Reseller Middle East January 2019 by Reseller Middle East

HOW A KEY KEY CHALLENGE CHALLENGE HOW TO TO TACKLE TACKLE A OF AND RESPONSE RESPONSE OF THREAT THREAT DETECTION DETECTION AND

VISIBILITY:

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WHAT YOU NEED: WHAT

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THREAT THREAT INTELLIGENCE INTELLIGENCE

BUSINESS BUSINESS CONTEXT CONTEXTFOR FOR THREATS THREATS

NEED, WITH YOU NEED, VISIBILITY YOU THREAT VISIBILITY THE THREAT GET THE PLATFORM ® PLATFORM NETWITNESS ® RSA NETWITNESS WITH RSA GET Zero-Day Threats.Gatepoint of Zero-Day Age of the Age in the Strategies in Security Strategies Information Security Source: Information 2017 April2017 RSA,April byRSA, commissionedby PulseReport commissioned Research PulseReport Threats.Gatepoint Research Source: For more information, please write to sales.value@redingtonmea.com For more information, please write to sales.value@redingtonmea.com

CONTENTS

STRATEGIC VAD PARTNER

ISSUE 264 // JANUARY 2019

REACH FOR THE STARS

Billion-dirham distributor StarLink’s MD Nidal Othman and GM Mahmoud Nimer disclose the secret to its successful and growing operations for over a decade and share strategies for the new year.

HIGHLIGHTS

REVIEW

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

OPINION

16 “THE WAR ON TALENT WILL CONTINUE”

SAMSUNG GALAXY WATCH SERIES 4

Riverbed’s Giovanni Di Filippo shares predictions most likely to dominate regional channel business.

18 DISPELLING AI MYTHS

Matthieu Brignone from Pure Storage, explains how channel partners can play a role in dismissing AI-related misconceptions.

FEATURES

26 OUTLOOK 2019

Discover which technologies and trends partners need to watch out for in 2019.

TAKING STOCK

Learn how advanced logistics can transform customer experiences.

EVENTS

36 HOT 50 AWARDS: HAILING CHANNEL

SUCCESS

Reseller Middle East and TahawulTech.com recognise leading IT firms for excellence in the channel business.

HOT PRODUCTS

SONY UNVEILS WATERPROOF AND WIRELESS WF-SP900 HEADPHONES

VENDOR FOCUS

40 AVAYA’S CHANNEL STRATEGY

At Avaya Partner Summit, the vendor announces updates on cloud, new technology innovations, and its partner programme, Edge.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

EDITORIAL FOUNDER, CPI MEDIA GROUP Dominic De Sousa (1959-2015) Publishing Director Natasha Pendleton natasha.pendleton@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9139 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 Designer Marlou Delaben marlou.delaben@cpimediagroup.com

New year, new goals At the beginning of a new year, some of us decide to keep resolutions with honest intentions to see it through. However, according to experts, only about 12 percent of us end up being successful in achieving our set goals. Why do we fail? This is because often the goal is too ambitious, or the required change is too big. Or we view it as a chore and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enjoy the process of achieving it. While it is much simpler to not have any resolutions at all, it does help direct our actions to a purpose that can bring about personal development. Partners looking to create goals this year need to ensure the changes they bring into their business are slow and steady, attainable within the set time frame, well-planned and measurable. Most channel stakeholders in the region are optimistic about the future. They believe 2019 will be far better than the previous three years. One of the main reasons instilling confidence in the industry is the upcoming Expo 2020. Technology will be the key foundation for the increasing number of new businesses

entering the region, extending the sphere of opportunities for the partner community. However, in all probability, only those players who have reinvented themselves for the digital age and done the groundwork today, will have the means to tap into these prospects. If the economic conditions in the neighbouring regions continue to improve, it will have a positive impact on the channel business over the next few years. Channel players need to adopt a stricter financial discipline, embrace new technologies, better manage inventories and profit margins to be able to take advantage of all the opportunities that 2019 has in store.

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 Published by

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

Registered at Dubai Production City, DCCA PO Box 13700 Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 4 440 9100 Fax: +971 4 447 2409 ÂŠ 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.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

HIGHLIGHTS

INFOVISTA SIGNS UP WESTCON-COMSTOR TO STRENGTHEN GLOBAL CHANNEL PRESENCE

SPIRE SOLUTIONS BOOSTS SECURITY OFFERINGS WITH CYBERSPONSE

nfovista, a player in modern network performance, has announced a global partnership with value-added distributor Westcon-Comstor to strengthen and scale its global channel presence. With this announcement, Infovista completes its global roll-out of a two-tier enterprise go-to-market channel strategy. Through the partnership, the distributor is expected to introduce Infovista Ipanema to new partners and service providers throughout the world. According to the vendor, the arrangement provides its valued channel partners greater access to the company’s application-aware SD-WAN solutions as well as to a wealth of additional resources to enable the enterprise sales channel, including engineering support, product training, license fulfilment, improved ordering and onboarding processes. Last month, Infovista announced that its new enterprise go-to-market channel strategy for Infovista Ipanema is “all indirect, all the time,” as well as introduced industry veteran Jon Howes as senior vice president, global channel sales. The agreement with Westcon-Comstor underscores that commitment to the channel. David Grant, chief operating officer, Westcon-Comstor, said, “The Infovista Ipanema SD-WAN solution is the ideal addition to Westcon-Comstor’s dynamic vendor portfolio.

D STEVE LOCKIE WESTCON-COMSTOR

As enterprises increasingly require capabilities to manage network performance, Infovista has emerged as a leader in the SD-WAN space, a technology segment where we see significant growth in products and services which provides opportunity for our channel partners of all profiles. We’re pleased to be supporting the company’s strategy to diversify and scale its channel presence globally.” “We are excited about the addition of Infovista to our vendor portfolio and are looking at following a strategic approach in taking their solution to our resellers,” said Steve Lockie, managing director, Westcon-Comstor ME. “As Westcon, we are focused to add value to Infovista’s business by helping them deliver a targeted approach for reaching markets and industry segments that they haven’t explored yet.”

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

isruptive distributor Spire Solutions has partnered with CyberSponse to enable organisations in the Middle East to adopt a holistic automation and orchestration platform to protect their most valuable assets, drive operational efficiencies and evolve against cyber threats through the integration of people, processes, and technology components of a security operations center. “Being the first and only patented platform to combine security orchestration, incident management and interactive investigation tools gives CyberSponse a competitive edge over other SOAR technologies. Our consistent efforts to focus on helping customers in region will only be strengthened by this partnership,” said Avinash Advani, CEO, Spire Solutions. In its Innovation Insight for Security Orchestration, Automation and Response report published in November last year, Gartner forecasts that by the end of 2020, 15 percent of organisations with a security team larger than five people will use SOAR tools, up from an estimated one percent in 2017. Leading that charge into SOAR adoption, CyberSponse was recently named The Leader in SOAR “Technology Excellence” in Quadrant Report’s Market Outlook: Security Automation and Orchestration (SAO) Platforms, 2018-2023, Worldwide. “Security automation around orchestrated incident response will be a new standard for organizations in the coming years. We believe that security automation technology, when done right, can revolutionize an enterprise’s cybersecurity posture. The potential in the Middle East market is huge and we are excited to strategically join hands with Spire Solutions, the preferred security partner in the region to firmly establish our presence and accelerate our growth,” said Larry Johnson, CEO, CyberSponse.

HIGHLIGHTS

NIKSUN SIGNS SCOPE MIDDLE EAST AS MEA VAD

AE-based regional value-added distributor SCOPE Middle East has announced its partnership with Niksun, a company that develops network security and performance solutions. Focused on government and intelligence agencies, service providers, financial services companies, and large enterprises such as retailers and manufacturers, Niksun’s products and solutions provide a comprehensive cyber defence against malware, breaches and attacks.Under the agreement, the value-added distributor will deliver Niksun’s real-time and forensics-based cybersecurity and network performance management offerings to organisations in the Middle East and Africa. In addition, SCOPE ME will also provide enablement training and workshop on the vendor’s technolo-

gies and act as a first contact and deliver tier-1 support to its channel community and customer base.Fadi Abu Eqab, CEO, SCOPE ME, said, “We are happy to sign on NIKSUN, which is a world leader in security analytics forensics and network performance monitoring. Our focus is to bring NIKSUN’s cost-effective solutions to our highly-skilled reseller

base and support their own customer development initiatives including pre-sales to post-sales support, market development and training. We are sure that with our established channel base as well as providing additional support to partners and end users will enable NIKSUN to expand its reach in the region at a fast pace.”

NIT INKS DISTRIBUTION DEAL WITH IDIS FOR MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

IT, an Ingram Micro Company, has announced signing a distribution agreement with IDIS, a manufacturer of security and surveillance technology in South Korea and a globally recognised player in advanced surveillance innovation. With this agreement, IDIS’s full range of surveillance solutions will now be available across the Middle East and Africa through NIT. It includes the IDIS’s line-up of powerful IP cameras and NVRs, as well as a choice of video management software (VMS) including the totally cost-free IDIS Center and the awardwinning IDIS Solution Suite that is both modular and scalable in design, making it suitable for multi-site deployments and large enterpriselevel applications. “Our new alliance with IDIS provides significant opportunities for

BASSEL AL FAKIR, NIT, AN INGRAM MICRO COMPANY

our company to build end-to-end costeffective Surveillance solution which can suit different vertical markets,” said Bassel Al Fakir, Managing Director of NIT.

“IDIS advanced plug-and-play video technologies will open up great new profit opportunities for our resellers,” he added. IDIS DirectIP is an optimised HD surveillance solution, based on a highly secure IP framework, consisting of cameras, NVRs, network equipment, and a choice of client software as a complete package. IDIS high-quality cameras and NVRs complemented by VMS are easy to use and do not require specialised training or expert knowledge to install. “We are very pleased to have NIT an Ingram Micro Company on board. NIT are utilising their expert knowledge and extensive partner network, which greatly extends IDIS’s reach across the region and opens an essential sales channel,” said Harry Kwon, the General Manager of IDIS Middle East and North Africa.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

HIGHLIGHTS

UTIMACO PARTNERS WITH BULWARK TECHNOLOGIES TO DELIVER HSMS AND SOLUTIONS

ulwark Technologies has signed a distribution partnership with Utimaco, a global player in Hardware Security Modules (HSMs). Germany-based Utimaco has been active in the HSM market for over 35 years. The dedicated manufacturer and vendor of HSMs established its market-leading position based on highest quality products and support, a wide partner network and a strong focus on compliance, as demonstrated by a wide range of certifications, said the company. Recently, the hardware security specialist was the first to receive Common Criteria (CC) EAL4+ certification

JOSE THOMAS MENACHERRY, BULWARK TECHNOLOGIES

for its CryptoServer CP5 HSM based on the eIDAS Protection Profile EN 419 221-5. This year, Utimaco also acquired Atalla, one of the most established brand names for electronic payment HSMs, accelerating its growth trajectory into the payments market worldwide. “We are delighted

to be working with Utimaco and thereby further strengthening our comprehensive IT security portfolio,” said Jose Menacherry, managing director, Bulwark Technologies. “With its longstanding cybersecurity expertise, Utimaco enables us to provide our customers with industry-leading HSM solutions that are both easy to integrate and highly flexible.” Malte Pollmann, CEO of Utimaco, added, “This new partnership with Bulwark represents a great opportunity for both sides. Working with Bulwark brings us closer to our local customers, who can now rely on both Utimaco’s comprehensive product

family as well as the valueadded services and on-site support offered by our competent partner. This is a big chance to strengthen our footprint in the region.” Bulwark will provide Utimaco products such as SecurityServer, PaymentServer, TimestampServer, CryptoServer SDK and CryptoServer CP5. Both customers and value-added resellers can perform evaluation and integration testing with Utimaco’s free HSM simulator. It works without any installations of hardware and comes with 100 percent functional runtime, available for both Windows and Linux systems. It is available for download free of charge.

STARLINK PARTNER HIGHLIGHTS CYBER PROTECTION IN SAUDI ARABIA

cronis has hosted its partners and customers at the Saudia Ad Diriyah E-Prix held recently in Riyadh. As the first Formula E race held in Saudi Arabia, the e-prix was a chance to showcase Saudi culture and traditions for the thousands of attendees. For Acronis, it was also an opportunity to showcase the use of its cyber protection technology in motorsport, particularly by its partner NIO Formula E Team, which competed in today’s race. Gérry Hughes, team principal, NIO Formula E Team, said, “We are entering into a new

technical arena, which will open up new mechanisms of data analysis and predicative capability in the often-turbulent world of street racing. With Acronis’ cyber protection and artificial intelligence (AI) expertise, we are ready for new projects together.” Hughes also commended Acronis for having a global network of distributors, allowing customers to receive a personalised service in many countries around the world. In Saudi Arabia, the company is represented by StarLink and Ingram Micro. Samer Jadallah, regional manager KSA & Bahrain,

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

SAMER JADALLAH, STARLINK

StarLink said, “Saudi Arabia is currently going through an ambitious economic transformation. Digitisation and AI are key elements in this process, as every part of business and personal life rely more and more on data. Acronis offers the most secure backup to protect this data, allowing

customers to manage all of their protected devices from a single console, which they love.” “NIO Formula E Team is a great example of how Acronis cyber protection technology is used in real world,” said John Zanni, president, Acronis. “We have a full product set that addresses the five vectors of cyber protection — safety, accessibility, privacy, authenticity, and security (SAPAS) — giving teams, and everybody who is using our technology, an easy way to protect all data, applications, and systems on premises or in the cloud with great flexibility.”

HIGHLIGHTS

ith an aim of increasing the adoption of security solutions in the UAE, ITQAN Al Khaleej Computers, a national-owned leading systems integrator and solutions provider, signed a platinum partnership agreement with global cybersecurity player, Forcepoint. The new deal extends access to Forcepoint’s products, including Data Loss Prevention (DLP), User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) and web/email security that can stand alone or integrate within an existing environment. In 2018, ITQAN sold Forcepoint’s solutions with the

highest levels of customer satisfaction, technical and sales certifications, sales success and verified client references, closing over 1,000,000 USD in business. Because of this, Forcepoint awarded ITQAN with the prestigious ‘Commitment and Achievement’ award. This unique accomplishment is the highest tier of recognition in the programme and is reserved for Value Solutions Partners who are best-in-class performers and highly engaged in the business, offering customers the very best support and expertise, said the company. On receiving the esteemed accolade, Walid El Saikali, VP and general manager of ITQAN, said, “ITQAN is delighted to be-

come a Forcepoint Platinum Partner as this is strategic to our company’s roadmap. Together, ITQAN and Forcepoint will deliver next-generation security solutions, which are increasingly in demand in the UAE. With our team’s capabilities, we will strive to deliver our solutions to continually meet our customer’s needs and requirements in an ever-evolving threat landscape.”

Neal Lillywhite, VP, EMEA Channel, Forcepoint, said, “We have had a positive partnership to date with ITQAN in the UAE, and their shift to Platinum partner status will further increase dividends from our joint work. We believe now is the time to invest in the kind of valuable services that will help channel partners and business customers to implement efficient technology solutions.”

BULWARK BOLSTERS DATA LOSS PREVENTION OFFERINGS IN MIDDLE EAST

ulwark Technologies has signed a distribution agreement with CoSoSys, a global provider of endpoint centric Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solutions. Under the agreement, the VAD will distribute CoSoSys products through its extensive network of channel partners to customers across the Middle East region. “Bulwark is excited to announce its distribution partnership with CoSoSys. The vendor provides technology that delivers unsurpassed performance & reliability for Data Loss Protection. Our collaboration with CoSoSys represents a strategic addition, which highly complements our

existing product portfolio, enabling our channel partners to deliver niche technology to customers in the region,’’ said Jose Thomas Menacherry, managing director, Bulwark Technologies. CoSoSys offers a rich portfolio of security products for small and medium enterprises. Its flagship product, Endpoint Protector protects Windows, macOS and Linux computers, and offers features for Content Aware Protection, Device Control, USB Enforced Encryption and eDiscovery. The DLP solution is available as hardware and virtual appliance, as well as cloud infrastructure. Roman Foeckl, CEO and

founder, CoSoSys, said, “We are looking forward to a fruitful collaboration with Bulwark, one of the leading VAD in the Middle East. Data loss prevention solutions like Endpoint Protector have become an important component of any data security strategy and Bulwark’s regional expertise along with a strong partner network will

enable businesses and end users across the region, to take full advantage of the performance benefits of our solutions, without compromising security.” Bulwark will work closely with the vendor’s sales and marketing and support teams to ensure its channel partners receive strong pre-sales, marketing, implementation and post-sales services.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

HIGHLIGHTS

SNB’S INAUGURAL AWARDS RECOGNISES TOP PARTNERS

NB Middle East, a value-added IT distributor, held its inaugural ‘SNB Premier Awards & Gala Dinner 2018’ for its esteemed channel partners on 22nd and 23rd November 2018. The event was organised in cooperation with SNB’s key vendors to thank its partners and welcome them to a new fruitful year with better bonding. The key sponsors of this event were Pelco by Schneider Electric, Tripp Lite, Digifort

and Toshiba. The glamourous event recognised and inspired partners who had flown from across the GCC to attend. The two-day event at Lapita Hotel, Dubai Parks & Resorts comprised of Premier Awards night and complimentary stay at Polynesia- themed hotel along with unlimited Dubai parks access. “It was a privilege to be part of this event wherein we were considered for the award as one of your part-

ners in Oman for contributing to the business growth,” said, Joseph Coutinho, senior manager operations, Mustafa Sultan, Oman. “With many thanks to your hospitality, we have had so much fun and it was a great pleasure to meet you all. Looking forward for more business and we shall meet in the future,” said Mokles Nassr, manager business development at Sibca, Dubai, UAE. The distributor said the Awards Gala brought

together partners, end users, consultants, system integrators, few VIPs and vendors who made the event possible by their generous support. According to the distributor, the event was a celebration of everything that has been achieved over the past 11 months. “We look forward for a promising 2019 to have bigger business and better occasions to celebrate and be thankful,” the company said.

FINESSE OPENS NEW OFFICE IN DUBAI

egional systems integrator Finesse has announced the official opening of its new office at DXB Towers, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai. “This makes a sensible choice for us as well as for our clients. Being in Downtown makes for easy and faster access for our staff and all other stakeholders,” said Sunil Paul, co-founder and COO, Finesse Global. “Majority of our clients also operate from this area, so our support services can also be quicker and efficient.” The Dubai office will serve as Finesse Global’s headquarter as well as

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

MENA sales and support centre. The company said that with “state-of-theart infrastructure” at the new facility, it aims to touch new heights and expand its reach across the globe. Ramesh Raju, co-founder and CEO, Finesse said, “Our objective is to ensure that we are available for our clients and support them with our technical and infrastructure capabilities. We are well-equipped to extend our solutions and services to our current and future client companies and envisage extending our business in Europe, UK and other regions.”

SAVE THE DATE 16-18 April 2019

2019 BICSI Middle East & Africa District Conference & Exhibition Dubai World Trade Centre Sheikh Maktoum Hall | Dubai, UAE

bicsi.org/mea2019

From AI to Zettabytes:

A Connected Future!

29th January 2019

Habtoor Grand Resort, Autograph Collection, Dubai Marina Recognise your technology leader as one of Dubai’s top 100 digital leaders CNME is now accepting nominations for its 2019 CIO 100 Awards. Is your organisation’s CIO one of Dubai’s best technology leaders or are you a CIO which has made innovative and transforming changes? If so, Nominate now! 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

Youssef Hariz Business Development Manager youssef.Hariz@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9111 / +971 56 665 8683

Sabita Miranda Senior Sales Manager sabita.miranda@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9128 / +971 50 778 2771

Nasir Bazaz Sales Manager nasir.bazaz@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9147 / +971 50 101 2027

PLATINUM PARTNER

STRATEGIC TECHNOLOGY PARTNER

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION PARTNER

DIGITAL WORKSPACE PARTNER

STRATEGIC VAD PARTNER

GOLD PARTNER

CLOUD & MANAGED SERVICES PARTNER

HOSTED BY

CYBERSECURITY PARTNER

STRATEGIC ERP PARTNER ON CLOUD AND PREMISE

ORGANISER

HIGHLIGHTS

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TECHACCESS HOSTS JOINT PARTNER ENABLEMENT SESSION WITH KEY VENDORS

echAccess, a value-added distributor in the Middle East, North Africa, LEVANT, Pakistan and Afghanistan, held a joint partner enablement session with vendors Hitachi Vantara and Veritas. The session was attended by TechAccess’ partner base for Hitachi Vantara in the UAE. The key objective was to inform and educate partners on the joint value propositions of Hitachi Vantara and Veritas, and how their combination can provide complete data management and data protection solutions to organisations across the region. In keeping with the current market

trends and the wide adoption of a cloud-based environment, the agenda also covered product specific sessions on the Hitachi Content Platform and Veritas Archiving Solution and Net Backup. “Partner enablement sessions are a crucial element in helping our partners understand and recognize opportunity to grow their business and help vendors expand their market presence,” said Dimuth Wijeratne, general manager for Hitachi Vantara, TechAccess. “The joint enablement session with Hitachi Vantara and Veritas helped emphasise the benefits of vendor collaboration and strengthens

our role in providing partners access to the best-of-breed technologies under one roof.” The half-day enablement session was followed by a two-hour team building exercise.

OKI EUROPE LAUNCHES AUGMENTED REALITY APP

KI Europe has launched its new smartphone app, the ‘OKI AR Showroom’ at VISCOM Italia. According to the firm, the innovation enables customers to visualise OKI’s devices as well as high impact visual communications materials in their own environments through the use of Augmented Reality (AR). Designed for retailers, the app is free to use and language agnostic, ensuring retailers in any country can benefit from its use. AR technology projects images onto the screen of a smartphone or tablet when the device is in camera mode. With augmented reality in the retail market projected to be worth $7951.2 million by 2023, the technology is rapidly being adopted by retailers to provide an immersive, real-time, in-store experience for consumers without them having to leave their home or workplace. OKI Europe is bringing this same immersive experience to the retailers themselves through the OKI AR Showroom. Users can visualise how

OKI’s range of High Definition Colour printers and multifunction printers combined with ad hoc state of the art software platforms, will fit within their own work environments by aiming their camera at a desk or work surface and selecting an OKI device from the screen. Retailers will also discover the breadth of point-of-sale materials that OKI’s Retail Solutions can offer – at the touch of a button – in-store. These include drop banners, posters, shelf signage, floralabels, number plates

and stickers on a huge range of media types, sizes and weights, including waterproof, magnetic and pre-cut media. Furthermore, users can view all of these applications in situ, within their own retail environment Javier López, general manager, Vertical Solutions, OKI Europe, said, “Our new AR Showroom app is another industry-first, helping businesses understand how OKI printers can print on an amazingly wide range of media types and sizes, including film, waterproof, magnetic and pre-cut media. Additionally, customers can print in large format, up to 1.3m in duplex for highly impactful hanging banners to engage customers and drive sales. The app will enable retailers to open up a world of print possibilities and understand that by bringing printing in-store they can become more creative and responsive to their visual communications needs.” Available on any iOS device, to download the app, simply visit the App Store and search for ‘OKI AR Showroom’.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

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HIGHLIGHTS

SONICWALL BOOSTS EMEA PRESENCE

onicWall has announced its record year-on-year growth in the EMEA region. Among the company’s key EMEA milestones include the opening of three new offices in Basingstoke, UK, Barcelona, Spain, and Dubai, UAE, as well as strategic new hires to drive additional regional growth. Following unprecedented EMEA growth, SonicWall said it now has a direct presence in 16 countries across the EMEA region including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. The three new office locations in Basingstoke, UK, Barcelona, Spain and Dubai, UAE provide SonicWall with improved access to local channel partners, ensuring customers’ across EMEA gain access to SonicWall’s burgeoning channel presence. The move also demonstrates SonicWall’s focus on the EMEA region, as well as the enterprise market, alongside its continuing commitment to the SMB market. The success of SonicWall’s EMEA business is in part attributable to new enterprise services announced during Q4 2018, which include zero-touch and Cloud deployment of SonicWall next generation firewalls, as well as secure SD-WAN which is now delivered alongside SonicWall’s firewall protection. Michael Berg, executive director sales EMEA, SonicWall, said, “Our boosted presence across EMEA is part of a long-term plan, and proof of our determination and commitment to strengthen SonicWall’s value proposition among our valued customers and partners within this exciting and rewarding market. “By ensuring our channel expertise is always within easy reach and that we are committed to speaking local languages, we are better placed

MICHAEL BERG, SONICWALL

to understand and respond in a valuable way to our customers’ individual cybersecurity challenges. “In July, SonicWall expanded its cooperation with the Middle Eastern and Eastern European markets after establishing direct relationships with local partners. The opening of the Dubai office this week is the next phase of our development in the Middle East and SonicWall continues to forge meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships with regional Channel partners directly.” In addition to new EMEA offices, SonicWall has invested in top talents to bolster and lead its teams. Among which is the appointment of Mario Pucciarelli who is now the strategic partner manager in SonicWall for the Middle East, enabling Telecom Operators, MSSP and main System Integrator to deliver SonicWall cybersecurity solutions to their end customers. SonicWall is forecasting double-digit growth as it continues to grow its partner base, which has increased by over 45 percent since the company divested from Dell two years ago.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

WESTCON WINS AVAYA’S TOP DISTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR ACCOLADE

estcon International has been named Avaya International Distributor of t he Year for 2018. The prestigious award recognises the investments that Westcon has made in partner development and enablement initiatives that have contributed significantly to Avaya’s business growth and helped strengthen their market position. The award was presented to the Westcon team at the Avaya Partner Summit in Dubai by Avaya VP, Fadi Moubarak and president Avaya International, Nidal Abou-ltaif. Trevor Von Puttkammer, head of distribution Avaya International said, “We are delighted to give Westcon the Avaya International Distributor of the Year Award. Westcon EMEA & APAC serve and support Avaya resellers in more than 40 countries. This award is an appreciation for commitment, global presence and growth over the last year.” “Being recognised as Avaya’s international distributor is a testimony to Westcon’s unmatched commitment, focus and expertise on Avaya’s technologies. Our dedicated teams continue to be uniquely focused on helping partners accelerate their business by leveraging Avaya’s awardwinning solutions,” said Steve Lockie, managing director, Westcon-Comstor ME. “We value our long-standing relationship with Avaya and are honoured to receive this recognition.”

HIGHLIGHTS

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ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION TECH TO ACCELERATE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

(L-R) KULPREET SINGH, DANIEL DINES, KARAN DIXIT AND ANAND NAGWANI FROM UIPATH

iPath, an enterprise Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software company, hosted UiPath Together Middle East – an event focused on RPA and AI-enabled digital transformation solutions in the region. Building on its mission of ‘one robot for every employee’, UiPath announced the regional availability of the UiPath Academic Alliance, a global education initiative designed to drive the company’s vision for an automated and fully-employed world. The Alliance empowers all people – from young students to experienced professionals – to access and leverage available automation solutions, and thrive in the workplace of the future. The Academic Alliance also represents the UiPath ambition to equip more than one million students and one thousand schools with this knowledge

– globally – in the next three years. In the region, UiPath is partnering with Blackboard Educational Technology & Services who has set up centres of excellence that support several regional universities as they work towards a curriculum enhanced by automation and AI, preparing their students for the future workplace. Kulpreet Singh, managing director, EMEA, UiPath, said, “Organisations in the Middle East are exploring and investing in RPA and AI solutions with a view to creating competitive differentiation and accelerating the pace of their digital transformation. By structuring and strengthening our presence in the region, we are making ourselves available to the industry as it navigates trends, and we are also already playing a role in preparing the next generation of developers and employees for the future workplace.”

The event delved into the critical role of RPA and AI in accelerating digital transformation among customer organisations and industry experts. Karan Dixit, VP, MEA, UiPath, said, “There is no denying, the digital revolution is in full swing globally, and by committing to the region, we want to spread awareness and help everyone to prepare – collaborating with a digital workforce will unburden employees from repetitive, mundane tasks, and free them to embrace more strategic and creative work. We are already in discussion with our customers, partners, and the Academic Alliance community, and looking forward to steering the region towards the future of work, and enable a greater understanding of the opportunities RPA will bring.”

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

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The latest of who has moved where in the IT channel business.

KRISTIAN KERR JOINS NETAPP AS NEW VP FOR EMEA CHANNEL BUSINESS

KRISTIAN KERR, NETAPP

etApp has named Kristian Kerr its new vice president Partners & Pathways for the EMEA region. He will take responsibility for developing and executing the channel strategies and programmes that support partners to deliver innovation with cloud services, build cloud infrastructure to accelerate new services, and modernise IT architectures with cloudconnected all-flash storage. Kerr reports to NetApp senior vice president and general manager EMEA Alexander Wallner and will be based out of the UK office. Kerr is a veteran of the IT & communications industry with more than 20 years of experience in a variety of direct sales and partner leadership positions with a deep understanding of the EMEA partner landscape. Kerr has extensive knowledge and experience developing indirect partnering models to capture new product and service revenue streams through channel, distribution, alliance, cloud and service provider partners. In his new role at NetApp he will be in control of defining and executing NetApp’s partner go-to-market strategy with the firm goal to deliver growth through this important ecosystem. “The market is moving with increased velocity with cloud leading this transformation in the partner eco-system,” said Kerr. “As partners evolve their business, they are looking to NetApp to capture this huge opportunity to modernise infrastructures and take advantage of the seamless path to the cloud that NetApp provides. Our partners are set up exceptionally well for this new world, and I am confident we’ll find great success together.”

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

LENOVO ANNOUNCES NEW DATA CENTRE COUNTRY MANAGER FOR KSA

EMAD ALDAOUS, LENOVO

enovo has appointed Emad Aldaous as the new data center country manager for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In his new role, he will be responsible for growing Lenovo Data Center Group’s (DCG) business in the Kingdom, while aiding the company transform the data centre industry regionally. His sphere of activity includes building strong relationships with existing and potential channel partners and he will report to DCG regional director for the Middle East, Richard Wilcox. “We’re excited to have Emad on board for this key role in the business. We believe that his solid experience in the industry and in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will add tremendous value to building the DCG business, and ultimately Lenovo’s business in the region,” said Richard Wilcox, DCG regional director, Lenovo Middle East. Aldaous has a stellar track record of building technology businesses in Saudi Arabia, having worked with the likes of Detasad, F5, Avaya, and Motorola. He joins Lenovo DCG with a Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering from FIT (Florida Institute of Technology), along with a solid history of selling into major enterprises and government accounts, winning numerous awards along the way and smashing targets.

APPOINTMENTS

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SPIRE SOLUTIONS APPOINTS NEW COUNTRY MANAGER FOR SAUDI ARABIA

egional VAD Spire Solutions has announced that it will be expanding its footprint to Saudi Arabia with a local presence in Riyadh. The company has also appointed Ehab Derbas as the new country manager for Saudi Arabia. According to recent industry reports, Middle East’s cybersecurity market is expected to grow from $11.38 billion in 2017 to $22.4 billion in 2022, with Saudi Arabia expected to have the largest share during the five-year period. Spire Solutions aims to take advantage of the opportunities in the Kingdom with the launch of its

local operations. “Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s highest spenders on cybersecurity, and with good reason,” said Ehab Derbas, country manager, Saudi Arabia, Spire Solutions. “It has a robust economy with some of the region’s biggest organisations, a large population, a strategic geographic location and a strong consumer spending power. All of this makes it an extremely attractive target for cyber criminals, which explains its growing need for security.” “With its trusted portfolio of services and solutions to defend against cyber attacks, Spire Solutions is well positioned to meet KSA’s security needs. This strategic

expansion with local presence in Riyadh and experienced leadership to drive regional operations and sales will help cement our presence in the market,” said Avinash Adavani, CEO at Spire Solutions.

EHAB DERBAS, SPIRE SOLUTIONS

2CRSI NAMES NEW CHANNEL MANAGER FOR MIDDLE EAST

rench manufacturer of server and storage, 2CRSI has announced the appointment of Nirmal Menon as its channel manager for its Middle East operations. According to the company, the move is part of growth plans for the ME region and 2CRSI is aiming to have presence in Russia, Brazil and in Singapore in 2019. Menon brings 10 plus years of channel experience of region and proved his ability to recruit and enable partners of different verticals. Ravi Sudharsan, head of ME, 2CRSI, said, “Menon’s appointment is to bring growth and streamline

the channel activity, we are sure his reputation in channel is going to be beneficial for 2CRSI. Primary task of Nirmal is to recruit in country service centres for the region in order to provide great support of our existing clients. We are now ready to address all requirement of ME market with state of art solutions of ours. I would like to thank Sariya IT, our distributor for region for their efforts to present the brand to market with full focus”. Menon said, “I am excited about the challenge and glad to be part of a company, which consider channel and technology as priority. 2CRSI’s capability of innovative thinking and execution is surprisingly fresh like a startup even after they become a

public listed company June this year. I am looking forward to the journey ahead with the team, partners and clients.”

NIRMAL MENON, 2CRSI

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

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OPINION | RIVERBED

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The war on talent will continueâ&#x20AC;?

GIOVANNI DI FILIPPO, VICE PRESIDENT CHANNEL SALES EMEA, RIVERBED TECHNOLOGY, SHARES PREDICTIONS THAT ARE MOST LIKELY TO DOMINATE THE CHANNEL BUSINESS IN THE REGION.

A CULTURE OF ACQUISITION AND 2019 MARKET CONSOLIDATION 2019 will see the channel market continue to consolidate as large players look to diversify their offering, evolve their business model and meet the changing needs of customers. With a focus on enhancing both customer experience and providing new cloud-based services, larger channel providers have the appetite to acquire specialized partner to create highly sophisticated managed services, e.g. to integrate all touchpoints onto a customer experience platform. However, as the market grows in complexity, they will also look to acquire boutique partners to support capabilities such as Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Internet of Things (IoT). This will allow them to quickly build expertise in the new technologies reshaping the market as well as helping them deliver the full customer IT lifecycle (planning, design, implement, operate, optimise). CHANNEL SKILLS SHORTAGE AND THE WAR ON TALENT CONTINUE The war on talent will continue into 2019 and the channel will experience a major skills shortage. From blockchain to quantum computing, AI, digital twins and enhanced data analytics, the appropriate talent to meet the demand of new innovation

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

and changing channel business models are in short supply. While poaching is common practice among the channel, businesses are competing within a restricted and bespoke talent pool. Over the next twelve months, channel chiefs will look to to source new talent and acquisitions in order to fill the skills gap. Furthermore, channel businesses will invest heavily in skills to develop and grow talent from within their organisations and provide the consultancy that customers crave. THE DRIVE FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND DELIVERING ROI Digital transformation will be at the centre of 2019 and businesses will look to work with channel partners to deliver the differentiated service propositions that will win them customers, streamline processes and support growth into new markets. However, digital transformation can be complex and expensive so measuring the effectiveness and ROI of these initiatives it critical. Therefore, 2019 will see increased demand for platforms that monitor the performance of digital transformation projects. Channel partners will be more valued if they can provide the insight businesses need to deliver savings, realise growth opportunities and deliver better returns on digital investments.

OPINION | RIVERBED

TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN EVOLVING WITH THE CHANGING NEEDS OF CUSTOMERS, CHANNEL BUSINESSES MUST HAVE FULL VISIBILITY OVER THE IT LIFECYCLE AND IMPLEMENT A CONSTANT PROCESS OF MEASUREMENT, ASSESSMENT AND OPTIMISATION.”

THE IMPACT OF AUTOMATION With 90 percent of the world’s data created in the last two years alone, businesses are under pressure to analyse and utilise the sheer volume of data flowing through the network. In 2019, automation will become a key element of data strategies, enabling businesses to derive data insight and create new services accordingly. Over the year ahead, we’ll see businesses looking for channel partners to put in place end-to-end automation solutions to enhance the entire customer journey. Additionally, they will want automation solutions to simplify business functions such as security, HR and Finance, freeing up staff to focus on more strategic tasks. LIFECYCLE OF IT - IF YOU DON’T MEASURE YOU CANNOT MANAGE 2019 will see a focus on the lifecycle of IT infrastructure as companies look to migrate

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to new technology to boost productivity and derive intelligence out of data. However, in order to implement these new solutions, channel chiefs must have the measurement in place to understand the needs of the customer and create bespoke managed service solutions. To put it simply, if you don’t measure, you cannot manage. To be successful in evolving with the changing needs of customers, channel businesses must have full visibility over the IT lifecycle and implement a constant process of measurement, assessment and optimisation. This will give channel businesses the agility to support innovation and the transparency to create real competitive differentiation.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

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OPINION | PURE STORAGE

Dispelling AI myths MATTHIEU BRIGNONE, HEAD OF EMEA CHANNEL AND ALLIANCES, PURE STORAGE, EXPLAINS HOW CHANNEL PARTNERS CAN PLAY A ROLE IN DISMISSING AI-RELATED MISCONCEPTIONS AND ENCOURAGE THE TECHNOLOGY’S ADOPTION RATE.

ata is a catalyst for growth and innovation, with the power to transform the way a business operates and how it serves its customers. In fact, data is so integral to operations that four-out-of-five business leaders across EMEA said their job would be impossible without it. This was revealed in a recent study which we partnered on with MIT Tech Review Insights. However, the sheer volume of data generated is overwhelming organisations, and the speed at which it’s being generated is only increasing. To put this into context, according to IDC the volume of data generated by the Internet of Things (IoT) alone will be as big in 2025 as the amount of all data created in 2020. So, what’s the solution to being able to process and analyse all this data? This is where artificial Intelligence (AI) can help. Our research found that 82% of business leaders believe that AI will be a “game changer” in the way they think about and process data. While AI can undoubtedly help organisations get the most out of data, many myths surrounding AI need to be dispelled. This is an opportunity for the channel to work with their customers to get rid of any misconceptions and reluctance they have about implementing the technology now.

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MYTH 1: AI IS A FUTURE TECHNOLOGY AI is not a futuristic concept nor is it the stuff of science-fiction. It surrounds us in the here and now. However, when customers research AI, they can fall down a rabbit hole of bleeding-edge applications and scientific terminology that is not grounded in reality. To combat this, the channel must be able to demonstrate the real-life use cases that are delivering results in businesses today. That said, a lot of this technology is new, and new technology means new skills and terminology to come to grips with. Our study showed that 37% of business leaders named resources and talent as a barrier to adopting AI technologies, and with the wellpublicised technology skills shortage, this is an issue that does not look set to disappear any time soon. To tackle this, the training starts at home. Channel resellers must ensure that their teams are fully trained and knowledgeable on AI, so they can educate and help customers make informed decisions. Training AI specific teams must start now in order to be in the best possible position to serve customers in the near and long term. Get gear for your lab and give your teams hands-on experience. Within these teams there must be individuals who can communicate the benefits of these technologies on various levels—whether that’s to the C-Suite, IT Manager or even a data scientist.

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CHANNEL RESELLERS MUST ENSURE THAT THEIR TEAMS ARE FULLY TRAINED AND KNOWLEDGEABLE ON AI, SO THEY CAN EDUCATE AND HELP CUSTOMERS MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS.”

CHANNEL PARTNERS MUST BE ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE THE REALITY OF AI, AUTOMATION AND MACHINE LEARNING AND THE POSITIVE BENEFITS THEY CAN BRING TO BUSINESS.” MYTH 2: HOLLYWOOD PERCEPTION VS. AI REALITY Perception of AI is often derived from how it is presented through the media. Take Hollywood films for example; the notion of a ‘robot revolution’ contributes towards people thinking twice before exploring the possibilities of AI. In reality the term is currently used to encompass technologies such as automation, machine learning and deep learning. This is what we are actually seeing impact industries today, eliminating time-consuming tasks, and allowing businesses to process vast amounts of data at lightning speed.

Take healthcare for example, AI is being used for diagnosis and analysis of vast amounts of data in seconds, rather than the days it would take humans helping cure diseases previously thought incurable. There are countless other examples of AI technologies having a positive impact within almost every industry. AI is helping insurance companies analyse images of crashed cars or property damage to give an instant estimate for a claim settlement, and retail vendors are applying AI to video to recognize and better understand customer behaviour. Channel partners must be able to demonstrate the reality of AI, automation and machine learning and the positive benefits they can bring to business. Setting up a demo lab for customers is a great way to do this. Only when businesses can see real-life use cases and implications of these technologies will they be inclined to adopt them. Having this real sense of how AI technologies actually work will also help business leaders sell the benefits back to the wider workforce.

MYTH 3: JOB REPLACEMENT For many, the topic of AI automatically triggers the fear of job replacement—not in the least helped by numerous reports and sensationalist headlines. However, where there are challenges, there are also opportunities, and the conversation needs to move away from ‘job replacement’ to ‘job enhancement’. There are just as many studies that point towards the benefits that AI will have on the workforce, with Gartner research indicating that AI will actually create more jobs. Business leaders and workers instead need to focus on how AI can augment and enhance their roles and this is where the channel can play an important role. Resellers can offer education and training programmes on these new technologies, not only to ensure that businesses can use these technologies to their full potential, but to quell any concerns that surround AI. It is these types of services that will position resellers as a true business partner. AI is not lightyears away, it has arrived and is having a positive impact. With just as many opportunities as there are challenges (as with any new tech), many business leaders will be looking towards their channel partners to guide them through it. If channel resellers can educate customers on the benefits of AI, demonstrate reallife impacts and communicate with any level of an organisation, then they will become a trusted partner to help businesses with their digital transfomation journey.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

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BLOG | NETAPP

Gearing up NETAPP’S CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER ATISH GUDE EXAMINES HOW SOME OF THE TOP EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES WILL EVOLVE DURING THIS YEAR.

A ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) IS AT THE HEART OF TRENDS IN DEVELOPMENT, DATA MANAGEMENT AND DELIVERY OF APPLICATIONS AND SERVICES AT THE EDGE, CORE AND CLOUD.”

s we enter 2019, what stands out is how trends in business and technology are connected by common themes. For example, artificial intelligence (AI) is at the heart of trends in development, data management and delivery of applications and services at the edge, core and cloud. Also essential are containerisation as a critical enabling technology and the increasing intelligence of Internet of Things (IoT) devices at the edge. Navigating the tempests of transformation are developers, whose requirements drive the creation of new paradigms and technologies that they must then master in pursuit of long-term competitive advantage. AI WILL GET ITS EARLY START MOSTLY IN THE CLOUDS Still at an early stage of development, AI technologies will process massive amounts of data, the majority of which will happen in public clouds. A rapidly growing body of AI software and service tools – mostly in the cloud – will make AI development easier and easier. This will enable AI applications to deliver high performance and scalability, both on and off premises, and support multiple data access protocols and varied new data formats. Accordingly, the infrastructure supporting AI workloads will be also have to be fast, resilient, and automated. While AI will certainly become the next battleground for

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

infrastructure vendors, most new development will be aimed at the cloud. IOT: DON’T PHONE HOME. FIGURE IT OUT. Edge devices will get smarter and more capable of making processing and application decisions in real time. Traditional IoT devices have been built around an inherent “phone home” paradigm: collect data, send it for processing, wait for instructions. But even with the advent of 5G networks, real-time decisions can’t wait for data to make the round trip to a cloud or data center and back, plus the rate of data growth is increasing. As a result, data processing will have to happen close to the consumer and this will intensify the demand for more data processing capabilities at the edge. IoT devices and applications – with built-in services such as data analysis and data reduction – will get better, faster and smarter about deciding what data requires immediate action, what data gets sent home to the core or to the cloud, and even what data can be discarded. AUTOMAGICALLY, PLEASE The demand for highly simplified IT services will drive continued abstraction of IT resources and the commoditisation of data services. Remember when car ads began boasting that your first tune up would be at 100,000 miles? (Well, it eventually became sort of true.) Point is, hardly anyone’s spending weekends changing their own oil or spark plugs or adjusting timing belts anymore. You turn on the car, it runs. You don’t have to think about it until you get a message saying something needs attention. Pretty simple. The same expectations are developing for IT infrastructure, starting with storage and data management: developers don’t want to think about it, they just want it to work. “Automagically,” please. Especially with

BLOG | NETAPP

containerisation and “server-less” technologies, the trend toward abstraction of individual systems and services will drive IT architects to design for data and data processing and to build hybrid, multi-cloud data fabrics rather than just data centres. With the application of predictive technologies and diagnostics, decision makers will rely more and more on extremely robust yet “invisible” data services that deliver data when and where it’s needed, wherever it lives. These new capabilities will also automate the brokerage of infrastructure services as dynamic commodities and the shuttling of containers and workloads to and from the most efficient service provider solutions for the job. BUILDING FOR MULTI-CLOUD WILL BE A CHOICE (AND YOU KNOW WHAT CHOICES COME WITH…) Hybrid, multi-cloud will be the default IT architecture for most larger organisations while others will choose the simplicity and consistency of a single cloud provider.

Containers will make workloads extremely portable. But data itself can be far less portable than compute and application resources and that affects the portability of runtime environments. Even if you solve for data gravity, data consistency, data protection, data security and all that, you can still face the problem of platform lock-in and cloud providerspecific services that you’re writing against, which are not portable across clouds at all. As a result, smaller organisations will either develop in-house capabilities as an alternative to cloud service providers, or they’ll choose the simplicity, optimisation and hands-off management that come from buying into a single cloud provider. And you can count on service providers to develop new differentiators to reward those who choose lock-in. On the other hand, larger organisations will demand the flexibility, neutrality and costeffectiveness of being able to move applications between clouds. They’ll leverage containers and data fabrics to break lock-in, to ensure total portability, and to control their own

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destiny. Whatever path they choose, organisations of all sizes will need to develop policies and practices to get the most out of their choice. THE CONTAINER PROMISE: REALLY COOL NEW STUFF Container-based cloud orchestration will enable true hybrid cloud application development. Containers promise, among other things, freedom from vendor lock-in. While containerisation technologies like Docker will continue to have relevance, the de facto standard for multi-cloud application development (at the risk of stating the obvious) will be Kubernetes. But here’s the cool stuff – New container-based cloud orchestration technologies will enable hybrid cloud application development, which means new applications will be developed for both public and on-premises use cases: no more porting applications back and forth. This will make it easier and easier to move workloads to where data is being generated rather than what has traditionally been the other way around.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

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COVER STORY

Reach for the stars

BILLION-DIRHAM DISTRIBUTOR STARLINK’S MD NIDAL OTHMAN AND GM MAHMOUD NIMER DISCLOSE THE SECRET TO ITS SUCCESSFUL AND GROWING OPERATIONS FOR OVER A DECADE AND SHARE STRATEGIES FOR THE NEW YEAR.

hen regional value-added distributor StarLink set up its business as a security specialist, it’s primary objective was to be the ‘link’ for its ‘star’ vendors. 14 years on and the secret to the company’s success continues to be its unwavering dedication to its initial mission. Having closed 2018 with total revenues boasting $300 million (over AED 1 billion), the distributor now aims to achieve $500 million by 2020. The firm’s managing director Nidal Othman says, “We have enjoyed an organic growth over the years and not one driven through acquisitions. In fact, we are now the third largest specialised security distributor globally in terms of revenues, a fact confirmed by our vendors.” However, to grow and thrive in the region’s economy is no easy task, especially with daunting challenges such as political instability, currency fluctuations, consequences of financial pressures and the dynamic nature of the business. Othman believes the strategy of not relying solely on a single geographical area or product has helped it to avoid being impacted by circumstances in any one market. He says, “This way we minimise our risk. Today we manage to generate over 30 percent of our revenues from non-Middle-East markets. Our aim in 2019 is to grow that to 40 percent. This way if there is a slowdown in any one country, we don’t come to a standstill. We

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

understand the dynamics of each market and have always explored new verticals.” The distributor has robust business across verticals such as enterprise, financial, telco, government, healthcare and education. It has also recently ventured into the commercial sector. StarLink’s general manager Mahmoud Nimer says, “We have the right platform, investments and resources. We had entered into the commercial vertical in the second half of 2018 and now we are beginning the new year with a big plan.” Nimer explains that the decision to enter the commercial sector came about when the firm’s existing vendor partners began to have earmarked offerings for this vertical. “It is a growth driver for us. We are mainly focusing on the mid-markets when we say commercial sector.” Besides a new vertical, the firm attributes its growth to several other drivers such as loyal customers, new technologies, delivering valueadd and so on. Historically, StarLink began operations as a security distributor and over the years earned the title ‘trusted security advisor’ from its loyal customers. According to Othman, the firm’s “direct touch approach” has helped gain the market reputation it has today. “We excelled in customers’ mission-critical projects. Through our expertise, we were able to drive a huge momentum to our reseller partners for projects across telco, financial and government sectors, which were the areas we had begun the operations in. Everything

we do with the end-user is fulfilled through our business partners.” He adds that the big focus in terms of technologies will be data centre and cloud during the course of this year. “We have become even more strategic for our business partners as we can now provide data centre and cloud offerings along with security.” Nimer points out that the way the firm works with its reseller partners is “unique.” He explains, “We don’t rely on fulfilment business alone. We offer our partners opportunities to create incremental business, which is a value-add on their existing relationships with us. “This also helps to reinforce our partnership with our vendors. They view us as a proactive distributor who has a strong footprint across the region and is close to partners and customers. This plays a key role in our growth story.” Othman adds, “Following our continuous goal of empowering our relationships on all fronts – vendors,

PHOTO CREDIT: MAKSYM PORIECHKIN

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AT A GLANCE

Company: StarLink Headquarters: Dubai, UAE Type: Specialised security valueadded distributor Year of establishment: 2005 Managing director: Nidal Othman General manager: Mahmoud Nimer Partner network: Over 1200 Vendor partnerships: 45 plus

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

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COVER STORY

WE HAVE BECOME EVEN MORE STRATEGIC FOR OUR BUSINESS PARTNERS AS WE CAN NOW PROVIDE DATA CENTRE AND CLOUD OFFERINGS ALONG WITH SECURITY.” NIDAL OTHMAN

partners and customers – have worked well for us. ‘StarLink empowers’ is the key message and strategy that we are taking ahead into this new year.” The distributor ensures it devises unique and effective initiatives for each of its stakeholders throughout the year. “For example, in 2018, we launched our marketplace for our partners, which is a powerful tool that allow them to see in real time all their transactions with us. We also launched our cloud offering simultaneously. The way we built the marketplace was unique compared to other marketplaces available in the region,” says Nimer. The distributor has also unveiled ‘StarLink Academy’, aimed at empowering customers and ensuring they had regular training certifications. Othman adds, “The third initiative last year was focused on our vendors where we launched ‘StarLink Innovation Centre’. Here we act even more so as their

extensions and offer customers customised technology integrations with the support of our vendors through our R&D department.” During the course of 2019, resellers and systems integrators can look forward to new activities and announcements from the distributor during its partner summit taking place next month. While end-users can learn about new updates and related initiatives during StarLink’s annual IT security roadshow across cities in April. “We will also be announcing new plans and initiatives for our vendors in the first half of the year,” he adds. The distributor also plans to expand its presence to new countries during early 2019, which will also be another factor driving its growth. Nimer says, “We are adding new countries to our coverage for 2019, mainly in Africa and Europe. In Q1 we will commence operations in Kenya and France. We

STARLINK’S GEOGRAPHICAL PRESENCE

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

EUROPE

MIDDLE EAST

TURKEY

LEVANT & AFRICA

have a presence in South Africa, Nigeria, Morocco and Egypt, therefore, we believe Kenyan operations will add immense value. In Europe, we have operations in UK and Netherlands and have recently begun business in Germany.” With a presence in all the Middle Eastern countries, the distributor will now be looking to establish an office in Lebanon. Othman says, “Every year we add three to four new vendors to our portfolio. We will be strengthening our offerings with new vendors in the cloud and data centre segments during this year. The market can expect big announcements in this regard.”

PHOTO CREDIT: MAKSYM PORIECHKIN

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WE DON’T RELY ON FULFILMENT BUSINESS ALONE. WE OFFER OUR PARTNERS OPPORTUNITIES TO CREATE INCREMENTAL BUSINESS, WHICH IS A VALUE-ADD ON THEIR EXISTING RELATIONSHIPS WITH US.” MAHMOUD NIMER

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

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FEATURE | OUTLOOK 2019

SHAPING THE FUTURE INDUSTRY STALWARTS DISCUSS PERTINENT CHALLENGES THAT PARTNERS NEED TO BE PREPARED FOR IN 2019.

he year that went by was not without its ups and downs. While most players had a moderate year, the channel business continued to be sluggish. The introduction of VAT and related processes resulted in a slow start to 2018 and the year proceeded to be marred with perennial issues such as declining margins and channel financing. However, increasing customer interest in emerging technologies created new opportunities for partners. Prospects in services and consulting also grew significantly last year. 2019 will present big market opportunities for the channel business as end-users focus on enhancing profitability and growing in an increasingly challenging economy. Let’s examine the challenges that partners will have to face during this year. Perhaps knowing about them can help partners strategise and get equipped to counter them. According to Mario Veljovic, general manager, VAD Technologies, the issues that partners need to be prepared for in 2019 will revolve around low

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

margins, channel credit and financing. He adds, “Margins will remain under pressure in 2019, as the market is yet to fully bounce back and offer significant overall growth for partners. This is why it is key to look at new technologies and services that offer better margins. “Channel credit and financing always stands high on the list of most pressing issues, and partners should choose their trading partners wisely to maintain a healthy cash-flow.” Jeroen Schlosser, managing director, Equinix MENA, says, “The channel is changing as traditional business models are being

INNOVATIVE PROPOSALS WITH COMPLIMENTING VENDORS IN A SINGLE TRANSACTION IN ADDITION TO OVERALL POST SALES POSITIONING AND VALUE IS THE ONLY WAY TO SECURE AND RETAIN CUSTOMERS IN AN INCREASINGLY COMPETITIVE MARKETPLACE.”

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HOW PARTNERS CAN OVERCOME THESE CHALLENGES IS REALLY A MATTER OF HOW QUICKLY THE PARTNER CAN ADAPT TO NEW TECHNOLOGY AND NEW DEMANDS. THE LAGGARDS WILL SUFFER IMMENSELY DURING 2019, WHEREAS THOSE WITH AN OPEN MIND SET AND THE CAPABILITIES TO ADAPT QUICKLY WILL BE GREATLY REWARDED.”

transformed by the new technologies emerging every day. Channel players that rest on their past success and resist innovation will struggle to keep pace with the continually evolving business landscape, losing bids to companies that move with the times and meet the demands of the modern interconnected enterprise.” He adds that the speed at which companies are demanding cloud services is both a “blessing and a curse” for channel partners. “Partners need to make sure they have the technology, skills and expertise required to support customers with the integration of cloud into their digital business strategy. This goes right down to changing internal structures and processes in their business,” he explains. Agreeing, Maya Zakhour, head of distribution and alliances, Middle East and Africa, NetApp says, “Skills shortage will remain a problem. Businesses should continue their training sessions to raise the competencies and the profiles of their information technology teams.” As per a recent study by Dell Technologies, 30 percent of organisations in the region believe that lack of right skillsets and expertise is one of the

top barriers for digital transformation. “Helping our partners build their capabilities and adopt innovative strategies can enable them to respond quickly to new opportunities, markets and technologies,” says Charbel Zreiby, senior manager, channel specialty sales, META, Dell EMC. Zakhour urges channel stakeholders to be ready to address other concerns this year such as the need for a robust infrastructure for data backup and an indepth understanding of an enterprise’s storage solution to fully meet customer requirements. Fortinet’s regional channel manager Zacky Vaz believes one of the biggest challenges in 2019 for partners will be providing services as part of their portfolio to help customers meet their security challenges. He says, ‘Providing services requires high levels of skillsets, resources and time investments from partners. Those partners with higher technical skills will dominate the market in terms of profitability.” “Competition is the biggest challenge,” says Jeff Ogden, general manager, Middle East, Mimecast. “There is a new partner or vendor launching or

entering the region all the time. Partners need to make sure that they are keeping up with the changing landscape and always offering new and relevant technologies to their customers. Traditional systems integrators, for example, will be left behind if they don’t shift to where the world is going.” Sharing similar views, Laurence Elbana, senior channel manager, Gemalto, says, “In 2019 we expect a sharp increase in new resellers entering the market regionally. This is in response to the continued growth of startups in the value-added reseller (VAR) domain. Competition is growing and financial limitations and legislative requirements now mean that customers are increasing their procurement quote request count from the standard three to five. He encourages partners to overcome competition by pinpointing the differences in value. “Innovative proposals

with complimenting vendors in a single transaction in addition to overall post sales positioning and value is the only way to secure and retain customers in an increasingly competitive marketplace.” Another big challenge will be around the rate of change in customer requirements along with the accelerated speed of technological advancements, says, Hesham El Komy, regional vice president, Middle East, Africa and India (MEAI), Epicor Software “How partners can overcome these challenges is really a matter of how quickly the partner can adapt to new technology and new demands. The laggards will suffer immensely during 2019, whereas those with an open mind set and the capabilities to adapt quickly will be greatly rewarded,” he adds. Read on to learn which technologies and trends partners need to watch out for to carve successful, profitable and sustainable operations in 2019.

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FEATURE | OUTLOOK 2019

Investing in IT infrastructure is still a top priority for CIOs who are looking to embark or already have started their digital transformation journey. This creates plenty of opportunities for our partners to lead the market with the right technology solutions such as HCI, flash storage, data protection, multi-cloud environments and more. This not only helps modernise the IT infrastructure but also makes it simple and future proof. CHARBEL ZREIBY, SENIOR MANAGER, CHANNEL SPECIALTY SALES, META, DELL EMC

2019 will open many opportunities for the channel in the region. Expo 2020 is just around the corner and many private and public sector organisations are involved in this project and will need to ensure their IT infrastructure, security and applications are suitable and ready for such an important event for Dubai. Technology is changing at an incredible rate the pace of this change has increased rapidly over the past couple of years and I expect that it will accelerate over the coming year. In my opinion, complete automation, adoption of AI and AR will be among the technologies that are most widely discussed and adopted in region. HESHAM EL KOMY, REGIONAL VP, MEAI EPICOR SOFTWARE

Emerging technology trends such as AI, blockchain and 5G are topics of conversation for many companies and 2019 will be the year where we will see early adopters starting to implementing them. With technological change accelerating, channel businesses need to ensure their IT structures are flexible, so they can adapt and embrace change. 2018 saw the cloud awakening, where channel companies began to understand the importance and benefits of cloud. 2019 has to be the year that they spring into action and implement their own cloud offering, establishing it as a fundamental cornerstone of their business strategy. JEROEN SCHLOSSER, MD, EQUINIX MENA

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Cybersecurity will remain the number one concern for organisations in 2019 – this presents one of the biggest opportunities for partners. Security technologies such as SD-Wan, cloud security, OT network security, AI and machine learning will be areas where partners will be able to capitalise on. The growth in connected devices– from consumer wearables to industrial IoT to medical devices – is compounding the security challenge as each device represents a potential cybersecurity risk. Hence there is a huge opportunity with industry sectors such as government, oil and gas, healthcare and so on. ZACKY VAZ, REGIONAL CHANNEL MANAGER, FORTINET

The greatest opportunity for partners lies in their capability to provide services along with solutions. Currently, there is a great need for partners to provide efficient professional services to complete their customer commitments. Another area that is full of opportunity is specialisation – this will help partners offer niche solutions and services to customers while increasing their profitability and margins. I believe that the cloud is poised to be a key component in how businesses will transform in this region. Hence, the next phase of IT distribution in the Middle East will be based on the cloud. Distributors and resellers alike will need to adopt a cloud strategy and should be able to provide cloud offerings, while cloud services will be key for IT distribution in the region. Security will continue to be a key technology that customers will be investing in considering the rapidly changing cyber threat landscape and rise in the intensity of cyber-attacks. KS PARAG, MD, FVC

Partners can emerge as profitable players by showing good value on the opportunity for customers. Engaging and developing white space accounts continues to be an area where only few dominate. Investment in pre-sales and a ‘non-box-shifting’ policy is always a move towards less transactions but much higher profit lines. Pre-sales investment will certainly aid that growth, which is why there has been a significant and visible shift towards this in the latter part of 2018. LAURENCE ELBANA, SENIOR CHANNEL MANAGER, GEMALTO

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FEATURE | OUTLOOK 2019

Access control solutions based on cloud platforms will move the industry beyond siloed security and workplace optimisation solutions to simplicity, scalability and universality of mobile apps that can be downloaded anywhere across a global footprint of millions of compatible physical access control system endpoints that are all connected in the cloud and IoT. We also foresee that biometrics adoption will grow in consumer applications as well as in public-sector use-cases such as immigration and border control, law enforcement, and military and defense market segments. Meanwhile, in the enterprise, the next generation of fingerprint solutions will include options for much higher matching speed and better image capture quality and overall performance, and liveness detection will become increasingly important for ensuring captured data is from a living person. WISAM YAGHMOUR, REGIONAL SALES DIRECTOR, HID GLOBAL

Markets like the UAE and Saudi Arabia are leading in the adoption of new-age technologies like IoT, AI, 5G and blockchain with the support of government backed initiatives. These technologies are now becoming increasingly mainstream in the build up to achieving UAE Vision 2021 and the Saudi Vision 2030. In addition to major advancements in AI, IoT and HPC; cities are getting smarter and the technologies going into them for security and sustainability purposes is turning into a huge market. The channel and IT industry in general always has room for more creativity in delivering customer solutions through unique and integrated approaches to RFPs. However, these approaches need to be cost-effective and manage to productively lower the TCO, while still driving high performance and optimising results for the endcustomers. Innovation is key to delivering consistent business results under all conditions. RICHARD WILCOX, REGIONAL DIRECTOR, LENOVO DCG

Organisations are moving in their droves to the cloud and there is an increased focus on digital transformation. But this also means that cyber threats are on the increase. As a result, security services will be in huge demand. Providing managed services to help customers secure their cloud and hybrid cloud deployments will drive high returns. Start with an email security solution and you will help customers protect the number one attack vector. Helping customers make cloud resilient will be vital. In order to be profitable, move away from licence and hardware sales and partner with a cloud vendor that provides high volume, margin and growth â&#x20AC;&#x153;annuityâ&#x20AC;? services. This will remove the peaks and troughs that make long term sustainability such a challenge. JEFF OGDEN, GM, MIDDLE EAST, MIMECAST

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Fundamental government socio-economic development frameworks such as UAE Vision 2021 and Saudi Vision 2030 have opened up considerable growth opportunities in the GCC. IoT, cloud computing, AI, machine learning, 3D printing and virtual reality, among others, are all game-changers and we still expect to see their influence in 2019. Partners should be able to keep abreast of these developments and make sure that they are ready and fully equipped to address market demands as they evolve. Data is pivotal in today’s digital age. As such, cloud services will remain critical this year as organisations continue to invest in a secure and reliable data centre ecosystem. We also want to emphasise that hybrid cloud will still dominate in 2019 as it affords enterprises with secure data access, flexibility, and ability to be proactive to changing market conditions. MAYA ZAKHOUR, HEAD OF DISTRIBUTION AND ALLIANCES, MEA, NETAPP

Traditional ‘IT-selling’ is transforming. The challenge is to move away from the traditional ways of selling IT to an end-to-end digital transformation offering. This generally requires a different type of calibre of employees (consultants or subject matter experts) who can have c-level discussions around business outcomes. Many partners are investing in advisory capabilities through acquisitions or hires as these lead to healthy margins and help them become more strategic with their customers. SAMIH MOUSSLY, ALLIANCE & CHANNEL MANAGER, MESAT, SERVICENOW

As end customers in the region across all business verticals are looking to improve profitability and business sustainability, automation and ultimately digital transformation skills and know-how is in high demand. Channel partners should get involved with such projects and discussions from the very beginning to full capitalise this opportunity. Don’t be a box-mover - be a business consultant and look at Anythingas-a-Service. Converged and hyperconverged solutions will stay on centre stage in 2019 and partners should choose vendors with the broadest alliances to ensure they can comprehensively address this segment. Customers are tired of complex to manage infrastructure and turning to flexibwle, agile and scalable solutions. MARIO VELJOVIC, GM, VAD TECHNOLOGIES

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FEATURE | LOGISTICS

Taking stock

Gautam Kumar, co-founder and COO, FarEye, elaborates on how advanced logistics can transform customer experiences.

he supply chain and logistics industry have evolved significantly over the past few years, thanks to customer expectations. Brick and mortar processes of delivering goods and services are just not good enough. Hence, surfaces the need to deploy technologies that empower business to keep up with customers. In 2018 we witnessed significant advancements in the supply chain and logistics field. But is it enough? No, there is still a plethora of challenges that need to be addressed.

GAUTAM KUMAR, FAREYE

In Middle East and Asia (MEA), small-scale restaurant owners are finding it difficult to compete with food aggregators that have no intention to generate profits. In cities like Dubai, inaccurate addresses remain a big challenge. In addition, improving last mile delivery to boost customer experience will continue to be a prominent trend. So, as we step into 2019, let us quickly glance through the four major supply chain and logistics trends that are going to impact businesses in the MEA region. ADOPTION OF ADVANCE SUPPLY CHAIN AND LOGISTICS PLATFORMS In the Middle East region, revenue from food delivery market is expected to grow at an annual growth rate of 13.6 percent, resulting in a market volume of $2,804 million by 2023. Hence, it’s not surprising that investors will continue to fund food aggregators. Not worried about generating profits, these food aggregators are seldom known for playing by the rules and conflict of interest between these aggregators and restaurants owners are common.

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HOW PARTNERS CAN LEVERAGE LOGISTICS Kushal Nahata, CEO and cofounder, FarEye, elaborate on the current challenges of logistics in distribution and how players can address it effectively. CAN YOU ELABORATE ON THE CURRENT CHALLENGES REGIONAL DISTRIBUTORS FACE WHEN IT COMES TO LOGISTICS? A major issue with regional distribution is that it’s extremely unorganised and fragmented. Lack of proper visibility into distribution networks is another problem that’s plaguing the supply chain and logistics industry. Inadequate information on customer addresses is also a significant challenge that distributors face regularly. WHAT ARE THE KEY FACTORS TO FOCUS ON TO ACHIEVE A SEAMLESS AND EFFECTIVE SUPPLY CHAIN PROCESS? There are a number of factors that impact supply chain processes. To achieve a successful and seamless supply chain, businesses need to introduce automation to ensure scalability, digitalise core supply chain processes to gain agility and invest in technologies that make supply chain transparent, break down silos, collect and work on data from

CLOUD COMPUTING, IOT, MOBILITY, ADVANCED ANALYTICS AND ANTI-FRAUD TOOLS ARE SOME OF THE TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL EMPOWER DISTRIBUTORS TO ENHANCE LOGISTIC OPERATIONS.”

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KUSHAL NAHATA, FAREYE

all the multiple sources so that the right information is with the right stakeholder at the right time. This allows proactive and efficient handling of supply chains processes. WHAT KIND OF TECHNOLOGIES CAN DISTRIBUTORS INVEST IN TO ENHANCE LOGISTICS? Cloud computing, IoT, mobility, advanced analytics and anti-fraud tools are some of the technologies that will empower distributors to enhance logistic operations. DO PLAYERS LEVERAGE THE POWER OF ANALYTICS TO OPTIMISE LOGISTICS OPERATIONS? Yes, a large number of distributors are leveraging analytics and even those that are yet to invest in analytics are mostly planning to or are experimenting with the technology. In fact, a study by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals highlighted that 93 percent of shippers and 98 percent of thirdparty logistics firms feel like data-driven decision-making is crucial to supply chain activities. CAN YOU SHARE INSIGHTS ON HOW THIS SPACE WILL EVOLVE OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS? With the constant rise in pop-up stores and on-demand delivery models, traditional supply chain models need to evolve to enable shorter lead times, smaller deliveries in the most costeffective manner, and the ability to respond to changes quickly. To gain competitive advantage the distribution industry will witness rapid adoption of advanced technologies. The industry will find itself focusing on building capabilities that positively impact the customer experience and boost fleet productivity at the same time. The industry will also see significant adoption of cloud-based technologies to minimise costs, reduce complexity and ensure proper integration of disparate systems.

The question is how does a restaurant compete with these aggregators who are delivering food at cut-throat prices? There is no easy answer to this but adopting an advanced supply chain and logistics platform can surely solve a lot of problems. Take this case in point. A pizza joint in Dubai wanted to partner with a food aggregator to scale deliveries. Unfortunately, it never worked out as the latter was insisting on credit cards payment options on their platform and demanded 37 percent of total transaction value. The only way out for the company was to have a supply chain and logistics management platform, which will make delivery efficient and cost-effective. Leveraging such an advanced platform, the pizza joint built its own proprietary digital e-commerce platform to execute deliveries and it worked wonders. An advanced supply chain and logistics software helps business increase fleet visibility, boost customer experience and engagement, optimise delivery routes, customise delivery locations, predict communications and so much more. Moving ahead, with the way e-commerce is flourishing, I feel it will be a necessity for organisations to digitalise and automate their logistics operations completely. DEALING WITH THE â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;INACCURATE ADDRESSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; CHALLENGE The incorrect and inadequate postal address is a major problem that supply chain and logistics businesses face in the MEA region. A large logistics company in Dubai highlighted that in the Middle East it is common to see packages and letters addressed to a person in a city with no proper delivery www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

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FEATURE | LOGISTICS

address. All they usually have is a name and a mobile number. And that it is the delivery company’s responsibility to investigate, research and find out where is the intended delivery address. Imagine this. You are a reputed logistics company. It costs you around $5$7 to deliver a parcel to a customer’s location. In rare cases, it may so happen that a few delivery addresses provided by customers were inadequate or did not have a proper postal code. Like a good logistics company, you took it on yourself to spend more time, money and manpower to unearth the actual location of the customer and deliver the parcel. In some cases, the cost incurred in doing this might not hurt a company’s bottom line but imagine if this happens regularly with tens

and thousands of parcels. The delivery cost will balloon to some tens of billions of dollars per year. And that’s exactly what’s happening in the MEA. To resolve this ‘inaccurateaddress’ problem, supply chain and logistics companies need to embrace AI and ML-based platforms that can leverage advanced technologies to geolocate a customer’s delivery address intelligently. IMPROVING LAST-MILE DELIVERY TO BOOST CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE Next-day deliveries, customising delivery locations and timing on the fly, paperless billings and more such customer expectations will continue to drive businesses to embrace advanced supply chain and logistics platforms. Online customers in the MEA region want retailers to deliver ‘in-store’ like buying experience

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IN SOME CASES, THE COST INCURRED IN DOING THIS MIGHT NOT HURT A COMPANY’S BOTTOM LINE BUT IMAGINE IF THIS HAPPENS REGULARLY WITH TENS AND THOUSANDS OF PARCELS.” focused on instant gratification. According to Google, in UAE only 53 percent of retailers offer click and collect as a service, and only three retailers offer next-day delivery. The only way to be on top of the ‘customer experience’ trend is to drastically improve last-mile delivery with advanced SaaS-based logistics and e-commerce platforms.

CO-LOCATED EVENTS

1 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 3 APRIL 2019

| DUBAI WORLD TRADE CENTRE, UAE

SECURITY FOR DIGITAL INNOVATION The Largest cyber security exhibition & conference in Middle East, Africa and Asia.

12,000+

170+

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ATTENDEES ACROSS THREE CO-LOCATED SHOWS

TECH COMPANIES EXHIBITING

LECTURES & WORKSHOPS ACROSS THREE SHOWS

SPEAKERS

USD 270 million

the amount visitors reported they will spend within 12 months of the show

BOOK A STAND NOW! gisec@dwtc.com |

OFFICIALLY SUPPORTED BY

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OFFICIAL DISTRIBUTION PARTNER

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EVENT | HOT 50

HAILING CHANNEL SUCCESS

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RESELLER MIDDLE EAST AND TAHAWULTECH.COM RECOGNISE LEADING IT FIRMS FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE CHANNEL BUSINESS AT ITS ANNUAL HOT 50 AWARDS.

ahawulTech.com and Reseller Middle East hosted its seventh annual Hot 50 Awards at the openair restaurant BHAR, Renaissance Downtown Hotel against the Dubai skyline in the background. The most-coveted Awards gathered key players across vendors, distributors, resellers and systems integrators together on one platform. The 150 plus guests had an opportunity to network and applaud the achievements of the year. The exclusive event paid tribute to channel players who are resolute in their strategies to craft value and equally successful relationships for customers, partners and themselves. Selected by TahawulTech.com’s and Reseller Middle East’s editorial team, the elite winners were companies that had shaped the regional channel business through innovative initiatives and grew their operations despite challenging market circumstances. In her welcome speech, Janees Reghelini, editor, Reseller Middle East and TahawulTech.

com, urged channel partners to continue to evolve their businesses to the demands of the digital age. She said, “Transformation to the next phase is only possible by acquiring new skills and staying on top of market developments. At TahawulTech. com and Reseller Middle East, we aim to continue to present the latest insights and play a role in inspiring IT businesses to turn challenges into opportunities.” The Reseller ME’s Hot 50 include firms across an extensive range of sizes and specialities. This year the event has also announced personality winners. Aysha Al Meheeri, Injazat Data Systems won the ‘most influential marketeer of the year’ while Kamlesh Lal, Dell EMC bagged the ‘best innovative marketeer’ award. The ‘most influential channel sales personality’ was presented to Maya Zakhour, NetApp and the ‘best disruptive marketeer’ was awarded to Areej Shakir, Veritas. Additionally, MBUZZ was recognised as ‘Rising Star – VAD’ of 2018. The complete list of award recipients is available in the accompanying Hot 50 supplement.

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EVENT | HOT 50

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Avaya announces three-pronged channel strategy At Avaya Partner Summit, the vendor announces updates on cloud, new technology innovations, and its partner programme, Edge, as it seeks to energise its channel for the new year.

vaya is looking to innovate, transform, and grow in value and relevance to its channel partners this year. That’s the main message the company’s channel chief told more than 450 channel partners, systems integrators, technology partners and distributors who converged in Dubai last month for the first Avaya Partner Summit of the 2019 financial year. Speaking at the Summit, Fadi Moubarak, vice president, channels, Avaya International, made a number of big announcements at the event, www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

which built on the successes that the company enjoyed during 2018. The year saw Avaya’s channel partners grow their business with the vendor, and the introduction of a programme that provided better partner incentives, greater flexibility to grow and respond to emerging market needs, and bigger investments in channel training. For 2019, Moubarak said that three key points were driving the vendor’s channel strategy. The first is an intense focus on the cloud, whereby channel partners will be given greater

VENDOR FOCUS | AVAYA

opportunities to sell Avaya’s UCaaS and CCaaS solutions. The second is a greater emphasis on solution and application selling, shown at the conference through a number of vertical-specific use cases based on Avaya’s platforms, bringing the Avaya ecosystem of partners to life. Finally, Moubarak pointed towards the new technology innovations that Avaya plans to launch in the coming year as an example of the new growth opportunities that Avaya partners can expect to leverage in 2019. He said that Avaya’s approach to innovation represented a “cultural shift”, with the vendor aiming to provide a “singular experience” across both the customer experience and the enterprise experience.

based products, or are experts in the space. From mid-market, off-the-shelf options to highly customisable private cloud deployments, there is now something for everyone. Moubarak also announced updates the Avaya Edge Partner Program, which he said would encourage solution and application selling among partners. Over the course of 2018, Avaya’s investments in technology partnerships has paid dividends, meaning that fully formed solutions are now available on Avaya’s platforms and, crucially, to its channel partners. Moubarak said that these products, developed through the vendor’s DevConnect and AI Connect programmes, provide partners with vertical-specific, readily integrated solutions that can be more easily deployed.

WE’RE ACTIVELY EMPOWERING OUR CHANNEL PARTNERS TO PROVIDE HOLISTIC SOLUTIONS TO THEIR CUSTOMERS.” “These new measures will provide a path for channel partners to move from one value proposition to more advanced ones – from box-shifting to solution selling; from solution selling to innovation building; and from innovation building to enabling true business transformation,” Moubarak said. The vendor also announced the Avaya Cloud Private (ACP), which enables channel partners to sell customised UCaaS and CCaaS solutions to larger customers who want more than base-line functionalities. Thanks to ACP, any Avaya partner can now sell private, public or hybrid cloud solutions, as well as traditional on-premise products for enterprise customers, and based on a phased deployment roadmap. ACP completes Avaya’s cloud portfolio so that there are now offerings at every level. Channel partners who are looking to grow their businesses with Avaya’s cloud offerings can now do so – whether they’re just starting to offer cloud-

“We’re actively empowering our channel partners to provide holistic solutions to their customers,” Moubarak said. But he also pointed out that Avaya’s open platforms are creating opportunities for innovation-minded channel partners, too. He highlighted several partners who had developed their own innovative solutions on top of Avaya’s platforms to solve genuine business problems for their customers. He said that Avaya would commit to continue rolling out tools and APIs that enable channel partners to “take the lead on innovation”. To that end, Moubarak revealed that, in 2019, the vendor will be demonstrating how it has endorsed the API economy to its fullest potential. Firstly, it will continue to enrich the capabilities of its own APIs and SDKs. He said that Avaya’s own APIs would provide simplicity and speed in integration, and Avaya’s client SDKs would provide simplicity and speed in customisation. Secondly, Moubarak announced, Avaya would be launching a series of APIs on the Avaya CPaaS, that provide interfacing

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AVAYA’S CHANNEL STRATEGY FOR 2019 •

•

Avaya will have an intense focus on the cloud, whereby channel partners will be given greater opportunities to sell its UCaaS and CCaaS solutions. The firm will also have a greater emphasis on solution and application selling. Avaya plans to unveil new technology innovations in the coming year as an example of the new growth opportunities that its partners can expect to leverage during this year.

functionalities with leading social platforms so that customers and partners can accelerate their innovations and go to market more quickly. Moubarak also announced updates to Avaya’s thriving range of hardware devices, dubbed the Avaya Desktop Experience. Along with a brand-new range of Open SIP devices, which brings Avaya’s market-leading hardware to users of any UCaaS platform, he made reference to updates to the award-winning Avaya Vantage range, which brings consumergrade, mobile experiences to the enterprise desktop. With these announcements, Avaya is going from strength to strength – and by extension its partners are sharing in the growth. Last year, Avaya partners earned rebates increased by 250 percent in FY18, and there was a 159 percent increase in the number of partners who had seen more than 10 percent growth.

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VENDOR FOCUS | WD

Beyond storage

KHWAJA SAIFUDDIN, SENIOR SALES DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST, WESTERN DIGITAL, DISCUSSES THE EVOLUTION OF VIDEO SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGIES AND THE ROLE THAT STORAGE SOLUTIONS PLAY IN SUPPORTING THIS TRANSFORMATION.

CAN YOU DISCUSS WHAT WD WILL BE HIGHLIGHTING AT THIS YEAR’S INTERSEC? At this year’s Intersec, WDC will be showcasing its expanded range of AI-enabled edge to core surveillance solutions. The video surveillance market in the Middle East is growing and this in turn puts the spotlight on storage solutions that support the exponential growth in surveillance data and footage. According to IDC, the amount of data generated by surveillance solutions is expected to grow by 25% per year through 2022 globally. As the surveillance industry moves to higher-resolution cameras and new applications requiring realtime analytics, WDC’s full edge-to-core surveillance portfolio shifts focus from ‘seeing’ to safety and insights. Built around the themes of capture, store and analyse, WDC will feature three key new products for the Middle East Market at Intersec: the WD Purple MicroSD card (capture); the WD Purple12TB HDD (store), and the enterprise class WD Ultrastar 14TB (analyse). WHICH TECHNOLOGIES DO YOU EXPECT TO TAKE CENTRE STAGE AT THIS YEAR’S SHOW? IoT is one of the technologies that continue to grow at an exponential rate. Vehicles, wearable gadgets, RFID sensors and software are advancing past basic function and the network

is growing to include even more advancements each day. Industry analysts predict that by 2020 over 30 billion end point devices will be connected with the internet. All of this data cannot just reside on the cloud because by the time data gets into the cloud, it is historical. IoT has been a focus for WDC over the past few years – and we anticipate this being a big focus at Intersec this year. HOW HAS THE SURVEILLANCE STORAGE MARKET GROWN OVER THE YEARS AND WHAT ARE THE TRENDS PARTNERS SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR IN THIS SPACE IN 2019? In the Middle East, we see emerging demand for security and surveillance. Video surveillance technology has been developing in leaps and bounds and the storage solutions to support it have also been evolving. We have seen an increase in purpose-built storage for surveillance environments. WD has developed the best in class storage technology and solutions for surveillance integrators and systems vendors’ environments that enable capturing, preserving, transforming and accessing video as part of comprehensive surveillance solutions. We are constantly evolving our technology to ensure that we deliver what the market needs. The volume and complexity of data will only increase. This explosion of

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data brings with it unprecedented opportunities. Customers are looking for storage solutions that unlock the value of data. Storage technology needs to be geared towards enabling business leaders to make better, more informed and smarter decisions that are backed by not just data but by insights. HOW DO YOU MARKET YOUR TECHNOLOGIES TO YOUR CHANNEL ECOSYSTEM? The landscape for storage devices has changed and evolved rapidly, and WDC has stepped up to meet this challenge by providing the proper training to ensure its success. WDC has continued to invest in markets it operates in, in- terms of launching new partner programmes, partner training, appointing new partners, while at the same time delivering new and innovative products that perfectly serve the customers and segments they are designed for. WDC believes that a good channel partner programme is one that allows resellers, solution providers and systems integrators to grow their business. A good programme is one that is aspirational and rewards success. Partners who upsell and sell more high-end products inherently benefit themselves. WDC enables this by offering its partners extensive training, introducing lucrative offers, exclusive access to a rich set of marketing tools and continuous support. In addition to extensive, on-going training and development, WDC’s enhanced myWD partner programme is designed to further help WDC partners by giving them advanced sales and marketing tools, tech support, future WDC product information, product training, point-based incentives and more.

REVIEW

GALAXY WATCH

JAMES DARTNELL TAKES THE LATEST ADDITION TO SAMSUNG’S SMARTWATCH LINE, THE GALAXY WATCH, FOR A SPIN, AND IS IMPRESSED WITH ITS SUBSTANCE-OVER-STYLE USER EXPERIENCE.

he age of the smartwatch is here, with so many handsome, high-tech models on the market. Samsung’s latest smartwatch effort, the Galaxy Watch, is sure to be a heavy-hitter in the space. The Galaxy Watch’s design is pretty much what you’d expect from a sports timepiece circular face, dial, black strap. I tested the version with the silver stainless steel finish, but I’m a much bigger fan of the all-black model, which looks much smarter. It pains me to say it because almost everything about the Galaxy Watch is good, but for me, the silver version looks like the kind of watch you’d buy a 13-year-old boy - not particularly stylish. Irrespective of design, at 42mm or 46mm, either model looks oversized. In terms of usability, the Galaxy Watch’s dial doubles as its scrolling mechanism, and this makes for an intuitive, seamless experience. There’s also no denying its fantastic OLED display, and it

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certainly stands shoulder to shoulder with any rival smartwatch on that front. In terms of fitness tracking, the Galaxy Watch excels, tracking 39 different types of exercise as well as sleep and stress levels, offering breathing and stretching exercises to help keep users calm. These moves raised a laugh in CPI’s offices - I looked ridiculous doing full body stretches at my desk every few hours, but no bother. The new sleep tracker also monitors all levels of sleep, including REM cycles, to help users adjust their sleeping habits. The Galaxy Watch’s battery life is disappointing, however. Samsung’s claim that it can last four days on a single charge was wide of the mark in my experience, a single charge typically lasting me a day-and-a-half. All in all, the Samsung Galaxy Watch is an undoubtedly satisfying smartwatch and exercise buddy. Personally, I don’t think it comes close to the Apple Watch series in terms of style, and for some consumers it’s bound to be a nonstarter on that basis alone. However, its usability is fantastic and as a sports accessory it more than holds its own. On that basis, it gets a solid recommendation from this largely satisfied user. It’s as good as any Android smartwatch available, so if you fall on that side of the aisle and you’re in the market for a smartwatch the decision should be pretty much made. Priced around $330, it’s not a bad bang for your buck either.

I looked ridiculous doing full body stretches at my desk every few hours, but no bother.”

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

044

HOT PRODUCTS

A10 NETWORKS REVEALS A10 THUNDER 7445 THREAT PROTECTION SYSTEM A10 Thunder 7445 Threat Protection System (Thunder TPS) is a high-performance 1 rack unit (RU) with a high density of throughput per RU appliance. The Thunder TPS deliver a DDoS protection solution, which provides a unique approach to full-spectrum DDoS defense, placing detection capabilities within targeted infrastructure, including Thunder TPS, ADC, CGN and CFW solutions. This provides advanced context, flow and packet level visibility to

SHURE INTRODUCES NEW EARPHONE COMMUNICATION CABLE Shure unveiled its new BT2 High-Resolution Bluetooth 5 Earphone Communication Cable at UAE’s hybrid streetwear festival, Sole DXB. The new Bluetooth communication accessory provides a high-fidelity Bluetooth option for discerning listeners seeking a premium wireless solution. The new communication cable is the next generation in Shure’s foray into Bluetooth connectivity, following the introduction of the company’s wireless earphone accessory last year. Designed for mobile listening, the new wireless product delivers an audio experience to match today’s high-resolution audio players, providing even the most discerning sound aficionados the convenience and portability of wireless without sacrificing quality. Featuring a dedicated, high-performance headphone amplifier, the earphone accessory provides lower noise and distortion while accurately maintaining frequency response, and also supports popular audio codecs, including Qualcomm aptX audio, aptX HD, aptX Low Latency, AAC, and SBC. Featuring an in-line remote and mic control, the new high-resolution communication cable leverages Bluetooth 5, the latest version of the wireless communication standard. Retaining a wireless range of up to 30 feet, its battery capacity provides up to 10 hours of play time with up to 350 hours of standby time. Available for AED 639, the cable is currently available for purchase at souq.com.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

fend off sophisticated targeted attacks. It has a 220 Gbps throughput and 330 Mpps, the solution provides distinct advantages over competing products that deliver less than half the performance, according to A10. It also delivers 22 times the flow-based detection capacity and 15 times as many simultaneous active mitigations as traditional systems.

SONY UNVEILS WATERPROOF AND WIRELESS WF-SP900 HEADPHONES Sony’s new WF-SP900 wireless sports headphones is also now smartphone-free. The company claims the headphones is ideal to listen to music while exercising as the user can move around freely with no constraints and listen to favourite tunes with the best in-ear comfort. When connecting the WF-SP900 to the smartphone or PC via BLUETOOTH connection, users can enjoy listening to music with these headphones for three hours (up to 12 hours with charging case). To be free from devices you can enjoy music stored in the 4GB on-board memory, giving you up to 920 songs, and six hours of battery life (up to 21 hours with charging case). This pair of truly wireless headphones are also NFC compatible for convenient pairing. The WF-SP900 headphones are also resistant to salt water. With IPX5/8 rating the earbuds allow you to swim in the pool or the sea up to 2m depth. They are washable too, so you can keep them clean after a workout. Thanks to IP6X they are dustproof as well, which makes these headphones a great sports companion with its tough durability, said the company. Boasting improved ergonomic design that comes with four colours including black, white, yellow and pink to ensure a comfortable, stable and secure fitting, users can customise the combination to fit their ear best with four sizes of earpieces and three sizes of arc supporters to choose from. The WF-SP900 is available now in the UAE at select electronics stores with a price of AED 1,199.

045

TP-LINK STRENGTHENS WHOLE HOME MESH WI-FI SYSTEM LINE-UP

TP-Link has announced the launch of the whole home mesh Wi-Fi System with a renewed look – Deco M4, the newest addition to the brand’s lineup of mesh solutions. Unlike the previous disc-shaped products (Deco M9 Plus, Deco P7 and Deco M5), Deco M4 is an “affordable column-shaped product that provides the AC1200 whole home mesh Wi-Fi, which is ideal for medium houses.” Currently available as a twounit multi-pack, the Deco M4 whole home mesh Wi-Fi system can be purchased from retailers across entertainment, lifestyle and other segments both online and in stores, said the company.

HUAWEI WIFI Q2 NOW AVAILABLE IN SAUDI ARABIA Huawei Saudi Arabia has launched its hybrid whole home Wi-Fi system in the Kingdom, which delivers “blazing fast wireless connectivity” for today’s smart and connected homes. The HUAWEI WiFi Q2 features a dynamic interplay of advanced hardware and software to boost speed, reliability and range, and delivers full-coverage wireless connectivity that’s simple to set up and guarantees a stable signal throughout

Deco M4 is comprised of a system of two units that can be customised to fit Wi-Fi coverage needs to up to 2,800 square feet. With additional units, the Deco M4 system can be easily scaled up to accommodate even larger spaces. Phones and tablets automatically switch to the fastest Deco as customers move through their home. The dual-band AC1200 system is capable of throughput speeds of 300Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 867Mbps on the 5GHz band—and it supports MU-MIMO data streaming. Deco M4 utilises Adaptive Path Selection (APS) to ensure the network is always operating at top speeds, quickly identifying and selecting the fastest path for devices to connect to the network. With network speeds three times faster than the previous generation routers, thanks to 802.11ac wireless technology, Deco can provide lag-free connections to up to 100 devices, said the company. Deco M4 is capable of acting as a router or access point now. Range extender mode will be available in a Deco M4 in the next published firmware version, said the company.

the entire home. Besides mesh Wi-Fi embedded, the device also has a unique G.hn gigabit PLC module, which can easily pass through the walls and break the distance limitation, said the company. HUAWEI WiFi Q2 is easy for users to configure, set the main-unit in two minutes and then plug and play of all sub-unit. It also has a better performance in coverage and speed. It can provide larger coverage area than other systems with an equal number of units. And in most situation, the new device can provide hybrid connection of up to 1867 Mbps bonding the speed of PLC and mesh WiFi. Every unit of the HUAWEI WiFi Q2 has the capability to connect up to 64 devices simultaneously, meaning that

BENQ ZOWIE ANNOUNCES G-SRSE RED E-SPORTS MOUSEPADS E-sports gaming product manufacture, BenQ ZOWIE has announced ZOWIE G-SR Red special edition mousepad and is now available in the Middle East region. G-SR-SE Red is the updated version from G-SR-SE Blue mousepad, providing gamers with a new colour option, and refreshed design to choose from. According to the company, the latest G-SR series provides smooth mouse movement, better traction to mouse sensor. ZOWIE mousepads provide 100 percent flat rubber base that ensure consistent performance across the mousepad. The special edition mousepad provides a slightly different glide feeling from the standard black G-SR. G-SR-SE Blue will be discontinued for now, and new revamped Red mousepads will be the replacement and ready for pick up. It retails at AED 120.

Q2 can easily support up to 192 devices. It also features an anti-brute force algorithm to prevent outsider access to the network, in addition to Wi-Fi encryption and password protection. The new HUAWEI WiFi Q2 is available in the Saudi market at Jarir Bookstore at 999SAR.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

046

5 IN 5

Rola

AL SHARIF 1.

1 2

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION EXECUTIVE MEA, BARCO

We ask five questions within five minutes to a technology enthusiast in the regional IT channel industry.

YOUR IDEAL MORNING ROUTINE INCLUDES… Coffee, music and social media. On a perfect day, I would get some exercise done as well. Else, this would be left to the running I usually do at an event. YOU ARE PROUD OF YOUR MOST RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENT, WHICH... includes some great media and PR initiatives and coverage that I was able to facilitate for Barco in 2018. The year was abuzz with some great stories, announcements and awards for the company and myself, including being listed as one of the 18 innovative marketers of 2018 in the UAE.

3 4

FIVE THINGS YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT … Technology – we are surrounded by it today, and it truly makes our lives easier. This includes my car especially when I am in the UAE. I love sports, outdoor activities and travelling and cannot live without my books, music and my friends who keep me moving. THE MOST UNDERRATED TECHNOLOGY TREND ACCORDING TO YOU IS… Mobile wallets like Samsung or Apple

pay. So many have access to this amazing facility but are either not aware or are uncomfortable in using it. Mobile wallets have made life easier with quick payments through your phone or watch these days. You don’t even need to carry your bag when you head out to the stores today. It has truly eased up our lives in so many ways.

FIVE GOALS YOU AIM TO ACHIEVE IN 2019… Maintain a complete vegan lifestyle, read more books and travel to more countries. This will help me achieve better results at work and be a better colleague to my fellow co-workers. On the professional aspect, I will continue pushing for more media and PR. On the event side, which I’m truly passionate about, I will continue creating more beautiful and creative events with my team in Dubai and in Belgium.

www.tahawultech.com // Reseller Middle East // JANUARY 2019

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Small & huddle space

Small to medium

Board & conference room

Number of users on screen

Number of ClickShare buttons 1

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1 (HDMI)

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Touchback

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Configurable security

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Moderation

Blackboarding & annotation

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