Reseller Middle East December 2018

ISSUE 263 | DECEMBER 2018 www.tahawultech.com

DECODING DATA VERITAS TECHNOLOGIES LOOKS AT ENABLING PARTNERS TO HARNESS THE POWER OF DATA

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CONTENTS

ISSUE 263 // DECEMBER 2018

COVER FEATURE

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SCALING NEW HEIGHTS

Geoff Greenlaw, senior director, head of channels, EMEA Emerging Markets, Veritas Technologies, on enabling partners to harness the power of data.

24 PROSPECTS IN PERIPHERALS

HIGHLIGHTS

04

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

OPINION

14 FIVE TRENDS TO DOMINATE THE

DIGITAL FUTURE

REVIEW

43

Jeroen Schlosser from Equinix MENA shares the firm’s predictions for the digital future in 2019.

FEATURES

OPPO: F9

26 GET SOCIAL

Reseller ME examines how partners can enable regional businesses to focus on core operations and increase productivity through Managed Print Services (MPS).

HOT PRODUCTS

46

D-LINK TOUTS FASTER CONNECTIVITY WITH TRI BAND COVR 2202

Industry experts share insights on the opportunities social media offers to regional partners for marketing strategies.

VENDOR FOCUS

34 BEYOND THE EDGE

20 BOOSTING PROFITS

Experts reveal how technology channel partners can capitalise on the opportunities present in the PC peripherals market.

Hozefa Saylawala from Zebra Technologies, explains how digital transformation and IoT technologies are paving the path to new opportunities for channel partners.

40 VANTAGE POINT

Avaya’s Ard Verboon elaborates on the firm’s devices strategy and how it is innovating in the open SIP space.

INTERVIEW

41 CARVING A NICHE

Value-added distributor Bulwark’s MD Jose Thomas Menacherry on how specialised security skills will enable channel partners to grow profitably in the new year.

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

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REDEFINING technology transformation

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EDITORIAL Embrace change

T

Janees Reghelini Editor

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

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

Registered at Dubai Production City, DCCA PO Box 13700 Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 4 440 9100 Fax: +971 4 447 2409 © Copyright 2018 CPI All rights reserved While the publishers have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein.

he last 12 months have flown by to say the least.

One underlining theme for the whole year has been the compelling need for partners to evolve their businesses to demands of the digital age.

There have been numerous debates on whether partners are necessary in a software and cloud-led technology landscape. Every partner summit I attend or every conversation with a technology provider only reinforces the answer – yes, the channel will continue to be an integral part for vendors’ go-tomarket strategies.

However, the question then becomes what kind of partners will manage to remain relevant and meet customers’ increasingly digital-focused requirements? Because certainly not all partners will be able to rise to the occasion.

The solution may sound simple and repetitive– those partners who continue to keep up with technology developments and acquire deep technical capabilities will be the ones

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

who thrive. But there’s more here than meets the eye. Often on social media we are flooded with posts of being healthy and influencers flaunting their well-toned bodies and we too aspire for a similar look. However, what we don’t see is the countless number of hours of workout and practice of self-discipline behind that image.

Similarly, only those partners who invest time and efforts in understanding a customer’s new challenges in this evolving technology landscape will emerge as winners. They have to identify the problems that keep customers awake at night and develop customised solutions for it. Partners have to be proactive and driven. They must have the confidence to take on initiatives and truly evolve into the customer’s trusted advisor. This means identifying a technology area to become a specialist in, ensuring as a partner you understand it thoroughly and has the means to offer all relevant services around it.

While setting your goals for 2019, be bold and don’t be afraid of change.

Designer Marlou Delaben marlou.delaben@cpimediagroup.com ADVERTISING Group Sales Director Kausar Syed kausar.syed@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9130 Business Development Manager Youssef Hariz youssef.hariz@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9111 Senior Sales Manager Sabita Miranda sabita.miranda@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9128 Sales Manager Nasir Bazaz nasir.bazaz@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9147

CIRCULATION Operations Manager Shweta Santosh shweta.santosh@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9107 DIGITAL SERVICES Web Developers Jefferson de Joya Abbas Madh Photographers Max Poriechkin Charls Thomas webmaster@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9100 DIGITAL www.tahawultech.com Printed by Al Ghurair Printing and Publishing LLC

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

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HIGHLIGHTS

Redington Value brings Okta’s identity management suite to MEA region

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egional value-added distributor Redington Value has announced a distribution agreement with Okta, an independent provider of identity management solutions for the enterprise, to deliver Okta’s complete suite of business initiatives solutions across verticals for the Middle East and Africa markets.

A growing and complex threat landscape coupled with adversaries who are increasingly adopting sophisticated means, are compelling regional customers to rethink their strategies to fortify their premises and operations in the digital age. The Okta Identity Cloud enables organisations to both secure and manage their extended enterprise, and transform their customers’ experiences.

With a deep focus on its channel business, Okta also offers regional partners an exclusive opportunity to augment their portfolio through dedicated educational and professional services, helping them to increase

Ramkumar Balakrishnan, Redington Value

margins and maintain profitability.

“Okta is a customer first organisation. Everything we do, has customers at its centre. We partner with companies who value the same approach and we’re thrilled to have found such a great match in Redington Value.” said Justin Doo, Territory

Manager Middle East & Africa, Okta.

“We’re on a mission to enable any company to use any technology, and with Redington Value’s solid expertise and well-known partner ecosystem across the Middle East, we will be able to help more companies stay secure and offer world-class experiences to their customers.”

Through extensive training and support, Redington Value will assist partners to gain in-depth product knowledge and help them to drive customers’ transformation journey with Okta’s portfolio.

Ramkumar Balakrishnan, president, Redington Value, said, “We are delighted to add Okta to our growing and elite class of vendors. Partners truly have a huge opportunity with Okta solutions to position themselves as trusted advisors for a customer’s end-to-end security and digital needs.

Over the coming months, we look forward to delivering the unique value that Okta solutions bring through our partner community.”

Ingram Micro to bring Ipswitch offerings to META

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pswitch, producer of easy-to-use secure file transfer and network management software, announced a distributor partnership with Ingram Micro META. Channel partners and resellers across the Middle East now have better access to Ipswitch IT management solutions through Ingram Micro.

“Ipswitch is committed to making our powerful IT management solutions that are delivering 24/7 performance across cloud, virtual and network environments readily available through the Middle East,” said Sebastien Roques, Sales Director EMEA at Ipswitch. “Unrivaled agility, deep market insights and the trust and dependability that come from decades of proven relationships have set Ingram Micro apart and ahead.

Working with Ingram Micro will allow Ipswitch IT management solutions to

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proliferate through the region.”

Channel partners and resellers in the Middle East have access to Ipswitch’s MOVEit and WS_FTP for secure file transfer as well WhatsUp Gold for network monitoring. Through this agreement, Ingram Micro is now authorized to distribute the Ipswitch portfolio in 26 countries across the META, including Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Botswana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Namibia, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Zimbabwe. The distribution agreement may be expanded to additional regions in the future.

“We are delighted to sign the agreement with Ipswitch and include new solutions in the portfolio we offer to our partners,” said Marc Kassis, cyber

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

Marc Kassis, Ingram Micro

security division director at Ingram Micro. “Ipswitch will help our partners and customers to complete the panel for data protection of their internal and external use with secure file transfer and sharing as well as data network management.”

HIGHLIGHTS

Spire Solutions, Finite State team up to bolster IoT security

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ith IoT devices fast graduating to the entry point-of-choice for cyber-attacks, regional businesses are becoming increasingly vulnerable to data breaches, unauthorised access to corporate networks, production downtime and subsequent revenue losses.

In response to the growing need for a comprehensive defense system, leading value-added distributor Spire Solutions has partnered with IoT and firmware security solutions provider Finite State to bring its unique, proactive IoT security platform to the Middle East.

“The growing deployment of IoT devices within the corporate infrastructure is an asset, of course, but can also scale up risk. Backdoor accounts, software vulnerabilities and poor authentication are common problems. Simply keeping devices updated with manufacturer patches or depending on your enterprise security stack is not always effective,” said

Avinash Advani, CEO, Spire Solutions.

With smart city initiatives on the rise across the region, companies in the Middle East are investing heavily in IoT to drive sustainable performance and optimise costs and operations. In fact, the Middle East and Africa IoT spend will likely double from $6.99 billion in 2018 to $12.62 billion by 2021.

Spire Solutions highlighted that the proliferation of IoT has translated into mounting vulnerabilities — a single unsecured IoT device can undo an organisation’s best-laid cyber security plans.

“We have built our reputation for being the region’s preferred security partner by offering value-driven tools and services that efficiently solve a broad range of IT management challenges,” said Advani.

“The Finite State Platform is a unique, comprehensive tool to defend against IoT vulnerabilities, unlike any the region has seen so far.”

Finite State CEO Matt Wyckhouse noted that the Finite State Platform

Avinash Advani, Spire Solutions

employs national-security grade capabilities to identify and secure IoT vulnerabilities. “With its ability to provide unparalleled visibility into IoT devices, detect and assess risks, isolate attacks and send advance alerts to IT teams, it can be a tremendous asset to businesses in the Middle East. After evaluating its reach and reputation within the region, we believe Spire Solutions is the right partner to help us bring this platform to the Middle East.”

Nuvias to deliver Kaptivo remote collaboration solutions in EMEA

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aptivo, a disruptive brand in the UC market, is working with Nuvias to make its whiteboard collaborative solution available throughout the EMEA enterprise market.

The Kaptivo whiteboard collaboration system allows customers digitise their existing, dry-erase whiteboard and live-share it with remote users. It leverages the familiarity of the traditional whiteboard, requires no special pens or equipment and works with a single button press. The Kaptivo solution integrates easily into conferencing systems, including BlueJeans, Dolby, Polycom and Lifesize, already key parts of the Nuvias UC vendor portfolio. This enables the distributor to offer bundled, easy-to-deploy business solutions to channel partners across EMEA. Nuvias

said it will support channel partners with additional services, including the integration of the kit into pre-packaged conferencing solutions.

Steve Harris, EVP, Unified

Communications, Nuvias, said, “Unified Communications are transforming our business landscape, with enhanced collaboration tools adding a competitive edge to our partners. Kaptivo embody this spirit and we are excited to make their solution available as part of the comprehensive conferencing solutions we offer.”

David Hsieh, CEO, Kaptivo said, “We are excited to be working with Nuvias to assist our entry into the enterprise channel in EMEA. Kaptivo’s unique approach to making the traditional whiteboard part of the digital collaboration ecosystem has taken the market by storm. Our one button integration with existing conferencing solutions and native support for BlueJeans and Dolby makes using a whiteboard in a conference session as natural as being in the room.”

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

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HIGHLIGHTS

Healthigo unveils channel partner programme via Medicnlogy partnership

H

ealthigo has announced the launch of their channel partner programme that aligns with the changing HealthTech landscape and how partners are evolving to solve technology needs of healthcare providers.

The Healthigo partner programme drives the company’s strategy of deeper engagements with the healthcare provider and care seeker community.

Healthigo works with partners aligned with its vision of building a smarter and healthier society.

As a first step towards this goal, Healthigo signed up with Medicnlogy, a Dubai-based MedTech company with over 20 years of market presence and a dedicated team of knowledgeable medical professionals and technology experts.

Sameh El-Salhy and D. Mohamed Abou AlEla, Medicnlogy; Joseph Debs and Anirudh Gupta, Healthigo

“The past six months have been very exciting as we solidified our business model and evolved our channel strategy,” said Joseph Debs, co-founder, Healthigo. “Today’s patients have higher expectations from healthcare providers

and that is influencing the transformation in the delivery of healthcare. Our partnership with Medicnlogy brings the Healthigo platform to a wider audience and will be instrumental in helping healthcare providers optimise their operations resulting in delivering an enhanced patient experience.”

D. Mohamed Abou Al-Ela, co-founder and CEO of Medicnlogy quoted while talking about this partnership, “With our highly motivated team of experts catering to the MedTech industry, we are very enthusiastic about extending into the HealthTech space by taking the highly intuitive Healthigo platform to the healthcare provider community thus helping enhance patient experience.”

Healthigo said it is growing its partner ecosystem, working with like-minded companies to empower healthcare providers in UAE.

Help AG to empower Middle East businesses with Okta solutions

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elp AG has signed a reseller agreement with Okta, an independent provider of identity for the enterprise, for the region.

The agreement strengthens Help AG’s cloud security portfolio by enabling the company to offer the Okta Identity Cloud to its enterprise customers.

A recent Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) survey discovered that for nearly 75 percent of organisations, a username and password was the only barrier between a determined attacker and access to their critical resources. “Many of our customers are embracing the cloud and as they do so, they become exposed to entirely new cyber security threats. Protecting identity with strong authentication is one of the top priorities for businesses as the cloud enables their employees and customers to connect from anywhere, at any time and via any device,” explained Stephan Berner, CEO, Help AG. “It is a demand we are seeing from all industry verticals—we have customers looking for secure access to their existing ERP systems, those with multiple services running in the cloud;

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and also, customers with no applications currently in the cloud, but who have ambitions to make this migration. With Okta, we believe we have the unique ability to address these requirements and protect all these customers with a proven range of identity management solutions,” he added.

As the proliferation of apps and devices continues, access to data must be granted only after validating the user, device, application and network information. With the Okta Identity Cloud, enterprises can easily enable end-user access to cloud services and applications by providing single sign-on and multi-factor authentication, automated provisioning and deprovisioning, effectively reducing the enterprise cost of identity administration.

“Help AG’s security skillsets are widely recognised and respected in the Middle East. As Okta increases its presence in this region, we look for partners that understand the value of identity and its impact on all businesses that want to focus on staying competitive and innovate, while securing the identities of their employees and customers.” said Justin Doo, territory manager, Middle

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

Stephan Berner, Help AG

East and Africa, Okta. “We’re excited to be working with Help AG to bring identity-driven security mainstream across the Middle East.”

Help AG will locally deliver Tier 1 and Tier 2 support services in the region on behalf of Okta. In addition to reselling the solution and offering value-add services, Help AG intends to leverage the Okta Identity Cloud within its own IT environment to strengthen the security of its cloud services and offerings. This is in line with the company’s ‘Help AGas-a-Service’ vision.

29th January 2019

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The CIO 100 Awards celebrate leaders who are driving digital change in the Middle East and constantly striving for innovative practices. CIO 100 winners will receive their award at our annual CIO 100 Awards Ceremony and will also be featured in the February 2019 issue of CNME magazine. *CIOs, CTOs, IT directors and equivalents are invited to take part in the CIO 100 nominations.

#CIO100ME www.tahawultech.com/cio100/2019/ For sponsorship enquiries Kausar Syed Group Sales Director kausar.syed@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9130 / +971 50 758 6672

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HIGHLIGHTS

TransSys Solutions recognised as Oracle Specialised Partner

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Solutions was presented racle has the 2018 Oracle Excellence awarded Award for Specialised Partner TransSys of the Year – EMEA in Cloud Solutions with First for demonstrating an its 2018 outstanding and innovative Oracle Excellence Award for solution based on Oracle Specialised Partner of the products.

Year – EMEA in Cloud First.

“We are excited to receive The Oracle Excellence Prabu Balasubramanian, this award as it recognises Awards for Specialised TransSys Solutions our continued focus on Partner of the Year – EMEA innovation and excellence recognises TransSys across the entire customer lifecycle Solutions for its outstanding work in delivering cloud solutions. It is an honour driving customer success with Oracle and privilege to receive this award as it Cloud offering including SaaS, IaaS and also reflects our ability to help customers PaaS. From business planning and implementation, to connectivity and data adopt Oracle Cloud applications and technologies to create scalable, agile center services, Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) members provide the support and organisations capable of realising a whole new world of possibilities,” said services needed to maximise the value Prabu Balasubramanyan, executive of Oracle Cloud solutions for customers’ director, TransSys Solutions. organisation, according to the firm.

“TransSys Solutions has demonstrated TransSys Solutions is a Cloud Select an outstanding level of innovation in Platinum level member of Oracle delivering proven, Oracle-based SaaS PartnerNetwork (OPN). TransSys

and PaaS solutions that solve our joint customers’ most critical business challenges,” said Javier Torres, vice president alliances and channels, Oracle EMEA. “This achievement is a testament to their dedication to excellence and to providing customers innovative Oracle Cloud solutions and services that drive real business value and results.”

TransSys Solutions has demonstrated an outstanding level of innovation in delivering proven, Oracle-based SaaS and PaaS solutions that solve our joint customers’ most critical business challenges.”

Fortinet expands Fabric-Ready Partner ecosystem

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ortinet has reliability and security. announced the “As OT networks embrace expansion of digital transformation, and its Technology physical and cyber domains Alliances continue to converge, sensitive ecosystem to include four production environments leading operational and critical infrastructures are technology specialists. increasingly being exposed The company is building to cyber risks” said John upon its success with existing Maddison, SVP of products John Maddison, Fortinet Fabric-Ready Partner Nozomi and solutions at Fortinet.

Networks and is announcing “Fortinet is committed to its partnership with three additional protecting crucial and sensitive OT Operational Technology (OT|) specialist environments through the integrated firms – RAD, Indegy and SecurityMatters. power of the Fortinet Security Fabric, These partnerships extend the range of which includes advanced and specialised integrated security solutions now available protections provided by our growing to OT customers through the Fortinet number of Fabric-Ready Partners.”

Security Fabric.

OT organisations are adopting digital Fortinet’s Security Fabric platform transformation to unlock the advantages approach to cybersecurity leverages of the Internet and connected IIoT Fabric APIs, Fabric Connectors and devices. But as cybercriminals begin to DevOps scripts and tools to create an more aggressively target OT devices and open ecosystem to accommodate leading systems, OT networks need to evolve technology solutions. This integrated to address increasing cyber risk. The approach seamlessly brings together a challenge is that the nature of many OT wide range of critical security solutions networks requires specialised security designed for the OT segment to enable technologies and solutions in order to comprehensive and centralised safety, provide protections without impacting the

function of oftentimes sensitive equipment and systems. As OT networks emerge as a new target for cybercriminals, they need a single, cohesive Security Fabric platform that enables them to seamlessly address security risk across multi-vector threat landscapes without overburdening security staff resources or impacting their networked environments.

To better address this challenge, Fortinet, a longtime leader in the growing space of OT cybersecurity, welcomes four OT specialist firms into its Technology Alliance and Fabric-Ready Partner ecosystem to expand the range of solutions available for OT customers.

Three new OT security specialists – RAD, Indegy and SecurityMatters – join with longstanding partner Nozomi Networks to provide advanced visibility into the OT-specific commands and protocols to better inform the Fortinet Security Fabric to secure the emerging cyber-physical domain of OT networks. These partners enhance the OT-specific capabilities within Fortinet’s portfolio by adding deep packet inspection and contextual analysis capabilities to Fortinet’s OT vulnerability scanning and policy enforcement.

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

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HIGHLIGHTS

A10 Networks inks global reseller deal with NEC

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cyber criminals to carrier 10 Networks networks. has announced “We have a long-standing a global history of meeting customer systems needs and demands integration and through collaborating and reseller partnership with NEC partnering with NEC,” said Corporation.

Lee Chen, founder and The partnership will CEO, A10 Networks. “With include the integration the move to 5G underway, of A10 security products and technology into NEC Lee Chen, A10 Networks service providers across the globe are transforming their 5G, Pre-5G and Network business. This means huge Functions Virtualization (NFV) growth opportunities and new routes to infrastructure systems. revenue, but 5G also brings expanded As service providers plan to rapidly security risks and service providers commercialise 5G services, they need need to be focused on finding ways to a consolidated security and networking protect their business and customers.” solution to seamlessly integrate with “We are very excited to expand our their existing solutions. This strategic relationship with A10 Networks,” said partnership between NEC, a leader Shigeru Okuya, senior vice president, in the integration of IT and network NEC Corporation. “We are always technologies, and A10 Networks will looking to provide our customers with allow service providers to achieve the the industry’s best solutions and this scale and security needed to meet the partnership will provide seamless demands of 5G-infrastructure rollouts. integration of A10’s top-notch security The partnership will provide protection and application networking solutions.” from security challenges for service Through the partnership, service providers brought on by distributed providers will be able to leverage the open architecture, the massive influx of benefits of A10’s solutions including IoT devices, and external threats from

5G-GiLAN Security Consolidation; DDoS Protection; Application Delivery and Load Balancing; Intelligent Traffic Steering; GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) support; and SDN and NFV adoption.

With the move to 5G underway, service providers across the globe are transforming their business. This means huge growth opportunities and new routes to revenue, but 5G also brings expanded security risks and service providers need to be focused on finding ways to protect their business and customers.”

Riverbed announces enhancements to SD-WAN solution

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iverbed has networks have become announced roadblocks to truly fulfilling significant these digital strategies,” enhancements said Paul O’Farrell, senior and new vice president and general subscription pricing for its manager of Riverbed’s SD-WAN solution. According Cloud Infrastructure to the firm, with this latest Business Unit. “By release, it is delivering the delivering a next-gen “most powerful and complete architecture with new WAN Edge solution in the flexible subscription pricing Paul O’Farrell, Riverbed market”, integrating advanced and enhanced routing SD-WAN functionality with capabilities, Riverbed has application acceleration, security and raised the bar in helping businesses visibility capabilities all in a single accelerate their digital transformation streamlined device. initiatives and implement a softwareThe firm said that this announcement is defined networking approach for the next major step for it to deliver a next- increased agility, greater efficiency and gen infrastructure that is software-defined ultimately, better financial results.” and empowers customers to take full With this significant release, advantage of the cloud and to maximise Riverbed’s SD-WAN solution delivers digital performance. the following enhancements – “Organisations across every industry are striving to digitally transform their Enterprise-class routing: Major business in order to stay competitive. enhancements to the core routing stack Consequently, limitations of legacy enables support for large and complex

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

enterprise networks where highavailability and advanced interoperability between SD-WAN and legacy networks is crucial.

Subscription-based pricing: The firm is introducing disruptive OpEx friendly, subscription-based pricing for SD-WANonly and SD-WAN + WAN Optimisation customers. Now customers have added flexibility with a fit-for-purpose and futureproofed solution at every branch location to meet their specific needs.

In-field upgrades: Existing customers have access to an enhanced in-field upgrade to expand the capabilities of prior investments to include advanced SD-WAN, network security services and industry-leading WAN Optimisation.

Simple and complete integration: Comprehensive WAN Edge solution combines SD-WAN, application acceleration, visibility and security capabilities into a single device.

HIGHLIGHTS

Citrix acquires micro app platform Sapho

HPE Pointnext expands datacenter care services to empower modern businesses

Tim Minahan, Citrix

C

itrix Systems has acquired Sapho, a micro app platform, which it will use to enhance the guided work capabilities within Citrix Workspace, enabling people to work with even greater speed, intelligence and simplicity.

Sapho’s micro applications improve employee productivity by consolidating access to tools, activities and tasks in a simple and unified work feed, said the firm.

With Sapho, companies can automatically surface personalised and relevant tasks from existing systems and deliver them to any device, intranet or collaboration tool.

According to the statement released, by integrating Sapho into Citrix Workspace, companies can give employees flexible access to all the apps and insights they need to work where and how they want and be productive in a single place. Businesses can also leverage innovative technologies such as machine learning alongside simplified workflows to organise work and guide employees through their day, according to the company.

Enterprises can build employee skills and keep them on the cutting-edge

in their fields. Sapho also offers an early-stage virtual assistant that will help users easily locate critical intelligence and deliver it in context. Citrix said it plans to invest in these virtual assistant capabilities.

“In combining Citrix’s strengths in application delivery and security with Sapho’s focus on work automation and productivity, Citrix and Sapho can help companies create a superior employee experience that redefines the future of work and deliver it today,” said Tim Minahan, executive vice president business strategy and chief marketing officer, Citrix.

“Sapho and Citrix share a vision that technology can improve employee experience by helping people to be more productive,” said Fouad ElNaggar, co-founder and CEO, Sapho. “Our technologies create an intelligent environment that solves productivity challenges that employees and companies are facing by organising work in a single place, guiding work by bringing microapps into the environment and automating tasks to increase time for employees to do valueadded work. And together, we can deliver a truly intelligent workspace that redefines the way work gets done.”

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ew expertise and tools modernize IT operations and increase IT management efficiency by 25 percent.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has introduced new operational capabilities to the HPE Datacenter Care services experience designed to transform and optimise customers’ IT environments from the edge to the cloud. The new capabilities, delivered

by HPE Pointnext, will help businesses simplify complex IT environments and free up resources to focus on innovation and desired outcomes.

HPE Datacenter Care helps businesses run their IT operations by optimising day-to-day tasks, integrating technology management and streamlining to a more agile cloud-like model. HPE Pointnext experts work with customers to advise on and provide recommendations on a modernization plan which is designed to help mitigate risk and drive IT operational efficiency, so the staff can focus on key IT innovation projects. HPE Datacenter Care addresses a wide array of routine tasks, from stabilising and automating customers’ IT environments to streamlining service delivery.

Working closely with its customers, HPE is expanding the Datacenter Care experience to include backup analysis and data loss prevention, SAP HANA migration and business alignment, Microsoft Azure configuration and management, performance optimisation, business risk reduction and advanced security, automation for routine IT tasks and open source advantages with EnterpriseDB Postgres.

“HPE’s goal is to accelerate customers’ digital transformation by modernising IT operations and offering best-in-class solutions. HPE Datacenter Care is built on the vast expertise and IP available from our in-country and global teams, who become extended members of the customers’ IT organisation,” said Gerry Nolan, worldwide senior director for operational services, HPE Pointnext.

“With today’s announcement, we are providing customers with critical skills and tools to help them shift their focus to accelerating innovation”.

The new HPE Datacenter Care enhancements have started rolling out in some markets globally, and more will be available to customers and partners at the end of 2018 and early 2019. www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // DECEMBER 2018

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HIGHLIGHTS

APPOINTMENTS

Infoblox expands global channel partner program and enhances partner incentives

Feras Masoud, Infoblox

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Infoblox has demonstrated its commitment to the channel through new offerings in core network services and cybersecurity and rolling out enhanced partner learning management systems.

Over the past year, Infoblox has expanded its partner alliance ecosystem by growing partner bookings 12% and through the addition of 100 new partners.

The company plans to continue that momentum in 2019 by simplifying the process for partners to sell products and bring them to market with enablement toolkits.

Approximately 95 percent of all Infoblox business flows through the channel and thanks to its BuildingBLOX partner program, it is able to continue this partner sales strategy.

In 2019, partners can

expect from Infoblox, additional value to existing offerings, increased opportunity to deliver professional and managed services, greater recurring revenue opportunity from Infoblox SaaS and subscription-based offerings as well as more customer mindshare by transitioning from an add-on to an absolute imperative.

“Infoblox takes great pride in its partners and chooses teammates whose solutions align with what Infoblox already brings to the market,” said Lori Cornmesser, vice president of worldwide partner sales at Infoblox.

“We select partners based on common goals and customer bases to make it as easy as possible for a partner to interact with the company and adopt its technology. Together with our partners in 2019, we will focus on next level partnering which allows us to better serve our mutual customers.”

“We believe that with our company’s increased investment in the partner programme, we are enabling our channel partners to take advantage of market opportunities and better serve their customers.

This will no doubt set up Infoblox and its partners for further success in the next year and beyond,” said Feras Masoud, regional channel manager, META, Infoblox.

Mark Jopling to spearhead Riverbed’s next wave of growth across EMEA Riverbed has announced that Mark Jopling has joined Riverbed as Senior Vice President (SVP) Sales of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

As part of his new role, Jopling will be reporting to Riverbed senior vice president and chief sales officer Andy Elder and developing and executing the company’s sales strategy and go-to-market execution in EMEA will be under his purview.

Leading the Riverbed team across its five EMEA markets to ensure closer engagement with existing customers; deeper penetration into key industry sectors; as well as generate new business opportunities with strategic partners, to deliver continued success and acceleration across the company’s portfolio of industry-leading digital performance solutions, will be among his responsibilities.

Jopling joins Riverbed from Lloyds Banking Group, where he was the Colleague and Network Technology Director, responsible for 24/7 business critical operations, risk and control.

This included transforming their legacy environment to a cloud-centric architecture, and developing customer experience platforms via omni-channel technologies to help enable digital customer journeys. Prior to this, Jopling spent almost nine years at the British multinational telecommunications company, BT, in several roles, as their Vice President of Financial Services, delivering major digital transformation projects for clients, and as their Director for EMEA Carriers, selling

Mark Jopling, Riverbed

and operating complex Managed Network Services to Mobile and Fixed Network Operators. Earlier in his career, Jopling has also held senior sales positions at Nokia and Vodafone.

“Riverbed has been executing on a multi-year strategy to lead in digital performance, providing organisations with a powerful combination of Digital Experience Management and NextGeneration Infrastructure solutions to accelerate business performance and outcomes,” said Mark Jopling, Senior Vice President Sales, EMEA, at Riverbed. “I’m delighted to be joining the company and working with the EMEA team and our partner community, to help our customers modernise their IT architecture for the cloud and digital, with the ever-increasing demand for Riverbed’s digital performance solutions.

Digital innovations are simply transforming industries every day, and I’m very excited to be part of it with Riverbed.”

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

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OPINION // EQUINIX

Five trends to dominate the digital future Encouraging channel partners to embrace today’s cloud-based world, Jeroen Schlosser, managing director, Equinix MENA shares the firm’s predictions for 2019, which are focused on how 5G, Artificial Intelligence, blockchain, data privacy and cloud will drive major architectural changes.

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volving technology and data trends such as 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, data privacy and cloud are paving the path for significant IT and network architecture changes in 2019, according to Equinix, Inc., the global interconnection and data centre company, which has released its top five predictions for 2019. The firm has developed unique insights into the key drivers pushing enterprises to succeed in the digital economy.

Equinix’s 2019 predictions include: 1. Paving a path to the promise of 5G—tomorrow’s high-speed wireless networks will accelerate today’s network transformation.

Equinix anticipates that 5G will open up endless possibilities of digital transformation, especially in an IoT and

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“For partners at the forefront of the interconnected era, significant new business opportunities beckon.”

AI-connected world. To attain the high radio density required for 5G, operators are looking to optimise costs through the use of open-source commodity networking hardware and virtualisation of the wireless networking stack. These efforts will pave the way for an Edge architecture to solve for cloud radio networks that will power several radios through pools of virtualised network

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

software. Equinix anticipates increased investments in 2019 in the revamping of existing cellular building infrastructure and building of new edge infrastructure, as well as innovation in hardware and virtual wireless networking stacks for both performance and cost optimisation.

2. Riding the rise of distributed Artificial Intelligence architectures— next-gen architectures will break free from centralised locations.

Equinix predicts that the growing use of AI in business and society will increase data usage exponentially.

While first-generation AI architectures have historically been centralised, Equinix predicts that in 2019 enterprises will enter the realm of distributed AI architectures, where AI model building and model inferencing will take place at the local edge, physically closer to the origin source of the data. To access

more external data sources for accurate predictions, enterprises will turn to secure data transaction marketplaces.

They will also strive to leverage AI innovation in multiple public clouds without getting locked into a single cloud, further decentralising AI architecture.

3. “Un-blocking” the chain—A network of networks will mature blockchain for greater business security and monetisation.

Blockchain investments are growing at a CAGR of 73%, with a projected total spending of $11.7 billion by 2022, according to IDC. Equinix predicts that: •

•

•

Enterprises will start to participate in multiple blockchain networks (e.g., food safety, financial services, global container shipment), thus creating a network of networks—something that allows them to simultaneously interact with multiple blockchain ecosystems.

Blockchain performance will become a more important requirement within the enterprise space, driven by the need to accommodate more than simple transaction data or as an element in applications where real-time performance and linkage with other data sources matter. Examples of performance-sensitive blockchain applications include track and trace (supply chain), machine-to-machine (IoT) communication/exchange, and cross-border currency settlement, just to name a few.

Integration will become a huge challenge as enterprises combine their legacy applications with multiple blockchain networks, necessitating the deployment of exchange points for blockchain participants to directly connect and collaborate.

4. Maneuvering the data privacy maze—changing data protection laws and heightened privacy concerns will inspire more progressive and distributed security processes.

Many enterprises and SaaS providers are deploying mini-clouds in multiple regions in order to adhere to local data residence and compliance requirements.

They are also looking at distributed data management architectures that require

global networks and data fabrics in order to coherently manage these distributed mini-clouds.

Equinix predicts that in order to prevent data breaches and retain control over their data, enterprises will consider: • New data management techniques that operate seamlessly on encrypted data (for example, limited forms of data querying on homomorphically encrypted data).

• New hardware-based virtualisation technology that will prevent service providers from surveilling their customer’s data.

5. Tapping interconnection to tame cloud complexity—hybrid multicloud environments will increase the relevance of interconnection Enterprises are now accessing SaaS, IaaS and PaaS solutions from multiple providers, and Equinix anticipates that 2019 will see the next level of challenges associated with hybrid cloud and multicloud approaches. The firm believes enterprises will struggle with expanding their security perimeters, as well as integration and management issues as they pursue hybrid multicloud architectures. These predicted trends indicate that enabling capabilities such as security, analytics and data exchange in close proximity to the cloud is a must for seamless cross-border data flow, and the right interconnection partner

can help organizations navigate through the complexity of cloud. According to the Global Interconnection Index, a market study published by Equinix, Interconnection Bandwidth between Enterprises and cloud and IT providers is projected to grow 98% per annum through 2021, supporting businesses building out new digital services and migrating existing workloads to thirdparty cloud platforms.

As our digital world continues to evolve, we are entering a new phase: the interconnected era. This period of intense online collaboration and real-time participation is characterised by faster, richer forms of connectivity. For partners at the forefront of the interconnected era, significant new business opportunities beckon however it is important that the channel and partners embrace today’s cloud-based world.

Businesses are now moving an increasing proportion of their IT spend away from CAPEX-based investment in on-premise IT and centralised data centres and into cloud-based services and hybrid infrastructures. As budgets tighten, margins are squeezed. Valueadded resellers (VARs), solution providers and systems integrators who continue to focus solely on supplying the networks, hardware and software that support a highly-centralised, onpremise model of IT will struggle to remain profitable. Today, enterprises from every industry all over the world are building out their digital edge at Equinix by placing their IT infrastructures where commerce, population centers and digital ecosystems meet. By collaborating within and across these digital ecosystems, companies will not only gain competitive advantage, but also be able to develop and deliver new digital services to their customers. Service providers who can help Enterprises realize the benefits of interconnection while maximising the return on their existing infrastructure investments ultimately, partnering would be the route to profit and interconnections stands are the core of it.

The market is at an inflection point, where the right digital strategies become the differentiator and source of competitive advantage for organisations.

And for the first time in history, the technology to fully enable digital business is available to everyone.

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

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COVER FEATURE // VERITAS TECHNOLOGIES

SCALING NEW HEIGHTS Geoff Greenlaw, senior director, head of channels, EMEA Emerging Markets, Veritas Technologies, calls out to ‘born in the cloud partners’ to come on board to jointly address regional customers’ evolving challenges around information management.

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eriving impactful and valuable insights from data is the cornerstone of every business today. However, this is easier said than done. With the heightened use of mobile devices, social media platforms and increasing adoption of advance technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI); data is growing at an exponential rate.

Through software and services, enterprises are striving to analyse and gain insights on the data that they have across platforms, to be able to make mission-critical decisions.

A Wikibon research predicts that global Big Data market revenues for software and services will increase

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

VERITAS DISTRIBUTORS: Ingram Micro, Mindware and Aljammaz Distribution

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

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COVER FEATURE // VERITAS TECHNOLOGIES

from $42 billion in 2018 to $103 billion in 2027, attaining a CAGR of 10.48%.

Perceptive to market demands and trends, Geoff Greenlaw, senior director, head of channels, EMEA Emerging Markets, Veritas Technologies, says that the firm is looking to address customers’ top data challenges through effective and unique solutions delivered by ‘bornin-the-cloud’ resellers.

According to Greenlaw, the top data challenges for customers boils down to data growth, data fragmentation, data agility, data governance and data visibility.

He says, “Data is growing at an overwhelming rate. 90 percent of the world’s data was created in the last two years alone. Customers are struggling to manage that volume of data growth that they are experiencing from technologies like IoT, AI and machine learning.”

Greenlaw explains that this growing data no longer sits in a single location but is fragmented across different DR sites, applications and multiple clouds. Often, customers are not aware of all the different locations where their data is stored.

“The problem is further compounded when data agility comes into the picture, which is the ability to stand up services in the event of a disaster. If customers are unable to access or recover company information or corporate websites and react within the set timelines during a crisis, it could easily result in reputational and financial risks.”

According to Greenlaw, companies are struggling to meet government and compliance regulations that they need to abide when it comes to data. This is primarily because of the earlier challenges of growing and fragmented data.

Ensuring customers have complete visibility on their data is perhaps the biggest challenge, he adds. In line with this, Veritas has also recently unveiled findings in its 2018 UAE Databerg report, which highlights that ‘dark’ data, whose value has

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

not yet been identified, accounts for the majority of data (48%) that is stored and processed by organisations in the UAE. The report also sheds light on other interesting facts around data.

(See figure 1) “If customers have data visibility, then they have insight to their information and can understand how fast their data is growing, how fragmented it is

becoming, how compliant it is to government regulations and how agile it is during an emergency,” he explains. “Data visibility is the most important element that a company should take control of as then they can comprehend the other four elements.”

Regional partners have a huge opportunity with Veritas solutions to help customers address all their

Veritas is seeking partners who sport a growth mindset, possess deep technical and sales skills, are highly committed and are in for long-term gains.

“We need ‘born-in-thecloud’ resellers and partners who can understand cloud infrastructure and are able to deliver and integrate related services.” data challenges. Previously known solely as a backup firm, Veritas has been gradually evolving into a data management company over the recent years. Veritas has also been investing heavily into its Middle East partners through dedicated trainings, incentive programmes and other initiatives to enhance partner profitability.

Greenlaw says, “Partners can confidently go up to customers and offer Veritas solutions to protect and optimise data, help them with meeting governance and compliance requirements, assist in data migration, which is the capability to move data from an on-premise environment into cloud and back again in the event of a disaster.”

He emphasises that the overarching piece that sits over these four opportunity areas is data visibility.

“Providing data visibility around data protection, data migration, data governance and data optimisation is the most important aspect.”

One of Veritas’ top priorities for 2019 is to recruit and onboard more ‘born-in-the-cloud’ resellers to its ecosystem.

“Long gone are the days of selling an X86 server under perpetual licenses. We need resellers and partners who can understand cloud infrastructure and are able to deliver and integrate related services.

TOP 5 CUSTOMER CHALLENGES: Data growth, data fragmentation, data agility, data governance and data visibility

Figure 1. Source: Veritas UAE Databerg Report 2018

“With the help of our distributors, we are looking for partners who can take our offerings around backup, archiving, replication technology, disaster recovery and so on; and combine them together to offer a unique solution to meet customer’s information management needs.”

Veritas’ ideal partners will be the ones who are focused on growing the business and are proficient technically as well as in sales.

“Above everything else, we are looking for partners who are committed to building a joint business plan together with us. Once commitments are made, we have to ensure we follow through on them and are held accountable against it,”

he adds. “Partners need to be able to add incremental value by adding additional services, technology and capability.”

In 2019, the data management firm will continue to focus on its predominant markets – UAE and Saudi Arabia with equal attention on the rest of Gulf countries such as Pakistan, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar.

Confident of seeing strong double-digit growth by next year end, Greenlaw says, “Based on the findings from our 2018 UAE Databerg report, we look forward to working with our partners to drive visibility across all data points and help customers make better business decisions about their information.

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

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FEATURE

Boosting profits

Services offer channel partners an opportunity to enhance margins. Reseller ME examines how partners can enable regional businesses to focus on core operations and increase productivity through Managed Print Services (MPS).

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egional channel partners have constantly grappled with sustaining profitability in their businesses. Services is one of the ways partners can improve their margins and ensure recurring business. However, mastering the art of delivering services effectively is a different game altogether.

The opportunity for services with the channel industry has grown considerably over the years.

Increasingly customers are realising

Mustafa Saleh, OKI Europe

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the convenience of outsourcing certain roles within the organisation such as Managed Print Services (MPS) so that adequate focus and importance can be given to core business functions.

Mohamed El Bahrawy, marketing manager BIS, Canon Middle East, says, “MPS allows customers to have significant cost savings, increased document security and improvements in workforce productivity and workflow through expert print and information management consultancy, in addition

“With thousands of documents and complicated business environment, it is essential that functions such as printing, signing, scanning, managing invoices and quotation are done smoothly by prioritising privacy and security.�

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

to benefits such as reduced print output, paper usage, and electricity consumption. All these are key drivers for companies of various sizes and industries to adopt MPS.” According to Mustafa Saleh, solutions business development manager, OKI Europe, as documents rapidly become the core of any daily business processes across all departments, MPS has a bigger role to play.

“With thousands of documents and complicated business environment, it is essential that functions such as printing, signing, scanning, managing invoices and quotation are done smoothly by prioritising privacy and security,” he says. “At OKI, we are able to address the needs of workgroups of different sizes by installing the right device in the right place, ultimately reducing the amount of time spent on print retrieval and wasted output and improving staff productivity.”

Bahrawy says, “The region has witnessed a steady growth in

organisations increasingly relying on specialist third party providers for MPS. We have seen strong and steady growth in MPS in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, especially in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and Lebanon.

We expect this trend to continue, particularly led by the robust growth of regional economies and across all business sectors.”

Pui-Chi Li, head of marketing in the Middle East and Africa, Xerox, believes the opportunity for partners is clear and significant.

She says, “MPS offers the opportunity for channel organisations to extend their influence especially within the small and mid-sized business (SMB) market, helping customers improve productivity, increase efficiency and reduce costs.

A channel partner offering MPS can position themselves as a trusted advisor and have the tools to help their customers positively impact their business.”

Agreeing, Saleh, adds, “MPS

delivers the opportunity for channel partners to keep the current installed hardware with an added-value for the customer, which builds a long-term business relation, keeping business under control because they can expect accurate customer needs for hardware and consumables based on real customer behavior.”

Bahrawy explains that by making MPS an integral part of its service offerings, resellers have the opportunity to capitalise on this increasing demand with contractual business.

He says, “It presents the opportunity for long-term cost savings by providing resellers with regular income and the chance to build strong long-term customer relationships with upselling and cross-selling potential.”

Additionally, he adds, “It can also encourage new revenue streams for channel partners which focus on annuity and not box moving only, as well as enhance relationships with new and existing customers.”

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

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FEATURE

Mohamed El Bahrawy Canon Middle East

“MPS is playing a vital role with helping customers realise strategic growth plans. Therefore, customers will be requiring a partner that they can demonstrate long-term contracts with,” Saleh adds.

According to Li, MPS definitely has the potential to boost partners’ profitability. She says, “MPS can give partners a more compelling offering to their customers but also through the tool set, can offer greater transparency to both the customer and partner.”

This not only means improved cost control for customers but

Pui-Chi Li, Xerox

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“The increasing demand for MPS also leads to a significant change for partners to move from selling products to services as well as in traditional sales cycles.

This service-oriented and consultancy approach implies that addressing an isolated business issue by offering a single product or managing an isolated element is no longer a business model for growth.”

also predictability and vital fleet information to partners, she explains.

This enables partners to better plan all aspects of their business from better view of their revenue streams, account management, internal cost control and servicing requirements – all contributing to better profitability.

Most vendors have a specific channel programme for MPS, does this help and enable partners?

“Normal sales techniques and skills are not enough to push MPS to the market, so vendors focus on MPS channels to give the partners the opportunity to sharpen current

sales and get involved directly with customers to define their specific business needs and recommend a solution to optimise their print and document output, while delivering workflow efficiencies along with saving time and costs for their businesses,” says Saleh.

Li adds, “Businesses, specially SMBs, are now looking for so much more than printing solutions.”

The rapidly evolving technology landscape demands that channel organisations remain relevant by integrating business optimising services to their portfolio, she says.

“MPS offers the opportunity for channel organisations to extend their influence especially within the small and mid-sized business (SMB) market, helping customers improve productivity, increase efficiency and reduce costs. A channel partner offering MPS can position themselves as a trusted advisor and have the tools to help their customers positively impact their business.”

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

“This enables the channel partner to reach a wider range of customers while adding value to their current clients. Through MPS, channel partners can increase revenue and enjoy having long-term customer relationships.”

According to Bahrawy, with the broad range of benefits offered by MPS, decision-makers use a wide set of criteria when selecting which solution and provider to work with.

“Overall, customers are looking for suppliers with strong reputations to reassure them. They also want partners to have sufficient scalability to manage change and any unforeseen occurrences. This implies that resellers must work closely with vendors to stay relevant by consistently developing skills within their teams.”

Often, resellers are focused on a specific industry or vertical and boasts relationships with customers

in these specific areas. Bahrawy suggests partners evaluate the business opportunities available based on their existing customer base.

He adds, “Canon helps partners by providing them with tools to capture the information from their customer network, analyse it and offer the proper solution. This further increases their relevance to the customer and contributes towards consultative sales enablement.

“To ensure their ability to deliver the service as required, Canon provides accreditation programmes, which help our partners understand what resources they should have as well as create a proper process for them to provide the expected service to their customers.”

Saleh is certain about the partner opportunity in MPS. It is up to partners to go the extra mile and develop the opportunity further.

He says, “Through MPS, channel partners will be able to maintain their customers by providing them with solutions for their day-to-day business processes, as they will not only be their box providers, they will be customers’ consultants to enhance and achieve optimum outcomes.”

Concurring with Saleh, Bahrawy adds, “The increasing demand for MPS also leads to a significant change for partners to move from selling products to services as well as in traditional sales cycles. This service-oriented and consultancy approach implies that addressing an isolated business issue by offering a single product or managing an isolated element is no longer a business model for growth. This brings about the requirement for skill development which considers longer-term customer needs and benefits.”

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

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FEATURE

Prospects in peripherals

Industry experts reveal how technology channel partners can capitalise on the opportunities present in the PC peripherals market.

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C peripherals are those devices that are externally connected to the PC in order to augment its capabilities such as keyboards, mouse, printers, scanners, routers and so on. As the demand for innovative and ergonomic devices rise in the modern workplace, the peripherals market is seeing a distinct growth.

According to a Technavio research, ergonomic keyboards are increasingly being adopted at a fast pace by industries such as IT, oil and gas, energy and communications.

The report further added that “rising awareness about RSIs and carpal tunnel syndrome is expected to encourage further adoption of ergonomic keyboards leading to substantial market growth during the forecast period of 2015-2025.”

Commenting on a research on IT hardware, a senior analyst at Technavio says, “Growth of the gaming market is another factor that is boosting the global computing mouse market. PC gaming is being adopted as a profession, which is directly impacting the growth of the

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computing mouse market as gamers replace their conventional mice with gaming-specific computing mice to improve their gaming experience.”

Enterprises’ willingness to invest in innovative and convenient peripherals to enhance productivity is growing rapidly.

Agreeing, Sujit Menon, display and client peripherals lead, CEE and META, Dell, says, “The growth of peripherals and accessories market in the region is on an upward trajectory as organisations are empowering their workforce with the right technology that can maximise productivity and allow them to work without limits.”

According to Menon, these efforts align with the Middle East’s digital agenda to accelerate its advancement in the journey of transformation.

He adds, “This has also resulted in a new wave of opportunities for our channel partners, who now can augment their offerings with our award-winning devices and peripherals that meet every specific need of the workforce and gives every kind of user the technology

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

they need to help them work the way they want.”

He says that the company is meeting the demands of the future workforce with monitors that range from 17 to 86 inches, featuring “innovative design and technology to drive productivity with ultimate screen performance and an outstanding user experience.”

According to Menon, researches prove that attaching a monitor with a PC increases productivity by 18%, “We drive this successfully with our customers. Dell continues its legacy of leading innovation with multiple firsts in the industry by launching the world’s first 32-inch 8K monitor.

The introduction of the type C docking has also opened a new wave of opportunities to leverage connectivity. All in all, our channel partners can lead the market with these best-in-class solutions that are unparalleled in design, functionality and innovation.”

Andy Hoekstra, head of Logitech MENA, believes vendors can play a huge role in assisting channel partners to identify opportunities in this growing space.

“It is important to remember, we are in this together,” he says. “We know that end users are always on the look-out for great new products and we must make sure that when they come to the store, or search for our products online, the execution is done in a way that makes end users understand all the benefits available to them. By taking this approach, all parties involved can benefit greatly, while at the same time offering the best solutions to our customers. It’s a win-win situation all round.”

Hoekstra believes the adage ‘less is more’ will be the way forward in this market. He adds, “Making sure that you have great planograms in the stores, with easy navigation in the (sub)categories to help shoppers find the right product, will go a long way to boost sales. We need a better understanding of each retailer’s audience and adjust the portfolio to those end user needs. From Logitech you can expect more innovations coming out of our pipeline to help support this.”

“Growth of the gaming market is another factor that is boosting the global computing mouse market. PC gaming is being adopted as a profession, which is directly impacting the growth of the computing mouse market as gamers replace their conventional mice with gamingspecific computing mice to improve their gaming experience.�

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

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FEATURE

T Get social Industry experts share insights on the opportunities social media offers to regional partners for marketing strategies.

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he growth of social media platforms and trends are increasingly posing as optimal opportunities for channel partners to promote and market their operations.

While traditional marketing methods are effective, KS Parag, value-added distributor FVC’s managing director, believes utilising professional social media platforms offers additional avenues for channel-led firms to communicate their marketing information.

He says, “Integrating social media into traditional marketing efforts allows us to keep partners constantly informed of new initiatives, promotions, events, vendor alliances, and training opportunities. This way, partners do not have to solely rely on email alerts but can also access this information via social media as well at a time convenient to them.”

Concurring with Parag, Enterprise

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

Systems’ CEO Pouya Parsafar, says, “First and foremost, social media helps get the word out about your business and provides the opportunity to grow relationships.

“Your followers are people who know your organisation, have likely done business with you in the past, and will be most likely to tell their friends about your business. Social media sites are becoming the go-to place for clients who want to learn more about your business.

Although one of the challenges today is persuading channel partners and distributors to accept social media platforms as relevant marketing tools. While the acceptance levels are gradually increasing, not all partners feel comfortable using these platforms for business.

Parag says, “Social media can be a powerful marketing tool if utilised the right way. While partners understand

the importance of it, often times partners focus on growing their business and maximising on existing opportunities.”

This is especially true considering the tough business landscape that partners go through in the region.

“Partners are focused on completing projects and reaching out to new end-users that will increase their overall profits. In such a situation, the key challenge is the time used to access social media platforms, and the initiative to capitalise on marketing promotions offered on social media platforms by vendors and distributors,” he adds.

“Major social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, offer free mobile apps that let business owners manage their presence on-the-go,” Parsafar says, “More importantly, these apps let customers connect to their favorite brands. These users

aren’t just sharing updates from their own lives, they’re searching for businesses, products, services and connecting with brands through their social channels all while on-the-go that’s accessible via mobile.”

Other challenges for partners include information management issues.

This is primarily in the areas of privacy, security, accuracy, and archiving, spanning issues such as personally identifiable information, security of company data and information, and the accuracy of publicly available data, explains Parsafar.

“By adopting the use of specific social media tools, businesses appear to be tacitly endorsing the privacy, security, and other policies employed by those social media providers as adequate.”

He adds that a lack of social media strategy has been a roadblock for

companies for a while now.

“Partly because it’s still fairly new, and also because social media is always changing.”

According to Parsafar, 28 percent of brands feel that a lack of strategy is the top barrier keeping them from becoming a social business.

“In order to optimise your social media marketing campaigns, you must have a strategy with clearly defined goals and objectives,” he adds.

Often the question partners have in mind is if they will be able to gain a monetary value by using social media tools for their marketing strategies?

“Twitter, Facebook, and others are no-cost marketing channels to join, potentially a zero-dollar investment which makes any return exponential.

So, in order to track ROI, the key elements would be to identify your monetary investment in social

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

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FEATURE

KS Parag, FVC

media and attach a dollar amount to your social media goals,” explains Parsafar. “To follow this strategy, one needs to choose goals or actions to track activities such as online purchases, new followers, likes on posts and so on. One must then track these goals and then assign a monetary value.”

Parag says, “Partners need to realise that the clever use of social media can also contribute to helping them highlight their specialisation and promote their expertise, successful alliances and projects – which could lead to new business prospects.”

According to Parag, vendors and distributors can provide support

“Partners need to realise that the clever use of social media can also contribute to helping them highlight their specialisation and promote their expertise, successful alliances and projects – which could lead to new business prospects.”

by co-promoting their partners’ efforts and highlighting outstanding business growth and contribution to help partners crack new opportunities.

However, according to The Channel Institute, who provide certificates in digital co-marketing training course for both channel partners and vendor channel marketers, believe that vendors are not doing enough to support their channel partners with social media marketing.

“Vendors are overly reliant on providing the infrastructure, such as software platforms and content, but do not help with the soft skills required to enable partners to drive value from these. Partners typically

do not understand how to customise content and social media marketing for their specific value proposition, enabling it to cut through the general noise in the marketplace.”

According to the firm, a major reason why these “soft skills are not being transferred is because channel managers and even channel marketers at vendor companies are themselves uncomfortable making recommendations in an area where they feel under-skilled.”

In any business, being seen and heard are powerful drivers for the growth of their operations. In this regard, both vendors and partners must work together and embrace social media marketing tools to leverage its benefits.

“Social media helps get the word out about your business and provides the opportunity to grow relationships.”

Pouya Parsafar, Enterprise Systems

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

INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS ELECTRONIC SECURITY & SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS

UNIFIED COMMUNICATION

ELV SOLUTIONS

FEATURE // HUAWEI OCEANSTOR DORADO V3

Huawei OceanStor Dorado V3

Walid Gomaa, VP, Data Centre & Cloud Solutions, Huawei Enterprise Business Group, Middle East gives his take on why the firm’s OceanStor Dorado is the world’s fastest all-flash storage.

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

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n today’s competitive business environment, IT organisations need to provide a high-quality and productive IT environment for continuously growing internal users and external customers. In addition, enterprise application environments have become increasingly unpredictable as their IT infrastructure requirements grow in complexity and size. Missioncritical business application performance is highly sensitive to storage performance and latency, and highly dependent on the resilience of the enterprise IT environment.

Huawei OceanStor Dorado V3 fully satisfies the high performance and resilience requirements of missioncritical business applications. It helps customers in finance, manufacturing, telecoms and other sectors to enhance their database services and virtualisation environments with the best total cost of ownership.

Huawei’s OceanStor Dorado V3 all-flash storage is able to deliver 0.5 ms consistent latency by incorporating intelligent chips, NVMe architectures, and Huawei’s FlashLink® intelligent algorithms to achieve end-toend optimisations from SSDs and controllers, which help improve the application performance threefold. It can scale out to 16 controllers and can reach to 7 million IOPS, making it capable of meeting growing business requirements.

System architecture OceanStor Dorado V3 all-flash storage systems use Huawei OceanStor OS as the operating system and inherit abundant features of the operating system. The SSDs of the storage systems have been optimised to deliver optimal performance at a cost-effective price.

In addition, the storage systems are able to support various host ports such Fiber Channel ports, Ethernet iSCSI ports, as well as high-speed low-latency InfiniBand (IB) ports.

OceanStor Dorado implements a series of intelligent algorithms (FlashLink AI algorithms) for large-block sequential write, independent metadata partitioning, I/O priority adjustment, and coordination between the storage controller and SSDs to optimise data layouts.

can achieve 3:1 data reduction ratio and enable enterprises to reduce OPEX by 75%.

“Huawei OceanStor Dorado V3 fully satisfies the high performance and resilience requirements of mission-critical business applications.”

WALID GOMAA VP, DATA CENTRE & CLOUD SOLUTIONS, HUAWEI ENTERPRISE BUSINESS GROUP, MIDDLE EAST

The scale-out technology adopted

by OceanStor Dorado V3 expands the number of controller enclosures to ensure linear growth of capacity and performance at a stable low latency, whereas the scale-up technology adds disk enclosures and disks to expand the capacity. When the capacity increases, the back-end data balancing mechanism automatically balances data among all disks.

KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF OCEANSTOR DORADO V3 Outstanding performance: Provides 7 million IOPS, 0.5 ms consistent low latency, improving application performance by 3x.

Stability and reliability: Adopts abundant end-to-end reliability technologies. The gateway-free activeactive solution can provide, delivering 99.9999% business availability. In additon, it can be smoothly upgraded to a 3DC solution.

Convergence and efficiency: The inline data reduction technologies (inline deduplication and compression)

INNOVATIVE CHIPS; HUAWEI IMPLEMENTED SPECIAL INTELLIGENT CHIPS INSIDE DORADO: SSD controller chip: runs special algorithm to accelerate data read and write. The write latency is as short as 40 μs, which is 10% faster than competitors.

Multi-protocol interface chip: Intelligently parses front-end protocols including 32 Fiber Channel and Ethernet protocols with forward compatibility.

This module improves storage performance by 20%.

BMC management chip: Implements intelligent and comprehensive fault management. Fault location accuracy is up to 93%, shortening fault recovery times from 2 hours to 10 minutes.

Wide compatibility: Upgrading existing storage systems to all-flash storage involves migrating data between different storage systems that use different operating systems and application software. This can be a critical challenge in terms of compatibility. OceanStor Dorado V3 is compatible with over 300 mainstream storage systems and 98% of IT infrastructures, enabling smooth upgrades that do not affect business and helping data centres transition easily to flash.

Interconnection: Deploying all-flash systems at both active and passive sites increases costs for data centers.

To solve this problem, the OceanStor Dorado V3 can interconnect with OceanStor V5 converged storage series, helping users build cost-effective disaster recovery protection schemes and protect their investment.

DCIG evaluated 32 mainstream All-Flash Arrays (AFAs) and gave the Huawei OceanStor Dorado the Highest Recommended Ranking based on performance, management, software, hardware, virtualisation, and technical support.

ESG Lab performed hands-on testing of the Huawei OceanStor Dorado V3 all-flash storage. Their five-year TCO analysis highlights the system’s financial advantages over hybrid and firstgeneration all-flash storage systems from major vendors

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

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VENDOR FOCUS // ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES

BEYOND THE EDGE

Hozefa Saylawala, sales director, Middle East, Zebra Technologies, explains how digital transformation and IoT technologies are paving the path to new opportunities for channel partners.

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s the digital transformation wave takes over most organisations, Zebra Technologies is focusing on assisting customers to develop capabilities to collect information that is now coming back from the edge.

The company’s primary objective is to provide solutions that can help in analysing the collected information, offer analytics to help businesses make informed decisions and drive efficiencies at the edge, together with their channel partners.

Hozefa Saylawala, sales director, Middle East, Zebra Technologies,

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“Partners are grappling with identifying the areas within IoT where they need to focus, specialise and educate themselves in.”

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

says, “As digital transformation becomes a priority for businesses, customers are seeking partnerships that can adequately cater to the requirements in the IoT space. We are creating a channel landscape where our partners are able to understand digital transformation thoroughly as the market demands now revolve around this.”

He explains that the scenario today completely differs from the past where channels were trained to look at selling edge devices.

“Now partners need to be prepared with information that allows them to be valuable contributors to their

“While margins are shrinking on product lines, partners need to consider how they can bundle IoT services around products to differentiate themselves and improve their overall profitability.”

customers’ digital transformation journeys.”

Working towards this goal, Zebra Technologies constantly evaluates its channel programme to ensure partners are incentivised and encouraged to understand digital transformation requirements in its entirety. One of the tools that enables the digital transformation journey is its proprietary platform – Savanna, through which customers can build applications and services that allow the flow of information to return to the platform from edge devices.

“This platform boasts the capability of machine learning and is armed with analytical tools in order to produce data,” he adds. “Our goal is to aid partners to gain new capabilities such as understanding the Savanna platform, grasping how analytics work and ensuring they comprehend how data flow and processes are working.”

Saylawala says that the firm’s channel programme is constantly evolving to be able to incorporate these learning processes and

train channel partners to drive these efficiencies.

Partners are currently struggling with the understanding of IoT, according to Saylawala.

“Partners are grappling with identifying the areas within IoT where they need to focus, specialise and educate themselves in. I believe we need to do a lot more work in terms of educating the channel on how to liberate the IoT systems that are available today in order to then produce the right level of analytical data back to their customers.”

The advent of IoT also opens doors to huge opportunities for partners to start looking at bundling services in order to drive their profitability.

He says, “While margins are shrinking on product lines, partners need to consider how they can bundle IoT services around products to differentiate themselves and improve their overall profitability.

“This is what we are trying to achieve today. We have an IoT platform with a lot of skewed services that we offer through a distributor through our partners. On top of these skewed services, the partners are able to then drive many services that will help with their profitability.”

As the nuances of the business gradually evolves, Zebra’s mandate for its distributors have also changed over the years. “We have a twotier channel structure in place. Our

distributors in the past were looking at fulfillment kind of products. Today through the same distributors, we are also making several of our services available. They then play a critical role in terms of educating our channel partners and helping them make the transition from being product-oriented organisations to more of IoT service provider organisations.”

Over the course of 2019, we will see the company continuing its efforts in educating and enabling partners to ride the digital transformation wave.

“Also, we will be looking to add new partners with specific experience and expertise to deliver IoT offerings in the marketplace.”

With plans to expand its business in the coming year, he reiterates, “We are no longer just looking at edge devices, we are focusing on digital transformation. We are looking to expand into the market to cover IoTbased services. The growth is going to be significant for us.”

He urges partners to look at the new digital transformation landscape and equip themselves so that they can be trusted advisors to their customers.

“Our advice to our partners is keep looking at the steps that Zebra is taking in this digital transformation journey and we want our partners to be on board with us so that they can be a relevant player to their customers as they look at making investments in IoT.”

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

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www.zyxel.com/me/en/

VENDOR FOCUS // RUCKUS NETWORKS

TURN ON THE WI-FI Speaking to tech correspondent Daniel Bardsley, Ruckus Networks’ director for regional sales in the Middle East Muetassem Raslan emphasises how hotels cannot succeed without a strong Wi-Fi connection.

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urn the clock back a couple of decades, and the biggest preoccupation of hotel guests might have been the décor or what the breakfast was like.

Today, though, there is one thing that hotels absolutely have to get right if they are to succeed: the Wi-Fi. In a world where connectedness is such an integral part of our daily personal and business lives, a poor Wi-Fi offering is a surefire way for a hotel to discourage repeat business – and to damage its score on review sites.

“There are a lot of studies made that show Wi-Fi is really a key measurable of how the hotel is operating. The better the Wi-Fi, the better the returning customer satisfaction. Today, if you walk into a hotel, the first thing you do is use the Wi-Fi,” said Muetassem Raslan, director, regional sales Middle East, Ruckus Networks.

Indeed, figures quoted by Ruckus indicate that 83 percent of hotel guests who experience bad Wi-Fi will report it. The bottom line really can be affected, because, Ruckus reports, 36 percent of guests will not stay again at an establishment with

“The better the Wi-Fi, the better the returning customer satisfaction.” poor Wi-Fi. Ruckus Networks was at GITEX and showcased its specialist solutions in sectors that include the hospitality industry, where it has a particularly strong presence globally.

Ruckus has said that, through its Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi, it has a 70 percent market share of the world’s

hospitality sector and an 86 percent share of luxury properties.

“With the H series, it’s specifically designed for in-room use. Rather than just offering a Wi-Fi access point above the false ceiling, we have a small wall mount where the power sockets are. It provides a cosmetic advantage but also a technical advantage,” said Raslan.

The company has a particular “value-added proposition” tailored to the needs of different sectors, said Raslan.

Other verticals where Ruckus Networks offers specialist products include education, healthcare, retail and others.

“We have the M series for mobility where we put it in a bus or train – any moving transportation solution,” said Raslan.

Ruckus Networks provides solutions that can support as many as 1,000 devices, offering both high quality and high density.

However, the company’s portfolio extends well beyond Wi-Fi, and also includes software, cloud and a wide range of other products.

Growth is, said Raslan, running much faster than that of the market as a whole, with the company’s technology the key factor behind this.

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

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VENDOR FOCUS // SYMANTEC

PRIMED TO PERFORM

Tech correspondent Daniel Bardsley sits down with Bashar Bashaireh, Symantec’s general manager, Middle East, to find out the factors for the company’s brisk growth.

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he cybersecurity specialist Symantec is seeing “huge demand” in the region for its solutions, the company has said at the recently concluded GITEX Technology Week.

A Fortune 500 company, Symantec serves customers in a wide variety of sectors, including oil and gas, banking, telecommunications, service provision, aviation, government and much else.

Its solutions are used by companies ranging from the very small to those with hundreds of thousands of users.

“In terms of growth, there’s a huge demand for information security solutions out there in the market and we’ve been witnessing double-digit growth,” said Bashar Bashaireh, Symantec’s general manager, Middle East, adding that this was the case across the region.

Symantec promoted solutions around data protection, network protection and email security, among much else, at GITEX. “For all of these you need to have all the protections integrated, talking to each other. We provide this integrated platform and the capability to integrate with third-party products as well,” said Bashaireh.

“One of the main hot topics right now is social media. Everything is done over social media. This is a

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“In terms of growth, there’s a huge demand for information security solutions out there in the market and we’ve been witnessing double-digit growth.” challenge for the administrators and decision-makers because most of the social media traffic is encrypted, so it’s a blindspot for any administrator if they don’t have the right tools in place.

“We provide our SSL visibility appliance, which helps IT network administrators to eliminate these

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

blindspots, so it will give them visibility with encrypted traffic.”

Another high-profile issue is data protection, with banks needing to protect their customers’ account details and other personal information, and healthcare providers needing to protect patient records, to give two examples.

“We provide a DLP framework that provides data protection and data classification,” said Bashaireh.

Founded in 1982, Symantec has its headquarters in Mountain View, California, and operates several major development centres in India.

Bashaireh covers more than a dozen countries, with the Middle East head office being in Dubai.

“By scale of the economy, the two biggest markets are the UAE and Saudi Arabia, but we see an awareness of the importance of have the right security products deployed across all countries,” he said.

“The threats are common.

Everybody is trying to adopt the cloud, everyone is adopting mobility to increase the performance of the organisation. The threat vectors are the same, but the volume of the projects might be different.”

In the UAE projects tend to be scoped, procured and implemented faster than in some other economies, Bashaireh said, thanks to the country’s “very dynamic” economy.

SPONSORED Enterprise

Systems

erprise Systems

ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS IS LEADING THE STORAGE DISTRIBUTION WITH HUAWEI’S ALL FLASH STORAGE

The market is gaining momentum in different solutions such as the rapidly developing IoT (Internet of Things), Cloud platform and Artificial Intelligence technologies.

Huawei is driving the industry digital transformation and innovation where the solutions are deployed across various Industries and platforms.

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ver growing demands in the enterprise market has led to breakthrough achievements in R&D, expanding cooperation with partners between industries and driving the need to create a better integrated connection.

Enterprise Systems as a Value-Added Distributor works closely with Huawei to address the changing market patterns and needs. Identifying the key products being purchased every quarter and predicting the forecasted growth in sales.

As the longest UAE Value-add Distributor for Huawei enterprise products, Enterprise Systems has gained many valuable partners over the years and in return prestigious end users. With the feedback and support of these partners along with Huawei, Enterprise Systems has been gearing its customers towards preparing their client base to invest industry enabling platforms to drive the digital transformation of Artificial Intelligence.

With the vast growth in data and ever-growing demands on performance, organizations in the enterprise-class

storage market look to all-flash storage solution. Gartner predicts more than 50% of traditional disk storage will be substituted by all-flash storages in datacenters by 2020. There is a steady annual growth where the all-flash storage would reach nearly $9.5B USD by 2020.

Huawei’s all-flash storage adheres to All Flash, All Cloud and AI intelligence strategy, delivering astoundingly fast performance and strong solid stability to its customers. Using all-flash storage has more benefits than traditional storage systems such as reduced space, lesser energy consumptions, maintenance and even procurement costs are slashed.

With 10 to 100 times faster response and processing power than traditional HDDs, the user experiences are significantly improved, and more work carried out in a shorter time.

For example, the finance industry can benefit from processing more online transactions in quicker time frame by using all-flash storage. Low latency and higher performance are assured by using all-flash storage, supporting

“With the vast growth in data and ever-growing demands on performance, organizations in the enterpriseclass storage market look to all-flash storage solution.”

new business development making it commercially quite viable and competitive.

Enterprise Systems is holding regular focused training, within its inhouse training center, to help educate our partners to bring AI solutions to their end users. Enterprise Systems is also holding industry round-table events to discuss and share the market experiences, strategies to support the move towards Artificial Intelligence platform. The round table events also bring up the security and pain points of end user experience and allows the eco community to empathy and understanding to manage the strategy to address such concerns.

Enterprise systems is committed to bring digital transformation to its client base for a full connected, intelligent world. No matter how big or small the value of business is, every single client is treated with respect and quality they deserve. With honest and transparent approach as well as dedication from a culturally diverse team, Enterprise Systems continues its successful growth thanks to its partners.

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

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VENDOR FOCUS // AVAYA

VANTAGE POINT

Ard Verboon, senior director product management, Avaya, elaborates on the firm’s devices strategy and how it is innovating in the open SIP space.

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s today’s workforce increasingly leverages digital tools to expedite tasks and enhance efficiencies, enterprises are on the lookout for UnifiedCommunications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) providers who can offer innovative devices to increase productivity.

In line with the evolving market trends, Avaya has recently introduced its Desktop Experience open SIP offerings with the promise of enabling UCaaS providers to deliver a more value-added experience. With the new smart devices, the company aims to give users the ability to personalise their communications and a one-touch access to cloud-based applications, going beyond providing a phone with just voice call features.

In an exclusive event, the firm’s senior director product management Ard Verboon met up with top partners to share insights on its new offerings and how they can scale their businesses in the transforming business environment.

Speaking exclusively to TahawulTech.com, he said, “The primary way we want to scale our operations is through our strong partner ecosystem. We are sharing our new innovations with our partners and explaining how they can best position them to drive maximum revenues. We are also listening to their feedback on whether the value propositions we have created works for them or not.”

When it comes to the company’s devices strategy, Verboon emphasised that Avaya is not a hardware company and will never be one. However, he points out that

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“Having been in the tech industry my whole career, I’ve learned the power of innovation. At the end of the day, innovation is your only way out.” good software needs good hardware.

“If you have both aspects then you can drive good services business,” he added. “Also, the coolest cloud software will still need to interface with a human being. There are a multiple number of ways you can do this such as using standard IT equipment, laptops, iPads or cellphones. There exists a huge space for dedicated hardware solutions where you bring that human interface to the next level and add more value to the way people use

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

your cloud software.”

While Avaya has competitors, who might have great cloud software but lack in their own endpoint or vice versa, Verboon said that it is one of the few companies that has strong capabilities in both aspects “We believe that Avaya on Avaya deployment can provide better integrated and more effective solutions – this is our promise to the market.”

According to Verboon, there are huge opportunities in the Open SIP open code control solutions market, which are creating a paradigm shift. Avaya is aiming to enable partners to take advantage of these opportunities.

“Our objectives include becoming a more customer-centric company and living up to this promise of becoming more open, and we deliver on that in multiple ways such as an open API culture and our innovations with open SIP,” he said. “We look at effectively tripling the addressable market for our partners.”

The firm’s Desktop Experience expanded portfolio now comprise additional Avaya Vantage devices, conferencing devices, and the complete J100 Series IP Phone portfolio as well as new devices for hospitality, wireless handsets and headsets.

“Having been in the tech industry my whole career, I’ve learned the power of innovation. At the end of the day, innovation is your only way forward. That’s why we have decided to embark on the whole Vantage product family, knowing that it might not make you rich in year, but it will be your volume base five years down the road,” said Verboon.

INTERVIEW // BULWARK

Carving a niche

Value-added distributor Bulwark’s MD Jose Thomas Menacherry on how specialised security skills will enable channel partners to grow profitably in the new year.

Can you elaborate on Bulwark’s business objectives for 2019?

It is our constant endeavour to support the customers in the region to secure their IT assets and data, in the most effective manner from the ever-changing security threats coming up regularly.

In order to achieve this, we engage our team of security experts and trained resources to scan through the security space and bring in products and solution from wellknown overseas vendors, developing proper expertise around that. Being a value-added distributor, we work with our trusted channel partners enabling them with regular training for extending our offering and services to end customers in the region. These activities help to identify and position the right solutions to customers addressing their security concerns.

In the highly competitive IT security distribution market, we are focused on the introduction of niche security technologies, which addresses customer pain areas and provides a complete end-to-end solution to their constantly growing and evolving security requirements.

Can you elaborate on the trends that partners should focus on in the new year?

The customers in the Middle East region are currently witnessing an increase in the number of cyber threats and attacks happening globally. CISOs, security heads and business owners are very much concerned about the security of their information and taking adequate

measures by implementing relevant solutions. Even SMB customers have started investing into security solutions to safeguard their infrastructure and business. With a plethora of technologies and solutions in the market place, guiding customers and partners to the optimal solution that would be best suited to their environment and addressing their concerns, are some of the biggest challenges today.

Channel partners should specialise themselves in terms of skills and high level of competencies in specific technologies for them to stand out and compete with established players in the market. This will also enable them to stay profitable in a dynamic market scenario in the new year.

Can you explain how Bulwark aims to address the requirements in the current regional cybersecurity market?

Our product portfolio enables us to offer our partners complete solutions that fulfill customers’ compliance and security requirements. As a value-added distributor, we work as an extended arm of our vendors. We have a team of experts offering value-added services for the solutions from our vendors to partners and customers. We provide training and channel enablement sessions for our partners and provide them with marketing support through demand generation and various marketing campaigns.

Bulwark, being a VAD in the region since 1999, has been identifying and bringing suitable products and solutions

with latest technologies to meet such security challenges. We have signed up distribution partnerships with vendors to provide solutions in the areas of EndPoint DLP, SOC Automation, Encryption Key Management Solution, Cyber Security Training and Simulation, Anti Malware, DDoS, WAF, SCADA Security and so on. We have been empowering our channel community, which has significantly contributed to our growth and development as a value-added distributor in the region, for all the products.

Could you briefly discuss recent and new vendor partnerships?

Bulwark has announced several key partnerships in the recent past. In order to address some of the major cybersecurity concerns and threats customers are facing in the region, we have signed up with vendors such as Utimaco for hardware security modules; Ekran System for user behaviour and insider threat prevention; Cyberbit for SOC automation, training and simulation as well as Endpoint Protector by CoSoSys for Data Loss Prevention.

What is your message for your partners and customers in the region?

Our message to partners is to stay focused in the area of their expertise.

This will optimise their investments, yield ROI and better profitability. With their continued trust and support in us, we should work together to address regional customers’ cybersecurity requirements.

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

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REVIEW

OPPO: F9

RATING

Power, price and pretty looks – Adelle Geronimo tries out Oppo’s latest smartphone and shares why these three elements make F9 a good buy.

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ppo F9 Pro is the latest smartphone that falls under the company’s selfie-centric F-series

lineup.

The smartphone isn’t quite as exciting on the spec sheet. However, it does have a lot of notable design elements that will make you do a double take and wonder if it really is a mid-range device rather than a premium one.

Among the eye-catching aesthetic aspects of the F9 is its gradient colour scheme – it comes in Sunrise Red, Twilight Blue and Starry Purple. We got a chance to review the Twilight Blue model, which has a unique diamond pattern on the back with colours that fade from black to blue. It has a glossy texture which makes keeping the device smudge-free a bit of a challenge. But thankfully Oppo ships with a transparent phone case in the box.

Another noteworthy design accent the F9 has is the waterdrop notch, which is located on top of the full HD+ 6.3-inch LCD and cleverly houses a front camera, proximity sensor and hides the speaker grille just above it. Meanwhile, the screen is made of Corning Gorilla Glass 6 and displays sharp colours and is bright enough to see in direct sunlight.

At the bottom, you’ll find the 3.5mm headphone jack, and a microUSB charging port. It is a bit disappointing that it’s not

USB-C instead, but for a mid-range phone, this is not surprising.

As part of Oppo’s selfie-centric smartphone family, the cameras are key ingredients for the F9. The device sports a 16MP primary shooter with f/1.8 aperture and a secondary 2MP sensor for depth and portrait mode effects. It comes with the usual camera features such as time-lapse, slowmotion video, stickers, AI beauty mode, and Google Lens integration. The main camera’s performance is fairly good and at par with most of the mid-range

smartphones. The LED flash, as well as the fingerprint sensor, can be found at the rear of the device along with the dual-camera setup.

If you’re a fan of taking selfies, the F9’s 25MP front camera won’t disappoint. It captures detailed selfies even with the AI-enabled beauty feature turned off.

The Oppo F9 is powered by a MediaTek Helio P60 processor and either 4GB or 6GB of RAM. It sports a 64GB internal storage, which is further expandable up to 256GB using a microSD card. Most of the time the device performed fluidly. It swiftly launched applications and navigating through the interface, browsing the web, and other typical smartphone activities were smooth. It runs Android 8.1 Oreo and Oppo’s proprietary ColorOS. The UI makes the device feel fresh – especially if you’ve never used an Oppo device before. Bloatware is thankfully kept to a minimum.

The device packs a 3,500mAh battery under the hood, which easily lasts a full day. The handset supports VOOC Flash Charge, which is the company’s proprietary fast-charging technology. VOOC can charge the device up to 50 percent in just over 30 minutes, which is impressive. However, this also means that you need to have the cable and adapter on hand if you want to benefit from this fast charging tech.

Overall, the Oppo F9 offers plenty of modern smartphone features at an affordable price of AED 1249. If you’re looking for something trendy that supports fundamental mobile tasks, the F9 could be a good option for you.

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

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HOT PRODUCTS

HP INTRODUCES NEW HEALTHCARE DEVICES

HP has introduced its Healthcare Edition portfolio, the HP Healthcare Edition HC271, HC241, HC271p, and HC241p Clinical Review Displays, which are optimised for patient rooms, nurses’ stations, medical carts, and other healthcare settings.

According to HP, the new clinical review displays are built for easy, repeatable sanitization after every patient engagement, and EN/IEC 60601-1-2 compliant for safe use near patients and medical monitoring equipment.

The HP Healthcare Edition HC271 and HC241 displays are DICOM Part 14-compliant displays. They help ensure accurate, consistent image viewing between healthcare professionals and for patient consultations and image verification with a Quad HD 27-inch or WUXGA 24-inch diagonal display.

The HP Healthcare Edition HC271p and HC241p displays protect confidential data with an integrated privacy filter. Deter visual hacks by ensuring the user is the only one with a direct view of their screen.

The HP Healthcare Edition HC271, HC241, HC271p, and HC241p Clinical Review Displays will be available in EMEA in December 2018.

HP is working with Cerner to co-develop a smarter and secured solution to improve efficiency, accuracy and provider satisfaction. The new solution will allow care providers to work and print from anywhere.

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NOKIA 3.1 PLUS NOW AVAILABLE IN THE UAE HMD Global has announced the Nokia 3.1 Plus, which the firm dubbed as the most affordable Nokia smartphone with a dual-camera and is the latest device to join the Android One family, delivering the best of Google with monthly security patches.

The Nokia 3.1 has 6-inch HD+ display and 18:9 aspect ratio. It has 3500mAh battery that lasts two days between charges.

The device has a 13MP Phase Detection Auto Focus main camera. The rear camera also includes a 5MP sensor for rear depth sensing imaging to let users take professional studio style

shots with selectable bokeh blur and allow them to adjust blur even after the image has been taken. On the front it has an 8MP camera to make your selfies stand out. The device’s camera is also equipped with AI technology powered by the octa-core chipset.

It packs a MediaTek Helio P22 octa-core processor for of high performance and power efficiency. The Nokia 8.1 has been designed with a CNC-machined rear aluminium cover, which was combined with a die-cast metal structure. It has a matte and tactile finish with diamond cut detailing and curved 2.5D glass.

Nokia 3.1 Plus ships

with Android Oreo preloaded, enabling users to enjoy the latest features, including Google Lens, picture-in-picture for multitasking and Google Play. The Nokia 3.1 Plus comes in Blue, White or Baltic, and is available in the UAE at AED 499 (2GB/16GB) and AED599 (3GB/32GB).

SAMSUNG DEBUTS “WORLDS-FIRST” QUAD CAMERA SMARTPHONE Samsung Gulf Electronics has unveiled the latest Galaxy family, the Galaxy A9.

According to the company, the smartphone was built for those who love to explore, capture the moment and share it as they see it.

The company noted that the A9 has the “world’s first rear quad camera,” allowing users to capture dynamic and beautiful photos effortlessly.

The smartphone’s shooters have been enabled with 2x Optical Zoom for incredible and detailed close-up shots even from a distance.

It sports Ultra-Wide Lens and allows users

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

to capture images like a pro with the Scene Optimizer. In Addition, it has an AI Scene Recognition making the device smarter.

The Galaxy A9’s Depth Lens feature gives users the freedom to manually manage the photos’ depth of field and focus on the subject for professional looking images. With the smartphone’s 24MP main lens, users can capture clear and bright images in both bright and low light conditions.

Furthermore, it sports a 3,800mAh battery for long-lasting performance. It comes with 128GB storage and up to 512GB of expandable memory.

Designed to make life more convenient, the Galaxy A9 features Bixby, Samsung Pay and Samsung Health.

Galaxy A9, 128 GB, is available at Caviar Black, Lemonade Blue and Bubblegum Pink at AED 2,149 across all major retailers and Samsung Brand Stores in the UAE.

HOT PRODUCTS

XTOUCH ANNOUNCES XBONE HEADPHONES XTOUCH has announced the launch of XBone Bluetooth bone conduction headphones.

XBone decodes soundwaves in high fidelity and stereo quality sound through cheekbones.

According to XTOUCH, the device is featherweight yet durable. It has a memory wire design and provides a snug fit. It is also IP65 certified making it sweat and water resistant.

Priced at only AED 299, it is specially designed for sports enthusiasts, gamers and music lovers.

At just 30 gm, the lightweight XBone is made of titanium nickel alloy and can be bent 15,000 times without damaging the device. It’s double suspension vibration system with suspension damping technology allows for quality stereo music. Equipped with CVC 6.0 noise reduction technology along with Bluetooth and NFC, XBone delivers a high-quality call experience and enables effortless connectivity.

SONY TAKES NOISE CANCELLATION TECHNOLOGY TO THE NEXT LEVEL Sony Middle East and Africa has launched its WH1000XM3 headphones, the newest addition to the Sony 1000X family, in the UAE. It has an Atmospheric Pressure Optimising feature, which allows the noise cancelling performance to adapt specifically to high altitude by using sensors that detect the air pressure and optimise noise cancellation accordingly.

The headphones are also equipped with highresolution audio with a 40mm driver unit with a Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) diaphragm that handles

heavy beats and can reproduce a full range of frequencies up to 40kHz. Besides offering 30 hours of battery life with Noise Cancelling and Bluetooth connection, the 1000XM3 headphones have an upgraded Quick Charging function that provides five hours of wireless playback after a mere ten minutes of charging via a contemporary USB type-C port.

Voice calls are also made clearer, with the introduction of multiple microphones, ideal for hands-free conversations.

The WH-1000XM3 is available now in the UAE at C4, Virgin Megastore, Jumbo, Sony Boutique, Emax and Sharaf DG for a price of AED 1,499 and at Dubai Duty Free at 1,299.

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

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HOT PRODUCTS

OPTOMA UNVEILS NEXT-GENERATION OF WIRELESS EARPHONES

HUAWEI MARKS NEW ERA OF SMARTWATCH ENDURANCE

Huawei, as part of its endeavour to set a new benchmark in tech wearables, has launched the new Huawei Watch GT by introducing the concept of GT into the DNA of its smartwatches.

Inspired by Gran Turismo (GT), which is synonymous with high-performance sports cars and translates as a long-distance journey, Huawei has enhanced the battery life and the endurance of its latest smartwatch.

Huwei Watch GT, according to the company, supports two-week ultra-long use with low-power consumption. The device sports powerful functions and specifications into a compact 10.6mm body.

The new Huawei Watch GT features 1.39-inch AMOLED HD touch colour screen for enhanced resolution. It has a dual-engine architecture for reduced power consumption; more accurate GPS positioning; smarter heartrate monitoring; multiple exercise modes; scientific training system; and enhanced professional daily monitoring.

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Optoma has announced the launch of NuForce BE6i wireless Bluetooth earphones.

The new BE Live5 wireless in-ear headphones offer the same high-quality audio performance combined with a smaller, lighter form-factor for a snug and secure fit. The new model is also IPX5 certified making them durable and ensuring protection from rain and

sweat.

Fully crafted from solid metal, the BE Live5 are tough and lightweight. Able to connect to multiple devices, the devices are Bluetooth-enabled offering both aptX and AAC compatibility to deliver crystal-clear sound at any volume.

The BE Live5 offers a battery life of up to eight hours. Like the BE6i, they have magnets on

the backs of the buds for securing them together when not in use.

To get the fit absolutely perfect, a wrap-around neckband, clip, and multiple sets ear tips and wings are included with the earphones. The ear wings fit snugly into the upper crease of the ear for added security, particularly useful for runners and when using these in the gym.

D-LINK TOUTS FASTER CONNECTIVITY WITH TRI-BAND COVR-2202 D-Link has launched its latest Covr Seamless WI-Fi Mesh System, the Tri-Band Covr-2202.

The Tri-Band Whole Home Wi-Fi System (COVR2202) is seamless solution that blankets every inch of the home with ultra-fast AC2200 Wi-Fi. The device offers tri-band connectivity promising more coverage with one seamless network. The COVR-2202 delivers faster downloads and lag-free 4K streaming

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

and comes with highpower amplifiers to cover up to 6,000 sq. ft. with ultra-high-speed Wi-Fi. Covr-2202 has been designed with a dedicated 5 GHz smart backhaul connection to communicate between Covr Points. This increases network efficiency and ensures that connected devices are always experiencing the best possible performance when connecting to the Covr Points.

HOT PRODUCTS

MICROSOFT’S “HYPER-PORTABLE, ULTRA-AFFORDABLE” HYBRID DEVICE NOW IN THE UAE Microsoft has announced the general availability of the Surface Go – the smallest, lightest, most affordable Surface device to date – in the UAE. Weighing only 1.15 pounds and carrying a vibrant 10-inch display, the Surface Go delivers the versatility and portability of a tablet together with the performance of a laptop, all in a single, compact device.

According to Microsoft, the device empowers people to stay connected, pursue their passions and tackle their side projects, without compromising on the performance or quality they have come to expect from the award-winning Surface family.

The Surface Go is a new entry point for users – a productivity powerhouse, driven by the might of a 7th-generation Intel Pentium Gold Processor 4415Y, in a fan-less design, and capable of delivering up to nine hours of battery life.

The custom-built, high-resolution PixelSense display supports Surface Pen, with 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity,

low pen parallax, low latency, and all the precision needed for the greatest of accuracy in note-taking, drawing and computer-aided design.

Surface Go also comes with all the ports needed for a user on the go, including Surface Connect for charging and docking; USB-C 3.1 for data and charging a headphone jack;

and a MicroSD card reader for storage expansion – all designed for maximum productivity, whether studying in a library, working on a plane, or sharing content in a boardroom on a 4K monitor.

The Microsoft Surface Go is available now from all major retail outlets and commercial partners in the UAE, starting at AED 1,699.

HP INTRODUCES NEW PC LINEUP FOR SMBS

HP has launched a new lineup of HP ProBook 400 series PCs that have been designed to meet the growing needs of SMBs and include additional security and connectivity features for business users.

The devices in the series are aimed at the modern workforce and are intended to help keep professionals productive both in the office and on the go, according to HP. The new ProBook 430 G6, ProBook 440 G6, and ProBook 450 G6 offer ultra-slim design with a precision-

crafted look. HP’s new business-focused PCs adopt the design concept found across HP’s commercial mainstream and premium PCs, such as an ultra-slim chassis with crisp lines, clean edges and a professional looking natural silver finish.

According to HP, the ProBook PCs come with a range of security features including the HP BIOSphere Gen4 firmware ecosystem that automates the BIOS protection and enables easy manageability. They are built with connectivity options that can be tailored to user needs such as support for the

latest global 4G LTE wireless broadband technology.

The ProBook series PCS are available with the latest optional 8th Gen quad-core Intel Core processor, optional NVIDIA GeForce discrete graphics, and a long battery life. With the Fast Charge feature, users can quickly recharge up to 50 percent battery life in just 30 minutes, according to HP. The HP ProBook 400 G6 series PCs will be available in EMEA in December 2018.

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

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

Adelle Geronimo, Online Editor, Technology Division

Flying high

T

he cloud has undeniably become one of the most overhyped technologies in decades and rightly so.

Analyst firm Gartner predicts that the cloud market is projected to reach a staggering $206 billion in 2019, from $175 billion in 2018.

Cloud computing technology entirely relies on the virtualisations of hardware and software and its service-oriented architecture delivers a number of value-added services. Whether it’s on backing up, storing and recovering data; developing apps and services; hosting blogs and websites; delivering software on demand; streaming video and audio; or analysing data, cloud

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computing’s “as-a-service” offerings have transformed business models.

It enabled organisations, small or big, to achieve business agility, scalability, efficiencies and cost-savings.

As businesses continue to enjoy its tangible benefits, cloud computing technologies will only continue to grow in prevalence in the IT and business landscapes in the coming year.

In fact, in Saudi Arabia, a majority of organisations are expected to increase their spending on the technology in 2019. Dubbing it the year of the “cloudfirst approach,” SAP said the industry will reach a “tipping point” and further drive cloud-based digital transformation journeys in the Kingdom.

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

However, there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to cloud. That’s why the industry players such as VMware, AWS and IBM believe that solutions will shift more toward hybrid innovations. This model offers organisations the flexibility to harness the benefits offered by both public and private environments.

Moreover, it is also paramount for cloud infrastructures to be complemented with proper security and backup solutions to keep data safe.

In the coming year, organisations need to focus on quickly adopting cloud technologies and adapting to hybrid environments to ensure that they achieve business objectives amid the ever-demanding landscape.