Reseller Middle East May 2018

ISSUE 257 | MAY 2018 www.tahawultech.com

EXAMINING CHANNEL FINANCING OPTIONS

RAJ SHANKAR MANAGING DIRECTOR, REDINGTON GULF

KEY TO SUCCESSFUL PARTNER PROGRAMME

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CONTENTS

ISSUE 257 // MAY 2018

COVER FEATURE

TOP 20 CHANNEL CHIEFS Reseller Middle East features top channel executives across partner organisations within the region.

HIGHLIGHTS

04

integration middleware can bridge the gap to the connected enterprise.

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

OPINION

18 DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: BE MIDDLE-A-WARE

Red Hat’s Erica Langhi elaborates on factors essential for successful digital transformation and how

PARTNER PROGRAMME

FEATURES

34 EXAMINING CHANNEL FINANCE OPTIONS

We analyse the existing channel financing options and how industry stakeholders can improve the current situation.

20

Reseller ME finds out what factors make a successful partner programme.

VENDOR FOCUS

41

38 KEYS TO EFFECTIVE

THE CLOUD PROMISE Asif Khan from Unify, shares details about the firm’s recently launched cloud services platform in the UAE.

PARTNER WATCH

HOT PRODUCTS

45

MICROSOFT LAUNCHES SURFACE BOOK 2

46

HONOR ANNOUNCES HONOR 7C AND HONOR 7A

42 PRIMED FOR SUCCESS

Narendra Talreja from SoftwareONE, on the firm’s growth drivers and investments for the region.

APPLE UNVEILS IPHONE 8 AND 8 PLUS RED EDITIONS

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

1

EDITORIAL Going the extra mile

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Janees Reghelini Editor

E-mail: janees.reghelini@ cpimediagroup.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/ TahawulTech Twitter: @TahawulTech

FOUNDER, CPI MEDIA GROUP Dominic De Sousa (1959-2015) Publishing Director Natasha Pendleton natasha.pendleton@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9139 Published by

e are ready and excited to host Reseller Middle East’s ninth Partner Excellence Awards this month at Jumeirah Emirates Towers, Dubai. For almost a decade, we have been going all out to celebrate the IT channel industry’s triumphs and our aim is to continue raising the bar each year.

From the call for nominations to designing all related microsites and collaterals, we have placed our best efforts throughout the planning and implementation processes as it is one of our biggest events for the year. More than that, we always strive to ensure that the participants feel our deep appreciation for everything that they do to progress the channel industry.

While every part of the process is important, I like to take this opportunity

EDITORIAL Managing Editor Michael Jabri-Pickett mjp@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9158

ADVERTISING Group Sales Director Kausar Syed kausar.syed@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9130

Editor Janees Reghelini janees.reghelini@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9167

Business Development Manager Youssef Hariz youssef.hariz@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9111

Online Editor Adelle Geronimo adelle.geronimo@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9135

Registered at Dubai Production City, DCCA PO Box 13700 Dubai, UAE

DESIGN Head of Design Froilan Cosgafa IV froilan.cosgafa@cpimediagroup.com

Tel: +971 4 440 9100 Fax: +971 4 447 2409

Senior Designer Analou Balbero analou.balbero@cpimediagroup.com

© Copyright 2018 CPI All rights reserved While the publishers have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein.

to especially thank the judges for this year’s Awards. Going through hundreds of nominations in a limited time frame is no laughing matter and definitely not everyone’s cup of tea.

We truly understand the hours that go into it and appreciate the time taken and efforts put. A huge thanks to our esteemed panel this year – Nehul Goradia, Philip Hughes and Sudhir Nair.

As an Awards-issue special, we have featured top channel chiefs of the industry in this edition - the who’s who of regional distribution and systems integration firms. We hope the feature will help you get to know these individuals beyond just the names you all are familiar with. These IT leaders have stood tall even during difficult market conditions and led their firms to continued success year after year.

Designer Marlou Delaben marlou.delaben@cpimediagroup.com

Senior Sales Manager Sabita Miranda sabita.miranda@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9128

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

Sales Manager Nasir Bazaz nasir.bazaz@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9147 CIRCULATION Operations Manager Shweta Santosh shweta.santosh@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9107

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

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HIGHLIGHTS

Redington Value signs new vendor partnerships

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edington Value has signed a Middle East and Africa distribution agreement with PTC, a renowned global Internet of Things (IoT) solutions provider.

According to the terms of the agreement, Redington will enable its extensive partner network to deliver PTC solutions to enterprise customers in the region.

“Redington’s ecosystem of partners can capitalise on PTC’s promise of physical digital convergence today and drive the future of innovation,” said Georges Millet, EMEA Channel Sales Vice President at PTC. “Combining the world-class

components of offering to its partners ThingWorx with across the Middle East.

Redington’s knowledge “We are excited to and network of partners work with Imperva as will offer IoT innovation this crucial relationship and adoption to helps us to expand and customers within MEA.” develop our security The distributor has offerings. Through this also signed a distribution relationship, our in-region agreement with Imperva, partners have access to a cybersecurity leader the winning combination that delivers solutions of Imperva’s best-in-class to protect data and security portfolio and our Ramkumar Balakrishnan, applications in the cloud outstanding services, Redington Value and on-premises. training and sales The distributor will support capabilities,” offer Imperva solutions including web said Ramkumar Balakrishnan, president, application firewall and DDoS protection Redington Gulf, Value Distribution.

Ingram Micro to bring “human-centric security” solutions to the Middle East

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ngram Micro has announced attacks are becoming increasingly more it has signed a distribution complex and sophisticated. With the agreement with global Cyber Forcepoint agreement, we are reaching Security leader, Forcepoint. the front runner position as a value-added With this agreement, distributor of cybersecurity solutions,” Ingram Micro is authorised to distribute said Marc Kassis, director, Cyber Security the complete Forcepoint offering in 23 in Ingram Micro META Region. countries across the MEA (Middle East Forcepoint offers human-centric and Africa) region, including Afghanistan, security capabilities delivered through Algeria, Bahrain, Cameroon, Egypt, cloud, network and risk-adaptive security Gabon, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kuwait, solutions that empower enterprises Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Malta, Morocco, and government agencies to accelerate Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, their digital transformation and lower Senegal, Tunisia, the risk. Forcepoint is United Arab Emirates and taking a new approach Yemen. that emphasises “Ingram Micro has understanding human started a two-year Cyber behaviour and user Security initiative based interaction with critical on people, processes data over networks of and technology, and different trust levels. we are very pleased to Mahmoud-Samy partner with Forcepoint Ibrahim, area vice to help drive this vision president for the forward. Forcepoint’s Emerging Region at human-centric approach Forcepoint, said, “We fits perfectly into our believe companies Marc Kassis, strategy—especially at must shift their focus to Ingram Micro META a time when security understanding behaviour,

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

and dynamically adapting to risk in realtime. We call this risk-adaptive protection.

With risk-adaptive protection, policies can be continuously and uniquely applied to the individual, not just broad groups of users within the organisation thereby lowering risk while still enabling people to get their jobs done.”

CYBERSECURITY BREACH ON GULF-BASED COMPANIES INCREASED FROM

28% TO 41%

IN TWO YEARS Source: GBM Annual Cybersecurity Study

HIGHLIGHTS

StarLink to spotlight innovations on securing hybrid enterprises

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transformation taking tarLink will centre stage, it is inevitable visit nine that organisations will countries in need to adopt innovative, the META integrated solutions to region for its safeguard data spread Annual IT Security across systems, apps, Roadshow. devices and the cloud.

The event, which is Hence the event theme being held for the 8th ‘Securing the Hybrid consecutive year, will Enterprise through revolve around “Securing Innovation’ is very timely the Hybrid Enterprise Nidal Othman, StarLink and we are excited to through Innovation.” support our customers StarLink will take the in their endeavor to build a secure roadshow to major areas including hybrid enterprise”.

Oman, Egypt, KSA, Bahrain, Kuwait, This year, StarLink hosts 11 key Qatar, UAE, Turkey and South Africa, in vendors – Infoblox, FireEye, Gemalto, sequence, starting from 9th April to 10th ForeScout, Citrix, FireMon, LogRhythm, May 2018.

Lookout, Symantec, Centrify and Nidal Othman, managing LinkShadow. director, StarLink, said, “With digital

Bulwark partners with 42Gears Mobility Systems

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mobility challenges. pecialised ‘’We are happy to valueintroduce 42Gears added to complement our distributor existing product Bulwark portfolio specialising has announced that it in the Information has partnered with Security domain.

42Gears Mobility With this solution, Systems, a global the companies will Unified Endpoint have full control of Management software Jose Thomas Menacherry, business applications provider. Bulwark will Bulwark Technologies and data being distribute 42Gear’s full accessed through portfolio of endpoint mobile devices, as per their security management solutions to customers in policies and third-party compliance the Middle East region. requirements. With a highly trained 42Gears offers SaaS and onand competitive team of sales, premise solutions to secure, monitor marketing and technical experts and manage all business endpoints such as tablets, phones, desktops and we aspire to deliver fast, consistent and value-added services to our wearables. 42Gears products support customers in the region,” said Jose company-owned as well as employeeThomas Menacherry, CEO, Bulwark owned devices built on Android, Distribution. iOS, Windows, Linux and ChromeOS Abhay Koranne, senior vice platforms. Organisations can remotely president, 42Gears Mobility Systems, manage and support their digital said, “We are happy to partner with infrastructure, secure company data Bulwark and utilise their expertise and control access to company in IT sales and support. Together resources. The company has also we will be able to deliver a complete made tremendous strides to support and comprehensive value-added IoT management and has leveraged proposition to customers.”

Artificial Intelligence to address

Citrix streamlines partner programme incentives

Taj El-Khayat, Citrix MENA

C

itrix has announced an overhaul of its existing channel programme and introduced Citrix Ultimate Rewards. The programme is designed to make Citrix a better partner by simplifying the process and streamlining the incentives.

The initiative is closely aligned with the company’s goal of helping customers make the strategic transition to cloud and is currently being rolled out in the region by recently appointed Taj El-Khayat, regional director, Citrix Middle East and North Africa.

By consolidating incentives, increasing automation, and adding tracking capability throughout the process, Citrix Ultimate Rewards gives partners more time to work together with customers. It increases transparency and consistency of processes and decisions and through artificial intelligence, can approve requests without human interference.

Currently, partners often answer more than 30 questions before getting a deal registered, however the new system only requires nine questions for simple registration. While the number of automatic approvals is expected to be conservative at launch, as the AI improves, Citrix will commit to expanding the thresholds until most of the registrations are approved or rejected automatically.

“I’m excited to bring the Citrix Ultimate Rewards, to the region. We believe this cohesive programme is a major milestone in our long history of being a channel centric organisation. Partners will benefit from less complexity, so they can focus on delivering world-class customer experiences, ultimately making for a win-win situation where both parties grow and profit together,” said ElKhayat.

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

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HIGHLIGHTS

Redington Gulf introduces new Microsoft Surface portfolio to partners

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edington Gulf has launched the latest edition of Microsoft Surface – the Surface Laptop – for its channel partners during an exclusive event held in Dubai recently.

Along with a demonstration of the device, which is now available for distribution in the UAE, Redington Gulf has also provided latest business updates for Microsoft Surface Pro with LTE Advanced and Surface Book 2 to its

partners at the event.

Redington Gulf had launched the new line-up of Microsoft Surface products in several GCC countries including Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain earlier this month in similar events. The Surface Laptop with Windows 10 Pro and Surface Pro with LTE for commercial customers is aesthetically designed and combines strength and functionality to create a thin and lightweight model to assist users in a vast range of functions, said the firm. The laptop comes with 14.5 hour-long battery life, 13.5-inch PixelSense touchscreen Display, OmniSonic speakers, best-inclass keyboard and a trackpad shielded in Alcantara material.

The other products within the Microsoft Surface family include Microsoft Surface Book 2 and Microsoft Surface Pro with LTE Advanced.

Aloysius Fernandes, president, Redington Gulf, said, “We constantly focus on equipping our channel partners

with best in class products and the right set of skills and capabilities to support them as they help companies in the region transform into modern workplaces.

The new portfolio of Microsoft Surface products is specifically designed to aid and accelerate this transformation.

We will also be running campaigns to highlight and promote the productivity features of Microsoft Surface products among SMEs in the region. Redington stocks Microsoft Surface products locally and this helps us meet customer demands at short notice.”

We constantly focus on equipping our channel partners with best in class products and the right set of skills and capabilities.”

HPE Aruba hosts Channel Sales Academy in Nairobi

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ruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company (HPE Aruba) hosted its annual Channel Sales Academy 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya recently for key SMB resellers in the Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa (MEMA) region. This year as the theme was Lion King, the phrase Hakuna Matata (Don’t Worry! Be Happy!) was the tagline for the event.

According to the firm, the objective of the event was to create “strong, loyal and passionate Aruba sales force in the partner community and also build a strong and cordial relationship with each partner.”

Aruba said that the teams were awarded points based on several criteria such as session engagement and quizzes, team building activity and sales pitch presentations. Live scores were visible to all the teams at the event and this prompted fierce competition and high engagement, said the firm.

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Attendees had an opportunity to learn about different topics such as digital workplace (wired and wireless), security, mobile engagement and cloud. The training was focused on solution selling, managing competition and problem solving for customers as per the verticals.

Partners also had a chance to discover Aruba Cloud Solutions and hear case study presentations by each team, followed by result announcement of the competition. Sales managers from each region also presented key customer wins during the event Aruba announced that Levant and Egypt won the overall Channel Sales Academy while Turkey won the case study presentation.

It was the first channel sales academy for South Africa and Rest

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

of Africa resellers. The vendor has received a positive response from all partners and distributors who attended this event.

Prajeesh Kumar, Promise Computers, UAE, said, “Aruba’s Channel Sales Academy was informative and interactive. We were enlightened on the latest developments in the market and all Aruba executives are professional and experts.”

8TH MAY, 2018

JUMEIRAH EMIRATES TOWERS

DRESS CODE:BLACK TIE &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, action-packed and entertaining evening to honour the crème de la crème of the channel business.

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HIGHLIGHTS

Jacky’s Business Solutions to resell humanoid robot in UAE

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acky’s Business Solutions has been appointed as the first value-added reseller for SoftBank Robotics Europe in the UAE for its humanoid robot, Pepper. This new addition to Jacky’s Business Solutions repertoire of Visitor Management Solutions (VMS) will enhance its wide range of customer service solutions already marketed to enterprises in the government, banking, telecom and healthcare sectors.

“We have always tried to be ahead of the game and adding robotics to our range of visitor management solutions portfolio was a natural progression, given the fact that we live in one of the most innovative regions where the demand for smart solutions and AI is growing day by day,” said Ashish Panjabi, COO, Jacky’s Business Solutions. “We have been offering visitor management solutions for close to two decades including queueing systems, happiness meters, digital signage and queue tracking analytic software, so having Pepper on our portfolio will help us meet the evolving needs of the

various customer-facing companies.”

“SoftBank Robotics Europe is pleased to collaborate with Jacky’s to make our Pepper robot available for companies in the UAE looking to provide new services to their clients,” said Nicolas Boudot, VP EMEA Business and Marketing, SoftBank Robotics Europe. “Pepper has proven to be the best interface to assist in welcoming, informing, recommending, managing appointments and queuing or even getting feedbacks from customers in hundreds of public places in Europe. We have chosen Jacky’s as a key partner to offer complementary digitalisation solutions in this strategic region for SoftBank Robotics business development.”

Pepper is the first humanoid robot created to interact with humans. He’s well equipped with features and a high-level interface for proactively communicating with those around him, using the latest advances in voice and face recognition. His wide range of capabilities combined with B2B robotics applications makes him an innovative business solution to enhance customer’s

experience, said the firm.

Pepper is currently used in a wide range of industries such as retail, tourism, banking, healthcare, hospitality, enterprise, government and education.

To support the relationship, Jacky’s will invest in expanding its team of software and support engineers to include programmers who can code Pepper to suit the diverse applications across industries and departments. The company will also be stocking some of the common parts for Pepper that may need to be replaced.

In addition, Jacky’s will be looking to expand their network of reseller partners to include those with existing software and hardware resources.

SNB Middle East spotlights importance of security at partner event

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Security and Networking Roadshow” NB Middle East, a valuewitnessed live demos of SNB’s latest added distributor, has solutions, followed by Q&A sessions at recently held a seminar for its partners in Egypt on 18th InterContinental City Stars, Cairo, Egypt.

During the event Khaled Shehata, April, 2018. regional manager, SNB Middle East also The event was organised in discussed the different ways they can cooperation with SNB’s key vendors enable their channel partners in Egypt. to discuss the growing importance of The event was well-organised and security solutions in the region. successful with very good attendance Organisations such as Bikal, Digifort, from esteemed Allied Telesis, systems integrators Pacom and Huz and end-users from shared insights Egypt, according on the latest to Pascal Creff, technologies that VP Business are powering the Development, security industry Pacom Systems. to over 100 C-level “We had a great executives present opportunity to give at the event. the partners an The partners at Khaled Shehata, SNB Middle East overview of the “SNB Empowering

latest Pacom solution for the multi-site customers and the latest technology from EyeLock such as its iris recognition system. We are ready for the next roadshow with SNB Middle East.”

GLOBAL IT SPENDING TO GROW

6.2

PERCENT IN 2018 SOURCE: GARTNER

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

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HIGHLIGHTS

Ivanti hosts inaugural Middle East partner event in Dubai

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vanti has hosted its first regional Partner Kick Off event in Dubai last month, following the opening of the company’s office in the emirate recently.

The event brought together over 30 partners from across the region, enabling Ivanti to showcase their solutions in unifying IT and security operations.

Ivanti was created following the LANDESK and HEAT Software merger last January, so while Ivanti is a relatively new brand to the region, it has a long history of working with the Middle East through contractors and partners. For nearly 30 years, LANDESK and HEAT offered usercentred IT solutions designed to increase user productivity while reducing IT security risk.

“Following the various acquisitions over the years, Ivanti now covers all aspects of IT infrastructure and user

environment management,” said Husni Hammoud, general manager, Ivanti Middle East. “We opted to have a dedicated presence here in the region to connect both our partners and customers, to enable technical and sales teams the skills to go to market and understand the business requirements, and to provide customers with the right solution at the right moment, in a cost-effective manner.”

Ivanti’s strategy now centres around bringing siloed areas of a business together, enabling partners to be able to sell an end-to-end solution to their customers, as opposed to individual operations.

“We’re also very focused on enablement in 2018, giving partners

the technical skills to not only sell, but deliver the solution,” said Andrew Brickell, sales director for the UK and Middle East, Ivanti. “We can also offer them a technical rebate if they are successful in selling the solution. Our overall aim is to enhance IT service delivery, while reducing risk through insights and automation.”

Dubai unveils new regulations to accelerate e-commerce industry

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he Dubai Free Zones Council, DFZC, has announced new e-commerce regulations for free zones.

The initiative has been developed by an integrated organisation that will enable greater foreign direct investment, FDI, in the e-commerce sector to flourish in Dubai.

According to WAM, DFZC’s initiative will primarily focus on establishing e-commerce conditions and controls by cooperating with Dubai Government authorities. This will come in the form of joint teams and workshops that will support the adaptation to procedures and generate proposals that will make Dubai one of the most attractive cities in the world for free zone companies related to e-commerce. It will also examine mechanisms for adopting blockchain technology in order to enhance transparency and speed up the completion and automation of procedures.

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Al Zarooni also highlighted The Council believes that the initiative will have that the initiative will have a significant economic significant economic and social impact at the implications, such as national level by increasing reviving and expanding its competitiveness in air cargo traffic in Dubai operational efficiency. and addressing the rise He believes that this, in demand and supply of in turn, will lead to the logistics services. design of intelligent and Dr. Mohammed Al Dr. Mohammed Al sophisticated solutions Zarooni, Secretary-General Zarooni, DFZC that will improve the overall of the DFZC, said, “Sheikh experience of global supply Mohammed bin Rashid Al chains in the e-commerce sector.

Maktoum has placed great confidence “The initiative will also encourage in us to implement a quality initiative local talent and human resources to that will stimulate the national economy enter the sector, which will certainly through e-commerce. This highlights enhance local competitiveness and the vital role played by free zones over generate plenty of career opportunities the past decades in attracting and in both the UAE and the region. The sustaining FDI. The latest concept of initiative will also act as the foundation e-commerce has established itself to establish local companies to as the future of trade. At the DFZC, compete with international firms in we are all confident of our ability to the future, which will drive better formulate a strong project for the growth of our national economy through opportunities for SMEs both locally and regionally,” he said. e-commerce.”

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

HIGHLIGHTS

Chinese visitors can now shop using Alipay in Dubai Mall

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lipay, the online and mobile payment platform operated

by Ant Financial Services Group, and The Dubai Mall have jointly announced that Chinese mainland visitors can now use Alipay to pay for a wide range of shopping, dining and must-see leisure attractions.

With the remarkable growth and importance of Chinese tourism to Dubai, The Dubai Mall is continuing to look at ways to accommodate their needs, which includes multilingual Guest Services staff and Chinese language Mall Guides.

Chinese visitors can now look for stores across The Dubai Mall through Alipay’s in-app Discover platform, and pay for their orders in RMB via Alipay at the cashiers.

Key destinations include The Souk or The Village or the newly expanded Fashion Avenue, which has over 150 luxury shopping and dining experiences including flagships and new concepts.

In addition, Chinese visitors can use Alipay at all The Dubai Mall’s popular entertainment attractions including Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo, the newly opened VR Park, Dubai Ice Rink and At the Top, Burj Khalifa, the world’s highest observation deck with an outdoor terrace.

The Dubai Mall is part of Downtown Dubai, Emaar Properties’ flagship mega-development.

Alipay currently has over 520 million active users in China. According to a report from Alipay and Nielsen, ease of payments is also a leading factor when it comes to key purchase decisions for

Chinese tourists. 91 percent of Chinese tourists claimed they would show greater willingness to spend and shop if overseas merchants accepted Chinese mobile payments.

Global spending on end-user devices set to increase: Gartner

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orldwide shipments of devices such as PCs, tablets and mobile phones are forecast to return to growth (+1.3 percent) in 2018 and will total 2.3 billion units, according to Gartner.

The report also revealed that while the performance of shipments of devices fluctuate year over year, enduser device spending continues to rise and is forecast to increase seven percent in 2018.

“Driven by better specifications despite increasing costs ASPs for devices rose by 9.1 percent in 2017, and this trend will continue through this year, where we expect prices will increase by 5.6 percent,” said Ranjit Atwal, research director, Gartner.

Despite PC prices increasing 4.6 percent in 2018, PC market unit demand, driven by business buying, is stabilising through 2018 The traditional PC market will decline 3.9 percent in units in 2018, and is expected to decline a further 3.6 percent during 2019.

Gartner forecasts that global mobile phone shipments will increase 1.6 percent in 2018, with total mobile phone sales amounting to almost 1.9 billion units. In 2019, smartphone sales are on pace to continue to grow, at 5 percent year over year.

Overall, Gartner estimates that mobile phone lifetimes will increase from 2017 through 2020. “Premium phone lifetimes are expected to increase the most in the near-term, as users look to

hold onto these devices due to a lack of new technology impact, prohibiting upgrades,” said Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner.

Mobile phone lifetimes will start to reduce again beyond 2020. “By 2020, artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities on smartphones will offer a more intelligent digital persona on the device. Machine learning, biometrics and user behaviour will improve the ease of use, selfservice and frictionless authentications.

This will allow smartphones to be more trusted than other credentials, such as credit cards, passports, IDs or keys,” said Gupta.

Future AI capabilities, including natural-language processing and machine perception (reading all sensors), will allow smartphones to learn, plan and solve problems for users. “This is not just about making the smartphone smarter, but augmenting users by reducing their cognitive load and enabling a ‘Digital Me’ that sits on the device,” said Gupta.

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

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HIGHLIGHTS

Lulu, iLife expand partnership

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ith technology evolving and as number of connected devices continue to grow; the consumer landscape is becoming more matured. iLife Digital Technology and Lulu Middle East have strengthened its partnership to harness the opportunities in the growing consumer electronics market.

With significant investment towards research, development and design; iLife offers a range of premium innovative electronic products that are stylish, lightweight with prolonged battery-life and at competitive price. This includes Tablet PC, Laptops, 2in1 devices, Virtual reality, Wearables and accessories.

Huzefa M R, regional manager, Dubai, Lulu Group, said, “Lulu Digital store

gives consumers a choice of brands and quality products to ensure we meet every demand.

Our partnership with iLife reiterates that commitment towards our customers. iLife products are stylish, affordable Anees Mian, iLife and Huzefa M R, Lulu Group and powered by the latest technology solution.” demand for premium yet affordable Anees Mian, operations director, products. Lulu is a trusted retail chain iLIFE Digital Technology, said, “We across Middle East and we are glad to are seeing highest device ownership, partner with them, helping us expand reflecting a change in consumer our reach in the region.”

Fortinet awards Middle East partners’ achievements

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ortinet has announced at its Middle East partner conference, Partner Sync, the winners of its 2017 Partner of the Year Awards.

The awards recognised outstanding cybersecurity sales, customer experience, collaboration, and marketing achievements from the company’s distributors and resellers around the world.

“2017 was a year of tremendous growth for Fortinet in the Middle East, and our partners have played an important role in helping us achieve

this growth and expand our market footprint,” said Alain Penel, regional vice president, Middle East, Fortinet.

He added, “I would like to congratulate this year’s winners for their significant achievements in 2017. These partners demonstrated a commitment to deliver the very best cybersecurity solutions that defend their customers against today’s increasingly advanced threat landscape. I would also like to extend my gratitude to all of our entire partner community for their dedication and achievements in

2017. Working together, we have all greatly contributed to a more secure digital future.”

Fortinet’s Partner Sync hosted more than 250 attendees representing over 90 different partner organisations from across the Middle East and Africa regions. Partner Sync offers a unique opportunity for partners and customers to gain insights about Fortinet’s Security Fabric architecture, provide direct feedback to Fortinet leadership, learn to maximise Fortinet’s enablement programmes, and gain and share best practices with the cybersecurity industry’s best and brightest.

These partners demonstrated a commitment to deliver the very best cybersecurity solutions that defend their customers against today’s increasingly advanced threat landscape.”

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HIGHLIGHTS

UAE bans reselling electronic goods without warranty

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he Ministry of Economy has reportedly announced that the Supreme Committee for Consumer Protection will ban the sale of all electronic goods, including electrical appliances and mobile phones without warranty.

According to a report by Emarat Al Youm, the outlets have already received prior notice to prepare for the implementation of the decision early next July, to avoid any damage and to give outlets ample opportunity to adjust their situation before the decision goes into effect.

Ministry of Economy director for the Department of Consumer Protection

Dr. Hashim al-Nuaimi said that the sale of these goods without warranty for re-export or consumption outside the state, is a decision made by resellers and they will be held accountable for any consequence.

Consumers and traders have called for an extension in selling electronics without warranty especially for mobile phones sold for use outside the country

and for re-export purposes since electronics without warranty are significantly cheaper.

However, alNuaimi said the grace period for the new mandate will no longer be extended beyond the 1st of July after it was supposed to end in January.

The decision is aimed at protecting the consumers and providing them with safe products, he added.

Veritas revamps channel programme to drive partner growth

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eritas Technologies has debuted an enriched partner programme focused on helping the channel drive growth and profitability. The new Veritas Partner Force programme is designed to create higher earnings potential for more than 10,000 global partners who want to capitalise on Veritas’ 360 data management portfolio and multi-cloud data management solutions.

The Veritas Partner Force programme is dramatically simplified, making it

The channel continues to evolve as many of our partners are developing more of their own intellectual property and are focused on selling business solutions versus point-products.”

much easier for partners the power of their to reap more benefits data on-premises and rewards. Additionally, and in multi-cloud partners will have environments.” access to a plethora of Key new components educational offerings of the Veritas Partner that will empower them Force programme to help customers solve include increasing some of their biggest opportunities for data management existing partners Barbara Spicek, Veritas challenges. The revamped with greater earnings programme also offers potential, building new expanded revenue opportunities to revenue streams for partners selling to attract a new generation of worldwide commercial and mid-market accounts, resellers, service providers, system expanding the company’s Global integrators and distributors.

Distribution Programme to drive growth and innovation and boosting partner “The channel continues to resources for a faster path to revenue evolve as many of our partners and success. are developing more of their Partners can also choose from a own intellectual property and variety of new accreditation courses are focused on selling business and skills evaluations, based on solutions versus point-products,” their business practices. Online said Barbara Spicek, Vice courses such as Veritas NetBackup President, Global Channels and Architecture, Challenges in Backup Alliances, Veritas. “Recognising and Recovery, and Risk Mitigation and the changing needs of the channel, Compliance are offered as part of the Veritas is increasing technical redesign. New e-learning courses will assets, deepening skills and be added regularly to address newly enhancing opportunities to make it introduced Veritas offerings as well as easier for our broad ecosystem of partners to help customers harness customer challenges. www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // MAY 2018

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APPOINTMENTS

INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS

Commvault appoints new VP to lead worldwide channels Commvault has announced the appointment of Scott Strubel as vice president of worldwide channels, responsible for Commvault’s global ecosystem of resellers and distributors. In this role, Strubel will focus on delivering innovative programmes that help channel partners differentiate Commvault’s solutions in the market and deliver value to their customers, while helping Commvault drive growth across the company’s solution portfolio.

Strubel’s experience in leading sales and partner organisations in the technology solutions industry ideally

positions him for this new role. Most recently, he served as vice president of the Americas Partner Organisation at NetApp where he was responsible for indirect channel revenues and led teams working with NetApp’s partners throughout the Americas. His organisation included the Americas Virtual Sales organisation, which was responsible for NetApp’s inside sales and demand generation. Prior to that, he created and led worldwide field operations for enterprise management software at NetApp. Strubel also held prior sales and channel leadership roles at HP, where he was part of a founding

Scott Strubel, Commvault

management team selected to launch HP Software.

“Scott’s role is key to helping Commvault grow and expand its presence and leadership in the channel and his experience in building and growing relationships with market leaders will be a great asset to Commvault and its partner-led strategy,” said Owen Taraniuk, head of worldwide partnerships and market development, Commvault. “His appointment represents Commvault’s continued commitment to partners and is yet another indicator of how the company is investing heavily in growing revenue in the channel.”

Juniper Networks makes key additions to ME leadership team brings both extensive Juniper Networks has knowledge of the local re-affirmed its presence business landscape and in the Middle East a detailed understanding region with three new of the customer’s key appointments to its business objectives. leadership team.

Fayez Eweidat has Saeed M. Agha has been appointed as sales joined as partner director director, enterprise, for Middle East, Turkey overseeing Middle East, and Africa, where he will Turkey and Africa (META). be tasked with driving In this role, he is focused the company’s channel on helping Juniper’s strategies, managing enterprise customers in partner operations and Yarob Sakhnini, Juniper Networks the region to undergo commercial business. digital transformation in Agha has previously their businesses. Previously, Eweidat worked at several technology vendors, was senior regional sales manager at including Cisco Systems, Palo Alto Brocade Communications Systems.

Networks and IBM. Eweidat has also worked in various Mohammad Chabayta has joined regional leadership roles at Apple, Cisco as sales director for Juniper’s STC Systems and Foundry Networks. account team, and will be responsible “The appointments of Saeed, for helping the telecom provider address Mohammad and Fayez have been its most complex technical challenges. made at a pivotal time for our business, Chabayta was formerly vice president of when many organisations in the region the STC account at Ericsson KSA, and

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demand network architecture that performs exceptionally without the burden of complexity. Juniper’s vision of creating operational simplicity through innovative engineering has made it possible for people to connect in ways that are changing the world. I am confident the combined experience of these new team members will prove to be highly beneficial for our customers and, in turn, their customers, too,” said Yarob Sakhnini, head of Middle East, Turkey and Africa, Juniper Networks.

The appointments of Saeed, Mohammad and Fayez have been made at a pivotal time for our business, when many organisations in the region demand network architecture that performs exceptionally without the burden of complexity.”

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

Canon appoints new president and CEO for EMEA Canon EMEA, a global provider of imaging technologies and services, has announced Yuichi Ishizuka as the new president and CEO for Canon Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), succeeding Rokus van Iperen who is retiring after six years in the role.

Rokus van Iperen, outgoing EMEA CEO and senior managing executive officer, Canon Inc., was appointed president and CEO of Canon Europe in 2012 following a distinguished career at Océ NV. Initially tasked with ensuring a smooth integration of Océ into the Canon business, he successfully presided over several other significant acquisitions to enable the company’s digitisation strategy. He is also credited with building a solutions focused portfolio and establishing the foundation of new businesses in high growth areas such as network visual solutions (NVS).

Yuichi Ishizuka, previously president and COO for Canon USA, assumed his new responsibilities as president and CEO of Canon EMEA effective from April 1st. He takes over an organisation

Yuichi Ishizuka, Canon EMEA

I am honoured to be leading this team through the next phase of innovation and growth at what is a very exciting and dynamic time for the company.”

that has operations in 120 countries, employs approximately 18,000 people and contributes about a quarter of Canon’s global revenues annually.

Ishizuka, who is also a managing executive officer of Canon Inc., is tasked with bolstering and growing existing core businesses whilst capitalising on the brand’s imaging expertise in new areas such as NVS, industrial equipment and commercial printing. He brings a wealth of expertise and international experience from other regions having held senior positions across Canon’s portfolio of businesses in North, Central and South America, as well as Japan. His new role will be his first appointment in Europe.

“Canon is a clear leader in consumer and business imaging with millions of customers throughout EMEA, a region where we celebrated our 60th anniversary of operations last year,” said Ishizuka. “I am honoured to be leading this team through the next phase of innovation and growth at what is a very exciting and dynamic time for the company.”

Infoblox names SVP for International Business Infoblox has appointed Cherif Sleiman as senior vice president (SVP) International Business, responsible for driving business growth in international markets. In this expanded role, he will lead all businesses outside the Americas and continue to report to Bill McCarthy, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Field Operations.

Sleiman’s focus would be to bring the power of Infoblox to international territories including Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Asia Pacific (APAC) including Australia, Japan, China, Korea and many other Asian countries, where the company will invest in line with corporate priorities and growing market opportunities.

He will be responsible for the overall International go-to-market

strategy where he will unify and streamline the best sales and channel practices from across the various regions to ensure scalability and speed of execution.

Sleiman previously oversaw Infoblox’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) business and under his leadership the company’s regional revenue grew by over 44 percent.

“I am humbled and honoured with the trust Infoblox has in me and am very excited to embrace this new challenge,” said Sleiman.

“I see potential for major growth for us as a company, for our people as they develop and experience career growth and for me as a leader, learning about new cultures and navigating new territories.”

Cherif Sleiman, Infoblox

I am humbled and honoured with the trust Infoblox has in me and am very excited to embrace this new challenge.”

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

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EVENTS // MARGIN BUILDER FORUM

Margin Builder Forum: Reignite your business Reseller Middle East’s inaugural channel-focused forum will present key insights to partners on 8th May at Jumeirah Emirates Towers.

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lobal manufacturers and vendors rely on the relationships partners own to grow their business in the region. Dynamic IT business environments over the years have forced partner business to evolve to newer models so that they continue to be relevant in the new era.

Reseller Middle East’s first-ever Margin Builder Forum is scheduled for 8th May at Jumeirah Emirates Tower. Expecting over 200 partners, the forum aims to be an educational platform on facing every day challenges in the complex regional IT channel. Industry stalwarts will discuss key issues in the channel, factors to help partners reignite their businesses and the future of the sector.

The panel on ‘Future of IT Channel’ will debate on how the industry will evolve

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Expecting over 200 partners, the forum aims to be an educational platform on facing every day challenges in the complex regional IT channel over the next few years and what will drive that change. From changing business models to emerging technologies, they will examine factors that will dictate the success of regional channel businesses and discuss measures that need to be

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

undertaken by partners to transform their operations today.

In a recent interview with Tahawul Tech, Ramkumar Balakrishnan, president, Redington Value, and the keynote speaker for the forum said, “None of us have the luxury anymore to say the business is not going to get disrupted for another few years and there is time to take action. The rate of adoption is becoming quicker. To be ahead of the curve, you need to invest in people being exposed to these market developments.”

For partners to thrive in the new digital era, it all comes down to their willingness to take risks, added Balakrishnan.

For many more practical insights from Balakrishnan and other esteemed industry speakers, register now to attend Margin Builder Forum.

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OPINION // RED HAT

Digital Transformation: Be Middle-a-ware Erica Langhi, solution architect, Red Hat, elaborates on factors essential for successful digital transformation and how integration middleware can bridge the gap to the connected enterprise.

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oday, organisations are acutely aware of the need to become more digital in order to stay competitive and serve customers in new ways. We have entered an era of agile development practices, hybrid technology footprints and a resulting “API economy”. This all holds great promise, but as an upshot IT teams are coming under increasing pressure to deliver and manage complex environments, especially when it comes to connecting data, applications and devices. The discussion and media coverage around addressing this challenge is wide-ranging and lively.

But I would argue that there is a critical piece of the puzzle that is yet to take centre stage.

Spaghetti Junction In practical terms, being more digital often translates into being able to create new applications faster. Indeed,

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maintaining and updating existing applications is a top IT priority for many organisations – 71 percent, according to data from our customers – as is creating new applications more quickly (53 percent). This is where we see many organisations uncover an integration problem, which amounts to a spaghettilike tangle of siloed systems and data sources that have built up over time.

It can be hard to know where to start with untangling the plethora of disparate systems and data sources when looking to develop new applications that must plug into them.

What’s more, many legacy apps were not made for the cloud and redesigning them is far from cost efficient. Cue the opportunity for new applications to be created cloudready and easily integratable with existing systems and applications. In addition, many businesses are looking to develop new applications using microservices and containers. Thirty-

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six percent of respondents to the above-mentioned survey were in the process of researching or planning to deploy microservices architectures in the next year, and 29 percent indicated they were already implementing or using them. The figures were even higher for containers: 38 percent in planning, 33 percent implementing.

Operation integration: the tech behind the scenes As organisations seek to modernise their application environments, a crucial consideration is being able to bridge old and new technologies in a safe and meaningful way. That is, successfully maintaining existing applications while harnessing the benefits of new agile architectures and tools.

What IT bosses may not be thinking about is that much of the answer to the integration question lies in middleware.

It is the tech you do not see, working to solve diverse and complex problems

Erica Langhi, Red Hat

“Integration middleware is the key for a modern architecture, and the organisations that recognise its strategic value can gain a head-start on the road to digitalisation.”

behind the scenes in systems like holiday bookings, electronic ticketing and payment card fraud detection.

Middleware technologies can integrate these systems and share the data that is spread across multiple applications and processes. They also empower users with automated business processes and rules that help an organisation respond rapidly to changing conditions. By tidying up the back end, as well as providing a platform to build applications on, integration middleware can help accelerate the delivery of new services to employees and customers. And it enables the organisation to do this agnostic of environment and device, providing the flexibility to deploy applications on premise, in the cloud or a combination of both, and spanning the range of devices critical to today’s organisations.

For delivery specialist Hermes, integration middleware is a means to

better track delivery information for customers – a two hour process of manually batching data and pushing out into customer-facing web applications has been automated and now takes 60 seconds. For Telegraph Media Group, a middleware-powered integration platform has simplified the launch of compelling new digital content to audiences on desktop, tablet and smartphone devices. And for King’s College Hospital, the NHS Foundation Trust brought in a new integration platform to enable more than 50 hospital systems to exchange critical patient information quickly and reliably.

Let’s talk about data The API economy is helping democratise access to data and services, presenting a great opportunity to better connect people and enterprises. When CIOs are looking at becoming a connected enterprise, they should be starting to think about data as a first-class citizen. Many organisations are sitting on treasure troves of information, if they can only process and contextualise it across a variety of platforms. No longer suffering from a lack of data, the challenge for businesses is a lack of the right data at

the right time; they are dealing with spiralling bits and bytes generated from multiple sources such as social media and connected devices. As such, those responsible for IT or applications should start treating data less like a static warehouse and more as a dynamic data fabric. Traditional integration approaches involve the cost and complexity traditionally associated with data warehouses or data pipeline techniques (traditional ETL – extract, transform, load – processes). However, with a data fabric, organisations get just-in-time processing capabilities that can bring together data from multiple sources, easily accommodate new sources and move away from traditional silos. Again, they can look to use middleware technologies to do this, in the shape of data virtualisation technologies.

Data virtualisation can be used to implement a data access layer, which gathers together the underlying data and prepares it for analytics tools. This is a technique that offers accurate, reliable data in real time with no unnecessary data replication, reducing the cost of out-of-sync reports. In this way, organisations can achieve greater productivity and efficiency, unlocking data from silos into unified information at the speed of business. A great example of a business taking advantage of its wealth of data is the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which implemented a data access layer to support real-time data decisions.

Many financial services organisations are faced with needing to capture more sophisticated information from different systems such as transactional, risk, ledger and static, and be able to deliver it over the right channel in the right way. As an outcome, business intelligence teams with the right tools can mine this data and gain insights that can add great value to the business and the experience delivered to customers.

The way I see it, integration middleware is the key for a modern architecture, and the organisations that recognise its strategic value can gain a head-start on the road to digitalisation.

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

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Reseller Middle East features top channel executives across partner organisations within the region. These leaders have stood out successfully despite challenging market circumstances and have managed to transform their businesses to the demands of the digital era. We salute these stalwarts of the IT channel, for their resilience and passion for their business.

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PRESENTS

8TH MAY, 2018

JUMEIRAH EMIRATES TOWERS HOTEL, DUBAI SPEAKERS

RAMKUMAR BALAKRISHNAN President Redington Value

ASIM ALJAMMAZ CEO AlJammaz Distribution

NIDAL OTHMAN Managing Director StarLink

NICHOLAS ARGYRIDES Chief of Sales and Deputy GM Mindware

HESHAM TANTAWI VP MENA Asbis Middle East

GARETH HANSFORD General Manager Gulf Software Distribution

FAYEZ IBBINI Managing Director Alpha Data

NEHUL GORADIA Co-Founder Enabler One

FARAH ANWAR Co-Founder Ashraf Electronics

SAVITHA BHASKAR COO Condo Protego

DHARMENDRA SAWLANI President Dubai Computer Group

SHAILENDRA RUGHWANI Managing Director Experts Computer

HURRY SEATS LIMITED REGISTER NOW AT www.tahawultech.com/marginbuilder/2018/ THE LARGEST REGIONAL EVENT FOR THE CHANNEL INDUSTRY Join the conversation and don’t miss over 200 - Industry Experts, CEOs, Channel and Partner Managers, Business Heads, Integrators & Services Providers, IT Resellers and Speakers all driving discussion on pertinent issues, sharing ideas, networking and discovering solutions!

Hear from companies such as Redington, Mindware, AlJammaz Distribution, Asbis Middle East, StarLink, Gulf Software Distribution, Alpha Data, Experts Computer, Enabler One, Dubai Computer Group, ENBD and many more. Discover, Identify and Optimise!

www.tahawultech.com/marginbuilder/2018 PLATINUM PARTNER

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COVER STORY // CHANNEL CHIEFS

RAJ SHANKAR

AMER KHREINO

MANAGING DIRECTOR Redington Gulf

CEO Raqmiyat

Years in the company: 18 plus

Years in the company: Two

Years in the IT channel business:18 plus

Years in the IT channel business: 20 plus

Company focus in 2018: • Consulting on cloud, analytics and IoT practices • Establish a workable model for services business including MPS, DaaS and so on • Increase market share in the volume distribution business in MEA. • Expand the mobility business in MEA

Company focus in 2018: Accelerating growth and expanding our capabilities on digital transformation

Key vendors (in alphabetical order): Apple, Dell EMC, HPE, HPI, Lenovo, Oracle, Samsung, VMware Key investments made over 2017: • Launched a new brand identity for Redington.

• Digital transformation • State-of-the-art innovation centres built by Value business Next phase for the IT industry will be: • Digitalisation across the industry • B2B e-commerce will become prominent • Services will become the key focus for the customer driving business outcome. Product will become incidental • The lines between Tier 1, Tier 2 and Partner will gradually become blur Your biggest achievement till date: • Transforming a family-owned business into a board-governed and a professional run company • Redington’s market cap breached $1 billion in 2017 • Redington ranked amongst the Top 25 great places to work What does innovation mean to you: I define innovation as something which is unique, smart and yet simple and efficient.

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Key vendors: Oracle, Huawei, Outsystems, KOFAX, Jedox, Kony, Infoblox, Palo Alto Networks, Globalscape Key investments made over 2017: Raqmiyat continued its investment in acquiring valuable associations with leading technology providers, it expanded its consulting capabilities and improved customers’ coverage. Our team is capable to manage and execute mega-scale projects, across various technologies, at highest standards. Customer success remains the centre piece of our philosophy.

Next phase for the IT industry will be: IT will continue leading other industries in coming years, with more smart solutions available to endusers and businesses alike. IT is no more an enabler, but a driver to many industries including healthcare, education, financial, retail, manufacturing, among others. Major consolidations are expected through M&A to offer customers on-demand, simplified, reliable and secured business solutions.

Your biggest achievement till date: Every day is a new beginning, to learn, excel and achieve; a journey with no finish line.

Any achievement I can claim is all about valuable little things; seeing my kids learning a new thing or mastering a new talent. Mentoring a team-member or celebrating his/her small win together.

What does innovation mean to you: Innovation is “the ability to impact our lives, positively”.

Innovation transforms the way we communicate, work, learn and live, it also impacts our business models, as we pursue better ways and means to improve business profitability, customer success and growth rates.

www.redingtonvalue.com

sales.value@redingtonmea.com

H Hotel, Business Towers, SZR, 7th Floor, Dubai, UAE

COVER STORY // CHANNEL CHIEFS

AMJAD FATHI AL-OMAR

ANAND CHOUDHA

GENERAL MANAGER Sariya Limited Company (Distribution Division)

CEO AND PRESIDENT SPECTRAMI

Years in the company: Eight

Years in the company: Seven

Years in the IT channel business: 19

Years in the IT channel business: 14

Company focus in 2018: • Add more qualified partners for all our products • Enable more partners to sell services • Improve partner sales skills and profitability • Increase the amount of recurring revenue

Company focus in 2018: We aim at growing as an aggressive player in the EMEA distribution market. Our next phase of expansion plans lies in strategic/inorganic acquisitions in UK and Egypt respectively. Aspiring for a multi-fold growth at EMEA level, we intend to clock a turnover of $70 million in 2018-19, along with the introduction of Channel Enablement and Rewards Programs to upskill, certify and incentivise channel partners across EMEA.

Key vendors: Sophos, Kaspersky, Unitrends, Quick Heal, 2CRSI, Heimdal, TP-Link, Transcend Key investments made over 2017: • We invested in a strong team to lead our channel partners • We also invested in a loyalty programme to help drive growth for our channel partners in an innovative way • We invested in our technical team to implement the real value of being valueadded distributor for the region Next phase for the IT industry will be: Cybersecurity, cloud solutions and services.

Your biggest achievement till date: Number of loyal partners in our partners’ data base.

What does innovation mean to you:

Innovation means the ability to be skeptical and not accept things as they are because that’s how they’ve always been done. We have to see solutions to things that aren’t perceived as problems and taking the risks necessary to act upon what needs to be changed to be true to ourselves.

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Key vendors: Red Hat, Blackberry, Tenable, Attivo Networks, LogRhythm, Anomali Key investments made over 2017: • Active and ongoing Lead provision process for channel through demand generation activities like workshops, events, CIO Roundtables, exhibitions and email campaigns • Specialisation workshop for partners at all locations it operates in so as to consistently up skill and certify its channel partners.

Next phase for the IT industry will be: Big Data and information security will see increased investment from customers.

Your biggest achievement till date: Creating the next generation valued-added distribution model with focused vendor extension - 360-degree model.

What does innovation mean to you: Being agile and flexible to change with the time and re-inventing the relevance of distribution for vendors and channel partners alike.

COVER STORY // CHANNEL CHIEFS

ARUN CHAWLA

ASIM SAUD ALJAMMAZ

CEO Trigon

CEO AlJammaz Distribution

Years in the company: 26

Years in the company: 20

Years in the IT channel business: 33

Years in the IT channel business: 18

Company focus in 2018: Expansion and focus on retail and B2B Business, regional expansion

Company focus in 2018: Cloud and digital distribution, cybersecurity, data centres, converged and hyperconverged infrastructure, broadband access and solutions around it, smart home and IoT

Key vendors: Samsung, LG, Barco, Ergotron, Brother, Elo, D-Link, Netgear, ViewSonic, Creative, VSun , iBrit, PNY, Transcend, Philips, AOC, Penpower, Plustek, Mustek, AVM, Port , YUPP TV, IRIS Key investments made over 2017: Expansion of B2B business sales team, opening of sales office in Oman, expansion of retail sales team, expansion of service and support centre.

Your biggest achievement till date: Working with a loyal team so called “Trigon Family” and together making Trigon as one of the best and leading IT distribution companies.

What inspires you: Passion and people

Key vendors: Cisco, Dell EMC, CommScope, APC, Rittal, Veritas, STC, Alibaba Cloud, Lenovo, Panduit, Linksys, Ring, Ruckus, Honeywell, Microsoft, Tenable, Nexthink, Cradlepoint, Fluke Networks Key investments made over 2017: Building the cloud omnichannel platform, training partners on cloud computing and how to transform solutions to cloud, enabling partners to provide cybersecurity solutions, investing in the smart home and IoT business unit.

Next phase for the IT industry will be: Converged and hyper-converged infrastructure, cloud computing and services and IoT Your biggest achievement till date: My family and friends that I have made all around the world.

What does innovation mean to you: It is how you can do things differently, make it easy, smarter or cheaper and solve something – it is about being creative.

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

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COVER STORY // CHANNEL CHIEFS

GARETH HANSFORD

GARRETH SCOTT

GENERAL MANAGER Gulf Software Distribution

SALES DIRECTOR Credence Security

Years in the company: One

Years in the company: Five

Years in the IT channel business: 17

Years in the IT channel business: 16

Company focus in 2018: Growth through partner collaboration and extending partner propositions with new vendors’ offerings

Company focus in 2018: We grew, both, our forensics and cyber portfolio extensively in the last few months of 2017. Going in to 2018, we are working with our focus partners to grow the business, both in terms of geolocation and revenue

Key vendors: IBM, Netsuite Key investments made over 2017: Doubled the size of the team in Q1 2018

Key vendors: AccessData, Blueliv, Digital Guardian, Fidelis Cybersecurity, RedSeal, Thales e-Security, BlackBag, Cellebrite, Magnet Forensics

Next phase for the IT industry will be: Incorporation of AI into partners’ solutions to improve efficiency, which will deliver cost savings and improvements in service.

Key investments made over 2017: Doubled our staff count, invested heavily in Saudi Arabia and India and made three acquisitions (London, Nairobi, Cape-Town)

Your biggest achievement till date: Closing a $120 million software sale to a major UK Bank What does innovation mean to you: The successful combination of breakthrough thinking with intuitive application - having the light bulb moment and finding a way to make it work in real life.

Next phase for the IT industry will be: In cybersecurity: • We will see consolidation of vendors (larger players acquiring smaller players/competitors) • As the Middle East builds out local cloud infrastructure, cloud adoption will ramp up and become more competitive • The end-point market will be hypercompetitive with companies trying to out do their competitors and the emergence of OEMs via collaboration • We will see a focus on threat hunting and threat intelligence In forensics: • Law enforcement agencies will build out large scale labs where collaboration and unified platforms will be key • Agencies will move away from a single vendor approach to security • We will see an uptick in cloud based forensics Your biggest achievement till date: Growing a number of successful teams and consistently over-delivering on targets across the Middle East Region for 16 years (in my roles with a systems integrator, distributor and multinational vendor) What does innovation mean to you: Thinking outside the box and no matter how many times you fail, getting up and trying again and again until you achieve your goal

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COVER STORY // CHANNEL CHIEFS

HESHAM TANTAWI

JAGAT SHAH

VICE PRESIDENT, MENA ASBIS Middle East

CHAIRMAN AND CEO Mitsumi Distribution

Years in the company: 17 Years in the IT channel business: 28 Company focus in 2018: In 2018, ASBIS is focusing more on value-added distribution, which offers IT solutions in technology areas like printers, server solutions, networking and infrastructure. Our VAD solutions approach brings together all key values to our partners in areas of product management, pre- sales technical support, channel management, integrated marketing, stock availability, credit facilities, logistics and B2B online market place for our partners.

Key Vendors: Intel, AMD, Lexmark, Supermicro Key investments made over 2017: During this year, we increased our number of active customers and our portfolio, we got more involvement in software and solutions because we need to be a one-stop shop for retailers and IT solution providers, improving the Saudi, Iraq and Iran operations.

Next phase for the IT industry will be: The political instability in the region has had profound effect on the rest of the North Africa market. We are focusing on developing more markets, particularly Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran and other emerging countries where we think we will be able to find growth. We do see growth, it will not be a flat year. ASBIS is investing in the Middle East region and concentrating on the operation. Our strategy is to add more products as well and this is something we have already started working on.

Years in the company: 22 Years in the IT channel business: 26 Company focus in 2018: Our focus will be to diversify and grow our West Africa footprint with broad product offerings and increased market share. We also seek to join forces with a new storage vendor for the MEA region.

Key vendors: Dell EMC, HP, Samsung, Toshiba, Hitachi and Canon Key investments made over 2017: We invested heavily in West Africa, increasing new mobility and enterprise partners across the African region Next phase for the IT industry will be: Virtual Reality (VR), 3D printing and digital currency financial systems are the next phases for the IT Industry.

Your biggest achievement till date: Mitsumi was listed No. 2 distributor by revenue in the Middle East & Africa’s distributor category in 2017, it is the biggest achievement for me and Mitsumi What does innovation mean to you: For me, innovation is not just a scaled-up idea or some new product or service but a means of providing added value, enhancing work place or lives and ability to adapt to the future.

Your biggest achievement till date: The first channel executive ‘Life Time Achievement Award’ What does innovation mean to you: In my opinion, innovation today is about Artificial Intelligence (AI). It is the most rapid growing field in the world of IT.

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

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COVER STORY // CHANNEL CHIEFS

JOSE THOMAS MENACHERRY

JUDE PEREIRA

MANAGING DIRECTOR Bulwark Technologies

MANAGING DIRECTOR Nanjgel Solutions

Years in the company: 17

Years in the company: 10

Years in the IT channel business:20 plus

Years in the IT channel business: 27

Company focus in 2018: Channel development and growth into focused territories across GCC, Middle East and Indian sub-continent region.

Company focus in 2018: Cyber Resilience

Key vendors: Bulwark Distribution: Sophos, MailStore, ESET, Netsupport, 42Gears Mobility Systems, iStorage, EnGenius and Jacarta Bulwark Technologies: Mimecast, Lastline, HelpSystems, ARCON, Radware, Teramind, Varonis, SecurEnvoy, Acunetix, Netwrix, SendQuick and Syncplicity.

Key vendors: Looking Glass, ObserveIT, AccOps, Data Sunrise, IBM, Forescout, Attivo Networks Key investments made over 2017: Setup a Cyber Warfare Lab Center within Nanjgel, more people, more technology

Key investments made over 2017: It is our continuous and ongoing effort to invest on channel initiatives which include long-term partner growth plans, partner certification and reward programmes and channel enablement sessions. Our constant focus is on channel growth and development.

Next phase for the IT industry will be: Cyber Analytics using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning across disparate data sources of structured and unstructured data (IP and non-IP)

Bulwark Technologies also recently announced its expansion plans in the Indian sub-continent region. The expansion plans are in response to the company’s growing business, robust partner network and strong demand for IT security solutions in India.

Your biggest achievement till date: Built a Cyber Security Center for a leading telco in the region which integrates into the IP Networks, TDM networks, GSM/2G/3g/networks and finally all the legacy devices and solution within the telco and service provider

Next phase for the IT channel industry will be: The demand and requirement for new frontiers of technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain Technology, cloud, Big Data, mobile and Internet of Things are evolving in the market. Data security is an important aspect.

Customers are interested in solutions that are easy to use, simple to manage at the same time robust in design and security. Channel should understand and be ready to address these developments with proper expertise.

Your biggest achievement till date: As the Group CEO and founder of Bulwark, have been instrumental in the development and creation of organisation’s strategy and operations based on value-added services for the latest technological solutions with proper expertise.

What does innovation mean to you: Adapting to the ever-changing security landscape with latest niche technology solutions and acquiring the right expertise to deliver and support the channel and customers.

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

What does innovation mean to you: To be able to achieve the most difficult challenge in a most cost-effective manner

COVER STORY // CHANNEL CHIEFS

MARIO M. VELJOVIC

NARESH KOTHARI

GENERAL MANAGER VAD Technologies

MD AND PRESIDENT Intertec Systems

Years in the company: One plus

Years in the company: 27

Years in the IT channel business: 23

Years in the IT channel business: 27

Company focus in 2018: Strengthening the security portfolio – physical and cyber. Further “cloud-enriched” the Product Portfolio across all technologies. Making inroads into IoT Solutions.

Company focus in 2018: IoT, process automation, analytics, security, cloud

Key vendors: Fujitsu, Pure Storage, ExaGrid, SEP, CirrusData, DataDynamics, PRTG-Paessler, Vasco, CryptZone, Aventura, Assmann-Digitus, Cathexis, Fibrenetix, Overland, ZyXel, InfraScale, ZeroStack, HyperGrid, Alibaba Cloud, RackSpace and many more

Key vendors: HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Ivanti, Infor, Palo Alto, F5 Networks Key investments made over 2017: IoT practice, Microsoft applications practice, cloud product development, security consulting, IT operations analytics and invoice process automation

Key investments made over 2017: Regional expansion across the GCC and establishing a Cloud Solutions Marketplace

Next phase for the IT industry will be: Fast-paced innovation and adoption of skill, technology vendors and business propositions

Next phase for the IT industry will be: The industry will go beyond “just IT” and will engage more in outcome-based business models with their partners and customers

Your biggest achievement till date: Corporate revenue and profitability in 2017 was a landmark achievement

Your biggest achievement till date: Introducing and driving new distribution concepts across Europe, Middle East and Africa for more than two decades

What does innovation mean to you: Disrupting operating models for improving experience, cost economics and risk mitigation in comparison to existing and competitive landscape.

What does innovation mean to you: Constantly striving for excellence

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

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COVER STORY // CHANNEL CHIEFS

NICHOLAS ARGYRIDES

NIDAL OTHMAN

CHIEF OF SALES AND MARKETING AND DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER Mindware

MANAGING DIRECTOR StarLink

Years in the company: Two Years in the IT channel business: 16 Company focus in 2018: Increase Mindware’s mind share and market share within existing channel partner accounts and upsurge number of net new partner accounts.

Key vendors: Dell EMC, Microsoft, Juniper, Lenovo, McAfee, Citrix, Veritas, Polycom, Kodak Alaris Key investments made over 2017: • Comprehensive front office and back office restructuring across all Mindware geographies • In country sales-rep office in Islamabad, Pakistan • Signing new vendors such as Polycom and Barracuda Implementation of top class CRM and Business Intelligence tools Next phase for the IT industry will be: EAAS (Everything-As-A-Service). Subscription is gradually taking over.

Your biggest achievement till date: Learning to balance demanding work requirements and fatherhood at 41 years of age.

What does innovation mean to you: Three interrelated things, in no particular order: (a) Continually being educated (b) Being open to change (c) Thinking out of the box.

Years in the company: 10 plus Years in the IT channel business: 20 plus Company focus in 2018: Path to channel autonomy, global expansion (Europe), further investments into the evolution of data centre and cloud portfolio Key vendors: 35 plus vendors in our portfolio and expanding as we speak Key investments made over 2017: We added key virtualisation and SDN vendors. StarLink added leading infrastructure vendor building blocks to maintain its next-generation portfolio.

Further resource and marketing investments into the US and UK markets will be made to fuel and accelerate the growth of these markets supporting StarLink’s North American and European expansion plans.

Several key countries in North, West and East Africa are being monitored closely by StarLink as they provide significant revenue contributions and have immense potential. As market dynamics and geopolitical analysis facilitate, these regions will get on-the-ground resources to further their growth.

Next phase for the IT industry will be: Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence along with Data Science are going to be the game changers. Soon we will see a virtually connected, business ecosystem once transforming the customer engagement platforms and methods.

Your biggest achievement till date: StarLink’s achievement as the ‘Trusted Security Advisor’ with the extensive solutions portfolio offering has been instrumental towards the maturity of IT security distribution landscape in the META region.

What does innovation mean to you: Innovation means to be able to collaborate creatively and drive technology-led revolutions to tackle the most pressing real-world IT challenges. Innovation is crucial to the continuous progress and success of any organisation.

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

COVER STORY // CHANNEL CHIEFS

SANJAY AHUJA CEO FVC Years in the company: One Years in the IT business: 24 Company focus in 2018: Our focus is primarily on strengthening and expanding FVC’s channel breadth and depth with OEMs while streamlining overall operations across business units and other support functions. Our aim is to drive FVC’s growth via increased partner engagement and by providing market-leading end-to-end solutions.

Key investments made over 2017: FVC has invested on building relationships with vendors and partners to add value to the customer’s infrastructure across the unified communication and security domain. The company has also invested in state-of-the-art Executive Briefing Centers in the region to showcase vendor solutions and introduce partners into experiential selling to their end customers.

Next phase for the IT industry will be: Artificial Intelligence and digital transformation will drive the IT industry and business investments in 2018. Security will continue to be at the heart of all IT investments.

Your biggest achievement till date: Winning major coveted projects, restructuring the company to deal with growth, encouraging and inspiring employees to perform beyond their capabilities, and inculcating an entrepreneurial culture among each member of my team are a few of my biggest achievements.

What does innovation mean to you: We are in an era of unprecedented change and rapidly shifting business environments; staying relevant is important to innovation - implementing new thinking, products and processes that adapt to an evolving business environment and enhance a person’s and a machine’s performance to be more productive with limited resources is true innovation.

STEPHAN BERNER CEO Help AG Years in the company: Founded Help AG Middle East in 2004 Years in the IT channel business: 23 Company focus in 2018: Continue to maintain Help AG’s position as the region’s leading cybersecurity company and trusted security advisor while driving adoption of managed security services, data analytics, and cloudbased delivery of our portfolio Key vendors: Cisco, F5 Networks, Fortinet, Infoblox, Palo Alto Networks, Splunk, Symantec Key investments made over 2017: Renewal of our MSS Division’s Information Security Management System ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification, investments to achieve Platinum Partner status with Infoblox and Tenable, and new partnership agreements with Fortinet, Menlo Security, Attivo Networks and Skybox Security Next phase for the IT industry will be: Data is the new oil and will be the future currency of the world. Hence Information Security and Analytics− regardless of whether they are conducted on-premises, in the cloud, or virtually− will be a key focus.

Your biggest achievement till date: Remaining “old school” when it comes to business ethics and commitment What does innovation mean to you: Leading the industry rather than just following the pack, guided by the quality service delivery and customer excitement model.

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

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COVER STORY // CHANNEL CHIEFS

STEVE LOCKIE

VIMAL KOCHER

GROUP MANAGING DIRECTOR Westcon-Comstor

MANAGING DIRECTOR Arrow ECS ME

Years in the company: 10

Years in the company: Two

Years in the IT channel business: 27

Years in the IT channel business: 30

Company focus in 2018: Geographic expansion with offices in Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, delivering customer excellence and improved experience through more intimate relationships and leveraging our IT and systems investments from last year.

Company focus in 2018: We are working closely with our solution providers to help them acquire the critical consultative expertise and equip with the practical solution portfolio to help end-customers better understand what it takes to capture transformative benefits delivered by these technologies in addressing current IT challenges.

Key vendors: APC, Avaya, Cisco, Arbor, Carbon Black, Certes, Datalogic, Extreme, F5 Networks, ForeScout, NEC, Palo Alto Networks, Panduit, Pelco, Plantronics, Polycom, Ruckus, SonicWall, Symantec, Trend, Zebra Technologies Key investments made over 2017: ERP upgrade to SAP, automated quote engine, CRM, E-commerce and annuities engine, in-country staff and entities in Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.

Next phase for the IT industry will be: Traversing consumption models and delivering end use success through channel lead solutions.

Your biggest achievement till date: Raising four fantastic daughters.

What does innovation mean to you: Challenging the norm, not accepting conventional thinking, understanding consequences rather than just outcomes.

Key vendors: Dell EMC, RSA, Check Point, McAfee, Ixia, Trend Micro, Forcepoint and Thales.

Key investments made over 2017: We have invested in running security roadshow for our partners covering all Gulf countries to focus on our security portfolio so as partners can offer complete solutions to their customers. We have expanded our security portfolio with new vendors. We also upgraded our internal system and processes with employees time management, performance monitoring and certifications so as to provide better sales, pre and postsales support to our partners.

Next phase for the IT industry will be: Competition to demonstrate how best to put technology platforms, big data, algorithmic power, and intelligent tools to work to facilitate digital transformation and deliver values for their business or organisation Your biggest achievement till date: In Arrow, we believe in steady and profitable growth, so being profitable and having strategic partnership with our vendors and channel partners is the biggest achievement.

What does innovation mean to you: At Arrow, we embrace the potential for technology to change lives, shift perspectives and generate new opportunities. And examples are all around us. Arrow is helping clients guide innovation forward, helping transform the way we look at technology, ourselves and the world.

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FEATURE // CHANNEL FINANCE OPTIONS

EXAMINING CHANNEL FINANCE OPTIONS

Long credit terms have made it quite challenging to manage working capitals for IT channel partners. It becomes more complex for smaller and medium-sized resellers. We analyse the existing channel financing options and how industry stakeholders can improve the current situation.

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hannel financing continues to be an area where there is a lot of room for improvement. Regional partners find it challenging to achieve their business objectives when they are compelled to find adequate funds to support the initiatives planned. With the region known for long credit terms, it further becomes more difficult for partners to sustain profitable businesses.

According to Graham Porter, head of channels, Middle East, Veeam, the credit relationship between a vendor and a distributor is straightforward.

He explains that the vendor usually requires a letter of credit and a bank guarantee, which promises a smooth relationship where the vendor doesn’t have to wait for the distributor to transfer money each time, but based on the bank guarantee the vendor can acknowledge and ship the order.

“Some vendors offer credit to distributors based on their financial standing. They offer 1:1, 1:2, 1:3 or 1:4 (bank guarantee amount: credit offered) depending on who the distributor is or where the distributor operates. For example, if the bank guarantee is $ 1 million, the vendor would offer credit limit to distributor of $2 million if its 1:2.”

However, when it comes to the relationship between distributors and resellers, the volumes of business are much smaller. Most distributors will ensure complete financial checks on the reseller if the relationship is a new one. He would also ask for audited financial statements for the previous three years, if the reseller has been in business for some time.

In the case of a new reseller starting up business, as there is no history and no reference, it is difficult to offer credit, therefore the distributor would usually ask for cash in-advance (cash upon order, cash before deliver etc), explains Porter.

“However, for an existing relationship, if the distributor has experienced no bounced cheques or defaulting payments, or that payments are always made by reseller within the credit period, then the distributor extends better credit terms to the reseller. If anything fractures that relationship or mistrust develops, then distributors get cautious moving forward and start requesting post-dated cheques.”

Pouya Parsafar, CEO, Enterprise Systems, says, “We have noticed a tightened liquidity in the overall market, not just IT channel industry. While we extend support in terms of favourable payment terms to our partners as part of our valueadded services, tier-2 partners need to resume responsibility for implementing effective collection strategy to ensure they are able to manage their working capital.”

Agreeing, Porter adds that the last two years have been the most worrying both in terms of partners and distributors.

He says, “Essentially customers have delayed payments due to a lack of business confidence, plus we have seen delayed and reduced government budgets. Simultaneously, we have seen the insurance companies who insure the distributors debts reducing their exposure to many partners and in one case an insurance company has exited the market. Distributors have therefore had to take more of the risk themselves instead of insuring the debt and I have seen 70 percent uninsured rates with distributors.

“Distributors have also had to extend payment terms, sometimes involuntarily and a DSO of 90 plus days for

Graham Porter, Veeam

“The next trend in the industry is the move to subscription-based pricing where the customer pays monthly, quarterly or annually.”

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

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FEATURE // CHANNEL FINANCE OPTIONS

a distributor is quite normal now.

Financing in the Middle East is still quite different and the “factoring” or assigning of debt that is normal in Europe and India is not happening here, probably as a reflection of the existing financial laws here.”

According to Porter, the last few years has seen strongly financed distributors and partners growing whilst those with weak cash flows have declined.

Besides these factors, sometimes there is also the challenge of end-users having unrealistic expectations on prolonged payment terms.

Parsafar says, “This happens without the willingness to pay premium price for such privilege. As cost of borrowing is very high in comparison with, for example, Europe and Asia, channel partners need to ensure that this is taken into consideration.”

Other aspects that have contributed to improving financing options include increased competition, stronger relationship with lenders and rise of peer-to-peer financing, he adds.

Having said that, what are some efficient ways to improve channel financing options?

“Trust and confidence plays a key

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role in financing schemes,” says Porter.

“When a distributor provides a bank guarantee to the vendor, the trust levels increase creating better financing and credit terms. When it comes to financing projects, there are only a handful of vendors and distributors in this region that offer end-user finance (through their partners) which could stretch to one to two years. Very often, this helps partners win deals.”

Parsafar adds, “We strive on maintaining close relationships with our partners to enable us to have a better understanding of requirements and needs to be fulfilled to support existing and incremental business. In turn, channel partners should ensure that they are closely engaged with end-users as well as transparency together with responsible business dealing should be upheld always. Ultimately, if a part of channel fails to meet its liabilities as and when they fall due, this has a negative domino effect on the rest of the channel.”

Porter says resellers play a big role when it comes to deciding finance schemes.

“The resellers on the ground know the market better than anyone. They are

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

in touch with the end-users and know what they are looking for. Resellers are the ambassadors of the vendors in their particular territories. Each territory is unique in its requirement and vendors and distributors can learn a great deal from resellers and must take their inputs very seriously when shaping financing schemes.”

Above everything else, businesses must also maintain a proper accounting function within their operations. They need to implement efficient controls on credit risk to make sure they are not taking on more than what can be handled.

The introduction of VAT in the UAE early this year should go a long way in helping to audit businesses and have a better standard of bookkeeping.

Porter adds, “The next trend in the industry is the move to subscriptionbased pricing where the customer pays monthly, quarterly or annually. This has some implications for the channel who sign a contract with a vendor and then the customer stops or delays payment, ultimately customers who don’t pay will see their services and support declined, just like a consumer who doesn’t pay their utility bill.”

ADVERTORIAL

Training is the foundation for success Enterprise Systems is awarded the Channel Training Distributor (CTD) in the region for Ruckus Networks, an ARRIS company.

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ystem Integrators are continuously looking for new brands as well as solutions to satisfy the needs of their end users, training will be the focus for creating a sound foundation for their pre-sales, sales and post-sales team to offer solutions from existing or new brands with comfort and confidence.

Enterprise Systems, a valueadded distributor dedicated to enabling our channel partners with networking, convergence, mobility and security solutions for their enterprise clients across the MEA, has been awarded as the Channel Training Distributor for Ruckus Networks, an ARRIS company.

Ruckus Networks, an ARRIS company enables organizations of all sizes to deliver great connectivity experiences and delivers secure access networks to delight users while easing the IT burden, affordably.

Organizations turn to Ruckus to make their networks simpler to manage and to better meet their user’s expectations.

As the Channel Training Distributor of Ruckus Networks, an ARRIS company, Enterprise Systems can support our partners technical and commercial team get the skills they need to scale their capabilities to secure profitable business and manage their clients in the constantly changing and evolving market. Learn the capabilities of Ruckus wireless and wired networks through practical knowledge from the experts at Enterprise Systems, with best-in-

industry training at your team’s pace and convenience to apply valuable knowledge in your environment.

The training will motivate the partners technical and sales team members to confidently offer the Ruckus solutions to their customers knowing they can support and maintain with ease and assurance.

This will create a strong foundation for growth and create value at their end user as the technology and strength of the product hand-in-hand with the

acquired expertise of the partner creates a winning concoction.

Enterprise Systems is focused to enable our partners with the unique training programs available to deliver a focused, and flexible curriculum tailor made to suit the partners technical and commercial capability with hands on sessions and project simulation to help drive our partners team members towards certification and enablement.

Programs are available by area of focus and for different skill levels.

Enterprise Systems offers exciting incentive programs tailored to our partner’s needs.

Our incentive programs are designed to motivate the sales, pre-sales and postsales team members in-order to secure and deliver the Ruckus Networks solutions.

Enterprise Systems has trained over 100 partners from SMEs to large organizations, and offers customized & tailored enablement programs, certification Programs and workshops.

Enterprise Systems team consists of high quality instructors with high partner & vendor satisfaction score. Our tutors have over 15 years of experience working with networks & partners and our tutors can bring hands on experience to our partners.

Our Training Centre is equipped with the state of the art technology for hands on experience and we offer onsite, offsite and virtual training to fit with the complex and busy schedule of our partners.

Our values are simplicity in solutions and services.

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

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FEATURE // PARTNER PROGRAMME

KEYS TO EFFECTIVE PARTNER PROGRAMME Channel partnerships are critical to the success of any vendor business in the region. A strong partner programme will allow partners to grow their revenues and tap into unique market opportunities. Reseller ME finds out what makes a successful partner programme.

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lobal vendors operating through the channel can build successful businesses in the region by relying on the strength of their partner network. A good partner programme is a significant factor to this success as it presents an opportunity for vendors to appreciate and reaffirm partners that they are on the right track. It is also a process where both parties can communicate and strategise future goals.

A simple and compact partner programme not only helps govern the engagement but also provides clarity on the deliverables by either side, says Nisith Naik, CEO, Centra Hub. “A clearly defined programme helps both parties to take immediate decisions without wasting time on proposals and approvals.”

Agreeing, Zacky Vaz, regional channel manager, Fortinet, says that a partner programme is the primary interface between the partner community and the vendor.

It is important to craft a strong partner programme as it will deepen a vendor’s engagement with its partners by providing them with an efficient and updated information platform to support their selling capability.

He adds, “A successful partner programme will help partners unlock their skills and competences by providing them with access to in-depth product information, discounts, training and certification information, price lists, promotions, campaign tools, and rewards and rebate information. A strong programme will allow for deal registration, record keeping, product tutorials and videos, and a lot more support content.”

Harish Chib, vice president, Middle East and Africa, Sophos, says, “A robust channel partner programme is needed to deliver strong growth and consistent contributions to partners’ bottom line.”

According to Chib, a security partner’s business will thrive if he is able to cover all his customers’ security needs through several aspects such as integrated product suite, highly competitive discounts, deal registration to support sales efforts and drive predictable profits, active engagement with local sales and product specialists team and a good training and development platform.

“All these elements can be covered in a simple yet comprehensive partner programme.”

What elements make a partner programme successful? Naik believes every partner programme’s objective should be to help partners achieve overall growth.

He explains, “It’s not only the P&L, which an entity looks at but also progressing to the next level. This is what drives businesses.

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

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FEATURE // PARTNER PROGRAMME

Harish Chib, Sophos

Once a partner has selected a vendor with a comprehensive and growthoriented partner programme, business success becomes very simple.

An effective programme provides entrepreneurs with those clear insights. It is very important that both vendor and partner have a vision and synergise their resources to achieve long term growth.”

According to Vaz, information exchange is key in a partner programme.

“A successful partner progamme allows partners to easily access information to campaigns and promotions, register deals, enroll for online and interactive courses, provides information on how partners can acquire technical skills, and functions a vendor’s communication platform with the partner community.”

“An ideal partner programme is designed to drive value for partners, regardless of whether a partner wants to simply resell products, sell implementation services or set up a dedicated security practice,” says Chib. “It should be committed to make it easy for partners to work together with the vendor in a manner that best suits partner’s business requirements.

The programme should be more rewarding for the partners that invest more in terms of their effort.”

It is important that all partners benefit from deal registration and higher discounts for partnersourced business.

“The programme should also give access to dedicated channel sales, marketing and technical support teams,” he says.

Partners should also invest time and carefully examine a

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vendor’s partner programme and understand the areas where he can thrive. They need to also make sure the programme is aligned with their own overall business goals.

Chib adds, “Partners must analyse the partner programme from the vendor. Once a partner has selected a vendor with a comprehensive and growthoriented partner programme, business success becomes very simple. The more effort he puts in such vendors and programmes, the more he will be rewarded.”

Vaz believes for partners to truly optimise any programme they have to take the first step and register for the programme.

“Partners can greatly benefit by improving their technical knowledge and skills by getting required info for the trainings, and certifications available online, as well as product updates, rebates, information on campaigns, etc.”

Naik adds, “A balanced programme enables partners to streamline their efforts in maximising the ROI with a focused approach. It also helps the partners in positioning the solutions and capitalising on their core competent verticals.”

Every vendor aims to have a unique programme that stands out in the market, however, more than that, the objective should be to align the programme as per a partner’s business. Vendors need to understand partners’ challenges and create programmes that are conducive to channel growth.

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

Steps for a strong partner programme “The first step towards creating any partner programme should always be analysis and evaluation. It is important for any vendor to have a sound understanding of challenges regional channels face, barriers they are trying to overcome, opportunities on the ground and the support a vendor can offer to achieve common business goals. What follows is an evolving and developing relationship of common strategic objectives, together investing resources to achieve financial goals.”

PUI CHI LI Head of marketing, Middle East and Africa, Xerox “For a successful partner programme, offer rewards for loyalty, focus and the effort of the partner. The distributor’s job is to create a bridge between the vendors and the partners, with the channel programme as the cement that holds all the pieces together.”

GARETH HANSFORD GM, GSD “The steps to creating a strong partner programme is firstly to select the right partners, followed by achievable goal setting and commitment from both sides as well as enablement through training, and motivation through an exciting incentive program and growth through marketing support.”

POUYA PARSAFAR CEO, Enterprise Systems

VENDOR FOCUS // UNIFY

The cloud promise Asif Khan, distribution manager, Middle East and Africa (MEA), Unify, shares details about the firm’s recently launched cloud services platform in the UAE.

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he demand for cloud technology has grown significantly in the Middle East region over the last few years. Increasingly customers are seeking the benefits that cloud can bring to their operations such as low infrastructure management cost, increased efficiencies, improved cash flows and so on. Additionally, cloud computing also offers the flexibility for employees to work from anywhere, enhancing productivity. Internet of Things is also another big driver of cloud services growth.

In such a landscape, Unify, formerly Siemens Enterprise Communications, has unveiled its cloud offerings to the region, starting with UAE, this month.

While cloud and collaboration solutions have been a core component of its portfolio globally, the company has now introduced it to the region at a partner-focused event earlier this month.

Asif Khan, distribution manager, Middle East and Africa (MEA), Unify, says, “Together with our regional distributors, Mindware, Oxygen and Tech Access, we have launched our cloud services to the market.”

Hosting the data locally, Unify, built a cloud services platform called Cloud Voice, which is a telephony sporting all basic features such as conferencing, voice mails and so on. The second offering includes a pure UC cloud solution equipped with advance features covering telephony as well as Unified Communications such as mobility,

“Customers can rely on us for a resilient, carrier-grade and multi-tenant platform, and we bring this expertise right from our Siemens’ heritage.”

messaging, video calling and so on.

The third offering is a contact centre solution on cloud and the fourth has more multi-media rich features.

“We have four kinds of offerings for the market and customers can opt for pay-per-use consumption basis. At Unify, we have the flexibility to increase or decrease the number of users based on the client’s requirement. They will be paying on a monthly basis to us and everything will be taken care of in terms of managed services, implementation, SLA and so on.”

According to Khan, what makes the vendor’s offering unique is the fact that its pricing is competitive.

“Customers can rely on us for a resilient, carrier-grade and multi-tenant platform, and we bring this expertise right from our Siemens’ heritage. The biggest advantage with our offering is that the pricing is competitive without compromising on features and quality,” he adds.

The vendor also has embedded managed services along with upgrades and migration so that customers’ don’t have to worry about anything after paying that one amount per user.

“Also, as everything will be hosted locally, it provides customers a great amount of security and helps to manage the compliance aspects for an organisation.”

Unify’s existing partner network will have access to selling the new cloud offering. “We believe this could be a great alternative for some of our existing partners’ customers.”

Additionally, the vendor is also looking to onboard born-in-the-cloud partners who understand the space well and are already in this market.

Khan adds, “We are hoping to on board partners who already have a cloud mindset and we could support them with the challenges they are currently facing. They can depend on us for resources around marketing, training and so on.”

Towards this goal, the company also has designed a partner programme completely around the growth and profitability of channel partners.

Khan says, “Partners are an important part of our success story. After UAE, we are aiming to launch our cloud services in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Pakistan by the end of this year.”

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

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PARTNER WATCH // SOFTWAREONE

Primed for success Narendra Talreja, country leader, Middle East, SoftwareONE, on the firm’s growth drivers and investments for the region.

Can you give an overview of Software One? SoftwareONE is a global company with a mission statement ‘Software Managed Cloud Optimized’ specialised in cloud and software portfolio management for customers, partners and vendors with diverse, heterogeneous, complex, technology and vertical software estate and investments.

As a company, we instill and practice seven core values – customer focussed, employee satisfaction, speed, passionate, humble, integrity and discipline’. We are headquartered in STANS, Switzerland and spread across 65 legal subsidiaries globally catering to 145 countries with more than 27,000 customers globally. SoftwareONE has strategic relationships with 9000 plus leading technology and industry software vendors and publishers to render commercial, technical and compliance based advisory, consulting, audit and managed services across industry verticals worldwide.

SoftwareONE is proud of its fleet of 3000 plus technical experts and consultants providing advisory and solutions to customers on optimisation, monetisation, consumption and assisting them to the roadmap on digital

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“The partners of the past will not be the partners of the future.” transformation. Our global services delivery centre (GSDC) seat close to 1000 resources providing subject matter experts, solution architects and technical consultants to provide support and managed services to SoftwareONE subsidiaries and customers globally.

What are the technological solutions and services Software One offers?

The technological solutions and services offered include Software Portfolio Management (SPM), Software Procurement Services (SPS), Software Asset Management (SAM), Cloud Support, Technical Services, Managed Services, Cybersecurity, SIMPLE programs on O365, Azure,

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

Skype, Backup, SAM, AWS and SAM Managed Services (SMS) to the all industry verticals. These services are offered on almost all the tiered vendors such as Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, SAP, VMware, Adobe, Autodesk, AWS, Aviva, Bentley and many more. PyraCloud

by SoftwareONE is a unique platform for governance, optimisation and management of budget and spend of all customer software, subscriptions and cloud consumption. Migration to the cloud is changing the way companies do business today and PyraCloud offering aims to be a cloud-based software portfolio management system with the agility to manage both on premises and cloud software.

What do you believe are the challenges in the regional systems integration space today?

I see the word ‘challenges’ as resistant to change or transform with the advent of technologies. While systems integration is here to stay, the speed of adoption is on the rise, which gives SoftwareONE the edge with early and pragmatic adopters. Further, as a global partner with major vendors, SoftwareONE is equipped with services and resources to render niche services

until it becomes a new normal. The capital costs for systems integration limits them to spend time and effort on emerging technologies, which makes the same customer look at partners such as SoftwareONE to provide them the roadmap, advisory and management on their transformation vision and journey.

Can you elaborate on your growth drivers?

Our growth drivers are our unique and niche offerings, advent of cloud adoption in the Middle East, emerging technologies and trends such as Artificial Intelligence, Business Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Internet of Things, blockchain and digital transformation.

SoftwareONE is an ideal partner for customers venturing on these growth drivers. We have seen an increased demand to present and demonstrate these offerings, which assist customers in taking informed

decisions to define or deploy these technologies. We see ourselves to be the next incumbent partner for lot of these customers gradually. Globally, SoftwareONE is further investing towards enabling and sharpening the skills on this futuristic journey.

What kind of demand are you seeing for cloud solutions in the region?

I believe the demand for cloud solutions are becoming subset of systems integration or the digital transformation offerings. Cloud as a need came with lot of expectations on security, compliance and ability to onboard different workloads. While the customer was evaluating the same for his organisation, the wave of digital transformation came in to adopt new technologies and drive cloud consumption. The isolated need for cloud consumption will experience lot of effort buying or selling. That is where SoftwareONE comes with an edge at this juncture in the region.

How much year-on-year growth has the company experienced in the region?

SoftwareONE has an excellent track record on YoY growth to the tune of 40 percent on software reselling and more than 50 percent now on services considering the shift on software spend management. We see this services growth going further up over the next three years with our Vision20 globally.

How do you see the systems integration space evolving over the next two years?

My experience in systems integration for 15 years and later two years in cloud distribution makes me say that the partners of the past will not be the partners of the future. Some partners will transform and some will be compelled to exit due to the evolution and diversification of the market. However, while they get onto this path, there would be other partners who would have already set the new benchmark and portfolio like SoftwareONE. Our close association with major vendors gives us added advantage to define our strategy alongside their growth stories.

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

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MICROSOFT LAUNCHES SURFACE BOOK 2 Microsoft has recently unveiled the Surface Book 2, a hybrid device designed for delivering power, versatility and portability, according to the firm.

The Surface Book 2 is equipped with the latest 8th Gen Intel Core processors and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 and 1060 discrete graphics options. It is up to five times more powerful than the original Surface Book, and the all-day battery life has up to 17 hours of video playback.

According to Microsoft, the Surface Book 2’s performance edge and battery life make it ideal for product designers, gamers, architects, developers and anyone else looking for the power of a desktop and the mobility of a laptop.

The 13-inch model weighs 3.38lbs and the 15-inch, 4.2lbs, making it the most computationally powerful device of this form factor in its weight class.

The detachable display and hinge of the Surface Book 2 have been

redesigned to provide an even smoother transition into Tablet and Studio modes.

Upon detachment, the Surface Book 2 morphs into the world’s thinnest and lightest 8th Gen Intel Core i7 PC. The device comes with a full array of ports, including USB-A, USB-C, and full-size SD card reader, making it easy to connect other devices and accessories.

The Surface Book 2, 13-inch model is now available in all major electronics retail outlets across the UAE with prices starting at AED 5,949, and the 15-inch model will be available from 26 May 2018 at the cost AED 9,499 and above.

INTEL INTRODUCES INTEL CORE I9 PROCESSOR Intel has announced the launch of the first ever Intel Core i9 processor in the UAE, as part of a new line-up of mobile products released to cater for the switch from desktops to laptops.

The i9 is said to be the firm’s highest performing laptop processor to date, and is set to deliver “the best” gaming and content creation experience on the go.

The new 8th Gen i9, i7 and i5 processors reportedly provide a 29 percent increase in overall performance compared to the 7th Gen i7 processor.

Specifically designed to cater for gaming enthusiasts and content creators, it can also deliver up to 41 percent more frames per second in gameplay, and edit 4K video up to 59 percent faster than the previous generation.

The cost of the new i9 processor in the UAE has not yet been confirmed.

In addition, all of the new processors will support Intel Optane memory,

which is a “smart and adaptable system accelerator” to increase the performance and responsiveness of SATA-based storage technology, without compromising storage capacity.

HTC DESIRE 12 AND HTC DESIRE 12+ NOW AVAILABLE IN UAE HTC has announced the local availability of HTC Desire 12 and the HTC Desire 12+.

Offering similar experiences in two different packages, the 5.5” HTC Desire 12 and the 6” HTC Desire 12+ are both slim and comfortable to hold despite their impressive, 18:9 edgeto-edge screens. The HTC Desire 12 is on retail shelves now with the larger HTC Desire 12+ to be available in the first week of May. The HTC Desire 12 and HTC Desire 12+ are offered in Cool Black and Warm Silver, and will later be unveiled in an all-new signature Royal Gold color never seen on an HTC smartphone before. The HTC Desire 12 is available at a retail price of AED729, while the HTC Desire 12+ will retail for AED899.

As a special offering for UAE consumers, those purchasing the HTC Desire 12 and the HTC Desire 12+ will get a bundle of complimentary accessories across select retail channels, including a free screen protector, transparent back cover, guaranteed 48-hour express service, and a 2-year warranty.

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

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HOT PRODUCTS

HONOR ANNOUNCES HONOR 7C AND HONOR 7A Honor, the smartphone e-brand under the Huawei group, has announced the launch of Honor 7C and Honor 7A, one of its budgetfriendly smartphones especially designed for digital natives.

The 7A and 7C come with Face Unlock feature that ensures easeof-use, high-definition rear and front cameras that deliver good photo quality and a large Honor Fullview Display. All of these flagship features are seamlessly integrated in a slim body that is offered at an extremely affordable price point.

Honor 7C is equipped with a dual-lens 13MP + 2MP rear camera which captures people and scenes in high definition, marking a milestone in bringing dual-lens capability to budget smartphones.

APPLE UNVEILS IPHONE 8 AND 8 PLUS RED EDITIONS Apple has announced iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus (product) RED Special Edition, which will be available to order online in select countries including the UAE. iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus (product) RED Special Edition will be available in 64GB and 256GB models starting at an Apple retail price of AED 2,991.50 from Apple.com, the Apple Store app and Apple Stores, and is also available through Apple Authorised Resellers and select carriers (prices may vary). The special edition (product)RED iPhone joins iPhone 8 finishes in space gray, silver and gold.

Apple also introduced a new (product) RED iPhone X Leather Folio.

Crafted from specially tanned and finished European leather for a luxurious look and feel, the new folio joins other (product) RED devices and accessories available for customers to purchase.

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A portion of proceeds for all (product) RED purchases go directly to Global Fund HIV/AIDS grants that provide testing, counseling, treatment and prevention programs with a specific focus on eliminating transmission of the virus from mothers to their babies.

Since partnering with (RED) in 2006, Apple has donated more than $160 million to the Global Fund, serving as the organization’s largest corporate donor.

“This special edition (PRODUCT) RED iPhone features a stunning red and black color combination and also offers customers the opportunity to make an impact in fighting the spread of HIV and AIDS,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of Product Marketing. “iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus improve on everything we love about iPhone, including Retina HD displays that are more beautiful than ever, the most powerful and smartest chip ever in a

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

The new phone integrates Face Unlock feature, a new technology that is no longer limited to high-end smartphones. Honor 7C also comes with 5.99 inch Honor FullView Display screen.

The 18:9 ratio screen offers an immersive viewing experience that is akin to that in the theatre.

Honor 7C is equipped with an octa-core processor at 1.8 GHz. It also features the latest Android 8.0 system and EMUI 8.0 user interface, which unleashes a new level of functions and performance in a multi-tasking environment.

Honor 7C will be available in black, blue and gold at AED 669.

Consumers in UAE can purchase Honor 7C starting from 23rd April at online and retail stores.

smartphone with the A11 Bionic and more advanced cameras for unbelievable photos and videos. We are proud to support (RED) with this bold new iPhone and hope customers think it is as special as we do.”

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

Adelle Geronimo, Online Editor, Technology Division

Storing trust

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ast year, the technology and business industries witnessed cyber breaches make headlines left, right and centre across the globe – from the Equifax breach to the Uber breach.

Furthermore, among the latest incidents that came to light is the Facebook data breach, which exposed the information of over 870 million users. Industry experts say there are no signs that these kinds of breaches will slow down anytime soon and organisations would do well to beef up their data protection strategies.

On 25th May the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is set to kick in and

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while European businesses are the primary target of this new law its impact will be felt by organisations in regions outside the EU bloc including the Middle East.

With the deadline fast approaching, many Middle East organisations are yet to begin the processes, risk lagging behind and potentially facing fines due to non-compliance. A NetApp study revealed that only 35 percent surveyed EMEA firms are confident that they know where all of their data is stored, which is quire alarming.

Data is the lifeblood of any business today. However, there seems to be a disconnect between organisations’ awareness about its importance and their preparedness to protect it.

The GDPR represents the most significant change to data protection law since 1998. While, it’s the latest regulation to be implemented data protection itself is not new. The need

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

to protect information has always been a key security aspect for every industry and with the increasing sophistication of cyber-attacks the new regulation is just another shot in the arm to ensure that businesses take it seriously.

More than compliance, it is also worth for organisations to view GDPR as a new way to build trust with customers. Instead of looking at the regulation as a business limitation, they should consider it as an opportunity to rebuild and redefine their relationships with today’s digitally-savvy customers.

It’s a chance to show them that you care about their privacy and personal information. So, if you assure your customers that you value their data and are GDPR compliant it will help you build long-term relationships with them, based on trust and transparency.

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