Reseller Middle East

PUBLICATION LICENSED BY IMPZ

ISSUE 195 // MARCH 2013 WWW.RESELLERME.COM

BOUNCING BACK With a new management at the helm and greater emphasis on innovation, PC maker Acer is working its way back on track in the region.

VENDOR FOCUS

REVIEWS

PRODUCT

D-Link eyes personal cloud opportunities

Lenovo ThinkPad Twist

TP- LINK launches new dual-band wireless router

SELLING TO SMBs

S O LV I N G T H E P U Z Z L E

EDITORIAL

Publisher Dominic De Sousa Group COO Nadeem Hood

EDITORIAL

The SMB puzzle

Group Editor Jeevan Thankappan jeevan@cpidubai.com +971 4 4409109

It is a very well known fact that a vast majority of businesses in the Middle East can be categorised as SMBs and the success of this sector is vital to the overall economic growth of the region.

The stats suggest that in Dubai alone, it accounts for 90% of all businesses, employing over 40% of the country’s workforce.

Though the definition of what small business is might vary from region to region, there are some unique features that characterise SMBs all over the world. These businesses usually don’t have

Contributing Editors Ben Rossi Joe Lipscombe Online Editor Tom Paye

ADVERTISING Commercial Director Rajashree R Kumar raj@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9131 Key Account Manager Merle Carrasco merle@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9134 Sales Manager Nasir Bazaz nasir@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9144

CIRCULATION Database and Circulation Manager Rajeesh M rajeesh@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9147 PRODUCTION AND DESIGN Production Manager James P Tharian james@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9146 Designer Analou Balbero analou@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9104 DIGITAL www.resellerme.com DIGITAL SERVICES Digital Services Manager Tristan Troy P Maagma Web Developers Erik Briones Jefferson de Joya Photographer and Social Media Co-ordinator Jay Colina online@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9100

Jeevan Thankappan Group Editor Talk to us: E-mail: jeevan@cpidubai.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/ ResellerME Twitter: @ResellerME

dedicated IT resources and their IT budgets wouldn’t normally exceed $10,000 in a year. However, SMBs are faced with challenges very similar to the ones confronting large enterprises and often have to strike a fine balance between the appetite for new technologies and budget constraints.

Industry surveys indicate that the SMB IT budgets are on the up this year, as the adoption of mobility, virtualisation and security is gaining steam. Every technology vendor worth its salt is now focused on this booming market segment and even the top players are moving downstream with products tailor-made to suit the needs of the SMBs. What does this mean for the channel? According to a study from the research firm SBM Group, today SMBs are looking for more than products from the channel. They need partners who can guide them and support them around a spectrum of areas, ranging from virtualisation to security.

The study indicated that “SMBs want partners that understand their business, can recommend solutions, and provide cost-effective solutions.” They also expect technical expertise, customisation and round the clock support to help them navigate today’s complex technology landscape. But, how many of our VARs can step up to the plate and offer what is required by this lucrative yet hugely underserved market? Not many, I am afraid. It’s time for partners to take up the gauntlet, transform their product-dominated business model to a service-oriented one and invest in infrastructure that can enable them to offer managed services. The customer expectations are high more than ever, and the rewards huge. Turn to page number 36 to unlock the secret to selling to SMBs.

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HIGHLIGHTS News

Pantum in distribution tie-up with Despec

Chinese printer manufacturer Pantum has launched in the Middle East and Africa, having signed a distribution deal with Despec, which will help Pantum pursue its “aggressive” growth plans across the region.

The manufacturer is the first laser printer brand created and fully developed in China using Seine Technology. Pantum claimed that this technology helps it to

offer solid technical strength, lower-cost full industrial chains and professional global systems.

Pantum eventually wants to become the world’s leading printing products and services provider, it said. As part of this plan, it wants to be among the top three printer brands in the region and one of the top five globally by 2015.

“Our success is international markets in a short time gives us a lot of confidence for this market,” said Jackson Wang, President of Pantum, who added that his firm’s technological prowess will be the driving force behind its growth.

“Our strength in product innovation and R&D provides us the edge to succeed in highly competitive markets,” he said. “I am proud to announce that we have fully mastered the core technologies of laser printer R&D, as well as manufacturing,

and have become an international laser printer brand that covers a dozen models of mono laser printers and MFPs (mediumformat printers).”

Upon its Middle East launch, Pantum compared itself to the likes of Huawei, HTC and Lenovo, which, Pantum said, offer reliable quality, durable performance and low maintenance costs. They also aspire to be the number-one companies within their fields, Pantum said.

Indeed, the printer manufacturer has plenty in common with Lenovo, given one of the PC maker’s sister companies, Legend Capital, also has a stake in Seine.

“With high-quality laser printing with lower paper jams, combined with competitive pricing, our reliable printer will be popular in the MEA market,” said Robert Liang, Sales Director MEA, Pantum.

Despec, meanwhile, asserted the quality of its new partner’s products, highlighting awards that its products have achieved.

“We have conviction in Pantum’s printers, which recently earned an award in the Winter 2013 Buyers Laboratory Pick awards, thus proving their quality,” said Jaison Korath, CEO, Despec. “We look forward to working with Pantum, and seeing its progress in the regional printing maket.”

Westcon earns Microsoft Gold Communications competency

Westcon Group has become the first value-added distributor worldwide to achieve Microsoft’s Partner Network Gold Communications competency.

The designation is based on the firm’s standards for revenue, service support and customer satisfaction throughout the EMEA region.

Weston said that it had met stringent requirements set by Microsoft to achieve Gold Level, having provided

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best-in-class Microsoft Lync-based solutions to customers.

“We are extremely proud to be the first VAD wordwide to achieve Microsoft’s Gold Communications certification,” said Manoj Panchal, Convergence Divisional Manager, Westcon Middle East. “This distinction marks our commitment to Microsoft and its Lync platform, and sets Westcon apart as

a leading provider of unified communications solutions.

“By continually analysing market trends, identifying such innovative solutions and then investing to gain deep technical competency in them, we have managed to create a unified communications eco-system.”

Scott Brown, Senior Director, Worldwide Lync Enterprise Voice, Microsoft, explained the benefits of becoming a Gold-Level partner in communications competency.

“We are committed to supporting Gold-Level members with the right set of tools, training, and information to empower

their partners with leading-edge, Microsoft-based solutions and services,” he said.

“As the first global VAD to achieve Gold Communications certification, Westcon has clearly demonstrated its value – delivering integrated and customised sales and marketing, pre and post-sales support, and services to support today’s channel demand for Lync.”

Westcon claims that it has one of the broadest Lync eco-systems in distribution, including Active Communications, Acme Packet, Advatel, Altigen, AudioCodes, Jabra, Plantronics, Polycom, snom and Sonus.

Aptec’s ATS opens training facility

Dr Ali Baghdadi, VP and CEO Aptec-an Ingram Micro Company’s Advanced Technology Services (ATS) arm has opened up a new training facility in Dubai, as part of its channel enablement programme.

“It is an important part of what we deliver in terms of value-added services to our customers. The focus is on certification of our reseller partners and their customers.

Today, we are happy to partner with VMware, providing training and certification across various topics for them and we are looking to sign up other vendors, which is very important to our solution selling strategy,” said Dr Ali Baghdadi, VP and CEO of the company.

He added that Dubai is not the only place the distributor has set up a training centre.

“We have established training centres in Saudi and Egypt, with plans to roll this out in other countries as well. We are in the process of equipping our centres with video conferencing to deliver training remotely. Within Ingram Micro, I am working on a global training initiative code named Ingram Micro Academy, and we have training centres across the globe including India, Singapore and the US. We are going to link all these training centres together so we can offer global training services to our global clients.”

Spectrum named top Juniper education partner

Sanjeev Singh, Managing Director, Spectrum Training Spectrum Training announced has been named one of Juniper Networks’ leading Authorised Education Partners (JNAEP) in the EMEA region for 2012.

Spectrum was given the Platinum Award for Partner of the Year, marking the third consecutive year in a row that Juniper has recognised the training provider.

“To be honoured with the top Platinum Award for Partner of the Year by Juniper Networks for the third year in a row highlights the fact that we have been trusted by our customers and partners for the quality we promise. Thanks to our customers and team that we did this again,”

said Sanjeev Singh, Managing Director, Spectrum Training.

Spectrum also claimed that it plays an important role in the global implementation of Juniper’s Certification Programme (JNCP), which consists of platform-specific, multi-tiered tracks.

These tracks build up competence with Juniper technology through a combination of written tests and hands-on configuration and troubleshooting exams.

“We are pleased to recognise Spectrum Training as one of the top performing JNAEPs in EMEA,” said Linda Moss, Vice-President of WW Education Services at Juniper Networks.

“Through our Authorised Education Partners, we are expanding the reach of Juniper’s Education Services around the globe, and providing the local training customers and partners need to maximise their technology investments.

As a JNAEP partner, Spectrum’s technicians are authorised to provide in-depth, technical training and education courses on a variety of Juniper products. These include the vendor’s SRX, SA, IC, SSG, ISG, IDP, MAG, WLA, EX, J, M, T, MX and E Series devices.

Juniper’s authorised training partners use only certified instructors who have the same certification requirements as Juniper Educational Services instructors.

Courion goes to market with Paramount Risk-driven identity and access management (IAM) firm Courion Corporation has entered a go-tomarket agreement with the UAE’s Paramount Computer Systems.

Paramount will now sell Courion’s Access Risk Management Suite to customers looking to manage access risk, Courion said. The vendor added that the partnership involves having dedicated Courion personnel in Paramount’s offices.

The two companies are already in discussion with several large UAE organisations, Courion said, adding that there is an interest in riskdriven IAM. “Courion’s IAM suite is highly regarded here for good reason,” said Premchand Kurup, CEO, Paramount.

“We look forward to introducing the Access Risk Management Suite to our prospects and customers.

We’re confident they will seize new opportunities for better identifying, managing and setting their access risk.”

Courion is fairly new to the region, though it plans on expanding its presence here though channel partners and resellers, it said.

“Our strategy is to invest in partners that can deliver the riskdriven IAM solutions the market is demanding and the business value customers are seeking,” said Mike Parise, Vice President of Global Alliances, Courion.

“Rather than establishing a direct presence in every geography or segment, we’ll often choose to invest in and enable go-to-market alliances that make it easy for partners like Paramount to work with us and grow their revenue.”

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HIGHLIGHTS News

Optimus becomes Avayo distributor

Meera Kaul, Managing Director, Optimus Optimus Technology and Telecommunications has signed a distribution deal with Avayo Electronics. The agreement will see Optimus promote and distribute Avayo’s range of communications infrastructure products through its channel network across the Middle East, Africa, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

As a value-added distributor, Optimus will help to create and establish the vendor’s value channel network, conducting training and consultancy to partners so that they can sell Avayo’s products, Optimus said. The training will be done through the distributor’s training arm, Optimus Academy.

“This partnership is very important for us, as Avayo helps enhance our data centre infrastructure offerings,” said Meera Kaul, Managing Director, Optimus.

“Avayo’s products are a value add to our data centre offering within the MEA market and complements our existing solutions within this space, thus enabling us to provide a comprehensive and complete solution to our partners and customers.”

The distributor will also invest in marketing in order to beef up Avayo’s brand visibility in the region. The plan, Optimus said, is to position Avayo as the solution of choice to complement a customer’s data centre requirements, bundling the vendor with offerings from the likes of Opti-UPS, Netgear, Acer and NetIQ.

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Huawei signs up Peregrine Huawei has added Qatarbased distributor Peregrine to its authorised partner network in the Middle East.

As part of the gold-level partnership, Peregrine will provide Huawei Enterprise Unified Communication and Collaboration products and solutions, Huawei said.

Specifically, the distributor will handle IP telephony, call centres and video conferencing.

And given Peregine’s expertise in oil and gas, the partnership will also address security concerns for the oil and gas sectors in Qatar, Huawei said, adding that security investment in the emirate is “top of the list” for enterprises.

“The pace of infrastructure developments we are witnessing in Qatar has driven strong demand for cutting-edge ICT solutions to meet and surpass global standards,” said Biswas

Odassery, Managing Director, Peregrine. “Security is a vital concern, and Huawei enterprise solutions will provide our customers with the most advanced security tools in the market.”

Peregrine’s relationship with Qatar’s hospitality sector will also bolster Huawei’s standing in the country.

“Peregrine has a strong focus on the hospitality sector, which is set to boom as we count down to the 2022 FIFA

World Cup,” said Su Bao Qiang, General Manager, Huawei Enterprise, Qatar. “With the Qatar government planning to spend $65 billion in infrastructure investment, tourism in the region continues to rise.”

The partnership with Peregrine comes as part of Huawei’s Channel Partner Programme, which the firm claims is an integral part of its growth strategy in the Middle East. Peregrine is the first partner to join the community in 2013.

F1 Infotech joins Infor partner network F1 Infotech, a technology integrator and training provider for the hospitality industry, has George Linu, Business Unit Manager ME joined the & India of F1 Infotech Infor Partner Network (IPN) a selective group of channel partners that re-sell and service Infor’s business application software.

F1 Infotech will focus on selling and servicing Infor Hospitality applications throughout the Middle East and India. Infor is the world’s third-largest supplier of enterprise applications and services, with more than 70,000 customers. Approximately one-quarter of Infor’s license revenue is generated through channel partners in the IPN.

With this partnership, Infor intends to expand its presence in the Middle East by enabling F1 Infotech to focus on the key industries of hotels, entertainment and catering throughout the region.

The IPN is a programme, which focuses on helping Infor channel partners run successful businesses based around supplying Infor products and services, enables partners to deliver the highest quality support for Infor customers.

“We joined the IPN for very simple reasons,” said George Linu, Business Unit Manager ME & India of F1 Infotech. “Infor has given us the tools, resources and financial incentives to win new business.

Infor products boast out-of-the-box industry specific functionality which will help us grow a profitable and sustainable business quickly.

From demand generation to sales, delivery and support, we have fantastic support from Infor to put us in a strong position to win.”

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HIGHLIGHTS News

Dell unveils pricing tool for partners

Laurent Binetti, GM of EMEA Channel Sales Dell has unveiled a new tool to improve its Online Solutions Configurator, PartnerDirect, which now promises to allow partners to effectively price complex enterprise solutions.

The vendor said that this should help partners close deals more quickly.

The configurator, which is currently being trialled in the UK and Ireland, will be rolled out across the EMEA region over the coming months, Dell said.

Dell’s PartnerDirect system celebrates its fifth anniversary this February. In the lead-up to the milestone, Dell has set up a $10 million fund to support a five percent discount on enterprise deals. This was introduced in November as a way for Dell to recognise and reward their partners who invested in the programme.

“This will be the year of the Dell Online Solutions Configurator further easing business with Dell,” said Ahmed Mouldaia, EMEA Enterprise Sales Executive Director, Dell. “This only configurator will help our partners win in the data centre, empowering them to become autonomous by easily configuring end-to-end Dell enterprise solutions, guided by validation rules, and accessed directly through the PartnerDirect portal.

“The new tool is another example of Dell responding to requests to further enable our partners. The Dell Online Solutions Configurator means our partners can collaborate online with colleagues and Dell channel sales representatives, facilitating a greater level of accuracy and reducing quoting lead-time.”

Dell also announced that it had appointed Laurent Binetti as General Manager of EMEA Channel Sales. He most recently served as General Manager for the Dell Commercial Business in Southern Europe.

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Help AG teams up with HP The information security services and solutions provider Help AG has announced its partnership with technology giant HP. With this agreement, Help AG will add to its solutions portfolio the entire range of HP enterprise security products.

These include ArcSight, Fortify and TippingPoint, which will enable the security specialist to offer a more comprehensive risk management selection to help its enterprise customers assess, transform, manage and optimise their security investments.

Stephan Berner, MD at Help AG, said, “The partnership between HP Enterprise Security and

Help AG is the union between a technology leader in areas such as SIEM, IPS and application security with a regional security expert having extensive local experience in precisely the same spheres. By supplementing HP’s innovative range of security technologies with our exceptional technical capabilities and full lifecycle support, we will deliver comprehensive turnkey solutions that are guaranteed to meet the complex security requirements of our customers in the region.”

Help AG will provide consultancy, design and implementation services for

Stephan Berner, MD at Help AG these products and will work closely with HP to enhance its offerings from a strategic, technical, organisational, and commercial point of view.

Customers will further benefit from help AG’s dedicated 24x7 local support services which will be made available via telephone, email and an online portal.

Symantec awards EMEA channel partners

Jason Ellis, Vice President of EMEA Channel Sales, Symantec Symantec has announced the 2012 EMEA Channel Excellence Award winners at its annual EMEA partner conference, recognising six partners who excelled throughout the year.

The security firm also created the 2012 EMEA Channel Partner Excellence Distributor Awards this year, recognising the overall service and support provided to Symantec’s partners through account

distribution services, pre and post-sales support, market development and online capabilities.

Two companies from the UAE took home the new prize. Mindware Gulf took home the Value Added Distributor of the Year award, while Aptec won the SMB Distributor of the Year award.

In terms of the traditional prize’s winners, Italy’s Centro Computer took home the Small Business Parter of the Year prize, while the UK’s Bluesource won the Cloud Partner of the Year award. Computacenter and PMCS, from Germany, sealed the Enterprise Partner of the Year award and the Marketing award respectively. The Most Innovative Partner award went to the UK’s Pentura Limited, while the President

Award was given to Caperio, from Sweden.

The Channel Excellence Awards recognise partners which demonstrate excellence in the delivery of Symantec products, the firm said. Support for end-users, and meeting customer objectives in terms of improving efficiency, ROI and cost reduction were all factors in dishing out the prizes.

“Our 2012 Channel Excellence Award winners have shown a high level of dedication and demonstrated innovation, dedication and expertise in adding value to our customers,” said Jason Ellis, Vice President of EMEA Channel Sales, Symantec.

Symantec’s Partner Engage EMEA 2013 took place at the Corintha Hotel in Lisbon from February 12 to 13.

HIGHLIGHTS News

Counterfeit toners seized in UAE Brother International has lauded the successful joint operation with enforcement authorities from Dubai and Ajman that raided a warehouse in Ajman, which resulted in the seizure of more than 6,200 counterfeit ‘Brother’ toner cartridges and other consumables.

The successful raid by Ajman police also led to the arrest of a Dubai trader who supplied the fake toners to other traders across the UAE. The company, who had extended their support and assistance with the local authorities, pronounced the raid as a victory in the campaign against the proliferation of counterfeit products in the UAE. Based on accounts by company officials, Brother International was tipped off few traders that were selling counterfeit ‘Brother’ toners in Dubai. This vital information was relayed to authorities in UAE, which resulted in successful raids. The raided companies admitted that the seized counterfeit toners were supplied by another Dubai trader who kept the pirated products in a warehouse in Ajman. With the help of the authority in Ajman the warehouse of the counterfeit toners were revealed and raided.

Brother thanked the local authorities for their swift action that has not only led to the seizure of counterfeit toners but also the punishment of traders who have been proliferating these products across the country. Nevertheless, the battle against pirated products is not yet over as more effort has to be made to help make the public aware about the negative impacts of using counterfeit products and to be knowledgeable in identifying a genuine product over a fake one, said the company.

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DISTREE EMEA hosts record number of meetings More than 6,000 prescheduled meetings took place at DISTREE EMEA 2013, marking a new record for the annual channel event.

More than 140 brands were represented, a postevent release said, and they met with channel executives from the region’s leading distributors, retailers and e-tailers. Thousands more informal meetings took place over the course of the threeday event in Monaco.

“We want to thank all the brands and the 1,000plus delegates that made DISTREE EMEA 2013 such a memorable experience,” said Farouk Hemraj, CEO and CoFounder, DISTREE Events.

“The event continues to grow and is now a ‘mustattend’ event for buyers working in the EMEA ICT

and CE sector. This event allows channel partners to meet vendors they already work with and also identify emerging brands and hot new product categories.”

DISTREE claims that it is far removed from a traditional trade show. As well as making one-onone meetings possible, it sports a “powerful” conference programme, workshop sessions, channel awards and professional networking opportunities. This year also featured a series of “2013 Directions” workshops.

Speakers at the event included representatives from Moor Insights, VIA, Ocean Solutions, Sightline Group, Kiki Lab, and channel consultants Frederic Lestringant and Ryan Mackey.

Farouk Hemraj, CEO and Co-Founder, DISTREE Events “Each market in the EMEA has its own unique characteristics, and DISTREE EMEA is an opportunity for channel executives to take a wider look at how the ICT and CE industry is changing, and the impact this is having on routes-to-market,” said Hemraj.

DISTREE 2014 is scheduled to take place in Monaco from February 11 to 14, 2014, Hemraj added.

FVC launches SILEX in Saudi The value -added distributor FVC has launched what it calls “the ultimate virtual classroom” at the IEFE 2013 conference in Riyadh. The solution comes in the form of its Smart Interactive Live Experience (SILEX) Education solutions.

FVC said that its new technology advances the way in which students learn and interact with teachers in the classroom.

SILEX, a so-called “interactive classroom”, allows students and teachers to transfer, present and upload information “seamlessly”, providing educational facilities for video conferencing and distance learning, FVC said.

However, it might be better to describe SILEX as a full digitalisation of the physical classroom. The system allows for an entire classroom to be controlled with an iPad through the SILEX control application. Along with a display screen and an interactive

whiteboard, students are given retractable screens or multi-touch tablets at each of their desks.

“With SILEX, FVC has created the ultimate virtual classroom that allows students and teachers to present and share information and lessons at the touch of a button,” said Yakob Kaffina, General Manager for Saudi Arabia, FVC. “SILEX also offers state-of-the-art functions for distance learning, which is vital for the growth of the educational sector in the Kingdom.

“We truly believe that this can transform the way Saudi students learn and given them an advantage over not only students in the region, but the rest of the world.”

Saudi Arabia is one of the fastest growing educational markets in the region, FVC said. The country is planning to invest over $21 billion into the education sector in the next few years.

EMC revamps Velocity partner programme EMC has made significant enhancements to the EMC Velocity Solution Provider reseller programme that will make the vendor’s cloud computing and Big Data technologies and solutions available to more customers – particularly in the rapidly growing midmarket segment.

The new target products rebate for premier and signature partners providers top Velocity resellers with a predictable income stream via rebates paid on sales of targeted EMC technologies that align to the company’s key mid-market initiatives. Eligible products include EMC VNX and VNXe unified storage, EMC Avamar and EMC Data Domain backup and recovery solutions, and server Flash caching solution EMC VFCache. This rebate is paid from the first sale and is in addition to – and can be combined with – EMC’s existing performance-based Specialty rebate.

The programme no longer requires resellers to earn an implementation certification

to achieve a Specialty. While EMC encourages resellers to become services-enabled, removing this requirement from the reseller program now allows pure-play resellers a more direct path to achieving Velocity Specialties, where benefit opportunities accelerate. For resellers who include services in their business model, EMC has strengthened its Velocity Services offerings.

Former Isilon resellers can now become eligible for Velocity benefits on other EMC products, and existing EMC resellers can become eligible to earn benefits from selling Isilon – all within the integrated Velocity programme. To help resellers align their portfolio with the growing demand for cloud and Big Data solutions, the following products are now eligible for financial benefits within the Backup and Recovery Specialty: EMC Mozy cloud backup, EMC Atmos object-based cloud storage platform, and EMC Centera content addressable storage. EMC Isilon

scale-out network attached storage platform is also now eligible for benefits within the Consolidate Specialty. EMC is also doubling its investment in demand generation funds, programs, and resources to develop highly qualified opportunities for partners and accelerate revenue growth.

“The improvements to the Velocity Solution Provider Program and Velocity Services Program have been made with one objective in mind: to help customers thrive in an IT environment that is undergoing wholesale change. This means accelerating the journey to the cloud, harnessing the power of Big Data and enabling IT departments to more effectively manage, protect and analyze their data. Our program is designed to help partners optimise their offerings in these key areas and provide their customers with solutions that make a profound impact,” said Havier Haddad, Channel and Alliances Director – Turkey, Emerging Africa & Middle East, EMC.

ANALYSIS HP Global Partner Conference

HP ROLLS THE DICE The past 18 months have been a troubling time for HP. Job cuts, revenue dips and acquisition scandals have kept Whitman awake at night. However, she took to the stage at HP’s Global Partner Conference last month in Las Vegas with gusto and made a partner pledge to take HP back to the glory days. Will the gamble pay off?

Meg Whitman, CEO & President, HP

HP is one of very few companies that people may feel sentimental about - one of a dying breed of early IT product enterprises which made their way into our homes and offices many years ago. But the inevitability of time has taken its toll on HP and business partners across the globe have felt the brunt of this. Meg Whitman may be excused for cutting a slightly nervous figure on any stage at the moment then. However, she was ripe with revival inside The Venetian in Las Vegas, NV, last month when she

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stepped out to deliver the latest HP battle cry: “We mean business.”

Whitman and co have been making a valiant effort in recent months to turn HP around, and partners, like customers, don’t wait for long. It wasn’t the most inspiring event HP has ever hosted, Whitman spent large amounts of her speech addressing widely shared concerns, but she addressed them with vigour and honesty.

“I came here to fix the foundation of this company and together we can get HP back to where we all want it,” she said.

“We’re on a journey, I’m here for the long haul, not to deliver a short term fix.”

Whitman claimed that talk of the company struggling in the enterprise sector is ridiculous as it recorded revenues last year of $120 billion and was ranked in the top ten largest businesses in America.

“When you read the papers you might question our financial capabilities. Let me tell you this, a company with a $10.6 billion cash flow is a force to be reckoned with.”

However, Whitman did admit that perhaps it had become difficult to work with, claiming that partner feedback stressed its products were too complex and working with HP was too complicated.

“Three key words we want to focus on now; simplicity, profitability and innovation.

Innovation is alive and well at HP, but perhaps we haven’t made that clear enough recently.”

Whitman was dogged and determined by this point and she used the momentum to nail another casing point – HP is going to clamp down on direct sales stripping business away from the channel.

“This company was largely built by partners. In many ways you’re the face of HP,” she stated.

“We now have a very clear policy about taking business away from our channel and going direct. My message is that this simply will not be tolerated.”

Direct sales staff have caused channel conflict by nipping deals from under the noses of partners, but Whitman and her team declared that a strict policy has been put in place to prevent this and that anyone not conforming to that policy could find themselves in the firing line at HP. “Everyone in the HP organisation is crystal clear on the behaviour we expect. I am holding myself and the executives accountable for that,” she said.

Autonomy turnaround Continuing the theme of redemption perhaps, HP took the opportunity to announce that it was launching the first ever

ANALYSIS HP Global Partner Conference

Jason McMillan, Channel Manager, HP PPS Middle East

Autonomy partner programme to co-exist with HP’s PartnerOne programme.

Andrew Joiner, General Manager, Emerging Technology & Marketing, HP Autonomy, said the software branch recognised that during its first 18 months with HP, partners may have found it rather difficult to involve themselves with the Autonomy side of business, and that aligning business units were a priority for all of HP. “This is a big deal for our partners, they’ve wanted to be involved with our portfolio and services but as committed HP customers they’re asking why they have to go through separate programmes. This is a simple way of streamlining all other business areas into one aligned programme.”

Joiner claims that the initiative was forced

by Whitman who stressed that Autonomy had to make the step up from “start-up to grown-up.”

“We’re at HP now, so we have a huge opportunity to extend our reach and that’s something that Meg has stressed. She has said that we need to make it much easier for organisations to do business with us and we’re seeing a lot of demand from traditional HP customers, so this is a big announcement for us.”

Of course, a key reason why HP is focusing so much energy on Autonomy right now is that Meg Whitman has made it clear that her commitment to that acquisition is full proof. Following the accounting scandal during the opening months of its ownership, HP suffered heavily at the hands of that plus some negative press. But Whitman has since pledged full support to Autonomy and Joiner believes that in actual fact things are going rather well.

“It’s disappointing that a lot of us were founders of acquired companies, myself included, and we’ve been growing strongly but the overall narrative on Autonomy seems to be focused on a select handful and that tends to cascade down on us. The press ran with that a little, but the overall vibe from the business partner perspective is a positive one now,” he said.

“I think this comes down to Robert Youngjohns largely. He changed the culture of Autonomy, he knew that this was now all about customer relations, investing in R&D, etc., he really made the step up from our traditional culture and that’s been great for us.”

The time for growth The news of increased investment and emphasis towards Autonomy has merely been a question of when, and not if, since Youngjohns announced in December that the priority over the next year would be building the Autonomy business.

“I came here to fix the foundation of this company and together we can get HP back to where we all want it.”

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NEW PPS INITIATIVE At its annual conference, HP has also announced a new PPS Services Specialisation within the recently created HP Printing and Personal Systems (PPS) group to include more premier partners so that it can better meet their needs for selling and delivering services for printers and personal systems. HP PPS Services Specialisation simplifies delivery of IT services and solutions to allow partners to increase profit potential.

HP’s decision to merge printing and PC business has been well received by its channel partners in the region, according to Jason McMillan, Channel Manager, HP PPS Middle East.

“HP has gone though a fair amount of change in the last year and the transparency with which it has been dealt with has been appreciated by the channel. For us, the Q1 has been good, the market is competitive, and you are going to see lot of changes, not just within HP but the industry as well,” he added.

McMillan said the merger , which helped the company in terms of go to market and supply chain, has made it easier for the partners from an engagement point of view. “It has brought the number of contacts within HP resellers have to deal with and now you have one channel manager interacting for both PC and Printer business. It’s the same in the case of our distributors as well.”

However, with that announcement came the announcement of job cuts as the company vowed to put more into its R&D department, affecting other departments. But Whitman and Youngjohns now seem to be back on track and the general partner vibe was a good one in Las Vegas last month. There appears to be no reason to get sentimental about it, HP is on the rise again. //

ANALYSIS IBM

Mark Hennessey, General Manager, Global Business Partners

A SMARTER WORLD In a city full of glitz and glamour, IBM rolled up and announced to the partner community that it is destined to become the world leader of the smart planet.

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IBM is a special brand in the IT world. It’s home to over 433,000 employees worldwide and one of the only technology companies which dates back to the 19th century – when IBM is in town, it’s a big deal.

That town just so happened to be the lights of Las Vegas last month, Caesars Palace, to be more specific. And thousands of partners and customers came along for the ride. At this year’s Leadership Conference, Mark Hennessey, General Manager, Global Business Partners, took the keynote spot and in true IBM style pledged to be the world leader in the conquest for smarter cities.

“This year’s conference is a little different,” he began.

“We’re here to talk about how new technology trends and innovations are transforming the way we work entirely. When you speak to partners every day you speak about delivering greater results and value to your clients. Let me tell you, that’s what we’re here to do.”

IBM believes that the advent of mobile, social, big data, and cloud will help completely revolutionise the way we live and work, and produced multiple references to prove it.

Bruno Di Leo, Senior Vice President, Sales and Distribution, IBM, arrived to discuss three key areas for IBM; its vision on the information technology market, its shared

agenda with its partners, and its enterprise goals and targets for the market place.

“The previous years have proved to us that the market goes through a cycle of innovation and change. You’ve proved that with your leadership you control this and grow with this and gain market share. This is the reason why IBM has been continuously transforming itself to pursue higher partner spaces. I want to assert with you all today that we will continue to pursue these higher partner spaces,” he said.

“First and foremost – IBM will lead in the new era of computing. This year is all about smarter cities, integrated systems, software defined environments.

We profoundly believe this is all about new clients and new areas, exploring new territories and growing with you.”

Di Leo claimed that new smarter solutions are helping to assist companies and clients in positions not previously thought of in information technology, and that these technologies will continue to grow in new areas, integrating communities and bringing them closer together to achieve bigger goals.

It was big data analytics that appeared to be the game changer in Vegas – real time data and information being analysed, absorbed and distributed as an efficient solution. IBM has realised the importance of tapping into the data growth, and has developed industry leading solutions in this field.

IBM announced its new IBM Digital Analytics solution which is a cloud based big data analytical tool. The company will offer one year’s free access to existing partners.

The company was extremely proud to introduce client success stories in this area including The Cheesecake Factory which recently set up shop here in the Middle East.

By utilising big data analytics, the restaurant chain claims to have significantly improved its customer experience by ensuring freshness and quality beyond its previous capabilities.

“As a global brand in the restaurant industry, our number one priority is absolute guest satisfaction,” said Donald Moore, Chief Culinary Officer, The Cheesecake Factory.

“It’s our absolute goal to deliver the best dining experience to our guests and it’s critical that we have the tools to ensure a fantastic dining experience in every restaurant from Beverly Hills to Kuwait.”

IBM’s big data analytics is built on IBM Power Systems and IBM Business Partner, N2N Global’s solution. This tool has the ability to quickly alert restaurant locations to remove any ingredients that do not meet its high standards for quality and consistency.

It’s this use of technology, along with a strong customer focus, that allows The Cheesecake Factory to remain one of the leading brands in the restaurant industry.

Closer to home Hennessy claimed that this PartnerWorld was one of the most popular in recent years, saying that it’s such an interesting time in the market place, that partner opportunity is higher than ever.

“We’ve listened carefully to our partners and the key point is simplicity and technical support. We’re actively seeking to help drive value, to drive revenue, and to help grow business,” he said.

In the last year, one billion new partners joined the IBM partner ecosystem, 60% of which happened to come from growth markets, prompting the question, what about the Middle East?

“I was just in Dubai a few months ago and it is a very big growth market for us. We have several big partners there and lots of smaller partners too.

There’s a lot of opportunity to leapfrog technologies there as well as there being a lot of investment money, it’s almost a blank canvas.”

Hennessey said he believes that IBM is extremely active in this region and that it stands as a high priority within its partner strategy.

“We have a number of premier partners and superior partners there who have been working with us for years now. We’re dedicated.”

Hennessy claimed that IBM’s bullish attitude and impressive portfolio stands to reason that no company can match its position.

“We’ve got a hugely impressive product portfolio and we’re feeling very bullish at the moment. It’s a very good time to be IBM.” //

MARCH 2013

Reseller Middle East

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ANALYSIS BeyondTrust

INSIDE JOB Having seen strong global growth over the past year, security and compliance solution firm BeyondTrust has its sights set on driving its channel business in the region.

Brent Thurrell, Vice President, EMEA, BeyondTrust

In 2006, Roger Duronio was found guilty of planting a logic bomb at UBS Paine Webber, causing $3 million worth of damage and over 2,000 servers to go down.

He was sentenced to eight years.

More interestingly, though, Duronio had actually worked as a system admin at the bank for two years, earning a not-inconsiderable annual salary of $125,000. But when an expected bonus of $50,000 actually turned out to be $32,000, he resigned, and used his insider knowledge of the company’s IT system to plant the bomb.

The story highlights the fact that, as well as being on the look-out for threats from the outside, organisations need to take steps to

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protect themselves from within. At least, that’s how IT security firm BeyondTrust sees things.

Having held its Middle East Partner Conference in Dubai this month, BeyondTrust is keen to point out to Middle Eastern businesses that they need least privilege identity management and vulnerability management solutions on top of their existing security packages. “We have high expectations for the region this year” said Brent Thurrell, VP EMEAI. ”The Middle East market is crucial to our growth aspirations, and the opportunity to help customers in the region shows the significant challenges of information security is greater than ever.”

Thurrell admitted that BeyondTrust’s Middle East business accounted for just a

fraction of its global revenues. However, he also set clear targets for growth, explaining that he would be “extremely disappointed” if the company didn’t reach them.

To achieve this growth, the firm needs to appeal to the channel. Thurrell noted that 95 percent of its business is done through the channel, so he was keen to hammer home the need for his company’s products, as well as the benefits that prospective partners can look forward to.

“The reseller and channel-model is critical to us,” he said. “We want to leverage regional specialists, and use the local knowledge of our partners so that we can make as much of an impact as possible here. We’re also looking at restructuring our EMEAI channel – we’re looking at accreditation, product training and sales training, so that there’s much more of a formal structure.”

The numbers put some stock in Thurrell’s claims. Only a year ago, the firm had just three people heading up the EMEAI region.

This year, that number stands at 10. The firm has also garnered a good relationship with two value-added distributors in the Middle East, Bulwark and Comguard.

To increase its partner portfolio, BeyondTrust has a number of initiatives planned. In March, it will host the BeyondTrust University, which will take place in Munich.

Training will be split into four product areas and will help provide critical skills to install, configure and manage BeyondTrust solutions. The training is a key element of the BeyondTrust partner programme.

Perhaps the biggest channel initiative from this vendor, though, is its new online partner portal, slated to be launched this quarter. Through this, BeyondTrust hopes to provide marketing tools, sales tools, training, webinars and a personalised dashboard, the latter of which will keep track of partners’ targets and projections.

For a reasonably small vendor – Thurrell himself referred to the company as one of the world’s oldest start-ups – BeyondTrust has some big plans for the region. And with what seems like a solid channel strategy, there seems to be every chance that the firm will succeed here. And if not, its vendor partners could always resort to telling scary stories about rogue employees. After all, who knows where the next Roger Duronio could be lurking? //

ANALYSIS Lenovo

CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM Amid a declining global PC market, Lenovo seems incredibly upbeat about its regional prospects. Perhaps that has something to do with the response the vendor has seen to its new Lenovo Partner Network.

Djillali Lahiani, MEA Channel Manager, Lenovo

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On December 12, 2012, Lenovo MEA launched the Lenovo Partner Network (LPN) programme, in the hopes of skilling up channel partners and strengthening relations across the Middle East. Composed of three membership levels – Member, Premium and Gold – the idea of the programme is to both attract new partners and to educate the existing ones on Lenovo’s products.

The success of the programme - which includes an online portal through which partners can access everything from targets to marketing tools – is imperative for Lenovo for two reasons. Firstly, the company wants to rise from being the number-two PC manufacturer in the region to become number one. This means growing its market share to double digits in every country.

Secondly, the vendor’s sales are 95 to 98-percent driven by the channel, according to Djillali Lahiani, MEA Channel Manager, Lenovo.

If the partner programme fails to catch on as expected, then, it could be that Lenovo’s dreams of becoming the world’s number-one PC player could fall flat. Lahiani is upbeat, though, explaining that he has already seen a great deal of interest in the partner network.

“I think I’ve had more difficulty getting the guys I’ve known for a long time to join,” he jokes. “They all say that they know me, and they know everything, so it’s fine. But the new ones are right there. They’re there for the training, and they’re saying that they want to be with Lenovo. I saw a number of African partners on there. In fact, I was surprised at the number of people registering from these countries. One guy told me that he doesn’t want to miss the train.”

It’s no secret that Lenovo is doing well. In January, the latest preliminary results from IDC showed that Lenovo had grown its EMEA PC market share to 11.1 percent, posting year-on-year growth of 41.7 percent in a market that declined by 1.6 percent overall. Why wouldn’t the vendors be lining up to get a piece of such action?

But what kind of treatment can a partner expect by signing onto the LPN? For one thing, according to Lahiani, the programme enables much better contact between the

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ANALYSIS Lenovo

vendor and its partners, providing the sense of being part of a community. Aside from that, partners are given tools such as marketing materials, pricing, documentation, training programmes and advice on how to identify and secure PC accessories.

Partners of any level can access the tools on the LPN portal, though quite how much attention Lenovo pays to them will depend on their level of membership. Memberlevel partners are managed by the distributors, given small numbers of units to sell, and that’s about it. But more advantages come with the Premium and Gold levels, Lahiani says.

“The Premium members are part of another access level of management,” he says.

“That means we know them, we talk to them and we send them a target. They have access to the offers and we help them grow. The Gold level is where we have a direct relation with the partner, managed by the account manager.

He has access to a dedicated team at Lenovo, and access to finance and marketing. We do co-marketing, we do co-events and we set up a clear map with them.”

There are, however, stipulations that must be addressed before a partner can quality for the Premium or Gold levels. To become a Premium member of the LPN, it’s necessary to sell at least 150 units per quarter. For Goldlevel membership, the number is anywhere between 600 to 1,000 units per quarter, depending on the country. And at that high level, Lahiani claims that Lenovo can help its partners double its sales.

A potential partner could be forgiven for taking a sceptical stance on that claim, considering the state of the PC market. Yes,

Lenovo might have shown stunning growth over the past year, but IDC recently said that fourth-quarter PC shipments in 2012 were down five percent on the same period in 2011.

Analysts have said that PC users are shifting their consumption to tablets rather than replacing older PCs, and though Lenovo does make a number of tablets and convertible laptops, there’s no getting around the fact that it is a PC manufacturer.

But this doesn’t worry Lahiani, who says that PCs are still an essential part of the technological ecosystem. “The PC is at the core of anything to do with productivity,” he says. “Okay, we have some convertibles, but the core that makes your business will be the same. I remember that we dropped in PC numbers because sales of Netbooks were very high. Acer became number-one then, and you know what happened to them.”

Lahiani also points to emerging markets as big business opportunities, despite the

“I remember that we dropped in PC numbers because sales of Netbooks were very high. Acer became number-one then, and you know what happened to them.”

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global slump in PC sales. “For sure, there is growth potential in Africa,” he says. “In Brazil, the demand will be there in the future.

In Nigeria, the penetration is very low, and yet this is a country with a population of 170 million people. Come on – they will use a laptop for their productivity.”

What’s more, Lenovo is looking to shift some of its focus from the enterprise world to the consumer market. Lahiani says that this market still offers huge growth potential, particularly in the MEA region. What’s more, Lenovo has invested in enough research and development to become a player across a number of segments, whether it’s smartphones, tablets, convertible tablets or straight-up laptops.

Lahiani might be something of an optimist, but only time will tell whether Lenovo can thrive in a declining market. For now, though, Lenovo knows that it needs its regional partners to buy into the benefits it says can be gleaned from the LPN. It has even organised a Middle Eastern roadshow to show its partners how the LPN works.

If Lahiani is correct in saying that over 250 resellers have already signed on, perhaps partners can feel comfortable in sharing his optimism. “People are really keen to know,” he says. “I’ve seen it on their smiling faces, and that’s really encouraging.” //

ANALYSIS Sage Software

REBRANDING SUCCESS Sage Software ME hosted a ‘Must-See ERP’ event last month to launch the latest version of Sage 300 ERP, which has been rebranded from the erstwhile Sage ERP Accpac.

Vikram Suri, Managing Director, Sage ME

Sage ERP Accpac was one of Sage’s flagship solutions in the ERP domain and one of its most successful products in the Middle East, so the company was understandably keen to reassure partners that the newly christened Sage 300 ERP will be just as lucrative.

The event, which was well attended

by Sage partners and select customers, including Sage development partners from different parts of the world, took place at the Madinat Jumeirah conference hall in Dubai.

Some of the highlights included high-level presentations on the various vertical solutions available, including manufacturing, distribution and services, allowing customers to leverage their existing investments in Sage ERP. “Sage 300 ERP provides power, insight and flexibility,” said Vikram Suri, Managing Director, Sage Middle East, who was the event’s keynote speaker and had led Sage ME for four years. “While traditional ERP software solutions provide an automation

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platform that connects the functional areas of your business - accounting, distribution, or warehouse and manufacturing - modern ERP software solutions have evolved to also include sales, marketing, customer service and business analytics.

“This is achieved through business intelligence and real-time KPI dashboards. Sage 300 ERP solutions deliver the best of both worlds.”

Suri reminded the audience that Sage continues to lead in the growing mid-market and that its strengths in the region can be attributed to its “local” way of operating.

“We lead with a passion,” he said. “We can show customers and partners that our technology works and is here to stay.

“We have the flexibility to operate locally. We operate in this region like running our own business so that we have the flexibility to personally reach out to all of our customers and partners.”

He also thanked Sage’s partners for their support, which, he said, is vital to its success in the Middle East and around the world.

“One of the most important things to us is our partner ecosystem,” he said. “We are only as strong as our partner network, so I cannot thank them enough for their support.

“It’s only with their presence and continued support that we are here today.

We are a very close group and family, and we encourage partners to give us suggestions on how we can improve and work better together. That’s also how we encourage our partners to work with customers.”

The event showcased the capability to develop on the Sage platform and deliver solutions for things like workflow, document management and asset maintenance.

“Sage 300 ERP is focused on meeting the demanding business needs of the mid-market businesses in this region and provides the scalability to grow with the business needs, while being cost effective to ensure a low TCO,” said Murali Arumugam, Business Head, Sage 300 ERP. Some of the developers participating in the event included Systronics from the UAE, Pacific Technology Solutions from New Zealand, Draycir from the UK, Orchid from Australia, AutoSimply, and Norming from China. Sage-authorised partners from the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia also took part in the event.

“We are excited by the new version of Sage 300 ERP as it builds on the stability that our customers are used to while incorporating the new trends in technology embracing mobile and collaboration tools,” said Mansoor Sarwar, Practice Head, Sage 300 ERP. Sarwar was keen to add that, while Sage has gone through an international rebranding drive so customers can identify with products more easily, the core foundations of the product remain.

Over 6.3 billion customers use Sage ERP and CRM solutions worldwide and the group employs over 14,000 professionals.

Sage’s total revenue in AAMEA (Asia, Australia, Middle East and Africa) grew by 10 percent to £152.7m in 2012, compared to £138.2m in 2011. Organic revenue grew 12 percent, compared to 10 percent growth in 2011.

“The last fiscal year, we were the fastest growing region in the world,” Suri said. “A lot of us who live in Dubai often hear that we are the centre of now and the world, where all the action is happening. So there is a huge opportunity both for our partner community and our customers in this part of the world.” //

VENDOR FOCUS D-Link

Harrison Albert, Director at D-Link MEA with Sakkeer Hussain, Sales & Marketing Manager

REACHING FOR THE CLOUD Despite a very challenging political and economic milieu in the region, the home networking major D-Link has grown at a very healthy 18 percent in 2012, and now the company is eyeing opportunities in the personal cloud space.

Demonstrating the fact that the move to cloud isn’t just for businesses, D-Link has rolled out an array of products that leverage cloud services to give consumers more access and control over home networks. A case in point is D-Link Cloud Router that lets you use the free MyDLink iOS or Android app to keep tabs on what is using your network, delivering top speeds of 300 Mbps.

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D-Link’s cloud computing lineup also includes a range of new network cameras, which let you monitor your home or office remotely, with integrated powerline technology.

“In 2013, personal cloud is going to be the focus for us, with the basic concept being access, share and control. Our motto is to make products that require zero-configuration,” says Harrison Albert, Director at D-Link MEA. D-Link, which made its debut in the Middle East in 1998, has had a very organic

growth, underpinned by a localised approach.

“When we started off here, brands such as 3Com and US Robotics were very strong and we had to adopt a unique approach to differentiate us. We tried to understand what was required by the market and deliver customised products. This is why today, in the most of the big countries in the region we have a local presence,” says Albert.

D-Link has local presence in countries such as Iran and Iraq, website in Farsi and

VENDOR FOCUS D-Link

Arabic call centres to cater to the needs of the local market.

The company, which was very product focused, also evolved its go to market strategy with a focus on the market and their solutions needs with a broad spectrum of products that spans across all kind of infrastructure including surveillance, storage and wireless.

“It was from 2009 onwards that we ventured into the solutions business and telco segment. We wanted to strengthen our resources to offer better services around the solutions,” says Albert. As part of this strategy, D-Link has invested in a HQ located at Jebel Ali in Dubai, with 23000 square feet of warehousing space that enables faster time to market.

Also, the company has invested in a demo and training centre within the same facility to offer free training to its partners and customers. “It’s built on the ideology that it should be a cost centre, not a profit centre. In the first stage, we are training our distributors because they have to be confident about our products and support it even to the level of implementation. Once that is over, we will start training system integrators and IT managers,” says Albert.

D-Link, one of the very few networking vendors with both active and passive solutions, is also geared up to meet the challenges in the networking space, where short term business and volumes are dwindling. “The networking product refresh rate is being extended from three to five years and the demand has stagnated. And a couple of things which was supposed to ignite demands haven’t really materialised. A case in point is IPv6, which was supposed to fuel demand for new hardware,” says Albert.

He adds that mobility will be one of the biggest drivers for the industry this year.

“Historically, Gulf and Africa countries have been dominated by monopolistic telecom incumbents and as a result, the infrastructure hasn’t reached the masses. Now, there is a massive push towards Internet penetration and the only way you can reach more people without cabling is 3G and LTE.” Albert says D-Link is uniquely positioned to cash in on the mobility opportunity and aims to be the brand that is available in the maximum number of retail outlets when it comes to 3G and LTE. D-Link is also in the process of finetuning its channel strategy with a refreshed parent portal to reinforce the brand loyalty. “We are revamping our corporate website and along with it a new partner portal. Earlier, our partner portal was managed globally and we decided to have it localised with multiple language options coming later. This portal will be rich with

“The company has invested in a demo and training centre within the same facility to offer free training to its partners and customers.”

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local case studies, product resources and certification,” says Albert.

D-Link has a conservation approach when it comes to distribution, according to Sakkeer Hussain, Sales & Marketing Manager at D-Link. “We have 50 odd disties covering the region and out of that 20 have been with us for more than a decade. We believe in having in-country distribution though sometimes a reseller in Dubai might generate more revenues that a distributor in a small African country. Barring Aptec- an Ingram Micro company, which is a regional distributor for us, we have in-county distributors all over the Middle East and Africa.”

D-Link has recently signed up a distribution agreement with Solvin, a subsidiary of Jumbo Electronics, for Kuwait.

“Importing products to Kuwait, especially wireless, was proving to be difficult and that is when we realized the need for an incountry distributor in Kuwait, “says Hussain.

By educating the channel and foraying into non-traditional markets, D-Link is now hoping to be more than just a consumer brand. And going by its strategic alliances and reinvigorates channel, the company seems to have an extra edge in achieving that goal. //

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COVER STORY

Ali Nemati, GM of Acer Middle East

Amin Mortazavi, VP of Acer Middle East and Africa

Acer

THE ACE UP ACER’S SLEEVE With a new management at the helm and greater emphasis on innovation, PC maker Acer is working its way back on track. Amin Mortazavi, who has recently joined the company as VP for the Middle East and Africa region, and Ali Nemati, GM of Middle East, spoke to us about the strategy to find its bearings again and win back channel confidence.

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Acer has gone through a rough patch with management shakeup, supply chain issues, and dip in market share in the recent past.

Are you bouncing back now?

The answer is yes in big, bold letters. Yes, you are right in saying that Acer has lost a bit of steam for around 18 months or so, and I don’t want to get into the details of what has happened. But, that is behind us now. I was at our global sales kick off meeting in Taiwan last December, where I had the opportunity to listen to the leaders of the company and clearly see the direction we are taking, which is all about transparency, innovation and elevating the brand.

So we are indeed back in the game with full steam and you are going to see a lot of Acer presence across the region. We have started to innovate again as you can see by the products we have brought to the market recently and this is only the beginning.

Acer’s focus has been focused on grabbing market share all along. Are you now going to re-focus your efforts on innovation?

Mortazavi: As a company, we have only around 8,000 employees globally, which means we are extremely lean and agile.

Out of that total count, around 10 percent is employed in R&D, a sign of our commitment to innovation and providing the right technology to our customers across the globe.

Our main message is profitable growth, and in order to grow profitably you need to have a focus on R&D, marketing and communications.

Yes, we want to expand our market share but not the cost of profitability. We will not go after market share by engaging in price wars with others either. We’d rather be number three and service our customers in the best possible manner. And as you know, the percentage difference between the number one and two in the PC business is ever changing.

Acer has been pretty strong in the netbook market until tablets came along. Isn’t that

what made a dent in your business?

Mortazavi: We are still number one in the netbook market in the Middle East and Africa region, and now we are making a transition towards the tablet market. I believe we have the right products in our arsenal to capture a big slice of this market. We’d lost some of our foundation in the Middle East, and it’s important for me to define what it takes to succeed in the future. I was fortunate to inherit a very strong team on the ground and we have streamlined our management operations by hiring people with the expertise.

The way we are set in terms of distribution is also important for us to succeed in this market. We have to ensure that we have the right distribution set up and we will make changes in certain geographies. We have to reconnect with the right resellers and fine tune our partner strategy, and this is where Ali Nemati comes in with his wealth of experience.

Acer has written off huge inventory in the past and there have been reports about channel stuffing. How do you plan to win the confidence of the channel again?

Nemati: Yes, there were channel inventory issues across EMEA, which cost the company heavily, and those problems have been ironed out ever since. Now, we operate with acceptable levels of inventory at the distribution side. I believe it’s important to partner with distributors who are right for our strategy and business.

What are the product categories that you are going to focus on this year?

Mortazavi: Tablets are definitely on the top of the list and it’s important for us to continue our strong presence in the consumer notebook segment. From a product perspective, we are going to revive our server business again and since we operate in the emerging market, believe it or not, there is a huge demand for desktops from first-time buyers, especially in markets such as Africa. We have a production facility here at our HQ that can offer built-to-

A TABLET WORTHY OF ITS NAME Acer, which has always made solid but bland products, is now ushering in stylish and attractive products to the market. Our online editor Tom Paye put the company’s latest Iconia W7 through its paces.

Now that Windows 8 is out in full force, a flood of tablets sporting the touch-friendly operating system has hit the market. But many of them aren’t tablets as we’ve come to know them – instead, brands are opting to give users more flexibility by bundling in keyboards and cradles. The devices are so good that they’re better described as touch-capable laptops with detachable screens, rather than tablets with attachable keyboards.

It’s a niche meant to apply to someone who can’t decide whether they want to buy a tablet or a laptop as their next device. As anyone who follows the news will tell you, the advent of tablet computers has caused PC sales to decline, meaning manufacturers are having to find ways to woo buyers from both sides of the fence in order to make ends meet.

Acer, meanwhile, has created a niche within the niche with its Iconia W7. Much more capable than a traditional tablet – with a speedy, dual-core, Intel Core i5 processor and a stunning, Full HD, 11.6-inch screen – it, too, comes with a keyboard. The different here is that the keyboard is wireless, and you get a cradle on which to mount the device whenever you’re in “work” mode.

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COVER STORY Acer

order desktops and customers notebooks, that no other vendor can offer.

How do you plan to take on competition in the tablet market, which is already crowded?

Mortazavi: We aren’t going after any particular vendors, and our aim is to establish ourselves as a brand that must be taken seriously in this segment. We have recently introduced a range of Windows 8 tablets, including the Iconic W700, which is a notebook substitute targeted at the commercial sector (see the review). We have different models with very competitive pricing and the market feedback has been fantastic. In fact, we weren’t able to meet the demand and had to ramp up production to meet them.

Do you have any plans to launch your smartphones in this market?

Mortazavi: Not at the moment, as it’s a services-heavy product category. You need to make sure that you have full fledged services capabilities before you go out and sell phones. I have seen some really nice Acer phones in Greater China and some selective European ma rkets. Though we are very excited about this, we have to make sure that we have the right infrastructure in place before rolling it out here in this market. //

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In theory, then, you could use it quite happily as a normal laptop in the office, and then leave the cradle and keyboard at your desk when you go home, where you’ll use it as a tablet. At first glance, it looks like you’re given the best of both worlds. You even get the full version of Windows 8 Pro, rather than the nasty RT version of the OS. Without the stand, you get one USB 3.0 port plus a mini-HDMI port and a jack port for headphones. Not bad for a slate.

Connected to the stand, the tablet offers users three USB 3.0 ports, though annoyingly, there’s no Ethernet port. The detachable keyboard is great to type on – each key is nicely weighted, and there are no issues with ergonomics. It might be worth investing in a mouse, as it does get annoying having to select everything by touching the screen when you’re trying to use it like a normal laptop.

In terms of speed, you’ve got no issues at all. The i5 processor works like a dream, and the 4GB of memory keeps things running smoothly. Acer claims that the W7 takes just six

seconds to boot up and 1.5 seconds

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to resume, and we see no reason to doubt that. The 128GB solid-state drive provides ample space before you need to think about backing up to an external hard drive.

As a productivity tool, then, the W7 works perfectly well. But how does it fare when you use it as a tablet? For one thing, it’s a seriously stylish device to be seen with. The casing is all brushed metal and chunky-feeling switches. The wireless keyboard, meanwhile, looks almost identical to Apple’s wireless keyboard. And the cradle that the device sits in gives it some sort of 21st-century aesthetic quality.

The W7 wants passersby to know that it’s a high-end product.

The touch screen functions are perfect, with the device registering multi touches with absolute precision. What’s more, that stunning Full HD screen really puts competing tablets to shame when you’re watching a movie or simply browsing the Web. That said, Google’s Chrome browser feels a little clunky on this device, with some touches never registering at all. That could be a general issue to do with Windows 8, rather than the W7, though.

The only real complaint comes with the weight of the device. At 950 grams in slate mode, the W7 is considerably heavier than most of its rivals. At first, you view the weight as an endearing quality – it adds to the sense of owning a quality product – but as you use the device for long periods of time, the strain the weight places on your arm quickly causes annoyance.

The weight issue is a shame, because I’d otherwise give the W7 a clean bill of health. Having said that, I can’t fault the device over much else, considering the excellent value that the $999 RRP offers.

Whether you’re looking to work or play, the W7 delivers in spades.

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FEATURE SMB Market

SELLING TO SMBs SMB means volume and big business for the channel.

However, winning in this market with different dynamics depends on tailor-made solutions and cost efficiency. Can partners cut a wider swath out of this burgeoning market?

Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) represent an important element in the business ecosystem of the Middle East.

Industry analysts predict the number of SMBs is slated to grow significantly over the coming years, offering enormous potential that cannot be ignored by the channel. Even the top-tier vendors are now rolling out slimmed-down versions of their products aimed at enticing this market segment.

Various industry surveys indicate that SMBs in the region are gearing up to upgrade their technology infrastructure to enable them to compete with large enterprises, but are very sensitive to price and return on investment. In this context, channel partners will have to understand their needs and deliver appropriate technologies at the right price to cash in on the opportunities offered by this hugely under-served market.

As the channel competes for the attention of SMBs, it needs to realise that selling to these customers is different from selling to enterprises, and they expect more from partners than ever before. Mourad Zohny,

Business Partners Organisation Manager for the Middle East, Egypt and Pakistan, IBM, explains the difference: “When selling to an enterprise, you actually engage right from the beginning of any particular opportunity that you identify with that customer. So you work with the customer through the development of the requirements, satisfying and addressing all those requirements. The approach is a little bit different in the SMB market because you are really talking about a large number of customers who you are trying to address with similar solutions that you can replicate in many different places. With enterprises, you kind of tailor a solution to their requirements, but with the SMB market, the requirements – from our knowledge and experience – are pretty much similar.

“When you have a pre-packaged solution – both hardware and software – that is central to deploy, this is the approach we are taking with our partners to make those types of solutions available and ready for the channel.”

Renton D’souza, Divisional Director, Comstor, offers a different perspective: “Price sensitivity and simplicity of solutions are key

“It is important for vendors like us to help address these challenges by making our products easy to install, configure and maintain.”

John Spoor, Regional Director, GFI Software

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“When selling to an enterprise, you actually engage right from the beginning of any particular opportunity that you identify with that customer.”

Mourad Zohny, Business Partners Organisation Manager for the Middle East, Egypt and Pakistan, IBM

differentiators of the SMB in comparison to the enterprise segment. Vendors have begun to understand this in the recent past and have started launching products specific to this segment loaded with less features, but easier to use. Resellers, on their part, try to bundle their service offerings around simple-to-install-and-maintain solutions that allow the SMB to get better business productivity without being burdened with high maintenance or training costs.”

Mike Hibbert, Channel Manager MENA, Infor, says that selling to SMBs, unlike enterprises, requires more knowledge sharing and education into the SMB customer.

“Whilst the SMB understands their business and market place well, they often lack clear understanding of how technology can enhance and streamline their business, and business processes. Besides, IT skills within the SMB are often quite light,” he says.

Ali Hyder, CEO, Focus Softnet, agrees that SMBs are generally understaffed when it comes to IT, where they may or may not have an IT department. “The user base in an SMB is smaller than that of an enterprise and the budgets are also smaller. Usually, since the solutions for SMBs require a shorter

time to deploy, the sales cycles for SMBs are definitely shorter than those for enterprises.

SMBs need to be assured that the solution they are buying is reliable and the vendor and reseller are there to support them. The solution must also be flexible, scalable and easy to customise.”

For channel partners looking to make inroads into the booming SMB segment, it is important to understand the fact that challenges facing SMBs are very similar to the ones confronting large companies.

“It is important to recognise the challenges that an SMB faces on a day-today basis. They are completely different to what an enterprise would face. High turnover of labour is probably the biggest challenge faced in this market. The labour market is also incredibly short on specialist skill sets, which drives up the cost of hiring people. It is important for vendors like us to help address these challenges by making our products easy to install, configure and maintain,” says John Spoor, Regional Director, GFI Software.

Zohny from IBM says that the challenges are the same as everywhere else: “Every business today is facing market changes and challenges in the way they do business in terms of profitability, costs and cutting expenses. So I believe the challenges are almost the same everywhere. It depends really on each customer and how they will adapt to those changes in the environment surrounding their business.”

D’souza says that SMBs in the region are burdened by a number of challenges.

“Security is a big issue, with the region being amongst the most vulnerable for hacker

“A direct sales model is not costeffective because, even if Xerox could hire enough sales staff to cover all small and medium businesses, that expense would be rolled into the total cost of the products, putting them out of reach for a cost-conscious enterprise.”

Dan Smith, Head of Integrated Marketing for the Middle East and Africa at Xerox’s Developing Markets Operations

attacks and cyber crimes. DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks in particular are on the rise in the financial sector. Mobile security is another issue – with vendors claiming that security levels on smart phones are not at acceptable limits. Political instability around the region has also stunted growth,” he says.

Vendors, even the ones who have shunned the SMB market, are fine-tuning their channel strategies to address this segment. A case in point is Xerox, which has recently launched products specifically designed for small businesses. “Given the breadth and diversity of the SMB sector, one of the major challenges for a vendor like Xerox is market coverage. A direct sales model is not cost-effective because, even if Xerox could hire enough sales staff to cover all small and medium businesses, that expense would be rolled into the total cost of the products, putting them out of reach for a cost-conscious enterprise,” says Dan Smith, Head of Integrated Marketing for the

“Price sensitivity and simplicity of solutions are key differentiators of the SMB in comparison to the enterprise segment.”

Renton D’souza, Divisional Director, Comstor

Middle East and Africa at Xerox’s Developing Markets Operations.

To reach the SMB market effectively, Xerox uses a distribution channel characterised by mutually beneficial partnerships. The two-tier distribution strategy comprises, on the first tier, master distributors – logistical companies, which are very good at moving boxes and warehousing – and, on the second tier, resellers, dealers, and concessionaires – local business owners often known to customers in their areas. This second tier allows Xerox end-user customers to develop relationships with a local business that provides support and service.

GFI Software, which caters specifically to this market space, classifies SMBs as companies with less than 1,000 users. “Therefore, in the MEA region, we need to be careful on how we present our solutions to the channel. We need to ensure we maintain our relationship with the 100-user, and below, customers without deterring interest from the larger-size accounts. We cater for all customers from five users upwards. Our biggest installation is over 300,000 IPs,” says Spoor.

Vendors also offer tips for solution providers and integrators to win business in the SMB space. “When selling to SMBs, solutions providers and integrators should first understand the customer needs and provide solutions that address those needs.

“Channel partners who are successful in selling to SMBs usually have a strong understanding of the SMB market and their purchasing decisions. They need to help SMBs

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understand how IT can help them be more efficient, cut costs and grow. To do all of this, they need to enable themselves with the right training and certifications, train their staff on the latest technology and value propositions,” says Hyder.

Smith from Xerox says it is essential that the offering is a scalable investment for the future that provides value to the business in removing a key pain point or automating a process to allow staff to focus on their jobs.

“Ensure that the solution is backed by a clear support offering. Don’t sell and walk away.

Listen to the customer - don’t suppose that you should offer exactly what they ask for as sometimes the customer could benefit from a consultative approach – but don’t be pushy.

Make suggestions and offer your insights – it could be the way to become a trusted advisor rather than another supplier,” he advises.

D’souza stresses the importance of turnkey solutions that keep it simple, Stupid.

“Any VAR, SI or solution provider trying to make inroads into the SMB space has to have offerings that are simple to use, easy to deploy and cost effective to maintain. It’s the job of the channel to ensure their vendor offerings align as well. There are still vendors out there that strip enterprise-level boxes down and then slap on a new sticker and launch a ‘SMB’ product with great fan fare.”

Business consulting is as important as the technology while selling to SMBs. “This is because there always needs to be a strong business proposition depicting the impact on business. It is here that SMBs can see the business relevance, whether it increases productivity of the organisation or create additional avenues for the business. In my opinion, a granular strategy of business

“Despite the increasing adoption of UC by enterprises, it is still an area that causes confusion across the business world, in particular the SMB segment.”

Daniel Schmierer, Senior Vice President for the MEA and Turkey, Polycom

consulting along with how the technology will support and enhance the business really matters,” says Shahnawaz Sheikh, Regional Director for MENA and Turkey, Dell SonicWall.

Daniel Schmierer, Senior Vice President for the MEA and Turkey, Polycom, adds that the main challenge has been educating smaller businesses about the accessibility, quick ROI and results of unified communications solutions. “Despite the increasing adoption by enterprises, it is still an area that causes confusion across the business world, in particular the SMB segment. Many decision makers are still concerned about infrastructure investment and interoperability. Our job at Polycom, with the help of our channel partners, is to close that gap between the early adopters and the latecomers to the market by educating businesses and providing expert consultancy and support around the benefits of utilising these solutions in the business world.”

Hibbert agrees that customer education is a crucial element of the sales cycle. “The customer needs to understand that the technology is a business enabler in all (or most) parts of their business. The business consultant clarifies the big picture,” he says.

“In my opinion, a granular strategy of business consulting along with how the technology will support and enhance the business really matters.”

Shahnawaz Sheikh, Regional Director for MENA and Turkey, Dell SonicWall

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What are the key technology areas of interest to SMBs this year, where solution providers can create a differentiation? D’Souza says that optimisation for mobile computing, social media, data protection and greater take up of cloud offerings will be hot this year.

“Solution providers need to work in tandem with vendors who are taking a lot of these initiatives very seriously and coming up with solutions and architectures that can enable businesses in the SMB space. The most successful solution providers will be the ones that take these vendor solutions and build service offerings around them before taking them to market. This will enable customer loyalty while creating a great deal of value in the process for the SMB,” he adds.

Smith believes that cloud computing will gather steam as SMBs look to capture opportunities here: “Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) will be another trend that will see an upward spiral, and clients will have to work with vendors on the challenges this brings in security, application development and mobile working.”

The combination of consolidation and cloud services is going to be dominant in 2013, according to Sheikh. “SMBs have limited resources and consolidation will help them with having networks and applications centralised, giving them more control. SMBs are also looking at cloud services as a cost-saving approach towards their business,” he sums up.

As vendors come out with new products and services to better serve the needs of the SMB market, the time is ripe for channel partners to leverage the demand, revamp their market strategies and drive growth into this lucrative segment. //

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FEATURE Selling solutions

THE BIG SOLUTION As the channel struggles with declining margins from both hardware and software, resellers are beginning to tailor specific solutions for customers’ needs. We examine the importance of the solution-selling trend, and what impact it will have on the channel.

In a time when economic uncertainty still hangs over much of the world, technology resellers are struggling with declining margins on both the software and hardware fronts. From losing marketing support from vendors to being out-priced by higher-level partners – or the vendors themselves - there are plenty of reasons why margins have been difficult to maintain over the past few years. And this has meant that channel players are now looking to new techniques in order to woo customers.

Perhaps one of the most noteworthy developments over the past year has become the desire among resellers to sell complete

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solutions, rather than standalone products.

The benefits are clear to see: if a customer has a specific IT need, the reseller can meet it with a complete solution, resulting in a satisfied customer, and ultimately increasing sales.

“Sales in technology is moving away from the sales of the product and its features to how the customer requirements may be met by the features of the product in conjunction with an existing technology environment or a proposed technology blueprint. Solution selling not only focuses on the customer’s needs but will also be a sound business case for technology deployment for partners,” says Meera Kaul, Managing Director, Optimus Technology and Telecommunications.

Mohammed Mobasseri, Senior Vice President, Comguard, agrees that there are benefits to selling complete solutions, explaining, “Since it comes as a whole package, there will be a huge amount of energy and time saved, since customers would face far less difficulties and confusion and hence put fewer burdens on resellers.”

Customers do not want to have to curate entire IT systems by themselves anymore, then; they instead want to be able purchase ready-to-go solutions that are tailor-made for their needs. Certainly, it’s in the partners’ interests to provide what the customers demand – Mobasseri describes the need for partners to be able to serve this demand as

“crucial” – but there are, according to Kaul, going to be a number of problems with that.

“Selling solutions requires a trained sales force and supporting resources and services,” she points out. “From understanding the customer’s requirements to mapping the solution to meet those requirements, and from deploying the partner’s solution into a diverse environment to supporting the customer’s critical applications, solution selling has its challenges and rewards beyond selling products.

“To sell products, a partner requires a competent sales person with good knowledge of the product as well as the market. However, selling a solution is not so simple. The partner has to build a solutionsfocused sales force, which is a team effort involving sales, pre-sales, technology experts, consultants to name some.”

Indeed, there are a number of criteria to be filled before a partner can begin to successfully sell solutions, the experts say.

And one of the biggest hurdles is being able to align with clients’ needs, rather than the need to meet sales targets set by distributors and vendors. In short, resellers need to think more like customers than resellers.

“It is vital for resellers to make customers feel comfortable with this new trend. They should be taught how much offered solutions will help them,” says Mobasseri.

Kaul agrees: “A solutions-focused sales team has to focus more on the customer’s requirements than pushing the vendors’ products. The team needs to have an in-depth knowledge of the customer’s business and processes to help them adopt technology or solutions that will drive

“We have introduced what we call specialisation for partners to empower them from a skills perspective, so that they can offer more solutions, rather than just products, to the customers.”

Ramzi Itani, Regional Channel Director for the Middle East and Africa, Symantec

results. It is pertinent to understand that no sales person will ever have the knowledge and capability to come up with a solution that would meet all the technological challenges in a customer account.

Solution selling is about understanding and comprehending enough options, configurations and applications available to be able to have the situational fluency to give the confidence to the customer that your solution may work to suit his purpose with less risk of failure.”

To embark on such a challenge, whereby resellers must re-train and re-skill their staff just to be able to make a few extra sales, might seem too much like hard work. However, distributors – and some vendors – are beginning to see the advantages of aligning themselves with solution selling. And this boils down to added support for their partners.

“In today`s market, customers are not keen to order only a box, software or hardware, since it is not exactly what they need, so we at Comguard encourage our channel partners to offer a complete solution which means a package or a bundle of product , training and services,” says Mobasseri.

“Solution selling not only focuses on the customer’s needs but will also be a sound business case for technology deployment for partners.”

Meera Kaul, Managing Director, Optimus Technology and Telecommunications

“In many cases, we help our customers to revise their requests for proposals to get better results, so this free consultancy service from Comguard helps partners to have effective sales and, finally, the customer to have best solutions. Having said that, we can only solve these issues with proper training and workshops, which enable resellers to sell complex solutions. It will not be regular training - pre-designed - but we try to design something specific as per requirements.”

Vendors, too, are beginning to offer their support to resellers looking to sell complete solutions, particularly the ones that are completely reliant on the channel. Symantec is one of these vendors, with a business that it is 100 per cent channel-driven. And it has quickly wised up to the fact that it is better to have its products sold as part of a broad solution, rather than to attempt to sell its products separately.

“We have introduced what we call specialisation for partners to empower them from a skills perspective, so that they can offer more solutions, rather than just products, to the customers,” says Ramzi Itani, Regional Channel Director for the Middle East and Africa, Symantec. “Our partners are seeing a lot of benefits from that, specifically because of the complexity of the customers’ landscape or requirements, where one product doesn’t fit and they need a solution. And our partners are moving in that direction.”

That said, while vendors such as Symantec will offer excellent support to its channel partners – whether they’re selling solutions or otherwise – some do not favour solution-selling resellers. Kaul points out that while vendor strategies are clearly laid out

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FEATURE Selling solutions

“Since it comes as a whole package, there will be a huge amount of energy and time saved, since customers would face far less difficulties and confusion and hence put fewer burdens on resellers.�

Mohammed Mobasseri, Senior Vice President, Comguard

in this area, many are simply “happy with performance criteria based on numbers rather than a solution alignment process�. Mobasseri, meanwhile, says that partners who sell with a solutions approach are “not necessarily� going to receive better pricing support.

It would seem, then, that with some vendors, resellers must play a careful balancing act in which they must ensure good sales numbers for continued vendor support, while also looking out for the customers’ best interests.

But perhaps more vendors will eventually wake up as new technologies begin to take hold in the Middle East. Cloud-based technologies, in particular, are touted as a big reason for IT managers to look for complete solutions, across a range of vendors, from resellers. And as cloud spending grows, the vendors should realise that it would be better

to come as part of a package, rather than be left out at all. “Solution selling makes the partner much closer to us,� says Itani. “We build more trust and we get very close to the partners who are selling solutions. They’re involved with us at every stage, in every aspect. For example, a data centre is seeing a risk and the customer wants to acquire intrusion prevention and stuff like that. But it doesn’t stop here; it stops with the data itself. The security is actually a very small part – what about the data? - so this is where we work very closely with the partner who wants to sell across.�

Kaul agrees that vendors should work hard to support solution sellers: “I am looking at a scenario, where, in the near future, the customer will start moving away from a vendor/product-based sales cycle to look at

creating and buying platform services where one vendor’s product can effectively integrate with another vendor’s offering in creating a solution for the end customer. Products that can effectively create solutions with other products will see a lot of buyers.�

Of course, it will be up to the resellers to be able to effectively pair up these products.

And this will take knowledge on the part of the sales team. But then again, to adopt a more consultative approach to selling – acting on the customer’s needs and sympathising with his problems – is becoming essential.

Whichever way you look at it, education on currently available technologies is the key. “The smarter the product portfolios available in the technology channel become, the smarter the sales person needs to be to sell them,� says Kaul. “What’s more, the smarter the sales person comes through, the smarter the buyer becomes.

Moving to solution sales is in essence moving to a tactical marketing and sales process. To be adept at solution sales, the technology channel needs to ensure such a process will differentiate them from their competition.�

Mobasseri agrees, saying simply that consultancy services are among the essential features of solution selling. He adds, “It is necessary to go through real environment to understand which are the best solutions to offer.� //

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Serving the GCC region

OPINION Condo Protego

BLUE-SKY THINKING WITH A CHANCE OF CLOUD Condo Protego CEO Andrew Calthorpe urges VARs not to get spooked by the cloud as it moves from buzzword to business reality in the Middle East.

Earlier this month, I was at a Gartner event, and the well-worn topic of cloud computing drifted into play.

No surprises there – the flexibility this technology offers has been relentlessly hyped in the region over the past year. Yet the presenter went on to ask a cutting question that lingered. As businesses move into the cloud and maintain software as a service (SaaS) models, what is the point of the VAR? How does it survive?

It may seem like an obvious question.

Though, judging by the faces in the crowd, it is not one that VARs ask enough. The region’s relatively slow cloud uptake may have afforded a certain degree of breathing space, but even the briefest glance at the horizon suggests it is going to get very cloudy, very quickly in the coming years.

Certainly, there are plenty of compelling stats and numbers to crunch and contend with.

According to Gartner, the Middle Eastern and Northern African (MENA) public cloud services market will see strong growth in 2013, with revenue forecast to reach $462.3 million, a 24.5-percent increase from 2012.

Ed Anderson, research director at Gartner, has proclaimed that cloud services continue to “outpace other parts of the IT marketplace” and that MENA spending will grow around 20.2 percent though 2016 –

higher than the expected 17.7 percent for the rest of the world.

Gatepoint Research digs deeper still with a survey discovering that 81 percent of the executives questioned already have, or are investigating or developing, a cloud strategy.

Forty-five percent of respondents plan on public cloud use within the next 5 years, 29 percent plan to use the private cloud and 22 percent will look to hybrid options.

Add to the mix findings by Bain & Company, revealing that faster-growing companies (greater than 10 percent per year) use 144 percent more cloud services than slower-growing companies, or that CIOs entering their position within the last year will have 141 percent more of their environments in the cloud than a longertenured CIO (greater than six years), and you get the picture. The times are changing, and it could all get a bit overwhelming for the humble VAR. But that doesn’t have to be the case.

Customers won’t automatically run direct to the software providers, so the adaptive and prepared VARs that can provide solid consultative advice will still be very much in demand, whether it is a question of vendor choice, application configuration or the challenge of integrating and adapting with existing infrastructures.

Fundamentally, the game is likely to change to take on a more intimate, relational

“Fundamentally, the game is likely to change to take on a more intimate, relational dynamic.”

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Andrew Calthrope, CEO, Condo Protego dynamic. Cold, hard selling will go out of the window, and a more specific, personalised approach will prevail, whereby solutions and pathways to optimised progress are intricately mapped out.

One of the main issues in this cloudy new era will be how to determine where the money is going to come from. A hefty, up-front license bounty is likely to become a thing of the past and, in its place, a more staggered structure will emerge.

Things will be different, no doubt, but they will certainly not be devoid of opportunity.

Whether it is remote troubleshooting, incisive management advice, real-time monitoring, consultation, optimisation, or all of the above, now is the time for VARs to really earn their value-added stripes. //

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© 2012 Dell Products. Dell, the logo, XPS, Latitude and Vostro are registered or unregistered trademarks of Dell Inc. in the United States and other countries. Ultrabook, Celeron, Celeron Inside, Core Inside, Intel, Intel Logo, Intel Atom, Intel Atom Inside, Intel Core, Intel Inside, Intel Inside Logo, Intel vPro, Itanium, Itanium Inside, Pentium, Pentium Inside, vPro Inside, Xeon, and Xeon Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other trademarks or trade names may be used in this document to refer to third-party products (such as operating systems and software) included with the products offered by Dell and the entities claiming the marks and names of those products. Dell disclaims proprietary interest in the marks and names of others. Dell Corporation Ltd, Dell House, The Boulevard, Cain Road, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 1LF.

INTERVIEW SAP

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK SAP this month announced that it had signed Injazat Data Systems on as a value-added reseller. We speak to Qais Gharaibeh, UAE Managing Director, SAP MENA, about how the partnership will help the vendor’s drive into the public sector, as well as maintain double-digit growth throughout 2013.

Qais Gharaibeh, UAE Managing Director, SAP MENA

What does the new partnership with Injazat mean?

We’ve been in discussion with Injazat for quite some time, and we’ve always wanted them to be one of our strategic partners. This is because of their local strength and their capabilities in terms of the data centre – they have a data

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centre which, we believe, could add great value to a lot of SAP customers. Being a managed service provider, they can make use of all sorts of services from SAP, and help customers run better. We’ve looked at strategies with them and we’re happy and excited to finally have signed this agreement with them, which is basically a value-added reseller agreement.

When you look at the SAP ecosystem and channel organisation, we base our aligning with partners on a number of partnership pillars. One of them is, of course, value reselling, where we enable and empower partners to be able to take SAP software and intellectual property and resell it to existing customers. There’s also the system integration capability, which enables customers to enjoy implementation services from partners using different industry expertise as well as solution expertise. And then, of course, we have our partnerships and alliances with the management and consultancy firms, which is also important in helping drive the customers processes on how they can best implement operational efficiencies.

Additional to that, we also embarked on discussions with several partners related to business process outsourcing, so there’s a very good scale where we feel our discussions with Injazat could eventually stem into all of those different pillars. We started with a valueadded reseller agreement and we believe that this will enable both of us to have a good entry into the marketplace together, based on which we will be able to expand. They will have system integration capabilities, and they will be able to embark on these discussions immediately with customers.

What kinds of customers will SAP and Injazat be targeting following the announcement of this partnership?

INTERVIEW SAP

In reality, we would like to leverage both our strengths. We have powerful solutions for the public sector, and Injazat has a major strength to engage in that marketplace. This is mainly going to be the key focus area that we’re going to start on. However, we haven’t framed or limited what type of engagement we can have – we’re open to engaging wherever a strong-value proposition this partnership can bring to customers.

How does the SAP business break down as a percentage between public sector and private sector?

We try to keep a good balance between those two sectors because they’re both important in driving our growth. And we have strong solutions to cater for both market segments, I would say. The public sector is just one of 24 primary industries in SAP’s

tremendous. With both of us focusing on it, we should be able to build some strong coverage and it all relies on the exciting value that we can bring to organisations in different areas related to public services. There’s also been some heavy investment from the government related to heavy industries, so we believe that we will be able to have exciting conversations with those endcustomers about what this partnership can bring them.

What kind of general growth do you expect the Middle East to yield in 2013?

Last year was an exciting year for us – we struck double-digit growth in the region, and we will continue to target double-digit growth in 2013. We are backing this up with tremendous investment in both our partners and ecosystem, as well as having our own

“I promise you – soon, you will hear a lot of exciting news about customers coming on board.” portfolio. We have strong offerings in that space, and you’ve probably heard about the recent market acceptance that we’ve had within and around the UAE. There’s recently been an announcement with the Iraqi government, and soon you’re going to hear a couple more announcements that will give the market more confidence of the strong acceptance that people have for SAP in the public sector.

But we continue to grow in a number of industries – for example, we’re putting a big focus on financial services here. We also have our traditional strength in process and manufacturing. We are also building a local focus on the services industry, including transport and aviation, as well as logistics.

We’re really in a magical time for SAP, when we have a strong fit between our solution portfolio and our industry expertise in what this market is all about.

Will the Injazat partnership see your public sector share grow?

Absolutely. We haven’t talked about specific numbers, but I believe the opportunity is

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local presence. The SAP MENA strategy has always been focused on building local capacity, and we do that either with our own resources or by working with partners. The partnership with Injazat is an expansion on the execution of this strategy. We believe that the market has tremendous opportunities, and our success can only be solidified by working with partners. And we believe that we can bring strong value to our customers by making sure that partners such as Injazat are well-enabled and empowered to deliver the SAP value.

What’s your relationship with Injazat been like in the past?

The relationship is fairly recent, actually.

We’ve been in discussions for a good part of the second half of 2012. The discussions, of course, have been the result of talk across both organisations. We have the right commitment in place, they were with us in Madrid in November 2012, and the excitement built up around the room about the potential of what we could do together.

And this is where we decided to progress

towards concluding a contractual agreement and putting the excitement into action.

Which SAP solutions to you think Injazat will specialise in?

We have our innovation with HANA, and we’ve recently announced our Business Suite with HANA, which really revolutionises how businesses can run their operations. We believe that this will have a tremendous market opportunity in the UAE. The discussions with Injazat included coverage for these types of solutions, for both existing customers and new customers that we can cover together.

Parallel to that, the conventional business of SAP in enterprise resource planning, as well as business analytics is, of course, going to be the standard type of approach that we’re going to have with Injazat as well.

Would you say that HANA is what you’re really trying to push in the Middle East?

Without a doubt. The business value that HANA can bring to existing SAP customers, as well as non-SAP customers, is really amazing. With HANA, customers will be able to compress their business processes so that they run more efficiently, and it will enable them to have more time to make decisions, meaning they’ll be able to steer their businesses in a more agile way. This has been well-received by various customers across the region. I promise you – soon, you will hear a lot of exciting news about customers coming on board.

Are there any more partnership announcements on the horizon?

Not at this stage. We are continuing to grow our partner ecosystem – there’s an extensive team that’s working on making sure that we are able to build the local capacity to cope with the local demand. All the way at the top of the organisation, we can clearly see that our success comes from partners, and value to customers is enlarged when we work with partners. It’s a really exciting time. We’re happy to see ourselves delivering more and more on our strategy, and we can see it really working for us and our customers, as well as our partners. This partnership with Injazat is definitely an important milestone on our journey to execute on this strategy. //

REVIEW Lenovo

LENOVO THINKPAD TWIST Despite a being a little cumbersome in tablet mode, it’s a wonder that Lenovo’s convertible Ultrabook can offer as much as it does, particularly when you consider the price.

At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, Lenovo was all about the convertible laptops.

Among the barrage of new devices that it debuted, two of the firm’s biggest releases turned out to be the IdeaPad Yoga 11S and the ThinkPad Helix.

Both were convertibles powered by an Intel Core i processor and running Windows 8 Pro. The thing is, Lenovo has been building convertible laptops for a while, and leading the class by a large distance. They haven’t all come with detachable screens – as is the case with the Helix – but Lenovo is no stranger to the format by any means. This

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much is clear after a minute’s use with the brand’s ThinkPad Twist, a relatively lowpriced and touch-enabled 12.5-inch Ultrabook designed for Windows 8.

As the device’s name suggests, the laptop’s screen can be twisted and then folded back flat to be used as a tablet. Head to the Lenovo website, and the brand will actually say that it allows for four different modes of viewing. You can have laptop mode, “stand mode”, tablet mode and “tent mode”. The claim of being able to accommodate stand and tent modes is a little dubious, as they’re simply half-way in between the laptop and tablet modes, but

the point the brand is trying to make is that this is a flexible device.

We’ll start with the laptop mode, as the Twist is, first and foremost, an Ultrabook. As is the case with pretty much every Lenovo, you get a choice of specs to populate the device with, meaning you can have either a Core i5 or i7 processor, up to 8GB of RAM and either a 500GB hybrid hard drive or 128GB of SSD storage. Pretty par for the course, in Ultrabook terms, but the sub-$800 starting price means that you get a decent amount of kit for a relatively small outlay.

That price also gets you Lenovo’s famous build quality, for the most part. The screen’s rotating hinge feels very solid, and the keys are easily best-in-class. The keys are nicely weighted, perfectly spaced and are moulded in a concave fashion so that your fingers fit onto them comfortably. The buttonless touchpad below the keyboard is also fantastic, as is the so-called TrackPoint mouse ball in the centre of the keyboard.

That said, the plastic casing around the keyboard feels a little second-rate, as does the casing around the “tablet” part of the screen. Yes, the keyboard might be able to survive a glass of water being spilt over it, but the device as a whole doesn’t seem to speak of the tough build quality that you’d normally expect from a Lenovo. Again, though, this laptop is cheap, so it’s probably a case of you get what you pay for.

Where the device exceeds the expectations set by its price is in the area of connectivity. Not only do you get a SIM card slot with a protective hinged cover, but there’s also a Gigabit Ethernet port, two USB 3.0 ports and an SDXC card reader. Of course, Wi-Fi comes as standard, as does Bluetooth 4.0, but

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REVIEW Lenovo

and 4GB of RAM, will provide more than enough oomph for everyday working life.

Indeed, with its 500GB hard drive, the base model could be the ideal choice for anyone with a budget for a new office laptop. If you just need a decent computer for running Microsoft Office and browsing the web, you don’t need to look much further.

Indeed, if you’re looking for a decent convertible laptop, you needn’t look much further than the Twist. The only reason you wouldn’t buy one is if you were set on owning a laptop with a properly detachable screen. A couple of build-quality issues aside, this is so far ahead of its similarly priced competitors in terms of specs that it should be the obvious choice. But what do you expect from Lenovo? As the brand proved at CES, it’s all about convertibles. //

RATINGS:

the optional 3G broadband is a particularly nice little touch. It’d make the device much more portable than many of its competitors.

In laptop mode, then, the device excels, particularly at this price point. When we delve into the tablet mode, however, things start to go a little downhill. It might be great to be able to swivel the screen round and use it like a tablet, but the reality is that the device feels a little heavy and cumbersome to use in this format. Certainly, there are worse convertible laptops out there, but you’ll find that you hardly use the Twist in tablet mode, simply because it’s not that comfortable to do so.

This doesn’t mean, however, that the touchscreen itself isn’t any good. It might only have five-finger multi-touch - a number of competitors offer 10-point touch – but the screen is extremely responsive. We found no problem flicking through the tiles on the Windows 8 Start screen. And when you attempt more precise inputs – such as closing a window by touching the “X” at the

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top-right of the screen, rather than moving to it with your mouse pointer – you still don’t have any worries.

Indeed, it begins to become second-nature to touch at parts of the screen when you’re in laptop mode. Zooming in on things or else selecting icons on the opposite side of the screen to where your mouse pointer is becomes much less of a hassle when you start using the touch functions. You might not want to use this laptop in tablet mode, then, but it’s certainly nice having a touchscreen at your disposal.

Talking of the screen, you get a resolution of 1,366 by 768, which is nothing to write home about, but is good enough for a display of this size. It’s nice and bright when you’re indoors, and you’re given good protection by a film of Gorilla glass over the top of the screen. However, the Gorilla glass does affect outdoor usability, as it enhances the reflections you can see.

In terms of performance, even the basespec model, with the Intel Core i5 processor

HARDWARE

7/10

PERFORMANCE

8/10

VALUE FOR MONEY

8/10

The verdict Lenovo clearly knows what it’s doing in the convertible laptop segment – it’s been leading the market for years. Aside from a couple of build-quality issues, and the fact that it may not make much sense as a full-on tablet computer, the ThinkPad Twist excels as a touch-enabled Ultrabook.

And considering the price, we can’t see much else on the market that will give you more for less.

This review was done by RWME online editor Tom Paye. He can be reached at tom@cpidubai.com.

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HOT PRODUCTS New launches

TP- LINK LAUNCHES NEW DUAL-BAND WIRELESS ROUTER

TP-LINK has unveiled its next generation flagship wireless router, the TL-WDR4900.

The N900 is a performance optimised simultaneous dual band wireless router

combining the speeds of 802.11n 450Mbps over the 5GHz band and traditional 2.4GHz bands. With simultaneous dual band, users have 900Mbps of total bandwidth to power numerous bandwidth intensive applications at the same time around a large home or office setting, where simple tasks such as e-mail or web browsing can be handled by the 2.4GHz band and more latency sensitive tasks such as online gaming or HD video streaming can be processed over the 5GHz band, both running simultaneously at 450Mbps. With Gigabit ports, connected wired devices will have lightning-fast, lag-free connections in addition to 2 USB 2.0 ports capable of sharing flash storage, printers, FTP servers and media players, users can power a robust home media network.

DELL LATITUDE 10 Dell has inroduced the Latitude 10 enhanced security configuration, a business-ready tablet designed to address the costly and time consuming management and security challenges faced by organisations deploying tablets. The Dell Latitude 10 is said to be ideal for highly regulated industries such as government agencies, financial institutions and healthcare organizations.

Dell claims the Latitude 10 tablet, powered by the dual core Intel Atom processor Z2760, delivers more hardware, authentication, data protection, tracking and recovery security features than any

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other tablet device on the market today and is ideal for organisations that must comply with stringent regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS). The Latitude 10 enhanced security configuration is the only dual-authentication Windows 8 tablet with both an integrated smart card and fingerprint reader.

ZOTAC UNLEASHES TITAN

ZOTAC has introduced its GeForce GTX TITAN with the world’s fastest graphics processors. Enhanced NVIDIA GPU Boost 2.0 technology empowers the ZOTAC GeForce GTX TITAN with overclocking intelligence that dynamically increases the clock speeds when it determines it can safely extract more performance without any input from the user. The intelligent overclocking relies on the GPU temperature to determine the maximum clock speeds on the ZOTAC GeForce GTX TITAN instead of the previous version of NVIDIA GPU Boost that relied on thermal power targets. Quad display output capabilities enable the ZOTAC GeForce GTX TITAN to power up to four monitors in desktop mode for maximum productivity or three displays with NVIDIA Surround technology for maximum gaming immersion and realism. Up to three ZOTAC GeForce GTX TITAN graphics cards can combine with NVIDIA 3-way SLI technology to boost performance by up to 2.8x for a TITANic amount of graphics power suitable for hardcore gamers and enthusiasts. The ZOTAC GeForce GTX TITAN ships with the ZOTAC Boost Premium software bundle that includes Nero Kwikmedia to organise, edit and share digital media as well as XBMC to transform any PC into the ultimate digital entertainment hub.

APACER’S INDUSTRIAL-GRADE MEMORY CARD Apacer Tehnology has launched its first industrial-grade MicroSDHC memory card featuring the capacity of up to 16GB. One of the highlights is its firmware and major components that can be fixed right after customer’s recognition and validation. This reduces the risk of out-of-stock and compatibility issues by providing customers stable supply and high reliability.

Apacer’s industrial-grade MicroSDHC memory card is compliant with SD 3.0 Specification and supports Class 10 high-speed transmission. Available in 4GB, 8GB and 16GB, with sequential read/write speed reaching up to 20/14 MB/sec, it fulfills requirements for highcapacity and high-speed data storage. Apacer stresses “stability” has always been the primary concern for industrial devices. The greatest difference between this industrial-grade

MicroSDHC memory card and other consumer memory cards on the market lies in its firmware version and major components that can be fixed. Apacer’s clients can benefit from the stable, longterm supply. Besides, for clients who need long-term and stable supply chains, stock-out risk may be avoided, with compatibility issues caused by frequent product component changes significantly reduced. Time and money spent on product verification can also be saved.

To ensure that data stays correct in the transmission, the Apacer industrial MicroSDHC memory card supports ECC function, which can effectively minimize potential errors led by frequent data access while ensuring the integrity of data in transmission. The Global Wear leveling also helps deliver a phenomenally prolonged lifespan, as well as safer data storage.

CITRIX INTRODUCES XENMOBILE MDM Citrix has announced XenMobile MDM, an enterprise mobile device management solution that gives users device choice while also enabling IT to meet its management and compliance requirements. XenMobile MDM joins other Citrix solutions, including Citrix CloudGateway, Citrix NetScaler, Citrix XenDesktop, GoToMeeting, GoToAssist, Citrix ShareFile, and Citrix Podio, providing organizations with a single vendor for all of their enterprise mobility needs.

Users are demanding the freedom to choose their own devices, use any app and access their e-mail and documents from

anywhere. Organizations require a solution that addresses these user expectations, while also meeting IT’s need for security.

XenMobile MDM provides the foundation to address these needs through role-based management, configuration and security of corporate and employee-owned devices. The solution is built on a highly secure architecture and integrates directly with Microsoft Active Directory and public key infrastructure systems, as well as security information and event management tools. With XenMobile MDM, users can self-service enroll their devices and IT can provision policies and apps to large groups of devices automatically.

IT can blacklist or whitelist apps, detect and protect against jailbroken devices, and wipe or selectively wipe a device that is lost, stolen or out of compliance.

D-LINK DEBUTS STANDALONE NETWORK VIDEO RECORDER FOR SMBs

D-Link has introduced a new standalone network video recorder, the DNR-2060-08P, designed to power a complete, end-to-end surveillance solution for small businesses like retail shops or restaurants. Supporting up to eight IP surveillance cameras, it can be set up without the need for a PC. Besides cameras, it requires only a standard SATA hard drive for storage, a USB keyboard and mouse for configuration, and an HDMI or VGA monitor for display. The DNR2060-08P brings comprehensive surveillance capabilities to users of any level of technical knowledge. When connected to the Internet, the DNR-2060-08P supports remote monitoring in real time on a smartphone with the free JustConnect mobile app, so business owners can check in on facilities anywhere, any time.

The DNR-2060-08P works with up to eight cameras, so business owners can maximize video coverage of sensitive areas like cash registers or storage facilities. Cameras connect over a standard local network such as commonly found in commercial buildings.

The DNR-2060-08P also supplies power over Ethernet (PoE); compatible cameras can use the same line for power and data. As a result cameras can be placed in more locations, even some distance away from power sockets.

Internally, the DNR-2060-08P supports up to six standard SATA hard drives, so extra storage capacity can be added painlessly. Software configuration is done directly on the DNR-206008P itself, with the aid of a USB keyboard and mouse. An external HDMI or VGA monitor is used to display live and recorded footage. No additional computer is necessary.

MARCH 2013

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HOT PRODUCTS New launches

NEW HTC ONE HTC has unveiled its new flagship smartphone, the new HTC One. Crafted with a zero-gap aluminium unibody, the new HTC One introduces new features such as HTC BlinkFeed, HTC Zoe and HTC BoomSound.

At the centre of the new HTC One experience is HTC BlinkFeed. HTC BlinkFeed is a new experience that transforms the home screen into a single live stream of personally relevant information such as social updates, entertainment and lifestyle updates, news and photos with immersive images so that people no longer need to go to separate applications to find out what’s happening.

To enable this new dynamic approach to the smartphone, HTC will provide both local and global content from more than 1,400 media sources with more than 10,000 articles per day from some of the most innovative media companies, such as the AOL family of media properties, ESPN, MTV, Vice Media, CoolHunting, Reuters and many others.

Also new is the HTC UltraPixel Camera that redefines how people capture, relive and share their most precious moments.

CANON UPGRADES 4K DSLR

HTC Zoe gives people the ability to shoot high-res photos that come to life in threesecond snippets. The new HTC One offers the best audio experience of any mobile phone available today, claims the company.

HTC BoomSound introduces for the first time on a phone, front-facing stereo speakers with a dedicated amplifier and an amazing full HD display that immerses people in music, videos, games and the YouTube clips they love. Beats Audio integration is enabled across the entire experience for rich, authentic sound whether you’re listening to your favorite music, watching a YouTube video or playing a game.

SIEMON INTROS ANGLED HD PATCH PANELS Siemon has expanded its cabling system options with the introduction of new angled HD patch panels. Available in both 24 and 48-port versions, in category 5e and category 6, the new angled panels offer higher density with easy installation features.

Designed for use where patch cables are managed within the vertical channel, the new angled HD patch panels feature the same innovative rear cable management and superior electrical performance as Siemon’s popular line of flat HD style patch panels. The HD5 series angled panels exceed category 5e specifications with component and channel performance to 160MHz. The HD6 angled series panels exceed category 6 specifications for all pair combinations up to 250MHz. With the installer in mind, the panels are offered in both standard and contractor bulk packaging and can be easily mounted in EIA standard 19 inch racks or cabinets. They feature a write-on area for panel and port identification on both the front and rear of the panel, as well as a front surface uninterrupted by screw heads for a clean, professional appearance.

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Canon Middle East has announced the development of a new feature upgrade for the EOS-1D C. The upgrade has been developed taking into account feedback from the professional video community, and adds support for 25p recording at the camera’s maximum 4K resolution.

Designed for the motion picture, television and high-resolution production industries, the EOS-1D C is the world’s first DSLR to support 4K video capture.

It offers a unique, highly portable package optimised for ultra-high quality recording, delivering exceptional low light performance and film-like dynamic range from a highly-compact body that can be used in a wide-range of shooting situations.

The EOS 1D-C captures 4K (4,096 x 2,160) video using 8-bit motion JPEG compression, with the ability to simultaneously output an uncompressed Full HD (1920x1080) YCbCr 4:2:2 signal to an external recorder via its HDMI terminal.

Full HD video can also be recorded direct to CF cards at frame rates of up to 1080/60p, whilst Canon Log Gamma ensures video is rich in exposure latitude and dynamic range – offering outstanding freedom for video professionals during shooting, and for colourists in post-production.

March 27, 2013

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COLUMN Channel surfing

Reseller Middle East’s online editor offers his thoughts on the Middle Eastern technology channel.

TAKEN FOR A RIDE Based on my recent experiences, I’d say that some of the Apple resellers in the UAE are taking their customers for a ride.

In February, I set my sights on buying an iPhone 5. For reasons I won’t go into, I needed the device in my hands by the next day, as I’d been less than proactive in searching for one during the week.

My first port of call was the online Apple UAE store, which launched in September 2011. Buying direct from Apple, you can get a 16GB iPhone 5 for Dh2,599. The prices then go up to Dh2,999 for the 32GB version and Dh3,399 for the 64GB one.

But ordering from Apple was out of the question, as it doesn’t do same-day delivery, so I began rooting around the resellers.

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The online shopping store Jadopado. com seemed like a good place to start, because it does same-day delivery. The site is also famous for its low prices. I thought I might even be able to save a couple of hundred dirhams.

But the 16GB iPhone 5 in black (the one I wanted) costs Dh2,699 on the site – Dh100 more than Apple charges. The 32GB and 64GB versions also cost Dh100 more, with the 64GB selling for Dh3,449.

Next stop was Jumbo Electronics, because its Mall of the Emirates branch features the first “official” Apple shop in the UAE, or so it was reported in March 2011.

Surely, I thought, Jumbo’s prices would reflect the ones on Apple’s online store.

Wrong again. Jumbo was charging a frankly extortionate Dh2,899 for the 16GB iPhone 5, and Dh3,399 for the 32GB one. That’s a Dh300 or Dh400 premium, depending on which version you buy. When I asked why Jumbo’s prices were so high compared to those on the Apple Store, the salesman ran off to talk to a manager. He returned to say that he could knock Dh50 off the price, but that was all. And I never got an answer as to why Jumbo was asking for so much more.

Next stop was IQ, a new-ish Apple reseller in Mall of the Emirates that charged a Dh150 premium on each device. But the salesman said he didn’t have any iPhone 5s in stock.

I tried my luck in Virgin Megastores, only to find that it was charging Dh200 to Dh300

Tom Paye, Online Editor, CPI Technology more for an iPhone 5, depending on which model you want. Everywhere, it seemed, resellers were charging substantially more for a product that’s already famed – and criticised – for being expensive.

In the end, I settled on Axiom Telecom, which sold me a black 16GB iPhone 5 for Dh2,749 – Dh150 more than it would have cost me on the Apple Store. But given the terms of the warranty and the excellent sales guys, I didn’t mind shelling out that little bit extra.

And yet, I wonder how many shoppers realise that they could and should get a better deal online. If they want to go to a shop, they should realise that all retailers charge a premium. They should also realise that, with some of these retailers, the price differences are enormous. It’s enough to make anyone think that they were being ripped off.

I know that the resellers have to charge a premium on Apple’s direct prices – after all, how are they going to make any money on their sales? But in the case of some resellers, I’d say that a new pricing strategy is in order.

Funnily enough, after I wrote about this on our website, I was contacted by Jumbo’s PR representative, who said that he’d like me to speak to someone from Jumbo to help explain the pricing. Of course, I agreed, but at the time of writing, I haven’t had any further responses.

When I do, I’ll be sure to write a follow-up article, so keep an eye on the website.

www.secureway.ae/fortinet For more information please call us at +971 4 375 7612 or email at fortinet@secureway.ae