Arabian Reseller - July-August 2021 by Rysha Media

JULY-AUGUST 2021

www.arabianreseller.com

Volume 3 | Issue 4

Tech@Work SPECIAL

Dynabook recommends Windows 10 Pro for business

The world’s lightest* 13-inch convertible Discover the Portégé X30W. Engineered to exceed Intel®’s exacting new Evo™ classification. Windows 10 Pro | Intel® Evo™ Platform | 11th Gen Intel® Core™ Processors | Intel® Xe graphics | 989 Grams | Instant Wake <1s 15 hour battery life with quick charge | 2 x Thunderbolt™ 4 | Robust Magnesium Chassis tested to Mil STD 810G

me.dynabook.com/laptops/portege/portege-x30w Take the lead with Windows 10 Pro devices *Based on 13.3” convertible laptops with 11th generation Intel® Core™ processors as of 2020/11/04, research conducted by Dynabook Inc.

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TECH@WORK

CONTENTS

23. "Today’s Workplace is no Longer What it Used to be" 27. “Data is Extremely Valuable and Very Versatile” 28. “Businesses Are Working Hard Towards Providing Much Better Customer Experiences”

29. “With a Fully Digitised Infrastructure, Autonomous Smart Buildings Become Possible”

30. "Building Networks Will Continue to Rise in Complexity" 31. "Technology is a Great Enabler of Efficiency" 32. "Today's Young Employees Are the Engines of the Knowledge Economy

33. “Cloud is the New Normal” 34. “Linux Provides a Stable Foundation for All IT Workloads and Deployments”

35. “Tech Ensured Our Society Remained Functional During the Pandemic” 36. “Businesses Should Use Tech to Automate and Re-Engineer Operational Processes” 37. “Faster, Cheaper, and Better is the Premise of Modern Tech”

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News 06. Intel Accelerates Process and Packaging Innovations 07. Airbus’ Mission-Critical Communication Solutions Used to Secure Hajj in 2021 08. Zoho to Make Zoho Invoice Free of Charge to Empower SMEs 12. Nozomi Networks Launches ADVantage Partner Program

26 38

14. ASUS Launches the ExpertBook B1 Series for Business Professionals in the UAE

15. Help AG Launches Managed Advanced Web Application Firewall Service

EDITORIAL JULY-AUGUST 2021 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Chris N. Fernando chris@ryshamedia.com SALES AND MARKETING

Ranbir Sen ranbir@ryshamedia.com ASSISTANT EDITOR

Edward Frank edward@ryshamedia.com

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Chris Fernando

The Workplace Has Changed for the Better The world around us has changed a lot over the past year and a half, and many of us are still working from home.

ture, with a new focus on how to improve the lives of employees while still getting the best from them.

What was expected to be a short-term break from the office continues, with no guarantee that this will change in the near future.

As we have seen throughout this pandemic, technology can play a significant role in our resilience to disruption. We should capitalise on this disruption to drive positive change.

However, that's not to say that this is the “death of the office". The workplace or "the office" that we know, has evolved to serve our purposes. For decades, we have been engrained to believe that 9 to 5, office-centric work was the best thing for business. As employees have been forced to work from home, and companies have had to embrace this change, we’re experiencing a change in productivity and employee freedom. Industry experts suggest that this shift in working life has encouraged businesses to take only the best parts of office culture, and free employees from inefficient processes and bad habits. Leaders are switching their focus from office culture to a more supportive cul-

Namely, to enrich an employee’s workplace experience, to create healthy work environments, and to enhance an employee’s productivity, all whilst having minimal impact on our planet. Arabian Reseller this month, focuses on this very topic. This Tech@Work Special, focuses on the technologies we use at work these days, how the workplace has evolved to suit our needs, how technology can help with economic recovery, the role women play in today's tech world, corporate sustainability goals, and lots more. I do hope you like this month's edition. If you have any suggestions or comments, please do feel free to contact me on chris@ryshamedia.com

COPY EDITOR

Priyan Sampath priyan@ryshamedia.com SENIOR WRITER

Nisha Seth info@ryshamedia.com WRITER

Vishal Jagani info@ryshamedia.com GRAPHICS DESIGNER

John Christy info@ryshamedia.com

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

Prarthana Mary prarthana@ryshamedia.com DIGITAL TEAM

Context Media LLP, Chennai, India. info@contextgroup.net www.arabianreseller.com

C O N TA C T I N F O R M AT I O N Rysha Media LLC, Sharjah Media City (SHAMS), Al Messaned, Al Bataeh, Sharjah, UAE. sales@ryshamedia.com www.ryshamedia.com ALL RIGHT RESERVED While the publisher has made all efforts to ensure the accuracy of information in the magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors whatsoever.

Cover Photo and Design by Ranbir Sen Copyright @2021

NEWS //

ARABIAN RESELLER - JULY-AUGUST 2021

Intel Foundry Services. “The innovations unveiled today will not only enable Intel’s product roadmap; they will also be critical for our foundry customers,” Gelsinger said. “The interest in IFS has been strong and I’m thrilled that today we announced our first two major customers. IFS is off to the races!” Intel technologists described the following roadmap with the new node names and the innovations enabling each node: •

Intel Accelerates Process and Packaging Innovations Intel Corporation has revealed one of the most detailed process and packaging technology roadmaps the company has ever provided, showcasing a series of foundational innovations that will power products through 2025 and beyond. In addition to announcing RibbonFET, its first new transistor architecture in more than a decade, and PowerVia, an industry-first new backside power delivery method, the company highlighted its planned swift adoption of next-generation extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV), referred to as High Numerical Aperture (High NA) EUV. Intel is positioned to receive the first High NA EUV production tool in the industry. “Building on Intel’s unquestioned leadership in advanced packaging, we are accelerating our innovation roadmap to ensure we are on a clear path to process performance leadership by 2025,” Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said during the global “Intel Accelerated” webcast. “We are leveraging our unparalleled pipeline of innovation to deliver technology advances from the transistor up to the system level. Until the periodic table is exhausted, we will be relentless in our pursuit of Moore’s Law and our path to innovate with the magic of silicon.” The industry has long recognized that traditional nanometer-based process node naming stopped matching the actual gate-length metric in 1997. Today, Intel introduced a new naming structure for its process nodes, creating a clear and consistent framework to give customers a more accurate view of process nodes across the industry. This clarity is more important than ever with the launch of

•

Intel 7 delivers an approximately 10% to 15% performance-per-watt increase versus Intel 10nm SuperFin, based on FinFET transistor optimizations. Intel 7 will be featured in products such as Alder Lake for client in 2021 and Sapphire Rapids for the data center, which is expected to be in production in the first quarter of 2022. Intel 3 leverages further FinFET optimizations and increased EUV to deliver an approximately 18% performance-per-watt increase over Intel 4, along with additional area improvements. Intel 3 will be ready to begin manufacturing products in the second half of 2023. Intel 20A ushers in the angstrom era with two breakthrough technologies, RibbonFET and PowerVia. RibbonFET, Intel’s implementation of a gate-all-around transistor, will be the company’s first new transistor architecture since it pioneered FinFET in 2011. The technology delivers faster transistor switching speeds while achieving the same drive current as multiple fins in a smaller footprint. PowerVia is Intel’s unique industry-first implementation of backside power delivery, optimizing signal transmission by eliminating the need for power routing on the front side of the wafer. Intel 20A is expected to ramp in 2024. The company is also excited about the opportunity to partner with Qualcomm using its Intel 20A process technology. 2025 and Beyond: Beyond Intel 20A, Intel 18A is already in development for early 2025 with refinements to RibbonFET that will deliver another major jump in transistor performance. Intel is also working to define, build and deploy next –generation High NA EUV, and expects to receive the first production tool in the industry. Intel is partnering closely with ASML to assure the success of this industry breakthrough beyond current generation of EUV.

Acronis Intros Advanced File Sync and Share for MSPs Acronis has announced a new advanced protection pack for its service provider solution, Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud. The new Advanced File Sync and Share pack build on the essential file-sharing capabilities included in Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud, layering additional data security capabilities such as blockchain-based data notarization and electronic signatures so service providers can strengthen their workplace collaboration services. Demand for secure file sync and share services has skyrocketed during the past 18 months as 88% of organizations worldwide required employees to work from home and the same percentage of employees expect to keep working remotely to some degree. As a result, 67% of businesses spent more on remote tools and web conferencing. While those trends create opportunities for managed service providers (MSPs) that deliver IT to small- to medium-sized businesses, the challenge is that traditional file sharing solutions do not address the data protection concerns of modern organizations – including control over storage locations, access to data, and what people can do with that data. Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud gives essential cyber protection capabilities to managed service providers (MSPs) that they can build their services on – including file sync and share on a pay-as-you-go basis. The new Advanced Files Sync and Share pack empower them with enhanced data security that traditional work collaboration solutions do not offer: •

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File notarization, powered by the Ethereum blockchain, enables clients to notarize files of any format and type, providing irrefutable proof that a file is original and unaltered. In a world where criminal use of digital editing and deepfake technology for fraud and forgery is rapidly accelerating, such notarization eliminates the risk of logs, records, videos, or images being altered. Electronic signatures, which enable multiple people to sign a document remotely. The simple drag-and-drop feature helps clients along every step of their document flow – from creation to distribution to signature. The eSigning service also creates a blockchain-based certificate to ensure the authenticity of the signature and document.

Airbus’ Mission-Critical Communication Solutions Used to Secure Hajj in 2021

ClearOne Launches All-in-One Versa Mediabar for Professional Quality Videoconferencing

Airbus secured this years’ Hajj holy pilgrimage in Mecca with its mission-critical communication technologies in Saudi Arabia. The company rolled out its Tactilon Agnet 800 collaboration platform and Tetra technology for use of public safety and security forces on the field and in the control rooms. Through the communication solutions’ secure and reliable features, the teams were able to coordinate faster and more efficiently wherever they were deployed. Like the previous Hajj seasons, better collaboration among security officials was key to safeguarding the safety and health of tens of thousands of people who performed Hajj this year. Tactilon Agnet allows users to leverage the solutions to talk, exchange multimedia messages, and record and share videos at the touch of a button with other members of their group regardless of whether the different devices used are smartphones or Tetra radios. Furthermore, the platform enables secure and reliable group communication, and one-toone calls through voice, video as well as picture and text messaging which improves teamwork and collaboration between team members.

ClearOne has announced the market introduction of its new Versa Mediabar, the company’s first professional-quality all-inone audio and video capture device that combines the elegance and simplicity of a soundbar with the power of ClearOne’s intelligent audio capture and 4K camera technologies. According to ClearOne Chair and CEO Zee Hakimoglu, the Versa Mediabar provides high-quality visual collaboration, audio conferencing, and UC applications from a single integrated device, offering the simplest solution available for offices, conference rooms, and home offices with virtually no setup required.

Public and security authorities can also benefit from Tactilon Agnet’s Tetra and broadband features such as emergency calls and real-time location tracking. Dispatchers, on the other hand, are equipped to monitor and command Tactilon Agnet and Tetra users through a computer-aided dispatch system integrated into the control room. This ensures higher access to the team and a faster response time during emergencies.

“The number one thing we hear from dealers and customers is that they need video conferencing equipment that looks and sounds excellent but also works right away, every time, without training or troubleshooting. That’s exactly what the Versa Mediabar delivers,” Hakimoglu said. “With a compact design that can be mounted on a wall or attached to a video display, the Versa Mediabar connects via a single USB cable to elevate the soundbar concept into a powerful tool for virtual collaboration that includes AI-enabled auto-framing and people tracking.”

“During unique events such as the Hajj pilgrimage, sturdy and reliable communication among the public authorities assigned to various areas in, and around Mecca is essential. Without such crucial collaboration, it would be difficult for them to safeguard both a large number of visitors, and the historical venue and premises. This year’s Hajj took place amid the still raging pandemic, therefore it was vital more than ever to equip public safety and emergency forces with flexible and reliable solutions for them to share information quickly,” explained Selim Bouri, Vice-President and Head of Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific for Secure Land Communications at Airbus.

The Versa Mediabar compact design with a single USB connection makes installation quick and easy. The Versa All-In-One Mediabar features a built-in 4K Ultra HD camera with a 110-degree ultra-wide-angle field of view and a four-element microphone array with 360-degree voice pickup and intelligent DSP that provides acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) and automatic noise reduction to ensure crystal clear audio capture. The camera combines electronic pan, tilt, and zoom functions (ePTZ) with artificial intel-

ligence to enable auto-framing and people tracking that keeps the speaker in view even if they move around the room. “As office layouts and homework continue to evolve, ClearOne is dedicated to creating solutions that provide modern workers with the best audio and video quality for training, education, corporate meetings, remote medical consultations, and any other collaboration need,” Hakimoglu added. “From huddle spaces and small meeting rooms to executive offices and home offices, the compact Versa Mediabar delivers all the power and clarity needed for daily virtual communications.” In addition to its professional-quality audio and video capture, the Versa Mediabar also features a powerful built-in speaker with Bluetooth connectivity that allows it to serve double duty as a fully-featured conferencing solution or a Bluetooth speaker for impromptu calls using any Bluetooth device. These attributes make the Versa Mediabar perfect for popular cloud-based collaboration applications such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, WebEx, Google Meet, and ClearOne’s COLLABORATE Space. The Versa Mediabar supports standard UVC commands for control, making it a great addition to existing systems, while dual-wall and display mounting options deliver freedom of placement and movement. Each Versa Mediabar is backed by a two-year support and maintenance warranty, with extension options available from ClearOne. The ClearOne Versa Mediabar will be available for AED 4499 (including VAT) through DGPlus towards the end of August 2021.

NEWS // ARABIAN RESELLER - JULY-AUGUST 2021

Quantum Computing to Create Up to $850 Billion in Annual Value by 2040 Confidence that quantum computers will solve major problems that are beyond the reach of traditional computers—a milestone known as quantum advantage—has grown fast in the past twelve months, according to a new report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), titled, What Happens When “If” Turns to “When” in Quantum Computing? Investors are moving aggressively to increase the amount they allocate to quantum computing, with two-thirds of all equity investments in the field coming since 2018.

Zoho to Make Zoho Invoice Free of Charge to Empower SMEs Zoho Corporation has announced that its online invoicing solution, Zoho Invoice, will be completely free of cost to further extend the company’s support for small and medium-sized enterprises. In the last four years, Zoho Invoice’s revenue growth has rapidly increased, demonstrating the need for a comprehensive invoicing solution to aid businesses from any industry to shift from manual to digital. Due to the pandemic, SMEs have decided to modernize their invoicing processes at an accelerated rate. To continue its support of the SME community, Zoho Invoice offers advanced capabilities such as time tracking, auto-recording of expenses, project billing, and 30+ real-time reports to help freelancers and small businesses easily navigate the billing and payment collection process, without the concerns of cost. For small and medium-sized enterprises, billing and payment collection has continued to be a challenge due to administrative costs, limited staff, and insufficient time resources. Additionally, businesses need the ability to access data remotely, which has caused a shift from on-premise solutions to cloudbased solutions. According to an Analysys Mason study, SME spending on on-premise solutions for invoice management will be stagnant between 2019 and 2025, while spending on cloud-based invoicing solutions will increase from USD 0.9 billion to USD 2.1 billion. Fully cloud-based, Zoho Invoice enables businesses to create and send fully customised,

professional invoices in less than a minute, follow up for payments automatically, and get paid online to achieve efficiency in their invoice process. Zoho has supported SMEs for over 20 years, and Zoho Invoice has helped businesses with their invoicing needs for 13 of those years. Zoho Invoice’s free offering will continue to help businesses streamline their billing and payment collection process through streamlined payment collection, simplified billing, tax handling, and more. Invoice integrates with Zoho applications and also integrates with third-party applications so that businesses can use the solution to contextually sync their AR information to relevant systems. “We launched Zoho Invoice in 2008, with the goal of providing a fully customizable invoicing solution for businesses of all sizes. Since then we’ve grown to millions of users worldwide. Through the migration from paper-based invoicing to digital invoicing we’ve seen the need for simplified billing to fit the customized needs of the SME community,” said Hyther Nizam, President of MEA, Zoho Corp. “Our roots are centered around helping the SME community which has supported Zoho from the beginning, and we understand the challenges that SMEs have had to undergo that were onset from the global pandemic. We hope to offer Zoho Invoice for free continues to help businesses rebuild and grow amongst challenging times that they face today and for the future,” he added.

Through 2017, those investments totaled ~$600 million, and that amount nearly doubled over the next three years. At the same time, companies are also significantly upping their QC investment, with 20% expected to dedicate resources to quantum technology by 2023, up from just 1% in 2018, according to a recent Gartner prediction. Jean-Francois Bobier, a BCG partner and director, and a co-author of the report, predicts the acceleration will continue. “Recent advances and roadmaps from major hardware companies such IBM, Google, Honeywell, IonQ, PsiQuantum and others have increased the confidence that we will have machines powerful enough to tackle important business and society problems before the end of this decade. Impacted companies and governments should get prepared for an accelerated timeline,” said Bobier. This upturn in investment is driven by major advances in quantum computing technology and predictions of massive performance and profit improvements as a result of this new capability. The BCG research estimates that quantum computing will unlock new value across many industries, creating up to $850 billion in annual value by 2040. Much of the new investment is being directed toward the challenge of developing lower cost and more reliable quantum computing hardware. Researching and engineering the quantum bits (qubits) that power the computers is extremely difficult and expensive. In 2020, a total of $675 million in equity investments flowed to quantum computing, with $528 million of that going to hardware development. The year before, the total venture capital of just $211 million was split evenly between hardware and software. BCG expects 2021 to break previous records, with more than $800 million in investments.

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ARABIAN RESELLER - JULY-AUGUST 2021

ing, “From our 2020 Sustainability Report, you can see that Huawei had launched programs like HUAWEI4HER and TECH4HER to help women improve their ICT skills and promote gender equality across the industry.”

Huawei to Invest $150 Million in Talent Development Through its Seeds For the Future Program 2.0 Huawei held a “Tech & Sustainability: Everyone’s Included” forum, co-hosted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Representatives from Huawei, IUCN, the World Economic Forum, Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), and Singapore Institute of International Affairs participated to discuss the role of technology in driving sustainability and building a more inclusive, eco-friendly world. Arabian Reseller had an exclusive opportunity to virtually attend the “Tech & Sustainability: Everyone’s Included” forum, where Huawei also released its 2020 Sustainability Report and announced its Seeds for the Future Program 2.0, through which Huawei plans to invest $150 million in digital talent development over the next five years. This program is expected to benefit more than 3 million additional people. Huawei also released its Innovation: Blood, Sweat and Dreams documentary series, which pays tribute to technological innovators and conservationists. In the digital economy, digital talent is playing an increasingly important role in driving digital transformation and economic growth, leading to many asking how we can drive equity and quality in education and foster more skilled digital workforces. “Digital skills and literacy are not just the foundation for the digital economy; they are also a basic human right defined by the United Nations,” said Huawei’s Chairman Liang Hua at the forum. “Today we are announcing Huawei’s Seeds for the Future Program 2.0. As part of our commitment to continuously developing talent, we will

invest $150 million in this program over the next five years and help college students and young people improve their digital skills. This program is expected to benefit more than 3 million additional people.” Huawei is committed to helping develop digital talent in the countries where it operates. In 2008, Huawei began to roll out talent development programs, through scholarships, technology competitions, and digital skills training, and has invested more than $150 million in these programs. Huawei has since benefited more than 1.54 million people from over 150 countries. According to a 2020 report by UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), about 2.2 billion people aged 25 years or younger still lack internet connections at home. This has undoubtedly exacerbated the digital divide plaguing many of the world’s most vulnerable. Speaking at the Forum, Ban Ki Moon Center for Global Citizenship Board Member and former UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova highlighted this concern saying “The digital divide impacts women more than men. Women have less access to the internet and this gap is widening. Women are now four times less likely than men to be digitally literate and represent just 6% of software developers. 170 years are needed to close the economic gender gap between men and women.” Huawei’s Senior Vice President of Global Government Affairs, Afke Schaart, also spoke at the event about how digital technologies will play an integral role in promoting inclusiveness and equality, say-

ICT technologies are important enablers of energy conservation and emissions reduction in other industries. It is estimated that the reduction in carbon emissions in other industries enabled by ICT technologies will be 10 times the amount of carbon emitted by the ICT industry itself. Tao Jingwen, Huawei’s Board Member and Chairman of its Corporate Sustainable Development Committee said, “Huawei is committed to promoting green integrated ICT solutions to help other industries conserve energy and cut emissions. We are playing an active role in building an energy-efficient, eco-friendly low-carbon society.” Speaking at the event, and responding to media queries, Tao Jingwen had this to say, when Arabian Reseller asked about sustainable technology implementations Huawei has carried out in the Middle East region and why future tech leaders should make sustainability a top priority. “We have been operating in the Middle East for over 20 years. During this period, we have followed the strategy of “In the Middle East, For the Middle East”, and we are committed to staying customer-centric and creating value for our customers. When it comes to sustainability, we have made great contributions to the Middle East, which have been recognized by many of our customers. For example, in 2018, we took first prize in the King Khalid Responsible Competitiveness Award in Saudi Arabia, making us the first tech company to ever win this prestigious award. This is a testament to our customers’ recognition of Huawei’s contributions to local sustainability efforts in the Middle East.” Mr. Jingwen further went on to say, “Huawei has four sustainability strategies: Digital Inclusion, Security and Trustworthiness, Environmental Protection, and Healthy and Harmonious Ecosystem. All of these four strategies have been extensively implemented in the Middle East. For example, we have brought wireless services to the unserved, and made technology more accessible to people. This is how we have leveraged our technology for the good of humanity. In addition, we strive to ensure network stability in the event of conflicts and natural disasters in the Middle East. Our efforts in this area have been highly praised by our customers and governments in the region.”

NEWS //

ARABIAN RESELLER - JULY-AUGUST 2021

Salesforce Completes Acquisition of Slack Salesforce has announced it has completed its acquisition of Slack Technologies. “We couldn’t be more excited to have Slack as part of the Salesforce family, combining the #1 CRM and the trailblazing digital platform for the work anywhere world,” said Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO of Salesforce. “Together we’ll define the future of enterprise software, creating the digital HQ that enables every organization to deliver customer and employee success from anywhere.”

Nozomi Networks Launches ADVantage Partner Program Nozomi Networks has announced it has enhanced its channel program to fully mobilize its global network of partners for aggressive growth and success. The new Nozomi Networks ADVantage partner program rewards top partners that commit to building a successful business with Nozomi Networks with unparalleled margins, go-to-market tools and programs, and certifications. “We’ve tuned this new program to emphasize our commitment to our partners as they’re critical to our future,” said Nozomi Networks Chief Revenue Officer Stephen Driggers. “The demand for Nozomi Networks’ OT and IoT security solutions has skyrocketed as networks converge and high profile cyberattacks increase in intensity. There couldn’t be a better time to double down on our channel investments. The ADVantage program equips our loyal partners with resources and incentives to capitalize on that demand.” In addition to supporting high performing partners with generous profit margins, Nozomi Networks’ new ADVantage partner program includes increased presales support, streamlined processes for deal registration and protection, advanced training and certification, and partner-exclusive demo accounts of Nozomi Networks’ flagship SaaS product Vantage. Nozomi Networks responded early with AI-powered network visibility and security solutions that integrate and work across

IT, OT, edge, and cloud environments. Vantage, and subscription pricing options across the company’s entire product portfolio, make it possible for partners to leverage cloud-based industrial cybersecurity for their customers that enables them to scale quickly while minimizing complexity and cost. “Loyal partners are central to our business, our customers’ success, and our long-term growth goals,” said Ivan Foreman, Senior Director of Global Channel Sales at Nozomi Networks. “By combining Nozomi Networks’ expertise and ongoing innovation with the energy and resources of channel partners who share our commitment to excellence, the ADVantage partner program is tuned for growth as we help industrial and critical infrastructure organizations around the world thrive in a world of digital transformation.” “Industrial and critical infrastructure cybersecurity has never been more important here in Australia and Nozomi Networks is the trusted leader in this space,” said Craig Ashwood, General Manager at Orca Tech. “That’s why we are thrilled to be part of the ADVantage Partner program as Nozomi’s Australian Value Added Distributor, helping to drive the program with the Partner community. We value our relationship with Nozomi Networks and look forward to helping partners and customers build out converged OT and IoT security solutions done right."

“We’ve learned over the past year that the workplace isn’t snapping back to the way it was,” said Bret Taylor, President and Chief Operating Officer of Salesforce. “Together, Slack and Salesforce Customer 360 will give every company in the world a single source of truth for their business and a single platform for connecting employees, customers, and partners with each other and the apps they use every day.” “We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rethink and reshape how and where we work,” said Stewart Butterfield, Slack CEO and Co-Founder. “Salesforce and Slack are uniquely positioned to lead this historic shift to a digital-first world. I could not be more excited for what’s to come.” “We are obsessed with continually delighting our clients, and offering them the best experience and value across every interaction,” said Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO of IBM. “Salesforce and Slack coming together will help us become more connected, more productive, and more innovative so we can better serve our clients.” Companies around the world have learned one thing over the past year—if you don’t have a digital way to connect with your employees, customers, and partners, you don’t have much of a chance of surviving. Headquarters are no longer on Madison Avenue or Main Street—they are in the cloud. Every business—in every industry—has to optimize for a digital-first customer, employee, and partner experience. Together, Salesforce and Slack will deliver the Slack-first Customer 360 that gives companies a single source of truth for their business, and a single platform for connecting employees, customers, and partners with each other and the apps they use every day, all within their existing workflows.

Think beyond video. Think Genetec. Securing your organization requires more than video surveillance. To be successful, you need access control, intercom, analytics, and other systems too. This is where our Security Center platform excels. It delivers a cohesive operating picture through modules that were built as one system. So, whether you’re securing an airport, a parking structure, a multi-site enterprise, public transit or an entire city, you can access all the information you need in one place. To learn about the benefits of unifying your security operations visit genetec.com

NEWS //

ARABIAN RESELLER - JULY-AUGUST 2021

The ExpertBook B1 laptops offer numerous options for robust security to ensure confidential and private data does not leak out. A fingerprint sensor that’s integrated into the power button offers every biometric security that’s as easy as it is effective. The new ExpertBook B1 models also include an optional front webcam with a built-in privacy shield. This ingeniously simple idea means that all the user needs to do for instant privacy is to swipe the cover across the webcam’s lens. Then, when they’re ready to be seen again, visibility is just one flick of the finger away.

ASUS Launches the ExpertBook B1 Series for Business Professionals in the UAE ASUS today announced ExpertBook B1400 and B1500, two new slim, light, and highly mobile notebooks that are tailored for business, and designed as the smart choice for ambitious startups, education organizations, and growing firms of all sizes. Powered by up to the latest 11th Generation Intel Core i7 processors, the beautiful, configurable and budget-friendly ExpertBook B1 series models boast a contemporary design, replete with a rugged top shell, and effortlessly combine high performance with extensive customizations to empower every business – including NumberPad 2.0 on B1400, plus optional fingerprint sensor, backlit keyboard, and a front webcam. ExpertBook B1 notebooks also benefit from a high-speed, high-capacity dual-storage design, comprehensive connectivity compatibility, and a display hinge that can be opened a full 180° for easy content sharing and collaboration. The 14-inch ExpertBook B1400 and 15.6-inch B1500 are powered by up to the latest-generation Intel Core i7 processor and NVIDIA GeForce discrete graphics, so they’re primed to deliver the sterling performance needed to get the job done. They also benefit from exclusive Performance Boost technology to achieve the best laptop performance and agility by tuning the internal thermals. Coupled with up to 48GB of memory and fast, capacious storage, the new ExpertBook B1 models ensure quick access to content — and with no worries about running out of storage. The laptops can be specified with up to two storage devices, with the powerful combination of up to an ultrafast 1TB SSD and a 2TB HDD providing the perfect

combination of high-speed data access and large capacity for personal content. ExpertBook B1400 and B1500 also benefit from an admin-friendly design for hassle-free maintenance in commercial or education settings. Removal of a few screws on the base provides easy access to upgrade the RAM or storage devices without the need to disassemble the entire device. Connectivity is especially important in a business laptop to ensure it’s easy for any task type or workload. That’s why the company has equipped the ExpertBook B1 laptops with a comprehensive selection of I/O ports. The latest Thunderbolt 4 standard with DisplayPort support means built-in power delivery, fast charging, display connectivity, and extreme-speed data transfers. It also has both USB 3.2 Gen 2 and USB 2.0 Type-A, HDMI 1.4, Ethernet, a microSD card slot, and an audio combo jack — all tested for up to 10,000 connection cycles for an assurance of maximum reliability. There’s also an integrated Kensington Lock slot, making it quick and easy to secure ExpertBook B1 laptops wherever they’re used. The need for remote work and learning tools has never been greater and ExpertBook B1400 and B1500 are equipped for these demands, with a total of three external-video outputs — DisplayPort through USB-C, HDMI, and VGA D-Sub — and supports connection of up to two external 4K UHD displays This gives users the freedom to engage in a video-conferencing or remote-learning session on the laptop’s own display while using two screens on either side to keep in view information that’s relevant to call or event.

The optional Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 chip also ups ExpertBook B1’s business-friendly security credentials. The embedded TPM 2.0 chip securely stores authentication information used by software, such as passwords or encryption keys to protect important data and transactions. ExpertBook B1 is designed to both meet and surpass exacting industry thresholds — including the latest ultra-demanding MIL-STD 810H US military standard, putting B1400 and B1500 one step ahead of the competition. The chassis design combines additional structural enhancements to meet the rigorous tests of daily use. These include a resilient aluminum-alloy upper cover, an internal keyboard bracket that provides additional structural support, and protective foam that protects the hard drive from bumps and shocks. ExpertBook B1 laptops are ready for the increased levels of remote working and education, with ASUS two-way AI noise-canceling technology integrated to ensure superior audio experiences for calls and video conferences. ASUS two-way AI noise-canceling audio employs machine learning in order to isolate unwanted noise from human speech. There are two modes: Single-presenter mode allows the voice directly in front of the PC to be heard clearly; while Multi-presenter mode clarifies speech from a different direction, ensuring optimum quality for group conference calls. The AI noise-canceling mic speaker feature, meanwhile, filters out all ambient noise apart from human speech — making it easier to hear what everyone else is saying. The ASUS ExpertBook B1400 and B1500 is available now through Asus’ official distributors and resellers in UAE. Price starts from AED 1,649.

Intel Launches the NUC 11 Extreme Kit Mini Gaming PC

Intel has announced the Intel NUC 11 Extreme Kit (code-named “Beast Canyon”), a highly modular desktop PC engineered to provide a phenomenal experience for gaming, streaming, and recording. With the latest 11th Gen Intel Core processors, support for full-size discrete graphics cards, and a full range of I/O ports, the Intel NUC 11 Extreme Kit delivers high-performance gameplay and smooth, immersive visuals. Compact Intel NUC 11 Extreme Kits are designed to provide powerful, immersive gaming experiences. For performance, connectivity, and modularity, the Intel NUC 11 Extreme kit delivers massive performance with a small footprint. The highest-performing Intel NUC yet delivers a premium and size-optimized PC package for creating innovative desktops suited to gamers’ unique performance needs. Packing the latest hardware components into a tiny 8-liter case, the Intel NUC 11 Extreme Kit is loaded with features typically found in much larger gaming rigs and offers customizable design options. The sky’s the limit with up to an 11th Gen Intel Core i9 processor featuring eight cores, 16 threads, and up to 5.0 GHz frequency. Kits are also available with an unlocked Intel 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor. Additional features include two Thunderbolt 4 ports, Intel Wi-Fi 6E, a 2.5-gigabit Intel Ethernet port, and a 650watt internal power supply. Users can also customise with a full-size discrete graphics card, up to 64 gigabytes of dual-channel memory, and massive storage options thanks to four M.2 slots. It also comes with a hinged chassis lid for easier upgrading. Three large 92mm fans keep things cool and quiet during hours of heated gameplay. RGB under-chassis lighting and replaceable RGB front logo mean each kit can have its own signature design inside and out. The new Intel NUC 11 Extreme Kits are expected to be available starting in 2021’s third quarter, with more rolling out through the end of this year. Pricing starts at $1,150 to $1,350 for Intel Core i7 and Intel Core i9 kits, respectively.

Help AG Launches Managed Advanced Web Application Firewall Service Help AG, the cybersecurity arm of Etisalat Digital and the region’s trusted security advisor, has launched a fully cloud-delivered Managed Advanced Web Application Firewall (AWAF) service that proactively improves the security posture for organisations relying on web-based applications. The service is in line with Help AG’s service-centric evolution that offers customers uninterrupted access to leading cybersecurity technologies powered from in-country platforms with round-the-clock access to cybersecurity talent on a pay-as-yougo model. Using cutting-edge Web Application Firewall technology, it protects customers’ web-hosted applications from attacks, which target known and unknown exploits, without interrupting legitimate traffic. Commenting on the launch, Stephan Berner, Chief Executive Officer at Help AG, said: “In today’s digital age, enterprises rely heavily on web applications to perform their day-to-day business functions. With more and more applications moving to the cloud, customers are increasingly exposed to sophisticated attacks wherein hackers take advantage of attack vectors that bypass traditional network and host-based security technologies. Help AG’s Managed Advanced Web Application Firewall service enhances customers’ cybersecurity posture and

offers them industry-leading protection and an assurance of uninterrupted web-hosted business applications.” Berner added: “In-house security teams often struggle to keep pace with the organisation’s digital transformation mandates. They require the help of industry-leading cybersecurity expertise to build application-layer security measures to protect web applications as well as the underlying servers and databases that support them. The service provides them with round-the-clock proactive defense, support, and management, no matter where the end-user is located.” By the virtue of being purely cloud-operated, customers benefit from a deployment agnostic service, which can seamlessly integrate with any application or web server hosted anywhere in the UAE, regardless of whether the end customer’s web server is deployed in their own premises, at a private data center or hosted in the public cloud. Based on the simple design architecture of point and redirect, the customer’s web application traffic is forwarded through route injection on the DNS towards Help AG’s Managed Advanced WAF service module, to examine and filter the inbound traffic and enforce the rule sets based on the customized policies.

CHANNEL TALK //

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research and resources to protect against the damage cyber-attacks can inflict on vital systems. To address security personnel shortages and an industry need for more curated and data-driven threat intelligence, ThreatQuotient recently announced two new capabilities built into the ThreatQ platform, ThreatQ TDR Orchestrator and ThreatQ Data Exchange.

ThreatQuotient Named 2021 TAG Cyber Distinguished Vendor ThreatQuotient has announced that the company has been recognized as a Distinguished Vendor by TAG Cyber in their Security Quarterly report for Q3 2021. TAG Cyber selected ThreatQuotient as one of only a handful of industry-leading cybersecurity solution providers to be featured in the report, which offers expert guidance, research and analysis, and education across the entire cybersecurity ecosystem. In 2021, the frequency and scale of cyberattacks have increased and affected businesses and critical infrastructure ranging from hospitals to power plants. Amid the growing intensity and risks associated with these threats, enterprises, governments, and individuals are in need of more

“Existing approaches to security automation work for repetitive tasks, but to actually support detection and response needs, the focus of automation should be on the data and not the processes. ThreatQuotient is helping organizations focus on what is learned from their data, resulting in stronger detection and response,” said Leon Ward, VP Product Management, ThreatQuotient. “ThreatQuotient is building on this approach to improve overall security operations, as well as strengthen industry threat intelligence sharing. We are pleased to be included in TAG Cyber’s report as a distinguished vendor, and we appreciate their work to further educate the market on timely threats and leading solutions.” Katie Teitler, VP of Research and Advisory at TAG Cyber, added, “We are thrilled to feature ThreatQuotient in this publication. Given the rise of ransomware, phishing, and other attacks this year, their insights on achieving efficiency in security operations and curating data for effective automation to defend against attackers are of great interest and importance to IT and security professionals right now.”

CyberKnight and GTB Technologies to Offer DLP Solutions in the Middle East The inaccuracy of data breach detection and the complexity of traditional tools significantly impact operations in today’s data-saturated business environment. To address customer challenges related to corporate information protection, compliance, and data visibility, CyberKnight has signed a distribution agreement with GTB Technologies, a leading cybersecurity company that focuses on providing enterprise data protection and data loss prevention solutions. GTB Technologies is a data protection solution that can prevent the loss of data from malware and trusted insiders by blocking sensitive data in real-time with impeccable accuracy whether it is on-premise, off-premise, in the cloud, or as a managed service. The company created AccuMatch technology with a unique patented fingerprinting feature to ensure the most precise detection, monitoring, and control of sensitive data along with its movements. The platform is capable of real-time inspection of all protocols while stopping data loss immediately. “Due to its complexity, nowadays more and more organizations are viewing DLP as a program that impedes the productivity and effectiveness of their employees. With GTB, CyberKnight is now able to offer regional organizations the platform with a modularized and efficient approach to data loss protection. Companies are able to integrate the system into their current toolset seamlessly and without disrupting the operational flow, all within 30 minutes,” commented Wael Jaber, VP of Technology and Services, CyberKnight. “GTB’s Data Protection Solutions are unique from leading competitors as it addresses threats from both trusted and untrusted users, accurately discovering data and stopping breaches. GTB Technologies’ mission is to lead in both innovation and customer trust," said Andrei Rogovets, Manager of Business Development, GTB Technologies, Inc.

AlJammaz Technologies Signs Distribution Agreement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise AlJammaz Technologies has announced that it has signed a distribution agreement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) for distribution coverage across Saudi Arabia. With this partnership, AlJammaz Technologies is authorized to distribute Innovative edge-to-cloud solutions from across the HPE portfolio, including Compute, Storage, Software, and Intelligent Edge. AlJammaz will also offer solutions as-aservice via the HPE GreenLake edge-tocloud platform, as well as a wide range of networking solutions from Aruba. Through this agreement, both organizations plan to jointly develop and enable their partner ecosystem to deliver next-generation edge-to-cloud empowered solutions from HPE to support the digitization of

the economy in Saudi Arabia in line with Saudi Vision 2030. By working with HPE, AlJammaz is looking to help accelerate its partners’ digital transformation journeys and help them stay ahead of what is next. “We’re excited about our partnership with HPE and look forward to empowering our channel partner ecosystem of System Integrators, MSPs, CSPs, VARs, and local ISVs to deliver next-generation edge to cloud solutions for digital transformation with market-leading offerings from HPE and Aruba. With our vast experience and resources, at AlJammaz Technologies our team will assist HPE to recruit the right mix of new partners, empower and enable existing channel partners across Saudi Arabia,” said Eng. Asim AlJammaz,

the CEO of AlJammaz Technologies. “We are very excited about our partnership with AlJammaz Technologies in Saudi Arabia. There is a great opportunity for both organizations to work together and unlock the full potential of our HPE GreenLake edge to cloud platform. This is because HPE GreenLake cloud services make it easier for channel partners to drive growth and expand their expertise to deliver as-a-service solutions to their customers. Recent enhancements to the HPE GreenLake service offering will assist HPE partners in selling, billing, and capacity planning,” said Issa Al-Khamees, Saudi Arabia & Gulf Managing Director at Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

Sennheiser Appoints Thomsun Trading Est. as the Exclusive Distributor Sennheiser has appointed Thomsun Trading Est, as an exclusive distributor of their NEUMANN Studio Monitor Solution line in the UAE. NEUMANN is a leading manufacturer of studio monitors, and has always been recognized for technological innovation. The 90-year-old brand expanded into monitors over the past decade to top the wish list of broadcast media. To further market penetration in UAE, NEUMANN has partnered with THOMSUN TRADING – one of the leading names in the Musical and Audio products Industry in UAE. On this occasion, Mig Cardamone, Sales and Marketing Director, Sennheiser Middle East said, “We are delighted to announce the appointment of Thomsun Trading Est. as the exclusive distributor for the Neumann Studio Monitor line in the UAE. We are impressed with the strength of their team and knowledge of the studio monitor business. Thomsun has a long-lived reputation in the UAE as a distributor and MI retailer, with penetration into broadcast, music recording, and end-user (project studios), as well as system integrators that need high-quality reproduction in corporate or commercial facilities. This appointment fits well with our plans for growing our Neumann monitor business globally as well as in the UAE and the region.” Thomsun Trading Establishment, General Manager, Davis Varkey, is equally excited about the new appointment. “Neumann is a well-established brand who know their market inside-out. They understand the importance of not just selling a product, but the added value of excellent service and technical assistance at every stage of the project. And that is exactly what Thomsun Trading stands for.” There has been a growing demand for Neumann monitors in the market. This collaboration will provide a plethora of solutions for customers and businesses. Varkey also added, ‘It is an honour to partner with NEUMANN with its decades of success based on an uncompromising, quality-oriented approach, in both the development and manufacture of all its products. NEUMANN guarantees the highest sound quality along with precision and credibility, a reputation earned over the decades. Our experience in the region, a wide array of showrooms, and offices strategically located across the geography and the range of products we represent gives us the confidence to take on NEUMANN. We hope our expertise and experience together with theirs will help us attain huge success.”

Xerox Emirates Signs Exclusive GCC Distribution Rights With V-Health Passport Xerox Emirates has entered into an exclusive strategic partnership holding all distribution rights with V-Health Passport Ltd. to launch V-Health Passport, a Secure ID contact tracing platform. The ambitious collaboration will see Xerox Emirates bolster its already impressive portfolio of intelligent and innovative services by offering the V-Health Passport in addition to its advanced VCode and VPassport products to clients around the UAE and the wider GCC. The V-Health Passport is a secure global mobile solution built on the VPassport platform that uses VST Enterprises’ revolutionary patented VCode technology. This multi-functional platform has a one-step registration process via the V-Health Passport portal or app (available on both Android and iOS) and uses an ID system to provide a chain of evidence displaying various health information about the user such as vaccination status, recent tests as well as other items such as boarding pass, travel, and event tickets. This advanced technology is accessible via mobile or printed lanyards/tickets and allows the user’s status to be shared from a safe distance using a scannable VCode or mobile phone. Being a test and vaccination agnostic platform, this solution empowers the healthcare sector with details related to all testing regimes including PCR, LAMP, rapid antigen, and antibody tests for COVID-19. Healthcare professionals can register, create and add an item to a passport in five easy steps starting with locating a public user via their V-Health

ID, email, or scanning their passport. Another exclusive feature of V-Health Passport is the built-in and fully automated contact tracing system True Contact, which alerts users when they have been in contact with someone who has tested positive either by V-Health Passport or venue VCodes without the need to track their location. Venue Codes by V-Health Passport are gaining popularity with music, sports, restaurants, or hotel venues. A ‘trackandtrace’ venue code is set up with a digital geo-fence assisting the system with live contact tracing. This means if a passport user who has visited the venue tests positive for coronavirus, other users who visited the venue on that same day will automatically receive an email, text, and app alert prompting them to be re-tested. Provided as a fully centralised distributed framework, this revolutionary solution and its accompanying apps are free to use and meet the highest security standards. The VCode and V-Health platforms are GDPR compliant providing user information including geolocation, time, date, and device type. The V-Health Passport is an exclusive addition to Xerox Emirates’ suite of digital services and solutions. Xerox Emirates and VHP possess a market-leading range of products and services with capabilities that complement each other’s status. The newly agreed partnership is aimed at helping organisations and events stay safe and become more efficient.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS //

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Canon Middle East Gets new MD for Middle East & Turkey Canon Middle East (CME), a provider of imaging technologies and services has announced the appointment of Venkatasubramanian (Subbu) Hariharan as Managing Director, Canon Middle East and Turkey (CMET) effective from 1st July 2021. Hariharan has twenty-seven years of industry experience, with fifteen years of experience at Canon Middle East.

Acronis Appoints Patrick Pulvermueller as Chief Executive Officer Acronis has appointed cloud software and hosting industry veteran Patrick Pulvermueller as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2021. Pulvermueller succeeds Serguei Beloussov, who founded the company in 2003 and has served as CEO since 2013. Pulvermueller joins Acronis from GoDaddy, where he most recently served as President of the Partner Business. In that role, he led the company’s strategic expansion of its Hosting, Productivity, and Security services through resellers and agency partners. Combining that experience with his product development expertise, Pulvermueller is an expert in developing successful, cloud-based go-tomarket strategies, particularly through service providers, resale channels, and strategic alliances. He previously held executive leadership roles as CEO of Host Europe GmbH and Group CEO of Host Europe Group (HEG), where he previously served as Group COO. “I am excited to join the Acronis team, engage with our tremendous partner network, and continue Serguei’s vision of providing industry-changing cyber protection services,” said Pulvermueller. “Acronis is poised to disrupt the data protection and cybersecurity markets while redefining how service providers leverage remote monitoring and management (RMM) and professional services

automation (PSA) services. I look forward to contributing my knowledge and experience in the service provider business to ensure we take full advantage of that opportunity.” Pulvermueller takes over at a pivotal time. Acronis just received over $250 million in an investment round including CVC Capital Partners VII and others, which values the company at more than $2.5 billion. In addition to accelerating its technology and product development, the company plans to leverage that investment to further enhance its go-to-market initiatives – an area in which Pulvermueller has deep expertise – by expanding its broad partner network, which includes managed service providers (MSPs), managed security service providers (MSSPs), hosting partners, cloud distributors, cloud aggregators, network service providers, and others. Acronis Chairman of the Board of Directors, René Bonvanie, noted, “Having added more than $1.5 billion in valuation during the past 18 months, Acronis is on a tremendous growth trajectory thanks to the cyber protection strategy put in motion by Serguei. Given Patrick’s demonstrated expertise in helping rapid growth companies scale and proven success in a channel-centric environment, we are confident he will accelerate Acronis’ success and prepare the company for the next stage.”

He was previously the B2C Business Unit Director, where he was instrumental in securing a leadership position for CME across the GCC market through the successful channel and country expansions, streamlining operations to improve organizational effectiveness and implementing new business-focused approaches, to build up the company from a shipping company to the strong B2C organization of today. In his new role as Managing Director, Hariharan will oversee the immediate post-pandemic transition, business recovery plans, and Canon Turkey integration, as well as focus on long-term goals of geographical expansion into key markets, driving the customer and people-focused agenda, product diversification, and strengthened digital transformation, with a commitment to Canon’s philosophy of Kyosei: a dedication to working and living together for the common good. “As we work to rebuild ties and reinvigorate the economy in a post-pandemic era, I am cognizant of the tremendous responsibility we have to our employees, partners, and customers and the importance now, more than ever, of following the true spirit of the Kyosei philosophy. It’s a great privilege to have the opportunity to lead the CME team and I come into this role with a commitment and promise that we will continue to reimagine our business in ways that will always, best serve our customers,” said Venkatasubramanian (Subbu) Hariharan, Managing Director of Canon Middle East and Turkey.

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// EXPERT SPEAK

ADDRESSING BUSINESS MOBILITY IN A POST-PANDEMIC WORLD By Alexander Malienko, Business Unit Director Middle East & Africa, Dynabook Europe GmbH The pandemic continues to evolve and influence how we do business. Although, with the vaccine rollout looking optimistic, there is hope that life will soon start returning to normal – with offices opening their doors and employees back at their desks. When the mass return to the workplace commences, and a newly flexible workforce emerges, addressing the new business mobility puzzle will become ever more important. However, said puzzle is increasingly complex. In the wake of the pandemic, organisations will need to navigate changing employee expectations when it comes to ways of working, new technology requirements and the challenges that come with adopting these. Managing new employee expectations ‘Business as usual’ has certainly been turned on its head over the last year and this has bought about a re-adjustment of what it means to keep employees happy and retained. Time away from the office and in their own homes has given workforces a chance to rethink their workplace priorities and expectations. In recent months, we’ve seen discussions over whether employees want to return to the office or remain working from home – or a combination of both. In fact, over half (59%) of people say that they would like to keep working remotely as much as possible even after COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted. Flexible working options have been high up on the list of most employees for some time now. What’s more, it’s not just home-based working that is high on the agenda. The pandemic has also accelerated a change to workplace design and location that was already underway. You only need to look at the popularity of co-working spaces worldwide before COVID-19. New working patterns mean that business will need to reduce desks to make room for flexible collaborative and social areas. Employee desires to be in centralised, city-based offices have also shifted. With

companies taking a fresh look at how much and where space is required, many employees are pushing employers to set up regional offices closer to where they live. An impact of the pandemic could be that companies split operations between several locations, potentially benefiting from smaller offices. Recent events have also naturally changed the way that employees will use workplace benefits. Office-based perks will be less relevant in our new world of business. As a result, businesses will need to work harder on the value proposition they bring to employees. The role of technology At the heart of enabling these new ways of working and meeting employee expectations is technology. For millennial employees, in particular, technology is already a defining factor of a good work experience. However, for all employees, the pandemic has highlighted the importance of reliable workplace technology – especially end-user devices which have been so heavily relied on by employees working remotely. Laptops and PCs have been the unsung heroes of this pandemic, and will continue to be so in this new world of working. As such, businesses need to ensure they are investing in lightweight and portable, yet powerful devices designed to accommodate both home working and time in the office. These devices need to be durable enough to withstand being on the move, whilst also having the same next-level connectivity as a smartphone to enable effortless collaboration and avoid costly downtime. That said, it’s not just end-user devices that will play a key role in facilitating a work-fromanywhere model for businesses. We’ve well and truly entered a new reality where teamwork no longer means having to be in the same physical location. Other digital technologies such as wearables will also play a key role in workplace collaboration. Smart glasses, for example, will enable interactive remote communication – bringing people face-to-face with functions like

document retrieval, workflow instructions and real-time data capture. The global wearables market has proven resilient during the pandemic, with CCS Insight predicting that sales of wearables are now expected to reach 300 million units in 2024. Solving technology challenges with more technology A potential obstacle for any business adding connected devices and solutions to their network is the amount of data these devices will create and how they manage and process this data effectively and securely. The answer? Investing in more next-generation technology. Completely overhauling networks can be time and resource-intensive, especially for businesses navigating a recession. Edge computing offers a viable solution to resolve this, processing data at the edge reduces strain on the cloud so users can be more selective of the data they send to the network core. Another consideration is security. With devices accessing and entering the corporate network in and away from the office, this opens up the threat landscape for businesses. According to recent research, the number of ransomware attacks reported by web users grew by 485 per cent in 2020 compared to the previous year. End-user devices with in-build security features such as facial or fingerprint recognition and hardware-based credential storage capabilities provide a secure first defence against cybercriminals, while solutions like zero client solutions ensure devices themselves do not retain sensitive information. Even as we continue to face the ongoing impact of the pandemic, conversations around what business mobility will look like postCOVID-19 have already started. The world of work has changed forever and with it comes new ways of working and fresh employee expectations for businesses to adapt to. Getting mobility right in the ‘next normal’ will require time and investment, and will ultimately need to include next-generation technology.

TECH@WORK //

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“FOR SUCCESS, BUSINESSES NEED TO FIND SMART WAYS TO USE TECH” Jason McMillan, the Sales Director at Epson Middle East, speaks about the products and solutions his company offers for today’s workplace Which products and solutions do you offer for today’s workplace? Epson provides products that address and help support the business needs of today’s workplace environments. Whether hybrid or remote working, businesses are opting for technology solutions that can help with the need for physical distancing and lower user intervention while sill prioritising products that are cost-effective and eco-friendly. Epson’s versatile solutions for the workplace help support organisations in the Middle East in optimising costs, efficiency, and sustainability. Printing services such as: Contactless printing solutions, such as

Epson Print Admin, can reduce touchpoints as employees swipe their cards to release print jobs without touching the device. These solutions also reduce paper and ink waste, as well as improving data security as prints are only released once the users are in front of the machine and have authorised its release using their swipe cards. Cloud-based solutions, such as Epson Connect, can allow employees to remotely print documents from their mobile devices. Remote servicing software such as Epson Remote Service allows print fleets to be monitored and maintained remotely, reducing the need for onsite engineer visits, and increasing first-fix success. Additionally, the cost of maintenance

and printer downtime are also reduced. Epson display solutions can help safely bring people back together and maintain social distancing in the classroom or office while ensuring materials being presented are visible to all due to large display screen sizes that can scale up to 155 inches. Those working or studying remotely can also connect, collaborate, annotate, share ideas and add to group work. Unlike flat panels, there are no visible finger marks left on screen when touched and when using them with anti-bacterial whiteboard surfaces, it eradicates any breeding ground for bacteria and viruses. Epson’s visualisers such as the education document camera can project live views

of 3D objects without people crowding or passing objects, reducing touchpoints and allowing engagement with remote students. It also provides flexibility to show the classroom from any angle simply by rotating and repositioning the camera head. How do you think technology today helps businesses grow? Technology is driving change in almost every major industry; finding smart ways to use technology is an integral part of success in business today. Companies across the Middle East are relying on technology more than ever to drive innovation, strategy, growth, and increase competitive advantage. Companies of all sizes use technology systems to improve the way they design and manage their workflow, operations, processes, production, business communications, financial record keeping. The retail industry is a great example of this. Businesses evolved as a result of the pandemic and needed to shift to alternative ways to cater to their customers, such as e-commerce, online deliveries or in-home dining options for restaurants. Digital label printing has been an essential technology tool in the Middle East since the pandemic, helping with remote or online order placements for products and custom-made labels for specific customers or brands. Epson’s label printers and portable POS receipt printers have helped businesses responding to this demand. In addition, as we witnessed a rise of home offices, technologies such as Epson’s EcoTank printer range, have been a tremendous support – where cartridges are no longer needed, significantly reducing the need for users to shop for and replace ink. Within manufacturing and heavy industry, our Moverio smart glasses have helped with remote diagnostics and servicing, enabling specialist support in field without the need for engineers to physically attend. In retail, our Moverio glasses have also been used for virtual shopping to help retailers remain open by reviewing products live in store for potential customers viewing at home. How is technology driving our economic recovery? Technology has played an essential role in keeping our economy and society functioning during the pandemic and it can play an even bigger role in driving a sustainable economic recovery. Digital technologies can make manufacturing more productive and less resource-intensive, and supply chains more resilient. Reshoring and the further development of

local manufacturing is aligned with Middle East transformation agendas, as it would see manufacturing driving diversified economic growth and enabling job creation. Automated robotics are set to play a major role in supporting reshoring and local manufacturing. As automated robotics have become more accessible and affordable, they are now ideal for small companies, manufacturers, and the agricultural industry. For example, robotics allows for the creation of new domestic jobs through reshoring, as businesses bring their production and distribution home. A new channel of jobs and opportunities in programming, engineering, AI and technology-based careers could also be created as robot fleets need to be programmed and managed. How is tech shaping the infrastructure of tomorrow? The office of the future is expected to look very different to the office of today. Not only because of social distancing requirements, but also because organisations have reimagined workflows and processes around digital opportunities to enhance agility, collaboration, performance, and customer-centricity. However, more information shared digitally often means more materials need to be printed – with printers playing a central role in the increasingly information-centric workplace, especially in legal, medical, and financial services. Organizations are shifting from a culture of ’print everything‘ to ’print what matters most‘ – with a workload that is centred on the document. Epson’s business inkjet printers can use less energy, reduce waste, and are more sustainable for the environment and the bottom line. Print is most powerful when combined with digital media. Epson looks forward to launching PaperLab within the region. Globally, it is the first in-office, paper secure recycler, that turns wastepaper into new paper using a virtually dry process powered by Epson’s unique Dry Fiber technology. This revolutionary, on-demand solution will help businesses in the Middle East to securely destroy sensitive information, recycle, reduce its societal and environmental impact and take control of paper supplies. How is your company investing in the workforce of tomorrow? We are investing in the Middle East as a growth market, aligned with national transformation agendas, increasing our local head count, and supporting the workforce. We have partnered with Middlesex University Dubai with its Robotics Laboratory, supporting the MSc Robotics programme.

Epson also engaged with over 11,000 students of all ages as part of its ‘New Horizons’ programme, introducing young people to sustainable technology and inspiring them to achieve their career goals. How is your company working towards a sustainable future? Epson has announced Epson 25 Renewed, a new corporate vision to drive the company towards its goals of achieving sustainability and enriching communities. Epson’s strong sustainability commitments and achievements already see it ranking in the top ten of all companies measured by industry intelligence provider IDC’s sustainability framework, rating higher than average across all indexes measured. Epson’s revised Environmental Vision 2050 reinforces these goals, as the company seeks to become carbon negative and underground resource free by 2050 through a program of decarbonisation, closing resource loops, customer environmental impact mitigation and the development of innovative environmental technologies. We will invest 100 billion Yen (33 million AED) to help achieve these goals. How do you think tech will shape the 2021 landscape? Technology has enabled businesses to continue to function and improve despite challenging circumstances. It has and will continue to play an important role for organisations, in creating, innovating, and further developing their business. Middle East organisations that adopt innovative technology now can enable the socially distanced office to meet government guidelines and to maintain business continuity. Investments in innovative technologies can also lower total cost of ownership and deliver innovative new business models. In 2021, Epson Middle East will focus on connecting businesses with the sustainable technology solutions that will not only save them money but also contribute to their sustainability goals. Our business inkjet printers for instance use less energy than laser printers, significantly reducing energy consumption. With this one simple technology switch, small and large business alike can be more sustainable while protecting their bottom line. In retail, Epson offers businesses a range of products such as mPOS devices and label printers that can transform customer experiences, improve brand communication and reduce cost and waste in the process.

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"Users Today Want Services That Offer Seamless Collaboration Through an Interconnected Ecosystem" Keith Li, the Country Manager for UAE at Huawei Consumer Business Group, speaks about the products and solutions offered by his company for today's workplaces Which products and solutions do you offer for today's workplace? At Huawei, we recently revealed our Super Device Products line-up that aims to provide consumers with the technology and services they need to fully realise a “Smart office” experience. A new “Smart Office” experience brings a productivity hub that breaks through boundaries for maximum creativity and efficiency. Super device connectivity with and without wires, along with Huawei MateView, Huawei MatePad Pro, and Huawei MateBook exemplifies full integration suitable for our busy lifestyles. Supported by the distributed data management and task scheduling capabilities of HarmonyOS, the tablet, laptop, and smart monitor can work together seamlessly to double our productivity and creativity in different scenarios, whether you are in the office or working from home. This is done by Huawei MatePad Pro and Huawei MateView’s wireless projection capability along with Mouse and keyboard control. The advantage of the new “Smart Office” experience is the easy swapping of wireless and wired connections sharing the screen, cross-device file dragging and dropping, delivering a more efficient and collaborative multi-device experience. This allows us easily switch between work mode and personal mode. How do you think technology today helps businesses grow? Modern-day consumers own more than one smart device and as such increasingly demand a more interconnected experience that unlocks easier collaboration across various types of smart products. This is also true of business-

es and Huawei understands this. Therefore, as part of our 1+8+N strategy, we have created an ecosystem of linked devices and services that allow users to do more with their Huawei smartphone at its core. Huawei Super Devices is key to this concept, which links devices together at the system level via HarmonyOS so they can pool their hardware capabilities together forming a single Super Device and providing users with seamless collaboration across various Huawei smart products. How is your company investing in the workforce of tomorrow? As mentioned previously, modern technology users demand devices and services that allow for seamless collaboration through an interconnected ecosystem. Huawei Consumer BG is continuing to work hard to implement its “1 + 8 + N” Seamless AI Life strategy, where: “1” represents mobile phone users; “8” represents tablets, PCs, VR devices, wearables, smart screens, smart audio, smart speakers, and head units; and “N” represents ubiquitous IoT devices. This concept is driven by our Super Device and Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) ecosystem, this strategy enables different types of devices to seamlessly share their capabilities and information, providing consumers with an intelligent experience across five key scenarios: smart office, fitness & health, smart home, easy travel, and entertainment. Based on this strategy we will continue to introduce more products and experiences to our users in the UAE and across the region including our Super

Device new range of products. How do you think tech will shape the 2021 landscape? At Huawei, we remain focused on the needs of our users and continue to deliver practical business value. We are committed to developing meaningful innovative products and services that truly impact people’s lives in a positive way. This is our promise to our users, and we will continue to have the same drive and energy to innovate and engineer the market with leading products and services. We already have a wide portfolio of products including PCs, tablets, wearables, audio devices, and more. As such, we will continue to provide the UAE market and wider region with the latest products and technology during 2021. Consumers today demand a more connected life and that is exactly what our 1+8+N Seamless AI Life Strategy delivers.

"Today’s Workplace is no Longer What it Used to be" Sam Tayan, the Managing Director in the Middle East and Africa at Zoom, speaks about how the workplace has evolved in the past few years Which products and solutions do you offer for today's workplace? Our portfolio is no longer limited to a linear virtual meeting platform and is now inclusive of additional product offerings and features designed to address the needs of today’s workplace. We now offer Zoom Rooms, a software-based room system that provides an integrated experience for audio conferencing, wireless screen sharing, and video conferencing. We have also recently announced Zoom Phone Appliances, a complementing product to our Zoom Phone cloud-calling solution. Zoom Phone Appliances, a new category of hardware optimized for the hybrid workforce, from home offices to shared huddle spaces, addresses use cases across industries. Today’s workplace is no longer what it used to be. As health concerns have affected the way professionals work and meet, the impact is long-term. Businesses and their employees alike have experienced the benefits of virtual work environments and their viability. Here at Zoom, we listen to our consumers and recognize the need for different solutions and products that will enhance and support the remote and hybrid workplace. How do you think technology today helps businesses grow? Technology today is the unequivocal enabler when it comes to solving modern-day challenges to help businesses grow. It has expedited and automated work, allowing human resources to focus on more decision-critical issues, saving time and effort as well as ensuring continuity. In the modern digital world, a company failing to embrace digitalization risks lagging behind its competitors as virtual solutions streamline operations and consumers continue to move towards the online world to address their needs. For example, Zoom has allowed business continuity during worldwide lockdowns over the past year and a half by offering effective virtual communication. While this was out of necessity due to the global work

landscape, Zoom contributed to a work environment that empowers employees to work remotely and flexibly while increasing their efficiency. How is tech driving our economic recovery? Technology has emerged as our savior globally. The pandemic has not only accelerated the inevitable digital transformation as companies have shifted their technology strategies from being a necessity to being an advantage. This has resulted in better working conditions for individuals and more efficient processes with lower costs for businesses, therefore propelling the world into an age of economic prosperity during challenging times. The widespread use of technology has eliminated any barriers related to physical distance, both in terms of human resources and operational success. Businesses have woken up to their ability to increase profits and avoid potential losses which may result from unexpected events by investing in and adopting the right technologies and tools. Retailers have shifted to e-commerce solutions, whilst the entertainment industry is consumed primarily virtually, telehealth solutions remain on the rise and, most importantly, communication has been streamlined through video conferencing and virtual communication platforms. Businesses, education and health entities among others have witnessed enormous economic benefits resulting from the use of these platforms, as they’re able to reach more consumers, students and patients from a distance while also internally reducing costs. From transportation fees to office space rent, remote working and the ease of communication thanks to tech solutions such as ours have significantly contributed to keeping companies financially afloat and will now be providing a path to economic prosperity. How, according to you, are women powering the tech industry? The skills shortage within the tech industry

is indicative of a more significant issue at hand, and that is the gender gap within the field. As women are still outnumbered in the technology industry, it is important to address this issue in inclusion. We believe that the encouragement of gender diversity and more women in STEM subjects and in leadership positions is the secret to the success of the tech industry as this will provide a larger variety of perspectives and outlooks on topics which had been seen through tunnel vision. This is important specifically within the technology industry, driving the next step of the region’s evolution. After all, some of the most prominent technological advancements were spearheaded by women, such as the invention of Wi-Fi, the first home computer and others. At Zoom, we believe that empowering women and supporting them within the tech industry will help achieve greater heights in societal equality and products and solutions that are inclusive of the needs of various demographics. How is your company investing in the workforce of tomorrow? At Zoom, we create solutions that empower employees to take charge of where, when, and how they work to encourage organizations to adopt a hybrid model that evaluates employees purely on the results rather than the time spent doing it. By providing a flexible and tailored workspace, we aim to give control to the modern workforce through technologies such as video communications and virtual receptionists, alongside other tools that allow ease of operation for employees who work remotely.

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“Technological Advancements Will Foster a More Connected World” Sanmeet Singh Kochhar, the Vice President for India and MENA at HMD Global, speaks about how tech is driving economic recovery today Which products and solutions do you offer for today’s workplace? As a human brand, we are committed to providing accessible technology for everyone through mobile phones and also services. This is reflected as we evolve into a more holistic services provider, with the launch of HMD Connect. Additionally, HMD Global also provides Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), a one-stop-shop for those looking for a flexible overall mobility solution is established. IoT solution providers, users, and organizations will all benefit from EMM adoption, as the easyto-use HMD Enable Pro will appeal to them regardless of their company size or client base.

growth and success in the modern business world.

Those who require smartphones, an EMM solution, and connections from a single source can benefit from this service. Businesses can manage a large number of Android mobile devices by offering required apps, establishing security policies, and defining what app usage is permitted and prohibited.

Digitalisation has helped businesses respond with agility to changed market conditions. Emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, are being adopted more than ever. It is impossible to overstate the importance of digitalisation as the globe recovers and adapts to a post-Covid reality. Moving forward, paperless transactions and online processes are going to be critical to guaranteeing people’s health and safety.

How do you think technology today helps businesses grow? Technology can assist a company in achieving a variety of goals; enabling innovation, business transformation, delivering better products and solutions, as well as better customer service. It is not only necessary for day-to-day business operations; when used properly, it can also assist businesses in achieving growth and success. The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of technology by businesses of all scales and, in this sense, technology has been a great enabler. By adopting inclusive technology that is accessible to all, businesses can enable seamless customer experiences. Seeing as technology helps expedite numerous processes, automate various operations, and manage remote workers with ease, digital transformation is one of the driving forces behind long-term

How is tech driving our economic recovery? The global pandemic had a profound impact on a number of business aspects, inducing a slowdown across sectors. Consumer behaviour has changed, there is greater remote working and increased online and digital engagement. To thrive during the pandemic, consumers and businesses crossed the digital divide. There has been a growth in online services, such as food deliveries keeping F&B businesses afloat and e-commerce aiding the retail industry.

How is tech shaping the infrastructure of tomorrow? Almost every aspect of infrastructure is being revolutionized by technology. Processes can be automated with the use of robotics and 5G networks provide a significant increase in bandwidth, which is being utilized. Artificial intelligence has acted as the driving force behind developing technologies such as big data, robotics, and the Internet of Things, and it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. A vast spectrum of technological advancements can be seen around the world, all of which are shaping and transforming the technology landscape and infrastructure. As a technology brand, we are constantly looking at ways to expand the human

possibilities of the connected world. How according to you, are women powering the tech industry? According to the Arab Gulf State Institute, women make up 40% of university students in the Middle East who study computer science and information technology. Women account for 70-80 percent of computer science and IT students in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, compared to 15-20 percent in the United States. Success on all fronts starts with creating a truly inclusive culture that embraces and promotes people of all genres, ages, and nationalities. I am a true believer that diversity is a business imperative to create more inclusive and innovative organizations. How do you think tech will shape the 2021 landscape? 2020 was a turning point for the technology industry, which responded quickly and decisively to the pandemic and successfully supported customers across the economy as they shifted to working from home, changed sales and delivery models, reconfigured supply chains, and accelerated their digital transformation. Technological advancements will foster a more connected world. Businesses and individuals were sustained through the epidemic due to technology, which is now redefining how we work, live, and interact. We can now manage people in a remote collaborating world, be more transparent about privacy to optimize the value of customer data, improve R&D performance, and more attributable to technological improvements.

“Our Jobs and Personal Lives Are Becoming More Digitally Reliant” Shadi Bakhour, the B2B Business Unit Director at Canon Middle East, speaks about how technology today helps businesses grow Which products and solutions do you offer for today’s workplace? Today’s workplace is shifting and 2020 accelerated many of the burgeoning trends we were seeing in the workplace – while home and mobile working was becoming increasingly popular in recent years, it was the necessity to operate remotely during lockdowns which changed the traditional office (from the default working location) to one option of many, with remote working and Working From Home (WFH) leading the way.

end customers. Developing products and services that answer a current need and solve customers’ problems is at the heart of any businesses’ growth strategy.

This has had a fundamental impact on how we use the office and what we need from office technology. The experience also forced many businesses to accelerate their existing digital transformation plans, in order to give employees the digital tools to work remotely and effectively from anywhere. McKinsey predicts that by 2025 ecosystems based on digital platforms will account for 30 percent of global revenues, as traditional office set-up and industries stagnate, moreover, 85% of C-Suite executives surveyed in the UAE are pursuing or planning hybrid cloud strategies in the next 12 months, to facilitate better remote and WFH practices.

How is tech driving our economic recovery? As businesses and economies restart, many companies are reviewing the role of traditional offices and workspaces and exploring new ways of working that allow uninterrupted service, corporate efficiency, streamlined processes, and collaboration, especially across distributed locations. According to The Climate Group, in 2015 there were 1.3 billion mobile workers and by 2025, millennials – who are increasingly attracted to flexible and mobile employers – will account for 75% of the global workplace. Mobile and home working will be a big driver of economic recovery and technology which supports and enables this will feature highly on an organisation’s considerations.

Canon offers the most comprehensive hardware, software, and service portfolio in the industry. We have been developing our portfolio to help meet our customers’ evolving needs, be it in a traditional work setting or a hybrid one. Our new devices get our customers ready for tomorrow’s workspaces: the imageRUNNER ADVANCE DX C5800 and the image PRESS C170 Series, are two examples that are designed to give our customers the tools to thrive in a changing hybrid environment. How do you think technology today helps businesses grow? The key success factor for any business is to continually innovate and improve the service offering for the benefit of the

The right technology can help improve a company’s overall efficiency, performance, employee productivity, streamline communications, build lasting relationships with customers, enable effective collaboration (especially when WFH), and support corporate sustainability goals, to name just a few benefits.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses to rapidly adjust to allow employees to work remotely and a major tool was the use of cloud-based applications to maintain ‘business as usual.’ Cloud offers a host of benefits that have made it the transformational technology it is today. For example, cloud solutions allow users to access the same applications and services from multiple devices and locations, as well as enabling effective collaboration, so employees can work well as a team (even when they’re not in the same physical space).

How is tech shaping the infrastructure of tomorrow? During the pandemic, we saw new approaches and solutions being developed in response to social distancing and other restrictions. Digital tools that enabled businesses to redesign processes, redefine business models, and take the customer journey online became the norm, all underscored by a strong IT infrastructure that enabled staff to work remotely, mitigating any major impact on performance. Here, cloud technology plays a crucial role, enabling businesses to work in a more effective and dynamic way, transcending physical locations. Within any new working environment, businesses need to consider how they will function day today. Essentially, how information is going to flow through their business and the infrastructure that enables it – a business consideration that is at the heart of an accelerated acceptance of digital transformation and cloud-enabled platforms, in a post-COVID-19 era. Harnessing cloud enables services gives companies the tools to manage new business environments. Managing the document lifecycle through the cloud allows businesses to remain in control, enabling employees to collaborate, share and print efficiently and securely. At Canon, we are committed to supporting every company’s unique journey towards digitization and offer cloud-delivered, on-premise, and hybrid solutions which allow companies to maximize and build on existing investments, taking new steps towards transformation and infrastructure development – which is the backbone of a digitally reliant world

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“Technology Has Been Shaping the Infrastructure of Tomorrow for Decades” Farid Faraidooni, Chief New Business and Innovation Officer at du, speaks about how technology is shaping the world we live in today Which products and solutions do you offer for today’s workplace? Reliance on telco products and solutions has never been higher than recent times due to the pandemic, with businesses from all verticals switching to remote environments to continue their operations. As such, we at du were determined to cater to the enterprise community and all others that we serve. This was the primary reason behind our #WeGotYou initiative, which helped ensure we provided every required service to customers working remotely. In addition to our pandemic response that supported workplaces, we also help organizations build digital platforms, so they can integrate and orchestrate data between their core and external IT to enhance work processes and practices. Moreover, we provide agile, resilient, secure, and scalable digital infrastructure solutions built on a foundation of hybrid and multicloud, in-country data center services, and software-defined enterprise networks. Our portfolio includes Infrastructure Services, Cloud Management, Data Center Solutions, and Connectivity Solutions, all of which support business environments by accelerating digital organizational transformation and streamlining operations. How do you think technology today helps businesses grow? Irrespective of industry, technology today has fundamentally transformed the entire landscape and is a critical growth component for every business. Technology enhances processes, creates new value, and streamlines operations and costs. At the same time, it enables businesses to connect with clients and customers seamlessly and pursue expansion-centric strategies. As such, companies that harness technology can explore an array of opportunities, unlock vast potential, and create unique digital experiences for those they serve, which is a sure formula for development and growth.

How is tech shaping the infrastructure of tomorrow? From a telecommunications standpoint, technology has been shaping the infrastructure of tomorrow for decades. Tech advancements through the years have equipped operators with greater capabilities, enabling them to provide new value to customers and communities. However, the pandemic has accelerated years’ worth of reform in a short period, hastening the development of future infrastructure. 5G rollout has been well documented, and this is a prominent technology reshaping the landscape due to unprecedented demands. The powerful broadband that accompanies 5G is powering a host of new use cases, including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, and critical communication. Moreover, 5G provides lower latency, higher capacity, and greater flexibility to progress infrastructure development and transform wireless technology. And then there are technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), both of which are also transforming infrastructure and creating better telco experiences and capabilities. How is your company investing in the workforce of tomorrow? Investing in our people and future workforce is a long-standing principle that remains crucial to success and the ability to uphold our responsibilities. du is part of Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC). The EITC University offers a range of corporate learning programs for up-and-coming talent as they begin to embark on a potential career in telecommunications, while our Marketing Academy further enhances our Enterprise teams’ skills that can be utilized in the years to come. At du, we will always be fully committed to future workforce investment.

We proactively recruit for all our business units – from junior through to senior level – and every new team member receives competency-based learning through bespoke training programs. How do you think tech will shape the 2021 landscape? As previously mentioned, technology is accompanied by vast possibilities and potential, and its continued evolution could yield remarkable outcomes or bring new concepts to life at any given time. From a telecommunication standpoint, what is apparent is that several trends will unfold over the year, all of which will play a role in reshaping the industry. Already, telecommunication is a vibrant center for innovation and growth. Therefore, the coming period will witness the continued emergence of VoIP technology, AI-driven collaborative platforms, and cloud-based and open technologies. At the same time, 5G expansion will only accelerate. The coming months will see du expand its fiber network and upgrade the core systems with cloud-native computing foundations, uplifting ecosystem platforms to the highest possible standards. In truth, there will be a wide variety of tech use cases visible in the public domain over the coming months alone, yet it is a near certainty that telcos will increase AI and ML reliability to drive infrastructure operations automation. Operators will also use the Internet of Things more frequently, while the emergence of new business models will drive heightened synchronization of edge servers with telco infrastructure.

“Data is Extremely Valuable and Very Versatile” Antoine Harb, the Team Leader for Middle East and North Africa at Kingston Technology, speaks about how more and more data is being generated each day and how securing this data is of utmost importance Which products and solutions do you offer for today’s workplace? Kingston has products for all environments, our storage and memory solutions are needed for Working from home or office, learning from home or schools, data centers, and gamers. Kingston is with you wherever you are. We have seen an increase in certain products. Memory and storage help with the smoother running of video calls whilst we have seen an increase in the demand for encrypted and USB and SSDs as people are out of their offices more. How do you think technology today helps businesses grow? Technology allows and requires a high level of digitalisation. It enables data to be shared very easily with anyone in the world at any given time. Simply imagine to be working in an international company without being able to share files in near to an instance and have multiple communication tools to reach people thousands of miles away to keep them up to date. In today’s world data is extremely valuable and very versatile. It can be used for commercial reasons to better understand or target a specific customer group or in order to keep track of healthcare developments and much more. For these huge data chucks to make sense, however, we need to store the data, file the data, analyse the data and most of all keep safe from cybercriminals. During 2020, 1.7MB of data was created every second by every person. And by 2025 it’s estimated that as a collective, we will generate 463 exabytes of data each day. A lot of this information will end up as digital detritus. How is tech driving our economic recovery? First of all, technology should be mentioned in keeping our economy at float as due to technology it was possible for whole industries to switch to a completely remote

work module when going to the office due to the pandemic, simply wasn’t an option. It has enabled us to stay in touch with our colleagues, business partners, and our children to receive an education. Now, it is near to normal to have a virtual day in the office. Due to videoconferencing tools like Zoom, Teams and others, we can achieve more than just staying in touch. In fact, video calls have enabled us to join meetings all over the world, switch from one conference to the next without any delays and even hold online events such as Webinars. Video calls have enabled a new virtual normal. How is tech shaping the infrastructure of tomorrow? As a society, we’re on the cusp of experiencing a proliferation of IoT (Internet of Things) sensors and devices brimming with intelligence, designed to improve our quality of life in every way imaginable. But with all great opportunities comes significant challenges. For IoT, this includes Security and regulation, Data storage and management, and Bandwidth. Are we ready for IoT? According to a study commissioned by Cisco, 75% of IoT projects are ultimately unsuccessful. The study further reveals that organisations that have been successful in these endeavors have involved, in each of the implementation stages, the ecosystem of specialized partners, which means that strong and competent allies, involved throughout the process, can smooth the learning curve. Kingston Technology is undoubtedly an elite partner in the digital adventure. Anticipating general trends, Kingston has developed tailored memory and storage solutions to manage the volume, speed with which data will be transmitted, and to meet the extraordinary demands of new edge computing technologies. How according to you, are women powering the tech industry?

Globally Kingston’s workforce is 58% female, even more, interesting as we are an IT company that is traditionally male-dominated industry. At Kingston, we have so many female role models in management and director levels, that we sometimes forget that this can still be seen as quite new development. We further believe that as women have more access to study and follow a career in the science, technology, engineering, arts, and maths (STEAM) industries, companies have actively started to support diversity across their workforce, and we will see much more females coming into IT roles. How is your company investing in the workforce of tomorrow? The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the world, including global business operations, protocols, and an employee’s every workday. In order to give our employees, the best start into this new working world, Kingston Technology believes that education, training, and listening to our employees is the key to a successful future. Only through listening and evaluating this new form of working on a regular basis, will we be able to fully adapt our training and education processes to this new environment. Onboarding or training that may have once covered all bases, does not meet all the requirements anymore, since employees spent most of their days working outside of the office premises. Learning sessions that once focused on cybersecurity within the office will for example have to be adapted to the remote working scenario.

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“Businesses Are Working Hard Towards Providing Much Better Customer Experiences” Sajith Kumar, the General Manager for Enterprise at Cloud Box Technologies, speaks about how tech is shaping the infrastructure of tomorrow Which products and solutions do you offer for today’s workplace? In today’s digital and distributed work culture, organizations want to adapt faster to a cloud-based business operation which is easy to deploy and be in a position to manage business and work from anywhere and anytime. This has allowed companies to reach out across the globe and enabled businesses to flourish faster. But such a work environment also comes with increased security challenges. And this has guided us to ensure that we are focused on Cloud and Security offerings and have specialized and dedicated teams working with our customers. How do you think technology today helps businesses grow? Without a doubt, businesses across all categories are relying more and more on technology to help them navigate into highly competitive markets where speed, productivity, efficiency, and cost implications are some of the defining factors. Technology is able to provide seamless collaboration between employees, customers, supply chain, etc. Additionally, customer demands are getting higher and businesses are working hard towards providing much better customer experiences. And to achieve all of this they must also be well aware of advancements in technology as well as be up to speed with technology upgrades. How is tech driving our economic recovery? The present-day Covid-crisis gives us the opportunity to rethink strategies, which has put the world on an economic slowdown with increased income inequality and increased unemployment. This is pushing organizations to increase productivity while doing more with less. We have seen that technology has played an important role in keeping our economies and social functioning during the pandemic, and, it can play an even bigger role

in driving sustainable economic growth. I believe in order to achieve faster recovery, every economy should adopt more on leveraging the latest technologies and innovations. Organizations are investing in digital resources which are helping them reach higher levels of efficiency and achieving higher ROI. How is tech shaping the infrastructure of tomorrow? The conventional approach to infrastructure design, where the focus has been limited by the number of resources available to solve a design problem, is moving away. The resources available with vast amounts of computing power there are many emerging technologies such as 3D printing, AI, and Data Science which are changing the way we design modern infrastructure. We are already seeing a shift towards outcomes-based design, where technology will enable the possibility of exploring designs with thousands of permutations and combinations of design across multiple infrastructures to achieve the most appropriate outcome. How is your company investing in the workforce of tomorrow? At Cloud Box Technologies we keep up with emerging technological trends and focus on future-proofing our workforce by developing and realigning roles, skilling, up-skilling, re-skilling, which is critical and is essential lifeline for the industry we operate in. We periodically review both long and short-term workforce requirements and immediately begin adapting to ensure that we are able to sustain the competitive advantage. How is your company working towards a sustainable future? There are ongoing technological advancements in the IT space which offer benefits in productivity, efficiency, artificial intelligence, machine learning, etc.

These require robust technically skilled manpower and we conduct regular skill updating, develop strong policies including HR policies, employee retention policies which is the key to achieve strength over our customers. It helps us earn loyalty, create a value chain within the organization to adapt or prevent present-day, and mitigating future threats for sustaining the business. There is a huge demand for the latest technical skills workers in the market, Cloud Box Technologies is continuously striving to keep up with the latest trend and technology offerings within our markets. Investing in technical resources and up-skilling the existing resources is a continuous process by certifying them with the latest technologies and providing them the hands-on experience. How do you think tech will shape the 2021 landscape? Technologies to watch out for in 2021 include, Cloud-Native Applications, Collaboration & Instant Messaging, IoT, and Edge Computing, 5G, Information Security, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) are some of the technologies which will drive the business moving forward.

“With a Fully Digitised Infrastructure, Autonomous Smart Buildings Become Possible” Marwan Zeidan, Real Estate and Healthcare Segment Director, Middle East and Africa, Schneider Electric, speaks about the products and solutions his company offers for today’s workplace Which products and solutions do you offer for today’s workplace? Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the concept of a healthy building has expanded beyond lighting, temperature, and air quality to include the physical and emotional health and well-being of its occupants. And while the rate at which a population returns to work varies in different regions of the globe, nearly all employees are concerned about the possibility of virus exposure in the workplaces they are returning to. Schneider Electric’s building management systems can help businesses achieve the greatest performance and return on investment from their facilities, today and tomorrow. Enabling a smart building infrastructure with the right digital solution can result in a fast and significant payback. For example, our cybersecurity EcoStruxure Building platform offers an end to end collaborative IoT solution including integrated 3rd party offers, from the smart sensors, field devices, and controllers, to the applications, advanced analytics, and services to support the initiatives noted above, as well as enabling remote operations, risk mitigation, and more. How do you think technology today helps businesses grow? As a building owner or operator, you now need to have occupancy monitoring, environmental analysis and control, and space management in place, while also monitoring and managing the building and electrical assets’ health to continuously enhance their performance. Optimizing the indoor environmental quality requires continuously monitoring, analyzing, and controlling conditions in all actively used rooms and areas of a building. This way, a facility team can anticipate, identify and correct systemic problems

before they occur, such as filters requiring cleaning, valves not functioning, or even the building systems not compensating enough in anticipation of higher density in certain areas. With a fully digitized infrastructure, data-driven, autonomous smart buildings become possible. Such buildings can adapt quickly to conditions, optimizing the workplace for better health and productivity. Connectivity also empowers building teams to work more collaboratively and efficiently over a wide portfolio of physically dispersed buildings, while connecting buildings can help optimize the supply-demand energy balance. How is tech shaping the infrastructure of tomorrow? A new, digital experience for employees requires a digital building infrastructure. Traditionally, a building management system will be controlling HVAC (Heating Ventilating and Air Conditioning) systems primarily, while separate systems manage the physical security, safety, lighting, electrical distribution, backup generators, central battery systems, etc. How is your company working towards a sustainable future? Besides offering products and services, Schneider is acting as a trusted advisor and supporting businesses in identifying opportunities, defining strategic approaches, and help them lead their actual implementation. With our advisory services, we have committed to help our suppliers to reduce CO2 emissions to half by 2025, leveraging digital tools that help make data-driven decisions. While assisting businesses with climate action plans, we need to fulfill our long-term targets to achieve sustainability goals effectively. This would require a plethora of climate action activities such as in-house training, day-to-day operations, awareness

for local challenges and projects, recycling and energy-saving drives, etc. Besides, it will also require perseverance, consistent goal-setting efforts, analyzing and strategizing, etc., helping thousands of our employees be a part of climate change action. In addition, we are a member of RE100 – a global initiative led by the climate group in partnership with CDP to accelerate change towards the zero-carbon grid, and members act as their driving force and make a commitment to 100% renewable electricity across their operations and work towards increasing the delivery of and corporate demand for renewable energy. How do you think tech will shape the 2021 landscape? Globally, both digitalization and electrification are spreading at a fast pace. The number of digitally connected devices is ten times more than the human population and as the result, the amount of generated data and electricity consumption have grown tremendously. The demand for artificial intelligence (AI) has been steadily increasing over the past few years. However, as the demand spiked up nearly 6 times more than usual during the recent five years, it became a hot issue in the industry. This trend comes from growing demands on technology to obtain relevant information out of numerous data. The era which is led by technology and data now is called the digital economy. The advancement of AI technology is now more and more accelerated. It is estimated that the global consumption of the recognition system and AI will increase sixfold between 2017 and 2022.

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"Building Networks Will Continue to Rise in Complexity" Ehab Kanary, CommScope Infrastructure EMEA, Emerging Markets Sales VP, speaks about how today's worksplace has changed in recent years Which products and solutions do you offer for today's workplace? The need to be connected – to each other, to business, to things – underpins our society. Connectivity has changed the world and our lives within it and continues to do so. More than ever, we are conscious of the connectivity to keep us in touch, educates, inform and entertain us, wherever we are, with whatever device or screen we are using. We reach out across the globe to link to colleagues, friends and strangers, run our businesses, share and access video and data at an instant, mostly oblivious to what's getting and keeping us connected seamlessly. CommScope provides products and solutions that help individuals and organisations communicate through 5G, broadband, data centres and enterprise networks. dCommScope's ONECELL, part of our small cells portfolio, enables mobile network operators to meet the growing demand for reliable LTE and 5G services indoors. CommScope's RUCKUS Cloud can also help IT teams troubleshoot faster and proactively improve the user experience in a digitalised workplace. How do you think technology today helps businesses grow? As business priorities have changed over the past year, the role of technology expands, specifically in terms of network connectivity in buildings. In 2021, we're seeing companies embrace remote networking as some offer employees the opportunity to work from home permanently while other companies adjust their offices to accommodate social distancing, meaning less employees can return to the office. The technology needed to allow this business growth must provide a network that connects those remote workers with their companies. How according to you, are women powering the tech industry? Women are an instrumental part in the technology industry and we, as a company, believe that empowering women in

this sector is a crucial part of our company's mission. With gender diversity in our workforce, this allows for a broader understanding of different aspects within the technology industry. CommScope strongly supports equal opportunities for all people. We show our support by offering free DAS training to women in the wireless industry or with a wireless background who want to enter the DAS business. How is your company working towards a sustainable future? With the backdrop of the global pandemic in 2020, CommScope lived up to our responsibilities as a global leader while making significant progress in our sustainability strategy and objectives. We innovated more sustainable product designs, further decarbonized our operations and prioritized diversity and community initiatives, which were more important than ever. How do you think tech will shape the 2021 landscape? The ICT industry will play a significant role in shaping the 2021 landscape to build a future in which connectivity is truly ubiquitous and accessible for all. When we talk about Outdoor wireless networks, the deployment of 5G networks around the world will continue to gather pace. According to CCS Insight, it's expected 60% of all phones sold in Western Europe and North America in 2021 will support 5G connectivity, growing to 85% in 2024. To support these new devices, we expect operators to focus on pragmatic implementations of 5G networks by assessing which deployments can benefit from active massive MIMO (multiple input/multiple output) deployments. Open RAN deployments will gain serious traction and usher in a new generation of products and innovative technology. This is because Open RAN supports truly open and interoperable interfaces within and between the various subcomponents of the RAN: the radio, hardware, or baseband

unit and software. This paradigm drives innovation by encouraging the growth of an expanded supply ecosystem – while reducing capital costs and single vendor 'lock-in' through open interfaces and commodity hardware platforms. Building networks will continue to rise in complexity due to increased network requirements and a blurring of the distinction between IT and OT. Building owners must now incorporate in-building mobile wireless, Wi-Fi, CBRS, fixed wireless access (FWA) and private LTE networks. In many companies and schools, video broadcast capabilities will continue to be important, which means networks must support uplink capabilities as never before. Legacy networks were typically not built to support video uplinks, so network upgrades are part of the change and will continue. Cloud migration in response to the pandemic challenges will continue to increase the need for more data centres. The incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) applications will drive safety and security applications like automatic temperature checks, touchless authorisation, payment and control systems, and traffic monitoring. IoT applications are rapidly proliferating as companies seek to better manage facilities and occupants. As IoT applications continue to multiply, the amount of data that will be generated is expected to grow exponentially. Processing this data locally, close to the edge, is perhaps the most effective way of dealing with IoT data. Gartner has predicted that approximately 65% of all servers will be deployed in edge DCs by 2025.

"Technology is a Great Enabler of Efficiency" Amit Hooja, the CEO of NetGraph, speaks about how tech is driving the recovery of our economy Which products and solutions do you offer for today's workplace? We are aimed at making workplaces safer, by monitoring and averting any attack surfaces a hacker may potentially try to gain. Our endpoint manager-managed by our security experts monitors all the devices in organizations. We are able to lock the infection to specific devices and not let them propagate across the network to cause further damage. How do you think technology today helps businesses grow? Technology is a great enabler that allows us to not only do tasks efficiently, effectively, and at a much higher speed than any human would do. We are able to reduce human intervention in many tasks and improve on processes. Some of the things which were quite impossible to tackle, technology has enabled us to do those things and helped businesses do things at a larger scale and are able to expand and cater to a larger global market, scale-up and cater to a, larger audience. Besides, technology also helps in finding growth opportunities as well as audiences. This is also especially relevant when the products or solutions being offered are created to problem solve more efficiently and effectively. In fact, technology is creating opportunities for greater competition to be able to do things better and solve problems in much more creative ways. There are numerous ecosystems available to do that. How is tech driving our economic recovery? Before a recovery stage, technology has enabled businesses to keep afloat during the pandemic where human interaction was not possible. From the work requirements to online services, and staying in touch with family and friends, technology has played a very

significant role. And in a way, this helped in keeping the economy going at scale. Given the pandemic situation, technology enabled the detection of the infection zones, segment them and keep them from spreading. In fact, it is the technology that has spearheaded the speed at which the vaccines were created and tested at a greater speed which would otherwise have been an impossible task. This is the single biggest breakthrough in many ways because it gives hope that once everybody is vaccinated, and we are back in business. How is tech shaping the infrastructure of tomorrow? Technology is playing a very critical part in shaping the future world, from the way power is generated in more sustainable ways, to them its distribution. In other areas of infrastructure concerning mobility, technology is playing a huge part in the way people are able to move around in air-borne transport such as air taxis. Drones are being used for deliveries or even 3D technology to map out construction. Technology such as 5G networks, Robotics, Machine Learning, IoT, etc is leading the way into the future. How is your company investing in the workforce of tomorrow? At NetGraph we aim to make the world safer from digital threats. In fact, technology is advancing at such a fast pace and the attack vectors are also moving at a similar pace. A lot of what we do is focused on R&D and keeping pace with technological advancements that our customers are involved with. We are now also concentrating on developing devices and technology which our clients are adopting that can be used safely and will not pose any future dangers. How do you think tech will shape the 2021 landscape?

A lot of what 2020 has done has accelerated the adaption of technology where people are now more inclined to doing things digitally. Be it payments, work requirements, day-to-day necessities, etc. 2020 has created a huge customer base for technology to become more innovative. And what this means is that there is a race to ensure that technology is not just an enabler, but also highlights the way customer expectations are increasing with their need to be able to do things better at all levels. In fact, what we are seeing is a huge splurge by organizations to keep customers engaged and happy.

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"Today's Young Employees Are the Engines of the Knowledge Economy" Amir Sohrabi, the Area VP for Emerging Markets at Citrix, speaks about how his company is investing in the workforce of tomorrow

Which products and solutions do you offer for today's workplace? The way we work is changing. Today's remote workforce no longer views work as a place people go but rather as something they do. Now more than ever, employees need a reliable way to work from any location—on any device, at any time. Adopting a work-from-anywhere "digital workplace" model— one that's not tied to any one geography, network, or set of devices—leads to a superior user experience, increased employee engagement, and greater productivity. This is precisely what Citrix digital workspaces are designed to help businesses achieve. Citrix Workspace is a digital workspace solution that lets employees securely access company apps and data in one central platform. It provides a single interface where individuals can securely access all of their SaaS and web apps, corporate data and files, and virtual apps and desktops—and offers high quality, consistent user experience regardless of the user's device, location, or network. How do you think technology today helps businesses grow? According to a study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, a superior employee experience not only drives better productivity, engagement, and retention but also improves customer satisfaction and profitability. And this is where technology comes into play. A good user experience enables focus, and when employees feel empowered by the tools they use rather than encumbered by them, they can focus, innovate and deliver value. How is your company investing in the workforce of tomorrow?

Today's young employees are the engines of the knowledge economy and tomorrow's business leaders. And according to the latest research from Citrix, "The Born Digital Effect", they're primed to deliver an extra $1.9 trillion globally and $51 billion in the UAE in corporate profits. As early as 2035, the fate of businesses – and by extension, global economies – will be in their hands. Successfully attracting and retaining the next generation of leaders will require organisations to invest in the flexible, efficient, and engaging work environment in which they thrive. At Citrix, thanks to our solutions, we can answer the technology challenge. Our company culture, values, and intense focus on the employee experience are also key. That is why Great Place to Work and Fortune named Citrix a 2021 100 Best Companies to Work For. How is your company working towards a sustainable future? Citrix enables business efficiency by giving people the ability to work from anywhere, on any device, on any network. This can dramatically decrease the greenhouse gas emissions associated with employee commuting and client computing. With 100 million users in more than 100 countries, Citrix believes that sustainability at scale is one of our biggest opportunities. But we're also interested in the broader knock-on effects of remote work and how our solutions allow people to do their best work, nurturing more sustainable lifestyles and helping people feel fulfilled professionally and personally. Our software provides a unique opportunity to enable business efficiency on a vast scale and help our customers meet their own carbon reduction goals, and

Citrix solutions can help them transition away from more energy-intensive practices. In terms of our direct environmental impact, we are constantly improving how we measure, track, and reduce carbon emissions. How do you think tech will shape the 2021 landscape? The pandemic has merely reinforced a long-established trend: ever more applications – and with them, workflows and entire business processes – are moving to the cloud. It is now clear that cloud-based infrastructure's benefits go beyond unusual or emergency measures and can be leveraged by companies to face new challenges while enabling resilience and growth. But we now know that a successful digital transformation isn't only about infrastructure and application modernisation. It requires organisations to transform various aspects of the business, including workforce, operations, data strategies, security and governance, processes, and business models.

“Cloud is the New Normal” Vinod Krishnan, the Head of the Middle East and North Africa at Amazon Web Services (AWS), speaks about how technology will reshape the 2021 landscape Which products and solutions do you offer for today’s workplace? Organizations increasingly need options that enable employees to work from any location while remaining secure and productive. We provide a set of solutions built on top of the AWS Cloud to quickly, securely, and cost-effectively enable remote work for any general employee, as well as specialized solutions for contact center agents and creative professionals. Amazon WorkSpaces helps organizations onboard new employees remotely by enabling secure access to their desktop from anywhere, and ensuring all company content remains securely in the cloud. Amazon WorkDocs provides tools to remotely share and collaborate on documents inside and outside the organization. Amazon Chime delivers a scalable pay as you go meetings solution that enables virtual meetings, calling, and chats from anywhere. Amazon Connect enables organizations to have a fully operational contact center that can be operated virtually anywhere. Amazon Connect contact center or hotline can be set up in minutes to start taking high-quality audio calls. Agents can be trained in less than 20 minutes, all they need is an internet connection and a headset to provide the best possible customer service. The AWS remote creative professional solution enables artists, animators, and editors with high-spec requirements to build your own cloud-based virtual workstations and work securely on AWS using Amazon EC2 G4 instances, streaming applications such as Teradici or DCV, and existing licensing for content creation tools such as Autodesk Maya. How do you think tech will shape the 2021 landscape? Cloud is the new normal. Every organization in the world has to keep transforming its business and the end-user experience to remain competitive. Customers from every sector are quickly turning to cloud

technology as a catalyst for digital transformation. While having a lower-cost infrastructure is an enabler for transformation, it is typically not the main driver. The main drivers are agility and innovation, and the cloud enables these in a very significant way. In the Middle East, we see strong demand for AWS technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, data analytics, IoT, and much more. We are excited to continue to invest and expand in the Middle East to enable more organizations to realize the full potential of cloud computing. We recently announced that will we launch a new AWS Middle East Region in UAE, which will launch in the first half of 2022, and will comprise of three Availability Zones (AZ). This will be our second region in the Middle East with the existing AWS Region in Bahrain, giving customers more choice, lower latency, and flexibility to leverage advanced technologies from AWS. How do you think technology today helps businesses grow? Cloud computing has completely democratized technology and today anyone with some basic knowledge of IT, an idea, and a credit card can access the same, worldclass technology services on demand. This gives smaller companies the ability to compete in ways that were very expensive and impossible in the past. Startups today are able to quickly launch their new ideas at a cost and speed that simply would not have been possible if they had to build their own data centers. And, it means that they’ve been able to focus all of their engineering brainpower on the things that consumers love—the app— versus the undifferentiated infrastructure it runs on. An example of this is Careem, one of the region’s great success stories. Born on the AWS Cloud, Careem has relied on AWS for all its IT infrastructure from the very beginning, allowing it to focus on geographical and new vertical expansion and to innovate new

technologies and services. For the Middle East’s young population, this access to leading technology creates limitless opportunities for innovation and the ability to build businesses that contribute to economic growth. Startups in the Middle East are already taking advantage of the cloud to deliver viable businesses that bring regional solutions, and innovating in every imaginable way – be it to deliver music streaming services like Anghami, or healthcare services like Vezeeta, or personal finance services like Sarwa. How is your company investing in the workforce of tomorrow? Late last year, Amazon announced that it will help 29 million people around the world grow their technical skills with free cloud computing skills training by 2025. We are investing hundreds of millions of dollars to provide free cloud computing skills training to people from all walks of life and all levels of knowledge, in more than 200 countries and territories. We provide training opportunities through existing AWS-designed programs, as well as develop new courses to meet a wide variety of schedules and learning goals. The training ranges from self-paced online courses—designed to help individuals update their technical skills—to intensive upskilling programs that can lead to new jobs in the technology industry.

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“Linux Provides a Stable Foundation for All IT Workloads and Deployments” Adrian Pickering, the Regional General Manager for MENA at Red Hat, speaks about how tech is shaping the infrastructure of tomorrow Which products and solutions do you offer for today’s workplace? As the world’s leading provider of enterprise open source solutions, Red Hat offers a comprehensive suite of products and services that support today’s workplace, empower organizations to redefine their IT boundaries, and ensure teams can build, deploy, and scale applications. It is important to note that companies from every vertical required these capabilities like never before during the pandemic, with sustainable remote working operations dependent on services that could support processes and practices. Fortunately, Red Hat propositions can meet every requirement, and we have seen several deliver invaluable results for clients in recent times alone. Among these are Red Hat Enterprise Linux, which is an open-source operating system. Linux provides a stable foundation for all IT workloads and deployments, backed by an architecture that is reliable and performance-driven. At the same time, cloud-native development solutions including DevOps are in high demand, delivering new capabilities for businesses through software applications on any public, private, or hybrid cloud. Red Hat Modernization solutions also support application and infrastructure migration, while Red Hat Middleware helps organizations innovate faster, Red Hat Ansible Automation is the platform driving automation, and Red Hat Smart Management enables clients to securely manage environments supported by Linux. How do you think technology today helps businesses grow? Remote working was mentioned previously, and this is once again relevant because technology has enabled businesses to operate virtually and continue growing despite extraordinary circumstances. Backed by new technological capabilities, companies have delivered

on their client commitments, allowing them to expand their customer bases and market presence. How is tech shaping the infrastructure of tomorrow? Without question, technology is shaping the infrastructure of tomorrow in various ways. Firstly, technology is playing an essential role in modernizing infrastructure at the organizational and national levels. Red Hat supports companies, for instance, with their cloud migration aspirations via leading tech solutions, while national infrastructures are being strengthened through projects based on new and emerging technologies, such as 5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT). In addition to broadband deployments and emerging technologies, electric vehicle infrastructure and smart grid technology are also making notable contributions, creating new jobs, advancing economies, and improving competitiveness. How, according to you, are women powering the tech industry? Diversity and inclusion advancements are coming to fruition like never before, and efforts in this direction on the part of entire industries are yielding invaluable outcomes. After all, diverse workforces from a gender standpoint are better for businesses, especially in terms of technology. Women today are powering the tech industry in different ways, which is not surprising considering their extensive capabilities and qualifications. Engineering, coding, and cybersecurity are three of many tech-based fields where women excel, realizing their professional potential while making organizational and industry-specific contributions. In the years ahead, even more women will pursue careers in the tech industry following the success that others are enjoying in the present, which will provide extra inspiration and motivation.

How is your company investing in the workforce of tomorrow? Investing in tomorrow’s workforce is a long-standing Red Hat tradition. For years, up-and-coming talent has been welcomed under the Red Hat umbrella, with the tools and platforms provided that facilitate personal and career development progression. However, such action has never been important than is it today. Unprecedented digital transformation acceleration has led to a significant digital skills gap, and more talent is required to fill roles that hinge on digital competencies, qualifications, and expertise. This is why Red Hat is proud to work with Academia – to bridge the skill gap, nurture talent, equip up-and-coming generations with the knowledge and skillsets they need to realize their full potential and unlock innovation potential with an open-source mindset. How do you think tech will shape the 2021 landscape? Looking ahead to the remainder of 2021, tech will continue driving the business evolution with the increased usage of several key solutions. Firstly, hybrid cloud adoption will continue transpiring rapidly. Hybrid cloud offers businesses agility, and quickly adapting to environments or circumstances is necessary for every digital business. Secondly, edge computing will continue growing in importance, which is also essential because it creates new and improved ways for enterprises to maximize operational efficiency, automate processes, and bolster performance. In addition, the tech landscape will also be shaped by remote learning, virtual reality (VR), and AI.

“Tech Ensured Our Society Remained Functional During the Pandemic” Wissam Youssef, the CEO of CME, speaks about the products and solutions his company offers for today’s workplace Which products and solutions do you offer for today’s workplace? As a multinational technology firm that places people’s well-being at the core of our tech innovation, we at CME offer a comprehensive range of products and solutions that boost employees’ health and contribute to workplace sustainability and vibrancy. The ongoing pandemic has brought well-being to the forefront of importance for every business, with employers more aware than ever before about physical and mental health. While remote working has facilitated many advantages, burnout has emerged among the most prominent negative aspects. However unintentional, employees often sit behind their laptops for long hours without the usual workplace breaks. Such instances have exacerbated the need for solutions that safeguard health and well-being – and this is where CME has helped various companies in the past year alone. Leveraging gamification strategies and the latest technologies and analytics, INGO Health is a health engagement platform that has bolstered corporate wellness programs, enabling companies to enhance the physical and mental health of personnel, promote greater internal engagement, and foster a collective sense of purpose. Besides tracking training, steps, calories, and sleep, the platform also monitors water consumption thanks to a uniquely designed Smart Water Bottle that precisely captures intake readings. How do you think technology today helps businesses grow? No matter the industry they belong to, the unprecedented pace at which the digital evolution has unfolded means technology is now a vital component for business growth. When implemented and harnessed correctly, technology is an undisputable catalyst that drives organizational

development and enables companies to scale greater heights continuously. How is tech driving our economic recovery? Technology ensured our society remained functional during the pandemic, enabling remote working, supporting virtual learning, and automating business processes. Yet the impact of technology has gone above and beyond mitigating recent repercussions and adversity. Its influence is so significant that it has become a primary force driving economic recovery. Governments and businesses alike have accelerated plans to place digital at the heart of everything they do, and such advancements have kick-started their operations and instigated economic resurgence. For instance, widespread migration to the cloud has equipped companies with cloud-native technology that drives innovation, transforms legacy systems, and facilitates cost savings – fueling new growth and revenues that support the economy. Then there are business ecosystems, where technology facilitates greater collaboration, enabling companies to share ideas and work together to overcome specific challenges and yield positive economic outcomes. In truth, there are various ways in which tech is driving economic recovery, yet another prominent use case is the Internet of Things (IoT). By networking everyday objects, IoT turns them into smart devices that can help deliver significant benefits to industries and society. And already, there are more connected devices than people in the world – from fridges to streetlights, home cameras to smart bottles, wearables to industrial equipment. As such, IoT likely represents the next major value opportunity across industries. The World Economic Forum predicts that by 2025, there will be 41.6 billion devices in the world – and these connected devices will work

together to evolve and revolutionize business models over the coming decade. How is your company investing in the workforce of tomorrow? At CME, we help companies and corporations scale their operations, achieve technology innovation, elevate their brand, and transform their business models to position them for future success. However, this would not be possible without our teams and personnel. As we look ahead to the coming years and beyond, welcoming up-and-coming talent will be essential, and this is why we have reimagined hiring – to continue investing in tomorrow’s workforce. CME has always welcomed creative, enthusiastic, and dynamic individuals to help us create tomorrow’s solutions, and we explore the talent and capabilities of our future workforce by equipping students with multi-disciplinary domain expertise. We also teach them how to harness technologies, fostering a quality-oriented mindset while giving them the freedom and guidance to create award-winning solutions. How do you think tech will shape the 2021 landscape? The technology evolution continues to unfold with tremendous speed, and tech itself is driving the economic recovery and delivering new value to governments, industries, and society. Therefore, tech will continue shaping the landscape in various ways this year alone, accelerating innovation and unlocking enormous potential with unparalleled speed and efficiency.

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“Businesses Should Use Tech to Automate and Re-Engineer Operational Processes” Gianluca Meloni, the Executive Vice President for Business Development at Injazat, speaks about the products and solutions his company offers for today’s workplace Which products and solutions do you offer for today’s workplace? As a regional leader in digital transformation, our position is strengthened by our partnerships across the technology ecosystem which is helping us create delightful client experiences. We offer end-to-end digital solutions and partner with our clients to build digital business ventures focusing on great experience and outcomes by using emerging technologies such as AI, IoT, and Big Data. Examples include House of Wisdom where we in partnership with Shurooq designed one of the smartest buildings in Sharjah offering a one-of-a-kind user experience, with digital and physical worlds synergically integrated via multiple pillars or Hassantuk – the world’s first secure combined fire and life safety alarm system and maintenance monitoring digital solution powered by Injazat or Malaffi, the first health information exchange in the MENA region, developed as part of the strategic Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between the Department of Health, Abu Dhabi (DOH) and Injazat – all built by leveraging a global ecosystem of partners. We use data to cater to the digital platform economy by introducing new services and products, for instance, with increased digitalization, cybersecurity has become critical for businesses. That is why we have built a state-of-the-art Cyber Fusion Center in Abu Dhabi and the only one in the region that integrates behavior analytics and machine learning and provides a proactive and unified approach to neutralize potential threats. The platform leverages an artificial intelligence-based recommendation engine, which suggests remediation actions based on previous behavior patterns to reduce response times. How do you think technology today helps businesses grow? Today, businesses are using technology

to automate, integrate, and re-engineer most operational processes. This has led to improved scale, streamlined processes, reduced operation costs, and increased productivity. Our solutions combine technology with industry expertise and scale. We empower human achievement, by helping organizations optimize their business goals through the cloud and emerging technology solutions, innovation, and by co-creation of transformational digital platforms and services through public-private partnerships (PPP). Our InGenius Platform incorporates a methodology that redefines problem-solving and accelerates the process of creative ideation and innovation. Our aim is to help our clients see the art of what is possible. We follow a proven, rigorous process of innovation, engaging with our clients, talking strategy, and ideating, and then we bring in a rich ecosystem of global partners and experts to be able to quickly implement the solution. How is tech driving our economic recovery? The year 2020 has dealt some very difficult cards, and historically with any economic dislocation there comes a sense of clarity. In this case, technology has emerged as a clear winner especially in the last year and it continues to do so in 2021 as well. If you look at the Stock Market for example, since March 2020, tech companies are overperforming. This is a clear indication that digitalization and technology are fundamentally playing a key role not only in the recovery but also in creating a digital-first world. This is also an exciting time for Injazat as we evolve into a National Technology Champion. Our products and capabilities utilize next-generation technologies across cybersecurity, AI, Machine Learning, enterprise application development, and more. We’ve established global

partnerships with the big players in the world such as SAP, Oracle, and LTI – all of this ultimately benefits our clients. Client centricity will guide our decision-making as we progress. How according to you, are women powering the tech industry? I have seen that there is a great deal of effort and mindful planning to ensure women have a place and voice at the table. And we are seizing the moment; women are taking those seats in the UAE whether in the boardroom or leading the entrepreneurial wave in innovative startups. As for Injazat, we are leading the way in the Abu Dhabi tech space in terms of providing careers and development programs that empower Emirati women to advance their careers in the technology sector. Our associate development program currently employs 111 Emirati women working across multiple departments; we have women part of the technical teams, up to the leadership. How is your company investing in the workforce of tomorrow? If the brand is defined as the company’s DNA, then the culture is where the brand is born. At Injazat, we are evolving into a new culture – one founded on agility, operational speed, and operational excellence. Our people are our assets, that’s why we continue to invest in the right talent, upskill them, ensuring continuous learning and development of our workforce, and enabling a high-performance culture where rewards are tied to outcomes.

“Faster, Cheaper, and Better is the Premise of Modern Tech” Nabil Abbas, the Principal at Booz Allen Hamilton MENA, speaks about how tech is driving our economic recovery How do you think technology today helps businesses grow? Advanced technology is transforming the way organizations do business turning almost every business into a tech business. Take grocery stores for example, which now have to compete with the likes of Amazon for business. The increasing adoption of 4.0 technologies such as AI and IoT makes it possible for businesses to reconfigure their value chains and achieve new levels of value creation. Innovative platform-based business models, such as Careem, LinkedIn Learning, and Fiverr, enable scale and efficient matching of supply and demand, creating new sources of revenue and expanding market reach. Emerging technologies such as AI can be used to enable predictive services delivery and deep personalization of customer experience. Digital technologies offer multiple new paths to value and growth in every industry, and agility, experimentation, and resilient execution will separate winners from the crowd. How is tech driving our economic recovery? Faster, cheaper, and better is the premise of modern technology, which is contributing to economic recovery through productivity gains, efficiency, and the creation of new jobs. The acceleration of digital transformation due to COVID-19 has made the case for digital-first—and in many cases, digital-only—interactions. During the pandemic, physical outlets, branches, and offices were rightsized. While they are unlikely to disappear in the near future, their role will definitely change. Banks may operate just as efficiently without as many physical branches and Governments can boost public value with a few in-person service centers, supported by more robust digital offerings. The resulting savings will free resources that can be deployed elsewhere for better

returns. The digitalization of the workplace is making way for new and more productive ways of work characterized by rich collaboration and data-driven decision making, and new jobs are being created at a rate that will outpace jobs lost to disruption. This rapid transformation, known as the fourth industrial revolution, will require attention to human capital development and social inclusion, but will eventually shape a bright future for the global economy. How is tech shaping the infrastructure of tomorrow? Industry 4.0 technologies specifically cloud computing, IoT, 5G, and AI are rapidly transforming infrastructure into a smart, connected, and efficiently scalable ecosystem of services. Today, for example, cloud computing enables on-demand access to cutting-edge computing and storage resources not only at a fraction of the cost of setting up and operating traditional data centers but also with the potential for rapid scaling with fewer constraints. Using cloud computing, businesses can set up data centers virtually and replicate them around the world with little capital investments. This means barriers to entry to large-scale computing have diminished significantly for businesses, making way for more innovation and disruption. In cities, buildings, utility meters, and traffic lights communicate within and among each other, thanks to IoT technologies, generating vast amounts of data that feed AI and Machine Learning optimization and prediction algorithms that can transform urban planning, consumption patterns, and traffic management. The integration of these technologies makes it possible to have autonomous vehicles, which promise to revolutionize mobility and transport and consequently

society at large. These are just a few examples of how modern technology is transforming infrastructure. As infrastructure becomes increasingly interconnected and dependent on technology and data, cyber threats will continue to rise in frequency, scale, and impact bringing to bear the mission-critical significance of effective cybersecurity defense mechanisms. How according to you, are women powering the tech industry? It’s incumbent upon all of us to help bring more inclusivity and diversity into the workplace, and for women to also lead the industry as the demand for technology grows across all of our services and operations. Women are increasingly choosing STEM majors and taking the lead on significant R&D initiatives. Engineer and computer scientist Katie Bouman, for example, was instrumental in the creation of the first viable algorithm for photographing black holes. They are creating their own tech startups and making major contributions to the technology industry – VMWare, for example, was started by Diane Greene in 1998 and is now one of the world’s biggest technology companies. These are just two of the countless examples of how women are impacting and improving the future of the tech industry. Women are also helping to build and empower the next generation of female technologists. The TechWomen program, for example, is a global community of more than 600 women fellows and 800 women mentors who help each other progress their careers and achieve their full potential in technology.

EXPERT SPEAK //

ARABIAN RESELLER - JULY-AUGUST 2021

SECAAS - THE ANSWER TO ESCALATING CYBERTHREATS, GROWING IT COMPLEXITY, AND SKILLS GAPS Written by Giuseppe Brizio, EMEA CISO, Qualys While regional IT chiefs face mounting pressure on issues like application performance and customer experience, they must also contend with an escalation in threats from those who are simply looking to steal, damage, disrupt, or embarrass. In December 2020, the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) cybersecurity head flagged a 250% increase in cyberattacks during the pandemic. And UAE telecom giant Etisalat’s digital-security arm Help AG this year warned of a 183% uptick in DDoS campaigns. Whether an enterprise has a separate CISO or looks to the CIO on security issues, regional firms still must find ways of fulfilling their compliance obligations amid a sea of complexity brought about by COVID migration. Thousands of employees working on home devices of unknown pedigree present a risk, as does the presence of multiple domains through which sensitive data travels, enroute from the datacenter to the unvetted endpoint and back again. IT leaders and business stakeholders are confronted with costly paths to adequate security, with no guarantees that they have the inhouse skills to manage these solutions. Enter Security-as-a-Service (SECaaS) — the increasingly popular solution to modern resilience. Businesses can outsource the security function to a trusted partner while retaining granular control of IT policy and business operations. And for a region with economies that are majority-SME, the SECaaS proposition is particularly alluring. Even before COVID struck, smaller businesses were continually looking for ways to streamline their business models for cost effectiveness and operational efficiency. I would however be remiss if I didn’t point out that while a business can outsource responsibility to a third party for carrying out cybersecurity activities, it cannot, and should not, outsource the related accountability. A ready-skilled team There is so much to think about for the IT team that looks after Web and mobile platforms; remote workers and their unpatched devices; multiple network environments,

many of which they do not own; and possibly DevOps workflows, with all their attendant code changes and cloud-native requirements. Add to that, the skills shortage — this year, an estimated 3.5 million cybersecurity jobs around the world will be unfilled. SECaaS delivers not only the right technology but a ready-skilled team of professional threat hunters that are well-versed in the issues surrounding the protection of data, networks, endpoints, and applications. In addition, they have spent decades studying the behavior of bad actors and have a keen sense for how they think and what they will target. SECaaS is cost-effective; it allows customers to subscribe to a service that is continually improving — through the latest tools and intelligence — rather than buying an asset that requires time-consuming maintenance and eventual replacement. With SECaaS, third-party experts are active on Day One and in-house security teams’ workloads are diminished and rationalized. By outsourcing humdrum tasks such as monitoring, vulnerability management, threat detection, remediation, detection, and response to external teams equipped with the industry’s most advanced tools, inhouse specialists can devote their time to chasing down the most advanced threats. The white noise of multivendor telemetry and the flood of alerts that end up amounting to nothing are now things of the past — eliminated by the SECaaS provider. Scalability, visibility, and confidence SECaaS is also scalable, allowing instantaneous protection of new applications, databases, and workloads. It provides peerless visibility through rich dashboards, delivering confidence to CISOs that their security partner is operating effectively. And the partner will also raise non-trivial alerts in real time for inhouse teams to action. In addition, SECaaS providers offer continuous assessment of threat postures, suggesting alternative best practices, tools, and policies as new intelligence arises. From

endpoint protection, detection and response to security information and event management (SIEM), SECaaS providers integrate themselves, benignly, into a customer’s operations, advising on the best course of action regarding every aspect of security, from prevention to business continuity. Because the partner is such a core component of business resilience, the importance of due diligence in their selection cannot be overstated. They must demonstrate their willingness to work within the confines of an SLA and acknowledge that they will be available around the clock, throughout the year, in terms of consultancy and platform uptime. Best practices for selecting SECaaS provider The provider’s disaster recovery plans — from cyber incidents to natural phenomena — should be subject to thorough scrutiny, as should its vendor partners. Organizations considering SECaaS should also ensure that the provider and their vendor partners are able to package their offerings in a way that delivers the flexibility and futureproofing that the customer seeks. Such offerings should also compare favorably with others in the market when it comes to cost of ownership. And everyone needs to be on the same page when it comes to best practices. Encryption should be applied to data at rest and in transit, and keys should be customer-specific and renewed regularly. Data retention policies should be well-defined, as should those on identity and access management, passwords, multi-factor authentication, back-up, alerting systems, and threat response. SECaaS migration has been gaining momentum in the region because business and IT stakeholders are starting to recognize its benefits. In the wake of COVID, as enterprises contemplate resilience in the context of continuing compliance, the model will make more and more sense. In the face of overwhelming threat escalation, growing IT complexity, and persistent skills gaps, SECaaS is, quite simply, a smart way forward for most organizations.

ARABIAN RESELLER - JULY-AUGUST 2021

// EXPERT SPEAK

THE RIGHT TALENT IS KEY TO OUTPERFORM COMPETITORS Written by Tom De Waele, Managing Partner, Bain & Company Middle East

Companies retooling for today’s changing world worry about successfully recruiting and retaining the right talent. Close to 75% of executives surveyed by Bain & Company expect that the skills and capabilities required for their businesses to succeed will change over the next 5 to 10 years. Yet, they estimate that less than half of their best talent possess the critical capabilities their most important roles will require. Our research has found, however, that most companies do not actually require a massive influx of new “A” talent to succeed, and that top performing companies typically have no more A-level talent than their competitors. What sets these top companies apart is how they deploy that talent. They are much more likely than competitors to have their A talent in their business-critical roles. ‘Business-critical’ describes the roles that are disproportionately important to executing a company’s strategy and to delivering executives’ agenda for creating value. On average, executives categorize approximately 40% of their roles as business critical, but our research finds that only roughly 5% of roles in a typical organization are truly business critical. Though limited in number, these business-critical roles can exist at every level of an organization: in the C-suite, on every managerial level, and across teams deep into the organization. Take the example of one global multinational consumer products company that recently began planning a global expansion. During the process, executives recognized that they needed to focus on different levels in the organization. Some of the roles determined to be critical to the expansion’s success include its global head of marketing, a C-suite position; several local country general managers who sit a few management levels down on the organizational chart; and sales teams on the ground. Now

that the company has identified these key roles, business leaders working with their HR partners can focus on ensuring the best possible talent fills them. Executives intuitively understand the need to place top talent into business-critical roles, but we find they often face three primary impediments to doing so. First, they don’t know which roles are business critical—or, as noted above, they think too many of them are. Second, they lack a clear understanding of what is required to succeed in those roles. Third, the organization doesn’t have consistent processes and approaches for matching the right talent to these roles. To overcome these challenges, the best performing companies typically do four things right: •

•

Take a “strategy back” approach to defining business-critical roles. Rather than simply deciding that a position responsible for a certain size of P&L, head count, or some other metric fits that “critical” description, they look closely at the individual elements of their strategy and ask what is required to deliver on it. Create profiles of what success in this role would look like. These profiles detail the ideal experience of any candidate as well as their motivations and capabilities—competencies plus potential—and whether they fit well into the organization’s culture. Rigorously evaluate talent currently serving in these roles and compare them with the role profiles in order to establish the size and nature of any gaps. Then do the same for any other potential internal candidates. Address their talent gaps with a thoughtful mix of talent development, deployment and redeployment, and, when appropriate and on a targeted basis, with new talent acquisition.

•

Talent is critical in every organization, and private equity (PE) firms that invest in many different industries are particularly attuned to the critical role of talent management in deal success. Even so, many lack a consistent, repeatable process for swiftly making talent decisions. The PE firms that have been able to outpace their competition on this dimension have done so by thoughtfully connecting their talent strategy to their overall value creation plan (VCP) for each portfolio company. This involves using specific value-creation levers and key initiatives to first define their business-critical roles and then create detailed “success profiles” for each. This is clearly linked to their desired investment outcomes.

Current and prospective talent can then be evaluated for each role using a broad set of interview, assessment, and reference techniques that evaluate professional experience, track record—and context—of results, as well as capabilities and motivations. Key questions include: How do they perform their roles? How do they lead? What motivates them? Will they be a good cultural fit? For companies embracing a more distributed working model, this evaluation can be applied to a broader talent pool. To summarize, deliberately deploying great talent into the roles that matter most is an ever-evolving and continual responsibility. As strategy shifts and the talent pool evolves, companies with a thoughtful, rigorous approach will enjoy a sustained advantage over the competition.

EXPERT SPEAK //

ARABIAN RESELLER - JULY-AUGUST 2021

FIVE TIPS TO IMPROVE THREAT REPORT ANALYSIS AND ACTION Written by Yann Le Borgne, Technical Director for ThreatQuotient Most organizations have more threat intelligence than they know what to do with, from a variety of sources – commercial, open source, government, industry sharing groups and security vendors. Bombarded by millions of threat datapoints every day, it can seem impossible to appreciate or realize the full value of third-party data. In a recent CyberSocial webcast, industry experts David Grout, CTO EMEA for FireEye and Yann LeBorgne, Technical Director for ThreatQuotient, helped listeners tackle this challenge. Using threat reports as an example of one type of published threat information, they responded to real-time polling results as they provided advice on how to analyze a threat report and make it actionable. Here are five tips they shared. Select the right sources of threat data for your organization. When polled, the audience reported using a well-balanced combination of sources of threat intelligence. They are on the right track, but David explains that it is also important to identify the right sources for your organization and collect threat reports from several different sources as they provide different levels of content – strategic, operational and tactical. Figure out the who, what and when for consumption and use that for your metric for success when looking at acquisition. Yann adds that open-source intelligence (OSINT) is free and easy to access, most organizations use it extensively. But organizations must also consider the trust and reliability of sources. a classical hierarchy, the highest level of trust comes from the intelligence you generate and receive from your close network and peers, and OSINT information is placed at the lowest level. David recommends using trust models such as the Admiralty System or NATO System which classifies information from A to F for reliability and from 1 to 6 for credibility, particularly for new sources that surface during times of crises or outbreaks. Determine who will acquire the data. In response to the next poll question, 25% of

respondents said all groups have access to all threat intelligence sources. David explained that while it may be good to provide access to a broad audience, it is probably even better to have one team responsible for acquiring and analyzing threat reports and only delivering information that is actionable. Not every stakeholder needs every level of intelligence. Using the report on the Ryuk ransomware from the French National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI) as an example, Yann explained that to do this you need to determine how the same report will impact and be used by various teams across the organization. Different teams may use different aspects of the same report in different ways to achieve their desired outcomes, for example modifying policy (strategic), launching hunting campaigns (operational) or disseminating technical indicators (tactical). Structure the data for analysis. Yann explained that the three steps for analysis include: understanding the context of report, the relevance of the report, and relating the report to any prior reports, intelligence and incidents. This process allows you to contextualize and prioritize intelligence but requires that the data be structured uniformly. Threat data comes in various formats (e.g., STIX, MITRE ATT&CK techniques, news articles, blogs, tweets, security industry reports, indicators of compromise (IoCs) from threat feeds, GitHub repositories, Yara rules and Snort signatures.) and needs to be normalized. into a machine-readable format link it to other related reports and sources of information. David adds that it isn’t just about format. The volume of information across the threat intel landscape is high and different groups use different names to refer to the same thing. Normalization compensates for this and enables you to aggregate and organize information quickly. Use tools to help with analysis. Yann explains that the tools you use need to support your desired outcome. According to the poll, 67% of attendees using technical ingestion (SIEM) which indicates that

desired outcomes are more technical. And 15% are still handling the acquisition and analysis process manually. This is quite a challenge, particularly during a big event. It is also important that the tool you select works well with frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK. David shared that MITRE is the most used framework to organize the analysis process. Customers are identifying their crown jewels and mapping to MITRE to understand which adversaries might target them, the tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) to concentrate on, and what actions to take. Select the right tools to help make data actionable. Analysis enables prioritization so you can determine the appropriate actions to take. There are a variety of tools to help make threat reports and other elements of your threat intelligence program actionable and achieve desired outcomes at the strategic level (executive reporting), operational level (changes in security posture) and tactical level (updating rules and signatures). In the final polling question, 45% of respondents said they are using a TIP to make the data actionable for detection and protection, but few are using a TIP for forensics. Yann and David agree this is a missed opportunity and a capability teams should explore as their capabilities continue to mature. From a forensics standpoint, MITRE is an important tool to enable analysis of past incidents so organizations can learn and improve. In closing, our experts recommend that before you start thinking about threat intelligence sources, analysis and actions, you need to understand the desired outcomes and deliverables for each of your constituents. It’s a journey that typically starts at the tactical level and, with maturity, evolves to include operational and strategic intelligence to deliver additional value. When shared the right way with each part of the organization, key stakeholders will see threat intelligence for the business enabler that it is, and the threat intelligence program will gain support and the budget to grow.

ARABIAN RESELLER - JULY-AUGUST 2021

// EXPERT SPEAK

TRAIN THE HYBRID MIND Written by Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy & Evangelist at KnowBe4 AFRICA

More than 50% of IT teams believe that employees have bad security habits. Habits they’ve developed since moving their offices into the home and that put their information, systems and employers at risk. The statistic comes from the Tessian Back to Work Security Behaviors Report that also found an age discrepancy when it came to who practiced the best security from home. Around 51% of 16–24-year-olds and 46% of 25–34-year-olds reported that they used security workarounds, while two in five people said that the security behaviours they adopted at home were very different from those they used in the office. This draws a thick red marker around the need to ensure that people and security training remain a priority while offices continue with hybrid ways of working. People adopt different behaviours at home as a rule. It is home, after all. There has to be a solid mental shift now that the home has become the office, and this shift involves making sure that the same security check boxes that were ticked at the office are also ticked at home. This is even more important because cyber criminals are taking advantage of system

and employee vulnerabilities right now, and really going in on the offensive.

minds people of why security is important, and how to keep their side clean.

Now is the right time to implement policies and approaches that take hybrid workplaces and requirements into account. The survey mentioned above also found that 67% of IT decision makers believe that phishing emails will increase as people move back to the office. And there is a discrepancy between how IT sees security when office work returns and how employees see it. Only 57% of employees think that they will follow security protocols once back in the office compared with 70% of IT professionals.

Training that puts them in front of simulated ransomware or phishing emails and that teaches them security best practice, and rewards those who do well. This should be done consistently and in a way that engages with people in the limited time they have.

Cybercriminals have cottoned on to the fact that people will move back into the office with a slightly less than robust approach to security. They will forget to report mistakes, potentially open up new avenues of risk to the business or get caught by the tide of phishing emails that have become rampant over the past few months. People are people. The pandemic has been punishing. Implementing further punishments for making simple cyber security mistakes will only make things worse. What’s needed is a focus on training and positive reinforcement that re-

By giving your people the tools they need to combat security threats and recognise risks, you are empowering them and adding that extra layer of security to your business. Methodical and repeated simulations combined with training allows for IT teams to trust in their people, and for employees to remain aware of the threat actors that wait for them to make the simplest of mistakes. This is the best way to help your business remain ahead of security best practice and for your people to thwart social engineering attacks.

REVIEWS //

ARABIAN RESELLER - JULY-AUGUST 2021

3.5/5 $1340 + VAT

Dynabook Portege X30W-J Dynabook is the new name for Toshiba branded laptops. The company has been launching one laptop model after the other quite regularly and the latest to come out of its assembly line is the new Portege X30W-J. This ultraportable and convertible laptop is built around the Intel Evo platform and comes packed with 28W 11th generation Intel Core processors, powerful Intel Xe graphics, and 16-hours of battery life. The Portege X30W-J is quite lightweight, weighing less than 1kg, and measures just 17.9mm in thickness. The chassis of the laptop feels surprisingly strong for such a light body. This is because the company has used magnesium alloy for the chassis, which combined with a Corning Gorilla Glass for the matte screen makes it not only light but very strong, passing MIL-STD-810-G tests for drop, dust, humidity, temperature, and shock. Inside the box, you get the Dynabook Portege X30W-J convertible laptop along with Dynabook Trupen, the power adaptor with two types of power plugs, the warranty info, and the quick start guide. The Dynabook Trupen runs on one AAAA-type battery, which is also included inside the box. As soon as you open the lid that says Dynabook on the center, you come face to face with a 13.3-inch Sharp IGZO Full HD matte anti-glare touchscreen. This display offers a

resolution of 1920-by-1080 pixels. The display, as mentioned before, is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass. It is also quite vibrant and provides excellent horizontal and vertical viewing angles, which is just what you need for a laptop that can also be used as a tablet. Under the hood, the Dynabook Portege X30W-J comes with an 11th Gen Intel Core i5 1135G7 processor running at a clock speed of 2.42-GHz. This is coupled with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage. In terms of connectivity, you get two USB 3.1 Type-C Gen 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports that support data transfer, power delivery, and Display Port; one USB 3.1 port that supports USB Sleep-and-Charge; one HDMI-out which with 4K support; two built-in microphones that can pick up sounds from 4 meters away; one micro SD card slot; and one 3.5mm combo audio jack. You also get Harman Kardon stereo speakers for all your audio requirements.

In terms of performance, the Dynabook Portege X30W-J works wonders. The infrared-based camera is particularly fast at login and you can easily enroll your face through the Windows Settings Login options. And for those of you that really worry about it, a builtin physical camera cover is there to make sure that even if the camera is activated nothing can be recorded.

Even though the Dynabook Portege X30W-J is slim and light, it does not cut corners when it comes to its performance. The laptop was able to handle everything we threw at it with aplomb. Day-to-day computing needs felt like a walk in the park and the laptop was even able to handle video rendering sessions with ease. The bundled Dynabook TruPen also worked like a charm. The pen has a quick response time, so you actually feel like writing on the screen and you can even apply pressure – with support for up to 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity you can use it to put emphasis on some text or work the brush strokes on a digital image. The Dynabook Portege X30W-J comes in at a price point starting at $1340 + VAT, which translated to approximately AED 4,921 + VAT. At this price point, the Portégé X30W-J comes across as value for money since it is an impressively lightweight convertible 13.3-inch laptop, with slim bezels giving it a decent screen-to-body ratio (81.3%). If you are a road warrior looking for a performance-based laptop that offers good battery life and fast charge capability, the Dynabook Portege X30W-J could be one of the options you could consider.

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ARABIAN RESELLER - JULY-AUGUST 2021

// REVIEWS

3.5/5

Acer Chromebook 514 According to market research by IDC, 2020 was the year when Chromebooks outsold Macs posting impressive market share gains.

It may come across as a surprise to many, but Chromebooks, which were originally aimed at students and the education sector, gained market share amidst pandemic when most learning sessions moved from classrooms to the secured confines of homes. No wonder many companies have been continuously innovating in the Chromebooks arena, one of which is Acer. The company recently announced a range of new Chromebooks last month and one of them – the Chromebook 514 – was sent to us for a test drive. Now, this new variant comes packed with an 11th Gen Intel Core i5 processor running the ChromeOS. The Acer Chromebook 514 also features an aluminum top cover that offers a sturdy look and feels and it accompanies a wide range of features such as conferencing ability, secure cloud technology, and lots more, which makes it ideal for both students and corporate users. The device offers a display size of 14-inches which also makes it easy to carry around. The display offers a Full HD resolution of 1920-by-1080 pixels, with

the touchscreen being optional.

The laptop itself comes with a metal frame, a Gorilla Glass-topped touchpad, and backlit keys. While the Chromebook 514 is quite slim and light, it has also been drop-tested and earns military-grade approval for the MIL-STD-810H durability standard. In terms of connectivity, you get plenty. On the left edge of the laptop, you get two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4, an HDMI port, and a 3.5mm audio jack. On the right edge, you get a microSD card slot, a USB 3.0 port, and a Kensington lock. You also get an embedded fingerprint reader located next to the keyboard, which is a quick and secure way for users to unlock and verify their identity without a password. Since the fingerprint’s details are stored directly on the Chromebook itself and not in the cloud, the user’s fingerprints are kept safe. Under the hood, the Acer Chromebook 514 runs on the 11th Gen Intel Core i5 1135G7 processor, running at a clock speed of 2.4GHz. You also get up to 4GB of RAM and up to 64GB of storage space. The Chromebook also supports Intel WiFi 6 (Gig+). Performance on the Acer Chromebook 514 was quite good. For the most part

AED 2378 of your computing needs, such as typing away on Google Docs, filling in spreadsheets, shopping on the net, watching YouTube videos, and so on, the Chromebook 514 should feel absolutely fine. Acer promises around 12 hours of battery life on a single charge – in our tests, we clocked around 7 hours of use, before the Chromebook 514 gave up the ghost. If you are a student, or someone who requires a laptop for day-to-day computing needs, and does not mind using ChromeOS as their operating system of choice, the Acer Chromebook 514 might appeal to you. For a price of AED 2378, you get a device that offers excellent build quality and good battery life. Since the Acer Chromebook 514 also comes packed with an 11th Gen Intel Core i5 processor coupled with up to 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, it is safe to say that its performance will not disappoint.

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REVIEWS //

ARABIAN RESELLER - JULY-AUGUST 2021

3.5/5

HP Reverb G2 VR Headset HP’s new Reverb G2 VR Headset has been designed by HP with support from Valve and Microsoft. The company sent us a unit for a test drive and we came away impressed by its overall performance.

impressive – it offers one the very best virtual reality picture quality. Virtual walks through natural environments felt quite nice and videogame sessions also felt interesting.

The G2 improves upon the original Reverb in almost every way, even though it still features a sleek, all-black exterior like the original Reverb. However, in terms of build quality, the G2 uses an all-plastic front plate.

The 2160-by-2160 per-eye resolution removes the screen-door effect, thus offering crystal clear visuals. In fact, every ingame texture and minor detail on objects in SteamVR games such as Half-Life: Alyx and The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners looked really good.

The cable port has also been moved to the top of the headset behind the mask. While this may sound inconvenient, the G2 features an easy-to-remove magnetic face mask, making it a breeze to swap masks and adjust the cable on the fly.

AED 2499

Audio performance is also commendable, thanks to Spatial Audio earphones that offer good volume, clarity, and bass. The audio is directional, and hence it allows you to play and enjoy a game, without bothering other people in the room. For a price of AED 2499, the HP Reverb G2 VR Headset comes across as a pocket-friendly VR solution that delivers a big bang for your buck. The incredible display, razor-sharp audio, and cozy design make it a truly worthwhile investment.

I was a bit skeptical about how secure the magnetic facemask will be especially during active sessions. However, the headset proved me wrong by staying as snug as possible during my gaming sessions. The Reverb G2 also still offers a resolution of 2160-by-2160 per eye, which puts it ahead of similar headsets out there on the market. You also get a refresh rate of 90Hz. The headset also offers a cable that is 6m in length – so tethering it to a VRready PC and playing games is super-convenient.

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The output level on the HP Reverb G2 is

Arabian Reseller - July-August 2021

Articles inside

“Faster, Cheaper, and Better is the Premise of Modern Tech”

“Businesses Should Use Tech to Automate and Re-Engineer Operational Processes”

“Tech Ensured Our Society Remained Functional During the Pandemic”

“Cloud is the New Normal”

"Today's Young Employees Are the Engines of the Knowledge Economy

"Technology is a Great Enabler of

“Linux Provides a Stable Foundation for All IT Workloads and Deployments”

"Building Networks Will Continue to Rise in Complexity"

“With a Fully Digitised Infrastructure, Autonomous Smart Buildings Become Possible”

“Businesses Are Working Hard Towards Providing Much Better Customer Experiences”

Help AG Launches Managed Advanced Web Application Firewall Service

“Data is Extremely Valuable and Very Versatile”

Nozomi Networks Launches ADVantage Partner Program

Zoho to Make Zoho Invoice Free of Charge to Empower SMEs

"Today’s Workplace is no Longer What it Used to be"

ASUS Launches the ExpertBook B1 Series for Business Professionals in the UAE

Airbus’ Mission-Critical Communication Solutions Used to Secure Hajj in 2021

Intel Accelerates Process and Packaging Innovations