Reseller Middle East May 2015

ISSUE 221 | may 2015 www.resellerme.com

Future Ready Dell’s new META chief outlines his plans to deliver value to customers and empower partners

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The first quarter results of worldwide PC shipments are out from both Gartner and IDC, and not very surprisingly, it is not good news. According to Gartner, PC shipments globally declined by 5.2 percent while IDC pegs it at 6.7 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Q1 2014 has seen a revival of sorts in the PC market mainly because businesses upgraded from Windows XP to Windows 7 systems.

However, this is not reason to worry for the channel.

Gartner says this is not a sign of sluggish PC sales long term, and the research firm also says mobile PCs including notebooks, hybrid and Windows tablets grew compared to last year. The PC market is projected to experience a singledigit percentage decline this year, but single-digit percentage growth next year.

Gartner report indicates that desktop shipments declined rapidly, with business desk-based PCs being impacted the most. It adds that PC replacements will be driven by thin and light notebooks with tablet functionality and predicts a steady growth for hybrid notebooks.

In terms of vendors, Lenovo is the undisputed top vendor with 19.6 per cent market share, closely followed by HP in the second slot with 19 per cent market share, according to the figures available from IDC. Dell, another major PC vendor, experienced a worldwide decline for the first time in six quarters, according to Gartner. Dell was one of the vendors that benefited the most from replacement purchases last year.

Now, the PC vendors are pinning their hopes on Windows 10 to give the market another boost and IDC says with the pent-up demand to replace old PCs, this new release from Microsoft could have a positive impact on the PC market.

Though there is no word from Seattle about the exact release date of Windows 10, manufacturers expect laptops and tablets with the new OS to start shipping around September or October this year.

Microsoft has set lofty goals for Windows 10, which will be a free upgrade to Windows 8.1, Windows 8 and Windows 7 users for the first year; it aims to get the new OS on 1 billion devices within the next two or three years. I just hope it doesn’t turn out to be a disappointment like Windows 8 and create a lucrative opportunity for the channel.

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Reseller Middle East may 2015

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CONTENTS

30

ISSUE 221 // may 2015

cover feature Review

53

Asus T300 Chi

hot products

At the helm

54

Plustek re-launches the OpticFilm 120 scanner

Driss Elougmani, the new GM for Dell’s recently formed Middle East Turkey and Africa business discusses channel plans for the region.

Highlights 6

News

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

Vendor focus 34

Partner progression

Hany Hussein, Huawei’s Regional VP, Enterprise Business Group, elaborates on company strategy.

42

Tag to expand RME explores the opportunities social media offers to partners.

interview 46 Taking stock

GfK’s David Lewis outlines key retail trends in the MENA region.

48

Investing in partners

Brocade’s Bill Lipsin on evolving channel dynamics and company strategy.

Feature 38

Seamless shopping

events

How regional players can adopt a sound omnichannel retailing strategy to monetise on the opportunities present.

50 Home booths

HKTDC Electronics Fair and ICT Expo 2015 highlight connected homes.

56

Microsoft unveils Lumia 540 Dual SIM

60

PanzerGlass now available for iPhone 6

highlights

emt Distribution, DenyAll partners with Gateworx

Mohammad Mobasseri, CEO, emt Distribution

emt Distribution announced the appointment of Egypt-based IT distributor Gateworx as the incountry distributor for the complete suite for DenyAll. As part of the agreement Gateworx will be providing solutions such as Vulnerability Management, Web Application Firewall, Web Access Management and Security Management solutions. Both, emt and DenyAll will work closely with Gateworx to develop and market the products.

The partnership expects to increase the footprint of DenyAll across the country and help support its partner base more effectively.

“The market for best of the breed security solutions is gaining momentum in Egypt and we believe the timing for this unique tie-up will open new doors of opportunity for all of us in the channel. Gateworx has a countrywide presence, which will allow us to offer better support to our channel partners,” said, Mohammad Mobasseri, CEO, emt Distribution. emt Distribution is the authorised master distributor for DenyAll in Middle East and is responsible for the distribution of all of DenyAll products across the region, including countries like KSA, UAE, Oman, Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain among others.

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TP-LINK ME signs partnership with Carrefour Qatar TP-LINK Technologies has signed an alliance with retailer Carrefour in Qatar.

The move to partner with Carrefour, according to the manufacturer of Wireless, ADSL, Switches, IP Cameras, Powerline Adapters, Print Servers, Media Converters and Network Adapters, will not only cement TP-LINK’s presence in Qatar’s retail segment, but will also open opportunities for its products to be sold in Carrefour’s stores in the country.

The company said the alliance with Carrefour is part of a broader strategy to develop its retail business in the region and comes at a time when TP-LINK is experiencing phenomenal growth in the networking and wireless solutions business in the region.

Lucas Jiang, Sales Manager, GCC, Power Retailer and E-Retailer, TP-LINK Middle East, said the company has been garnering momentum in the

Lucas Jiang, Sales Manager, GCC, Power Retailer and E-Retailer, TP-LINK Middle East

retail segment and partnering with Carrefour will benefit consumers in Qatar as they will have access to TPLINK’s broad product range.

“The networking market in Qatar is experiencing unprecedented growth with the many infrastructure projects that are being implemented in the country. “We believe with good cooperation, we both can have a profitable business partnership that benefits us and Carrefour,” he added.

Global Distribution hosts SolarWinds partner event

Global Distribution, an authorised SolarWinds distributor in ME, recently conducted a Reseller Partner Event at Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai.

More than fifty value-added resellers from the UAE and Oman attended the Reseller Partner Event. Attendees had the chance to discuss the latest product updates from SolarWinds systems portfolio, including: the NEW SolarWinds Storage Resource Monitor, SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor, SolarWinds Virtualisation Manager, and SolarWinds Web

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Performance Monitor – all products that help manage visibility across the entire application stack. Key partners such as Al Rostamani, CAD Emirates, Dmatics, EBM, GBM, InterTec, MDS/ PACC, NetLinks and many other key VAR’s from the UAE and Oman joined the morning event.

Avinash Chanchalani, Business Unit Manager, Software from Global Distribution, said, “Building a strong partner community for SolarWinds and other solutions vendors is a key objective for Global.

It’s always a proud moment for us to have support from our key partners and having them attending and supporting such events and initiatives, especially at such a prestigious location. We are very happy with the positive responds we have received from partners and vendors alike.”

highlights

Fujisoft hosts interactive workshop Fujisoft Technology and Cisco Systems recently conducted a seminar and workshop themed Cisco Collaboration Reimagined for Fujisoft’s key enterprise and mid-market customers.

Fujisoft unveiled to more than 25 of its customers Cisco’s latest announcements spanning mobile, cloud, video and services that are enabling teams to share ideas and get work done, while also giving customers new ways to delight end users.

Further highlighting as to how today’s flexible, cloud and mobile driven businesses are clamoring for collaboration solutions that offer a “no compromises” experience in every room, on every desk, and in every pocket, enhancing productivity, innovation and growth across organisations.

During this interactive workshop Madiajagan and Saravanakumar from the IT Department of BITS Pilani Dubai Campus shared their experience and how the use of Cisco telepresence solutions enables students and faculty at BITS Pilani to collaborate efficiently within and beyond the campus. They also highlighted the real life meeting experience the members of their teams experience when using the Cisco IX5200.

Fujisoft also showcased live product demos and how such collaboration technology innovations will help teams reimagine how they collaborate with people both inside and outside of their company, bringing a new level of simplicity to collaboration.

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MAY 2015 Reseller Middle East

Dimension Data honoured at Cisco’s global awards Dimension Data has announced that it has received three Global Partner of the Year Awards for the Americas, Europe, Middle Brett Dawson, CEO, East, Africa and Dimension Data Russia (EMEAR), and Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) at Cisco’s global awards.

In addition, the group was honoured with four geographic region awards, a Marketing Velocity award for digital and social marketer of the year, and a further 15 theatre awards.

Awarded to exemplary channel partners, the Cisco Partner Summit Global awards are designed to recognise best-in-class business practices and serve as a model to the industry. Areas of consideration include innovative practices, architecture-led approach successes, strategic business outcomefocused programmes, seizing new

opportunities and sales approaches.

Brett Dawson, Group CEO, Dimension Data said, “Achieving Global Partner of the Year status in all three Cisco geographic regions is a fantastic milestone for the Group, and demonstrates our ability to successfully team with the world’s technology industry leaders to accelerate our client’s ambitions.

We’re also extremely proud to have garnered a further 19 other geographic and theatre awards.

Our partnership with Cisco – now in its 24th year – plays a key role in ensuring Dimension Data consistently delivers world-class solutions and services to our clients through our comprehensive services portfolio.”

Cisco Partner Summit Global awards reflect the top-performing partners within specific technology markets across all geographical regions. All award recipients are selected by a group of Cisco Worldwide Partner Organisation and regional executives.

Psilog partners with Kodak Alaris Psilog International, a broadline distributor in ME and Africa has entered into a distribution agreement with Kodak Alaris.

Chandan Das, GM, Psilog Through the agreement, Psilog will distribute Kodak Alaris’ full range of capture and document imaging products in the Middle East and Africa market.

Chandan Das, General Manager, Psilog, said, “We are very pleased about the opportunity to partner with Kodak Alaris. This agreement will facilitate a sizable expansion of the large and medium size system integrators, value-added resellers as well the channel market. The breadth

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of the applications and the range of capture and document imaging solutions included in the agreement will enhance the presence of Psilog in the ME and Africa market.”

David Whitton, Eastern Cluster Manager, Kodak Alaris, said, “We are pleased to welcome Psilog into our distribution network. Psilog offers increased geographical coverage over a diverse region and will help accelerate our component software sales in the enterprise space in particular.”

Kodak Alaris is a UKbased company with a USD 1 billion turnover in Information Management and Personalised Imaging solutions. Its business in the Middle East and Africa grew in revenue terms by over 30 per cent in 2014, a trend that has continued through the first quarter of 2015.

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highlights

Panellists for DISTREE Middle East 2015 announced DISTREE Events has announced the full lineup of retail executives for the Retail Voices plenary panel Farouk Hemraj, Director and discussion, Co-Founder at DISTREE Events which will take place at this month’s DISTREE Middle East 2015.

The panel discussion gives the region’s top retailers an opportunity to discuss the complex challenges and opportunities facing the technology and consumer electronics retail

channel. Senior executives from Emax, eXtra, Jumbo, Khoury Home and Sharaf DG will form this year’s panel.

The Retail Voices session at DISTREE Middle East takes place on Wednesday, 13th May at 09:45am at the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr hotel in Abu Dhabi. The panel discussion forms part of the wider DISTREE Middle East event, which gathers together hundreds of senior e-tailer, retailer, distributor and vendor executives involved in the region’s volume channel for consumer technology and electronics products.

The confirmed panelists for the Retail Voices session include, Neelesh Bhatnagar, CEO at Emax; Mujeeb Hazzaa, Chief Commercial Officer at

IBM expands presence in Middle East with Kuwait office As part of its expansion in the Middle East, IBM will be launching its first office in Kuwait.

Through the opening of the Kuwait office, IBM aims to strengthen its ability to provide solutions and services to a rapidly expanding base of customers and partners in the region. The new subsidiary is licenced by the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) whose vision is to attract high value-added Direct Investment (Foreign & Local) to Kuwait to maintain sustainable economic and social goals fostering a knowledge-based economy and green technology.

Dr. Meshaal Jaber Al-Ahmad AlSabah, Director General of Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA), said, “The Kuwaiti government recognises the central role that IT plays in the diversification of the economic base of the country to achieve Kuwait’s

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2035 national vision, and streamline its transition to a sustainable knowledge-based economy. We strongly believe that IBM will continue to enhance its role in supporting the modernisation of Kuwait’s IT sector with its global outreach and locally attuned expertise.”

The new office will act as a sales and customer service hub for IBM’s comprehensive line of offerings in the region with a focus on study and research, professional services, systems integration and facilities management activities. IBM will be offering key solutions in cloud, social, mobile, Big Data and security to organisations in Kuwait. The company’s focus will be transforming industries and professions with data, remaking enterprise IT for the era of cloud and reimagining work by helping clients to build systems of engagement underpinned by the imperative of security.

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eXtra; Nadeem Khanzadah, Head of OmniChannel Retail at Jumbo; Alain Goanvec, CEO at Khoury Home; and Nilesh Khalkho, CEO at Sharaf DG Farouk Hemraj, Director and Co-Founder at DISTREE Events, said, “We’re delighted to announce the line-up for the Retail Voices panel at DISTREE Middle East. As a businessfocused channel event, we look to bring together all of the major stakeholders in the regional retail channel for three days of professional networking, discussions and meetings.

The active participation of the region’s most influential retailer and e-tailer executives forms an important part of this process.”

stats

Prices of PCs to rise by up to

10 % in 2015

Worldwide PC shipments declined

5.2 % in Q1 of 2015

Source: Gartner

highlights

Worldwide PC shipments declined 5.2 % in Q1 2015 According to a recent report by Gartner, PC shipments worldwide has totaled 71.1 million units during the first quarter of 2015, a 5.2 per cent drop as compared to the same period in 2014.

Mikako Kitagawa, Principal Analyst, Gartner, explained that the main reason behind this decline is because the Windows XP replacement cycle is fading.

“This does not necessarily reflect a sign of sluggish overall PC sales long-term. Mobile PCs, including notebooks, hybrid and Windows tablets, grew compared with a year ago. The first quarter results support our projection of a moderate decline of PC shipments in 2015, which will lead to a slow, consistent growth stage for the next five years,” she added.

The top five vendors worldwide are Lenovo, HP, Dell, ASUS and Acer. However, the Gartner report underlined that only Lenovo and HP have experienced an increase in PC shipments during Q1 2015, with 18.9 per cent and 17.3 per cent growth respectively.

PC shipments in EMEA totaled 21.7 million units in the first quarter of 2015, a 4.4 per cent decline from the first quarter of 2014. The EMEA market experienced varied trends in the region. A bright spot for the market was the strong shipment volume of hybrid notebooks, which led the growth of consumer mobile PCs. Desktop PC shipments declined rapidly. Overall, the Eurozone currency devaluation against the dollar had a limited impact in the first quarter, but increased prices are expected in the second quarter.

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ESET launches new retail partner programme ESET has unveiled its new ESET Retail Partner Programme for the Middle East to drive sales of home user management.

The scheme Pradeesh VS, GM, ESET ME recognises and rewards partners who have a proven track record of promoting and selling the ESET Smart Security and the ESET NOD32 Antivirus products which are highly popular with home users for their market leading threat detection and mitigation capabilities and low sytem resource utilisation.

“We have in the last couple of years really strengethened our ties with our retail partners by deepening collaboration and conducting regular incentive, rebate and cash-back programmes. Based on this success, we have decided to formalise our retail rewards with a well-defined and completely transparent framework,” said Pradeesh VS, General Manager, ESET Middle East. “The goal is to further drive uptake of our home user solutions and provide as many regional internet users as possible with ESET’s brand of proactive protection against

malware, spyware, identity theft and social media scams.”

According to the new programme, the vendor’s Middle East retail partners will be categorised as Gold, Silver and Bronze based on their performance and current business with ESET. On achieving pre-set quarterly sales targets, members will be awarded points which determine the cash-back rewards that they are entitled to. The home user market currently accounts for 40 per cent of ESET’s business in the Middle East and the company believes its new programme will further drive its revenues from this segment.

We have in the last couple of years really strengethened our ties with our retail partners by deepening collaboration and conducting regular programmes.”

FVC partners with Pivot3 for IT infrastructure solutions FVC has partnered with Pivot3 to deliver hyper-converged appliances and solutions to its partners throughout the Middle East and Africa.

K. S. Parag, Managing Director at FVC, said, “With the growing importance of hyper-converged solutions, Pivot3 is a valuable addition to our new IT infrastructure and security division and in line with our commitment to bring cutting edge technology to our partners.”

Anand Chakravarthi, Regional Director, Middle East & India, Pivot3,

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said, “FVC will help our channel partners and customers capitalise on the strength of our solutions, services and expertise. At the same time, FVC will drive demand for Pivot3 hyperconverged solutions and enable partner success to drive successful sales and deployment of Pivot3 technologies.”

Pivot3 provides global hyperconvergence solutions for Surveillance, VDI, Disaster recovery, and Backup. These solutions simplify system management and deployment while maximising storage capacity and data protection.

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highlights

Granteq to participate in Digital Health Live 2015 Granteq, is participating at a Digital Healthcare Live 2015 event in Dubai, an event organised by Girish Narayanan, Nuviun, the Managing Director, Granteq interactive digital health event will be focusing on driving emerging technologies into the mainstream, taking place on 5th-7th May 2015 at Dubai World Trade Centre.

According to a report by Alpen Capital Group the UAE will be the second fastest growing healthcare market in the GCC in the next six years, and the overall growth rate for the whole region will hit 12 per cent by 2018. The upcoming Digital Health Live 2015 event provides a platform for discussion to debate the core issues facing healthcare and to create an environment for education

and connection. The conference will attract key players from decisionmakers, investors, entrepreneurs, providers, patient representatives to industry experts.

Granteq will be showcasing their healthcare offerings designed to meet the current global scenario, where doctors are in short supply, costs are on the rise and communities lack access to care. Granteq with its partners, AMD & Vidyo, is expanding their healthcare expertise and domain reach, and will also be jointly highlighting their one of a kind corporate wellness solution along with alliance partner, Spotcheck.

“In today’s smart healthcare world, there has been a major shift on enabling patients with world-class technologies offering care at any time and any place. Telemedicine and associated healthcare technologies can majorly contribute towards equipping doctors with early screening of health disorders, increasing patient care and over all

improve patient outcomes. Granteq’s team looks forward to educating all visitors on our entire range of healthcare and corporate wellness solutions via the Digital Healthcare forum,” explains Girish Narayanan, Managing Director, Granteq.

In today’s smart healthcare world, there has been a major shift on enabling patients with world-class technologies offering care at any time and any place.”

Aptec launches ‘flyHigher’ programme

Martin Meitza, Senior Business Unit Manager, Aptec- an Ingram Micro company

Aptec – an Ingram Micro company has recently announced the successful launch of its flagship ‘flyHigher’ programme for Cisco resellers in the Middle East.

The programme reiterates Aptec’s commitment to invest in the Cisco business by assisting partners on their journey to sales acceleration. The flyHigher website (www.ingramflyhigher.com/me),

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MAY 2015 Reseller Middle East

which is a key component of the programme, was launched in January 2015 for the UAE and other GCC countries, excluding Saudi Arabia.

It serves as a central hub for SMB channel partners to get all the information related to all things Cisco. Resellers can use the flyHigher site to get on-boarded, attend online trainings, view valueadded services and get access to inventory on-hand.

“The flyHigher programme is aimed at providing channel partners new to Cisco an easy path to beginning and growing their Cisco business. Its focus is on simplifying and consolidating all information relevant for a new Cisco reseller to get up and moving quickly. When on-board,

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flyHigher will offer resellers many acceleration tracks to gain advanced knowledge about Cisco, its products, programmes, promotions, certifications and specialisation. flyHigher is designed around the steps of the sales cycle as a central landing page for Cisco resellers. The programme is aimed at developing and accelerating the resellers’ business profitably over time in close collaboration with Ingram Micro and Cisco,” said Martin Meitza, Senior Business Unit Manager for Aptec – an Ingram Micro company.

Leveraging on the successful launch in the Middle East, Aptec is planning on taking the programme to other countries in the META region, such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey, in the next few months.

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highlights Dell introduces new networking solutions for SMBs Dell has announced an enhanced networking portfolio designed specifically to meet the needs of small to medium-sized businesses.

Distributed, global workforces have given rise to increased mobile and cloud computing. This, combined with the rise in data analytics, has caused businesses to experience a data deluge. IT departments of all sizes are looking to create a network infrastructure that is able to manage this new generation of computing and workload processing but are often constrained by limited resources.

To provide small and mediumsized businesses (SMBs) with a competitive edge and the ability to grow their networks at a flexible and affordable rate, Dell has introduced these innovative networking solutions that combine cost effective, enterprise-level network control with consumer like ease.

“Dell brings decades of experience delivering enterpriseclass features in technology solutions specifically designed for small and medium-sized customers,” said Arpit Joshipura, Vice President, Strategy and Product Management, Dell Networking. “Today’s announcement is another example of our commitment to enable customers to break free of outdated networking paradigms.”

The Dell Networking X-Series is a family of smart web-managed 1 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and 10GbE switches specifically designed for SMBs that offer intuitive, enterpriseclass features, as well as multiple flexible configurations. The Dell Networking N1500 family offers fully managed 1GbE switches optimised for smaller networks. To reassure wireless customers and partners, Dell announced extended support for the W-series family of wireless access points and controllers.

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Fly reveals new phablet

European mobile maker Fly is meeting growing regional demand for phablets with the latest addition to its bigscreen phone family, the Fly Epic Note.

Phablets – smartphones with a screen size of 5.5 inches and larger – are surging in popularity in the Middle East and Africa as customers increasingly look for a mobile device that can fulfil the combined role of a smartphone and a tablet. Fly has already experienced significant success in the region, with the Fly Epic selling out within weeks of its launch, as customers responded eagerly to the versatility of the phablet form factor at an attractive price point.

Now, Fly is introducing the Epic Note

phablet to meet this growing customer demand for a big-screen phone.

“For those of our customers that want to have an all-round gadget in their pocket, the phablet is the perfect solution – combining the versatility of a smartphone with the alluring display size of a tablet into a single, powerful device,” said Nitin Sood, Managing Director, Fly MEA. “The costeffectiveness of this format means it is unsurprising we have seen strong interest across the region, while the quality that the Fly brand promises and delivers mean customers know they are not compromising on performance and design.”

The Fly Epic Note features a 5.5-inch QHD IPS display, making it ideal for consuming media on the go, and a 1.2 GHz Quad core processor, delivering peak performance for users who need to work outside their office environment. The Android KitKat, dual sim phone will be competitively priced and runs on a 3G network, as well as featuring an 8MP+2MP camera and supporting dual SIM technology.

FVC sets up infrastructure and security division FVC has formed a new IT infrastructure and security division to focus on expanding its portfolio to include K.S. Parag, Managing technologies Director, FVC such as network and content security, hyperconvergence and VDI, networking and application performance management, storage and data centre solutions, among others.

The new division, headed by newly appointed General Manager, Harsh Thakkar, showcased its portfolio at GISEC 2015, held from 26-28 April 2015 in Dubai.

“As a VAD that has built a

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reputation for introducing cutting edge technologies to the region, we felt that we needed to invest in a new division that would focus and build on our existing portfolio to scale as the IT infrastructure and security needs of this region evolve,” said K.S. Parag, Managing Director for FVC. “We are excited about Harsh Thakkar leading this initiative, as he brings invaluable industry expertise and experience.”

The FVC IT infrastructure and security teams were present at GISEC 2015 representing solutions from key vendors including Watchful Software, Aruba Networks, Riverbed, and Pivot3. FVC also looked at strengthening this portfolio with new partnerships that will build and complement its existing portfolio.

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highlights

Intertec organises IT management seminar

Intertec Systems, LANDESK and Nexthink have organised an exclusive seminar on ‘IT Management aligned with the Business’. The event was held last month at Sofitel Dubai Downtown and catered to information technology planners and decision makers.

Today, businesses maintain their competitive edge driven by IT services that must meet current and future business and customer changing needs. The seminar provided insights from experts on how to align your IT operations with world-class standards and frameworks. The programme also included key customer testimonials on benefits derived from implementing and integrating these technologies.

Jumbo revamps MoE store

Jumbo Electronics has re-launched its Mall of the Emirates store with a fresh, new format designed to take the customer experience to the next level and firmly establish Jumbo as the epitome of ‘cool’ in consumer electronics, said the company.

The newly revamped Jumbo Retail store, spanning 27,000 square feet, features a clutter-free layout that facilitates easy navigation between product categories, and is designed as a space that encourages customers to browse and explore consumer electronics at leisure.

Resilient Systems partners with Shifra The Indicent Response Platform provider Resilient Systems (formerly known as Co3 Systems) has announced its partnership with information security value-added distributor, Shifra, marking its expansion into the Middle East region.

The partnership is the latest in a series of announcements relating to Resilient System’s expansion into the EMEA territory, following the establishment of an EMEA office and senior sales and management appointments in the region.

“Response efforts today continue to rely largely on retrofit, manual approaches based on ticketing systems, spreadsheets and legacy applications,”

We’re seeing significant market demand in EMEA for solutions that will help to improve the coordination and detail in which organisations can respond to security incidents.”

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“Jumbo is a pioneer in organised retail in the region, and we have been improving our in-store and Online offerings consistently to create industry-best retail experiences that appeal to the region’s international consumer base. We think ahead to keep up with customer preferences in the highly competitive consumer electronics retail segment,” says Nadeem Khanzadah, Head, OmniChannel Retail, Jumbo Group.

The displays are ergonomically designed, keeping in mind the way people interact with products. The reformatted interiors also include special merchandising areas, or shop-in-ashop concepts, for specialty brands.

Customers can now also approach the Jumbo Unwired Crew team for a full demo of the product, transfer data, add softwares and upgrades at the dedicated ‘Unwired Crew’ bay within the store.

As one of the anchor stores at the Mall of the Emirates, Jumbo believes the new store format will help increase visitor footfalls to the mall.

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said Paul Ayers, General Manager EMEA at Resilient Systems. “We’re seeing significant market demand in EMEA for solutions that will help to improve the coordination and detail in which organisations can respond to security incidents. By partnering with Shifra, we’ll be able to bring the most effective response tools to new customers ME.” “The Middle East is a significant growth area, with businesses expanding rapidly and deploying new infrastructure and systems that are being actively targeted by cybercriminals,” said Ahmad Elkhatib, Managing Director of Shifra.

“Our partnership with Resilient Systems will provide our customers with all the best IR tools currently available, ensuring that they are world-leading in their ability to respond to any security incidents.”

Resilient Systems also took part at GISEC 2015, which was held at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

Highlights

Lenovo assigns new EMEA leaders Lenovo has announced new leaders for North America and Europe, Middle East Aymar de Lencquesaing, President, Lenovo, N.America and Africa (EMEA), following a recent realignment of its business groups and geographies to drive greater consistency, synergy and focus across the world.

In a new leadership role, Aymar de Lencquesaing, currently President of EMEA, has been named President of Lenovo North America.

Lencquesaing joined Lenovo in late 2013 to lead the company’s drive in the mobile space in EMEA and lay the foundation for company’s expansion plans.

Lenovo has appointed Eric Cador as the Senior Vice President and President of EMEA effective May 1st. Cador is a global executive leader with 30 years of experience in leadership positions in the IT market. Cador’s deep knowledge of the IT sector and business management as well as operational and strategic experience in design, supply chain and go to market strategies will ensure Lenovo’s path of success and momentum in EMEA continues.

Commenting on the new appointments, Gianfranco Lanci, President & COO Lenovo Group, said, “We are proud to have the most diverse, experienced and talented leadership team in our industry – and this is a core competitive strength for Lenovo.

We can attract great talent because our business is strong, our strategy is clear and our opportunity looking forward is substantial.”

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MAY 2015 Reseller Middle East

Spectrami and LogRhythm conduct partner workshop Spectrami in association with LogRhythm had recently organised ‘Tech Workshop’, a training Anand Choudha, MD, Spectrami workshop dedicated to its channel partners on LogRhythm Security Intelligence solutions in Dubai, UAE. Channel partners from all over Middle East attended ‘Tech Workshop’, which was held last month. The workshop ran separate tracks for sales and pre-sales and was well received by channel partners.

Partners like Al Rostamani Communications, Insight Oman, Saar Information technology, 6 Sigmea, Diyar United and Paramount Bahrain

were among the ones who attended.

The partners’ technical teams were given hands on experience on products and offered deep dive technical sessions. The main focus in the sales training sessions was on product positioning, competitive landscape and the technical edge that LogRhythm’s solutions offers to the enterprises in the region.

Anand Choudha, MD, Spectrami, said, “As a true VAD, we strongly believe in enabling our channel with the right set of knowledge and skill sets. Tech Workshop provides an excellent platform for knowledge transfer but also to understand the challenges partners face in front of a customer. This is the first workshop for LogRhythm in the region in FY 2015 and we are happy with the encouraging response from both channel partners and LogRhythm.”

A10 Networks announces new VP for Global Marketing A10 Networks has recently announced that Sanjay Kapoor has been appointed Vice President of global Sanjay Kapoor, VP, Global marketing.

Marketing, A10 Networks In this role, Kapoor will be responsible for the global structure, strategy, and execution of all aspects of A10’s marketing efforts. He will report directly to CEO Lee Chen.

According to Lee Chen, Founder and CEO of A10 Networks, Kapoor will be able to contribute extraordinary marketing leadership and business strategy expertise to A10 Networks.

“He is well-recognised for developing global marketing programmes that have not only accelerated growth, but also

www.resellerme.com

increased influencer engagement and brand awareness at some of the world’s most successful technology companies, including Nominum, Juniper Networks and Cisco Systems.

Kapoor’s marketing expertise and industry knowledge will help us elevate the A10 Networks brand, stimulate increased demand for our solutions and drive revenue growth across our entire product portfolio. Our global partners and customers will greatly benefit from his extensive networking experience and insights. We are delighted to welcome Kapoor to the leadership team at A10 Networks.”

Kapoor said, “I am thrilled to be joining Lee and the team at A10 Networks. I’m excited to apply my marketing expertise in driving global brand awareness as well as customer and influencer engagement, and increased revenue and market share.”

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gisec updates

Infoblox exhibits DNS and cloud innovations The company showcased its latest innovations in DNS, DHCP, and IP Address Management (DDI), secure DNS and cloud network automation technologies that are all in line with the UAE National Electronic Security Authority’s (NESA) vision to protect the country’s critical national infrastructure, including telecom, government, banking & finance, oil & gas, transportation and aviation.

Ashraf Sheet, Senior Sales Manager, UAE, Infoblox, said, “Regional enterprises especially that fall within the ‘critical national infrastructure’ category are expected to focus on security as the No. 1 area of IT spend given the fact that not only is the threat landscape constantly changing, but also the political turmoil in certain countries is adding another dimension of cyber warfare. Domain Name System (DNS) Security is an area that we believe regional organisations will start paying greater attention to as they begin to understand the damaging consequences of inadequate security measures. DNS is a foundational Internet technology used in every non-trivial IP-based transaction. If it’s not working properly, Internet transactions can grind to a halt leading to disastrous results including lost revenue due to downtime, diminished customer satisfaction and lost productivity.”

During the event, Infoblox also focused on its cloud solutions, as private clouds are rapidly gaining traction in the region.

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MAY 2015 Reseller Middle East

Cyberoam showcases Layer 8 technology during GISEC During their participation at GISEC 2015, Cyberoam educated regional businesses and CXOs on Ravinder Janotra, Regional its patented Manager Middle East, Cyberoam Layer 8 technology and showcased how IT and security teams in the region can benefit from Cyberoam’s network security innovations.

Ravinder Janotra, Regional Manager Middle East, Cyberoam, said, “As more organisations in the region embrace IT that is built on mobile devices, cloud, virtualisation, Big Data and other disruptive tech forces, there’s a need to insulate businesses from potential risks that accompany these decisions. We are eager to contribute our part in driving greater security awareness at the

event while showcasing our patented network security innovations.”

Middle East has witnessed a spate of targeted attacks and malware mayhem in recent years. Several countries in the region have been advised to take note of growing threat landscape and risks from evolved threat actors, cybercrime syndicates and hacktivism campaigns. While oil and gas businesses in the region were the first to appear on the radar of cyber criminals and malware authors, the focus is also shifting to connected businesses and enterprises in other verticals. Cyberoam aims to stay a trusted network security partner to several leading businesses as well as government establishments in the Middle East, with a strong local network of channel partners and dedicated sales teams across the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and other countries in the region.

StarLink highlights advanced threat protection

Nidal Othman, MD, StarLink.

StarLink participated at GISEC 2015 along with some of its key vendors including FireEye, TripWire, Infoblox, Arbor Networks,

MobileIron and Ixia.

Visitors to StarLink’s stand had the opportunity to network with these vendors at their individual pods and attend product demonstrations on APT protection, DNS security, DDoS protection, Secure EMM/MDM and Network Visibility solutions. Visitors will also get the opportunity to meet with the company’s management team to learn more about its security framework and solutions lifecycle.

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“With the current state of the IT security landscape in the Middle East region, we expect an excellent response from industry decisionmakers, who come to this premier event in the region to focus specifically on addressing their compliance and next-generation threat protection requirements,” said Nidal Othman, Managing Director, StarLink.

With the current state of the IT security landscape in ME, we expect an excellent response from industry decision-makers at the event.”

gisec updates

Cisco highlights the importance of security in the IoE era With security becoming an increasingly bigger concern in the era of Internet of Everything (IoE), Cisco Philippe Roggeband, Business used GISEC Development Manager , Cisco as a platform Security Architecture to highlight how physical and cyber-security solutions need to work intelligently together to protect the networks, devices, applications and data that make up the IoE. Philippe Roggeband, Business

Development Manager of Cisco Security Architecture, also delivered a keynote address entitled “What do we need to make IoT security a reality?” during the conference. “To secure the networked connections among people, processes, data, and things, an end to end security approach needs to be as pervasive as the Internet of Everything itself.

With every company becoming a technology company, every company is also becoming a security company in the way that it protects its business, its data and its people. Cisco has been securing organisations of all sizes for decades, and we understand

Fortinet shares insight on cyber security As part of their participation at GISEC, Kalle Bjorn, Director Systems Engineering Middle East Alain Penel, Regional Vice and Ahmad President, Middle East, Fortinet Arafat, Senior Systems Engineering at Fortinet, took part at a session called, “Advanced Threat Protection: a strategic approach against an increasingly sophisticated threats”.

Through these segments, Fortinet brought together two complementary technologies: Next Generation Firewall and Sandboxing into a comprehensive and cost effective solution.

Nader Baghdadi, Regional Enterprise Director, South Gulf & Pakistan at Fortinet, also participated at a panel discussion titled ‘Before the breach – actions to protect data

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MAY 2015 Reseller Middle East

from attacks’, a session aimed to explain how to protect the corporate network and also the data against any future attacks.

Alain Penel, Regional Vice President, Middle East, Fortinet, said, “As attacks continue to become more advanced, so must the security solutions used by organisations to protect themselves. And, thanks to Fortinet’s ATP framework, the combination of our Prevent, Detect and Mitigate approach to advanced threats enables organisations to stop known threats before they infect the infrastructure, discover new threats and then learn to continually evolve and deliver enhanced threat prevention.”

Fortinet also presented its entire IT security portfolio and the vendor’s staff was available to discuss the industry trends, the company’s market share vision as well as Fortinet’s business strategy in the Middle East region.

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the rapidly changing security landscape. Our customers need to maintain a secure end-to-end environment to protect critical infrastructure, data and intellectual property. As our connected lives grow and become richer, the need for a new security model becomes even more critical,” he said.

Cisco also unveiled a host of new capabilities and services that give security professionals extensive intelligence and analysis on potential compromises and solutions to protect against, respond to and recover from attacks, at the region’s only large-scale information security event.

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The outsourcing, managed services, and data centre services market in Saudi Arabia is expected to total

USD 570.6 million in 2015.

Source: IDC

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gisec updates

Spire Solutions partners with CSG Invotas

On the sidelines of GISEC 2015, Spire Solutions has signed a strategic partnership with CSG Invotas (CSGI).

The agreement will enable Spire Solutions to market, implement and support CSGI’s solutions across the

Middle East region. CSGI’s Security Orchestrator accelerates data breach response time, minimises the impact of breaches, and enable internal resources to devote more time to high-impact security initiatives. The company’s revolutionary platform dramatically reduces risk and boosts productivity by unifying, orchestrating and automating the key elements of incident response into a single console, giving enterprises the ability to respond at machine speed.

Sanjeev Walia, CEO, Spire Solutions, said, “One concern that all organisations across the region have, is the rapidly increasing number of

security incidents and the need to respond effectively, efficiently and with speed – which is becoming increasingly difficult with grossly under-resourced teams. This problem holds true across industries such as oil and gas, defense, banking and finance, and so on.

Our search for a solution led to CSG Invotas who are not only the pioneer in Security Orchestration but also have proven the value many a times with multiple customers. The team at CSG Invotas believes strongly in delivering game changing benefits and we are confident that our customers will be elated with the value that CSG Invotas and Spire brings to the table.”

Redington Value signs three new partnerships at GISEC 2015

Badrudin Salahudin, Regional Manager MEA & India, Shavlik; Hishamul Hasheel, General Manager Software & Security, Redington Value; and Jim Jaeger, Chief Cyber Services Strategist, Fidelis.

Redington Value has entered into strategic distribution agreements with leading IT security vendors Shavlik, Fidelis and Niksun.

During Redington Value’s participation at GISEC 2015, they have showcased their latest portfolio of security, cyber security and cloud solutions, which can be used to effectively combat the increasing cases of advanced threats and attacks.

Industry experts present at the three-day IT security event have lauded Redington Value’s latest agreements, pointing out the

importance of being able to offer today’s enterprises with world-class, fully efficient and reliable security solutions to protect their businesses.

“Being present at this year’s GISEC proves to be a timely and strategic move for us as we are bringing and making available the latest stateof-the-art security, cyber security, and cloud innovations for Middle East enterprises,” said Ramkumar Balakrishnan, President, Redington Value. “Businesses today should be more vigilant in maintaining and securing information that deals with management, governance,

enablement and execution. It is vital to stay current on trends and malware distribution patterns and take a prevention-centric approach to securing their organisation. The three new distributorship agreements that we have signed offers more security solutions that businesses today can rely on, ensuring that their data and information is free from any cyber-attack.”

Jim Jaeger, Chief Cyber Services Strategist, Fidelis, said, “We are a product and services company, we build the industry’s leading advanced protection systems. We are here to primary enable our partners.

We will provide heavy technical support if discussions get into the engineering level. We also work together to identify and prioritise the opportunities we want to go after.

We work very hard to provide the partners the marketing material that they need. We are very pleased with the dimensions Redington Value adds to our channel plan and the partnership will cater to the broader Middle East region.”

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gisec updates

ManageEngine highlights latest solutions ManageEngine showcased its entire range of IT security and compliance management solutions, demonstrated its latest Nirmal Kumar security Manoharan, Regional products, Director, Sales, Middle and shared East, ManageEngine success stories addressing today’s security concerns as well as ongoing operational challenges.

“With the growing number of sophisticated cyber-attacks and threats, the global security landscape has been changing significantly over the last few years. IT security has become a top priority for CIOs and safeguarding the business from evolving, sophisticated security threats has become the need of the hour for them. The situation is no different in the Middle East, where organisations are looking for ways to bolster internal controls, identify and remediate vulnerabilities, control changes, continuously monitor activities, reduce risks and mitigate known and unknown threats,” said Nirmal Kumar Manoharan, Regional Director (Sales-Middle East) at ManageEngine.

“GISEC, has been a perfect platform for ManageEngine in reaching out to the region’s CIOs, and helping them address their IT security concerns,” he added.

ManageEngine showcased their best-in-class IT security product portfolio, which includes Password Manager Pro, Eventlog Analyser, Firewall Analyser, Network Configuration Manager, and Desktop Central.

Help AG showcases IT security offerings Help AG, participated at the recently held GISEC 2015, where they took part together with six of their vendor partners.

At the event, Stephan Berner, MD, Help AG they have demonstrated each of these vendors’ technologies, and showcased their own extensive portfolio of specialised security services, which are delivered by its Strategic Security Consulting, Technical Consulting, Security Analysis, Co-ordinate Threat Mitigation, Managed Security Services and Security Assistance divisions.

Help AG’s top executives, consultants and security specialists were present at the event, they interacted with the visitors at the stand by understanding their

security requirements and proposing the best plan of action to address their unique IT needs.

According to Stephan Berner, Managing Director at Help AG, the event has been a great platform in showcasing the most comprehensive set of best-in-class security solutions and services that they have.

While the company showcased the full scope of its service offerings, its focus was on promoting its Managed Security Services (MSS) division, which was established in March 2015. This division helps enterprise businesses overcome the challenges of having dedicated in-house IT security teams by leveraging expertly qualified outsourced services for 24/7 Monitoring, Compliance, Forensic Analysis, Incident Handling & Remediation, Log Management, Operational Event Reporting, and Security Platform Management.

Westcon ME launches ‘Westcon Academy’ Westcon Middle East’s participation at GISEC 2015 saw the launch of their new initiative ‘Westcon Christopher Green, Divisional Academy’, Director, WestconGroup an end-user technical training programme.

According to Christopher Green, Divisional Director at WestconGroup, Westcon Security has a comprehensive range of cyber-security solutions of any value-added distributor in the region.

In each security risk space, they work with leading vendors such as Algosec, Arbor Networks, Aruba Networks, Blue Coat, DELL, F5, Forescout, HP, Juniper and Palo Alto Networks. In order to build secure wired and mobile

infrastructures, partners and end users must engage multiple technologies and Westcon Security is uniquely positioned to assist their partners in this challenge.

“We also have a highly qualified team of security consultants that work with clients during pre-sales, design and proof of concept stages. In addition we also provide best-in-class professional services, training and ‘24x7x365’ customer service support.

GISEC is the ideal platform for us to showcase these capabilities,” he added.

With over 15 years of expertise, certified instructors with strong field experience, a dedicated lab for technical training and local language capabilities, Westcon Academy offers enterprises an unparalleled range of technical programmes, both certified and non-certified.

www.resellerme.com

Reseller Middle East MAY 2015

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Cover story Dell

At the helm Having gone private a year-and-a-half ago, Dell is pitching its end-to-end integrated solutions, and has chalked out a go-to-market strategy with partners playing a key role in it. We sat down with Driss Elougmani, the new GM for Dell’s recently formed Middle East Turkey and Africa business to understand the channel implications.

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What has been the overall focus at Dell?

Our company is in a healthy position, we have been growing our business consecutively in the last couple of quarters since we became a private company. We’re continuing to focus on our solutions growth while also delivering end-to-end support to our customers, regardless of whether they are from the PC or enterprise segment.

From the point the customer touches the end user device, to the back end, including the management and security aspects – everything is done by Dell. That gives the customer the peace of mind they are looking for.

Today, we are a true end-toend solutions provider.

What was the thought process behind creating the META region division, especially since markets such as the Middle East and Turkey have very different dynamics?

Our objective with the new regional division is to create scale. The META region represents a significant growth opportunity for Dell. We have already implemented sophisticated solutions in the Middle East.

Africa and Turkey are the two of the fastest growing regions for us. We are looking to leverage the specialist resources we have in the region and provide customers and partners with easy access to our whole portfolio of solutions to address their business problems.

Has there been any change in your go-tomarket strategy since you went private a year-anda-half ago?

We are accelerating our solutions penetration.

We want our customers and partners to be futureready, as our recent B2B advertisements suggest. We believe that our distribution and channel businesses will continue to grow, not just in the Middle East, but also in Africa, and globally. There is an acceleration in distribution, and a continued effort from Dell to demonstrate that the channel is a part of our go-to-market strategy, part of how we do business.

And we then accelerate the solutions through channel partners depending on their competencies such as network, storage and security.

What is the split of channel business and direct sales within Dell’s regional business?

Our business is 100 per cent channel in the region.

I don’t want any confusion in the market regarding this matter. We might have a direct relationship with top customers because of our brand and the region’s importance. But we always have our channel partners in the conversation with the customers. The delivery is always through the channel.

We might lead and take the channel partner along sometimes, while at others, the channel partner might lead and take us with them to support on the technology and products.

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Globally too, since going private, Dell has embraced the channel quite aggressively. According to the latest statistics, the channel business has moved from under 30 to 40 per cent of our business globally.

What we have always followed in the region is now being adopted on a global company level.

META is a growth engine for our channel business.

It leverages expertise from the Middle East, our endto-end channel support in Casablanca and fast growing geographies such as Africa and Turkey.

As partners are going beyond brand names and looking to grow profitably, why should they team up with Dell?

One of the strongest reasons is the fact that we do not compete with our channel partners. There is a huge growth opportunity with our entire portfolio, which includes storage, networks, security, end-user devices and professional services.

Our partners are part of Dell services. They get certified by Dell to be the delivery arm by working with enterprise centres and the local team to deliver quality control.

This helps the partner to continue to take the advantage of the lucrative profit goal. Additionally, we have an excellent rewarding programme called Preferred Partner programme. This enables partners to not only make significant profits but also allows them to acquire and enhance competencies

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Dell

such as networking, storage and services as well. Partners are definitely interested in making money but also look at sustaining business. The only way to sustain business is through expertise. Dell does not compete with its partners on expertise and services.

This differentiates us from all others.

Following the creation of the META regional division, what plans can partners expect over the next few months?

We are working towards gaining more coverage, more geographies, more competencies and technology.

At the moment, we are looking at taking a consulting approach to the channel.

Partners can expect extensive training and certification from us in this regard.

Dell seems to be getting deeper into security now with the acquisitions of SonicWall, Control Point and Credant. Are you looking to compete with the likes of Trend Micro in the endpoint security space?

Yes, we do have an endpoint security suite. Our vision is to offer end-to-end security.

Interestingly enough, some of it is through partnerships with companies such as Intel Security. We have the co-opetition relationship – we cooperate and compete.

For example, F5 is one of our biggest alliances and also one of our biggest competitors. However, the differentiation from a security perspective is that

Cover story

“Our business is 100 per cent channel in the region. We might have a direct relationship with top customers because of our brand and the region’s importance. But we always have our channel partners in the conversation with the customers.

The delivery is always through the channel.”

Dell, as we differentiated ourselves end-to-end, right from the desktop to the data centre to the cloud, now we are doing that in security. We have identity and access management software, and we compete with CA and IBM in that space. With SonicWall, we compete with Palo Alto Networks and Fortinet, while SecureWorks competes with Kaspersky and Symantec.

We have Kace Networks and endpoint security, and compete with various vendors there as well.

However, by being the only player with a complete portfolio, we stand out in the market. We believe security is evolving, and instead of buying different products from different companies, our customers are requesting an end-toend security portfolio. You need to be holistic because it is when these products interface that the gaps are created, making them susceptible to attacks.

However, if all the security aspects are provided by the same vendor then we can make sure that there are no gaps between the firewalls,

the endpoint security, the encryption and so on. We are differentiating ourselves by offering everything. And sometimes when we don’t have a solution, we form a partnership to deliver it the Dell way.

You had an OEM agreement with Aruba, but now that HP has bought it, will you be reselling Aerohive?

We had an OEM agreement with Aruba and that is still valid until further notice and the acquisition is complete.

However the customers who have bought Aruba from Dell, as per our legal agreement with Aruba, even with an acquisition, they will have to continue to be supported. Dell will provide the first level of support and then escalate back to Aruba for other levels of support.

We have also recently signed a new OEM agreement with Aerohive.

We believe this is an area that is critical for our portfolio with mobility and everybody moving to a wireless product. We will continue to see the development in this area.

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Where do you see the growth coming from within the META region?

The entire region is a growth engine. Accelerated growth is expected from Africa, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and UAE. In terms of verticals, we see an increasing spend from the government and public sector, banking, and telcos. Also, one shouldn’t underestimate the SMB market. According to research data, SMB market investments are larger than the public sector. This is why our go-to-market strategy is quite efficient as we have the channel and distribution partners working hand-inhand together with Dell competencies to cater to this market. We expect there to be more growth in this segment.

What is your vision for Dell in the region?

I hope to develop a business which has very happy customers and loyal channel partners with the Dell brand, while also being the fastest growing business in all of Dell’s worldwide operations.

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interview

Huawei

Partner progression Big things lie ahead for Hany Hussein. Huawei’s newly appointed Regional Vice President, Enterprise Business Group, talked strategy, targets and incentives at the firm’s recent Partner Summit 2015 at Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai. partners and alliance partners for us.

What is the main ethos of the Summit?

Having looked at our market status and gauged our Enterprise Business running through the channel, my main goal is to develop our partner network and drive our Enterprise Business in all the countries we cover.

The Summit’s goal is to launch our new channel strategy – ‘Transforming Together’. We’re changing our face, image, partner network, channel strategy, focus, enablement and engagement.

What have your existing channel strategies been and how have they helped bring about these changes?

We have some gaps in our channel. We want to build partner networks that can be a strong advisory base for our customers, existing and new.

That will cover the whole network from distribution, systems integrators, valueadded partners, global partners, carrier reseller

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Can you tell me about your incentive and certification programmes?

Part of our strategy is to maximise partner profitability.

This comes with incentivising our partners to drive growth opportunities with us, tailoring incentive programmes for strong partners, making sure we get the right rewards and rebates by individual companies and by certification.

Our certification programme is between gold and silver and authorised partners. We offer HCIE and HCNA as individual engineering certifications, so we are trying to maximise these profitability incentive programmes to tailor the market to growth. We need to enable our partners to sell our products and solutions in the market and understand customer needs, and propose the right value propositions.

Can you give an overview of the solutions you launched at CeBIT 2015 and your other main offerings?

We have three kinds of focused solutions products in 2015.

One is eLTE. Previously we only had LTE, which was mainly tailored for the telco business.

However, the ‘e’ stands for ‘Enterprise’, which fits across all verticals from hospitality, education, healthcare, government, oil and gas, finance, and many others.

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Our Agile Networks – meaning anything software-defined – is a combination of our mixed end-to-end solution which can also serve all verticals.

Next is the cloud. Everybody is now looking for a cloud platform, and we have very strong solutions; FusionSphere competes very heavily in the market across the cloud from virtualisation and desktops, providing the platform that can serve the data centre properly.

Tell me about the four pillars of your new channel strategy.

The first aspect is partner focus, meaning engagement.

Our channel team currently consists of a few people, and I’m trying to transform this by hiring an army of channel managers, channel marketing managers, as well as channel policy and channel incentive teams to better serve our partners.

We plan to expand the team who will be responsible for distribution, main channels, alliance directors and so on. On a country level I’m doubling our workforce, so every country will have a channel manager that covers our partner network. In Saudi specifically, we already have a number of channel managers on the ground, and I will also invest in greater head counts on the ground with partners. This will drive engagement, bringing us closer to our partners, enabling them to understand our

incentive model and partner programmes. This kind of engagement will help partners to be strong, trusted advisers in the market.

Enablement is the second part of the strategy. Training is not only during post-sales or implementation. It starts with sales, understanding every partner’s comprehension of Huawei and their sales pitch.

Believing in what you sell is important so that you do it smoothly. The second part is pre-sales, which is important in helping partners to design their own quotations which fit customer needs. Third is implementation; making sure the product is fixed properly.

Enablement also means training and workshops as well as enabling second tier partners.

The third pillar is enlargement – marketing investment. This constitutes events, workshops, roundtables and comarketing activities for a select group of partners.

We’re investing in events that have been designed to match a range of segments and sectors. This investment gives an indication of our channel partner approach.

‘Incentivise’ is the fourth pillar; our partner incentive model. We’re working hard right now to find ways to maximise profitability for our partners. A partner is a company of two people or 20,000 to us. We want them to be comfortable running a profit with us. Our current incentive rebate system is done by existing products and solutions. We want creative ideas for more growth and rebates. This is not a short term strategy; it will continue for 3-5 years until it’s very mature, and then maybe we can transform our theme.

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Event Huawei Partner Summit

A panel discussion on smart industries.

Transforming together Technology giant Huawei recently hosted its Middle East Channel Partner Summit at Atlantis, The Palm Dubai, bringing together an esteemed selection of channel partners and industry players to hear about how the company is redefining its regional Enterprise Business group channel strategy.

It’s fair to say Huawei is now widely acknowledged as a force to be reckoned with in the tech industry. The company has registered some hugely impressive figures in recent years, with 2014’s revenue hitting USD 46.5 billion, a 20 percent increase on 2013’s total of USD 39 billion. It now has customers in over 170 countries, and serves 285 of the Fortune 500 companies, comprising three

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Business groups – Carrier Network, Consumer and Enterprise – the Partner Summit homing in on the latter’s channel strategy changes within the region.

Kicking off proceedings was Ali Shi, President, Huawei MENA, who gave an overview of the company’s role as a contemporary driver of monumental ICT changes.

“We will grab the moon,” he said. “If you travel from the year 1500 to 1900, the world was unrecognisable in terms

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of technology, and the same applies from 1900 to today. In the world of cross-functional technology - the Internet of Things and Big Data for instance – ICT will be a true enabler for all.”

Terry He, President of the company’s Middle East Enterprise Group followed up, driving home a similar ethos.

“We’ll focus on a few key sectors in 2015,” he said. “Government, energy, transport, finance and education are our main targets.

Huawei spends 10 per cent of its

revenue in R&D investment into the likes of software-defined networking, 5G, IoT, Big Data and cloud computing. Our Enterprise Business Group has seen 27 percent growth over the last year, so we’re at the fore of driving ICT from being a support system to a business enabler and production system.”

Recently unveiled as the company’s Channel Vice President for the Middle East Enterprise Business Group, Hany Hussein next took to the stage to deliver the news that the 400 attendees came for – Huawei’s new Middle East ‘Transforming Together’ channel strategy.

“Our new Enterprise channel initiative has four main aspects,” Hussein said.

“The first step is engagement.

This means increasing the size of our channel presence in the region; hiring an array of channel managers, channel marketing managers and incentive teams. Second is enablement, which begins with sales and continues to post-sales and implementation, meaning

our partners thoroughly understand and buy into what they are selling.

“Next is enlargement, meaning an increased investment in events, workshops and roundtables to increase our presence.

Last but not least we need to incentivise our partners in the best way possible, and find ways for them to maximise their profitability.”

Eric Dai, Head, Enterprise Service, Middle East, next took to the stage, and discussed the importance of maintaining customer satisfaction in the long term, and the company’s Certified Service Partner Programme. “In 2018, services will occupy 45 per cent of the ICT market,” he said. “High quality service is paramount in satisfying customers, and our Partner Programme is an example of how that service can be delivered.”

Huawei also welcomed Alaeddin Al-Badawna, Chief Information Officer of oil and gas firm ADMA-OPCO, who sung the company’s praises in terms of its ability

to build strong relationships with end users. “Some sales teams inadvertently destroy the reputation of their own brand,” he said. “Building direct relationships with technology owners is so important for customers, and Huawei is committed to this business synoptic.”

IDC’s Director of Telecoms and Media for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey, Paul Black, weighed in on the need to drive “third platform” technologies in accelerating business growth. “Tailormade business solutions are an absolute must,” he said.

“Social, mobility, analytics and cloud dictate that innovation is now what is important, technology is no longer just about bits and bytes.”

A key incentive was also announced that is sure to please Huawei’s footballloving partners. ‘Football Fever’ will see the region’s top eight performing sales partners win a trip to watch one of Europe’s elite football clubs in action – including A.C. Milan, Paris Saint Germain and Borussia Dortmund – who all employ Huawei solutions in their stadiums.

Rounding off the day’s proceedings was a panel discussion on Huawei’s role in shaping the cities of the future. Safder Nazir, Regional Vice President, Smart Cities, said, “People of a certain generation are used to going down to the post office or physically being somewhere in order to get certain tasks done. However, people now expect services to be delivered differently. Now we don’t need to go down to a central downtown office to pay a traffic fine; we can do it from a smart device. We’re positioned to ensure that these processes run smoothly.”

Rounding off the day’s proceedings was an awards ceremony to honour the highest achievers in Huawei’s channel sphere. The winners were:

Best Silver Partner: Visiontech International FZC Best Gold Partner: Emdad Solutions for Information Technology Best Value Added Partner: Corvit Networks Best Specialised Partner: M/S Global Technology Co. Distributor of the Year: Gulf Applications Commercial Distributor of the year: Enterprise Systems Service Partner of the year: Synoptic Information Partner Marketing Award of the year: Foresight Technology Fast Growing Partner of the Year: Informatica Qatar Highest Revenue of the Year: Synoptic Information Highest Revenue of the Year (Commercial): Emdad Solutions for Information Technology Customer Satisfaction Excellence Award: Mustafa Sultan Telecommunication Huawei Champion of the Year: 1. Hamid Ali Khan, Senior System Engineer from Enterprise System 2. Bander AlHarthi, Al Arabia for contracts LTD.CO. 3. Prashant Rozario, Mustafa Sultan Telecommunication 4. Ramu Rayavarapu, Optimus

HALP of the Year: Stage 2 Learning Solutions 1. Huawei Certified Internetwork Expert (HCIE): Mohammed N. Sarwar, Al-Khaleej 2. Marc Alonzo, from Stage2 Learning Solutions 3. Mohannad Munier Al-Raie, STC Advanced Solutions

Huawei Star of the Year: Marwan S Kaakani

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Omni-channel retailing

Seamless Shopping

Reseller ME evaluates how the regional electronics and IT retailers can adopt a sound omni-channel retailing strategy to monetise on the opportunities present and sustain a continuous conversation with customers.

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The year is 2020.

Dubai resident Nash Ahmed has just turned 19, and the way he shops is drastically different to how his parents did a decade ago. Nash demands instant access to product information, so that he can buy the latest football boots, accessories and gadgets whenever, wherever.

In this not-too-distant future, the retailer that can give Nash that information - and top it up with convenient anytime anywhere purchasing models - will be the one that gets his loyalty.

With an effective strategy in place, omnichannel retailing need not spell ominous signs for regional retailers. It can be a critical component for repeat sales and brand loyalty. But when it comes down to it, achieving a seamless shopping process, is easier said than done.

Omni-channel is to be present where the customer is.

Customers are slowly moving towards the ‘buy anywhere, fulfil anywhere’ marketplace. But retailers around the globe are only beginning to cater to the fact that a customer’s shopping journey is far from being linear.

Many retailers are now starting to realise that as their core demographic grows older, younger demographics aren’t associating as well with their brands or their stores. These retailers need to figure out how to reach these customers through mediums beyond their stores.”

Omar Kassim, CEO, JadoPado

“Omni-channel retailing is the opportunity to provide your customers and would-be customers with the ability to buy what they want, where they want and how they want. It’s allowing them to use multiple channels and to transcend beyond the location of your physical stores,” says Omar Kassim, CEO, JadoPado. “Many retailers are now starting

B2C e-commerce sales in MENA will reach an estimated

USD 15 billion USD 9 billion in 2015, up from in 2012.

(Source: UAE B2C E-commerce Market 2015)

to realise that as their core demographic grows older, younger demographics aren’t associating as well with their brands or their stores. These retailers need to figure out how to reach these customers through mediums beyond their stores.”

With only 15 per cent of GCC retailers offering an e-commerce experience today, Kassim says, less than 3 per cent have a compelling experience.

“The challenge for most retailers today is getting to that compelling experience,” he adds. “We saw an opportunity for us to be a part of the solution and recently evolved JadoPado into a marketplace to enable retailers to get started with e-commerce in an efficient and easy manner.

“Beyond getting to the right experience, there tend to be challenges with older

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technology not providing the inventory visibility that is required to build a compelling omni-channel experience. For example, are you able to show your in-store inventory to your e-commerce customers allowing them to seamlessly place a click and collect or pick up from store order?.”

The key to that question is to have a homogenous approach. But today most retailers don’t have that. Jacky’s Retail’s CEO, Ashish Panjabi, says, “This is because with most omni-channel players, e-commerce and retailing still exists as largely different animals.”

GCC retail sales to reach

USD 284.5 billion by 2018.

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Omni-channel retailing

Agreeing, Fares Attieh, Financial Analyst from the Lebanon-based electronics store, Abed Tahan, says, “The problem associated with multi-channel retailing is being able to align all channels together to give the consumer a consistent and homogenous experience that draws out the portrait of the business and how the company wants itself to be perceived.

When a company fails to have such consistency in its different channels, the consumer obtains a disported picture of the business itself.”

The roadblocks for the regional retailers are quite a few and varied in number.

Neelesh Bhatnagar, CEO, Emax, says, “Omni-channel doesn’t mean only sales channels, it should cover the whole shopping experience, including, inventory and after-sale service. As consumers buy online using their mobiles or PCs, they expect retailers to adopt an online customer service that enhances their shopping experience. From an online returns procedure to virtual

rules for omni-channel route “For most organised retailers, they have to consider the fact that they will be competing with the grey market when selling online. The pricing they can sell at will be under pressure so they need to be clear where their value-add is.”

Ashish Panjabi, CEO, Jacky’s Retail

“Before embarking on an omni-channel route, retailers should make sure that they have thoroughly and efficiently integrated their technology platforms with their business models to ensure maximum return of investment. Retailers can also understand the purchasing habits of people through the data which can provide valuable insights that can be used for future development strategies.”

Rami Kichli, Vice President, Software AG, UAE region “Retailers need to adopt a holistic approach to pricing and trade promotions across all channels; customers may become frustrated and lose trust in the brand when the same item is priced differently on-line versus in-store.”

Neelesh Bhatnagar, CEO, Emax Electronics

“The major factor should be to bring in the element of innovation in omni-channel retailing rather than creating a mirror image of online or offline retailing.”

Ali Mohammed Akbar Khan -Assistant General Manager, A.J.M. Kooheji Group B.S.C.

tours of stores, product inventory online and postsale service, consumers expect retailers to offer an integrated omni-channel experience across the shopping channels.”

Few clients buy online believing that buying directly from stores is more guaranteed.”

Slim Fakhfakh, CEO, Carrefour Informatique

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Panjabi says, the population size of the entire country is less than that of major cities like Beijing, Mumbai or New York, which may not justify the investments required. “The other major challenge is that unlike the US or Europe, most retailers here are open till midnight and on weekends, whereas in Europe, it is not uncommon to see retailers shut on Sundays or after 7pm. This is partly why e-commerce has succeeded in Europe. Further, many retailers present here operate through franchise models and there could

be franchise restrictions that hinder the growth of e-commerce,” he adds.

Modifying the traditional adage, ‘customer is king’ to ‘customer is SO-LO-MO’ (social – local – mobile), Atheeq Ahmed, Sales Director, Ctroniq EMEA and GM at Headlinks, believes that the retailers’ core business value has been creating shopping experience for its customers while e-tailers focus on creating virtual experience. However, there should not be any difference in terms of branding, approach or strategy. A customer

should not view a retail chain differently from one medium to another, a retailer should have one identity across all channels.

“When these core values are compromised or relaxed, the business model lacks focus and is impacted deeply. Retailers should deliver distinguished digital experiences for their customers,” says Ahmed.

Rami Kichli, Vice President, Software AG, UAE region, says, “The biggest challenge in meeting the omni-channel objective lies in the company’s financial constraints and the investment that is required to update the retailer’s technology and hire the skilled marketing agents and staff required to maximise the platform’s potential.

“The IT world’s commercial services segment is still evolving and, as a result, creates new demands from customers who are coming to terms about what they may like, or need. It is important that retailers are flexible enough to adapt to the market’s changing currents.”

Pradeesh VS, General Manager, ESET Middle East, says the retailers handling both, online and brick-and-mortar, together need detailed operational execution. “For this, it is important to have your systems linked. The main challenge most stores face is in the execution of postsales activity. This includes on-time delivery, installation

The main challenge most stores face is in the execution of post-sales activity.

This includes on-time delivery, installation and maintenance. A proper inventory control is very important for a store to offer products online and keep their systems updated.”

Pradeesh VS, General Manager, ESET Middle East

and maintenance. A proper inventory control is very important for a store to offer products online and keep their systems updated.”

Retailers also need to understand that it is not just about online sales. To grow in today’s market place, it is also critical to develop apps and sites suited to mobiles, which load and respond efficiently and quickly.

Another challenge regional retailers still have to face is the customers’ security fears and comfort levels while purchasing online. Slim Fakhfakh, CEO, Carrefour Informatique, says, “Few clients buy online believing that buying directly from stores is more guaranteed.”

Although, these fears are being appeased increasingly, as the convenience factor takes over, retailers need to make sure the payment gateways are secure and convenient for the customer.

Omni-channel retailing is all about keeping the

customer at the centre of the business.

By understanding and analysing these challenges, retailers can develop a strategy that is not only profitable but also customer-oriented.

There is no question that omni-channel retailing opportunities can transform a retailer’s business. Technology plays a large role in enabling retailers to achieve this continuous communication with customers. Kichli from Software AG, a company that offers retail technology

The value of mobile commerce in MENA expected to reach

USD 4.9 billion by 2015.

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solutions says, “Retailers can infuse technology into their stores and provide shoppers with the opportunity to browse catalogues and even avail of certain offers designed to promote their social media sites and elicit engagement. The store can also be used as a collection point for online, mobile, and catalogue orders to provide better information. Having customers use advanced GPS systems and location recognition will help fan interest in the store’s services and offer them to potential customers in the surrounding area.”

A study from Alpen Capital predicts the GCC retail sales to grow by 7.3 per cent CAGR between 2013 and 2018 to reach USD 284.5 billion.

Regional retailers need to plan and develop an effective customer-centric omnichannel strategy today in order to capitalise on this future growth opportunity.

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Social media in channel

d n a p x e o t g a t

re ts to explo r e p x e y r t s . aks to indu ia offers to partners e p s E M r Reselle social med s ie it n u t r the oppo

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Partners are the face of brands that work through the channel model in the region. Increasingly they are also evolving to the role of consultants for their end customers. In such a scenario, it is critical for partners to be in a position where they are available for the customers 24/7. And what better way than social media to be closer to the customer.

Manish Punjabi, Channel Marketing Manager, MEA, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise says, “In a two-tier or indirect go-to market like that of AlcatelLucent Enterprise, we rely on partners to touch end-customers for lead generation and project execution. As a result, partners are connected via LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter with endcustomers more than our own teams. By working with the vendor’s social media team, partners can

establish themselves as ‘thought-leaders’ with their end-customer.

“Combining content between vendors and partners also provides SEO benefits for both parties involved. As per a research study from Sirius Decisions, 40 per cent of buyers say the top thing sales can do to earn trust is demonstrate deep expertise in their industry. Social profiles are rich with contextual information about companies and individuals you do business with,” Punjabi says. “It can be used as a research vehicle for personalising business conversation. Then among the individuals who are very socially active online, interactions can improve the personal connection individuals feel towards the partner’s brand.”

Elham Alizadeh, Channel Marketing Manager at ESET Middle East believes that when it comes to B2B relationships, social media is yet to develop in

88%

the region.

Today, only few players are extremely active in this regard.

“However,” she says, “This is related more to pushing content rather than being a two way channel.

But of course this will change as more customers become comfortable with leveraging social media as a way to connect with their business partners.

Today an estimated 40 per cent of ESET’s resellers are using different social media platforms.”

While that’s certainly an encouraging figure, not everyone is keen to talk and be talked about on social media. And that is primarily because of the open nature of these mediums and also due to the fact that one cannot control what is being said. All the more reason for partners to have a business strategy

of the Middle East online population uses social networking sites daily.

to be effective on these platforms.

Another challenge when embarking on the social media route is ownership, which department is really responsible for it? Is it a marketing, PR, customer service or sales function? Ashish Panjabi, COO, Jacky’s Retail, says, “In honesty, it covers all of them and is allencompassing.” Partners needs to first evaluate the objective they are looking from the social media Alexandra Pisetskaya, Marketing Manager, Help AG says, “The time it takes as well as the understanding of how social media really works are other obstacles. I see many companies trying to utilise social media for conventional advertising, which does not engage or inform the audience.

If a partner makes an adequate investment in social media, it will bring its benefits.”

Not having seen a massive adoption of social media in the regional partner community yet, she Manish Punjabi, Channel Marketing Manager, MEA, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise attributes it to two

Social profiles are rich with contextual information about companies and individuals you do business with. Social media will not get you the USD 1 million deal immediately but over a substantial period, it can increase the share of voice on the internet.”

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reasons. “Adapting and effectively using social media is a full time job and it requires the participation and effort of the whole company rather than just one individual.”

Social media gives channel partners an opportunity to address customers’ issues immediately and build their brand online through active participation. In an age of sharing everything from pictures and moods to experiences, channel partners need to be on their toes to cater to the demanding customer profile.

Alizadeh from ESET says investment is a key challenge for partners in building their presence on a particular social media platform.

Estimated number of Middle East social media users Facebook

58

million Twitter

6.5 million LinkedIn

5.8 million Source: GO-Gulf Dubai

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I see many companies trying to utilise social media for conventional advertising, which does not engage or inform the audience. If a partner makes an adequate investment in social media, it will bring its benefits.”

Alexandra Pisetskaya, Marketing Manager, Help AG

“For certain partners, this platform might be Facebook while for another LinkedIn would yield better results. The problem is when partners take an overnight decision to establish a presence on multiple channels simultaneously and then spread themselves too thin across each of these. The danger of doing this, apart from not being able to make a sufficient impact on any single platform, is also that the mismanagement of the account also becomes a possibility. And with social media, a single wrong post can have a disastrously bad impact on the company’s image.”

As is with any other form of marketing, organisations must understand that social media also requires investment.

“An organically grown list of followers is far more useful from a business perspective than a broader set of people who wouldn’t feed the sales pipeline,” she explains.

Punjabi from AlcatelLucent points out that these challenges do

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not vary vastly with the different stakeholders of the channel. When hiring dedicated personnel for social media, channel players should look out for those employees that are comfortable with the social concepts and etiquette, for example, ‘giving to get’. Also listening and engaging in a time efficient fashion are necessary skillsets.

“Employees also need to feel comfortable with the corporate content and messaging if some of their personal sharing will be as brand advocates or thought leaders on work topics. It’s even harder when trying to advocate for another company’s brand,” he says.

Now the important question is can partners gain a monetary value by utilising social media platforms? The short answer to that is yes.

However partners must take into account that social media is not a shortterm ROI tool. “People have to first build their reputation by sharing or discussing topics that make them thought-leaders in those fields. Social media

will not get you the USD 1 million deal immediately but over a substantial period, it can increase the share of voice on the internet,” adds Punjabi.

“The ultimate point of a long or short term social media campaign is to drive sales and grow revenues. So yes, it must at the end of the day have some correlation to driving monetary value. At ESET, we regularly conduct inventive programmes for our customers. For example, currently we are running a scheme that offers our partners 20 per cent more licenses when they purchase any of our business products. We have been promoting this via social media and are seeing a number of inquiries being generated from this effort,” says Alizadeh.

All in all, investment in social media is a growth opportunity for the channel players. Although the rules of the game are different on these platforms and constantly changes, it is worth the time and efforts to delve into it more seriously.

interview

GfK

Taking stock With DISTREE ME 2015 taking place this month, David Lewis, Head of Digital, MENA, GfK, outlines key retail trends in the MENA region.

Can you discuss the digital trends in the MENA region?

The MENA region continues to offer and fulfil its’ growth potential.

In 2014, just under USD 30 billion was spent on the leading digital technology consumer goods, representing a 3 per cent growth against the previous year. This will continue in 2015, although the challenges and growth drivers are evolving.

The region is renowned for its resilience and ability to operate in challenging and at times unstable conditions.

We will continue to face challenges such as

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health warnings, political changes and regional conflicts to a great extent in 2015. Furthermore, we face a new and unknown potential challenge with the declining oil prices, which means the ability to monitor and flexibility to react is increasingly important.

The rapid growth in the region over the last three years accounted for 53 per cent of MENA sales. While the Gulf will remain a key contributor for the region, it will be the growth in the newer emerging markets including Egypt, Pakistan and Algeria, which will drive sales ahead.

PC sales through the consumer channels across the META region are back on the growth trajectory and have

continued to climb since the beginning of 2015. This growth is supported by a number of key regional markets including Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which are all recording a strong Q1 performance.

For Saudi Arabia, the performance of the PC category was further stimulated in February 2015 by the injection of a reported 60 billion Saudi Riyals in the form of pay-outs across all state employees and within almost all Saudi listed and non-listed companies; leading to sales growth of 13 per cent for the PC category against the previous year.

Can you elaborate on the evolving retail landscape of the

Highest number of Twitter Users per Capita in ME

Kuwait

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MENA region? How are retailers catering to omni-channel consumers?

The MENA retail landscape continues to evolve and for some countries, such as Dubai, this change is occurring at a fast rate. While 5 years ago traditional souk computer stores channel catered to 80 per cent of the UAE PC demand, the landscape has completely reversed today, with 80 per cent of sales occurring through generalist retail.

Increasing reach to end-users through the expansion of retail stores continues to be a key driver for the generalist/ big-box retail to gain share of sales. There are now over 1,100 outlets across the leading six countries of the MENA region, with just under 150 outlets opened in the last 12 months.

From City Centre Mall in Muscat, Oman across to Morocco Mall in Casablanca and most countries in between; mall development and expansion have been key drivers for the generalist retail.

Another key driver for generalist retail particularly in the IT sector has been the promotional periods.

Known drivers in the UAE – Dubai Shopping Festival, Spring GITEX and GITEX Shopper periods accounts for 50 per cent of mobile PCs yearly sales. We are also seeing increasing impact of sales periods in the wider region; for instance Q4 in KSA, which includes notable retailer promotions (eXtra Megasale and Jarir Promotions) supported the market sales peak in 2014.

Online, multi-channel and omni-channel are aspects much more widely discussed in the regional retail industry today compared to three years ago. The level of insight and options available to consumers online continues to increase. In addition to reviews and blogs, we are seeing the development of regional pure-play online players, regional marketplaces, regional price comparison websites, in addition to the increasing presence of regional retailers online. As more and more 3G/4G infrastructure

and devices support the increasing penetration rates of online and as logistics and security issues are better addressed, online sales in the region will boost further.

While online sales emerge, it is clear that online plays a big role in the customers’ purchasing decision prior to the final transaction. With a young population; the Middle East boasts the highest number of Twitter users per capita (Kuwait) and the largest YouTube base per capita (Saudi Arabia) globally. Usage of social media, along with blogs to voice opinions on brands, products or promotions have been increasingly visible over the last 12 months. A recent global study from GfK found that 40 per cent of consumers

The largest YouTube base per capita in ME

Saudi Arabia

use smartphones while in-store to compare prices – a clear live example of the growing omni-channel consumers we face.

How is Internet of Things impacting the retail environment in the region?

Although still in the early adoption phase in the MENA region, the Internet of Things and smart homes development do look to offer future potential.

Initial signs of the development can be seen in the numerous property developments that are taking place in Dubai.

Encouraging consumers to upgrade their home to be ‘smart’ will require three aspects – driving consumer awareness,

“There are now over 1,100 outlets across the leading six countries of the MENA region, with just under 150 outlets opened in the last 12 months.”

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developing consumer demand and meeting consumer expectations.

For the first aspect, we are increasingly seeing activity at large regional consumer events to promote consumer awareness of smart homes. Take the recent Spring GITEX event for example, which was used as a platform to showcase connected devices across the consumer electronics, telecoms and home appliances categories through purpose built experiences.

Developing consumer demand will need to further build off such events or utilise in-store experiences to fully explain how a connected home provides a genuine benefit to the consumer. In the meantime, understanding which IoT demands are greatest by country and meeting expectations in terms of price positioning will be key for the sector to begin to fulfil its potential in the region.

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interview

Brocade

Investing in partners Reseller ME chats with Bill Lipsin, VP, Worldwide Channel and Global Systems Integrator Sales, Brocade, about evolving channel dynamics and company strategy.

Partners are the most important component for a vendor’s growth in the region. Only through effective partner enablement strategies, can vendors ensure consistent growth and expansion.

Understanding this well, Brocade Communications is looking to grow with partners rather than through them, which is why the data and storage networking brand continues to emphasise on working with a few selected partners.

One of the focus areas for the vendor today is to ensure that relationships and trust are being built at the local level. “We want to ensure that the programmes we build and roll out at the corporate level have the right level of localisation for the partners and the customers,” says Bill Lipsin, VP, Worldwide Channel and Global Systems Integrator Sales, Brocade.

While the Middle East region is laden with opportunities, it is important for players to realise that a one-size-fits-all approach will not work. Through a 100 per cent channel model in the Middle East region, the company aims to provide the best customer experience possible in partnership with the channel.

“We work with our channel partners to ensure that they

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have the right pre-sales consulting capabilities, trained quality sales professionals that can understand the customers’ short term and long term needs and post sales capabilities so that if there are ever any issues, we can quickly identify and solve the problems.”

Through a three-tier partner level, the vendor enables partners to offer enhanced experiences to customers. Elite partners, which constitute the first level, are those who have built a joint business plan with the company. These partners are armed with appropriate technical and sales skills and can provide the right level of customer support through the ideal business model.

“Together, we try to find the right match to go after specific customers and customer segments,” he says.

Premier Partners also referred as the ‘farm team’ are those not yet ready to graduate to the top level but by working with Brocade to improve their capabilities, they provide a strong value proposition to the customers as part of their overall business plan.

“The last level include the Distribution Managed Partners. They are more transactional in nature but have a certain set of capabilities and resources that we can tap into to help them build their Brocade practice and move up the ladder.”

The channel landscape has evolved over the years.

The most significant change has been the fact that the cloud is becoming more pervasive as a business model. Channel players are in the process of ascertaining

how they will do business in this new environment. Lipsin also says the concept of software networking slowly becoming mainstream as enterprises realise that to have a robust network they need a combination of both software and hardware, is another change.

“Then there is the need for a more self-sustaining channel ecosystem where we can make investments with the channel partners and get them to a level to where they are more capable of doing things on their own. This is something we are driving more.”

When recruiting partners, Brocade looks for partners that share its culture.

“Organisations that have an open and honest relationship with both vendors and customers and strive to provide the highest level of customer support to the end customer. In addition, we look for partners that have a very strong customer base.”

Partners can take advantage of the vendor’s extensive channel programme in the upcoming months. Having seen success with these initiatives, the company does not plan to launch new ones. “We are focused on rolling out these programmes to all our partners. Two programmes stand out; one is the Brocade rewards programme, which is one of the most lucrative in the region. The other is the rebate programme for our distributors, which enables them to take advantage of rebates predicated on achieving certain targets.”

Lipsin believes the development in verticals such as education,

We work with our channel partners to ensure that they have the right pre-sales consulting capabilities, trained quality sales professionals that can understand the customers’ short term and long term needs and post sales capabilities so that if there are ever any issues, we can quickly identify and solve the problems.” government and leisure, hospitality and contracting will enable the company to grow in the region and thereby the focus continues to be on these sectors.

Today, an increasing number of channel partners are embarking on the Professional Services route. Brocade assists its partners to flourish in this field and guide them on to the right path.

Lipsin adds, “We want our partners to see the value of working with Brocade and don’t want to cannibalise their margins, therefore our strategy is to enable our partners to have a very robust level of Professional Services with our Professional Services serving as a complimentary offering.”

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One of the ways partners can grow profitably is by differentiating their offerings from the market.

Also through embracing emerging technologies and availing the benefits of being early adopters.

“Our partners should be able to leverage their own services and integration skills to differentiate themselves rather than be a ‘me too’ partner that competes primarily on price,” says Lipsin. “We want our partners to lead on both the technology and consumption fronts and recognise that our partners and customers are at different stages on their new IP technology journey, which is why we offer a choice of innovative on premise, cloud and hybrid technologies.”

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Event HKTDC Electronic Fair & ICT Expo

Home booths The Hong Kong Trade and Development Council (HKTDC) hosted its annual Electronics Fair and ICT Expo at the city’s famous Convention and Exhibition Centre last month, where interesting Internet of Things and 3D printing technologies were under the spotlight. New to the 2015 show was the ‘Connected Home’ section – a sign of the mounting influence of IoT. The biannual show – the October edition invariably overlapping with Dubai’s GITEX Technology Week – featured a number of cornerstone technology sections last year, encompassing a broad range of consumer electronics. In recent years, 3D printing and wearable tech had been at the fore of Asia’s largest electronics fair, and were still main stays of this year’s show. But, with five years to go until the forecasted ‘50 billion’ things will be connected to the Internet and on the evidence of the showings in Hong Kong - IoT is beginning to gather momentum.

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Depending on who you ask about the Internet of Things, you could either be confronted with ardent skepticism or impish excitement, but the vast array of products on offer that are now connected to the Internet shows that the trend is unavoidable, and raises privacy questions.

New to the 2015 roster was the ‘Connected Home’ space, a key indicator that not only smartphones, tablets and wearable devices can define the IoT, but that tech companies will have an increasing impact on citizens’ personal as well as professional lives.

A concurrent theme throughout HKTDC’s seminars and presentations

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was the imminent impact of the Apple Watch, and Fred Wong, Chief Investment Officer, eFusion Capital, said the device would be hugely disruptive, and the flagship “Internet-hardware bridge.”

“Google Glass can be labelled as a failure because it is no longer on the market, but a second attempt will be out soon,” he said. “The same cannot be said for the Apple Watch.

“It’s a bridge between the Internet and the device. In our industry we’re always talking about business-tobusiness or business-toconsumer connections, but Apple is now bringing us the era of consumer-to-business interactions. It’s making strides in driving information

technology over to data technology and biological technology. It’s the only product that touches your skin, and that can be worn in the bath or the shower, or when you sleep.”

In a slightly alarming fashion, Wong seemed to dismiss “those people who are worried about privacy” as not understanding the true potential of IoT. This of course remains a primary concern surrounding the technology, and one that will serve as a hurdle before the Middle East fully embraces the trend.

Wong was not the only one to draw on the importance of the Apple Watch in the context of the IoT. Leo Chan, General Manager, Leader

New dimensions

Radio Technologies, described how the “war” between technology’s elite meant that the Apple Watch presented both opportunities and threats He went on to describe how the technology industry is currently “caught in the chasm” in which smart watches in particular will either succeed or fail.

“Google Glass failed because it’s ultimately weird,” he said.

“People think you are trying to take pictures of them with this thing on your face.

For smart watches to gain momentum, the transition period of adoption among visionaries, who are early adopters, and pragmatists – the late majority – cannot be too drawn out.”

On a more personal note, the fresh presence of connected home technologies is yet another means for the consumer to interact with the Internet. Take Indian firm Remo Software, whose ‘Remo MORE’ application serves as a prime example of the pervasive influence of mobility and the IoT in today’s world. The company provides a domestic mobile device management app that allows one administrator to control all family devices connected to the network, working across the main operating systems.

The app allows remote parental controls, and CEO Omer Faiyaz describes it as a “Home level Fitbit,” with the app able to detect such things as pacemaker fluctuations.

However, the most prominent ‘Connected Home’ presence was Shanghaibased vendor Wulian, whose vast portfolio includes home environment monitoring, security and appliance and door and window controls. The firm has 10,000 employees and offers an array of features including scene control, home device linkage control and remote device monitoring for its devices. They seem to have all bases covered in terms of traditional home automation convenience, but some offerings highlight the questions that IoT rises. No doubt, Smart carbon dioxide and dust detectors will come in handy, but the firm also offers an array of products – such as its Smart people counter and pinhole camera – that have the capacity to be invasive influences, for guests at least.

CEO of Sengital – a Hong Kong-based digital marketing firm – Alan Lam, said that ease of use surrounding home automation would

3D Printing research expert Louis Sze shone light on the technology’s future at the Electronics Fair.

The Assistant Engineer of Technology Applications at Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s BioMed Unit said it was in a transitional phase, with much work to be done.

“3D printing is not a panacea; it cannot replace traditional manufacturing,” he said. “At the moment things can only be printed partially, slowly and expensively. The materials that can be printed, cost of hardware, ease of use and performance are prohibiting factors.

“Right now the affordable printers aren’t good enough and the printers that are good enough are not affordable.”

He highlighted how the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is investigating “lego-like” lightweight carbon fibre composites, which can be used to create larger modular designs, and are “ten times” stiffer than average 3D printing materials.

“3D printing is only in its infancy,” Sze said. “The current market is worth USD 3 billion. Considering that HP spends USD 2 billion a year alone on research and development in 2D printing, it indicates how far it has left to go.” propel high adoption rates.

“Before, the smart home wasn’t successful because of the user experience,” he said.

“There were always separate remotes, which meant more workloads for the user.

Now, with smartphones and other devices, these things can be connected to a single powerful device. This brings convenience to the end user.

Much more data can be generated about the home, but again, it can all pass through a single device.”

He went on to describe how the Internet of Things would transform business. “The IoT is a lot more than just wireless sensors and modules, and includes a range of different industries,” he said.

“This encompasses home automation, IT infrastructure, and Big Data. Once these devices are connected to people, it brings a lot of marketing opportunities, which is huge. When all things

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are connected to people, you know where they are, and life can be made more convenient as a result.”

What does all this mean for the Middle East? With 61 percent of Hong Kong’s exports coming from the electronics industry, innovative products on display at the show spell fresh opportunities for channel partners who are ready to introduce this tech to the region. Security issues have been ever-present in IoT. The biggest players in technology will obviously go to great lengths to ensure user data is protected, but the explosion of endpoints requires a greater range of measures. In addition, interoperability will certainly remain a hurdle. Still, given Hong Kong’s status as a leader in terms of tech innovation, surely it won’t be long until the Middle East’s risk-takers are on the cusp of embracing the fascinating trend.

Reseller Middle East may 2015

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Asus review

Asus T300 Chi

RME RATING

James Dartnell takes the Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi for a spin, and reveals why although it may have its critics, it ultimately delivers as a stylish travel product.

The Transformer tablet range were initially Android offerings that have now transformed into products that can compete with the best Ultrabooks. The Chi lineup features the 12-inch T300, the 10-inch T100 and the 8.9-inchT90.

As two-in-ones go, there’s no arguing that the T300 is a stylish, slick product.

It has a great tactile feel, and a simple design, as well as being very light, at 1.4kg. It features an all-aluminum onepiece design, leaving it screw-less, and seamless. In comparison to a number of its competitors, Asus has done a fantastic job of simplifying the device’s appearance. By opting for a fanless Intel Core M setup, Asus has brought us a slick convertible laptop, where less is more. It looks and feels like a traditional laptop, which should be a major plus for conventional consumers.

Complementing the appealing design is its fantastic 2560x1440 screen resolution, and pixel density of 235ppi, higher than the Macbook Air’s 127; the design sharp but the screen arguably sharper.

On business trips, the chunky laptop – unnamed - I’d been using for work tasks before the Chi felt like a bag of lead in comparison, and thick; the Chi is only 16mm thin when the keyboard and tablet are folded together.

The magnetic hinge that joins the two components is a great addition; the device has a stable feel when opened. In fact, the uneducated user could be forgiven for thinking that

the device was exclusively a laptop since the magnet is so secure.

Another important plus point of the T300 Chi is its quality internal performance. It features an Intel Core M 5Y71 processor, and a CPU similar to that in the MacBook. It’s also got 8GB of RAM and 128GB of built-in SSD storage.

It’s also got stamina. Having put the device through its paces, with scores of tabs and applications open, as well as hours of video streaming, the battery power did not easily wane.

Ultimately, all these positive traits may matter little if you’re an ardent Windows 8 critic. There’s nothing that can be done to convince customers that it’s worth getting used to the operating system. However, if you’re not put off by the mutli-coloured blocks of Microsoft’s most recent OS,

then the T300 is certainly a safe bet.

There are also other concerns which can be hard to ignore. Connectivity is the main issue; there are no full-size USB ports or an SD card reader, while the keyboard dock doesn’t have a wire connection to the tablet, and needs to be charged separately via a microUSB socket. However the Bluetoothconnected keyboard can be used from a working range of up to 20 metres.

Still, if you’re looking for a slick business laptop to be used on-the-go then there are major things going for the T300 Chi. Inconveniences aside, it’s an extremely satisfying product to use, which is what matters. Maybe not one for office use, but one I’d certainly recommend for anyone who lives life on the move.

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hot products

Canon’s imageFORMULA DR-C240

Plustek relaunches the OpticFilm 120 scanner Plustek in partnership with LaserSoft Imaging has re-launched its improved OpticFilm 120.

The OpticFilm 120 is designed for professional photographers, advanced amateur photographers, film photo enthusiasts, photography schools and clubs.

This product’s scanner takes advantage of both the new enhanced workflow and JobManager feature sets in SilverFast 8.5. The improved workflow lets users control the frame position with adequate precision. A fine adjustment of any frame can be made from the overview dialog next to image selection.

This new function streamlines the batch process and eliminates the need to individually adjust the image scan area for each frame.

When scanning large files with the OpticFilm 120, the new SilverFast JobMonitor App will comfortably display the progress of the scans on your iPhone or iPad within a Wi-Fi network. If Wi-Fi is not available, a Push Notification will notify you once the scanner has completed the job without the need to actually open the application.

OpticFilm 120 users can easily download a free update of SilverFast Ai Studio 8.5. Besides, the OpticFilm 120, combined with the new SilverFast Archive Suite becomes a perfect Archive Scanner.

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Canon Middle East has launched the new imageFORMULA DR-C240, a workgroup scanner with the capability to handle a wide range of documents including passports and other forms of identification.

The imageFORMULA DR-C240 delivers scanning performance with speeds of up to 45ppm/ 90ipm and handles workloads of up to 4,000 scans per day. With a 60-sheet ADF (Automatic Document Feeder) larger batches can be processed in one go. The heavy duty feeder mechanism, ultrasonic double feed sensor and document feed release (DFR) technology ensure best in class reliability for scanning various document types including ultra-thin paper (from 27gsm) to passports up to 4mm thick, removing the need for a separate flatbed scanner.

The imageFORMULA DR-C240 includes Canon’s intuitive scanning

software CaptureOnTouch 3, which offers a simple operation for scanning documents into various file formats, and to multiple destinations including cloud services such as Sharepoint, DropBox Evernote, OneDrive, GoogleDrive, and Sugar Sync. The imageFORMULA DRC240 also comes with Kofax VRS driver for enriched image quality and eCopy PDF Pro for powerful PDF creation, editing, and conversion tools.

Huawei introduces new P8 and P8 max smartphones

Huawei’s Consumer Business Group has unveiled the Huawei P8 and P8 max smartphones.

The new Huawei P8 is the culmination of the P series’ style and functionality

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while the P8 max also features a larger 6.8-inch screen and longer battery life.

The Huawei P8 max uses a 6.8-inch high definition JDI screen that is the largest in-cell FHD screen in the world. The 16:9 screen enables the device to be slimmer and easier to carry. The P8 max supports landscape mode which enables consumers to view and read on the phone while colour enhancement technology enables a better visual experience.

The 6.8-inch large screen is equipped with a 4360mAh large battery – all contained in a super slim 6.8 mm body. It is there for long-time recreational needs, enabling over 10 hours of video streaming with Huawei’s power saving management technology.

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Sony introduces HDC-4300

Sony’s next generation of HDC series camera technology provides the ability to use the high magnification wide zoom range lenses currently employed by HD 2/3-inch systems while maintaining an adequate depth of field to properly show all the action in live event broadcasting.

The new HDC-4300 is the world’s first camera to use three 2/3inch 4K image sensors. It supports the same B4-mount lenses as well as the same control surfaces as Sony’s industry leading HDC-2000 series cameras. The existing HDLA-1500 series, control and shading systems, viewfinders and master set-up units are all interchangeable between the HD and 4K systems. Directors and operators can keep their approach to live events — including camera angles, zoom ranges and iris settings – while using familiar camera technology.

The new HDC-4300 is capable of 4K/HD operation, with 2x, 3x super slow motion as standard, and higher speeds up to 8x available, to produce high-quality replays and specialty programme effects.

The camera uses ultra-highprecision alignment technology to realise three 4K sensor on a new prism. This allows the support of the next-generation ITU-R BT.2020 broadcast standard’s widened colour space for future-proof masters or post production options for today’s productions shown on tomorrow’s 4K services.

The HDC-4300 4K/HD live camera system is planned to be available in summer of 2015.

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Synology’s RackStation RS815 now available

Synology recently launched the new RackStation RS815, a scalable 1U 4-bay rackmount NAS built to help space or budget conscious businesses effectively store, protect, and share their data.

RS815 introduces a shallow 12-inch chassis design – 37 per cent shorter than its predecessor – that makes it suitable for deployment in both industrial standard environments and smaller server rooms. Powered by a 1.33 GHz dual-core processor with a floating-point unit and 1GB RAM, it delivers the multitasking capability required for a multifunctional, allin-one server. The dual Gigabit LAN ports supporting failover and Link

Aggregation further ensure reading and writing speeds that exceed 216 MB/s and 121 MB/s respectively.

RS815 runs DiskStation Manager (DSM), the most advanced and intuitive operating system for NAS devices. Its wide range of applications from file sharing, backup to network management make RS815 capable of providing essential business services and increasing productivity at work.

When the time comes for expansion, it can be scaled up to 8 drives by connecting to an expansion unit RX415, paving the way for a company towards a growing, exciting future.

Synology RackStation RS815 is now available and can be shipped globally.

Microsoft unveils Lumia 540 Dual SIM The Lumia 540 Dual SIM features the latest Windows Phone 8.1 innovations and boasts a 5-inch HD display and crafted design details.

The new mobile phone features qualitycrafted hardware including a removable, durable back cover with a luminous, layered design and a generous 5-inch HD display for enjoying apps, photos, videos and the personalisable home screen.

Built-in Skype integration and a rearfacing 8-megapixel camera with LED flash. Available apps that are compatible with the phone include favorites such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram

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and more. Microsoft services like Office, Outlook and up to 30 GB of free cloud storage via OneDrive mean people have the productivity tools to achieve more, anywhere.

The Lumia 540 Dual SIM is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor featuring a quad-core CPU running at 1.2 GHz, 1 GB of RAM, and 8 GB of mass memory. The device will start rolling out in India, the Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific, and Italy beginning in early May 2015. Pricing for the Lumia 540 Dual SIM starts at USD 149. It will be available in four colours: cyan, orange, white and black.

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ZOTAC introduces new M-series

ZOTAC International has introduced the new M-series, a product that will integrate the new Intel Broadwell processors into the latest models, the new ZBOX MI522 nano and ZBOX MI542 nano are expected to make mini-PCs more power efficient.

The first of the two new designations, the ZBOX MI522 nano is the easy choice to get into the new Broadwell architecture.

Shrinking the transistors to a mere 14mm, more transistors can fit on a single chip, boosting both calculation and graphical performance over its predecessors. Planted with an Intel Core i3 processor, the nano unit only measures at 127mm x 127mm x 45mm (5in x 5in x 2in).

The ZBOX MI542 has Intel Core i5 at its foundation, the ZBOX MI542 benefits from an even faster clock speed featuring up to 2.7GHz. Like most other ZOTAC mini-PCs, these two M-series models come with their own plus versions, offering 4GB DDR3 memory and 500GB storage for a complete hardware solution.

Packed with 5 USB ports, dual gigabit LAN and 802.11ac Wi-Fi connectivity in a miniscule enclosure, the ZBOX MI522 and MI542 series can function as a personal PC, office PC, home theatre PC, and more.

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Alcatel-Lucent presents OmniSwitch 6900-Q32 Alcatel-Lucent Enterprises has recently introduced Omni Switch 6900-Q32, a technology that is expected to bring network agility while reducing the overhead to deploy and maintain the network.

The new capabilities provided by the OmniSwitch 6900-Q32 platform include, high port density (32-port 40GbE or up to 128-ports of 10GbE), which double the capacity and half the latency of existing OmniSwitch 6900 family members. It also has a versatile system with flexible deployment options, ideal for rightsizing the converged campus network or providing a scalable, cost-effective Data Centre Switching solution. Simplified deployment in minutes, rather than days or weeks. Innovative Intelligent Fabric technology automates deployment and adds/move/changes of the network and access switches and other devices connecting to it, significantly reducing the OPEX burden. Scalability with minimal investment and overhead – virtual chassis

provides single management of up to six units and Intelligent Fabric technology automates addition of new units into the virtual chassis.

Furthermore, it can mix and Match other OmniSwitch 6900 platforms to provide the industry’s most flexible Pod and Mesh design for Data Centre networks. Ease management burden with automation of VXLAN Gateway and overlay support for application control over both virtual and physical network. It has an integrated Virtual Machine Mobility capabilities which can deliver visibility and QoS across VXLAN and physical network – and automates network reconfiguration due to adds/ moves/changes of applications. It also has a full set of data centre features.

Future-proof standard-based technology with full SDN programmability for easy integration into workflow automation systems and provides choice for best of breed technologies.

Brocade launches ICX 7250 Switch

The Brocade ICX 7250 Switch is expected to deliver the performance, flexibility, and scalability required for enterprise Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) access deployment.

It has up to 8×10 GbE ports for uplinks or stacking and market-leading stacking density with up to 12 switches (576×1 GbE) per stack. In addition, the Brocade ICX 7250 combines enterprise-class features, manageability, performance, and reliability with the flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and “pay as you grow” scalability of a stackable solution.

The Brocade ICX 7250 Switch provides enterprise-class stackable LAN

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switching solutions to meet the growing demands of campus networks. Designed for small to medium-size enterprises, branch offices, and distributed campuses, these intelligent, scalable edge switches deliver enterprise-class functionality at an affordable price— without compromising performance and reliability. The Brocade ICX 7250 is available in 24- and 48-port 10/100/1000 Mbps models with 1 GbE or 10 GbE dualpurpose uplink/stacking ports—with or without Power over Ethernet (PoE) and Power over Ethernet Plus (PoE+)—to support enterprise edge networking, wireless mobility, and IP communications without the need for additional power outlets or power injectors.

Office 2402, Mazaya Business Avenue BB1, JLT, P.O. Box: 487840, Dubai U.A.E Tel : +971 4 4357209 I Fax No: +971 4 4357216 www.spectrami.com I info@spectrami.com

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Giada Technology introduces the i200 Thin Client

WD unveils new WD Re+ hard drive

WD, a Western Digital company, has recently introduced new data centre hard drives to the market.

According to WD, the new hard drives will deliver today’s modern data centre architects the lowest power consumption of any high-capacity 3.5inch hard drive available today.

The WD Re+ hard drive family is the newest component of WD’s full, tiered portfolio of high-capacity datacentre storage devices. Further expanding that portfolio will be 6 terabyte (TB) capacities for WD’s popular WD Re and WD Se data centre product lines, providing customers a spectrum of capabilities, tiered to their varied demands of application intensity, power optimisation and cost efficiency.

In the modern data centre, the total cost of ownership (TCO) formula is comprised of capacity, price, power consumption and the relationships between these variables. The WD Re+ drive provides the most power efficient and high-intensity highcapacity platform available today.

With power consumption a primary consideration in today’s large web-scale cloud infrastructures, and the WD Re+ drive consuming only 6 watts for 6 TB, customers’ TCOs increase and savings for large deployments could be millions of dollars per year.

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The compact mini PC – i200, is specially designed for industrial application in financial services, health care, and retail.

The i200 helps the industrial users to enhance control and manageability and simplify the processing procedure, thus saving on operating costs. Compared to common PCs in the market, Giada’s thin client has a more specific configuration, precisely in line with the industrial needs for security and energy conservation.

Featuring an ultra-compact size –130mm x 128.5mm x 26mm, the i200 offers unprecedented value in its size category. Adopting the 4th generation Intel CPU, it embraces higher performance and lower powerconsumption.

The i200 is equipped with one SODIMM slot, which supports the installation of up to 8GB of DDR3-1333 RAM. HDMI

version 1.3 with support for HDCP as well as Display Port 1.1 are provided for dual video signal output. For the thin client, rich external interfaces are necessary.

The i200 comes with Gigabit LAN for high-speed LAN connection with 1GB/s data transfer rate, ideal for seamless internet connection and for audio and video streaming.

The i200 is equipped with a Phoenix EFI BIOS with support for an ACPI interface. The systems are fully compatible with the majority of popular operating systems including Microsoft Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Linux.

PanzerGlass now available for iPhone 6

Premium PanzerGlass has been created to complement iPhone 6’s distinctive soft shapes, and is made of extra strong Japanese Cornning glass, and has been

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tested to be the most solid and scratch resistant protective glass available – 20 per cent stronger than previous versions.

The phone’s camera unit is also protected by the glass, which prevents any grease or dirt on the lens.

The perfect fit from the curved Premium PanzerGlass, prevents the occurrence of sharp or fragile edges. It also increases the comfort for the users and makes the glass stronger and reduces the risks of damaging the phone’s outer edge. It also has an oleophobic coating that makes the glass soft to touch, just like on the iPhone 6’s original display.

Premium PanzerGlass is made available in both white and black version for the iPhone 6.

3rdJune 2015

Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai, UAE

PRESENTS

Reseller Middle East’s annual Partner Excellence Awards pay tribute to the achievements of the industry players in the regional channel ecosystem.

There are 4 categories with 29 awards up for grabs.

For

www.resellerme.com/awards

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NOMINATION ENQUIRIES Jeevan Thankappan Group Editor jeevan.thankappan@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 375 5678 +971 56 415 6425

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Column

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

Janees Reghelini, Deputy Editor, Reseller ME

Closing the gap After my long holiday last month, I came back to the highly anticipated security event in the region – GISEC 2015. One of the key themes in the third edition of the event was around cyber-security. And with good reason given the fact that the Middle East region has been reported to be a prime target for cyber criminals. A 2014 PwC Global Economic Crime Survey indicated that an approximate amount lost due to cyber-crime in the Middle East may vary between USD 1 million and USD 100 million annually. And the increasing adoption of smart devices and IoT-related technologies is further increasing the threats.

While on one hand, this is alarming for organisations in the region, on the other, it also spells out increased prospects for the partners. With rising cyberthreats, partners have to step up to the

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front line to provide not only services and solutions but also aid customers in identifying the chasms in their cyber environment.

Cyber-security is being seriously looked at by security vendors over the last year (a case in point is the cofounding of Cyber Threat Alliance by McAfee, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks and Symantec), and one of the critical aspects will be reducing zero-day vulnerabilities. Partners should look at working closely with their customers in understanding their processes and participating in specific vendor training programmes to be in a position to lead.

Thinking like the perpetrator is another way but that might not be up everyone’s cup of tea. Partners must keep abreast with global trends and evaluate the effects at the local level. Awareness is the first step and that is definitely

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increasing within the region. Partners should work towards turning around every issue into an opportunity.

Moving on, we are now in the midst of planning out the RME Partner Excellence Awards 2015, which is around the corner. While some sleepless nights are guaranteed this month, come 3rd June and it will be worth every minute. Be sure to read our interesting features this month, omni-channel retailing and social media in channel. It was encouraging to learn that few partners are leveraging opportunities present on social media platforms, however, I believe it will have to be the vendors who will need to push their partners to embark on it full-scale.

Write to me with your comments and feedback or simply to discuss the intricacies of channel.

Until next time, that’s all from me.

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GBM lives the ever-evolving culture of the local IT landscapes in which it operates, continually investing in training and development to ensure its experts can fully understand and interpret the growing needs of their clients. As a result, GBM is always well-equipped to address the everevolving, industry-specific IT demands in every market. www.gbmme.com ABU DHABI • BAHRAIN • DUBAI • KUWAIT • OMAN • PAKISTAN • QATAR