JUNE 2018 | VOL 3 ISSUE 2
THE CHANGE-SPOTTERS AND CHANGE-MAKERS
TECHTALK AND META CIO AWARDS
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CIO OF THE YEAR 2018 UAE EDITION
AHMED EBRAHIM AL AHMAD,
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EDITORIAL
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ANUSHREE DIXIT EDITOR anushree@gecmediagroup.com
So, what does it mean to be a CIO today? The launch of the much-awaited Global CIO Forum began with this question. As the pioneers of The Titans magazine, for the past two years, we have had the opportunity to have some evocative conversations with the CIOs and IT decision makers from across the verticals and we have invested a lot of research into the painpoints and challenges that they face today. The Global CIO Forum finds it root in this research and brings to you a one-stop-shop solution/platform for all your diverse needs. From focused networking to mentoring programs, virtual tech hub to CIO chatroom, GCF will give the members a unique opportunity to gauge the digital readiness of not only other organizations and tech leaders from across the world, but themselves as well with its unique self-evaluation programs and peer advisory forums. Thus, GCF is a single marketplace for a CIOs 360 degree news. It represents the IT Executives and CIOs globally. Currently working in META region and with expansion plans globally, the GLOBAL CIO FORUM is a non-profit community of CIOs and IT leaders whose mission is to facilitate networking, sharing of best practices and executive development, and to collaborate on issues faced by the CIOs/IT Executives. We welcome all the CIOs and IT Heads to join as take advantage of this virtual world of unlimited possibilities. www.globalcioforum.com is your destination. In this issue of the Titans, we have covered some of the winning CIOs of the coveted CIO 200 Awards, including a detailed glimpse into the event with key insights from our patron, partners, sponsors, jury members and our star CIOs of the Year 2018. Happy Reading!
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CONTENTS
COVER FEATURE
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CIO 200 AWARD Organizations today are breathing in a world of digital reality and being a CIO is a tight rope to walk on. As a responsible media house, who has been covering the visions, challenges, ambitions and aspirations of CIOs through The Titans – our premium CIO’pedia, our understanding and perception of this ecosystem has been intense.
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INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
A NEW APPROACH
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
REAL TIMING AND ACCURATE REPORTING FOR EFFICIENCY
LAYING STRONG FOUNDATIONS FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
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DRIVING DIGITAL INNOVATION
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TOP CIO IN MENA
REAL TIMING AND ACCURATE REPORTING FOR EFFICIENCY When the customers expect a digital age in hotel industry, Radisson Blu, Kuwait is moving to it. An upclose interview with Anoop Oommen, IT Manager at Radisson Blue, Kuwait fills light into the technology innovations put forth by them.
What are your top projects for the next 6 months? Structural cabling and a separate network for the CCTV Network as per the latest Kuwait Ministry Guidelines. Another project will be implementing GDPR in our property.
What are the key technologies challenges faced by your sector?
ANOOP OOMMEN, IT MANAGER - RADISSON BLU
Total number of years in service: I have about 12 years of IT Career in different business sectors. Currently working as, IT Manager in Radisson Blu Hotel, Kuwait.
Do you call yourself a digital organization? If yes, why? We all recognize we are in the digital age, but what does this really mean for our organization? At an obvious level, it means digital technology is an integral part of
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getting work done. Your customers expect reservations to be online, they expect your website to work on their phone, they expect numerous requests/services from the hotel app , they expect your automated email systems to work. What was once an amazing technological marvel being now simply the cost of doing business. Welcome to the digital age. Being digitaldoesn’t add cost — in fact, donewell, it should reduce cost, reduce risk and make you more efficient and resilient.
Today’s PoS and PMS systems shine a spotlight on a hospitality business, revealing trends and anomalies, to a greater degree that even the most experienced industry practitioner. Using the business intelligence functions provided with these solutions, managers and owners can analyze what is sold, when and to whom. Real-time, accurate reporting is the only way to know a business, especially when hundreds of dishes and beverages are sold. Some systems allow the user to derive even more detailed analysis, of the ingredients making up each dish, so comparisons can be made with purchasing and stock systems to ensure that all ingredients are accounted for and matched up with items sold. This helps reduce wastage. Hence creating a scalable back office platform is a challenge we need to conquer!
What kind of vendor/solution provider engagement do you look forward to in 2018? There are many opportunities to improve scaling ability in Revgen systems, web mobile app, voice, loyalty and CRM Services through development of app architectures and capabilities. Our Hotel Group as a whole have intensive plans on investing on it which will create a guest-centric customer platform
To do list for 2018 Lots of things coming to my mind, upgrades, replacements, audits, and the list goes on… It will be a busy and challenging year ahead
TOP CIO IN MENA
A NEW APPROACH
Fayaz feels that many of IT Companies (Internal departments as well as System Integrators) are still following very traditional styles while implementing any software / technologies for business usage. A change in technology to minimize such traditional paths and provide accurate business requirements to avoid scope is the need of the hour.
technologies and solutions in place. n What are your top projects for the next 6 months? n Improving User and Customer Experience n Modernize a 20+years old internal Legacy application with digitalized features
What are the key technologies challenges faced by your sector? n One basic example: We ask users in meeting rooms about their requirements and document to implement rather than sitting with users to observe their daily activities and record using an effective tools and techniques, which should generate a requirement document. n I feel that many of IT Companies (Internal departments as well as System Integrators) are still following such traditional styles while implementing any software / technologies for business usage. I feel that there should be a technology to minimize such traditional paths and provide accurate business requirements to avoid scope creep. n Having a right and usage of right technology in such cases would be wonderful. Could not find any such in the market.
FAYAZ AHAMED, GROUP GM OF IT SERVICES, AL YOUSUF
Total number of years in service: 20+ Years
Do you call yourself a digital organization? If yes, why? Although we are yet not 100% digitalized, we do understand the importance and business
benefits of being digitalized and are on the path of adopting it. We have replaced many manual processes with system based functionalities and processes. The business users are able to connect and communicate with our suppliers, customers and inter/intra departments/companies in an integrated and electronic manner with the use of latest
What kind of vendor/ solution provider engagement do you look forward to in 2018? n We are expecting to deal with Oracle related vendors for modernizing our legacy application.
To do list for 2018 n Oracle ERP Enhancements to improving user and customer experience n Modernize a 20+years old internal Legacy application with digitalized features.
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LAYING STRONG FOUNDATIONS FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION For Vinay Sharma, digitization is all about providing high standards of operational effeciencies and value added services to customers. In this edition of The Titans, Vinay tells us about their recent digitization projects that include Terminal operating system, Enterprise resource planning, and Enterprise digial transformation program. transformed all manual activities in Port management, logistics, invoicing, customer experience etc., which has significant improvements in business operations and customer services. n Enterprise Resource Planning through SAP S4/HANA Platform. This ERP Implementation transformed and modernized organization workflows and operations n Enterprise Digital Transformation Program to identify opportunities for innovations
What are your top projects for the next 6 months? n IoT, AI and Machine learning driven enterprise analytics n Key Processes automation using RPA n Enterprise digital Innovation Program for thought leadership n Blockchain based port community system
What are the key technologies challenges faced by your sector? n Dynamic market changes n Volatile economy n Lack of legal framework for emerging technologies n Scarcity of techno functional expertise
VINAY SHARMA, GROUP IT HEAD, GULFTAINER
What kind of vendor/solution provider engagement do you look forward to in 2018? Tech-startups, incubators, co-innovations, AI/IoT, port community system, and ESB providers
Total number of years in service: 21 Years
Do you call yourself a digital organization? If yes, why? Yes, Recently, we have implemented major business technology projects which has laid strong foundation for digital transformation initiatives. At Gulftainer, we are committed to provide the highest standards of
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operational efficiency to our customers and stakeholders. Our initiatives enable efficient services, cost-effective movement of international cargo through our terminals. Through continuous improvement of our technology & business processes, we believe we can deliver better services and gain competitive advantages. The recent digitalization projects are: n Terminal Operating systems through TCS’s MACH application. This application
To do list for 2018 n Enterprise digital Innovation Program - Proof of concept projects n AI/ ML based Robotic Process Automations - RPA n Digital boardroom based on enterprise Business Intelligence
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TOP CIO IN MENA
DRIVING DIGITAL INNOVATION Falconcity of Wonders is a unique project both in terms of its components and magnitude. Occupying over 42,000,000 square feet, FCW hosts the seven wonders of the world. In an exclusive chat with Jose George, IT Manager who shares with us more details on their real estate mega project.
such as Sales, Customer Service, Admin, Procurement, HR and IT are digitally enabled. Digital Mobility is also a priority. We make sure the emails and application data are accessible to the crucial departments remotely through VPN and encrypted channels.
What are your top projects for the next 6 months? At present we are working on infrastructure upgrade with a central datacenter storage with Cloud DR. Another challenging project is the Security upgrade with next-generation security, monitoring and analytics covering Network, endpoint and application security.
What are the key technologies challenges faced by your sector? It is a challenge to keep up with the rapidly progressing streams of digital technology. Another uphill task is to scale-up the IT infrastructure to meet the requirements of the group concerns which are moving at a faster pace than projected.
JOSE GEORGE, IT MANAGER, FALCONCITY OF WONDERS
Total number of years in service: 20 years. I graduated from Trichur Government Engineering College, Kerala, India in 1996 with an Engineering degree in Computer Science. Came to Dubai in 1997 and joined Al Moosa Investment Group as a Computer Programmer. Currentlyworking as ITManagerforFalconcityof
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Wonders and fortheAlmoosa Investment Group companies.
Do you call yourself a digital organization? If yes, why? Developing digital culture in our organization has been a priority for the past couple of years. At present, most of the Departments
What kind of vendor/ solution provider engagement do you look forward to in 2018? We may engage vendors on IT infrastructure upgrade, ERP software and Security upgrade. For bespoke application, web and mobile app requirements, we have a self-sufficient in-house team.
To do list for 2018 Infrastructure upgrade, ISO 270001 Security compliance, Procurement Portal, Mobile App & online Portal for Almoosa Owners Association Management Services. One of our major R & D Projects is to develop an in-house Facility Management System with real-time sensors.
TOP CIO IN MENA
AI FOR INCREDIBLE USER EXPERIENCE
In the 21st era, industries that persist obstinate to incorporating new technological rebellions are presumably to regress in their way of development. Activities across the globe have appreciated how important it is to include current digital technology to drive continuous development and profits. The last decade has seen unbelievable inventions and developments in the landscape of digital solutions. One of such captivating technologies is called Artificial Intelligence (AI).
and exceptional serviced standards on the go. On the other hand, hotel operations often get complicated due to heavy amounts of data about visitors and hotel staff, resulting in critical challenges related to flawless customer experience. This is where intelligent travel phones can come to assist. Guests can avail AI enabled phones with features including GPS, Amusements, Hotel app, Data, International calls etc. Recently, Signature Lux Hotels in Gauteng has claimed to be the first one to furnish incredible guest experience through such digital travel companions that offer intelligent voice-activated apps.
MUHAMED NOUFEL, IT MANAGER, ROYAL CONTINENTAL HOTEL AI and Humans Ever since the artificially intelligent system has crept into the hotel industry, the hospitality sector is abuzz with AI’s ability to learn about customers using its data analytics platform that helps hotel staff create a better frame of customers. Giving customers the power As a part of special privileges, a good number of hotels treat customers with smart controls as they arrive. A dedicated mobile app empowers customers’ stay, giving them the luxury to unlock their room, adjust room temperature, and operate curtains, order
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drinks and many other things using their smart mobile phone. AI-driven chatbots intervene as a vital key to customer service. Hotel guests can use hotel’s special mobile device to interact with chatbots to perform allrelevant tasks like ordering meals, suggestingdishescontrollingroomtemperatures etc. Through virtual interactions via mobile app, chatbots can bypass hotel staff and be a service representative just like a human at the otherend. Intelligent Travel companions Travellers have evolved lately and desire a great mixture of high-grade personalization
Knowing your customer More personally you know about your customer, more you be able to exceed their expectations. Knowing that having a window into customer’s life is of great importance, hotel over the past years have attempted to make their premise the best, a unique and most hospitable place for visitors and guests. Thanks to Big Data element powering the Artificial Intelligence required to take care of everything customers would need. Its information classification and management system that helps learn a great deal of customer’s behaviour. AI can then use the wealth of data to address individual needs of customers and offer custom guest service. Conclusion Even though AI is regarded as the emerging technology trend, the hospitality industry has already experienced incredible benefits and wide impact on their business momentum. The technology enables personalized concierge services and offers real-time recommendations and easy service requests management. Hence, we can conclude that AI is working far beyond imagination for hotel systems, a breakthrough we all have been anxiously awaiting.
TOP CIO IN MENA
SHAPING THE FUTURE WITH TECHNOLOGY The Bahri & Mazroei Group is on an ambitious growth journey with different businesses complementing the all-around focus of the UAE and the region on infrastructure development. The Group IT manager, Madhusuthan talks on the roadmap of achieving completely automated digitization in the coming years.
business processes. Route documents, automate tasks and rules-based decisions, perform load balancing, send notifications and manage complex approval processes. n Enterprise-grade hyper converged platform --Anenterprise-gradehyperconvergedplatform that speeds application performance, improves efficiency and resiliency and restores VMs in seconds to meet companies growing business. n Improve Disaster recovery plan -- To meet new business standards and compliances.
What are the key technologies challenges faced by your sector? Bridging IT and the business, Business Process automation and Data management.
What kind of vendor/solution provider engagement do you look forward to in 2018?
MADHUSUTHAN, MANAGER - IT (GROUP) - BMTC
Total number of years in service: 22 years
Do you call yourself a digital organization? If yes, why? Yes. We are on the road map of achieving completelyautomateddigitizationinthecoming years. We already have the following in place n Implemented some kind of document management system, using a shared drive and a software system. n Putting policies and procedures, as well as benefit plan descriptions and other employeerelated material on an intranet. n Converting employee newsletters from paper to email and using the intranet to deliver announcements and other news. n Digitizing forms, such as new hire paperwork, CAPEX requests, Facility
Request, purchase orders, and expense reimbursement etc. n Print Management solution for scanning and archiving.
What are your top projects for the next 6 months? n Enterprise Content Management -- On a single platform, provides case management and business process management (BPM) capabilities, empowering to manage and improve both unstructured work and structured, repeatable processes. A case management framework supports dynamic and often unpredictable, peopledriven work with solutions in areas like service requests, incident management and investigations. A highly configurable workflow engine that can automate and optimize repeatable
Companies offer a free trial to test features, benefits and usability. Understand the level of customization and scalability. Agree to key performance indicators before signing a contract and no hidden or additional fees.
To do list for 2018 n Implement Infrastructure and Storage upgrade. n Improve Business process management integratewith ERP& otherbusiness applications. n Records management and archiving solutions to meet regulatory compliances. n IT security gap analysis and improvements to increase more protection for business from latest threats. n Mobility and Analytics to make business decision more immediate, more relevant, and more intelligent with real-time information. n Application upgrades and Improve Disaster Recovery plan. n More focus on tools and strategies to monitor IT infrastructure and devices which can more ease IT team task management and productivity
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A ‘TECH’ WELCOME In an excluisve rendezvous with Mehmet Akdeniz, the Director of IT/AV Emirates Palace, he defines what digitization means for the hospitality sector and how Emirates Palace guests are treated to a tech luxury when they come to the property. Excerpts.
Movie on demand service, In-room IPAD system many features including ordering room service, Controlling room ambiance, guest feedback …etc. Guest feedback from IPADs enabled hotel management to address guest needs, positive and constructive notes before they checkout from the hotel instead of traditional paper feedbacks or call requests. This has increase efficiency of the hotel tremendously. I presided the implementation of E-Folio in hotel management system; Opera, this enabled the Hotel’s in-house guests to receive their invoice through email instead of having it printed during check-out. Guest can sign their registration cards at the check-in on tablets and sign their final bill on tablet as well without any paper usage.
What are your top projects for the next 6 months?
MEHMET AKDENIZ, DIRECTOR OF IT/AV, EMIRATES PALACE
Total number of years in service: 22 years
Do you call yourself a digital organization? If yes, why? Without a doubt, “Digital” largely affects businesses and organizations worldwide including hospitality sector. In Emirates Palace, we embrace innovation and learn from digital roots to enhance services for our guests. With the rapid modernization
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of technology, we have ceased the usage of DVDs in guest’s rooms as our guests has a strong demand and interest in digital viewing. We have introduced VOD (Video on Demand) in our guest’s rooms and they enjoy. Emirates Palace pioneered the Guest Room IPad tablets wherein guests can experience state of the art technology and discontinued traditional “In-room guest directory pages. High Definition IPTV System, Integrated Guestroom Entertainment, complimentary
n HSIA Guest Internet Gateway - As the technology keep on evolving and internet usage in the hotel also increase and that most of the guests are bringing more than one device along with them. n PABX Upgrade – this upgrade is to modernize the old analog and digital cards and to be compatible future technology upgrades. n PCI-DSS Compliance – To achieve 98% PCI Compliance. n Hotel management system Oracle-Opera Upgrade – Upgrade of oracle is required to move forward with Opera application upgrade to 5.05. n E-Housekeeping and Guest Issue Reporting and Optimization Solution –It allows staff to receive information on their handheld devices based on custom-defined events, guest movements and service requests. .
What kind of vendor/solution provider engagement do you look forward to in 2018? Solution Providers that based their business priority and strategy that is reliable, provides worthy service, has value for money and meets their SLA’s.
TOP CIO IN MENA
DIGITAL FIRST, DIGITAL ONLY As a manufacturing company, GARMCO is the First in Bahrain to go live on AWS cloud and the first to achieve tight integration of its manufacturing plant machinery with the ERP system – achieving true online and real-time Plant–ERP operations. More in an exclusive interview with Khalid Rashid Moh’d Jalal, The CIO of GARMCO, Bahrain.
n IoT initiatives: We are exploring IoT for quality improvements, automation of some critical processes, and identification of certain claims and minimizing those claims. n More Global Consolidations: As part of our continuous consolidation initiatives, we will continue the consolidation of systems and processes at Global level.
What are the key technologies challenges faced by your sector? In a manufacturing sector, the major technology challenge is the alignment of the corporate technology advancement with the Plant technology. Plant level technology advancements are slower and more expensive than a normal corporate technology needs.
What kind of vendor/ solution provider engagement do you look forward to in 2018?
KHALID RASHID MOHD JALAL, CIO, GARMCO
Total number of years in service: 22 years
Do you call yourself a digital organization? If yes, why? Yes, GARMCO is a digital organization. Automation of Office and Manufacturing Processes, Consolidation of Infrastructure and Corporate applications worldwide to Corporate Head Office in Bahrain, tight integration of the Plant Machinery with the in-house developed Plant automation ERP to avoid any Human errors and help improving the productivity, increasing the plant and process efficiencies, improving the Human and Plant safety culture and huge cost saving year on year. The organization is enjoying a paperless office (90%) with the help of numerous workflows, fully virtualized environment – both Servers
andDesktop,BYODready,BusinessIntelligence, robotics, censor based data processing over wireless.GARMCOhasalsoachievedvariousISO certifications. With all the efforts, we have been successful in areas like ‘Elimination of Human Errors’, ‘Efficient use of Technology’, Speed to Customer Response’, ‘Improved Governance’, ‘Lower Downtimes’, ‘Cost Saving Initiatives’ and last but not the least we are targeting to achieve ‘Industry 4.0’ shortly.
What are your top projects for the next 6 months? n VAT Readiness: We are making the needful changes in our systems to be compliant with the VAT regulations. n Cloud Roadmap: We are working on a Roadmap for long term Cloud Computing and Cloud Services.
Although I have a great in-house team who does all the development and support, but I would like to look forward for: n Experienced Cloud Partners and consultant engagements to ensure we avoid mistakes which others have encountered and spent a fortune. n Cybersecurity and Forensic engagements n IoT solution providers with manufacturing experience who can help in implementation of solutions which can improve quality, automation and error and defect detections before occurrence.
To do list for 2018 n Ensuring the systems are ready with VAT regulations n Working with Cloud service providers to finalize the Roadmap for Cloud. n Consolation of global operations to corporate system as part of Global Consolidation vision. n Applications and Technology upgrades n More on Business Intelligence and IoT initiatives.
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USING TECHNOLOGY AS A COMPETE WEAPON
HMH’s strategic expansion in the Middle East and North Africa has been successful in unlocking a world of opportunities while creating value for its customers, stakeholders, associate companies and its employees. Concentrating on having a fully integrated digital system, Osama Merghani, IT Manager for HMH Group shares with us the plans of the organization for 2018 and beyond. network infrastructure re-establishment and all the IT related projects implementation. I will concentrate on creating a fully IP infrastructure and to have IT environment which allow us to discard the paperwork completelyand to have a fully integrated digital system to be an example for the future management style
What are the key technological challenges faced by your sector? Being a Technology in charge in a hospitality sector may put you in some challenges of balancingbetweentheavailablehightechnology and the reasonable level for hotels guests experience. We should merge the advance technology in a simple and friendlyway of using in order to keep all guests familiar with our servicesregardlesstheirtechnicalbackgrounds. We should always keep in mind that not all our customers are ITspecialists and theymaynot be interested on the complicated ways of dealing with technology but they are still feel happy when theysee something newand untraditional, this is our role to keep it impressive and simple in the same time.
OSAMA MERGHANI, IT MANAGER, HMH - KSA
Total number of years in service: 16 years in IT including 14 years specialized in the hospitality systems of five stars hotels
Do you call yourself a digital organization? If yes, why? Yes. We are a new growing chain comparing to another hospitality old chains in the world which is an advantage for us as a technology leaders to start from the end point of others, our aim is to impress our guests with new and up to date room technologies and to use the technology as a compete weapon in a market fully of competitions, I am proud to say that we are using paper work in a very limited occasions
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which is matching our firm vision for the modern management and saving environment . The digital communication now a days is going far beyond the email correspondences , it’s about sharing the same information on spot in order to take the right decisions and this is exactly what we are doing bygiving ouremployees the access to allthe necessaryinformation forthem anytime from anywhere.
What are your top projects for the next 6 months? I will be the IT project leader and management consultant for the general renovation of Coral Al-Khobar hotel , this project will take around 9 months and I will be responsible for the
What kind of vendor/solution provider engagement do you look forward to in 2018? We are looking to the cloud and systems centralizationsolutionswhichisthegeneraltrend now a days.
To do list for 2018 New network infrastructure n n IP phone system n IP TV n IP security cameras n Data cloud integration n IP signage system n Full Hardware upgrade n Full Oracle hospitality integrated system n Smart guests rooms setup n Mobile integrated door locks system n To create the best example of smart hotel in Saudi Arabia
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COVER FEATURE
Organizations today are breathing in a world of digital reality and being a CIO is a tight rope to walk on. As a responsible media house, who has been covering the visions, challenges, ambitions and aspirations of CIOs through The Titans – our premium CIO’pedia, our understanding and perception of this ecosystem has been intense. Breaking the ice ceiling, we launched the Global CIO Forum— a single marketplace 18
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for a CIOs 360 degree needs. The role of a CIO is one of the most critical one in today’s business and industry. Today, CIOs hold the future of innovation, productivity and competitiveness in their hands, but some of the critical challenges faced by them are, attending multiple events, IT budget constraints, need for a dedicated platform to have peer-to-peer networking or host and search for relevant and
topics of interest research and white paper. From mentoring programs, to industry insight and customized networking, GCF offers a one-stop-shop for allround needs. Marking this fervor, the Global CIO Forum launched its debut ‘CIO 200 Awards’ in the META region. Coined as The CIO 200 – TECHtalk and META CIO Awards, the event was a celebration of the 4 generation of IT Decision makers.
COVER FEATURE
ANUSHREE DIXIT EDITOR, GEC MEDIA GROUP “The CIO 200 Awards’ vision is quite simple. It is not a competition, but a celebration of the amazing lives and career of the CIOs in four key generation. Celebrating each and every single project that has succeeded in bringing a difference to the organization – significant or small. Combined with the TECHtalk, the event becomes one of the most powerful CIO gathering in the region that not only brings up the painpoints of the CIOs in real time situation, but also upholds the meaningful projects that have contributed in developing the region and leading it to the forefront of global competitiveness.”
HESHAM AL GURG CEO OF THE PRIVATE OFFICE OF SHEIKH SAEED AL MAKTOUM “Technology is great but not by itself and not on its own. It is only great with business sense on how to use technology to make people’s lives easier, happier, more productive. I advise you to start your company one day after serving for your company and country for a while and be very open to innovation from start-ups and young entrepreneurs. Also, at least allocate 1 day a month for young people or start-ups and even people within your team to come and share innovative ideas. I hope this will be another beginning and start for many of you to take this opportunity and learn new things and open new doors to next era of technology,”
RONAK SAMANTARAY CEO, GEC MEDIA GROUP GEC Media group has always believed in swimming against the tide. Right from bringing innovative products to the marketplace to designing futuristic events. We have pioneered magazines like The Titans that has been the most well-established go-to-CIO magazine in the region so far. As a responsible media, we are committed to evolve with the dynamic market and bring out products and solutions that not only present a mirror to the industry but also hold the capacity to transform the entire ecosystem..
A ONE-OF-ITS-KIND AND FIRST EVER CIO DIRECTORY OF THE META REGION, FEATURING THE TOP 200 CIOS.
l MAJOR PROJECTS OF THE CIOS l SOLUTION-ENGAGEMENTS l FINANCIAL ROADMAP THAT WOULD MAKE THIS BOOK THE ‘GO-TO-CIO’ DIRECTORY FOR ANY VENDOR OR SOLUTION PROVIDER.
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225 CIOS/IT HEADS
25 SOLUTION PROVIDERS
250 ATTENDEES
KSA AUG 2, 2018 BAHRAIN AUG 7, 2018 QATAR AUG 12, 2018 KUWAIT AUG 14, 2018
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HOW MANY PEOPLE..
80%
...said the event was excellent
95%
92%
...liked techtalk
...were impressed by the category and presentation
CATEGORIES Next Gen Leader Master Legend
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UAE WINNERS
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LIVE CHAT COUNTER
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LEADERNETWORKING LEADERS
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THE JURY’s VERDICT MOHAMMED MAHNASHI ICT Advisor Ministry of finance KSA
“The size of the work, the type of projects, the uniqueness of the ideas, the extent of the influence and the leadership personality with the voting grades were criteria on which the jury based their evaluation and the selection criteria of the winner of the prize for this year.”
JASSIM HAJI TECHNOLOGY EXPERT
“We had an opportunity to review thoroughly the documents presented for the short-listed candidates which displayed extensive work performed by the CIOs in their unique fields with the aid of latest technologies to increase productivity and performance of their organisation.”
Dr. USMAN ZAFAR CEO AT DUC CONSULTING
“Jury members focused on well-defined framework for shortlisting the best and the framework was based on important elements like Project Duration, Size, Return of investments, project complexity, IT VS Vendor Engagement in the project, Unified Integration, Services Automation and adoption of right innovative technology.”
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solutions. To summarize, all CIOs should contribute to the society and to the nation by building a very effective and successful Digital ecosystem. I am really very happy and very proud on receiving this great recognition from the leading media group. This is the reflection of recognition from the society for all my efforts to make my organization and its sub entities digitally smart in its operations. This award will be a great encouragement for my way forward and this will make me more responsible.
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Not only me, but each individual CIOs in the region should contribute and participate in the efforts to position this country at the peak of the world in areas of Automation, smartness, digitization through all the latest and trendy technology. The senior leaders can help in building the solid base in the respective segments by sharing their experience and skill sets, mentoring and motivating the youngsters to take over the responsibilities, by providing the strategic vision and plans…etc. Indeed it is another important responsibility of the CIOs and the IT leaders to help in identifying the actual requirement rather than going behind any technical trends and latest products or
ASHITH PIRIYATTIATH,
AL MASAH CAPITAL
AHMED EBRAHIM AL AHMAD,
NAKHEEL
The diversity of technology experience that I came across built a rich technology profile which I believe that it has to be shared with my colleagues, peers from the government and other industry sectors. Not only that but also, we should focus on the technology students (especially during their work placement) and the new generation of IT leaders. I consider that as a national obligation to be considered by every CIO. It has been an honor and privilege to represent a great team (who always focus on the highest
results) and winning the CIO OF THE YEAR 2018 award. Thanks to Nakheel’s IT team, to all who participated in the voting, to the jury and Enterprise Channel magazine. The IT world is facing a rapid transformation these days especially after the introduction of the Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Blockchain. This might lead the industry into a new revolution which will force all the organizations to realign their technical strategies and road maps to the new era in a short and long term basis.
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QUOTES
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MOHAMMAD KHALED CIO, RSB
The event is very important in terms of allowing the alignments among governments leaders, IT professional and technology providers to be connected under one umbrella to assure the citizens and services delivered with the desired objectives and also assure the citizens happiness. We are on a very fast-growing generations which require of the efforts collaborations to assure the future accelerations and happiness to nations. ILHAM ISMAIL IT HEAD, HMH GROUP
“It was indeed a privilege to receive an award CIO 200 by Enterprise channels MEA. The region definitely need such encouragement to be more tech-savvy as the CIO’s will make sure to adopt the latest technology with their innovative ideas.” ANIL BHANDARI CHIEF MENTOR AND CEO OF ARCON TECHSOLUTIONS PVT. LTD.
“It was great to be a part of the CIO 200 Event. It provided us with an excellent opportunity to network with the audience which included prominent CIOs. The interaction helped us to understand the Information Security challenges faced by a modern-day organization” UNNI MENON IT MANAGER, RAK HOSPITAL
“The CIO 200 Awards function was such a wonderful networking event between us CIOs. A big thanks to Enterprise Channels MEA to bring together 100+ top CIOs under a single platform in Dubai. The Tech Talk was too good not to miss by any CIO.” FAYAZ AHAMED BADUBHAI GROUP GM – IT SERVICES, AL YOUSUF GROUP
“It was a nice and properly organized event. We get to know about multiple industries in Middle East and got a chance to interact and exchange ideas with IT Management peers and vendors within Middle East. I believe that sharing only is the way to grow together, such events are in line with my belief. Keep it up.” 28
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A RAHEEM HEAD OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AT AG MELCO
“The CIO 200 Awards celebrated the achievements of not only the veteran CIOs in the ‘Legend’, ‘Master’ & ‘Leader’ categories but also acknowledged the cutting-edge efforts of upcoming CIOs in the ‘Next-Gen’ category thus ensuring that the quality of work and zeal for success is appreciated and recognized at all levels!” SHIJIN PRASAD R S, IT HEAD, CURE MEDICAL CENTERS.
“CIO 200 AWARDS is a great initiative to encourage and promote IT talent, research, professionalism, standards and strategies in the region. I look forward to participating in the future events” FADI KANAFANI REGIONAL DIRECTOR MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA, NETAPP
“As the event’s platinum partner, NetApp would like to congratulate the committee behind the highly successful CIO 200 and the ‘Enterprise Channels MEA’ team for their outstanding performance and hard work. CIO 200 served as an outstanding opportunity for us to engage and network with top CIOs from MENA’s most renown and innovative companies” ALIASGAR BOHARI IT DIRECTOR, ZULEKHA HOSPITALS
“It is always wonderful to experience New role in life, I am thankful to Enterprise Channels MEA for giving opportunity to be a part of CIO Jury members. I would like to congratulate all ECMEA team for organizing the event with excellence” KUMAR PRASOON GROUP CIO, AL SAFEER GROUP
“CIO 200 Awards 2018 was a show that showcased the Middle East: Most Intellectual CIO Fraternity on one platform to have Technology Thought Leadership Dialogues, Business Networking and interaction with the cutting-edge market players. I wish all the very best to the Enterprise Channels MEA team and its sponsors for such a ground-breaking IT Transformational Leadership initiative with the most elite team of echelons.” JUNE 2018
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TOP CIO IN MENA
EMPOWERING SMART TRAFFIC As the Director of IT, Qusai has successfully handled the IT Digital Transformation and BPM Business Process Automation at SAAED for Traffic Systems. One of his major career milestone has been managing and rising up with an IT Department that is in the low maturity level and taking it to the next level.
Total number of years in service: 12 Years
Do you call yourself a digital organization? If yes, why? n Yes, as we aligned our Business strategy with the IT strategy and running now a Digital Strategy which provides automated and digitalized and innovative solutions and servers
What are your top projects for the next 6 months? n On the business level AI technologies adaption, Block chain Projects, Big Data Projects, Digitalization and Automation Project. n IT Department Level, we have Managed Security Services Implementation, Centralization of QMS Sites, Implementation of Virtual Desktop Environment.
What are the key technologies challenges faced by your sector? n IT security and privacy/cybersecurity n Infrastructure management n Emerging technology and infrastructure changes – transformation, innovation, disruption n Resource/staffing/skills challenges n Regulatory compliance n Budgets and controlling costs n Cloud computing/virtualization n Bridging IT and the business n Project management and change management n Third-party/vendor management
ENG. QUSAI ALMEQDADI, DIRECTOR OF IT DEPARTMENT, SAAED FOR TRAFFIC SYSTEMS
What kind of vendor/solution provider engagement do you look forward to in 2018? n Long Strategic Partnership with any new vendors/ partners n Solutions that provides value not only temporary solving the issue
To do list for 2018 n n n n 30
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n Innovating Digitalization Automating Transforming Growing
TOP CIO IN MENA
A FUTURE-READY APPROACH In an exclusive interview, Vishal Sood tells us how implementing techniques like behavioral analysis enables detecting and stopping an attack capable of bypassing the static protective systems and how Blockchain technologies like Zero Knowledge Proof will further develop enabling transactions that secure users’ privacy using mathematics.
a glimpse of the amazing use cases in medicine. Many more applications for automation, robotization, and data management in different industries will bring significant changes. Healthcare, construction, banking, finance, manufacturing — every existing industry will be reshaped. 2. Blockchain Blockchain, a revolutionary decentralized technology that stores and exchanges data without the need for intermediaries. It forms a distributed database with a digital register of the transactions and contracts. Blockchain stores an ever-growing list of ordered records called blocks, each containing a timestamp and a link to the previous block. Blockchain has impressive prospects in the field of digital transactions spanning all industries and domains, which will open new business opportunities in 2018 and far beyond.
VISHAL SOOD, SEASONED IT DECISION MAKER
3. New approaches to privacy and security With rapid strides in technology, security and privacy need to be reimagined. Some of the recent successful hacks have shown new ways to bypass even the seemingly most secure environments. Machine learning will be the most significant security trend establishing a probabilistic, predictive approach to ensuring data security.
Tell us about your CIO 200 Awards and TECHtalk experience?
Years of experience as a CIO/ IT Head:
11+ years
What is your opinion of the 2018 market? Which tech will lead and which will take a back seat?
Year 2018 has kicked off with very high interest in some of the game changing technologies. This year will surely be regarded as Artificial Intelligence year. Blockchain too is making strides like never before and test cases & pilots are being conducted by one and all. Internet of Things is driving and powering smarter homes and cities.
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How will emerging tech like Blockchain, AI, etc. rule the roost?
At the very forefront of innovative technologies are – 1. Artificial intelligence AI is bringing rapid transformation to business operations, reshaping entire industries with advanced technologies and software. Companies now acknowledge the value of implementing AI strategies, and a major leap towards AI is on the way. This year leading firms will incorporate AI applications into their strategic and organizational development. Virtual assistance for patients, computational drug discovery, and genetics research give
It was my first time being at CIO 200 Award ceremony and to be able to attend TECHtalks. I must say that it was quite an enriching experience overall. Just being at the event gave me an opportunity to connect and meaningfully interact with reputed vendors and peers from various domains too. Such formal networking events go a long way in establishing connections and long-term relationships. The TECHtalks provided some very interesting cases and ideas to stimulate critical thinking. I feel honored at being chosen among the elite CIO 200 awardees, under the Masters category. This is now fueling more thought and efforts into doing something even larger and powerful this year, so as to be able to repeat the feat again next year.
TOP CIO IN MENA
SYNCING EDUCATION WITH DIGITIZATION “Downtime is very difficult in a school. Because we have over a thousand users every single day we depend on all our services to run smoothly without interruption. “ Implementing a new security and ID card system for identification and library use. Advancing our long running efforts with GSuite and Chromebooks. We are currently in the second year of a three-year process of moving to a 1 to 1 model for every junior high and high school student. Additionally, we are also introducing new Chrome tablets to the school for the younger grades.
What are the key technologies challenges faced by your sector? Teacher and student adoption of new technologies is also an issue. Many people want to try lots of exciting and novel technologies but as a cohesive organization we need to ensure stability across departments. So, discovery of new technologies is one aspect, but successful adoption is another. Training users to truly achieve what they want with new equipment is alwaysahurdlebutwhendonesuccessfullypays dividends for years.
What kind of vendor/solution provider engagement do you look forward to in 2018?
YOOSAF LULU, IT OPERATION MANAGER ABU DHABI GRAMMAR SCHOOL (CANADA)
Total number of years in service: 14 Years
Do you call yourself a digital organization? If yes, why? Not necessarily. At Abu Dhabi Grammar School (Canada) we strive to maintain relationships, and human connection wherever possible. At the end of the day we are a school that prides positive relationships, learning, and critical thinking
over everything else. We often use a plethora of digital tools to achieve each of those goals, but we would never say we are digital organization just for the sake of being a digital organization.
Consistent support. Price is of course always a factor but in terms of engagement with vendors we look for support. Not just in the sense of “is this product working as intended” but also in the sense of how can one vendor’s solution fit into our complicated ecosystem of solutions that already exist. It would be great to see them engage with us more flexibly and maintain a relationship over time. The best vendors are the ones that check in with us and offer us new information on how to use what we already have in place (which adds value). Rather than simply adding us to an email list with promotions.
To do list for 2018 What are your top projects for the next 6 months? Shifting to a new IP Telephony system (3CX phone system) which should automated certain repetitive tasks/actions. Restructuring our network infrastructure.
Further our Chromebook 1-1 initiative, upgrade our network, shift to an IP telephony system, improve digital guidelines and manuals/policies for staff, introduce ID card system.
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TOP CIO IN MENA
CEMENTING INFRASTRUCTURE WITH RIGHT TECHNOLOGIES Currently working with Qatar National Cement Company at Doha (Qatar) as a Head of SAP and IT, Satya played a key role in implementing SAP ERP system, setting up IT infrastructure, connecting all manufacturing plants and Business locations with WAN, setting up Private and Public clouds, Disaster Recovery center, etc.
What are your top projects for the next 6 months?
n Review, refresh and up-gradation of IT infrastructure which is coming to end of life with state of the art and cost effective infrastructure. Infrastructure consists of servers, storage and Networking devices. n Migrating current SAP ECC 6.0 system with SAP S4HANA. n Setup on premises Mail and Messaging system. Currently it is a hosted model. n Review IT securities from Cyber Security point of view and ensure that the systems and data are well protected at multiple levels/sources
What are the key technology challenges faced by your sector? n Choosing the right technology according to company’s needs n Integrating applications n Securing company data n Resource/staffing/skills challenges
SATYANARAYAN BANJAPALLY, HEAD OF ERP & IT QATAR NATIONAL CEMENT COMPANY
Do you call yourself a digital organization? If yes, why?
We consider digital technology an opportunity for growth. We are in the transformation phase of becoming digital enterprise. We have taken many initiatives in this regard. Core technology infrastructure is in place for the enterprise to become digital. Setup Primary data center and Disaster Recovery center for availability of IT systems 24x7. We have implemented SAP ERP system which integrates all business processes. Creating a single source of the truth for business data. We have developed Dash Boards and Business intelligence reports for availability of real time visibility
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into operations of the business for the management to take timely decisions based on real time data and not on assumptions. Special attention is paid to the network, because as reliance on digital processes grows, the need for a network that can support a wide variety of devices and reliably connect them with the users. State of the art Wide Area Network (WAN) is set up, connecting all business locations. Integrated number of 3rd party devices into SAP ERP system for on line capture of information like weigh bridges, Attendance punching machines, Point of Sale system, Bar code scanners, mobile devices, etc. so that manual inputs are avoided. Number of work flows are developed to make many activities on line and paperless.
What kind of vendor/ solution provider engagement do you look forward to in 2018? We have built a strong relationship with Vendors/Solution Providers like IBM, Cisco, SAP, Ooredoo, Microsoft, Trend Micro, and implementation partners. We want to take this relation forward for mutual business benefits. As the technology keeps changing and new technologies are getting evolved, we will evaluate existing vendors and new vendors against their technology, expertise/skills and deliverables. Also bring new vendors with latest technologies. Bring the concept of treating vendors as Business partners for mutual business benefits. As we are initiating new projects, there are good opportunities for Vendors/ Solution providers to work with us. We look for a long-term relationship with Vendors/ Solution providers.
PRESENTS
TECHTALK AND META CIO AWARDS
02.08.2018 VENUE: KSA
07.08.2018 VENUE: BAHRAIN
25.08.2018 VENUE: GHANA
12.08.2018 VENUE: QATAR
26.10.2018 VENUE: KENYA
14.08.2018 VENUE: KUWAIT
27.10.2018 VENUE: EGYPT
GET READY FOR A ‘NEVER-SEEN-BEFORE’ CIO ROADSHOW IN THE META REGION
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