Enterprise Channels MEA July 2018

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THE NEW BUSINESS LANGUAGE

Like the pace of businesses, the expectation from the business are also high speed today./ 24 FUJ ISOFT: TH E B USI N ESS OF SE RVICE /46

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EDITORIAL

A Block Away

ANUSHREE DIXIT EDITOR A N U S H R E E @ G E C M E D I A G R O U P. C O M

Greetings to our readers! Hope everyone had a peaceful and blissful Ramadan.

Let me term this as a Blockchain month. Though this has been the buzzword for quite a while now, the month of June saw some real implementations taking place. In a span of one week the country suddenly woke up to some great projects that are now steadily redefining the payment and digital identity space. Maqta Gateway, an Abu Dhabi Ports subsidiary, is the first Abu Dhabi entity to develop and launch its own blockchain technology - Silsal. Silsal will combine blockchain technology and unique digital user identities to provide a seamless and secure link between stakeholders across the trade community.

Atlantis The Palm became the first hotel to deploy a blockchain powered payment system— the first ever for a hospitality sector. The guest checking in will get a wristband or digital wallet to charge all their services during the stay. On the other hand, The Emirates Blockchain Strategy 2021 is also all set to rewrite the rules of digital banking for the UAE. In this issue of Enterprise Channels MEA, we have also had the opportunity to interview two blockchain providers with two different set of visions in empowering the existing business models—Locus chain (p22) and Blockobi (p29).

In the other pages of this issue you will find insights into how channel partners are stepping up the game by making their portfolios end-to-end service driven from our exclusive interviews with Emtech and Fujisoft. On page 30, read an interesting rendezvous with Alaa Elshimy, MD of Huawei Middle East on riding the fastest train to digitization.

Security was also not untouched. Enterprise Advisor recently hosted the ‘Zero Trust Architecture’ Roundtable in association with Centrify that delved into the necessity to remove trust entirely from the equation and verify each and every user inside and outside the network.

In other big news, after the mega successful stint in UAE, The CIO 200 – META CIO awards would be touring five countries in August (KSA, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Ghana) and recognizing leading CIOs and IT decision makers along with our TECHTalk and other networking platforms.

Stay tuned for more insights! ë

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J U LY 2 0 1 8 | V O L U M E 0 5 | I S S U E 1 2

CONTENTS 22 INTERVIEW

BUILDING A BETTER WORLD WITH BLOCKCHAIN MR. JACKIE CHOI, LOCUS CHAIN FOUNDATION

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CONVERGENCE

24 HYPERCONVERGENCE THE NEW BUSINESS LANGUAGE

36

INTERVIEW

SECURE MOBILE INNOVATION FOR FUTURE-READY BUSINESS MOHAMMED HELALY, MOBILEIRON

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COVER STORY

INTERVIEW

THE BUSINESS OF ‘SERVICE’ RIZWAN KAREEM, FUJISOFT

Like the pace of businesses, the expectations from the business are also high speed today.

Convergence is the new business language in the era of prefabricated modular and molecular data centers where less is more.

04 06 28 42 EDITORIAL

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INNOVATIONS

AVAYA IP OFFICE

CHANNEL STREET

ADVERTISER INDEX: GEC OPEN 2018 02,

SPECIAL STORY

TOSHIBA 03, SANS 07, SECURITY SYMPOSIUM 09,

CENTRIFY ROUNDTABLE

BITSECURE IT 11, GITEX INHOUSE AD 13, VALUEMENTOR 15, ENT ADVISOR 17, CARBON BLACK 19, FINESSE 21, MIMECAST 23,

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CENTRIFY 37, PIVOT3 47,

FEATURE STORY

AUTONOMY OF AUTONOMOUS

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RITTAL 51, CIO 200 AWARDS 52

38 FOCUS STORY

ASSEMBLING THE FACTORY OF THE FUTURE

CHANNEL

STREET Microsoft Launches Phase Two of its Moonshot Underwater Datacenter, Project Natick Microsoft is leveraging technology from submarines and working with pioneers in marine energy for the second phase of its moonshot to develop self-sufficient underwater datacenters that can deliver lightning-quick cloud services to coastal cities. An experimental, shipping-container-size prototype is processing workloads on the seafloor near Scotland’s Orkney Islands said Microsoft.

The deployment of the Northern Isles datacenter at the European

Marine Energy Centre marks a milestone in Microsoft’s Project Natick, a years-long research effort to investigate manufacturing and operating environmentally sustainable, pre-packaged datacenter units that can be ordered to size, rapidly deployed and left to operate lights out on the seafloor for years.

“That is kind of a crazy set of demands to make,” said Peter Lee, corporate vice president of Microsoft AI and Research, who leads the New Experiences and Technologies,

or NExT, group. Lee’s group pursues what Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has called “relevant moonshots” with the potential to transform the core of Microsoft’s business and the computer technology industry.

Project Natick is an out-of-the-box idea to accommodate exponential growth in demand for cloud computing infrastructure near population centers.

More than half of the world’s population lives within about 120 miles of the coast. By putting

datacenters in bodies of water near coastal cities, data would have a short distance to travel to reach coastal communities, leading to fast and smooth web surfing, video streaming and game playing as well as authentic experiences for AI-driven technologies.

“For true delivery of AI, we are really cloud dependent today,” said Lee. “If we can be within one internet hop of everyone, then it not only benefits our products, but also the products our customers serve.”

ATLANTIS, THE PALM DEPLOYS BLOCKCHAIN PAYMENT SYSTEM Atlantis, The Palm Resort in Dubai has launched a blockchain payment system that will enable guests for services, activities and amenities at the hotel. Lucid Pay, a smart settlement platform, has integrated blockchain technology into the systems of the resort, claiming to make

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it the first for hotels worldwide.

Lucid Pay uses smart contracts that allow the hotel to pre-define guest’s terms and refund conditions, enabling frictionless transactions.

The smart platform enables guests to pay for their activities and amenities in an efficient, secure and

effortless manner. The new payment system gives guests at Atlantis either a wristband or a digital wallet to charge all their services during their stay. The platform also uses smart contracts that allow the hotel to pre-define guests’ terms and refund conditions.

The cashless-based solution eliminates disputes and fraud, while providing automated loyalty programmes and speedy executions, which hotels can take advantage of.

The blockchain payment system is fully integrated with the resort’s existing payment and PoS systems.

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Abu Dhabi Ports Launches Blockchain Technology Maqta Gateway, an Abu Dhabi Ports subsidiary, is the first Abu Dhabi entity to develop and launch its own blockchain technology – Silsal. Silsal will combine blockchain technology and unique digital user identities to provide a seamless and secure link between stakeholders across the trade community.

Silsal was conceived to address the gap in the market for exporters and importers, to provide easy and public access to transaction status updates, reduce the need for paperwork, calls and physical visits as well as to speed up information exchange overall. Initially, the technology will be offered to freight forwarders and their customers, and subsequently extended to the rest of the trade community as a complementary tool to the existing mPCS (Maqta’s Port Community System). This project was

DAFZA DEVELOPS DUBAI BLINK

developed internally in the Digital Innovation Lab without external partners, and has been field tested with Abu Dhabi Ports’ strategic customers. Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, CEO Abu Dhabi Ports, commented on the occasion, saying: “Our leadership has always been a great supporter of Abu Dhabi Ports and has shown great keenness in continuously encouraging institutions and individuals to take the initiative to contribute to the country’s economic and social development and build a diversified and sustainable economy based on innovation. We are delighted to announce the launch of the first home-grown blockchain technology in Abu Dhabi through Silsal service, which was developed using local resources and capabilities to provide advanced services to all users.”

Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (DAFZA) develops Dubai Blink, the world’s first B2B smart commerce platform. It will utilize artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain technology and virtual business licenses, allowing companies from around the world to connect and trade via Dubai. As one of Dubai 10X initiatives, Dubai Blink was presented to Dubai Free Zones Council, which is being chaired by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum.

AREA 2071 AND SAP COLLABORATE ON UAE PUBLIC SECTOR EXCELLENCE

The project offers a new form of e-commerce known as smart commerce, which utilizes Artificial Intelligence algorithms and Internet of things technology that will drive innovation within supply chains, placing Dubai and the UAE in unique positions at a global level.

Area 2071, the physical embodiment of the UAE Centennial 2071 Plan, will be collaborating with global technology company SAP on innovations to help inspire creative minds and fuel digital government. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Ruler of Dubai, recently launched Area 2071, an initiative by the Dubai Future Foundation, as an interactive platform to develop creative solutions, implement ideas to serve humanity, and design a better future for next generations, and to make the UAE the world’s best country by 2071.

“Area 2071 is bringing together the UAE’s public sector resources and vision, and private sector experience, to enable our future government priorities,” said Abdulaziz Al Jaziri, Deputy CEO at Dubai Future Foundation. “Collaborating on the SAP Leonardo Center will catalyze public sector innovation, and train young talents on enabling a fully digital government.”

His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said: “The Dubai Blink project will be one of the most innovative models for the future of global supply chains and e-commerce across the free zones. It will help boost trade for companies operating in Dubai’s free zones, which have chosen the Emirate as a platform for growth and prosperity.”

RTA DELEGATES ATTEND FACTORY TESTS OF TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS The broadband radio wireless telecommunication and onboard control systems of Dubai’s Route 2020 project was tested in Italy. Thales Factory Italy hosted the delegates from RTA’s Rail Agency in Dubai for the factory tests. The tests showed that information related to Dubai Metro riders such as the route, next stop and

08

safety guidance will be displayed by the system.

The new system will eliminate paper stickers as it will show the route on a screen. The control of transmission and the display of critical information related to security and safety from and to the central control unit, such as the surveillance cameras and the emergency

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communication system is enabled by the onboard control systems. The new system can control the voice announcement level by measuring and analysing the noise level onboard and accordingly adjusting the volume automatically.

“The aim of these field visits to factories in different countries is to ensure

compliance with the highest international technical standards used in the field of telecommunication and display of information,” said Abdul Rida Abu Al Hasan, Executive Director of Rail Planning and Projects, Rail Agency, RTA. “Tests covered the technical specifications of telecommunication equipment and verifying

their compliance with the international standards.

Operational tests were also carried out to ensure the integration of telecommunication systems with other systems such as the automated rail control system and the main rail control unit,” the Executive Director added.

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Help AG Named Tenable Platinum Partner in the Middle East

6

SECONDS

THALES ACQUIRES CUBRIS Thales closed the acquisition of Danish company Cubris, for Main Line Rail customers. DAS allows real-time and fully secured exchange of information between the railway system and the train driver in order to optimize the driving of the train and reduce CO2 emissions. On this basis, Cubris also offers a key technology for the future autonomous trains.

BITFURY OPENS DUBAI OFFICE The Bitfury Group has expanded its global operations into the U.A.E., opening a Dubai office that underscores their commitment to building blockchain-based solutions for governments, companies and institutions

STEPHAN BERNER, CEO AT HELP AG

across the region. Bitfury’s expansion also reflects growing interest in blockchain technology among governments, businesses and institutions across the U.A.E. As they work to improve the services and systems

Help AG has become a Middle East Platinum partner for Tenable. Two years after signing its reseller agreement with Tenable, Help AG has incorporated the vendor’s Cyber Exposure solutions into its security architecture, leveraging the technology within its Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC) to enhance the capabilities of its Managed Vulnerability Scanning (MVS) service.

“We are especially proud of our unique status with Tenable which reflects the value we have been able to consistently deliver to customers through the course of our partnership,”

said Stephan Berner, CEO at Help AG. “This achievement stands as an assurance to customers that when they select Help AG for their Tenable deployment, they will receive the most comprehensive and qualified support through every stage of the solution lifecycle.”

The elevated Platinum status, as part of the Tenable Assure partner program, recognizes Help AG’s value and pipeline contributions, and commitment to technical excellence through investments in Tenable’s training and certification program.

they provide to people, they are increasingly focused on blockchain to deliver secure, trusted solutions.

RIVERBED REINVENTS APM FOR DIGITAL ERA Riverbed unveiled the release of its SteelCentral that redefines the application performance management (APM) market with the industry’s first unified APM and end-user experience monitoring solution. This unique approach enables organizations to monitor the digital experience for all applications, and capture every application transaction at a

DU AND ETISALAT JOIN HANDS WITH DUBAI PROPERTIES Etisalat and du collaborated with Dubai Properties to extend their Taawun programme. They will be providing Dubai properties with smart ICT infrastructure for its realty projects. This is a joint initiative between Etisalat and du which is coming under Taawun agreement. Taawun initiative is to support the long-term vision of the government in developing smart infrastructure and giving customers an opportunity to select their operator of choice for telecom services. This project is expected to benefit more than 100,000 people living and working in the nearly 20,000 Dubai Properties by 2022. The Taawun is a joint initiative between both operators which entails the installation of an end to end fiber to the home (FTTH) telecommunication network. It also includes 3G/4G and LTE cellular coverage, improved internet services and other communication upgrades. With infrastructure provided by Taawun, Dubai Properties aims to equip several realty projects in the next five years: Mudon communities of Arabella, Villanova and Serena, The Villa development, Liwan and Culture Village. The first project to go live will be Arabella at Mudon.

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level of depth and quality that is essential for today’s digital business.

SERVICENOW LAUNCHES VIRTUAL AGENT ServiceNow has revealed a new conversational bot technology dubbed “Virtual Agent,” designed to improve customer and employee experiences by getting work completed quickly through more natural interactions and real-time automated resolution. Unlike other bots, ServiceNow’s Virtual Agent can manage employee or customer requests from start to finish, leveraging ServiceNow’s Now Platform™ to resolve conversational requests automatically, such as resetting a password.

CHANNEL STREET

Coin miner malware grew 629% in Q1 2018: McAfee

THOMA BRAVO TO ACQUIRE MAJORITY INTEREST IN LOGRHYTHM Thoma Bravo has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority interest in LogRhythm, a leader in next-generation Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions. This investment recognizes LogRhythm’s significant history of market leadership and innovation and will support LogRhythm’s future operational and product development plans. LogRhythm’s founders and CEO will retain a meaningful ownership stake in the business.

RAJ SAMANI, CHIEF SCIENTIST AT MCAFEE

McAfee released its McAfee Labs Threats Report: June 2018, examining the growth and trends of new malware, ransomware, and other threats in Q1 2018. McAfee Labs saw on average five new threat samples every second, including growth in cryptojacking and other cryptocurrency mining malware, and notable campaigns demonstrating a deliberate drive to technically improve upon the most sophisticate established attacks of 2017.

“There were new revelations this quarter concerning complex nation-state cyber-attack campaigns targeting users and enterprise systems worldwide,” said Raj Samani, chief scientist at McAfee. “Bad actors demonstrated a remarkable level of technical agility and innovation in tools and tactics. Criminals continued to adopt

cryptocurrency mining to easily monetize their criminal activity.”

Cybercriminals extended their operations in cryptojacking and other cryptocurrency mining schemes, where perpetrators hijack victims’ browsers or infect their systems to secretly use them to mine for legitimate cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. This category of coin miner malware grew a stunning 629% in the first quarter of 2018, rocketing from around 400,000 total known samples in Q4 2017 to more than 2.9 million the next quarter. This suggests that cybercriminals are continuing to warm to the prospect simply infecting users’ systems and collecting payments without having to rely on third parties to monetize their crimes.

“LogRhythm believes it has found an ideal partner in Thoma Bravo,” said Andy Grolnick, chairman, president and CEO of LogRhythm. “As we seek to take LogRhythm to the next level and extend our position as the market’s preeminent NextGen SIEM vendor, we felt that Thoma Bravo’s cybersecurity domain expertise and track record of helping companies drive growth and innovation will make this a powerful and productive relationship. We believe this is an exciting strategic step forward for our company.”

ASPENTECH TRANSFORMS IIOT DATA INTO ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS AspenTech will now deliver Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) advanced analytics and machine learning applications on Microsoft Azure.

AspenTech will extend the reach of aspenONE Asset Performance Management (APM) software to new assets and data sources across the enterprise with

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Aspen Edge Connect and Aspen Cloud Connect software. Now available in the latest aspenONE Version 10.1 release, Aspen Edge Connect and Aspen Cloud Connect capture and aggregate critical data from assets and data sources throughout the plant and across the enterprise.

AspenTech will combine

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this reliable edge and enterprise connectivity with Azure to provide capital-intensive companies with a scalable, trusted, high-performance data analytics environment that delivers the accurate and actionable insights needed to optimize asset, plant and enterprise performance and reliability. “Real-time

asset connectivity and system-level views of asset performance data are critical for making informed business decisions and add further value to the asset optimization solutions we offer customers today. With Microsoft Azure, AspenTech is giving customers the option and advantages of low-cost, scalable edge

computing and data analytics in the cloud as well as on-premises. We are continuing to deliver rapidly deployed, low-touch Asset Performance Management solutions that offer quick time to value and drive increased reliability.” said John Hague, Senior Vice President and General Manager, AspenTech APM.

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Dubai Police launches smart multi-level parking project

WEB CLIPS FIREEYE, GIGAMON SIGN GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP

A smart multi-level parking project was launched by the Dubai Police. The foundation stone was laid by Major General Abdulla Khalifa Al Marri, Commander in Chief of Dubai Police at Al Muraqqabat Police Station in the presence of senior police officers.

With this parking facility, the customer will get a parking ticket number and the car will be lifted automatically to empty slots. Customers will be able to collect the cars by simply putting the ticket in the system without any human intervention. The smart parking system is part of

the Dubai Police Strategy (2016-2021) to cut time and efforts of customers by implementing latest technologies. ”All mechanisms for parking a car will be conducted automatically using modern technology,” said Major General Mohammed Saeed Bakhit, Director of Services and Equipment Department, Dubai Police. He further stated that the smart parking project would be built in the most populated residential and commercial districts in Dubai.

Gigamon and FireEye signed a global strategic partnership to improve threat defenses across their customers’ security infrastructures The multifaceted alliance offers customers FireEye Network Security combined with the GigaSECURE Security Delivery Platform with flexible deployment options and scalability for optimal threat protection. With GigaSECURE providing intelligent access and control of network traffic and options for both inline and out-of-band deployments, FireEye can detect and contain sophisticated threats quickly and efficiently.

BEYONDTRUST PARTNERS WITH

DELL ACCELERATES TOWARD 2020 LEGACY OF GOOD GOALS

SINEVIS

Dell released its annual 2020 Legacy of Good update, continuing the company’s long-term commitment to society, team members and the environment. The report summarizes efforts during fiscal year 2018 (Feb. 4, 2017 – Feb. 2, 2018). The report and corresponding activities are rooted in Dell’s acknowledgement of its responsibility to realize a sustainable and prosperous future. Dell’s purpose as a company is to drive human progress through technology. One of the ways the company brings that to life is through its Legacy of Good commitment – to put Dell technology and expertise to work where they can do the most good for people and the planet. For Dell that means investing in innovation that reduces environmental impact, supports a transparent supply chain, ensures an inclusive future workforce and advances underserved communities.

IT services delivery expertise of SINEVIS,

BeyondTrust, signed a strategic partnership with SINEVIS. Through the global reach and this partnership expands opportunities for BeyondTrust and helps scale delivery capabilities, particularly in Europe, Middle East, Africa and India regions, to meet growing customer demands for a world-class Priviliged Access Management (PAM) solution.

SIEMON ENHANCES DLP PROGRAMME Siemon continues its commitment to adding value to its global network of installers and contractors by developing and enhancing the

MOBILY SELECTS NOKIA TO MODERNIZE ITS IP AND OPTICAL NETWORKS Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) awarded Nokia a contract to modernize and optimize its IP and optical networks. Nokia’s next-generation routing and transport platforms will add flexibility, agility and capacity to Mobily’s networks to address the growing bandwidth demands of its subscribers.

The solution will be deployed in the Central, Eastern and Northern parts of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. “This modernization prepares Mobily for 5G technology, quicker expansion of services, and gives our customers enhanced service quality. Nokia will add intelligence to the network in order to meet future requirements, and enable self-correction that will channel bandwidth and capacity where needed for improved customer experience,” said Ahmed Aboudoma, Chief Executive Officer at Mobily.

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NUMBER GAME

9.2bn

$

Digital Lighting Partner (DLP) programme.

Siemon’s Digital Lighting Partner programme is uniquely designed to deliver business opportunities to a network of Siemon installers by leveraging key industry partnerships and growth in the development of intelligent buildings.

EASTNETS PARTNERS WITH BOUBYAN BANK EastNets partners with Kuwait’s Boubyan Bank to roll out SWIFT’s global payments innovation (gpi) service for its customers across the

Blockchain spend is expected to reach $ 9.2 billion by 2021: IDC

country. With the introduction of SWIFT gpi, Boubyan Bank will offer its customers highspeed cross-border payments with end to end tracking, transparency on bank fees and FX rates (Foreign Exchange), ultimately allowing the bank to credit payments to end beneficiaries within minutes, even seconds.

伀倀吀䤀䴀䤀娀䤀一䜀

䌀夀䈀䔀刀 匀䔀䌀唀刀䤀吀夀

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CHANNEL STREET

SANS Returns to KSA with Training Courses in Cybersecurity SANS will return to KSA with ‘SANS Riyadh July 2018’. The six-day training event will take place from the 28th of July to the 2nd of August and will feature hands-on courses that enable IT professionals to rapidly up-skill in fundamental areas of cyber security including network security, threat management, cryptography and defence against attacks targeted at Microsoft’s Windows operating system (OS). In the last two years, SANS has doubled down on its investment in Saudi Arabia as large-scale cyber-attacks exposed the dire need for a local pool of professionally trained and certified cyber security professionals.

Earlier this year, the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Saudi Cyber Security and Programming Federation to collaborate on SANS offered programs to evaluate

ABC VERDUN SELECTS R&M FOR HIGH-SPEED CABLING

and strengthen cyber security skills.

With the goal of empowering organizations and to protect the most widely used OS in the Kingdom, Ned Baltagi, Managing Director, Middle East & Africa at SANS said, “With nearly 85% market share, Microsoft Windows is by far the most dominant OS in Saudi Arabia, especially in professional environments. It serves as the platform upon which all major verticals in the Kingdom have built their IT infrastructures which is why threats against it can cripple business, and even disrupt critical services. Investing in Windows forensics analysis will not only help to mitigate this major threat, it can also unlock the wealth of data that is silently recorded by the OS to help strategically guide business policies.”

ABC mall and department store in Lebanon invested in a state-of-the-art cabling infrastructure from R&M. This network serves as the platform on which critical mall services including internet, point-of-sales systems, CCTV, digital signage, and the Building Management System (BMS) now run.

The Mall is spread across around 1.5 million square feet– with more than 140,000 square feet of gross leasable area (GLA) across six levels. The project hosts over 200 stores, movie theatres, and around 30 restaurants and coffee shops, and several new concept stores.

R&M offered 25-year system warranty on the cabling infrastructure. Key systems now run on the high-speed cable network enabling everything from in-store payments to mall security and even systems that optimize its 1,700 car parking spaces.

BATELCO APPOINTS NEW CHAIRMAN Batelco has appointed Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa as the new Chairman. Shaikh Abdulla will replace Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, who has served as Chairman since December 2016. Shaikh Mohamed has played an integral role during his term in implementing the company’s strategic plan. The Board extends their appreciation to him for his efforts.

Shaikh Abdulla is the Chief Executive Officer at Osool Asset Management with more than 20 years’ experience in the Banking and Financial Services Industry.

Shaikh Abdulla is the Chairman of SICO Investment Bank, Board Member of BBK and Board Member of Amanat Holding PJSC. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the George Washington University, USA.

The installation time was greatly reduced by use of the high-performance field-installable connector which made it possible to connect the FO Field connectors to a fibre cables at the site itself in under a minute. This innovation allowed the costly and time-consuming step of fusion splicing to be skipped, as pigtails, patch cables, and installation cables were directly connected.

AMERICANA GROUP AND VISA PARTNER FOR NEW PAYMENT TECHNOLOGIES Americana Group and Visa signed a new partnership aimed at promoting card acceptance across Americana’s brands. In particular, Visa will facilitate contactless card and digital wallet payment technologies

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for Americana’s customers, providing them with a wider range of payment options than ever before. Americana is one of the restaurant operators in MENA with over 1,850 restaurants under brands including KFC, Pizza

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Hut and Hardee’s. Thanks to the partnership, customers will now be able to pay seamlessly whether using a contactless card or NFCenabled mobile device, when paying in a restaurant, online or on delivery, for

all of Americana’s brands.

Visa cardholders will enjoy access to exclusive deals and promotions across Americana’s participating brands. With the partnership covering 10 MENA countries, including Egypt,

Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and UAE, it also demonstrates both companies’ strong commitment to supporting the vision of a cashless society being adopted by many of the region’s governments.

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CHANNEL STREET

Cisco Networking Academy Helps Narrow IT Skills Gap

DAVID MEADS, VICE PRESIDENT – MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA, AT CISCO

Cisco in the Middle East celebrated several accomplishments of the Cisco Networking Academy, its IT skills and career-building program available to learning institutions and individuals worldwide As recognition of its contribution to narrowing the IT skills gap in the region, Cisco Networking Academy was honored with two industry awards for the ‘Network Training Provider of the year’ and

MIMECAST OPENS GERMAN DATA CENTERS

the ‘Training Provider of the year’. With over 520 active academies across 14 countries in the Middle East, more than 55,000 active students, close to 1,200 instructors and an average female student participation of 28%, Cisco Networking Academy has been helping fill the regional demand for skilled ICT professionals for over 20 years. “As many Middle East countries accelerate their digitization initiatives and continue to drive economic diversification efforts, there is a growing need for skilled, tech-savvy people.

Cisco is committed to support the innovation, talent and entrepreneurship ecosystem in the Middle East and contribute to the knowledge economy,” says David Meads, Vice President – Middle East & Africa, at Cisco. “The skills gap, particularly in the ICT field, continues to be a top government priority and this is where Cisco Networking Academy is making a significant impact by developing local talent. We work closely with local schools, universities and government organizations. The education Cisco Networking Academy has the power to change people’s lives, elevate careers, and transform communities. We have trained over 295,000 students in the Middle East over the last 20 years,” Mr. Meads added.

Mimecast opened its German data centers for business. Mimecast confirmed that the services are live and the first customers had begun their onboarding. Two new replicated data centers are in separate co-located facilities in Frankfurt am Main and operate on Mimecast’s own proprietary cloud infrastructure and MimeOS software architecture. Mimecast’s advanced security, business continuity and archiving services are designed to operate in accordance with GDPR (DSGVO) and German data protection laws.

“Germany’s cautious yet pragmatic approach to cloud is exactly why Mimecast is planning for rapid growth in the region,” said Mimecast CEO Peter Bauer. “Concerns remain over where data is stored and what happens when critical services like email fail, creating security risks and disrupting workplace productivity. Our new German data centers will allow us to help organizations adopt a cyber resilience strategy to secure, preserve and continue the flow of information via email.”

Mimecast services are engineered to support Microsoft Exchange, Office 365, Google and on-premise email environments.

FAREYE EXPANDS ITS FOOTPRINT IN THE EUROPEAN MARKET FarEye opens its first European office in London with an aim to expand its business foothold in the region and to serve its customers directly. With a total of 6 corporate offices in India, Dubai and Singapore, FarEye currently serves customers in over 20 countries. FarEye has revolutionized the logistics industry by capturing marquee clients like DHL, Blue Dart, Walmart, enabling more than 100 companies across Retail, Logistics, e-commerce, Healthcare & Food sector, globally, thus proving its mettle across industry verticals. Already leveraging its software solutions for customers in Europe, the company sees humongous scope in the market. To capitalise the explosion in online sales in Europe, which is estimated to reach $700bn a year by the end of 2018, FarEye has launched its first office in the continent. Some of its innovative offerings in the market include – Drop&Pick, a cloud-based web and mobile application to enable parcel shops; FarEye Visibility suite; Foodeligent, an Artificial Intelligence-based platform to cut food delivery time by 15 percent; Delivery Happiness Platform, among others.

MILLENNIAL ENTREPRENEURS AND INNOVATORS DRIVE FUTURE TECHNOLOGY From a pioneering cybersecurity company with roots traceable to its then-14-year-old founder’s bedroom, to major global players rolling out multi-faceted training programmes for information security students and

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young professionals, the increasingly important contribution of millennials to cybersecurity and Internet of Things (IoT) is evident across every corner of the Gulf Information Security Exhibition and Conference (GISEC) and

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the Internet of Things Expo (IoTX) 2018. Amid the expansive gathering of cybersecurity specialists, innovative coders and technology futurists, Future Technology Week is awash with some of the world’s brightest young tech minds.

Many of those calling the shots in innovative, game-changing companies are forward-thinkers only a few years older than the average university graduate.

Take Malwarebytes. Prior to even attending university, Marcin Kleczynski

had already founded what would grow into a leading advanced malware prevention and remediation solution recently ranked as ‘Visionary’ in the 2018 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection Platforms.

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Avaya Upgrades Workforce Optimization Suite Avaya introduced a new version of its Workforce Optimization suite, which improves service quality, operational and employee productivity and data privacy with a series of new features and tools. This major software release helps companies in the region to transform customer engagement and comply with existing and emerging industry regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

IDC research commissioned by Avaya found that employee productivity is a key driver of digital transformation – a necessary step that sets the groundwork through which enterprises are better prepared to achieve the higher revenue growth associated with a better customer experience.

While optimizing the customer experience and service delivery is critical to winning and keeping

business, only 28 percent of companies believe they integrate customer communications with fulfillment and delivery extremely well.

“Customer experience is a function of fully integrated, customer-facing, efficient and effective workforce support and back office processes.

Avaya Workforce Optimization helps ensure that the employees engaged in service delivery meet the standard of excellence that customers expect and deserve, and helps drive business profitability and growth.” said Chris McGugan, Avaya SVP, Solutions and Technologies.

Driven by the European GDPR requirements, Avaya strengthened data privacy with the newest features to help securely record, process, archive, and protect customers’ personal data to reach compliance goals.

STORAGECRAFT’S VISION TO DISRUPT STORAGE SILOS GAINS MOMENTUM StorageCraft stated strong momentum as channel partners and customers alike embrace the company’s approach to seamless and integrated data management, protection, and recovery. “For too long, legacy big-iron vendors have encouraged IT buyers to think about their data and storage infrastructure in silos. This has created multi-billion dollar protected markets that don’t put the customer first and do very little to help as they become overwhelmed by data growth and the need to ensure its constant availability,” said Douglas Brockett, president of StorageCraft. “Those days are numbered. The market is now turning to vendors that are innovating by collapsing and unifying the entire storage management and protection stack into a single, integrated, self-protecting data infrastructure. This approach breaks down the barriers between primary, secondary and cloud storage and paves the way for a solution that is efficient, cost-effective and an order of magnitude easier to use. Our business momentum bears out this shift in market sentiment.”

SYNOLOGY LAUNCHES TWO MAJOR BACKUP APPLICATIONS Synology released two major backup applications in Active Backup suite of packages, the official version of Active Backup for Office 365 that supports SaaS cloud backup, and the beta version of Active Backup for Business that provides data availability for workloads in physical and virtual environments.

“More and more companies and organizations are operating across physical, virtual, and cloud platforms.

This phenomenon presents a tremendous challenge to IT departments for ensuring the safety of the growing data in this cross-platform environment.” said Jia-Yu Liu, Director of Application Group at Synology Inc. “To tackle this problem, Synology provides a new, allin-one solution that closely integrates software and hardware for businesses of varying scale.”

Active Backup for Office 365 employs single instancing technology to not only help businesses with the management and availability of Office 365 data, but also significantly lower the space occupied by backups. The content search function is particularly geared toward combing through content in mail and attachments, enabling users to find the mail in need of recovery in the shortest time.

EATON TO PROVIDE POWER DISTRIBUTION SOLUTIONS TO KUWAIT UNIVERSITY Eaton will provide complete power distribution solutions for the Administration Facility at Kuwait University’s Sabah Al-Salem University City in Kuwait. The Administration Facilities at Kuwait University will serve as the main gateway to the

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new campus. The seven buildings, including cultural & convocation hall, conference centre, university library, visitor centre and a grand mosque will house the chief administrative and ceremonial functions of the campus, serving

the needs of a student population of 40,000, faculty, administrators and visitors. Working alongside key partner Sahara Combined General Trading & Contracting Co, Eaton was awarded the contract through China State Construction

Company-Middle East and Al Ghanim International Company.

Eaton will be providing complete xEnergy LV Systems, Power Distribution Components and Industrial Control solutions for the prestigious Administration facility.

INTERVIEW

Building a better world with Blockchain BEYOND IMPROVING AND DELIVERING DECENTRALIZED TRADING AND CERTIFICATION SYSTEMS WORLDWIDE, LOCUS CHAIN FOUNDATION’S BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY AIMS FOR A GREATER GOOD – BRIDGING GLOBAL INEQUALITIES AND GAPS, REDUCING CORRUPTION, SERVING THE THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES AND CREATING RIPPLE EFFECTS OF THE SAME…… IN BRIEF, MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE!

MR. JACKIE CHOI, DIRECTOR OF LOCUS CHAIN FOUNDATION

“We at Locus Chain are at the forefront of identifying innovative ideas, people, services, and programs that raise consciousness, community leadership and capital to break the cycles of poverty, violence and inequality that have plagued third world nations”

n B Y: A N U S H R E E D I X I T < A N U S H R E E @ G E C M E D I A G R O U P. C O M >

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few days back, I stumbled upon a noble thought (over a conversation) on how technology, with all its might, can have the capacity to give back to the society, or at least improve the way in which it operates and serves the public.

“Blockchain is a game changing technology.

Investing strength in this technology, we at Locus Chain are at the forefront of identifying innovative ideas, people, services, and programs that raise consciousness, community leadership, and capital to break the cycles of poverty, violence, and inequality that have plagued “third-world” nations for so long,” says Jackie Choi, Director, Locus Chain.

Locus Chain Foundation recently launched the fourth generation of Blockchain technology, a technology that will enable secure transaction - end-to-end - to be concluded in under two seconds irrespective of the broadband speed. “Our

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technology does not depend on high bandwidth or 5G/4G, we predominantly run on 2G networks and have successfully completed transactions in less than 2 seconds.”

Jackie says that their solutions are specifically targeted for the third world countries, Africa being one of those. “With our entirely decentralized technology, we are eradicating the need for Middle men in the chain. The middlemen are the people dealing, selling and controlling the market and injecting into the roots of corruption. Our technology helps decentralize all the information so that it is shared equally. Blockchain is for the people, of the people and by the people.”

Since Blockchain technology is still nascent, there is still a need for setting the right regulations. In such a scenario, getting into the market with a niche kind of technology can have its own advantages and drawbacks. “Dubai is one of the classic examples when it comes to the adoption

of new technology. Many government organizations have already taken up this initiative and only the banking sector is facing some challenges in implementation.”

Making the internet available anywhere, anytime is yet another motive of Locus chain foundation. Block Chain Research and Development Company Bloom Technology Co., Ltd., a joint venture of the Locus Chain Foundation, and SM Wave, a satellite Wi-Fi service provider, have entered into a strategic alliance agreement to provide satellite Wi-Fi and payment services based on block-chain platform technology for carriers.

The Foundation has announced the setting up of a funding mechanism that will use the fourth generation blockchain technology to help beneficiaries receive funds directly in the form of crypto assets. This is, perhaps, for the first time that such a large-scale initiative is being implemented by utilizing blockchain technology.

The Foundation, which has already raised a significant amount, has signed partnerships with many organizations from around the world. Along with its partners, the Foundation will implement the funding mechanism to help the causes. ë

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COVER STORY

HYPER

N CO VERGENCE THE NEW BUSINESS LANGUAGE

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COVER STORY

Like the pace of businesses, the expectations from the business are also high speed today. Convergence is the new business language in the era of prefabricated modular and molecular data centers where less is more. Simplicity, scalability and interoperability is being asked for with least possible human workforce existence and limited number of devices to be monitored.

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t the Enterprise Adviser’s Hyperconvergence Redefined roundtable, held in May, one of the most interesting point that an infrastructure head raised was the need for a platform that can allow him to handle the operations and maintenance single-handedly, sans the need of depending on an army of specialist staff.

Lower TCO, efficient automation, simplified procurement and assured data protection leads the way for customers demanding hyperconverged infrastructure solutions.

Going by steady facts, hyperconvergence is going pure software based but the market is seeing a significant drawback from the vendor side in making the shift. Customer-owned hardware are giving the vendors a tough time in extracting the targeted revenue. One more trend that the market is seeing is in the behavior of service providers and msp’s who will be seen moving more and more towards hyperconverged in order to compete with the models of hyperscale cloud providers

THE MATURING SPACE As per reports, the main factors that are driving the market growth include increasing demand for data protection and disaster recovery, highly scalable solutions and increased usage for virtualization. However, drawback of bundled solutions is the major factor hindering the market. Quoting a report from PRnewswire, “The market for the data protection application is having a steady growth during the forecast period. Multifold increase in the system and user-generated data leads to the rising concern for data backup and security issues, especially among IT, financial, and government sectors which, in turn, derives the data protection applications of the overall hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) market. A simple HCI system can offer protection, integrated data backup, and disaster recovery solution, without having IT specialists to rely on

dedicated/separate systems for such purposes.”

According to Lenovo, an example of how hyper-convergence is beneficial for the function and productivity of a business, is its ability to impressively reduce the turnaround time for the delivery of products and systems to customers by scaling the environment with a new node via an IP address, allowing IT departments to forecast their immediate requirements more accurately. “Hyper-convergence by way of design allows enterprise customers to break the cycles of procuring hardware platforms and allows IT departments to focus on delivering services to the business rather than operational issues,” says Alan Browning, Hyperconverged Solutions Leader, Data Center Group, Lenovo META. The consolidation of key DC infrastructures to simplify the operations and merge them into a single system defines the very roadmap of hyperconvergence. Reduction of cost is definitely one of the pivotal motive of an HCI, but it is getting more popular among data centers because it helps minimize risk on initial deployment and simplify common lifecycle tasks.

It strengthens data center services with confidence. Maya Zakhour, Head of Distribution and Alliances, Middle East & Africa, NetApp says,“At NetApp, we have brought our own experience from building the FlexPod converged infrastructure solutions to the HCI market. NetApp HCI is an enterprise-scale hyper converged infrastructure that delivers predictable performance on a highly flexible and efficient architecture and is simple to deploy and manage. The NetApp Data Fabric vision enables you to manage data between on-premises and public cloud, delivering more integration value to the NetApp HCI solution.

A SIMPLY SOPHISTICATED WAY TO MODERN DATA CENTERS Walking steadfast towards the new data centers with simplified operation models is the primary goal of HCI. While many of

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COVER STORY

“WE’RE SEEING COMPUTE AND CLOUD VENDORS COMPETING FOR THE EDGE FOOTPRINT WITH VARIOUS STRATEGIES. THESE TECHNOLOGIES ENABLE THE DATA FABRIC THAT FACILITATES TRANSFORMATION AND MOVEMENT OF DATA.” -MAYA ZAKHOUR, HEAD OF DISTRIBUTION AND ALLIANCES, MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA, NETAPP

“HYPER-CONVERGENCE BY WAY OF DESIGN ALLOWS ENTERPRISE CUSTOMERS TO BREAK THE CYCLES OF PROCURING HARDWARE PLATFORMS AND ALLOWS IT DEPARTMENTS TO FOCUS ON DELIVERING SERVICES TO THE BUSINESS RATHER THAN OPERATIONAL ISSUES.” -ALAN BROWNING, HYPERCONVERGED SOLUTIONS LEADER, DATA CENTER GROUP, LENOVO META

the benefits of HCI may be unrealized as of now, one of the biggest troubles that it has solved is the existence of silos in various organizations. It eradicates the need for multiple administrators and addresses the business challenges in a better way, in a newer way. It not only reduces the complexity of the workload and provides the required speed for the operations.

“As part of our HCI software offering, we believe that virtualization should be a feature rather than a stand-alone product. Therefore, many of our customers benefit from our own enterprise-class hypervisor that is included at no additional license cost. Nutanix AHV can be deployed in lieu of other commercial hypervisors to reduce software licenses and further simplify management and operation,” says Aaron White, Regional Director – Middle East, Nutanix According to Anand Chakravarthi, Area Vice President of Pivot 3, HCI represents the software layer, and that software HAS to get more intelligent. “Understanding a business and its

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critical applications, then being able to seamlessly manage and manipulate the environment to provide the best business outcomes is where the market must go, and that includes Cloud (in whatever form) as a seamless tier within the datacenter”, he adds.

According to Riverbed, while organizations that opt for hyperconvergence are likely to realise the above-stated benefits, they must also be aware of the potential drawbacks. These could be challenges with scalability, internal resistance to change and potentially inhibiting upfront costs. “Similarly, with branch hyperconvergence, challenges will arise if the data centre hyperconvergence model is simply copied over to Remote Office and Branch Office (ROBO) environments,” says Elie Dib, Regional Vice President, METNA at Riverbed.

essentially Artificial Intelligence. A public cloud is a great fit for any decision that does not need to be made in real-time and can afford latency, providing purpose solution and potentially a cost effective and scalable route,” says Alan.

AI DRIVING THE HC CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE Be it artificial intelligence or hyperconvergence, we will all certainly agree to this fact that data drives the chariot. In today’s multicloud environment it is absolutely vital for AI to assume a larger role. AI-ready storage is the demand of any modern enterprise today. Solution providers are increasingly being seen offering this in hyperconverged platforms.

The new generations of hardware also come with built-in AI modules that is able to balance and optimize workloads that need intelligence.

“If we were to break down the essence of IoT in a very simple format, it is every device that we interact with would have an IP address that generates data which needs to be moved to a central repository and interpreted into machine learning and decision making, which is

“WE BELIEVE THAT VIRTUALIZATION SHOULD BE A FEATURE RATHER THAN A STAND-ALONE PRODUCT. THEREFORE, MANY OF OUR CUSTOMERS BENEFIT FROM OUR OWN ENTERPRISE-CLASS HYPERVISOR THAT IS INCLUDED AT NO ADDITIONAL LICENSE COST.” -AARON WHITE, REGIONAL DIRECTOR – MIDDLE EAST, NUTANIX

COVER STORY

“THE FOCUS FOR RIVERBED HAS BEEN HYPERCONVERGENCE AT THE EDGE. WE HELP CUSTOMERS SIMPLIFY THEIR BRANCH IT FOOTPRINT BY CONVERGING BRANCH SERVERS AND STORAGE INTO A SINGLE APPLIANCE.” -ELIE DIB, REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENT, METNA AT RIVERBED

“AI IS KEY TO HCI, THE NIRVANA IS REALLY THE ABSTRACTION OF THE APPLICATION LAYER FROM THE UNDERLYING INFRASTRUCTURE LAYER.” -ANAND CHAKRAVARTHI, AREA VP, PIVOT3

According to Maya, they are seeing compute and cloud vendors competing for the edge footprint with various strategies. These technologies enable the Data Fabric that facilitates transformation and movement of data. “Many edge environments—such as self-driving cars and oil field deployments — are potentially harsh in

17026.74mn

$

Global HCI Market is expected to reach $17026.74 million by 2023

sent again to the core data centre for city-wide planning and storage,” says Aron.

terms of temperature, shock, and vibration, and could require ruggedized hardware. NetApp has partnered with Vector Data to deliver ruggedized solutions that utilize Vector Data hardware and ONTAP Select software. A hyperconverged option combines compute, storage, and networking in a single box or a storage-only solution is available. Both options are Data Fabric capable,” she adds.

“Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning is nothing without data, which needs to be collected and stored properly before the supercomputers can do the calculations and analyse for meaningful patterns. Imagine a driverless car browsing the road to collect data on traffic conditions (peak hour congestion, for example). The data will then be sent to the local district (distributed) data centre for traffic analysis, and eventually be

98%

FINALLY Hyperconverged infrastructure is certainly simplicity in sophistication. Though there are various reasons that HCI would define the future of the modern data centers, very less is said about how the legacy infrastructure’s lack of ‘intelligence’ will reduce the speed of the process somehow. The market, the vendors and the end users should strongly understand what a business needs and try to steer and seamlessly integrate the environment in that way.

Digital transformation has long back erased the existence of three-tier approach. There is an alarming need to mix intelligence with resilience here! ë Acc to Dell EMC, 98% of businesses in the UAE currently leverage convergence to ensure digital readiness

12bn

$

20%

Worldwide HCI market surpassed $12 billion in 2018.

Gartner predicted 20% of business-critical applications currently deployed on three-tier IT infrastructure will transition to hyperconverged infrastructure by 2020

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SPECIAL STORY

REVOLUTIONARY APPROACH TO THE PEOPLE

Since the launch of Smart Dubai and the promise of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, crown prince of Dubai, that the last paper transaction of Dubai government will take place in 2021, a lot has changed in Dubai government sectors. The launch of the Smart Dubai 2021 initiative

by Sheikh Hamdan is for the smart and sustainable development of Dubai. The major projects in this roadmap is Dubai Pulse, Blockchain, Happiness Agenda, Saad Service, Dubai Police Robocop etc.

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he government plans to set strategies to ensure the best standard of living by saving them time and effort.

Dubai Pulse, which is described as the “Backbone of Dubai’s transformation and shift towards smart technologies”, is a one stop place for data regarding to government and its functionalities. This web portal is expected to make life simpler and more convenient for millions of Dubai residents as they do not have to visit the offices or different websites. The portal provides facilities ranging from security and transportation to paying bills and housing. Smart Dubai’s online offering of 137 smart initiatives and 1,129 smart services are available in this portal. To ensure that the residents are contend and happy, a vision of HH Skeikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, VP and Prime Minister

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of the UAE, and Ruler of the Emirate of Dubai was initiated. This is the happiness portal which is to make Dubai not just the smartest city but also the happiest city in the world. The portal measures the happiness of Dubai’s citizens, residents and visitors when they interact with the Government services. Happiness meters are installed in almost all of the government offices and are connected to the central network which is operated by the Smart Dubai Government Establishment. The meters analyze and send reports to the Dubai Executive Council and identifies the zones and cities and their happiness range.

FUTURE AND FUTURISTIC TECHNOLOGIES Dubai 2021 plan also provides a platform for the futuristic technologies to make life easier.

The Museum of the Future, which is to open in 2019 is a unique collection of innovations and designs currently under construction in Dubai. The museum builds on over five years of temporary immersive exhibitions held in the World Government Summit. The Museum also has future Accelerator challenges where it pairs the world’s most exciting technology companies with the Dubai Future Foundation for a six week programme. The challenges include advanced wearables, AI guides, Virtual experiences etc.

With all these government plans to make life easier, it also looks into technology for not just saving time but also money. The government plans to make 50% of UAE’s federal transactions to be empowered by blockchain technology by 2021. The country is expected to save Dh 11 billion which is spend annually on document transactions and documents. The Future Blockchain Summit held is World Trade Centre on May 2018 was part of this initiative. The blockchain technology is also expected to increase the productivity of public services by saving 25 million working hours per year.

SAFE CITY: HAPPY CITIZENS As a citizen is most content when he feels safe in a city, Smart Dubai ensures the safety side of its residents by implementing new technologies in the security departments. The Robocop initiative is part of the project. The Robocop is a robotic policeman who will enable in identifying wanted criminals and collect evidences. This Robocop will replace humans and will patrol the busy areas in the city. If this passes the experiment phase, the Robocop will make up to 25% of the patrolling force by 2030.

With industrial revolution of digitization, UAE is trying to makes its economy move a little away from the oil production and profit. The oil share in GDP at present is 29% and they are aiming to reduce the share to 20% in 2021. Dubai is inviting foreign investors as part of which the government is going to introduce aerial vehicles

by German high-tech firm Volocopter. Siemens has also launched a smartphone application for the Dubai transport authority, with which people can book tickets for bus and metro in advance and plan their routes. UAE being the first Arab country to host the Expo in 2020, a lot of eyes are on the technological development of the country. With the slogan “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”, the expo 2020 will be a platform for exchanging of ideas for digitization of the cities. ë

INTERVIEW

DESIGNED TO BE THE ‘GO TO’ BLOCKCHAIN “ WE WORK VERY CLOSELY WITH OUR CLIENTS OPERATIONS AND STRATEGY TEAMS TO REALLY NAIL DOWN THE USE CASE WITHIN THEIR ORGANIZATIONS THAT ADD VALUE BY BEING ON ON BLOCKCHAIN WITH AI OR IOT. THIS ASPECT WE REALLY DO BELIEVE MAKES BLOCKOBI VERY UNIQUE”

n B Y: D I V S H A B H AT < D I V S H A @ G E C M E D I A G R O U P. C O M >

region. Our focus is on providing innovative solutions for Government, quasi-Government and tier 1 level organisations.

JOHNNY HUNTINGTON,

CEO & FOUNDER, BLOCKOBI

Johnny, tell us more about Blockobi and its solutions?

I have been in digital transformation now for 20+ years and have previously built and sold multi-million AED businesses that delivered digital solutions for 450+ companies across 25 industry classes, including 350+ of them locally here in UAE. Dubai has been my home for the last 11 years and it only made sense for Blockobi to be based in Dubai because we support the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, of the Government being on Blockchain by 2021, including reducing over 50% of paper based or non performing Government transactions.

Blockobi is designed to be the ‘go to’ Blockchain, AI & IoT advisory and development agency for enterprise level operations in the GCC

The landscape is currently filled with numerous emerging solution providers in Blockchain. What makes Blockobi unique or different?

Our approach and service delivery model is primarily focussed on our commercial client’s core business objectives; improve bottom-line and generate more revenue. We work very closely with our client’s operations and strategy teams to really nail down the use case within their organisations that add value by being on Blockchain (and or integration) with AI or IoT. This aspect we really do believe makes Blockobi very unique, whereas most suppliers in this space go directly into technical build we have continually seen that by getting ‘under the hood’ of the client’s commercial needs and deeply understanding their business and constituent operational parts results in building and deploying many more successful and innovative projects into the market.

The Blockobi team is also driven to ensure that Blockchain and other innovative solutions are (and absolutely should be) driven by commercial and c-level professionals and their business objectives thus evolve beyond the current command of ‘Techies’. Of course, we are ‘techies’ and business leaders that know how to effectively communicate exactly how our solutions can make our client’s products and services faster, smarter, build value, or gain a better competitive edge in the market. It’s absolutely imperative that commercial and strategy teams lead the way forward in IT innovation. By enforcing this approach at Blockobi we can really see this is where amazing opportunity for the future resides, and that is very exciting.

This year has been very favourable for Blockobi, especially in the UAE because of the country’s vision, committed support and promotion towards the innovation sector. Secondly, commercial adoption fuelled by the understanding of how Blockchain & Smart Contract technology can provide benefit has driven strong

commercial interest towards Blockobi.com and our suite of services.

How is Blockchain disrupting modern-day enterprises?

I really have a distaste for the term ‘disruption’, it only ever was and only ever will be innovation.

Professionals or enterprises that get ‘disrupted’ are the ones that didn’t pay attention to new ways of doing things that could keep them relevant in the business marketplace whom then get taken out by some garage based young buck entrepreneur.

I would prefer to have the label applied here and have it rest with lazy, inefficient enterprises who quite rightly should be ‘disrupted’ because they disregarded how to continually give more value to their employees, customers or client base.

What is your ‘go to’ market strategy, and tell us about your major partnerships?

Our overall strategy is aiming at Government, Quasi-Government, and tier 1 level enterprises.

We are exploring some major partnerships with Infrastructure, Telecommunications, Banking, and Finance leaders. We are also currently engaged in real estate, supply chain, asset logistics, and trade financing Blockchain initiatives.

The interesting sectors we see are the traditional ‘non digital sectors which have never really been through too much of a digital IT revolution but could greatly benefit by catching the Blockchain wave early on.

What is your roadmap for the year 2018?

It is no secret we want Blockobi to be an exceptional company and that’s why our roadmap for 2018 is to keep on-boarding exceptional talent.

I am a big ambassador of intelligence in people, ideas and fostering creativity. We want to build and protect our reputation in UAE for providing quality, and continually refine our Blockchain, AI and IoT delivery models for the benefit of our clients. The coming year is about steady growth in the business, as I would like to see my business around for 20-30 years. ë

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INTERVIEW

Creating a Winning Formula NO MATTER HOW FAR YOUR DESTINATION IS, THERE IS ALWAYS A FEEL-GOOD FACTOR WHEN YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE ON BOARD THE FASTEST TRAIN ON THE ROUTE AND YOU WILL REACH THE PLACE BEFORE ANYONE DOES. SETTING A TRACK RECORD OF 93 BILLION DOLLARS REVENUE AND MORE THAN 24% GROWTH YOY IN ITS OVERALL BUSINESS IN THE PREVIOUS YEAR, ALAA ELSHIMY, THE MANAGING DIRECTOR OF HUAWEI MIDDLE EAST SAYS THAT HUAWEI IS THE ‘COMPANY OF THE FUTURE’ AND HAS SET ON A JOYFUL JOURNEY TO BECOME THE NUMERO UNO AS AN ICT SOLUTION AND SERVICE PROVIDER WORLDWIDE. (EXCERPTS)

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hough Huawei has evident competition on the individual fronts of enterprise, telecom and hyperconvergence business, the company claims that they are second to none when it comes to offering all of them in one platter.

According to Alaa ElShimy, Huawei banks on innovation and research to succeed in modern day business. “In 2017 we invested more than 13 billion dollars in R&D. We are in the 6th position while considering spend on R&D amongst all industries. Our objective is to push the growth needle of the business and bring value driven solutions to the customers.

WAY TO HUAWEI For readers who do not know (which I am sure there is nobody who doesn’t) Alaa ElShimy is the ex-Managing Director of Hewlett Packard Enterprise who joined Huawei in the year 2016.

As curiosity struck, I asked him about the one binding factor that pulled him to the place where he is sitting today. He replied, “Sitting here, today, we are talking about a company that is designed for the future. We are talking about a company that has achieved more than 100% growth YoY in the Middle East region. For me, Huawei as a company has all the ingredients that makes it a horse worth betting on. Compared to other players, we entered the market late, yet, we have had the highest growth in comparison to others.”

Alaa says that the company differentiates itself from the other players in various unique ways.

“The first as I said is our unique capabilities in

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offering solutions and services that cover the entire ICT spectrum which no other vendors offer today. Secondly, and probably the simplest and evident factor is our presence— we have an office in all the cities of the world. The customers and partners can thus have a Huawei resource person to go to on ground locally. The most exciting offering that we have is our BDII.”

BDII (BUSINESS DRIVEN ICT INFRASTRUCTURE) Alaa says, “We are proud to be an infrastructure ICT player, however when we go to market we look at it as different verticals. Some of our biggest focus verticals are Oil and Gas, Transportation, Government etc…. The term BDII means that we have subject matter experts coming from each of these verticals working with our ecosystem. Their deep driven expertise helps us in building an integrated solution and taking it to the customer, hence delivering the value that they desire and deserve.

On the transportation front, we have over 36000 kms of metro and train running on our infrastructure. When you have a train running at the speed of more than 150kmph it is difficult to keep the signal and connectivity up and running.

Our subject matters help us in understanding these needs and catering accordingly. We also have done a number of projects with airports and aviation sector. Dubai Airport is also one of our customer and the list goes on,” says Alaa.

Since HCI has been the flavor and favored by the region since the past few years, Huawei has

made sure that they are up to date with the offering. Huawei’s FusionCloud Private Cloud Solution uses cloud computing and Big Data technologies to provide resource pooling and full-stack cloud service capabilities, offering customers solutions in converged resource pools, hosting cloud, and hybrid cloud.

The company is also focusing heavily on its artificial intelligence offerings. “The public cloud of Huawei (available only in China and few other countries and not in the Middle East) has an Enterprise AI platform. We provide AI enterprise applications as platforms which customers can

INTERVIEW

ALAA ELSHIMY, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF HUAWEI MIDDLE EAST

“Today, being an IT service provider or a telecom service provider is not enough. You have to be an ICT service provider to be able to cater to the needs of the digital spectrum.”

establish an open and collaborative ecosystem.

Huawei continues to establish a partner ecosystem that includes channel partners, solution partners, service partners, talent alliances, and investment and financing partners. Partners include many industry-leading companies such as SAP, Accenture, GE, Honeywell, Siemens, Alstom, Hexagon, Thales, VST ECS, Synnex, ALSO, and Redington. At the end of 2017, the company had more than 13,000 channel partners, 860 solution partners, and 2,900 service partners working around the world to deliver solutions to over 45,000 customers.

BUILDING A LONG-TERM STRATEGY

customize and use it as per their AI usage. With AI, we have been able to reduce human intervention in Huawei call centers by upto 60% as most of the time you are talking to machines.

PARTNERS IN SUCCESS “Currently 80% of Huawei customer engagements are and business are done through our channel partners. My vision is to make it 100%. I would certainly want to engage directly with the top accounts to discuss our BDII strategy but the deal will be fulfilled through our partners only,” says Alaa.

Recently, Huawei also hosted its Middle East Partner Summit that took place under the theme ‘Leading New ICT, the Road to Win-win Ecosystem’, the summit hosted participants from 12 countries across the Middle East who gathered to form a collaborative platform in order to explore the current requirements for a successful digital transformation and ushering in the Artificial Intelligence era, exchange ideas, share success stories and best practices, targeted at empowering Huawei’s channel partners in order to increase their ability to cater to the region’s increasingly demanding technology innovation needs, and to

Alaa believes that from a portfolio, technology, presence and capability point of view Huawei deserves to be second to none globally. “Today, if you are an IT player or a telecom player, you cannot really provide an end-to-end solution.

You have to be an ICT player to able to provide an entire spectrum of services that includes IoT, AI, smart city, smart grid etc because all these solutions come with a telecom component, a data center component, networking component etc and we are a company that has the right and a winning portfolio.”

Globally we grew 24% last year and our vision to double the growth YoY. In the next three to five years, I see Huawei as the No 1 ICT provider the world and all my aspirations are being driven in that way. I am riding on the fastest train in the Middle East region that is shuttling its way to digital transformation like no other.” ë

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FEATURE STORY

2-4%

Environment pollution will reduce by 12%: save upto AED 1.5 billion a year.

2-4% reduction in oil consumption for autonomous vehicles.

12% 25%

Dubai Autonomous Transport Strategy: 25% of total transportation will be autonomous in Dubai by 2030.

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40bn

$

Autonomous driving will generate additional sales volume of up to $40 billion in hardware components by 2030.

67bn

$

44% This strategy will cut transportation cost by 44%: save upto AED 900 million a year.

More than $67 billion to be spend worldwide on robotics sector by 2025.

FEATURE STORY

Autonomy

of Autonomous The advent of autonomous machines will pave roads to new design possibilities for the existing vehicles and the invention of new machine categories. This technology will change the development of economics and change the face of package delivery system as the on demand delivery system can be faster and easier, as robocars are expected to add $7 trillion to the global economy by 2050.

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utonomous vehicle: the first thing that pops in mind while hearing this word is ‘driverless cars’. The thought mostly goes to a time where you would buy a car, you press a switch, and the car can take you wherever you want. But, the autonomous technology is much more than just a driverless car.

INVENTIONS AND INNOVATIONS The start up Drive.ai, a California based company, innovated an autonomous raid hailing network which is the right mixture of a bus and a taxi. Like a bus, it is a shared travel system but unlike a bus, it does not have a fixed route or time. It can be hailed on demand.

On the other hand, Nuro invented a self driving car for moving goods instead of people. These cars are conventional as it does not need any safety equipment inside which are meant for driver or passenger. Dave Ferguson, the co-founder of nuro said the potential of it much bigger than just a small delivery. With cheaper and more convenient delivery system the economy will increase as more people will opt for it. This will eventually change the whole concept of grocery stores where in there would be fleets of delivery robots and warehouses for goods.

The supermarket giant Walmart is also coming up innovations where autonomous vehicle scrubs the floor of the supermarket and another where an autonomous vehicle scans the aisles to search for empty rows and expiry dates of products.

The question that pops in the mind of people on this would be, “there are plenty of people who still want to try on the cloths before committing to one because they don’t trust on the size

numbers.” Autonomous vehicle innovation is still possible in these sectors. The vague idea of a drone carrying cloths to the house of people and letting them try on and committing to one was seen. Zappos couture implemented this idea almost a decade back for their shoe collection.

Robotmart is a fully autonomous grocery store on wheels that will produce fresh produce at the doorstep of the customers. The vehicles is planned to be given to supermarket chains for two year lease which will be cheaper than opening a new chain for the store. Customers can use their smartphones to hail the nearest robot and pick fresh produce by themselves.

The company survey revealed that around 85% of women do not buy fruits or vegetables online because they do not trust to receive fresh produces.

DUBAI GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE The World Government Summit in Dubai focused on the future of AI, it’s application and on the potential risk. This is in regard to the practical use of AI in practical uses in sectors from healthcare to transport, security and policing.

The Dubai government has declared that self driving vehicles will soon come into Dubai in the Sustainable City. The Sustainable City Development in Dubailand is a Dh 1.2 billion project which features over 500 villas and town houses with sustainable elements like solar panels, LED lighting and green appliances to reduce energy consumption. The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and the Sustainable City project has signed an agreement to operate self driving vehicles.

The Dubai Future Foundation in collaboration with the Roads and Transport Authority launched “Dubai Autonomous

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FEATURE STORY

“Integrating artificial intelligence software into a vehicle’s infotainment system will be a major trend.

This way, drivers will have a virtual personal assistant with the ability to respond to voice commands and proactively guide them in collaboration with their vehicles’ navigation system.”

“Manufacturer-installed software and connectivity nodes, and every further link to the automobile, serves as a potential point of weakness that attackers can seize on.”

-AMIR KANAAN, MANAGING DIRECTOR - MIDDLE EAST, TURKEY AND AFRICA, KASPERSKY LAB

Transportation Strategy”. This strategy aims to make 25% of total transportation in Dubai to be autonomous by 2030. The strategy is to cut the transportation cost by 44% which is expected to save upto AED 900 million a year. The environmental pollution is also expected to be reduced by 12% which will help save AED 1.5 billion a year. It will generate AED 18 billion in annual economic returns by increasing the efficiency of the transportation sector in Dubai by 2030, according to the government statistics.

THE OVERLOOKED SECURITY One of the overlooked area in Autonomous vehicle research is the cyber security. With the talk on the all the benefits of this technology, people tend to overlook on what happens if there is no human intervention in these machines.

With every new generation of auto tech comes new security risks and vulnerabilities. The white paper research by the University of Michigan illustrates the depth of the cyber security challenges that must be overcome before autonomous and connected vehicles are widely adopted.

Automated vehicles is what researchers call a cyber-physical system because it is a mixture of components from real and virtual worlds.

This will make it difficult to protect the systems

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-FADI KANAFANI, REGIONAL DIRECTOR MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA, NETAPP

and put the safety stakes high. Unique threats to automated vehicles will emerge where hackers can take control over or shut-down a vehicle, or ask for ransoms for vehicle or passengers and or direct the car to a particular destination.

“With software being constantly written by different developers, the manufacturer or user can lose control over the vehicle’s source code or software. Vulnerabilities can also be introduced via a growing portfolio of affiliated products and services. In short, manufacturer-installed software and connectivity nodes, and every further link to the automobile, serves as a potential point of weakness that attackers can seize on,” said Amir Kanaan, Managing Director - Middle East, Turkey and Africa, Kaspersky Lab

SMALL STEPS FOR LONG RUN The threats include sensor jamming, forged vehicle communication, leaked data and physical attacks which can either affect the vehicle itself or the owner’s data. In most serious cases security issues can affect the safety of passengers and others. The white paper by University of Michigan introduces a tool called The Mcity Threat Identification Model, which could help analyze the likelihood and severity of potential threats. This framework considers the motivation and skill sets of the attacker, the way in which an attack can take place, vulnerable parts of the vehicle, privacy, safety and financial loss.

Some of the methods that can be taken to prevent a cyber attack in autonomous vehicle is to put in ‘lock-down’ mode which can be enabled when the attack surface is reduced to the minimum necessary to safely carry passengers to their destination. Penetration testing can also be done to fully assembled cars to know if a car can stand a potential cyber attack.

FUTURE OF AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES In the future, with robots behind the wheel, driving actions will be decided by what will optimize fuel consumption, vehicle wear and reduce the risks of accidents. A recent report by Intelligent Transport Society of America stated that there will 2-4% reduction in oil consumption.

Fadi Kanafani, Regional Director Middle East & Africa, NetApp said “Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) software into a vehicle’s infotainment system will be a major trend. This way, drivers will have a virtual personal assistant with the ability to respond to voice commands and proactively guide them in collaboration with their vehicles’ navigation system.”

“Other exciting trends include the automotive telematics, which assess driver behavior for a wide range of purposes; and V2V technology, which allows vehicles on a road to “talk to each other” by sharing data on speed, road conditions, and other factors. Investment opportunities in connected cars and others segments are definitely enormous,” he added.

FINALLY While technologies like Industrial robots, AI and machine learning are advancing at a rapid pace, more importance should be given to the impact of employment and public policies. These technologies may increase speed, quality and cost of livelihood but they might be balanced out by other cons as they will surely displace large numbers of workers. When it comes to economy, thought should also be added to this huge criteria. Benefits should also come to those who will be displaced by the new technologies. Don’t you think? ë

GUEST ARTICLE

Winning the Multicloud Race in the Middle East According to a 2017 PwC study commissioned by Juniper Networks, most global enterprise workloads that are running on private data centers will transition to the public cloud within the next three years.

For many in the partner world, the move to cloud and multicloud represents risk. But for those that are quick to adapt, this tectonic shift in enterprise IT should create opportunity. But how should channel players in the Middle East position themselves to exploit this transition?

WHAT DOES MULTICLOUD MEAN? Multicloud is the operation of multiple cloud computing and storage services in a single infrastructure. The defining characteristic is managing the distributed resources as a single cohesive infrastructure. Where multiple clouds are managed independently, a multicloud is managed as one. As such, it’s about delivering infrastructure that is essentially invisible to the user. Experience ought to be the same regardless of where an application is served or from where the user accesses it.

THE PORTFOLIO EXPANDS The implications of an end-to-end solution are profound for the reseller market. Solutions will need to span all the places in the enterprise network, allowing partners to broaden their opportunity.

Additionally, to provide a seamless experience, there will be software needed for policy and control. The emergence of an orchestration layer provides yet another insertion point for partners looking to expand their presence in customers

n MIKE BUSHONG, VP - ENTERPRISE & CLOUD MARKETING, JUNIPER NETWORKS

moving to the cloud. And, the fact that this new offering is software-based and higher-margin should entice partners who are more accustomed to selling hardware to at least explore the multicloud arena.

SO DOES THE COMPETITION Of course, with the expansion of products, it means that there will be an increase in the number of players vying for the business. Companies with a traditional strength in one domain will naturally find that opening up their catalog will allow them to broaden their offering, and tying it together under a multicloud architecture will make pull-through opportunities more easily pursued.

And, while this is all in the context of traditional infrastructure, it is impossible to ignore the emerging partner ecosystem that is developing around the cloud providers. AWS, Azure, Google, and the like are all developing a different set of partners whose primary objective is to facilitate the movement from private to public cloud.

THE BATTLEGROUND WON’T BE PRODUCTS As devices become more similar over time, pricing will naturally converge, meaning pricing advantages that come from volume sales will also become less meaningful. Traditional competitive advantages will necessarily evolve. Market share will change hands. Companies will shrink, and

some will fail.

BUT SOME WILL WIN…BIG And some companies will exploit the changes in competitive landscape. The move to cloud and multicloud is not a single purchase but rather a migration. It requires enterprises to evolve, requiring a change in business. Channel partners that are more consultative and offer constructive services that promote change and mitigate risk will find service-oriented paths to higher-margin revenue. Automated operations in a multicloud world, for instance, will require careful architecture of operations practices as companies integrate products, tools, and workflows to support a more dynamic infrastructure. In these automated operations, there is opportunity to sell software, develop packaged automation services, provide value-added support, and coach companies on how to operate in an environment without silos.

A CHANGE IN APPROACH Of course, moving from product-based to consultative selling is not easy. It requires technical expertise and operational prowess. It means embedding into the business processes rather than selling into a cost center. The biggest barriers to this brave new world might seem technical, but they will ultimately prove to be so much more. The downside is that this can be a tricky transition. The upside is that understanding how someone does business is way stickier than selling interchangeable parts underneath it all. ë

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INTERVIEW

SECURE MOBILE INNOVATION FOR FUTURE-READY BUSINESS IT HAS BEEN JUST 5 YEARS FOR MOBILEIRON IN THE MIDDLE EAST REGION (TEN YEARS GLOBALLY), BUT THE MDM AND UNIFIED ENDPOINT MANAGEMENT VENDOR HAS ALREADY TASTED SOME GREAT CUSTOMER WINS WITH ITS COMPETITIVE ABILITY IN EMPOWERING EMPLOYEES IN AN ENTERPRISE MAKE BETTER, FASTER AND SMARTER DECISIONS WITH THEIR MOBILE EXPERIENCES.

So Mohammed, how has the evolution cycle been for MobileIron since 2016?

After EMM we made further enhancements to our product and renamed it as UEM, ie Unified Endpoint Management. We secure the modern enterprise with a multi-cloud, multi-OS security architecture that puts the human experience first.

Presently, we are the only vendors in the market to have added this feature in our new product MobileIron Threat Defense.

We are a hundred percent channel driven company and sell through our partners in the region. We have two key distributors in the region— Starlink and Redington. We also reach out to our customers through our network of 113 resellers and we cater to the Middle East and whole of African region sans S.Africa, Pakistan and Turkey.

MOHAMMED HELALY,

REGIONAL CHANNEL MANAGER, META AND PAKISTAN. MOBILEIRON

Mohammed Helaly, Regional Channel Manager of META & Pakistan at MobileIron says that as a young organization they are future-ready as well as next gen security ready. MobileIron claims the secure delivery of cloud services and mobile experiences that defines the need of modern business.

With over fifteen thousand customers worldwide, MobileIron had started its journey as an MDM vendor and went on to enhance its portfolio to suit the needs of the ever-evolving customers and business. EMM or Enterprise Mobility Management that was launched in 2016 is one such example. Helaly says that the company is heavily inclined towards security as it comprises a key aspect of mobililty today. He also adds that they are perfectly in sync with cloud adoption, specially with Office 365 which they are fully compatible with.

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While you started out 5 years back, what kind of market share did you have or how was the go to market approach?

Initially, in 2013, when we started selling through our resellers we realized that organizations are moving more and more to the cloud. That is when we launched our product Mobileiron Access. As a part of our go to market approach we have partnered with lots of carriers and service providers in the region and have already started our MSSP. We have a partnership with STC in Saudi and another one with du here in the UAE. In Turkey we have partnered with Turkcell. This region is totally different from Europe and US. In Europe, the first question we are asked is whether we have a cloud solution; if yes, they will move forward. Here the situation is opposite and people want solutions on premise.

In cloud adoption, Uber is our biggest customer with whom we have done a major deployment. Uber has more than a million license of MobileIron. Most of the Uber drivers are using our products Globally, we have more than 50% of the market share in MDM. In Gartner’s quadrant there are 9-10 vendors in the market and MobileIron has 50% market

compared to the other 9. The top 10 banks in Saudi are our customer. Speaking of verticals , we are mainly targeting the financial sector and the government sector.

50% market share. In 2018, how will this percentage change?

Our new product MobileIron Threat Defense has fetched us a lot of value. We are seeing a great exposure in the market as people have shifted their focus from only MDM to end-to-end solutions to secure the mobile device. Most of the customers are moving to MobileIron because they wish to have a centralized solution. When we approach a customer they do not have to engage in further discussions with any other vendor because we are the leading and pioneering vendors in this arena and owing to this reason we have over achieved our numbers in the first half of the year.

2018, what are the activities planning for the channels?

We conduct partner roadshow every year to accelerate knowledge around our new product features and portfolio. The partner roadshow is done by us directly for all our distributors and resellers worldwide. We also do quarterly sales and technical enablement sessions that is done by our sales engineers or by us directly. We have done a few events in KSA, Turkey and UAE this year with our partner Redington. We also have Egypt and Turkey in the roadmap.

What is the strategy for identifying new customers in the market?

We follow three models for identifying our potential customers in the market. Initially its though our lead generation system through which we push leads to our distributors or resellers. Secondly it is through key events held in conjunction with our partners. Thirdly, directly by our partners. Partners help us in expanding our base by conducting various roadshows where they directly talk to the customers. We have done two customer roadshows so far where we invited the top CIOs in each country. ë

IN THE LAND OF ZERO TRUST, ACCESS IS SECURE.

FOCUS STORY

Assembling the Factory of the

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FOCUS STORY

According to the Department of Economic Development (DED) of UAE, the manufacturing industry accounts for 80% of Dubai’s non-oil trade, making it the second largest contributor to UAE’s economy. So, is the country all set to become the manufacturing centre in the Middle East?

To date, we have witnessed three industrial revolutions and now we are in the middle of the fourth and beginning the fifth. So, what’s more in store for the manufacturing industry? Will some of the organizations adopt Industry 4.0 or skip straight to Industry 5.0? Read on…

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ith the advent of new technologies, almost all sectors of the global market are disrupted, be it the healthcare, retail, education, so on and so forth. Why should manufacturing be any different? We are in the middle of our fourth industrial revolution – Industry 4.0 which is powered by advancements that include Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, IoT, etc.

Manufacturers have experienced the game changing advantages of automation and have found that they can use technology to increase profits and efficiency.

This sector has attracted the investors’ attention and 55 percent of the industry’s business globally have transitioned to industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing.

SERVITIZATION – A GROWING MANUFACTURING MODEL Manufacturing industry is changing their business model; companies that would just sell products are now selling services. For instance, Goodyear launched Goodyear Proactive Solutions which aims to use new technologies like predictive analytics to help truck fleet managers better handle how their vehicles are used. “Servitization is a key strategic shift for this sector that sees it move from just manufacturing products towards creating new services through ‘servitization’. This is a key factor behind the imperative for digital transformation in this sector,” commented Luis Ortega, Managing Director, MEASA (Middle East, Africa and South East Asia), at IFS. As a part of the IFS Digital Change Survey conducted last November, the manufacturing sector is using a wide range of digital technologies to drive commercial growth as servitization. “Sixty eight percent of respondents to our survey claim that servitization is either ‘well-established and is already paying dividends’ or ‘in progress and is receiving appropriate executive attention and support’.

However, almost one in three manufacturing companies are still to derive value from servitization, especially in this region,” added Luis.

Having mentioned earlier that manufacturing sectors have experienced the game changing results of automation, firms will now need to accelerate their adoption of digital transformation to stay ahead of competition. Creating a

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FOCUS STORY

“Servitization is a key strategic shift for this sector that sees it move from just manufacturing products towards creating new services through ‘servitization” -LUIS ORTEGA, MANAGING DIRECTOR, MEASA, IFS

“Those who realise the value in investing in digital twinning now will be able to work smarter and harder in the future,” -MONZER TOHME, REGIONAL VP – MEA, EPICOR SOFTWARE

servitization infrastructure requires digital transformation. Third parties can help here by playing an important role in digital operations and strategy and performance analytics.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION John Chambers, Cisco’s CEO of 20 years predicted in one of his last speeches that more than one third of the businesses today will be dead in ten years unless they turn their organizations digital. Manufacturers are realizing the value of digital transformation and according to PWC, out of 2000 manufacturers, 86 percent expect to see cost reductions and revenue gains from digitalization in the next five years. According to Monzer Tohme, Regional Vice President – Middle East and Africa for Epicor Software – Digital twinning has gained momentum as more manufacturers invest in smart machines that are transforming the industrial landscape.

‘Digital Machinery’ – the growing buzzword slowly turning to reality presents manufacturers with the opportunity to build their own smart factories or sell smart machinery. Internet of Things, Robotics, 3D printing, etc are promoting digitization in the manufacturing industry. For instance, dental crown manufacturing process. In the earlier days, the traditional crowing process involved taking a tooth’s impression and turning to a mould. Today, 3D mapping image of affected tooth is taken to design the crown. Another example would be the use of wearable technology

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such as smart glasses. A maintenance team can access augmented reality view of hidden systems and link to real time information about an object.

“Technology offers manufacturers a chance to be ahead of their machinery and anticipate and prepare for costly downtime. Those who realise the value in investing in digital twinning now will be able to work smarter and harder in the future.

However, those who are unwilling to commit to investment are at risk of falling behind more efficiency driven competitors,” adds Monzer.

INVESTMENT IN THIS SECTOR By 2020, manufacturers in every industry would have invested billion dollars in digital technologies. The manufacturing industry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is expected to become one of the highest contributors to the country’s economy. The country is aiming to attract $75 billion in this sector by 2025. The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry stated that the manufacturing sector in the Emirate will benefit from large scale investments and advancements.

Luis says – “IFS has invested heavily in predictive analytics, getting ahead of the curve so that when equipment has been instrumented, sensors put data into the cloud. Machine learning algorithms then assess that data, and, in conjunction with historical information, come up with a predictive model that companies can rely on for their operational models. These models are optimized.

To effectively leverage that, we have intelligence to assess the situation in real time and trigger action based on the assessment.”

The top technology investment areas for manufacturers are Internet of Things advanced analytics, cloud computing and the fastest growing segments include dental printing, prototype printing and product creation.

Last year, Mubadala Development Company, The Dubai Future Foundation and GE Additive united their collective expertise for the

establishment of the first Microfactory in the region, seeking to accelerate revolutionary additive design, customer innovation, digital manufacturing technologies and access to global problem solving within the country.

The Microfactory is expected to play a key role in the upscaling of design and manufacturing capabilities in the UAE allowing for the merger of innovative and forward-thinking ideas along with the ability to use cutting edge additive manufacturing technology in the production of specialized components. For business leaders and technology experts who want to expand, there are plenty of opportunities in the UAE and other Middle Eastern markets.

INDUSTRY 5.0 – WHEN MAN MEETS MACHINE We are still in the midst of Industry 4.0 and talks on Industry 5.0 have begun. While in Industry 4.0, manufacturers can design their own products online with the best price, Industry 5.0 takes the concept to the next level. The Fifth Industrial Revolution will be the interaction between man and machines which can take manufacturing to another level. The Industry 5.0 can combine the best talents and of man and machines for improving working conditions.

For example, robots can complete the automated manufacturing of goods and connected devices and can collect important production data. This revolution might still be new but for the organizations that want to stay ahead of the competition, it’s always better to act sooner.

FINALLY As technological advancements are growing rapidly, revolutions could replace one another in the next decade. While the first three industrial revolution took decades, the present revolutions depend on the industrial implementations.

With the Industry 5.0 coming in, it would be an exciting journey to work with the machines. ë

INTERVIEW

SMART SOLUTIONS FOR SMART BUSINESSES RECOGNIZED AS AN INNOVATIVE SUPPLIER FOR THE INDUSTRIAL AND ELECTRICAL SECTORS AS WELL AS A KEY PLAYER IN THE NETWORKING INFRASTRUCTURE & DATACENTRE ARENA, RITTAL MIDDLE EAST CONTINUES TO BE THE GO TO MARKET EXPERT AND RELIABLE PARTNER FOR THEIR REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS.

cal security embedded into it. With the choice of redundant & modular systems, such solutions are scalable to fit in a room environment or to be offered as Rittal Data Center Container (RDCC).

RAJESH N RAJAN,

SALES MANAGER - MIDDLE EAST (IT INFRASTRUCTURE & DATA CENTRE DIVISION), RITTAL MIDDLE EAST

With micro-modular data centres being the buzzword now, how is Rittal playing a game changing role in it?

Digitalization has been enabling people and businesses to engage with technology to get things done. This means a radical shake up and transformation in interactions, communications, business functions and business models, as a result of digitalization. The after effect of this is an explo-

sion in real time data volume where it is vital to have low latency and immediate data processing.

It is essential to bring data processing closer to the data source to avoid any delays as proximity is key to low latency. This creates a demand for a more flexible and modular IT solution. Rittal, with its wide range of rack based cooling system, offers flexibility in having an all-encompassing Rack or the Micro Data Center with power, cooling, monitoring, remote management and even physi-

Please share your roadmap for the year 2018 In 2018, 40% of the data generated by Industry 4.0 (Internet of Things) will be processed in edge data centres (according to IDC). Bell Laboratories Future X Networks estimate that around 60% of cloud servers will be located in edge data centres by 2025. In 2018, acknowledging the market needs for Edge Computing, Rittal endeavors to focus in offering “Smart solutions for Smart businesses” in its different manifestations, ensuring high data availability coupled with swift response times and short latency times as close to the source of data as possible.

Enhancing the Customer Journey with ‘Smart Solutions’ offering on a 500 m2 booth from Rittal was a key focus at CeBIT fair in Germany (11 to 15 June 2018). Rittal showcased its credentials as a system and solution provider for IT infrastructure. A cluster of “smart” topics were presented to the visitors to explore.

Datacenters are subject to continuous change as the technology (e.g. storage, servers) is advancing rapidly. The need to understand lifecycle of IT gains prominence and Rittal addresses this with ease by offering deeper understanding of the lifecycle of IT and solutions provided.

With IoT and smart factory applications gaining importance, requiring short response times and a high level of security - the need for an ‘EDGE solution’ is inevitable and Rittal is addressing such needs with its SMART solution offerings. All in all, with a great success at CeBIT 2018 – we shall continue to cascade the SMART solution offerings with our regional partners and customers. At GITEX 2018, our regional partners and customers will witness the ‘EDGE solutions’ exhibit in depth. Rittal continues to be the attractive expert and reliable partner for our regional and international customers.

This is an exciting development – and we are fully on board! ë

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CENTRIFY

BUILDING TRUST IN ZERO TRUST

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CENTRIFY

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n an interesting attempt to gauge the readiness of the CISO/CIOs in defending their organizations from the internal and external force of threat, Enterprise Channels MEA in association with Centrify organized a highly customized roundtable that was woven around the concept of ‘Zero Trust Architecture’ and how organizations in the UAE are buckling up to battle cybercrime with the ‘trust none’ strategy.

Held at The Westin Dubai, Al Habtoor City on 26th June 2018, the round table witnessed a great number of CIOs/CISOs who were keen to discuss on redefining security. Kamal Heus, Regional Manager – MEA, Centrify welcomed the CIOs and explained how the company is uniquely positioned to address the next-gen access needs of the enterprises with their competitive portfolio in Zero Trust architecture. He explained how customers can simplify their journey towards this culture by adopting their unified platform

for zero trust architecture that revolves around Analytics, Applications, Endpoint, Infrastructure and core services. “Zero Trust Security model assumes that untrusted actors already exist inside the network. Trust must therefore be entirely eliminated from the equation by verifying every user, validating their devices and limiting access and privileges. In today’s world, where network perimeters have dissolved, and workers are increasingly mobile. The new mantra is ‘never trust, always verify.”

“Zero Trust is very important in today’s world specially with the modern-day compliance requirement. It helps empowers the CIOs/CISOs to control and manage security in a more better way,” commented Arul Vigin, Senior IT Manager from Dispute Resolution Authority.

Javeria Aijaz, IT Director of Farnek believes that Zero Trust architecture is very critical since every business is technology oriented. Verifying users and devices and then limiting their privilege

access to data become critical as data is the key oil for your business.

Shailesh Mani, GM – Information Systems for Flemingo International strongly believes that data security is very essential in this world of digitization as the value of entire organization remains in data. “To secure the data there should be robust solution.”

Safdar Zaman, IT Head – Strategy & Governance, Nakheel said – “For us, the security parameter is from outside as well as inside. It is not about whose, it is about practices, processes, procedures and awareness.”

“Digital transformation is beneficial but benefit comes with threat. So those threats are to be eliminated. I believe this event has given CIOs the strength to fight the threat we have in current upgrading trade,” commented Ilham Ismail, IT Head, Hospitality Management Holdings.

The roundtable concluded with some splendid discussions and networking. ë

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SPECIAL STORY

Transform to Survive!

There goes a saying – ‘Adapt or Die’, which holds true in today’s changing business models.

Enterprises across all verticals are capturing new growth opportunities by embracing the transformational power of platforms. According to IDC, by the end of this year, 50% of the large enterprises and more than 80% of enterprises with advanced digital transformation strategies will partner with industry platforms.

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always associated industry’s transformation with the adoption of a new technology. But what I realized is, although new technologies are often the major factors, they have never transformed an industry on their own. What achieves such a transformation is a business model that can link a new technology to an emerging market need.

Tech companies like Google or Amazon have survived so far not solely because of their products or services but the platforms on which their products/services are built and also the business models that these platforms enable. The companies that have that have achieved long

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track record of success was only because they re-invented themselves. The new business models can certainly change the way a company does business. While many companies today have adapted to the new approach like hotels selling rooms online, providing free Wi-Fi, retailers making online shopping easier, there are still many out there who are inclined to the traditional model/approach.

To survive in this digital market, a business has to innovate a new model. A new model can be a new product or a technology. Digitalization brings in new customer benefits. For example, Careem customers receive precise weather

information, location tracking etc which is an advanced model. Meanwhile Uber has filed a patent for a new artificial intelligence system that detects when passengers are drunk. The system receives the trip request from a user and generates a prediction about the current state of the user using the computer model. To predict user state, the system compares data associated with the trip request to data about past trip requests submitted by the user.

The industry is changing and organizations focus now should be on how it can deliver value to its customers. Business leaders should design, experiment and implement new business ideas.

Reimagine what was once unthinkable. Try these simple steps to reinvent a business model to grow a company in a new way. l Pick one idea at a time which meets your company needs l Access digital technology capabilities in building new platform ecosystems l Align the new ideas alongside existing product and market strategies l Test the approach on a small scale first l Finalize the plans and launch the campaign.

Finally, the new business models should be supported with new capabilities and organizations structures. Engaging in this digital transformation is essential to win in the global era. To reinforce your presence in the market, transform now! ë

GUEST ARTICLE

Use a Hybrid Integration Approach to Empower Digital Transformation Organizations need to move from task-specific tools toward a hybrid integration platform (HIP).

Undergoing a digital transformation is like upgrading to a dream car. Attention falls on the sleek new looks, improved efficiency and higher speeds. But we often fail to look under the hood, although that’s where we’ll find the engine that powers the car.

Looking under the hood is a vital step for application leaders delivering digital transformation. They must focus on more than potential increases in agility, profitability and new revenue streams. Behind these top-level improvements is the vital integration work that binds different technology initiatives together, making the collective output — or business outcomes — greater than the sum of its parts.

Through 2020, integration work will account for 50% of the time and cost of building a digital platform. Moreover, the complex challenges posed by digital business transformation require a radical change in the integration technology platform and in the way organizations deal with integration.

ADDED COMPLEXITY REQUIRES A PLATFORM APPROACH Imagine, for example, an organization implements AI capabilities to answer its customer queries more quickly. It is likely to require seamless connectivity with customer data. To complicate matters, a new customer-facing IoT initiative means that there’s an exponential increase in data volume and velocity stemming

n MASSIMO PEZZINI, RESEARCH VICE PRESIDENT & GARTNER FELLOW

from thousands of endpoints — the processing of which requires migration to a cloud storage and compute platform. Organizations need to move toward what Gartner calls a hybrid integration platform, or HIP. The HIP is the “home” for all functionalities that ensure the smooth integration of multiple digital transformation initiatives in an organization.

Introducing an HIP means that organizational models must also change to keep pace. The traditional IT-controlled centralized integration team with its “integration factory” model will need to shift towards an approach that supports HIP-enabled, self-service integration by lines of business, subsidiaries, application development teams and eventually business users.

WHAT DOES HIP LOOK LIKE? In many cases, application leaders responsible for modernizing integration strategies and infrastructure are already extending existing tools to support the integration of cloud services, mobile apps, IoT and AI-based systems. Common techniques include the use of an iPaaS and/or an API management platform.

If delivered and managed in a coordinated fashion, this iPaaS /API-management platform combination could form the nucleus of an HIP implementation. In most cases, however, these “proto-HIPs” have functional gaps and will not solve the toughest integration challenges.

A true HIP should span and support all four of the following dimensions:

Personas (constituents): Integration specialists, ad hoc integrators, citizen integrators and digital integrators l Integration domains: Application, data, B2B and process l Endpoints: On-premises devices, the cloud, mobile devices and IoT devices l Deployment models: Cloud, on-premises, hybrid and embedded in IoT devices. l

WHAT IS THE PATH TO AN HIP A sound HIP strategy begins with an analysis of the integration capabilities already in place in your organization — in terms of the extent to which they support the four dimensions above,.

The next step is to define your organization’s expected integration needs across three time frames: the next 12 months, the next three years, and the next five years.

While this may seem relatively simple, it’s important to remember that digitalization tends to mean that IT departments have less control over IT-related initiatives than they have had in the past. For the HIP to excel in its intended role, it’s essential that the IT department break through silos and build a realistic assessment of future requirements.

These are the basics of why your organization needs an HIP, and how to start planning one.

You’re unlikely to be alone in your journey.

By 2022, Gartner predicts at least 65% of large organizations will have implemented an HIP to power their digital transformation. ë

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INTERVIEW

The Business of ‘Service’

FROM MANY OF MY RECENT CONVERSATIONS WITH LEADING DISTRIBUTORS AND INTEGRATORS ONE THING WAS VERY EVIDENT THAT THAT MARKET IS STILL NOT COMPLETELY OUT OF BOX PUSHES. WHILE A COMPLETE END-TOEND SERVICE PORTFOLIO IS DEFINITELY A MILESTONE IN THE ROADMAP OF MANY, ONLY A FEW HAVE ACTUALLY WALKED THE EXTRA MILE.

RIZWAN KAREEM, BUSINESS UNIT HEAD, FUJISOFT

“We firmly believe that tomorrow’s needs can never be achieved with yesterday’s technology.”

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ith its head office in Dubai and presence in Canada, Abu Dhabi, Ghana and India, Fujisoft—that was established in 20002 as a pureplay Enterprise networking solution provider— has manifested its portfolio into diverse technologies vis-à-vis virtualization, Collaboration, Information Security, Software & Consulting, ELV, Smart Automation, Cloud Solutions and Managed Service in the past 16 years. Its end-toend IT solutions and services spans the entire IT ecosystem and accelerates the key dimensions of digital transformation. The organization goes by the mantra that they are here to empower new levels of productivity into the existing business models and redefining the way business thinks and works with data in a connected world.

Rizwan Kareem, Business unit head of Fujisoft says, “With the changing dynamics of the market, we have changed our business and service delivery strategy as well. Data and data centres have undergone drastic transformation. We firmly believe that tomorrow’s needs can never be

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achieved with yesterday’s technology. Our data center solutions empowers the customers to take the next step forward in their day-to-day business and provides services that are highly automated.

As we saw an increased need for making data center infrastructure invisible and enabling IT to focus on their applications and their services that power their business, we signed key partnerships and built our capabilities around Hyper Converged Infrastructure and software defined solutions.

Companies in the Middle East suffered larger losses than other regions last year, as a result of cyber incidents: 56% lost more than $500,000 compared to 33% globally, and 13% lost at least three working days, compared to 9%. Risks are not just that of lost opportunity, but financial, commercial, and reputational risks too. Hence in Fujisoft, we have been focusing heavily on Information security. With a team of certified ethical hackers, We offer vulnerability assessment & penetration test services and implement various security solutions like End Point Security,

Anti-Ransomware solutions, firewalls, DLP, IDS/ IPS, PAM, SIEM etc.

Since many years, we have been early evangelists of cloud-based email solutions. Now, Cloud solutions forms part of our focal point of our offerings and we have set up major private cloud infrastructure for clients and supported many to seamlessly adopt public and hybrid cloud solutions.

Fujisoft has also created its own public cloud – FujiCloud. Under this umbrella, Fujisoft provides fast scalable and secure solutions like Fuji IaaS, BaaS( Backup as a Service), DRaaS( Disaster Recovery as a Service), SECaaS (Security as a service), DaaS (Desktop as a Service) and EaaS (Email as a service).

Under Communication and Collaboration portfolio, we have deployed some of the large IP telephony systems, Contact centers and world class tele-conferencing solutions.

When asked about the growth plans that Fujisoft is eying for the next three to five years, Rizwan says that Fujisoft had gone through various phases since its inception like ‘Belief ’ – to become an end-to-end IT service provider during Initial years following with ‘Expand’, when we expanded our capabilities, partnerships and geographical presence; “Win” when we won several accolades across multiple vendors; ‘Grow’ when we saw a remarkable growth consistently even in tough market conditions, grew past 100+ employees and 600+ projects. Now we are moving towards the ‘Aspire’ phase, where we are looking forward to being amongst the Top 5 SI in the region. We believe in raising our own benchmark in terms of becoming the most trusted partner to our clients. ë

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To begin your journey to the virtualized datacenter, visit us at www.Pivot3.com

INTERVIEW

EMPOWERING CUSTOMERS’ LONG TERM JOURNEYS EMTECH AS A CUSTOMER CENTRIC ORGANIZATION HELPS ITS CUSTOMERS TO ADAPT TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND MAKE OPTIMUM USE OF THE AVAILABLE INFRASTRUCTURE.

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number of annual targets but our core principles, values and ethics make us stand little different.

We are customer centric organization than a technology biased company.

Even at midnight, or even a holiday, a customer should be confident that I can call Emtech and I will get the right support. That is the place where we would like to spread our wings. We have customers who have been with us for more than 15-20 years. In service industry to maintain customer relationship for even more than 2 years is a challenge because they have multiple options.

The same is the case with our employees as well where we have employees for more than 18 to 22 years working with us. It speaks loud and clear who we are!

SURESH VANIAN,

VP - ICT & CLOUD SOLUTIONS, EMTECH

Can you brief a little on EMTECH as a technology company?

EMTECH has evolved a lot as a company. When initially it started, EMTECH was a computer training institute. It was the first entity formed in 1993 in UAE. We were not doing anything on the solution side and then the company has transformed and introduced the technical division and recently we added our IOT and apps division as well. We are trying to refine ourselves on a frequent basis, adapting to changes to rediscover our self to how we can offer better solutions and services to our customers.

Even though we are a technology company, we are not biased with any technology. That is where we lack in our partnership sometimes. Most of our principle companies wants us to meet certain

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How has the year been so far for EMTECH? 2018 has been a great year for us so far.Our year began quite busy with VAT incorporation as a part of FTA financial discipline when the VAT was introduced first time in the U.A.E, but it is a daily routine now. All companies and ecosystem are used to it now.

What are the major solutions provided by EMTECH? EMTECH is a solutions and integrated service management organization, offering comprehensive and standardized life cycle services for the full spectrum of ICT & Cloud Solutions.

Our major strength is our decades of experience, global technology partnership, and well experienced and certified large pool of technical team. The company has moved away from box selling long back. We try to help our customers to transform their technology platform and adapt cloud Solutions. Cloud is a long-term journey and slowly we have to adapt until we mature it completely. Our focus is return of investment and value delivery for our customers.

What are the major projects done

by EMTECH?

We undertake all major projects from passive and all the way to business process automation, ICT & Cloud solutions. We help customers to implement their core IT infrastructure and then on top of it applications like e-commerce platform etc. Our software development team based out of India focuses on software application development, e-commerce platform and IoT application development. We help our customers to go borderless by taking business online through our A.I enabled world class ecommerce platform.

With the security vector being increasingly vulnerable, what would be your one major advice?

There is nothing called 100% secured when it comes to information technology. So far, it has been information technology, I believe going forward it will be data technology. is the future will be only data: data analytics, data visualization, data protection, it will be all data technology. When you are talking about only data, data security will take utmost importance. Going forward people should be more caution about cyber terrorism.

Data is now travelling outside the organization unlike 10 or 20 years back when it was within the company premises. Like Europe Union’s GDPR, every country should have data protection policy.

Not only business data, we also need to think about personal data protection.

Can you brief a little on the roadmap of EMTECH for 2018 Major focus is helping customers in Digital Transformation. We try to help our customers to make optimal use for their existing infrastructure and help them to adapt innovative cloud solutions. Based on data sensitivity and business model workloads can be on premises but certain things definitely can go on cloud without compromising on security. Eventually we all will enter into information age of ubiquitous computing which makes us to achieve anything anytime anywhere. ë

INTERVIEW

CHANGING TECH OUTLOOK WITH 5 KEY ELEMENTS WITH OVER 32 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, AGC’S CERTIFIED ENGINEERS AND TECHNICAL EXPERTS CREATE A UNIQUE AND UNPARALLEL SEAMLESS GLOBAL DELIVERY MODEL TO ACCELERATE THE CUSTOMER’S BUSINESS. IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS, THE COMPANY HAS SIGNED MAJOR PARTNERSHIPS AND ALSO PLANS TO EXPAN OPERATIONS IN KSA, OMAN AND BAHRAIN. AGC IS ALL SET TO DISRUPT THE MARKET WITH ITS KEY OFFERINGS AROUND IOT, AI, CLOUD, MOBILITY AND ROBOTICS.

enterprise are functioning efficiently with very little or no downtime. Close working relationships through strategic partners has been the key to our success. This has further been established with large customer-wins in the region. We strive for excellence, constantly improving ourselves, our teams, and our services and products to become the best. Over the past six months, AGC has signed new partnership with Oracle, Red Hat, Riverbed, Trendmicro, ForcePoint, and ForeScout. We have also upgraded existing our strategic partnerships with Avaya, HPE, Fortinet, VMware, Veeam, McAfee, Cisco and Sanovi. We are seeing movement on Digital Transformation fronts, specifically on Artificial Intelligence and Robotic Process Automation.

SAEED KHAN,

VP & HEAD - SALES MIDDLE EAST, AGC NETWORKS

We are 6 months down 2018, what kind of challenges and opportunities have you seen in the market as AGC Networks?

As a global Solution Integrator with over 32 years of rich experience in providing world class technology solutions in the customer’s technology landscape, AGC Solution Architects accelerate the customer’s business through our design and integration capabilities. A global pool of experienced, certified engineers and technical experts create a unique and unparallel seamless global delivery model across the globe to accelerate the customer’s business. AGC’s Security Operations Center and Network Operation Centers are services that the company provides to help customer monitor and manage their technology landscape. AGC’s Managed Services suite ensures that all systems across an

Robotics and AI have been the buzzwords for quite a long time now and we could see AGC emphasizing pretty much on the same. What would you like to tell your readers about your advancements in the same?

AGC is going full steam ahead with IoT, robotics, AI, cloud and mobility, which are the five major elements that are going to change our outlook towards technology and business processes of our industry. AGC’s skillful and certified technology experts offer latest technologies like User and Entity based Behavioral Analysis (UEBA) based on Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) across Premises, Hybrid and Cloud Networks.

Existing technologies like mobile devices (phones, tablets) and site cameras as well as emerging technologies like wearables and sensors to name a few, are collecting previously unavailable data more affordably and efficiently than ever before. When combined with advanced data analytics, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, these existing and frontier technologies can identify new patterns and trends, inefficiencies, and hazards, helping us build solutions that are safer, smarter, and faster than ever.

How is your 2018 roadmap aligned to the voice of your customers?

What enhancements or additions are you planning to your portfolio?

Our consultants and technology experts understand business model and pain points for today’s CXOs across verticals, we always bring our Services and Solutions Led excellence to bring business value for our customers and maximize ROTI (Return on Technology Investment) which essentially means maximize operational efficiency and reducing operational cost.

To strengthen our commitment to this region, we are expanding our operations in KSA, Oman and Bahrain. We plan to setup our Network Operations Center and a Security Operations Center in Dubai by Q3 FY18. AGC is dedicated to ultimate customer satisfaction in terms of technology. Our centers are NOC Styled Command Center with Multiple Dynamic Displays with Network and Power Redundancies. To deliver best-in-class services, we have access to Multiple devices, PCs and Telephony Equipment. We don’t just deliver performance; we measure it by recording of all customer interactions for review & QA. Moreover, we have a Logistic back-up to encounter inclement weather downtime to be able to allow uninterrupted services.

Tell us about your CIO 200 experience. What kind of active customer interaction did you have?

AGC Networks found the message and ethos of CIO 200 to be well aligned with the company mission, and so we were excited to be one of the key partners to the event. The event offered us the opportunity to find out what the CIOs of today find relevant to their own industry, as well as for us to share our thoughts on where technology is going from our perspective. On behalf of AGC, I would like to congratulate all the CIO 200 winners. The CIOs felicitated at the award ceremony are testament to their ability and foresight in their industry and serves as validation from their peers of their achievements in their respective fields. ë

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INNOVATIONS

KEY CAPABILITIES n An embedded call recording option n Web-based reporting and tracking package n SMBs the flexibility to scale up n Flexibility to have from 5 users to 3,000 from a single location to 150, all within a single plug-and-play platform. n Delivers telephony, messaging, conferencing, contact center, video, and unified communications. n Provides chat, calling, sharing, and meetings--even virtual meeting rooms in the cloud. n Detailed tracking and reporting on how all your inbound and outbound calls are treated. .

Avaya IP Office

Avaya Holdings is giving small and medium-sized businesses the tools to drive greater productivity and streamline collaboration through a single application for all communications channels, meetings, team collaboration and content sharing. This latest release of Avaya IP Office solution adds support for Avaya Equinox, the company’s signature unified communications (UC) experience, integrated call-recording features and flexibe cloud deployment options that provide SMBs an enterprise-level experience.

A key feature in the latest release is the integration of Avaya Equinox. The integration imbeds communications capabilities directly into the applications, browsers and devices that employees use every day to create a single, powerful gateway for calling, messaging, conferencing and collaboration.

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ARUBA SD BRANCH SOLUTION Aruba launched its Software-Defined Branch (SD-Branch) solution, a new approach designed to help customers modernize branch networks for evolving cloud, IoT and mobility requirements. The integration of new cloud-managed SD-WAN, wired and wireless networking solutions, secured with context-based policy enforcement, significantly advances IT professionals’ ability to deliver improved network availability and application performance, while dramatically reducing management time and operational and capital expenditures.

Aruba’s SD-Branch solution integrates new Aruba Branch Gateways to provide a single point for SD-WAN, wired and wireless networking, policy enforcement with Aruba’s enhanced Aruba Central cloud management platform to deliver secure, simplified branch connectivity at scale. This purpose-built, unified solution marks a significant advancement beyond pure-play SD-WAN offerings by delivering reduced device footprint, streamlined deployment of large-scale distributed installations, and lower WAN connectivity costs for branch customers.

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KEY CAPABILITIES n Quickly implement new services and network changes without requiring on-site IT n Offers automated, granular intra-branch and WAN policy enforcement capabilities n Delivers granular QoS within the branch and across the WAN for SaaS, mobile UC, and other remote applications n Consistent approach for security and compliance across locations n Eliminates costly MPLS connectivity n Automated configuration capabilities, granular visibility, and easy-to-use troubleshooting tools

Discover it – the new world of IT solutions.

Discover it – the new world of IT solutions.

The digital transformation in business, trade and industry offers a whole host of opportunities but also throws up new challenges for IT infrastructures. Dealing with complex tasks and huge volumes of data calls for increasingly fast, flexible and efficient IT solutions.

The digital transformation in business, trade and industry offers a whole host of opportunities but also throws up new challenges for IT infrastructures.

Dealing with complex tasks and huge volumes of data DISCOVER THE POSSIBILITIES WITH RITTAL. calls for increasingly fast, flexible and efficient IT solutions.

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Accent Infomedia_EMEA_GITEX 2017 - Handbook - 220X310mm(bleed) 200x290mm(trim)

PRESENTS

TECHTALK AND META CIO AWARDS

02.08.2018 VENUE: KSA

07.08.2018 VENUE: BAHRAIN

25.08.2018 VENUE: GHANA

12.08.2018 VENUE: QATAR

26.10.2018 VENUE: KENYA

14.08.2018 VENUE: KUWAIT

27.10.2018 VENUE: EGYPT

GET READY FOR A ‘NEVER-SEEN-BEFORE’ CIO ROADSHOW IN THE META REGION

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