36 minute read
19
ManageEngine to Show Off its Entire Suite of IT Management Solutions for the GCC Market
Nirmal Kumar Manoharan, the Regional Sales Director at ManageEngine, speaks about his company’s participation at GITEX 2020 Which products and solutions will you all of us. for the rest of the year. Our wide range of be showcasing at GITEX Technology solutions and their overall value proposition Week? What will be your theme of participation has remained strong, which has helped us We will be representing ourselves as a at GITEX? weather the storm to a great extent. We complete solutions provider for organisa- Remote working brings with it new data have been able to provide uninterrupted tions across all sectors looking to deal with security risks, especially the risk of both support to our customers during this their IT management problems. We will be unintentional and malicious data exfiltra- difficult time. We believe our customers showcasing our entire suite of IT manage- tion. Under this work-from-home scenar- appreciate this, which reflects in the growth ment solutions for the GCC market. We io, the onus falls on IT teams to facilitate of the business. have a portfolio of over 40 products cover- a secure remote working environment, ing all IT requirements ranging from IT ser- which not only enables safe connection What were the key learnings over the vice management, operations management, to remote devices, but also facilitates past couple of months and how do you active directory management, security and routine activities without sacrificing plan to use those to make changes to analytics, endpoint management and more. cybersecurity. Having said that, this year your regional strategies? at GITEX our focus would be to promote To the relief of many of us, it appears as if What are your expectations from the the wide range of security solutions we we're on the verge of seeing a vaccine for event this year? have to offer. COVID-19. Nevertheless, to put it mildly, ManageEngine has been doing business the past year has been a trying time for in the Middle East since 2005 and we ManageEngine's Desktop Central and the always-resilient information technology have been a part of GITEX since 2007 and Password Manager Pro, help manage and sector. Despite the litany of challenges the consider it of strategic importance to us. secure endpoints and passwords, respec- pandemic brought us, the key lessons we've Our relationship with GITEX and the region tively. With the launch of sophisticated learnt over the past few months are: is too strong for a pandemic to get in the phishing attacks, organizations across all way. So, in a major way, our participation sectors must keep a close watch over user Cloud Adoption: The pandemic obliterated this year is to communicate our commit- accounts. For instance, it’s vital to monitor conventional IT operations and associated ment to our customers and that we will users who log on from multiple locations processes. For the sake of business concontinue to serve them. simultaneously or who access multiple tinuity, enterprises were forced to modify resources in a short period of time. their on-premises IT infrastructure to We have had hundreds of thousands of facilitate increased remote access. Cominteractions with customers, prospects and Therefore, our new-gen SIEM solutions panies that adopted a solid cloud strategy partners at GITEX. The benefits of these like Log360, which includes user and entity were far less affected by the pandemic. interactions accrue over years as it is a behavior analytics (UEBA) capabilities, and Cloud makes it possible to dynamically add continuous process and we hope this year our privileged access management solution, and remove virtual infrastructure, which in gives us the opportunity to have as many PAM360, can be very useful for enterpris- turn allows you to attend to any demands interactions as possible. es. To provide remote employees the access without compromising the security posture they need to exclusive information within of the services. Do you hope for a business relief from the corporate network, organizations have the pandemic based on your engage- to ensure secure remote access. This can Endpoint Security: The influx of IoT ments at the event? be done using our Remote Access Plus and devices over the past few years altered the While technology has been a net positive Access Manager Plus solutions, which is endpoint management space; however, the for our operations, we certainly did feel available to organisations of every size. pandemic further changed the business the economic and psychological impact of operations landscape, and it has made the pandemic. Though the situation is still How is your company weathering from endpoint security more important than unpredictable, we believe that 2021 will the market effects on the pandemic? ever. While cybersecurity firms continue to be a better year. We know this year GITEX The pandemic surely did bring us to a adapt to enterprise cybersecurity needs, would witness comparatively fewer visitors, standstill with unanticipated challenges remote work has made it clear that endbut we look forward to meeting and thank- in the beginning of the year. However, we point security is the baseline upon which ing everyone who visit our booth (Hall 7, have managed to grow the business this any additional security policies must be B-20) as it has been a challenging year for year as well and hope to continue to do so deployed.
Advertisement
Secure Land Communications to Show Off Their Range of Reliable Communications Tech
Walid Lahoud, the Head of Sales - MENA of Secure Land Communications at Airbus, speaks about his company’s participation at GITEX this year Which products and solutions will you be events in the region.
showcasing at GITEX Technology Week?
GITEX will provide us a global platform to What will be your theme of participation showcase our secure and reliable communi- at GITEX? cations technologies and infrastructures cur- We will highlight the importance of having rently being widely used by first responders, secure and reliable communication mechincluding our medical and police forces. This anisms among teams, and at all times, year, we will highlight the multimedia fea- especially during crises and emergencies. tures of our Tactilon Agnet 500 and Tactilon This is especially evident in today’s global Agnet 800 solutions. health crisis in which our health authorities Tactilon Agnet 500 facilitates efficient end- efficiently and coordinate together to send to-end and encrypted group communication. out urgent messages clearly and accurately This reliable and secure push-to-talk device at the right moment. enables video calls and real-time location tracking, among other capabilities. On the Efficient communication saves lives, propother hand, Tactilon Agnet 800, which uses erties, and resources, as well as strengthens Tetra technology, is equipped with multime- emergency response strategies. Secure and dia messaging, and live streaming features reliable communication devices with multiwhich enrich communication between media features are at the core of effective smartphone users and people who carry a and robust communication systems. We can Tetra radio. illustrate this theme further through our
What are your expectations from the event this year? Do you plan to run any online engage-
The event will enable us to not only high- ments such as webinars in parallel to light the innovative features of our solutions GITEX? but also to become part of a historic event Our focus is to fully take advantage of the that will take place live and in-person for the in-person organisation of GITEX this year first time since restrictions have been im- to demonstrate how our solutions work. As posed due to COVID-19. All precautionary such, we are planning to run some demos measures are in place to keep exhibitors and during the show instead of online engagevisitors safe and secure. We will also do our ments. part to ensure safe face-to-face interactions with everyone. Dubai is moving steadily and How is your company weathering the gradually towards bringing back vibrancy to market effects of the pandemic? the business sector and at Airbus we are Although we have not experienced the full looking forward to a positive outcome of the impact of the pandemic, Airbus’ SLC proevent. gram unit has been extending crucial supDo you hope for business relief from the the fight against COVID-19. From the start pandemic based on your engagements at of this crisis, we have known that we need the event? to step up our efforts to provide critical At SLC, as a critical communications solu- communication solutions to our healthcare tions provider, our activities have not been personnel, police forces and other front linslowed down during this pandemic. None- ers as they continue to perform their duties theless, despite unprecedented challenges, to protect citizens around the world. In fact, we still pursue our strategy and continue to we have deployed a team to extend all forms seek new leads and partnerships in line with of around-the-clock support as government our business growth goals. We expect to agencies continue to work to contain the achieve our objectives and more during our virus. participation at GITEX given that it is one of across the world need to collaborate more solutions. port to public and private entities involved in the most prestigious and biggest technology What were the key learnings over the
past couple of months and how do you plan to use those to make changes to your regional strategies?
Over the past couple of months, we have noticed the need to bridge the communication gap between organizations. Hybrid solutions with sophisticated multimedia capabilities are becoming more and more important to address critical communication needs, especially during emergencies and crises. The pandemic has exposed the prevailing issues in terms of team coordination and collaboration, which can also be answered by hybrid solutions and we have to address collectively for a more efficient response. As such, we will further strengthen our partnership with local distributors in the region to reach more organizations across industries and aid them in reinforcing their communication system and infrastructure through resilient and reliable products and optimized solutions.
Any other info you would like to add?
SLC has a complete ecosystem of third party applications that are innovative and deliver new and better ways of working for the users. These applications are tailored for each organization and allow them to gain in operational efficiency and team coordination and interoperability. For instance, the application “Guardian Covid” and Airbus-certified application was developed earlier this year by Epic Blue, Airbus’ partner and application developer, allowing health care workers to track their exposure time to a potential Covid case, as well as, ensuring the safety distance measures. That means, if two health workers get closer than two meters a notification is sent to them automatically. The control room also has an indoor tracking capability that can locate Covid cases and trace all the health workers who might have been in contact. Thus, allowing the control room to respond quickly and to take the necessary actions. Other examples include licence plate identification for police forces, advanced administrative applications to ease administrative work and other AI enhanced technology.
Trend Micro to Exhibit Under the “The Art of Cybersecurity” Theme at GITEX
Sudqi Al Abweh, the Channel Accounts Manager for UAE at Trend Micro, speaks about the company’s participation at GITEX this year
Which products and solutions will you be showcasing at GITEX Technology Week?
At GITEX, Trend Micro is showcasing: • Trend Micro Cloud One Hybrid
Cloud Security, a comprehensive
SaaS security solution that includes file storage security, conformity, network security, workload security, container security, and application security. • Cloud One is optimized for cloud platforms AWS, Microsoft Azure,
Docker, Google Cloud, IBM, Kubernetes Cloud, and VMware. Customers can find full security capabilities in a single smart agent; protection against vulnerabilities and for endof-life systems; and achieve and maintain regulatory and compliance requirements. • Trend Micro XDR, the first solution in the cybersecurity industry that offers the most extensive correlated detection going beyond endpoint detection and response (EDR). • Trend Micro Apex One providing automated threat detection, actionable insights, and all-in-one protection. • Amid the convergence of IT and
OT, TXOne Networks solutions offer cybersecurity solutions to protect industrial control systems. TXOne
Networks offers both network-based and endpoint-based products to secure the OT network and mission critical devices in a real-time defense-in-depth manner. • Trend Micro Deep Discovery Inspector to detect targeted attacks and ransomware anywhere in the network.
What are your expectations from the event this year?
As the world’s only tech show in-person in 2020, GITEX shows that while virtual communication has been successful, in-person interaction can provide personalized customer engagement that cannot be done solely through online. Building on Trend Micro’s recently expanded and enhanced channel partner program in Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa (AMEA), at GITEX, Trend Micro aims to further build and enhance its channel partner ecosystem.
Do you hope for a business relief from the pandemic based on your engagements at the event?
Trend Micro’s cybersecurity business in the UAE and Middle East has been strong over the past several months. At GITEX, we aim to get closer to our customers and partners, and to exchange best practices with thought leaders. Trend Micro’s predictions for the current year are expected to continue to ramp up – including the growing risk that organizations face from their cloud and supply chain. The growing popularity of cloud and DevOps environments are driving business agility while exposing organizations, from enterprises to manufacturers, to third-party risk.
In 2021, Trend Micro expects UAE and Middle East organizations to continue to accelerate their digital transformation, and prioritize cybersecurity. Trend Micro is seeing strong regional cybersecurity demand from industry sectors such as government and public sector, banking and finance, and energy, oil and gas, and utilities.
What will be your theme of participation at GITEX?
Trend Micro AMEA (Hall 2 – H2-D1) will exhibit under “The Art of Cybersecurity” theme, aligned with the GITEX pillar of Cyber Security and the co-located cybersecurity of GISEC. “The Art of Cybersecurity” combines Trend Micro’s proven foresight, its XGen security strategy of cross-generational threat defense solutions, and passionate people to make cybersecurity a work of art. GITEX is a key event for Trend Micro to spread the importance of cybersecurity in the shift to digital transformation. We also aim to get closer to its customers across the region, and enhance our channel partner program.
What were the key learnings over the past couple of months and how do you plan to use those to make changes to your regional strategies?
The GCC continues to be hit hard by cyber-attacks. Trend Micro detected a combined 56,873,271 email, URL, malware, and banking malware attacks in the GCC during the first half of 2020, according to our Midyear Security Report. In the GCC, Trend Micro detected 41,236,550 email threats, 13,181,016 URL victims, 61,314 URL hosted attacks, along with 2,392,097 malware detections and 2,294 banking malware detections.
Worldwide, COVID-19 related threats are the single largest type of threat. In H1 2020, Trend Micro blocked 8.8 million COVID-19 related threats, nearly 92% of which were spam delivered via emails. In the GCC, Trend Micro blocked 163,774 COVID-19 threats: 127,415 URL attacks, 36,312 email spam attacks, and 47 malware attacks. We are returning to GITEX to show how Middle East organizations can take practical steps in reinventing their cybersecurity solutions and employee processes.
A major opportunity is for organizations to tailor their cybersecurity strategies to information security “personas.” While 82% of the UAE’s remote workers are more conscious of their organization’s cybersecurity policies, many are still breaking the rules due to limited understanding or resource constraints, according to our study “Head in the Clouds.”
Fadi Kanafani, the Managing Director for Middle East at NetApp, speaks about his company’s participation at GITEX 2020
Which products and solutions will you be showcasing at GITEX Technology Week?
NetApp will showcase its industry leading solutions in Cloud, Business Continuity, Data Services, Hybrid Cloud, Artificial Intelligence and Security. We will also emphasize our data fabric vision as businesses rapidly adopt cloud.
What are your expectations from the event this year?
Thousands of customers across the globe trust NetApp to run their applications in the cloud – public, hybrid or private. As a cloud-led, data-centric software company, our aim this year is to demonstrate the power of the cloud in enabling not just business continuity but also building the organization of the future. In addition, we are showcasing our solutions portfolio that perform across diverse environments and helps organizations build their own data fabric and securely deliver the right data, services and applications to the right people—anytime, anywhere.
We are encouraging customers to take advantage of AI in making faster and better business decisions from their data. To this effect, NetApp will engage with audiences through a mix of physical and virtual experiences at the show. We aim to give our visitors the flexibility of having access to our local experts as well as international solution specialists. Eventually, we will create an experience for our visitors that will reinforce the idea that NetApp is truly cloud-led.
ments at the event?
NetApp is committed to supporting and being part of a global platform such as GITEX, which allows us to showcase expertise. We are looking forward to generating awareness for our solutions that are helping businesses maintain business continuity in a difficult time. We are optimistic that together with our partner community, we will grow our footprint across the region based on our industry-leading portfolio, expertise and support.
What will be your theme of participation at GITEX?
‘Unlock the Best of Cloud’ is our theme this year.
Do you plan to run any online engagements such as webinars in parallel to GITEX?
Our plan is to engage with our audiences through a physical and virtual experiences at the show.
How is your company weathering from the market effects on the pandemic?
COVID-19 has created a new set of challenges for organizations. While it has been a difficult period for businesses, NetApp has seen opportunity as businesses are focused on enabling a remote workforce in the shortest time span. There is a rapid uptake in cloud solutions, and we’ve had businesses rapidly turning to the cloud – public and private to tackle the remote worker challenge.
In addition to cloud solutions, we’ve also been providing customers with VDI solutions to handle increasing work-fromhone demands. In addition, our AI powered ONTAP AI solution has been helping researchers and healthcare institutions across the region in the fight against the pandemic.
What were the key learnings over the past couple of months and how do you plan to use those to make changes to your regional strategies?
2020 has been a year of remarkable and unprecedented change for businesses and individuals alike. But we’ve also seen that a positive effect of COVID-19 has been to dramatically accelerate the pace of digital transformation. Projects that were taking years to complete are now completed in a matter of weeks, or days with organizations at different stages of the DX journey, expecting different outcomes.
A key takeaway from the last few months is that businesses need speed and agility to help respond in the face of an unprecedented disruption. We’ve also seen how data and access to this data has helped businesses maintain continuity. Businesses must invest now in a cloud-based model to prepare a path for a sustainable future.
And NetApp is the only company who knows how to elevate an organizations’ cloud experience be it private, hybrid or public cloud. We are putting our expertise, R&D and alliances to helping businesses get more out of their cloud now more than ever. In this era of rapid digital transformation in the region, NetApp is focused on helping businesses address their data challenges and gain competitive edge.
Tally Solutions to Showcase TallyPrime at GITEX 2020
Vikas Panchal, the Business Head for Middle East at Tally Solutions, speaks about his company’s plans for GITEX this year
Which products and solutions will you be showcasing at GITEX Technology Week?
This year GITEX will see the showcase of our new product - TallyPrime- the next generation business management software. TallyPrime is our latest offering which will equip SMEs owners and new-age entrepreneurs with an ultra-simple and powerful software to enhance their business productivity.
Focused on making the business owners’ lives simple, TallyPrime aims to further simplify business management with facilitating users to comfortably manage and grow their business without needing to know the finer nuances of accounting or technology. The product is meticulously designed keeping the user experience at core, which enhances the legendry speed, simplicity, reliability and flexibility of the product.
What are your expectations from the event this year?
GITEX is the first event in the UAE which will have a physical presence this year. We are thrilled to be participating in this event and are confident that event organisers have taken all necessary precautions, in linewith the government protocols to make this a safe and a successful event. In addition, this year’s GITEX also marks the showcase of our new world-class product – TallyPrime, which will assist SMEs and new-age entrepreneurs through their digital transformation journey.
What will be your theme of participation at GITEX?
Our theme this year is #MakeEveryDaySimple – by helping SMEs into their Digital Transformation Journey. With our new TallyPrime, businesses can adapt to the new normal and work towards growing their business by taking better control of business. Several new features and experiences have been introduced in TallyPrime that will benefit the entrepreneurs along with accountants in their day to day work. The product has been designed such that it is scalable for future feature rollouts and is supported by this interface without breaking the frame. This will allow customers to easily shift and adopt to future releases without any requirement to upskill or learn new techniques.
Do you plan to run any online engagements such as webinars in parallel to GITEX?
Yes – We are currently doing the same and would be doing so during GITEX as well. This will help businesses to also connect with us as per their convenience. We will also host several webinars to ensure current customers seamlessly migrate to TallyPrime. We have also scheduled multiple virtual migration camps along with our partners in the region to provide support.
How is your company weathering from the market effects on the pandemic?
This pandemic has not been easy for the business community, however, we are seeing a positive momentum and life moving back to the new normal. We are optimistic that things will emerge better in the future and we are prepared to support these businesses with newer generation technologies and products.
What were the key learnings over the past couple of months and how do you plan to use those to make changes to your regional strategies?
The past few months have been instrumental with learnings. One key area of learning was – Adaption. We have seen everyone adapting to new environment. Businesses have been fast to adapt to new normal. Being a technology driven company, we adapted quite early and started virtual engagements with our customers and partners at an early stage. We will continue to use blended approach – as convenient to customers to provide best solutions and services and continuously help them in their journey towards growth and excellence.
Equinix to Remain Focused on Digital Transformation at GITEX 2020
Kamel Al-Tawil, the Managing Director for Middle East and North Africa at Equinix, speaks about the company’s participation at GITEX
Which products and solutions will you be showcasing at GITEX Technology Week?
As global IT decision-makers respond to an increasingly dynamic world including competitive pressures, growing customer demands, globalization, and challenges posed by COVID-19, many are accelerating their digital transformation efforts and continuing to prioritize the adoption of hybrid and multicloud solutions. This year at GITEX Technology Week, Equinix will introduce its Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric (ECX Fabric) platform to help digital businesses simplify hybrid multicloud deployments and expand their global interconnection opportunities on Platform Equinix.
What are your expectations from the event this year?
Despite the challenges of this year, it is a positive sign to see the industry come together from around the world. Technology has played an instrumental role in driving economic continuity in 2020 and at GITEX we look forward to discovering innovative best practices and showcasing areas in which we continue to make major advances.
Equinix have been participating at GITEX year-after year with the aim to stay up to date on the latest discoveries from Multicloud, Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Machine Learning (ML) are fundamentally changing the way data is being produced, shared and analyze.
Do you plan to run any online engagements such as webinars in parallel to GITEX?
Even with the ease of restriction and going about life as before, turning back to normal will take some time, and events will look very different in the interim, similar to this year’s edition GITEX Technology Week merging virtual with in-person event. At Equinix, we opted for a virtual participation and exhibiting rather than physically exhibiting at the event.
the market effects on the pandemic?
The latest Global Interconnection Index (GXI), an annual market study published by Equinix, shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has already had a dramatic effect on how businesses are planning their digital infrastructure initiatives over the next three years. According to this, the fourth volume of the report (Vol.4), digital service providers, within industries like telecommunications, cloud & IT services, content & digital media and technology providers, are forecast to increase private connectivity bandwidth 5x by 2023, driven by greater demands from enterprises to close digital gaps at the edge.
Even before the current pandemic, enterprises were implementing digital transformation initiatives, reassessing their cloud adoption strategies and cloud readiness, and moving towards digital solutions and tools to ensure business continuity. As the pandemic continues to accelerate the shift to digital, enterprises facilitating more remote working, such as telecommunications and cloud & IT providers, are expected to contribute to 54% of the total interconnection bandwidth growth in EMEA, outpacing other industries in the region.
The report also forecasts that overall interconnection bandwidth—the measure of private connectivity for the transfer of data between organizations—will achieve a 45% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2019 to 2023, within the EMEA region. The expected growth is driven by digital transformation, and specifically by greater demands from enterprises extending their digital infrastructure from centralized locations to distributed edge locations.
This comes as businesses scale and support real-time interactions by strategically interconnecting workflows closer to, and across people, things, locations, cloud, and data. The capacity of this connectivity is equivalent to 64 zettabytes of data exchange, which is enough bandwidth for every human on the planet (7.8 billion) to transmit their full DNA sequence in an hour.
What were the key learnings over the past couple of months and how do you plan to use those to make changes to your regional strategies?
Digital leaders must prepare for post-pandemic recovery by planning and implementing the right digital transformation initiatives now. At Equinix we believe those that have a foundational infrastructure which helps bring together all the right places, partners and possibilities will gain a business advantage over the long term. The GXI Vol.4 provides insight on how global macro trends and despite COVID-19 impacting certain industry segments, we believe there are ways to navigate this.
The digital adoption pattern has altered, with service providers now forecast to provision more interconnection bandwidth than enterprises, by a factor of nearly 2x. However, much of this service provider demand is anticipated to be in support of enterprises that are prioritizing their digital transformation in preparation for post-pandemic recovery.
Traditional business, within industries like banking and insurance, manufacturing and business & professional services, will represent a combined 30% of global interconnection bandwidth by 2023. This is led by the growing need to move workloads to the digital edge while scaling core IT infrastructure. By 2023, these traditional businesses are expected to reach a peak interconnection bandwidth growth rate of 50% annually.
The need for application exchange in digital ecosystems to support real-time engagement is essential and creates a network effect for businesses. The GXI Vol.4 predicts that connectivity from service providers to networks and cloud and IT service providers will be the two main sources of ecosystem interconnection, with an estimated 49% combined CAGR from 2019 to 2023.
Ehab Kanary, the Vice President of Enterprise Infrastructure for MEA at CommScope, speaks about the challenges in 2020 and the company’s plans for the months ahead
Which products and solutions will you be showcasing at GITEX Technology Week?
CommScope is working together to support our customers as they embrace what's next. Business models have changed, new opportunities have arisen, a need for fast, reliable ubiquitous connectivity has become the very backbone of commerce, education, health and safety.
The workplace and home dynamics are shifting globally, and CommScope is well positioned to tap into these opportunities through the networks of the future that we create. Here are examples of recent innovations that address this need for connectivity:
CommScope is partnering with Google’s Area 120 for Orion Wifi, a platform designed to bring private, secure roaming for consumers while helping public venues solve cellular dead zones and monetize their networks. CommScope’s RUCKUS Cloud: IT teams can troubleshoot faster and proactively improve the user experience. These gains will continue to accrue as new machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities are introduced, making the network more autonomous and self-healing. Connectivity across key industries: Connecting to a university Wi-Fi network is important for students. As they bring the latest smartphones to campus, the connection needs to be seamless and support all the standards and applications. The hospitality industry is reopening with a focus on health and safety for guests and employees. The network is the key to supporting these initiatives as applications and devices are added for cameras, video, IoT and other devices. CommScope’s RUCKUS ICX 7550 enterprise campus switch series is purpose-built for Wi-Fi 6 and IoT deployments. GITEX, Dubai’s flagship event, in its part live and virtual format, continues to play a pivotal role in bringing industry leaders and innovators together for conversations around future networks, artificial intelligence, cloud and digital economies. By planning ahead and working together with local and regional leadership, we are all creating a path for a connected future.
2020 has been a year of seismic changes in the way we work and live. The Covid-19 pandemic’s impact has been felt in every area of life, and it has brought new changes to venues and campuses struggling to stay relevant in a time of mass isolation. For many building owners, nice-to-have technologies have become must-have technologies in the age of Covid, accelerating technology improvements that were formerly on the back burner. CommScope will be sharing trends related to building connectivity, data centre evolution and how the lines between IT and operations will be blurring in 2021.
Do you hope for a business relief from the pandemic based on your engagements at the event?
We have spent time, in these first two stages of resolve and resilience: assuring our employees, partners, customers that we have measures in place to protect our people and our business. We’ve illustrated our humanitarian philanthropic response.
For example, we assisted the information technology disaster resource center with pop-up Wi-Fi centres for emergency health care delivery, equipped school buses with outdoor Wi-Fi access points for distance learning, and donated in-building wireless systems, face shields, en masse to hospitals in China, Europe and the United States.
On a personal level, CommScope's employees are donating their time and talent to support relief efforts in our communities. Our fundraising is targeting hunger relief with CommScope matching employee donations to select global organizations. Our employees can use special leave to support COVID-19-related community outreach efforts, including check-ins with retired CommScope employees to offer support.
CommScope’s purpose is to create lasting connections. We did it before, we do it today. Networks are essential for business continuity – a key customer need. And that need or purpose isn’t unique to this time. They are what keeps us connected last year, last month and will next year, too.
What will be your theme of participation at GITEX?
CommScope will build off of key themes share with customers and partners at our 2020 EMEA Virtual Roadshow. Industries are fast embracing a new era of robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of things (IoT) and other innovations that will impact all of our lives. With these new tools, enterprises are finding it harder, not easier, to evolve along with these new technologies.
Whether wired, Wi-Fi, cellular or any combination, the network should always be simple, reliable and adaptable. CommScope can guide organisations on how to do it—while delivering exceptional customer service every step of the way.
Do you plan to run any online engagements such as webinars in parallel to GITEX?
On-demand sessions from the CommScope EMEA Virtual Roadshow will be available. Organisations can uncover how they can build IT resilience while adapting to the new normal. Experts will cover everything from how cloud, Wi-Fi 6 and IoT will be key components of digital transformation. Content will feature real life examples from data centre transformation, education and hospitality. Guest speakers include Rafael Nadal’s former tennis coach Toni Nadal and Sean Fitzpatrick, the former captain of the All Blacks rugby team.
Red Hat’s Theme at GITEX will be ‘Go Slow, Look Closer, and Dig Deeper’
Adrian Pickering, the Regional General Manager for EMEA at Red Hat, speaks about his company’s participation at GITEX 2020
Which products and solutions will you be showcasing at GITEX Technology Week?
We are looking forward to showcasing a range of 5G, edge computing, and hybrid cloud technologies at the show. By offering glimpses into the future via these new products, solutions, and functionalities, we are equally excited to take GITEX attendees on an exclusive journey into Red Hat open source, edge computing, open hybrid cloud, and digital transformation. Our goal has always been to be the catalyst in communities of customers, contributors, and partners, creating technology the open source way. GITEX 2020 is the next step as part of this ongoing vision and we are sure the event will be huge success for everybody connected.
What are your expectations from the event this year?
As always, we expect to meet with an array of friends new and old as regional and international technology leaders, enterprises, and startups come together to demonstrate the future of every business and industry. GITEX is undoubtedly one of the most important weeks in the annual technology calendar and we expect that it will meet and exceed expectations and drive even greater collaboration within the world of tech. Moreover, we envisage once again inspiring a host of enterprises and technology vendors, holding proactive discussions regarding their respective visions and goals for the future, and showcasing our 5G, edge computing, and hybrid cloud technologies that can assist them moving forward.
Do you hope for a business relief from the pandemic based on your engagements at the event?
Looking ahead to the event, we anticipate an increased level of engagement with attendees as they seek to address and overcome the pandemic. As such, we are happy to provide the support they require in several areas. Firstly, we can drive increased efficiencies across their exciting infrastructures by adopting a common operating system and management tools. Secondly, we can enable greater flexibility by adopting one or more of the cloud offerings that are now widely available across our markets. Thirdly, we can ensure they capitalize on improved agility by adopting tools and methodologies, such as DevOps. This will enhance existing applications so they can run in a hybrid cloud environment or in developing new applications that are fully cloud-based.
What will be your theme of participation at GITEX?
This year, the theme of our participation will be ‘Go Slow, Look Closer, and Dig Deeper’. At GITEX 2020, we will bring together digital elements for guidance and experience navigation and showcase, besides our products and solutions, the playfulness and interactive nature of our brand. The event represents an opportunity for us to create a brand-new experience, and we believe our automated self-service booth experience is the perfect platform not only for our theme to come to life, but also inform and inspire all who visit throughout the event’s duration.
Do you plan to run any online engagements such as webinars in parallel to GITEX?
Of course, a prominent event such as GITEX will always thrust the spotlight on the work we do and how we can help enterprises succeed in the digital tomorrow. As such, the interest surrounding our products and solutions will be a particular high point. Online engagement is something we welcome at every available opportunity, and we encourage everybody to reach out and talk to us about how we can help them with their digital transformation agendas.
How is your company weathering from the market effects on the pandemic?
At Red Hat, we have weathered the market effects stemming from the pandemic well. Due to movement restrictions and lockdown measures, the demand for technology has increased dramatically and clients and customers, old as well as new, are coming us for solutions that will allow them to survive and succeed now and in the future. Open source is being acknowledged and pursued by a host of clients from various sectors, and the open source software and solutions we provide are proven to deliver longterm sustainability and provide positive outcomes for enterprises as they strive to achieve their aspirations.
What were the key learnings over the past couple of months and how do you plan to use those to make changes to your regional strategies?
Recent months alone have shown us that, as digital transformation accelerates rapidly, the digital skills gap is widening dramatically. Although governments and enterprises across the region aim to capitalize on the opportunities ahead, ensuring up-and-coming talent are equipped to succeed in tomorrow’s technology driven environments is a necessity. As such, educating young talent and driving an influx of grassroots-level initiatives level forms part our strategy. The Red Hat Academy has already made tremendous progress in this direction by transforming academic institutions into centers for enterprise-ready talent and outfitting them with training and certification required to drive digital upskilling. Moving forward, we will continue doing the same, so the people are in place to meet future market, sector, and organizational demands.
Wael Mustafa, the Area Vice-President for MESAT at Commvault, speaks about his company’s participation at GITEX
Which products and solutions will you be showcasing at GITEX Technology Week?
We will be showcasing out latest portfolio of products and services to intelligently manage data such as Commvault Backup & Recovery, Commvault Disaster Recovery, Commvault Complete Data Protection and Commvault HyperScale X.
Commvault HyperScale X is an integrated solution that delivers simple, flexible data protection for all workloads, optimized scalability, and built-in ransomware protection which enables customers to simplify and accelerate hybrid cloud adoption. Whereas, Commvault Backup & Recovery ensures data availability for all workloads across cloud and on-premises environments, delivering simple, reliable, data protection through a single extensible platform.
Commvault Disaster Recovery, on the other hand, enables customers to ensure business continuity and verify recoverability across cloud and on-prem environments, delivering simple, automated disaster recovery orchestration, flexible replication, and verified recovery readiness. Finally, Commvault Complete Data Protection brings our industry-leading functionality into a single data protection solution to ensure data availability and business continuity for all workloads across cloud and on-prem environments. These solutions addresses data management risks that exist today and that may exist tomorrow, intelligently.
What are your expectations from the event this year?
GITEX is a great opportunity for us to understand the new products and solutions that our customers are showcasing, in turn allowing us to reflect how to try and adapt Commvault’s services to best meet our clients’ needs. In addition, we have formed great relationships and partnerships at previous editions of the show, and we are confident that we will secure new leads and potential new customers at GITEX 2020, which is set to be the only face-to-face technology event of this scale globally this year.
Do you hope for a business relief from the pandemic based on your engagements at the event?
We look forward to participating at the first face to face event in the region dedicated to technology. The show gives us an opportunity to touch base with our current partners and understand their requirements ahead of the new year.
We believe that organizing shows such as GITEX amid the current climate will instill renewed confidence in customers again, and encourage them to make investments in technology and their digital transformation strategies.
What will be your theme of participation at GITEX?
At GITEX, Commvault will be displaying its updated product portfolio to help our customers effectively manage change across their hybrid IT environments. As mentioned, we will be displaying Commvault Backup & Recovery, Commvault Disaster Recovery, Commvault Complete Data Protection and Commvault HyperScale X.
Avinash Lakshman, founder of Hedvig will also be participating in a panel discussion during GITEX Future Stars along with other industry experts.
Do you plan to run any online engagements such as webinars in parallel to GITEX?
Commvault will be running its Connections Live event on Wednesday, 2 December 2020. This annual event is part of the global agenda of our organization during which we will be launching Metallic while hosting a number of customers. 9-time Formula One Grand Prix winner Mark Webber will join the Virtual Connections event, where a panel of experts and Commvault customers will discuss how to tackle the future of data management in 2021.
How is your company weathering from the market effects on the pandemic?
At Commvault, we have seen an increased appetite for investment in intelligent data management systems as organizations realize the importance of protecting and managing their data in the wake of the pandemic.
This year, we have hired additional staff to cover UAE and KSA and will also be recruiting in other key markets including South Africa. We have built a strong business pipeline in markets such as Egypt and Turkey in 2020 and we look forward to more success, as the region begins to recover from the economic pressures brought by the pandemic
What were the key learnings over the past couple of months and how do you plan to use those to make changes to your regional strategies?
We have witnessed a dramatic increase in the need for data protection on a global scale and regionally. Our partners have displayed an increased appetite for data protection solutions that are tailored to their businesses as they adopt home working practices.
At Commvault, we have worked on a robust strategy that focuses on meeting these evolving customer demands. A number of our existing partners and potential customers have hybrid cloud solutions, which makes us as Commvault the perfect provider for data protection solutions and recovery.
