Arabian Reseller - October 2019 by Rysha Media

OCTOBER 2019

www.arabianreseller.com

Vol. 1. Issue 1.

MAKING PARTNERS' BUSINESSES PROFITABLE

GETTING YOUR FOOT INTO THE DOOR WHY CSOS MUST USE AUTOMATION AND AI?

THE POWER OF AN

AI SOLUTION

A10NETWORKS.COM

THE STATE OF DDOS WEAPONS DDOS WEAPONS TRACKED BY A10: 20,356,822

Q2 REPORT 2019 DDoS attacks continue to grow in frequency, intensity and sophistication. However, the delivery method–using infected botnets and vulnerable servers to perform these attacks–remains the same. That said, we are seeing some new attack threats on the horizon in IoT and 5G. Read on to learn more.

NTP: 6,389,839

WHERE ARE DDOS WEAPONS Although DDoS weapons are globally distributed, you can ﬁnd the highest concentration where internet-connected populations are most dense.

China: 4,598,689

USA: 2,712,137

Russia: 1,541,762

Italy: 942,261

DNS Resolvers: 4,894,208

SSDP: 3,321,269

TFTP: 2,131,765

Rep of Korea: 846,162

TFTP: 1,897,221 Germany: 370,439

India: 517,365

ON THE HORIZON: 5G Mobile carriers hosting DDoS weapons skyrocket over the reporting period.

Guangdong Mobile Communications Co. Ltd Shandong Mobile Commuications Co. Ltd China Mobile Communications Corp T-Mobile Henan Mobile Communications Co., Ltd

THE NEW IOT THREAT A new threat has emerged due to industry-wide adoption of technology with weak security: the UDP implementation of the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP). This has enabled millions of IoT devices to become weaponized as reflected ampliﬁcation canons.

THE LARGEST DDOS ATTACKS ARE AMPLIFIED Ampliﬁed reflection attacks exploit the connectionless nature of the UDP protocol with spoofed requests to misconﬁgured servers on the internet. These attacks have resulted in record-breaking volumetric attacks, such as the 1.3 Tbps Memcached-based GitHub attack in 2018, and account for the majority of DDoS attacks.

NTP

DNS RESOLVERS

United States

1,318,982

China

1,202,306

China

860,444

United States

773,555

Italy

635,071

Russia

296,535

Russia

435,364

Spain

226,252

Germany

286,726

Taiwan

164,586

SSDP

SNMP A10 identified

> 500k

vulnerable IOT devices

Rep. of Korea

293,916

China

1,905,981

United States

266,637

Russia

289,011

India

180,244

Taiwan

115,220

Italy

106,900

United States

113,962

China

99.991

Italy

93,536

35x

SNMP

Average amplification

98%

China

308,540

Russia

260,354

United States

256,517

Rep of Korea

244,219

India

82,877

Located in

China and Russia

Why Inventory DDoS Weapons? Proactive intelligence collection and enforcement has the unique ability to identify the infrastructure an attacker will use at the exact same time the attacker does.

Attack from UDP port 5683 to any destination port

Get the full report at https://www.a10networks.com/marketing-comms/ reports/state-ddos-weapons/

CONTENTS 

NEWS

Veeam to Drive Businesses to Adopt Cloud Data Management

Fortinet to Showcase its Solutions to Protect Edge Networks

GITEX 2019 to Focus on AI, Automation, 5G and Smart Homes

10 

A10 Networks to Showcase Automated Security Innovations

Spectrami Conducts Eight-City Predictive Cyber Defense Roadshow

32 Why MENA Service Providers Should Walk the Automation Talk?

The Power of an AI Solution

F E AT U R E S T H I S M O N T H

Getting Your Foot Into The Door

Focussing on Making Partners’ Businesses Profitable

Recognize That There is No One-Size-Fits-All

Why CISOs Must Use Automation and AI? Cloud as a First Step to Business Transformation Blockchain to Have a Transformational Impact

EDITORIAL

EDITOR IN CHIEF Chris N. Fernando

CHRIS N. FERNANDO



Welcome to the Inaugural Issue!

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Welcome to the inaugural issue of Arabian Reseller. We are proud to present the first issue of the new Arabian Reseller, and we hope you find it informative. The magazine will be published monthly and this issue focuses on major technology and market shifts taking place around the world. The authors provide vital information and insight about these important changes. The cover story we have chosen to go with this month is Artificial Intelligence. Man has long feared the rise of the machine – his own creation becoming smarter and more intelligent than he. But while artificial intelligence and machine learning are rapidly changing our world and powering the Fourth Industrial Revolution, humanity does not need to be afraid. Inside, industry experts weigh in on the

SALES AND MARKETING Ranbir Sen DEPUTY EDITOR Edward Frank SENIOR WRITER Priyan Sampath

factors responsible for the increased adoption of AI technologies, how these solutions can help businesses catapult to the next level, and the opportunities and challenges it presents to the vendor and channel community. With GITEX Technology Week 2019 just around the corner, we bring you a preview of what’s in store for you this year from various vendors participating at the event. And since we are the official media partners of the event, we will be on the ground speaking to exhibitors and capturing key comments about the way ahead for the industry. So sit back, relax and leaf through the pages of the magazine filled with comment articles from industry experts, interviews with key stakeholders, product reviews and lots more. We hope you enjoy reading the magazine!

GRAPHIC DESIGNER John Christy EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Prarthana Mary WEB TEAM Context Media LLP, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. 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, United Arab Emirates. Email: sales@ryshamedia.com Web: www.ryshamedia.com

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.

ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

PRE GITEX 2019

VMware to Assist Companies Establish Digital Business VMware will showcase its latest advances in cloud infrastructure, intrinsic security and digital workspace technology at GITEX Technology Week on October 6 – 10 2019. Aligning with GITEX’s theme of ‘Synergizing the Mind and Technology Economy’, VMware will assist regional customers in establishing a successful digital business built upon a robust digital foundation. As part of its efforts, the company aims to address the pressing challenges faced by organisations dealing with disruptive technologies that are emerging faster than many can contend with. From its stand, VMware will exhibit its latest innovations in the Cloud, along with exploring the opportunities presented by the evolution of 5G. The company will host several demonstrations throughout the event, which will include demos of its integrated digital workspace platform, Workspace One, its End-User Computing (EUC) solutions, as well as its vSAN Assessment module.

Belkin, Linksys, and Phyn to Show Off New Products Integrated solutions that demonstrate the power and ubiquity of Middle East organizations and consumers adopting Connected Things, Connected Home, and Smart Utilities are the focus for Belkin, Linksys, and Phyn, jointly participating for the first time at GITEX 2019 under the new Foxconn Interconnect Technology (FIT) entity. The Middle East’s increasing levels of connectivity across the business, industry, and consumer markets are supporting the global Internet of Things connectivity market to reach a record-high of $3.8 billion in 2019, according to a recent report by Research and Markets. “As the Middle East’s connectivity market reaches new highs, businesses and consumers need the highest-levels of reliability, connectivity, and security in their organizations and homes to optimize experiences,” said Amanulla Khan, Managing Director of Linksys Middle East, Turkey and Africa. “Our brands, solutions, and partners share a passion for choice, innovation, reliability, and always-on connectivity that will be showcased throughout GITEX.” Reflecting the needs of the highly mobile, fully charged, and music-centric residents of the Gulf, the Belkin solutions being showcased at GITEX 2019 will include products wireless charges, Thunderbolt docks, audio portfolio, fast charging solutions, and many other things connected. Linksys will demonstrate the latest innovations that can enable seamless connectivity across the Middle East’s residential market. Linksys is seeing strong demand for bandwidth, given the proliferation of smart TVs, voice assistants, and devices connected to the network. Also reflecting the increase in smart home features across the GCC, Phyn will use GITEX 2019 as a platform to increase awareness of SmartWater solutions. Phyn customers can make more informed choices about water usage, detect leaks, and conserve this resource more effectively.

A10 Networks to Showcase Automated Security Innovations A10 Networks has announced its participation at GITEX Technology Week 2019, taking place between 6-10 October at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), under the theme ‘Automate Cyber Defense.’ The company will demonstrate its entire portfolio of leading solutions including service provider network security to support IoT in the age of 5G, multi-cloud management, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) with Zero-day Automated Protection, carrier-grade networking and IPV6 migration and application visibility and analytics. Speaking about the company’s participation at the event, Mohammed Al-Moneer, Regional Vice President of Sales – MENA at A10 Networks says, “In today’s sophisticated security landscape, a breach can happen unexpectedly at any point in time, and every second is critical when it comes to protection and remediation. Automation of cyber security systems can make the difference in those crucial moments during a breach, to help regain control and minimize any damage. We believe the future of cyber security for 5G and multi-cloud rests on Intelligent Automation coupled with machine learning, ensuring that business-critical applications are protected, reliable, and always available.” “With our position and depth of experience in the security and application delivery networking domain, we see GITEX as the perfect platform to

ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

educate the market about the need for security automation and also spread awareness about A10 Networks’ AI-driven application and network security solutions including hyperscale 5G security, DDoS protection and multi-cloud application visibility, analytics and automation.” This year, the Middle East team will be joined at the A10 Networks booth by several high-level executives including Anthony Webb, Vice President Sales in EMEA. During the event, executives from A10 Networks will run a series of presentations delivered on the booth daily, with the intention of helping educate CIOs and IT managers about technology issues important from a regional standpoint including decryption, multi-cloud, 5G and DDoS. The booth presentations which will be running daily include: • Beyond Simple TLS/SSL Decryption: Multi-Layered Enterprise Security • Automating Load Balancing Configuration in Dynamic Multi-Cloud Kubernetes Deployment • WHO, WHAT, WHY, WHERE and HOW of DDoS Attacks • Is Your Enterprise Perimeter Equipped To Defend You From Modern Cyber Attacks? • The Anatomy of DDoS Attacks, Understanding and Surviving the Three Most Rampant Attacks • 5G Security is Now

PRE GITEX 2019

Synology to Highlight Latest Data Management Solutions Synology has announced its participation at GITEX Technology Week 2019, which will be held from October 6 – 10, 2019 at the Dubai World Trade Center. Synology will be showcasing its latest product innovations and solutions across three stations, which include storage foundation and digital workplace, smart surveillance solutions, and multimedia and networking for home.

Veeam to Drive Businesses to Adopt Cloud Data Management Veeam Software has announced its participation at GITEX Technology Week 2019. As part of the company’s ongoing commitment to help regional organizations transition to the cloud and embrace digital transformation, executives from Veeam will share its vision for Cloud Data Management, delivering live demonstrations of Veeam Availability Platform - the most complete solution to help customers evolve the way they manage data, from policy- to behavior-based, and make it smarter and self-governing, ensuring it’s available across any application and any cloud infrastructure.

productivity benefits of Intelligent Data Management. Only 24% of enterprises in the Middle East describe their digital initiatives as mature.

Talking about the company’s participation at GITEX, Claude Schuck, regional manager, Middle East at Veeam said: “As the importance of data has grown to drive every aspect of the digital business, so has the need for solutions that ensure information is available at any time, no matter where it resides. There is a new expectation for data in today’s enterprise:Data must move to a higher state of intelligence and be able to anticipate need and meet demand. Data must also move securely across multi-cloud infrastructures andmeet the expectations of the mobile, always-on world. Given our leadership position and market leading technologies, GITEX is an opportunity to turn the spotlight on the criticality of Cloud Data Management."

•

According to the 2019 Veeam Cloud Data Management Report, 72% of organizations are looking to embrace Cloud Data Management and are transitioning to cloud strategies. As part of the same survey, 80% of respondents from the Middle East see

To help them on their journey, at GITEX, Veeam will educate regional organizations on this journey and outline the 5 Stages of Cloud Data Management: •

•

Stage 1: BACKUP - Protect all workloads using backups, complemented by snapshots and replication where appropriate, to ensure they are always recoverable and available in the event of outages, attack, loss or theft Stage 2: CLOUD MOBILITY - ExpandsStage 1 to include multi-cloud environments — backing up and moving data to, from and within the cloud Stage 3: VISIBILITY - View the full breadth of your data, accompanied by the infrastructure that it passes through and resides on, so you can pivot from reactive to proactive management for better business decisions Stage 4: ORCHESTRATION Optimize data utilization across multi-cloud environments with workﬂows that ensure consistent execution of otherwise manual and complex recovery orchestration and data-management tasks Stage 5: AUTOMATION - Data becomes self-managing by learning to protect itself with appropriate SLAs, methods and locations to meet business objectives or comply with broader IT initiatives.

Veeam will have its own dedicated stand #C20 in Hall 7 at DWTC.

“Synology is happy to announce our participation in GITEX Technology Week 2019 once again this year. It is a perfect platform for us to showcase our best-in-class innovations in Network Attached Storage (NAS), enterprise data protection, file sharing, and file syncing solutions as well as smart surveillance solutions to a niche audience attending the region’s largest technology exhibition from across the globe,” said Nick Jheng, Regional Manager of Middle East at Synology.

Palo Alto Networks to Showcase Cloud and AI-Powered Security Palo Alto Networks will be exhibiting at GITEX Technology Week 2019, showcasing the latest innovations from its enterprise, cloud and AI-powered security solutions portfolio. Highlighting its role as a leading cybersecurity provider and cloud enabler within the Middle East market, Palo Alto Networks will hold workshops for visiting guests and offer live demonstrations of its products from its stand in Hall 6. The company will also host several executive meetings with customers throughout the course of the annual technology event. From its product portfolio, Palo Alto Networks will showcase its recently launched Prisma offering, a novel cloud security suite that simplifies access, data protection, and application security. Boasting an estimated 9,000 global enterprise customers to date, Prisma has become the largest cloud security business in the world. “The two key areas that we are currently focused on are cloud and AI-powered security solutions. As it stands, cloud security solutions are complex — the world needs a simpler but more secure, more complete solution. Ensuring safe access for branch offices and mobile users is a huge plus as well. By combining the best-in-class prevention with the power of AI, which has the ability to analyse multiple data sources and learn new ways to respond to threats, we produce a solution that is capable of dealing with the ‘blind spots’ that some organisations face when depending upon a fragmented solution," said Ercan Aydin, Vice President, Middle East & Africa, Palo Alto Networks.

ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

PRE GITEX 2019

Starlink to Show Off Automated Cybersecurity Ecosystem With all efforts focused on empowering enterprises to drive digital transformation, Starlink has an integrated suite of best-of-breed technology solutions lined up, this GITEX. Starlink has emerged to become one amongst the top IT distributors in the region specializing in IT Security, Data Centre, and Cloud domains. Prominently positioned at the Sheikh Rashid Hall, Enterprise Network and Security arena, Starlink will showcase its comprehensive solutions portfolio at Stand No. SR-J1 where both Starlink and participating vendor expert teams will be engaging and networking, one-on-one with customers and partners to impart valuable insights on the product offerings and industry best practices. Starlink will host 18 strategic vendors, namely Acronis, BlackBerry/Cylance, Centrify, Citrix, Cofense, Forescout, FireEye, Infoblox, LinkShadow, LogRhythm, Nexthink, Palo Alto Networks, Riverbed, Threat Quotient, Pure Storage, Trend Micro, Tripwire and SecureLink with focus on Data Protection, Software-Defined Data Centre, Identity & Access, Risk and Compliance and Infrastructure Security. “Over the past decade, Starlink has pioneered various innovative initiatives to empower and facilitate its stakeholders to grow and expand its global footprint. Once again, we look forward to joining forces and collaborate at this unique platform and strengthen our commitment to support enterprises in the region build a robust cyber and cloud infrastructure strategy to optimize their business operations without compromising user experience,” said Nidal Othman, Co-Founder, and Managing Director, Starlink.

Fortinet to Showcase its Solutions to Protect Edge Networks Fortinet will highlight the importance of securing edge networks and showcase its Secure SD-WAN, SD-Branch, OT and Cloud Security solutions at GITEX 2019. “The network perimeter is being replaced with new edge networks. As data moves between multi-cloud, IoT, SD-WAN and next-gen branch offices, and mobile devices, the challenge is ensuring security and consistency between these environments,” said Alain Penel, Regional Vice PresidentMiddle East, Fortinet. “At Gitex we will further emphazise how the Fortinet Security Fabric delivers broad, integrated, and automated protection across an organization’s entire digital attack surface from IoT to the edge, network core and multi-clouds.” Fortinet will be present in the Enterprise Networking and Security section in the Sheikh Rashid Hall Stand

SR- C10, where it hold live demo sessions, where visitors can also hear from its product experts about how Fortinet solutions protect the entire end-to-end infrastructure without compromising network performance. Fortinet’s key solutions at the show include: • Secure SD-WAN: Best-of-breed next-generation firewall (NGFW) security, SD-WAN, advanced routing, and WAN optimization capabilities, delivering a security-driven networking WAN edge transformation in a unified offering. • Security solutions for ICS and SCADA: application- and user-identity awareness, content security with integrated intrusion prevention, antivirus, web filtering, SSL encryption/decryption and advanced threat protection and remeditation.

Two-i to Exhibit at GITEX to Showcase Video Analysis Software For the second year running, Two-i will attend Gitex 2019 to present its unique video analysis software, which is called the Map, aiming to improve happiness in the cities. This solution was inspired by the progressive sustainable development goals that Two-i shares with Dubai. Live analysis of demographic data, such as emotions, age and gender, helps to guide decision-making and measure the impact of initiatives. Happiness

is a complex condition that involves a range of variables that are far from just detecting smiles on the faces. The goal is to foster diversity and inclusion for all. It is a virtuous cycle that begins with raw material processing, data collection, the study of data that leads to decision-making, which then leads to the generation of new data, which leads to new decisions, and so on. Two-i is among the pioneers in the development of the Map: an interactive

ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

cartographic platform that collects and displays all the metadata generated from live video streaming. It allows the user to navigate in his own city and visualize in real time the levels of well-being in the different neighborhoods. By displaying a large amount of important information in such condensed stats, the Map revolutionizes the way city management is perceived. In addition, it has been designed to comply with the constraints of data anonymisation.

NEWS

Capillary Technologies Joins Hands With Saudi-Based Veda Holding Capillary Technologies has signed a strategic joint venture agreement with Saudi-based Veda Holding to form Capillary Arabia. The venture will allow Capillary Technologies enhanced access to the Kingdom’s rapidly growing retail, F&B and Manufacturing sector, and the ability to provide continued on-ground support to customers. Saudi Arabia is host to a growing and vibrant international luxury retail culture. The recent shift in Saudi Arabia’s retail sector can be attributed to the change in buying habits of consumers who demand and have access to an omnichannel shopping experience. According to Euromonitor, the retail industry in the Kingdom is currently worth $106 billion and is forecast to steadily rise to $119 billion by 2023. While store-based retailing continues to dominate the sector accounting for $103 billion of the overall market in Saudi Arabia, non-store retailing, which includes online shopping, direct selling, mobile internet, social media, and home shopping, is set to grow by 93% from now to 2023. “We are excited to strengthen our presence in Saudi Arabia with a joint venture with Veda Holding. It demonstrates our commitment to the local market and gives us the opportunity to onboard local talent to provide support to our customers in their preferred method,” said Aneesh Reddy, CEO, and Co-founder Capillary Technologies. “The retail sector is on the cusp of transforming into a technology-fueled, consumer-driven industry. Capillary Arabia would be fulfilling the gap in the retail tech in the Kingdom. Our proven success record in the region and customer-centric solutions combined with Veda’s robust retail network and superior market knowledge will provide Capillary Arabia with an unparalleled advantage to develop and digitize the retail ecosystem. By providing superior AI-powered technology we are set to help brands tap the immense opportunities by redefining their consumer experience across platforms, improve brand loyalty, and always be consumer-ready.”

Spectrami Conducts Eight-City Predictive Cyber Defense Roadshow Spectrami conducted the Spectrami Predictive Cyber Defense Roadshow 2019, which covered seven countries and eight cities in the region. This initiative was designed to educate organizations on the merits of predictive cybersecurity approach as against the prevention or detection-based approaches, which is a decent approach but, in many cases, leaves them vulnerable. The roadshow also highlighted the key solutions and services deliberated to support predictive cyber defense model.

The company kicked off its multi-city roadshow campaign from Dubai and conducted the first roadshow at Burj Al Arab, Dubai, UAE on 9th September 2019. After Dubai, the roadshow traveled to Muscat, Doha, Kuwait, Riyadh, Dammam, Cairo and Istanbul. The Spectrami Predictive Cyber Defense Roadshow 2019 has been crafted to provide an interactive platform to disseminate information and network with security decision-makers from most prominent organizations in the region.

The roadshow was part of a larger initiative by Spectrami that will enable organizations to combat threats proactively along with its key partners Anomali, Automation Anywhere, Attivo Networks, ExtraHop, Flashpoint, Tenable, HIVE PRO, Intel471, Micro Focus, Polarity, and Feidelis. Anand Choudha, the CEO and President at Spectrami commented, “We are extremely proud of the roadshow that covered seven countries and eight major cities in the region. The roadshows provided an excellent platform for all the industry experts and security specialists. We hosted more than 300 customers and several of the IT decision-makers during the course of these roadshows. With our key technology partners, we intended to address the challenges faced by end-users not just from a product or solution perspective but from the framework and policy aspect, too. Time has come for industry leaders to adopt the predictive security approach rather than the preventive security approach.”

Epson and Eventagrate Present Immersive Projector Technology at The Saudi Event Show 2019 Epson partnered with Evantagrate, interactive experiences creator, to participate in The Saudi Event Show, that took place from September 2526 in Riyadh. At the Eventagrate stand, visitors experienced multiple interactive installations utilized with Epson’s latest line-up of high-end laser projectors for world-class live entertainment. According to Jeroen Van Beem, Director of Sales, Epson MEA, “The events sector in Saudi Arabia is an important industry that is fast developing in line with Saudi Vision 2030 to contribute to the greater growth of the economy. Events such as The Saudi Event Show brings together decision-makers in the industry to experience ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

the advancements in technology for the events sector and understand how it can transform their events, to make it more experiential, visual and entertaining. We partnered with Eventagrate to demonstrate our laser projectors to the Kingdom’s event producers and rental and staging companies, helping them to explore more creative possibilities and present unparalleled audience experiences, whether it is projection mapping, virtual reality or simultaneous display on multiple screens. Our Pro L series laser projector line uses proprietary technology to deliver exceptional color output and durability, offering up to 25,000 lumens, 4K enhancement, image edge blending technology and durability.”

NEWS

Exclusive Networks Hosts Inaugural “Cloud First” Forum in Saudi Arabia Cloud is increasingly becoming a top priority for C-level executives across all vertical markets in the Kingdom. Organizations in Saudi Arabia are rapidly adopting cloud solutions as the need flexibility and speed takes effect. Exclusive Networks Middle East, had organised its inaugural Cloud First conference at Narcissus Hotel & Residences, Riyadh on 17th September, 2019. Attendees had the opportunity to meet the company’s Cyber and Cloud specialists and acquaint themselves with disruptive technologies in the space. Exclusive Networks is taking the lead to help customers in the Kingdom to accept and embrace the cloud transformation that is taking over the industry. During the course of the event, customers were enlightened on best practices in cybersecurity and cloud. The forum served as a perfect platform to help them to formulate the most ideal strategy for their businesses. Exclusive Networks’ leading vendor partners such as Fortinet, F5, SentinelOne, Nutanix, Thales , Gigamon and Infoblox were present at the event and attendees had a unique opportunity to network with them. Participants at the conference were treated to a host of thought-provoking discussions that revolved around different aspects of the cloud. F5 shared insights on securing apps in the cloud. Thales explored encryption on cloud while Fortinet discussed the key pillars to securing migration to the cloud. ‘Fighting the unknown With SentinelOne’ session was engaging while Gigamon’s talk on achieving full network visibility addressed customers’ current challenges in the space. Exabeam shed light first on how attendees can plan their SIEM strategies in a more efficient manner. Additionally, Exclusive Networks also announced the launch of the cloud competency center – an Exclusive led programme through which channel partners and customers can get certified as a cloud specialist.

ECity Opens Bigbox Consumer Electronics Store in Ibn Battuta Mall UAE-based electronics retail giant ECity has opened the Bigbox Consumer Electronics Store, the company’s latest state-of-the-art store at Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai, one of the largest themed families shopping malls in the world. The formal unveiling ceremony of the store at Ibn Battuta Mall was attended by Jaouad Dakir, CEO, ECity along with some of the company’s senior officials. Measuring at around 2000-square-meters, the new establishment is located near the metro link. Bigbox Consumer Electronics Store, which is one of the largest consumer electronics outlets of ECity, is the company’s 10th store in the UAE. The opening marks a key milestone in the electronics retail giant’s ongoing expansion strategy in the local market. Dakir said, “Our newly inaugurated Bigbox Consumer Electronics Store

reflects that our expansion strategy in the country remains on track. In the coming months, we will open more ECity stores in different prime locations across the UAE to reach as many customers as possible and deliver high-quality services and best-in-class customer experience. We are confident that this newly opened establishment will further boost the performance of ECity, whose growth has doubled over the last three years.” “Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai is a strategic location for us as the popular shopping center continues to enjoy high footfall yearly. The cosmopolitan city of Dubai, a renowned business hub at the local and regional levels, also provides us with an opportunity to further grow our business and strengthen our presence in the expanding domestic electronics market. We look forward to catering to the needs of our tech-savvy customers who frequent the mall,” he added.

Intersec Saudi Arabia Relocates to Riyadh The 4th Intersec Saudi Arabia – the Kingdom’s largest trade fair for security, safety, and fire protection – will next year relocate to Riyadh after three successful annual runs in the nation’s red sea port city of Jeddah. Intersec Saudi Arabia 2020, which is organised by the Saudi-based ACE Exhibitions under licence from Messe Frankfurt Middle East, will run at the Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center (RICEC) from 23 – 25 March and feature more than 100 exhibitors from 20 countries. The move comes as consultancy 6WResearch forecasts the Kingdom’s fire safety systems & equipment market – the largest in the GCC – will register compound annual growth until 2025 of 5.5% reaching a cumulative value of US $402 million. Growth is being driven in part by government regulation of compulsory installation of fire ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

safety, detection and alarm systems in buildings. Saudi Arabia’s safety and security market meanwhile are expected to attain annual growth of 4.8% to 2025 to top$1.1billion in value with opportunities arising from measures aimed at securing the safety of increased Umrah visitor numbers. “This strategic move follows keen insights from our loyal exhibitor base and is aimed at giving key decision-makers in the Kingdom, including governmental and ministerial delegates based in the Saudi Arabia capital, greater access to this important exhibition,” explained Andreas Rex, Intersec Saudi Arabia’s Show Director. “In its first three years, the show has built up momentum across its six key product sectors and benefitted from strong government support. The move to Riyadh brings Intersec Saudi Arabia closer to that network."

NEWS

Focus Softnet Partners with Tata Communications Focus Softnet has announced that it is partnering with Tata Communications to host its cloudbased ERP solutions on the IZO Private Cloud platform. Tata Communications’ IZO Private Cloud platform is enabling Focus Softnet to offer its cloud-based ERP solutions either as a public cloud SaaS solution or as a private cloud option.

DCG Hosts a Conference Titled “Future Proof Your Business” Dubai Computer Group (DCG) organised an event to enable businesses to adapt to the future titled “Respond and Future Proof to Grow”. For this event, DCG associated with consulting and business transformation solution provider Navo Management Consultants and Industry trouper Vasudevan Kidambi to lead the event with his experience and wisdom for business on how to respond to the multiple developments that constantly reshape the business ecosystem.

Talking about the event, Dharmendra Sawlani, the President of DCG, said, “The technology shift and market decentralisation are the realities that we face today and moving on we need to adopt a business moded that will fit the new world order. In the past, DCG has organised many events bringing motivational speakers, skill development programs, specialist and consulting advisors from various fields. Moving forward, we are convinced it is time to look inward and move from motivation to direction and turn disruptions into opportunities.” “It is not about what developments we see around; it is about the way we see

it. Similarly, it is about the way we do business that needs a deep introspection and modernisation. The session focused on delivering clarity on ‘how to’ respond to the developments, remain future-proofed and grow, said Vasudevan Kidambi, the Managing Director of Navo and business transformation leader." Suchit Kumar, the General Secretary of DCG said, “Disruptive innovation has alerted the business ecosystem and we need to radically shake up the way we think to keep our business Future Proofed. We are endeavoring to help our members’ businesses be fit for the future and shall have to follow up events such as skill developments and business clinics.”

Suchit Kumar also expressed his thanks to Hesham Tantawi – VP of Asbis Middle East for his extended support for DCG and enduring efforts to exhilarate the industry. ASBIS ME was the Support partner and Lexmark was the Co-Sponsor for the event. The event was conducted on 15th September, 2019 at Le-Meridian Hotel, Airport Road, Dubai, UAE. Over 150 members attended the event.

“We are proud to partner with Focus Softnet, who is moving their Focus 9 solution to our IZO Private Cloud, after a successful proof of concept on the Tata Communications cloud platform. During the six months of operations after startup, Tata Communications has been actively helping Focus Softnet onboard 40+ new customers,” said Rajesh Awasthi, Associate Vice President – Managed Hosting & Cloud Services, Tata Communications. “Customers globally have common demands such as flexible operational payments, scalability requirements, usage agility, and the option of global delivery anywhere and anytime, which are now met by the IZO Private Cloud platform,” explains Ali Hyder, Group CEO of Focus Softnet. “We now have a single point of contact to support our ERP software solutions. With the cloud service, we know immediately if there is a problem and can quickly fix it remotely. There is no need for on-premise visits. Tata Communications’ enterprise-grade service and support and its global footprint were deciding factors in our decision to migrate to IZO Private Cloud platform,” he adds. Prior to the migrating to Tata Communications’ IZO Private Cloud platform, Focus Softnet was offering customers onsite perpetual licensing and was looking for a suitable partner for global hosting of its cloud-based Focus 9 application. With Tata Communications’ IZO Private Cloud platform, Focus Softnet is able to offer customers scalability and agility with its cloud software licensing, which is a flexible pay as you go model, and can deliver anytime, anywhere.

Kingston Technology Announced as the Top DRAM Module Supplier Kingston Technology Europe has announced that it has been ranked as the top DRAM module supplier in the world, according to the latest rankings by DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce. Kingston retains its number 1 position with an estimated 72.17 percent market share, according to TrendForce. Their findings reinforce Kingston’s position in the marketplace as the leading third-party supplier of DRAM modules. The rankings for 2018 mark the 16th consecutive year that TrendForce has placed Kingston in the

top spot. TrendForce states that spot prices stayed high in 1H18, even surpassing contract prices by over 20 percent. Despite rising inventory levels and price decreases in 2H18, the report indicates module manufacturers were still able to generate plenty of revenue and profit. Some of the prominent trends and growth drivers the market is witnessing include the growing popularity of online media streaming, recent technological developments in IoT, and the shift to the data center and Cloud computing services.

“While Kingston considers TrendForce’s estimates overly generous, it nonetheless follows the trajectory of the company’s growth in all of its business segments,” said Iwona Zalewska, DRAM business manager, Kingston EMEA. “In 2018, we were able to produce over 14 trillion MBs of memory across all product lines including DRAM, SSDs and embedded solutions. This massive amount, tremendous good fortune, and the findings from TrendForce reinforces our company’s strength, position and importance as a whole in the industry.”

ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

MOVE RS AND SHAKE RS

F5 Networks Appoints New Regional VP for MEA Sales F5 Networks has announced the appointment of Mohammed Abukhater as its new Regional Vice President of Sales for the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. An experienced leader working with high-performing sales and channel teams across the GCC and Africa, Abukhater has over 16 years’ industry knowledge in the technology sector. Based in Dubai, he will report directly to David Helfer, Senior Vice President for EMEA Sales. Abukhater joins F5 from FireEye, where he stood out for driving impressive results as their VP for MEA. Over the course of his six plus years at the company, he also held several regional and vertical-specific sales director roles. Prior to that, he was making his mark as a territory sales leader and SE manager at Bluecoat Systems. “This is a significant time for Mohammed to join F5, and I am confident he will have an immediate impact,” said David Helfer. “F5 is stronger than ever in the MEA region. Not only have we reinforced our strength in core Middle Eastern markets over the past few quarters, but we’ve also seen our profile markedly grow in countries like Turkey and North Africa. We are in a strong position to offer a unified customer experience for management across the entire app spectrum – from code to customer.” Abukhater’s first public appearance in his new role will be at GITEX Technology Week, where F5 is championing multi-cloud application services and DevOps methodologies as major catalysts for digital transformation and growth across the Middle East. F5 is also sharing insight on its latest solution offerings and its recent NGINX acquisition. Mohammed Abukhater said: “I am delighted to join F5 Networks at such a pivotal moment in the company’s history. All the elements are in place to take the business to the next level in the Middle East and Africa, including expanding and accelerating our multi-cloud application services, security capabilities and DevOps-related offerings. We already have an exceptional team in place, and the potential of cloud-driven, application-centric innovation is creating huge opportunities for both F5 and our customers.”

Nutanix Appoints Cyril VanAgt to Lead Channel and OEM Activities in EMEA Nutanix has appointed Cyril VanAgt to lead its Channel and OEM activities in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. VanAgt will oversee all of Nutanix's go-to-market relationships with resellers, distributors, regional system integrators and technology partners in the EMEA region, providing them with the capabilities needed to apply the company's cutting-edge technologies.

Iberia, Switzerland and French-speaking Africa, turning this region into a model for collaboration between Nutanix and its channel network. VanAgt's responsibilities were expanded further in 2018 with addition of OEM and alliance partner management.

In particular, VanAgt will be responsible for driving the Nutanix Channel Charter, a strategic initiative to strengthen the company's relationships with the reseller community by empowering them to succeed throughout both the sales cycle and their own customers’ technology lifecycles, ultimately enabling all participants to compete in the modern era of multi-cloud needs and capabilities.

Commenting on VanAgt's appointment, Sammy Zoghlami, Senior Vice President of Sales for the Europe, Middle East & Africa region, said: “I am delighted to have Cyril lead our Channel and OEM operations in EMEA. These relationships are critical routes to market for Nutanix and its solutions, and Cyril's vast experience in technology partnering and implementation, will see these partners gain maximum benefit and value from what these innovative products have to offer them.”

VanAgt joined Nutanix in October 2014 and has been responsible for channel sales in the Southern European territories of the EMEA region since then. In four years he structured the Nutanix distribution network and built a strong channel ecosystem in this part of EMEA. The organization established by VanAgt enabled the readiness and autonomy of Nutanix channel partners in France, Italy,

VanAgt joined Nutanix following a 14year career at NetApp in France. He was educated at the ISEN Institut Supérieur d'Electronique et du Numérique, France, gaining a degree in micro-electronics, computer sciences and telecommunications engineering. He also holds a postgraduate qualification from the Télécom Paris institution in Image Processing & Television Systems.

OPPO Appoints Ethan Xue as New President in the Middle East and Africa as one of the top two brands in China. In his new role, Xue will take responsibility for leading product, marketing and sales across the region, guiding strategies and adding impetus to the further development of Oppo in MEA,” the company said in a statement.

Oppo has announced the appointment of Ethan Xue as its new President in the Middle East and Africa (MEA). The announcement comes as Andy Shi, Outgoing President of Oppo MEA, assumes his new role as Senior Director of Global Product Marketing at Oppo Headquarters in China where he will oversee Oppo’s all product lines including smartphones and IoT on a global level.

Earlier this year, Oppo established its regional headquarters in Dubai, the location which was selected for the first international launch of the new Oppo Reno series, following the smartphones’ introduction in China. “The company is also committed to being a key contributor to the region’s 5G ecosystem and is helping to shape the next generation of connectivity through contributions in research, software and hardware development, and deep consumer insight. In line with that, Oppo launched its first commercially-ready 5G smartphone in the GCC earlier this month. The smartphone combines the next-generation connectivity of 5G with the power of Oppo’s premium Reno series for a superior experience,” the company said.

Andy Shi, Outgoing President of Oppo MEA said, “Ethan’s proven track record and customer-centric leadership make him ideal for this role. We believe his expertise and broad experience will play a fundamental role in driving Oppo’s growth strategy and cementing its footprint further in the region.” “Ethan joined Oppo in 2012, where he worked with the team to oversee China market. He was subsequently promoted to lead Oppo’s training division, before he became responsible for marketing Oppo products in China. This helped Oppo to maintain its position ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

Nexans Appoints New Managing Director for MEA Nexans has appointed Arafat Yousef as Managing Director of the LAN Systems Business Unit in the Middle East and Africa (MEA). In his new role, Arafat will be responsible for driving Nexans Cabling Solutions’ business growth, strengthening its channel network, and expanding the company’s reach by focusing on newer markets in the MEA region with a renewed focus.

HTC Appoints new CEO to Embrace 5G, AI and XR Future HTC Corporation has announced the appointment of Yves Maitre as CEO of HTC, effective immediately. Yves joins HTC from Orange, one of the world’s largest telecommunications firms, where he served as EVP of Consumer Equipment and Partnerships, overseeing Orange’s connected technology strategy and business. Yves’s background includes deployment of the world’s largest consumer electronic brands as well as ownership of an entire portfolio of connected and mobile services, and he also served as a member of Orange’s innovation technology group, charged with developing disruptive revenue opportunities. Cher Wang will continue as Chairwoman of the HTC board, in which she will focus on future technologies that align with HTC’s expanding portfolio and vision of VIVE Reality. “When I took over as CEO four years ago, I set out to reinvent HTC as a complete ecosystem company and lay the foundations for the company to flourish across

5G and XR. So, now is the perfect time to hand over the stewardship of HTC to a strong leader to guide us on the next stage of our journey,” said Cher Wang, Chairwoman, HTC. “I am truly delighted that Yves is taking the reins; he has a long association with our company, and he shares our passion for innovation. I firmly believe Yves is the right leader to continue to lead HTC to its full potential.” “HTC has long been a bellwether for new technology innovation and I’m honored to be selected by the Board of Directors to lead the next phase of HTC,” said Yves Maitre, CEO at HTC. “Across the world, HTC is recognized for its firsts across the mobile and XR space. I am incredibly energized to grow the future of both 5G and XR alongside HTC employees, customers and investors. We will set out immediately to continue the transition from building the worlds’ best consumer hardware to also building complete services around them to make them easy to manage and deploy.”

Arafat Yousef brings with him over 22 years of experience in the regional IT and structured cabling industry. Prior to joining Nexans, Arafat held a number of senior roles with well-established organizations such as Corning, 3M, Leviton, and CNS. As an accomplished industry veteran, he brings to Nexans strong domain experience, leadership skills, and in-depth market knowledge, which have helped him forge strong relationships with regional private and public sector businesses and the channel. Speaking on his role, Arafat Yousef said, “This is an exciting time to join Nexans Cabling Solutions. At a time, when organisations in the MEA region are accelerating their digital transformation journeys and governments are investing in building a stronger infrastructure for the future, I see tremendous potential for Nexans’ innovative LAN cabling solutions in the region. I look forward to building stronger relationships with our customers, partners and IT consultants with a renewed focus on offering solutions. Working closely with our dynamic local team and partners, I will ensure that Nexans is strongly positioned to offer sustainable, energy-efficient, end-to-end LAN solutions that will help government organisations and enterprises be ready for the future.” With Arafat’s in-depth knowledge of the MEA market and outstanding track record of success in the IT as well as structured cabling industry, Nexans Cabling Solutions is confident that Arafat will play a significant role in growing its LAN business by leveraging its current relationships with customers and partners, driving new business opportunities and forging new partnerships in the region.

Aruba Appoints Jacob Chacko as New Regional Lead for Middle East Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company has announced the appointment of Jacob Chacko as its Regional Lead for Middle East. Jacob will assume responsibility of the regional sales organization and will strive to grow market share and revenues with partners, alliances and associates, strengthening Aruba’s position in the region. Based out of Dubai, he will report directly to Jose Vasco, the company’s Regional Director, Central Europe Middle East, and Africa.

9 years and he has worked across the spectrum of the business. I am confident that his knowledge about the business and his techno-commercial acumen will surely be of great value and help us grow the regional business. Jacob has close to 21 years of experience in the networking industry and his experience across sales, channel, distribution, and category will give an impetus to our efforts in the region and take our business to the next level,” said Jose Vasco.

“Jacob has been with HPE for the last

Commenting on his appointment, Jacob

explained, “I am excited to be a part of this team. 2019 will be an important year of change in the networking industry as innovations from recent years begin to reach the crest of their impact, and a variety of new technologies just hitting the market now will pave the way for future innovation in the coming years. Our focus is to enhance our regional structure, continue to develop our partner network and increase our product and services portfolio to further build on our market leadership.”

ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

COVE R STORY

The Power of an

AI Solution Can the deployment of Artificial Intelligence solutions catapult your business to the next level? Industry experts weigh in.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the buzzword these days, and for good reason. Businesses around the world are taking up AI technologies to try and reduce operational costs, increase efficiency, grow revenue and improve customer experience. Businesses are also looking at putting a full range of smart technologies such as machine learning, natural language processing and more, into their processes and products. However can businesses

ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

that are new to AI, reap major rewards?

THE PROMISE When it comes to artificial intelligence, most people are well aware of the tropes from popular entertainment: the malevolent computer, the android gone rogue. In reality, however, AI is already transforming numerous industries for the better. “Fields as varied as health care, edcation and public safety are leveraging artificial intelligence to automate some processes and optimize others, allowing humans to spend more time on their most meaningful work and less time managing rote tasks,” explains Danny Allan, the VP of Product Strategy at Veeam. “And with global spending on AI technology expected to reach $46 billion by 2020, it’s likely to become not only prevalent, but also crucial to modern business.”

Thierry Nicault, the Regional Vice-President Enterprise Business Unit (EBU) for Middle East, Africa and Central Europe at Salesforce, agrees that AI is fast catching up and impacting our daily lives. “AI is making a major impact across businesses and our daily lives, especially in personalized experiences at scale. One of the most common uses of AI, especially in the Middle East, is in marketing and retail experiences. For example, our recent State of the Connected Customer survey shows that 64% of customers expect tailored engagement based on previous interactions, and 62% of customers expect companies to adapt their personalization,” adds Nicault. According to Ramprakash Ramamoorthy, the Product Manager at Zoho Labs, AI is making life easier for both consumers and enterprises. “The goal of any business is to maximize profits, improve productivity, and enhance the customer experience, and AI is being aggressively deployed on all these fronts. For example, poorly designed interactive voice response (IVR) systems will be a thing of past very soon. We have smart chat bots that can answer most customer questions and escalate unanswerable questions to a human rep. In this way, the customer is happy that they have got an easier resolution to the query. The human support rep can spend their time more productively solving critical issues and the enterprise saves on costs in the process,” he adds. Meanwhile, Dr. Hichem Maya, the General Manager for Consumer Industries for EMEA South at SAP is of the opinion that AI is a fundamental technology that is transforming businesses and people’s daily lives across the Middle East. “This is happening from smart cities directing traffic, to digital patient records enhancing patient care, and banks approving loans in minutes. Organizations that leverage smart automation with AI can also free people from monotonous or dangerous tasks and enable them to work on creative solutions. In the Fourth Industrial Revolution, one of the best examples of AI in action are with factory robots that can complement people in what experts are calling “augmented humanity,” adds Dr. Maya. Regionally, UAE seems to be a perfect example in order to understand the benefits of deploying AI solutions. The UAE Strategy for Artificial Intelligence launched in 2017 has encouraged wider and coordinated adoption of AI technologies. “The National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031 also aims to fulfill key objectives, including employing artificial intelligence in vital areas such as education, government services and commu-

nity wellbeing, to improve the quality of life of citizens,” adds Hamid Tamimi, the Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton. “We are already seeing a positive impact as a result of these initiatives in the customer service industry, which is increasingly turning to AI to manage its growing needs.” According to Tamimi, mobile apps are now designed to enable seamless government service delivery and we are seeing chatbots used across retail, banking, and government services. “Healthcare is also going to be massively impacted by AI in the future as the industry moves away from traditional methods and uses complex algorithms and software to assist doctors in patient diagnosis,” he adds. Mario M. Veljovic, the General Manager at VAD Technologies says that AI will allow improve manufacturing processes and allow optimize many workflows to allocate resources to improve efficiency. “AI will also help to reduce monotonous work and support allocating resources for the wellbeing of employees. The technology impacts all aspects, but Business Process Automation and Physical Security is very much at the forefront,” he explains. “Partners have the opportunity to support their clients to find true ROI for their AI projects and ultimately create the required funds to finance such projects. Channel partners have to get involved as soon as possible and start such conversations with their clients.”

Danny Allan, VP, Product Strategy, Veeam

Thierry Nicault, Regional VP, EBU, MEA and Central Europe, Salesforce

THE OPPORTUNITY According to Veeam’s Danny Allan, AI can transform data management. “In this space, true innovation isn’t just about capturing more data— it’s about having it always available, responding to it and separating signal from noise in order to improve processes and drive better business decisions. In the data center alone, AI and automation are giving companies new ways to meet the challenges of our age of information hyper-sprawl, the result of increasing adoption of the cloud and policies like BYOD. AI and automation bring consistency to standards and compliance issues. They improve server efficiency and cut costs across the IT infrastructure. And crucially, they put businesses in a better position to understand and act on their data, however disparate or voluminous,” says Allan. Nicault says that Middle East channel partners can help to identify the business cases for AI, whether in personalizing shopping experiences, analysing social media sentiment, or enhancing supply chains. “Meaningful metrics such as conversion rates, qualified leads, and customer

Dr. Hichem Maya, GM - Consumer Industries, EMEA South, SAP

Ramprakash Ramamoorthy, Product Manager, Zoho Labs

ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

COVE R STORY

lifetime value can demonstrate how AI can optimize costs and revenue,” he adds. “Using AI-powered predictions and recommendations, Middle East organisations can make decisions faster, make employees more productive, and make customers happier.” In the last decade, there has been a heavy focus on process automation. This let us accumulate reams of data. With phenomenally good computing power and volumes of accumulated data, the rise of AI was inevitable. Now, we are moving from process automation to decision automation using AI. “With the wealth of historical data available, AI can effectively identify patterns without humans writing explicit rules. It can also effectively forecast events by seeing patterns not obvious to human eyes. All of these traits make AI the key to the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” says Ramamoorthy. Ramamoorthy also says that AI can be a productivity booster by automating redundant tasks, freeing up humans to work on more critical tasks that require their attention. “For example, when your website goes down, even if just for a couple of minutes, that translates to a revenue loss. The hit to reputation that comes with an outage may even be costlier. An AI-enabled monitoring system can proactively predict outages even before they happen and also explain what signal might reveal the root cause of the outage. This is the productivity boost that we are talking about. Workforces can receive notification on possible future outages and takes steps to prevent them altogether, saving the time and resources that would have otherwise been spent troubleshooting,” he explains. Dr. Maya explains that AI has reached the tipping point among

ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

the region’s organizations and channel partners, especially in the UAE thanks to the UAE AI Strategy 2031 and Ministry of State for Artificial Intelligence. “More than 70% of MENA’s digital leaders are investing in AI and machine learning, making it among the top three most heavily-invested technologies this year, according to the recent SAP and Oxford Economics Digital Transformation Executive Study. Middle East IT decision-makers agree that cloud is important for integrating AI, machine learning, Internet of Things, and blockchain, including 83% in KSA and 76% in the UAE, according to a recent YouGov survey,” reiterates Dr. Maya. The fourth industrial revolution includes a number of transformational technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT) and 3D printing, to name a few. AI is one of the most crucial technologies driving the fourth industrial revolution through machine learning and deep learning. “AI has tremendous potential and use cases across industries, including retail, security, healthcare and transportation. To take it to the next stage, companies that are serious about taking up AI must focus on two things – the business case benefits and the use case benefits and they must adopt a nimble and phased approach to start building momentum,” says Tamimi. “According to technology and research firm Venture Scanner, the adoption of AI technologies in marketing organizations has increased by 44% in 2018, as compared to 2017. Use of AI by customer service teams is projected to increase by 143% over the next 18 months.”

THE CHALLENGES As automation evolves into artificial intelligence, it’s up to businesses to build data availability into their tools and processes from the beginning, rather than bolting it on after the fact. It’s a

conversation that runs parallel to the world of cybersecurity, where defending a company’s perimeter from cyber attackers all too often becomes an afterthought. “But now, with philosophies like DevSecOps encouraging businesses to make security a baked-in part of software development, we’re beginning to see a shift in thinking. In data management, the same principle applies—particularly for businesses leveraging AI and machine learning as part of their availability strategy,” explains Allan. One of the biggest challenges to implementing AI is the perceived threat of redundancy or job loss. But in reality, AI should be implemented to repurpose the energy in the labour market rather than make it redundant. “AI can help bring efficiency in the workforce, as labour intensive and monotonous tasks can be taken up machines, while humans focus on higher level qualitative tasks. According to a report from the World Economic Forum (WEF), despite machines and algorithms displacing 75 million jobs by 2022, they will create 133 million new roles by the same time period,” adds Tamimi.

THE PATH TO AN AI SOLUTION Becoming a hyper-available, AI-assisted enterprise doesn’t happen overnight. Arriving at this point is a gradual process, although each step comes with substantial benefits. Artificial intelligence never starts with artificial intelligence. There are always algorithms upfront, then machine learnings and eventually you get to AI. In some corners, it’s already extremely well entrenched. For instance, many companies use network edge detection systems to determine whether malware is attacking. These companies can then take a snapshot of the data to make a definitive determination without a human becoming involved. Contrary to how it’s often presented, investing in AI doesn’t mean removing humans from the equation. “Though the technology is rapidly becoming more advanced, it would be a mistake to fully trust machines to handle complex processes, particularly those impacting availability,” explains Allan. “We think of AI in the province of data replication the same way you might think about a self-driving car. You wouldn’t want a network disruption or a network data management protocol packet to disappear when all of a sudden the entire workload moves to the cloud. There still needs to be a person saying, ‘Yes, allow that to take place,’ with automation working up until

that point.” AI vendors have the opportunity to transform the way the industry works. When used right, AI can help differentiation from competitors and can add substantial value. Challenges exist, too. “We still have a data problem in most cases. Unlike click stream data in social networks, enterprise data is limited. There is also a lot of awareness in recent times about how data created is processed and who all has access to it,” adds Ramamoorthy. “AI systems by nature erode data boundaries. So vendors and partners should be doubly careful with the strict data processing regulations and ensure data is used right. These challenges will be the opportunities for the vendor and partner ecosystem. Summing up, an AI system that is explainable, complies with data access regulations, and works better with limited amounts of data is going to be the winner.” Whatever your reason for considering AI, the potential is there for it to change the way businesses operates. All it takes to start is an open-minded attitude and a willingness to embrace new opportunities wherever and whenever possible. “SAP’s Channel Partner Program is continuing to train channel partners on integrating AI into digital transformation agendas, and finding the right business cases that meet the needs for AI,” adds Dr. Maya. “Our industry leading solutions, such as SAP Leonardo and the SAP C/4HANA customer experience suite, are integrating AI for real-time insights on the X’s of experience data and O’s of operational data to drive new levels of digital business innovation.”

Hamid Tamimi, VP, Booz Allen Hamilton

Mario M. Veljovic, General Manager, VAD Technologies

According to UBS, AI has the potential to reach a market cap of $120-180 billion by 2020, therefore it represents a tremendous revenue growth opportunity. “Take for example in the UAE, the government has unveiled a strategy to position the country as a hub for AI by leveraging AI technology across government services and the private sector. It also aims to recruit and train people to work in industries that will employ AI in the near future. This is a huge opportunity for companies looking to grow their AI capabilities in the future,” says Tamimi. As an industry, we’re at an inflection point where we’re beginning to build resiliency and dependability into our systems. The first step is to recognize that it’s a journey. There are steps to go through and practices to learn along the way in order to achieve that resiliency. And it’s not just about recovering faster — it’s actually lowering costs for the organization. It’s helping them deliver better ROIs.

ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

WOME N IN TECH

GETTING YOUR FOOT

INTO THE DOOR

Jessica Dimaro, the Marketing Manager at A10 Networks, speaks to Arabian Reseller about why IT makes a great career choice, the key transformations in the industry and advice to women looking to break into the field of technology

ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

What is your advice to women looking to break into the field of technology? I have worked with many great women in the technology industry (and still do). While we appear as a minority, there are certainly more women penetrating the industry than a few years ago. At the end of the day, companies are looking to hire the best candidate for the position. Be sure to demonstrate the right set of skills and abilities to get your foot in the door. Focus on working confidently and efficiently, be innovative in your thinking and open to new ideas.

Tell us about your philosophy, when it comes to your domain of expertise. I consider myself to be a genuine person and marketing should be too. Whatever product you offer, it should provide value to the consumer. While it is important to have a balanced marketing plan, the thought leadership aspect of cybersecurity marketing is something I find very interesting, as you can educate consumers and partners about the constantly evolving threat landscape. Why did you choose IT to advance your career? The term â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;ITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is such a simple industry name and yet it covers such a broad scope of topics, surely it is almost too difficult to accurately quantify. Whether directly or indirectly, IT has a huge impact on our day-to-day lives, and it is constantly growing. I think it is really exciting to be a part of such a fast-moving and impactful industry.

Are you involved in any sort of charity work? In peak season, finding the time is sometimes challenging, however, I have worked on several charity drives donating and distributing toiletry bags and food packs to the hard-working men of Dubai who work as labourers. I also trained and ran in the Abu Dhabi marathon to raise awareness for mental health.

Have you witnessed any transformation in the technology industry? The technology industry is constantly transforming. Many technologies dreamt up in sci-fi films less than a decade ago are even closer to reality now (such as touch glass and self-driving cars). I think a key transformation was Europe introducing GDPR in May last year. As technology is always changing, it is important to continuously reassess how we use and interact with the resulting data.

What is next for you in terms of your career in the tech industry? I am relatively new in my role at A10 Networks, so I want to work with the local team to really establish the channel and marketing activities in the Middle East region to support the business. Longer term, it would be interesting to get involved with the worldwide marketing team on new product launches.

Where, according to you, is the next technology transformation going to come from? It is easy to get caught up in the industry buzz words like 5G, multi-cloud, IoT and so on. however, 5G is still in the relatively early roll-out stage. I think the adoption of 5G, or lack of it, will determine the next direction of the industry.

"While it is important to have a balanced marketing plan, the thought leadership aspect of cybersecurity marketing is something I find very interesting, as you can educate consumers and partners about the constantly evolving threat landscape."

Whatever it may be, threats will evolve accordingly, and security software will still be in high demand. Artificial Intelligence is also an interesting technology to keep in view, with a number of key manufacturers investing large sums in the development of these processes I am excited to see how this will interact in the cyber security space.

ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

EXPE RT SPEAK

Why CISOs Must Use Automation and AI? ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

oday, a major cybersecurity challenge is the accelerated pace of operations and threats. The velocity, variety and sophistication of threats, and the complexity of today’s networks have outpaced the effectiveness of traditional perimeter-based defenses. Data breaches are now considered inevitable and the practical reality is that it is simply impossible to prevent all attacks. Therefore, the object of the exercise in cybersecurity is implementing a reasonable level of care to identify and manage risk. In practice, this means a balance of prevention and detection to mitigate as many threats as possible. This trend is reflected in the findings of the survey Making Tough Choices: How CISOs Manage Escalating Threats and Limited Resources, conducted by Forbes Insights in conjunction with Fortinet. Results show that CISOs currently devote 36% of budget to response, and 33% to prevention. However, as security needs change, many CISOs desire to shift budget away from prevention tactics. An optimal budget would reduce spend on prevention and increase detection and response resources to 33% and 40% of security budget respectively. This shift gives security teams the speed and flexibility they need to react quickly in the face of a threat – especially as 21% of surveyed CISOs believe capabilities of cyber criminals are outpacing their defensive capabilities. When it comes to keeping pace with the speed of modern cyberattacks, the challenge is that CISOs have limited resources in terms of personnel and budget. The report finds that to overcome these obstacles and attain the detection and response speeds necessary for today’s cyber strategies, CISOs must leverage AI and automation. Cyberattacks Move at Machine Speed CISOs are not the only ones adopting AI and automation – cyber criminals are too. Attacks now move at machine speed, using AI and automation to actively locate and exploit multiple vulnerabilities while evading detection. Without the need for manual input, these attacks can be far more prolific, and faster. With the use of ransomware and malware-as-a-service, they can even be carried out by more amateur cyber criminals. The result is that even very experienced

IT and security teams cannot keep up. No individual can detect and react to a threat at the same speed as a machine. Even so, most organizations do not have the cybersecurity personnel to consider manual response as a primary strategy. With the cybersecurity skills gap continuing to grow, many security teams are understaffed or are still being trained in how to deal with the onslaught of new threats. Furthermore, most organizations are deploying multiple disparate security tools across their distributed environments. The lack of integration here means that security teams are getting alerts to possible security events from a multitude of devices – which can cause alert fatigue and events to slip by unaddressed for longer periods of time. Leveraging AI and Automation By using AI and automation, CISOs can mitigate the risk brought on by automated cyberattacks with faster response times. Combat the Skills Gap Because organizations cannot detect and respond to threats manually, they can use AI and automation to fill these gaps. Solutions enabled by artificial intelligence can learn what normal behavior looks like in order to detect anomalous behavior. For example, certain employees may regularly access a specific type of data, or might only log on at certain times. If the user begins to operate outside of these standard parameters, the solution can detect these anomalies and inspect or isolate the device until it is determined to be safe. If the device is infected with malware or is otherwise acting maliciously, the tool can issue automatic responses. Making these tactical tasks the responsibility of AI-driven solutions gives time back to security teams to develop strategic security initiatives, focus on developing threat intelligence, or hone in on detecting unknown threats. Increased Visibility and Productivity As a result of digital transformation, networks are becoming increasingly complex and distributed. Many organizations have deployed multi-cloud environments, hybrid environments, BYOD policies, SaaS apps, connected devices, and more. AI and automation simplify network manage

Alain Penel

Regional VP - ME, Fortinet

ment across these environments – alerting security teams to imminent threats and responding automatically. Automated tools that leverage machine learning and integration can also alert other areas of the network to a potential threat. For example, a cloud security tool could alert endpoint security solutions of malicious activity to facilitate a faster response in that area of the network. A key benefit of increased visibility into security alerts across distributed networks is a more productive and efficient security program. If teams feel confident in the ability of AI-enabled tools to monitor the network, respond to threats at machine speed, and collect analytics, they can spend more time honing strategy, performing historical analysis, and building a cyber-aware culture. If security teams decide to adopt AI and automation, they must be sure the solution chosen can compete with modern threats. In selecting a solution, take time to ensure it is powered by best-in-class threat intelligence and research and analytics technology. Make sure this data is collected from a variety of nodes – both globally and locally to best inform your cyber strategy. Finally, bear in mind that AI is only as effective as the training that went into it. The amount data ingested, the number of nodes and accuracy of analysis are also key considerations. Final Thoughts Speed is an essential component of threat management. However, with attacks growing more sophisticated and security resources sparser, organizations are hardpressed to keep pace. By leveraging solutions that incorporate AI and automation, CISOs can close the resource gap and stay a step ahead of cyber criminals. ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

CHANNE L INFLUE NCE R

FOCUSSING ON MAKING PARTNERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; BUSINESSES PROFITABLE Osama AlHaj-Issa, the Regional Channel Director for META at HPE Aruba, speaks about the qualities a channel influencer should possess

ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

What is your career history to date and key career achievements? I’ve been in the IT industry for over 20 years. I started my career as a systems consultant and product manager at Hewlett-Packard in Saudi where I worked for 6 years. I then moved to Microsoft as a presales engineer, solution sales specialist, and product marketing manager. My channel career got off to a start at my next company EMC where I was appointed as enterprise sales account manager. After a little under two and a half years, I moved to Cisco where I was responsible for handling the channel in Saudi and looking after business worth over $200 million. Five years later towards the end of 2011, I was approached by Aruba Networks with an offer to head the channel across the Middle East and Turkey which was a challenging and exciting proposition for me. The company had superior technology and at the time when most IT companies were experiencing negative to stagnant growth, Aruba business was growing at a rapid pace. I took up the challenge and have been with the company ever since. My main achievement was creating a commercial channel network for EMC in Saudi Arabia, Telco channel for Cisco in Saudi Arabia and finally the HPE Aruba channel across EMEA in 2016 which won the ‘best channel’ award. What are your roles and responsibilities in the company as a channel influencer? I am responsible for setting HPE Aruba channel strategy in the Middle East, Turkey, and African region and work with the sales and channel teams to support Aruba partners and distributors to grow profitable businesses.

Aruba channel team is also responsible for partner enablement and business development using marketing and sales planning practices. And I put a major focus on SMB business development through SMB partners and distributors. What qualities should a channel influencer possess to lead the channel? The following are some of the key qualities a channel influencer should possess: • A laser focus on making partners’ business profitable. • Strong ‘planning for growth’ capabilities with a long term vision for two years and good management skills in order to make sure that targets are achieved on a quarter to quarter basis. • The capacity to stay updated on the latest technology trends. What is your advice on finding success in the channel? Be an advocate for partners and make sure partners invest in quality resources and stay up to date in pre-sales and post-sales skills. Also, minimise the time spent on operational aspects and focus more on business development and demand generation. How would you assess the current state of the channel? In terms of skills in the channel, while the region is not mature as yet, we are in a much stronger position than even a few years ago. We still have some way to go, however. This is why we still see channel players depending on technical support and expertise from their vendors, and from professionals who are from other markets and regions. What is the biggest challenge facing the IT channel in the

region? Eroding margins by unfair competition and finding new leads. If you could improve one thing about the channel business what would it be? Have distributors stop undercutting prices on the same deal when a partner shops around for lower prices and have partners stop undercutting each other on the same end-user deal. This is a loselose arrangement every partner and distributor suffers from and keeps margins going down which translates into less willingness to invest in the business. How can partners (vendors, distributors, resellers, and retailers) work effectively to generate growth in the channel? Partners or resellers need to closely work with the vendors’ sales team on account planning and opportunity identification and development. Also, it is very important to fully understand customer pains and map them to HPE Aruba solutions to show value to customers. Having satisfied customers by means of proper deployment is key to getting new business and having healthy business from the installed base. New customers learn about this and bring new opportunities to grow the business. Distributors need to invest in SMB demand generation and creation. Telesales, digital marketing and ongoing structured workshops for SMB partners on HPE Aruba solutions are important means of creating run rate in SMB channel. Growth comes from proper demand generation processes and spreading the activities to new SMB channels geographically or from competition channels. ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

EXPE RT SPEAK

Enabling Cloud as a First Step to Business Transformation Any business transformation exercise begins by enumerating and detailing the Cloud road map, explains Yasser Zeineldin, CEO from eHosting DataFort

Moving a business to a Cloud platform or a Multi-Cloud platform requires preparation, thought, and a list of objectives, to remain focused and accountable. While the Cloud buzzword has now become a familiar term, many businesses have adopted it as a tool, and not so much as a strategic exercise to help the organization move to a much higher level of digital agility, flexibility, and revenue. Mapping the Cloud journey before executing it, is imperative, since it can be the backbone for a much larger organizational change covering end-user job roles, departments, and an end-to-end work culture. Here is a possible structure that small, medium and large businesses can follow to reach a much higher goal and end-point in business and digital transformation. Detail Your Business Objectives Businesses should start by taking a look at their regional markets and evaluating how many of their competitors have adopted Cloud as a business strategy. This will give them an idea of how far ahead or behind they are from the rest of the pack. Next it is important to make a complete and exhaustive list of what are the primary business objectives of moving to the Cloud. It could be about making available selected business applications to a much larger number of employees based on a more economical cost of Cloudbased software. If the business is expanding geographically, it may be about enabling end-users to go-live in a cheaper, more effective, more connected and more rapid fashion manner, by going all-Cloud. On the other hand, the Cloud migration exercise may be based entirely on various IT objectives of reducing maintenance and upgrade costs, due to availability of Cloudbased software. Software available from a Cloud platform is automatically upgraded and kept secure by the software vendor from whichever part of the world it is accessed. Data saved while using such a Cloud platform can be accessed from which-

ever part of the world the end-user moves to next, while they work outside office or work at home. Migrating to the Cloud also offers longer term stability by allowing the business to replicate itself across many more Cloud platforms, therefore making it disaster proof. But it can also add more complexity in terms of service level agreements, security responsibilities and vulnerabilities, and country level data compliance requirements. These need to be taken into consideration in the planning exercise. Next, the business needs to evaluate whether the end-user experience of using the Cloud software is superior to whatever it is using at present. The longer its end-user community has been using a particular business application internally, the longer it will take for them to adapt to the new environment. This resistance to change needs to be planned for during the migration exercise, in terms of change management and mentoring. Relook at Job Roles Adopting and migrating to the Cloud empowers the overall organization and its employees. By default, an IT department usually wields the clout, by having central control on the delivery and support of IT resources and business applications. By migrating to the Cloud, the control of the delivery of business applications has now moved outside the organization. This outsourcing initiative, frees up more resources inside the IT department, allowing them to spend time looking at more strategic and longer-term initiatives. This could be about how to use automation to remove manual and repetitive tasks from an employeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work time. It could be about how to use better analytical tools to enable higher levels of business insights for customer facing teams and senior management executives. It could be about how to manage larger volumes of data being generated through larger number

of end-users now accessing cloudbased business applications. The organization also needs to identify its Cloud champion. Is the CIO a logical and suitable choice or is a business head more suited to lead the organization in its Cloud journey. The Cloud offers a myriad of choices in terms of availability of business applications and adoption of best practices. This needs to be mapped into the organization's core competence. Therefore, a business head, with multi-departmental experience, and good people skills may be a more logical choice. On the other hand, business heads may primarily look after their own interests and targets. They may not necessarily execute a holistic picture of a pan-organization wide Cloud strategy in a balanced manner. Selection of a Cloud champion needs careful consideration using a number of internal pros and cons. While technology continues to change how we run our businesses, a planned approach to transformation can provide visible benefits in terms of productivity, service and profitability. It can also provide a sound basis for convincing the rest of the organization to get onboard with larger transformational campaigns. When it comes to the Cloud, the right pace and process are key to finding success. Those that get it right will drive business impact today and be ready to adapt to whatever tomorrow holds.

Yasser Zeineldin

CEO, eHosting DataFort

ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

TÊTE-À-TÊTE

RECOGNISE THAT THERE IS

NO ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL Sanmeet Singh Kochhar, the General Manager for Middle East at HMD Global, says that taking the no one-size-fits-all approach is key to success

What are your career history to date and key career achievements? I started my career way back in 2000 in the FMCG industry in India. In 2008, I joined Nokia in India and worked in various roles in sales and marketing before moving to Dubai in 2013. Since then, I have worked across various roles – handling channel development for the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific. I am currently GM for Middle East and Acting VP for MENA. One of the biggest achievements for me personally is leading HMD in the Middle East to be one of the top performing smartphone brands in the region. We started a new chapter in the smartphone business with a phone that put the consumer at the core of its strategy. The overwhelming response we received from our fans reinforces our passion and commitment and is massive encouragement for us to continue to push the boundaries. In a recent whitepaper from Counterpoint Research, Nokia was found to lead the global rankings in updating smartphone software and security, making it the fastest brand to reach this level. This is a tremendous achievement for us – and it makes me very proud to be associated with the brand and to have contributed to its success. What are your roles and responsibilities in your company? My core responsibility is to ensure that we deliver the best experience to our customers in terms of hardware, software and after-sales support. We have

achieved this by being one of the fastest adopters of the latest Android operating systems, which we’ve achieved with Android Pie updates. Android 9 Pie includes AI-powered features to make your device smarter, faster and adapt to your behavior as you use it, so your smartphone experience gets better with time. And, our commitment to up-to-date Android helps us deliver on that promise. What is your advice on finding success in the regional market? We recognise that there is a no one-size-fits-all approach. Our strategy and marketing activities are designed to match what customers in that respective market are looking for. I believe this is key to be successful. In addition, we believe in purposeful innovation and not innovation for the sake of innovating. This is why at HMD, we teamed up with Android AI and machine learning where Nokia smartphones become more efficient over time and get to know more about users’ daily usage while assisting them with their everyday tasks. How would you assess the current state of the regional market? The regional market is being driven by emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality, and as this technology becomes more prevalent, consumers are increasingly expecting to have these technologies in the palm of their hands through smartphones. Video consumption rates are going up, and to respond to this growing need we have invested in the latest imaging and software

capabilities. The Nokia 9 PureView for example, offers excellent imaging experience with a world-first 5 array camera and the latest advancements in display technology with PureDisplay. With Nokia 9 PureView we have delivered on all three fronts to create a unique smartphone for all our fans who want something extra special. What is the biggest challenge facing the IT industry in the region? Hardware is getting obsolete – and this one of key challenges facing the IT industry in the region. Consumers need phones that are not obsolete, smartphones that understand their needs and behaviours and are safe and secure at the same time. Unlike any other Android phones out there, all of Nokia smartphones will benefit from regular security updates for three years, OS updates for two years and will come with latest Google designed software and innovations, from AI to security. Our consumers will always enjoy being on the latest operating systems across all price points without compromising the consumers experience and the device performance. If you could improve one thing about the IT business what would it be? I think there’s a need for more awareness. With AI and AR, new software can radically change the experience on your device. The hardware race is a non-ending one but while having great hardware is essential in this day and age, we should also pay a close attention to software.

ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

EXPE RT SPEAK

Hacking my airplane BlackHat EDITION After welcoming hacking research, automobile technology started to get better at defending against hacks. So why has the airline industry not been as welcoming?

’m building a homebuilt experimental airplane. Yes, I plan to fly in it. Don’t be afraid, lots of others are too, and this segment of inventors could easily prove a valuable anti-hacking component for big jet and small plane industries alike. The airline industry is paralyzed with fear of bad press, especially of getting hacked. With more new planes getting wired (and wireless) systems, there will continue to be more networks flying around in the air by your seat in the cabin. Not all networks control critical things; many are involved in doing quite simple things like changing the color of the lights in the cabin. So what’s the risk to flight control systems? That’s exactly what the automotive industry figured ten years ago: What could possibly go wrong with vehicle control if an “entirely different”, seemingly unrelated system got hacked? Until it did. Here at BlackHat a while back we got to see videos of vehicles swerving out of control following a hack. Thankfully, the automotive industry came to terms with the hacking reality, and (some) even sponsored hacking opportunities like the automotive hacking village here at DefCon later in the week. It was a very positive turn of events. By engaging the hacker culture in a more open way, automobile technology started to get better at defending against hacks, which helps to keep us all safe. The airline industry has not been as welcoming. While it’s not as plausible to park a jet in a suite at DefCon, seemingly few strides have been made to warmly welcome hacking research. It’s not implausible to make some systems available that are currently used

in aircraft, but there seems to be cultural inertia that has only warmed slightly to the thought. So now we have a briefing here at BlackHat about messing with the in-flight guidance systems on small planes. These kinds of systems are often used in planes like mine.

Are homebuilt aircraft safe? Yes. They have similar insurance rates as other high-performance aircraft, so there’s been enough time to prove solid designs reliable. It’s time to engage the industry – not to find fault, but to fix problems. And we’re here to help. If you let us.

But unlike typical manufacture disclosure processes, which can be, um, unfulfilling and unwelcoming, those who work on their own planes, for which they are considered the manufacturer, are prime candidates to engage to help work things out. After all, we don’t really have large PR inertial problems, we just want to fix the problem. Our stock won’t tank. We can publish findings to enthusiast lists and groups in the U.S. like the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) where people share ideas rather quickly, and thereby become a sort of ad hoc beta test group.

Cameron Camp

Security Researcher, ESET

Can it work? Absolutely. About 40 years ago, the homebuilt/experimental groups started hacking planes for performance. Nowadays, a homebuilt aircraft might be constructed of carbon fiber laminate flow wings with Fowler slotted flaps for lowspeed handling in a high-speed aircraft that will absolutely destroy the performance of the heavily regulated light planes the aircraft industry still produces, which are still largely based on 70‑year‑old technology still today. At half the price. One model of homebuilt, the Lancair IV-P, using the same engine used to fly a certificated airplane around 200 miles per hour, cruises along at around 350. It’s embarrassingly good what hacking improvements can bring to an industry.

ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

EXPE RT SPEAK

Reasons Why MENA Service Providers Should Walk the Automation Talk Lucky La Riccia, Head of Digital Services at Ericsson Middle East and Africa says MENA operators should use automation to gain cost efficiencies

Digitalization is shaking up a variety of industries. Mobile operators face the challenge of digitalizing themselves - so that they in turn can accelerate the digital transformation of their business customers. If operators do not transform, they will miss out on the opportunities offered by 5G and IoT. The MEA region’s telecom market has seen a strong uptake of LTE and there is a high smartphone penetration. Increased smartphone usage - together with a large increase in the number of IoT devices using LTE – will lead to significant data consumption growth. As MENA service providers prepare to switch on 5G, they need to increase investment to improve coverage, reliability, and speed to ensure customer experiences do no suffer. In my conversations with some of the leading mobile operators across the region, it is clear for them that automating network management and operations are crucial steps in their modernization strategy. They also get that network automation is fundamental to manage 5G/IoT complexity and efficiently deliver 5G services to customers. As MENA operators continue to move network functionality from proprietary hardware over to software, here are some of the key questions I am often asked: How can I use automation to gain cost efficiencies? What’s the best way to reduce customer service time? How can data analytics help me gain insights to offer services that my customers desire in a 5G/ IoT world? To present a reliable solution to these questions, Erics-

son commissioned a study called “Network automation: Efficiency, resilience, and the pathway to 5G”. The article outlines the value of automating network operations and where some of the leaders in the field have started. From the insights of senior technology executives at network operators globally, the report offers the following conclusions: Face up to disruption: Chief Technology Officers may deem it risky to purposely disrupt their networks, but some “structural change is necessary to gain the benefits of automation”. Changes will be needed to integrate staff with IT backgrounds and programming skills, essential for operating the network. Make a clearer link to the 5G and IoT future: With so much riding on 5G and IoT, making the link more explicit to CEOs and CFOs can only strengthen the automation business case. With traffic levels boosting, the need for more investment becomes inevitable. Keep the faith with open standards: The MENA region’s service providers and their ability to capitalize on the opportunities arising from new technologies require a significant reduction in complexity within the fragmented operations support area. Beyond making fuller commitments of their own to one or another open-source platform, “operators should keep up the pressure on their vendors to do the same”. Open Network Automation Platforms can generate even greater value when leveraged to create new services that support new business models across different verticals that will emerge from the introduction of 5G.

Embrace DevOps: DevOps is a key enabler of successful software-driven teams and businesses. Arming network staff with new skills may not be enough to help them thrive in fast-paced cloud environments. Whether or not new structures are created, “learning DevOps ways of working across teams can cement the gains achieved from network automation—and much more”. Don’t be afraid to let go: Automating means trusting software to do the jobs that manual management and configuration—and the proprietary tools developed to guide them—performed. “A leap of faith is required to ‘flip the switch’ over to the automation tool. Delaying this or maintaining legacy tools for redundancy purposes are likely to negate at least some of the gains of automation.” With greater adoption of automation, I am confident service providers in the Middle East and Africa can slash operations costs and introduce services more quickly, become fully prepared to manage complexity and exceed customer expectations in the era of Digital Transformation – likely through services that we have yet to invent!

Lucky La Riccia

Head of Digital Services, Ericsson MEA

ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

MARKET RESEARCH

Blockchain Will Have a Transformational Impact Across Industries in 5-10 Years 34

with more control over their in-game items making them more portable across gaming platforms. “High user volumes and rapid innovation make the gaming sector a testing ground for innovative application of blockchain. It is the perfect place to monitor how users push the adaptability of the most critical components of blockchain: decentralization and tokenization,” said Christophe Uzureau, research vice president at Gartner. “Gaming startups provide appealing alternatives to the ecosystem approaches of Amazon, Google or Apple, and serve as a model for companies in other industries to develop digital strategies.” In retail, Blockchain is being considered for “track and trace” services, counterfeit prevention, inventory management and auditing, any of which could be used to improve product quality or food safety, for example. Whilst these examples have value, the real impact of blockchain for retail industry will depend on supporting new ideas — such as using blockchain to transform or augment loyalty programs. Once it has been combined with the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain has the potential to change retail business models forever, impacting both data and monetary flows and avoiding centralization of market power. As a result, Gartner believes that blockchain has the potential to transform business models across all industries — but these opportunities demand that enterprises adopt complete blockchain ecosystems. Without tokenization and decentralization, most industries will not see real business value.

The 2019 Gartner, Inc. Hype Cycle for Blockchain Business shows that the business impact of blockchain will be transformational across most industries within five to 10 years. “Even though they are still uncertain of the impact blockchain will have on their businesses, 60% of CIOs in the Gartner 2019 CIO Agenda Survey said that they expected some level of adoption of blockchain technologies in the next three years” said David Furlonger, distinguished research vice-president at Gartner. “However, the existing digital infrastructure of organizations and the lack of clear blockchain governance are limiting CIOs from getting full value with blockchain.” The Hype Cycle provides an overview of how blockchain capabilities are evolving from a business perspective and maturity across different industries. Key Industries Banking and investment services industries continue to experience significant levels of interest from innovators seeking to improve decades old operations and processes, however only 7.6% of respondents to the CIO Survey suggested that blockchain is a game-changing technology. That said, nearly 18% of banking and investment services CIOs said they have adopted or will adopt some form of blockchain technology within the next 12 months and nearly another 15% within two years. “We see blockchain in several key areas in banking and investments services, primarily focused on permissioned ledgers,” said Mr. Furlonger. “We also expect continued developments in the creation and acceptance of digital tokens. However considerable work needs to be completed in non-technology-related activities such as standards, regulatory frameworks and organization structures for blockchain capabilities to reach the Plateau of Productivity – the point at which mainstream adoption takes off, in this industry. Blockchain in gaming. In the fast-growing esport industry, blockchain natives are launching solutions that allow users to create their own tokens to support the design of competition as well as to enable trading of virtual goods. The tokens provide gamers

David Furlonger

Distinguished Research Vice-President, Gartner

ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

PRODUCT REVIEWS

4/5

AED 13,999

Asus ZenBook Pro Duo (UX581G) Dual-screen laptops seem to be the talk of the town these days with a couple of laptop vendors attempting to bring out a commercial iteration that works. And Asus seems to be one of the first to introduce their version of a laptop with a dual-screen. Say “Hello!” to the new Asus ZenBook Pro Duo UX581G, which packs in dual 4K screens. The main display is a 15.6-inches 4K OLED HDR touchscreen, which offers a resolution of 3840-by-2160 pixels. And right below it, where you usually find the keyboard, is the secondary 4K IPS screen which Asus calls ScreenPad Plus. Under the hood, the ZenBook Pro Duo runs an overclockable 2.4GHz Intel Core i9-9980HK processor with 32GB of RAM, a 1TB PCIe SSD, an Intel UHD Graphics 630 GPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 GPU with 6GB of VRAM. The UX581G is built using alluminium and comes in a Celestial Blue colour with the shiny Asus logo on top of the lid. Once you open up the laptop, the specially designed hinge lifts the bottom of the device to let fresh air flow into the device to keep it cool. With the lid up, you come face to face with a crisp and delicious looking 15.6-inch OLED screen which makes colours pop out. Right below it, as we mentioned before, is where the ScreenPad Plus sits, which offers a resolution fo 3840-by-1100 pixels. This sort of setup is perfect for those who love to multi-task with multiple app windows open.

The trackpad also transforms into a numeric pad with a press of a button. In terms of connectivity options, Asus has had to sacrifice a few to fit the secondary screen onto the device. You get one USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 port, two USB-A ports, and an HDMI port. An SD-card slot, though, is missing. The overall performance is brilliant, thanks to its beefy specs. On Geekbench 4.3, the laptop scored 27,163 points in the synthetic overall performance test. Rendering edited videos on Vegas Pro felt like a breeze – there were no signs of struggle to render the raw video footage, the added transitions and the motion graphics. Gaming on the UX581G is also effortless. In terms of battery life, we got around 4 hours worth of normal usage, before the laptop needed recharging. The laptop runs on Windows 10 and is filled with a bit of bloatware, which can be easily uninstalled if not needed. The stand out feature of the device is, of course, the ScreenPad Plus which is amazing and easy to use, without any sort of learning curve involved. For a price starting at AED 13,999, the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo UX581G comes with awesome 4K dual screens, excellent specs, very good performance, an active stylus, an Alexa light bar that lights up when you speak to Alexa, an IR camera that works in the dark, and Harmon Kardon speakers. Dual-screen laptops aren’t a new concept. However, Asus is probably one of the first to do justice to the concept by bringing out the ZenBook Pro Duo UX581G. The second display on the device is quite useful once you get used to it. The RTX 2060 GPU coupled with excellent specs makes it a worthy alternative to Apple.

Asus probably made the ZenBook Pro Duo with content creators in the mind, so much so, that it went ahead and fine-tuned its 4K OLED panel. The primary screen on the laptop is bright and fills 100% of the Adobe and sRGB colour spaces. You also get a fullsized keyboard below the ScreenPad Plus, along with a separate trackpad placed right next to it.

READ THE REVIEW ONLINE

ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

4/5

$1659

BenQ W2700 BenQ has been at the forefront of the projector market for years now. The company is known for quality products and while it is a well-known brand in the corporate sector, it is also winning the home cinema segment. The company’s new W2700 projector is targeted at the home cinema segment coming from the company’s CinePrime series. The BenQ W2700 is a 4K, HDR-capable projector that uses Texas Instruments’ 4K DLP chipset. The projector has been designed to offer 4K UHD with 8.3M Pixels. It also supports BenQ’s CinematicColor Technology and comes factory calibrated for 100% Rec.709 color accuracy. You also get HDR-PRO technology, with support for HDR10 and HLG. The W2700 is a short-throw projector – it can throw a 100-inch image from a 2-meter distance. You also get vertical keystone adjustment. In terms of design and build quality, the W2700 is a brilliantly designed projector. Even though it offers 4K resolution, the overall size of the projector is quite similar to HD cinema projectors. The W2700 will fit perfectly into the decor of your living room, thanks to its rounded edges, brushed metallic fascia and the semi-matte finish of its body. There is a flap on the top of the projector that slides aside to provide access to the zoom and focus wheels. Under this flap, you will also find the vertical optical image-shift wheel, just above the lens barrel. You also get control buttons on the top of the projector to access the menu options. One interesting feature on the W2700 is the ability to raise a cover over the lower portion of the lens. This cover, which has the 4K HDR logo, will reduce reflections from a table surface or, if ceiling-mounted, from reflective ceilings to ensure the image quality. As mentioned earlier, the short distance projection and the 1.3X big zoom of the BenQ W2700 makes it possible to project a 100inch display from a distance of just 2.5 meters. When the W2700 is not placed at the center of the screen, the auto keystone

provides the perfect solution for your viewing convenience. The projector weighs around 4.2-kgs. In terms of connectivity, you get a 12V supply port, two HDMI ports, service port, USB 3.0 (type A), media reader port, and an audio output port. It also comes with two speakers which are mounted at the back, with each speaker offers 5W of output. The projector also comes with a white remote control, with an orange backlight. Projection on the BenQ W2700 is provided by a 145W UHP lamp – the highest brightness is rated at 2,000 Lumens. Standard picture modes included in the projector are Bright, Vivid TV, Cinema, Dark Cinema, and User/ISF Day and Night. Overall, picture performance of the BenQ W2700 is gorgeous for the price point it is available at. It offers excellent sharpness, authentic hues, and solid dynamics. We watched Our Planet on Netflix and we were amazed by the quality of the projection. As with most 4K projectors on the market, the BenQ W2700 also cannot natively produce a 4K image. Instead, it uses a DLP chip with a native 1920-by-1080 resolution and fractionally shifts those pixels four times per frame to produce the appearance of a 4K image. However, the 4K images were also outstanding. The W2700 also does a very good job at reproducing HDR colours than any projectors we have recently tested. Watching Mad Max: Fury Road, Solo: A Star Wars Story, and even Bladerunner 2049 was an outstanding experience. Colours just pop out, while the combination of brightness and depth of colour is truly awesome. For a price of $1659, the BenQ W2700 is a good buy. It offers stunning picture quality, comes with DCI-P3 and HDR10 support, offers short-throw projection, and accompanies extreme clarity and strong overall dynamics.

READ THE REVIEW ONLINE ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

PRODUCTS

HyperX Now Shipping Cloud Alpha S Gaming Headset HyperX has announced that the HyperX Cloud Alpha S gaming headset is now shipping. The new addition to HyperX’s gaming headset line-up features custom-tuned HyperX virtual 7.1 surround sound and bass adjustment sliders for three levels of bass fine-tuning providing listeners with richer audio gaming experience. The Cloud Alpha S offers the design and sound quality features found in the HyperX Cloud Alpha including dual chamber technology that separates bass frequencies from the mids and highs for more accurate audio. The custom-tuned HyperX virtual 7.1 surround sound with an advanced audio control mixer feature enables surround sound and the ability to adjust the mix between game and chat audio. HyperX has announced that the HyperX Cloud Alpha S gaming headset is now shipping. The new addition to HyperX’s gaming headset line-up features custom-tuned HyperX virtual 7.1 surround sound1 and bass adjustment sliders for three levels of bass fine-tuning providing listeners with richer audio gaming experience. The Cloud Alpha S offers the design and sound quality features found in the HyperX Cloud Alpha including dual chamber technology that separates bass frequencies from the mids and highs for more accurate audio. The custom-tuned HyperX virtual 7.1 surround sound with an advanced audio control mixer feature enables surround sound and the ability to adjust the mix between game and chat audio. The Cloud Alpha S features signature HyperX comfort with premium memory foam ear cushions, upgraded breathable leatherette, and a durable aluminium frame. The headset also comes equipped with a detachable noise-cancellation microphone, braided cable, spare set of fabric ear cushions and travel bag.

Dynabook Launches its Laptops in the Middle East Dynabook Europe has announced the introduction of three new laptops, the Portégé X30-F, the Tecra X40-F, and the Portégé A30-E. The devices are the first to be Dynabook-branded in the Middle East following the rebrand of Toshiba’s computer business in April of this year, and further demonstrates the company’s dedication and expertise in the B2B PC market. The X30-F and X40-F are elegantly designed new laptops with a range of features to provide seamless connectivity and reliability. They benefit from Modern Standby, the latest 8th Generation Intel Core processor (Whiskey Lake) which improves battery life up to 17 hours, and newly added Intel Optane Memory. They also boast new upgrades including a hardware precision touchpad (PTP) with wake on finger-

Motorola Intros Dashcams in the UAE Motorola has launched dashcams in the UAE. The Motorola Dash Cam is engineered to provide users added reassurance on the road. The MDC500GW and MDC300GW have a smart automatic collision detection (G-Sensor) that recognizes shocks and records the incident that is then saved and protected. The Motorola Dash Cams are available at Virgin Megastore and will soon be available at Sharaf DG, Jumbo, and Dubai Duty Free. Alpha Tech (a division of Alpha 55) has been appointed as the exclusive distribution part-

ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

print capabilities. Both devices also include WiFi 6, the latest standard providing faster WiFi with more capacity. In addition, a newly designed fan improves airflow and cooling by lowering fan noise. Weighing in at just 1.2kg, the A30-E is a lightweight, reliable and durable business laptop, combines the l atest in security and connectivity features for the mobile worker. Designed for the mid-market, enterprise, education and public sector segments.

All three devices: the Portégé X30-F, the Tecra X40-F and A30-E are designed to meet the highest standards for security. In addition to their in-house developed BIOS and TPM 2.0, these models support advanced security features such as Secure Launch protection and System Management Mode protection.

ner for the dashcams in the UAE. The MDC500GW Dash Cam has 1080p Front camera and 720p rear dash cam with GPS, Wi-Fi, and a wide 150 ° angle view. It monitors the entire front or back view of your vehicle and gets the perfect live videos with full HD quality to the built-in 2-inch colour LCD. The 150° field of view captures everything on its radar. The integrated GPS, Wi-Fi capabilities and smart automatic collision detection (G-Sensor) gives you the added confidence and reassurance on the road that you need.

TCL Communication Launches new Alcatel Mobile Devices TCL Communication has announced the launch of Alcatel 3X and Alcatel 1V smartphones along with Alcatel Smart Tab 7 tablet at IFA 2019.

Huawei Launches the Watch GT 2 Huawei has launched the Watch GT 2 46mm and 42mm series, powered by the firm’s proprietary Kirin A1 chip. The Watch GT 2 is also Huawei’s first smartwatch with an all-in-one 3D glass screen, creating a wider, boundless display. Moreover, the new smartwatch delivers more sports modes with richer programs, as well as adding Bluetooth calling and music playback functionalities, enhancing comprehensive health and fitness monitoring and management capabilities, ultimately offering greater care in meticulous detail to those who love sport and the pursuit of quality of life.

The previous generation Watch GT was well-loved by users because of its impressive battery life. Watch GT 2 goes in further, being equipped with Huawei’s proprietary Kirin A1 chipset to further improve on battery life. The Kirin A1 chipset integrates an advanced Bluetooth processing unit, a powerful audio processing unit, an ultra-low power consumption application processor and a separate power management unit.

The application processor uses the Cortex-M7 processor to achieve ultra-low power consumption of 10uA/ MHz, which is far below the industry average of 30uA/MHZ. The perfect combination of high performance and efficient power consumption makes it possible for Huawei Watch GT 2 to deliver robust usage and even longer battery life. In daily use, the Watch GT 2 46mm series can operate continuously for up to two weeks, with both the intelligent heart rate monitor and call notification functions on and weekly usage of up to 30 minutes of Bluetooth calls; up to 30 minutes of music playback; up to 90 minutes of exercise and using the scientific sleep mode at night. In the classic mode, the Watch GT 2 42mm series can operate continuously for up to one week. Both series of watches have greatly improved battery life in the GPS tracked sports mode. The 46mm series achieves a battery life of 30 hours under the GPS tracked sports mode, while the 42mm series reaches 15 hours.

“The latest additions to our products are redefining accessible innovation,” said Peter Lee, General Manager of Global Sales and Marketing at TCL Communication. “All of our new Alcatel smartphone offerings in IFA come equipped with a dedicated Google Assistant Button that allows our users to access the information they need at the touch of a finger. We are incorporating the latest technology into each device while keeping in mind our consumers’ priorities and their budgets.” The Alcatel 3X measures in at 6.5-inches with HD+ Super Full View display that provides an expanded viewing experience, giving users the ideal display for photos, streaming movies, playing games, and browsing the web in vivid clarity. The smartphone also features 16MP + 8MP + 5MP triple rear camera equipped with smart scene detection that identifies different photo scenarios and automatically optimizes photography setting for perfect shooting. Alcatel 3X’s best-in-class photo capabilities are further demonstrated through its super wide-angle lens, which spans 102 degrees, and its real-time bokeh, providing users the ability to take artistic photos. Furthermore, the night capture mode brings clear, bright, and detailed night videos and images even in dark environment. The 8MP front camera will allow users to take better selfies anywhere. Alcatel 3X is equipped with an Octa-core processor, delivering smooth and powerful processing. It also offers the Google Assistant Button that with a single press, is ready to help launch apps, search for information, control smart home devices, set reminders, send text messages, and numerous other actions.

MMD Intros the Philips 499P9H SuperWide Monitor in the Middle East MMD is launching the all-new Philips 499P9H Brilliance 32:9 SuperWide curved LCD display. This 49” (48.8″ / 124 cm diag.) monitor provides professional users with a treasure trove of performance-enhancing features to make every minute they spend working more efficient, more productive, and more enjoyable.

is the equivalent of two full-size monitors, making it the ideal alternative to a double 27” Quad HD set-up. Featuring convenient USB-C docking, which offers the benefit of high-speed data transfer and flexible connectivity, as well as a pop-up webcam and environmentally-friendly design, this monitor has it all.

Equipped with an expansive 32:9 SuperWide screen and ultra-high resolution, the Philips 499P9H delivers eye-popping graphics on a luxuriously large format that

The Philips 499P9H knows how to make an impression. Its mammoth format is an award-winning feat of modern design with a 1800r curved display that mirrors the

natural shape of the eye and subtly wraps around the user, minimising distractions while maximising comfort. Moreover, this monitor’s beauty is far more than skin deep, for its great width endows it with an exceptional capacity to heighten productivity. Gone is the need for complicated multi-screen set-ups with their pesky separating gap and messy cables. The Philips 499P9H comes with a 3-year warranty and is priced at US$ 1,100 in UAE.

ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

PRODUCTS

Fitbit Intros Versa 2 and Premium in the UAE Fitbit has announced the launch of Fitbit Versa 2 in the UAE. Versa 2 delivers a new precision-crafted swim-proof design, includes innovative sleep features like Sleep Score and Smart Wake, and is packed with even more advanced health, fitness, and smart features to elevate every moment. For next-level convenience, Versa 2 debuts an on-device microphone, which enables voice to text, along with a Spotify app that allows users to control their music and podcasts, and Fitbit Pay. Coupled with even faster performance, thousands of apps and clock faces and a brighter, crisper display with an optional always-on mode Versa 2 is your 24/7 health and wellness companion – now with 5+ days battery life, at the same approachable price as Versa. Sleep is critical to maintaining overall health and wellness, and when surveyed by Fitbit nearly twothirds (64%) of participants list sleep as a very important health and fitness priority, but one-third of American adults do not get enough sleep on a regular basis. Fitbit pioneered wearable sleep tracking more than 10 years ago, making information previously only available from a medical professional, widely accessible on the wrist. In addition to helping millions around the world better understand and improve their sleep, Fitbit continues to deliver the advanced health and fitness features that our users know and love. On Versa 2, these include automatic activity tracking, PurePulse 24/7 heart rate tracking, 15+ goal-based exercise modes, connected GPS and water-resistant up to 50 meters. The Versa 2 is available for AED 899 with accessories ranging from AED 149 – AED 199. The Versa 2 Special Edition is available for AED 999. Premium is available in English in 17 countries including UAE via the Fitbit app at AED 40 a month or AED 330 AED a year.

Acer Launches New Lineup of Chromebooks Acer has unveiled four new Chromebooks that provide the performance, portability and battery life today’s families, students and small business owners need in a Chromebook. “Today we’re offering four new Chromebooks in three sizes, so consumers can get the right Acer Chromebook with the display size, features, and technology that fits their lifestyle needs,” said James Lin, General Manager, Notebooks, IT Products Business at Acer.

These Chromebooks are available with up to a Full HD (1920-by-1080 resolution) display with IPS technology and wide viewing angles in both touch and non-touch models. The new design with thin bezels surrounding the large displays makes the visuals even more vibrant and compelling. In addition, the Acer Chromebook 315 has a dedicated numeric keypad, making it a great device for individuals and small business owners.

Acer’s two new Chromebooks with large displays boost productivity in a range of environments. The new 15.6 inches Acer Chromebook 315 (CB315-3H/3HT) and 14-inch Acer Chromebook 314 (CB314-1H/1HT) can both be enjoyed in bright-light conditions thanks to their anti-glare displays that provide sharp and legible text as well as vivid, clear videos, and photos.

The Acer Chromebook 315 will be available in EMEA from October, starting at EUR 299. The Acer Chromebook 314 will be available in EMEA from October, starting at EUR 279. The Acer Chromebook Spin 311 will be available in EMEA from October, starting at EUR 329. The Acer Chromebook 311 will be available in EMEA from October, starting at EUR 229.

Epson Announces its Smallest 3LCD Laser Projector Epson’s first portable laser projector has been designed to be as flexible as possible for home users, in both usability and design. The EF100W/B is Epson’s smallest laser projector, measuring just 23cm along its longest edge.

The EF-100W/B makes Epson’s bright, vivid and long-lasting laser technology available in a compact and lightweight chassis, in either a black or white casing. By using a laser light source and locating the vents and power inlet on the side, the engineers at Epson have developed a projector that is compact and can be placed and project in any direction. This gives users more flexibility as to where they ARABIAN RESELLER | October 2019

can project onto such as a wall, ceiling or floor. It also has the capability to project up to 150 inches – ideal for supersizing content. Even in daylight, the laser light source delivers a bright and vibrant picture, so there’s no need to turn lights off, block windows or even use a screen. Additionally, wonky and distorted images can be avoided by using the auto picture adjustment feature. The EF-100W/B has been designed for style-conscious users. The white EF-100W features silver accents while the black EF-100B has copper edging. Both models feature rounded corners, minimal buttons, and a tactile, leather-like finish.

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