Channel Middle East - July 2010 by ITP Business Publishing

www.itp.net JULY 2010 Vol. 08 Issue. 07

Building and delivering IT solutions for the Middle East An ITP Technology Publication

STAYING THE COURSE Emitacâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Balall Yaqub on restructuring, risk-taking and vendor relations (18)

HIDDEN VALUE Value added distributors face investment dilemma (26)

POWER PLAY

FE LI

ta tra kes d t ma e m o be na ark a r ge eti eg r (4 ng ion al 7)

Why resellers should be using vendors to embrace new marketing techniques (32)

at it

BRAND EQUITY

Karam Jabi, Channel Manager ESS, HP Middle East

UPS vendors expand their Middle East channels (38)

DA YI Wh

EMW GAINS NEW AVAYA CERTIFICATION LENOVO APPOINTS AIM IN KSA AVNET TARGETS MEMORY MARKET SEVEN SEAS SAILS THROUGH ISO AUDIT

Licensed by Dubai Media City

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DATA LIST (1) // HEADLINE NEWS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST IT CHANNEL

FEARING THE SUMMER SLUMP

Senior market executives predict a turbulent couple of months for the Middle East channel as regional companies struggle to overcome sales and inventory challenges

FUJITSU EYES SALES PUSH

ujitsu Technology Solutions has begun

informing resellers that it will

Roll on September! That’s the verdict of channel executives in the Middle East ahead of the seasonally low summer period as they contemplate the challenges that a barren spell is likely to bring. While the channel is used to a drop off

in demand during the middle of the year, there are concerns that the next few months will be tougher than usual due to the softening of markets throughout the region over recent weeks. Senior sources contacted by Channel Middle East cited a gradual slide in business

since April, blaming everything from the falling Euro to the weak performance of local stock markets for the sluggish demand. One major reseller based at the heart of Dubai’s Computer Street district said both May and June sales had been uncharacteristically weak: “Most of the neighbouring markets, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Iran, have all slowed down, so a lot of the re-exports have come to a standstill. Even business from the African countries has gone down due to currency depreciation of 15% to 20%. We are expecting

a further slowdown in the next two months because of the summer period and the start of Ramadan in August.” The key issue, according to Raj Shankar, CEO of broadline distributor Redington Gulf, is how well the channel inventory situation is managed. He predicts that some companies will face “serious hardship” in the coming weeks if they fail to get their forecasts right. “I am very concerned about some of the established vendors which have huge inventory in the channel,” admitted Shankar. - - - > (4)

shortly launch a new channel programme that will provide them with a range of sales tools to boost their business. The PC and server vendor was planning to reveal full details of the programme as we went to press, but Chandan Mehta, product manager at Fujitsu, verified that partners had begun receiving notification of the scheme’s impending launch.

He confirmed the programme would categorise partners based on their role in its channel

SAVVYTEK FIRST WITH LINUX

EMW ADDS TO AVAYA SKILLS SI becomes region’s first services expert Systems integrator EMW claims to have

>> taken a lead over some of its rivals in the Avaya space by becoming the first certified Avaya Service Expert in the Middle East. In a move that caps a busy month in the Avaya channel — the communications vendor also announced a new regional channel chief and rolled out a revised training curriculum — EMW insists both customers and Avaya itself will benefit from its investment. “The team spent about two days going

- - - > (7)

ecosystem. “We are launching a Select Partner Programme and

Reseller strikes landmark deal for Red Hat and Oracle deployments in Jordan

a Select Expert Programme,

identification of whether they

Linux specialist Savvytek has struck a firstof-its-kind agreement in Jordan whereby it will provide Oracle and Red Hat technical services to the business solutions arm of a telecoms company. In a major boost to the open source movement in the Levant, Savvytek, which is an exclusive Red Hat Premier and Certified Training Partner for MENA, will provide Oracle and Red Hat licensing and technical implementation and support services for Kulacom Jordan’s data centre clients. Savvytek VP, Ahmad Asha, called the deal a “step into the future of outsourcing”. He said: “Joining forces with Kulacom Business Solutions will enhance business continuity and ensure successful winning stories for both Kulacom and Savvytek.” - - - > (9)

which gives partners an instant are resellers which are signed up with us for notebooks, desktops and workstations, or infrastructure solution providers,” revealed Mehta. The programme is expected to provide resellers with extra sales and technical support, as well as access to tools that will help them better market their services through e-mail shots and advertising campaigns.

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// INSIDE THIS ISSUE >>

FRONTLINE

// CONTENTS CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY 2010

04_Avnet targets memory market

11_HP looks for new managing director

04_Lenovo leans on HP distie in KSA

11_ALU extends VAR support

07_Apple to open UAE office?

11_WD Cairo event spurs resellers

07_Vendor role for ex-Almasa head

13_Optimus relocates corporate HQ

STAYING THE COURSE

09_KMG gets the nod in Egypt

13_SanDisk deal for Intercol

09_Seven Seas sails through audit

13_i2 Jordan lands Nokia accolade

Balall Yaqub, group executive director of UAE-based Emitac talks restructuring, risk-taking and relations with HP.

INSIDE INFORMATION

[]

PRODUCTS

23_FEET ON THE STREET

53_WIRELESS WORKING

HGST channel chief, David Grant, reveals plans for a local presence

New D-Link device makes internet connectivity simple for group users

24_SHARPENED FOCUS

53_VIEWING PLATFORM

iPoint’s retail manager, Varughese Mathew, talks Bahraini distribution

BenQ aims to bring a cinema-like experience to customers’ frontrooms

53_WARM RECEPTION

PEOPLE

49_BROCADE BOLSTERS TEAM Networking outfit lures Alberto Soto from HP ProCurve to run EMEA sales

49_ORACLE ACE JOINS HP Hussein Hamza quits his post at software vendor to run HP Egypt

(18)

(26) HIDDEN VALUE While it may be true that value added distribution is where the real margins are, it’s also the case that those margins rarely come easily.

Netgear claims that new router sets the benchmark for speed and range

53_BLADES OF STEEL

(32)

Brocade unveils three new blades to integrate with its flagship platforms

(14)

BRAND EQUITY Every reseller likes to think they offer the best service in town, but unless they have a structured marketing plan they won’t get very far.

NEWS ANALYSIS

SOLUTIONS

51_ITWORX EXHIBITS SKILLS Egyptian IT provider revamps DWTC’s online portal with Vignette solution

Symantec hands services business over to channel

(38)

51_RESELLER DELIVERS MAIL UAE arm of IDC S.p.A carries out unified e-mail management project

(16) >>

POWER PLAY The leading providers of UPS hardware are expanding their channel strategies as they bid to keep pace with demand.

EDITOR’S NOTES

Distribution expansion can be a dangerous game

(45) >>

EXPERT’S VIEW Why rivals can’t match Apple’s hardware model

(54) MARKET EVENTS >>

Update your calendar

(43) (15 )) 115

(56) GET TO KNOW {}

Rachielle Araga Toshiba Gulf

FACT FILE

Storage software market shows first signs of recovery with .... .. quarterly growth ...

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FRONT LINE (4)

< - - - (1) “If quick decisions and timely decisions are not taken to flush that inventory out, not only is it going to bring about losses for everybody concerned but it will result in being completely ill-prepared for GITEX because the distributors are not going to sell out their inventory. And more importantly, they won’t have the gumption to be able to invest at that time, which will mean a lacklustre GITEX for that brand.” For many channel companies, such as UAE-based Computec IT, there is an urgent need to identify markets that will offer relief over the coming weeks. “We have to admit that the second quarter was bad and we now need to find suitable markets,” said general manager,

Rashwan Arabi. “The GCC markets will be difficult considering the channel stuffing and cash flow problems in addition to the nature of the summer business.” What the channel can expect is a blitz of sales promotions from vendors as they look to stimulate demand throughout the summer. Mohammad Jweied, country manager for the Gulf at Iomega, said the storage hardware outfit had a number of activities planned, but pointed out that it was not enough for vendors to just let the channel get on with it. “Vendors need to take more care of their partners and they cannot just keep chasing them for orders without looking at their sales and their pipeline,” he said. “We are spending a lot of time, not only to

sell to the distributors but also to work with them to find the good deals and grow the market.” The popular consensus is that the retail sector faces more of a struggle than the corporate landscape. That view is certainly endorsed by Steve Lockie, managing director of Cisco distributor Westcon Middle East, who says there is still evidence of a steady flow of infrastructure projects emerging even though companies continue to manage their CAPEX cycles carefully. “We closed our first quarter at the end of May so we are just in the first month of the second quarter and it is actually pretty buoyant,” claimed Lockie. “The order book is strong and we have good project visibility.”

AVNET TARGETS MIDDLE EAST MEMORY MARKET

Recovery in global pricing prompts distributor to focus efforts on regional sales and stocking

vnet Technology Solutions is ramping up its focus on the regional memory market with a dedicated product manager, and will soon begin holding stocks in the UAE. Avnet now offers memory products from Kingston, Transcend and Samsung to Middle East customers, and intends to put more focus on this part of the business as it moves forward. To strengthen its push, Avnet has just hired Omar Fakhri as memory sales account manager and he will lead the company’s memory business in the region. Previously he worked at hardware integrator DTK.

.... .. ...

Kirsten Klatt, marketing and communications director at Avnet Technology Solutions EMEA, says the appointment reflects the US-based outfit’s ambitions to expand its position as a regional memory supplier. “While Avnet has the global scale and scope to help our partners reach new customers in high-growth markets, we are responding to the local market demand in the Middle East for an increased focus on memory,” she explained. Avnet already implements local stockholding for certain product lines, including hard drives, and it now intends to begin holding memory locally too.

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Klatt says the focus on memory follows a recovery in pricing during the last 12 to 18 months, and that has given the company optimism that it can provide local PC assemblers and integrators with the technology they need. “As memory is a core component for PC manufacturers and resellers in the Middle East, we will continue to support our CPU and HDD channel with strong memory vendor relationships, a focused line card and in-depth knowledge of each product,” she said.

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Avnet is looking to grow its memory business in the Middle East

LENOVO LEANS ON HP KSA DISTRIBUTOR Vendor looking to increase market share by hiring AIM

enovo has bolstered its distribution presence in Saudi Arabia by signing HP distributor Advanced Integrated Media (AIM). The agreement grants AIM the right to carry both Lenovo’s consumer and commercial products, but more significantly it makes AIM the first Saudi-owned distributor that it works with in the Kingdom. All of Lenovo’s existing partners, such as FDC and Asbis, are regional players with a local office and stockholding capabilities in KSA. Bassam Abu Baker, group general manager at AIM (below), feels the company’s understanding of the Saudi market will set it in good stead as it begins the franchise. He insists Lenovo is serious about increasing its share of the PC market in Saudi Arabia, which is why it moved to appoint AIM. “Anyone that is keen to work hard in the local market, and partner with a serious and supportive vendor will succeed and gain market share, despite any other factors. Many customers are looking for partners who will work closely with them by offering stock that fulfills their needs and providing the support they need,” he said. Although the company launched a distribution entity focused on non-HP franchises last year, it is understood the Lenovo business will be managed by its AIM team.

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FRONT LINE (7)

< - - - (1) through all the processes and support — from certification to heldesk support — so it was pretty involved,” EMW’s CEO for the Middle East, Serjios El-Hage, told Channel Middle East. “If I was a customer and I had a proposal from a certified service expert versus a non-certified service expert, I would go with the service expert because I know they’ll deliver and mainly because Avaya has certified them,” said El-Hage. “It works both ways though because if Avaya has an opportunity that requires services then we are the only ones qualified to do the work on behalf of Avaya.” EMW’s services contract covers the UAE and requires it to have a minimum of eight certified Avaya staff. The certification builds

on the joint service delivery (JSD) partner status that EMW held prior to the launch of Avaya’s Connect Programme earlier this year. “The service expert certification is a step up from the JSD certification,” said El-Hage. “It is like the platinum, if you will, of services for any vendor. Service for us is very important because at the end of the day customers pay our salaries and they pay Avaya’s salaries.” Meanwhile, Avaya has completed its six-month search for a new Middle East channel manager by hiring Tarek Hassaniyeh from Motorola, where he looked after the company’s enterprise business. Hassaniyeh will fill the position formerly held by Roger El Tawil, who became Avaya’s managing director for the Gulf and Pakistan at

VENDOR ROLE FOR EX-ALMASA HEAD

he former head of Almasa’s networking arm,

Pradeep Angeveetil, has joined LifeSize Communications, becoming the company’s first employee in the Middle East. Angeveetil will serve as the end of last year. Avaya also claims it has achieved a number of channel “firsts” after making several updates to its partner training and certification curriculum. The vendor insists the launch of a solutionsbased competency model, a channel training subscription fee model and a SIP architect certification are all exclusive additions to the IP communications channel landscape.

regional manager for the video Tarek Hassaniyeh, Avaya’s new Middle East channel manager

conferencing specialist, which was acquired by peripherals giant Logitech last December. One of his immediate tasks will be to cement relationships with the company’s two existing distributors in the region — Westcon and Taxan Gulf — as well as identify new markets for it to target, according to Andreas Wienold, VP sales EMEA at LifeSize. “Although we already have a wide reseller network, there are geographical and vertical

APPLE TO OPEN UAE OFFICE? Market waiting to see if long-standing rumours that vendor is seeking local representation prove to be true

pple is set to open its first representative office for the Middle East in Abu Dhabi, according to channel sources working closely with the vendor. Apple has never had any employees based in the region up to now, preferring instead to channel all its business through ABM. However, talk of the vendor launching its own operations has grown louder in the market during the past year, and now resellers claim they expect developments in the next few months. One Apple dealer said it had been told by Apple officials who visited the region that the

company had already selected office space in Abu Dhabi, and had originally intended to move in last December. The source suggested Apple’s motivation for seeking a local presence could be to gain greater control over the development of its business in the region. “They now have a lot of products that are going out of distribution, like the iPad and iPhone, and I think they want to supervise such things themselves in the region,” said the partner. “Our feeling is that Apple would be more aggressive in terms of visiting large accounts and

markets in the region that are

developing other businesses. Their involvement in certain deals at the moment suggests this is the direction they are moving.” Any move to open a representative office in the Middle East is likely to create speculation over Apple’s future channel strategy as well. At the moment its products are distributed solely through UAE-based ABM. ABM used to be Apple’s International Marketing Company (IMC) for the region, but now carries the title of ‘Authorised Distributor’ following a corporate rebranding exercise. When approached for comment on the office situation, a spokesperson for Apple UK, which oversees the Middle East business, said the company had “nothing to announce at this point in time.”

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not yet covered and Pradeep is in charge to select the right partners to address those markets,” explained Wienold. The typical channel for LifeSize’s products includes corporate-focused audiovisual integrators and systems integrators with a networking and telecoms background. It counts vendors such as Polycom and Cisco-owned Tandberg as its main rivals.

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FRONT LINE (9)

<- - -

(1) Kulacom, meanwhile, says the decision to outsource the Red Hat and Oracle services will allow it to offer price-competitive hosting solutions to customers. It provides software and hardware hosting services at a state-of-the-art data centre which it launched last year, in addition to offering wireless and wired broadband solutions. “This agreement will provide our clients from Jordan and around the region with an additional solution that will further increase the efficiency, protection and management of the core business and operational data that we host for our clients within our data centre,” stated Hazim Alaeddin, CEO of Kulacom Jordan. Savvytek claims it is the only Red Hat Premier

Partner in MEA, as well as an Oracle Certified Platinum Partner and Oracle Approved Education Centre. It employs more than 120 technology consultants focused on software deployment, professional support and enterprise Linux solutions. The deal with Kulacom is the first major project that Savvytek has announced since recently revealing it had strengthened its partnership with Red Hat by signing a region-wide subcontracting agreement As part of the agreement, Savvytek is free to provide technical implementation services for Red Hat clients in Jordan and the rest of the MENA region. Following the announcement, VP Ahmad Asha said the move endorsed the investment it had made in driving the

SEVEN SEAS SAILS THROUGH AUDIT

even Seas Computers claims it is among the

first systems integrators in the Middle East to attain the International Organisation sale and support of open source solutions in Jordan. “This agreement with Red Hat emphasised the high level of delivery commitment and professionalism we showed, as well as the qualifications that Savvytek attains,” he stated. “We are proud to have acknowledged the growing utilisation of open source in the region six years ago, and have acted to lead the way forward.” In addition to Jordan, Savvytek operates offices in the US and Saudi Arabia.

for Standardisation (ISO) Savvytek will provide outsourced Red Hat and Oracle services in a firstof-its-kind deal

9001:2008 accreditation, which is regarded as an endorsement of commitment to world-class quality standards. The 350-strong Dubaibased outfit was awarded the certification following a two-stage recertification audit by industrial service provider Vincotte International Middle East. The process also included a rigorous assessment of Seven Seas’ quality management system (QMS) policies, procedures and systems. Nayagam Pillai, CEO at Seven Seas, said: “We decided

KMG GETS THE NOD IN EGYPT Specialist security distributor tasked with developing the retail market to grow sales of ESET antivirus software

DAOX Middle East has struck a retail distribution agreement with KMG Technology in Egypt to drive the sale of ESET NOD32 antivirus software in the market. ADAOX serves as the regional representative for the ESET product range. Security distributor KMG is expected to promote ESET’s security solutions by providing an expert technical team to assist customers with product demonstrations, proof of concept and after- sales support. “ESET is one of the global market leaders in the area of antivirus solutions and client

security, and complements KMG’s security portfolio perfectly,” said Amir Rafla, managing partner at KMG Technology. “There is an urgent need for reliable and robust security offerings in a huge market like Egypt and we believe ESET NOD32 fulfils those criteria. We plan to promote ESET through our extensive retailer base spread across the country and offer unmatched end-user support in-terms of special prices, technical advice and superior after-sales support,” added Rafla. KMG Technology is focused on the distribution of security

it was imperative to focus on

products in Egypt, and has plans to expand its activities to different countries in the near future. Its current portfolio of security solutions encompasses products from vendors such as BitDefender, Watchguard and Panda. The distributor claims to have a large customer base comprising VARs and retailers across Egypt. Neo Neophytou, managing director of ADAOX, says it is looking to benefit from KMG’s links with the channel in Egypt. “By signing them as our new partner, we are looking to strengthen ESET’s position, market share and visibility in Egypt,” he said. “We believe KMG is well equipped to manage and address customer needs and drive adoption of ESET NOD32 solutions throughout the country.”

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getting recertified to the new standard in order to engrain an evolved ‘quality’ culture within the company and incorporate best practices in compliance with ISO standards.” Efforts to meet the requirements of ISO 9001:2008 began with the appointment of a core ISO team and the training of staff on the new standard after it was announced last year.

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FRONT LINE (11)

HP EXPLORING ALL OPTIONS AS IT LOOKS TO FIND MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR MIDDLE EAST

WD CAIRO EVENT SPURS RESELLERS

Acting managing director, Mohamed Itani, tipped as an early favourite to replace John Hoonhout, but HP keeping its cards close to its chest as it weighs up available options

ewlett-Packard has begun the process of identifying candidates to take over from John Hoonhout as managing director and technology solutions lead for the Middle East. Hoonhout recently left the company after two and a half years at the helm, spurring HP to appoint regional operations manager, Mohamed Itani, as acting managing director. HP would not comment on whether Itani was in the frame to get the job permanently, except to say that it is considering both internal and external candidates for the vacancy. However, sources close to the company have suggested that Itani is a clear favourite for the post if HP decides to go for an internal appointment.

A spokesperson for the company said it had not set a time frame on the hiring process: “With this kind of position it takes time to find the right candidate. But we have begun that process and we definitely hope to announce something soon.” Part of the managing director’s role at HP involves overseeing the company’s technology solutions business. That responsibility is currently being handled by Fawwaz Qadan, HP’s enterprise and services director for the region. Hoonhout’s departure comes on the back of what was arguably HP’s toughest year in the region as the global recession led to reduced spending on enterprise infrastructure and PC equipment. According to HP, Hoonhout has now begun

partners in Egypt a

offerings for the market at a roundtable event in Cairo. The hard drive vendor hosted more than 100 employees from a number of second-tier channel partners, as well as its four in-country distributors: FDC, Metra, North Africa a new venture. “John decided to pursue a new opportunity outside of HP and we wish him the best of luck as he has been around HP since 1984. We thank him for his contribution during his leadership of the Middle East,” said the spokesperson for HP. Hoonhout succeeded Joseph Hanania when he was appointed managing director in September 2007. Prior to that he ran the company’s services operation in the region.

Communications vendor makes it easier for partners to sell its products to large accounts in the Middle East

estern Digital has given

sneak preview of its latest

ALU EXTENDS VAR SUPPORT lcatel-Lucent claims its new Converged Partner Programme (CPP) represents a “major evolution” of its regional framework for VARs selling enterprise communications. The new scheme is designed to make it easier for VARs to sell Alcatel-Lucent products, and features updated certification, technical specialisations and accreditation elements associated with different types of partnership.

The solutions linked to the programme are based around IP telephony, contact centres, IP network infrastructure, unified communications and mobility. Philippe Cros, head of channel sales for Alcatel-Lucent in the Middle East, insists partners will have access to a range of tools that will drive their offering. “Our new CPP also assures end-users in the Middle East of our partners’ service

Mohamed Itani has been named HP’s acting managing director in the wake of John Hoonhout’s exit

“The purpose of this networking event was to meet our partners and update them on our offerings,” explained regional boss Khwaja Saifuddin. “WD celebrates 40 years this year, so we used this event to reinforce our focus and support for our partners.” Executives from WD Middle East, including MEA sales director Mohammed Owais (pictured), and branded external products head Khalid Wani, provided resellers with a rundown of the company’s

quality and expertise thanks to improved certifications, solutions specialisation and accreditation programmes that are integrated into the CPP,” said Cros. “Alcatel-Lucent accreditation is a high level of recognition and a great differentiator for a partner selling in the region,” he added. The programme is supported by two new interactive services. One is an application for mobile phones that gives partners instant access to product and sales information, while the other is a business portal containing a range of purchasing, technical and business planning tools.

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Company and Redington.

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new product range, data on the storage sector and market share information. “Egypt has always been a focus for us,” insisted Saifuddin. “It is one of the success story markets for Western Digital, as we enjoy a high market share in Egypt.”

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FRONT LINE (13)

OPTIMUS CLAIMS OFFICE RELOCATION WILL LEAD TO BETTER SUPPORT FOR THE CHANNEL

i2 JORDAN LANDS NOKIA ACCOLADE

Hardware distributor to use its old office in Jebel Ali as a regional centre for technical support and training after shifting company headquarters to Dubai as part of streamlining exercise

etworking products distributor Optimus is anticipating a boost in its business from the decision to shift its headquarters from Jebel Ali Free Zone to Hawai Towers on Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road. The company claims the new location will help it to “expand and streamline its regional operations”, with the existing JAFZA office set to act as a support and service centre for partners. “We wanted to move our regional headquarters to a central location, which would not only be more accessible to our partners and ensure faster business decisions but would also help us consolidate our business and streamline our operations,” explained Meera Kaul Sawhney, managing director of the distribution company.

“Our new office at Hawai Towers on the central artery of Dubai, Sheikh Zayed Road will help us centralise our operations, scale up our business and strengthen our position across the region,” she added. Sawhney confirmed that Optimus’ JAFZA office will now be used to provide technical and training support to partners from around the region, and said the company had its eyes on opening new offices elsewhere in the Middle East during the next few months. She did not specify which markets this would include, however. Optimus distributes products from a wide range of networking and infrastructure brands, including Avaya, Extreme Networks, Interquartz, Mitel, Molex and Tandberg.

the Jordanian operations

to Nokia’s regional business by picking up an accolade for ‘best overall performance’ by a distributor in the Middle East and Africa markets. i2 Jordan, which employs around 100 people, received the award from Chris Braam, The office relocation comes just a few months after Optimus said it was looking to grow its business by expanding its portfolio. “We have a wide network across the Middle East and North Africa region and we are looking forward to tying up with more reputed global vendors who want to expand their operations to the MENA region and offering our customers an extensive portfolio of IT and telecom products,” stated Sawhney at the time.

Manama-based IT group handed mantra to develop memory vendor’s business in the Bahrain market lash storage cards vendor SanDisk has signed International Agencies Co Ltd — better known as Intercol — to distribute its products in Bahrain. Tareq Husseini, sales director for the Middle East and Africa at SanDisk, says the appointment fits with its plans to make its offering available through more channels. “Our partnership with Intercol reinforces our objective to expand our product reach across the

nity for Mobiles LLC —

of i2 — has proved its worth

SANDISK DEAL FOR INTERCOL

region,” said Husseini. “The entire range of SanDisk storage products will now be available to a wider market through the expertise and established distribution networks of Intercol,” he added. SanDisk’s portfolio includes flash memory cards, USB flash drives, embedded memory and solid state drives. For Manama-based Intercol, the deal means the addition of another major technology brand

VP sales at Nokia MEA, and

Meera Kaul Sawhney says Optimus’ new set-up makes it more accessible to partners

Haisam Jamal, Nokia’s general manager for the Levant region. Nokia said it gave the award to i2 for its “exceptional performance” in the sale and distribution of its products. “Our solid vision starts with achieving the utmost quality standards for our customers, partners and our employees, and with our long future strategy we are looking to strengthen our leading position in the telecommunications field to be the pioneers in sales and distribution of mobile phones,”

to its stable. The company also represents Alcatel-Lucent, Asus, HP, Nokia and Polycom. Abdulrahman Ali Alwazzan, director at Intercol, believes the SanDisk tie-up is a timely addition to its portfolio given research suggests that the global flash memory market is growing at a rate of 12% a year. “The partnership will help us cash in on the burgeoning market while at the same time provide more opportunity for future collaboration and distribution of innovative solutions from SanDisk in the Bahrain market,” commented Alwazzan.

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said Shakir Fehmi, managing director of i2 Jordan (below). “In addition, we are looking to provide products and superior service to ensure quality and excellence, as we believe that transparency and innovation will separate us from the competition,” he said.

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NEWS ANALYSIS (14) // EXTENDED COVERAGE OF THE TOP STORIES

SHIFTING SERVICES INTO THE HANDS OF PARTNERS Symantec is backing away from some of the services business that it previously delivered directly and instead handing it over to partners. Channel Middle East caught up with the vendor’s regional channel chief to find out why.

For as long as resellers have looked for ways to build more sustainable revenue streams, vendors have trotted out the rather routine message that services are the way to go. But security software and storage vendor Symantec is bidding to take that piece of advice one step further by actually shifting a chunk of services business that it previously managed itself into the hands of channel partners. As part of an initiative that is currently being implemented in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as other parts of the world, Symantec is offering partners the opportunity to take responsibility for consultancy and technical delivery services around four of its main product areas.

Scaling services Speaking to Channel Middle East on the sidelines of its annual MENA Partner Summit, Ramzi Itani, Symantec’s regional channel and alliance manager, said the move would not only reduce any direct competition that exists on the services side, but ensure the business can be scaled in a better way than if it was handled by Symantec directly. “In some cases when the customer was saying, ‘I want the vendor to do this business’, the partner would feel that it was competing with Symantec if it had its own delivery engine,” said

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Itani. “Now the customer doesn’t have that option. We are going to the customer and telling them that we are still delivering the same capabilities that we had, but we are transferring it to our partners and they will deliver on that. The same skill levels that Symantec people have will be transferred to our partners.” Symantec intends to create a partner-led services model that is built on three layers. The first layer will comprise implementation-only partners that do not sell licences, while the second level is aimed at partners which sell licences in one country but have the tools, staff and training to go and deliver in another. The final layer addresses partners that have a relationship with a client and want to both sell licences and deliver services. “We are now in the process of enablement and are carrying out trainings for partners on the four technologies,” explained Itani. Midmarket opportunity According to Itani, the reason for focusing so specifically on four technologies — namely Symantec solutions round e-mail archiving, back-up, end-point management and end-point protection — is because research shows that the midmarket commercial space is Symantec’s fastest growing market. “We extrapolated the

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numbers from IDC and found that in the UAE there is a market opportunity of US$95m in the midmarket space,” revealed Itani. “In the region alone the opportunity is worth more than US$150m, and it is mainly served by these four core technologies,” he added. Skills transfer Symantec, which has almost 1,500 partners in the region — including 60 that it deems managed accounts — has now given its internal consultancy team six months to transfer knowledge to partners and arm them with the skills they require. Itani insists that it is key for the company to move quickly. “We are delivering training for our partners to make them equipped and preparing toolkits so that they can carry out implementations,” he said. “We have engaged them in several projects already and exposed them to our pipeline so that they can build their teams and start offering their services.” At the same time, however, partners must show they are willing to make the investment in services by committing certain project management, consultancy and technical post-sales and presales resources to the cause. The services mantra may be well-worn, but it still requires the channel to step up to the plate.

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Symantec boss Johnny Karam addresses resellers at the vendor’s channel awards ceremony following its annual MENA partner summit.

Ramzi Itani (above) insists that Symantec will now be able to scale its services business as a result of shifting certain components to channel partners in the region.

// CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY 2010

EDITOR’S NOTES (16) // by Andrew Seymour

THE DANGERS OF SLICING AND DICING Without the right intentions, channel expansion can be a dangerous game for vendors to play in the Middle East, especially when it comes to appointing additional distribution partners.

Seagate hopes the decision to slash distribution numbers will improve profitability for its remaining wholesale partners in the region.

Vendors that don’t recognise the changing capacity of the market risk being saddled with an over-stocked channel, which corrodes the value of the franchise for distributors.

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I doubt whether HGST’s recent disclosure that it intends to expand its distribution line-up will fill the hard drive vendor’s existing distributors in the region with glee. The company already has four partners carrying its products in the Middle East, and they certainly couldn’t be blamed if the prospect of further competition leads them to question whether there is really enough business to share among everyone. The suggestion from HGST is that any additional distributors will be brought in with its external branded business in mind. As the majority of hard drive vendors know only too well at the moment, external storage sales are where the growth is coming from and therefore a solid strategy for the retail channel is imperative. As HGST looks to increase its overall percentage of non-OEM sales by enlarging its channel business, the company appears open to the strategy of appointing distributors in the Middle East whose job it is to address specific market areas. In doing so it endorses a way of thinking that is becoming ever more common in the regional market: signing

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distributors with the specific purpose of targeting select product lines or sectors. Keeping control Advocates of this model will argue that it is the most practical approach to addressing a market because it offers the ability to achieve measured results while causing minimal partner conflict. That may well be true, but it also requires the vendor in question to maintain a significant level of control if the model is to work as smoothly it sounds. And by ‘control’ I mean the rudimentary steps of managing each relationship and making sure that the distributors are doing what they are meant to be doing — and doing it well. That is not a straightforward task by any stretch of the imagination. It is all well and good limiting distributors to particular product lines or customer types, but what happens if one of them fails to stick to the plan? How do you actually regulate that? The task of dividing markets by different criteria can be a complicated process in itself, so subsequently ensuring that distributors are carrying out the specific role they were hired for can

be a time-consuming job. The management side of it is something that vendors have to take seriously. Trying to keep a rein on five or six distribution accounts is going to be a great deal tougher — and a lot more expensive — than, say, three or four. And if vendors haven’t got the resources to manage that from inside the region, the chances of exerting the necessary level of control become significantly reduced. Equally, if the vendor segments the business too finely there is a risk that the business will not be substantial enough to keep partners interested. Right intentions The one nagging concern with the rise of this trend is that vendors are simply using it as an excuse to increase distribution numbers in an attempt to try and swamp the market with their product and extend the sources of credit available to the second-tier channel in the region. If that’s the case then they should be aware of one thing: distributors are now far more willing to walk away from franchises if the returns are unsatisfactory. Intentions, it would seem, count for everything these days.

2010 Sony Creative Software New Consumer and Professional Products

Home Studio and Professional solutions for video, DVD, audio, and music production

Ofﬁcial Distributor in the Middle East– Al

Hosani Computer LLC

1703 BelResheed Tower, Buhaira Corniche, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Tel. +9716-575-444-3, Fax +9716-575-444-9 www.alhosanime.com, email: sales@alhosanime.com

STAYING THE

COURSE

UAE-based Emitac Group has been operating in the market for almost as long as the Middle East IT sector has existed. The experience it has gleaned from three decades in the industry has come in handy as it has set about reorganising its operations in the past year to place greater autonomy on its four main business units. Channel Middle East sat down with the company’s group executive director, Balall Yaqub, to talk restructuring, risktaking and the future of its relationship with HP.

Let’s start with the state of the market in the Middle East. How healthy is the IT sector given what has happened in the past 18 months? BALALL YAQUB: I cannot classify the entire Middle East as one market. I think there are some markets where we will continue to face challenges and there are other parts of the market where I see significant opportunities. Abu Dhabi, for example, is producing a major part of the IT activity this year within the UAE. And then if you look at the Gulf, Saudi Arabia continues to expand quite aggressively and Qatar is seeing some growth, whereas some of the other markets are challenging. Within the actual products and services offerings, I think the retail market is generally under more stress, but if you look at telecommunications or healthcare, those markets have actually grown year on year. Emitac Group comprises a number of businesses, including distribution, mobile solutions and enterprise resell. Is there a shift in terms of which parts of the operation are driving the group? BALALL YAQUB: eYs. Within each of our businesses we have a fairly diversified set of products and ser vices. How it helps us — and the recent couple of years is an excellent example of that — is that one revenue stream might do much better than the other, but when you look at the overall

(18) // CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY 2010 _www.itp.net_

picture we have done ver y well. At the moment, our distribution business — which was our flag bearer until about two years ago — experienced some challenging times in 2009and I think it will continue to in 2010. But if you look at our mobile business, it is growing 30%per year. Our enterprise business had a pretty decent 2009, so there are going to be years when one business does outstandingly well and subsequently other periods where other businesses do well. I think one of the strengths of the Emitac Group is this diversity that we have. That diversity must bring its own set of challenges for the company though… BALALL YAQUB: It does, and one of the ways that we have addressed that is through the reorganisation and restructuring that we have done, which is to say that whereas three or four years ago we had a very centralised approach, it is now decentralised. We decided to let each business go out and be completely independent, have its own objectives, its own strategies to achieve those objectives, and its own management team. And therefore be better positioned to take advantage of the market opportunities and to be more accountable to the owners as well. Are there any vertical markets — particularly in terms of the enterprise solutions business here — that you have de-focused from since the crisis? BALALL YAQUB: I wouldn’t say ‘de-focus’ because we already had just a few vertical markets that we were focusing on to begin with. There were just five verticals, so for us to completely do away with one would be very challenging. What we have done is put new resources in place that we feel we had to in order to achieve the growth that we were wanting to in certain verticals. Telecommunications is one, oil and gas is another, and Abu Dhabi government is the third vertical where we have actually enhanced our coverage, both in terms of the people that address it and the products and solutions that we offer to these markets. Is it fair to say that the risk exposure to bad debts in the market is greater than you have ever known before? If so, has it caused you to change your approach? BALALL YAQUB: We have had very minimal change and I think that can be credited to the tools and the processes that we already had in place. If we have taken an increased exposure on a certain deal then we have done it with full knowledge and based upon a relationship and an association that goes back not just six months or a year, but 10 or 20years. We have done business with a lot of our major enterprise customers forever so I think we have taken very deliberate and wellinformed decisions. Is the market more challenging in respect of this? Definitely. But being able to take an informed decision with the information, experience and data that we are lucky to have because of our history of business in this part of the world has meant that we haven’t really had to change our provisions. In fact, we have just

If we have taken an increased exposure on a certain deal then we have done it with full knowledge and based upon a long relationship finished our audit for last year and the auditors didn’t feel any need to change them. Emitac is well-known for its long association with HP in the Middle East. How stable is that relationship bearing in mind some of the changes that HP made on the distribution side last year? BALALL YAQUB: I think the HP relationship will continue to be extremely strong because it is a relationship that goes back to 1976. Until 2002 we were actually the exclusive HP partner in the region and when HP opened up and appointed other partners the market

(19) BY ANDREW SEYMOUR

// CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY 2010 _www.itp.net_

concern was, ‘now there’s competition, let see how Emitac addresses that’. The reality is that we have grown significantly as the market has opened up, and we are one of the leading HP partners in this part of the world. So we value our relationship with HP and from what we understand the feeling is mutual.

we have continued to consolidate and grow with HP, but at the same time we have other businesses that have come in and become a very significant component of the total Emitac Group business.

Does the significance of that partnership mean your business is impacted by any strategic changes that HP makes?

The success of any channel business depends a lot on the strength of vendor relationships and you work with brands such as Acer, HP and RIM. Is there any advice you would like to give to vendors to help the channel better tackle the challenges it faces?

BALALL YAQUB: eYs. I think that because in some respects, and in certain product areas, we are like a mini HP, we get affected by whatever HP does. Just to give you an example without quoting numbers, three years ago HP was the major component of our revenue. Over the last three years we have more than doubled the HP business, but today there are other partners — RIM for example — that are now a major partner in our revenue stream. So

BALALL YAQUB: Our vendors are international companies so my very strong feeling there would be for these companies to listen to their regional offices more. If a decision has to be made on the targets of the business, the credit facilities or the exposure, I think that the local teams need to be a lot more involved than they normally are. It is fine if there are some guidelines from the corporate head office, but the people who are on the ground here in the region are the people who know the market best, and therefore they should play a very important part in whatever offerings are here. The second thing is that whereas I understand a need for an international vendor to have multiple channels, I think they should try and ensure that the number of partners is at an optimal level. It should not result in saturation or over-supply — or anything like that — because at the end of the day this market can only succeed if the main players get some benefit out of it. The first main player is the customer and the second main player is the local partner.

(20) // CHANNEL _www.itp.net_ // CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY 20102009 _www.itp.net_ MIDDLE EAST_SEPTEMBER

FILE FOCUS F5 Networks is aiming to drive channel sell-through of its ARX file virtualisation devices as customers increasingly look to simplify data management and reduce storage costs. Mark Govan, EMEA business development consultant for ARX solutions at F5, outlines the company’s proposition for the Middle East market.

from a number of major organisations across the region, which is validating the market for ARX . A good example of the increasing maturity of the market is our partnership with NetApp, with whom we are an Advantage Alliance Partner. We are collaborating with NetApp to provide customers with unified application and data delivery solutions to enable more agile and dynamic data centres.

What are the main challenges facing the market right now when it comes to data growth? Growth rates in data are a challenge for just about every customer. It leads to ongoing capital expenditure in storage hardware and even though the unit price of storage falls, the cost of management still rises. As well as this, people tend to forget that for every GB created, an additional GB has to be backed up and protected for business continuity and compliance purposes. The customers that we engage with typically have growth rates in excess of 5% 6CAGR — some well over 10 0%— in their file environments. Of this data, 0% 8has not been accessed or modified in the previous 09days and a significant percentage of the overall storage pool may be non-business critical data such as .mp3 , .pst, .vob and so on.

In terms of deployment, how easy is it to implement storage tiering? ARXstorage tiering is easy to deploy within a customer environment because it relies on the existing file server assets within a customer environment. We are especially suited to changing environments because we enable rapid transformation of a customer environment with no disruption. All of our solutions have delivered significant operational benefits and achieved rapid ROI due to the fact that we have solved problems that have drastically reduced the time required for a strategic business activity.

There is lot of choice for the channel at the moment due to the convergence driven by vendors in the network, virtualisation and storage space. How is F5 attempting to stand out from the crowd? > Govan claims F5’s product maturity sets it apart from rivals One of our key differentiators is the You are responsible for maturity of our product and customer F5’s ARX series business. What are the key features of this for any partner that may be interested in base that includes multi-Petabyte deployments at major organisations around the world. The key to any solution standing out in a market is selling it? when it delivers significant business benefits in a short period of time. Our unique stub-less tiering functionality enables file data to be split in We are successful with ARXbecause we help customers address the to separately manageable pools of data. For example, 20 %of the data source of the issue e( ach data file and its content)rather than carry out will be automatically allocated to critical file storage — tier 1 — while operations at a level that will deliver less impact a( t a volume or share 80%will be automatically allocated to less critical storage or optimised level). For example, we give customers visibility in to their data, file storage such as de-duplicated file servers — tier 2. The real benefit enable them to address each file based on a business policy and for customers is that this is totally transparent and you can apply automate the process of management. Many other tools in the market different back-up policies to each pool of storage. space solve similar problems to us, but their implementation creates data management problems of another kind, such as creating back-up What sort of demand do you see in the Middle East issues with stub base tiering. Other vendors approach the problem at market, and what factors are driving it? The adoption of our technology is primarily driven by the growth of file too high a level, resulting in data being needlessly virtualised with no benefit to the customer. In fact, it can increase the cost of storage and we have seen each market in EMEA emerge at a different implementation and reduce return on investment. rate and with specific market needs. We are seeing significant interest

(21) BY ANDREW SEYMOUR

// CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY 2010 _www.itp.net_

// CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY 2010

_www.itp.net_

INSIDE INFORMATION (23) // EXPERTS IN THEIR OWN WORDS

TIME TO PUT FEET ON THE STREET, CONCEDES HGST While several of its hard drive rivals have built up their presence in the Middle East over the years, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST) has not felt the need to have permanent representation here through a local team. That could all be about to change following a shift in the company’s priorities, as Channel Middle East found out from David Grant, channel manager for Eastern Europe and the Middle East at HGST.

CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST: What sort of investment is HGST making in the Middle East region? DAVID GRANT: On a local level we are actively looking to recruit someone for the local market to help me. I cover other regions, like the Balkans and the Ukraine, so I can only dedicate half my time to this market. As the market is too large for me alone we need someone local here. Hopefully in the next month or so we should have somebody here. CME: Will that person play a channel sales and development role? DG: Their initial function will be to drive the retail business because we now have a branded product [strengthened by last year’s acquisition of Fabrik]. We need somebody to support that business and they will certainly help with branding once we get the product on the shelves. I will work alongside them because I’ve got the bulk hard drive experience and will be driving that. There will be overlap because there are customers who buy both. CME: Have you got any candidates in mind? DG: No, we are in the recruitment stage at the moment. CME: Will they be based in the UAE? DG: Yes, but the role will be Middle East-focused. Our priorities are Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, where the main volume comes from. CME: HGST has never had any employees based permanently in the Middle East region, has it? DG: We had somebody two or three years ago — a guy who joined for six to nine months and then left. Then we had a representative, which was

more of a sales agency, but now we need our own local guys here to support the business. CME: The sales agency you worked with in the Middle East was HK Consulting. What happened there? DG: We basically came to a common agreement to part ways. I think Farooq [Khawaja] and Hafeez [Khawaja — the founder] had plans to do some other things and we felt that we needed some local presence here — an Hitachi presence rather than a representative or consulting agency. A local presence is always better, that’s why we made the decision to go with a local guy. CME: If you look at competitors that have done well in this market, such as Seagate and Western Digital, they have generally succeeded in developing a strong local presence... DG: Oh yes, it is clear. We have always had a presence here, but our priorities two or three years ago were to make the company money and this market didn’t really lend itself to that with how cost-competitive it was. A lot of changes have been made in the company since then so we are now more cost-competitive and can dedicate more resources to this market — not only people, but marketing support and so on. CME: Are you seeing a change in the split of sales between the internal bulk hard drive business and the branded business? DG: For the UAE and the Middle East I think it was 80% versus 20% in Q1. That is for the market in general. External is growing in this market, which is why we invested in buying Fabrik last year. It gave us

immediate introduction and access to that market. CME: Is Hitachi’s own business in the region reflective of that 80%20% market split? DG: I don’t have the figures at hand. It is less because we effectively only came to the market last year. The global numbers for external drives were doubling quarter on quarter at one stage. That is why we need some retail [presence] here. CME: What is the situation with the Fabrik business given that it previously had its own distributors for the Simpletech products here? DG: The Fabrik acquisition gave us two product ranges: the Simpletech brand, which is now Hitachi, and then the G-Tech brand, which we had. We have maintained that because it has got good branding with the Apple market, so there is no need to change that. G-Tech is separate, so the existing distributors we have here have access to both bulk hard drives and the previous Simpletech external drives. CME: In terms of the internal hard drive business, the Middle East is not renowned for having an abundance of large local assemblers. What challenges does this create? DG: We still see there is business for that integration — maybe not in the UAE, but certainly in Egypt where there are still a lot of tenders. I think there are also opportunities in Saudi Arabia. If you look at the situation in Russia, which is a really cost-competitive market, we do really well with the tender business, so hopefully we can duplicate that to some extent in Egypt.

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INSIDE INFORMATION (24) // EXPERTS IN THEIR OWN WORDS

iPOINT SHARPENS FOCUS ON BAHRAIN CHANNEL BUSINESS It feels like regional distributors have taken over the Middle East market during recent years, but if you search hard enough you’ll soon discover a hearty throng of in-country specialists successfully plying their trade. In Bahrain, local distributor iPoint is one company with aspirations to keep some of its larger regional rivals at bay, as Varughese Mathew, the distributor’s retail manager, explains.

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CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST: Tell us about iPoint. What are the main brands that you carry in the market and how large is the company? VARUGHESE MATHEW: We represent a large number of brands including Xerox, Epson, Fujitsu, Goodram, BenQ, Promate, Genius, TDK and Netgear. We are a pure distribution company, so we distribute those brands to retailers, resellers and other channel partners. As well as retail, we sell into the SMB channel, so a lot of the Bahrain market for those products goes through us. We currently have 24 staff spread throughout the departments. CME: Have you been working to expand the portfolio? VM: Yes, that is one of the main thing that we look to do. We have added Promate to our portfolio and we feel that they have some products that are unique in the market. Last year we added Goodram as well. That was also a unique product and it has been a success. Our aim is to give our customers — and ultimately their customers — access to unique products that they want to buy. CME: Is there a danger that by growing the portfolio you could lose focus on existing brands? VM: We don’t think that our concentration will be affected because we will ensure that none of the brands clash. We are very careful about that. For example, both Promate and Genius offer gaming devices so we have already told them that we don’t want to create a clash. CME: Do you have direct buying contracts with the vendors that

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you work with, or do you simply source the product from regional distributors based in the UAE? VM: We are a true in-country distributor so we buy Xerox from Xerox, Epson from Epson, Fujitsu scanners from Fujitsu, and so on. We have actually added the entire range of Fujitsu laptops and servers to our product portfolio. CME: Where does this leave iPoint in terms of market position? Would you describe yourself as one of the largest IT distributors in Bahrain? VM: If you look at a brand like Xerox we have been there for 25 years, serving as the sole distributor, and we have been with Epson for 10 years. I would like to call us the biggest distributor in Bahrain — we are the only one who is carrying this many brands in-country. CME: Where does most of your business come from? VM: We have three departments — retail distribution, channel distribution and projects. The projects are for things like servers and solutions. Retail and channel are currently the fastest growing parts of the business though. CME: What’s your assessment of the Bahrain retail channel? Are you seeing more competitors enter the market, or is the opposite true? VM: If you look at the Bahrain market over the last five years then only one retailer has gone away: Plug-Ins. But in the last two years we have seen Lulu come up with a hypermarket store, and they are going to launch another, Sharaf DG is planning one more big store and Emax has also come up with a store

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for home electronics. Five years ago there was only one hypermarket, but now this channel has grown to four or five outlets, and there are now at least four big power retailers here. CME: How strongly has the Bahrain market recovered from the financial crisis that spread to the region? VM: The crisis that happened in Dubai or the UAE didn’t affect the market that much. Bahrain is still a developing market. More things can happen if a market is developed. CME: Channel customers have numerous sources from which to procure products. Why should they buy in-country when they can probably get the same product from a regional distributor in the UAE? VM: Our strength as an in-country distributor is one of the key factors of our success. Our partners are looking for the warranty and they are looking for the service. If the product is not moving then we won’t push our retailers to take it. We are there to take it from them. There is a relationship there and the parent vendors also support us. A customer might be able to get a product from another distributor, but if somebody approaches our vendors then they will say that iPoint is their distributor in Bahrain. Our relationships with the vendors — and with the channel customers — remain strong. CME: What are your main objectives for the rest of the year? VM: We want to make our relationships with vendors and customers even stronger, and if any of our partners launch innovative products then we want to introduce those to the Bahrain market.

> Ramkumar Balakrishnan, Redington Gulf

In association with

While it may be true that value added distribution is where the real margins are, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also often the case that those margins donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t come along particularly easily. For Middle East VADs, the business that they are in requires an enormous level of investment and expertise.

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In association with

e spoke to the following market players: Chris Cornelius, senior vicepresident sales and support at Tech Access; Mohammad Mobasseri, senior VP at Comguard; Alexandra Pisetskaya, director of marketing MEA and APAC at Computerlinks; Renton D’Souza, Comstor business lead for Westcon’s MEA and India Cisco business; Ramkumar Balakrishnan, general manager of Redington Gulf’s value division; and Dharmendra Parmar, general manager of marketing at FVC.

What sort of investments are you making to develop the value added skills that your company offers? And can you quantify these? CHRIS CORNELIUS: Tech Access has invested in dedicated vendor teams managing pre-sales, sales and support. These teams attend regular training on their vendors’ products, achieve certification and thereby keep up to date with the products and services. They then pass on the skills by training and assisting partners. RAMKUMAR BALAKRISHNAN: We are investing to ensure our team is certified with the highest level of certification on each vendor brand we carry. We have also invested in demo equipment for our teams to get hands-onexperience with some products. There is considerable investment being made on giving the channel the skills to sell some of the solutions we carry. To date we have trained around 05channel executives across the Middle East and Africa region. ALEXANDRA PISETSKAYA: We invest in all of our technical staff to be certified to the highest level by having them attend all of the vendor certification programmes, as well as sending them to Europe for training and vendor events. We invest heavily in our demo equipment for all our products and have virtualised servers

> Alexandra Pisetskaya, Computerlinks

for our training sessions. We are currently in the process of upgrading our internal and CRM systems to have more integrated ordering and management systems for partners. Recognising the importance of marketing for a true VAD, we invest in recruiting top marketing professionals and their ongoing training in marketing, management and IT.

We run a tight financial business and annual planning to ensure we invest where it’s viable, and that is part of the cost justification RENTON D’SOUZA: The skills developments are two-fold — soft skills and hard skills. And both are given equal importance and aimed at ensuring our customers r(esellers and vendors)have the same professional experience when dealing with us. The HR department has an annual budget allocation for skills enhancement of employees of between .0% 57and 1%of our gross profits. What expectations do your vendor partners have of you as a VAD? MOHAMMAD MOBASSERI: We work with globallyreputed vendor partners and they have

determined the skill set of our professional and sales staff. Vendors expect us to allocate a minimum of two certified technical professionals for POC and product support, and a minimum of two sales staff. As we provide exclusive services, such as training centres for different products and vendors, we allocate at least two certified technical trainers to conduct training for resellers and customers. Our product managers ensure that all available resources are harnessed within the channel and the desired results are achieved by our resellers and representatives in our emerging markets. DHARMENDRA PARMAR: As the authorised VAD for our vendors, one of our key roles is to work as an extension of the vendor in the region. This means that for most enterprise customers we are the second point of call in terms of support after our channel partner. To ensure that the customer receives the best level of support at a regional level, FVC invests in continuous training and certification for dedicated engineers, as well making sure that key support staff within our partners’ organisations also undergo the requisite training and certification. RAMKUMAR BALAKRISHNAN: The primary expectation is to have certified and highly skilled staff. The people who sell the products

(27) BY ANDREW SEYMOUR

// CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY 2010 _www.itp.net_

In association with

Many VADs build the majority of their business around one or two core vendors. Does this make them more vulnerable to changes in vendor strategy or approach? RENTON D’SOUZA: We are one such VAD. Our business is centered on Cisco and the only other vendor solutions that we distribute are complementary to the Cisco offering. It is definitely arguable whether this would make us vulnerable to changes in vendor strategy. With a vendor like Cisco, change is the only constant and that needs us to be a nimble and flexible partner when it comes to adapting and aligning to Cisco’s strategies and focus around architectural plays. Having said that, being a global distributor that makes a considerable contribution to Cisco’s distribution business, a partnership has been forged over the years. RAMKUMAR BALAKRISHNAN: We have a threepronged approach to de-risk our business. Firstly, we work with multiple vendors for most technology platforms, just like vendors work with multiple distributors. Secondly, we address different market segments, including the enterprise, midmarket and SMB markets. Thirdly, we focus across the emerging markets of the Middle East and Africa. DHARMENDRA PARMAR: We cannot comment on other models, but we have a clear focus within

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> Mohammad Mobassari, Comguard

ALEXANDRA PISETSKAYA: We are, of course, expected to have certified staff to offer presales, POC, implementation, consultancy and other technical services. Our vendors expect our sales staff to be certified to the highest level, to accompany them to end-user meetings and position their product. They expect us to have demo stock on the ground, as well as to loan demo equipment to partners for them to put into POCs. We have demo equipment for all our hardware products.

> Dharmendra Parmar, FVC

have to be trained in order to articulate the value proposition of the brands we carry. Vendors also expect us to have adequate coverage in-country in the markets where we have skilled people on the ground. We have also invested in POC centres in KSA and the UAE, and set-up an engine to conduct in-country training, both onsite and offsite.

the networking and security arena. All our networking and security solutions complement the other solutions we carry. We began our business in the video conferencing and rich media space, and expanded our networking portfolio to support these solutions and added other vendors which represented technologies that dovetailed within our existing portfolio.

innovative ideas, investment on dedicated professionals and restructuring in 20 .70

Many resellers have begun to understand that partnering with a VAD could be the difference between winning and losing a deal

RAMKUMAR BALAKRISHNAN: It’s about putting the cart before the horse. The key here is to diversify and not go to market with a single vendor and single technology domain. It makes sense to invest with vendors who offer a promising opportunity in the market, but may not be too prevalent today.

MOHAMMAD MOBASSERI: This is a common trend among many VADs in the region. At Comguard we wanted to break free from the trappings of those vulnerabilities, hence we invested in skills and resources to enable us to direct our focus on all of our chosen vendor products. We observed that the issue which arises in most typical VAD scenarios is that only a few dedicated professionals are allocated to handle a large vendor basket. This then reflects in significant success in only one or two core products, often exposing their market stance and weaknesses. We faced this in the past and had to rework our strategy with

How can VADs prevent themselves being over-exposed to one vendor while still maintaining the necessar y level of investment that is required to specialise?

DHARMENDRA PARMAR: This depends on the level of agreement between the vendors and the VADs, and the commitment by both to the growth of the business. CHRIS CORNELIUS: The key to adding value to a customer is to provide the correct solution, which could be from a combination of vendor products. By partnering with ‘complementary vendors’, the VAD can manage to provide the correct solution, yet maintain the specialisation. This obviously requires huge investment from the VAD’s side.

In association with

ALEXANDRA PISETSKAYA: We offer our partners a complete solution in security and infrastructure. The skills and investment required are spread across a broader number of vendors, making these skills transferable. We work in such an integrated way with our vendors that we are not expendable in any way.

CHRIS CORNELIUS: eYs, a VAD can offer an independent service while partnering with competitive vendors. We have that practical experience and maintain the independence through investing in dedicated vendor teams. Again, keep the customer requirement at focus and the correct solution can be provided. Competition is a reality and we have learned how to master and work with it. RENTON D’SOUZA: A true VAD engages with vendors at reseller and end-user levels. As such, market outreach and demand generation campaigns are designed to cater to each vendor. There have always been questions raised about which vendor is to be positioned when a reseller is open to options, but in essence it’s the technology and value to the end-user that finally wins. A VAD is a conduit for making the market aware of multiple technologies that could cater to the demand. MOHAMMAD MOBASSERI: Many VADs often partner with competing vendors in the region. It’s not appropriate to generalise or categorise all VADs based on the stance or decision they take to push a product or recommend a solution. We can speak from Comguard’s perspective and stance, as we have ‘strategised’ our partnerships without hampering our ability to dedicate resources for each vendor product.

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> Renton D’Souza, Westcon Group

DHARMENDRA PARMAR: We cannot answer for others because it depends on the business model a VAD is following. As FVC, we do not represent or partner with competing brands because we do not believe that it is possible to do justice to one or the other. We do have some overlap in services among our vendors, but each one is a specialist in a key area and this helps us to build and maintain a strong channel structure for each of our vendors.

> Chris Cornelius, Tech Access

Can a VAD offer a truly independent ser vice if it is partnering with competing vendors?

CHRIS CORNELIUS: The most expensive part, like with many other businesses, is people. To have dedicated teams for vendors takes a lot of investment. Obviously there are the other expenses, such as logistics, premises, offices, travel and providing financial support to our partners that all add to the cost. We run a tight financial business and annual planning to ensure we invest where it’s viable, and that is part of the cost justification.

MOHAMMAD MOBASSERI: o Lcal availability of stock and skilled technical professionals are our biggest investments. This is justifiable in every way for any respectable VAD in the region. We have faced innumerable scenarios where we have recommended the most suitable product and solution to customers, rather than accepting what the system integrators are recommending. Hence our role as a true VAD is being tested while we provide the POC and help customers understand the true value of the product in terms of suitability and as a cost-effective investment. This helps us build long-standing relationships with our customers.

ALEXANDRA PISETSKAYA: Frankly, it is investment in people. In order to be a true VAD to our partners and vendors, we need to recruit and maintain highly trained engineers and sales people that obviously come at a cost. Then there comes the cost of all the additional training they receive. The breadth of our value added services demands a larger team, which again has its costs. We justify these expenses because our key strategy is to have the best people in the market place. The cost then manages itself because these people deliver better returns, bigger sales, more value, and they provide better customer support and foster better channel and vendor relationships.

RENTON D’SOUZA: In general, being a VAD means having a higher cost-base. The most expensive elements of this could be the investments needed in systems, resources and specialised techno-commercial marketing teams. A VAD regularly invests in POCs — hand-in-hand selling at end-user level that does not get tangible returns, but has great value in building long-term relations with partners. As a market matures, there is recognition of these value-adds by the market. Many resellers have begun to understand that partnering with a VAD could be the difference between winning and losing a deal as a result of all the competitive advantages they could get.

What is the most expensive aspect of being a VAD, and how do you manage and justify this cost?

Every reseller likes to think they offer the best service in town, but unless they market themselves properly there is always the risk that they will be overlooked when end-customers go searching for that trusted supplier. A structured marketing plan is something that no reseller can do without.

esellers generally do a good job of marketing products and solutions from IT vendors which rely on them to reach the market, but they often overlook how important it is to market their own brand. eYt as any company which understands the significance of a solid marketing plan will testify, unless you can articulate the strengths of your business and make your name heard in the market, customers aren’t going to know what you offer. Any customer about to invest a large chunk of money on a new IT system or project will naturally seek a provider that can show it possesses the skills and capabilities to get the job done, which is why resellers need to constantly reinforce their qualities through the various marketing channels available to them. Focused advertising and marketing campaigns on relevant customer segments are widely regarded as the most effective way for

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resellers to emphasise their expertise, more so if their budget is limited, which is often the case. And while the marketing statements developed by vendors are often well studied and communicated through multiple channels, resellers largely have to prioritise where their message will have the most impact. Chandan Mehta, product manager at Fujitsu Technology Solutions, estimates that less than a third of resellers in the Middle East are ensuring their business is marketed well to their customers. “I would say that % 03of resellers have their strategy well thought out and they are doing this consciously. The others are mainly doing transactional business, so they’re not looking to market themselves or make their own name strong — they are just one of a bunch,” he says. StoreTech, a Symantec and EonStor reseller, agrees that it is about time that channel players took stock of how well they market

their own brands. “There is no doubt that enhancing the brand of the company is extremely important and a never-ending process,” says the firm’s managing director Anil Gupta. “Shelling out real dollars to promote non own-manufactured products — especially when you consider that almost every vendor is represented by multiple partners — may not be the best action for the short- or long-term interests of the company.” Gupta says StoreTech uses a classic mixture of marketing vices, such as tele-marketing and end-user visits, presentations and demonstrations. It also actively participates alongside vendors at key events such as GITEX , pointing out that potential customers are far more likely to take a channel company seriously if they enjoy vendor endorsement. “By explaining our strengths in niche segments, coupled with vendor accreditations and existing successful implementations, our

> Anil Gupta, StoreTech

> Karam Jabi, HP

chances are certainly bettered,” insists Gupta. What is apparent is that marketing is an area of the business that resellers should be paying attention to at all times, not just dipping in and out of whenever there is something new to announce. Feras Al-Jabi, general manager of UAE systems integrator ITQAN, insists his company considers marketing a major priority. “We are always undertaking marketing campaigns that aim to publicise our key accomplishments, whether they are in the form of awards and certifications we receive, key projects we are starting or have signed off with major organisations in the UAE, or new partnerships with leading industry players.” Some resellers, such as Al-Futtaim Technologies, are starting to assess the new marketing channels that are available to them and analyse how best they can blend those with more conventional methods to reinforce their brand name in the market. Al-Futtaim’s marketing team is supported by an in-house marketing agency which helps with the planning of tactical marketing activities, says general manager Venkat Raghavan. “We actively participate in exhibitions and seminars, hold customer road shows and communicate with the media on a frequent basis,” he explains. “We are also exploring the possibilities with social media and content-based advertising.” A multi-path marketing strategy is what Havier Haddad, channel manager for the Middle East, emerging Africa and Turkey at storage vendor EMC, recommends the channel should follow. He says resellers need to define their go-to-market objective, assess their strengths and then build a marketing plan accordingly. “It is important they start by educating the vendors’ sales teams on their offerings

and value proposition,” says Haddad. “In parallel they need to invest in resources and marketing budgets to execute their marketing plans. Most resellers rely on the vendor’s marketing funds or programmes to promote themselves. This is very important, but not sufficient in itself to promote their own solutions and services.” Karam Jabi, channel manager at HP Middle East, suggests it is important for resellers to link their brand to high standard products, support and overall services. He advises resellers to do this by focusing on the most reliable brands and then making their expertise known to the market. “They need to make sure that everyone is aware of their level of service and support to their customers by having joint events, whereby they could share their best practices and explore new ways to enhance them. There is always room for improvement,” he says. It’s an approach which resonates with Wide Computer Systems, a Dubai-based reseller with a particular focus on providing IT solutions to the hospitality sector. Managing director Kamal Bhatia says it is vital to market the two main qualities that endusers always look for: domain knowledge and support from the vendor. “Many times it is not the best product that wins business, but the product which has good local support. We are very focused on both those areas. We have

staff who have worked in the industry we serve and we help our clients with expertise which we have gained from being in the market for the past 12 years.” Building on those customer relationships is also a form of marketing in itself. “The face-toface time with customers that comes from the reseller’s sales implementation and post-sales teams is critical and precious,” says Fujitsu’s Chandan Mehta. “Resellers should maximise this to market themselves.” One thing that all resellers should be looking to do is tap into the resources offered by the prinicpals. Most manufacturers operate partner programmes that feature comprehensive marketing materials and resources — often it is just a case of taking the time to understand which tools can be applied most effectively. Vendors will naturally want their brand to be a central component of any campaign that a partner carries out, but there is still an opportunity for resellers to make better use of the collateral that is out there for their own benefit. Juniper, for instance, gives partners access to a ‘marketing resource centre’, which provides tools to help partners drive campaigns. “We share best practices on ways to enhance effective marketing and offer our Select and Elite partners access to the marketing development fund to co-fund activities to support the partner’s ability to

(33) BY ANDREW SEYMOUR

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> Jude Pereira, Nanjgel

> Kamal Bhatia, Wide Computer Systems

drive their marketing effectively,” explains Taj El Khayat, Juniper’s regional director for channels and commercial sector. ITQAN is one company that acknowledges the importance of maximising vendor relationships when formulating a campaign. “[A vendor’s] presence alongside ITQAN adds a lot of credibility to the message, since they are established industry leaders that are widely respected and trusted by the public,” says Feras Al-Jabi. “Furthermore, sometimes our case studies for major projects get published in their respective portals, and this ultimately increases visibility and puts our success stories at the forefront.” Fellow Abu Dhabi-based integrator, Alpha Data, also admits it could not carry out a lot of its marketing and communications without the budget support of its vendors. “Most of our direct communications in terms of training sessions, road shows and seminars are in conjunction with our vendor partners to help to disseminate important information that will help IT managers make the decisions that are right for their businesses,” says the company’s marketing manager, Julia Ibbini. “Vendor support is also important to add some traditional options to the marketing mix.” The ability of resellers to maximise exposure of the certifications and accreditations they hold can also be a useful

marketing tool. Raghavan at Al-Futtaim insists such qualifications indicate to customers exactly what a company can deliver. “Premium partners invest a great deal in training in order to provide better service to customers. Riding on the certification then becomes a valuable marketing asset to capture a customer’s trust,” he argues.

I would say that only 30% of resellers in the Middle East have their marketing strategy well thought out and are developing it consciously At HP, certain channel marketing funds are allocated on a quarterly basis and these can be used to finance joint events, joint customer meetings and advertising. Jabi insists the vendor is keen to help partners raise their profile. “The business model of HP in the region is to sell primarily through its reseller base, hence all the focus of HP goes to making sure these resellers are the best in the market, are very visible and provide the best possible service as an extension to the HP promise of high quality products and services,” he says. Not everybody is convinced that vendors are doing everything in their power to help the channel, however. Gupta at StoreTech cites an

increase in the amount of direct selling taking place, negating the need for vendors to aid the channel’s own marketing efforts. “To be honest, for the last 18 months or so, we have felt that the majority of vendors wish to approach customers directly and hence are hardly willing to contribute any meaningful joint activity, particularly involving direct expenses,” he laments. Jude Pereira, managing director of networking and security VAR Nanjgel, also believes that when it comes to increasing brand visibility, help from vendors is in short supply: “I’m sad to say that the story is much the same as it was 10 or 20 years ago, wherein a vendor thinks that only if the partner gets certified or buys some demo equipment will they begin to move their feet to the ground. In short, vendors are only interested in increasing visibility if we decide to spend for it or earn it for them.” Wranglings aside, what should resellers actually base their marketing strategy on? The answer to that all depends on a number of factors: target market, area of specialisation, new offerings, and, of course, budget. Wide Computer Systems always participates at regional hospitality exhibition ATM, supporting its presence with promotions in the local media during the course of the show, according to Kamal Bhatia. “Besides this, we

> Feras Al-Jabi, ITQAN

> Venkat Raghavan, Al-Futtaim Technologies

look at certain events with specific principals and invite our clients and prospects to come and see what we have to offer,” he says. “W e also request some of our clients to speak, as they are the best advocates of our solutions.” The company also cites end-user road shows as a good medium for brand enhancement. It has already held user conferences for vendor partners such as Newmarket International and ID eaS during the past six months, and is looking at organising a joint conference with a leading POS supplier later in the year.

Nanjgel follows a comprehensive list of steps that it believes contribute to the brand of the company. This includes participating in exhibitions, conducting on-site knowledge transfer and ensuring high-quality support to drive word-of-mouth recommendations. “W e have also spent a lot of time and effort to build an impressive website,” says u J de Pereira. “I believe the website is the face of yourself and your organisation in today’s world.” At the end of the day though, even the most elaborate marketing strategy won’t achieve the

results it is designed to if it is not supported by the necessary level of customer service. The best form of marketing is delivering the standard of service that customers expect, argues El h Kayat at u J niper. “No matter what marketing campaign a company does, if there are no satisfied customers that are happy with your company’s service and are willing to endorse it, a marketing plan can seem incomplete. Once the customer endorsement is secured, driving the brand becomes more effective.”

BUILD YOUR BRAND: 6 TIPS FOR RESELLER MARKETING SUCCESS 1. Make marketing a permanent fixture A marketing strategy isn’t something you should devise every now and again. It is an ongoing process that needs constant evaluation. Develop it around your business priorities and review it regularly.

4. Make endorsements work for you

2. Uncover hidden vendor collateral

5. Take your website seriously

Vendor partner programmes are a goldmine for marketing resources. Take time to properly explore the tools that are currently available for you to use…and then make the most of them!

Your website is the face of your company and often the first port of call for prospective customers. It needs to be professional, captivating and informative. Speak to an expert about making it search engine optimised.

3. Sell your skills!

6. Learn from the competition

The certifications and accreditations of your people and your company are your strengths. As a result they are invaluable marketing tools, so build them into your marketing communications.

How well do your main competitors market their services? Take time to assess the marketing techniques they are using to build their brand and then focus on the areas where you think you need to improve.

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There’s nothing like endorsement from a satisfied customer or vendor partner to boost a marketing campaign. Focus on getting your case studies seen in the market and seek joint activities with your principals.

www.eat on.com/powerquality

POWER PLAY The market for uninterruptible power supply (UPS) products has exploded in recent years due to the massive investments that customers have made in their data centres. And it would seem the leading providers of hardware from this segment are expanding their Middle East channel strategies to keep up with demand.

hese are the boom years for UPS sales across the Middle East, according to market analyst firm Frost & Sullivan. End-user vertical markets and infrastructure investment are driving doubledigit growth, and vendors are finding it easy to capitalise on demand, even allowing for the intense competition on price and occasional localised hurdles in power-deficit countries where oil-fuelled generators are sometimes preferred over grid power. However, if they are to sustain this growth — and Frost & Sullivan predicts that demand will level off after 2015 as many significant enduser projects mature — vendors must strengthen their distribution strategy and build specific expertise in the channel rather than relying on generalist suppliers. And with many of them setting their sights on the SMB sector, this will be an increasingly important strategy. “A number of UPS vendors today actively work

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on strategies aiming to enhance channel breadth, especially focusing on SMB — the fastest-growing and widest space available for grabs,” says Nicholas Argyrides, general manager at distributor Logicom. “For example, our partner APC recently introduced several channel partner programmes that allow resellers to sign up with several benefits on the table. Segregation of partners into different tiers occurs based on the resellers’ internal skills sets, online training participation and other criteria. “Such programmes not only educate and improve the reseller, they also keep them loyal to the brand. They are aligned with APC’s strategy to educate the channel — via webbased tools, for example — with core emphasis on UPS, datacentre and cooling solutions.” Argyrides says the UPS market focus has moved away from enabling a full server shutdown during a brief power cut.

“Today, the message to businesses throughout the region focuses on the installation of higher-capacity UPSs, which will ensure longer back-up time as opposed to only a few minutes,” he says. “Events such as the recent power cut in one of the Emirates and natural disasters in Oman underline the need for keeping other critical equipment such as network and storage under prolonged UPS protection in order to minimise or even eliminate unexpected downtimes. In general, our priority is to educate our resellers on the UPS arena and enable them to choose the solutions that suit them – and their customers – best. “The most recent shifts in our industry arose due to the global financial recession. Regionally, most vendors have, one way or another, tried to support their channel strategies with fiscal methods such as extending credit terms to their partners or

> Nicholas Argyrides, Logicom

Today, the message to businesses throughout the region focuses on the installation of higher-capacity UPSs to ensure longer back-up time providing higher discounts to help absorb towering financial costs. Other schemes include loyalty programmes for partners, and education initiatives.” Asked how they intend to reinforce this strategy in the coming months, vendors are unanimous in their chorus: partner programmes are under constant review, incentives are promised and loyalty — vital in an increasingly commoditised market — will be rewarded. And resellers will be recruited at a local level wherever possible. “The distribution channel’s role is essential,” says Thierry Chamayou, channel director for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey at APC by Schneider Electric. “We ask our distributors to fulfil a market, not create it. This is our mission. Our systems integrators are simply an extended arm of our channel and engage directly. The rolling out of the enhanced Channel Partner Programme gave us an opportunity to meet the resellers on a regular basis, providing them with the skills sets and training that would help them to gain market share and be better advocates of APC. “We have also implemented a spare parts inventory in the Middle East to ensure timely response to our service and technical requests. And we have increased our warehousing space in Jebel Ali in Dubai, and are working on further enhancing our logistics operations in the coming months.”

Kamlesh Kumar, sales and marketing director at OPTI UPS Middle East, says the increased sophistication of UPS technology, with a greater emphasis on features to protect networking, SNMP control and remote management have put reseller skills in the spotlight. At the high end of the market — where the most attractive revenues lie — they have to be able to quote the most suitable product models for specific project needs. “We work only with system integrators who are technically trained on our systems or have the required experience and necessary skills to sell and install,” he says. “On the volume business, which is mainly for the 1Kva and below segment, we don’t put much emphasis on the technical know-how of the partner, as model/price is the major deciding factor. We do assist them on the most suitable model as per the customer input.” Another vendor, Chloride, recently opened a new training and sales centre for its disties. It also conducts local seminars in the region and, according to sales and marketing manager, Biju Philip, sets a lot of store by in-warranty response times and selling annual maintenance contracts. Chloride sees resellers as its core weapons in the battle for volume business, so distributors are expected to evangelise on the value-added benefits of its brand. “During the last few years, how companies sell has become as important as what they

sell,” says Philip. “When they are selling practically the same products at essentially the same prices, at about the same cost, the only real source of sustainable competitive advantage is the sales channel.” Other vendors are matching channel investment with mainstream profile-raising activities. Eaton, for example, will take part in several key events including GITEX Dubai, Datacenter Dynamics in Dubai and Saudi Arabia, and several IDC conferences aimed at all levels of IT management. “Our channel strategy [including sales and technology seminars and the recently launched global PowerAdvantage Partner Programme] has successfully addressed all channel expectations in the past and is expected to be suitable in the near future,” says Rahul Sikka, Eaton’s sales director in the region. “At Eaton we are constantly > Thierry evolving Chamayou, APC the

(39) BY PIERS FORD

// CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY 2010 _www.itp.net_

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Are you ready? Discover more about Chloride and how our UPS power protection solutions can protect your critical IT systems. Register online to win a free 1000 VA UPS www.chloridepower.com/ready

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Chloride Middle East Arenco Tower, Office - 608 Dubai Internet City, Dubai United Arab Emirates T + 971 4 434 5201 E middleeast.sales@chloridepower.com

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> Vipin Sharma, Tripp Lite

Vendors have tried to support their channel strategies by extending credit terms to their partners or providing higher discounts strategies we employ and as such there could be some tweaking in the medium and long term. We practise differentiation in the channel based on product ranges and acquired skills sets. This allows for a degree of specialisation that is key to be a reseller of choice for a particular customer segment. “Channel partners are allowed to choose the product and market segment they would like to resell: a channel partner specialising in retail would normally avoid being associated with system so solution of sa sale, t a syste ut o type o e, aand so on.” Keeping abreast of techn technology trends is an equally im important element of vendors vendors’ channel strategies. Custom Customers are under constant pre pressure to use energy more eefficiently, while in some area areas energy supply is sufficient sufficiently erratic to make this a cons constant problem – and a key opportunity for addin adding value. At TrippLite, Vi Vipin Sharma, vic vice president presiden EEMEA and EEME India, India says this is where > Rahul Sikka, important imp Eaton margins lie, ma and an the

vendor is pushing the ‘green’ credentials and modularity of its UPS technologies. “These products offer maximum opportunities to our channel in terms of gaining healthy front-end margins and benefiting from our long life-cycle support via rewarding SLAs,” he says. “Our partnerships with well-established distributors across the region, and our capacity to offer localised assistance to customers through a widespread network of service centres, have enabled us to establish a strong channel. In addition, our current strategy has served us well amidst the [economic] crisis and we see no reason to make any changes as far as it is concerned. “We focus on and support value-adders, system integrators, ICT resellers and electrical (HVAC) infrastructure solution providers,” Sharma explains. “We do feel segmenting ICT from the electrical channel has paid dividends over the years. HVAC consultants and technicians need a different skills set training to an ICT business continuity specialist, for example. Offering various opportunities in education and product segmentation has always been our key focus area.” Most vendors agree that customer pressure on pricing is one of the most significant emerging trends in the region’s UPS market. Kamlesh Kumar at OPTI-UPS says manufacturers which can deliver quality UPS

systems with uncompromised technical compatibility “at aggressive prices” will take the lead in closing major deals. At the same time, says Chloride’s Philip, a rise in raw material costs will put pressure on prices from the opposite direction and the most likely beneficiaries will be Far Eastern UPS brands who will take advantage of costcutting to increase their revenues by selling cheaper alternatives. But while vendors absorb these shifts and jostle for power, they can do so in the knowledge that for the time being, the market as a whole is looking reasonably fit and healthy, with plenty to play for. Even in Dubai, where the construction freeze has temporarily slowed sales, Eaton’s Sikka predicts a return to healthy UPS revenues in 2011. Sharma at TrippLite expects growth in specific regional sectors, including utilities, airports, GSM providers and electricity/water suppliers, industrial free zones and governments across GCC markets. “In line with this, we are making significant investments towards developing our collaboration and partnerships with various governments, top industry players, researchers, entrepreneurs and potential investors in the region by highlighting our innovative solutions and opportunities to boost their business, processes, marketing and industry development,” he says.

(41) // CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY 2010 _www.itp.net_

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Workstations, Server Rooms, Data Centre, Telecom, Industrial

// CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY 2010

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FACT FILE (43) // THE MARKET BY NUMBERS

RECOVERY MODE Storage sector begins to shake off troubles

.... .. ...

The worldwide storage software market experienced solid growth during the first quarter of 201 0 as revenues rose more than % 7 over the previous year to reach US$3billion. While the growth suggests that the storage channel is finally starting to put last year’s woes behind it, the performance wasn’t strong enough to result in sequential improvement. Compared with the fourth quarter, sales actually decreased by around 2%, according to data from research house ID C. aura u L DBois, programme P V for storage software at ID C, says that although the market didn’t post quarteron-quarter growth, there is still enough evidence to suggest that it is heading in the right direction. “The gains in the storage software market in the first quarter of the year were the result of overall growth from many of the leading vendors, as well as the weak performance in the first quarter of 2009 due to economic conditions during that period,”she said. H “ owever, market demand for storage solutions has clearly returned, with five of the top six vendors showing positive growth year over year. Another quarter of growth will be a strong indicator that the storage software market is in recovery.” Much of the overall growth was driven by the sector’s largest suppliers, especially market leader M E C, which registered a 4 1% rise in sales to US$69 6m. IBM — up % 1 — and HP also showed that they still have a major part to play in shaping the storage arena. Not to be overlooked, however, was the 25% year-on-year growth that CommV ault managed to record. ID C believes that much of the overall growth was due to the release of storage spending following budget freezes last year. xEpenditures and projects that were postponed or cancelled in late 2008and 2009resulted in a backlog of projects that have started to be switched on again. It also added that storage software revenue growth remained in line with worldwide external disk storage systems factory revenues, which registered growth of 7 % 1 during the first quarter of 201 0. ata protection and recovery, the most material of D all the storage software segments, rose 1 % from a year ago. M E C, CommV ault, IBM and HP all enjoyed double-digit year-on-year growth in the segment. MC and CommV E ault had the strongest yearover-year growth with revenues up 47 % and 25% respectively for data protection and recovery.

EMC EXTENDS LEAD AT THE TOP Storage heavyweight pulls further ahead of Symantec

_WORLDWIDE STORAGE SOFTWARE MARKET SHARE BY VENDOR SALES DURING Q1 2010

EMC 23% Symantec 17.5% IBM 14% pp 8% NetApp CA 4% HP 3.5% Others 30%

SOURCE: IDC

STORAGE MARKET MAKES AMENDS First quarter sales suggest enterprise projects are returning

_WORLDWIDE STORAGE SOFTWARE MARKET SHARE BY VENDOR GROWTH DURING Q1 2010 +14%

+11% +9% +8% +7%

+7%

-0.5%

EMC Symantec IBM

NetApp

Others SOURCE: IDC

.... .. ...

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EXPERT’S VIEW (45) // TOP TIPS FROM MASTERS OF THE CHANNEL

THERE’S LIFE IN HARDWARE YET IT giant Apple recently became the world’s most valuable technology company based on sales of high-margin hardware like the iPhone. It is an approach that competitors are finding difficult to duplicate, argues Steve Mather, principal analyst for wireless at iSuppli. Channel experts have long argued that you can’t make money from hardware sales these days, but nobody seems to have told Apple

Apple’s introduction of its latest iPhone perfectly illustrates the company’s route to corporate dominance: generating huge profit by selling high-margin, high-value-added hardware, with the iPhone’s average selling price at a whopping US$600. The company makes the majority of its profit on sales of hardware. This approach defies the often-cited route to success used by many tech companies of selling hardware at low margins and cashing in on revenue generated by high-profit software. As shown by iSuppli’s Teardown Analysis service, Apple commands hardware gross margins in the range of 50% on the iPhone, in comparison to 20% to 40% for competitive products. These high margins are the product of the company’s unique approach to product design and intellectual property. So far, competitors’ responses to the iPhone have been lookalike, brute-force solutions that throw money at expensive features. This yields a higher bill of materials (BOM) and generates

lower profits — but still doesn’t provide the same quality of user experience as Apple’s products.

Hardware haul The benefits of Apple’s highmargin hardware strategy recently have manifested themselves in the company’s titanic market capitalisation. At a level of US$234 billion, Apple’s capitalisation exceeded that of Microsoft, making Apple the largest technology company in the world based on this measure. Meanwhile, Apple now holds a cash reserve of US$23 billion, giving the company a massive war chest. To put this into perspective, Apple could buy more than half of Nokia or all of Motorola just with its cash reserves — not that we actually expect the company to consider that.

Apple’s path to differentiation involves purchasing building blocks, and then adding its system IP. For instance, Apple employs a touch controller integrated circuit (IC) from Broadcom, but combines it with its own touch system architecture. Apple’s fingerprints are all over the new A4 processor used in the iPad. However, the A4 started with building blocks made by Samsung. A third example is that Apple chose to build around Infineon Technologies’ baseband IC, rather than choosing a more encompassing Snapdragon solution from Qualcomm.

Attacking mindset

While many companies have developed smart phones to compete with the iPhone based on assembling increasingly expensive subsystems, Apple has taken a unique approach.

The stars have aligned for Apple. The company’s hardware and design vision perfectly matches the demand for improving utility of the internet. iSuppli expects Apple’s lead to extend. There are a variety of initiatives under way that convince us Apple will offensively extend the gap relative to its peers, rather than simply defensively extend the time until others catch up.

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DAY IN THE LIFE (47) // INSIDE THE CHANNEL WORKPLACE

TRADE TALK In this brand new section of Channel Middle East we pack our bags and head to work with a member of the channel community to find out what a typical day on the job entails.

Name: Fatima Khan Company: SIT Distribution Job title: Regional Trade Marketing Manager Years in the role: 4+ Years at the company: Less than a year Previous companies: Loyalty Inc (a trade marketing company)

> How would you summarise your role? I manage the successful execution of the company’s p y marketingg plans, ensuring initiatives stay on strategy, on time and on budget.

> What’s the first thing you do when you get in the office each day? I establish a priority list of things to accomplish: priority A, B and C. Priority A contains ‘must do’ items - things that will be more difficult if not prioritised first or substantially completed. I let nothing get in the way of starting and completing these. Priority B is very important too. I make every attempt to complete these. However, priority B items can be negotiated if not completed. Priority C items are those maintenance things that should be done, done but operations won’t necessarily affect op much if they are not done that day. The important key to success succe is to accurately identify the proper p category of priority.

> What does a ty typical day entail for yyou? I normally arrive at the office by 9am and then leave by 6:30pm. Although A typical there are some typ things that happen every, I don’t think there are really any ‘typical’ days at SIT S Distribution. The tasks we have to do differ from day to day. d

> What qualities do you job? need to do your job Trade marketing managers manage must have excellent oral, interpersonal interp

and written communications skills. Strong computer skills, particularly in Microsoft Office applications, are required. Trade marketing management positions prefer candidates with a strong trade or customer marketing background, and experience working with sales organisations. Candidates must also be strong project managers, prioritise multiple projects with little assistance and execute marketing programmes from start to completion.

> What’s your favourite part of the job? l think my favourite part of the job is that no two days are alike! I find that there is a new challenge to face every day, which helps to keep things interesting.

> Where do you see yourself in five years?

Firing team members due to unsatisfactory performance.

In five years I hope to be working in an increasingly responsible position that enables me to utilise my talents and work closely with my colleagues in solving important problems. I see myself taking on new and exciting challenges in an enjoyable environment and hopefully this will be with my current company.

> What criteria do you measure your performance on?

> How much time do you spend out of the office each week?

I measure it on three main things: the volume of units sold, promptness in submitting reports and how well I can increase clients’ visibility in the market.

I am usually out of the office about three days a week. 50% of my time is spent out of the office.

> What is the hardest part of your job?

> What’s been your most memorable moment in your current role? Being appreciated by team members who report to me, and slowly and steadily building a new strong trade marketing team.

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> What do you get up to during your lunch hour? I try to visit a new place every day, usually with colleagues. Would you like your channel job to be featured in our ‘Day in the Life’ section? If so, e-mail: andrew.seymour@itp.com

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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS! WINNERS

AWARD CATEGORIES

Yas Marina Circuit du network, Best Wireless Implementation implemented by Nokia Siemens Networks Best Fixed Network Implementation Best Data Centre/Storage Deployment Best Security Implementation

Roads & Transport Authority

Department of Finance, Abu Dhabi Government

ITE Distribution, Cyberoam appliance deployment Alcatel-Lucent

Best Fixed Networking Solution Range Best Wireless Solution Range

Meru Networks EMC

Best Storage Solution Range

Leviton

Best Cabling Solution Range

Avaya

Best Enterprise Telephony Range Best Data Centre Security Range Best Security Appliance Range Best Security Application Range

Cisco Systems Cyberoam Kaspersky Lab

Best Network/Data Management Solution Range Best Systems Integrator in the Middle East Best Networking Distributor in the Middle East Networking Professional of the Year

Symantec

Alpha Data Westcon Middle East

Bas Wijne, OSN

Best Networking Vendor of the Year

FOR AWARDS COVERAGE PLEASE VISIT WWW.ITP.NET/EVENTS/ NMEAWARDS2010

THANK YOU TO THE SPONSORS PLATINUM SPONSOR

GOLD EVENT SPONSOR

GOLD SPONSORS

SILVER SPONSORS

FOR SPONSORSHIP ENQUIRIES FOR THE 2011 AWARDS PLEASE CONTACT Natasha Pendleton Publisher, ITP Technology T: +971 4 210 8193 E: natasha.pendleton@itp.com

// CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY 2010

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PEOPLE (49) // APPOINTMENTS AND AWARDS

::::

BROCADE BOLSTERS SALES TEAM AS IT TURNS SPOTLIGHT ON EMEA Networking outfit lures Alberto Soto from HP ProCurve and challenges him to expand the company’s footprint in EMEA, while NetApp and McAfee also make appointments

here has been a slew of EMEA-level changes in the storage and security field during the past month, with Brocade, NetApp and McAfee all strengthening their executive teams. Brocade has particular reason to be chuffed after persuading HP ProCurve’s EMEA boss, Alberto Soto, to take on the challenge of leading its sales operations in the same geography. Soto replaces Ulrich Plechschmidt, who has moved to Brocade’s corporate headquarters to lead the global sales enablement and OEM marketing departments. Brocade claims Soto’s “extensive” networking industry expertise will help it to expand its footprint in the EMEA market and support its drive to bolster relationships with

the channel. Prior to his time at HP, he headed 3Com’s Iberian business, growing sales to more than US$200m a year. Elsewhere in the storage arena, NetApp has named Remo Rossi as its VP for EMEA emerging markets — a newly-created position designed to drive sales in a number of key territories, including Africa. Rossi has been with NetApp for more than a decade and his new role will involve running all sales and channel activities. Over at McAfee, meanwhile, Christopher Brennan has been selected as the man to run the security company’s business in the Middle East and a number of other emerging markets in EMEA. The former Adobe executive will be responsible

ORACLE EGYPT ACE JOINS HP

ussein Hamza has quit his post at Oracle Egypt to

take the top job at HP Egypt. He will serve as managing director and enterprise lead for HP’s Egyptian operations, which are based out of Cairo. One of Hamza’s main tasks will be to build close relationships with customers and develop HP’s enterprise business for managing all commercial activity in the Middle East and Africa, as well as Russia, Greece and Turkey. “McAfee has incredible opportunities for its business across the emerging markets in EMEA, with a unique offering that enables businesses to implement better security at a lower cost, thanks to McAfee’s optimised security model that makes the most of security strategy and processes, minimises risk and reduces total cost of ownership,” stated Brennan.

in the Egyptian market.

Alberto Soto will join up with his former HP ProCurve colleague John McHugh (above), who is VP at Brocade

Santiago Cortes, managing director for the MEMA region at HP, said that Egypt remained an “important market” for the PC and printing vendor. “Hussein’s leadership experience as a country manager, his strong commercial background with financial services and his understanding of the importance of partners will be invaluable in his new role, and help HP to drive profitable growth,” said Cortes. Hamza has spent the last 12 years at Oracle in a variety

CHANGES AT HTC AND EROS Handset vendor appoints retail head as new marketing chief, while distributor elevates VP to deputy CEO role

martphone vendor HTC and electronics distributor Eros have both promoted executives within their organisations as part of moves they hope will boost their prospects in the region. HTC has elevated its brand and retail manager, Geetika Gupta, to regional marketing manager. Her key responsibilities will now include planning and developing HTC’s marketing strategy for the

MENA region, and devising and implementing regional marketing plans and initiatives through direct and indirect routes. She will also have an active role to play with the channel as the post involves working with local operators, distributors and retailers to develop joint marketing plans. Prior to joining HTC three years ago, Gupta worked as a product marketing executive at Sony Gulf.

of roles. His most recent At Eros, meanwhile, senior VP Niranjan Gidwani has been promoted to deputy CEO. The Hitachi and Samsung distributor will look to call on Gidwani’s three decades’ worth of professional management experience as it looks to grow its operations in the UAE market. He has worked with a number of electronics and technology brands throughout the years, including Acer, Sony, LG, Sanyo and BenQ. Earlier this year, Eros revealed that it is targeting sales of AED2 billion (US$544m) this year.

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assignment was as senior director for financial services across the MEA region and Egypt country manager. Prior to that he spent a decade at IBM in sales and technical roles.

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SOLUTIONS (51) // SUCCESS STORIES FROM THE CHANNEL

ITWORX EXHIBITS PORTAL DEVELOPMENT EXPERTISE Cairo-based IT provider revamps Dubai World Trade Centre’s online presence by deploying Vignette-based content management system

gyptian software and professional services outfit ITWorx has completed delivery of a content management system (CMS) and portal for the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC). The solution is designed to strengthen DWTC’s online capabilities and facilitate engagement with customers interested in knowing more about its meetings and exhibition services. ITWorx claims DWTC’s former web presence was not easy to manage and did not fulfill its goal of providing an interactive web portal with organised and categorised information. To meet the company’s objectives, it designed and built an integrated

CMS based on Vignette technology, which it insists is both scalable and robust. Hossam Badr, regional sales and marketing director for EMEA at ITWorx, insists an effective CMS is vital for any company that is looking to reach out to customers. “A content management system enables the creation, management, distribution and publishing of information, whether it’s text, images or video, in a simple and efficient manner,” said Badr. “By automating many processes, organisations can deliver the right content in the right context, which helps improve sales, increase satisfaction and facilitate communication with the public,” he added.

ITWorx says that it selected a Vignettebased solution because the technology allows companies to quickly build, manage and deploy web applications that streamline business processes and deliver a compelling online experience for users. In DWTC’s case, web content publishing, including multimedia, is strictly controlled through workflows that it defines, and a web analytics module provides key reports for decision-makers. The new portal is available in both Arabic and English, and contains a calendar that displays events by day, week and month. Using the event planner component,

organisers can make online reservations and take a 360-degree of the venue. The DWTC project is the latest regional success story that ITWorx has had with Vignette following wins involving customers such as MBC, UTC and Vodafone. In May it completed the first phase of a project to revamp Saudi Airlines’ online portal. The allinclusive portal offers passengers access to information and the ability to book numerous services.

ITWorx has built a portal for DWTC, which manages exhibitions such as GITEX

RESELLER SOLVES E-MAIL DILEMMA

he UAE office of IT solutions provider IDC S.p.A has carried out a unified e-mail management deployment

at the Al Habtoor Leighton Group (HLG), one of the largest contracting firms in the Middle East. The project involved

IDC S.p.A delivers Mimecast-based SaaS solution to contracting group

the deployment of Mimecast’s Unified E-mail Management Express software across all of the company’s operations. Mohammed Naqui Mirza, regional director at Mimecast, said the solution delivered through IDC would provide HLG with a “managed and secure e-mail system” to protect itself from disruptions to its online communication systems. IDC, which also has strategic partnerships with HP, Trend Micro, NET and Quintum, is one of Mimecast’s key partners in the Middle East region. The Italy-based firm primarily focuses on the design and deployment of Microsoft solutions.

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OFFICIAL SHOW CATALOGUE 18 - 22 October 2009 Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre Dubai, United Arab Emirates

POWER UP YOUR BUSINESS

OFFICIAL SHOW CATALOGUE 17-24 OCTOBER 2009 www.gitexshopperdubai.com

ORGANISED BY

www.gitex.com

VENUE

PLATINUM SPONSOR

GOLD SPONSOR

TELECOMMUNICATIONS PARTNER

// CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY 2010

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PRODUCTS (53) // MARGIN-MAKING OPPORTUNITIES

[] PROJECTORS

[] WIRELESS ROUTERS

WIRELESS WORKING

VIEWING PLATFORM

New D-Link device makes internet connectivity simple

Electronics ace insists it is bringing cinema to the home

Heavy internet users or groups of colleagues that need to use the network simultaneously might just find what they are looking for in the shape of D-Link’s DIR-457U router with Wi-Fi. The connection can be shared by up to 16 people, making it ideal for any situation where a number of people need wireless internet access at the same time. And because the device — which offers data speeds of up to 7.2Mbps over 3G networks — seamlessly switches between 3G and Wi-Fi, users don’t even have to hunt for a Wi-Fi hotspot when they are roaming.

BenQ is aiming to bring a cinema-like experience to customers’ frontrooms by unveiling the W1000, one of three new models that falls under its ‘W’ home cinema series. The electronics vendor claims that the projector offers bold, cinema-quality pictures in a large screen format, with more detailed definition than traditional projectors. The device also features dual HDMI ports to simultaneously host other digital devices and consoles. _WEBSITE: www.benq.co.ae

WEBSITE: www.d-link. com

WARM RECEPTION Networking vendor debuts latest router model Netgear has la launched the RangeMax Dual Band Wireless Wireless-N Gigabit router in the UAE, which it claims is packed with features that sset a new benchmark in terms of adv advanced speed and range. The devic device is powered by a 680 MHz MIPS processor — one of the highest in the proce consu consumer router category today — and conta contains built-in gigabit Ethernet ports, as we well as WiFi ‘Protected Access’ encry encryption, which Netgear insists will p please corporates looking for enter enterprise-level security. It also boasts dual band technology, which blocks frequ frequency interference with wireless home appliances, thereby ensuring unint uninterrupted network and internet acces access, according to the vendor.

BLADES

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[] ROUTERS

BLADES OF STEEL High performance networking the aim for Brocade Brocade has unveiled three new blades that integrate with its two flagship platforms, the NetIron MLX series and the DCX Backbone. The blades offer increased wire-speed performance and density to address increasing traffic in service provider networks and booming server virtualisation adoption. The 8×10G-M Series for Carrier Ethernet customers starts at US$39,995, while the 8×10G-D Series for data centre clients will be available in mid-2010 from US$27,995. The Brocade NetIron MLX 8×10G Series blades are available in two versions. E EBSITE: www.brocade.com _WEBSITE:

_W _WEBSITE: www.netgear.com

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// CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY 2010

NEXT MONTH (54) // INSIDE THE NEXT ISSUE

The online home of Registered at Dubai Media City, PO Box 500024, Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 4 210 8000; Fax: +971 4 210 8080; Web: www.itp.com Offices in Dubai and London ITP Technology Publishing CEO Walid Akawi Managing Director Neil Davies Managing Director Karam Awad General Manager Peter Conmy Publisher Natasha Pendleton

EDITOR’S CHOICES

EDITORIAL

NEWS

Senior Group Editor Mark Sutton Tel: +971 4 210 8225 e-mail: mark.sutton@itp.com Group Editor, Channel titles, ACN, NME, Comms MEA Andrew Seymour Tel: +971 4 210 8320 e-mail: andrew.seymour@itp.com

LATEST iPHONE TO MAKE DEBUT

ADVERTISING Advertising Manager Kausar Syed Tel: +971 4 2108 361 e-mail: kausar.syed@itp.com

Source: new model will launch in the UAE market by end of year

STUDIO Group Art Editor Daniel Prescott Senior Designer Michel Al Asmar

NEWS