities. “Our founders had the crazy idea of simplifying security. They believed that information was power and will be the power for the next generation as well.” says Corey Thomas, President and CEO at Rapid7. “They were right about the concept but wrong about the time. It took a long time for the world to actually understand the harness the power of information” he adds. So, Rapid7 was brainstormed with this idea to make information more simple and accessible and give people a deeper understanding of security. “This was at a time when organizations just wanted to install various firewalls and AVs, caring less about managing their security, which was fair enough until there weren’t any sophisticated attacks. They realized soon that just deploying technologies was not enough,they had a conflict based on intelligence and when people

SECURITY IN A REGION THAT IS ON A ‘RAPID’ ROUTE TO GLOBALIZATION

of crimes in a good city and a bad city. Crimes are everywhere, but a good city is that which manages the crime effectively.”

THE BRICK AND MORTAR FOR BRIDGING THE GAP Rapid7 believes that knowing your weak points and prioritizing what matters the most is the key to categorizing risk. “The first thing is awareness.

We make people understand the exposures and the vulnerabilities that they have in their environment and make them aware how easily they are compromised. Awareness is key— because you cannot address what you don’t know about.”

The second point is that some people don’t care. According to Corey, the time has come when organizations should move beyond the ‘If ’ factor and look for ‘when’ they are attacked. Thirdly, some people care but are misguided. “If I buy the latest technology it doesn’t mean that I am fundamentally safe. That is a false security.”

“What makes you safe and secure is having a program and a practice that is data driven where you actually focus your limited resources to address the biggest threats and the biggest exposures and at the end of the day that involves understanding what your threats and exposures are and leveraging your IT resources to change how you update, configure and control your

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COVER FEATURE

environment by applying those controls against the biggest exposures. It is like putting your army at the bridge when other soldiers are coming in boats across the river. If you don’t put people in the right locations, you are wasting your time and you are wasting your effort. So from a technology perspective we provide the visibility and from the services perspective we understand how to build the security plans and programs that actually help them to leverage their investment in IT.” Corey says that at the end of the day attacks are bound to happen. There is a huge difference between a program well managed and program not well managed. “A core part of our data analytics vision is how quickly you can catch a crime and limit the impact from there is how quickly you can catch a crime and limit the impact from there.”

THE AVENGERS IN THE BATTLE AGAINST SECURITY Rapid7’s Incident Threat Response model goes by the belief that ‘Attackers are humans’ and the day you realize this, you have the edge. It is about how you identify the bad technologies and malicious behaviours.

“Human behaviour doesn’t change much.

And there are some typical trajectories of attacker behaviour. When an attacker enters your premises, he is blind. He will move around and explore the premises to gain visibility. A common mistake that an attacker makes is that, he covers his trails.And it is that moment and movement that we look for. Like a police walking down the streets and looking for suspicious people, our Incident Threat Response model looks for malicious behaviour on the premises. So we don’t look for bad technologies, we look for bad behaviours.

The bad guys are not smarter, they are focused.

There is no smartness in robbing a house whose doors are wide open. They are very focused on their craft in understanding vulnerabilities and exposures, so it is the responsibility of the organization to identify and understand their vulnerable points.

SCALABLE SERVICES- MANAGED AND IMPLEMENTED Rapid7’s Security Advisory Services apply industry expertise, data-driven analysis and industry best practices to transform the way you manage your security programs and empower more impactful business decisions.  Penetration Testing  Cyber Security Maturity Assessment  Security Program Development

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NEXPOSE

Threat exposure management is a security best practice measure to protect against today’s threats.

Nexpose is a threat exposure management solution that dynamically collects data and analyzes risk from the endpoint to the cloud. Its Adaptive Security capability enables IT security teams to identify, assess and respond to critical change as it happens

APPSIDER

Today’s malicious attackers share a preferred channel of attack - the millions of custom web, mobile, and cloud applications companies deploy to serve their customers. AppSpider dynamically assesses these applications for vulnerabilities across all modern technologies, provides tools that speed remediation, and monitors applications for changes.

USERINSIGHT

Rapid7 UserInsight is an intruder analytics solution that gives you the confidence to detect and investigate security incidents faster.

METASPLOIT

Metasploit Pro increases penetration testers’ productivity, prioritizes and demonstrates risk through closed-loop vulnerability validation, and measures security awareness through simulated phishing emails. Metasploit Pro provides risk assessment through a controlled simulation of a real attack.

 Incident Response Program Development  Security Awareness Training Rapid7 recently launched the Rapid7 Analytic Response, a new, fully managed service that gives customers continuous threat detection by identifying known threats, certain unknown threats, and intruder movement from the endpoint to the cloud. “There is no way ever and at any reality that there are going to be enough skilled people to protect customer environment.

You have to have a different model and ‘Managed Services’ is that model. The worst experience that we have had with the customers is when they buy our products and then they don’t have the skilled people to run that product effectively.

Technology business is always more profitable than a managed service business, but it is a long term decision taken in the interest of our customers. Rapid7 offers competitive scalability with its hybrid and cloud based service models.

STANDING OUT FROM THE CROWD When it comes to Incident threat response, Rapid7 emerges as one of the few leading players in the market to offer end to end services— right from compliance to user behaviour analyses and detection of malicious behaviour to forensic analyses and managed services. “I believe that if security has to be successful, it has to have 2 attributes to it— ease of use and cost effectiveness.

And Rapid7 addresses that balance very well.”

GLOBAL THREAT MODELLING SERVICE: THE SIMPLEST ROUTE TO SECURITY Rapid7’s Global Threat modelling service is a basic tool that understands and adheres to the basic security foundation of any organization.

As Corey puts it across, “I wish I could tell you it is a fancy or complicated term (laughs), but it is a very simple and basic service that caters to the foundational needs of any organization.”

Corey gives us yet another beautiful example here; “These are not flashy things, but a conflict.

People think of war as a big battle, but never talk about the basics involved in it. It is about the supply lines and the training involved in it. Similarly, in cyberthreats people forget the foundations. It is the training and programs that matter the most and we help the organizations build the foundations well.”

1

Do you have a good security architecture? Do you have the basic controls in place? Do you have the right policies ?

2

Do you have a good program to manage and monitor your threat exposure? How do you look at the root cause?

3

Do you have the ability to detect and respond to a threat? Do you have a good governance model that aligns your business goals?

COVER FEATURE

THEY CAME, THEY SAW, THEY SECURED:- JOURNEY WITH SPIRE SOLUTIONS 2011 is infamously known as the ‘Year of Hackers’ with a good number of attacks targeted at various organizations. Middle East also had its own share of epitome attacks like the Saudi Aramco incident and others when Rapid7 joined hands with Spire Solutions.

Commitment, competence and integrity are the three attributes that Rapid7 looks for in a partner. Rapid7 signed Spire Solutions as their distributor in 2011. They attribute a great share of their success in the Middle East to Spire Solutions.

Corey says, “What we loved in Spire Solutions is that they were ready to walk away from a deal, and this is a hugely important thing.” Rapid7 works in a pre-sales model and they believe in letting a customer know what they are good at and what they are not good at. “We don’t sell to a company who just nods to all our requirements, but don’t know us well. We wanted a partner with competence, who is good with customers and customer support.

Secondly we wanted integrity as we measure ourselves by seeing how

long we can sustain our customers and our relationship with that customer. Spire Solutions is, if not the only, one of the few partners who have stayed and grown with us.”

Sanjeev Walia, the man who walks in for his part comes with an aura that just reflects the success that Spire Solutions has tasted in the region. Just as Corey states, Sanjeev wears pride on his sleeves and carries his team with that equal pride.

Another key point that Rapid7 looks for in a partner— an organization that decentralizes excellence across the management hierarchy.

Talking about the security landscape of the region, Sanjay Walia, CEO of Spire Solutions says, “The threat landscape in Middle East is not a whole lot different than other regions in the world, however the preparedness of organizations to

deal with these threats varies from country to country and verticals to verticals. True, the region has been a bit slow as compared to say the western counterparts in implementing countermeasures. However, the past couple of years have seen a lot of initiatives by governments as well as businesses. The challenge is not only to keep up with the threats but to be able to anticipate and respond much faster than we do today.”

4 years ago, Rapid7 was a small company with around 200 people , today they have 700 people and around 4000 customers around the world. Spire Solutions has played a great role in helped them in creating a strong base in the Middle East region.

The first milestone with Spire was the crossing of 100 customers. Now Rapid7 has crossed 200 customers which they are not only acquiring, but retaining.

SHOOTING THE RIGHT ARROWS Rapid7 has been hitting the right links lately with a bunch of key announcements.

Released Nexpose 6.0 featuring Adaptive Security, a new capability that will help organizations respond more effectively to evolving security risks. The enhanced solution for Threat Exposure Management delivers prioritized insight into changes on a customer’s network and the impact of newly discovered vulnerabilities, with ability to quickly identify critical threats and provide guidance for fast remediation.

AppSpider received the highest product score in the Web Application Security Testing (AST) in Gartner’s Critical Capabilities for Application Security Testing.

Acquired Logentries in October 2015. With the addition of Logentries’ cloud-based log management and search, Rapid7 will enable information security teams to solve a broader range of security challenges, deeply investigate incidents, and more efficiently achieve their compliance requirements.

UAE AND KSA HAVE BEEN THE YIELDING MARKETS SO FAR FOR THE COMPANY. ITS SECURITY DATA AND ANALYTICS SOLUTIONS SIMPLIFY IT SECURITY ACROSS VERTICALS.

Sanjeev cuts a happy face as he goes back in the memory lanes.

“Rapid7 and Spire have built a partnership based on the fact that we share the same values.

Both organizations are focused, proactive and with almost fanatical determination to ensure customer success. Customers across the region and in diverse verticals have appreciated the value and benefits offered by Spire and Rapid7 - which is the main reason for our success together. We expect this relationship to grow stronger in the coming few years.”

Corey says that Spire Solutions has built an integrated security brand under which they have 4 security products. “They have products other than ours but we are very impressed with their portfolio and are very delighted with their success because we want our customers to be successful from the security perspective and the credit goes to Spire for building such an integrated portfolio to meet the security needs of the region.”

WHY RAPID7?

A strategic goal and vision that is 100% focused on helping people build and manage security practices Deep expertise in data collection and analyses Hawk eye on attack Intelligence centric “We know the attacker better than anyone else. No one else has that end to end ecosystem like ours” says Corey.

FINALLY

ENERGY

GOVERNMENT

FINANCIAL SERVICES

HEALTHCARE

EDUCATION

RETAIL

Rapid7 and Spire Solutions are devising ways to provide value together. A steep growth is expected in the growth of Rapid7 Strategic services that fills an important gap in the market.

Corey looks out through the window and says, “I have an aspiration. I aspire software vendors to do a better job in building security that reduces attacks”.

Well, the future is something that one has to wait and watch for! ë

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CIOS SPEAK

to print from any device using the QU wireless network.

What are the major areas of technology you are looking to upgrade your ICT infrastructure?

The IT infrastructure has under gone a massive transformation it the last few years with the end goal to provide a private cloud for education.

So we have introduced more virtualization technologies, Software defined networking, better security, re-architecting the key applications, disaster recovery site, improvements to our data centre, hyper converged systems, enhancements to our network.

Can you shed some light on your Campus ERP? QU has two ERP systems one for student information and the other for standard administrative tasks. The two systems are integrated. Over the next year or so we re looking to expand the services on the ERP and to automating more tasks to make the university more efficient

TREVOR MOORE,

CIO, QATAR UNIVERSITY

Re-Architecting Educational Infrastructure decisions relating to educational technology.

How far have you implemented virtualization?

The university infrastructure is around 75% virtualized this has grown from 15-20% 2 years ago. We have in the last 2 years completely re-architected the Infrastructure and applications to support virtualization and help reduce the complexity and the costs of the IT infrastructure to the university.

How far have you implemented mobile learning environment in your university?

We have implemented mobile learning at QU we have the learning management system which is available on anytime/anyplace/any device. We have this past September launched QU mobile application. We are also in the process of rolling out a printing facility that will allow students

What’s your view on hybrid cloud adoption?

Hybrid cloud is a good choice in my opinion providing security/SLA questions can be answered by the cloud provider. The current big concern for me in regards to public cloud is who has jurisdiction over the data, can one country use its court systems to view data that may not be stored in that country. ë

TREVOR MOORE, CIO OF QATAR UNIVERSITY TALKS ON HOW QU HAS BEEN REDEFINING EDUCATION ON THE PLATFORM OF TECHNOLOGY. EXCERPTS.

How is the role of IT changing at your university and what’s your contribution?

The role of IT has changed over the years from being in the background and seen as a service to today where IT is a core foundation of the university. My job as CIO is to work closely with the VP, Deans, directors, students etc. to ensure that what IT is delivering is cost effective, fit for purpose plus advise the trends in educational IT so the senior leadership can take strategic

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CIOs debate whether IT should follow business change or lead itwhat’s your view?

Both IT is the foundation of most business today and will be even more in the digital age (IOT, big data etc.). IT especially the CIO needs to a trusted advisor to the business and where possible give ideas on how to improve the business which will lead to bigger profits for that business. The digital change that is underway is a journey for ever business and sometimes IT will lead but others the market/business will. A good CIO though will be ahead of the market and propose to the business new ideas.

FEATURE

STRUCTURED CABLING

Wiring a

Wireless Future

Even as we stand on the threshold of a future that will define itself as ‘No Strings Attached’, there is no probability that structured cabling industry would ever see a slowdown—at least not in the near future. The more the requirement for Wi-Fi and higher bandwidth, more the demand for structured cabling. With the Middle East, and specifically the UAE, gearing up for some magnanimous smart initiatives, the shiny copper ropes are just going to attach themselves more to the visions of the future enterprises and future cities.  WORDS: ANUSHREE <ANUSHREE@ACCENTINFOMEDIA.COM>

A

ccording to a recent report published by marketsandmarkets, the global Structured Cabling Market was valued at $7.72 Billion in 2014 and is expected to reach up to $13.13 Billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 9.0% between 2015 and 2020. The growing use of Ethernet networks and the demand for high bandwidth is one of the key propellers for the ever increasing demand for structured cabling. There is a huge responsibility on the data center managers to carefully consider the network architecture.

LOOKING AT THE LANDSCAPE TarekHelmy, Regional Director Gulf and Middle East, South & East Africa of Nexans Cabling Solutions says that due to ongoing large infrastructure projects such as airports, hotels, hospitals, educational institutes to name a few across the region, Nexans saw

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the highest demand for structured cabling solutions from these types of clients. In today’s competitive business environment, there is a need to implement the most cost-effective, future-proof connectivity infrastructure quickly and efficiently. Server virtualisation is one of the trends in increasing the efficiency of data centres; however, it can lead to stresses in the supporting connectivity infrastructure. “The Middle East structured cabling market has a huge opportunity to grow in the next couple of years with the growing usage of smartphones, tablets, and laptops, which need instant access, file sharing, and networking. This will create demand for data storage and speed which, in turn, will boost the need for data center capacity” says Leenna Jayachaandran, Coach, Mentor, KSA and UAE have the largest market value for structured cabling, with a combined value of US$65 million.

Consulting - MHI Global Middle East Partner - Genome Consultants.

THE MARKET SHARE “We believe that strong engagement with our customers is key to understanding their needs and the nuances of the markets in the Middle East which is why have established a local presence in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, Egypt, Turkey and Morocco.” says Alfred Tharwat Head of Training & Data Center consultancy, R&M Middle East, Turkey & Africa.

Leviton continues to grow market share due to market growth and capturing market share through competition in the market. Due to that Leviton has invested heavily in man power and added 20% of its current work force over 2014-2015.

DEMANDS OF AN AMBITIOUS INFRASTRUCTURE Going by the statistics, cabling accounts up to

FEATURE

a very small portion of the IT infrastructure budget, but with a lifespan that ranges from 15-20 years. The Middle East infrastructure is on the tracks of a formula 1 race that sees no reduction in pace for now.

“I have always admired the Middle East’s resiliency. In the midst of rising conflict and slowing global demand, entrepreneurs and companies alike are transforming their economies and laying the groundwork for sustained stability and development. With the introduction of the IP converged networks, VoD, HDTv, Data Centers, etc., there is no doubt that the infrastructure is an important part of the IT solution today. We have clearly observed that many IT managers and facilities managers are becoming more informed about the latest

cabling standards released in the market.”

Alfred of R&M says that there are a number of countries in the region that are investing heavily to build their connectivity infrastructures. As with any developing region, the investment is being driven by local governments which are actively pursuing large projects for telecoms, communication networks, transportation, construction and other infrastructure related sectors. “It is estimated that around 90 per cent of the Governorate of Muscat and 35 per cent of the other governorates outside Muscat will be covered by optic fiber, satellites and wire communications by 2020 and every building and village across Oman will be connected to the national broadband infrastructure by 2040.

In 2014, among the different solution type of structured cabling the hardware segment held the largest market share, accounting for a market share of 89.0% approximately.

We are an active player in this market and have been working with the big operators to help the country realize these ambitions.”

Asef Baddar, RCDD, DCD, Senior Manager, Technical Sales & Services, Network Solutions says, “The momentum in infrastructure market fuelled by smart city initiatives and EXPO 2020 in UAE, 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and pure infrastructure build out in Saudi Arabia especially in Makah with hospitality, Riyadh with government, and Eastern province with Oil &

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FEATURE

ALFRED THARWAT

HEAD OF TRAINING & DATA CENTER CONSULTANCY, R&M MIDDLE EAST, TURKEY & AFRICA

TAREK HELMY

REGIONAL DIRECTOR GULF AND MIDDLE EAST, SOUTH & EAST AFRICA OF NEXANS CABLING SOLUTIONS

“The cabling solutions we “Nexans has the experience provide meet and exceed to take businesses industry standards which into the future with is why they are capable of cables, accessories, and meeting the requirements sophisticated network of our customers for many management systems years.” that are ready today for tomorrow’s innovations.”

something that can hinder the provision of the apt experience of even the winning solutions. As far as the integration capabilities are concerned there are a few challenges from the skilled man power perspective that may prevent the customers from realizing the benefits of solutions. “There is a challenge but this is something that cabling manufacturers like R&M has been very quick to address. For example, we design our solutions to be modular with a plug and play approach.

This reduces the time and effort required for installation and eliminates errors that could arise from improper splicing and connections that are not properly terminated.” Says Alfred. “ We have a Qualified Partner Program (QPP) in place.

R&M Qualified Partners are trained to carry out installations as per R&M’s international technical and quality standards. We provide them with continuous trainings. We have a special training programme that comes under R&M Academy. In all aspects, we aim to give the best Swiss quality product to our customer in the best service that they require.” he adds.

“All material will come ready in boxes and tested, technicians will only need to plug and play while making sure labelling and cable management is properly address and following TIA and ISO standards.”says Asef.

THE WINNING NOTES Gas. All are driving growth in the structured cabling market, smart homes, and controls.

Over the last few years, Nexans has experienced significant growth in its Middle East LAN infrastructure business because of winning some large infrastructure projects in countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Jordan to name a few.

PLUGGING THE NEXT GEN DATA CENTRE Cloud and virtualization will be the norm of the next generation data centre and it has already started making its way to realization. IoT and cloud are demanding the overall demand. “Quite simply, the solutions we design and customize for the region are vital to data center deployments. Without the passive infrastructure, data center and networks would not be possible and we commit ourselves to providing the most innovative and high quality solutions in this field.

Keeping in mind that you have to upgrade your active equipment / software / servers every 3-5 years, the cabling expenses are minor in comparison. And when you know that we guarantee our solutions for 25 years, you can imagine how

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important quality is” says Alfred.

According to Nexans, Data cabling primary task is to facilitate and enable this unprecedented growth in data and bandwidth while at the same time maximize data centres up-time. Top-ofrack topology is used in data centres because it provides easy access and more efficient cable management.“Nexans LANmark optical fibre (OF) solutions have high fibre count, modularity, long distance reach to support all Data Centre operations. Nexans LANmark cabling minimise Data Centre disruptions, reduce recurring costs and ensure greater continuity for better business vitality.In Data Centres high-end copper technology such as Cat6A, Cat7A or the upcoming Cat8 to support server-to-switch connectivity.

“Data center build is on the rise with financial sector and government pioneering this arena.

Leviton has a share of solutions that address DC managers concerns in terms of low loss performance, density, monitoring, and scalability.” says Asef.

TAKING THE PLUG TO THE SOCKET The installation checklist of structured cabling is

While maintaining customer privacy, Leviton won good amount of Data centres in the banking and government sector. Some ranged up 80 cabinets with all pre-terminated OM4 fibre and UTP 6A copper.

For R&M Muscat International Airport (MCT) utilized a fiber-optic backbone network, to ensure reliable, high-performance connectivity between its various facilities buildings and the telco networks of Omantel and Ooredoo.

This new fiber backbone network is capable of supporting the latest 40GbE standard and can even support 100GbE connectivity requirements.

PUTTING A SMILE ON THE CIO’S FACE The CIOs of modern enterprises are facing immense opportunities and challenges in balancing innovation with operation. Within a converged network, unless the expectations of cost, speed, performance and reliability are met, an optimum RoI cannot be realized. “It is important to understand the needs in terms of the applications that will be deployed. The growth rate, the churn rate, the future plans, the occupancy time frame of the building has to be factored, while designing a network. CIO’s today

FEATURE

GAINING

THE EDGE R&M

NEXANS

Developed first level supports in supply chain for SPEED, marketing for REACH, technical engineering for FLEXIBILITY, and training and consultancy for EXPERTISE.

LANmark-6A and -7A and Cat8 ready copper solutions

We continuously reinvest in our R&D capabilities in order to drive innovation.

Annually, R&M invests 5 percent of sales into the research and development of both copper and fibre-optic cabling systems.

Offering an extensive product portfolio spanning over 5000 solutions.

LEVITON Leviton offers many solutions that are based on its Seattle-Washington based research

Pre-terminated customised copper assemblies in Cat6A, Cat7A, as well as fibre assemblies in OM3, OM4, & OS2. These solutions enable the rapid deployment of cabling in installations where the time on site must be minimised especially in Data Centre environment Slimflex bend-insensitive fibre patch cords, specifically designed for environments with increasing port density.

All offered passive solutions are supported by the Nexans 25-year warranty program that covers Products, Performance, Channel, and Labour.

Nexans managed to establish a very strong business network of Distributors & System Integrators in all active markets within the region that allows great diversity in refocusing on specific countries based on its economical & political stability at any given time.

Leviton was the first to offer and validate through third party lab its category 8 system to support 40GBASE-T over copper, OPT-X unity for easy migration from 10/40/100G, and high density enclosure to handle 144 fibres in 1RU while maintaining low attenuation loss.

face the challenge in deciding on the most reliable and scalable network cabling solution due to the change in technology at the pace which is unbeatable and unbelievable.â&#x20AC;? says Leenna According to Asef,budget constraints always stop

at the cabling part, while cabling represents only around 10% of the total value of the DC yet carries all of the data. CIOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always considering to go for all pre-terminated solution or field termination, which affect their bottom line at the start but

will certainly save them money on the long run.

THE JOURNEY FORWARD According to Asef, there is no network that is only wireless. All wireless networks are sup-

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ASEF BADDAR

RCDD, DCD, SENIOR MANAGER, TECHNICAL SALES & SERVICES, NETWORK SOLUTIONS

“The internet of things and the cloud are driving the overall demand. Leviton has a share of solutions that address DC managers concerns in terms of low loss performance, density, monitoring, and scalability.”

LEENNA JAYACHAANDRAN,

COACH, MENTOR, CONSULTING - MHI GLOBAL MIDDLE EAST PARTNER - GENOME CONSULTANTS

“Regardless of the talk of a future wireless world, such a place will still be highly dependent on a network infrastructure based on cables, albeit a large part of it being optical fiber rather than wire”

ported by wired backbone. Wireless network will reduce the number of data outlets and patch cords but backbone cabling infrastructure must remain and be upgraded to support emerging standards such as 802.11ac. “We believe the core network will remain structured cabling systems because the backbone devices must be connected using cables. And because cable transmits focused signal, wired network will always be faster wired connection with higher category of cabling.” he adds.

“Most experts expect a coexistence of the two solutions complementing each other. Wireless networks will be the only solution in public spaces (airports, railway stations, railways etc.) and the preferred solution in enterprises and large offices where users move or often have to change their workplaces. However, there will still remain a need for cabled networks where safety and/or security and/or transmission speed are issues.” says Alfred.

Using the air as a shared transmission medium, only under very specific circumstances does their performance match, but in most real-world deployments and applications there’s still a marked difference. “Although wireless network speeds have been growing, through-put is dependent on number of users and the distance to the wireless access point. It is expected that the throughput remains significantly lower compared with wired connections. This will result that users will remain to be offered the choice – wireless or wired connection. Cabling will not see a deadend.” says Tarek.

“There will be a need to “wire more to wireless,” as wireless networks transform to smaller and smaller cells to achieve the capacity and coverage users and devices require and with the much heralded advent of the Internet of Things, the number of connections required will only increase.” says Leenna.

FINALLY Even as we all talk about the advent of a wireless world and the gaining traction of IoT, structured cabling is the accepted way of dealing with the proliferation of interlinked electronic devices.

Looking at the market share, North America has remained a crucial regional market contributing to the growth of the global structured cable market over the years. Structured cabling is also penetrating deep into the telecommunication sector, that being an integral part of connectivity for the smart world.

Though the growing adoption of cloud services is reported to restrict growth of global structured cabling market, the leading players in the market seem to think otherwise! ë

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EVENTS

CISCO

Leaving No ‘Security’ Stones Unturned

D

uring the recently held RSA conference, Cisco had its unique attack continuum story to tell. At a time when Security is topping the charts of all IT decision makers alike, Maher Jadallah, Regional Sales Manager MEA - Cisco Security Group feels that RSA took the right step by picking Abu Dhabi for the Middle East debut, as UAE has been a pioneer in initiating and investing in various security projects.

“Security is more about awareness and knowing the vulnerabilities in your system.” Says Maher.Cisco is embedding security throughout the extended network. Cisco is adding more sensors to increase visibility; more control points to strengthen enforcement; and pervasive, advanced

MAHER JADALLAH,

REGIONAL SALES MANAGER MEA - CISCO SECURITY GROUPS

ORACLE

Enriching Cloud Landscape of the Region

“T

he previous edition of Oracle Open World, which is a major platform for Oracle to showcase its latest offerings, was all about the public cloud.” Says Alain Ozan, Technology Vice President ECMEA of Oracle.

Oracle now offers a complete suite of SaaS applications and platform services available on the cloud with the addition of Supply Chain Management.

Customers can seamlessly move their SaaS applications between public and private cloud. All SaaS applications are built on open standards so can run on any open standards platform. There

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ALAIN OZAN,

TECHNOLOGY VICE PRESIDENT ECMEA OF ORACLE.

threat protection to reduce time-to-detection and time-to-response, limiting the impact of attacks.

With security everywhere, Cisco provides scalable threat protection covering the broadest range of attack vectors and throughout the entire attack continuum – before, during and after an attack.

According to Maher, the region needs two things; it needs a technology that can adapt to the fast moving techniques in hacking; secondly it needs a proper partner to address the whole attack continuum stages.

“The future is all about connecting everything to the internet,which means the surface of attack has increased drastically. You are exposed to hackers and you need to have a good understanding of the threat. And when you understand you need an equally good technology that can dynamically grow and adapt to the threat environment. Cisco threat centric security model focuses on the threats on the network and customises the security.” Says Maher.

Cyber security has always been one of the topmost priorities for Cisco. ë

are also industry-specific solutions for hi-tech, retail, financial services, telecommunications, manufacturing, media and entertainment and consumer packaged goods.

“What is unique with oracle is that we have the intellectual property for the three layers.”

Hovering over the security part of the cloud service offered, Alain says that “There is no third party involvement in our services as all the machines are owned by Oracle, so the security is entirely in our hands.” Oracle also displayed its M7 chip- Oracle’s built in security. “Nobody atOracle can read our customers’ data in the cloud. All data is encrypted and the keys are held by the customer.”

Talking about the adoption of the Cloud in the Middle East, he said that many organizations are increasingly showing interest in moving to the cloud. We have training and education programs in Oracle. We are enriching our catalogues to cover the new products. We have workshops called Journey to cloud for customers where we understand the business objectives their current on premise landscape and advise them accordingly for the cloud. We are ensuring that our partners are also well educated and we are enhancing our Oracle partner program .” ë

EVENTS

GIGAMON

Rethinking Security Architecture

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s the RSA conference raised curtains to its first edition in Abu Dhabi, Security was dwelled upon in ways more than one. From the Gigamon point of view, “Security investment had been at the perimeter of the network, big time. Now most experts agree that there needs to be a mind shift change. So instead of focusing on prevention, presume that there has been some sort of breach and then try to identify where the breach is in the network and eradicate it. There are different set of solutions that need to be deployed at the edge and at the core it starts with continuously monitoring the insides of the network and using the frameworks that allow you to see everything.”

JOHNNIE KONSTANTAS,

DIRECTOR, SECURITY SOLUTIONS, GIGAMON

says Johnnie Konstantas, Director, Security solutions, Gigamon Talking about the impact of Big data and IoT on security, Johnnie says, “Big data allows us to effectively look at and analyse things as we have never done or seen before and IoT brings a whole new dimension to the way we architect our homes to the way we drive a car. With that goodness, comes extreme risk. Today, every point that has an internet connectivity is a potential launching pad for threat. It is essentially a footprint that can be compromised, so it is extremely important now that there is a wholistic approach to security.

So, what is happening now is that, rather than security being a concern of one organization or one part of a network, all parts of an organization are coming together to rethink security on the basis of IoT and devise strategies to embrace the new trends securely.

Gigamon showcased its Visibility Fabric, which provides a security delivery platform for end-to-end visibility coupled with network traffic intelligence to efficiently manage risks and address threats in this ever-evolving threat and network environment. Gigamon also promotedGigaSECURE, including its optimized version for RSA Security Analytics. ë

PALADION

Carving a Niche in Next Gen Security

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aladion had unveiled its new logo a few months back. The logo is symbolic of the various fresh approaches to MSS that Paladion would be bringing to the region. “Paladion wanted to look as a much more focused player in the market with unique offerings as a IP Intellectual Property service provider, be it in any value added component or automated delivery models” says FiroshUmmer, Managing Director of EMEA at Paladion Networks.

At the recently held Gartner Security and Risk Management Summit Paladion showcased its next generation security model CyberActive SOC. Paladion explained how organizations in the Middle East, can

FIROSH UMMER,

MANAGING DIRECTOR OF EMEA AT PALADION NETWORKS

overcome their limitations by augmenting their SOC with the right set of analytics and automation techniques designed to improve detection, gain better visibility, reduce the time to respond and remediate security incidents thus move up the maturity curve.

“CyberActive SOC is a service brand and at the core of this service brand there is certain IP that enhances our internal productivity and gives the added value and experience to the customers at an effective price.

“MSS is one of our strong areas and with this we are expanding our market share. Today, the trend is not to put too many products for defence as you cannot have a 100 percent defence against any threat but to have better detection mechanisms and better response and be more resilient towards attack and we have been improving upon our resilience towards threat. Financial institutions have an operational need to provide services through operational models so they are more exposed to threats.

There are also regulatory threats as they are directly involved with the customers. Hence, we are doing a continuous mode of security..” ë

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SUCCESS STORY

Finesse Implements BI & Analytics Solution for Nazih Group Data, when used effectively can change the way we look at things and take actions. Otherwise it remains as a constant that gets generated in large quantities on a daily basis in an organization. No wonder then most organizations are depending on BI & Analytics tools to make sense out of their data to give actionable insights.

Finesse, one of the leading System Integrators in the regionhas competencies and innovations solutions and services in the BI & Analytics domain, among many other. The Finesse team, when approached by the Nazih Group of Companies, explored along with them to understand what challenges were being faced by them in their day to day working. A solution was recommended to meet these challenges of utilizing data optimally across all regions where the company had its operations. It was customized and implemented to improve process, get more out of their data and thus improve efficiency and reducing costs, leaving them to focus more on their core business activities.

BENEFITS  Improved operational processes including consolidation of data  Bridged the gap between managers, teams of managers, developers and accountants  Enabled them to produce better reports without compromising the details  Minimized resources since managers were

provided with a self-service reporting tool and bring them back into the analysis game  Moved from tabular reporting to KPI analysis leading to the managers using more intelligent reports  Filled the gaps created by the lack of features in the ERP and thus redesigned business

processes for better efficiency

CUSTOMER OVERVIEW Nazih group is one of the pioneers in various business verticals in the region. It has been operating for the past 35 years with presence in 18 countries in the MENA region and Canada.ë

CHALLENGES

SOLUTIONS

Analysis of buying trends of 15,000 customers across 300 brandsThe group was facing on-going performance issues whenever they wanted to produce a report that involve calculations on transaction level,

Qlikview enabled them to produce better reports without compromising the details, also reducing time taken to generate reports reduced drastically from days, even weeks to mere minutes.

Bringing back the managers into the analysis gameBecause the earlier system was not user friendly, the managers at Nazih always opted for requesting tabular reports from accountants. Data was extracted from the ERP, cleaned and reformatted on excel and then delivered to managers. Over time, they were hiring more and more accountants to deliver these reports faster.

Qlikview, eliminated this issues and saved the company a lot of resources since they now could provide their managers with a self-service reporting tool.

Managers now could generate reports with few qlicks using the user friendly Qlik solution and that took care of the inhibitions manager earlier had about using software.

From tabular reports to KPI’s analysisSince there was a constant struggle to produce reports, all the reports were tabular and very basic. The company never had the time to design and monitor KPI’s in each area.

We lack a feature in ERP, no problem!!

Forecasting, demand planning, target analysis… were a bottleneck for the company since their ERP didn’t have the needed features to cover these processes.

With Qlikview, the company could now convince managers to start consuming more intelligent reports that include smarter comparisons, trends, graphs etc. A visually appealing report which is easy to understand is always readily used and consumed.

With Qlikview, they could take these processes out of the ERP partially and replace it with excel data from ERP and re-designed business processes. Analysis could now be done at any level along with dimensions and filters that could be changed easily.

MR RAMI ALKASSEM,

NAZIH GROUP

“FINESSE’S TEAM WAS VERY RESPONSIVE AND UNDERSTOOD WHAT I REALLY WANTED AND DIDN’T TRY TO INCREASE THE SCOPE LIKE OTHER VENDORS. WHAT THRILLS ME ABOUT THE SOLUTION IS THAT IT IS AN ASSOCIATIVE MODEL, IS VERY FAST, NOT AT ALL STATIC AND IT IS HIGHLY CUSTOMIZABLE. IT SUITED OUR NEEDS PERFECTLY AND WE ARE VERY SATISFIED USING IT”

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CIOS SPEAK

can’t visually see, or hear. Audio and video is playing a fundamental role in teaching students in this day and age, which includes things like animation to teach students from 1st grade all the way up to 12th grade. For example, in more senior classes, students are now dissecting frogs using animation in science classes. Technology has allowed students and administration to put in those practices necessary to help students learn.

Would you say blended learning is a reality or a myth?

Blended learning is definitely a reality. For example, as I just mentioned animation – concepts such as these are actually infused curriculums. It’s no longer just about power point presentations; but technology is actually infused in curriculums.

When you teach students, you’re teaching them using the tools that they learn with today – and that’s really what needs to be focused on today.

Unfortunately what happens todayin higher education that is that K-12 students are actually more advanced today than faculty members, who tend to be more resistant to change. This is not to say that teachers aren’t changing – they are, but at a slower rate. Several deans still believe that students should change themselves to way they teach – however this thought process is old fashioned and no longer works.

RUSTY BRUNS,

CIO - UNITED EDUCATION COMPANY (UEC)& DIRECTOR OF IT AT THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF KUWAIT

Redefining Education with New Gen Technologies AT THE RECENTLY HELD ELLUCIAN CONFERENCE, TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION

Do you think IT should follow business change or lead it?

From a strategic planning point, IT supports business. But at the same time, IT does lead business in several areas. If you’re a good IT leader in your institution, you are the person that has access to the technology that’s out there today, so you have the power to bring this technology into your business or institution. You have the authority to bring in tools that increase productivity, add better customer service, and cut costs at the same time.

TOOK THE CENTRE STAGE. WITH THE THEME ‘REDEFINING SUCCESS IN THE 21ST CENTURY,’ THE EVENT TOOK A CLOSER LOOK AT THE INCREASING FOCUS ON EDUCATION ACROSS THE REGION, WHAT SUCCESS MEANS FOR INSTITUTES NOW, AND WHAT CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE FUTURE. OUR EXCLUSIVE ROUND UP WITH RUSTY BRUNS, CIO - UNITED EDUCATION COMPANY (UEC) & DIRECTOR OF IT AT THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF KUWAIT

Education is synonymous with progress, and ICT has been defining progress across verticals since decades. How has ICT innovation helped the education sector?

If you look at K-12, you’ll see that teachers are using interactive methods; you’ll see them

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using laptops and tablets – even in first and second grades, not necessarily just senior level classes. Students now learn differently.

Technology actually complements the way that students learn today. They no longer learning just from paper and a faculty member speaking in class about something that they

In the near future, will technology usurp the teacher?

No, I don’t think so. I believe that even today, despite the high level of technology being used in classrooms, the element of personal touch still has to be there. Teachers are necessary in classrooms in the same way you would not replace students with robots. When you remove personal touch, you’re removing the social element that students need. What I am seeing today, however, is that teachers or faculty that are not making that jump to utilizing technology are being replaced with those who are embracing technology and using it as a tool to teach with. ë

GUEST TALK

FORTINET

SDN – For a Brave New World

As SDN defines a framework that allows for an automated and agile way to manage networks and provide networking services, it has a direct impact on network security.Security appliances and management products can no longer be isolated from the rest of the infrastructure, but must be cognizant of real-time changes in the data center.  WORDS: RONEN SHPIRER, M A N A G E R , S O L U T I O N S - M A R K E T I N G , E M E A A N D A PA C , FORTINET

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is one of the latest technologies in a move towards what Gartner has named “SoftwareDefined Everything” (SDx) – a collective term that encapsulates the growing market momentum for improved standards for infrastructure programmability and data center interoperability driven by automation inherent to cloud computing.

As SDN defines a framework that allows for an automated and agile way to manage networks and provide networking services, it has a direct impact on network security.

SDN enables Software-Defined Network Security with the associated benefits of aligning real-time security within the ever-changing environment of the SoftwareDefined Data Center (SDDC) and the Cloud. It allows for the automation and orchestration of security services for dynamic workloads and users throughout the network and in the data center, via physical and virtual security appliances.

Such a centralized environment can effectively and rapidly adjust to the rapid changes in today’s cloud based environments and an organization’s changing IT needs.

With recent availability and

vendor push of production ready SDN solutions from the likes of VMware and Cisco, SDN is starting to have a profound impact on the way networks are designed and implemented.

A VOYAGE - THE NEED FOR SDN The voyage that leads to SDN started a decade ago with x86 hypervisors delivering greater IT efficiency through server virtualization, also known as SoftwareDefined Compute (SDC).

Compute virtualization, or SDC, has revolutionized organizations’ compute environments with the creation of private clouds (the organization’s virtualized compute resources in the data center) and has given birth to the public cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.

With SDC, Virtual Machines (VMs) are 100% software-defined and therefore provide extreme flexibility and agility – they can be created, removed, moved, be paused and more, in a matter of minutes.

This creates a very dynamic environment where the data center and cloud compute environments may change daily and hourly.

The servers and applications in this dynamic environment require different networkingbased services to function, such as routing, load balancing and security. “Traditional” networking, based on manual configuration and provisioning of networking elements (routers. Switching, firewalls, etc.), cannot cope with the dynamic SDC environment while providing the appropriate networking functions and services. In fact, the network’s operation and management becomes a limiting factor in the SDC environment.

SDN was born with the aim of providing a solution to the conflict between the manual and slow way traditional networking services were managed and delivered to a very rapid and dynamic SDC environment.

SECURITY IN A SDN ENVIRONMENT Security is itself a fundamental layer of IT infrastructure, hence security needs to become “SoftwareDefined” as well – in other words as agile and elastic as other data center infrastructure. This is why Fortinet has introduced the SDNSecurity Framework.

While integration with the SDN

controller or platform is one key means of achieving agile network security, it is equally important to be able integrate with hypervisors, cloud management, and intelligence and analytics tools. The SoftwareDefined Security Framework fundamentally evolves network security in each of the conceptual layers of network architecture – the data plane, control plane, and management plane respectively.

Security appliances and management products can no longer be isolated from the rest of the infrastructure, but must be cognizant of real-time changes in the data center.

Security solutions therefore must be built on an extensible platform that can integrate and communicate with other infrastructure through programmable API’s and other interface points. These could either be through open standards or proprietary interfaces – both have their pros and cons historically for interoperability, time-to-market, and other considerations. Fortinet provides out-of-the-box integration with SDN solutions such as Cisco ACI and VMware NSX and support for open interfaces to other SDN solutions, such as OpenFlow support and integration with HP VAN. ë

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GUEST TALK

HELPAG

Securing the SDLC for Better mServices

It is no wonder then that we have already begun to see a number of regional organizations rolling out their feature-rich mService offerings. The time-tomarket for these mServices has been remarkable and the features and usability that most offer are truly impressive. But in the rush to market, security often takes a backseat  WORDS: NICOLAI SOLLING, DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, HELP AG

Few regions across the globe seem better prepared for the smartphone revolution than the Middle East.

Device penetration across the GCC stands well above the global average and most countries already have the connectivity infrastructure necessary to support the widespread usage of mobile services. It is no wonder then that we have already begun to see a number of regional organizations rolling out their feature-rich mService offerings.

The time-to-market for these mServices has been remarkable and the features and usability that most offer are truly impressive. The uptake of these services has been equally encouraging as users are eager to engage with their service providers via the convenience of their smart devices.

But in the rush to market, security often takes a backseat.

Consider for example government agencies- to ensure that the pace of mobile application development and deployment is on track with the deadlines of their country’s Smart Government vision, the majority of these agencies opt to have these tasks executed by ‘specialized’ third-party providers. Once outsourced, the applications follow a Software-Development Life Cycle (SDLC) which lays emphasis on

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on-time-delivery above all else.

When a project’s main objective is to get a feature-rich mobile application to market in the shortest time possible, a number of critical factors get overlooked.

If security flaws emerge post deployment, addressing them can be extremely complicated.

WHY MSERVICE SECURITY FAILS There are a number of reasons why the drastically shortened SDLC introduces a number of security concerns. A third-party organization that is concerned only with delivering a piece of software on time will often trade security for speed! They tend to develop mServices with the following common flaws: INSECURE DATA STORAGE AND SERVER-SIDE VULNERABILITIES The computing power of smartphones today rivals that of the typical PC and developers often take advantage of the simplicity of storing user data directly on the device. We have seen instances wherein apps have stored entire SQL servers on smartphones.

Worse still, for the sake of

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convenience, users are often prompted to enter their payment information just once when setting up their account. If this data is stored insecurely on the device, or is communicated without the necessary encryption, it could easily be extracted by attackers.

Developers also tend to assume that exploitation, if any, will take place on the client’s device. They tend to overlook proper server configuration, implementing the correct server-side SSL and session management etc. By default, all APIs that are exposed should be hardened against malicious attack such that proper security measures are employed and only authorized applications have access.

FIXING THE SDLC FOR SECURITY The SDLC model has essentially been the same for decades and organizations were happy to let specialized technologies such as firewalls handle the security of their networks and applications. This is no longer acceptable and addressing the aforementioned security challenges requires the SDLC to be revisited.

IT teams cannot be expected to develop applications in-house but the onus is upon them to ensure

that they set security procedures and standards that are implemented at every phase of the SDLC. This means that sufficient time must be dedicated to drafting clear terms relating to security in mService RFPs. Today, organizations such as Help AG, work closely with public and private sector enterprises specifically on drafting these tenders so that when the development is outsourced, the provider is legally obligated to following a set of bestpractices and standards. Investing in services such as application code review and vulnerability/penetration testing prior to deployment can help ensure that sensitive data isn’t stored on the device and that data, both at rest and in flight, is encrypted; access is granted only to genuine and authorized requests; and logical exploitation is made impossible. All this can go a long way in ensuring that the final product is thoroughly hardened before it is made available to the public.

At the end of the day smart services needs to be a long term strategy rather than a passing trend. Delivering easy-to-use apps won’t win any points if they place the data and security of citizens at risk. The smartphone revolution is here to stay, so make sure that your mServices are as well. ë

MY VIEWS

were great takeaways for the partners from the event.

Besides, the event educated partners on how digitisation and social media should be at the core of retail strategies and what should shape their retail experience when approaching customers.

What were the key announcements made during the 2 day event?

The main highlight of the event was the announcement of the Canon’s latest and highly powerful camera; the EOS 5DS and 5DS R. Also, in addition to featuring cameras such as the EOS 5DS and EOS 750D, Canon also used the event as an opportunity to showcase a range of imaging products including cameras: the Powershot G3X, the XC10, the EOS C300 MKII, and the Legria Mini X; printers such as the Pixma MG7540 and Pixma Pro-1; as well as the CS-100 connect station, and the WUX400ST projector.

HENDRIK VERBRUGGHE,

MARKETING DIRECTOR, CANON MIDDLE EAST

Re-inventing the wheel CANON MIDDLE EAST REINFORCED ITS COMMITMENT TO BOTH RETAILERS AND CONSUMERS BY HOSTING AN EXCLUSIVE TWO-DAY EVENT THAT SAW ATTENDEES REDISCOVER THE POWER AND POTENTIAL OF IMAGING. EC MEA INTERACTED WITH MR. HENDRIK VERBRUGGHE, MARKETING DIRECTOR, CANON MIDDLE EAST. EXCERPTS.

Tell us something about your recently held workshop, ‘Rediscover Imaging’?

The ‘Rediscover Imaging’ event showcased Canon’s latest and most powerful technology across cameras, printers and projectors, through a series of informative and expert workshops, live workflows, training sessions, photo shoots, networking opportunities and an exclusive gala dinner which together, featured a range of products including Canon’s latest and highly powerful camera - EOS 5DS and 5DS R. The event was used as a great platform to

educate professional and amateur photographers on photography thereby enabling them to rediscover the impact photography can have and create in the world around us.

How did your partners benefit from the event?

The event was attended by approximately 100 key operational decision makers from Canon’s top-tier retailers from across the Middle East and Africa region. Canon reinforced its commitment to the channel community by demonstrating its robust channel support and announcing key incentive and marketing programmes, which

How does your current MPS portfolio look like?

Canon’s current MPS portfolio is at a very positive state of growth with increasing number of organisations showing interest in MPS. In the UAE, the subsidiary Canon Emirates has been successfully responsible for targeting various sectors such as hospitality, banking, finance, medical, oil & gas. Canon’s Managed Print Services segment has the unique uniFLOW Secure Printing solution in its portfolio. Using the solution, users can send their sensitive documents to network printers and have the job printed only when they are physically standing in front of the printer at any different location of the world.

Besides that, Canon Emirates, a subsidiary of Canon Middle East have in the past signed a deal with Moorfields Eye Hospital Dubai which entailed that Canon supplies, installs and manages nine units of multi-functional devices including imageRUNNER copiers and i-SENSYS laser printers. Moorfields Eye Hospital Dubai chose Canon on the strength of its Managed Print Services.

Also, Canon Emirates signed a long-term Managed Print Service (MPS) agreements with luxury resorts Yas Viceroy, Anantara Dubai The Palm Resort & Spa and the Movenpick Hotel Jumeirah Lakes Towers, ensuring complete management and maintenance of the print infrastructure for each of these hotels. In fact, Canon MPS has already helped customers to reduce print-related costs by up to 60%. With regular reviews, Canon can ensure that the company’s ROI will be achieved and targets are met now and in the long term. ë

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GITEX 2015

COLLABORATION FOR COLLABORATIVE SOLUTIONS B A S H A R B A S H A I R E H ( L E F T ) , V I C E P R E S I D E N T, M E A AT U N I F Y; KHALID LABAN (RIGHT), CEO OF OXYGEN.

“Unify is changing its model of business from direct to indirect with its channel partner. We are excited to join forces with Oxygen. They are well known for their value added distribution and they have really proven themselves as the pioneer in mobility.

We as Unify are moving into space of UC as a service. Choosing Oxygen was ideal to us. I think there will be a huge demand in the offering as you can see we are having a slowdown in the Middle East, so IT managers and customers alike are willing to empower business with limited IT budget, so everybody is looking for technology as a service and together with the capabilities of Oxygen, we will be jointly focusing on this area. We also help SPs build their cloud to provide Circuit as a collaborative tool on a public or private cloud for their enterprises.” Says BasharBashaireh, Vice President, MEA at Unify, With Oxygen, Unify eyes on the Hospitality sector with its focus on mobility and specially BYOD. Khalid Laban, CEO of Oxygen says, “We were determined to be the best in the world of mobility. Mobility brings security so we expanded our capabilities to make sure mobility is secured, hence we pioneered the secure mobility solutions. Most of our customers were missing a key proposal in our solutions which was the unified communications. So Unify came as a perfect match for our portfolio.

As Khalid says funnily, “Unify and Oxygen are like Hamburger and French fries... we perfectly complement each other.”

Oxygen is making further key investments in the KSA as it is one of their leading markets. “If you are weak in Saudi Arabia, you are weak in the entire Middle East, so you cannot take that risk.” says Khalid.

Basher says, “We have a fresh and robust distribution program through which we allocate the necessary funds to drive the marketing campaigns and both the team have put their blue print for our planning of marketing campaigns that we are planning to run across countries, starting from Saudi Arabia.”

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PROTECTING 7 MILLION ENDPOINTS AROUND THE WORLD MARK GUNN, MARKETING DIRECTOR EMEA, BIT 9+CARBON BLACK “Our business is accelerating because cyber crime is accelerating. People are being targeted for various motives. Moving beyond the traditional models of installing firewalls and AVs, what we focus on is endpoint detection and protection. We have built a really strong customer base. We can secure an end to end system. What we do initially is that we deploy an agent at all the endpoints— it is like a cctv in operation. It is not scanning, it is not polling, it is all about watching for a chance. And if it can detect any malicious activity it can stop it and isolate the endpoint and take it offline.”Says Mark Gunn, Marketing Director EMEA, Bit 9+Carbon Black According to him Anti-Virus only detects known threats, but the Bit9’s agent based software has the intelligence to monitor activities continuously and gather all the third party information, suspicious activities etc.which is very unique and different from other players.

Bit9 + Carbon Black will incorporate AlienVault’s leading threat intelligence for enhanced threat curation and correlation with its Threat Intelligence Cloud, a comprehensive, aggregated advanced threat intelligence solution. The Threat Intelligence Cloud combines leading software reputation, threat indicator and attack classification services to deliver some of the industry’s most powerful, correlated and accurate threat insights.

GITEX 2015

DEVISING A SPECTRUM OF CLOUD SERVICES JOHN GILMARTIN, G M & V P, I N T E G R AT E D S Y S T E M S B U S I N E S S U N I T, V M W A R E “Software Defined Data Centre is all about the next generation data centre that would not be bound to hardware and the infrastructure would be entirely automated. Automation would be critical and it would determine the agility of organizations.” Says John Gilmartin, GM & VP, Integrated Systems Business Unit, VMware According to him, he is seeing a lot of inclination towards mobility in the Middle East and Africa region but also in the use of data. There are also a lot of interesting initiatives like the eGovernment and smart cities and what we can do is to provide a robust and scalable foundation.

Talking about the adoption of the public cloud in the region, “Public cloud has a clear value to every organization like flexibly adding resources, cutting cost etcbut there are always considerations when you think about the adoption of the public cloud like data sovereignty which is at the top of mind in this region. Security is also on the top of mind in this region and these are some questions that need to be penned down and pondered upon. But there is definitely a need to extend the resources seamlessly.”

VMware and EMC will jointlyown fast-growing Virtustream Cloud Services Business to Offer the industry’s most comprehensive hybrid cloud portfolio.

CONSOLIDATED SOLUTIONS FOR AN EVOLVING MARKET A L A’ A . M . K H A L I L , CHANNELS SALES MANAGER-MIDDLE E A S T, F 5 N E T W O R K S As the market goes future tech, the landscape of the vendors and the channel partners are changing immensely.

F5 sees massive opportunities with this evolution. “There is a change in the need of the customers where consolidation is the main driver, security is the other key driver. Customers are more cautious when it comes to budget and costs, they are trying to move from a capex model to an opex model. Not everyone can fit into an opex kind of model to do consolidation and integrate various set of solutions. F5 has also seen a change in the partner ecosystem. We are seeing more and more partners focusing on our security solutions portfolio because we have been pushing that area as F5. We have done quite a number of acquisitions recently and they are ready to go to the market to consolidate security solutions for the customers according to their needs.” Says Ala’ A. M. Khalil, Channels Sales ManagerMiddle East, F5 Networks.

“There are certain considerations when it comes to the positioning of the private or public cloud offerings in the market with the local regulations, with the privacy of the data .We as F5 are agnostic to the type of cloud and the data centres whether it is public or private . Our managed service portfolio helps the customers who have administrative problems in managing complex solutions.

We have launched products that are cloud based, we have Wi-Fi as a service, web application firewall as a service. As a part of our strategy in the Middle East for MSP we are hiring dedicated teams and we have a team looking after the developing key MSP partners in the region.”

PREPARING SMART ‘NETWORKS’ FOR THE FUTURE MARIO GEORGIOU, R E G I O N A L PA R T N E R D I R E C T O R – M E A & R E S E , J U N I P E R NETWORKS “Our strategy would be a continuation of what we have been doing for all the years now. Technology at Juniper has always been disruptive, whether it is our router or any other technology. And software is an integral part of any technology of routing, switching or security. Even before the SDN came into popularity we have been doting on the significance of software and automation and when we look into customer needs they also demand open solutions that can provision different services.” Says Mario Georgiou, Regional Partner Director – MEA & RESE, Juniper Networks.

“Network has been the key for us. Customers usually underestimate the huge amount of traffic that is thronged on the network and now with 5G on the roadmap and 4G already on the network, security is also going to be a key issue. So we need to make sure that security and network go together.”

For the next quarter, Juniper has set its eyes for high growth in the Middle East, with some special focus on the service providers and eGovernment etc. “Hospitality is also a key focus area for us ”

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GITEX 2015

DISASTER RECOVERY WITH AN EDGE

DIGITIZING A CASH ECONOMY

A H M A D M I K E K H AT TA B , VP OF SALES & ENGINEERING, VISION SOLUTIONS

Vision Solutions has been in the Middle East region for over 2 decades now and claims that the response that it has been receiving from the region has been overwhelming. According to Ahmad Mike Khattab, VP of Sales & Engineering, Vision solutions, what makes them stand apart from the other players is their High Availability combined Disaster recovery solutions. Vision Solution utilizes real-time replication to prevent data loss and enable fast recovery to secondary servers in the event of planned or unplanned failures at primary sites.

Vision Solutions showcased its recently launched Double-Take Cloud Migration Center product at GITEX. The Double-Take Cloud Migration Center provides automated and simplified migration for servers and applications into the cloud from private and public cloud platforms. “We are agnostic of the operating systems from the hardware, database and from the bandwidth technologies. Or solutions are scalable, affordable and without a doubt very flexible. We cover all the verticals market and our major focus is the government and financial sectors.”

OPENING NEW POSSIBILITIES IN THE ‘WIRELESS’ WORLD. AMANULLA KHAN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA As a 25 year old organization, Linksys had begun with the small and medium sized business and had launched the first consumer router when consumer wireless was initiated in 1980’s. “We were the first to go to the market with the consumer wireless.”says Amanulla Khan, Managing Director, Middle East & Africa At Gitex 2015, Linksys showcased its latest RE6500HG router. The RE6500HG comes with 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports for rapid and reliable wired connections to your computers and other internet-ready devices, offering speed 10x faster than Fast Ethernet. According to Amanulla, WiFi is the second most priority of people today after food. “We bring the latest to the marketplace. We launched the AC wave 2 with MU MIMO technology—the latest Wireless-AC technology for simultaneously streaming and gaming on multiple devices.” For the Middle East region, Linksys has a wide channel strategy. “We engage in business development activities, channel engagement activities, and consumer education activities”, says Amanulla.

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A H M E D F A S I H A K H TA R , C E O , T R I P L E PAY M E N T S ;

ABDULRAZAQ SALAH, COO, TRIPLE PAY M E N T S “We are basically working towards digitizing a cash economy. We are digitizing the entire transport systems with our application running on the NOL card. It is a special encrypted card and you can carry out an number of functions right from parking fines, saliketcwith this card. According to a mastercard study, 85% of the transactions are cash and 15% are by cards, so if you ask me how we are different from other payment solution providers like Samsung pay, mobile wallet, Paypal etc.. all of them are focused on the population that is creditworthy and has a credit card, nut our focus is on everyone. While I can do credit transactions, I can do cash transactions which no one else can do and that’s the unique plan of Triple E which we have perfected in the UAE. I want the guests, who come to the expo 2020, who sit across a coffee table, to make the payment just through the swipe of a card and not spend cash from their pockets.” Says Ahmed FasihAkhtar, CEO, Triple Payments “There are many procedures that still need to be digitized. You cannot have a mobile wallet digitized for the payment if every process and every detail doesn’trevolve around the phone— that is what IoT is all about. We have met with various players and have come up with a technology which is enabling us to add in to the platform and the flow at the time of registration—the KYCNAML, which is the digital ID verification.” says Abdul Razaq Salah, COO, Triple Payments.

INNOVATIONS

KEY CAPABILITIES  Expanded network and application visibility  Superior end-to-end application transaction monitoring  More cost-effective Web application  WAN-optimization monitoring  Packet storage on NetShark expanded to 576 TB for deeper forensics.

Riverbed SteelCentral Riverbed SteelCentral is a comprehensive and integrated performance management solution that provides centralized visibility and insight to ensure optimal performance of enterprise applications while maximizing IT efficiency and productivity.

SteelCentral is the only end-to-end solution that combines user experience, application, infrastructure, and

network monitoring for a holistic view of application performance.

The latest enhancements to SteelCentral bring major advances in collaborative troubleshooting capabilities. While new features are being released in key components of the platform – including enhancements in Portal, AppInternals, AppResponse, NetAuditor, NetShark,

NetPlanner and NetSensor – they support a common theme of improved platform integration while enhancing several powerful capabilities, including expanded network and application visibility; superior end-to-end application transaction monitoring; and more cost-effective Web application and WAN-optimization monitoring.

MAILSTORE SERVER V9.5

PLEASE SEND YOUR FEEDBACK AT INFO@ ACCENTINFOMEDIA.COM

KEY CAPABILITIES  Complete protection against data loss  Legal safeguard for email compliance  Rapid search options for emails and attachments  Increases efficiency of servers by reducing their workloads  Highly efficient; recommended for businesses to meet security requirements  Complete security and availability of critical data at all times  Assists in simple, easy backup and restoration of data

Mailstore has launched updated version of MailStore Server v9.5 to provide complete data security and protection for email archiving, management and compliance needs for businesses to meet their goals and objectives. The introduction of MailStore Server version 9.5 will provide customers with a complete email archiving solution and enable businesses to benefit from the wide array of advantages of the modern, secure and enhanced version of Mailstore Serve. The software creates copies of all emails in a central email archive to ensure the security and availability of any amount of data for years to come. Users can still access their email using Microsoft Outlook, MailStore Web Access, or mobile devices such as tablets or smartphones, and search through them at breathtaking speed.

Bulwark Technologies is the authorized distributor for Mailstore in the Middle East region. The availability and price options can be obtained from Bulwark on request.

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INNOVATIONS

HID Global iCLASS SE Platform HID Global has expanded its iCLASS SE platform with long-range ultra-high-frequency (UHF) solutions that provide new options for opening doors and parking gates from a distance. The addition of long-range iCLASS SE readers and credentials enables organizations to combine parking gate and door access control on a single card.

The convenient solution makes it possible to read credentials from inside vehicle at distances of up to 16.4 feet (5 meters) from the reader.

HID Global’s long-range solutions portfolio includes a new rugged and weather-resistant reader that has been optimized for outdoor use. The iCLASS SE U90 Long Range reader can be used from distances of up to 16.4 feet (5 meters) and features advanced encryption along with end-to-end communications technology for the industry’s highest level of UHF access control security. Also available is a dual-technology iCLASS SE and UHF credential for use with the UHF reader and other iCLASS SE platform readers, providing a single solution for seamless door, parking and gate control. .

KEY CAPABILITIES  Hands-free parking access  “No-stop” hands-free parking access  iCLASS SE U90 reader and UHF credentials  Integrated parking and gate control with building access  Higher security

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Opengear Resilience Gateway Opengear’s two new releases in the company’s award-winning Resilience Gateway product line is designed to deliver network resilience and to ensure uptime at enterprise branch offices and remote sites.

By offering multi-carrier support with our new Resilience Gateway models, Opengear’s giving enterprises unmatched flexibility to select the right carrier for each of their remote sites and to change those selections at any time as circumstances requireThe Opengear Resilience Gateway provides 4 USB plus 4 or 8 serial and two 10/100/1000 Ethernet console port connections to be deployed alongside network, power, server, and other IT infrastructure at remote sites – proactively monitoring and detecting faults to ensure rapid recovery from any unplanned IT interruption.

KEY CAPABILITIES  Best in class Smart OOB ;extends beyond traditional out-of-band management  Ensures maximum WAN connectivity through Failover to Cellular  Embedded cellular with multi-carrier capabilities  Automatically detect and recover from outages and repair equipment faults  Log audit trails to embedded 4GB local storage  Deployed at all enterprise remote sites  Managed centrally with Lighthouse CMS

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Š 2015 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Dell Emerging Markets (EMEA) Limited is registered in England and Wales. Company Registration No: 3266654. Registered address: Dell House, The Boulevard, Cain Road, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 1LF. Company details for other Dell UK entities can be found at www.dell.co.uk

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