Reseller Middle East April 2018 by Reseller Middle East

ISSUE 256 | APRIL 2018 www.tahawultech.com

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CONTENTS

ISSUE 256 // APRIL 2018

COVER FEATURE

THE AGE OF OMNICHANNEL

Customers seek cohesive shopping experiences across all types of platforms as their buying habits evolve with their dynamic lifestyle. Reseller ME finds out where the region stands in delivering these seamless brand experiences as compared to their global counterparts.

HIGHLIGHTS

FEATURES

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

PARTNER WATCH

26 SECURE GOALS

35 HARNESSING VALUE

30 WIN WITH PROFESSIONAL

40 PARTNERING FOR INNOVATION

Reseller ME explores how partners can develop their security capabilities to optimise the opportunities present.

OPINION

GEARING UP FOR CLOUD

Mohamad Rizk from Veeam, explains why availability must be a vital tool for any cloud service provider in the Middle East.

REVIEW

SERVICES

Experts reveal how the channel can go about building a robust professional services offering.

HOT PRODUCTS

SYNOLOGY DS418PLAY

FITBIT INTRODUCES FITBIT VERSA

Enterprise Systemsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Pouya Parsafar on expanding business across the GCC markets.

Avinash Advani from StarLink, urges partners to take advantage of the opportunities in securing the hybrid enterprise.

VENDOR FOCUS

42 QUALITY MATTERS

Regional sales director Nirmal Manoharan on what it takes to be a ManageEngine valueadded partner.

BENQ PRESENTS E-SPORTS GAMERS MONITOR ZOWIE XL2740

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // APRIL 2018

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rofitability continues to be one of the biggest challenges that the regional channel industry faces even today. Partners are constantly looking for ways to expand and grow their businesses innovatively so that they can remain relevant and profitable in the digital era. This is a lot easier said than done as any kind of change is usually met with resistance in the beginning. With customer demands evolving to what the digital age necessitates, the change that needs to be implemented is at all levels, making the whole process even more challenging for partners. The channel community needs to evolve with the times and transform not only traditional business models but also internal processes and employee mindsets. They should also revive the way they approach customers and customise their offerings to complement an organisationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s digital objectives.

EDITORIAL Managing Editor Michael Jabri-Pickett mjp@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9158 Editor Janees Reghelini janees.reghelini@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9167 Online Editor Adelle Geronimo adelle.geronimo@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9135 DESIGN Head of Design Froilan Cosgafa IV froilan.cosgafa@cpimediagroup.com Senior Designer Analou Balbero analou.balbero@cpimediagroup.com

Our inaugural Margin Builder Forum, scheduled to take place on 8th May, 2018 at Emirates Towers, aims to discover practical solutions that will truly enable resellers. The half-day event will examine key issues such as declining margins, credit complexities, evolving business models among others. At Tahawul Tech, we are excited to put together a partner-specific conference of this scale and look forward to welcoming resellers, solutions providers, systems integrators, distributors and technology vendors at the event. With a host of reputed industry experts as speakers at the forum, we believe it is a unique opportunity for the channel community to come together to collaborate, learn and share ideas. 8th May will be an action-packed day with the ninth edition of Reseller Middle East Partner Excellence Awards also taking place in the evening at the same venue. Do join us in making the day a memorable one.

Designer Marlou Delaben marlou.delaben@cpimediagroup.com ADVERTISING Group Sales Director Kausar Syed kausar.syed@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9130 Business Development Manager Youssef Hariz youssef.hariz@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9111

DIGITAL SERVICES Web Developers Jefferson de Joya Abbas Madh Photographers Max Poriechkin Charls Thomas webmaster@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9100 DIGITAL www.resellerme.com Printed by Al Ghurair Printing and Publishing LLC

CIRCULATION Database and Circulation Manager Rajeesh M rajeesh.nair@cpimediagroup.com +971 4440 9119 Operations Manager Shweta Santosh shweta.santosh@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9107

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // APRIL 2018

HIGHLIGHTS

Redington Value builds up momentum for Cambium solutions

lobal wireless broadband solutions provider Cambium Networks along with their Middle East and Africa master distributor Redington Value are gearing up to provide reliable, cost-effective wireless broadband offerings across the region. There are a series of readiness events, roadshows and trade events planned by Redington Value and Cambium in the next few months to create momentum and visibility within the partner ecosystem. The companies will host two Partner Roadshows in Riyadh and Jeddah on March 12th and March 13th respectively. Redington will deliver solutions such as broadband point-to-point backhaul, point-to-multipoint last-mile access, indoor and outdoor 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and narrowband SCADA backhaul solutions to connect industrial, enterprise, urban and rural residential locations. With

wireless connectivity end-to-end wireless fabric from two meters to solutions and learn about 245 kilometers, cloudthe full portfolio of wireless based end-to-end connectivity solutions. management, and data “Cambium’s wireless rates ranging from kbps broadband solutions are to Gbps these solutions proven to provide high provide affordable quality reliability in thousands for connectivity, said the of networks around vendor. the world and are “Cambium Networks uniquely suited for the stands out as a leader demanding applications by providing proven, of the Middle East and Ramkumar Balakrishnan, reliable and affordable African markets,” said Redington Value solutions,” said Martín de la Serna, Ramkumar Balakrishnan, vice president, Sales, president, Redington Value. “We are Cambium Networks. “Service providers confident with our wide network of and network operators are seeking highresellers in Middle East and Africa we performance connectivity at affordable can help customers to easily expand prices. Redington Value’s reach across their connectivity.” the Middle East and African markets Attendees for the roadshows will see will increase connectivity and business how they can benefit from Cambium’s efficiency across the entire region.”

Ingram Micro becomes Palo Alto’s regional cloud services aggregator

egional technology distributor Ingram Micro has signed a cloud services aggregation agreement with security firm Palo Alto Networks for the Middle East, Turkey and North Africa markets. This partnership builds upon the existing Ingram Micro and Palo Alto Networks relationship already established in a number of countries in the Americas and Asia Pacific. Under the terms of the agreement, Ingram Micro is authorised to distribute Palo Alto Networks cloud security technologies, including its VM-Series virtualised next-generation firewalls and Aperture SaaS security, to the newly emerging and expanding channel ecosystem of cloud consultants, cloud security integrators, managed security service providers, and software-defined data centre partners in 18 countries across META. The services aggregation model further broadens the distributor’s solutions portfolio, proving the ability to meet the evolving IT consumption preferences

As a cloud services aggregator for Palo and security requirements of businesses Alto Networks, we are building on our front and consumers, including ‘as-a-service’, runner position as a value-added distributor managed service, and public cloud ‘payof cloud and cyber security solutions.” as-you-go’. Jason Beal, senior director of Palo Alto Networks cloud security EMEA distribution and public cloud, solutions will be supported and managed Palo Alto Networks said, “The Palo by the Ingram Micro cloud business units, Alto Networks Next-Generation and will be made available via the Ingram Security Platform is well-known for Micro cloud and software-as-a-service its effective cyber breach prevention (SaaS) marketplace, a cloud services platform that allows partners to purchase, capabilities, from the endpoint, through the network and data centre, and provision, manage and invoice cloud into the cloud. With technology with ease. this innovative cloud Marc Kassis, services aggregation cybersecurity director, model, Palo Alto Ingram Micro META Networks and Ingram Region, said, “Cloud Micro cloud teams and security trends will offer deep cloud are inextricably linked, and SaaS expertise, constantly evolving and partner enablement, relevant to everyone on a services co-creation, daily basis. Ingram Micro’s and technical pre-sales objective is to enhance support to meet the the value proposition to needs of partners and our business partners with their customers across relevant large vendors Marc Kassis, the Middle East, Turkey and a dedicated range Ingram Micro META and North Africa.” of services and trainings.

APRIL 2018 // Reseller Middle East // www.tahawultech.com

HIGHLIGHTS

Proofpoint, Exclusive Networks strengthen advanced protection offerings

s the valueadded distributor for nextgeneration cybersecurity company Proofpoint in the region, Exclusive Networks is gearing up to complement the vendor’s longstanding position in the market of securing beyond the bounds of traditional network perimeters and connected endpoints. Proofpoint is enhancing its channel and go-to-market strategy to create “innovative cybersecurity solutions for an ever-increasing addressable market”. Exclusive Networks is preparing to work with Proofpoint by offering Proofpoint solutions with its highly successful Cyber Attack Remediation & Mitigation (CARM) framework and kick-off a series of targeted initiatives designed to educate new partners. The vendor and VAD are re-enforcing the existing relationship, with the

latter paving way to capitalise on the growth opportunities presented by an expanded Proofpoint cybersecurity product portfolio across the Middle East, now incorporating SMBaligned solutions, as well as leading targeted attack protection offerings. This expansion complements the vendor’s longstanding market leadership in secure email gateways. “Our channel partners can now benefit from Proofpoint’s extensive portfolio offering a market leading Secure Email Gateway, Email Fraud Defense, Digital Risk Management, SaaS Protection and Advanced Threat Protection,” said Oliver Downs, Alliances Manager, Exclusive Networks ME. “We now have the opportunity to educate the market on the evolving landscape of advanced threats and cloud adoption. Furthermore, the region is witnessing an enormous adoption of Microsoft Office 365, where

We now have the opportunity to educate the market on the evolving landscape of advanced threats and cloud adoption.” the need to safeguard users against advanced threats, empower insight and keep users connected during the events of downtime is crucial. Proofpoint is a key to ensure that this migration and new service layer is protected.” “As we continue to see increasing demand from ME businesses for innovative cybersecurity solutions, expanding our established partnership with Exclusive Networks across the MEA region is imperative,” said Nik Churchley, Director, EMEA Channels for Proofpoint. “Email continues to be the number one threat vector used by cybercriminals. This relationship will allow Exclusive Networks to offer our advanced email protection offering, providing EMEA organisations with best-in-class multilayered defence against email fraud, ransomware, advanced malware, bulk mail and email downtime.”

Paessler appoints VAD Technologies as ME distributor

it was clear that etwork VAD’s distribution monitoring approach fits specialist very well into our Paessler has strategy.” announced a As of now, the partnership with VAD vendor’s existing Technologies, an IT and and new partners technology value-added in the UAE, Saudi distributor, headquartered Arabia, Oman, in Dubai (UAE), to Bahrain, Qatar distribute Paessler’s PRTG and North Africa Network Monitor. Mario M. Veljovic, VAD Technologies will be able to The partnership is part buy through VAD of Paessler’s business Technologies and supply PRTG to their development strategy to expand into end customers, using VAD’s expertise new geographical and technological in the market and as a value-added markets. distributor. “As Paessler continues to grow “Our vision is to introduce cutting worldwide expanding into new edge technologies and solutions to geographies like the Middle East and our resellers and enable them to offer North Africa, there is a clear need high performance enterprise solutions for a distributor able to support our to their customers across all industry existing and new partners locally,” verticals. We are proud to partner said Jürgen Thiel, head of business with Paessler to make PRTG Network development and alliances, Paessler. “After assessing possible partnerships, Monitor available to our resellers in the

Our vision is to introduce cutting edge technologies and solutions to our resellers and enable them to offer high performance enterprise solutions to their customers across all industry verticals.” region,” said Mario M. Veljovic, general manager, VAD Technologies. The partnership means users will be offered a flexible tool that seamlessly integrates into their business; a solution that monitors the net from top to bottom. Also, it provides monitoring capabilities beyond traditional IT, specifically in the areas of e-health, IoT and CCTV.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // APRIL 2018

HIGHLIGHTS

StarLink opens Innovation Centre in Dubai

egional value-added distributor StarLink has announced the launch of its innovation centre in Dubai. According to the firm, it is rightly timed to coincide with the commemoration of UAE’s national innovation strategy by the Government of UAE. StarLink said its Innovation Centre is a “state-of-the-art environment deemed as one of the largest cybersecurity innovation centres in the region with more than 100 cybersecurity experts in an expanse of 8000+ sq.ft.” This facility will support partners to deliver better holistic IT security experience to their customers with an ever-evolving solutions architecture fabric. Also, according to the firm, aspiring IT professionals and innovators will be empowered with top of the range training programmes for skills progression, thus enabling them to become solution architects to better understand the practical implications of technology choices and moreover nurture a new breed of cybersecurity leaders of tomorrow. In addition to the above, this facility will also support with bespoke consultancy services delivered by a team of certified and highly skilled professionals to assist customers with GRC requirements. Nidal Othman, managing director, StarLink said, “We are extremely excited as StarLink embarks on this unique and proud initiative to become the first distributor to facilitate this region with the largest and one-of-its kind Innovation Centre that will act as a platform for creative collaboration and drive technology-led innovations to tackle the most pressing real-world IT challenges.”

Sony Professional appoints FVC as MEA distributor

ony Professional Solutions has appointed FVC as its official partner to market and sell its new line up of BRAVIA professional displays and digital signage solutions across the GCC and Africa region. “FVC is well known in the region for being a top solutions provider that can transform workspaces to make it more simplified whist enhancing collaboration and user-experience,” Unni Krishnan, head of visual presentation solutions, Sony Professional Solutions MEA. “FVC has the expertise and a strong relationship with key decision makers in sectors such as education, healthcare, government and defense, banking, finance and many more. We are confident in FVC’s ability to support us in promoting our display solutions within the region.” Sony said its variety of large format BRAVIA professional display screens enable dynamic digital signage by ensuring the highest quality image reproduction for every environment and application.

FVC has the expertise and a strong relationship with key decision makers in sectors...We are confident in FVC’s ability to support us in promoting our display solutions within the region.” “Sony is globally renowned for not only developing products and solutions of the highest quality but tailored to meet each customer’s unique needs and requirements,” said Sanjay Ahuja, CEO of FVC. “We are excited about the partnership and look forward to connecting Sony to a wide range of clients that we work within the GCC and Africa to further strengthen our relationship as well as build a significant presence for them in the region.”

Spire Solutions, Gartner partner to strengthen cybersecurity offering

alue-added distributor Spire Solutions has signed an agreement with research and advisory firm Gartner. The service agreement, signed by the two companies at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo, will allow Spire Solutions to tap into Gartner’s expertise and bring global cybersecurity practices to the Middle East. “We will leverage this partnership and Gartner’s global insights to strengthen our offerings to the channel and our customers. We are certain that Gartner’s body of knowledge will prove fundamental in assisting local organisations in building a cohesive and effective security environment,” said Sanjeev Walia, CEO, Spire Solutions. Spire Solutions provides key technologies such as threat exposure management, end-point

APRIL 2018 // Reseller Middle East // www.tahawultech.com

detection and response (EDR) and threat hunting, and business risk intelligence (BRI) to the region’s organisations. The value-added distributor is now planning to expand its operations in KSA, while improving its standing in the UAE, and securing a larger market share in Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain. “Our presence and our team is growing in line with the rising demand for capable, efficient cybersecurity solutions in the region,” he added.

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HIGHLIGHTS

3M products now available on Souq.com

OUQ.com has announced newly available products on SOUQ.com from renowned American innovative sciences company 3M to provide easy access to innovative solutions to life’s everyday needs to customers across the UAE, KSA and Egypt. With this launch, a large assortment of 3M automotive parts, personal care products, home supplies, stationery, air filters and many more products will be available to customers at great prices at just the click of a button. Ronaldo Mouchawar, CEO and co-founder, SOUQ.com, said, “3M is an exciting addition to SOUQ and our offerings. With a presence in 65 countries, 3M has maintained its reputation of offering its customers innovative solutions to life’s daily needs, an attribute that SOUQ is looking for in all its collaborations with global

suppliers. As we continue to strive and fulfill all the essential needs of our customers, we believe this collaboration will be a step further in our constant effort to exceed our customers’ expectations.” Launching on SOUQ.com allows 3M to provide hundreds of authentic and superior quality products such as window films, car accessories, personal care products from Futuro and Littman brands with plans to add industrial and commercial range products as well throughout 2018. Online shoppers in the Middle East are increasingly comfortable with the trend of buying auto parts through e-commerce, encouraged by the convenience, variety and value on offer. Robert Nichols, managing director, 3M Middle East and North Africa, said, “We are delighted to be collaborating with SOUQ. Their online platform provides a remarkable opportunity for

GCC smartphone sales could continue to fall this year: report

he GCC mobile phone market has experienced mild seasonal growth during the last quarter of 2017, according to the latest data revealed by IDC. The global technology research and consulting firm’s newly released Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker shows overall shipments for the quarter totaled 6.6 million units, reflecting an increase of 2.1 percent quarter on quarter (QoQ). According to the research firm, this has helped offset the 2.0 percent decline in smartphones shipments. This inverse trend characterised the market throughout 2017, with feature phone shipments increasing by an average of 11.4 percent in each of the previous three quarters, while smartphone shipments fell by a quarterly average of 2.7 percent over the same period.

The UAE was the region’s topperforming market in Q4 2017, with mobile phone shipments to the country increasing 12.3 percent QoQ. Bahrain and Kuwait also saw QoQ growth, with shipments up 7.1 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. In contrast, Qatar, Oman, and Saudi Arabia all experienced QoQ declines, with mobile phone shipments down 5.2 percent, 2.0 percent, and 0.8 percent, respectively, in Q4 2017. IDC noted that Qatar is still undergoing adjustments as the channel is facing issues with import embargos due to macro-political factors, while the Saudi market is still coming to terms with the introduction of various new government regulations. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia smartphone shipments have been declining for three consecutive

3M to expand the reach of our products regionally. As a company committed to deliver innovative solutions through applying science to life, this is a brilliant way to connect more closely and touch the lives of people every day.”

$1.5 billion

THE AMOUNT WORLDWIDE IOT SECURITY SPENDING IS EXPECTED TO REACH IN 2018 SOURCE: GARTNER

quarters, resulting in a 13 percent year-on-year (YoY) drop in shipments for 2017 as a whole, said the report. In terms of vendors, Nokia dominated the feature phone market garnering 87 percent share of the GCC market in Q4 2017. Samsung continued to lead the smartphone space with 31 percent share, while Apple followed in second place with 27.1 percent share – its biggest ever slice of the GCC smartphone market. This also represents the smallest gap between the two giants since 2011. Huawei ranked third with 13.4 percent share, with various other brands such as OPPO and Xaiomi, also actively trying to make headway in the region. However, beyond the top three it is a very fragmented market and hard for any brand to really differentiate itself enough to capture significant share. The recent introduction of VAT in Saudi Arabia and the UAE has put a further strain on consumer spending, and it will take some time for the market to adjust to this change and for consumer purchasing behaviour to return to normal, said the firm. IDC expects the overall GCC mobile phone market to decline 6.3 percent YoY in 2018, as a result of sharp downturns in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE caused by the challenging macroeconomic environment.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // APRIL 2018

Hedges Information Technology wins Symantec Small Business Partner of the year Gulf.

HIGHLIGHTS

TimeXtender, Finesse announce UAE partnership

The Award was received by Jins Alex, Director, Hedges Information Technology

Hedges Information Technology wins Symantec Small Business partner of the year Gulf at the Symantec Partner Engage held on Wednesday 7th March 2018 at Ritz-Carlton, JBR, Dubai. This award is a great honor and recognition for Hedges SMB focused market approach, expertise in Symantec’s SMB product offerings. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Hedges team members for this great achievement and at the same time express our appreciation to Symantec & distribution team Aptec Ingram Micro for their great support and guidance.

“This new alliance with TimeXtender provides us the opportunity to assist companies in their deployment of governed data and access of that governed data at a much faster clip,” said Eljo JP, director, Global Business Development, Finesse. “We’re excited to begin helping customers streamline their data discovery with Discovery Eljo JP, Finesse Hub, while reducing time to insights for business users.” Discovery Hub combines the power We’re excited to of automation with a metadata-driven approach. The result is fast, reliable and begin helping secured data, displayed in any data customers visualisation or reporting front-end tool, streamline their data whether it is Power BI, Qlik, Tableau, Excel or any other, said the firm. As it sits discovery with on top of the SQL Server stack with full Discovery Hub, while visibility, both on-prem and in the cloud reducing time to are available and readily customisable. “Through this new agreement, insights for business Finesse can now help their customers users.” implement Discovery Hub, resulting in a self-service data discovery environment for their business users,” said Jørgen integrated approach to IT architecture Kaufmann, CEO, TimeXtender. “Finesse behind business intelligence that will help customers achieve access to helps organisations decrease time their trustworthy data much faster than to business insights and data-driven before. And Discovery Hub leverages the decision making by automating all power of automation to increase agility, that can be automated in the data improve access to governed data and discovery, BI, and analytics lifecycle, facilitate the journey to compliance.” said the firm. ata analytics software provider TimeXtender has partnered with Finesse, a regional systems integrator from the GCC region. As per the terms of the agreement, Finesse will offer its existing and future clients across United Arab Emirates Discovery Hub by TimeXtender. Discovery Hub is an

I look forward to our continued engagement and success with Symantec in security space

Spending on blockchain solutions in the Middle East and Africa to double in 2018

- Bibbin Varghese, Managing Partner, Hedges Information Technology.

Hedges is a leading system integrator specialised in enterprise infrastructure, information security, managed services & ELV system based in Bay Square, Business Bay, Dubai.

Source: IDC 10

APRIL 2018 // Reseller Middle East // www.tahawultech.com

HIGHLIGHTS

Amazon bolsters smart home security offerings with latest acquisition

mazon has reportedly agreed to buy Ring, maker of security cameras and Internet-connected doorbells. Reports by Reuters said that the deal valued Ring at more than $1 billion. Amazon declined to discuss the terms. Ring is set to be one of Amazon’s most expensive takeovers, after its $13.7 billion deal last year for Whole Foods Market. “Ring’s home security products and services have delighted customers since day one,” an Amazon spokesman said in a statement. “We’re excited to work with this talented team and help them in their mission to keep homes safe and secure.” The online retail firm’s move comes four months after it introduced its own smart-home technology to allow

delivery workers to bring packages straight into customers’ homes – Amazon Key. According to analysts, Ring’s security devices could work well with Amazon Key, a smart lock and camera system that lets delivery personnel put packages inside a home to avoid theft or, in the case of fresh food, spoiling. The company’s Alexa voice assistant works with Ring gadgets. Amazon invested in Ring last year through its venture capital arm, the Alexa Fund. Amazon uses its Alexa fund to support businesses that develop apps for the Echo and Alexa. Currently, Ring devices can integrate with Amazon’s voice-controlled assistant

Alexa. Users of Amazon’s Echo Show device can say, “Alexa, show my front door” to receive a live feed of activity around their home via Ring cameras. Two months ago, Amazon also purchased a similar start-up, Blink, which also makes video doorbells and home-security cameras. “We are committed to our mission to reduce crime in neighborhoods by providing effective yet affordable home security tools to our Neighbors that make a positive impact on our homes, our communities, and the world,” Ring said in a statement. “We’ll be able to achieve even more by partnering with an inventive, customer-centric company like Amazon.”

Microsoft to build first Middle East data centers

icrosoft has announced plans to build its first Middle East and North Africa data centres in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The two centres will deliver Microsoft Cloud – comprising Azure, Office 365 and Dynamics 365 – services from data centres located in the two emirates with initial availability expected in 2019. Microsoft also announced new cloud regions for Zurich and Geneva in Switzerland, as well as the expansion of cloud options for customers in Germany and the general availability of Azure and Office 365 from new cloud regions in France. Over the last three years, Microsoft has more than doubled the number of Azure regions available. “Driven by strong customer demand for cloud computing, local data centres were the logical next step given the enormous opportunity that the cloud presents,” said Sayed Hashish, regional general manager, Microsoft Gulf. “In

areas like digital transformation, and the development of new intelligent services, our ambition is for the Microsoft Cloud to form a strategic part of the backbone for regional economic development.” Hashish added that the UAE was Microsoft’s country of choice in the region for a combination of reasons. “The UAE isn’t just a technology hub in region, it also has a clarity of strategy and use of technology with initiatives around AI and Blockchain, and also the 1 Million Arab Coders initiative.” Hashish went on to add that cloud computing has a huge scope for growth in the GCC. “We now know that cloud, while shown encouraging

signs, is still at its infancy, and has a lot of opportunity and potential.” Etisalat Digital will partner with Microsoft for integrated connectivity with Microsoft ExpressRoute as well as private cloud services using Azure Stack. The telco is also providing consulting, migration and managed services to ensure the transition of Microsoft’s business customers to the cloud.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // APRIL 2018

HIGHLIGHTS

Nokia to strengthen WiFi offering with new acquisition

okia has announced plans to acquire US-based Unium, a firm specialising in solving complex wireless networking problems for use in missioncritical and residential WiFi applications. According to the statement released, Unium’s software and intelligent mesh wireless technology complements and strengthens Nokia’s end-to-end, whole-home WiFi solution and supports Nokia’s strategic objective of solving WiFi problems in the home. Unium said it will bring Nokia “field-proven, carrier-grade” mesh technology that helps maximise in-home wireless networking speeds and ensures quality of experience across the entire home. Both firms are ready to unlock the complete potential of the connected

home, creating a residential network that understands the people, devices and applications it serves. Together, they can deliver gigabit speeds not only to the home, but also throughout the home, said the statement. Federico Guillén, president of Nokia’s Fixed Networks business group, said, “We look forward to having the Unium team join us. The home networking market is booming and whole-home WiFi is a key enabler for this. Today’s WiFi solutions still have serious issues with sticky clients, interference, coverage gaps and capacity issues. With Unium inside, our Nokia WiFi solution will deliver an unmatched user experience, going beyond what standard mesh WiFi solutions deliver today.”

Martha Bejar, CEO, Unium added, “Nokia is a global leader in creating customer-centric solutions and is at the heart of our connected world. The Unium team is excited to join Nokia and drive a unique and innovative customer experience through our intelligent WiFi solution, making every customer-touch better.”

DCG unveils Dubai’s first virtual networking platform

not just connecting people, it is also connecting minds and opportunities. Industries have traditionally worked in silos, we are enabling them to break the barriers to communicate between themselves and learn from their challenges and success stories.” Dharmendra Sawlani, president, DCG, highlighted the work DCG had undertaken in 2017 and future plans to enhance the scope of business and benefits to members. He also emphasised on the importance of expanding membership and DCG’s engagement with various government bodies to help IT business community progress. “At our AGM, we reflected on our past performance, discussed future plans and acknowledged our wellwishers and supporters. We are also excited about DED’s Engage DXB app, created to connect the business community together. It will be a platform for all business groups and councils to voice their concerns directly to the government and network with peers across verticals,” he added. Khalaf Al Otaiba, chairman, DCG on his closing remarks thanked all members for their support and active participation in all of DCG endeavors. Sawlani applauded the growth of Dubai Computer Group from a perceived group of IT traders to a diverse business group with software companies, solution providers, major IT distributors and large IT vendors as its members now.

ubai Computer Group (DCG) held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) this month onboard the luxury yacht, Monalisa with Toshiba as its exclusive sponsor. Over 160 members witnessed a detailed presentation by Bastian James, regional product manager, Toshiba, who showcased the history and future of storage devices. Santosh Varghese, general manager, MEA, Digital Products and Solutions Toshiba

was present on-board and expressed his full support to DCG and committed the firm’s active participation with the community members. Dubai Economy also presented the preview of the soon to be launched App ‘Engage DXB’ at the event. Darshan Shetty, principal business analyst, Strategic Planning and Business Development, Department of Economic Development (DED), Dubai spoke to members of the benefits of the App as a platform that would connect the business community with various groups and councils along with Dubai Economy Shetty said, “Engage DXB is Dubai’s first virtual networking platform. This platform will act as a bridge between public and private sector. The platform presents a huge networking prospect too– networking is

APRIL 2018 // Reseller Middle East // www.tahawultech.com

We look forward to having the Unium team join us. The home networking market is booming and wholehome WiFi is a key enabler for this.”

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APPOINTMENTS

INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS

Ingram Micro announces head for new IoT business unit Ingram Micro has announced the launch of its newly formed Internet of Things (IoT) Business Unit in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META) region. Ingram Micro has been a leading value-added distributor for numerous ICT vendors including Cisco, Dell EMC, HPE, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and others. Over the last 24 months, Ingram Micro has launched several solution-based Business Units including ones for cloud technology, cybersecurity and physical security. According to the distributor these “Centres of Excellence” have positioned the company to become a leader in these high growth segments, supporting the channel in the region and beyond.

The firm said it is well positioned to provide end-to-end IoT solutions by combining vendor solutions with other IoT sensors, trackers, edge analytics, video analytics and software from many ISVs who have industry specific applications. These solutions will enable their users to add value to their business, to monetise IoT solutions, to be ahead of their competition, to have the best control on their business and to maximise cost optimisation of their operations. “Today, we are launching our IoT business unit which will be a Centre of Excellence, a solutions provider and a point of expertise for our partners. We welcome Tamer AbdelFattah, who will lead IoT Business Unit in the META region, and look forward

Tamer AbdelFattah, Ingram Micro

to the contributions he and his team will make to our business.” said Ali Baghdadi, senior vice president and chief executive of Ingram Micro’s META region. “I am very proud to lead our IoT efforts to create value for all our vendors and partners,” said AbdelFattah. “Ingram Micro is making a big investment in IoT on a global level, including the META region. We are putting this investment in the Center of Excellence with a highly experienced team. IoT show case platforms to be available to our vendors, channel partners, end-user customers and even innovators. We will deliver value added services and become even more relevant to our vendors and market in this technology segment domain.”

UAE distributor FVC names new CEO Regional value-added distributor FVC has appointed Sanjay Ahuja as the firm’s new CEO. Ahuja’s priorities will be to deliver leadership, growth and development of the company’s expansive regional operations, which count more than 350 major enterprise customers in 50-plus Middle East and African markets. Based in Dubai, Ahuja will play a pivotal role in driving FVC’s growth via increased partner engagement and providing market-leading end-to-end solutions that deliver optimum, costefficient performance for FVC clients. Via his Dubai position, Ahuja will oversee FVC’s strategic in-country hubs in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Kenya and Nigeria amongst others. “With the aim of adding value across customers’ unified communication and security infrastructure, FVC is focused on offering seamless services across the

Sanjay Ahuja, FVC

Middle East and Africa,” said Ahuja. “In addition to our core business offering, FVC adds value through its credit checking and on boarding support for new partners. This exemplary service ensures cash flows are protected and

APRIL 2018 // Reseller Middle East // www.tahawultech.com

the company serves its partners with the right level of credit. FVC’s diligent and experienced team works with credit insurers to ensure that this aspect is taken care of.” Ahuja will be focused primarily on strengthening and expanding FVC’s channel breadth and depth with its respective OEMs and streamlining overall operations across business units including sales, services, finance, human resources, administration, marketing, supply chain management (SCM) and other support functions. “The talented and experienced team at FVC is well-known in the MEA market and is well-placed to realise our collective vision of being the fastest growing value-added distributor across the region, offering customised solutions to our channel partners, and helping our OEM partners penetrate areas where they need our support,” he added.

An overview of the latest people movement within the IT channel business.

GBM names new vice president of services Gulf Business Machines (GBM) has appointed Wadad Kafka as vice president of services, effective February 2018. Based out of GBM’s regional headquarters in Dubai, Wadad will be responsible for building the managed services capabilities for the firm and reinventing their professional services portfolio around hybrid cloud. She will also support GBM in becoming the leading hybrid cloud and digital solutions partner in the region by 2020, said the firm. Martin Tarr, CEO, GBM, said, “We are excited to welcome Wadad to GBM’s management team. With over two decades of experience in building, transforming, and growing businesses successfully on a global and regional level, Wadad is a strong addition to

Wadad Kafka, GBM

We are excited to welcome Wadad to GBM’s management team. With over two decades of experience in building, transforming, and growing businesses successfully on a global and regional level, Wadad is a strong addition to the growing GBM family.”

the growing GBM family. We look forward to working alongside Wadad, using her skills and knowledge to help shape GBM’s future during this most transformative time.” Wadad, who has more than 23 years of industry experience, joins GBM from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, where she held a variety of leadership roles globally throughout her time with them. Most recently, she served as the EMEA senior director of Hybrid Cloud Consulting Services where she was responsible for leading the hybrid IT and cloud services business across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Wadad holds a Master of Science degree from the Technical University of Zagreb, Croatia and an Executive MBA from California State University in the United States. A linguist, she speaks five languages, including Arabic, Croatian, English, French, and German.

Citrix announces new regional director Citrix has appointed Taj El-Khayat as regional director for Middle East & North Africa (MENA). In this role, he is responsible for transforming the company’s go-to-market plan in crucial geographical areas that have shown extensive potential for growth. El-Khayat will report to Andy Macdonald, the firm’s area vice president for Emerging Markets. “We’re confident that El-Khayat’s track record of being a strategic decision-maker combined with his astute leadership skills, will quickly prove to energise the local team as we continue to expand our presence in emerging markets. Our customers also stand to benefit considerably, as this appointment was made to help navigate them in the right direction as they embark on individual roadmaps to the cloud whilst ushering in a new era of work,” said Andy Macdonald, area vice president, Emerging Markets.

Joining from F5 Networks, El-Khayat brings with him nearly two decades of experience in selling complex solutions within the enterprise space, and therefore a core understanding of the challenges enterprises face and a talent for overcoming them with the appropriate technology or service. His career spans numerous senior positions at Riverbed, Juniper Networks, Microsoft and Compaq, where he managed key partner relationships, developed tactical plans and drove incremental growth on a consistent basis. El-Khayat is also valued for his ability to build and motivate high performance teams to achieve quarterly financial targets. “I’m eager to be joining Citrix at a time where more organisations in the region are embracing digital transformation. This shift is ultimately set to change the very nature of their operations and to ensure a transition that is equally seamless as it is effective,

Taj El-Khayat, Citrix

I’m eager to be joining Citrix at a time where more organisations in the region are embracing digital transformation.” it’s important that the apps, data and services employees require are unified to form an optimal environment for productivity. I look forward to conveying this unique value proposition to our customers in MENA and working closely with them to accelerate their journey to the future of work,” said El-Khayat.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // APRIL 2018

OPINION // VEEAM

Gearing up for cloud Mohamad Rizk, manager system engineers, Middle East, Veeam, explains why availability must be a vital tool for any cloud service provider in the Middle East.

t the back end of 2017, every publication or news outlet with an interest in technology published their ‘biggest’ and ‘best of’ lists. Included were things like innovations, software solutions and games. As well, of course, as hacks. This year’s ‘biggest breach’ articles were an unfortunate roll call of tech

giants and prominent cloud providers, from IBM and Apple, to GitLab and AWS. CNN termed 2017 the ‘year that nothing seemed safe’, as it explored how businesses and public sector organisations alike were let down by security failings. While Uber, understanding the public scrutiny that cyberattacks attract, tried to pay off its hackers, only to cause further problems. The growing issue for tech firms is that most of these lists and roundups go beyond discussing financial losses that reach into the hundreds of millions. They also readily showcase the potential fallibilities of cloud. And how vulnerabilities in cloud services and businesses can disturb the working lives of customers across the world. Every single time a cloud outage happens, end-users are let down, service is disrupted and reputations are damaged. So as cloud changes

APRIL 2018 // Reseller Middle East // www.tahawultech.com

and becomes an integral part of the ecosystem of every major global business, it’s vital that providers stop the tide of damaging outages, and place as much emphasis on availability and backup for customers as they do growth and acquisition. That is tomorrow’s cloud battleground. The evolving cloud market Cloud provision is a vast and growing market. Forrester estimates that it’ll be worth $178 billion in 2018 (up from $146 billion in 2017) and things are getting fiercely competitive. For all that, it remains the case that AWS is dominant, with some experts predicting ownership of approximately 35 percent of the market. Meaning that prominent incumbent brand name providers and ambitious newcomers are all competing for comparatively small portions of the pie. This explains the ambitious business

to take their custom elsewhere. While individual customers who suffer availability issues and have projects derailed by issues with their CSP are likely to do the same. Breaches, outages and hacks can quite easily lead to the flight of enterprise and SME customers (particularly as provider switching gets easier and competition fiercer). So, it’s up to CSPs to ensure that their service will not let customers down.

Mohamed Rizk, VEEAM

“As it becomes more important to differentiate in the cloud provision market, one of the primary areas a CSP can sell itself is in making assurances about service availability, data protection and backup.”

growth and customer acquisition plans many providers have been executing over the past couple of years. A spate of recent mergers (including ANS acquiring Webantic and McAfee taking on Skyhigh) demonstrates how leading tech firms are trying to diversify their cloud offering and strengthen their arm in a market that’s demanding more and more. The question everyone involved in cloud has to answer, however, is how do you support the customers who are already on board? Hits and losses Last year Verizon suffered a breach that resulted in the personal data of six million customers being leaked online. The cause? A misconfigured setting on a cloud server owned by a third-party. That’s six million people (potentially more) unhappy with Verizon. Then Verizon itself unhappy with a vendor.

And the media swirling around all of them, with questions aplenty and blame to apportion. Similarly, when GitLab suffered a database outage, 5,000 projects and 700 customers were affected, causing huge problems for a sizeable chunk of the provider’s user base. The problem for CSPs is that expectations around the quality and availability of cloud services are on the rise. Countless individuals and businesses are placing their trust in specialist cloud service providers, and they expect their data, tools and applications to be stored securely and available precisely when they need them to be. The upshot of those expectations is that errors, such as those encountered by Verizon and GitLab, quickly become viewed as unacceptable. Businesses let down by cloud partners are liable

Better backup, better cloud As it becomes more important to differentiate in the cloud provision market, one of the primary areas a CSP can sell itself is in making assurances about service availability, data protection and backup. In other words, removing the risk of things that let customers down and make the news in the process (as much as possible). For example, were Verizon’s unfortunate cloud partner to have had a cloud backup solution decoupled from its primary infrastructure, perhaps the human error that led to the six million user leak might not have had such profound consequences. Similarly, had GitLabs’ data been supported by an immediate database recovery solution, those 5,000 projects might have remained on track. While, on the smaller end of the spectrum, if HitChat’s cloud tier had been better supported, service disruption might not have been so bad after the service was hacked. Of course, it’s easy to provide wisdom with hindsight. But these counterfactual examples of what might have been are all about giving CSPs the best chance to survive problems with their service in the future. And helping them to retain the customers they have worked so hard to acquire. In the simplest terms, we can’t do anything about the hacks that continuously disrupted 2017 now. However, we can learn from them, so that 2018’s ‘biggest outages’ lists might be harder to compile. And when the solution to so many of the biggest challenges in technology is simply harnessing the power of cloud backup to support cloud provision, it seems foolish not to take some positive action.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // APRIL 2018

EVENTS // MARGIN BUILDER FORUM

Grow your margins Reseller Middle East’s inaugural Margin Builder Forum on 8th May 2018 will examine key challenges and growth strategies for partner businesses.

he channel industry is pivotal to the growth of global vendors as regional partners own customer relationships. However, channel businesses continue to face old and new challenges hampering profitability and growth. Inspecting these challenges, Reseller Middle East’s inaugural Margin Builder Forum, scheduled to take place on 8th May 2018 at Emirates Tower, is an educational event that sheds light on how partner businesses can grow profitably. The conference will explore how today’s channel businesses can address the most pressing challenges in the industry, from effective management of cash flows to evolving their operations to offer comprehensive solutions built on emerging trends and technologies. It is a unique platform designed to be all-inclusive and enlightening for the channel community. The half-day event will feature panel discussions and keynote addresses from industry stalwarts. Ramkumar Balakrishnan, president, Redington Value will kick start the

forum by presenting an insightful keynote address on how channel businesses can enhance profitability. Sustaining profitability is the single most important aspect for partners today. With years of experience in the channel business under his belt, Balakrishnan will share insights that partners can implement and learn from. Among the highlights of the forum is the panel discussion on, ‘How to increase profit margins,’ which will explore effective ways for partners to grow their margins. Industry veterans Fayez Ibbini, MD, Alpha Data; Shailendra Rughwani, MD, Experts Computer; Nehul Goradia, co-founder, Enabler One and Gareth Hansford, GM, Gulf Software Distribution will delve into how partners can differentiate their offerings, maintain cash flow and broaden their revenue opportunities. Besides declining margins, regional channel partners continue to battle with a number of other challenges that hinders their daily operations. In the panel discussion ‘Combatting challenges in the channel’, Hesham Tantawi, VP MENA, Asbis Middle East; Dharmendra Sawlani, president, Dubai

APRIL 2018 // Reseller Middle East // www.tahawultech.com

Computer Group and Sohrab Saeed, VP group credit, ENBD along with other experts will deliberate on how partners can overcome pertinent issues such as evolving their businesses to the digital age, credit issues, understanding implementation of VAT, counterfeit goods and other market challenges. The conference will conclude with a thought-provoking dialogue on the future of IT channel. Speakers from topline regional distributors such as Ramkumar Balakrishnan, president, Redington Value; Nidal Othman, MD, StarLink; Nicholas Argyrides, chief of sales and deputy GM, Mindware and Asim AlJammaz, CEO, AlJammaz Distribution will exchange insights on how the industry will evolve over the next few years and what will drive that change. The session will examine the factors that will dictate the success of regional channel businesses and discuss measures that need to be undertaken by partners to transform their operations today. Register today to exchange inspiring and practical ideas with industry experts and to learn strategies to transform your channel business.

COVER STORY // OMNICHANNEL RETAILING

THE AGE OF OMNICHANNEL

APRIL 2018 // Reseller Middle East // www.tahawultech.com

COVER STORY // OMNICHANNEL RETAILING

REGIONAL RETAILERS SHOULD LOOK AT CAPITALISING ON OMNICHANNEL OPPORTUNITIES AND LOOK AT WAYS TO CONNECT WITH THE DIGITAL CONSUMER ACROSS ANY PLATFORM, IN ORDER TO GROW THEIR BUSINESS.

hopping has become a way of life in today’s digital age. Regional retailers are looking to adopt technology to enable seamless shopping experiences. Increasingly retailers in the GCC are realising the benefits of having an omnichannel strategy to accelerate their growth. Atul Joshi, head of distribution, Jumbo Group says through omnichannel, customers are provided with various benefits such as shopping any time of the day as well as product delivery and collection at their chosen location and time. “As customers are getting more accustomed to consuming content online, they are continuously looking at comparing products, prices and features, including checking out product reviews and ratings before purchasing products. They are also becoming more aware about product upgrades and the latest gadgets available online,” he says. This is why omnichannel needs to be the way forward as customers have the luxury to multitask from the comforts of

Alain Kaddoum, Swisslog Middle East

“The future belongs to organisations that have the flexibility to adapt to how consumers prioritise choice, speed and convenience on a purchase-by-purchase basis through a true omni-channel experience.”

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // APRIL 2018

COVER STORY // OMNICHANNEL RETAILING

their own home and by making it more convenient for customers, retailers’ business will grow. This presents regional retailers with a huge opportunity to tap into omnichannel prospects. Stephane Paraiso, managing director, Azur Digital, says, “Effective omnichannel strategies enable retailers to satisfy the ever-growing expectations of their hyper connected consumers, by combining the instantaneity and convenience of digital channels with bricks and mortars’ sensorial and reassurance features. Shoppers who buy in-store and online have a higher average order value and a longer lifetime value.” What can help retailers develop a robust omnichannel strategy. According to Paraiso, there is no shortcut when developing an omnichannel strategy. He explains, “It has to take into account current technological and human capabilities. The level of customer centricity from design through to customer service will be crucial to deliver a true omnichannel shopping experience. Change management involving retail operations is a must to ensure alignment and synergies between channels. “Quality Assurance management, including end-to-end testing of the

Stephane Paraiso, Azur Digital

“Effective omnichannel strategies enable retailers to satisfy the evergrowing expectations of their hyper connected consumers, by combining the instantaneity and convenience of digital channels with bricks and mortars’ sensorial and reassurance features.”

APRIL 2018 // Reseller Middle East // www.tahawultech.com

different cross-channel interactions is essential to meet customers high expectations. Lastly, actionable product and customer data cements the omnichannel shopping journey.” Agreeing, Alain Kaddoum, general manager, Swisslog Middle East, says, “The future belongs to organisations that have the flexibility to adapt to how consumers prioritise choice, speed and convenience on a purchase-bypurchase basis through a true omnichannel experience.” From the moment the online order is placed to when it is picked, packed and shipped, every step in the process must be handled efficiently, consistently and cost effectively. Retailers must keep in mind that speed of order fulfilment, order accuracy, minimised returns and customer satisfaction are critical factors for any retailer. “If they are taken care properly, a customer will enjoy the smooth omnichannel shopping experience and will most likely return to purchase more. Forward-thinking laws and regulations, more tight cooperation between businesses, experience exchange are some of the factors that can help the industry grow faster and

COVER STORY // OMNICHANNEL RETAILING

Atul Joshi, Jumbo Group

“The retail sector over the next few years will definitely witness more technological innovation. Brick and mortar stores will experiment with technology to offer unique customer experiences – and the online space will get more competitive with many online retailers vying for a share of the pie.” offer a customer an advanced and smooth experience.” However, there are a number of challenges that exist for regional retailers. “Rising costs, changing consumer habits, increased operating expenses add greater pressure on businesses. Keeping pace with the trends towards ever smaller lot sizes and delivery quantities as well as ever faster availability and shorter product life cycles requires systems that are highly effective and flexible,” explains Kaddoum. Although most retail businesses understand that, not many are willing to make the investments required. Reports show that many firms are hesitant to use latest technologies in their business operations as they assume it is too expensive. “This is one of the biggest challenges present on this market,” Kaddoum adds. “For example, in our sector errors and delays in order fulfilment can have a lasting negative impact on a brand. Add to that rising costs, changing consumer habits, the trend towards customisation that requires additional resources, and competition pressure – these are just

Michele Iozzo, Criteo

“The need for a sound omnichannel strategy in the GCC is much higher than anywhere else because of the mall culture and the smartphone penetration rates, which are among the highest in the world.”

few factors that present new challenges for businesses these days.” However, businesses that are not going to implement any changes to the way they operate risk being left behind and the cost of inaction in this case can easily exceed the price of a modernisation project, he adds. Michele Iozzo, managing director, Middle East and Africa, Criteo, says, “The need for a sound omnichannel strategy in the GCC is much higher than anywhere else because of the mall culture and the smartphone penetration rates, which are among the highest in the world. Therefore, innovative approaches towards ‘addressing your offline customers online’ are a necessity. Criteo is currently enabling retailers to do this by using offline CRM information for digital campaigns.” Going forward, Iozza expects there will be more competition from offline retailers increasing their digital presence and vice versa, even more demanding users and a higher need for customercentric approaches by leveraging data. Joshi adds, “The retail sector over the next few years will definitely witness more technological innovation. Brick and mortar stores will experiment with technology to offer unique customer experiences – and the online space will get more competitive with many online retailers vying for a share of the pie. Amidst all this, we expect that the customer will have far more choice and a seamless retail experience.” “Powerhouses such as Souq and Noon, the excess of physical shopping destinations as well as the rise of cross-border offerings will increase the pressure on retailers. They will be left with no choice but to accelerate the development of their digital capabilities through acquisitions, rationalisation and organisational transformations,” adds Paraiso. “The good news is that once the basics are in place, there are many ways retailers can leapfrog their omnichannel value proposition, for example by integrating innovative MarTech solutions or by adapting locally successful concepts.” Regional retailers should look at capitalising on omnichannel opportunities and look at ways to connect with the digital consumer across any platform, in order to grow their business.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // APRIL 2018

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FEATURE // DEVELOPING NICHE SECURITY CAPABILITIES

SECURE GOALS With security breaches on the rise, businesses are realising the importance of securing their operations and why it must be interwoven in all technologies right from the first step of implementation. Reseller ME explores how partners can develop their security capabilities to optimise the opportunities present. 26

APRIL 2018 // Reseller Middle East // www.tahawultech.com

rganisations in the region are faced with mounting risks to potential attacks as adversaries increasingly become more sophisticated and use advanced methods to break into a firm’s networks. Partners need to sharpen their skillset and constantly develop their capabilities in order to be the trusted advisors that customers are seeking. Osama AlHaj-Issa, channel director, MEMA, Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, believes security is still one of the least crowded areas within the channel. Partners who take the lead and invest in being ready to serve customers’ security needs will certainly be selling into a less competitive area as compared to traditional systems integration within networking or other IT fields. “However,” he says, “it is impossible to be a security expert across all the various disciplines, so it’s important for partners to do their market research, find out about the latest security concerns and market trends and then specialise in a particular technology area that customers struggle with.”

Chris Wiese, Credence Security

SECURITY TECHNOLOGIES PARTNERS MUST INVEST IN “The new reality is that businesses need to shift their mind-set from breach prevention to breach acceptance and focus more on securing the breach by protecting the data itself. Data encryption, stronger user access controls, and multi-factor authentication are therefore key to a robust security strategy that partners must invest in.” SEBASTIEN PAVIE, ENTERPRISE AND CYBERSECURITY DIRECTOR, META, GEMALTO

“In 2018, partners need to shift their business model to include predictive security, including early detection and prevention with deep learning technology, plus anti-ransomware capabilities .MSPs and MSSPs are moving towards SaaS models that include next-gen security so they can fill the gap for mid-market customers who don’t have the resources to fight these emerging and persistent complex threats.” HARISH CHIB, VICE PRESIDENT, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA, SOPHOS

“Partners should look to invest in solutions that leverage analytics to pinpoint the most critical threats and prioritise patching based on risk calculations. When identifying the right tool, ease of deployment and use, scalability and customisability are some of the most important features for resellers to consider. Partners should ensure that their customers are on track to adopting a security strategy that is preventative as opposed to reactive.” HADI JAAFARAWI, MANAGING DIRECTOR, QUALYS, MIDDLE EAST

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // APRIL 2018

FEATURE // DEVELOPING NICHE SECURITY CAPABILITIES

He further explains that specialisation is the guarantee of delivering the correct solution and keeping it well maintained so customers are satisfied and go back to partners for repeat business. Shadi Salama, channel lead, East Region, Cisco Middle East, says, “Trust will be one of the biggest challenges companies face this year. With security debacle after security debacle last year, individuals and organisations will be on edge and wary. Partners must work with their clients to establish and communicate airtight security in an increasingly dynamic business and IT environment.” “This will help them develop long-terms relationships with customers, which they can later expand on with other less critical services.” “Partners need to invest in people, specifically having a strong technical offering,” says Ian Jones, divisional director, Westcon Security. “This is always going to be an advantage in a market that still has a massive shortage of skilled Network Security Engineers.” He adds that there is no real substitute for experience; however, today the market is in an interesting dynamic where there is a severe shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals with years of experience. “As partners skill up their workforce, they must work with vendors and distributors to help educate the sales, technical and marketing teams.” While specific skills on particular technologies are important, Jones believes having a skillset in partner’s organisation that can understand and visualise the current network security infrastructure combined with understand what the enterprise is trying to achieve when deploying security solutions, is also critical. “Having the ability to understand the network end-toend and then recommend the correct solution that will tie all

Ian Jones, Westcon Security

“Partners need to invest in people, specifically having a strong technical offering,”

Zacky Vaz, Fortinet

“Vendors and partners need to collaborate to provide regular training programmes and ensure that partners are certified before they sell solutions.”

APRIL 2018 // Reseller Middle East // www.tahawultech.com

the subsystems together and ensure they work as a collective defence mechanism able to detect and mitigate any attack vector is vital.” According to Salama, the best opportunities for partners and solution providers are not always tied to a single product but rather to a broader strategy or overarching vision that integrates a suite of solutions together. “With such a vision, partners are armed with both a strong product and also a strategic vision from a vendor that will allow them to consult. In turn, this will help them grow their businesses – meaning more and better margins,” he adds. Partners need to also be selective when it comes to choosing the vendors they work with. With a host of vendors available in the security market, partners need to analyse, which firms offer the best technologies and if it suits their overall business objective. Chris Wiese, regional channel manager, Credence Security, says,

“When picking which vendors to work with, in addition to ensuring that they have the right technology, part of the decision for partners should be based on how these vendors and distributors can support them in their on-boarding and provide them with the necessary technical training and enablement, sales and marketing tools, NFR’s Demo Labs and general support to build customer trust and accelerate customer buying behaviour.” Agreeing Zacky Vaz, regional channel manager, Fortinet, says, “Vendors and partners need to collaborate to provide regular training programmes and ensure that partners are certified before they sell solutions. It is important that partners receive the necessary support in terms of marketing and financial and technical assistance to sell successfully.” Vendors who provide training should be a top priority for partners especially with the acute skills shortage in this sector.

“Close vendor partnerships will ensure that partners are armed with the knowledge required to take their security solutions to market and educate customers about the importance of cybersecurity and more specifically, cyber resilience,” says Jason Roos, channel and alliances director, Mimecast, Africa and Middle East. He emphasises that vendors and distributors need to provide the relevant educational tools, sales enablement and marketing support needed to deliver security services to partners’ customers. “They should be equipped with the right training and information needed to deliver value to the customer in the pre-sales, sales and support steps of the journey.” Partners who are keen to learn and grow their business should zero in on one aspect of cybersecurity to become true experts in that area. Only focused partners who are conscious of developing their talent pool can be successful in the security space.

Shadi Salama, Cisco Middle East

“Partners must work with their clients to establish and communicate air-tight security in an increasingly dynamic business and IT environment.”

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // APRIL 2018

FEATURE // PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

WIN WITH PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Professional services offer partners additional revenue streams to differentiate in a competitive business environment. Experts reveal how the channel can go about building a robust services offering.

APRIL 2018 // Reseller Middle East // www.tahawultech.com

FEATURE // PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

ervices can help augment a channel partner’s business and improve margins. As regional governments are increasingly focusing on digitalisation and smart initiatives, partners have an even bigger opportunity with services. A Gartner report predicts IT spending in the Middle East to reach $155 billion in 2018. Fouad Khoury, services sales manager, Westcon ME, says, “Governments in the region and especially in UAE have laid down markers for increased spending on IT services, including Smart Dubai’s announcement to rid the emirate’s government of paper-based processes in 2021, along with embracing technologies and processes such as cloud, business intelligence, analytics, customer relationship management, digital business and marketing, blockchain and AI are contributing to fuel digital transformation. Many organisations will be tempted to follow their lead hence increasing the demand on the IT services.” Hesham El Komy, senior director, international channel, Epicor Software, says that the services market in the region is large, with many new opportunities arising frequently due to the constant changes in regional dynamics. “From standard consultancy, implementation services, and project management to developing extended

solutions and major transformation projects – it is all here and available for the partners that have the right teams in place,” he adds. Professional services enable partners to differentiate from competition and provide customised offering for customers. Nisith Naik, CEO, Centra Hub, says, “It is essential that service providers showcase their USPs and skillsets in order to win opportunities and deliver unique experiences to their clientele.” He explains that factors that are essential to achieving this include a deep understanding of the client business vertical and processes, the client business vocabulary, the nuances to the specific industry, access to recommended practices and best practices, and a strong regional understanding to further localise the solution delivery for the specific geography of the client. He adds, “Partners need to have access to the right sets of solutions and tools in order to make their unified solution deliverable a reality. Finally, the core skillsets of certified and trained resources further bolster confidence of clients in acquiring services from those partners.” Apart from that, vendor products also play a key role in adding value to boosting competitive advantages of partners. “For example, some solutions are rather technical in nature and require programming, coding and very specific skill sets in order to deliver the solution to the clients. This can be both costly, in terms of resource cost, and time consuming, which adds to cost as well as increases delivery risk,” adds Naik. “Products from the vendor base, which require strong functional skillsets but are easy and quick to implement, customise, deploy and train; reduce overall project timelines, boost profitability, reduce risk and bring down overall project cost for clients.” Khoury adds, “Resellers in the market in order to have a competitive edge over others are growing their capabilities of providing professional services to their customers. Partners having end-to-end solutions and are more likely to win more deals with big accounts looking for a centric partner to rely on to purchase products and get their consultancy, implementation, support, and training services.”

Fouad Khoury, Westcon ME

“Governments in the region and especially in UAE have laid down markers for increased spending on IT services, including Smart Dubai’s announcement to rid the emirate’s government of paper-based processes in 2021, along with embracing technologies and processes such as cloud, business intelligence, analytics, customer relationship management, digital business and marketing, blockchain and AI are contributing to fuel digital transformation.”

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // APRIL 2018

FEATURE // PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

Hesham El Komy, Epicor Software

“From standard consultancy, implementation services, and project management to developing extended solutions and major transformation projects – it is all here and available for the partners that have the right teams in place.”

Experts believe the professional services opportunity is vast for regional partners. As organisations increasingly realise that running a full-fledge IT department is expensive and is difficult to recruit right professionals, partners have an opportunity to take advantage of managed IT. “By having IT related functions outsourced to IT managed service provider, the companies will reduce cost, reduce IT related risks, and have a better data security implementation and compliance to data security standards,” Khoury says. According to El Komy, partners with strong professional services functions or teams have the advantage of taking a consultancy-led approach to sales – “in essence they have the ability to become true trusted advisors to enterprises.” He adds, “When executed well, both the customer and the partner benefit from a long-lasting relationship and increased efficiencies. Once this relationship is established, word of mouth travels very fast in this region and gives the partner, arguably, the greatest competitive advantage there is.” However, this is only possible once partners expand their knowledge in the specific areas of the clients’ operations. “This way they can really understand the business challenges. In parallel, their education strategy on vendor products and solutions should be solid so that

APRIL 2018 // Reseller Middle East // www.tahawultech.com

Nisith Naik, Centra Hub

“It is essential that service providers showcase their USPs and skillsets in order to win opportunities and deliver unique experiences to their clientele.”

their team members are well equipped to unlock the solutions’ potential and help the clients meet their business requirements.” Agreeing Naik says, “Partners need to ensure that their resources are certified and bring with them the right functional skillsets, which understand client ecosystems. They should partner with products and platforms that are simple to deploy and implement, which reduce their overall costs and risks towards project delivery. Partners will then be able to boost their ratios of successful project deployment numbers, which in turn results in them being able to bring on more opportunities into their win column of the pipeline.” Partners need to constantly update themselves and develop relevant expertise to be able to provide competent services. They need to understand customers’ business thoroughly so that they can customise their services in the most appropriate way and look at growing their own operations profitably.

PARTNER WATCH // ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS

Harnessing value

Pouya Parsafar, CEO, Enterprise Systems, aims to expand the business across the GCC markets and focus on emerging technologies.

he regional IT space has seen the emergence of several value-added distribution firms over the past few years, as customers are increasingly looking for solutions-focused outcomes. Identifying that there was a gap in the market when it came to true value-added models for young brands in the region, CEO Pouya Parsafar founded Enterprise Systems five years ago. He says, “Enterprise Systems was set up as a true value-added distribution business in this region. We started our portfolio with brands that were new to the market and offered our partners business development and technical support.” According to the CEO, partners are comfortable with well-known global brands but may not have the necessary know-how to implement a niche vendor’s solutions or carry out related technical support for customers. “This can inhibit the sales, which will in turn deter the brand’s scalability,” explains Parsafar. “Therefore, we support partners with technical and support services for these brands so that the chances of take-up, sales and scalability are much higher and quicker.”

“As the market gets tougher, we need to get smarter and work closer with our partners. We need to ensure we are delivering the right message to all our stakeholders.” With close to 30 employees, Enterprise Systems has developed a comprehensive technical team that supports its brands end-to-end. The distributor has also recently launched its Training Academy this year. “Our Training Academy supports partners’ technical teams to be able to negotiate new projects for specific vendors. We enable them to deliver and support these projects moving forward.” Despite the regional market being tough over the last few years, Enterprise Systems grew its UAE business by 25 percent. According to Parsafar,

challenges such as collection and maintaining a healthy cash flow, continue to persist in the market. “As the market gets tougher, we need to get smarter and work closer with our partners. We need to ensure we are delivering the right message to all our stakeholders. We always see if our products produce value for end-users through our channel partners. Do they save money and are we able to create revenues for them?” He explains that the company’s success factor has been ensuring valueadd to customers through partners. Parsafar says that although the company is a start-up, it has won large installation projects across hospitality, healthcare and government verticals. Growing on an average of 30 percent year-on-year, the firm’s objective is to expand across the GCC market and focus on technologies such as data centres, cloud solutions and Internet of Things during this year. “We want to make ourselves even stronger in terms of our technical capabilities and commercial business development skills. We will continue to be transparent with our channel partners and offer full support for their businesses,” Parsafar adds.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // APRIL 2018

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PARTNER WATCH // INFINITY DATA SYSTEMS

Scaling up Established in 2016, Infinity Data Systems, aims to expand its portfolio and invest significantly in enhancing internal resources over the course of this year. CEO Parvez Ahmed (PA) and general manager Nisar Ahamed Olakara (NO) elaborate on plans and growth strategies. Can you give an overview of your operations? PA: Infinity Data is a UAE-based systems integrator that caters to clients in key verticals such as education, hospitality, government and corporate. The company offers a broad range of solutions that include but are not limited to networking, data centre solutions, security, ELV systems, audio video, IP telephony, cloud and managed services. Infinity Data takes a consultative approach towards its client’s requirements and provides a personalised solution that can enable customers to extend and optimise the lifetime value of their ICT investments. Can you briefly outline your company’s highlights over the last year? PA: In the last year, we have witnessed significant growth in our customer portfolio as we have acquired prestigious clients in both the education and hospitality sector. As for vendor tie-ups, we have successfully upgraded our partnership levels with Huawei, HP, Veeam, VMware and Microsoft. In terms of revenues and profitability, we have witness steady growth, which has enabled us to expand our core team in order to provide a more efficient and personal service to our customers. What are the major integration trends enterprises should focus on? NO: Looking ahead, one of the major trends enterprises must consider is intent-based networking systems (IBNS), which simply is a piece of networking software that helps to design, plan and

Parvez Ahmed

operate networks that can improve network availability and agility. Both aspects play a crucial role in an organisation’s transition towards digital business. Which emerging technologies will have a major impact on enterprise IT over the next few months? NO: We can expect an increase in importance of API (Application Programmable Interfaces) whose connections shall form digital products and business models and thus create new business channels. Moreover, we shall see Internet of Things (IoT) evolve from data ingestion and analytics to an intelligent event driven solutions for end users. We can also expect cloud to replace almost all infrastructure in the near future due to operation easiness and resource utilisation. Enterprises are looking to reduce cost and optimise resources, how can Infinity Data Systems help? PA: Besides processes like virtualisation which reduce IT expenses and boost efficiency and agility, our AMC and Resource Outsourcing services are perfect examples of how firms can reduce their capital expenditure and also be able to properly manage their IT investments. Our highly talented and experienced support professionals shall ensure a trustworthy IT platform where organisation can focus on their main business objective. Many SIs are transforming into a solutions provider. Do you provide new expertise and solutions to accelerate digital transformations? NO: Since our inception, Infinity Data has sought to be an active and major

Nisar Olakara

contributor to organisation’s drive towards digital transformation. We believe our blend of offerings ranging from traditional enterprise ICT and infrastructure solutions to the more emerging IBNS, IoT and cloud, has enabled us to provide a more holistic and unique approach to achieving digital transformation. Can you elaborate on your company’s growth strategy? PA: Over the next couple of months, Infinity Data’s growth strategy is threefold. First, we will ensure our current client base is satisfied with our services. Thereby enabling us to further serve their needs. Second, we will aim to expand our product basket by engaging in more vendor tie-ups. A broad product portfolio shall allow us to attract a wider range of customers. Finally, we will be investing in training and development of our team who will then be better equipped in understanding and designing solutions for current and potential customers.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // APRIL 2018

PARTNER WATCH // BULWARK

Bolstering cybersecurity Jose Menacherry, managing director, Bulwark Distribution on how customers should consider safeguarding from cybersecurity threats as a “continuous battle”.

t its inaugural participation at Infosecurity Middle East in Abu Dhabi, regional distributor Bulwark is demonstrating how adversaries can enter an organisation stealthily through email attacks, APTs and other sophisticated means. Jose Menacherry, managing director, Bulwark Distribution, says, “Organisations need to accept that protecting their operations from data breaches and other cybersecurity threats is a continuous battle. End-users need to constantly be on top of emerging security trends and keep themselves updated to try to be one step ahead.” Menacherry believes CIOs are already treating the lack of effective security solutions as a business problem rather than a technology one. “Although the current market is sluggish, we have seen a significant

“Strategise which data is considered as business assets and then implement relevant solutions to protect it.” appetite for security solutions over regular IT infrastructure projects.” He says one of the first steps to be taken is to identify which part of the network and what sort of data of a business needs to be protected. “Strategise which data is considered as business assets and then implement relevant solutions to protect it.” Understanding that it is not possible for businesses to overhaul existing systems every few years, Bulwark’s

APRIL 2018 // Reseller Middle East // www.tahawultech.com

solutions can be complemented with current infrastructures. The company is focusing on security solutions from global players such as Sophos, Mimecast and iStorage at the show. “We are showcasing our entire data security portfolio including solutions around APTs, email security, UTMs, endpoints, encrypted data storage and privilege identity management,” he adds. Over the course of 2018, the firm will continue its focus on all GCC countries with onsite resources and work through security focused integrators in Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon. “We are bringing innovative solutions into the region to counter sophisticated attacks and address cybersecurity issues effectively. We work through partners and train them so that they can be better positioned with their customers,” Menacherry says.

PARTNER WATCH // NUVIAS DISTRIBUTION

Arming the weakest link

Alasdair Kilgour, vice president Middle East and Africa, Nuvias, reiterates how employees are the weakest link in an organisation’s security strategy.

alue-added distributor Nuvias is seeing the region develop skills at protecting itself as businesses are increasingly becoming more aware of the security steps needed to be taken. At Infosecurity Middle East, which took place in Abu Dhabi, the distributor highlighted key security threat factors along with its strategic partner Juniper Networks. According to Alasdair Kilgour, vice president Middle East and Africa, Nuvias, one of the areas where organisations are investing more time on is the post-breach detection phase. This is because businesses understand that they need to protect their operations and the next step is to ensure they are protected from the breaches that they have experienced. He adds, “Employees are one of the weakest links in security for all organisations. This is because adversaries prey on the fact that an employee can inadvertently trigger an attack from within a company.” Kilgour suggests that businesses need to invest in educating employees on how they could accidently allow a security attack to take place. “This is quite a difficult task as there are several dangers on a day-to-day basis. Also, it will be challenging to keep track of all the employees of an organisation.” However, he adds that employee awareness and tools to help them behave in a particular manner will go a long way to avoid being victims of a security or data breach.

“Employees are one of the weakest links in security for all organisations. This is because adversaries prey on the fact that an employee can inadvertently trigger an attack from within a company.”

As a pan-EMEA distributor for Juniper Networks, the company is building the relationship across the region. Kilgour says, “Our main priority is to help advance our relationship with Juniper and increase the market awareness of the firm from a security perspective. We are looking to play a role in partner accreditation programme that can help accelerate partners’ investment in the Juniper franchise.” The distributor offers partners a host of marketing support and resources throughout the year. “We make sure to enable our channel on all fronts. We are launching a new programme called Nuvias Rapid Acceleration Programme (NuRAP) for Juniper partners. Juniper is an important partner and we are invested in them. As its value-add distributor, our primary focus is to continuously enable our partners on their offerings.” The distributor has launched an advanced networking, cybersecurity and recently a unified communication practice. Over the course of this year, we will see the distributor bring its existing vendors from other markets into the region. “It is very much in harmony with our overall strategy. As part of the value proposition to our vendors, we consistently deliver across whole of EMEA as one organisation,” Kilgour adds. Operating across most verticals, Kilgour tells the market to “watch out” for the distributor. He adds, “We are rapidly expanding across the region. We have just opened in Southern Africa and there are further expansion plans across the region.”

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // APRIL 2018

PARTNER WATCH // STARLINK

Partnering for innovation

Avinash Advani, SVP Strategic Alliances and Sales, North America and Europe, StarLink, encourages partners to take advantage of the opportunities in securing the hybrid enterprise.

t regional value-added distributor StarLink’s annual partner event, the firm urged its channel community to take advantage of its latest offerings and capitalise on opportunities around securing the hybrid enterprise. Themed as ‘Partnering for Innovation’, the event saw the unveiling of the distributor’s StarLink Training Academy and E-marketplace, aimed at born in the cloud and MSP partners. Avinash Advani, SVP Strategic Alliances and Sales, North America and Europe, StarLink, says, “While we have always offered training, we have now launched it formally and turned it into a full-fledged training academy. Anyone who wants to buy cloud licenses from our vendors who provide those capabilities can now do so directly using our online cloud marketplace.” Advani adds that even though several other regional distributors have already unveiled their cloud marketplace a while ago, StarLink believes the time is right now. “It is all about timing. We believe the readiness of the market to use a platform like that is now. We are now seeing partners in this part of the world jumping on board to MSP and cloud technologies. We wanted to launch the marketplace when the market was ready. There is no point in having a system that is sitting there with the capabilities to buy technologies, if it is never going to be used. Therefore, we decided to launch it when the market was more prime.” Attendees also got a chance to learn more about the firm’s recently announced Innovation Centre in Dubai. According to the firm, it was rightly timed to coincide with the commemoration of UAE’s national innovation strategy by the Government of UAE.

“Thinking along the premise of hybrid cloud is fundamental for a partner to take away and they should look at what kind of vendors can help in this environment.”

APRIL 2018 // Reseller Middle East // www.tahawultech.com

This facility is intended to serve the region with greater technology innovations through “unceasing research and development for artificial intelligence and machine learning”, according to the distributor. It will support partners to deliver better holistic IT security experience to their customers with an ever-evolving solutions architecture fabric. Partners also had an opportunity to hear about solutions offered by StarLink vendors directly and discover how they could position it more effectively with customers. “We have observed that the theme for majority of our vendors is now around securing the hybrid enterprise. Thinking along the premise of hybrid cloud is fundamental for a partner to take away and they should look at what kind of vendors can help in this environment,” adds Advani. “Other than that, we encourage our partners to exploit all the StarLink related initiatives we have announced.”

The Road to Digital Transformation

VENDOR FOCUS // ManageEngine

Quality matters

Regional sales director Nirmal Manoharan on what it takes to be a ManageEngine value-added partner.

017 has been a year of significant growth for enterprise IT management software provider ManageEngine. The company has worked with valueadded resellers to grow the business by 40 percent in the GCC. Nirmal Manoharan, regional director, Sales, ManageEngine, says, “We have also added new partners to the region. We are selective about the partners we work with and follow a ‘quality versus quantity’ approach. Two of our important longterm partners – Elitser for UAE and Alnafitha International for Information Technology for Saudi Arabia – have played a big role in our growth and are skilled in their respective markets.” Operating through a single-tier channel model, the company offers enablement initiatives, in-depth training and dedicated support for partners in security, cloud and other technologies key to an enterprise’s digital transformation journey. “We have several products that can be complex for our partners and therefore provide the adequate support on each of those offerings. Our new partners receive training and we hand-hold them for initial deals. Channel enablement is a continuous

“Keeping in line with our growth, we are looking for those value-added partners who have technical capabilities. We are staying away from the transactional partners and are seeking ones who are keen to have a long-term association with us.” process. It takes about a year for a partner to be completely proficient in about five of our products.” According to Manoharan, the company’s focus for the year is to add new partners in the single-tier model. “Keeping in line with our growth, we are looking for those valueadded partners who have technical capabilities. We are staying away from the transactional partners and are seeking ones who are keen to have a long-term association with us.” He adds that partners must have expertise in important technologies

APRIL 2018 // Reseller Middle East // www.tahawultech.com

around servers and security. The reason why partners should look at working with the firm can be summarised in one word – “Opportunities,” he says. “Our value proposition is strong. We have been growing at around 30 percent for the last several years. Although we have many customers, there are still many untapped opportunities especially in markets such as Saudi Arabia. Partners who work with us essentially have access to all these opportunities.” Manoharan explains that because the firm boasts a wide portfolio of products and solutions, partners also have huge services opportunities. Raj Sabhlok, president, ManageEngine, says, “We have always offered high margins for our partners. Many of our partners have been able to grow substantially over the years on the back of ManageEngine product lines. There is a bidirectional loyalty between us and our partners and vice versa.” Sabhlok adds that partners need to develop their technical skills and resources in specific categories of technologies. “Partners should also look at becoming skilled in new areas in addition to existing expertise. This will help them capture the growth.”

8TH MAY, 2018 JUMEIRAH EMIRATES TOWER, DUBAI

THEME: BOLLYWOOD GLAM Reseller Middle East’s Partner Excellence Awards has been the industry’s most prominent event over the last decade. In its ninth year, the Awards applauds the successes of the regional channel business, saluting the excellence and resilience of individual executives and firms. Raising the bar every year, the Partner Excellence Awards strives to create a memorable, actionpacked and entertaining evening to honour the crème de la crème of the channel business.

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REVIEW

SYNOLOGY DS418PLAY

RATING

NAS devices may seem too technical for the uninitiated but the Synology DiskStation DS418play makes it simple enough for just about anybody to use.

etwork Attached Storage devices, while increasingly becoming relevant, are simply not something most consumers think of when it comes to their tech needs. However, as our way of life become more digitised, our everyday data are taking up too much space amplifying the need for a reliable, affordable and userfriendly storage device. Enter a NAS – an economical storage device, which consumers can easily set up at home. Synology is among the forerunning NAS vendors. Among its latest offering is the Synology DiskStation DS418play, which offers flexibility within an easy to install and configure interface. The new DS418play is a 4-bay NAS device that is specifically designed for storing heavy multimedia data, especially high definition videos. The device does not ship with any hard drives, like most NAS type products, giving users the flexibility to fill it as they see fit depending on their storage needs. The DS418play measures at 166 x 199 x 223 mm with a standalone weight of 2.23kg, sans the drives. On the rear, the dual Gigabit Ethernet can be found right next to each other. It is not necessary to utilise both ports, but it gives users the ability to create a failback connection or aggregate the connection. The USB 3.0 port is also located at the back of the device, which can be used to add an external backup drive. There is a 4-pin power connector port as well. This latest entrant in Synology’s “play” series is equipped with Dual-Core CPU, which bursts up to 2.5GHz and offers 4k Ultra HD video trans-coding. It is equipped with 2GB of DDR3L RAM and could be easily upgraded to 6GB of DDR3L RAM to boosts overall performance. It’s easy to mount the drives on the DiskStation, just pop open the bays that you need and slide the drives into place. Installing a 3.5-inch drive doesn’t require any screws, and is quick and simple. But if you are

using a 2.5-inch drive you need to mount them with the included screws. Once it’s powered up, you can simply open your browser and go to http://find.synology.com to begin the DiskStation Manager software installation. The installation procedure is really simple matter of plugging everything in and firing up Synology’s web-based interface, which should kick into gear as long as your computer and the Synology DS418play are on the same local network. DS418play makes digital media management, and video streaming effortless. The DSM is definitely a big plus as it allows you sync your data down to the NAS directly from the cloud in a breeze. More than storage, the DS418play is also equipped with applications that can help you organise your files better. It has the Video Station, which lets you can organise personal digital video library with comprehensive media information, and watch 4K Ultra HD movies and films. The intuitive design of Photo Station allows you to effortlessly archive photos into customized categories and link them to your social networking websites within a few clicks. For audiophile, it has the Audio Station which comes with Internet radio and provides music playback via DLNA and AirPlay compliant devices. The NAS also allows you to access your data anytime, anywhere. It supports various mobile applications such as DS photo, DS audio and DS video among others, allowing users to remotely and seamlessly access their multimedia library even when on the go. Aside from the noisy fans, there’s little criticism to be said about the Synology DS418play. Whether you are an ultraHD multimedia enthusiast or a small business owner that needs a reliable storage device the DS418play could work very well for you.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // APRIL 2018

HOT PRODUCTS

MICROSOFT UNVEILS SURFACE LAPTOP IN UAE

Pure Storage launches AI-powered platform Architected by Pure Storage and NVIDIA, AIRI is purpose-built to enable data architects, scientists and business leaders to extend the power of the NVIDIA DGX-1 and operationalise AI-at-scale for every enterprise. With AIRI, cloud, enterprise and government organisations can accelerate timeto-insight and bring new, impactful innovations to humanity, faster. Engineered as a fully integrated software and hardware solution by Pure Storage and NVIDIA, AIRI shatters infrastructure complexities that hold organisations back from deploying AI-at-scale. AIRI is powered by Pure Storage FlashBlade, the industry’s first storage platform architected for modern analytics and AI, and four NVIDIA DGX-1 supercomputers, delivering four petaFLOPS of performance with NVIDIA Tesla V100 GPUs. These systems are interconnected with Arista 100GbE switches, supporting GPUDirect RDMA for maximum distributed training performance. AIRI is supported by the NVIDIA GPU Cloud deep learning stack and Pure Storage AIRI Scaling Toolkit, enabling data scientists to jumpstart their AI initiatives in hours, not weeks or months.

Microsoft has announced the general availability of the Surface Laptop across UAE. Powered by Windows 10, the Surface Laptop weighs in at 2.76lbs, measures 14.47mm at its thickest point and comes with a 7th-generation Intel Core processor and more battery power allowing 14.5 continuous hours of video playback. Memory options extend to 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD storage. With a 13.5-inch PixelSense Display and composed of edge-to-edge Corning Gorilla Glass 3, Surface laptop has the market’s thinnest LCD touch screen display, with 3.4m pixels, each colourcalibrated to give a vibrant, immersive canvas, according to the firm. And the Alcantara-coated keyboard with soft palm rest gives a new level of typing comfort during the school or a work day. The device comes in an array of colours and finishes including Platinum, Graphite Gold, Cobalt Blue and Burgundy. Microsoft has also brought its Surface Pro with LTE Advanced model to the UAE. Its CAT-9 modem delivers up to 12.5 hours

of battery life, and supports 20 LTE bands. Its cellular connectivity capabilities also mean that users no longer need to worry about public WiFi security issues, as they can strike up an Internet connection from wherever there is mobile signal. Beginning 15 March with prices starting at AED 4,199 for the Surface Laptop, and AED 4,507 for the Surface Pro LTE, both devices can be found at all major electronic retail stores and with commercial resellers across UAE.

FITBIT INTRODUCES FITBIT VERSA The new Fitbit Versa combines smartwatch capabilities with Fitbit’s advanced health and fitness features, as it aims to provide a one-stop-shop for consumers that need the best of both worlds. Its 24/7 heart rate tracking, onscreen workouts, and automatic sleep tracking settings are all integrated alongside smartwatch features like quick replies on Android, wallet-free payments and on-device music – all with over 4 days of battery life. It’s smaller than the previous Ionic model, and lighter too, with a design that is “slim, casual and comfortable enough to wear all day and night.” Key hardware characteristics have been retained from the Ionic, such as the three physical buttons, Fitbit’s PurePulse heart rate and SpO2 sensors around the back. It’s also water resistant up to 50 metres with swim tracking support.

APRIL 2018 // Reseller Middle East // www.tahawultech.com

Fitbit has opted to install health tracking options specifically for women in the Versa, which users can choose to opt in for. This data can be used by researchers for clinical health studies to help explore major health issues, and give female Fitbit users more specific guidance for their health.

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BLACKBERRY KEYONE BRONZE EDITION NOW AVAILABLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST TCL Communication has announced the availability of Bronze Edition of BlackBerry KEYone in the Middle East. The device offers dual-SIM compatibility at the cost of dropping the microSD card slot that was found on previous KEYone models. It is also equipped with 4GB of memory and 64GB of internal storage, and is packed with the same security, productivity and reliability features that have made the KEYone series a success in previous launches. The device also prides itself on

enabling fast battery charging for users, and is said to increase by 50 percent in 36 minutes. This new BlackBerry KEYone variant is available in a fresh color variation and is available for 2199 AED in the UAE and 2I99 SAR in Saudi Arabia.

BENQ PRESENTS E-SPORTS GAMERS MONITOR ZOWIE XL2740 BenQ has launched another addition to its premier range of sporting monitor for avid gamers. The ZOWIE XL2740 with a 27-inch PC monitor is the latest in firm’s gaming brand, ZOWIE. The monitor has a native 240hz refresh rate allowing the user to switch preferences. The 400:1 contrast ratio enlivens the visuals making game nights more life-like. Designed to address a gamer’s every requirement, its Dynamic Accuracy (DyAC) technology maintains the consistency and sharpness of the images during the most intense gaming actions, allowing for a smoother experience. Actions with vigorous screen movement, such as the spraying of weapons or high-speed motion games will benefit most from this. Functional and practical, it also comes with shields on either side to keep the gamer’s focus on the game. The LED backlit LCD monitor offers unmatched brightness and minimises any interference from light reflection with its specially designed frame. It allows the user to choose between 20 levels of Colour Vibrance to personalise the colour tone and define the grading as per their viewing preferences.

The Black eQualiser increases the visibility in dark scenes without overexposing the bright areas, allowing users to spot hard-to-see enemies in dark in-game locations. Plus, the monitor has an external S-switch device that allows the user to switch between saved games, different profiles and even access the monitor menu externally. The esports monitor ZOWIE XL2740 has several settings that can calibrate the screen to perfectly align with the needs of the game. The monitor will be available in the market at AED 2299.

TRANSCEND SHOWCASES NEW LINE OF 3D TLC NAND SOLID STATE DRIVES Transcend Information has released 2.5-inch and M.2 form factor industrial solid-state drives featuring 3D TLC NAND flash memory. 3D TLC NAND flash memory has performance that can rival Planar (2D) MLC NAND flash, but at a competitive price point. The new line of industrial SSDs also boast SLC caching, a RAID engine, low-density parity check (LDPC), and other features that make for a stable, long-lasting product ready for write-intensive industrial and embedded applications. This all-new series of SSDs uses high-quality 3D TLC NAND flash memory, said the firm. 3D NAND flash breaks through physical limitations on Planar NAND by stacking layers of memory cells to allow for greater capacities and performance. Compared to Planar NAND, 3D NAND is faster, more reliable, and delivers greater performance. Devices manufactured with 3D NAND are price competitive, making them an excellent choice for embedded systems. Transcend’s 3D TLC SSDs come packed with exclusive technologies for performance and protection, including SLC caching to greatly enhance write performance and product longevity; a RAID engine to increase stability and protect data; and low-density parity check (LDPC) code to automatically correct errors. The proprietary SSD Scope Pro software package is a user-friendly software suite that monitors device health, and helps embedded SSDs run more efficiently.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // APRIL 2018

Tech talk Reseller Middle East's Online Editor Adelle Geronimo shares her views on the current tech scene.

Adelle Geronimo, Online Editor, Technology Division

Facing facts

CMY

ver the last month, the Facebook data misuse scandal made headlines all over the world. The scandal involved a data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica, which exploited data from potentially 50 million Facebook users without their permission and used that information to influence voters during the 2016 US elections, according to the New York Times. The news shocked and angered individuals and even companies using the platform not only in the US but across the globe many of whom pledged to quit and delete Facebook. The social networking firmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chief Mark Zuckerberg has since apologised for what had transpired and pledged to tighten its data security and protocols. At a time when everyone has an online presence, the Facebook

scandal has drawn attention to a subject thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s increasingly becoming pertinent: data privacy. In the Middle East, where privacy is a top concern especially among the Arab population this is an extremely important issue. High profile security incidents such as these highlight that we are entering a new era of awareness when it comes to data privacy not just for everyday people but also for organisations who handle customer information. Consumer data protection can be complex and difficult to navigate, especially when almost every business is being driven by data. However, organisations today need to face the fact that protecting customer information is the responsibility of every business. Fallouts on the data leak and cybersecurity events that have made headlines during the recent past also

APRIL 2018 // Reseller Middle East // www.tahawultech.com

emphasise the need for organisations today to be proactive rather than reactive in taking action. The upcoming implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May 2018, will play a big role in helping organisations become more vigilant when handling data. The new law calls for great transparency ensuring that customer data is properly processed and does not leave the organisation inappropriately. The recent Facebook data leak scandal is definitely been eye-opening for many. It serves as a wake-up call for businesses today to understand the big responsibility they have in protecting customer data as well as ensuring data privacy. The stakes are high as seen with the financial losses and reputational damage suffered by Facebook. We can no longer view data privacy and data leak prevention as recommended â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it is required.