Reseller Middle East October 2015 by Reseller Middle East

ISSUE 226 | October 2015 www.resellerme.com

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Here’s an idea: Design the smallest, fastest, smartest LaserJets ever. The all-new HP LaserJets. Now up to 40% smaller and 40% faster. We started with a blank page and asked “What do businesses need now?” The result is the all-new HP LaserJets, built around a breakthrough in toner chemistry. Thanks to new Original HP Toner with JetIntelligence, the new LaserJets are up to 40% smaller, up to 40% faster and use up to 53% less energy.1

The world’s most preferred printers: Worldwide printer market share, and HP printer brand awareness, consideration, and preference study in 9 markets 2014. Based on HP internal testing of predecessor devices completed 1/2015 or published information and subject to device settings. Actual results may vary. Faster refers to First Page Out Time (FPOT). For energy efficiency, the HP M252 is 15%, HP M277 is 16% and the HP M553 is 53% lower versus predecessor. For details see hp.com/go/ljclaims © Copyright 2015 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

CONTENTS

ISSUE 226 // october 2015

cover feature

hot products

110

InnJoo unveils new Fire Plus smartphone

111

AOC unveils 25” QHD display with IPS panel

Highlights

Feature

News

102 Wear me

We help you catch up on all the major news and announcements in the regional channel community.

GITEX preview

A round-up of what to expect at the 35th edition of GITEX Technology Week 2015.

Reseller ME finds out how much of wearable technology is a channel play.

Review

112

Zotac introduces new MAGNUS EN970 series

113

Toshiba announces new hybrid laptop, Satellite S50W

opinion 34

Mobilising the ‘always-on’ business

Gregg Petersen from Veeam Software explains why data centre availability is here to stay.

108 YotaPhone 2

An examination of Yota’s second generation phone

Editorial GROUP Chairman and founder

Dominic De Sousa Group CEO

Nadeem Hood

Publishing Director Rajashree Rammohan raj.ram@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 375 5685

The winds of change

Editorial Group Editor Jeevan Thankappan jeevan.thankappan@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 375 5678 Deputy Editor Janees Reghelini janees.reghelini@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 375 5681 Contributing Editor Annie Bricker Online Editor Adelle Geronimo Advertising Group Sales Director Kausar Syed kausar.syed@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 375 1647 Sales Manager Merle Carrasco merle.carrasco@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 375 5676

Jeevan Thankappan Group Editor

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The regional channel industry, after registering a robust growth in 2013, has hit a speed breaker last year, if the results of our annual industry survey are anything to go by. Our survey of 52 channel companies in the Gulf region reveals around 16 percent growth in 2014, and almost no change in the industry pecking order. Most of the top-tier distributors, both on value and volume sides, have registered decent growth, increasing the size of their pie in the total market. The same holds true in the case of retailers, who have capitalised on the strong demand for consumer electronic devices. The systems integration market has also recorded a negligible growth and with the advent of cloud coupled with the decline in consulting opportunity, this sector could be in for a rough ride over the next couple of years. Now let’s take stock of how things have shaped up this year. I think the growth expectations that everyone had at the beginning of the year haven’t quite materialised. The fall in oil prices and market volatility have eroded consumer confidence and kept the spending down on the enterprise side as well. The public sector, which leads ICT investment in the region, has delayed major IT projects till next year, taking the wind out of the sails of enterprise-focused channel players. On the consumer side, though the demand for mobile devices remains pretty strong even now, the individual PC segment is still sluggish despite the arrival of Windows 10 with much fanfare. I hate to be a harbinger of doom, but the writing is clear on the wall for channel. Hardware is getting commoditised fast with margins heading south. New avenues for growth are very limited unless you understand the changing market dynamics, harness them and use it to your advantage. Cloud services, analytics, IoT solutions, and security are some of the bright spots in the industry today, and channel players who can specialise and develop domain expertise in these niche areas will have a strong chance of survival. Always remember the number one rule of marketing – you can’t be everything to everyone.

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Reseller Middle East october 2015

highlights

TP-LINK hosts KSA partner seminar

Mitsumi named as Intel approved supplier for African region

Conrad Yang, TP-LINK Middle East, KSA

TP-LINK Technologies has announced the success of its partner seminar hosted in KSA last month. According to the company, the event was held to address several channel issues for resellers serving the KSA market. TP-LINK said it also used the partner event to reward top performing distributors for 2014 in the KSA for achieving exceptional performance. Conrad Yang, Country Manager, KSA TP-LINK Middle East, said another objective of the partner event was to introduce their existing and new partners in KSA, as well as share details about the company’s manufacturing capacity. Yang added that the seminar was important for them because it also gave their channel partners the opportunity to preview the upcoming products for the rest of the year. “As we move to build our company as a global business and brand, it was vital for us to give updates to KSA partners on the products we will be bringing to that market,” he said.

OCTOBEr 2015 Reseller Middle East

Intel appointed Mitsumi Distribution as an Intel approved supplier for the African region. The engagement is part of Intel’s market development strategy to expand its channel reach and offer channel benefits to its Intel Technology Provider Programme members. The partnership will entitle Mitsumi to increase its focus on Intel’s complete range of products via the active promotion of Intel content within devices including desktops/all-in-ones, notebooks, and 2-in-1’s and tablets to the East and West Africa region. Mitesh Shah, Managing Director, Mitsumi Distribution, said, “Mitsumi is proud to tie-up with Intel and be its approved supplier for Africa. With our strong channel presence, we are confident that we can help Intel extend and strengthen its reach to a wider spectrum of resellers based there. This partnership will also give us privileged access to Intel’s resources,

Mitesh Shah, Mitsumi Distribution

training and extended support. Building on this, we look forward to long-term association with Intel.” Intel will be able to utilise Mitsumi’s channel coverage as part of its strategy to develop the African market- thereby increasing Intel technology adoption in the region. This recognition establishes Mitsumi as a key distribution partner.

Cyberoam awards MEA region partners Cyberoam last month awarded its MEA region partners for their contribution in marketing, sales and distribution. MEA is rapidly evolving as a key market for Cyberoam, and the company highlighted that it has established a strong presence in the region with its Next Generation Firewalls and UTM appliances. The partner event this year was held in Amsterdam, and gathered around 120 partners from MEA region. Ravinder Janotra, Regional Manager, Middle East, Cyberoam, said, “The MEA region is making great strides in economic development. At the same time, evolving security market is forcing them to redraw their IT blueprints and start over. Our partners stand united in this cause and we are committed to

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Ravinder Janotra, Cyberoam, Middle East

strengthen them in every possible way to build a stronger resilience against emerging cyber-threats and challenges. At the Amsterdam meet, we reiterated this commitment and gathered our partners for a much needed exchange of ideas and celebration of success.” Winners include Bulwark Technologies as the ‘Distributor of the Year,’ Visiontech International which was named as ‘Partner of the Year,’ and UBG as ‘Emerging Partner of the Year,’ among others.

highlights

Dell unveils new line of business – DSS

Vision Solutions partners with BT Al Saudia

Dell has launched a new line of business designed to cater to enterprise customers’ demands within the data centre solution sphere. Datacentre Scalable Solutions (DSS), has been created within the organisation designed to meet the specific needs of web tech, telecommunications service providers, hosting companies, oil and gas, and research organisations. These businesses often have highvolume technology needs and supply chain requirements in order to deliver business innovation. With a new operating model built on agile, scalable, and repeatable processes, the company said it can now uniquely provide this set of customers with the technology they need, purposefully designed to their specifications, and delivered when they want it. “DSS is a prime example of how Dell, as a private company, is able to be more nimble, make faster decisions and – most importantly – drive innovation on behalf of its customers,” said Ashley Gorakhpurwalla, Vice President and General Manager, Server Solutions, Dell. “While others in the IT industry have been focused on marketing hype or reducing CAPEX costs only, we’ve created a new operating model that is centred on flexibility. DSS is about understanding customers’ goals and enabling them to achieve those objectives by giving them purpose-built solutions that are designed when and how they want it.”

OCTOBEr 2015 Reseller Middle East

Mike Khattab, Vision Solutions

BT Al Saudia will now distribute and provide technical support for Vision Solutions’ Double Take products in Saudi Arabia, as part of a recently announced reseller partnership between the two companies. Under the agreement, BT Al Saudia will also offer hosting services for

customer data and applications to ensure business continuity and high availability. Mike Khattab, VP, Sales Growth Markets, Vision Solutions, said, “The collaboration with BT Al Saudia will support the growth of our regional channel scope and reach, to deliver data migration and cloud protection solutions to its partners. We are pleased to be working with BT as it offers ways to expand our channel programmes in KSA. We are confident that they will be an important addition to the existing partners in the region.” The new partnership is expected to spark innovation by maximising the product development talents and resources at both companies. DRaaS (Disaster Recovery as a Service) offered by BT Al Saudia offers the CIOs a ‘pay as you go’ model to protect and secure their critical applications in a Tier-4 data centre in Saudi Arabia.

Fujitsu to bring CCD offerings to YBA Kanoo support services. This will in Yusuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo turn ensure smooth business (YBA Kanoo) in Bahrain continuity for the group, as has selected Fujitsu to well as their customers. replace all their PCs Farid Al-Sabbagh, VP and laptops and supply and MD, Fujitsu Middle Fujitsu’s CCDs across East, said, “We have had a its business divisions long-standing, successful spanning the GCC that relationship with YBA Kanoo include Kanoo Shipping, that has allowed us to Kanoo Logistics, and Farid Al-Sabbagh, Fujitsu demonstrate first-hand the Kanoo Machinery among Middle East merits of our streamlined others. The new CCDs processes, centralised service desks will help more than 4,000 employees and support. We truly understand working across the group. their vision and through our IT According to Fujitsu, it has supported the group by consolidating support we can help ensure smooth business continuity and gain a better its Enterprise System. Standardising life-cycle management driving in their ICT infrastructure with the cost efficiencies, so the group can procurement of Fujitsu hardware, continue to focus on its mission of which was instrumental for YBA ‘Delivering Sustainable Excellence’ to Kanoo to homogenise its purchasing the region.” process and receive faster technical

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The Threats Stop Here The stakes for protecting your business assets are higher than ever. Advanced targeted attacks are being launched to steal sensitive corporate data, intellectual property and insider information. And traditional network defences often cannot detect and mitigate them. Fortinet offers a comprehensive, multi-layer solution that uniquely encompasses the three necessary steps of Advanced Threat Protection (ATP): Prevent, Detect and Mitigate. Fortinetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ATP solution combines a number of different technologies that work together to form a modern and intelligent threat protection to

ensure that users, devices and applications can connect securely to the network. And all of these technologies are backed by the human intelligence of the FortiGuard threat research experts. Every organization, no matter how large or small, is a potential target for advanced targeted attacks. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take the risk - protect your network with Fortinet. Visit our website to find out more about preventing advanced targeted attacks:

http://www.fortinet.com

highlights

ISIT, SNIA Europe highlight success of first SNIA ME Academy ISIT and the Storage Networking Industry Association of Europe (SNIA Europe), last month hosted pioneering edition of the ‘SNIA Middle East Academy.’ The event which was held at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Dubai attracted the participation of more than 120 top industry professionals. ISIT and SNIA Academy Middle East Partners Attendees took part in the discussion of market trends complemented SNIA Europe’s efforts in data protection and infrastructure to advance the interests of the storage while also showcasing the latest industry by empowering organisations technologies in storage and security to translate data and information industries. into business value by promoting the Present during the one-day adoption of enabling technologies seminar were leading industry and standards. The initial feedback vendors in data protection and we received has been overwhelmingly infrastructure, end users, qualifying positive and has inspired us to channel partners and local market continue to improve the structure and experts. Mahesh Vaidya, CEO, ISIT and focus of the event to keep it relevant Chairman of Middle East Committee, and rewarding for all participants. SNIA Europe, said, “We are happy We are already planning for its next about the strong response that edition in March 2016.” we received from this event as it

Quantum appoints CCL as distributor in Kenya deal struck earlier in June Quantum has has come to fruition with the announced the official signing of Compute appointment of Continuum as our distributor Compute Continuum Ltd in Kenya. The deal will help (CCL), as its distributor us broaden our reach in the in Kenya. wider East African market and The signing of contribute to developing the Kenya-based Compute Osama Mekawy, Quantum Global channel in the market.” Continuum aims to Mekawy added that broaden Quantum’s the company is also in the process footprint in East Africa. The of qualifying CCL as a Quantum distribution agreement will cover Authorised Solution Provider (QASP) retailers and resellers in Kenya and partner that will help the company the surrounding countries including provide comprehensive after-sales Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South support. “CCL will take the full range Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi. of Quantum tablets and we will then Osama Mekawy, Distribution look to extend the agreement to Manager, Quantum Global, said, cover Quantum smartphones soon.” “We are delighted to see that the

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Reseller Middle East OCTOBEr 2015

highlights

Meta Byte partners with Y Soft region can now easily Meta Byte monitor and manage Technologies has their print environment, announced that optimise printer usage it has forged a and implement cost partnership with controls.” Y Soft, to offer the The software print management architecture of the solution, YSoft print management SafeQ. solution strengthens Salil Dighe, the security, and the CEO, Meta Byte secure authentication Technologies, that reduces the said, “It is very Salil Dighe, Meta Byte Techologies risks associated with challenging to documents being picked optimise the up by the wrong person. Users are print environment and identify identified and authenticated via opportunities for reducing costs, an ID card, username/password, especially when most of the or PIN. Role-based access organisations are unaware of their privileges, comprehensive reports, spending on print-related products and a centralised, web-based and services or even how their dashboard streamline print system printers are being utilised. With management. YSoft SafeQ, enterprises in the

EMC Federation announces new solutions and partner programme The EMC Federation has previewed updates to the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud Solution, announced a new Federation End-User Computing solution and a new Business Partner Programme at VMworld. Jeremy Burton, President Products and Marketing, EMC, said, “Customers can save as much as 24 percent of their IT operating expense by moving to a Hybrid Cloud infrastructure. The Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud is unique in the market – it combines best-of-breed technology from EMC and VMware, over 40,000 hours of solution engineering and a

Jeremy Burton, EMC

pre-defined set of services to get customers up and running in as little as 28 days.” The company also announced the EMC Business Partner Programme which aims to enable hundreds of partners globally to sell the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud solution. Federation Ready is a credential that identifies a strategic group of partners who can sell, consult, implement and deploy the solution.

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Reseller Middle East OCTOBEr 2015

VISIBILITY INTO NETWORKS HAS NEVER BEEN MORE CRITICAL...

188

THE MEAN NUMBER OF DAYS FROM INITIAL INTRUSION TO DETECTION*

AVERAGE NUMBER OF DAYS FROM INTRUSION TO CONTAINMENT OF A BREACH*

111

! !

97%

OF ORGANISATIONS IN THE STUDY WERE BREACHED DURING THE TEST PERIOD**

75%

OF ORGANISATIONS HAD ACTIVE COMMAND & CONTROL (C&C) COMMUNICATIONS**

*Trustwave Holdings, Inc. “2015 Trustwave Global Security Report.” 2015. **FireEye. “MAGINOT REVISITED: More Real-World Results from Real-World Tests.” 2015.

Modern threats demand the ability to see inside networks; unfortunately, increasing network complexity and an ad hoc approach to security appliance deployments have resulted in blind spots, extraordinary costs, security devices competing for access to traffic and too many false positives. GigaSECURE®, the first offering of a Security Delivery Platform, provides pervasive visibility to security applications. It’s poised to transform the way security services are deployed and leveraged making security appliances more effective, cutting security costs and reducing complexity.

See more at: www.gigamon.com/destination-gigasecure

SEE MORE. SECURE MORE

highlights

Fortinet unveils new SDNS framework and expands partner ecosystem Fortinet has announced its new SoftwareDefined Network Security (SDNS) framework, John Maddison, Fortinet which according to them, was designed to provide advanced threat protection through the integration of security into the modern, agile data centre environment, and expanded its partner reach. “There is likely no single SDN platform that all enterprise and service provider customers are going to

standardise on,” said John Maddison, Vice President, Marketing, Fortinet. “Hence, the reason we are developing an eco-system to support different SDN platforms through proprietary and open Application Programming Interfaces (API’s). The key is providing scalable security modules that can be called on-demand, at the orchestration level.” Furthermore, as part of its overall data centre strategy, Fortinet has been working closely with a large and growing number of partners to tightly integrate security within their key infrastructure platforms, and has further expanded its partner ecosystem to meet customer data centre requirements.

Vocalcom hosts partner conference partners Vocalcom, last Ali Kassab, month, hosted a Executive Vice partner conference President for where it honoured Corporate its top-performing Growth – Middle business partners East, Africa and for their efforts The Vocalcom team with its partners APAC, Vocalcom, in addressing said, “The Partner Conference brought the market’s need for contact centre together Vocalcom’s major distributors solutions in the Middle East. and key business partners from across During the partner conference, the UAE. We appreciate the commitment, Vocalcom recognised the achievements sincerity and dedication displayed by and dedication of its partners. CELL our partners and congratulate them for Information Technology won ‘Best their outstanding achievements over the Government Project in UAE 2014,’ while past year. I am upbeat that our partners Infoline was adjudged with the ‘Best and organisations will support us and Government Project in GCC 2014.’ The continue to excel in their performance in ‘Best Sales 2014’ award was conferred the coming years.” to Information Logistics and Services The Partner Conference also (ILS) and ‘Best Growth 2014’ was given discussed various case studies on to Innovation Enterprise Solution (IES). successful implementations of Vocalcom Lastly, Dream Box was the ‘Best Cloud solutions across clients’ organisations. Partner 2014’ and HOA SAO Group Furthermore, it featured demonstrations bagged ‘Best Telecom Project 2014.’ The of the latest enhancements and event also included a two-day workshop expansions to the Vocalcom portfolio. organised by the company for their

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Reseller Middle East OCTOBEr 2015

Advertorial

aiming high

Aloysius Fernandes, President, Redington Gulf, details the evolving function of a distributor in a cloud-driven ecosystem. Why do you think we need IT distributors in the cloud, and how can they stay relevant in this new paradigm? In the cloud-first, mobile-first world there are plethora of vendors who are battling for relevance and they include the current global brands and a host of new Independent Software Developers and service providers. In addition to the conventional value adds of credit, financing, logistics and partner management, the IT distributor now needs to play the role of a ‘trusted advisor’. It involves helping channels to vet the various vendor cloud offerings, provide training and enablement, marketing, sales and technical support and guide their choices with scope for multivendor consolidated billing. In addition, all vendors look up to IT distributors even more in this evolving world to hand hold and mentor channels to reach out and secure efficient, scalable access to SMB organisations, which is key to succeed in the cloud world. As an IT distributor, what is your cloud strategy? Will you play the role of an aggregator and brokerage of cloud services? Redington as a cloud solution provider is well aligned and geared to support the changing trends in the cloud-first, mobile-first world .This world will see 90 percent of commercial apps and 70 percent of CIOs adopting the cloud-first strategy by 2016. We will play the role of a ‘trusted advisor’ to help partners make the right choices and be a one-stop-source for them to select their pick from across a suite of diverse vendor cloud offerings. To vendors, we are well-positioned as a value-added aggregator and solutions provider of cloud service offerings, providing them a leverage of cost and

time to market by maximising channel reach and helping them build scale. The elements of our strategy include enabling digital transactions with a cloud commerce platform for auto provisioning with monthly billing for solution workloads (ITaaS) and managed services around pre migration consulting, migration services, white label commerce platform and associated services to our alliance partners; VAR enablement programmes and capitalising on our distribution capability to build scale with these competencies. Do you think users need a better understanding of the cloud because there are still some barriers to adoption in the region? Undoubtedly yes. These are around security, compliance and resilience or reliability. The security concerns can usually be addressed through the implementation of the right enterprise risk management strategy based on a proper analysis of the issues and concerns. Security receives a lot of attention, particularly with respect to cloud computing. What organisations need to do, with cloud or on-premise IT service, is assess the level of risk they can tolerate and implement the appropriate measures. Compliance is another reason why some clients do not migrate to the cloud. While this might have been valid in the past, more and more cloud service providers are achieving the appropriate certifications. That said, migrating to the cloud requires careful consideration of the workload profiles to select what is most suitable to be deployed in a cloud environment. The final concern is resilience or reliability.

The cloud consumer has to rely on and trust the cloud provider to deliver the services they require within the terms of the negotiated service level agreement. What cloud consumers need to do is assess the disaster recovery and business continuity plans in place to ensure they are satisfactory. What is your advice to resellers who are looking to position themselves for success in the cloud services market? Should they, for example, look at the growth rate of public cloud providers versus traditional IT companies advocating private cloud as the way forward? We still have time to go to see the tipping point on cloud revenues and the data though encouraging is not adequate for us to use as a scientific premise. But it is a fact that the cloud business is destined to explode and distributors and resellers need to quickly embrace this shift and invest in it today. The cloud adoption evolution model will vary by market. It will be a hybrid cloud of sorts, which is a combination of public and private cloud depending on the customer workload need for an efficient environment. Public cloud will be preferred for standardised workloads like e-mail, testing, development, collaboration projects (PaaS), incremental capacity for peak load times (IaaS), SaaS applications with well implemented security strategy. Private cloud will be preferred where control, security and data privacy are paramount for business data and applications. As customers trust the cloud more and more and as the services offerings become standardized, there could be a shift of such services from private to public cloud.

highlights

is now part of

Global Distribution hosts partner event for Overland Storage and Mobotix solution selling and Global Distribution, an we are committed to authorised Overland support our partners Storage and Mobotix with all necessary Distributor in the tools and tailor-made Middle East, recently solutions for the conducted a ‘Reseller vertical the partner Partner Event’ in Dubai. is focused on,” said More than fifty Mario M. Veljovic, VP of its value-addedSolutions MEA, Global resellers from the Mario M. Veljovic, Global Distribution Distribution, Global UAE, Oman and Solutions Network. Qatar attended the “This was the first of many event including representatives more to come ‘Solution Focused from VisionTech, L&T Infotech, Scientechnic, Samra International, Partner’ events globally. We have partnered for this event with Magnus Technologies, TED two vendors that form a CCTV Computer Systems and MDS/ Solution, which are providing PACC among others. Attendees its customers the best ROI had the chance to discuss the and lowest TCO (Total Cost of latest product updates from Ownership). It’s a proud moment Overland and Mobotix. for the team to have reached this “Our vision is to enable the far,” he added. reseller community to embrace

Dimension Data, EMC form Catalyst Alliance Dimension Data and EMC have recently announced the Catalyst Alliance, a strategic market development initiative designed to speed up the adoption of hybrid cloud as a platform for transformation for the mid-size enterprise. Through the Catalyst Alliance both organisations will make investments to develop and jointly market and sell solutions that allow clients to realise value from business strategies based on hybrid cloud and enable them to adopt new technology while managing risk. Steve Nola, Group Executive, IT-as-a-Service, Dimension Data, said, “The Catalyst Alliance will

Steve Nola, Dimension Data

help clients realise the benefits of hybrid cloud that will be used to serve core business applications anywhere in the world. We like EMC’s commitment to disruptive innovation to help clients navigate IT transformation. By combining EMC’s technology leadership with Dimension Data’s extensive services portfolio and global reach, clients are able to accelerate their growth, creating value for their customers and financial returns for their shareholders.”

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Reseller Middle East OCTOBEr 2015

Avaya names new president for EMEA and AsiaPacific

Nidal Abou-Ltaif, Avaya, EMEA and APAC

Avaya has appointed Nidal AbouLtaif as President for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Asia-Pacific (APAC). Abou-Ltaif will drive Avaya’s ‘customer-first’ solution innovation ethos and outcome-based approach, and help customers achieve their digital transformation goals. Since joining the company in 2003 as the regional sales leader for the Middle East, Abou-Ltaif has been instrumental in expanding the company’s presence in the rapidly expanding MEA region and beyond. Pierre-Paul Allard, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales and President, Global Field Operations, Avaya, “Abou-Ltaif has a significant history of success, a recognised people focus, a fierce passion for winning, and a track-record in helping governments and businesses use technology to make a real difference in people’s lives. In this new role, his expertise and experience will prove invaluable in a market environment where change is the only constant. Together with his strong regional leadership team, he has built an impressive culture of engagement, inclusive of customers, partners and employees. His personal, hightouch interactions with customers create excellent business value, which in turn drives strong market demand for Avaya.”

OCTOBEr 2015 Reseller Middle East

Appointments

F5 Networks appoints new Head of Worldwide Sales F5 Networks has announced that John DiLullo has joined the company as the new Head of Worldwide Sales, and will lead its global sales organisation. Reporting to the CEO, DiLullo will be responsible for John DiLullo, F5 Networks overseeing the company’s sales and channel strategy as F5 further expands into the growth areas of application security, service provider solutions, and cloud application deployment, and will be based in the company’s Seattle headquarters. “Our biggest growth opportunities are still ahead of us.

We are excited to have someone with John’s experience in market expansion, channel management, and global networking sales join the team. With his leadership, we will continue to evolve our sales force to better serve our customers’ needs while maintaining the level of great service they’ve come to expect from F5.” DiLullo brings to F5 over 25 years of experience in global business, sales, market and channel development, operations, and team management. Prior to joining F5, he ran the Worldwide Sales and Services team at Aruba Networks, through their acquisition by Hewlett-Packard.

Red Hat appoints new GM for MEA region Red Hat has named Lee Miles as General Manager for the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. Miles is tasked with managing the region’s sales, technical and channel teams in an effort to increase engagement with existing customers and drive growth in new and emerging markets. In his current position, Lee plans to focus on driving business across the Middle East and Africa region, with a special focus on UAE in the short-term. Lee Miles, General Manager, Middle East and Africa, Red Hat, “I am very excited to join Red Hat. As an IT veteran, I am very

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Lee Miles, Red Hat, MEA

aware of the company’s brand and reputation. The company plans to invest in the ecosystem and its people in the region. Our broad range of leading software solutions enables us to offer a very strong value proposition to businesses in the region. I look forward to helping guide the business by driving synergy between our technical, sales, professional services, channel and marketing teams.”

GITEX PREVIEW

Connected future The 35th anniversary of GITEX Technology Week, on 18th to 22nd October, is set to welcome over 143,000 ICT players from 150 countries across the globe. As with every year, the event promises to give its visitors first-hand knowledge and experience on the new developments and latest products in the IT space. We bring you a sneak peek of what to expect at the event.

A2iA to bring its text recognition technology

Jean-Louis Fages, A2iA

A2iA, a developer of handwritten and machine printed text recognition, data extraction and document classification of paperbased documents will be exhibiting at GITEX Technology Week as part of the French Pavilion. The company aims to demonstrate its ability to address market demand within the Middle East, by bringing its Arabic printed and cursive recognition technology to the leaders of Document Capture sector in the region. It has released

A2iA TextReader, a software toolkit developed to recognise full Arabic printed and cursive handwritten text, enabling all types of documents be transformed into searchable and editable formats. Offering users processing control over the document recognition settings and results, A2iA TextReader returns both a literal transcription and data extraction from any document format. “This year marks our second consecutive participation at GITEX Technology Week. After a successful launch of our innovative Arabic recognition technology for document processing last year, we are now looking forward to addressing the market demands of the Middle East by showcasing our technology proven for character recognition, document classification and data extraction,” said Jean-Louis Fages, President and CEO, A2iA.

OCTOBEr 2015 Reseller Middle East

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Acronis to present data protection platform offerings

Guurprit Ahuja, Acronis

Acronis has announced that it will present its complete data protection platform offerings at GITEX. The event will also see live demos of Acronis’ latest cloud solutions for backup, disaster recovery, and secure file sync and share. The data protection company aims to deliver businesses of all sizes a broad set

of data protection solutions for both on-premise and cloud deployments. It will showcase a number of its solutions such as backup cloud, disaster recovery service, files cloud and access advanced among others. Guurprit Ahuja, Director, Middle East and Africa, Acronis, said, “The Middle East is a vital market for data protection and Acronis has made significant investments in the region to further strengthen our presence here, including bringing on new partners to help service the local market. GITEX serves as the perfect platform for us to showcase our best-of-breed solutions and engage with local businesses, organisations and experts to discuss the latest innovations in data protection, including cloud services.”

GITEX PREVIEW

Arbor Networks to put spotlight on DDoS threat landscape

Mahmoud Samy, Arbor Networks

Arbor Networks, the security division of NetScout, has announced that it will discuss the global distributed denialof-service (DDoS) attack landscape and showcasing its market-leading solutions for DDoS defense. “Cybercrime tools and services have become so widely available they have achieved commodity status and this has resulted in an unprecedented number of cyberattacks and network breaches. At GITEX, we’ll be helping businesses understand the threat landscape through our unique Global Network Intelligence service, which leverages our vast customer network, and we’ll be discussing best practice defense specific to their needs,” said

Mahmoud Samy, GM, Arbor Networks, Middle East. The company has been an active player in the DDoS mitigation market for more than 15 years. It offers DDoS detection and mitigation products and services aimed enterprise networks. Arbor’s participation will also see a number of interactive demonstration of its solutions, and visitors can get a chance to speak with the company’s experts. Arbor will be co-located at GITEX with NetScout, Fluke Networks and VSS Monitoring at Hall 1, Stand B1-1.

Brocade to demonstrate IP capabilities

Yarob Sakhnini, Brocade

Brocade has announced that their overarching theme at GITEX will be ‘The New IP’. Industry research analyst, IDC, said the ICT industry is

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undergoing accelerating transition to the third platform of innovation and growth. Today, the third platform is being built on technologies such as mobile computing, social networking, cloud and Big Data analytics and are significantly linked to The New IP. According to the company last year’s edition of GITEX was focused more on the concepts and possibilities of various trends like Big Data, SDN, NFV, cloud and IoT. However, this year visitors can actually get to see demonstrations of actual technologies in these areas. Yarob Sakhnini, Regional Director, MENA, Brocade, said, “GITEX is an excellent platform for us to understand the dynamics and requirements of the local market, exhibit our broad range of industry leading innovations and expose our brand to a wide audience. As for the visitors it will be exciting for them to witness all the futuristic technologies in the IoT space.” Brocade will also be demonstrating for the first time the recently launched Brocade SDN Controller 2.0, and two new software-defined networking (SDN) applications—Brocade Topology Manager and Brocade Flow Manager.

Bulwark to promote IT security offerings

Jose Thomas Menacherry, Bulwark

UAE-based Bulwark Technologies has announced that an array of its products are lined up to be showcased at GITEX Technology Week 2015. The company highlighted the importance of building a strong, integrated security infrastructure in the region, and will present its endto-end security solutions and distribution strategies during the show. Jose Thomas Menacherry, Managing Director, Bulwark, said, “For GITEX, where we have been showcasing for over a decade now, we employ a particular strategy where we not only showcase optimum technologies catching pace in this region, but also introduce newer technologies that are gaining acceleration for their ease of use across the world. Our approach this year has been driven based on a strong demand in the security distribution market.”

In addition, the company will also be offering its latest technologies spanning privilege identity management, data classification, IAM, vulnerability management and two-factor authentication.

Cisco to demonstrate ‘real life’ Smart City scenarios

Rabih Dabboussi, Cisco

As part of its GITEX presence, Cisco will showcase how implementing a digitisation strategy will enable Middle East countries and organisations to reap the full benefits of the Internet of Things (IoT) today, and the new era of Internet of Everything (IoE) in the future. The company will feature ‘real life’ Smart City scenarios including a full demo of an augmented reality city, as well as a government transportation demo. Other areas of the stand will showcase

the key business architectures and solutions that will be important for digital transformation including security, cloud, data centre and analytics, mobility, application centric infrastructure and collaboration. The company will also put focus on cyber security during the event. Rabih Dabboussi, General Manager, Cisco UAE, said, “We are looking forward to yet again participating in what is now established as the Middle East’s biggest and most influential technology event in the calendar providing a great forum for industry players, like Intel, GBM and Alpha Data, to showcase our latest technology offerings that will shape the next phase of growth in the region. As digitisation accelerates, cutting edge infrastructure will increase a country’s GDP, reduce spending and create jobs. It will allow governments to extend the reach and impact of public services by converting insights into action.” Cisco will also have a presence at the Lancope Stand C1-11 in the Network and Security section at GITEX.

CoSoSys to showcase Endpoint Protector

Cristina Pop, CoSoSys

CoSoSys will be taking part at this year’s GITEX Technology Week in association with its value added distributor for the Middle East region, emt Distribution. The company aims to present its flagship product Endpoint Protector, a crossplatform data loss prevention and mobile device management solution. According to them, the solution is designed to safeguard confidential information on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux computers, and expand security features to iOS and Android mobile devices. The security software also addresses threats coming from the BYOD trend and the usage of corporate data residing on mobile devices, either personal or company owned. Cristina Pop, Director of Sales, Business Development, CoSoSys, said, “Over the years, GITEX has grown to

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become one of the most influential technology events on the planet and we are glad to be present at this year’s event with our value added distributor for the region, emt Distribution. Whether it’s a SMB or a large enterprise, our solutions address a wide range of businesses. At this year’s event, we will offer all our potential customers one free MDM license for one Year for each Content Aware Protection license they acquire from 18th October to 18th November 2015.”

eHDF to demo cloud and dr services

Yasser Zeineldin, eHDF

As part of eHDF’s presence at GITEX, it will showcase its enhanced managed hosting, cloud infrastructure and disaster recovery services. Yasser Zeineldin, CEO, eHosting DataFort, said, “GITEX is a great networking platform to meet existing customers

Reseller Middle East OCTOBER 2015

GITEX PREVIEW

and build new relations. It draws many SMEs and large enterprises from around the region, who are seeking IT solutions and our participation in the event allows us to share our latest service innovations with the market. The event also allows us to gain deeper insights into regional requirements, and we are definitely looking forward to yet another successful week at GITEX 2015.” According to International Data Corporation (IDC), the market for managed and data centre services in the UAE will grow at a CAGR of 19.8 percent between 2013 and 2018 to reach a total of $971.8 million by 2018. eHDF highlighted that it has seen significant growth in the uptake of its core services such as managed hosting, disaster recovery and hosted private cloud over the last year. Through their participation at the event, the company will showcase these offerings and highlight enhancements made to these services. These enhancements include data centre upgrades, technology refresh and new network, security and storage technologies that augment and support these services. It will also host demonstrations and presentations to provide visitors with deeper understanding into these robust and IT solutions.

emt to put spotlight on enterprise technology

with our vendors for our channel partners,” Mobasseri added.

ESET to feature new versions of its security solutions

Gigamon to highlight GigaSECURE at GITEX

Mohammad Mobasseri, emt Distribution

emt Distribution will continue its association with GITEX Technology Week this year, and will showcase its latest innovations in security and storage domain, that will redefine business of technology for partners. At the event, the IT distributor, will unveil the newest innovations from Secunia, WhatsUpGold, Parallels, AlienVault, Avira, End Point Protector by CoSySys and DenyAll. Mohammad Mobasseri, Founder and CEO, emt Distribution, said, “GITEX Technology Week is one of the biggest IT show’s in the world and also is the most effective platform in the region to showcase latest innovations to a wide audience under one roof. “Every year we try to be innovative something new and this year we will be offering free workshops every day during the show on security, storage, web application, vulnerabilities and much more. We will also be running several promotions in association

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At GITEX, the company will also announce the entry of StorageCraft into the ESET Technology Alliance. StorageCraft offers backup software and disaster recovery, data protection, and migration solutions for physical, virtual, and hybrid Windows and Linux IT environments.

Pradeesh VS, ESET

ESET is set to unveil the latest versions of ESET Smart Security and ESET NOD32 Antivirus during GITEX. “The growing threat of cyberattack calls for the ongoing advancement of IT security solutions. GITEX is the ideal platform for us to engage with endusers and partners to inform them of the latest technology enhancements from ESET,” said Pradeesh VS, General Manager, ESET Middle East. “The launch of version 9 of our flagship solutions for the consumer segment follows the reengineering of our entire range of business security solutions earlier this year. With these products, we can assure our business and home users of the utmost level of security, enabling them to focus instead on leveraging the power of IT to drive productivity.”

Trevor Dearing, Gigamon

Gigamon has announced its participation at GITEX 2015, during which, the company will place the spotlight on its Security Delivery Platform – GigaSECURE and its ‘Visibility Fabric’ solutions. “With the threat landscape constantly expanding, we believe Security will be a major focus for visitors at GITEX 2015. Today, as infrastructure becomes more distributed, traffic volumes and speeds increase, and the adoption of emerging technologies continues, increased visibility into the network becomes critical for all IT departments. At the exhibition, we plan to

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GITEX PREVIEW

highlight the importance of visibility in the security strategy of regional enterprises and showcase our innovative ‘Visibility Fabric’ solutions and our new security delivery platform – GigaSECURE, which is fast becoming a foundational building block of any cyber security strategy,” said Trevor Dearing, EMEA Marketing Director, Gigamon. According to the network visibility company, GigaSECURE, provides pervasive visibility of network traffic, users, applications and suspicious activity, and delivers it to multiple security devices simultaneously without impacting network availability. The direct result is that third party security appliances are more effective at protection and remediation, and the cost and complexity of security infrastructure is reduced.

Hitachi Data Systems to discuss social innovation solutions

Aaron White, HDS

Hitachi Data Systems Corporation (HDS) will discuss its social innovation solutions in the Middle East following its strategic acquisitions with oXya, Pantascene and Pentaho, during its participation at GITEX Technology Week. Aaron White, General Manager, Hitachi Data Systems Middle East and Pakistan, said, “Digitisation and smart cities rank high on the Middle East’s agenda, as they look for more energy efficient and cost effective, ‘smart’ solutions – for buildings, healthcare and utilities industries. This means increasing amounts of data that need to be managed in critical circumstances. HDS’s Social Innovation solutions deliver on the full promise of the Internet of Things that matter by helping businesses to derive rich insights from their data with faster time to value, and supporting the development of smarter, safer, healthier and more efficient societies.” Also at GITEX, HDS will discuss how Big Data analytics solutions help organisations in the Middle East transform vast quantities of structured and unstructured data

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from disparate sources into knowledge through the application of advanced data analytics, connected intelligence from IoT devices and operational technologies. Hitachi Data Systems will be at Hall 6 Stand: MAC 6 -35.

Infor to flaunt CloudSuite Solutions at GITEX

Monzer Tohme, Infor

Infor has announced that it will showcase Infor CloudSuite Solutions during their participation in the upcoming GITEX Technology Week. According to the cloud company, Infor CloudSuite lets customers choose the best option for deploying their data, providing options that help make the information both portable and secure. Working with strategic channel partners, Infor will showcase the CloudSuite solutions for five key

verticals – healthcare, manufacturing, public sector, office of the financial officer (OCFO) and technology. Monzer Tohme, Country Manager, Middle East, Infor, said, “We have realised that each industry and more specifically each micro-vertical, has its own set of unique challenges and dynamics. Rather than take a ‘onesize-fits-all’ approach that puts the onus on the customer to make the necessary customisations, we are focused on delivering business applications with last mile functionality. “We have also seen the cloud as a critical business enabler and as more and more businesses in the region begin to make the transition, we plan on accompanying them on this journey by delivering our industry leading micro-vertical solutions in the cloud. GITEX provides us with an unparalleled platform to network with industry thought-leaders as well as meet with both existing and potential customers and partners,” said Tohme. Infor can be found at Hall 7, Stand B7-30.

GITEX PREVIEW

ManageEngine set to launch refreshed IT management products

LG Information Display takes part AT GITEX

Audai Altaie, LG Electronics MEA Nirmal Manoharan, ManageEngine

LG Information Display will be highlighting its B2B solutions at the 35th GITEX Technology Week. Amongst the products that will be unveiled during the show, is the all-new Full HD Video Wall display. According to the company, the VH7B Direct Backlit LED Display video wall is also set to be a key attraction with its super slim bezel size, measuring at 1.8 mm, amongst a host of other features. Other products on show at LG’s Information Display booth during the event include highperformance Ultra HD monitors, outdoor displays, Pro-grade digital signage and other leading LG B2B solutions for enterprises across the region wanting tomorrow’s technology today. LG Information Display will be located at Hall 2, Stand D2-1.

As part of its participation at this year’s GITEX Technology Week, ManageEngine will be showcasing its IT management products and security solutions, and will launch a new version of its applications manager, mobile device manager plus, desktop central, and OpManager. Nirmal Manoharan, Regional Sales Director, Middle East, ManageEngine, said, “GITEX, the region’s largest ICT event, provides us with an unparalleled opportunity to introduce our latest product updates to leading security and industry professionals. Our no-frills philosophy driven by R&D, and 100 percent focus on the technology needs and business imperatives of customers have been our driving factors in developing state-of-theart products that are affordable and easy to

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use. Having met industry requirements, these products have been well received by the customers in the region. As the IT industry in the region is fast growing, we have aggressive plans and we are also looking for more channel partners to reach out new avenues in the region. “In addition to our launches, technology experts from ManageEngine will hold product demonstrations to showcase the features and benefits of our best-of-breed products, including network performance management, applications management, active directory management, IT help desk, desktop and mobile device management, and security management,” he added.

Optiflows to present surycat

Christophe Le Dantec, Optiflows

Optiflows, a French company specialising

in developing intelligent connectivity and automation platforms, has announced that it will be showcasing its latest offering, Surycat, at this year’s GITEX Technology Week. According to the company, Surycat is a next-gen platform has the advantage of connecting older systems, without the need to overhaul all of its equipment. The platform allows organisations to embark on their digital transition at a lower cost, by keeping their equipment. They can subsequently add services depending on their business. “We have created a connectivity platform for the industrial world,” said Christophe Le Dantec, CEO and Co-founder, Optiflows. “Dubbed Surycat, the software platform renders all business systems interoperable connecting them to one another. Automated machines, Internet systems, connected objects, telephone systems, smartphones, and so on. They can all communicate with one another, like a social network, regardless of their age.”

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Red Hat to focus on IoT, cloud and enterprise mobility

Lee Miles, Red Hat

Red Hat, a provider of open source solutions, will demonstrate its open, hybrid cloud technologies for bare metal, virtualisation, private cloud and public cloud deployments at GITEX Technology Week. Keeping up with the umbrella theme “Internet Future of Everything,” Red Hat will be highlighting a number of its IoT deployments and implementations. Hybrid cloud is also another focal point of the company’s participation, as it highlights the cornerstones of its Infrastructure-as-aService (IaaS) solutions and Platform-as-aService (PaaS) portfolios. In addition, the firm will also showcase the Red Hat Access Insights, an operations analytics service, which was unveiled earlier this year. “The Middle East

IT industry is on a healthy growth curve as enterprises leverage technology to enable their businesses,” said Lee Miles, General Manager, Middle East and Africa, Red Hat. “As the region’s largest ICT trade show, GITEX gives us direct exposure to some of the industry’s most influential business decision makers. We intend to engage with top level IT decision makers to help them understand just how open source software is transforming everything from cloud and mobile to Big Data and the Internet of Things.”

Redington Value to redefine itself as a solutions partner

Ramkumar Balakrishnan, Redington

Redington Value, the value-added distribution division of Redington Gulf, is set to transform itself as a solutions partner to its channel partners at GITEX Technology Week. The mega event will see the company

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positioning itself as an ideal source for complete IT solutions to its partners in the region. The company’s solutions span across technology domains such as networking, voice, servers, storage, software, security and infrastructure, said Ramkumar Balakrishnan, President, Redington Value Distribution. “The expertise we have gained over the years, working with various brands and the skillset available today, can be best utilised for providing solutions to clients dealing with the convergence of new technologies. GITEX provides us the best platform to highlight our complete portfolio,” he said. During GITEX Technology Week, the company will showcase some of the latest introductions in the sphere of hyper converged solutions, softwaredefined solutions and Redington Value Cloud introduction. The solution aims provides its customers a full breadth of converged cloud solutions for centralised management of IT solutions, more effective utilisation of resources and a significant cost advantage. “There will be about 36 sessions covering the entire spectrum of our

offerings at the stand from various domain specialists belonging to Redington Value as well as our vendors,” adds Ramkumar.

StorIT to highlight enterprise data management solutions

Manju Mathew, StorIT

StorIT Distribution has announced that it will be showcasing an array of its enterprise data management, data storage and data protection solutions at GITEX Technology Week 2015. During their participation at the technology event, the company will also promote its wide portfolio of professional services and enterprise technology training offerings with senior executives and technology experts from the company demonstrating the latest technologies and meeting with customers and partners at the region’s premier ICT exhibition.

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GITEX PREVIEW

Manju Mathew, Marketing Manager, StorIT Distribution, said, “We have been participating at GITEX for several years now with much success. GITEX, being the largest technology exhibition in the region, is a perfect platform for us to showcase our latest innovative and disruptive solutions, launch new products and look at signing potential partnerships with strong vendors and channel partners. We also plan to demonstrate our strength as the leading technology solutions provider in the data management, storage and data protection space and promote our wide portfolio of professional services and training programmes. Some of our key vendorpartners will also be showcasing their most recent technologies and presenting on the latest trends in converged storage and business continuity and disaster recovery at our stand.” StorIT will also promote its value added services such as business need assessment, architecture and proof of design to optimise solutions to customer requirement StorIT Distribution will be exhibiting at Hall 6, Stand: CLD-16.

Unitrends to showcase Solutions at GITEX Technology Week 2015

Mike Dalton, SVP, Unitrends

Under the theme, ‘Recover more than just your data,’ Unitrends will showcase how it can help IT organisations efficiently recover data and systems at GITEX Technology Week. The company will use the event as a platform to preview the beta-version of Release 9.0. With this new software, it aims to become the first in the industry to extend recovery assurance technology to physical systems. Unitrends’ senior global executives such as Mike Dalton, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Channels and International Field Operations, and Michael Orange, Michael Orange, Regional Manager, Middle East and Africa, along with other executives will also be attending the event to share their expertise. “We plan to showcase our cloud enabled all-inone physical and virtual appliances that protect physical and virtual environments, as well as our disaster recovery solutions.

By participating in GITEX, we are looking forward to increasing our brand visibility, strengthening our channel network, meeting new customers and sharing our value proposition with them,” said Mike Dalton, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Channels and International Field Operations, Unitrends. “We are also extremely excited to introduce the beta version of our new data protection software Release 9.0 at GITEX. This software release is absolutely transformative for our customers. We’re making their daily lives easier, creating a worldclass customer experience and giving them confidence that their heterogeneous, ever-evolving IT environments are always protected”, concluded Dalton. Unitrends will be exhibiting at Hall 7, Stand No. A7-50.

Vision Solutions to introduce new products

Ahmad M. Khattab, Vision Solutions

Vision Solutions has announced that it will be

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showcasing its recently launched Double-Take Cloud Migration Centre product at GITEX. The Double-Take Cloud Migration Centre aims to provide automated and simplified migration for servers and applications into the cloud from private and public cloud platforms. The software solutions company, says the product supports migration for servers running on Amazon Web Services and on VMware vSphere moving over to Microsoft Azure. Vision Solutions’ participation also include sneak peek demonstrations of the new Double-Take Cloud Protection Centre. The new centre aims give partners an easy to implement and manage DRaaS solution for Windows and Linux servers, regardless of where they are running or what platform they are running on. “We have been focusing on the Middle East market for a few years and have found excellent results. There is increased regional awareness about our innovative products and solutions,” said Ahmad M. Khattab, Vice President, Sales, Growth Markets, Vision Solutions. “Our solution architects and experts will be present for consultations, presentations and demonstrations at the stand.”

Reseller Middle East OCTOBER 2015

OPinion

Veeam Software

Mobilising the ‘always-on’ business Gregg Petersen, Regional Director, Middle East and SAARC, Veeam Software, explains why data centre availability is here to stay.

The era of the ‘always-on’ business has emerged, thanks to a rise in improved connectivity and devices that allow easy and affordable access to the internet. Our agile mobile workforce and demanding consumer expectations have created a world where constant access to products and services across time zones is a norm that we take for granted. Consequently, organisations now face the daunting task of recovering any IT service or application within minutes – creating what is collectively known

as ‘Availability’. To achieve greater speed and efficient use of existing resources, many organisations have switched to modern data centres that are built on virtualisation, modern storage solutions and cloud-based services. Yet, according to Veeam’s fourth annual Data Centre Availability Report 2014, organisations still experience unplanned application downtime. These downtimes occur more than once a month on average, costing organisations between $1.4 million and $2.3 million annually in lost revenue (not to

OCTOBER 2015 Reseller Middle East

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mention the decreased productivity and missed opportunities). Regardless of whether it’s a consumer-facing organisation, a mobile service provider, or the FTSE 100, the days of organisations experiencing any downtime while customers remain patient are over. Organisations now risk losing revenue, customer confidence and worse, reputation.With Availability seen to be mission-critical for smooth business operations, how do organisations ensure that they can remain always-on and keep up with adopting the latest developments in cloud computing, mobility and the Internet of Things; as well as manage Big Data and Software Defined Networking? Cloud computing and mobility In many countries across the world, the explosion in mobility has become the main driver of cloud’s evolution. Along with the pervasiveness of mobile devices comes the question of how to manage that data profile, and provide data availability. To begin with, mobile’s data growth is explosive. How do we decide on what is valuable information, and what is noise? Should we keep everything? Should we categorise everything? Everything that your

mobile device sends to the service provider - do they keep that forever? Do they need to? If yes, is it because of regulations, or because of compliance? The fact is that organisations are having to make those decisions now because the volume of data is challenging the underlying structures of cloud on a scale that’s never been seen before, and it’s only set to escalate. Thanks to increasing mobility, the rise of consumers’ demands has driven cloud adoption, as cloud currently underpins all the data that organisations mine and utilise. As app and cloud providers struggle to keep pace, cloud has already started to evolve beyond availability, and into the Internet of Things (IoT) and all its ensuing data points that can be captured. The next phase of data

a self-running engine. The huge amount of from data management will be created IoT isstemming fed into the data by profile Big Data’s compound to be from IoT wearables and analysed and warehoused, other smart devices, while anditself eventually out back IoT simply fed becomes into IoT. To sustain ‘things’ against the this data lifecycle, a modern backdrop of the cloud. data Howcentre then, needs do we to be built. Asavailability the modern provide fordata all centre typically leverages that data, since having coresort technologies including any of downtime virtualisation, storage and is now unacceptable? cloud, the next crucial Mobility doesn’t just affect consideration consumers – it would affectsbe ensuring the availability organisations as well as of these different modern data centres many industries to ensure that rely onalways-on mobile services. and the data that services, is available through them, The applications are such as healthcare. The still important business cycle has a global While all ofit’s these shifts scope, and no longer in the data centreeight are five days a week, happening hours a day.at the same time, one thing hasn’t changed: the Internet of application Things is stillBig what is most and Data important.together, In fact, the Combined IoT dataBig centre nothing and Dataisrepresent the applications awithout massive data lifecycle it provides. The availability that, over time, becomes

Regardless of whether it’s a consumer-facing organisation, a mobile service provider, or the FTSE 100, the days of organisations experiencing any downtime while customers remain patient are over.

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requirements today extend to the applications and in part due to mobilisation and constant access; but also how businesses truly run today. Gone are the days where key business decision-makers didn’t need to consult their key systems to make strategic decisions. These decisions are all powered by applications in the data centre. But what happens when something goes awry with the applications? The challenge facing data centre professionals today is to ensure that the applications are available; not just the infrastructure. But today businesses want more; they want to avoid issues before they happen. That’s a pretty tall order, but is one of the benefits that data centre availability can bring. With technology outages now making front-page news, minimising downtime and data loss is critical to the overall health of organisations. Data and services will evolve both on premises and in the cloud, and organisations have to think about how to better protect their data on both fronts. Tool selection will become critical as organisations attempt to bridge the availability gap. This is the gap between being always-on and the cost and complexity required to be so.

Reseller Middle East OCTOBER 2015

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Knowledge Partners

Our Annual Industry Survey 2015 provides an overview of the size, shape and growth factors of the regional channel companies. With Coface and Dun & Bradstreet on board as our esteemed Knowledge Partners this year, the report delves deep into the changing dynamics of the market and the growth strategies of some of the leading channel players.

Channel elite industry ranking

Ranking of channel players TOP 10 RANKING OVERALL RANK

CATEGORY

Exclusive Networks

Distribution

FariÂ Boustantchi

Experts Computer

Reselling

Intertec Systems

Systems Integration

Sariya IT

ComGuard Oxygen

NAME

INDUSTRY RANK

TOP EXECUTIVE

REVENUE ($M)

TITLE 2014

2013

Change %

CEO

29.3

Shailendra Rughwani

-6.3

Naresh Kothari

Distribution

Amjad Fathi AlOmar

New entrant

Distribution

Ajay Chauhan

CEO

11.3

Distribution

Khalid Laban

CEO

26.3

MaxTouch

Reselling

Ramesh Belani

-11.5

StorIT Distribution

Distribution

Suren Vedantham

Group MD

*40

33.3

Help AG

Systems Integration

Stephan Berner

11.7

Almoayyed Computers

Systems Integration

SM Hussaini

*37+

36.2

2.2

Al Rostamani Communications

Systems Integration

Mohammed Zameer

16.6

EMT

Distribution

Mohammad Mobasseri

CEO

33.5

New entrant

Paramount

Systems Integration

Premchand Kurup

CEO

30.4

Fast Lane

Training

Josef Miskulnig

Founder and CEO

Lucky Star

Reselling

KU Shankari

OTHERS (41-52) Condo Protego

Systems Integration

Andrew Calthorpe

CEO

New entrant

Datacare

Reselling

Suresh Shetty

New entrant

Bulwark

Distribution

Jose Thomas

*15

New entrant

Business DNA

Systems Integration

Tarek El Goweiny

CEO and Cofounder

New entrant

EMW

Systems Integration

Serjios Hage

Safedata

Systems Integration

DP Sangal

Founding partner and MD

*15

New entrant

Precedence

Systems Integration

Farook Majeed

CEO

10.8

1.8

Spectrami

Distribution

Anand Choudha

Tech Forte

Systems Integration

Nadeem Khan

7.3

6.1

19.6

Finesse

Systems Integration

Sunil Paul

COO

7.1

New entrant

ixtel

Systems Integration

Mehdi Quraishi

CEO

5.3

New entrant

Oscomp

Reselling

Kunal Sajnani

0.65

0.98

Key to rankings: Companies have been ranked on the basis of the latest revenue figure ($M) provided by the channel partner. Overall rank refers to the rank of the player across all 52 submissions received. Industry rank refers to the rank of the player within the appropriate category. Categories include distribution systems integration, reselling, training and retailing. *RME Estimate

-33.6

Channel elite industry ranking

TOP SYSTEMS INTEGRATORS

TOP DISTRIBUTORS Redington

MDS

BDL

GBM

Metra

Alpha Data

FDC

Visoinaire

Almasa

AGC

TOP VALUE-ADDED DISTRIBUTORS Global Distribution Aptec Ingram Micro

Mitsumi Distribution

EES

Logicom

Prologix

Intertec

Mindware

Asbis ME

Help AG

Westcon

Trigon

Almoayyed

Al Jammaz

Despec

Al Rostamani

StarLink

Paramount Condo Protego

Exclusive Networks

Business DNA

Sariya IT

Safedata

ComGuard

EMW

Oxygen

Precedence

StorIT

TOP RESELLERS Experts MaxTouch Lucky Star Datacare Oscomp

Tech Forte

EMT

Finesse

Bulwark

Ixtel

Spectrami

Distribution

74.34%

Systems integration

18.50%

Resellers

1.39%

Training

0.18%

Retailers

5.59%

Base - $12.53BN, 52 companies

october 2015 Reseller Middle East

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Channel elite Knowledge partner report

Market analysis

Trade credit insurance firm Coface, one of Reseller ME’s Annual Industry Survey 2015 knowledge partners this year, reveals statistics on the current IT market. rising smartphone demand. The mobile market is estimated to remain strong on the back of competition between Etisalat and du.

The ICT sector has become an essential part of Dubai’s economic diversification strategy. Economic and social development necessitate the most upto-date solutions on the market.

EXPERT VIEW

Key risks to be monitored: • The ease of Western sanctions on Iran may lead producers to export directly to The UAE IT sector is one of the most active Iran without passing by the UAE. Such trading sectors, with huge volume traded, a situation would pull down the order re-exported and many operators. However, volumes for UAE-based vendors. the pressure on the margins of the • In Egypt, a brighter outlook may buyers in the sectors rose impacting the attract a part of the investments and profitability of traders and distributors. orders instead of going to the UAE. We have registered an increase of • The increase in 36 percent of customs runaway cases in the first 8 months of 2015 duty by India on imported LCD and LED from across segments, which accounts TVs also constitutes a threat for the UAE to 12 % of the total cases reported in UAE exports to this country. from all sectors. Players should consider • Slowdown in China may reduce trading by mitigating the increased risk demand coming from this country. of bad losses, protecting their business • Further slowdown in oil prices could through enhanced credit management and weaken consumer confidence in the information services. UAE and reduce domestic demand for ICT products. Massimo Falcioni, CEO, Middle East • High competition over prices in Countries, Coface domestic market, especially on PC segment as the demand remains sluggish, and profit margins of vendors 2,136 million AED. The sector provided are narrowing. employment of around 7,400 people in 2013, according to data from TRA. SUPPLY The value of consumer electronics Dubai’s consumer electronics market devices sales is estimated to have risen is expected to record a strong growth by 7 percent YoY in 2014 and reached $4 rate due to high per capita income, billion USD, according to BMI. The sales shopping festivals, the emirate’s are expected to rise to $6.1 billion in 2019. regional trade hub position as well as a In value terms, the PCs sold in 2014 range of other factors. are estimated to have risen by 3 percent Prices in Dubai are around 15 YoY while audio-visual and gaming devices to 20 percent lower than in other rose by 12.7 percent. The development countries in the region mainly due of the computer segment mainly results to the low import duties and direct from the positive business environment supplies from manufacturers. Total and the creation of new companies. capital investment by licensees in the The domestic mobile handset sales are UAE telecommunications sector rose estimated to have increased 5.7 percent 13.4 percent YoY in 2013, reaching YoY in 2014 in value terms, on the back of

october 2015 Reseller Middle East

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DEMAND Mobile penetration remains very high, at almost 180 percent. The number of total mobile phone subscribers reached 16,383 in 2014, an increase of 4.4 percent YoY. The correlation between the number of visitors, influx of foreign workers, new residency permits in the UAE and the sales growth of ICT products and services is strong, according to BMI analysis. Companies will show an increased willingness to widen their services and product networks off the back of Expo 2020, therefore the UAE’s two mobile operators (Etisalat and Du) have continued to record strong subscriptions revenues. The demand for the professional PC segment is encouraged by strong business confidence in the UAE. In August, business activity growth in the UAE’s non-oil private sector rose to a six-month high of 57.1, according to Emirates NBD PMI survey. Yet, the demand for the individual PC segment may not remain supportive as more and more consumers tend to prefer mobile devices instead of PCs. The demand for mobile devices remains solid. The high influx of expatriate workers, increased number of tourists and lower prices compared with other countries in the region sustain the demand. The fact that mobile service providers such as Du and Etisalat have become more involved in the handset market in exchange of a fixed-term contract also contributes to the increase in demand.

Knowledge partner report

Channel elite

Channelnomics

Dun & Bradstreet joins us as one of the knowledge partners for the Annual Industry Survey 2015. The company’s MD, Manjeet Singh Chhabra, gives an in-depth overview of the challenges and growth drivers within the regional IT channel industry.

Globally, the IT market, comprising of sale of hardware, software, IT services, and telecommunications reached a whopping size of $ 3.7 trillion in 2014 and is projected to grow at 5 percent in the current year, as per a report by CompTIA. This translates to $ 185 billion in new earnings alone this year. A major part of this spending came from IT purchases made by businesses, leaving the consumer spend small in comparison. While the US market comprised of 28 percent of the world total, market shares have gradually shifted over time to Asia, Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. Additionally, the core IT segment (hardware, software and services) accounted for 56 percent of the total market, while telecom services comprised the remaining 44 percent. This allocation however, varies across countries, with some countries being less advanced in the traditional categories of computers and software, but relatively mature in the telecom segment. Over the last few years, while developed markets across the world have hit saturation, Middle East has emerged as a key growth driver for the IT industry as it offers sellers and resellers a robust, rapidly expanding market in parallel with the current development trend in the region. With huge opportunities in both private and public sector, Middle East is where most IT companies are looking to leverage their expertise and create a viable business proposition for channel partners, distributors and resellers. As is the case with most robust markets, Middle East too is evolving rapidly with pan European distributors coming in and acquisitions and mergers happening from within and outside

the region. While all these changes augur well for the future, the channel needs to be ready to adapt and change their business models accordingly. In keeping with this, the major countries in the Middle East, especially the GCC, are investing huge amounts in ICT infrastructure in order to be at the forefront of the technology evolution phase, with initiatives such as free trade zones and economic centres along with liberalisation and privatisation of the telecom industry. In a survey conducted on IT decision makers and CIOs in the Middle East channel, 57 percent indicated that their single largest technology-related challenge faced in 2014, was maintaining a secure environment. This flows from the ever growing number of threats and risks. In this regard, companies are aiming to develop IT security skills such as enterprise vulnerability management that will offer a high level of protection to the enterprises in the region as well as provide partners with new avenues for business growth. Few other serious challenges faced by partners include ensuring availability of systems and applications, improving the utilisation of IT assets and managing connectivity. Here are a few emerging trends that the channel needs to be aware of and should align their businesses accordingly: • Mobile computing: The future lies in new compute models such as mobile computing as it offers faster entry into markets where PC penetration has been low and fixed broadband coverage is poor. This year, the rise of the New IP, a new networking paradigm is sure to drive network evolution as it is increasingly open, software-driven, and user-centric.

“

Few other serious challenges faced by partners include ensuring availability of systems and applications, improving the utilisation of IT assets and managing connectivity" Manjeet Singh Chhabra, Managing Director, Dun & Bradstreet

• New technologies: A host of new technologies such as disaster recovery systems, regulatory compliance, storage technologies and better data management are also underpinning the enterprise market in the channel. • Demand for PS: In a survey of over 500 channel organisations globally, conducted by Brocade in 2014, almost half of the channel respondents revealed that they expect professional services (PS) to become their main revenue generator by 2020. Needless to say, PS and consultancy is the way forward for the channel. With all these new trends taking shape, customers in the Middle East are sure to turn to the channel for consultancy and this is where channel organisations that have recognised these powerful trends beforehand will be able to grab the emerging opportunities ahead of competition.

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Reseller Middle East october 2015

Channel elite industry ranking

01 Redington Gulf

$2.62 BN

Redington Gulf has once again emerged as the clear winner in this year’s list as it ranks number one despite the market turbulence observed in the region. The distributor continues to successfully sport both volume and value divisions and has garnered a wide market share in the Middle East, Africa, Turkey and CIS regions. On the value front, the company has had an eventful year with the onboarding of new vendors. It has signed up Oracle and VMware for the Middle East region and also strengthened its security portfolio by signing up brands such as Fidelis, Nixsun and Shavlik at GISEC 2015 earlier in the year. It has additionally introduced few other leading security offerings. The company also launched its converged infrastructure business unit and has been signed up as the only master distributor for the VSPEX Blue programme in the META region. Identifying the growth in the cloud space, the distributor has also launched a separate cloud business unit. In line with that, it has introduced RedCloud, which is a platform for automated billing and provisioning. Taking into account the growth of emerging technologies and the opportunities it offers in the market, the company believes going forward converged infrastructure, cloud and information security including forensics, security analytics, securing mobile environments, will drive the organisation’s growth. Ramkumar B, President, Redington Gulf-Value Division, says that the channel that caters to enterprise and SMB is separating fast and there is a surge of ‘born in the cloud’ companies in the channel ecosystem today. “The regional channel is gearing up to handle more services and is focusing on systems integration in the cloud era. What will help partners to differentiate in this highly competitive market is by getting more specialised on specific verticals and not just serve to a broad base.”

Raj Shankar, Managing Director Year of start-up: 2000 Number of sales offices: 26 across MENA, Turkey and CIS Number of warehouses: 22 across 14 countries Total staff: 1750+ Total engineers: 300+ Total resellers: 17000+ Total vendor partnerships: 90+

Channel facing executives Top vendors by revenue: Dell, EMC, HP, Lenovo, Samsung

Top vendors by relationship: Acer, Canon, Cisco, HP, Samsung

Ashish Bharti, President, Volume Division (ME), Redington Gulf

Revenue chart

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20122012

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Ramkumar B, President, Redington Gulf, Value Division

02 BDL Group

$903 M

The regional distributor BDL has had a steady growth, clocking more than 10 percent growth in the last year. Having said that, the distributor has observed that the regional market has been sluggish over the last several quarters. The primary cause of that is due to the political situation in the neighbouring countries, says Tamer Ismail, the company’s CEO. “Due to which markets such as Libya, Yemen and Iraq have closed down.” 2014 was a challenging year for the distributor, having witnessed a slowdown in the IT business regionally. But what has helped the company is its move to become a smartphone player four years ago and a telco player three years ago. Through these diversifications, the distributor has been able to maintain a low-risk business. In terms of markets, BDL has seen a high growth in Saudi Arabia. Ismail says, “Although the markets are not very big in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman, there is definitely immense potential. The political turmoil and currency fluctuations are impacting the other markets. We will have to adopt a wait-and-watch approach for these markets.” The company has had a positive uptake of its home grown tablet and smartphones brand, Quantum, in the last year. Following a MoU with India-based Beltron Green Energy Telecom Limited, the distributor has also introduced its Titano smartphone and feature phone series recently. The company expects the Titano range to be the growth engine for its business in the coming months. Ismail says, “Over the next few months, our aim is to work profitably. We are taking a cautious approach, considering there is a slowdown in the market.” We will see the distributor strengthening its capabilities in terms of IT distribution in the KSA market without plans to expand its portfolio. According to Ismail, the company will move out from the IT business in the UAE market, and focus only on Quantum and telco divisions. It will also move to a new office in Business Bay over the coming months.

Tamer Ismail, CEO Year of star-up: 1998 Location of sales office: UAE Location of support offices: Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait Total staff: 322 Total resellers: 2700

VENDOR PROFILE Top vendors by relationship: Asus, Acer, MSI, HP, Fujitsu, Quantum

Systems and hardware: HP, Asus, Acer, Quantum, MSI, Fujitsu

Revenue chart

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Channel elite industry ranking

03 MDS UAE

$850 M

With more than 30 years of experience being in the Middle East IT business, MDS UAE, part of Midis Group, has come a long way from being a box mover to now a serviceoriented company. The company has a strong presence across markets such as UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar. The SI has executed large projects in the region and provides software application and turnkey solutions to customers, all the way from site preparations of a data centre to its infrastructure, including hardware, network and software. Over the years, the SI has transformed itself into a true solutions provider. According to Sami Abi Esber, President, MDS UAE, selling major vendor products alone is not sufficient, one has to add services, solutions and systems integration to the mix, and this has been the company’s key to success. Recently, the systems integrator has consolidated its data centre and cloud credentials by launching Cloud Centre of Excellence in the UAE. Customers can visit the centre and experience the functions of cloud and also can deploy any services they require at the data centre. Esber adds, “Customers now have the option to experience it before taking any decision. Being a converged system, it is now available in a single rack and has provision for any services from networking, infrastructure, and database.” IDC has identified and named the company as the top IT service provider in the UAE for the last 9 consecutive years. Over the last year, the SI has been able to continue and sustain its growth in the Gulf region. The service provider has also invested in the provision of managed and cloud services over the last few quarters. The factors that have helped the company to succeed are maintaining a strong business relationship and providing multi-vendor solutions. The multi-vendor approach has enabled MDS from being tied down to a single brand, this in turn allows the SI to offer a good mix of products, which helps in offering a comprehensive solution.

Revenue breakup by category

Revenue chart 1BN

Sami Esber, President Year of start-up: 1981 Total staff: 1320 Primary verticals: Oil and gas, telecom, government, healthcare Location of support offices: UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: HP, Dell, Apple, Oracle, Lenovo Software and security: IBM, Maximo, Microsoft, Symantec Networking: HP, Juniper, Avaya, Cisco

500

Peripherals and storage: HP, Dell, EMC, HDS

Systems & Hardware: 35% Software & Security: 15% Peripherals & Storage: 15% Networking: 10% Services and training: 25%

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Services and training: HP, Dell, EMC, eHDF

04 METRA COMPUTER GROUP

$830 M

One of the longest-serving IT distributors in the region, Metra Computer Group has maintained its growth and position in this year’s ranking. The Egypt-based distributor has more than 30 brands in its portfolio across both volume and value divisions. Over the last few months, the distributor has been carrying out activities in the channel around mobility under the volume division. According to Mohamed Amer, EVP, Metra Computer, the company is also currently talking to a couple of vendors in the same space and has recently signed up with the mobile brand, Innjoo, strengthening its portfolio further. “We are focusing on Innjoo’s entire business and are doing the distribution in Saudi and Egypt markets. We expect to cover more markets over the coming months. We are in discussions with couple more brands and look forward to one of them being live in the coming four weeks.” From the value division’s perspective, the distributor has been expanding its business with Aruba and other brands in the last few quarters. It is also working towards growing its business across the region. The EMPA takeover, which was one of the company’s major highlights in 2013, has been quite successful and the complete integration is projected to be finalised by the year end. As far as markets are concerned, Iraq and Egypt are good growth-regions for the company. However the on-going political scenario is having a negative impact on business. “The consumer market in Egypt is growing at a fast rate. However, there has been a decline in the corporate or commercial market.” Commercial and corporate partners in the SMB space will see an additional focus from the distributor, in terms of new training initiatives and programmes. The key focus continues to be on services and related opportunities.

Mohammed Eissa, EVP Year of start-up: 1984 Total resellers: 5732

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: Acer, Asus, Benq, Dell, HP, Apple, Lenovo, Toshiba, Samsung Software and security: Autodesk Peripherals and storage: Apple, HP, WD, Toshiba, Transcend

Top vendors by revenue: HP, Dell, Apple, Intel, Toshiba

Revenue breakup by region UAE: 53.4% Outside UAE: 46.6%

Revenue breakup by category

Accessories and consumables: Apple, Benq, Dell, HP, Samsung, Lenovo, Olkya, Triplite, Ubiquity Services and training: Cisco, HP, Apple, Acer, Asus, Samsung, Fujitsu Components: Intel, Gigabyte, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Huawei, Acer, Asus

Revenue chart

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6.6

4.5 2013

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Systems and hardware: 57.55% Software and security: 0.53% Peripherals and storage: 6.77% Networking: 2.40% Accessories and consumables: 21.23% Services and training: 0.94% Components: 10.58%

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Channel facing executives Mohamed Amer, Executive VP

Reseller Middle East october 2015

Channel elite industry ranking

05 Global Distribution

$608 M

The Dubai-headquartered distributor has climbed up the ranking this year with a growth of more than 30 percent compared to 2013. The company has made a mark in the regional distribution space, boasting a profile of top brands such as HP, Dell, SAP, Cisco and Apple. In the last financial year, the company has been focusing on consolidating existing subsidiaries and business within the group. It has also enforced necessary systems and people in place to maintain business control, compliance and return on investment. Another major highlight for the distributor has been the launch of its private label mobile devices brand – I-onik. The distributor is looking at reinforcing its business in terms of emerging technologies such as mobility devices and solutions and data centre solutions. V.M. Chandrasekar, Group Managing Director and Owner, Global Distribution, says, “We have aligned our product portfolio accordingly with many new vendors added in the course of last year.” In the 2014, we have seen the distributor actively involved in the channel with a number of partner-related activities with vendors such as Fujitsu, Overland Storage and SolarWinds. Chandrasekar says, “Traditionally Global has been growing outside the Middle East - although this is where our headquarter is situated– but as we have seen the regional channel maturing significantly over the last few years, we have increased our focus and investments in the MEA market.” Going forward, we will see the distributor ramping up its channel offerings and enhancing its partners’ capabilities to harness the growth potential with emerging technologies in the region.

V.M. Chandrasekar, Group CEO Year of start-up: 2001 Total staff: 120 Total engineers: 36

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and Hardware: Fujitsu, HP Software and security: SolarWinds, Kaspersky Peripherals and storage: Pure Storage, Overland Storage, Tandberg, V3 VDI, QNAP, Synology, LaCie, Optoma Networking: HP, TP-LINK, ZyXel

Top vendors by relationship: Fujitsu, HP, Tandberg Data and Overland, SolarWinds, Pure Storage

Revenue breakup by region UAE: 45% Outside UAE: 55%

Accessories and consumables: TP-LINK, LINKCOMN, Datwyler, Mobotix Components: SanDisk, Seagate

Systems and Hardware: 15% Software and security: 10% Peripherals and storage: 20% Networking: 10% Accessories and consumables: 15% Services and training: 5% Mobile phones: 25%

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Revenue chart

Revenue breakup by category

Mobile phones: ZTE, Lamborghini, Gsmart, LG, Samsung, I-onik

1BN

500

0 2013 20132014

Top vendors by revenue: Fujitsu, Solarwinds, Tandberg Data / Overland / V3 VDI, Pure Storage

06 Aptec - Ingram Micro

$600 M+

With the acquisition of Aptec Holdings, Ingram Micro set foot into the regional distribution space two years ago. And in those two years, the company has gone about integrating operations and completing the merger process. Today the distributor is known for its expertise in areas such as mobility, cloud and supply chain solutions and continues its focus on enabling channel partners to successfully deliver solutions to the regional market. The company believes the factors that differentiates its offering in the market are its ability to be agile, deep market insights and the trust and dependability that comes from decades of proven relationships. Over the last year, the distributor’s focus has been actively towards partner enablement, training initiatives and services. In the last year, the company has acquired Armada, a large value-added technology distributor in Turkey and Arabian Applied Technology (AAT), a KSA-based value-added distributor. Another highlight has been the launch of IBM training and expansion of training centres in the UAE and South Africa, which is in line with the company’s plans to build on its global technical services and training expertise. As IBM’s authorised Global Training Provider (GTP), Ingram Micro is one of five companies authorised to provide a broad selection of systems and software courses from IBM Training. The company has also invested into two new entities in Morocco and Pakistan. The distributor believes emerging technologies such as cloud, hybrid cloud, software-defined-everything, enterprise networking, BI and analytics, data capture, POS, physical security and IoT will drive the growth from within the organisation.

Ali Baghdadi, SVP & Chief Executive, Middle East, Turkey & Africa Year of start-up: 1980 Total resellers: 3720

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: APC by Shneider Electric, Cisco, Dell, Emerson, Fujitsu, HP, IBM, NetApp, Oracle, Wyse Software and security: CA, IBM, Intel Security, Kaspersky, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP Business Objects, Symantec, Veeam, VMWare, Vision Solutions

Top vendors by relationship: IBM, Fujitsu, Microsoft, HP, Symantec, Dlink, APC

Revenue chart

1BN

500

Peripherals and storage: Dell, Dlink, APC

Value-added services: Presales support, solutions sizing, BoQ, PoC, demonstration, implementation, training, documentation, knowledge transfer, after sales support

Networking: 3M, APC by Schneider Electric, Avaya, Cisco, D-Link, Emerson, HP, Linksys Services and training: ATS professional services, Ingram Micro Training Academy

0 2009 2013 2010

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Reseller Middle East october 2015

Channel elite industry ranking

07 FDC international

$575 M

Although FDC International has grown over 20 percent in the last year, according to its Chief Operating Officer and Vice President, Marissa Safe, 2014 has been a year of learning. One of the primary lessons has been about maintaining a profitable growth by balancing the topline and bottom line revenues. However, to achieve this, it is important to have an accurate assessment of the market. Safe says, “In a volatile market like the Middle East, it is very difficult to plan ahead. Its better we plan as per the statistics and figures we get from vendors and research firms. However, at times these figures tend not to be accurate. We would like to work with vendors who are completely transparent and share with us how much business they are looking at in each region and what is the accurate TAM. This way we can avoid any surprises.” However, according to Safe, there were many surprises in 2014 such as influx of products in the grey market. She believes these kind of issues can be avoided by working closely with vendors and their top management. Although it has been a tough year for the regional channel distribution, the distributor has managed to maintain growth in markets such as KSA, Egypt, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Algeria, while also increasing investments marginally into countries such as Kuwait. Going forward, we will see the distributor continuing its focus on both volume and value divisions. It has invested into ProValue over the last year and introduced mobile line of products with the recent Lenovo partnership. The company’s focus over the coming months will be to create interest for retailers to buy from the distributor and its resellers. Safe adds, “We are going to have some joint activities with our vendors and give retailers a reason as to why they should buy from us.”

Marissa Safe, COO and VP Year of start-up: 1989 Total staff: 155 Total engineers: 27 Total resellers: 1000 active accounts and 240 preferred partners

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: Lenovo, Acer, Asus Networking: TP-LINK, ZTE Tablets and notebooks: Lenovo, Acer, Asus, ILife

Top vendors by revenue: Lenovo, Acer, WD, Seagate, Asus

Revenue breakup by category

Mobile: Lenovo Software and security: ESET Components: Intel, Kingston, Asus, AsRock, ECS, XFX, Liteon, Plextor, Apacer, Geil, AMD

Revenue chart

1BN

Peripherals and storage: WD, Seagate, Synology, QNAP, Overland Storage

500

Systems and hardware: 20% ProValue: 5% Notebooks: 47% Tablets: 14% Components: 14%

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Top vendors by relationship: XFX, Seagate, Liteon, Lenovo, Acer

GBM is the region’s number one provider of IT solutions

GBM brings the power of the world’s most renowned technology providers, IBM from its outset and the addition of the Cisco portfolio in 1999. GBM today holds both the Master Collaboration and the Master Security Specializations from Cisco, the only partner across Gulf to be awarded these distinctions. GBM’s 1,200 industry experts work across a broad range of market sectors, including: Government, Banking and Finance, Telecommunications, Retail and Oil & Gas. GBM lives the ever-evolving culture of the local IT landscapes in which it operates, continually investing in training and development to ensure its experts can fully understand and interpret the growing needs of their clients. As a result, GBM is always well-equipped to address the ever-evolving, industryspecific IT demands in every market. www.gbmme.com ABU DHABI • BAHRAIN • DUBAI • KUWAIT • OMAN • PAKISTAN • QATAR

Channel elite industry ranking

07 Logicom

$575 M

Although the distributor has grown marginally over the last year, it has slipped in the ranking by two positions. With physical presence in more than 16 countries, the company is a leading distributor in the Middle East, Gulf, North Africa and Asia regions. In the last year, the distributor has initiated a number of activities aimed at bringing value to its channel partners throughout the region and as well as new partnerships. It has extended its distribution agreement with HP to include new product lines and post a successful engagement in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq and Pakistan, the company has expanded its Autodesk partnership to also include Qatar and Kuwait. Additionally, the distributor has also expanded its partnership with Microsoft to include Qatar. We have also seen the distributor increasing its investment in new facilities in many cities across the Gulf and has grown the teams on the ground in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman. In order to focus on all the growth markets in the region, the company has significantly invested in markets such as UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia. Mounir Sarkis, Regional Director, Logicom Gulf and Saudi, says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The main drivers of the business continue to be the commercial and enterprise segments while we also support our partners in fulfilling projects for the public sector and the service provider channels.â&#x20AC;? Over the next year, we will see the distributor continuing to invest in presence and channel coverage in the region. It also aims to offer co-branded incentive schemes to the channel in association with its vendor partners, such as HP, Intel and Cisco. Also, the distributor plans to organise its quarterly technology forums across the locations it operates in.

Mounir Sarkis, Regional Director, Gulf & Saudi Year of start-up: 1987 Total staff: 720 Total resellers: 4220

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: HP, Intel, Lenovo Software and security: Microsoft, Autodesk, CommVault, NetApp, Qnap, Watchguard, Symantec Peripherals and storage: Kingston, WD, SanDisk

Top vendors by revenue: HP, Cisco, Intel, Microsoft, Kingston

Revenue breakup by category

Networking: Cisco, Linksys Accessories and consumables: HP Supplies, HP, Nokia Services and training: Micrososft, Cisco

Revenue chart

1BN

Others: Intel, WD, Kingston

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Systems and hardware: 48% Software and security: 8% Peripherals and storage: 5% Networking: 23% Accessories and consumables: 5% Services and training: 1% Components: 10%

Top vendors by relationship: Kingston, Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, HP

Channel elite industry ranking

08 Emax Electronics

$550 M

Emax Electronics have been consistently growing over the last few years. Having opened more than 10 stores across the region, the retailer stands at over 62 stores today. According to the company, this confirms its strategy of “being within consumers’ reach.” The retailer recorded a 30 percent increase in sales during Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) 2015 compared to DSF 2014. And 32 percent increase at this year’s Spring edition of GITEX Shopper compared to the previous year. Present across the GCC region, the retailer has gained an increased momentum on its online presence, which has given it a competitive edge. CEO Neelesh Bhatnagar says, “Within a short span of just over eight years, we are the largest electronics retailer in the GCC and have grown steadily to maintain around 28 percent YoY growth that confirms our stability and affinity in the market.” The retailer expects to continue to play a key role by leveraging the opportunities in emerging technologies. According to Bhatnagar, as we move into the next era of the digital age and as the retail culture gets more and more ingrained with technology, there will be a constant need to watch out for latest retail and sector-specific software integrations that will help optimise its business operations and enhance its customer experience at the store level. Over the past few years, the retailer has witnessed online and mobile purchasing gaining more traction. This has pushed retailers to adapt to the needs of the around-theclock connected digital customer, by developing a digital customer service and multi and omni-channel. “The digital consumers looking for more convenience are increasingly moving towards online and mobile transactions, whereas the consumer tech retail might have been slower in making a parallel move; this however is gaining momentum.”

Top vendors by revenue: Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, HP, Dell

Systems and components: 79.10% Software and security: 1.00% Peripherals and storage: 9.70% Networking: 3.10% Accessories and consumables: 7.20%

Revenue chart

1BN

500

Revenue breakup by region UAE: 61.80% Outside UAE: 38.20%

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Revenue breakup by category

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Neelesh Bhatnagar, CEO Year of start-up: 2006 Total staff: 2231 Total retail facing technical staff: 165 Countries consolidated in group revenue: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain

09 Gulf Business Machines

$500 M+

Having set shop in the Middle East region since 1990, Gulf Business Machines (GBM) is one of the leading providers of IT solutions in the Gulf today. A new entrant in this year’s ranking, the systems integrator has managed to make it in the top ten players within the regional channel. The company has achieved strong performance across a range of territories and lines of businesses over the last year. Celebrating 25 years in the region this year, the SI has continued its partnership with prominent global technology providers such as IBM and Cisco across a range of verticals and nurtured in-house technical expertise. It has also refreshed the company’s look and feel, maintaining its heritage while also bringing a fresh bolder look. Over the last couple of months, the systems integrator has achieved Master Collaboration and Master Security Specialisations from Cisco, making it the only partner from the vendor across Gulf to have these distinctions. According to the company, this reflects its upgraded capabilities for deploying complex IT security and collaboration solutions. It has also achieved Cisco Customer Satisfaction Excellence status, one of the highest quality benchmarks for Cisco’s Partner Programme, and was recently awarded three distinctions at the Cisco Global Partner Summit, including the Partner of the Year Award in Middle East, Africa and Russia. GBM has further positioned itself as an industry leader with ground-breaking research. For the last four years, GBM has commissioned regional research (GBM’s Security Survey) to assess the state of IT security – exposing areas of weakness in the region, and proposing the best ways to tackle those issues through innovative IT deployments. The systems integrator boasts around 2000 customers around the region across various industries.

Phillipe Jarre, CEO Year of start-up: 1990 Total staff: 1450 Primary vertical focus: Banking and financial services, defense and police, retail and distribution, trading and services, government, oil and gas, telecommunications, travel and transportation Total number of vendor certifications: 850

VENDOR PROFILE Top vendors by revenue: IBM, Cisco

Top vendors by relationship: IBM, Cisco

Systems and hardware: IBM, Lenovo, Toshiba Software and security: IBM, Cisco Peripherals and storage: IBM, Cisco

Solutions provided: Business Analytics, Business Process Management, Correspondence Management System, Data Virtualization Solution, Engineering and Intelligence Solutions, Enterprise and Data Center Networking, Enterprise Marketing Management, Governance, Risk and Compliance, Healthcare Performance Management, High Performance Computing, Information Management, Mobility and Wireless Solutions, Performance Management, Physical Security and Audio Visuals, Private and Hybrid Cloud, Retail Banking Data Warehousing, Retail Solutions, Security Solutions, Social Program Management Platform, Software Defined Infrastructure, Storage Infrastructure Optimisation, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

www.resellerme.com

Networking: Cisco, F5, Schneider Electric Accessories and consumables: Lenovo Services and training: all vendors

Reseller Middle East october 2015

Channel elite industry ranking

10 Almasa IT Distribution

$410 M

Almasa IT is a 20-year-old IT distribution company that has been instrumental in the evolving regional channel. With a strong presence across the Middle East and Africa, the distributor boasts a portfolio of large vendors such as HP, Acer, Seagate, Asus, AMD, Intel, Lenovo, LG and Dell to name a few. Comprising a team of over 150 professionals, the distributor believes its strength lies in its ability to understand the local market requirements and deliver value to its customers. Based out of Dubai, the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s logistics hub is situated in Jebel Ali Free Zone and it provides in-depth services to countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq. Over the last year, the distributor has grown by around 10 percent and has had a number of new vendors coming on board. One of its recent partnerships includes being signed up as the authorised reseller and service provider for Apple. It has also signed up Cradlepoint in the networking space and expanded its gaming portfolio with the addition of MSI. The distributor has also ramped up its regional presence by opening up three new retail showrooms in Baghdad, Erbil and Basra. Today the distributor offers products and solutions across the entire range from brands such as Asus, Intel, Avaya, Lenovo, Seagate and Apple. They also offer value-added services such as presales support for Avaya, proof of concept for Avaya and LG, implementation for Avaya, training, documentation, knowledge transfer for a number of brands including Asus, Seagate, Avaya and LG. And it also offers after sales support across all brands. Over the next year, we will see the distributor continuing to focus on mobility and enhancing its value proposition in the market. The distributor has separate service centres in Iraq to cater to Apple customers as well as its own service centre called Almasa Care.

Mehdi Amjed, CEO and Chairman Year of start-up: 1995 Total resellers: 1000 active accounts Total staff: 200 Total engineers: 8

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: Asus, Lenovo, HP, Dell Software and security: Cradlepoint Peripherals and storage: Seagate, WD

Top vendors by revenue: Asus, Apple, Lenovo, Intel, Avaya, Seagate

Top vendors by relationship: Asus, Avaya, Intel, Seagate, Lenovo, Apple

Networking: Avaya, LG, Cradlepoint Components: Intel, Asus, Nvidia, Zotac, MSI Mobility: Apple, CAT, Lenovo, Asus

Revenue chart

400

350

Channel facing executives Omar Baktash, Sales Director and Product Management Manoj Kumar, Sales Manager, UAE & GCC Satjeet Sangha, General Manager, Computer Systems, Export Somkat Misra, General Manager, Components

300 2012 2013

october 2015 Reseller Middle East

2013

2014

www.resellerme.com

11 Mitsumi Distribution

$390 M

For Mitsumi Distribution, 2014 was a year of growth. The Kenya-based distributor has experienced a strong overall corporate development along with significant growth across all its product lines. The company’s growing portfolio includes Acer, APC, Asus, BenQ, Canon, Dell, Fluke Networks, Hitachi, HP, IBM, Intel, iSurf, Lenovo, Microsoft, Polycom, Riverbed, Samsung, Sandisk, Toshiba, Tripp-Lite, WD and ZTE. Recently, Mitsumi and Bankai Group have created a joint venture initiative known as BankaiMitsumi. This new organisation enables Telcos in Africa and the Middle East to connect for termination and origination of voice services globally with quality and technical infrastructure. In the last year, the company has signed up with Samsung Mobile, Intel Approved Supplier, Canon and ZTE for Africa region. The distributor has also been able to expand its business in the existing markets, especially in Uganda and Tanzania, which were previously dominated by competitors. The company believes that new technologies and smartphone proliferation and Internet connectivity will continue to drive the regional channel growth. CEO Jagat Shah, says, “We are aware of the general trends in the rest of the IT field and so we cannot afford to be left behind. We are increasingly adopting e-commerce and mobility in our operations as well. “The Middle East channel has continued to evolve and expand extraordinarily in recent years. During the past two years the market has not been very stable in the Middle East, but we are expecting some stability in 2015. I think the traditional channel structures may need to change. It is time for re-developing the market based on the emergence of new channel segments.”

Jagat Shah, Chairman and CEO Year of start-up: 1996 Total staff: 220 Total engineers: 23 Total resellers: 2380

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: HP, Dell, Acer, Toshiba, Lenovo, Samsung, Asus, iSurf Software and security: Microsoft

Top vendors by revenue: Samsung, HP, Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo

Top vendors by relationship: Dell, Toshiba, Acer, HP, Samsung

Revenue breakup by category

Networking: Tripplite, BenQ, HP Enterprise, HP Networking, Riverbed, IBM, Polycom & Fluke Network, Ruckus Wireless, Hitachi, ZTE

400

Revenue chart

Peripherals and storage: Western Digital, Toshiba

Accessories and consumables: HP, Samsung, Canon 350

300 2013 2013

2014

Systems and hardware: 40% Software and security: 3% Peripherals and storage: 4% Networking: 3% Accessories and consumables: 5% Services and training: 2% Components: 3% Telco: 40%

www.resellerme.com

Services and training: Dell, Toshiba, Acer, Samsung Components: WD, Sandisk

Reseller Middle East october 2015

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Channel elite industry ranking

12 Mindware

$328 M

Mindware has been at the forefront of embracing new and emerging technological solutions and ensuring it stays relevant in a highly competitive channel space. The 24-year-old distributor has grown more than 30 percent in the last year alone and has scaled up in the ranking by two positions. Last year, we saw the distributor rebranding itself by introducing a fresher looking logo, which was in line with the company’s plans to create a symbol that showcases it as a modern company while simultaneously being true to its roots. The company also launched its own app, with the objective to help partners be updated on the latest trainings, events and market developments. It also signed up with new vendors such as Riverbed and Atlantis Computing, over the course of last year. The distributor believes that trends like mobility, cloud, Big Data, tablets, wearable devices and IoT will drive the growth in the region. “Storage, security and Big Data will continue to be big trends that will gain momentum in this year. Most of the trends we saw in 2014 will continue to grow and extend into this year,” says the company’s General Manager, Mario Gay. The distributor does not expect too much of a difference in the existing order of the regional channel. However, it expects larger players to grow further. The only way partners can make a difference is by investing more in specialisations. For Mindware, Qatar and Oman have been high growth markets with good business coming from Pakistan. “We have reorganised and consolidated the volume business in 2014. This year, we are looking to reorganise the value division according to the kind of products,” says Gay.

Mario Gay, GM Year of start-up: 1991 Location of sales offices: UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt, Lebanon, KSA

VENDOR PROFILE Systems & hardware: Dell, Lenovo, EMC Software and security: Microsoft, Symantec, Citrix, McAfee Peripherals and storage: Symantec, Apacer, Wyse

Top vendors by revenue: Dell, Intel, Microsoft, Juniper, Symantec

Top vendors by relationship: Dell, Intel, Symantec, Microsoft, EMC

Revenue breakup by category

Networking: Juniper, Nexans, Pace, Emerson Accessories and consumables: Dell, Juniper Services and training: Citrix Components: Intel

Revenue chart

400

300

Systems & Hardware: 42% Software and security: 25% Peripherals and storage: 5% Networking: 25% Services and training: 3%

200 2013 2013

october 2015 Reseller Middle East

2014

www.resellerme.com

Revenue breakup by region UAE: 42% Outside UAE: 58%

Channel elite industry ranking

13 Alpha Data

$233 M

Alpha Data, more than three decades old in the regional channel space offers comprehensive solutions throughout the technology requirements of an organisation. Having grown by 5 percent over the previous year, the systems integrator is well underway to optimise opportunities in Big Data, cloud, mobility, security and IoT. In line with its expansion plans, the managed service provider has launched Alpha Cloud recently, which is a public cloud service that feature cloud functionality tailored to meet the UAE marketâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s local cloud computing requirements. 2014 was a good year for the SI, having won several long-term projects. It has seen several larger projects coming in over the course of the year, especially as the city is gearing up for Expo 2020. The company also began operations in Qatar, which it considers to be a promising market. What has been key to the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success is the fact that it is particular about entering a market only if it believes it can bring in the required value. While the SI has been thinking of setting shop in Saudi Arabia, it will only do so after in-depth market assessment. We might see it beginning Saudi operations by early 2016. Going forward, we will see the SI continuing to focus on services, which has been a critical part of its business.

Fayez Ibbini, Founder and CEO Year of start-up: 1981 Total staff: 700 plus Locations of sales offices: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha

Revenue chart

400

300

200 2013

Revenue breakup by category

2013

october 2015 Reseller Middle East

2014

Hardware: 70% Services: 30%

www.resellerme.com

Technology partners: Avaya, Cisco, Citrix, HP, Microsoft, VMware, Belden, Adobe, Autodesk, Juniper, Polycom, Nedap, Milestone, Bosch, Christie, Extron, Oracle, Exterity

Top vendors by relationship: HP, Microsoft, Juniper, VMware, Cisco

Channel elite industry ranking

14 Westcon Group

$207 M

Westcon Group, comprising Westcon Middle East and Comstor Middle East, is a value-added distributor of security, Cisco centric and Unified Communications and collaboration solutions in the Middle East. Having grown marginally in the last year, the company has had significant developments centred on building its capabilities to better cater to its partners. In sync with this, the distributor has set up its trading entity in KSA. Steve Lockie, Group Managing Director, says, “As we roll out our logistics support to this we will see much better partner satisfaction within the Kingdom. A very close second highlight for the company will be the significant investments we have made in developing and building out our services business.” It has launched offerings such as training, support centre, professional services and logistical services with the corresponding resources and training centre now established. Another important highpoint for the distributor in 2014 has been the development of its security portfolio, where it has pushed Westcon Security to the forefront of the specialised security distribution space. Lockie says, “It has been perhaps most pleasing to see Westcon Security, Westcon UCC, Comstor and our services business all show strong growth throughout the year. Our go to market model has been very successful in developing real value for our customers and we will see our Comstor EDGE initiatives more defined in the Westcon practices this year.” The company has also signed up with new brands such as Aruba and Palo Alto Networks from its security practice perspective while also completing its regional footprint with F5. Under Comstor, the company has on-boarded Simplivity for the hyper converged infrastructure market and on Westcon UCC front, it has successfully launched telylabs and Ruckus within the region.

Steve Lockie, Group MD Year of start-up: 1993 Total staff: 153 Total engineers: 25 Location of sales offices: UAE, KSA, Oman, Yemen, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq Location of support offices: Dubai, UAE and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

VENDOR PROFILE Top vendors by revenue: Cisco, Zebra, Avaya, Palo Alto, Juniper

Top vendors by relationship: Zebra, Juniper, Cisco, Avaya, APC

Revenue breakup by region UAE: 30% Outside UAE: 70%

Systems & Hardware: APC, Avocent, Cisco, Datalogic, DatamaxO’Neil, Honeywell, Panduit, Zebra Software and security: Algosec, Arbor, Aruba, Bluecoat, Cisco, Dell, F5, Forescout, HP, Juniper, Palo Alto, Ruckus

Revenue chart (m)

210

Peripherals and storage: Flexpod and Expresspod, Honeywell, NEC, Pelco, S2, Zebra

Value-added services: Presales support, solutions sizing, BoQ, PoC, demonstration, implementation, training, documentation, knowledge transfer, after sales support

205

200 2013 2013

october 2015 Reseller Middle East

2014

www.resellerme.com

Networking: AT&T, APC, Aruba, Avaya, NEC, Juniper, Meru, Oracle, Plantronics, Polycom, Proxim, Ruckus, Smart, Snom, Sonus, Zebra Services and training: Westcon Group Services

Channel elite industry ranking

15 Prologix Distribution

$200 M

Dubai-based Prologix Distribution has been in operations close to 20 years now. With a strong presence across the UAE, GCC, Middle East, Africa and SAARC countries, the company has experienced an incredible growth over the course of last year. The distributor believes that the factors, which have helped it to stand out from the crowded marketplace include its innovative product offerings, expansive product line, and its strengths in presales technical assistance. The distributor has successfully added Zebra Technologies and Bosch to its basket last year.

VENDOR PROFILE WiFi & Networking: Totolink, LevelOne, Microtik RF & Microwave: Cambium Networks, Trango Systems, Sub10 Systems, Motorola Solutions, Simoco, Peplink, Redline Communications Telecom: Sangoma Tehnologies Video Surveillance - LevelOne, Secura Test & Measurement: Fluke Networks, AFL, Spectracom, Keysight Technologies, IDEAL Industries, Anite Finland, Empirix, Extech, Anapico, Aaronia

Sarwan Singh, Managing Director

Revenue breakup by category

Systems & Hardware: 25% Software and security: 25% Networking: 15% Services and training: 15% Others: 20%

Top vendors by revenue: Cambium Networks: 4%, Trango Systems: 4%, Fluke Networks: 5%, Empirix: 9%, AFL: 5%

Top vendors by relationship: Empirix, Cambium Networks, Keysight Technology, Trango Systems, Fluke Networks

16 Al Jammaz Distribution

Year of start-up: 1998 Total staff: 240 Total engineers: 75 Locations of sales and support offices: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Sri lanka, Kenya, Nigeria, India Primary vertical focus: Telecom, Defense, Law Enforcement, real estate, BFSI, government, oil and gas, education, hospitality

$189 M

As a VAD in the Saudi market, Al Jammaz Distribution has been focusing on developing the channel by inspiring, enabling and empowering partners. Over the course of last year, the VAD has grown significantly and invested into a number of activities in the channel, in sync with its overall strategy of channel development. It has executed many programmes and initiatives toward demand generation and empowering the partners. Under demand generation, it has developed joint marketing services and activities working together with its value-added resellers.

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: APC, Cisco, EMC, Rittal Software and security: Symantic, EMC, Verties Peripherals and storage: EMC, VCE, Lenovo, Honeywell Networking: Cisco, Linksys, Rockus, Fluke Networks, Panduite, Technicolor Services and training: EMC, Cisco, VCE, Fluke Network

october 2015 Reseller Middle East

Asim Al-Jammaz, Vice President

Revenue breakup by category

Systems and hardware: 15% Software and security: 15% Peripherals and storage: 30% Networking: 30% Services and training: 10%

www.resellerme.com

Top vendors by revenue: EMC, VCE, Cisco, APC, Technicolor

Top vendors by relationship: Linksys, Technicolor, APC, Cisco, EMC

Year of start-up: 1998 Total staff: 200 Total engineers: 33 Location of support offices: Riyadh, Jeddah, Khobar, Qassim, Tabuk, Sajer, Wadi Aldwaser, Najran

Channel elite industry ranking

17 Asbis Middle East

$180 M

The regional channel market has been experiencing a slowdown over the last few quarters. Some of the reasons that are attributed to this are fluctuating currency rates, political situations in neighbouring countries and falling oil prices. The 25-year-old regional distributor, Asbis Middle East, has experienced a steep decline in their revenues when compared to the previous year. For the distributor, some important highlights in the past year have been going back to basic distribution model, increasing sales of components in a competitive market and reinforcing focus on solutions. Hesham Tantawi, Vice President

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: Acer, Apple, Asus, Blackberry, Cisco, Dell, Drweb, Fujitsu, Gigabyte, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Intel, Lenovo, Microsoft, Prestigio, Samsung, Toshiba, AMD, Sun Software and security: Adobe, AVG, ESET, Kaspersky, Kerio, McAfee, Oracle, VMWare Peripherals and storage: Adaptek, Belkin, Canyon, Cygnett, Eaton, Epson, Griffin, Kingston, Konica, Minolta, Lexmark, LG, Logitech,

Mellanox, Microlab, Oki, Philips, Samsung, Sapphire, Seagate, Sony, Toshiba, Western Digital, Xerox Networking: Cisco, D-Link, HGST, IBM, Linksys, Mikrotik, Netgear, Promise, Qlogic, Silicon, Power, Sun, Supermicro, TP-LINK, Transcend, Ubiquiti, Xyratex, Zyxel Accessories and consumables: Adaptek, AOC, APC, Belkin, Canon, Canyon, Cygnett, Eaton, Griffin, Konica, Minolta, Logitech, Prestigio, Sony

Revenue breakup by category

Systems and hardware: 15% Software and security: 10% Peripherals and storage: 10% Networking: 15% Accessories and consumables: 10% Components: 40%

18 Visionaire

Year of start-up: 1990 Total staff: 95 plus Total technical staff: 15 Locations of support offices: United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, South Africa, Tunisia

Top vendors by revenue: Intel, AMD, Seagate, Lexmark, Ubiquiti

$177 M

The regional systems integrator, Visionaire is known for its solutions and services in the information and communication technology sphere. The company serves customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; requirements in an increasingly converging unified infrastructure, collaboration, device control, Internet of Things, cloud, wireless connectivity, information and rich media marketplace with a comprehensive offering of advanced, high quality solutions and services for various vertical markets. The SI boasts certifications from leading vendors such as Microsoft, Huawei, HP-Aruba, Polycom, SMART Technologies, Cisco, Arrive Systems, RGB, RBI, VMware and also other vendors such as ITIL and InfoComm. Aneeta Gupta, Chief Executive Officer

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: Huawei, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Canon, Apple, Lenovo Software and security: Microsoft,Fortinet, ClearPass, Juniper, McAfee, Mi-Token, Cisco, Mobile Iron, Tiger TMS, RightFax, VMWare, LANDesk, Symprex, Quest, Adobe, Barracuda, F5 Peripherals and storage: Huawei, Fujitsu, Logitech, Viewsonic

Networking: Huawei, Sonus, HP-Aruba Accessories and consumables: Belden, Monster Services and training: Smart Technologies, Arrive Systems Components: Intel AV technology: Digital Signage, Room Scheduling, Wayfinding Cayin Technologies, Scala, Arrive

october 2015 Reseller Middle East

Command and control systems: Mitsubishi, NEC, Samsung, Panasonic, Sharp, RGB, Daktronics, Dexon, Christie Audio systems: Audio Technica, Biamp, Bose, ClearOne, Rave, JBL, QSC, Soundcraft Wireless presentation solution: Arrive, Barco, WePresent Video conference solution: Polycom, Arrive

www.resellerme.com

Revenue breakup by category

Systems and hardware: 8% Software and security: 10% Peripherals and storage: 18% Networking: 29% Accessories and consumables: 2% Services and training: 2% Components: 4% Others: 27%

Year of start-up: 1995 Total staff: 591 Total engineers: 397

Top vendors by revenue: Huawei, Microsoft, Arrive, LG, Intel Top vendors by relationship: Smart, Microsoft, Fujitsu, HP, Huawei

industry ranking

19 Jacky’s Retail

$150 M*

Jacky’s Retail, part of Jacky’s Group, was launched towards the end of 2013 with the objective to manage and operate Samsung brand shops across the UAE. According to the company, it aims to provide the best technology and experience to customers through these concept retail stores, backed by the Group’s expertise in retail and Samsung’s expertise in products. With only a year of operation, Jacky’s Retail currently is the largest UAE operator of Samsung Brand Shops with four outlets in the Emirates. These brand shops are operating in three Emirates – Mall of the Emirates and Deira City Centre in Dubai; Al Khalidiyah Mall in Abu Dhabi; and My City Centre in Nasseriya, Sharjah. Samsung has recognised the Mall of Emirates store as one of the top three performing stores globally. Manish Arora, Business Head, Jacky’s Retail, says, “We have achieved this feat in a very short span of time. Also, we have deployed best practices in terms of novel concepts in the retail format at these stores.”

Revenue breakup by Region UAE: 100%

19 Trigon

Revenue breakup by category

UAE: 90%

Outside UAE: 10%

Ashish Panjabi, Chief Operating Officer Year of start-up: 2013 Total staff: 39 Total retail facing technical staff: 28 Dedicated vendor: Samsung Stores consolidated in the group revenue: Mall of the Emirates, Dubai; Deira City Centre, Dubai; Khalidiyah Mall, Abu Dhabi; My City Centre at Nasseriah, Sharjah

$150 M

Regional distributor, Trigon, has strived to maintain a balance in its topline and bottom line growth over the years. However, assessing the current market scenario, this has been challenging for the 18-year-old distributor and has experienced a decline in its revenue when compared to the previous financial year. In 2014, the company has emphasised more on retail business and expanded retailrelated product line. It has also focused more on B2B business in the SME segment and increased product lines related to healthcare, hospitality and financial sector. It has also set up its KSA sales office and expanded its service centre. It has also signed distribution agreement with Philips displays as the authorised distributor for its entire range of monitors across GCC including UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and KSA.

Revenue breakup by Region

Channel elite

Top vendors by relationship: Viewsonic, Creative, D-Link, Elo, BenQ, Samsung, AVM, PenPower, Mustek, LG

Samsung: Laser & multi laser printers, LED / LCD monitors, Large Format Display: 30% LG: LCD/ LED monitors, Large Format Display: 15% Dell : Monitors: 10% D-Link : Networking & wireless products: 8% Creative : Speakers, headphones & headsets: 7% ViewSonic : LCD monitors, projectors: 5% Elo : LCD touch monitors & touch kiosks: 4% Ergotron : Mounting solutions ( desktop & wallmounts), EMR carts: 5% Others : 15%

Arun Chawla, Chief Executive Officer Year of start-up: 1997 Total staff: 108 Total technical staff: 12 Total resellers: 300 plus

Top vendors by revenue: Samsung, LG, Dell, D-Link, Creative

www.resellerme.com

Reseller Middle East october 2015

Channel elite industry ranking

20 AGC Networks

$139.7 M

A new entrant in this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s survey, AGC Networks is a global solution integrator delivering technology solutions in Unified Communications, network infrastructure and data center, cyber security and enterprise applications and services. With a significance presence in the Middle East, Africa, North America, Philippines, Australia and New Zealand, the solutions provider is one of the leaders in the enterprise communications space in India. It boasts technology vendors such as Avaya, Cisco, HP, Juniper, Netapp and Polycom among others. The systems integrator offers services such as RMIA, on-site GUARDIAN, support services, professional services, advanced design services and managed services.

Technology partners: Avaya, Cisco, Juniper, Polycom, Netapp, Verint, HP, Oracle, Shoretel, VMWare, NEC, Corald, Extreme Networks and NICE

Top vendors by relationship: Avaya, Cisco, Juniper, Polycom, NetApp, Verint, HP

Primary vertical focus: BFSI, IT/Ites, travel and hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing, telecom and education

Name of vendor certifications: Avaya, Cisco, Juniper, McAfee, CISM, CISSP, Polycom, NetApp, Extreme, HP, Oracle and NICE

21 Emitac Enterprise Solutions

Sanjay Ahuja, VP of Sales, Middle East & Africa Year of start-up: 1984 Total staff: 800 Country offices consolidated in group revenue: India, Australia, U.S., Singapore, Kenya, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, UAE, USA Location of support offices: India, Australia, US, Singapore, Kenya, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, UAE, USA

$131.7 M

Part of Bukhatir Group of Companies, Emitac Enterprise Solutions (EES) has come a long way since its establishment in 1976. It has continued its transformation into a true solutions and services provider from being a traditional SI. 2014 has been an excellent year for the company having grown more than 20 percent. The SI opened its new Network Operating Centre (NOC) in Dubai recently to manage customer installations, thereby growing its services offering. The SI has successfully executed several large projects over the course of last year. According to CEO Miguel Villalonga, the company has also achieved significant growth in its Software Services business unit, with growth rates exceeding 100 percent.

Revenue breakup by category

Systems and hardware: 27% Software and security: 20% Peripherals and storage: 25% Networking: 3% Services and training: 25%

october 2015 Reseller Middle East

Miguel Angel Villalonga, Chief Executive Officer

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: HP Software and security: Microsoft, HP Software, Oracle, Asset, Juniper, Symantec, McAfee, Aruba, Cisco, SafeNet, HP Networks, Kony Peripherals and storage: HP, EMC, Oracle, Veeam

Networking: HP Networks, Juniper, Symantec, McAfee, Cisco, Aruba Services and training: Services and training is provided to all the products it represents. Full project implementation and management, 24x7 support for IT Infrastructure, system management and monitoring and business applications

Year of start-up: 1976 Total staff: 220 Total engineers: 100 Location of support offices: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar Primary vertical focus: Government, telcos, banking and private

Top vendors by relationship: HP: 38 years, Microsoft: 14 years, Oracle: 14 years, Symantec: 12 years, EMC: 5 years

www.resellerme.com

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Down memory lane

ngram Visit I d (Hall stan Micro A4-3) at d 4 stan echnology XT GITE 2015 to Week more. learn

Aptec – an Ingram Micro Company has been a participant at GITEX Technology Week right from the first year in 1981. Ali Baghdadi, SVP & Chief Executive, Middle East, Turkey & Africa, Ingram Micro, reminisces the journey till date.

GITEX Technology Week was founded more than three decades ago with the aim to become the ICT business gateway to the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia region. Today, it has evolved to be a prime event where the latest trends are born and innovative solutions are on display, for the industry to mirror and develop. Since then, it has grown to become a much-anticipated event in the regional ICT space. Having participated at GITEX right from the inaugural year in 1981, Ingram Micro (Aptec) has witnessed the show’s success over the years. Ali Baghdadi, SVP and Chief Executive, Middle East, Turkey and Africa, Ingram Micro, says, “The progress of GITEX during the last 35 years has been phenomenal. I can truly say that GITEX history reflects the history of IT and channel development in the Middle East. “I recall the 1981 GITEX was just in a single, small and low-ceiling hall with no more than 30 to 40 companies. Aptec was part of the UK delegation sponsored by the British department of trade and industry. Today, GITEX is a huge event attracting thousands of exhibitors and hundreds of thousands of visitors.” For the company, the event has served as a platform to introduce new products, launch new vendor relations and sometimes even to begin a new era in technology.

Aptec (Appropriate Technology) entered the region in 1980 as it was the first company to design and introduce Arabic on a personal computer. “Personal computers were in their infancy and IBM was just launching the first PC and with it was the introduction of an unknown company, called Microsoft with its DOS operating system. This revolutionised the industry,” says Baghdadi. Based in the UK, the company had two R&D department, one for software development and the other for electronic hardware. “We focused on printing technology, where Aptec designed and developed intelligent printer controllers that offered ‘plug & play’ for most of Japanese printer manufacturers, including Ricoh and Fujitsu. The controllers covered dot matrix, daisy wheel and laser printers and offered multilingual capabilities including Arabic and other languages.” The other developments were to design operating system plug-ins to enable personal computers to work in Arabic, Urdu, Malay and Cyrillic. The company introduced its first Arabic operating system ‘BILAL’ on a personal computer called the ‘Superbrain’. However, 30 days after IBM launched the IBM PC, Aptec ported its operating system on IBM and Microsoft DOS. “This was the first introduction of Arabic to the Middle East,” he adds.

Assisted by IBM, SBM, GBM and Al Khurafi became the first resellers for the company’s systems. This was followed by wordprocessing (Arabstar), database (Arab dBase) and a host of other applications. Aptec had to set up production for bilingual keyboards, screen fonts, printer fonts and other devices. These Arabic systems were launched at GITEX 1981 during the company’s first attendance. Meanwhile, Aptec became the largest valueadded printer distributor in the UK due to its ‘plug & play’ intelligent technology. Soon after, Microsoft approached Aptec to Arabise Windows when it announced the Windows operating system in 1983. A team of programmers and linguists from the UK and the Middle East worked on this and produced the Microsoft Arabic version of Windows, most of which is used today. Aptec also localised Word and Excel for Microsoft. “In the early 90s, Aptec established its first distribution company in Dubai setting a new standard for two-tier distribution by selling only to trade. By the end of that decade, Aptec represented most key vendors and helped many partners to start their systems integration, retail and reseller activities. We had an annual event called the Aptec University dedicated to the Middle East,” says Baghdadi. In the year 2000, the company moved its headquarters and holding company – Aptec

Holdings, from the UK to the UAE and was registered at Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Aptec continued to establish itself as a leading distributor in the region by expanding to new offices in Lebanon and Turkey. In 2007, it acquired the business of Techdata Middle East. Five years later, the Aptec Group was acquired by Ingram Micro setting the scene for a rapid expansion in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa region. Against this backdrop, GITEX 2015 offers an opportunity for the distributor to share its successes with its vendor and reseller partners alike. “As a Middle East-based distributor, this is our market, and visibility at GITEX is a key factor for our continued success in the region. It gives us the opportunity to discuss new ways to expand this success with new partnerships. GITEX was always a platform for us to bring new vendors and reseller partners and we hope this year will not be an exception.”

presentations. The courses are available in multiple languages.” Over the coming years, we will see the company ramping up its offering in infrastructure solutions such as security, data centre, private and public clouds, networking and other applications such as database engines and Unified Communications. “Cloud technologies is one area we will continue to invest in. Also segments such as security, business intelligence (BI) and analytics, collaboration, enterprise networking, data centre, are enjoying high growth. They will be driving the market in the near future and our company will be focusing on these technologies.”

This year, the distributor’s focus at the show will be on the launch of Ingram Micro Cloud and all the services that are planned around it. Ingram Micro is a global leader in cloud aggregation and distribution of cloud services and products. The company has made substantial investments to develop an automated cloud market place – over $100 million last year on acquisitions, 500 developers and a substantial 24/7 multi lingual support service. “Once the Ingram Micro platform is launched in the region, a 24/7 advisory and support service will be available for free to resellers and can be sold for a fee to end users. The service will cover all products on our platform,” adds Baghdadi. “One of the announcements we plan to make at GITEX 2015 is the launch of the Ingram Cloud University, it is an education platform for internal cloud sales resources and for our reseller partners. It will offer three levels of certification – Silver, Gold and Platinum. The courses can be taken online and have a large selection of material including videos, recorded webinars, course material and

Ali Baghdadi, SVP & Chief Executive, Middle East, Turkey & Africa, Ingram Micro

Channel elite industry ranking

22 Despec

$100 M

The supplies distributor saw a decline in revenues this year, as compared to the previous annual rankings. However it has managed to grow its product line by introducing drones to its portfolio over the last year. In this regard, DJI is one of the new brands that has come on board in 2014. The company has also ventured into the mobility market and added Obi Mobiles in this segment. It has also signed up with the networking vendor, Netis, boosting its expertise in this segment. Over the last 12 months, Despec has additionally focused on expanding its business in the African region. The distributor will now focus on building a market share for the new brands. Faisal Jamal, CEO

Top vendors by revenue: HP, Lexmark, Imation, Wacom, Transcend

Revenue breakup by category Systems and hardware: 1.57% Software and security: 0.26% Peripherals and storage: 11.36% Networking: 0.19% Accessories and consumables: 86.62%

Top vendors by relationship: HP, Imation, Lexmark, Wacom, Transcend

& A W A R D S

â&#x20AC;˘

Year of start-up: 1995 Location of sales offices: UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, KSA, Kenya, Tanzania Location of support offices: UAE

Revenue breakup by Region UAE: 65% Outside UAE: 35%

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Channel elite industry ranking

22 StarLink

$100 M

Value-added IT security distributor, StarLink, has had a busy year with a number of channel activities and has grown notably in 2014. Present across the META region, the company has onground presence in nine countries. In the last year, the distributor has brought in new vendors such as Arbor Networks and has announced plans to expand into new territories such as Europe, North, East and West Africa. It was also signed up as Infoblox’ authorised training centre and has recently joined Riverbed’s value-added distributor programme. The company successfully organised its annual partner conference and participated at GISEC 2015. Over the coming months, we will see the VAD continuing its focus on the theme it has created for 2015 – ‘partnering into the future’.

Year of start-up: 2005 Total staff: 250 Total engineers: 90 Location of support offices: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, South Africa, Turkey, Egypt, USA Primary vertical focus: Banking and finance, oil and gas, telcos and government

Revenue breakup by Region

Revenue breakup by category Software and security: 80% Networking: 15% Services and training: 5%

Nidal Othman, Managing Director

UAE: 20% Outside UAE: 80%

Top vendors by revenue: FireEye, Dell Software, IBM, Blue Coat, Palo Alto Networks

23 Exclusive Networks

$97 M

Exclusive Networks has had a significant growth in the last one year. Having entered the region with the acquisition of security specialist distributor, Secureway, towards the end of 2013, the company has been focusing on developing its relationship with the channel over the course of last year. According to CEO Fari Boustantchi, the distributor has pioneered in bringing key global brands such as Fortinet and F5 Networks, to the local market. It serves the market by offering professional services, installation and PoC, post-sales support and training. We will see the distributor focusing on key markets such as KSA, Qatar, Kuwait and UAE.

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: F5, Fortinet, Infoblox, LogRhythm, FireEye

Revenue breakup by category

Networking: F5, Fortinet, Infoblox, FireEye

october 2015 Reseller Middle East

Revenue breakup by Region

Year of start-up: 2005 Total staff: 64 Total engineers: 17 Location of support offices: Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, UK, France Total resellers: 1000

UAE: 45% Outside UAE: 55%

Software and security: Lumension, LogRhythm, Vasco, FireEye, Leiberman Software, HID

Services and training: WhiteHat Security

Fari Boustantchi, Chief Executive Officer

Systems and hardware: 60% Software and security: 20% Services and training: 20%

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Top vendors by relationship: Fortinet, F5, Infoblox, FE, LR

Top vendors by revenue: Fortinet, F5, Infoblox, FE, LR

24 Experts Computer

$89 M

Experts Computer has experienced a decline in its revenues compared to the previous year and this is not surprising considering the tough market conditions existing in the channel currently. Established in 1994, the company has now evolved to be one of the emerging distributors and resellers in the region. It boasts partnerships with brands such as Epro, Virdi, Sony, HP and Canon. Over the years, due to declining margins and other challenges in the market, the company has diversified its business to imports and distribution of computer hardware. What helps the company to stand out from the crowded marketplace are factors such as competitive pricing, efficient deliveries and quick after-sales services. Shailendra Rughwani, Managing Director

Revenue breakup by category

Revenue breakup by Region

Top vendors by relationship: Epro, Virdi, Sony, HP, Canon

Year of start-up: 1994 Total staff: 60 Total technical staff: 14

Country offices consolidated in the group revenue: Experts Computer, Epro Middle East, Nirsun Technologies

Systems and hardware: 60% Peripherals and storage: 15% Accessories and consumables: 10% Security and surveillance: 15%

UAE: 60% Outside UAE: 40%

Primary vertical focus: Hardware distribution through Experts Computer; accessories and related products through Epro Middle East; security and surveillance products through Nisun Technologies

25 Intertec Systems

$50 M

A new entrant in this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ranking, Intertec Systems was established in 1991 with the business objective to provide technology solutions to organisations across verticals such as Government, financial services and corporate. In the last 12 months, the company has won several Infrastructure Managed Services, Application Managed Services and Remote Monitoring Services contracts in the region. The systems integrator has also increased its workforce to focus on reinforcing its capabilities in areas such as managed services, IT infrastructure and security, applications and enterprise solutions. Over the next few years, we will see the company continuing its focus towards its vision of being the number one managed services provider on monitoring and management in the Gulf.

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: HP, Cisco Software and security: F5, Fortinet, Infor, Oracle, Microsoft, LANDesk, HP Software, Nexthink, Websense, Symantec Peripherals and storage: HP

Revenue breakup by Region

Revenue breakup by category Systems and hardware: 25% Software and security: 24% Peripherals and storage: 5% Networking: 18% Accessories and consumables: 3% Services and training: 25%

UAE: 90% Outside UAE: 10%

Networking: Cisco, HP Accessories and consumables: HP

Top vendors by revenue: Sony, HP, Virdi, Epro, Canon

Top vendors by relationship: HP, Cisco, Infor, LANDesk, Oracle

www.resellerme.com

Naresh Kothari, Managing Director Year of start-up: 1991 Total staff: 382 Total engineers: 245

Top vendors by revenue: HP, Cisco, Oracle, Microsoft, LANDesk

Reseller Middle East october 2015

Channel elite industry ranking

25 Sariya IT

$50 M

A new entrant in this year’s ranking, Saudi-based Sariya IT is part of Kuhaimi Group and is positioned as a specialised value-added distributor in the security and network infrastructure space. Having identified huge opportunities in the KSA market, the distributor is on track for a double digit growth over the next two years. Having grown by 29 percent in 2014 when compared to the previous year, the company is confident of closing the year with a growth rate of 30 percent. The formula behind Sariya IT’s success is its philosophy of remaining exclusive with each vendor, at least for the first 3 years. The company has close to 3000 registered partners in its channel ecosystem today.

Revenue breakup by category

Revenue breakup by Region

Year of start-up: 2002 Total staff: 43 Total engineers: 12 Location of sales offices: Dammam, Riyadh, Jeddah and Dubai

Systems and hardware: 6% Software and security: 40% Peripherals and storage: 12% Accessories and consumables: 14% Sariya Advantage (financing option for channel partners) – 28%

UAE: 20% Outside UAE: 80%

Top vendors by revenue: Kaspersky, Cyberoam, Bullguard, Moshi, Unitrends

26 ComGuard

$49 M

The regional security distributor, ComGuard has seen a marginal increase in its revenue by 11 percent over the last financial year. According to the company, it relies on its strong channel support to fortify its position in the market. CEO Ajay Singh Chauhan says, “Our partnerships are deep, long-term relationships where we both invest people and resources to demonstrate interoperability with each other’s’ products and services to assure we bring needed solutions to market.” Although the distributor’s focus continues to be security, we will see it ramping up its offering in emerging technologies such as virtualisation, storage, cloud and IoT, keeping in line with market evolution.

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: Beyond Trust, Winmagic Software and security: Kaspersky, GFI, EC-Council, Acunetix, Gateprotect, HP Enterprise Security, WinMagic, Tripwire, Content Keeper, Nexthink, Niksun, Ghangour Cloud Networking: Array Networks, Bluecat, AirTight Accessories and consumables: EnGenius Services and training: Kaspersky, ArcSight

october 2015 Reseller Middle East

Amjad Fathi Al-Omar, General Manager

Revenue breakup by category Systems and hardware: 10% Software and security: 40% Peripherals and storage and networking: 30% Services and training: 20%

www.resellerme.com

Revenue breakup by Region

UAE: 40% Outside UAE: 60%

Ajay Chauhan, Chief Executive Officer Year of start-up: 2002 Total staff: 120 Total engineers: 60 Location of support offices: Dubai, Saudi Arabia, India

Top vendors by revenue: HP, Kaspersky, SafeNet, GFI, Nexthink

27 Oxygen

$48 M

Having grown by over 25 percent last year, the value-added distributor has climbed up the ranking by 6 positions. Over the last few quarters, it has strengthened its focus on deeper channel engagement activities and continues to build value in the regional channel ecosystem. The distributor has participated at IDC roadshows across UAE, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Identifying that with the advent of mobility the whole network infrastructure is set to transform, we will see the company providing solutions such as managing mobile content, apps and remote storage. It has also launched the site survey initiative recently, which is aimed at making the partnersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; role easier in this process.

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: Ascom, A10 Networks, Aruba, Aruba Switched, VIDYO, Fortinet

Year of start-up: 2004 Total staff: 80 Total engineers: 25 Total resellers: 800

Revenue breakup by category

Software and security: Fortinet, Box, MobileIron, Unify, Zimperium, Plixer, Boole Server, RedSeal Networks, Ziftin, Certes Networks, Aruba Clearpass

Software and security: 30% Networking: 50% Services and training: 10% UC and critical communications: 10%

Networking: Aruba Services and training: All vendors

Top vendors by revenue: Aruba Networks, Fortinet, MobileIron, Certes Networks, Ascom

UC and critical communications: Unify and Ascom

28 Maxtouch Computers

$46 M

Owing to turbulent market circumstances, the SMB solutions provider and distributor for global brands has experienced an 11 percent decline in its revenues from the previous year, although it has climbed up the rank by one position. The company is an authorised distributor for brands like ViewSonic, Liteon, Apacer, Plextor, Tripp Lite, Acer and Microsoft and also a preferred partner for brands such as HP, Juniper, Dell and Cisco, to name a few. According to Managing Director, Ramesh Belani, the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s flexible mode of operations and access to channels give it an edge over competition. Currently, its distributor partner profile includes names such as Redington, FDC and Metra.

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: HP, Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba Software and security: Cyberoam, Checkpoint Peripherals and storage: Qnap Networking: HP, Aruba, Cisco Accessories and consumables: Vsonic, JSD Components: Samsung, Liteon, HP, Apacer

Revenue breakup by category Systems and hardware: 62% Software and security: 2% Peripherals and storage: 2% Networking: 4% Accessories and consumables: 15% Components:15%

Khalid Laban, Chief Executive Officer

Revenue breakup by Region

Ramesh Belani, Managing Director Year of start-up: 2003 Total staff: 44 Total technical staff: 14 Name of vendor certifications: Viewsonic, Samsung, Liteon, Toshiba, Acer, Vsonic, JSD Location of sales offices: Dubai, Jebel Ali, Abu Dhabi, Kenya

UAE: 42% Outside UAE: 58%

www.resellerme.com

Reseller Middle East october 2015

Channel elite industry ranking

29 StorIT distribution Specialist value-distributor, StorIT Distribution, has seen a remarkable growth in the last year with 33 percent increase and a climb in the ranking by seven positions. The distributor offers in-depth solutions and services across technologies such as data storage, data protection, data management, high performance computing and Big Data analytics. Over the last year, the company has been appointed as the distributor partner for global brands such as Unitrends and has bagged several accolades from its vendor partners. According to company, it is the first distributor to sell and implement converged infrastructure in the Middle East and the only one to have achieve certified technical skills to implement cloud somputing solutions and high performance computing solutions. Over the next six months, we will see the distributor executing several channel enablement programmes, workshops and certifications for its resellers to get them familiar on the new disruptive technologies coming into the market.

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: Huawei, SuperMicro Software and security: EMC, Unitrends, Huawei, SAS, Quantum, Aptare, Moonwalk Peripherals and storage: EMC, Huawei, Quantum, Qlogic, Emulex, ATTO Networking: Mellanox Services and training: EMC, Huawei, SAS, Mellanox

Top vendors by relationship: EMC, Qlogic, Quantum, Emulex, Mellanox

Value-added services offered: Presales support, solution sizing, BoQ, proof of concept, demonstration, implementation, training, documentation, knowledge transfer, after-sales support.

30 Help AG

$40 M*

Suren Vedantham, Group Managing Director Year of start-up: 2002 Total staff: 37 Total engineers: 7 Location of sales offices: UAE, KSA Primary vertical focus: Oil and gas, banking and finance, telecoms, education and research, airline, retail, media and broadcasting

$38 M

Help AG has had a marginal growth of 11 percent in the last year and has climbed up the rank by five positons. The company celebrated 10 years of being in the regional channel space this year and continues its in-depth focus in the security sphere across verticals. The information security services, consultancy and solutions provider has launched Managed Security Services earlier this year and considers it to be an important milestone. In the months ahead, we will see the company growing its team and expanding to other geographical areas. According to Managing Director, Stephan Berner, the company is on track to achieve $100 million by 2018.

VENDOR PROFILE

Top vendors by relationship: F5 Networks, Palo Alto Networks, Blue Coat, Symantec, Juniper

Software and security: AccessData, Algosec, Blue Coat, Cyber-Ark, F5 Networks, FireEye, HP Enterprise Security, Infoblox, Juniper Networks, Mi-Token, nCircle, Palo Alto Networks, Proofpoint, Riverbed, RSA, Sourcefire and Symantec

Top vendors by revenue: F5 Networks, Palo Alto Networks, Blue Coat, Symantec, Juniper

Stephan Berner, Managing Director Year of start-up: 2004 Total staff: 130 Primary vertical focus: Government, finance, oil and gas, education, healthcare, aviation, telco

Support services for primary vendors: presales technology, presales audit, presales consulting, solution sizing, BoQ, proof of concept, demonstration, implementation, training, documentation, knowledge transfer, after sales support, post sales audit, remote monitoring and support

october 2015 Reseller Middle East

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Channel elite industry ranking

31 Almoayyed Computers

$37 M+ *

Almoayyed Computers has seen a marginal growth in its revenues when compared to last year. In terms of highlights, the company has been named as Microsoftâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Partner of the Year 2015 and also has won a number of large projects across verticals such as government, education, finance, healthcare, telco and hospitality among others. We can expect the systems integrator to continue leveraging the opportunities present in emerging technologies such as IT security, cloud, Big Data and mobility. Having built cloud data centre on its premises, the company plans to offer hosting services in the near future.

VENDOR PROFILE

Revenue breakup by category

Systems and hardware: HP, Oracle, EMC, Cisco Software and security: Informatique, Citrix, Computer Associates, ONS, IBM Maximo, Microsoft, Oracle, Sanako, Symantec , VMware, IIT Software, Ducont, e2e Peripherals and storage: Add Master, Itronix, NCR, Olivetti Networking: Avaya, Cisco

Systems and hardware: 14% Software and security: 49% Peripherals and storage: 6% Networking: 14% Services and training: 17%

Accessories and consumables: HP

SM Hussaini, General Manager Year of start-up: 1979 Total staff: 170 Total engineers: 85 Name of vendor certifications: Micrsoft LSP, Microsoft Gold, HP Gold, HP/Microsoft Frontline, Cisco Gold, Oracle Gold, VMware, Symantec, Avaya

Services and training: HP, Oracle, Cisco, Microsoft Components: HP, Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, Avaya, NCR, Olivetti

Top vendors by relationship: Microsoft, Cisco, HP, Oracle, Symantec

32 Al Rostamani Communications The systems integrator has observed a substantial growth of over 16 percent when compared to the previous financial year. The growth can be attributed to the several big projects implemented by the company over the course of last year across the government and hospitality verticals. One of the projects has been the deployment of managed services contract and application transformation for a major government department. In the coming year, we will see the company expanding its overall business through services and increasing its competence in cloud services and application transformation to cloud and Unified Communications. It also aims to increase investment in training programmes in Big Data and analytics for pre-sales staff.

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: Fujitsu, HP, Cisco, IBM Software and security: McAfee, Symantec, VMware, Microsoft, Veeam, Juniper, Dell, Fortinet Peripherals and storage: NetApp, HP, Fujitsu Networking: Cisco, HP, Alcatel-Lucent, Juniper, Schneider Electric, NEC, D-Link, Digi, Skyline Accessories and consumables: Schneider Electric, APC Services and training: Managed Services, NOC, SOC, AMC Components: Sagemcom, Aztech, Media5, IPM, NagraVision Others: Professional services

october 2015 Reseller Middle East

www.resellerme.com

Revenue breakup by category Systems and hardware: 10% Software and security: 20% Peripherals and storage: 10% Networking: 35% Accessories and consumables: 5% Services and training: 20%

$35 M

Mohammed Zameer, General Manager Year of start-up: 2002 Total staff: 255 Total engineers: 40 Total technical staff: 144 Name of vendor certifications: Cisco, VMware, Netapp, Alcatel Lucent, McAfee, Symantec, Leviton, Veeam, Microsoft, Dell,Fujitsu, NEC, Schneider Electric, HP, Fortinet, Juniper, Oracle

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Channel elite industry ranking

33 EMT Distribution

$33.5 M

The security distributor is a new entrant in this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ranking. The company has made a significant mark in the regional distribution space, considering it is only about two years old in the UAE market. EMTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s offerings largely include a broad range of programmes that is driven by the channel, such as loyalty programmes and channel incentive programmes. It has invested into its partner loyalty programme over the past year, in which partners who meet their sales targets are given privileges across various retail and technology outlets in Dubai. It has also invested into appointing the best talent available and has doubled its Middle East staff strength in order to optimise the prospects present in the market. It has also added several new brands within its portfolio such as Avira, Whatsup gold, GWAVA, DenyAll and Kaspersky Fraud Prevention Solutions.

VENDOR PROFILE Software and security: Secunia, AlienVault, WhatsUp Gold, Kaspersky, Parallels, Endpoint Protector by Cososys, Denyall, Avira, Gwava, Altaro Services and training: emt Academy, Pearson VUE, EC Council, Logical Operations

Revenue breakup by Region

UAE: 30% Outside UAE: 70%

Revenue breakup by category Software and security: 70% Services and training: 30%

34 Paramount Computer Systems 2014 has been an exceptional year for Paramount Computer Systems having recorded a growth of over 30 percent. It has scaled up the ranking by four positions compared to 2013. In the last one year, the SI has brought on board close to 60 security engineers and consultants, believing that in the knowledge intensive business, it is critical to have a wellqualified team with in-depth skillsets. The company has also achieved important certifications such as ISO 9001, ISO 27001, ISO 20000 and ISO 22301, making it the only Middle East IT company to have attained all four. According to CEO Premchand Kurup, the company is on track to hit $54 million in the next three years.

Revenue breakup by category

Top vendors by relationship: RSA, McAfee, Websense, HP (Tipping Point), Imprivata

Software and security: 70%

october 2015 Reseller Middle East

Top vendors by revenue: McAfee, Websense, RSA, Imprivata, Fortinet

www.resellerme.com

Mohammad Mobasseri, CEO Year of start-up: 2013 Total staff: 14 Total engineers: 3 Total resellers: 415

Top vendors by revenue: Secunia, AlienVault, WhatsUp Gold, 2X(Parallels)

$30 M

Premchand Kurup, CEO Year of start-up: 1992 Total staff: 160 Locations of sales offices: UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain Primary vertical focus: Information security

4 24

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Channel elite industry ranking

35 Fast Lane

$23 M

Fast Lane MEA has maintained its growth in 2014, while climbing up the rank by three positions. For the training company, the challenge over the past year was to expand its operations in a cost-effective manner to smaller emerging markets, post successful business in Middle East and North Africa. According to the company, the key issue with high end technical training is the availability of real life lab facilities for the customer to have the practical learning experience, which under normal circumstances is prohibitive expensive for smaller locations. To solve this problem, the company has invested many years of expertise and a significant amount of money into remote lab facilities. In addition to streamlining of processes, Fast Lane has also added new vendors and over the coming months will work into growing its business with them.

Year of start-up: 1996 Total staff: 30 Total technical staff: 15 Primary vertical focus: Enterprises, SMBs, government, service providers

VENDOR VENDORPROFILE PROFILE Vendor certification programmes: All certifications from Cisco, NetApp, Palo Alto Networks, Aruba, Citrix, Fortinet

Revenue breakup by Region UAE: 37% Outside UAE: 63%

Top vendors by revenue: Cisco, NetApp, Palo Alto Networks, Aruba Networks, Citrix

Josef Miskulnig, Founder and CEO

Top vendors by relationship: Cisco, NetApp, Palo Alto Networks, Aruba Networks, Citrix

36 Lucky Star Computers

$22 M

The Dubai-based reseller has sustained its revenues in 2014, which is a feat in itself, if taken into account the ongoing challenges in the regional channel market. Having set shop in 1998, Lucky Star Computers has observed the market evolution at close quarters. According to Founder and CEO, KU Shankri, the competition from power retailers continue to be a major challenge, one which the reseller is overcoming by differentiating itself with its additional value offerings such as technical expertise and high-end solutions. Some of the resellerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top vendors include HP, Lenovo, Asus, Dell and Acer while its distributor partners are the likes of Logicom, FDC and Redington Gulf. KU Shankari, MD Top vendors by revenue: HP, Lenovo, Toshiba, Dell, Acer

Revenue breakup by category

Top vendors by relationship: HP, Lenovo, Toshiba, Dell, Acer

Systems and hardware: 70% Software and security: 10% Peripherals and storage: 5% Networking: 5% Accessories and consumables: 5% Services and training: 5%

Revenue breakup by Region UAE: 80%

october 2015 Reseller Middle East

Year of start-up: 1998 Total staff: 37 Total technical staff: 6 Location of sales and support offices: Dubai, UAE and Bangalore, India Name of vendor certifications: HP, Lenovo, Dell

www.resellerme.com

Outside UAE: 20%

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Channel elite industry ranking

37 Condo Protego

$21 M

Condo Protego set up its business 10 years ago with the aim to be a consultative-led, niche systems integrator focusing on the data stack. Boasting a customer base of 256 enterprises in the UAE, the SI also has plans to take advantage of the opportunities in the SMB market. In the last year, the company has attained a full comprehensive suite of DLP with PGP from large government entity and has also delivered and installed its first converged infrastructure block. It has also been pre-qualified as Platinum under Symtantec’s new partner programme and pre-qualified as Gold under EMC’s new partner programme. Both qualifications are the highest level of partnerships available with these vendors.

VENDOR PROFILE

Revenue breakup by Region

Systems and hardware: EMC, VCE, Quantum Software and security: EMC, Veritas, RSA, Symantec, Websense Peripherals and storage: EMC, Veritas, Quantum Networking: Cisco Accessories and consumables: EMC, Quantum, Dell Services and training: Design, deployment, assessment, remediation, roll-out, residency, local support for all vendors

UAE: 95% Outside UAE: 5%

Revenue breakup by category Systems and hardware: 54% Software and security: 33% Peripherals and storage, Networking, Accessories and consumables, Services and training: 13%

Top vendors by revenue: EMC, Veritas, Symantec, Quantum, Websense

Top vendors by relationship: EMC, Symantec, Veritas, Quantum, Websense

38 Datacare

Andrew Calthorpe, CEO Year of start-up: 2005 Total engineers: 20 Name of vendor certifications: STS & ASC Certifications for Symantec and Veritas Technologies, IE/TA for EMC Technologies and Triton Gladiator for Websense Technologies Location of support offices: Three offices across UAE

$16 M

DataCare, a regional channel player for more than a decade, set shop as a data storage media specialist and this continues to be the aim for the reseller. A new participant in this year’s ranking, the company is also an IT wholesaler, dealing with data media, printer supplies, consumer IT products and hardware. Its core products includes Printronix printer ribbons, Wacom graphics tablet and Ncomputing Zero clients. The reseller’s vendor portfolio includes brands such as HP, IBM and Printronix. It also works with regional distributors in the region such as Despec, Redington and Metra. Headquartered in Dubai, the company has a customer base across Middle East and Africa. Suresh Shetty, MD

VENDOR PROFILE

Revenue breakup by category

Systems and hardware: HP, Ncomputing Software and security: Garner Peripherals and storage: HP, IBM Accessories and consumables: HP, Tally Genicom Zero computing: Ncomputing

Systems and hardware: 30% Software and security: 10% Peripherals and storage: 20% Accessories and consumables: 40%

october 2015 Reseller Middle East

www.resellerme.com

Top vendors by revenue: HP, IBM, Printornix/ Tally Genicom, Ncomputing, Wacom

Top vendors by relationship: HP, IBM, Printornix/ Tally Genicom, Ncomputing, Wacom

Year of start-up: 2003 Total staff: 18 Total technical staff: 2

Revenue breakup by Region UAE: 80% Outside UAE: 20%

Channel elite industry ranking

39 Bulwark Technologies

$15 M*

The value-added IT security distributor has recorded a 40 percent growth in revenues in the last fiscal year. Another new entry in this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ranking, the distributor has been a consistent player since setting up its business in 1999. Over the course of 2014, the company has launched two entities of distribution - Bulwark Distribution, to focus on channel growth and development and Bulwark Technology aims to emphasise on high-end corporate security solutions through large SIs in the region. The company has also added new vendors and plans to continue its focus of building a robust product portfolio.

Revenue breakup by category

Year of start-up: 1999 Total staff: 30 Total resellers: 300 Location of sales office: UAE

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: Cyberoam,SendQuick (Talariax) Software and security: ESET, Netsupport, Mailstore, Netwrix, Accellion, Kerio Technologies, CyberArk, SecurEnvoy

Systems and hardware: 30% Software and security: 65% Services and training: 5%

Jose Thomas, MD

Top vendors by revenue: Cyberoam, ESET, Accellion, Netsupport, Cyberark

39 Business DNA

Top vendors by relationship: Cyberoam, ESET, Accellion, Netsupport, Cyberark

$15 M

Regional solutions provider, Business DNA is a subsidiary of NCC Group. Established in 2013, the SI is a fairly new player in the region and a new participant in this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ranking. The company has bagged several projects over the course of last year, which has included providing mobility solutions for companies in the oil and gas segment. Believing that cloud and mobility solutions will continue to be in high demand within the region, the solutions provider is investing more in these fields and enhancing its offerings. Catering to segments such as ERP, finance, HR and supply chain, it will leverage prospects in the IoT space as well. It plans to also include management consultancy as part of its offering by next year.

Revenue breakup by category

Hardware: 40% Software: 45% AMC: 15%

october 2015 Reseller Middle East

Tarek El Goweiny, CEO and Co-founder

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: HP, Dell and Samsung, Wincor Nixdorf Software and security: Dell Sonicwall, Microsoft, Cisco Peripherals and storage: HP , Dell and VMware

Networking: Motorola , AT&T, HP, Dell Services and training: Managed Services and IT infrastructure training Business DNA Branded Product: POS, mobile devices and CCTV

Top vendors by relationship: Motorola, Dell, Wincor Nixdorf, Revision, Microsoft

www.resellerme.com

Year of start-up: 2013 Total staff: 50 Total engineers: 40 Name of vendor certifications: AT&T and SonicWall

Top vendors by revenue: Motorola, Wincor Nixdorf, Dell, VMware, Revision

Channel elite industry ranking

39 EMW Middle East

$15 M

The regional systems integrator has grown by 50 percent when compared to the previous year. What has contributed to its growth are key vendor partnerships and increase in its focus to grow its portfolio. In the last year, the company has partnered with global brands such as Interactive Intelligence to offer regional customers the vendor’s solutions for contact centre automation, enterprise IP telephony, and business process automation. It has also expanded its technology portfolio with brands such as PulseSecure, Riverbed, Palo Alto and NetApp. According to the company, its greatest achievement lies in having the best technical force in this region.

VENDOR PROFILE

Revenue breakup by category

Systems and hardware: HP, Cisco & Dell, Unify, Mitel Software and security: Airwatch, Citrix, Crittercizm, Interactive Intelligence, Metelco, Palo Alto, Riverbed, Tiger TMS, VMware and Z-Scalar Peripherals and storage: NetApp, Nutanix Networking: Aruba, Brocade, Cisco, Juniper, Riverbed Services and training: All

Systems and hardware: 5% Software and security: 10% Peripherals and storage: 5% Networking: 70% Services and training: 10%

Top vendors by revenue: Aruba, Cisco, Juniper, Brocade, ININ

Top vendors by relationship: Brocade, Juniper, Cisco, ININ, Airwatch

39 Safedata Middle East

VENDOR PROFILE

Systems and hardware: HP, Cisco Contact Centre, Aspect, Genesys, Avaya Software and security: Cisco Contact Centre, Aspect, Genesys, Avaya Peripherals and storage: HP Networking: HP

Top vendors by revenue: Aspect, Avaya, Genesys, Cisco, HP

october 2015 Reseller Middle East

www.resellerme.com

Name of vendor certifications: Cisco ATP - Unified Contact Centre Enterprise Partner, Indian Sub-Continent; Cisco Premier Certified Partner; Avaya Joint Service Delivery Partner; Genesys Bronze Partner; Avaya Gold Partner; Aspect Partner Level 3

Year of start-up: 2003 Total staff: 35-50 Total technical staff: 80 percent Location of sales offices: Abu Dhabi, Dubai

Revenue breakup by Region UAE: 95% Outside UAE: 5%

$15 M*

A new participant in this year’s list, the company has transformed itself to a more solution focused business in 2014. It has recently signed a partnership deal with CS Infocomm, an India-based contact centre and Unified Communications systems integrator. As a growing SI in the regional channel space, it has had a number of significant wins in the last year. For example, one of its notable wins were Contact Centre and Omni Channel – design and implementation of projects for a GCC Airport and helping the setup of a contact centre for the debt collection arm of a leading telco in the region. Also in the IT Infrastructure sphere, it has upgraded IT infrastructure for a leading Hotel group across multiple properties within their portfolio in the GCC region.

VENDOR PROFILE VENDOR PROFILE

Serjios Hage, MD

Revenue breakup by Region UAE: 10% Outside UAE: 90%

Top vendors by relationship: : Aspect, Avaya, Genesys, Cisco, HP

DP Sangal, Founder partner and MD Year of start-up: 2002 Total staff: 200 Total engineers: 90% Locations of sales office: UAE Location of support offices: Across India Primary vertical focus: BFSI, construction, e-commerce, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, media, outsourcing, telecom, travel

Channel elite industry ranking

40 Precedence Technologies

$11 M

The systems integrator has grown marginally in the last year and maintained its position in the ranking. The ten-year-old SI is a specialist provider of data networking, wireless, Unified Communication, ELV and security and surveillance solutions across verticals such as hospitality, education, construction, health care, government, retail and corporate. Over the past year, it has expanded its partnerships and certifications to Platinum and Gold level with global brands such as HP, Aruba, Avaya and Mitel. The company has also won significant deals in the hospitality, education and government sectors. The solutions provider also established a legal office in Abu Dhabi and has expanded the team locally to capitalise on the market opportunities.

Year of start-up: 2004 Total staff: 70 Total engineers: 45 Primary vertical focus: Hospitality, construction, education, health care, government, corporate

VENDOR PROFILE Top vendors by relationship: HP, Avaya, Mitel, Aruba

Software and security: Fortinet, Juniper Peripherals and storage: Locatel, Rivernet Networking: HP, Avaya, Aruba, Mitel Others: Samsung, Pelco, ABB, 3m, Televes,

Farook Majeed, CEO

Revenue breakup by Region

Top vendors by revenue: HP, Aruba, Avaya, Mitel

UAE: 100%

41 Spectrami

$10 M

The security and storage distributor has had a significant growth in its revenues over the last year. It aims at bringing niche technologies and solutions in the realm of information security, data centre infrastructure and data communication networks. Headquartered in Dubai, the distributor serves the Middle East and Africa channel. The company currently has a focused network of 55 plus active reseller partners and around 150 regional resellers across security, mobility and storage solution offering. In the next couple of months, having had major wins with large enterprises in the region, we will see the distributor ramping up its offering to become a stronger player in the market. Anand Choudha, MD

Revenue breakup by category

Software and security: 80% Peripherals and storage: 15% Services and training: 5%

october 2015 Reseller Middle East

VENDOR PROFILE Software and security: Tenable, LogRhythm, Fidelis Xceedium, Good Technology Peripherals and storage: Actifio, Violin Memory Services and training: Tenable, Logrhythm, Fidelis XPS, Good Technology, Actifio, Violin Memory

Top vendors by relationship: Fidelis Cyber Security, Tenable, LogRhythm, Good Technology, Actifio

www.resellerme.com

Year of start-up: 2011 Total staff: 20+ Total engineers: 7+

Top vendors by revenue: Fidelis Cyber Security, Tenable, LogRhythm, Good Technology, Actifio

42 Tech Forte

$7.3 M

Tech Forte is another fairly young player in the regional systems integration space and has recorded a growth rate of around 20 percent compared to the previous year. In the past year, the company has been focusing on reorganising and reinforcing its team while also emphasising on substantial growth in key industry verticals such as the public sector and education. Nadeem Khan, GM of the company, says, “We also built new vendor relationships to complement our product and service offering. Going ahead, we’ll stay focused on IT infrastructure, as we see a number of new technologies in this area, which will generate high ROI for our customer, by improving Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).”

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: Fujitsu, HP, Dell, Oracle Software and security: ESET, Dell SonicWall Peripherals and storage: Pure Storage, HP, Fujitsu, Huawei Networking: HP, Cisco, Huawei Accessories and consumables: Datwyler

Top vendors by revenue: HP, Pure Storage, Fujitsu, Huawei, ESET

Year of start-up: 2012 Location of sales office: Dubai, UAE Total staff: 35 Total engineers: 15 Primary vertical focus: Computer software trading, computer and data processing requisites, computer equipment requisites and trading

Revenue breakup by category Systems and hardware: 60% Software and security: 5% Peripherals and storage: 5% Networking: 5% Accessories and consumables: 15% Services and training: 10%

Top vendors by relationship: HP, Pure Storage, Fujitsu, Huawei, ESET

43 Finesse

$7.1 M

Established in 2010, Finesse has been named as one of the Red Herring Global Top 100 System Integration companies. The software systems integrator has grown significantly over the years and operates in 10 locations globally catering to over 150 enterprise clients around the world. In the past year, the company has won several accolades and has also been recently awarded as the ‘Dubai Smart Government - Strategic Partner’. It has also launched on-demand support centre based out of India and has increased its workforce to over 250. It boasts names like Oracle, Tagetik, EMC and SAP in its vendor portfolio. Co-founder and COO Suni Paul, says, “The region’s distribution industry is aligned and tuned for hardware and infrastructure business. However the region is yet to understand the specifics, which are associated with software and systems integration. At Finesse, we have systematic ongoing orientation programmes with our partners to overcome these challenges.”

VENDOR PROFILE VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: Dell, IBM Software and security: Qlik, Tagetik, EMC Services and training: In-house

Top vendors by revenue: Qlik, Tagetik, EMC, Kofax, Oracle

Nadeem Khan, GM

Revenue breakup by Region

Sunil Paul, Co-founder and COO Year of start-up: 2010 Total staff: 250 Total engineers: 220 Primary vertical focus: BFSI, education, energy, healthcare, hospitality

UAE: 80% Outside UAE: 20%

Top vendors by relationship: : Qlik, SAP, Oracle, Software AG, Tagetik

www.resellerme.com

Reseller Middle East october 2015

industry ranking

44 ixtel

$5.3 M

A managed IT service provider, ixtel technologies offers ICT services to customers across the UAE, KSA, Oman and Qatar markets. A new entrant in this year’s ranking, the company has pioneered the launch of the region’s first cloud-based managed and technical support service platform called ‘OneCloud’, which is the SaaS-based. The company is a partner to various global brands such as Cisco Meraki, AirWatch, HP and FireMon to name a new. In 2014, the company has seen a growth of 134 percent and was selected for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Award. Having recently joined the company as its CEO, Mehdi Quraishi says, “We have also enhanced our services portfolio by introducing new products focusing on service delivery and support.”

VENDOR PROFILE Systems and hardware: HP, Cisco, QUMU Software and security: Firemon, Hardcat, Sailpoint, Airwatch, Swivel, Watchful, LANdesk, Nexthink, QUMU Peripherals and storage: EMC, DDN Networking: Cisco Meraki, Cisco, Airtight Networks Services and training: NOC/SOC

Revenue breakup by Region

Channel elite

UAE: 95% Outside UAE: 5%

Mehdi Quraishi, CEO Year of start-up: 2012 Total staff: 57 Total engineers: 22 Total technical staff: 22 Primary vertical focus: Government, financial services, retail, healthcare, conglomerates, hospitality, airlines, transportation, real estate and construction

Revenue breakup by category Systems and hardware: 10% Software and security: 30% Peripherals and storage: 10% Networking: 30% Services and training: 20%

Top vendors by revenue: QUMU, Cisco Meraki, Firemon, Airtight Networks, Nexthink

45 Oscomp

$0.65 M

Open Source Computer Solutions (Oscomp) offers comprehensive services to SMEs in UAE and few parts of the GCC region. Its major services include managed IT services, cloud computing, IT project services, and IT products sales. In 2014, the company has seen a decline in its revenues largely owing to rough market environment. However, it has increased its focus on managed services and has launched cloud hosting services in the last year. The company has also partnered with international distributors on CCTV and security solutions and networking accessories. Going forward, it expects cloud hosting solutions to drive the growth from within the organisation. Kunal Sajnani, MD

Revenue breakup by category

DISTRIBUTORS PROFILE Systems and hardware: Redington, Logicom, Aptec, VisionTech Software and security: Think-Cell, Redington, Aptec, Logicom, Comguard, Bulwark Peripherals and storage: Quality Computers, Aptec, Redington, Logicom, Accessories and consumables: Buraida Computer, Satrah, Printek, Daisytek

Systems and hardware: 35% Software and security: 10% Peripherals and storage: 10% Networking: 15% Accessories and consumables: 5% Services and training: 25%

Year of start-up: 2003 Total staff: 19 Total technical staff: 6 Location of sales offices: UAE

Revenue breakup by Region

Top distributors by relationship: Redington Gulf, Logicom, Aptec, VisionTech, Think-Cell GmbH

UAE: 90%

www.resellerme.com

Outside UAE: 10%

Reseller Middle East october 2015

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feature

wearable technology

Wear me

Although a host of new players have entered the market over the last two years, wearable technology is still at a nascent stage. Reseller ME speaks to industry experts to discover how much of it is channel play and how partners can monetise the opportunities present.

102

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Not longer just a mere possibility in the realm of our imagination, wearable technology is here and is increasingly getting hard to ignore. The wearable technology market has seen an upswing in its growth especially over the last two years. Today there is a wide array of wearable devices available for the customer, right from smart watches, smart glasses and fitness gears to smart textiles, jewellery, belts, armwear and legwear. According to a report from research firm IDC, vendors shipped 19.6 million units worldwide in 2014, over 800,000 of which went to Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEMA). And as the technology matures and becomes more accessible, the firm expects this figure to rise to nearly 1.5 million by the end of 2016. Another study from Statista reveals that smartwatch sales in the Middle East and Africa are forecast to amount to 1.1 million units in 2015.

DY Kim, President, LG Electronics Gulf, says, “In the Middle East specifically, smartwatch and fitness trackers are expected to be the most compelling proposition for consumers.” Other industry reports suggest that from $20 billion in 2015, the wearable electronics business will expand to almost $70 billion in 2025. Also, a Gartner report estimates that 1.1 billion connected things will be used by Smart Cities in 2015, rising to 9.7 billion by 2020. Ahmed Seleem, Regional Manager, Nexthink, says, in terms of adoption, there is an increase in eServices and Smart City projects planned in the Middle East, which are supported by the government. “Connectivity is at the heart of Smart City projects and wearable devices can play an important role. Wearable devices facilitate the adoption of eServices in various domains, including energy, finance and public administration increase efficiencies, enhance the quality

According to a report from research firm IDC, vendors shipped 19.6 million units worldwide in 2014, over 800,000 of which went to Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEMA). www.resellerme.com

Reseller Middle East october 2015

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feature

wearable technology

of life and help meet sustainability objectives. “Smart city projects are the forefront of innovation-driven development. Highprofile projects focus on cities such as Dubai and Doha, which are aiming to become ‘smarter.’ However, the region also has a number of initiatives such as King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia, Lusail in Qatar and Masdar City in the UAE, using intelligent solutions for efficiency and sustainability,” he adds. If going by the figures alone, we can certainly anticipate the segment to escalate even further. However, while wearable technology has definitely sparked the imagination of customers, it hasn’t been able to sway them with conviction. Kim adds, “Consumers in the region are aware of what devices are available, they know who is providing it, and they want it. But the issue with wearables is that consumers are not yet fully convinced or

Channel partners can deliver on the promise of wearable technology by providing valueadded solutions and personalised service. In a highly competitive environment, channel partners need to differentiate their offerings and deliver a solid ROI to customers.” Ahmed Seleem, Regional Manager, Nexthink

educated that they are a must have to make their lives better. So a lot of educational initiatives are required from a vendor’s perspective to showcase the tangible benefits to users.” Also with most wearable devices today acting largely as the extension of a smartphone, a customer is hard pressed to find a reason why he should have both simultaneously on him. The IDC report indicates that the wearables market is waiting for a gamechanging product that can sculpt the future of the whole industry. In this regard, there was

much debate about if Apple’s iWatch was that revolutionary product. As per industry findings and consumer research, the device is not there yet. Amanulla Khan, Managing Director MEA, Linksys, says, “Wearable technology suffers from a perception problem with consumers not understanding how it benefits them, which has affected its adoption rate among consumers.” Although the adoption levels are slow, Seleem, adds, “But it is definitely increasing. According to Deloitte, by 2020 the number of consumers wearing smart technology

The rise of BYOD also will cause companies to face network and security challenges, partners should offer and recommend solutions to address these issues. The channel should look into incorporating solutions and services into their offering of wearable technology.” Amanulla Khan, Managing Director MEA, Linksys

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will exceed 100 million. “A benefit is that wearable technology can gather and transmit data in real-time, all the time. Wearable technology is being adopted for personal use, but also we can imagine the benefits this can bring to different industries such as healthcare. To derive real benefit from wearable technologies, IT analytics solutions are needed to enable healthcare providers to detect patterns in a critical mass of data, make new discoveries and improve patient care.” In terms of verticals, not only healthcare but even in the enterprise world, the technology could create waves and presents infinite channel prospects. Khan says, “In the future, we are likely to see wearable technology becoming as commonplace as the laptop. With the rise of BYOD policies, a flood of new devices would have a serious impact on company networks.” The undisputed growth of the market should

feature

wearable technology

Unique wearable devices Skully helmet

It is a smart motorcycle helmet with features of a top-end in-car electronics system. It is available in the market today.

Ping

This social networking garment connects the user to Facebook and allows to send updates with gestures. It is at the moment in the concept stage.

Owlet smart sock

The device is a baby shoe that is designed to meet a newborn’s heart rate and oxygen levels. It also measures temperature and notifies parents if their baby rolls in a face-down position. It has an app on the iOS platform. It is available in the market. Source: Online reports

be enough reason for regional channel partners to begin thinking of how to leverage these opportunities. One of the first steps for partners will be to understand how and where customers are going to use wearable devices and what kind of services can be offered around it.

106

Seleem explains, “The opportunities for the channel lie in the delivery of IT analytics solutions. IT analytics solutions are vital to wearable computing because they enable organisations to understand how all devices in their environment are performing, and therefore organisations can be more

October 2015 Reseller Middle East

www.resellerme.com

proactive in the way they deliver services to endusers. “IT analytics solutions can help organisations understand, for example, how systems are operating, facilitate capacity planning and easily identify where issues are. Organisations can leverage real-time and accurate data thanks to IT analytics solutions in order to make informed tactical and strategic decisions. Channel partners can deliver on the promise of wearable technology by providing value-added solutions and personalised service. In a highly competitive environment, channel partners need to differentiate their offerings and deliver a solid ROI to customers.” According to Khan from Linksys, educating customers on the benefits and usage of wearable devices will help increase the adoption rate of these technologies. “This is an initiative that resellers should undertake to help maintain a competitive edge over the other channel players. The rise of BYOD also will cause companies to face network and security challenges, partners should offer and recommend solutions to address these issues. The channel should look into incorporating solutions and services into their offering of wearable technology.” The challenge for partners will be to show

$20

From billion in 2015, the wearable electronics business will expand to almost

$70 billion

in 2025.

Source: IDTechEX

the value to enterprise customers and convince them why they will need to have solutions around security and data analytics and management with wearable devices in the work environment. “It’s not enough for channel partners to collect massive amounts of data. To capitalise on wearable devices and the Big Data they produce, organisations need IT analytics solutions that help them gather connected intelligence by collecting, managing and analysing huge volumes of real-time data in a costeffective and scalable way,” adds Seleem. The growth opportunities for partners in this segment are clear. It is each partner’s responsibility to stay updated on the latest developments in the market and ensure he is evolved to meet and identify customers’ requirements. Vendors also have a critical part to play in enhancing the channel capabilities.

As WE get street smart… YOUR streets get smarter INTRODUCING

[EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES]

VISIT US @ GITEX 2015, STAND# D1-21, HALL 1 DUBAI WORLD TRADE CENTER, DUBAI

Brought to you by:

Yota

REVIEW

YotaPhone 2 The improved dual-display smartphone offers better performance compared to its predecessor. RME RATING

When the original YotaPhone was released more than a year ago, it had created a market segment of its own. The recently launched YotaPhone 2 has been upgraded significantly and offers a lot of promise for the dual display concept that Yota is concentrating on. The device comes with all the regular features of what one has come to expect in a smartphone today. A better form factor is the biggest change and a welcomed one too, compared to the previous year’s model. The primary display, designed at 5-inches is of great quality, having used AMOLED technology and with a pixel density of 442 per inch. The readability on the screen is quite decent, even when outdoors, offering a balanced colour tone unlike traditional over saturation of other similar displays. The battery has been bumped up to 2500mAh and offers adequate usage, getting you to the end of your workday with ease. The YotaPhone’s touch sensitive e-ink back display, the primary reason why a customer would be interested to buy the device, has been enhanced. Compared to last year’s model, the e-ink display has a quicker refresh rate 108

october 2015 Reseller Middle East

and this means text or images viewed before do not linger in the background. The contrast ratio has been tweaked as well and the number of apps taking advantage of this display have also increased. The device on the whole has still a long way to go if it wants to challenge the likes of Samsung and LG. While it is powered by SnapDragon 801 clocked at 2.1 Ghz, the performance can be a letdown at times. Another big change on the device is its camera. Yota has positioned it better compared to its predecessor and though it sports an 8MP compared to the previous 13MP, the picture quality is still quite. Skype users will appreciate the new enhanced front facing camera as it has been updated to 2.1 MP. Optimal video

www.resellerme.com

recording quality remains the same at 1080p at 30fps. Although the design of the device is sleek and contemporary, it feels too smooth in the hand and tends to slip out easily. But this is a minor problem that can be solved with one of the company’s phone protect cases. Considering that the main reason you would buy this device is to read your books or magazines on the e-ink display while saving on the battery, it is not a bad option at all. However, power users will find the device’s performance not as smooth as they are used to with other Android smartphones. That being said, it is still a niche category phone and the next releases from the Russian company should have some interesting updates.

At the core of GITEX 2015 is the Internet of Things and a showcase of future technology. Features and highlights of 2015 include GTX Horizons, the region’s largest ever outdoor demonstration of drones, robotics and autonomous vehicles; live 3D print zone, a world class conference series featuring global visionaries from Facebook, BP, Boeing and Alibaba.

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InnJoo unveils new Fire Plus smartphone

InnJoo announced the launch of a new 5.5-inch Smartphone, Fire Plus. According to the Smart-device company, the new slim edge Smartphone is equipped with full HD IPS screen that aims to offer clear visual effect even under strong outdoor lighting conditions. The company has also entered an exclusive arrangement with Souq.com, hence, the Fire Plus will be available at the online store for AED 399. The Fire Plus comes in 3G and 4G LTE versions, which both have a 2GB built-in RAM that comes with 16GB of built-in storage and supports expandable storage via microSD card of up to 128GB. The device is available in three colours, the shining gold, holy white and a special customised natural bamboo. The handset is backed by a long-lasting, fast charging 3600mAh battery, which according to InnJoo, can deliver up to 22 hours of talk time and up to 330 hours of standby time. It also has an advanced HD 13MP rear camera with a dual-LED flash, and a 5MP front camera. The 3G version of Fire Plus is powered by 64-bit Octa-core processor. Whereas, the Fire Plus LTE comes with enhanced 64-bit quad-core CPU. The LTE version also runs with the latest Android 5.1 Lollipop.

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Kodak Alaris refreshes i4000 scanner series Kodak Alaris has unveiled its refreshed i4000 Scanner family, which has undergone a number performance enhancements and introduces a new model to the range. According to the company, the enhanced Kodak i4250 and i4650 Scanners and the new i4850 Scanner are built on the i4000 platform and are now equipped with features that help scanning professionals process documents more efficiently

than ever before. All models scan in duplex, colour and black and white, resolutions up to 600 dpi, and paper sizes up to A3. The new scanners are ideal for busy office environments, service bureaus, business process outsourcers (BPOs), corporate and government mailrooms who demand superior image quality, speed and reliability.

WD Red Pro Drives now available In 6 TB WD has announced the expansion of its WD Red Pro hard drive line with the release of 5TB and 6TB capacities. According to the storage solutions company, the WD Red Pro family is ideal for NAS (network-attached storage) systems, having up to 16 drive bays and serving businesses with more expansive storage needs than the standard WD Red drives. The Red Pro 5 and 6TB drives leverage an enhanced design and a 128MB cache to deliver data transfer rates of 214 megabytes per second (MB/s). The device contains new features including vibration protection and it has a 16 bay shock protection which is equipped with a multi-axis shock sensor, the drive can automatically detects subtle shock events and, along with dynamic fly height technology. It also has the NASware 3.0 a firmware that can

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enable seamless integration, robust data protection and optimal performance for systems operating in the demanding NAS environment. WD also highlights that the WD Red Pro offers longer warranty coverage with a five-year limited warranty.

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ASUS launches ZenPad tablet series ASUS has launched the ZenPad interchangeable tablet series in the Middle East. The ZenPad series, is available in both the UAE and KSA markets. According to the computer hardware company, the ZenPad S 8.0 which is included in the series, contains a 4GB RAM allowing for a more enjoyable gaming experience, fast web surfing, smooth video playback and multi-tasking. It also packs an eight-inch screen with 74 percent screen to body ratio and a 64-bit Atom Z3580 SoC from Intel. ASUS highlights that the tablet series combines refined styling, entertainment capabilities, and customisable functionality with its interchangeable covers, which enhances the tablet experience. Each tablet has been designed with a power case that extends

AOC unveils 25” QHD display with IPS panel

ZenPad’s battery life, giving users up to 152 hours of usage. The ZenPad series is finished with a Corning Gorilla glass3 technology for solid protection and include ASUS Technology Tru2Life and TruVivid. The company has created a ZenPad to suit a broad range of consumers with five different models available in the UAE and KSA. ASUS ZenPad devices are priced beginning at AED 1,299.

HTC flaunts new Desire 626 Dual SIM HTC has announced the HTC Desire 626 Dual SIM, its latest LTE-enabled smartphone and the improved successor to the HTC Desire 620G Dual SIM. The new device, according to the company, brings a bold flash of colour to the HTC Desire range and showcases a playful and curved design which users will enjoy. The HTC Desire 626 Dual SIM runs on Android 4.4 and features HTC Sense, and is also powered by an OctoCore 1.7GHz processor. The device is LTE-capable which allow users to access both 3G and LTE networks. It also sports a five-inch HD LCD screen for users when viewing photos and videos. With its HTC BlinkFeed feature, users can also easily browse social media pages.

The device has range of storage capabilities, with a 16GB internal memory which can be extended up to 32GB through a MicroSD. The Smart device comes in White Birch and Blue Lagoon colours, and is available from mobile operators and retailers in the UAE.

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AOC has announced a new addition to its professional line of mmonitors, a 25” (63.5 cm) model that sports a QHD resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. The Q2577PWQ, according to the company, comes with a highquality IPS panel for ultra-wide viewing angles both vertically and horizontally. AOC’s new model Q2577PWQ also comes with a feature that ensures a zeroflickering viewing experience. In order to ensure full comfort, the Q2577PWQ also has a wide range of features that help reduce fatigue and improve the working posture such as height adjustability of 130 mm, pivot, swivel and tilt. Furthermore, the monitor can be fixed on VESA (100x100) compliant wall mounts and racks. In order to give users a variety of options for connecting different input sources, the AOC Q2577PWQ comes with DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI and VGA, to name but a few examples. The new device is also equipped with energy saving features like the Eco Mode and e-Saver.

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Zotac introduces new MAGNUS EN970 series

Zotac recently introduced the MAGNUS EN970 series which aims to offer plenty of firepower for graphics and gaming enthusiasts. The device is powered by a fifth-gen Intel Core i5 CPU and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 with 3GB GDDR5 VRAM. According to the company, it also has a quad-display support via NVIDIA Surround, and can react faster with dual gigabit LAN or 802.11ac WiFi. It features a RAID-ready storage setup that provides either blazing access speeds or the power of real-time mirroring protection. It is also Windows 10 ready and can take full advantage of Direct X 12. MAGNUS EN970 is portable and is ready to game beyond the desk. It sports a matte-black finishing on a minimal design thinly veil the powerful hardware. The device also comes with a PLUS version, pre-installed with 8GB memory and 120GB M.2 SSD. The Mini PC is easily upgradable with an easily accessible SO-DIMM ram slots and 2.5” HDD/SSD slots for further customisation. Coupled with four USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 slots, users can have plenty expansion possibilities even after connecting your peripherals.

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Honeywell’s Dolphin CT50 mobile computer Honeywell has unveiled the Dolphin CT50 mobile computer. The CT50 offers streamlined operations and maximised work efficiencies in transport and logistics, field service, direct store delivery, and warehouse environments. The device offers the flexibility to select either Windows Embedded 8.1 Handheld or Android 4.4 KitKat operating systems, which also has an upgrade path to the Windows 10 and Android 6.0 Marshmallow platforms. The Dolphin CT50 is built on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 series processor offering competitive speeds to enhance worker productivity. It also includes Wi-Fi and 4G/LTE connectivity

to ensure access to business-critical applications and multimedia such as streaming video and videoconferences whether in the office or connecting remotely from the road.

Datwyler introduces new FO DCS plug-in modules

Datwyler Cabling Solutions has added two components to its “Datwyler Data Centre Solution” fibre optic system – the breakout plug-in modules and converter plug-in modules. The breakout plug-in modules are available for OM3, OM4 and OS2 with LCQ, LCD, MTP and E2000 adapters. According to the company, it contains radius limiters, orderly cable

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management and integrated retaining clips which permit safe and simple handling of preassembled fibre optic cables without imposing any strain on the adapters in the front panel. The converter plug-in modules, also available for OM3, OM4 and OS2, have two rear 12-fibre MTP couplers and take these 24 fibres to three eightfibre MTP ports at the front of the module via an integrated fan-out. This allows full use to be made of a previously installed 24-fibre cable or even two 12-fibre cables of equal length for three 40G links, three NG 100G links or three 64G FC links. Datwyler underlines that the high manufacturing quality ensures that the new plug-in modules provide optimum optical performance values (IL/RL).

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Opengear presents new Resilience Gateway Opengear has introduced the new Resilience Gateway, which can help ensure uptime at branch offices and remote sites. The unit includes Opengear’s smart outof-band management system or Smart OOB that allows complete control during infrastructure fault conditions and network outages with serial, Ethernet and USB console access to all the edge routers, servers, switches, firewalls, PDUs and UPSes. It can also optimise infrastructure management as it can monitor everything including the physical environment to ensure quick detection of faults and ensure faster network recovery. Users can log audit trails to embedded 4GB local storage for troubleshooting and compliance. The device also promises strong security as it is aptly armed with PCI-DSS, FIPS140-2, SSL and SSH, firewall,

Toshiba announces new hybrid laptop, Satellite S50W

OpenVPN and IPsec. It also has an environmental and physical sensor alarm notification via SMS, SNMP or email. Resilience Gateway is also equipped with Failover to Cellular over high-speed 4G LTE networks, which promises to improve WAN resilience and business continuity at remote sites, stores, and throughout the enterprise.

MMD launches Philips’ Brilliance Curved UltraWide display MMD, a technology company and brand license partner for Philips Monitors, announces its first curved display for the desktop. The 34-inch Brilliance Curved UltraWide display aims to give users an immersive and more focused viewing experience. According to the company, the 34-inch display is designed with an UltraWide screen and Quad HD resolution, sRGB colour and productivity-boosting MultiView and a 3440 x 1440 resolution. It is also equipped with a DTS audio system to provide users with surround sound. The display, according to MMD, can differentiate between over one billion colours, which ensures every gradation is super-smooth. It also provides 99 percent sRGB colour support. The display also has an UltraWide 21:9 format, which allows users to have plenty space for multitasking. It is equipped with a

DisplayPort and HDMI 2.0 for maximum visuals, MHL technology to support mobile content on the big screen, and USB 3.0 for fast data transfers and smart phone charging. With features such as SmartContrast, the display also allows for automatic colour adjustments and backlight intensity control. It also has a special economy mode for lower power consumption.

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Toshiba Gulf introduces the new Satellite S50W, one of the company’s latest hybrid laptops with touch display. The device sports a 15.6-inch full HD Display, includes the latest Intel processors and operates on Windows 8.1, and is also Windows 10 ready. The Satellite S50W, is described by the company as a lightweight device that allows users have a fast paced and always on-the-go lifestyle. It has an aluminum chassis with the satin gold finish and is combined with a backlit frameless tile keyboard. It is equipped with a UHS I media bridge slot, and has three USB ports—two of which contain the latest USB 3.0 technology for quick backup and file transfer. It is also supported by Intel HD Graphics 5500 and is equipped with Harmon Kardon Speakers. Toshiba’s Satellite S50W also allows users to charge other devices while it’s on sleep, through the latest USB Sleep-andCharge ports.

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Column

Channel surfing Reseller Middle East’s deputy editor offers her thoughts on the Middle Eastern technology channel.

Janees Reghelini, Deputy Editor, Reseller ME

Unleashing the risk-taker While the results of the Annual Industry Survey 2015 looks pretty grim compared to the previous year, maybe it is also worth noting that channel players are not short of options as to how they could turn their business around. Some of the reasons for the decline in business as I had discussed last month are aspects that are not in control of the channel players. For example, political situations in neighbouring countries and currency fluctuations. But certainly, we can focus on things that are in our control. While advantages of dealing in emerging technologies are increasingly becoming known in the market, partners should boost their offerings to carve a successful business around these prospects. The first step to execute this is detailed market assessment and in-depth market understanding. The

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problem, as per most distributors, is that the Total Addressable Market (TAM) figures shared by vendors or reported by research firms are often inflated, leading to unforeseen challenges. Without a definite idea of how much addressable market is available, there will be an oversupply, which creates a backlog of products in markets that are already reaching the saturation point. These kind of challenges are completely avoidable if appropriate measures are put in place from both, vendors and partners perspectives. Also, what will help is regular communication between vendors and their partners, so that both parties have a clear vision of current situations. Besides this, channel players need to be focused in their market approach. While most players are adopting a cautious approach, I can’t help but wonder if this is also the right time to unleash

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the risk-taking attitude that the regional channel could do a little bit of. It’s true the markets are down and the path ahead seems to be rocky to say the least. However, I urge partners to do their market assessment and think out of the box to be profitable. The planned risk you take in today’s dire circumstances will reap infinite benefits for the future. On a personal front, it was exactly two years ago, when I was ‘baptised by fire’ into the regional channel world and I have to admit, it has been an exciting ride. GITEX Technology Week 2015 is around the corner and I have started to look forward to all the madness that awaits us, this being my third year at the show. I’m hoping to catch up with most of you at the event and learn about the new developments at your organisations. In the meantime, wish you all a fruitful GITEX 2015.