Ent mea jul 2015 by GEC Media Group

VCE’S VXRACK—E NOR M OUS DE LIVE RY, E FFORTLESS DE PLOYM E NT

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ESET

GO ESET is on a roll as it tries to help businesses worldwide enjoy the amazing opportunities of the digital world in the safest possible manner. /30

INDIAECM052015

PRADEESH VS, GENERAL MANAGER, ESET MIDDLE EAST

GET

EDITORIAL

Reality of the Holy Month

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

First of all I would like to wish Ramadan Mubarak to all our readers. I personally believe that this holy month is necessary for all individuals to revitalize their efficiency and productivity, which is not only a necessity from the religion stand point but also from the scientific point of view. Every professional and profession needs discipline in life without which one cannot accomplish the targeted goals and religious practices teach how to be righteous and disciplined. From the organizations’ point of view there is restriction in working hours across all enterprises, institutions and private sector companies in the region during the holy month, with no reduction in wages. Therefore the spending power becomes high as people get more time for going out therefore the overall business is not restricted and in some of the sectors the business offer bumper yields. For example the automotive industry sees a new record every year as a lots of schemes are rolled out along with price discounts. Food sales grows 10-15 percent. Hotel and travel industries get additional business because people move to places and organise Iftar. Similarly the night market during this time becomes very active and people love to buy after the sun sets. I think they buy anything and everything during this period. So the overall consumer business does not dip during this time. So the IT industry that supports the consumer business certainly feels the days as usual and in some countries more business than other months. Secondly as far as B2B and enterprise business is concerned one of the mid-level executives told that he has sent more proposals from mid- June till now, which is expected to grow by the time he closes onto Eid. So the gist is that we get relaxed during Ramadan month but in reality the pressure is as usual because the business happens as usual. Although, one cannot see the documented benefits out of this month but certainly June and July initiate maximum number of businesses which later yield fruits. ë

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2015 CONTENTS

VOLUME 02 ISSUE 12 J U LY 2 0 1 5 W W W. E N T E R P R I S E C H A N N E L S M E A . C O M

COVER STORY

UNTETHERED OFFICE:

FABRIC FOR THE NEXT-GEN

ENTERPRISE

Office automation— simply put—is a vital ingredient to complete an efficient business recipe. /24

COVER FEATURE /30

GET- ESET- GO PRADEESH VS GENERAL MANAGER ,ESET MIDDLE EAST

INTERNET OF THINGS /46

MAKING WAY FOR IOE

INNOVATIONS /53

NETAPP ALL FLASH FAS (AFF) 8000

FEATURE STORY Digging Deeper /36

NetApp All Flash FAS (AFF) 8000 series storage array packs performance and very good data management in a single solution.

ASHLEY WOODBRIDGE, CUSTOMER SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT, CISCO EDITORIAL::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 04 GUEST TALK /42

HACKTIVISM IS ONLY GETTING WORSE NICOLAI SOLING, DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, HELP AG

CHANNEL STREET:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 06 COVER FEATURE (ESET)::::::::::::::::::::::::::30 GUEST TALK : :::::::::::::::::::::::::: 21, 22, 23, 34 INFRASTRUCTURE::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 41 INNOVATIONS : ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 53

ADVERTISER INDEX: HELPAG 02, EMITAC 03, HID 07, ESET 09, OXYGEN 11, FINESSE 13, EMT15, BULWARK 17, OMA19, IN HOUSE RAMADAN 35, OXYGEN 43, GEC OPEN 49, UNIFY 55, DELL 56

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CHANNEL

STREET FORTINET- STANDING ATOP THE SECURITY LADDER

IDC network security appliances tracker has ranked Fortinet as the No. 1 network security appliances vendor in Middle East region for the first quarter of 2015, based on factory revenue. This solid leadership position is fueled by continued adoption of Fortinet’s FortiGate network security appliances by enterprises of all sizes, as well as managed security service providers (MSSPs) and telecommunications carriers. “Fortinet continues to gain market share and our leadership in the region simply validates our value proposition, continued innovation, and consistent security vision,” said Alain Penel, Regional Vice President – Middle East, Fortinet. “Fortinet offers industry-leading performance and the broadest suite of security features addressing a wide variety of customer needs.

CLOUDMANAGER FOR XCLAIM—THE NEW BLOCKBUSTER Ruckus Wireless is all smiles as its recently launched CloudManager service for its Xclaim product line has moved from beta to full release. CloudManager for Xclaim already boasts over 1,000 customers of varying sizes worldwide who have signed up for the new, subscription-free cloud management service, with new subscribers joining at a rate of more than 30 a day. “With the Xclaim product line, we’ve eliminated the complexity that most people associate with enterprise WiFi while still keeping the key features that enterprises consistently need. Combine this with great RF quality and a disruptive pricing model, which now includes free cloud management, and you get a perfect fit for businesses looking for a straightforward, high-performance enterprise WiFi solution.” said Biju Nair, vice president and GM of the Xclaim product line at Ruckus.

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MOHAMMED AMIN, SVP FOR TURKEY, EASTERN EUROPE, AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST AT EMC CORPORATION

Big Data or Big Gap While the world goes abuzz with the need for digital transformation, recent revelations from EMC’s study “The Information Generation: Transforming The Future” have shown that though there seems to be a consensus on the fact that valuable insights from information are making organizations rethink how they do business, yet 40% of respondents admit not knowing how to get value from their data. Mohammed Amin, SVP for Turkey, Eastern Europe, Africa and Middle East at EMC Corporation says, “The results are clear evidence of the significant impact that combined forces of cloud, social, mobile and big data have created for businesses everywhere. Even in the region, the emergence of ‘digital citizens’ necessitates the need for enterprises to revisit their strategies and redefine themselves, adapt and succeed in the future.” The majority of respondents in the UAE and Saudi Arabia (99%) report that recent technological advances have impacted the way that their organization does business. 62% agree

that the rapid adoption of mobile, social, cloud and big data technologies is changing customer behaviour and creating a new digital world, whereby organizations must adapt in order to stay competitive. While business leaders in the UAE and Saudi Arabia agree that transparency, agility, real-time operations, personalized experience etc. are high priority, they admitted that very few have thoroughly embodied them. While 63% of respondents agree that having access to relevant information and insights would improve decision making, challenges remain. 33% admit they are drowning in information overload. 31% of respondents state that the abundance of information helps them learn what they need to do, but leaves them unable to turn the ‘learning’ into actionable results . 68% of respondents believe that over the next five years digital technologies will have a direct impact on the way they do business with their customers and 36% believe that a forward thinking technology strategy must be customer focused.

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Emitac Enterprise Solutions (EES) partners with mobility leader Kony

AVAYA SATIATES TALABAT.COM’S HUNGER FOR GROWTH

that can be delivered across the Through this partnership, spectrum of mobile devices that EES will accelerate expansion are available today and in the of its solutions range, and future. With this partnership, support continued business we would be able to enable growth. The agreement allows enterprises to offer feature-rich EES to add tremendous value mobile applications in less time to its mobility portfolio by and at lower costs,” said Farrukh introducing Kony’s industrySarfraz, Director of Enterprise leading solutions to its vast customer base, and enhance its FARRUKH SARFRAZ, DIRECTOR Business, EES. “By working with EES, we can own mobile and cloud services OF ENTERPRISE BUSINESS, EES help companies across the UAE offerings. EES customers will region become an mobile-time also be able to enjoy improved enterprise by leveraging Kony’s industry-leading productivity benefits, giving them the ability to mobile application development platform to use a single mobile application code base and build and rapidly deliver world-class, enterprisedeploy it across multiple devices and platforms. grade mobile applications, with the best user “We are extremely delighted to partner with experience to meet their business needs “said Kony and look forward to leveraging our Kony Blake Salle, president of Field Operations, Kony. solutions partnership to develop applications

Avaya, along with Middle East Telecommunications Company (METCO), has been selected by Talabat.com, the region’s pioneering online food order and delivery portal, to implement their multi-channel contact centre solution. Following a search for a solution that could integrate with existing infrastructure and support business growth, Talabat.com zeroed in on Avaya to effortlessly transform to an unmatched digital customer experience. “Our operations cover all six of the GCC countries, and we required a solution to unify our contact centre procedures in order to streamline our service, boost customer interactions, and that would be dynamic to quickly scale based on customer load and our own operational growth. Not only did Avaya offer us all of those things with Contact Centre Select, but the company’s position as an industry leader cemented our decision. “said Hassan Mamdouh - Regional Operations Manager of Talabat.com. Danny Drew, Avaya’s regional manager, said: “Avaya Contact Center Select is designed to offer customers the most advanced solution to quickly, conveniently, and simply improve their customer engagement capabilities. We shall ensure that Talabat.com’s innovative business model and brand promise will continue to delight customers in the region for years to come.”

IOT WAVE TO BOOST TELCOS IN KSA The popularity of M2M and IoT applications is growing across Saudi organizations. IDC’s latest industry research indicates that the solutions vary from horizontal offerings such as fleet management to vertical-specific services such as ATM connectivity. “Organizations across a number of verticals in KSA are intensifying their efforts to implement the latest ICT solutions in a bid to improve operational efficiencies and enhance the customer/citizen services they provide,” says Tolga Yalcin, a senior research analyst for telecommunications and networking at IDC Saudi Arabia. “At the same time, the share of M2M and IoT applications within the ICT ecosystem is growing. While most of the applications are essentially M2M based, IoT solutions are also increasingly being applied, particularly in Smart City projects.”

EDUCATING TO EMPOWER: THE APTEC MANTRA In 2015, Aptec is all set to focus on solutions selling and is leaving no stones unturned. Aptec has successfully completed few Solutions Forums in the region. The first in the series of events was a dedicated Forum for the launch of FlexPod Solution, which was co-hosted by leading vendors such as Cisco, NetApp and APC by Schneider Electric During the

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event, Aptec launched its FlexPod Partner Program in the presence of more than 40 channel partners who attended the event. The same Solution Forum was also rolled out to Abu Dhabi partners with VMWare & Veeam joining the event with their technology solutions for partners. The Forum delivered an intense series of well-run, information-rich

speeches and discussions, and a lively, business-oriented networking environment between sessions. Following on was the series of Virtualization roadshow in Qatar and Duba. Over 50 unique SMB partners attended the event with more than 90 attendees. Varuna Shah, Marketing Manager for Gulf in Aptec Ingram Micro, said during the latest event:

“These forums are the first step in enabling our partners. We are constantly forming solutions with complementing vendors’ products and launching it to partners with the simple objective of providing further business opportunities to them. We are happy that the forums are being well accepted by the partners and they are showing keen interest in solutions selling.”

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CHANNEL STREET IN PUBLIC

“The fear is that the machines will ‘take over,’ start making decisions on their own and run out of control” STEPHEN PRENTICE, VICE PRESIDENT AND GARTNER FELLOW.

VCE’s VxRACK—Enormous Delivery, Effortless Deployment Proving its mettle and raising the bar once again, VCE brings to the digital world a new family of hyper-converged RackScale Systems that enables enterprises and Service Providers to dramatically simplify the deployment of next generation scale out mobile, cloud and distributed Tier 2 applications. “Over the past five years, customers have trusted VCE to enable them to rapidly deploy data center scale converged infrastructure so they can focus on delivering next-generation IT services to their businesses. This customer trust combined with our deep experience delivering simplified, operationally efficient solutions positions VCE perfectly to redefine the hyperconverged segment with the scale out VxRack engineered systems.” said Praveen Akkiraju, VCE CEO. Most importantly, VCE brings its proven methodology of pre-engineered factory built infrastructure with single call lifecycle support to deliver a massively scaled out hyper-converged VxRack Systems with the same unmatched VCE customer experience. To be available from Q3, VxRack Systems are purpose built to enable enterprises and Service Providers to support existing Tier 2 and emerging born in the cloud applications with massive scale

capability and cost optimisation,” said Praveen. “VCE’s VxRack System provides a scalable architecture that can support multi hypervisors and bare metal deployments, allowing enterprises and service providers to consolidate virtualized, cloud native applications and emerging databases onto a shared infrastructure platform,” said Wikibon Senior Analyst Stu Miniman. “Since the VxRack is completely modular, it really allows us to enter at a lower price point, or a smaller footprint, and easily scale up over time to build our solutions with improved OPEX for our clients.,” said Shelley Perry, Chief Product Officer of Cloud Solutions, Dimension Data. “The VCE VxRack System has the opportunity to make a significant impact on the Industry because it provides tremendous flexibility with its software-defined storage infrastructure and support for multiple hypervisors, as well as bare metal.,” said David J. Sampson, Executive Vice President and CTO, Itrica Corporation. As IT organizations standardize on converged infrastructure as the foundation for their next generation data centers, VCE is well positioned with a comprehensive vision and portfolio to help customers deliver world class cloud and mobile ready IT services to their business.

SECONDS

INJAZAT DATA SYSTEMS PARTNERS WITH KASPERSKY LAB Ibrahim Mohamed Lari, CEO, Injazat, said: “Our partnership with Kaspersky Lab will equip both students and IT professionals with the skills they need to effectively combat cyber security threats. Through this educational program, Injazat is actively contributing to the efforts of the government in safeguarding the nation’s infrastructure and maintaining the UAE’s electronic security.”The three-level security training program targets employees from government entities, IT specialists, Emirati talent and fresh graduates. AL FALAK BRINGS AMERICAN TECHNOLOGIES INTO KSA BANKING SECTOR Al Falak’s new partner on board is US based, CorreLog, a key player in multi-platform IT security event management, offering software systems and automation solutions to the financial - banking sector. CorreLog’s flagship product CorreLog Server delivers log management and event log correlation with automated help-desk ticketing and reporting functions into a standard web browser. TECHNOLOGY WITH SUSTAINABILITY AMD released its 2014 and 20th anniversary corporate responsibility (CR) report and summary magazine. Since 1995, AMD has continually evolved its responsibility reporting to reflect changes in the scope of CR and increase stakeholder value. AMD has taken a step forward with the launch of a new, CR-focused online hub to provide easy access to frequently updated CR information on areas of shared interest, including labor rights, community engagement, and environmental stewardship.

REDEFINING HOSPITALITY WITH CONNECTIVITY Guests will no more lose coverage or find ‘Dead Spots’ at the Bonnington Hotel & Residences JLT, as it has upgraded its wireless network, leveraging Aruba solutions, to deliver seamless high-speed Wi-Fi connectivity to all business and leisure guests across its hotel rooms, suites and public areas. The deployment has improved wireless internet coverage in the hotel by 95% and boosted performance by 85%. “While the capabilities of our 24Mbps leased line were at the time sufficient, the drop in performance introduced by the wireless part of our network meant guests rarely experienced the speeds we intended to deliver.” said Mr. Dilhan Devaditiya, IT Manager at the Bonnington. “Thanks to meticulous planning, the professionalism of our team, and the quality of Aruba’s products and services, we managed to complete the implementation in just under three weeks. Best of all, there was no inconvenience to guests despite the deployment being carried out during one of the busiest times of the year for the hotel,” said Hamid Shaikh, Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer of Precedence.

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GETTING READY FOR THE SUCCESSOR Infoblox has introduced Infoblox 6Map, a free interactive tool to help network administrators and network architects get started with planning the transition from IPv4 to IPv6. “IPv6 provides a foundation that opens up networks to future opportunities such as cloud architecture and the Internet of Things, and Infoblox is committed to providing enterprise-grade solutions for easily and automatically managing IPv6 deployments.” said Tom Coffeen, chief IPv6 evangelist at Infoblox.

CHANNEL STREET

StarLink Joins Riverbed’s VAD Program Application Performance StarLink has joined Riverbed Platform ,” said Taj Elkhayat, Performance VAD Program Regional Vice President, Middle in UAE. “Riverbed is the clear East and Africa, at Riverbed. industry leader in application “We are excited to partner performance, and a significant with Starkink as we rationalize addition to our portfolio,” and improve our distribution said Nidal Othman, MD at landscape in Middle East and StarLink. “Our team is looking Africa. Through the Riverbed forward to building upon VAD program, our distributors Riverbed’s existing success and benefit from being positioned to delivering its best-of-breed increase their bottom line and product portfolio to even more NIDAL OTHMAN, MD AT STARLINK our partners benefit by working enterprise and government with the industry’s most qualified Riverbed customers.” distributors to maximize the performance of “Riverbed and its partner network are focused their evolving IT infrastructure and add value to on investing in an entire portfolio of products to our joint customers.” help our joint customers implement the Riverbed

WOMEN CIOS FORESEE BIGGER BUDGETS Female CIOs expect to increase their budgets by 2.4 % in 2015, whereas male CIOs report average increases of just 0.8 %, according to a survey by Gartner.The worldwide survey included responses from 2,810 CIOs, representing more than $397 billion in CIO IT budgets in 84 countries. “For a second year in a row, the women in our survey are expecting greater budget increases than the men,” said Tina Nunno, vice president and Gartner Fellow. “The risk data, combined with budget numbers, may indicate that female CIOs are more focused on the resource side of the digital equation than their male peers and are, therefore, requesting and accumulating more IT budget money.”

SOFTWARE AG SUPERCHARGES DIGITAL BUSINESS PLATFORM Software AG has added pre-built high-performance, Big Data Predictive Analytics solutions to its Digital Business Platform that make it easier and faster for enterprises across industries like retail, manufacturing, financial services, telecommunications, utilities, and hospitality to expose, anticipate, and act on critical business insights. Wolfram Jost, CTO, Software AG, said: “The ability to predict what is likely to happen next is essential to satisfying customers, improving operations, and beating the competition. Predictive analytics uses patterns found in historical and real-time data to indicate what is ahead.”

ALL AWARDS IN GULF AIR’S SHELF

DR JASSIM HAJI, DIRECTOR OF IT, GULF AIR

Gulf Air recently won regionally acclaimed awards for its IT infrastructure and development. The airline’s efficient implementation of Mobile Device Management for Electronic Flight won the company the Network Middle East Innovation award for “Wireless Implementation of the Year” at the Gulf Information Security Exhibition and Conference (GISEC). Gulf Air’s security framework for securing Hybrid Cloud architecture helped it bag the “Best Cloud Security Implementation” Award. Gulf Air A/Chief Executive Officer Maher Salman Al Musallam said, “The Gulf Air family strives to excel in all areas – to ensure our passengers a superior on board experience, across a broad spectrum of deliverables.” Gulf Air Director of Information Technology Dr. Jassim Haji commented, “We are delighted to win some of the region’s top awards for the achievements in information technology, a direct result of our steadfast commitment and focus on IT as a key business enabler.”

POWER UP YOUR INFRASTRUCTURE Eaton’s integrated power management solutions have buckled up to operate with SimpliVity’s leading hyperconverged infrastructure solution. The industry’s first power management solution to receive validation with a hyperconverged infrastructure, Eaton’s platform provides IT managers with advanced power monitoring and management capabilities. Eaton’s integrated power management platform

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provides SimpliVity customers with greater availability, scalability and data protection, as well as integration with VMware vCenter. This allows organisations to scale as they grow while maintaining uptime and enhancing business continuity. “Eaton’s power management solutions deliver tremendous value for SimpliVity customers, offering advanced power management capabilities and protection for our

hyperconverged platform,” said Erik Randles, VP, business development, SimpliVity. “Our collaboration with Eaton will further advance our enterprise resiliency and energy efficiency, as well as continue to provide a reduction of total cost of ownership that is three times that of legacy infrastructure systems.” SimpliVity’s hyperconverged solutions provide cloud economics with enterprise performance,

protection, efficiency and global unified management. “SimpliVity and Eaton’s seamless integration with vCenter drastically reduces the learning curve and cost of acquisition to achieve greater business value while leveraging the enterprise benefits of SimpliVity’s hyperconverged infrastructure.” said Hervé Tardy, VP and GM, Distributed Power Quality Division, Eaton

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A Unified View of Business function on the cloud.” Mindware adopts 3i Mario Gay, GM, Infotech’s ORION 11j Mindware said, product as its ERP “Mindware is a strong solutions for their business distribution Cloud based applicaunit based on virtualization. This agreement tion. 3i Infotech with its holds significant unique Orion 11j ERP importance, as it is 3i SIGNING CEREMONY- MINDWARE AND 3I solutions is an ideal fit Infotech’s first ERP INFOTECH and a pertinent platform implementation to be to upgrade the solutions to a Cloud application adopted on a Cloud based platform. linking our business to its resellers apt. This Ashish Dass, President- EMEA at 3i Infotech partnership is an important stepping stone for said, “We are delighted to join hands with Mindware’s growth strategy allowing complete Mindware. Mindware will make the maximum optimization of business application playing use of the cloud technology, both internally to a key role as a comprehensive Internet based its stakeholders and externally to its vendors and reseller portal.” customers by deploying the Orion marketplace

WEB CLIPS CANON GOES FROM STRENGTH-TOSTRENGTH IN OMAN Canon Middle East further strengthened its commitment to the Omani market by launching its new product range and also hosting an exclusive dealer-end user seminar. In collaboration with its tier 1 partner GENETCO, Canon unveiled the latest models of its A3 and A4 copiers namely the IR C3320 & IR C3330 and IR C1225 & IR C1335 at a launch seminar in Muscat. Strengthening their relationship with dealers and end-users, Canon also organised an exclusive dealer-end user seminar . FIREEYE DISCOVERS ADOBE FLASH ZERO-DAY THREAT FireEye recently uncovered a phishing campaign exploiting an Adobe Flash Player

CYBEROAM TAKES THE SECURITY BULL BY ITS HORNS

zero-day vulnerability. The FireEye as a Service

Cyberoam Academy, part of Cyberoam has entered into collaboration with three colleges namely Tanzit Institute, Mufundi Institute, and Kaps College in Tanzania, Africa. The collaboration will help these institutes; provide comprehensive, results-driven Cyberoam certified network security courses to their students. The idea behind this collaboration is to open a world of possibilities to students of these colleges in the field of network security. Cyberoam, with its Cyberoam Academy, aims to provide stateof-the-art knowledge about network security that allows students to explore career opportunities in this field. Ajay Nawani, Chief of Cyberoam Academy says, “We are not limiting this tie up purely to areas of training, research and development. We will also participate in joint community outreach programs and proactively facilitate knowledge sharing in the field of computer networks and network security.”

servers that served either benign content or a

team in Singapore discovered that the attackers’ emails included links to compromised web malicious Adobe Flash Player file that exploits CVE-2015-3113. Adobe has already released a patch for CVE-2015-3113 with an out-of-band security bulletin NETAPP EXPANDS HIGH-PERFORMANCE ALL-FLASH ARRAYS The All Flash FAS (AFF) 8000 series packs world-class performance and the industry’s best data management in a single solution.

MOVEMENTS ZIAD SALAMEH has been appointed as the New Managing Director to lead Cisco’s Gulf (Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain), Levant, Pakistan and Iraq region and Middle East Services. MANAL ABI RAFEH is Fortinet’s new Regional Marketing Manager for the Middle East and Africa.

Huawei has appointed MR. CHARLES YANG as the President, responsible for the company’s business in the Middle East region..

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NUMBER GAME

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Remote monitoring and automated management reduce the time to troubleshoot faulty networking devices by a massive 75%

It ships with NetApp Data ONTAP FlashEssentials innovations, which increase flash performance and efficiency. “The AFF8000 line is built to take high-performance flash storage into the mainstream,” said Lee Caswell, vice president, Product and Solutions Marketing, NetApp. “We help customers achieve better long-term outcomes with a complete set of enterprise capabilities and the unique ability to support data movement from flash to disk to cloud as needs change.” KNOW THE UNKNOWN, ALWAYS! Arbor Networks have launched a new tool to help security teams assess their current incident response profile and capabilities versus their peers and state of the art practices. The assessment provides actionable insights to prompt companies to evolve beyond existing detect and respond models that are becoming increasingly ineffective in the current threat environment.

CHANNEL STREET

Kuwait Credit Bank Embraces Cisco UCS Kuwait Credit Bank (KCB) is all set to deploy Cisco’s Unified Computing System (UCS) platform for its data center network IT infrastructure. The network infrastructure upgrade will also include a Cloud Computing environment which will enable the Bank to retain control and become more relevant while reducing risk and accelerating time to market. Cisco UCS solves the real business challenges of integrating compute, storage and networking within IT infrastructure. The ability for organisations like KCB to achieve tangible benefits by reducing total cost of ownership, simplifying

management and increasing data centre efficiency are behind the fast adoption of UCS. Zaidoun Arbad, GM, Cisco Kuwait said, “. Cisco will provide Kuwait Credit Bank with practical, fast and reliable solutions that will optimize their services to improve their customer offering. Cisco sees a unique opportunity to combine the latest technology innovations and end-to-end solutions to enable customers like Kuwait Credit Bank to more efficiently and quickly capture market opportunities in entirely new ways while both growing their businesses and delivering new network experiences to their customers.”

AMD POWERS UP SAMSUNG Samsung Electronics has chosen the AMD Embedded G-Series SoC (system on chip) for a new line of all-in-one cloud monitors featuring integrated thin client technology. “Samsung’s powerful Windows Thin Client Cloud displays combine professional, ergonomic design with advanced thin-client technology to drive better manageability, security and business efficiency through a dedicated Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI),” said Seog-Gi Kim, SVP, Visual Display Business, Samsung Electronics. “Strengthened by our partnership with AMD, our all-in-one Cloud monitors reinforce our leadership in the thin-client industry. We’re proud to announce the launch of these innovative thin client solutions, enhancing our ability to respond to the IT equipment needs of our customers worldwide.”

WATCH OUT FOR THE ‘LOTUS BLOSSOM’ Dark clouds are hovering in countries throughout Southeast Asia due to a series of potentially state-sponsored cyberattacks targeting government and military, according to a research shared by Palo Alto. Discovered by the Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 threat intelligence team and dubbed “Operation Lotus Blossom”, the attacks appear to be an attempt to gain inside information on the operation of nation-states throughout the region. The campaign dates as far back as three years and involves targets in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia. Over 50 separate attacks have been identified in Operation Lotus Blossom. They all use a custom-built Trojan, named “Elise” to deliver highly targeted spear phishing emails and gain an initial foothold on targeted systems.

STORIT IS UNITRENDS’ NEW MENA VAD

SUREN VEDANTHAM- STORIT DISTRIBUTION AND MICHAEL ORANGE - UNITRENDS

As Unitrends’ value-added distributor, StorIT will promote and distribute Unitrends complete portfolio of end-to-end solutions in Data Protection, Backup and Disaster Recovery solutions across the Middle East, North Africa and India. “With this partnership, we are now in a position to offer our customers and partners Unitrends’ well-proven hybrid solution from a single source for all requirements of scalable appliances, software and cloud-based solutions for backup, archiving, instant recovery and disaster recovery.” said Suren Vedantham, MD, StorIT Distribution. “We look forward to working with StorIT to grow our footprint in the Middle East, build relations with valuable partners, and provide our data protection and disaster recovery solutions throughout this region,” said Michael Orange, Regional manager – Middle-East & Africa, Unitrend StorIT will work with Unitrends to initiate channel enablement and training programs which will be followed by a road show.

PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR ETERNUS DX Fujitsu has raised the curtains to FUJITSU Storage ETERNUS DX8700 S3 and DX8900 S3. Massively scalable, the new flagship of the ETERNUS DX family is purpose-built for enterprises that demand outstanding storage peak performance of up to 4 million Input/Output Operations per Second (IOPS) and a huge capacity

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of up to 14 petabytes, paired with enterprise-class resiliency and always-on availability. Kenichi Sakai, Senior Vice President and Head of Enterprise System Business Unit at Fujitsu, says: “The new top-of-the-range systems, ETERNUS DX8700 S3 and ETERNUS DX8900 S3, are packed with innovations that will improve

data management combined with greater efficiency resulting in future-proof platforms for storage consolidation in the data center.” Marcus Jewell, VP, EMEA at Brocade said: “We’re confident that ETERNUS DX in combination with Brocade’s leading network technologies will provide a complete solution for the next generation of

data service in data center storage. We believe it will play a key part in this new kind of agile and robust infrastructure, giving customers a significant competitive advantage in the years ahead.” The FUJITSU Storage ETERNUS DX8700 S3 and DX8900 S3 will be globally available from August 1, 2015.

CHANNEL STREET

VMware Outlines Future of Business Mobility VMware has outlined its vision for the future of business mobility with new solutions, services and partnerships to enable organizations to transform business processes. The company’s strategy aims to free businesses from more than a decade of client-server focused IT – which enabled mobile access to a limited number of productivity applications – and now deliver a more user- and application-centric experience for the enterprise. “Business Mobility is more than a shift in technology; it is an opportunity for true business process transformation,” said Sanjay Poonen,

executive vice president and general manager, End-User Computing, VMware. “Business Mobility will be a key driver of economic value for the next decade – truly reorienting businesses around mobile innovation, apps and services. As a result, the adage ‘adapt or perish’ has never been truer than it is today.” . VMware Identity Manager delivers the industry’s first Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS) offering integrated with a leading, enterprise-class mobility management and security solutionand is available as part of the AirWatch by VMware Blue and Yellow Management bundles.

ETISALAT MISR REDEFINES FUTURE OF COMMUNICATION WITH EMC EMC Egypt and Etisalat Misr are all set to undertake a transformational IT project to create an agile and efficient foundation for rapid business and customer growth. The telecommunications giant has deployed the EMC Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud Solution together with EMC ViPR Controller software-defined storage and VMware vCloud Automation Center Suite to drive automation and self-provisioning capabilities to enhance service delivery across multiple lines of business.

VEEAM AVAILABILITY SUITE V9 ADDS CLOUDBASED VM REPLICATION Veeam Cloud Connect will be extended to include advanced image-based VM (virtual machine) replication capabilities as a part of the new Veeam Availability Suite v9. The extended functionality also gives service providers the ability to provide their customers with cloudbased disaster recovery-as-a-service (DRaaS) with the new Veeam Cloud Connect Replication for Service Providers offering. Ratmir Timashev, CEO of Veeam said, “Veeam Cloud Connect not only enables our users to fulfill the offsite requirement without having to invest in offsite infrastructure or management, but also presents new opportunities for service providers to build recurring revenue from their existing customer base, expand their presence in the DRaaS market, and establish relationships with new customers.”

A STEP DOWN FOR MIDDLE EAST HCP MARKET The overall Middle East hardcopy peripherals (HCP) markets suffered a year-on-year decline in both volume and value in Q1 2015, according to the latest insights by IDC. Just over a million units were shipped for a total value of $330 million, down 5.7% and 8.6%, respectively, although Saudi Arabia and the UAE both rode out low global oil prices to post strong unit growth year on year. Responsibility for the region’s overall decline can be laid at the door of the Turkish and Egyptian markets, with the delay of purchases ahead of general elections in mid-June hindering the former and ongoing currency volatility hampering the latter. “Despite the overall decline, shipments of mono laser devices remained flat year on year, indicating that demand from the SMB and enterprise segments of the market remains steady,” says Roberto Alunni, research manager for imaging, printing and document solutions at IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey. “Saudi Arabia and the UAE continue to support the region’s HCP market, particularly its laser segment, although the relatively low and volatile global oil prices may pose a threat to large-scale projects for oil-exporting economies in the short term.” Vendors have been promoting models that print at a reduced cost and faster – both key requirements for business – and that have the ability to support the occasional need to print in a larger format in full color.

IOT IS ALL SET TO DRIVE IPV6 ADOPTION Organisations across the globe are slowly expanding the wireless capabilities of their networks’ access points. According to Dimension Data’s Raoul Tecala, Business Development Director for Networking, “In an environment where the majority of end users connect to the network wirelessly, the traditional campus access-switching network

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must evolve. In the old model, 80% of the switch ports were for dedicated, wired users while 20% were for shared, wireless users. This ratio will need to change: 80% of switch ports will have to be for shared, wireless users, and 20% for dedicated, wired users.” The most important indicator that organisations are growing

their network’s mobile capabilities, however, is the increase in access switches able to support powerover-Ethernet. . The IoT is also predicted to have an influence on corporate infrastructures, particularly in the adoption of the new Internet protocol, IPv6, across network devices. Tecala reckons that the IoT will see

an increasing number and variety of business-enabling technologies. “We recommend that organisations prepare the infrastructure for enterprise mobility and the IoT, which should form part of a coherent network architecture strategy. It shouldn’t be handled reactively, but approached in a more planned and organised way” says Tecala.

CHANNEL STREET

Juniper Networks & Ruckus Wireless Team Up

EMPOWERING PARTNERS THROUGH EDUCATION TP-LINK is all set to roll out a comprehensive training programme targeting all its retail partners in the UAE. According to the company, the training initiatives will address all technical aspects on the networking and wireless products currently being sold in the retail channels. Lucas Jiang, Country Manager, TPLINK Middle East, said the TP-LINK retail training programme aims to empower sales staff of retailers to better understand the currently networking products the company is developing and bringing to the Middle East. “All retailers that currently sell our solutions such as Sharaf DG, Emax, Jumbo and others are expected to participate in this training programme,” he said. He added that although the training scheme is aimed at equipping retail’s sales people later extending the training to technical staff as well. “There is nothing one loses by getting trained. It’s always good to learn about new technology, trends and products coming to market.” Jiang explained that once trained, sales and technical people that go through the programme will be required to undergo a certification exam. “We will be certifying all those that pass the exams with a certificate that confirms their credentials,” he said. He added that the training will be organised through our retail distributor Techmicro for all the retail partners in the UAE. “We are covering all our retailers and because each retailer has specific needs, we will be tailoring the programme to suit the needs of our partners,”

Juniper networks and Ruckus Wireless have come together for a new technology alliance to deliver open, wired and wireless networking solutions for enterprise, government and education customer segments. The companies will work to deliver a unified wired and wireless solution, as well as collaborate on global go-to-market opportunities to deliver proven, carrier-class network performance, resiliency and scale to mid-size and large enterprise customers. “This ‘no-compromise’ partnership offers the value and ROI that businesses are looking for,

with the performance, flexibility and scalability they demand.” said Dan Rabinovitsj, chief operating officer, Ruckus Wireless “Building on Juniper’s Open Converged Framework, teaming with Ruckus ensures carrier-grade levels of scale and performance through our interoperable wired and wireless solutions to solve the WiFi capacity and coverage challenges that our enterprise customers face.” said Jonathan Davidson, executive vice president and general manager, Juniper Development and Innovation, Juniper Networks.

TRANSFORMING DATA TO BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE Arrow is all set to offer Visual Analytics from SAS in the Middle East, adding to Arrow’s existing comprehensive portfolio of business intelligence and analytics solutions. According to a recent forecast on IT spending by Gartner, business intelligence and analytics software as solutions are cited to be among the top 3 CIO technology priorities in the Middle East region. “We look forward to working with Arrow and its network of solution providers in expanding the creative application of our innovative analytics solutions. SAS always aims to harness the value of extracting business insights from data to meet the ever-changing business environment, particularly in the Middle East region,” said Shukri Dabaghi, SAS’ regional director for the Middle East and Francophone Africa.

MAKE WAY FOR ‘MOBILE-ONLY ENTERPRISE’ ManageEngine has launched a latest solution from its hat— Mobile Device Manager Plus, its enterprise mobility management solution. Targeting organizations that are adopting mobileonly and mobile-first IT strategies, Mobile Device Manger Plus provides a dedicated solution for tracking, managing and securing mobile devices from a centralized dashboard. “Mobile devices are starting to drown out and replace PCs and laptops on corporate networks,” said Mathivanan Venkatachalam, director of product management at ManageEngine. “We’re seeing that trend in our customer base, and we’re seeing it in the business world at large, in companies of every size. For many, mobile is the primary point of engagement — for employees, customers and partners, alike. In response, we’re putting mobility front and center with the release of Mobile Device Manager Plus.”

SAGE ACHIEVES GOLD STANDARD WITH SAW Sage Middle East has geared up to collaborate with Specialized Application Workshop and Software Mill a.k.a. “SAW Soft Mill,” for the further development of Sage ERP X3 for regional and international distribution. SAW Soft Mill, which is the US- based software development

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arm of the UAE’s Sharaf HQ Investments, is all praises for its long-standing partnership with Sage and announced its plan to co-develop the Sage ERP X3 product into various cuttingedge hybrids for multi-purpose application. Yasser al Sharaf, Chairman of

Sharaf HQ Investments, agreed. Keith Fenner, SVP – Sales, Africa and Head of Sage Middle East said, “We are working closely to develop vertical solutions based on the Sage ERP X3 platform for the domestic and international markets.” “Together, SAW Soft Mill and

Sage will be developing cuttingedge solutions benefitting many industrial and services sectors such as retail, project and services management, and hospitality,” added Chris Weiner, Product Manager for SAW Soft Mill.

GUEST TALK

EPICOR

The ‘third platform’ could revolutionise MEA’s economies The third platform is essential for accessibility, and ERP solutions with such capability give companies greater flexibility and agility to effectively keep up with fast-changing conditions.

n WORDS: ANISH KANARAN, C H A N N E L D I R E C T O R F O R E P I C O R I N T H E M I D D L E E A S T, AFRICA & INDIA

There are a new generation of technologies emerging in business that promise greater levels of responsiveness and agility than ever before. Each of them has the potential to provide companies with the tools to offer a better customer experience and the promise of adapting more quickly to clients’ changing needs. They are called the ‘third platform’ technologies. The ‘third platform’, according to analyst firm International Data Corporation (IDC), comprises mobile computing, social networking, cloud services, and Big Data analytics technologies. The Middle East and Africa region (MEA) is at the forefront of the third platform’s rise. In fact, IDC analysts suggest ICT spending on these technologies in MEA will reach USD 270 billion in 2015, making the region the second fastest growing market in the world, with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar leading the market surge. But while the third platform offers huge opportunities – especially in sectors such as manufacturing where it affords access to data about machines, partners, customers and suppliers alike – it also presents new challenges.

Organisations will need to manage an increasingly overwhelming volume of data that needs to be converted into actionable intelligence. Unless they can achieve this, third platform technologies could be a huge headache. The question, therefore, is how can these technologies be harnessed by organisations – and the wider economy – to revolutionise how they operate? The answer lies in a new generation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions. However, ERP software needs to break ranks with the past. Rather than being back-office systems that provide transactional support, they need to bring information afforded by the third platform to those who need it, at the moment they need it, in a form that they can use, and in a way that they can act, regardless of where they are located. ERP applications with social, cloud, mobility and analytics capabilities can help unlock the future potential of a business. Given the increasing number of connected devices that churn out a large amount of data, cuttingedge ERP solutions sort, filter and organize information in a manner that allows real-time access and interpretation. They work by

putting relevant information to the fore through integrated functions designed to highlight the most critical data. Businesses can leverage the strategically filtered and organized information to make accurate decisions. It also affords new insights, strategies, plans, optimal business operations, new market opportunities, and the ability to act with confidence. Having easy access to relevant information will assist in a company’s operations and help develop clear goals. It promotes faster reaction to customer inquiries and enables better tracking of order status and forecasts as well as inventory levels. Additionally, ERP solutions with enhanced mobile access capabilities promote profit growth by allowing employees who are always on the go to access information - anywhere, at any time and on any device – while protecting data security and confidentiality. The third platform, in short, is essential for accessibility, and ERP solutions with such capability gives companies greater flexibility and agility to effectively keep up with fast-changing conditions, without losing the benefits of standardiza-

tion and process integration . Aside from enhancing business processes, sophisticated ERP software brings customer interaction and partner integration to the next level. Branches, customers, suppliers and partners can be effectively and efficiently connected regardless of locations. This seamless interaction is essential to attain end-to-end visibility especially in multi-site operations. When integrated and used properly, the third platform supports the collaborative operational aspects of manufacturing and other sectors through ERP solutions that allow colleagues, business partners, and customers to communicate in real-time. Their information exchanges are tracked and stored as part of the ERP system. Turning to next-generation ERP solutions helps organizations across industries to improve their productivity and operate more efficiently. Looking at the bigger picture, a strong industry with a high productivity rate bolsters economic growth. This bodes well especially for the MEA economy as it continues to methodically respond to the emergence of third platform technologies. ë

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GUEST TALK

FORTINET

Understanding SCADA attacks The attack by the Stuxnet virus against Iran in 2010 raised awareness of the vulnerability of industrial systems known as SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition). However, for how long have these threats existed? What are the impacts of these attacks?

n WORDS: RUCHNA NIGAM, S E C U R I T Y R E S E A R C H E R AT F O R T I N E T ’ S F O R T I G U A R D L A B S

SCADA is the term describing systems that are used to control physical equipment.Unfortunately, it took an attack the scale of Stuxnet to raise awareness among industrial companies about the potential destructive impacts of these cyber threats. While traditional computer attacks usually result in nonmaterial damage, Stuxnet showed the destructive capacity of advanced worms and viruses in affecting not only corporate data but also water management systems, chemical product production and energy infrastructures. Stuxnet, however, is the not the first virus targeting the SCADA environment. Here is an overview of some significant known attacks targeted at SCADA over the years, classified into three categories : Unconfirmed attacks 1982 : According to a collection of documents called the “Farewell Dossier”, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was involved in the sale of ‘altered’ products and equipment to the Soviet Union. A Trojan Horse was added to equipment and led to an explosion on the Trans-Siberian gas pipeline. 1999: There were reports of an attack on Gazprom, the Russian oil corporation, where a Trojan horse was installed on their pipeline

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system, with the help of an insider. The attack is reported to have disrupted the control of gas flows for a few hours but this was never confirmed by Gazprom. Unintentional targets 2003: Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station and CSX Corporation in the US were respectively victims of the Slammer and Sobig worms. Slammer caused a denial of service and slowed down the network whereas Sobig sent out spam via e-mail. Physical impacts: A computer system in CSX Corporation’s HQ was infected, shutting down signaling, dispatching and other systems, resulting in . train delays. 2004: Transportation companies like British Airways, Railcorp, Delta Airlines were hit with the Sasser worm that exploited a buffer overflow vulnerability to propagate to other vulnerable systems. Some aggressive variants may have caused network congestion. Physical impact: Train and flight delays and flight cancellations 2009: The French Navy was victim of the Conficker worm. It exploited a Windows vulnerability, or guessed administrator passwords to install itself. Physical impact: Failure to download flight plans leading to grounded aircraft.

Intentional targets 2009: Oil, gas, and petrochemical companies such as Exxon, Shell, BP, among others were hit by the Night Dragon virus that was distributed using spearphishing. Physical impact: None, although it is reported that attackers exfiltrated operational blueprints for SCADA systems and even collected data. 2010: Stuxnet was a computer worm found spying on and reprogramming industrial systems at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility. This virus intercepted and made changes to data to a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). Physical impact: Destroyed a fifth of Iran’s nuclear centrifuges. 2014: The two next viruses were found in the wild in 2014. Havex was distributed as trojanised SCADA software downloads from compromised vendor websites. Here, the hackers’ motivations were data stealing and spying. Physical impact: None Blacken was found on a command and control server of an existing botnet. It targets users of the SCADA software, GE Cimplicity, and installs executables to the software’s home directory. Physical impact: No reported cases Last but not least, according to

a report by the German Federal Office of Information Security (BSI), a targeted attack on the computer network of a German steel mill in 2014 resulted in massive damage. The report describes the attackers’ technical skills as ‘very advanced’, with an expertise not only in traditional IT security but also extending to detailed technical knowledge of Industrial Control Systems (ICS) and the production processes being used. Physical impact: The report states that the attack led to the breakdown of individual control components, that “led to the”uncontrolled shutdown of a blast furnace, leaving it in an undefined state and resulting in massive damage.” In conclusion, the attacks are far from widespread despite their lucrative SCADA target. The reason? These sophisticated attacks require not only advanced technical skills and knowledge of the infrastructure under attack, but also significant financial resources, that all cybercriminals do not have. Looking at how cybercrime continues to evolve, one may expect such destructive attacks to increase, hinting at the need for companies to start preparing for them. ë

GUEST TALK

ARUBA NETWORKS

The network must protect the Internet of Things With IoT, suddenly there are so many connections, so much of information being exchanged- is anybody keeping a track? Or are we all proceeding gleefully into a world where hackers are going to rule us? It’s time for a reality check and make sure one good thing doesn’t bring with it way too many side effects that might go out of hand. n WORDS: MANISH BHARDWAJ, SR MARKETING MANAGER, ARUBA NETWORKS, AN HP C O M PA N Y

If you’re always on the hunt for your keys and wallet, the Internet of Things (IoT) is here to make your life easier. Attach small wireless tags to your favorite things and track them with a mobile app. Unlock your front door as you pull into the driveway. Worried that you forgot to close the garage door on your way out? Just check your phone or tap your smart watch. You can control your home’s temperature from the office, turn on the lights from the couch, and watch video from your home security system while on vacation. Smart cars, digital health monitors, digital signage, utility meters, and many, many more devices will make our lives easier and better. It’s just the beginning of what wireless devices and sensors can do for us. IoT can make the workplace better, too. It’s more than automatically adjusting the lighting and temperature in the office. It’s the creation of digital assistants that know us deeply and act intuitively for us — anything from helping us find our way to knowing that we’re running late for a meeting and

notifying the other parties. Businesses can track inventory across their global supply chains in real time. Analyzing data collected by sensors and other devices can be used to fine-tune the customer experience and identify new revenue opportunities. Stopping threats before they start The hackers have some great ideas about what they can do with the IoT, too. It might start with mischief, but real harm can

be done, ranging from privacy violations to physical harm to cybercrime. According to a study from HP Security Research, 70 percent of the most commonly used consumer IoT devices contain serious vulnerabilities. HP found an average of 25 vulnerabilities per device. The industry is just beginning to tackle security for the IoT. As an industry, we can’t expect homeowners to patch their home security systems every Tuesday. Nor can we expect the wireless

sensors and devices in our workplaces to protect themselves. Our laptops, even with powerful chips, rich operating systems and added security measures, can barely fend off the attackers. At Aruba, we think the network will play a pivotal role in connecting and protecting the diverse range of IoT devices that will transform the workplace as we know it. Advanced network policy management tools will interrogate IoT devices, assess their capabilities, and determine whether or not they should be allowed to connect. From there, the network will dynamically provide IoT connectivity while continuously analyzing its traffic for integrity. The good news is that many of our customers already have the foundations of this security model in the policy enforcement firewall and network policy management system that are part of their wireless LANs. And we are working on further innovations in this area to extend this protection to the coming explosion of wireless sensors and devices. ë

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COVER STORY

OPPORTUNITIES IN OFFICE AUTOMATION

Untethered Office Fabric for the Next-Gen Enterprise

IT infrastructure spending in the Middle East and Africa is forecast to reach $3.48 billion, a 0.9 percent increase from 2014, according to Gartner.Office automation— simply put—is a vital ingredient to complete an efficient business recipe. Office automation is one such area that calls for steadfast innovations due to the Low oil prices and macroeconomic situations that are increasingly compelling the CIOs to embrace cost effective business solutions. n B Y: A N U S H R E E < A N U S H R E E @ A C C E N T I N F O M E D I A . C O M > n P H O T O : S H U T T E R S T O C K

ffice automation— it seems to have a world of its own. A process that carefully interweaves into all of your business processes and sits atop the organizational hierarchy.A good number of researches have validated the fact that CIOs are turning to projects that bring utmost business value; and office automation happens to be one of the key priorities in those long-term investment roadmap. With government and business organizations worldwide engulfed by the big data and IoT wave, business workflow automation is no more an option but a necessity. Office and enterprise automation across verticals are advancing with key solutions that are enriching

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OFFICE AUTOMATION KPIS Scalability and flexibility

Cost reduction

Empowered mobile workforce

Optimized business process

Environmental sustainability

Best-in-class security with productivity

COVER STORY

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COVER STORY

HENDRIK VERBRUGGHE, MARKETING DIRECTOR, CANON MIDDLE EAST

DAN SMITH, HEAD OF INTEGRATED MARKETING FOR THE MEA REGION OF XEROX’S DMO

“With improved document control, availability, security, and access coupled with reclaimed office space and improved knowledge worker productivity, an organization can realize real, tangible benefits.”

“At Xerox we take information security very seriously and while developing solutions we constantly ensure that enhanced productivity, seamless workflow and security go hand in hand.”

PIRA predicts that total printing revenues in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are forecast to grow 7.2% per annum reaching $26 billion by 2018.

the modern workplace and providing real value in the services and support of complex products. On-board this conversation is Canon, Xerox, DVCOM technology and Fujitsu to talk about the fabrics they have for building the intelligent enterprises and share their achievements in changing the conventional workplace with innovative solutions.

THE MARKET INCLINATION As Hendrik Verbrugghe, Marketing Director, Canon Middle East puts it across, “The modern history of office automation began with the typewriter and the copy machine, which mechanized

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previously manual tasks. Today, however, office automation is increasingly understood as a term that refers not just to the mechanization of tasks but to the conversion of information to electronic form as well.” As regional businesses realize the benefits that automation has on the business processes and the enormous savings in manpower and greater efficiency it brings, they are more and more in search for the latest product innovations to fulfil their needs. “The potential savings in energy consumption and costs as well as the increased productivity levels are some of the key motivators for this on-going transformation.” says Dan Smith, Head of Integrated Marketing for the MEA region of Xerox’s DMO. “There is a growing trend towards greater office automation and green business practices among enterprises in the Middle East region.” he adds. Renjan George, Managing Director of DVCOM Technology believes that office automation is constantly evolving, with the many tools and technologies available for adoption within the organization for

the purpose of providing ease and faster results. As more and more business and government agencies are switching to the paperless environment, information is getting digitalized. As Klaus Schulz, Manager Product Marketing EMEA at PFU (EMEA) Ltd explains, “They realise that “business-at-the-speed-of-paper” will no longer be economically feasible in just a few years’ time. Electronic data is not just the domain of the corporate world, though. Government agencies in many countries have long ago turned their attention to digital data. It is not necessary to re-invent the wheel. However, there is a lot more work to be done. Scanning solutions are as varied as the initiatives taking root across the Middle East and while considerations like scanner format, software integration and capture quality can vary according to use, the constant is ensuring that scanned documents are suited for integration into electronic workflows.”

RISING UP TO THE PAPERLESS PARADISE As Klaus from Fujitsu beautifully articulates, “Completely abolishing paper remains a utopian goal because paper has simply proven its worth throughout the ages.” The market has been divided by believers of 2 faiths— on one hand we have decision makers who want to get rid of the paper completely and digitalize their entire business process and on the other hand there are some decision makers who invest in the belief that paper cannot be removed out of an office completely owing to the beauty and significance that it carries, but they have solutions in place to manage the consumption of paper. Hendrik Verbrugghe of Canon says, “I hope there is some point in the future where the paperless office is a reality, but until then there are a multitude of methods for continually decreasing the amount of paper we all must handle.” While on the other hand, Xerox Research Centres we are constantly using ethnography- which involves studying and developing understanding of the ways people work and interact with technology. This enables the researchers to think creatively about the ways people use it. Dan Smith of Xerox says, “As an innovator and leader in document technology and services, Xerox’ aim is to change the culture of paper technology in the workplace. Our studies aim to achieve a better alignment of technology with its users.” “We are aware that behind every business process, there is a series of transactions, from processing insurance claims to approving vacation requests. More often than not, these transactions are paper-based, which can be difficult to track action and maintain. Today, converting to a paperless and digitized

COVER STORY

environment is no longer optional; it’s critical.” adds Dan. “Radically reducing the amount of paper that is consumed is, however, a very realistic target. Promoting less paper in our work and in our lives combines both ecological and economic advantages.” adds Klaus of Fujitsu.

ACES UP THE SLEEVE The vision for the paperless environment was established decades ago— to enable an organization to not only reduce the carbon footprint but also to enhance greater efficiency and productivity by pulling out the data from a heap of paper and organizing it on a virtual platform. “Canon Business Process Services is uniquely positioned to assist organizations trying to realize paperless status. With improved document control, availability, security, and access coupled with reclaimed office space and improved knowledge worker productivity, an organization can realize real, tangible benefits. And at the same time achieve paper-less status” says Hendrik Verbrugghe of Canon.“The Canon imageRUNNER series, such as the recently launched ADVANCE C3325i is another example of a compact and userfriendly multifunctional device provides high quality colour communication and streamlines document workflows. The uniFLOWPrinting solution available in Canon printers, users can simply swipe their ID, click on their avatar, or enter their user name and password to login in order to print. Users can also personalise their workflows and be more productive by opting for ‘Send to Myself ’, ‘Send to Folder’ feature which directs documents to a designated folder on a network drive with a simple one touch button. Canon’s Automated Forms Processing solution is another example of the automated technology that had simplified processes in office and improved productivity. The solution captures and extracts data from even the most complex paper and electronic forms. Examples inlcude business forms, customer registration forms, staff expense claims and marketing surveys.” explains Hendrik. Dan Smith of Xerox claims that, Xerox has delivered three new solutions to help enterprises achieve greater office automation as well as to move to a more digital, paper-less work environment.“Xerox’s Digital Alternatives is a simple desktop and mobile assistant technology that automates paper-based workflows that exist within any large organization. This secure, intuitive interface can be deployed across Microsoft Windows-based PCs and Apple iPad tablets. Real-time analytics of the document cycle also give enterprises insight on how to better manage their migration from paper-based

working environment to digital. With Xerox ePublishing Services, clients can do both by using a common document processing workflow. To help enterprises reduce their carbon footprint and motivate employees to do their part, Xerox’s Research Centre Europe created Xerox Print Awareness Tool–- a patented system that actively encourages workers to be more environmentally responsible.” Dan Smith of Xerox elaborates. Renjan George of DVCOM technology says, “These globally available technologies automate almost all critical business functions within an organization with seamless integrations. Such technologies that compliments all businesses are company essentials like ERP, CRM, e-Commerce Portals, SaaS and Open Source among others.” He adds, “Office automation is constantly evolving, with the many tools and technologies available for adoption within the organization for the purpose of providing ease and faster results. All our solutions as an IP Telephony, Video Conferencing and Networking Company are tools that help in compilation, processing and managing the information systematically.” Other than these, the advent of the mobiledevice revolution, image based documents and terrabytes of information on a device have led

next-generation batteries that will soon eliminate the need to plug in to a traditional wall outlet. Down the road, this will create workspaces even less hindered by locational restrictions and more able to adapt to the work at hand.” “It has become more than imperative for office automation technologies to match pace with mobile workspaces.” says Dan of Xerox.Xerox has been consistently working on providing a seamless mobile print experience and to address the evolving needs of the mobile worker while ensuring increased productivity for the employees. “Among our latest mobility offerings are Mopria Print Service Plug-In for Android, Xerox Print Service Pug-in for Android, and Xerox Mobile Print Cloud.” Apart from these Xerox also has an interesting array of mobile apps like Xerox Mobile Access App, Xerox Mobile Link App, and Xerox Mobile Solution. Renjan of DVCOM believes that Mobile workspaces and business centers are currently the trends globally adopted by many start-up companies, which helps in minimizing the OPEX & CAPEX initiatives allowing more business focus with minimal investments. Office automation technologies and its constant R&D are paramount to match the rapidly changing trends in the business world and

“THE FIRST RULE OF ANY TECHNOLOGY USED IN A BUSINESS IS THAT AUTOMATION APPLIED TO AN EFFICIENT OPERATION WILL MAGNIFY THE EFFICIENCY. THE SECOND IS THAT AUTOMATION APPLIED TO AN INEFFICIENT OPERATION WILL MAGNIFY THE INEFFICIENCY”

millions of workers to use consumer cloud-based services that make it easy to access files from any device and get them onto the screens of colleagues, partners and clients.

WORKPLACE MINUS THE ‘PLACE’ With mobile workplace gaining great momentum, the term workplace is no more restricted to an office or a walled space. Technologies are breaking the walls and concepts like BYOD and mobile workspace are making way for new innovations in mobile workplace automation. According to a study in the Wall Street Journal, “Increasingly untethered work modes will demand quick development of reliable, compact and mobile power sources—wireless power and

needs within the organizations. Similarly in the mobile platformCanon’s laser printers, copiers and scanners have revolutionized the concept of automation. “For instance, most of the i-SENSYS Laser Multifunctional Printers are network-ready devices that offer printing, copying and scanning functionalities. They support mobile printing which means users can give print commands via their smartphones or tablets using Canon’s mobile print and scan app as well as Mopria and Apple AirPrint. PIXMA/MAXIFY Printing Solutions App, Easy Photo Print, Air Print and Mopria are some examples that allows you to easily print photos and scan from your Android and iOS devices on compatible PIXMA multifunctional and SELPHY compact photo printers via a local

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COVER STORY

WALL FOR SECURITY….. NOT THE WORKFLOW

RENJAN GEORGE, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF DVCOM TECHNOLOGY

KLAUS SCHULZ, MANAGER PRODUCT MARKETING EMEA AT PFU (EMEA)

“We believe focus, strategies and methodical approach are the keys to be productive in providing right solutions.”

“Completely abolishing paper remains a utopian goal because paper has simply proven its worth throughout the ages. Radically reducing the amount of paper that is consumed is, however, a very realistic target”

wireless network (Wi-Fi)” adds Hendrik of Canon. “Designed for easy operation, one-touch solution keys simplify access to frequently used features, including quick scanning direct to your PC; eco-copying for combining several pages into a single print-out to save paper and money; and secure print for protecting confidential documents and reducing waste by cutting the number of unwanted prints” Hendrik claims. Klaus of Fujitsu asserts, “Offices have undergone a fundamental shift from a desktoponly computing environment to a model where mobility is given a priority, where employees are able to use mobile devices to access applications According to Gartner, worldwide shipments of 3D printers are expected to grow 98% in 2015, followed by a doubling of unit shipments in 2016. 3D printing is to set reach a tipping point by 2018 as the market for relatively low-cost 3D printing devices continues to grow rapidly and industrial use expands significantly.

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and data from any location – thereby increasing engagement and improving productivity. Companies are implementing IT strategies to improve enterprise mobility to strive for better business outcomes.Data and analytics will create competitive advantage in the near future as business models are being shaped by the cloud and engagement powered by mobile and social technologies. Increased adoption of ‘Bring Your Own Devices’ (BYOD) and the use of self-selected apps in offices will change end-users’ computing experience.” adds Klaus. He also emphasizes that the mobile workforce wants to have direct access to important papers – preferably via mobile devices – anytime, anyplace. This transformation requires innovative scanning concepts: ‘Scanto-Cloud’ transfers paper documents into cloud applications like Evernote or Google Docs at the touch of a button, while ‘Scan-to-Mobile’ allows scanning of paper-based documents directly mobile devices. Together, the new concepts render the mobile knowledge workforce a lot more flexible and a lot more productive.

One of the overwhelming challenges that is associated with every new technology is its security. Automation solutions increase the operational efficiency of a business, while a tough challenge lies in aligning the workflow with security. “We believe focus, strategies and methodical approach are the keys to be productive in providing right solutions.”Renjan of DVCOM asserts. Hendrik of Canon says “Canon Mobile Solutions are dedicated print solutions for businesses whether big or small and are designed to enhance business efficiency. Users can scan, manage, and print photos, web pages, documents, and more from an iPhone, iPad, or Android terminal, all with a Canon laser single-function or multi-function device. “At Xerox we take information security very seriously and while developing solutions we constantly ensure that enhanced productivity, seamless workflow and security go hand in hand. This tool helps to simplify personal document workflows and collaboration in an always-connected world, while providing security and preserving integrity of corporate content. Increase productivity and collaboration with an intuitive, secure and mobile-friendly solution” says Dan Smith of Xerox. Xerox Digital Alternatives Tool provides an integrated personal productivity toolset that helps users complete routine business tasks efficiently - without the use of paper, and with the control, convenience and choice mobile knowledge workers need. “With Xerox Digital Alternatives end users can: Collaborate through a unified sharing capability, Synchronize work automatically across corporate and personal devices, Remain productive away from the office, even when working unconnected and much more than that” adds Dan Smith.

THE 3D WAVE IN PRINTING 3D Printing— Reports state that since 2008 this market, that includes printing processes for the production of decorative and laminated surfaces, ceramics, vehicle parts, promotional items or electronic products, has risen annually by 13.4 percent and in 2013 achieved a volume of US$ 43.7 billion. Experts have marked that 3D printer industry is growing fast but the rate is not so fast as to reach out to the masses. “ Today manufacturers across a broad spectrum of industries including automotive, aerospace, dental, discrete, high tech, and medical products are all actively channelling and using 3D printing technologies” remarks Dan of Xerox. Prototyping continues to dominate the reasons why enterprises pursue 3D

COVER STORY

printing, with the opportunity of improving new product development and time-to-market being long-term goals. Canon Europe in February earlier this year entered into distribution agreement with 3D Systems, a leading global provider of 3D printing technology offering a broad range of 3D printers, with ten different models that address a wide variety of 3D printing needs, such as concept modelling, functional prototyping, rapid tooling and end-use parts. “We hope to bring this technology to the Middle East region soon” said Hendrik of Canon. According to Gartner, by 2018, CEA expects 3D printers to generate $175 million in total revenue (CEA, 2014). The cost of 3D printing will decrease over the next three years, leading to rapid growth of the market for these low-cost machines. Gartner highlights that expansion will be especially great in industrial, biomedical and consumer applications, highlighting the extent to which this trend is real, proving that 3D printing is a viable and cost-effective way to reduce costs through improved designs, streamlined prototyping and short-run manufacturing (Gartner, 2014). The UAE, though touted to be a hotspot for the 3D printing industry on the back of growing interest in it, is still in its nascence. One of the main reasons cited for this delay is that the MEA market is predominantly transactional. US and China are frontrunners in the use of technology mainly because there is fair level of local consumption happening. “The main focus, however, in the MEA market is to educate the potential users on how to tap the potentials of 3D printing, its benefits and how it can be an effective business and even a hobby” adds Dan.

RUNNING AHEAD THE RACE, MATCHING THE AUTOMATION PACE Leading vendors in the region are vying for improving the way key verticals are managing documents and automating their business processes. The whole idea of ‘Giving back to the nature’ is also gaining popularity with multiple solutions available in the market that focuses on reducing the carbon footprint.“The fullness of what Xerox offers—technology, workflow and business development consulting model—is what has helped Xerox maintain its leadership position in the rapidly changing industry” claims Dan Smith of Xerox. Xerox’s latest services and tools are very useful for enterprises across diverse sectors. It improves the way retailers, financial institutions, healthcare systems and other large enterprises deal with documents. To further strengthen its vertical industry offerings, Xerox introduces several workflow

automation solutions built on its partnership with Hyland, creator of OnBase, automate processes critical to business functions, such as:Loan Application Processing, Health Records Information Management, Human Resources Onboarding etc. “In line with our expansion on the cloud, Xerox Digital Alternatives, which lets users sign, annotate, share, save and read documents from one interface, is now available in a Xerox private cloud. Enhancing its portfolio with other key solutions is Canon.uniFLOW, Canon’s integrated print and scan management solution, incorporates mobile printing capabilities, allowing customers to provide a facility for mobile workers and guests to print from their mobile devices. This can be achieved in a manner that is secure and where related costs are managed effectively. “uniFLOW can benefit an organisation in many ways like; Incorporate cost control of printing, copying and scanning with visibility; allow users to print securely from any printing device in the network; provide an added layer of document content security at the printer; support for mobile workers and occasional visitors and provide peace of mind that printing environment can evolve as technology evolves” says Hendrik of Canon. Similarly, Digital StoreFront is another solution used by Canon printers. It is print center-branded server/software solution that prints providers own, host and control. Fully customizable, Digital StoreFront allows print providers to leverage the Internet and simplifies and automates job submission, proofing, estimating, and ticketing while eliminating redundant data entry throughout the print procurement and production process. It streamlines print center operations by seamlessly integrating the flow of data through the print center, maximizing device utilization and job turnaround for in-plant, facilities management, and quick print operations. Open source and cloud based workflow solutions are an integral part of the automation too. “We have Open Source and Cloud based SaaS solutions that allow the workflows to be mapped and used effectively within the organization for faster and effective approval mechanism” says Rejan from DVCOM.

INTELLIGENCE EVERYWHERE, EVERYTIME As mentioned in the beginning, office automation has an entire world to it. IP Telephony, Video Conferencing and Networking solutions are some of the key areas in the business automation process that are redefining the aspects of security and communications in the modern enterprises

and these are also the tools that help in compilation, processing and managing the information systematically.“All our solutions as an IP Telephony, Video Conferencing and Networking Company are tools that help in compilation, processing and managing the information systematically” says Renjan of DVCOM technology.Most IP-based security and access control systems use open standards, and this leads to state-of-the-art integration opportunities. Enterprises, today, can use this enhanced functionalities to the back-end operations like video surveillance, trespass detection, fire safety, premise monitoring etc. Also, since all functions are converged, employees can use the same device — an access card, or a smart phone for instance — enter the office, access a work shelf, or automatically log on to a remote computer when they enter the office.

FINALLY… Lesser carbon imprint and quicker printing, scanning, printing and managing documents, document security and internet connectivity . We had made (and still making) all these tremendous speculations on how the ‘Future workplace’ would look like. The reality is that workplace is not a place anymore. You no more ‘go’ to office— you are carrying your office with you on your smart phones and other devices. Automation that started off with simplifying menial day-to-day task has a lot of responsibilities on its shoulder, today. Printers, scanners, etc are no more just machines on the table… they are increasingly becoming ‘employees’ of today’s workplace. The trend is picking and is all set to change the landscape of the way business is done. This ongoing transformation is highly motivated by the green business strategy and switching to environment systems and processes. Integrated print and scan management solution, SaaS, MFPs, and mobile solutions are leading the pack of office automation. According to IDC, automating certain backoffice business processes is far more common in some verticals. For example, regulatory/ compliance processes are tier 1 or 2 priorities for Financial Services, Healthcare, Government, and large enterprises. Legal processes are tier 1 or 2 priorities for Healthcare, Retail, Education, Financial Services, Services, and large enterprises. Cloud is garnering attraction here as well with various solution providers adopting private cloud that allows for easy deployment of an enterprise content management and collaboration platform to capture, manage and share content securely in the cloud from a mobile device or PC. So today, your office/enterprise is not just automated…. It is intelligent too. ë

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COVER FEATURE

PRADEESH VS GENERAL MANAGER, ESET MIDDLE EAST Pradeesh VS is the General Manager of ESET Middle East. His core responsibility is the management of the regional arm of the security major as an independent division having own budget, revenue/ profit targets and performance analysis. He is also responsible for value-added service management and regular monitoring and improvement of brandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s channel management, business development, marketing, support and administration divisions. Pradeesh has set in place a sustainable growth strategy and successfully deepened the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s engagement with regional customer and the channel community. Prior to joining ESET, Pradeesh held high level management and business development roles at organizations that include Cyberoam and Mphasis India Pvt. Ltd.

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COVER FEATURE

ESET

GET- ESET- GO Starting as a pioneer in antivirus protection, ESET has expanded its goals in light of the changing threat landscape to help businesses worldwide enjoy the amazing opportunities of the digital world in the safest possible manner. EC MEA team’s candid interview with Pradeesh VS, General Manager at ESET Middle East about businesses “Doing more” with ESET. n W O R D S : S O U M YA < S O U M YA @ A C C E N T I N F O M E D I A . C O M >

ith the growing acceptance of the reality that security breaches are inevitable and pervasive, it won’t be an exaggeration to say that all kinds of organizations need fully-integrated, agile and responsive IT security to adequately detect and respond to the new era of threats. Aptly named after the ancient Egyptian goddess and magical healer Eset, today, ESET’s security solutions allow businesses in more than 180 countries to make the most of the digital world. Following the rule of first things first, the question that comes to the forefront is how has Q1 been for ESET in the region. And given the numbers, surely, they seem to be all set to stay on top.

NAILING THE NUMBERS “ESET emerged particularly strong in 2014”, Pradeesh tells us. “This is momentum that has carried forward into 2015 as well” adds Pradeesh with a confident smile. One of the regional markets which performed very strongly was Oman. “We intend to keep up our growth there and have also set focus on expanding our business and consumer business in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” comments Pradeesh. The soaring numbers aroused our curiosity to know about the success stories of ESET in the region across different sectors.

PENETRATING SUCCESSFULLY FAR AND WIDE As Pradeesh shares, ESET Middle East enjoys excellent penetration in the education & Govern-

GLIMPSES INTO ESET’S IMPRESSIVE GROWTH IN THE MIDDLE EAST

50%

In the last 12 months alone

Overall enterprise business has grown by 10%

10%

Overall consumer segment business has grown by

15%

Staff strength has witnessed an expansion of 50%

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COVER FEATURE

WHY ESET? Global Presence

Focused on IT security

Protection without Slowdowns

Technology Edge Helps Businesses Do More

RegionalSupport in Arabic and English

our software has never missed a single “In-thewild” worm or virus since the inception of testing in 1998.”

HOLY GRAIL FOR 2015 We Live Security blog comes from the brains at ESET – experienced researchers with in-depth knowledge of the latest threats and security trends. It’s an editorial outlet for internet security news, views and insight, covering the latest, breaking security news, alongside video tutorials, in-depth features, and podcasts. We Live Security is a truly international proposition, with research-teams in Slovakia, the USA, Canada, Germany and Argentina, their teams work around the globe (and around the clock) to bring the latest security news and cutting edge research as it is released.ESET also publishes Virus Radar – a real-time threat monitoring tool, Knowledgebase – ESET’s product support site, and ESET.com, the online home of ESET’s range of anti-virus and internet security products.

ment sectors. “To that end, we recently had a noteworthy success with the British University in Dubai which managed to strengthen its IT posture with a campus-wide deployment of ESET Endpoint Security. In addition to comprehensive endpoint protection and remote administration, ESET Endpoint Security has delivered flexible and granular access control capabilities allowing BUiD to set policies which dictate and regulate what each user can do on their system. The customer has highlighted the key benefits of our solution as its extremely low system footprint and the highly simplified management.”

WHY ESET? When asked on how comprehensive indeed ESET security is, Pradeesh promptly answers, “ESET has

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always been a top performer in all independent tests and not just that, ESET is the most consistent performer as well. Security is not about being good once but being consistent and that’s what ESET offers to its customers. Our solutions have the lightest foot print on the system and this gives the user complete freedom to use the system to its maximum. ESET has a unique scanning mechanism and with its new features like Botnet protection, vulnerability shield and Exploit blocker, we have a “set-it-forget-it” product which will give the customer freedom to DO MORE.” He adds that ESET stands out from the competition not only in performance but also in effectiveness. “We hold the record for the highest number of Virus Bulletin “VB100” Awards won by any Internet security vendor worldwide, and

ESET’s main focus areas for 2015 are: • ESET New Generation of Business Solutions with the ESET Remote Administrator version 6 • Scaling license sales and upselling ESET products • Drawing on the strengths of the technology alliances with DESlock and StorageCraft • Expanding their channel and engaging more deeply with channel partners through partner programs • The ESET Mobile Security solution for Android devices So, how has the progress been so far? “We have already made headway in achieving each of these goals through initiatives such as refreshing our partner program, unveiling a new retail partner program, launching and promoting our overhauled business product range and signing on PSILOG as a new distribution and training partner”, remarks Pradeesh. Security just doesn’t seem to be getting simpler; it’s gradually becoming this complicated maze of late. Given the shortage of security workforce as well as evolving cyber threats, it’s time security companies design a new model to counter the smart hackers at play. So, what have been ESET’s initiatives in simplifying security for the enterprises?

COVER FEATURE

HELPING BUSINESSES DO MORE “Threats are only getting more sophisticated and with each new technology that is thrown into the mix, whether it is BYOD or IoT, there are multiple new attack vectors that cyber criminals can leverage”, observes Pradeesh. And at the same time, IT budgets must be spread over new technologies to streamline business processes and maintenance in addition to security. “With these limitations, organizations need to be thrifty with their human and computational resources and this is precisely what ESET addresses. Our solutions are known in the industry as having the lowest impact on system resources despite offering the most comprehensive security.”He adds, “Furthermore by providing our business users with intuitive controls such as the ESET Remote Administrator, we have greatly simplified the management of our solutions. IT staff can administrator the entire system from a single pane of glass. This frees up resources to focus on other tasks which contribute to business productivity.”

BRINGING THE BEST-INBREED TOGETHER ESET Technology Alliance is aimed at better protecting businesses with a range of complimentary IT security solutions that seamlessly integrate with ESET products. Pradeesh tells us, “We take an immense amount of care to ensure that all members of the ESET Technology Alliance are carefully vetted against a set of established criteria to extend “best-in-class” business protection across IT environments. These partnerships also benefit our channel community in the region as they can now offer robust end-to-end security solutions.” Commenting on the first entrant into the alliance, he says, “With DESlock, we are capable of offering a well established encryption product, with a simple-to-use application with unique architecture, to provide powerful data encryption to customers”. The next entrant is StorageCraft and as a result, “our customers can add backup and disaster recovery to their layered security strategy. These solutions enable users to maintain business continuity by reducing downtime, improving security and stability for systems and data and lowering the total cost of ownership”, remarks Pradeesh. Someone had rightly remarked that choosing the right partners ensures half of the job is done. So, apart from bringing in the best in technology together, how is ESET empowering its channel of partners?

IF CUSTOMER IS THE KING, PARTNER IS THE BEST FRIEND “Yes, we are a 100% channel driven organization so our success in the Middle East itself is the greatest win in this regard”, says Pradeesh.“Thanks to our partners, we are capable of being active in 11 countries- UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Yemen, Lebanon, Jordan Egypt and Libya- from our regional hub in Dubai. We especially take pride in the fact that this is mutual and our partners too have seen their revenues grow together with ESET.” Of course this success has been the result of a well thought out and executed strategy which has involved signing on the right qualified VADs, tailoring and launching Middle East specific partner programs and regularly conducing incentive and partner reach programs. ESET recently signed a distribution agreement with PSILOG. Pradeesh says, “PSILOG will add not only to our distribution capabilities, but will also play a lead role in the training and support of our channel partners. The distributor will help us execute on our 2015 goal of expanding our new license business. Thanks to their well established customer and partner base, we foresee plenty

“Essentially, as sad as it sounds, none of the security systems available on the market are sufficient. Even with all the security system add-ons - none of them work against spy attacks.” We sought Pradeesh’s responses to the comment. “If this were true, IT security companies would be out of business”, right comes the retort. He goes on to explain- “The fact of the matter is that cyber criminals go after the weakest link so hardening your security breaks the economics of attack. Security companies like ESET that have focused on computer threats have been incredibly successful at protecting users from being victimised. It calls for companies to have an in-depth understanding of the variety of threats and block them without disruption. At the same time, the weakest link is often the end user so constant awareness is no doubt critical to protecting against attacks.” A discussion on security shall be deemed incomplete without bringing on table the latest culprits causing mayhem. Pradeesh tells us, “We have seen recently a lot of Crypto lockers and ransomware. We also see a trend of targeted attacks and this is where organizations need to work very close with their partners and vendors to ensure their security systems are up to date. As the number of mobile devices is growing at

“SECURITY IS NOT ABOUT BEING GOOD ONCE BUT BEING CONSISTENT AND THAT’S WHAT ESET OFFERS TO ITS CUSTOMERS. OUR SOLUTIONS HAVE THE LIGHTEST FOOT PRINT ON THE SYSTEM AND THIS GIVES THE USER COMPLETE FREEDOM TO USE THE SYSTEM TO ITS MAXIMUM.”

of opportunities for ESET’s solutions to be sold to new customer accounts”. Most importantly, PSILOG gives ESET the ability to compete aggressively in the retail market in Saudi Arabia. In response to the growth in retail presence, ESET has also come up with a special partner program for retail. “We have structured the program in a way our retail partners benefit more as they sell more. This keeps them motivated which gives them one more reason to promote ESET along with other reasons such as customer satisfaction & light foot print”, Pradeesh tells us.

HOW SECURE IS THE SECURITY? Post the recent hacking of German Parliament, an IT security specialist was quoted saying,

an exponential rate, so are the threats targeting mobile device. This is why we emphasise that all Android users should ensure they are safe before they going online.It is important to back up your data and have a state of art security product.

FINALLY… Instead of becoming a part of the business, security has become a business in itself in light of the ever evolving threat landscape. ESET is definitely doing its bit as the expert sentinel taking entire responsibility for the security of an organization so that the resources therein can be utilized for other innovative as well as profit making endeavours. So, the subtle message that is hard to miss is – GET-ESET- GO on the road to successful businesses. ë

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GUEST TALK

HELP AG

Why the Threat of Hacktivism Is Only Getting Worse As good as you may be at identifying the vulnerability, you may still be a target.With the right strategies in place however, you can protect your business from becoming just another ‘anonymous’ statistic.

n WORDS: NICOLAI SOLING, DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, HELP AG

Hacktivism is no new threat to the cyber community in the Middle East. As recently as May this year, OpDjibouti started to sweep over the UAE with a target list of more than 200 government entities as well as a number of private organizations operating in the country. And it is not over yet as other targets under the codenames OpUAE, OpSaudi, OpBahrain etc. are being publishing in daily target lists which the attackers can then paste into their attack tools to automate attacks. The tagline from the attackers says “ DDoS 10 minutes a day to keep the troubles away”. Historically these forms of attacks were often focused around government entities, but now, there is a more widespread target list, which the hacktivists even publish specific target list depending on industrial vertical and country. With big name brands in the region being almost synonymous with the countries in which they operate, targeting corporations is proving to be an effective means to garner media attention. Worse still, we are now seeing offshoots of basic hactivism such as state funded hactivism and even cyber terrorism- both of which are harder to combat and far more damaging.

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Why the threat will worsen A prominent factor in the increasing scale of hacktivism is that any organization today depends on IT to operate. Furthermore, as a web-presence is today an important part of any company’s brand, there is a great deal of embarrassment and brand damage associated with such attacks. With ‘Smart Cities’ and ‘Smart Governments’ set to soon become realities in the Middle East, the impact of hacktivism, and consequently the motivation to do so, is far more pronounced. Why the explosion of Hacktivism is not just bad Today, with the exponential growth in the number of attacks and target lists, the attacks have been spread more thinly, and to some extent there is also a notion that some of the attackers may become a bit “battle fatigued” from keeping up with all of the target-lists being published. One needs to remember that the attacker is not necessarily a professional, but someone who is doing this part-time as a show of support. However, what is also happening is that the firepower of the attacker is becoming bigger as computing

power evolves. Today you can “rent” DDoS environments which can create problems even for a large organization. Many of these environments are located in public cloud environments, so taking them down or blocking their traffic can be extremely difficult. Combatting hacktivism When talking about hacktivism, one must understand that it is not a lost battle. By making yourself harder to impact, you will ultimately be less likely to be impacted. You simply want to make sure you do not become a low hanging fruit, which will be picked first. The first step is really to ensure that the defences are correctly deployed, which means understanding if you are vulnerable, and evaluating how robust you are to the attack methods a hacktivist will usually be utilizing. As an example, understanding the type of devices connecting to your website is a great first step. The next step is to understand if you have vulnerabilities. If you are unable to establish this yourself, you need to work with professionals to figure out if you are a target. At Help AG, we employ a team of

ethical hackers, who utilize their technical skills to assess and exploit customer’s environments in order to be able to report and fix the vulnerabilities before a hacktivist can do the same. But it is also about looking out for the unknown. As good as you may be at identifying the vulnerability, you may still be a target. Sadly, though the threat is very real, most organizations do very little to protect what is essentially a major customer touch point for their business. Services such as Help AG’s cloud-based Co-ordinated Threat Mitigation (CTM) are available and these continuously monitor the state of a website and in case an unauthorized change of the site takes place automatically replaces the malicious content or redirects traffic. Given how easy it is to procure cyber weapons and how little risk there is to their use, cyber criminals are bound to increase their usage of hacktivism as a means to voice political frustration. As more business is taken online, the scope of hacktivism will grow. With the right strategies in place however, you can protect your business from becoming just another ‘anonymous’ statistic. ë

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FEATURE

Digging Deeper There are no contradicting views to the fact that Oil and gas industry has been reining the economy of the Middle East region. And now with the emergence of big data analytics and IoT, technology is fuelling 10 101010101001100101010101010101010101011011011001010100101010110010101001 10 101010101001100101010101010101010101011011011001010100101010110010101001 the fuel itself. EC MEA tries to unravel how the next-gen technology is helping the sector to dig deeper into its resources and what are the opportunities therein. The depth is tremendous but the question is how much so far and what’s on the radar.

THE THEAPPEAL APPEALOFOFBIG BIGDATA DATA

ININOIL OILAND ANDGAS GAS

n W O R D S : S O U M YA < S O U M YA @ A C C E N T I N F O M E D I A . C O M >

Survey Survey shows shows companies companies view view growing growing data data volumes volumes as an as an important important business business asset. asset. Approximately Approximately 62 percent 62 percent of respondents of respondents currently currently store store at least at least 100100 terabytes terabytes of data. of data.

ccording to Oxford Economics, IoE adoption by the O&G industry has the potential to increase global GDP by up to 0.8 percent—or $816 billion—by 2025. In a Cisco survey, oil and gas leaders indicated that they are focusing on getting more out of what they already have. Over the last few years the oil and gas industry has gone through rapid digitization both in operations as well as support functions, accumulating huge amount of valuable transactional data sitting in various systems spread across operations globally. O&G companies are deluged with data generated by a multitude of sensors and machines spread throughout their far-flung value chain. The challenge that organizations face today is “to generate timely insights from this data mainly arising due to the technological platform limitations”, says Manas Sahoo, Expert Advisor, Oil and Gas industry, SAP industry value engineering – EMEA. However, he adds, “Leaders in the oil and gas industry have been able to address these big data challenges and have turned them into opportunities in order to differentiate themselves in the market.”

FUELLING THE FUELS WITH IOT IoT is opening up opportunities for O&G companies to achieve safety, efficiency, and vis-

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WHAT WHATCOMPANIES COMPANIESWANT WANT FROM FROMBIG BIGDATA. DATA. . .. .

. . . AND . . AND WHAT WHAT O&G O&G COMPANIES COMPANIES PLAN PLAN TOTO DODO WITH WITH IT IT

Exploration & & 62% 62% Exploration Development Development Predictive Predictive Analytics Analytics

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Production Production & Operations & Operations Real-time Real-time production production optimization optimization scientific scientific models models

Build newnew SAFE SAFE DANGERDANGERBuild

Optimize Optimize resource resource allocation allocation Source: Source: Microsoft, Microsoft, “Global “Global Enterprise Enterprise Big Data Big Data Trends: Trends: 2013.” 2013.” September September 2012.2012.

For more For more information information aboutabout the oilthe and oil gas and industry’s gas industry’s growing growing interest interest in bigindata, big data, check check out the outcomplete the complete Microsoft Microsoft whitewhite paperpaper at at http://aka.ms/Whitepaper_O-G_BI. http://aka.ms/Whitepaper_O-G_BI.

ibility across the enterprise like never before. “IoT is at the heart of this transformation”, says Manas. “It connects assets, people, products, and services to streamline the flow of information, enable realtime decisions, heighten asset performance, improve process and product quality, empower people, and open up new opportunities for the industry. IoT could help optimize injection and production across horizontal well completions for maximum recovery of original oil in place.” To capitalize on the wide range of data IoE generates, O&G firms must overcome three key

Enterprise Enterprise Security Security

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Predict/prevent Predict/prevent cyber-terror cyber-terror actsacts

challenges: “automating the collection of data, integrating data from multiple and often far-flung sources and analyzing data to effectively identify actionable insights”, remarks Shukri Eid, Director Cisco Consulting Services, Middle East, Africa and Russia, CIS. Needless to say, the ability to access and draw rich insights from your data sets is at the heart of profitability in this industry and in an industry where your success relies on how quickly you can forecast potential and keeping costs low to actualize that success.

FEATURE

Data from oil platform equipment is analyzed in real time at a remote service center (Source- Microsoft)

THE CIO PERSPECTIVE

MUBARIK HUSSAIN

HEAD OF IT AT PETROSERV QATAR

“I believe big data and analytics are revolutionizing the industry as the ability to get richer real time accurate information on the business is improving which will result in greater profitability for the company and

EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE WORM Too often in the O &G industry organizational “silos” deny or limit access to this information — severely curtailing the potential impact of data analytics for many firms. Shukri tells us, “Our solution - Cisco SAP HANA - helps O&G firms manage large volumes and a variety of structured and unstructured data in real time, offering

reduced operating costs. We believe we have made a lot of progress and been successful in this regard. The ability to draw insights from our data and get accurate real-time information on our Government Oil and Gas, Civil Infrastructure and Building projects was a driving factor behind transformational work carried out at the company which involved rebuilding all aspects of the IT infrastructure, upskilling of staff companywide and aligning business with technology over a 2 year period. Data has to be accurate and in real-time and staff need the required skills to utilise the technologies for the company management to make effective decisions that can increase profitability, reduce cost and risk. IoT will be an area that experiences a lot of growth in the coming years as business and non it management realise the benefits and insights the information can offer.”

synthesized, ad hoc data analysis from SAP applications, third-party solutions, or custom industry applications”. SAP surely seems to have got its speed game right. As Manas explains, “SAP’s solutions for the O&G industry enables organization to not only automate and streamline business processes but also to leverage these transactional data sets for drawing right insights facilitating more informed

SHUKRI EID DIRECTOR CISCO CONSULTING SERVICES, MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA AND RUSSIA, CIS

“With the Internet of Everything (IoE) creating a whole new digital agenda for oil and gas, O&G companies need a new model that brings IT innovation to the industrial control environment.” decisions. SAP also has highly experienced industry consultants who can facilitate this trans-

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SOLUTIONS ON THE PLATTER “Cisco Data Virtualization Platform offers a streamlined approach to data integration, helps you respond faster to ever changing analytics and Business Intelligence needs, evolve your data management approach successfully and save 50-75% over data replication and consolidation”says Shukri. “With the Internet of Everything (IoE) creating a whole new digital agenda for oil and gas, O&G companies need a new model that brings IT innovation to the industrial control environment. They need to implement a model that integrates information, data, people, and processes across their supply chain”, “Cisco works closely with O&G companies to integrate our solutions transparently, while reducing risk through a phased approach.”

“For more than 40 years, SAP has enabled best practice business processes for the oil and gas industry on a robust technology business platform”, remarks Manas. He draws attention to the key focus of SAP of late which has been on “innovation to extend the frontier even further and turn the “system-of-record” into “system-of-engagement” as well leverage the latest developments in big data and analytics space”. “It is helping organizations transform from “process driven” to being “data driven”. SAP is proud to have been a pioneer in bringing a true in-memory database into the market (read SAP HANA platform) and leveraging the capabilities for making smarter business decisions that were not possible before due to limitations of traditional databases due to their throughput and response time limitations.”

Riverbed’s SteelFusion is a hyper-converged infrastructure solution which enables zero IT at remote locations such as oil rigs by virtualizing and consolidating 100% of data and servers from these sites into the central data center. “This means that these locations can benefit from centralizing data security and IT management without losing the benefits of running branch services locally”, says Taj ElKhayat, Regional Vice President, Middle East, Turkey, North, West, and Central Africa at Riverbed Technology.

The energy sector needs highly effective mechanisms to control processes, reduce costs, and respond to constantly evolving operational and business challenges. “Epicor ERP helps these companies, from oil and gas service providers to upstream or midstream operators, to seamlessly manage and integrate their business processes”, says Vinodkumar Raghothamarao, Customer Engagement Manager, Epicor Software Middle East. “Epicor ERP helps oil and gas companies overcome some very unique business challenges by offering services that are specifically designed for the oil and gas industry”.

du offer a myriad of products and services that support the Oil and Gas sector and centre around providing advanced connectivity solutions included ethernet and managed VSAT. “Further to providing connectivity, du’s portfolio of relevant products spans machine-to-machine, cloud and a variety of security solutions”, adds Abou Moustafa, Vice President Enterprise Managed Services & Solutions, du.

At Infoblox, “we offer mission critical solutions and tools that allow O&G customers to visualize as well as have incredible levels of governance, manageability and compliance over all the IT assets”, remarks Cherif Sleiman, General Manager, Middle East at Infoblox. He adds that they also excel in terms of defending the content against malware and any type of snooping or attacks against their DNS structures.

Software AG has developed two software solutions particularly for the oil and gas sector. Rami Kichli, Vice President, Software AG, Gulf & Levant tells us, “Our Cash Flow Risk Management platform is designed to assist in gathering necessary information for the effective management of receivables cash-flow risks. The other solution we offer is Energy Theft Detection. Both solutions are designed to track operational costs and revenue swiftly, as well as automate revenue protection department processes to improve operational efficiency and management visibility.”

As O&G companies operate in hostile areas, “WebNMS IoT solution leverages real-time remote intelligence of oil fields with an end-toend solution - from oil extraction to storage to transportation to advanced predictive analysis. With deep expertise and experience in delivering IoT technology to various industries, WebNMS addresses the challenges of O&G companies with highly scalable WebNMS IoT Platform that facilities seamless integration with the existing systems/ applications”, says Prabhu Ramachandran , Director-WebNMS division at ZOHO Corporation. He adds, “The solution from WebNMS provides visibility of data across the breadth of workflow.”

MANAS SAHOO

EXPERT ADVISOR, OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY, SAP INDUSTRY VALUE ENGINEERING – EMEA

“SAP is proud to have been a pioneer in bringing a true in-memory database into the market (read SAP HANA platform) and leveraging the capabilities for making smarter business decisions that were not possible before.”

formation for organizations. SAP also has “Rapid Deployment Solutions (RDS)” with defined scope, timeline and budget for implementation of such analytical solutions.” Within Epicor ERP, they offer Enterprise Performance Management (EPM)for data and business intelligence that helps customers gain key insights from their business data. “Because Epicor EPM is flexible and intuitive, it helps O&G companies to respond quickly to market changes. It uses advanced analytic capabilities and incorporates modern web application concepts for ease of use”, comments Vinod. Software AG’s ‘IoT Predictive Maintenance’ solution helps leverage real-time condition monitoring and predictive maintenance to optimally maintain equipment while decreasing current costs. “It enables us to avoid costly corrective or preventive maintenance, ensuring maximum performance and availability”, says Rami.

TECHNOLOGY BREAK-

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ABOU MOUSTAFA

VICE PRESIDENT ENTERPRISE MANAGED SERVICES & SOLUTIONS, DU

“With du Managed services portfolio, we have a wide range of state-of– the-art technology that can overcome various challenges which include advanced connectivity, cloud, converged communication and security.” ING NEW GROUNDS IN OIL AND GAS “The best technological innovation of late for the oil and gas industry according to me has been the emergence of “Integrated digital oil field operations” together with the convergence of various technology innovations (like IoT, Cloud, Mobility, big data, IT/OT integration) towards a singularity”, comments Manas. “Not only have oil and gas organizations improved on digitizing/ automating their operations in upstream and treating it as a significant source of value but technology vendors have kept up pace and shown the direction on how fields can be made smarter, more integrated and safer.”

CLOUDY OR NOT SO CLOUDY? Oil prices have plunged to a new low, forcing oil and gas companies to be more efficient. “That is where cloud computing can help. Cloud offers businesses the chance to benefit from high qual-

CHERIF SLEIMAN

GENERAL MANAGER, MIDDLE EAST AT INFOBLOX

“The O&G industry is highly regulated. So, you need to be a trusted advisor and rather than just providing technology, you absolutely have to have a very deep understanding of their business and have a solution set that can cater to the entire spectrum of their needs.” ity enterprise IT, without having to make a large CAPEX investment”, comments Vinod. Manas tells us that the top priority areas where organizations are starting to adopt cloud based solutions are Talent Management and HRM, Procurement, Connecting with business partners over the network and doing business with partners using it , Omni-channel marketing , Travel Management, Learning environment, Contingent labour management and Private cloud for ERP.

A COMPLEX MAZE Most companies are following a ‘wait and watch’ policy, making sure that the industry has enough success stories around big data projects, before adopting big data technologies themselves. So what’s preventing the industry from making full utilization of the solutions on offer? Complexity of processes, geographies, systems comprises a major hurdle, while lack of consistent organization wide “digitization, big data and analytics”

VINODKUMAR RAGHOTHAMARAO

CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT MANAGER, EPICOR SOFTWARE MIDDLE EAST

““Because Epicor EPM is flexible and intuitive, it helps oil and gas companies to respond quickly to market changes. It uses advanced analytic capabilities and incorporates modern web application concepts for ease of use” strategy is also a hindrance. Businesses today struggle with too much complexity inhibiting them from addressing vital business requirements – meeting stakeholder expectations in real time. “ The transition to the digital economy, the Internet of Things, social media, and other external, structured and unstructured data flows adds to the complexities that hinders organizations trying to embrace big data analytics and run simple”, says Manas. He adds that through its various solutions and services, SAP is helping organizations connect processes and obtain real-time insights with its modern technology platform that supports business today and in the future. Bit Stew and Cisco have collaborated to bring intelligence and automation to the digital oil field, where Bit Stew’s MIx Core takes full advantage of Cisco’s IOx technology, by embedding its core technology inside Cisco fog devices, providing data analysis at the edge of the network and in cloud-based systems – all in real-time.

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TAJ ELKHAYAT REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENT, MIDDLE EAST, TURKEY, NORTH, WEST, AND CENTRAL AFRICA AT RIVERBED TECHNOLOGY

“By storing data at the consolidated data center rather than at the individual branches, SteelFusion solution not only enhances security, but also makes it possible for organizations to have all the information they need at one single location” One of the challenges that O&G companies face is managing infrastructure that is difficult to support and having to deal with inconsistent server and backups at remote sites that make recovery uncertain and put data at risk. “By storing data at the consolidated data center rather than at the individual branches, SteelFusion solution not only enhances security, but also makes it possible for organizations to have all the information they need at one single location”, says Taj. Challenges continue to haunt technology providers as well as IT is still not considered as a strategic business partner in all enterprises. Manas advises that the technology providers need to collaborate with IT teams at these O&G organizations . They need to bring the latest technology innovations and make them relevant and actionable for of oil and gas companies. The main challenge here is around understanding their business – “the O&G industry is highly regulated. So from that perspective, you need to

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RAMI KICHLI

VICE PRESIDENT, SOFTWARE AG, GULF & LEVANT

“Software AG’s solutions are designed to track operational costs and revenue swiftly, as well as automate revenue protection department processes to improve operational efficiency and management visibility”

A new global study, “Industrial Internet Insights for 2015,” from GE and Accenture reveals there is a growing urgency for organizations to embrace big data analytics to advance their Industrial Internet strategy. However, less than one-third (29 per cent) of the 250 executives surveyed for the study are using big data across their company for predictive analytics or to optimise their business.

be a trusted advisor and rather than just providing technology, you absolutely have to have a very deep understanding of their business and have a solution set that can cater to the entire spectrum of their needs”, comments Cherif. “With du Managed services portfolio, we have a wide range of state-of–the-art technology that can overcome various challenges which include advanced connectivity, cloud, converged communication and security”, comments Abou.

PRABHU RAMACHANDRAN

DIRECTOR-WEBNMS DIVISION AT ZOHO CORPORATION

“WebNMS offers a complete end-to-end solution for the O&G companies from integration of data in monitoring the oil extraction to oil storage to transportation – thus providing visibility of data across the breadth of workflow” Shukri draws our attention to the fact that protection of company information (including customer, transactional data) has been identified as a key challenge. To secure the networked connections among people, processes, data, and things, security needs to be as pervasive as the IoE.”

FINALLY… Considering the global economic mayhem, constant competition to outdo eachother, and fluctuations in prices, it’s high time that the energy companies need to take a tough stand to transform their business models if they haven’t done so already. In a world where people and machines are converging online, the oil and gas sector must determine the best strategy for its transformation into a more digitised ecosystem by using these technologies to its advantage. The companies should use big data to get more oil or gas out of new or existing wells as well as increase safety and mitigate environmental risks. ë

INFRASTRUCTURE

ALCATEL LUCENT

Value, Commitment, Engagement - The ALE Mantra With soaring shares, a dedicated partner ecosystem, and cutting-edge solutions, ALE, which operates under the Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise brand, has a pocket full of reasons to wear a proud smile on their faces. n WORDS: ANUSHREE DIXIT <ANUSHREE@ACCENTINFOMEDIA.COM>

engaging with our customers and understand their needs and demands. The other is the Channel Sales – where our partners help the channels in understanding the various challenges in terms of sales or deciphering the region” explains Moreno. ALE also employs key field engineers to focus on the services segment. “Despite the fact that we are supporting and doing business through our partners, we also have expert field engineers to support the deployment of the solutions”. ALE also provides professional services, which is provided to the end user through the channel partners. “The services are provided by ALE but it goes through our business partner only” says Moreno.

cup of warm Espresso on the table, brewed the conversation. Every sip brought out a different walk of Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise in the Middle East region… In a witty statement, Moreno Ciboldi, Senior Vice President, South Europe & MEA says, “I know how to make my espresso now” somehow echoes to me as “We know and have the right kind of solutions to rule over the region”.

CLEARING THE MIST “People often tend to mistake Alcatel-Lucent for Alcatel Lucent Enterprise” says Moreno. “Alcatel Lucent Enterprise is a completely independent company dedicated to enterprise and dedicated to channels. We are investing a lot in the MEA region. We are expanding our offices, increasing headcounts and we have some great stories to tell” adds Moreno. ALE is also investing significantly towards a consolidated structure for channel marketing and customer marketing. “We are working closely with our end-users to generate demand around our solutions” says Moreno.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE “Channel Partners are key to ALE” says Moreno. “Our solutions and services are provided to the end user through our partners, thus we have a dedicated partner ecosystem in the region. Apart from that ALE has a dedicated sales organization that is inclined to 2 main profiles; The Direct Touch platform – where we have employees

CONQUERING VERTICALS

BAHER EZZAT,

REGIONAL DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST REGION.

“Our partner ecosystem thrives on engagement and commitment. We don’t believe in transactional partnership.”

As an organization that focuses on enterprise solutions, ALE reaches out and has references in all the verticals. According to Baher Ezzat, Regional Director, Middle East Region, “Hospitality, Healthcare, and Education are the top 3 spending verticals in the region. We have good references in all the three sectors and we are establishing business units in each vertical to provide proper solutions and excellent value to these verticals.” Baher states that the ultimate goal of ALE is to double the revenue in the next 3-5 years. To attain these they are taking new strides geographically, vertically, on the cloud platform, and through new business acquisitions. Adding on to this, Moreno says, “When we talk

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about tapping a certain vertical, it is not just from the sales perspective. We believe and envision to create a business unit that is completely verticalized—starting from the R&D, going to business marketing development, positioning and sales.”

NEW STRIDES A recent announcement of ALE is the ‘Travel, Hospitality and Leisure Solution Unit’. The business unit delivers outcome based technology solutions that create a personalized connected experience for today’s travellers.The ALE Hospitality portfolio delivers on three key areas to benefit the business: solutions that create a memorable guest experience, reduces infrastructure costs and improves hotel operations. The portfolio includes adapted communications and networking solutions for the industry delivered via the cloud or on premise. Talking about the vision behind this solution, Moreno says, “With unified communications for the entire hotel, we are taking a step ahead in leveraging customer experience. Our solutions are appealing to the customers as well as the management. We believe, always, in understanding and catering to the needs of the customers’ customers”.

SOLUTIONS/SERVICES ON OFFERUnified communica-

tions: ALE has been a major player and has had great success in the UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) space. Baher claims, “With unified communications, we had tasted success in the Middle East years back. The challenge is the actual usage of this. Customers are buying these services but the deployment and usage has not been significant. But now the situation is changing with the dawn of the ‘Early Adopter’ trend. People have started to pick and choose the services wisely rather than going for whatever the vendors pushed down their throats. UCaaS is an a la carte service, where customers can choose the service as per their requirements. Earlier people had some skepticism and questions on security but slowly this trend is also changing and people are accepting this fact that adopting a cloud platform is business friendly rather than making unwanted investments in capex. Hence, we are pushing cloud and infrastructure as service.We are also pushing the price per user model. As we can see, the market is trending more towards B2B now rather than B2C, we are striving to make all our solutions and technology— service oriented. And our partners are playing a key role here as well”. The Cloud: Moreno says, “We are very advanced in the cloud platform, especially in the

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MORENO CIBOLDI,

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, SOUTH EUROPE & MEA

“We believe in understanding and catering to the needs of our customers’ customer”

European market. All our major operations are on the cloud. Adoption of cloud in the Middle East is not very fast compared to its European counterpart. But it is very important for the customers and partners to know that these cloud solutions are adopted successfully in other countries and should keep their worries on security in the cloud at bay”. He also says that their solutions are designed in a ‘pay as you go’ model, where the customers are free to choose the kind of services they want and customize them accordingly. IP telephony is now at the core of the UC&C landscape. Cloud-based telephony solutions can shift CAPEX to OPEX and reduce operational costs. Managed Services: “We have been in the field of Managed services for big time now. We have a long-standing partner in Kuwait, long time before anyone started” says Baher.

CATERING TO IOT “While talking about IoT, the most complicated thing would be networking.” says Baher. “For this we have our Intelligent Fabric which brings true network flexibility and agility, ensuring business agility and delivers automated deployment and self-healing network fabric capabilities to reduce overhead in IT operations. SDN is yet another powerful weapon in ALE’s quiver. As Baher puts it across, “The future would be unpredictable with IoT. So you need a network capable enough to understand the requirements and we are happy that with our SDN we are going in the right tangent.”

CLIMBING THE LADDER Moreno says, “Our solutions and services have been deployed in the Ministry of Health in Kuwait, Ministry of Health in Saudi etc. More than 70% 5 star hotels in Qatar have deployed our systems. We have been very successful in the SMB sector as well.”Some key customers in the region to name are Al Futtaim Group, Dubai Airport, Dubai Economic Department, Dubai Bank, DUCAB, Dibba Al Hisn Municipality, Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information….etc.

V4P… VALUE FOR PARTNERS As Moreno beautifully puts it across, “Partnership is like a marriage. It is not about who choses whom - at the end of the day it is based on mutual trust.” He adds, “Our partners are loyal to us and key to us. So before looking outside and working with new partners, we wish to relook into our existing partner system.” In 2016, ALE is planning to completely revamp the way they do business. ALE is definitely looking for key partnerships in the coming quarters, but the focus is more on the existing partners. Baher says “Key focus is to relook at our existing partners.In line with our vision to double the business, we are launching a program called V4P— Value for Partners. We are relooking into each and every point of our engagement in the partner ecosystem. The ultimate goal is to cut investments by half and for this we are focusing on various key areas like working on enhancing relationships, introducing marketing engagement andincreasing partner revenue.” ë

PARTNER STREET

FINESSE QLIK

Partners in Intelligence

John Sands, Qlik Evangelist, Global Product Marketing; Sunil Paul, Co-Founder & COO, Finesse and Eljo JP, Director Business Development, Finesse stipple their opinions on the the growth of BI and the Finesse-Qlik partnership. n WORDS: ANUSHREE <ANUSHREE@ACCENTINFOMEDIA.COM>

ne of the key factors fuelling the Big Data market in the Middle East and Africa is the rapid increase in data generation from different verticals. According to John Sands, Qlik Evangelist, Global product marketing, “Organizations today, are data rich but information poor. In such a situation, BI harnesses the power of big data and renders useful information.” Qlik, with Qlik View and Qlik Sense, changed this mindset and enabled business to explore their data rather than just accumulating it. “We are one of the biggest

SUNIL PAUL,

CO-FOUNDER & COO, FINESSE

“The way we look at data is a 360° approach.” 44

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players in Data Discovery and with data visualization and discovery application we help business explore data deeply” says John Sands. Finesse has been one of the leading partners of Qlik in the region for the past three and half years. Finesse works with around 70% of the banks in the region and is uniquely positioned as the Numero Uno BFSI SI in the region. Sunil Paul, Co-Founder and COO of Finesse says, “On the business intelligence platform, we work with Qlik to enhance the BI experience with a lot of visualization and analytics tools. But, as Finesse is a System Integration company we consider the

JOHN SANDS,

QLIK EVANGELIST, GLOBAL PRODUCT MARKETING

“Many organizations are data rich, but information poor”

ELJO JP,

DIRECTOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, FINESSE

“With the growing landscape of Big Data and social media, the need for data analytics have soared. Hence BI will gain more momentum now.” entire spectrum of data…..so our focus ranges from data extraction to data collaboration, data warehousing, data cleansing, data management, and also data archiving. So the way we look at data is to provide a 360 degree approach. Hence, with Qlik apps, Finesse enables enterprises to aid the decision makers in making the right information at the right time.” John Sands says, “BYOD strategy is gaining pace as more and more organizations are looking into it as a cost effective business strategy. Qlik gives you the freedom to move from devices to devices. While Qlik gives you a competitive application, Finesse makes sure that it gives you the right kind of security. Eljo JP, says, “Finesse has a different set of tools for MDM wherein we have controls over all the security related aspects when it comes to BYOD. ” Being a SI, Finesse has seen the rise of business intelligence in the region. Eljo says, “If we study this region, BI picked on from telecom and banking sector. It then moved on to the retail sector. Today we can see the public sector and healthcare sector as the latest adopters. With the growing landscape of Big Data and social media, the need for data analytics have soared…. Hence BI will gain more momentum now.” ë

INTERNET OF THINGS

DELL

Connecting IT with Operational Technology Dell’s message to the enterprises of the region is –“MOVE FORWARD”; even a small step is a progressive move towards a smarter ecosystem. n W O R D S : S O U M YA < S O U M YA @ A C C E N T I N F O M E D I A . C O M >

he Dell philosophy has always been centred on the potential of technology to empower people. Taking this forward, Dell smartly leveraged the IoTX 2015 at Dubai to share its vision and strategy around the Internet of Things with the Middle East region. Anthony Sayers, IoT business developer and strategist, Dell OEM EMEA believes that Dell is well positioned to address the requirements of the key industries of the region in their journey to smarter systems through the adoption of IoT. They are focused on the commercial proposition and thanks to their understanding of the nerve of this region, they are confident that they can help enterprise customers in moving their strategy from the disconnected world to a connected world where information technology meets operational technology. Kirsten Billhardt, Marketing Strategist, Dell OEM has been spearheading Dell’s marketing activities for IoT worldwide. She feels that IoT is garnering strong and consistent interest all across the globe. In the Middle East region, there is a great emphasis on the energy sector wherein the key target is to improve productivity and analytics in harsh environments. Telcos are another big area of focus when it comes to IoT. Anthony further draws attention to the fact that while talking of connecting different environments, securing and managing the same is a crucial aspect; and hence security is something Dell focuses upon while working around various IoT solutions.

KIRSTEN BILLHARDT,

MARKETING STRATEGIST, DELL OEM

“The region is still considered an emerging type of market; therefore it’s actually easier for the Middle East to go faster because it doesn’t have to rip out legacy infrastructure.”

ANTHONY SAYERS,

IOT BUSINESS DEVELOPER AND STRATEGIST, DELL OEM EMEA

“Our core focus is the commercial market sector and the industrial sector as well. The key offering Dell brings in is predictive analytics” Taking forward the discussion on analytics, Kirsten tells us how over a period of prolonged interaction with customers, Dell observed a significant gap in the IoT space. It was seen that a majority of the IoT solutions behave like consumer solutions; with sensors sending data all the way to the cloud and then all the way back. Though this might seem a simple model, way too many issues were found with it; the most pressing one being the latency resulting out of the long time lag. This undoubtedly affects the performance of the systems and the enterprises’ productivity is affected adversely in the long run. Security was yet another issue since sensitive information had to be protected across long distances and time periods. Dell has come up with its latest range of gateway products; they believe that though it might make sense to do analytics in the cloud, it makes even more sense to do some analytics closest to the location of the sensors; thereby, saving on time, costs and safety issues. Talking of so many connections, one might ponder if there’s a limit to the level of connectivity. Anthony strongly believes that connections are meant to help people, not to invade their privacy. Dell believes in using technology to make the world more efficient without becoming invasive. ë

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CISCO

Making way for IoE through Digital Transformation Needless to say, the Internet of Things (IoT), which we are already witnessing, is the foundation for the Internet of Everything (IoE). As a lead sponsor of the IoTX 2015, Dubai, Cisco showcased its world-class solutions to help organizations leverage digital transformation. n W O R D S : S O U M YA < S O U M YA @ A C C E N T I N F O M E D I A . C O M >

he recently concluded IoTX 2015 exhibition held in Dubai witnessed Cisco highlighting the impact that the Internet of Everything (IoE) is already having in the Middle East region and how it is contributing to Dubai’s Smart City transformation in the build-up to hosting World Expo 2020 and beyond. The wave of IoT has swept the market, without any doubts. But the question arises- how is the Middle East market responding to it? Is it all smoke or is there a fire too? Ashley Woodbridge, Customer Solutions Architect, Cisco tells us that when it comes to market response, Dubai has definitely performed par excellence. Thanks to the constant encouragement for Smart City

initiatives by the Government authorities, Cisco has been successful in engaging in various fruitful conversations pertaining to the implementation of IoT in the region. Currently, around 10-12 pilot projects are underway, which have the potential to be a complete game changer. The appetite of the Government and enterprises to innovate has fuelled Cisco’s plans even further. As Ashley shares with us, “We are even doing co-development with some of the customers wherein they are actually contributing directly to the product development process along with us”. Ashley further adds, “There have been few customers from outside of the Gulf as well. However, they seem to be taking the “watch and see” approach as of now. They want to observe what’s

ASHLEY WOODBRIDGE,

CUSTOMER SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT, CISCO

“Dubai is definitely doing a great job by translating innovation in the IoT space to smarter services for the citizens.” 46

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happening but may be waiting for someone else to lead the way with example.” While the public sector is definitely spearheading the transformation, private sector has started taking a keen interest too, of late. Even amidst the public sector, the lead is being taken by the manufacturing, aviation and oil and gas sectors; while the retail and banking sectors are trying to catch up with the trend of digital transformation. When asked about the actual rate of adoption of the new technology in the region, Ashley explained beautifully through examples how Dubai has been leading the change. “The sheer number of e-gates at Dubai airport versus any other airport in the world is just an example. The technology industry is geeky; we always want to have better, newer and cooler things. However, a good balancing act is in place in this region. All the Smart City initiatives out here are citizen focused. Nowadays, cities worldwide are engaged in a constant competition to outdo each other in terms of the ease of transactions, services offered, cooperation from the Government, etc. Dubai is definitely doing a great job by translating innovation in the IoT space to smarter services for the citizens.” IoTX Dubai 2015 also saw an excellent demonstration of smart city at Cisco’s booth. Video content and a live city display demonstrated various ‘real life’ Smart City scenarios including Smart Energy, Smart Transportation, Smart Parking, Retail, Healthcare and Remote Diagnostics. It’s definitely an exciting time for the world and the technology providers and Cisco is surely making the most out of it. ë

SECURITY

INFOBLOX

Gearing up for the Unpredictable While the world is connecting device to device, Infoblox is paving the roadmap to ‘Secure the devices’ that would be connected and gearing up to welcome the unpredictable.” n WORDS: ANUSHREE <ANUSHREE@ACCENTINFOMEDIA.COM>

he wise men believe, ‘When the sky is cloudy, look for an umbrella not for the chances’. Infoblox apparently invests in this belief. The first IoTX held in Dubai garnered rave attention from the industry giants. Exhibitors claimed it to be one of the critical events of the Middle East that looks into the future. Infoblox showcased some of its latest innovations in IP Address Management (IPAM), network automation and secure DNS technologies. Correlating Geoffrey A. Moore’s acclaimed book‘Crossing the Chasm’ with the current IoT scenario, Cherif Sleiman, GM Middle East at Infoblox says that though IoT brings along a lot of promises and disruptions to the economy, there isn’t going to be a massive adoption of it

soon. Cherif says, “The industry has changed and virtualization is one of the biggest trends that has fundamentally shifted the way we handle computer and internet. We are in a region where innovation happens at a greater speed than other parts of the world, but still I will term this as a very early stage for the IoT. .” According to Cherif, the worry on the industry’s brow should be the incredible challenge for the infrastructure to manage this massive number of devices that will be connected, the security of the devices and the integrity of the devices. There are many early adopters of the IoT; like the government with its smart metering initiative, which according to him is not about a new business model but about reducing operational costs, enhancing customer service and accuracy of the data. Looking ahead, he believes that the energy

CHERIF SLEIMAN,

GM, MIDDLE EAST, INFOBLOX

“Never underestimate the amount of governance, compliance, security &management that we need to make IoT a success; and Infoblox is the right partner to partner with.”

sector in managing its upstream and downstream operations, the retail sector in the way it manages it supply chain and other processes, government and schools, shopping malls, logistics….all of them would see massive disruptions in leading IoT. But service providers in the telecom sector would be the biggest adopters of that. Infoblox fundamentally simplifies the deployment, manageability in the governance and security of the business model in IoT. “All the automation, all the analytics, all the reports, all the governance and the auditing compliances are built for you by Infoblox.” “If we take a look at the new infrastructure, the new building management systems, smart buildings along with the other government initiatives we can see how the internet of things is making its way through. Many airlines are planning new operations to streamline passenger management, luggage management, etc…I don’t think there is lot of deployment, but there is lot of planning”, adds Cherif. According to Cherif, this market has a lot of appetite for investing and the willingness to take risks. He believes that the biggest strength of this region is the Government and the visionary leaders. “As a market leader Infoblox has scored some big success in the government, energy, telecom, banking and energy sectors specifically the critical national infrastructure of the region and especially the UAE With a solid set of partners like Alpha Data, Beta IT, HelpAG, Intercom, GBM etc and all the big SIs like Wipro, Al Falak etc. who realize the importance of Infoblox, we are blessed to be in good hands in this expansion plan”, concludes Cherif . ë

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WEBNMS

Fortifying Enterprise Infrastructure with IoT

With a highly scalable IoT Platform, enterprise focused IoT solutions and recent customer wins, the IoTX kept the WebNMS booth a busy place. Prabhu Ramachnadran, Director- WebNMS peppered his views on WebNMS’s IoT strategy for the Middle East, partner ecosystem and future ventures. n WORDS: ANUSHREE <ANUSHREE@ACCENTINFOMEDIA.COM>

PRABHU RAMACHNADRAN,

DIRECTOR- WEBNMS

“Wherever there is a demand to reduce the Opex, IoT steps in ”

rabhu Ramchandran, Director of WebNMS(a Division of ZOHO Corp) is of the opinion that IoT adoption across the globe, presently, is at the early stage of comprehension. “The Middle East is a very prospective market and customers are very vocal about their needs, hence it is easy to gauge their requirements. In the ME market, enterprises are looking for technology to solve their business problems rather than unwieldy manual interactions.” WebNMS focuses on enterprise IoT solutions and within that the key focus areas are energy management, remote security, a location tracking

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and connected transportation system. They have an IoT Application Enablement Platform which is a software platform that seamlessly integrates with multiple sensors and gateways which enables enterprise to build their own customized IoT application in a few weeks’ time. The IoT solutions are delivered through local partners who are domain experts and already have tie-ups with prospective clients. The partners then take the solutions and do managed services for the customers. Talking about the recent IoT venture of the company, Prabhu said that they have signed a customer recently for the WebNMS IoT Platform in Civil Defense Space, wherein they are responsible

for creating fire alarm monitoring for public and private buildings. “Local partners are key to our operations”, says Prabhu, “The IoT solutions are driven by sensors, gateways, hardware, software, and managed services. So the key challenge is finding the right technology and implementation partners. Once we have the right partners, we can train them to provide our IoT solutions to the consumers.” Recently, WebNMS, and Option successfully integrated Option’s CloudGate smart M2M gateway with the WebNMS IoT Platform. The combined solution provides a simplified path to scaling IoT/M2M applications for secure B2B infrastructure. The CloudGate gateway delivers tremendous flexibility for customers to optimize their businesses. Other than that, WebNMS is emphasizing greatly on the enterprise space. With this, WebNMS is thus uniquely positioned to blend in with the smart city vision as well. “Dubai is already a smart city. We have advanced transport systems and many other smart projects are on in the frontline.” Taking the discussion to his views on the various industries which are the early adopters of the IoT, he opines that “Infrastructure and logistics have been the key adopters of the IoT. Another sector which would benefit greatly by the IoT, according to Prabhu, is the Oil and Gas sector which rely on sensors and SCADA systems. “Cloud is no more a complex concept. If you look at our IoT Platform, we have multiple options for customers who want to host on cloud or go for on premise solutions. ” Prabhu signs off ë

PARTNER STREET

CYBERCOM

Making the Smart Move in the Digital Jungle The future of business success is going to be defined by how innovative and well structured your journey to connectivity is. n W O R D S : S O U M YA < S O U M YA @ A C C E N T I N F O M E D I A . C O M >

n a world of digitalisation, Internet of things has become a concept you can’t ignore. It’s been proven by now that the future of business success lies in the innovation of connectivity. Cybercom plays the role of a trusted business partner in this innovation quest helping customers understand the challenges they face and advising them on the best moves to make. Magnus Karlsson, Director, Advisory services tells us that at Cybercom, they offer their services in three phases- starting with advisory services, followed by solution services, and in the third phase, they can cooperate and manage those services, or in other words, host them basically for their customers. When it comes to advisory services, they have 2 entry points- first one is through business

modelling. They helping customers understand how to benefit from connectivity, and how to make money out of it when you connect products and services. The other thing they talk of is security. How to manage security in an IoT world? In words of Magnus, “It will be impossible to secure your system. You will be hacked. That’s the takeaway from IoT. IT security as we see today will be dead. So, there’s a need to find an alternative way.” Cybercom has a service termed compliance management. Its objective is to help customers to see what kind of security level they have currently; because Magnus says, without knowing that, it’s not possible to know the risk areas and the ways to prevent and handle breaches. Cybercom is covering the whole MEA market from its headquarters in Dubai (Mr Ammar

MAGNUS KARLSSON,

DIRECTOR, ADVISORY SERVICES, CYBERCOM

“IoT is something all should consider; once you put connectivity in place, the potential for innovation will be immense unlike ever before”

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Adhami is the Head of Cybercom International, HQ in Dubai). “We approach the market in two ways-as business advisory or security advisory”, says Magnus. They have partnered with Datamatics and complement eachother in their services. Apart from them, leading vendors like Dell and RedHat are Cybercom’s technical partners as well. Magnus adds that they are constantly looking for new productive partnerships in the IoT space in the region. When asked about the way the Middle East has been responding to new gen technologies, Magnus sees high ambition in the region, especially in Dubai. The city is focused on smartness and happiness and hence it’s very refreshing to observe the positive energy in the region. In addition, the lack of the baggage of legacy systems makes it all the way a better and faster journey for the region to adopt the best and new out there when it comes to technology. Talking of the leading verticals, Magnus tells us, “Telcos are definitely spearheading the race; since IoT is what they have been doing since eternity. Automotive and logistics sectors are showing great potential and are adopting IoT towards smarter systems in operation.” “Power of innovation is incredible”, says Magnus. “IoT is something all should consider; once you put connectivity in place, the potential for innovation will be immense unlike ever before.” He adds that when it comes to IoT, every organization will have unique requirements so, it’s not really a plausible option to buy IoT solution through a box; rather that is something, organizations shall need to get developed as per requirements of the business with advice from a trusted partner. ë

INFRASTRUCTURE

NUTANIX

Invisible Infrastructure, Visible Benefits

When IoT, though at its early stage, is gaining incredible momentum, Nutanix is readying updates to its hyperconverged infrastructure platform for running virtual machines that it claims will take away much of the complexity and enable IT departments to focus on delivering applications and services. n WORDS: ANUSHREE <ANUSHREE@ACCENTINFOMEDIA.COM>

ith a leading 52% market share in the hyperconverged infrastructure market, Nutanix has demonstrated its ability to radically simplify data storage for all size enterprises. In a nutshell, Nutanix delivers invisible infrastructure for the next generation enterprise computing by natively converging compute, storage and virtualization into a turnkey hyperconverged solution. “We are the market leaders in the Hyperconverged infrastructure. We started in the Middle East 2 years back and we have seen that the market is adopting the hyperconverged infrastructure at a very steadfast rate”, says Tamer Riyal, Regional Sales Manager, GCC, Nutanix. He believes that the Internet of Things is a very fresh concept and though the Middle East in general would require some time to fully master

TAMER RIYAL,

REGIONAL SALES MANAGER, GCC, NUTANIX

“Hyperconverged Infrastructure is the future and a very vital part of the IoT journey” this platform, Dubai is gaining great momentum and already putting forth great IoT projects and success stories. According to Nutanix, the Hyperconverged infrastructure would be a very vital part of the Internet of Things journey. “The

hyperconverged infrastructure is the future. Customers are waiting for such solutions. Our customer win includes a good number of SPs, Banks, etc… We demonstrate how easy it is to install and deploy the solutions which also have unique support services. This begets quick and positive decisions from the customers as well. The Capex and Opex offered by our solutions is also 30% less than the other solutions in the market”, adds Tamer Riyal. Talking about the key verticals that Nutanix is tapping, Tamer says that, “We are covering the entire ME. We have sales and pre sales support for all the regions. We are not focusing on any ‘Key’ sector, rather we are focusing on ‘All’ sectors because we can adapt in any environment where virtualized solutions are in demand. We are targeting SMBs, enterprises, SPs and we are proud to have more than 70 customers in one year. They trust our products and they see how our solutions help them to get very high performance products which is easy to install and manage, and most importantly in cutting cost in TCO.” With ITS and Futuretech as key partners under the wing for operations in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar etc… Nutanix is keen to partner with companies who can deliver the right solutions and after sales services in line with the visions of the company At the .NEXT User Conference, held on June 9, Nutanix unveiled the first steps toward a data centre infrastructure that can operate nearly invisibly, freeing companies from the inherent cost and complexity of legacy virtualization stacks, and elevating IT teams so they can focus on driving business results. ë

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MANAGED SERVICES

PACIFIC CONTROLS

A ‘Pacific’ IoT Journey Crucially interweaving software platforms, managed services and IT infrastructure, Pacific controls have tightly held the reigns of building the smart city. Pradipta Mukherjee, General Manager, Engineering Services, talks about how Pacific Control had an end-to-end story to tell at the recently held Big Data show and IoTX in Dubai, wherein they showcased their contributions towards making Dubai—the smartest region. n WORDS: ANUSHREE <ANUSHREE@ACCENTINFOMEDIA.COM>

tanding amongst the crowd at the recently held Big Data show in Dubai was the Pacific Controls stand. The gigantic screen served as a ‘landmark’ for the entire hall, flashing the various initiatives and projects of the company. A landmark— a term that speaks volumes for the strides of Pacific Controls that can be truly termed as landmarks in the smart city journey. Be it the recent partnership with Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority in line with the Dubai smart government initiative, integrated building automation, or controls on cloud to name a few. With umpteen solutions and services up the sleeve, Pacific Controls has an end-to-end story – the story of device to Enterprise. As Pradipta Mukherjee, GM, Engineering Services at Pacific

Controls puts it across, “Right from the edge device that connects to the sensors and assets at the lowest level to bringing the data up to the command center using secured communications network, own hosting infrastructure and providing managed services—we are everywhere. We also have our own Uptime certified Tier III data center, which is one of the largest in the region. We are a one-stop shop.” Pradipta says, “IoT is all about connectivity as connectivity plays a very important role in building future-ready cities.Using the connectivity and sensor data we provide analytics and services that are useful to a variety of verticals. Telcos are core to our business operations, since connectivity is the key.” Pacific Controls is a key player in services like managed energy services,

PRADIPTA MUKHERJEE,

GENERAL MANAGER, ENGINEERING SERVICES, PACIFIC CONTROLS

“We believe that everyone has a crucial role to play in the IoT journey. It is a collaborative effort.” 52

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life and safety services, critical asset monitoring etc which uses the cellular network extensively for data communications. Pacific Control is also well ahead in the race of building Dubai a Smart City. Recently, Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA) has signed an agreement with Pacific Controls Cloud Services for the adoption and delivery of their cloud services. Talking about their smart gov and smart city journey, Pradipta says “Dubai is very much mature in terms of IoT. One of the greatest aspects of Dubai is a visionary ruler and leader who is actively encouraging and promoting the smart platforms to make Dubai a happy city with happy individuals. ” He says that, in the smart city journey IoT is not the only thing, however one of the key things because IoT is not just about sensor data but data in a bigger frame; such as telco data, social media data, government data etc. “The day is not far when Dubai will occupy one of the top 3 positions globally.” So how is Pacific Controls bridging the gap in the region? “We are bridging the gap with our cloud services, with our knowledge about the IOT and the domain knowledge of how they function. We are participating in a consortium towards building the smart city platform. We are bringing to the table our tools and solutions towards different aspects of a Smart City. We believe that everyone has a crucial role to play in the IoT journey. It is a collaborative effort.” remarks Pradipta With all these expertise and reputation in hand, Pacific Controls truly takes the world of automation by TIDE. ë

INNOVATIONS

KEY CAPABILITIES n Delivers the most complete all-flash offering for the enterprise. n Customers benefit from built-in data protection, multiprotocol support, scale-out performance, and seamless data movement from flash to disk to cloud. n Includes quality of service, multi-tenancy, and NetApp’s best-in-class application integration for simplified configuration and management of SQL and Oracle databases, virtualized servers, and VDI workloads. n Also includes FlashEssentials, NetApp OnCommand, Workload Wizard, etc.

NetApp All Flash FAS (AFF) 8000 NetApp All Flash FAS (AFF) 8000 series storage array packs performance and very good data management in a single solution. It ships with NetApp Data ONTAP FlashEssentials innovations, which increase flash performance and efficiency. Enterprises looking to reap the TCO benefits of flash deployment at scale for their primary workloads need to know these solutions can reliably handle dense mixed-workload consolidation. Vendors like NetApp,

with a strong portfolio of highly flash-optimized platforms, give buyers the choices they need to meet those requirements. The AFF8000 line is built to take high-performance flash storage into the mainstream. NetApp helps customers achieve better long-term outcomes with a complete set of enterprise capabilities and the unique ability to support data movement from flash to disk to cloud as needs change.

The AFF8000 series delivers the most complete all-flash offering for the enterprise. Customers benefit from built-in data protection, multiprotocol support, scale-out performance, and seamless data movement from flash to disk to cloud. Other features include quality of service, multi-tenancy, and NetApp’s best-in-class application integration for simplified configuration and management of SQL and Oracle databases, virtualized servers, and VDI workloads.

PLEASE SEND YOUR FEEDBACK AT INFO@ ACCENTINFOMEDIA.COM

FUJITSU STORAGE ETERNUS DX Massively scalable, the new flagship of the ETERNUS DX family is purpose-built for enterprises that demand outstanding storage peak performance of up to 4 million Input/Output Operations per Second (IOPS) and a huge capacity of up to 14 petabytes, paired with enterprise-class resiliency and always-on availability. The new top-of-the-range systems, ETERNUS DX8700 S3 and ETERNUS DX8900 S3 are packed with innovations that will improve data management combined with greater efficiency resulting in future-proof platforms for storage consolidation in the data center. As per IDC Large enterprises - with their no-compromise requirement around performance, resilience, quality of service management, high availability and reliability – are likely to rely on newer, more scalable iterations of established enterprise storage systems for their business-critical workloads. The FUJITSU Storage ETERNUS DX8700 S3 and DX8900 S3 will be globally available from August 1, 2015.

KEY CAPABILITIES n Provide data centers with headroom for unpredictable data growth up to 14 petabytes n Over-provisioning is effectively replaced by pay-as-yougrow flexible scalability n Intelligent automation enables enterprises to manage more data at excellent service levels n Zero downtime is assured for business-critical data thanks to native transparent failover and end-to-end redundancy n 4 million IOPS

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INNOVATIONS

Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE C3300 series

The new imageRUNNER ADVANCE C3300 series combines Canon’s award-winning smart MFD platform with enhanced document handling and new print engine to reduce the total cost of documents in busy office environments. With the addition of these four new compact A3 models, Canon can offer best-fit document capture and output solutions for any office environment with a complete and consistent range of mono, colour, A4 and A3 devices. The large customisable touchscreen interface combined with the intuitive imageRUNNER ADVANCE operation speeds up workflows and provides a consistent user experience across fleets. Professional-looking documents including booklets can be produced automatically and in-house while Canon’s new V2 (Vivid & Vibrant) imaging technology delivers impressive colours to help businesses stand out from the competition. The costly administrative and management burden of print is removed through automatic toner management, remote diagnostics and automatic meter collection. The new MFDs offer scalable security, including standard functions such as secure erase and user-based restrictions as well as reporting with Canon’s award winning Universal Login Manager (ULM). Canon’s advanced uniFLOW software offers further security control to address the needs of more demanding environments, such as My-Print-Anywhere and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) of prints, copies and scans. KEY CAPABILITIES n Canon’s new V2 (Vivid & Vibrant) imaging technology delivers impressive colours to help businesses stand out from the competition n Offers automatic toner management, remote diagnostics and automatic meter collection n Built-in video assistance guides end users to reduce down time n Consume less than one watt of energy during sleep mode and are Energy Star certified

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Fujitsu SP Series Scanners Designed to capture 20, 25 or 30 pages per minute, the new Fujitsu SP Series models are intended as solutions for companies seeking to raise their productivity. The models including Fujitsu SP-1120, SP-1125 and SP-1130 complements the existing fi Series and ScanSnap product lines. The SP Series helps to support a dedicated, single business function such as scanning to an archive or in a small mailroom. Fujitsu PaperStream IP software automatically creates the most suitable image data for hassle-free scanning. The PaperStream IP driver, which supports TWAIN/ISIS, automatically detects document size, simplex/duplex and rotation and converts the scans into exceptionally clean images, accelerating OCR (Optical Character Recognition), even when scanning watermarked, wrinkled or soiled documents. The software bundle also includes ABBYY FineReader Sprint to help generate searchable files and Presto! PageManager for managing and editing documents. Their compact format makes the SP Series models ideal for use at a desk or in a reception area. They offer a simple operation panel with only two buttons (Scan/Stop and Power), making them easy-touse and reducing the chance of human error. KEY CAPABILITIES n Budget scanner of choice for first time enterprise use n SP Series complements fi Series and ScanSnap scanner product lines n SP Series models support scanning speeds of 20, 25, or 30 pages per minute

Connect. Share. Give. Take. Solve. Save. Smile. Unify. Introducing Unify. Unifying business communications for the new way to work. unify.com

Scale smarter. Manage easier. Innovate faster. New PowerEdge servers can be configured up to 99% faster 1 and boost IOPS by up to 10x.2 Whether your business relies on data to predict the future, improve outcomes or engage more customers, the next generation of PowerEdge servers with Intel® Xeon® processors will help boost application and workload performance — so you can scale smarter, manage easier, innovate faster.

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To Learn More, Visit Dell.com/accelerate Intel, the Intel logo, Xeon and Xeon Inside are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. 1 Based on Principled Technologies report ‘Simplifying systems management with Dell OpenManage on 13G Dell PowerEdge servers’, September 2014, commissioned by Dell, testing Dell’s 13th generation R730 with Enterprise-level Dell systems management. As compared to manual configuration. 2 Based on product specifications for Intel S3700 SATA SSD and Express Flash results from the Storage Networking Industry Association. 3 Based on Dell internal analysis August 2014 comparing SATA SSDs to Express Flash - PCIe-Gen3 x4 testing random reads. ©2015 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Dell, the Dell logo and PowerEdge are trademarks of Dell Inc. in the United States and other countries.

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