Sm@rt SMB August 2018 by Business Media International

Changing for the better Published by Business Media International Registered office: Office 10, Sharjah Media City www.bmi-digital.com Editor in Chief Raman Narayan narayan@smartsmb.net Mob: 971-55-7802403 Sales Director Ankit Shukla ankit@smartsmb.net Tel: 971-4-8825706, Mob: 971-552572807 Marketing & Events Manager Smitha Jithesh smitha@smartsmb.net Tel: 971-4-8825706 Circulation manager Bhawana Bhatia bhawana@smartsmb.net Tel: 971-4-8825706 TELE marketing manager Jennefer Mendoza jennefer@smartsmb.net Tel: 971-4-8825706 Finance Vishal Tiwari vishal@smartsmb.net Tel: 971-4-8825706 Design Sunil Kumar design@smartsmb.net Tel: 971-4-8825706

ven when your Business is doing well and especially when it is doing well, it is a good time to continue to look into what could possibly slow down the momentum? Sometimes, it could be the markets that the company operates in which are experiencing volatility; at other times, it could be the product lines, which maybe slowing down in the market or perhaps it could be the company itself, which has somehow not been able to keep up with the pace of change required. Speaking to an industry insider of what makes some ERP implementations go off the rails and not meet expectations, he mentions that in such cases, often it is due to the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own shortcoming. The insight was that for an ERP implementation to bring in efficiencies as expected in the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s processes, the change must be accepted by all departments and personnel concerned who are part of the workflows that are now being enhanced by the ERP. If for instance, not all functionalities that were part of original implementation are being leveraged, only partial benefits would be seen. Technology deployments per se cannot complete a transformation. It is the people around the processes who need to help complete it and achieve the desired results for better. The intent of a deployment is to enhance a Business process such as where there is a need to save on time for instance or to simply have better outcomes than from previously. For instance, if there is an analytics solution deployed, the insights it ferrets from the company data, must be used to make relevant strategic decisions. However, if those insights are not being acted upon effectively, it seems so wasteful. To sum up, if you are bringing in a new technology deployment, make sure that the likely impact on the workflows and the responsibility of each personnel is understood well in advance across the organization. That would turbo power the anticipated transformation.

R. Narayan Editor in Chief Smart SMB Management Chairman S. N. Tiwari

sn.tiwari@smartsmb.net

Managing Director Ankit Shukla

ankit@smartsmb.ne

Publisher Raman Narayan

narayan@smartsmb.net

Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to validate the accuracy of all information included in the magazine, the publishers wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be liable for any errors therein Copyright@2018 Business Media International LLC. All rights reserved.

CONTENTS Cover Feature

Talk point 27

Extending beyond the forte Taking the cloud mainstream

Anil Nair, Managing Director of ITS (Information and Telecom Systems) elaborates on the company’s focus areas

Playing to strengths

wannago cloud makes inroads into the region’s midmarket by offering an extensive suite of affordable cloud software services

In-depth 11

EDB Board highlight SME focus

Feature 20

Building an impenetrable defense

Against the backdrop of sophisticated attacks, companies in the SMB segment are prioritizing network security investments

The central way

Microsoft’s Business Central is an all-in-one mid-market Business application software built to empower UAE’s fast-growing SME segment

Vertical Watch

28 Hesham El Komy, Senior Director, International Channels at Epicor discusses the ERP company’s verticals of focus and strengths

Growth in the cloud

Sachin Bhardwaj, Director Marketing & Business Development, eHosting DataFort discusses trends in cloud services adoption in the SMB segment

column Cloud based ERPs: Boon for SMEs

Ali Hyder, Group CEO, Focus Softnet writes how small and medium sized organizations can particularly benefit from cloud ERPs.

5 Wi-Fi Mistakes in The Connected Classroom

15 Microsoft’s Business Central is an all-in-one mid-market Business application software built to empower UAE’s

Inspired by conviction Ebraheem Al Samadi, CEO of Al Samadi Retail General Trading discusses some details of the company’s success and perspectives on IT as an enabler

Vivek Mistry, Manager, Aruba, a HP company discusses why there is a need to treat Wi-Fi deployment as a lifecycle

NEWS Tech watch Market Mirror

06 36 38

NEWS

DAFZA reduces free zone business set up fees

Noor Bank Introduces Trade Biz Accelerator App for SME N

oor Trade, the innovative Shari’a-compliant banking platform for small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) from Noor Bank, announced the launch of the Noor Trade Biz Accelerator, a mobile application designed to offer clients a complete ecosystem of banking services on the go. Building on the bank’s efforts to enhance the customer experience, the app enables users to access information on financial products and discounted services provided by a range of business partners to meet all their business needs. Moreover, it allows customers to earn and redeem reward points on a gamut of online transaction services. The Noor Trade Biz Accelerator also offers users access to the latest reports and updates on market and industry trends, allowing them to keep track of important developments that could affect their businesses or investments. Furthermore, they can learn about events organised by the Noor Business Council, a thought leadership platform designed to identify and implement actionable solutions to day-to-day challenges impacting clients. SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

Mufazzal Kajiji, Head of Retail Banking at Noor Bank, said: “As the UAE banking ecosystem continues to evolve, so do our customers’ financial needs. In line with the Smart Dubai 2021 vision, Noor Bank’s innovation journey has manifested in an array of forward-looking products and services designed to engage customers across all touchpoints. Through our new app, we seek to provide an intuitive and relevant banking experience for our SME clients, and support their ongoing business needs.” For his part, Usman Khakwani, Head of Business Banking at Noor Bank, said: “As SMEs in the UAE continue to expand their footprint, they are likely to require diverse banking services and access to partners that can help them manage their business more efficiently. With the Noor Trade Biz Accelerator, a first-of-its-kind digital platform, we aim to position ourselves at the centre of our SME customers’ ecosystem through providing innovative solutions and access to vital business services.” The Noor Trade Biz Accelerator is available for both Android and iOS systems, and can be downloaded via Google Play and the App Store

ubai Airport Freezone Authority (DAFZA) has reduced business setup cost by up to 65%, as part of its aim to increase DAFZA’s regional competitiveness and activate a number of key sectors by attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). Supporting Dubai’s efforts to become an ideal destination for investment and prosperity, the decision will help achieve further stability for the operational processes of free zone companies and consequently sustain and drive investment growth. H.E. Dr. Mohammed Al Zarooni, Director General, DAFZA, said: “This new approach falls in line with the directions of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to boost Dubai’s economic competitiveness. This

NEWS

is being done through a number of initiatives and incentives that aim to attract and promote FDI into the Emirate, ensuring sustainable growth across all economic sectors and strengthening Dubai’s status on the world economic stage.” H.E. Al Zarooni added: “These incentives were agreed upon following comprehensive studies and polls evaluating the free zone’s initiatives, services, and business environment. This has allowed us to ensure flexibility at DAFZA in meeting the requirements of new foreign investors and current customers. We are offering unique services that take into account the global economic climate and allow customers to increase earnings and operational profits as well as achieve business growth and prosperity. The ultimate goal is to drive local economic development and support the sustainability of direct FDI, accelerating and increasing its contribution to Dubai’s GDP.” DAFZA has revisited and reduced registration, license, and staff visa fees for new investors by 65%, 33%, and 20%, respectively. Establishment card issuance fees have been cut by 17%, while fees for Board Resolution and MOA issuance have been waived. The new incentives include facilitating the process of obtaining general trading licenses for new investors by halving the capital requirement from AED 1 million to AED 500,000. DAFZA has also allowed its member companies to be structured as a Limited Liability Free Zone Company (FZ-LLC), in a bid to provide more flexibility in business setup, licensing and operation. In addition, DAFZA has waived license expiry fines in an effort to relax the terms of license renewal. Allowing the restoration of legal records and licenses, the decision will help investors renew their expired license without paying any late renewal fines.

Qualys Unveils Free Community Edition Q

ualys, a leading provider of cloudbased security and compliance solutions, announced Qualys Community Edition, a free cloud-based service giving small organizations unified visibility of their own or their clients’ IT and web assets, and the ability to easily assess security and compliance postures using the accuracy and reliability of the Qualys Cloud Platform.

Inc. “Harnessing the power of the Qualys Cloud Platform, we built the Qualys Community Edition to give organizations including SMBs, consultants and MSPs an easy and comprehensive solution to identity their IT assets and continuously assess their security posture, helping build a solid and secure IT environment without the hassle and costs of deploying point solutions.”

Qualys Community Edition allows users to leverage the power of the Qualys Cloud Platform which performs billions of scans annually with Six Sigma accuracy to automatically gather and analyze security and compliance data from hybrid IT environments. This accurate and immediate visibility helps organizations around the globe maintain a higher level of security and provide auditors with trusted compliance reports, while consolidating their stack and drastically reducing costs.

Additionally, Qualys Community Edition delivers both Qualys CloudView and CertView capabilities integrated with the service, providing the ability to identify all public cloud assets and resources, and to manage and grade all internet-facing digital certificates.

“The increased attack surface in this digital era makes security and compliance a key element of any thriving business,” said Philippe Courtot, chairman and CEO, Qualys,

“After using several popular vulnerability scanning solutions, we chose the Qualys Cloud Platform for its breadth of different services, ease of reporting, and flexibility,” said Jerry Hughes, Managing Partner, VP of Operations, Sr. Executive IT Auditor, Compass IT Compliance. “We look forward to growing our business in partnership with Qualys and leveraging continuously added solutions such as the Qualys Community Edition.” SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

NEWS

Equinix and Omantel to build new Ajman Media City Free Zone announces Data Center in Oman cost effective business services

jman Media City Free Zone, a world class free zone hub for the creative, media and entertainment industry announces a range of customer friendly cost effective packages for the potential business owners. H E Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Chairman of Ajman Media City Free Zone said ahead of the official launch of the free zone: “Globally, entrepreneurs and smalland medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are widely considered to be vital to national economies. We are committed to support the small and

quinix, the global interconnection and data center company, and Oman Telecommunications Company, announced the companies have entered into a joint venture to deliver data center and interconnection services to customers in the Middle East through the development of a new network-dense data center that will be located in Barka, near Muscat, the capital of Oman. This joint venture will establish the first world-class, carrier-neutral hub in Oman where carriers, content providers and cloud providers colocate critical IT infrastructure. The new Equinix International Business Exchange data center will create a regional interconnection hub with ultra-low latencies between global business markets. Based on demand and requirements, customers in the GCC and wider MENA region can also leverage other Equinix data centers in the region for dual access to content providers, allowing carriers, content providers and cloud providers to further build resilience

SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

into their infrastructure. “We are excited to work with Equinix on this project and accelerate how users experience cloud, content and next-gen communications. The planned IBX data center with Equinix in Oman represents a massive step forward for Oman and the Middle Eastern ICT markets,” said Talal Al Mamari, CEO, Omantel. Eric Schwartz, President, EMEA, Equinix said: “We see significant potential for Oman as a market generally and, in particular, supporting CLS requirements as subsea cable momentum accelerates. It’s all about meeting the growing need for interconnection – private data exchange between businesses. In the digital age, companies need to reach everywhere, interconnect everyone and integrate everything, and they need to do it out at the digital edge, where commerce, population centers and digital ecosystems meet. Our joint venture with Omantel will do exactly that.”

NEWS

mid size business investors and offer easy easy and cost effective services which will help this sector and also boost UAE’s rankings in global business destination list. AMCFZ is developed as a customer friendly, helping and making the emirate of Ajman an international economic centre for investors and businesses, in line with the “Ajman 2021” vision. The Chairman announced a landmark decision to abolish all the security deposits related to visa process for new companies which set-up their base in Ajman Media City Free Zone . He said, “We want the new business owners to receive significant cost advantage and make it easier for them to set up a new business in UAE. This decision is one of the several advantages we offer to support the creative, media and entertainment industry.” Another USP of AMCFZ is the culture to promote and ensure “ease of business” for every potential investor. “We have identified key issues a potential investor faces when setting up a new business such as the cost of doing business, set-up costs, the regulatory requirements, and their expectations such as the availability of a long term sustainable framework which allows them to set-up, operate and function with ease.” The Chairman further said: “We function as a facilitator and bring the investors, innovators and talent together, into this ecosystem, as innovation and entrepreneurship emerge and grow. This framework gives support and comfort to a new entrant or investors who wishes to invest in UAE but who may not be familiar with the local laws, regulations and culture. The new business owners are supported by a highly trained and qualified customer service team to offer personalised service and further ease the process for investors.”

Trriple mWallet strengthens its presence in the UAE T

rriple, a UAE-based fintech start-up, has added new services and features to its mobile wallet application, which is available for download on Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. Users in the UAE can now top-up their Trriple mobile wallets with cash at approximately 3,000 topup points across the UAE with no cost to the user, enabling its customers to use a range of newly launched in-app financial services such as local and international mobile air-time top-up, peer-to-peer local transfers, and secure and fast retail payments. Trriple has also launched a loyalty program for the application which rewards its users in points redeemable for merchant vouchers. Additionally, the company is giving all customers a chance to win weekly prizes simply by using international airtime top-up service. Paolo Gagliardi, Chief Executive Officer, Trriple, said: “Following our testing phase, we are launching this app with one aim - to provide our customers with an easy, fast and

safe payments solution. The FinTech industry is going through a phase of significant innovation, and our mWallet application, squarely focuses on empowering the unbanked and underbanked trailblazers with cashless, convenient, and secure payments. We see our application as aligned with the UAE Vision 2021 and we are rigorously and constantly working towards improving functionality and our partner network.” Since making the beta application available for download in Q4 2017, Trriple has sourced user feedback, enhanced features, and strengthened its partner network. The partner network for the newly launched services includes eResolute, a UAEbased payment solutions company, who will provide Trriple consumers the access to its wide network of pay-in machines, which is almost reaching a total number of 3,000 automated cash-in points located strategically all over the UAE and Powered MS, UAEbased merchant-service provider, who will help the company acquire and register new merchants. SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

In-depth

EDB BOARD HIGHLIGHT SME FOCUS

he Emirates Development Bank (EDB) Board of Directors held its fourth meeting of 2018 on July 18th at the bank’s headquarters in Dubai, chaired by His Excellency Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs and Chairman of the EDB Board of Directors. During the meeting, the Board discussed various items on the agenda, made numerous decisions and approved both the financial statements and the 2017 annual report. His Excellency Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs and Chairman of the EDB Board of Directors noted that the SME Financing products have achieved the anticipated success in terms of the number of companies that have received funding, with a total value of AED357 million during the first half of 2018 which is expected to reach AED500 million in 2018. SMEs are the main economic pillar in the UAE and are considered the engine for creating job opportunities, which promotes sustainable economic development in the country and strengthens its competitiveness both regionally and globally, accelerating the country’s transformation towards a knowledge-based economy, driven by creativity and innovation, in line with the National Agenda. H.E. the Chairman of the Board of Directors reiterated the bank’s SME Financing strategy.

Emirates Development Bank offers financing to small and medium-sized enterprises up to AED30 million on favorable and deliberate risk-free terms, creating more job opportunities for Emiratis, moving towards a knowledge-based economy and supporting innovations, research and development. The bank is planning to launch a financing programme for start-ups offering financing loans from AED2 million up to AED5 million for startups owned by UAE nationals (more than 51% ownership) in accordance with the bank’s terms and conditions. This programme will contribute to supporting Emiratis by providing them with the necessary credit to establish their companies and develop their businesses. The start-ups financing programme has competitive interest rates and a flexible repayment period Issuing partial bank guarantees to finance SMEs owned by Emiratis (with more than 51% ownership): EDB offers financing support to customers who wish to obtain funding through partial guarantees for commercial banks. The bank has launched a Credit Guarantee Scheme to finance SMEs. The programme provides financing of up to AED2 million for start-ups where the bank guarantees 85% of the value of the financing, and AED5 million for existing companies

where the bank guarantees 70% of the financing value. His Excellency highlighted that EDB is currently coordinating and communicating with the relevant parties to support SMEs, and launch a national programme that guarantees loans and offers support, financing and innovative banking solutions for these enterprises to achieve sustainable development in the sector. His Excellency Al Tayer said, “Emirates Development Bank value the importance of strategic partnerships with the federal authorities supporting the UAE’s relentless efforts to create a stimulating environment for innovation. Emirates Development Bank has signed a partnership agreement with the Mohammed bin Rashid Innovation Fund, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The strategic partnership aims to support entrepreneurs and promote sustainable growth in vital sectors.” H.E. the Minister concluded that the Board of Directors has recently approved the establishment of the Digital Platform to enable the bank’s digital transformation through the digitization of all the bank’s loans and internal procedures. SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

COVER FEATURE

ransformation is the need of the hour for Businesses and solution providers as they try to adopt to an economy which is increasingly going digital in its processes. Embracing new technologies and go to market models offers significant advantages and which is why cloud computing is fast gaining inroads as an alternative to on-premise ICT deployments. wannago is a company focused purely on offering cloud solutions. wannago mirrors the ongoing definitive shift in IT consumption models from onpremises to cloud based models as it attempts to emerge as one of the regional leaders in the space. Deepak Verma, Founder and CEO of wannago says, “wannago is a product company born in cloud, a first in the region. The aim is to offer an affordable and seamless cloud adoption experience to SME &commercial mid-market segments, which make up as much as 95% of all companies operating in GCC. The growing awareness of OPEX vs CAPEX spends in IT consumption is helping fast track adoption of cloud in the segment.” He further explains the cloud consumption model as a friction free model one vis-a-vis an implementation model. In the implementation model, there is too much at stake from finding a solution, finding the implementation capability, retaining the talent to manage with each update by software companies and keeping a process of updating. If the solution fails to deliver, the customer needs to get back to the drawing board with a new project. Of course this also means planning for future growth and transfer of risk of ownership to the customer at a high TCO. This risk is avoidable in the consumption model. He elaborates that the cloud’s OPEX model of pay as you consume model

SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

TAKING THE

CLOUD MAINSTREAM wannago cloud makes inroads into the region’s mid-market by offering an extensive suite of affordable cloud software services

is quite attractive for the mid-market segment which needs to conserve its budgetary spend on IT hardware investments and divert that to other priority business growth avenues. “Customers ought to be focusing on scaling up their business and conserving capital expenditure for business needs. Complications & new versions of software almost quarterly has put a further spanner. The customer cannot afford to update skills at this pace and hence a friction free offer in the cloud is ideal. The customer can focus on their business and focus on more pressing needs like expansion and pay per use model of cloud offers the OPEX capability.”

THE REBOOTING AND A NEW FOCUS Narrating the background that inspired the company to reimagine its go to market philosophy and company rebranding, he says, “wannago cloud is a 2016 story and we started off by informing our customers about the growing trend in cloud adoption worldwide and how our region will be soon shifting as well. However, a significant part of our customer base was public sector and large corporates which were still not clear on the regulations or mandates from their respective boards.” Deepak elaborates that they had moved their focus from enterprise to the mid-market since that is the segment which was likely to adopt faster because decision making in the SME segment is swifter. He adds, “We decided to therefore focus our business model towards SME and commercial mid-market segments. As 95% of the regional companies fall under the SME category, it made complete business sense to focus on this segment. During the launch in Q4

DEEPAK VERMA Founder and CEO wannago

2016, we hosted a number of events to educate the segment and the results are paying off. The sizable number of early adopters, market conditions and the affordable cost of doing business made decision making relatively easier. The whole of 2017 was an eventful year for wannago and we managed to get 4 large transformational projects with a large number of customers in SME wanting to adopt our cloud offerings.” The cloud services provider has ramped up its investments to address market demand. wannago has a business development office in Dubai with sales and service delivery capabilities and has 3 offices in India to support expanding footprints regionally. The India office is also the service delivery for the growing company and has already built a 100 seater capacity. The NOC with help desk capability helps address customer needs to ensure uninterrupted services and customer success. Deepak elaborates, “The company has shifted to a brand new 60 seater facility in Cochin and 40 seater in Delhi. Both these offices have capacity built for expansion regionally, carrying responsibility of reporting, monitoring and help desk services. Product development is a very important element and the team is developing

an ios & android app which will offer customers access of their data, analytics and alerts on their mobile phones. This will significantly improve customer service levels and what is on offer locally. The development will further focus on enhancing cloud adoption and other features.” The wannago cloud suite of products include COPIA ( Backup as a service), DUPLICATO ( Disaster recovery as a service or DraaS), ARCHIVO ( Archival as a service)& CONTROLLO ( Firewall as a service) offered as hosted services from highly secure and resilient UAE data centers. Deepak says, “We have launched multi tenanted solutions which are easy to adopt; we offer a 15-day freemium to customers to give them a look and if they do feel the solution fits nicely in their strategy, they adopt. Our current services are offered through 3 data centers in UAE – Equinix, EHDF and DSO (Dubai Silicon Oasis). The services are usually set up within 3 days and the customer almost instantly sees the benefit.” COPIA is a cloud backup service that provides quick, cost-effective, secure, reliable offsite backup – allowing you to recover anything, anywhere, at any time. DUPLICATO , a fully managed SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

COVER FEATURE

Virtual Disaster Recovery Service (DRaaS) is a service that completely copies the user data, rebuilds the network and tests IT systems on regular basis. Archivo is a Archive-asa-Service (AaaS) offering protection for email in on-premises, cloud as well as hybrid environments as well as preserving emails for retention and compliance purposes. Controllo is a Firewall-as-a-Service (FWaaS) that stops viruses, spyware, worms, Trojans, key loggers, and more before they enter the network. These solutions offer preventive, monitoring and reporting capabilities.

Providing these solutions hosted out of public clouds like AWS and Azure is also in the works and is likely to be finalized within the next year or so. This will help widen the market reach across the region.

Deepak elaborates, “Our focus has been on the important areas often over looked by customers. These include the likes of backup, Disaster recovery, archival and firewall services. To quote an example here; for most customers back up has always been a cumbersome process of buying the software, procuring hardware, integration and then eventually managing it day in and day out. The cost for an SME is upwords of $1215000 per year. We launched COPIA at $200 per month, allowing 1 TB of data on our Reserva NAS box which is free to the customer and a copy backed up on the cloud with a dashboard available for them to look at. The whole TCO has come down drastically for the customer and he can now choose to pay per use in the consumption model.”

PARTNER AND MARKET OUTREACH

These multi-tenanted solutions, according to Deepak, address almost all the needs of the SME today with respect to data, continuity, security and archival of records. “This strategy helps in covering 90% of SME needs in the near term and with the apps in development, the complete solution would be very exciting for the customers. The TCO is far superior compared to continuous cycle of buying annually and spending dollars on technologies. As part of our standard offerings, we also provide managed services as a service wrapper to our customers who are willing to offload all the mundane tasks of managing and we provide them with reporting.” SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

Deepak elaborates, “We aim to acquire regionally 2400 customers in the next 18-24 months and based on the data growth and hosted with us, it will be interesting to pursue the options with both AWS & MS. We are already partners with both the companies and look forward to working with them in hosting our solutions on their cloud platforms.”

wannago cloud aims to be a 100% channel company in the next 24 months. It has already begun the task of appointing partners. “We are in the process of launching a very exciting channel program and look to invite SME focused partners who are today looking to boost their revenues and also hold on to their customer base. We have now successfully onboarded two channel partners in the UAE and both have started to deliver business already. We will look to enlist small number of focused partners in the region. We will be offering comprehensive training, assist in presales & closures and also offer lead generation support through our inside sales program.”

“

OUR FOCUS HAS BEEN ON THE IMPORTANT AREAS OFTEN OVER LOOKED BY CUSTOMERS. THESE INCLUDE THE LIKES OF BACKUP, DISASTER RECOVERY, ARCHIVAL AND FIREWALL SERVICES.”

The partner program is being launched sequentially in the region, with UAE and BAHRAIN being the first two countries. The company also hopes to make good on being one of the early movers regionally in the cloud solutions provider space. “The market size is large enough for a number of companies to coexist. Those who look to succeed need to provide training and support to customers if they need to win the customers in the region. This also helps in adoption and over all expands the market size.” The company is looking to gain 2400 customers in the GCC markets over the next 2 years. While a sizable number, this still accounts for a fraction of the total addressable market, reckons Deepak thereby reasoning that there is enough opportunity for cloud focused solution providers but with the caveat that the bar for new entrants is already higher because of companies who have proven their credentials already in the space. The company is looking forward to build on its success by expanding its suite of cloud offerings and looking accelerate its pace of getting more customers on board. “2018 for wannago cloud has brought significant success so far. We have decisively shifted our entire business to cloud. We are now closing on to our 100th customer on the cloud platform. We have been growing 30% MoM and over the full year would look to acquire 150 customers from UAE and BAHRAIN. The growth has been quite satisfying asthe market has been responding very favorably.” As a 100% cloud focused organization, Wannago cloud will look to focus on accelerating adoption of cloud services within the SME and commercial mid-market clients. The company will do so by offering more cloud solutions at attractive price points for these customers.

VERTICAL WATCH

technology is a separate department, it cannot be considered in isolation as ICT technologies are used by most departments. As an example, revenue and reservations department cannot run without technological facilities such as reservations and revenue management solutions which forms the backbone to generate revenues for hotels especially when it comes to connecting with the outside world via GDS, IDS, and OTAs. IT Budget allocations have increased in the last few years in proportion to rising expectations from guests. Discuss some of the major highlights of the network and computing infrastructure deployed in the hotel industry?

or successful IT operations in the hospitality industry, the IT team must be attuned to details, problem solving, team work, proficiency in people management skills, be able to work under pressure and must have knowledge of hotel industry business processes. With all the mentioned skills, one must not underestimate the role of the end-user which is going to be part of the IT department’s success, opines Rehan Zaidi, IT Manager at Grand Excelsior Hotel, Dubai. He discusses other aspects of the role of IT in hospitality in the following interview.

Please discuss the focus on ICT infrastructure investments for the hotels - Is IT seen as an enabler for best guest services? Information technology in the hospitality sector plays a significant role in increasing guest service satisfaction, thereby making a meaningful revenue contribution to the hotels. For this to be truly inclusive and effective, we have adopted the policy to always get updated in terms of technology whether it’s a guest-facing facility or for the back office users which ultimately greatly impacts guest services. A few years back, businesses were still trying to acquire solutions just to fulfill the basic requirements to run the business. But now, everyone in the hospitality industry is embarking to introduce the latest technology that plays a vital role in the increased quality of service that maintains guest loyalty. Although Information

The primary drivers for the need of updated information technology infrastructure at all times are guest expectations, international standards, and data security regulations. Due to rapid technology advancements, the hotel industry is bound to keep its network and communication infrastructure updated at all times to meet the guest expectations and be in compliance with standards and regulations. Information technology best practices and standards are being implemented in the hospitality industry as in any other business segment. IT Governance and best practices frameworks such as ITIL, CoBIT, and other frameworks are gaining popularity in the hospitality industry due to heavy reliance on service quality and improvements. The use of high-end servers, latest active and passive networking components form the backbone of hotel’s IT infrastructure which ultimately enhances guest service experience. A welcome message on the guest’s mobile as soon as the guest enters the hotel premises, efficient and self-check-in process, up to date invoices on TV screens and guest’s mobile phones, guest room SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

VERTICAL WATCH

door lock operation via guest mobile, room management systems via IoT devices for guests and hotelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s team; all are contributing towards a need to have updated IT infrastructure. These are the primary reasons for increased budget allocations as well. Business strategy must focus on IT infrastructure as otherwise,there is the risk of losing guest loyalty that directly affects revenue generation.

critical failures. We treat our users as internal clients and we have OLAs ( operational level agreements) in place which protects the user rights and IT team and provides a balanced working environment without any conflicts. I would like to mention here that when you have got well-defined policies and procedures that are devised in keeping view of the common interests of other departments and its users, then you can provide more efficient service delivery and optimal support.

How important is high-speed wireless now for hotels and its guests? What has changed in terms of expectations and availability of WiFi? Hospitality in the hospitality industry means friendly and generous entertainment for the guests up to expected service levels. Nowadays, in this fast-paced environment of communication, providing a superior internet facility is inevitable for the hotels. Business travelers depend on the internet to stay connected to the business world, remain in contact with the office, and to conduct meetings on the go. Guests want fast WiFi for entertainment purposes, and for keeping in touch with family and friends. Unfortunately, many hotels who boast about free Wi-Fi, neglect to ensure that the service quality is worth the label â&#x20AC;&#x153;Free Internetâ&#x20AC;? to attract customers. Low quality of service negatively impacts the hotel reputation even though if it is free. For many travelers, the internet is the most important amenity. Internet services incur a cost to the hotel but this is another factor that is considered while devising room rate strategy. In the last decade, hotels used to charge for Wi-Fi as the service was costly and the burden was borne by the guest, hence the Internet used to be a direct revenue generation outlet but not anymore. With the evolution of new internet technology, competitive charges by the internet service provider, market competition, and ease of getting high-speed internet by the guests at their homes pushed the hotel owner and management companies to deploy high-speed internet facilities. Many hotels that provide free internet, SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

Do you have trusted solution providers you work with regularly and who address your solution needs?

Rehan Zaidi IT Manager Grand Excelsior Hotel, Dubai

they combine the internet charges with the room rates. Hence, a guest is paying only for the room rate but later, a portion of that paid charge goes towards the internet account to cover the cost of service. Discuss how you review and keep the operations of your IT infrastructure up to speed on day to day basis? How is the support enabled as is required? We have monitoring solutions for our IT infrastructure. The variety of applications and their dependence on different hardware flavors throws up a challenge to us, but preventive maintenance plans and regular maintenance schedule visits which are part of SLAs with the vendors keep our systems safeguarded from

Yes, we do have our trusted partners that are serving for the most common areas of our hotel operations but that does not mean that we do not evaluate other vendors or solutions. Depending on the application, we get 24x7 support on call and for some of the critical applications, the vendors take a proactive call to resolve the issues. There are support centers which monitor the system health and if there are any concerns which we may not know of, we receive calls from the vendor to resolve the issue. Preventive maintenance surely is part of SLAs. How do you select between brands and solution options when being consulted by a solution provider? Looking at the trends in the market, it is not advisable to stick to one vendor or one solution. First and foremost are the business and user requirements. There is no harm to evaluate a new solution or product, but all stakeholders must be kept involved. IT in hotels must be involved with end-users. By this way, they get to know the problems and issues the user is facing on daily basis. I believe a monthly review with each department gives a proactive approach to evaluate any future solution. Surely, every solution has its own features and functions but an efficient and proactive support from the vendor cannot be ignored. Many solutions are good enough to serve the business purpose but

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when it comes to choosing a single solution then it depends on various factors such as the solution features and functionalities, compliance with local and international IT governance standards, ease of doing the job, ease of customization and a well-organized support center and its manpower. To summarize, any solution needs to be evaluated according to the service lifecycle in which it is going to be operated. Any solution that is going to be part of the service lifecycle, must be kept aligned and in compliance with the service; otherwise, it is going to break the service lifecycle and disruptions cannot be afforded. Do you have managed services contract in place? Yes, we do have. It’s a perception that managed service contracts take off the burden from IT team. But with my experience and knowledge, it is not true. Still, you have to manage the vendor and its efficiency. The vendor should abide by the SLA terms and conditions whereas the hotel’s IT team has to monitor and control, report and log. Discuss if you have cloud infrastructure deployed- private or hybrid? In the hospitality industry, certain solutions can be cloud-based but there are certain limitations for the cloud. There are some regulations due to which hotels cannot move completely to cloud infrastructure. It depends on the application architecture as well. Hotels have cloud infrastructure with private and hybrid. Most enterprise IT departments now manage applications across multiple environments in a complex IT architecture. Hotels have got their own unique IT architecture which cannot be compared to a legacy corporate environment. I.T department in a hotel also must constantly reevaluate their unique mix of on-premises, private cloud and public cloud infrastructure to be aligned with business strategy & goals and determine how applications can be migrated to the public cloud in a cost-effective way. It’s a complex

process. Dozens or even hundreds of applications built at different times, in different languages, and by different teams need to be evaluated for migration to the cloud, which often requires deep knowledge of the existing IT infrastructure along with the consultation with vendors for their solution compatibility with the cloud. Ultimately, hotels must determine the hosting solution that suits each application: on-premises, private cloud, public cloud, or hybrid cloud. How do you see data security as a priority for hotels? The most valuable thing on your computer or network is the data that is stored in your IT infrastructure. Data protection should include control over unauthorized access to data and backup of data. Operating systems and applications can always be reinstalled, but user-created data is unique and if lost, may be irreplaceable that causes business integrity and financial loss. Data integrity, accessibility and availability, local and international laws and regulations must be kept in

“

LOOKING AT THE TRENDS IN THE MARKET, IT IS NOT ADVISABLE TO STICK TO ONE VENDOR OR ONE SOLUTION. FIRST AND FOREMOST ARE THE BUSINESS AND USER REQUIREMENTS. THERE IS NO HARM TO EVALUATE A NEW SOLUTION OR PRODUCT, BUT ALL STAKEHOLDERS MUST BE KEPT INVOLVED.”

scope while defining data protection strategies. To safeguard the data, first, you need to evaluate the data entry points which may include client machines, portable devices, local area network and wide area network. If you keep a close watch on the entry point then it becomes easy to safeguard those entry points. As far as data transfer is concerned, the transfer can be on local area network or with the corporate office over the internet lines. The data transfer must be in a controlled environment with IDS, IPS, End-point protection systems along with high-end network firewalls. Cost-effective solutions are not always the right answer to protect your data. Do you see network security-as a priority? Network security spans over multiple layers of defenses at the end-point and in the network. Each network security layer implements policies and controls. Authorized users gain access to network resources, but the malicious actor is blocked from carrying out exploits and threats. In the hospitality industry, we usually keep guest internet facility and administration network on different physical or network segments to avoid data leaks and to avoid easy access to attack admin systems. As I said, network security is crucial for any business and it is crucial for the guests as well. We need to keep an industry standardized security solution for all network layers. Digitalization has transformed the way we communicate with our world. How we live, work, play, and learn have all changed. Service delivery from the customers and employees of the organization demand a protected environment. Network security helps you protect proprietary information from attack. Ultimately it protects business reputation. A single solution cannot be an answer for complete protection. Different solutions can be combined to form an optimal protected network which may span over IP security for data in transit, EFS encryption, disk encryption, password protected documents. SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

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Inspired by conviction

EBRAHEEM aL SAMADI CEO Al Samadi

SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

n entrepreneur from the age of 14, Ebraheem Al Samadi, CEO of Al Samadi Retail General Trading launched his very first business out of his mother’s Florida apartment selling off-season clothing and items on eBay. Ebraheem moved to Dubai in 2010 founding Al Samadi Group and growing its retail portfolio. He soon merged the company with the family’s hospitality business to form two divisions of Al Samadi Group and expand business interests across the Middle East, with Dubai as the operational hub. Ebraheem discusses some details of the company’s success and perspectives on IT as an enabler

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Please elaborate on the business operations of the group across retail, hospitality and any others? Are you a retailer as well as a distributor? And further, do you also offer your own brands? Al Samadi comprises two business divisions; retail and hospitality. With brands, products and successful business models sourced from the USA, Canada and Europe, the company portfolio is diverse and continuing to expand. We have many different brands under Al Samadi Group including jewellery, F&B outlets, luxury products, perfumes, and special novelty foods. We are both a retailer and a distributor and many are our own in-house brands. Discuss briefly some of the innovative approaches of the company in retail and across all businesses? The main approach that we take across all of our brands is interacting with our customers on social media. Instagram is a very important tool for us to engage with various audiences on a daily basis and it helps us showcase our brands in a visual and creative way. We are also developing a new layout for our website, as well as finalising a mobile application. I truly believe that engaging with technology is crucial to being successful. What is the group’s outlook on Business transformation? Do you see it as a crucial aspect of Business enablement and transformation across customer services and back-office operations? In order to grow internationally, it is essential that we adapt our businesses according to the region that we are in. We have to consider how our audience differs across the world and adjust our operations accordingly. Our back-office operations always support the needs of our stores because our main goal is to keep our customers happy. Elaborate if and how the group is leveraging technology across its various business operations as a Business productivity enabler? Technology is essential to the growth

of any business today. In addition to the mobile application we are developing, we are integrating smarter systems in many other areas of the group. We are advancing our inventory systems in order to make it easier to track products, as well as merging with freight forwarders to ensure quick and safe deliveries to customers internationally. We are also looking to develop our HR and employment technologies, looking for platforms that best suit our operations. You have a showroom for trendy products - please elaborate if these are mostly technology products? The brand is called My Trend and is currently still in its development stages. It will essentially be a one-stop shop for all current trends in the market. Our buyers work specifically to research and source the biggest trends to be carried in our shop, making it easy for customers to buy everything from one place. Personally, I find it interesting to know how a product gains popularity and therefore My Trends will also be a place where customers can learn how the items became trendy, adding an element of fascination to the shopping experience.

“

IN ADDITION TO THE MOBILE APPLICATION WE ARE DEVELOPING, WE ARE INTEGRATING SMARTER SYSTEMS IN MANY OTHER AREAS OF THE GROUP. WE ARE ADVANCING OUR INVENTORY SYSTEMS IN ORDER TO MAKE IT EASIER TO TRACK PRODUCTS, AS WELL AS MERGING WITH FREIGHT FORWARDERS TO ENSURE QUICK AND SAFE DELIVERIES TO CUSTOMERS INTERNATIONALLY.”

If you were to upgrade your IT infrastructure, would you prefer cloud based services or would you still opt for on-premises IT infrastructure? Although I like a cloud base because of how accessible it is, I would not rely on that alone. I save all my information on an off-site server as well so that if something happens, I know I have a back-up. Is there a separate IT team that takes care of the operations? Please elaborate We have internal and external IT teams to handle operations throughout the group. IT operations can be very risky and therefore I like to have an international IT expert on hand to act as a second opinion on any issues we have with our systems. It is very important for us to protect our servers as much as we can. Which have been the faster growing Businesses over the past year? Our fastest growing business would have to be Forever Rose London. Founded in London, England’s capital in 1999 and launched in the UAE in 2014, Forever Rose has emerged as a purveyor of the world’s finest roses, first developing a name amongst high society for its luxurious floral artistry and customised arrangements at Harrods and throughout the royal palaces of Europe. Forever Rose’s strong reputation amongst the royal families of Belgium and the UK soon triggered demand from discerning clients in the Middle East who sought the very best in both quality and luxury. Following the launch of its flagship boutique on the Abu Dhabi Corniche, Forever Rose quickly expanded opening eight locations across the UAE, including a notable standalone at City Walk, Dubai, with a further three stores opening in 2017 within the GCC. It has definitely been picking up a lot of momentum since our opening in 2014 and I am very proud to see it continually growing from success to success within the luxury market. SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

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Building an impenetrable defense

Against the backdrop of sophisticated attacks, companies in the SMB segment are prioritizing network security investments

or SMB and mid-market companies, there is a dawning realization that network security is now a priority aspect to consider as part of their overall company strategy as much as it is for larger sized companies. That is because IT infrastructure, whether in the cloud or on premises holds invaluable digital assets and in the face of the rising number of cyber attacks, there is just too much at stake to leave your network inadequately secured.

their own security like any other larger sized organizations and have started allocating more budgets to Information Security Investments.”

Discussing changing priorities of SMB organizations in the region towards network security, Nitin Awasthi, Division Head-ICT at Infocomm, an ICT Services provider says, “Small and Mid-Sized Businesses until recently were allocating very low budgets for the IT and Network Security, but in the recent past many such Businesses have faced a large number of targeted cyber attacks or hacking that has caused damage or loss of critical business data and credibility.As it is quite apparent that the growing volume of data and the company’s reputation are both critical to the Business, they are realizing the need to prioritize

He elaborates, “Many serious SMB businesses in the region are not ignoring the need for investments in Network Security space, in the era of sophisticated threats that may not specifically target them but could cause disruption to their businesses. The SMB businesses understand the importance of being adequately protected and in their planning and budgeting have prioritized investment in network security space to keep their businesses running worry-free.”

SMART SMB | JUNE AUGUST 2018 2018

Shanawaz Sheikh, Regional Director, sales and channel, Sonicwall opines that many of the companies in the SMB space do understand the significance of adequate network security that is required at all times even if there are no specific threats.

The fact is that malware and cybercriminals seem to be evolving from day to day and there could always be new

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ways of breaching the network, which therefore requires a more comprehensive multi-layered network security layer to prevent a breach. Harish Chib, Vice President, Middle East & Africa, Sophos say, “Cybercriminals are continually changing their attack methods to avoid detection. These days, nearly every malware instance is a new zero-day variant that hasn’t been seen before and is more sophisticated, stealthy, and targeted than the one that came before it. This makes traditional signature-based detection obsolete. You need multi-layered defense across several vectors, each using behavioral analysis and working better together to provide adequate protection.”

THE THREAT LANDSCAPE Malware continues to evolve with encrypted forms of attacks now requiring responses in nanoseconds. With IOT deployments, the threat scenario of the network being compromised only continues to rise. Shahnawaz elaborates, “As the volume of Ransomware reduced over previous years, the unique variants of ransomware is still on the rise. The increase in Malware surpassing 9.0 billion at the beginning of this year raises the concern for SMB businesses as these are simple to complex threats in this global cyber-crime world. Memory attacks are the new form of attacks; these memory-based attacks are using proprietary encryption methods that can’t be decrypted, organizations must quickly detect, capture and track these attacks once they’re exposed in memory, usually in under 100 nanoseconds. Chip-based attacks will be at the forefront of the cyber arms race for some time to come. Additionally, the new IoT threats and Malware cocktails are some of the new threat areas that organizations of all sizes should be prepared to combat against.” The changing paradigm with a new generation of threats entails that the response is equal to the task. A conventional layer of protection as in previous years may not measure up to what is required to stem the threats.

Nitin adds, “The cyber security threat landscape has changed significantly faster in the recent few years. Previously, basic virus protection and security controls were sufficient to deter threats. The cyber security threat landscape is changing faster and organizations are witnessing an increase in targeted attacks against enterprises of all sizes in the past few years. Well-funded and technically adept attackers have the capability to bring an entire enterprise or sector to a halt – something that was unimaginable a decade or two ago. In the past few years, we have seen mobile malware growing in popularity. Malware that compromises mobile operating environments such as Android is also expected to rise in prevalence.” The emergence of new services and applications, advanced technologies including cloud and IoT, are providing further impetus to the changing cyber security threat landscape. With an increase in the number of breaches, the need for a strong and robust cyber security framework is now more than ever. Digital transformation and cloud migration have made cyber threats more numerous and sophisticated.

THE MULTI-LAYERED APPROACH The weakest link is possibly always the first point of entry and ensuring there are no weak links can be achieved only through a combination of security solutions. Shahnawaz says, “As encrypted threats are on the rise and in the advent of memory attacks, IoT threats or new threat actors finding any weak link that connects to the business, businesses should at the same time think and plan a step ahead of the looming threats. They should start thinking and planning holistically and apply multiple protection layers at all entry/exit points of

“

YOU NEED MULTI-LAYERED DEFENSE ACROSS SEVERAL VECTORS, EACH USING BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS AND WORKING BETTER TOGETHER TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE PROTECTION.”

HARiSH CHIB Vice President, META Sophos SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

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situation has changed in the SMB sector and companies have started budgeting and investing in cyber security solutions as well. SMBs are looking for reliable and cost effective security solutions for maintaining their IT Infrastructure. They are in need of simple solutions or products that are easy to monitor and manage.” He adds that leading technology vendors are increasingly developing products designed specifically with SMBs in mind. “Many SMBs today are opting for UTM Security Solution / Appliances that provides multiple security features in a box e.g. Firewall, VPN, IPS, Antivirus, Antispam, URL / Content filtering, etc.” While the firewall as a device has evolved over the years into the next generation firewall with more functionalities, there is still need for more enhanced features such as risk management.

SHANAWAZ SHEIKH Regional Director, Sales & Channel, Sonicwall

“

THE SMB BUSINESSES UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ADEQUATELY PROTECTED AND IN THEIR PLANNING AND BUDGETING HAVE PRIORITIZED INVESTMENT IN NETWORK SECURITY SPACE TO KEEP THEIR BUSINESSES RUNNING WORRY-FREE.”

users, data, access to information, mobility, communication etc., In order to achieve comprehensive security and business continuity, organizations usually start building their security framework from Next Gen Firewalls and then go on to add protection to other areas around it, viz., End points security, wireless security, email security, mobile access security, protection for web servers, web filtering etc. Secondly, with multiple security solutions in a single network, a central management solution also becomes essential for effective and easy management of multiple different solutions in a network.” The budget allocation to network security seems to be rising from the mid-market perspective. Nitin says, “In the past, budgets were mostly consumed on investments in applications and servers but today the SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

Harish says, “While network security solutions like firewalls started life simply protecting networks from outside hacks and attacks, the role of the firewall has greatly evolved to take on additional duties, such as compliance and risk management. While most modern next-gen firewalls provide basic visibility and control over user activity, they often fall far short when it comes to providing any kind of risk assessment or insights. These days, you need all the help you can get, which means a firewall solution that not only makes it easy to setup and enforce acceptable use policies, but also one that can identify risky users and apps before they become a problem.” A multilayered approach is the need of the hour for network security and Harish elaborates that there are seven key technologies that in tandem can secure your network perimeter against modern threats. These steps include Advanced Threat Protection, identifying and isolating compromised systems, intrusion prevention, sandboxing, web protection, email protection and web application firewall. Advanced threat protection is important to identify bots, APTs, and other threats already operating on your network. in the aftermath of an attack, to prevent data loss and further infections, and to accelerate remediation, your firewall should immediately identify not only the infected host, but the user and process in the event of an incident. Ideally, it should also automatically block or isolate compromised systems until they can be investigated and cleaned up (preferrably automatically by your endpoint protection).Intrusion prevention systems (IPS) can detect hackers attempting to breach your network resources. Sandboxing can easily catch the latest evasive malware and advanced threats like ransomware and botnet malware before it makes its way onto your computers. Effective web protection can prevent botnet-recruiting malware from getting onto your network in the first place while Email protection is important as email is still one of the primary entry points for threats and social engineering

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exploits. Finally, the Web Application Firewallor a WAF can protect your servers, devices, and business applications from being hacked.

SECURING THE VIRTUAL AND PHYSICAL While networks may include virtualized environments, all scenarios require the same level of security. Shahnawaz says, “The adoption of Appliance based Network security solutions continue to be on the rise. Customers with hybrid environments or virtual only environments should also be protected the same way as users behind the physical appliance to gain complete visibility into intra-host communication between virtual machines for threat prevention, deliver safe application enablement rules by the application, user and device regardless of VM location. A virtualized solution for virtual environments and combination of appliance and virtual for hybrid environments helps businesses get stronger security according to their network architecture and increase overall operational agility, efficiency and elasticity.” Nitin contends that while there are many things to consider when choosing appliance or cloud based security solution deployments, network level security will always be best handled on-premise. “Network security tools such as next generation firewalls and IPS will remain on-premise because organizations will need to control the flow of data into and out of their networks.” On the other hand, for data or cyber security, clouddelivered security services can scale and react faster than traditional static deployments, matching costs to usage more closely than the on-premise need to build out extra capacity to meet possible future growth. Most importantly though, only a cloud-delivered security service can match the dynamic and highly automated operations model that attracts so many organizations to the cloud in the first place. On the cost front, placing your network security in the cloud allows businesses to free up capital and personnel because the up-front cost to deploy is less than traditional premise-based tools and the vendor provides the bandwidth, IT staff and infrastructure to secure the data. Nitin adds, “While both cloud and appliance based solutions have ongoing costs associated with their use, there is no denying that installing and maintaining an appliance based security solution might need more physical devices and will require much more capital and operational expenditure over the long run.”

NITIN AWASTHI Division Head-ICT, Infocomm

“

SMBS ARE LOOKING FOR RELIABLE AND COST EFFECTIVE SECURITY SOLUTIONS FOR MAINTAINING THEIR IT INFRASTRUCTURE. THEY ARE IN NEED OF SIMPLE SOLUTIONS OR PRODUCTS THAT ARE EASY TO MONITOR AND MANAGE.”

Customers need to choose which solutions best meet their requirements based on features and capabilities. For instance, Sophos provides a Next-Gen Firewall Buyer’s guide which helps customers to pick the right solution for their organization. Sophos and its partners train organizations on these lines to choose the right scalable fits for their organizations. For Businesses who are aware that IT infrastructure they use for enabling theirs Business growth is always going to be a critical asset, the network security will always be an essential investment priority. With that outlook, they must look to identifying the best solutions out there in the market that addresses their needs for now and into the foreseeable future in consultation with their trusted local solutions provider. SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

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Maureen Mansour-Khoury Senior Product Manager, Dynamics 365, Microsoft MEA

The central way M

icrosoft has unveiled what it refers to as an all-inone solution to help SMEs streamline their finances and business processes. The new SaaS solution Dynamics 365 Business Central, is according to Microsoft, is tailor made for the smaller and medium size Businesses that have outgrown their traditional accounting software and need to streamline their financials and business processes, improve customer interactions and make better decisions with integrated intelligence. Built from the ground up with SMEs in mind, Business Central is part of the of Dynamics 365 suite of business solutions, that a business can grow into, as their needs further expand requiring them to use one system to manage their finances, inventory, sales, and operations. Maureen Mansour-Khoury, Senior Product Manager, Dynamics 365, Microsoft MEA says, “Dynamics 365 Business Central, simply allows SMEs to get a holistic view of the business

SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

Microsoft’s Business Central is an all-in-one mid-market Business application software built to empower UAE’s fast-growing SME segment, by streamlining their financials through comprehensive business processes, which allow them to ultimately improve customer experience at each and every interaction. and chart financial performance in real time with built-in Power BI dashboards and protected by state-of-the-art security features. This is what makes it unique and useful for businesses that have outgrown their basic accounting software. Ultimately, businesses will benefit from having ‘one version of truth’ to monitor the health of their entire operation with live real-time data across all processes.” Business Central, Maureen claims, is relevant to specific expectations and challenges in the SME segment vis-vis a regular ERP or an accounting software in terms of enhanced capabilities and as an all in one. Maureen adds, “For a place like UAE, the SME community has proven to be a strategic driver of different industries in terms of growth, innovation, and most of all, job creation. Small businesses here, tend to easily grow out of their existing systems and processes, which eventually results in specific challenges like maintaining customer loyalty

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needs. And our strong ecosystem of Microsoft partners with deep knowledge of Microsoft NAV as the origin of Business Central, can easily help SMEs migrate from old processes and disparate systems to the modern workplace in no time.”

through exceptional service and at the same time being able to manage your cashflow, with critical business insights that allow you to make accurate decisions right away at any point in time.Therefore, SME entities are particularly keen on keeping everything together and streamlining operations in order to boost productivity, and thrive in an increasingly competitive market.”

Even if a company is not currently using Office 365, it can still subscribe and make the most out of the features of Dynamics 365 Business Central. However, to give a seamless experience between both applications and enhance employee productivity in a modern workplace, Business Central is fully integrated with Office 365 even using single sign-on for both solutions, essentially saving time for employees on a daily basis.

With built-in intelligence and integration with Office 365, the solution is easy to use and meets the expectations of an SME by keeping its people, processes and data together - giving them a competitive edge while accelerating growth. It is also a cloud based solution that can help the Businesses in the mid-market segment accelerate to towards making more of their IT workflows cloud based. Maureen elaborates, “The cloud is now viewed as a need rather than a choice. And it brings true agility with it as one of the key advantages. Dynamics 365 Business Central is a cloud-based solution that puts both agility and flexibility at the core of any small business, enabling them to start quickly, grow at their own pace and adapt in real time. It also gives businesses the power to easily tailor and extend the application to meet their unique business or industry-specific

“For example, in Business Central, you can open data in Excel and make edits there that can even be uploaded back into the core solution. Naturally, printing reports using Word with your company header templates can be used for all relevant outgoing documents while a number of, doing critical tasks with your Business Central data can be utilized right from in Outlook. One such example is that a Sales person can even create a quote for a customer based on the intelligence of the solution to pre-populate data from the customer email request and in just a few clicks, the quote is send it back

IS YOUR BUSINESS OUTGROWING YOUR

ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE?

Tell-tale signs your business is ready for a more comprehensive business management solution

Dynamics 365 Business Central is a cloudbased solution that

Systems are disconnected and information is siloed

Reporting is complicated and provides insufficient information

Manual processes result in duplicate entry and errors

Accounting occurs in Excel, not your financial system

Lack of workflows and audit trails puts your business at risk

puts both agility and flexibility at the core

From day one, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central makes managing financials, sales, service, and operations easier and faster.

Connect your business

Make smarter decisions

Start and grow easily

Connect your people and processes like never before

Put the power of Dynamics 365 Business Central and the Microsoft cloud to work for your business

78% of growing businesses stated they use a mobile device to access workrelated information while away from the office or their computer

84% of growing businesses feel that mobile technology has positively affected their company’s productivity

quickly, grow at their own pace and adapt in real time. It also gives to easily tailor and

Get a complete picture of your business and make informed decision with powerful reporting and custom dashboards

Automate and secure business processes with easy-to-create workflows and audit trails

enabling them to start

businesses the power

Go from quote to cash without leaving your inbox. Easily export data to Excel and create outgoing documents directly in Word

Work from a desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone with one experience that is consistent and secure

of any small business,

93% experienced an increase in productivity outside the office because of cloud technology

extend the application to meet their unique business or industryspecific needs.

Be ready for growth with a scalable solution in the cloud so it's easy to set up, manage, and extend.

Register for the virtual launch of Dynamics 365 Business Central and learn more about how you can take the next step for your business. https://aka.ms/D365BusinessCentralLaunch SOURCES: IDC: Successful Cloud Partners. Higher, Faster, Stronger

SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

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to the customer This integration saves time and enhances customer experience harnessing the power of built-in A,” adds Maureen. Further, Business Central can be easily integrated with the D365 Business Applications suite including all Apps D365 for Sales, Customer Service and Field Service using the Common Data Service, which shares data across all applications, making integration seamless and allowing Azure IoT components to connect devices for relevant organizations and harness the power of machine learning & Artificial intelligence. Business Central extends options for payment functionalities and other processes using pre-built options from a wider partner ecosystem.To meet specific needs, businesses can use prebuilt solutions from Microsoft and its partners that extend the capabilities of Dynamics 365 Business Central when there are unique business processes or industry requirements. Maureen adds, “SMEs can also take advantage of Microsoft’s rich partner ecosystem and leverage pre-built applications (available through the extensive AppSource marketplace) to easily and cost effectively extend Dynamics 365 Business Central to fit their industry or line of business needs. They can also use Power Apps to create an App for their organization easily by a citizen developer without even writing one line of code as well as Microsoft Flow to extend existing business processes.”

and vendor payment processes with pre-defined alerts and approval workflows.

Fine tuning supply chain deliverables and security Dynamics 365 Business Central streamlines and optimizes operations to deliver products or services on-time while reducing costs. For example, it has a built-in intelligence capacity to predict when and what you need to replenish, ensuring accurate inventory levels are maintained. Leverage sales forecasts to automatically generate production plans and create purchase orders. It helps operations teams avoid shortages and lost sales by automatically offering substitute items and services when the ones requested are not available. Businesses can also get built-in recommendations on when to pay vendors to take advantage of vendor discounts or avoid overdue penalties. And Finance teams can manage budgets and monitor progress with real-time data on Account receivables/ payables, bank reconciliation and even fixed asset management. available resources. From a security standpoint, Business Central helps SMEs secure their data and stay compliant to enterprise level industry standards such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Its has built-in privacy-by-default methodologies to help business administrators grant and restrict access to personal data on multiple levels, and enable audit trails to ensure advanced security and accountability.

Business Central can bring systems and processes together to unify a business from finance and operations to sales Maureen says, “Regardless of size, Dynamics 365 Business and marketing with a comprehensive and modern solution Central delivers the depth of integrated business applications because it can easily integrate and extend into applications and analytics, productivity, and IoT solutions at cloud like payroll, banking apps, or custom APIs. There are numerous efficiency - giving SMEs the flexibility to scale as per their advantages it offers. For instance, users get the same needs. Business Central is truly an consistent and secure experience all-in-one solution that allows SMEs whether on a desktop, laptop, tablet to start with what they need and or phone and they can access grow at their own pace to run the customer information, create sales entire business in the cloud. They orders, review and approve quotes and can also easily import data from other purchase orders—wherever business SMEs can also solutions using data migration wizards takes you. The solution helps shorten take advantage and assisted setup, get contextual the time from quote to cash when guidance with in-product tutorials, there is a need to set up customers of Microsoft’s rich and adapt in real time.” or vendors, create quotes, process orders, and submit invoices without leaving Outlook or send invoices as PDF attachments that include a link to expedite payments. You can also automate and secure processes to improve productivity and get more done with easy-to-create workflows, audit trails, and enterprise-level security that connects workflows across sales and accounting to automatically track cash flow. Secure purchasing, credit authorization, SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

partner ecosystem and leverage pre-built applications to easily and cost effectively extend Dynamics 365 Business Central to fit their industry or line of business needs.”

The new solution offers a lot of promise to the mid-market in terms of functionalities and utility value. With the advantages it offer, it is likely to appeal to a wide range of companies in the mid-market, from companies running single-user accounting or operations software or basic ERP to those looking to looking to reduce paper based processes and automate some functions.

Talk Point

Extending beyond the forte What are the company’s specific strengths in terms of building solutions and customer engagement? Is digital transformation a key focus for the company?

ANIL NAIR Managing Director, ITS

ver a decade of operations, Information and Telecom Systems (ITS) has been delivering innovative products & solutions to its customers In the Middle East and India. The company offers solutions across slew of industry verticals, ranging from Kiosks, IT Staffing Solutions, IT Consulting, Digital, Outsourcing BPO, etc. Anil Nair, Managing Director of ITS elaborates on the company’s focus areas

Discuss the company’s focus in terms of IT solutions for mid-market customers from the portfolio that you have? ITS has its strategy well defined to cater to the initiatives of the region. The focus is not only on IT but a very unified approach. We offer solutions and partnerships in technologies that caters to cross-functional departments and meet business objectives in line with the digital transformation vision. You have an extensive range of kiosk solutions for different verticals- please discuss briefly the potential for such solutions and your strengths in customized building kiosk solutions for different customer segments? Kiosk Solutions is our FORTE. We cater to the complete lifecycle of kiosk Solutions (design, manufacture and implementation and 24/7 support with our state-of-the art Ops Centre), with a team strength of over 200 members including an innovation team. Our Kiosk solutions have enabled Government, Public & Private Sector organizations to optimize their cost & resources and attain higher efficiencies and ROI.

ITS has a solid background and experience for CxO Engagement with its strong team of Engagement Managers, market research practices and strategic planning professionals. After comprehensive research, ITS has adopted its in-house Solutions and flagship partnerships which cater to Digital Transformation initiatives. Discuss the company’s Middle East operations and growth? ITS UAE branch cater to the MENA region customers and has a huge focus into GCC markets. We have a significant installed base of customers in the region. Is IT staffing, managed services and outsourcing a key focus in mid-market engagement? Yes, with a strategic TIE-UP with its group companies, ITS has been very actively involved in Managed Services and Outsourcing. ITS has a vast portfolio of SMEs in various divisions and has been continuously building its portfolio for complete staff augmentation. Elaborate on your partnership with Wannago? ITS is strategically associated with WannGO Cloud since its inception. The partnership involves execution of a lot of marketing and sales initiatives and also a major expansion in the MENA region. This partnership is also linked with our Managed Services & Digital Transformation strategies. What are the specific challenges that the company sees in the Mid-market segment visa a-vis digital transforma-tion in the mid-market? The biggest challenge we see is the lack of awareness and apprehension towards investment for Digital Transformation. The sales cycle is long but fruitful at the end. Customers in this region are more inclined towards resource selling rather than product selling. ITS’ sales initiatives are completed based on creating technology awareness and building trust with its customers. SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

Talk Point

Playing to strengths H

esham El Komy, Senior Director, International Channels at Epicor discusses the ERP companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s verticals of focus and strengths

Discuss your product for manufacturing? is that a major focus in the UAE and the region? For core manufacturing, Epicor Manufacturing is a comprehensive solution portfolio that enables you to plan, schedule, execute and monitor the entire manufacturing business. Manufacturing is a domain where we have 30 plus years of experience. We have a deep understanding of the domain and are able to enhance the processes of our customers by transferring our knowledge. There are plenty of manufacturing companies in the UAE and in countries like Saudi, Egypt, North Africa and even Oman, involved in manufacturing cables to plastic and other articles. We have a good number of clients in the vertical regionally. Which are the other sectors of focus in the region? Beside manufacturing, in the GCC, we have other areas of focus such as distribution and logistics. We have a good footprint in Food and Beverages where we have other products such as iScala. Our footprint in hospitality segment is also significant. Many hotel chains worldwide use Scala worldwide in their back office operations such as the Hyatt, Radisson, and the One & Only hotel groups. How important is analytics within your products? The objective of our software is to improve end userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

business processes and profitability. As we are in a data driven world, anaytics plays an important role. For instance, from a manufacturing perspective, understanding machine productivity, supply chain etc is important, including giving the management a view of what they are manufacturing, where there is loss, where there is profit, optimizing raw material stocking etc. Good analytics for pretty much any businesses gives the ability to create better efficiencies. Dashboards, trackers, and data visualization tools built into the core ERP platform help you visualize data and get a better understanding of what is happening in the company in real time. Epicor MES offers real-time production and process monitoring for discrete manufacturers. There is also diagnostics and predictive analytics, the former for analyzing what happened by looking through large data sets and the latter for planning out successful scenarios through demand planning and inventory optimization. Is customization an important attribute in ERP deployments? That is where Epicor stands out. Customization is not something we focus on as the product itself ships out as a completely friendly end product for manufacturing, distribution workflows etc. It is a complete ERP which we can customize but we tend not to because the original product is configurable for most deployments without the need for customization. Customization can be counterproductive in ERP deployments. When you in fact look around examples of some of the large implementations that have failed, in many instances it is because the customizations failed. When a customization is in place, it is very difficult to upgrade or enhance. When a new release comes along, you have to customize that as well so that you can move on to the next release.

Talk Point

We have a very configurable product built on which gives us the ability to configure to the point of near perfection so that hardly any customization is required. So there is very little impact on the system and therefore on the products when future updates come along. So they can continue to grow with us as we continue to enhance our products. I had feedback from a customer in South Africa within the manufacturing industry recently as to why they chose us and the reason mentioned was that while Epicor ERP needed as less as 11 minor customizations, the competitor product that claimed to be an expert in the vertical, would have required 200 or so customizations. Further, the product wasn’t as complete from the offset. Are there different product flavors for different verticals? The product is the same but there are different templates that the professional services can use when it comes to implementation. For manufacturing, there is a standard manufacturing template and then you can configure the workflow, the reports etc. All of that is only configuration and none of it is customization. Discuss your cloud strategy? Do you have cloud deployments in the region? Our on-premise and cloud product versions are based on the same code and this is the unique distinction between us and our competitors. We don’t however aggressively push customers to go for cloud deployments if there is no need and if they are happy with the on-premise deployments, we continue to support them on that, unlike some of our competitors who may force customers to move to cloud by making an upgrade unavailable on their on-premise deployment. We do have some large cloud customers in the region. One of the largest outside the US is in Saudi Arabia, a military modernization organization. That is a multi-tenant cloud and that pretty much shows the quality of the products, which off the shelf can pretty much do everything with very little customization because if customization is required, it cant be on a multi tenant cloud. This is prior to the recent announcement of strategic partnership with Microsoft on the cloud where there would be dedicated hosting. Do your partners enable cloud deployments? We give our partners the flexibility to decide if their customer need a cloud deployment. if the deployments are quite complex and cannot be on a multi tenant cloud, we give them the SaaS licenses to host the solutions from a dedicated server in the data center, providing directly to the customer and fully managed by the partner. Elaborate on your partner focus? We have about 30 partners across the GCC. We are stringent with selecting our partners. we changed our partner program

HESHAM EL KOMY Senior Director, International Channels, Epicor

“

WE HAVE A VERY CONFIGURABLE PRODUCT BUILT ON WHICH GIVES US THE ABILITY TO CONFIGURE TO THE POINT OF NEAR PERFECTION SO THAT HARDLY ANY CUSTOMIZATION IS REQUIRED.” about two years ago and have gone with the program quite aggressively. We have reduced the number of partners with a view to improving quality. Worldwide, you would see vendors looking to have as many partners on board. That leads down the path of price competitions, poor quality or failed implementations etc. the reduced number of partners gives us the opportunity to work with them on one on one bases, enabling better knowledge transfer and giving us the confidence of their capabilities in sales, marketing, implementations as well as post implementation support. we are quite comfortable with the partners we have but not every one of them is certified for cloud deployments. Discuss about your service team in the region? We have a regional services team based out of Dubai. We have project manager, consultants etc that are required in that team to do our own implementations, execute project governance etc and there is a services director. We also use partners to augment our services. when there are requirements that we know our partners can fulfill and in time. SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

Talk Point

GROWTH IN THE CLOUD Sachin Bhardwaj, Director Marketing & Business Development, eHosting DataFort discusses trends in cloud services adoption in the SMB segment Discuss demand for cloud based application software from SMB / mid-market segments in the region. Is there a significant growth vis-a-vis the last year? Technologies such as the Cloud, digital transformation, cyber security, etc., are not just limited to deployment by large enterprises anymore. They have been gaining traction within the SMB market too for revenue growth, building a solid customer base, business performance and the sector is making significant investments in their technology spends. Applications such as Office 365, Google apps, Salesforce.com etc. are several examples of Cloud based applications that have gained traction in the SMB Market in the region. In fact SaaS based applications are seeing a huge growth in the region. As a long-standing Cloud Infrastructure and Managed Services provider in the UAE, we are witnessing a high rate of SMBs across business sectors, who are now understanding the need to putting their workloads in the Cloud. Is the cloud seen as trustworthy for critical workloads that can afford no downtime? Yes, today Cloud adoption is more pervasive than ever and is seen as having the capability to handle critical and mission critical application workloads. While lower costs and scalability are the reasons for the increased uptake of the Cloud, the major challenges for Cloud adoption include security concerns Claude Schuck for the data on Cloud, compliance Regional Manager fornot Middle Eastdata and to be complications allowing Centralhosted Africa at at data Veeam Software centers located outside SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

the region and lack of adequate skill sets. Cloud hosting with a reliable Cloud Services Provider is more secure than inhouse server hosting. Service providers not only have a team of experts across technology domains, but they also constantly invest in and upgrade their technology, knowledge, skills and expertise in order to offer the latest hosting services to their customers. A reputed services provider is also certified for various quality and security certifications and conduct regular security system audits. Are cost considerations one of the primary reasons? Or are they also looking at factors like scalability and easy on demand facility? Cloud infrastructure provides SMBs with robust systems that can help them scale their IT needs depending on their requirements. The assurance of lower IT costs and scalability has drawn IT decision makers to move their business-critical data and applications to the Cloud. Also, the popularity of the pay-as-you-go model and having clearly measurable predictable IT costs is another driver towards Cloud adoption in the Middle East. In fact, many businesses are considering to move to a Hosted Private or Hybrid Cloud model. Public Cloud is not far behind. Discuss your cloud services propositions for the SMB /midmarket? How are they being delivered through local datacentres or datacentres based elsewhere? eHosting DataFort has the distinction of being a pioneer in the industry with Cloud based services and provides both

SACHIN BHARDWAJ

Director Marketing & Business Development, eHosting DataFort

Private Cloud Services as well as Public Cloud services. eHDF is the pioneer in the region to introduce Hosted Private Cloud services. These are delivered from eHDFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own tier 3 data centers in Dubai. There are unique offerings for clients who choose to have their own Virtual Data Centre (vDC), which remains isolated, firewalled and completely secured. There is full support for processing, storage, transfer and memory capacities. eHDF provides credit based service level agreements (SLAs). So if the SLA is not met, the credit is given on the services. We also offer flexibility to choose between Managed and Unmanaged Private Cloud Hosting Services. eHDF has also launched UAEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first of its kind online self-service Public Cloud Portal that allows users to customize and purchase Public Cloud servers in less than 15 minutes.

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Cloud based

Boon for SMEs Ali Hyder, Group CEO, Focus Softnet writes how small and medium sized organizations can particularly benefit from cloud ERPs by cutting down their IT costs and leveraging the gains offered from data integration.

n enterprise resource planning (ERP) application is an integrated suite of applications, often built around a core business functionality, that an organization is most competent with. However, implementation and management of an ERP application, has created its share of challenges and benefits across the years, that vary depending on the size of the organization. For a large organization, getting hundreds and thousands of employees to change their way of working, while getting accustomed to new application interfaces, has usually been the challenge. For small and medium organizations, finding an alternative to the high complexity and high costs associated with mainstream ERP solutions, and finding an ERP more suited to their scale of business and resources, has been the typical challenge. However, the arrival of cloud computing technologies, where hardware, software, and applications are available as a utility type service,

SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

has transformed the complete dynamics of older, legacy ERPs. The arrival of cloud and public cloud hosting platforms, has prompted Gartner to bring forward the concept of postmodern ERP. Here the monolithic, on-premises, highly robust, concept of an ERP is replaced by a core, mission critical ERP, with loosely coupled ERP modules attached around it. The core mission critical ERP may continue to be resident on-premises with maximum data protection and risk compliance built into it. On the other hand, peripheral ERP modules may be hosted in public cloud platforms. These ERP modules are also classified by Gartner as operational and administrative in this postmodern definition, and businesses lean differently towards each of them based on their core competence and internal practices that they are best at. Adopting a cloud-based ERP solution offers a range of positive gains as well as various challenges.

Positive gains Utility type payments: A cloud-based ERP allows an organization to select and pay for the modules and functionality it uses. The cost increases based on the number of users and the range of functionality selected. Startup and administration costs: A cloud hosting platform negates the need for a business to invest in computing resources and ongoing skilled support. This reduces the upfront investment and support costs. Time to market: Cloud based ERP suites represent a ready to use business suite that can be accessed via web browsers. If the organization has been set up to accept the business workflow as available in the cloud ERP suite, and the required login credentials are in place, the application is ready to use. This, bypasses the extended time required to set up and configure the application on internal computing servers. Scalability and availability: Cloud

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based ERPs allow the number of users to increase or decrease based on the organizations requirements. They are also not impacted by local operational bottlenecks such as electricity or cooling. They can also offer service level agreements with 100% application uptime and backup and recovery of data. Global access: Cloud based ERP solutions can be accessed by employees from any location and any device after suitable identity authentication. This allows the organization to set up new branch offices and be operational from day-one. Mobility: Browser based access allows end users to access the application from anywhere and with any device. Mobile access also allows the application to be used by non-skilled users. Upgrades and updates: Cloud based ERPs are automatically updated by their hosting vendors for the latest features and security vulnerabilities, reducing the IT administrative pressure on the organization. Open platform: Cloud solutions are built on open platforms and integrate with other cloud applications through open APIs. This reduces the cost of integration and paves the way for lower cost of ownership and faster return on investment, as the organization scales in complexity. Core competence: Cloud based ERPs reduce the complexity associated with their usage and adoption. This allows user organizations to maximize possible business benefits including reduced cost of ownership, faster return on investment, market competitiveness, better decision making, and increased profitability.

Challenges Lack of customization: Cloud ERPs are based on a one to many usage principle, which helps them to offer a lower cost of ownership. This model does not facilitate customization of

the cloud ERP application to meet an organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s internal best practices. Performance concerns: Country specific latency issues and last mile bottlenecks can degrade the performance of cloud-based ERPs. Hence, medium to large organizations must execute multiple, back to back, service agreements with all participating entities. Security of data hosted in any global data center or location, remains the responsibility of the organization and not the ERP vendor or the hosting provider. The same concerns extend to the backup and availability of the data. Technology competency: Usage of a cloud-based ERP solution, from a hosting provider, reduces the pressure on the internal IT team to maintain internal technology competency in the related areas. Data migration: While transitioning from an on-premises ERP to a cloud ERP, organizations need to manage the migration and synchronization of data between the two locations. In the initial period, if the organization does not have the capability inhouse it will need to onboard a channel partner. Service level agreements: Responsibility for hosted ERP solutions are not as straight forward as on-premises ERP solutions and need to be carefully structured. Communication between all participating entities including channel partners, ERP vendors, security vendors and hosting providers also need to maintained and kept transparent. Not all organizations may benefit from cloud-based ERPs. The suitability of cloud-based ERPs for organizations can be visualized by using two axis and four quadrants. One axis represents increasing complexity of internal business applications, and the other represents increasing number of applications users. The sweet spot for cloud-based ERPs are small to large organizations with limited application complexity.

ALI HYDER

Group CEO Focus Softnet

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

Cloud based ERPs are automatically updated by their hosting vendors for the latest features and security vulnerabilities, reducing the IT administrative pressure on the organization.â&#x20AC;? Typically, large organizations with highly customized and highly complex business applications, may not find cloud-based ERPs to be suitable for them. Or at least not suitable to replace their core, mission critical business applications. Small and medium sized organizations, on the other hand, can gain tremendous business competitiveness by selecting the right mix of cloudbased ERPs applications. SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

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Wi-Fi Mistakes in the Connected Classr Vivek Mistry, Manager, Aruba, a HPE company discusses why there is a need to treat Wi-Fi deployment as a lifecycle

Higher education has paved the way for many of the technologies we use today. Laptops and mobile devices have infiltrated the classrooms causing distraction to the teaching process. The future classroom is well connected with professors utilizing Wi-Fi to their advantage to create an interactive learning experience. As we prepare for this shift, we look at some mistakes that must be avoided.

1) NOT GETTING BUY-IN

2) DISREGARDING AESTHETICS

3) NO PLANNING & DESIGN

When it comes to Wi-Fi in the classroom, you must get buy-in from the right people. Meet with building management about installing a Wi-Fi solution to help professors use technology in their teaching. It’s difficult for building management to visualize new Wi-Fi hardware. Bring APs and mounts that would be used in the classroom. Remind them it’s to new teaching and learning methods.

It’s almost a cardinal sin to install an AP that clashes with architectural design. Installing new Wi-Fi in historic buildings can be extremely complicated and frustrating. The campus wants to maintain the original look and feel but you’re tasked with ensuring the campus is moving forward with new technology.

The Achilles heel of Wi-Fi is one no plan and design. Classrooms and lecture halls are dense with devices. Start by speaking with the professors. Understand how they want to use Wi-Fi.

One of the easiest supporters will be the professors. Professors are your best resource in acquiring funds for new Wi-Fi deployments. Once the service is requested by more teachers, the campus budget committee begins allocating more funds to the project. Everyone must have the common background to reach the end goal with minimal pushback. Start here, with buy-in for any classroom Wi-Fi project.

SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

Ignoring the aesthetics of a building is the quickest way to get left out of future project planning. You will want to work with the architects and their team members to prevent less-thanideal cabling locations. Help educate them on why you need APs placed according to a design. Giving the architects options shows them you’re a resource willing to help lend to their architectural designs without compromising the quality of Wi-Fi.

The challenges are increased with students bringing in their own devices, creating a BYOD environment. Wi-Fi is being used to create an interactive learning experience. The approach we must take is to design and architect a Wi-Fi network to meet the requirements of classroom activities using capacity planning, predictive and validation surveys, and the selection of proper antennas and mounting solutions. You wouldn’t build a house without planning it and making a blueprint first.

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room VIVEK MISTRY Manager, Aruba Hewlett Packard Enterprise

4) MISCONFIGURATION

5) NO MONITORING

CONCLUSION

The most common mistake in configuration is to allow a WLAN system to automatically make configuration decisions without tuning.

Working with unlicensed spectrum will gather its own set of issues. In order to support teaching and learning in the classrooms we must be proactive. Having no monitoring in place is a big mistake for a large environment supporting professors and students.

Wi-Fi is not a set and forget it technology. The unlicensed spectrum is susceptible to a variety of issues. We must treat it as a lifecycle - from planning to design, configuration, monitoring, optimization, and back again to planning. Buyin from stakeholders help Wi-Fi objectives get closer to completion. Let everyone know how APs affect the aesthetics of the environment. It’s important to respect the look and feel of a room. Once we get past those hurdles, don’t forget to plan and design to requirements. Identify the everyone’s needs. Audit configurations of your WLAN infrastructure. Understand what each setting does and what the ramifications are. Then validate the implementation with a survey. Continue to monitor closely and make changes to improve the experience.

Many engineers leave autoRF settings to their defaults. Configuration must be based upon the design for the classroom. And knowing what exactly those knobs do is just as critical as the design. Understand what results there may be for specific settings, such as using higher minimum data rates, disabling low data rates, transmit power selections, wider channel widths, etc. Poor configuration and optimization leads to a poor user experience. Upon completing configuration, perform a validation survey to ensure the deployment matches the design and meets the requirements.

There are certain metrics and thresholds to monitor which will indicate the overall health of the Wi-Fi network. More advanced tools can drill in further to specific APs and groups of APs for accurate results down to near real-time. Monitoring will reveal issues which may not be apparent to the end users. Issues such as retry rates, poor roaming, and average throughput. Have a system which can monitor end user experience so IT can respond quickly.

SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

TECH WATCH

Aruba Cloudmanaged SD-Branch Solution Dell EMC IDPA DP4400

ell EMC announced its newest Integrated Data Protection Appliance (IDPA), the Dell EMC IDPA DP4400, providing simple and powerful converged data protection to help mid-size organizations transform IT while combatting data sprawl and complexity. Comprehensive data protection has been a challenge for mid-size organizations. Enterprise-class products come with higher cost and complexity, while lower cost products that have traditionally targeted these organizations sacrifice performance, efficiency and application support. Dell EMC built the IDPA DP4400 from the ground up as a simple, yet powerful, solution for mid-size organizations—featuring enterprise-class capabilities for backup, deduplication, replication and recovery. IDPA DP4400 also offers built-in cloud readiness features with disaster recovery and long-term data retention to the cloud. The IDPA DP4400 blends simplicity and performance for mid-size organizations and remote office-branch office (ROBO) environments. The solution is designed to provide organizations the lowest cost to protect and is guaranteed under the Dell EMC Future-Proof Loyalty program. SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

The IDPA DP4400 is a converged data protection appliance in a dense 2U platform powered by Dell EMC PowerEdge 14th generation servers. HIGHLIGHTS: •

Customer-installable and easy- to-use HTML5 user interface: Makes IDPA DP4400 ideal for deployment and management in mid-sized organizations and ROBO locations.

•

Grows in place with no downtime: A single 24TB appliance can grow in place to 96TB with a license key and no additional hardware to purchase.

•

Protect more data with 55:1 average deduplication: IDPA DP4400 can protect approximately 5PB of usable data capacity. And, with native Cloud Tier for long-term retention, the total protected usable capacity increases to 14.4 PB.

•

Supports largest application ecosystem: Includes support for modern applications such as MySQL and MongoDB, both physical and virtual, and support for multiple hypervisors (VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V).

ruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, announced its Software-Defined Branch (SD-Branch) solution, a new approach designed to help customers modernize branch networks for evolving cloud, IoT and mobility requirements. The integration of new cloud-managed SD-WAN, wired and wireless networking solutions, secured with context-based policy enforcement, significantly advances IT professionals’ ability to deliver improved network availability and application performance, while dramatically reducing management time and operational and capital expenditures. The influx of mobile and IoT devices, greater reliance on cloud-based applications, and shrinking IT budgets are having a profound impact on IT organizations. Branch operators also face increased complexity and inefficiencies with a multiplicity of different tools for

TECH WATCH

managing the network and security from different vendors. Aruba’s SD-Branch solution integrates new Aruba Branch Gateways to provide a single point for SD-WAN, wired and wireless networking, policy enforcement with Aruba’s enhanced Aruba Central cloud management platform to deliver secure, simplified branch connectivity at scale. This purposebuilt, unified solution marks a significant advancement beyond pure-play SD-WAN offerings by delivering reduced device footprint, streamlined deployment of largescale distributed installations, and lower WAN connectivity costs for branch customers. HIGHLIGHTS: • The Cloud-based management of Aruba’s SD-Branch solution provides remote, centralized provisioning and management of wired and wireless connections inside the branch, and WAN and Internet connections with SD-WAN infrastructure. •

Aruba security solutions offer automated, granular intra-branch and WAN policy enforcement capabilities.

• Application, user and device contextual awareness delivers granular QoS within the branch and across the WAN for SaaS, mobile UC, and other remote applications.

AXIS Q35 Series outdoorready fixed dome cameras

ased on top-quality ½” sensors and Axis latest and most advanced image processing, AXIS Q3518-LVE delivers 4K, and the stainless-steel AXIS Q3517-SLVE delivers 5 MP, in 30 fps with outstanding image quality in challenging light conditions. This includes support for Axis OptimizedIR illumination, Forensic WDR and Lightfinder technology. The new models also support Axis awardwinning Zipstream technology, which preserves important details in full image quality, while reducing the storage and bandwidth needs by an average of 50% or more. The advanced AXIS Q35 cameras have been designed to withstand the harshest conditions, with stable operation in extreme temperatures from -50 °C to +60 °C. AXIS Q3517-SLVE features a marine-grade stainless steel casing that is highly resistant to the corrosive effects of salt, detergents and other chemicals. AXIS Q35-LVE/-SLVE cameras are IK10+ rated and have been tested to ensure they can withstand 50 joules of impact. The shock detection feature means they can send an alarm when exposed. The cameras’ electronic image stabilization (EIS) means they provide steady video even during intense vibrations.

HIGHLIGHTS: •

Pre-installed AXIS Motion Guard, AXIS Fence Guard and AXIS Loitering Guard analytics for proactive surveillance

• The use of dynamic overlays to add extra information, such as weather update, to the video feed •

External sensors can be connected to input ports to trigger alarms or actions, and if the connection to a sensor is cut, the camera can send an alarm

•

Relays and other external devices can be connected to outputs to, among others, activate lights, lock/unlock doors

•

If there is a power outage, redundant DC power and Power over Ethernet help ensure a reliable power supply to the cameras

•

Installation is made easy with flexible cable management, optional connection to any conduit and helpful tools such as leveling assistant, auto rotation, remote zoom and focus

SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

MARKET MIRROR

Vertical Tech sensors and autonomous equipment are disrupting a range of industries, including the Infrastructure and Urban Development (IU) industry, and that stakeholders can no longer afford to ignore these fundamental changes.

Digital megatrends will reimagine construction industry Full-scale digitization of the construction industry – including 3D printing, AR and even autonomous construction – could save up to $1.7 trillion globally within 10 years, a new World Economic Forum report shows. The report, Shaping the Future of Construction: Future Scenarios and Implications, is the first ever to integrate consideration of new technologies and trends into three consistent scenarios for the future of

the global engineering and construction industry. Consolidated Contractors Company, a leading global construction company, worked closely with the World Economic Forum and Boston Consulting Group to serve on the initiative and contribute to the report, The report highlights that new digital technologies, such as building information modelling (BIM), 3D printing, wireless

The Member of the Steering Committee for the Future of Construction Initiative, Consolidated Contractors Company Manager M.I.S. & Business Processes Re-engineering, Aref Boualwan, said that these digital technology megatrends were crucial for the industry to meet global needs in the future. “The three futuristic scenarios we identified in the report are extreme, but conceivable – they analyze how multiple current megatrends could establish different versions of a future world. The scenarios – ‘Building in a virtual world’, ‘Factories run the world’ and ‘A green reboot’ are not designed to predict the future – but to help us prepare for emerging trends”, Mr. Boualwan commented. According to the CCC executive, there is little doubt that a realistic version of our future will include elements of all three scenarios identified in the report.

growing need for better customer service and shopping experience, decreasing cost of electronic components, and emerging new technologies create new revenues for retailers. The major restraint for the market is data security and privacy concerns with new advanced technologies.

Smart REtail Market worth 38.51 billion USD by 2023 According to the market research report “Smart Retail Market by application (Visual Marketing, Smart Label, Smart Payment System, Intelligent System (Intelligent Vending Machine, Smart Cart, AR/VR, Interactive Kiosk), Robotics, Analytics), and Geography - Global Forecast to 2023”, The smart retail market is expected to grow from USD 13.07 billion in 2018 to USD 38.51 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 24.12% from 2018 to 2023. Major drivers for the market are the increasing adoption of smartphones, SMART SMB | AUGUST 2018

Of all the applications, the robotics expected to grow at the highest CAGR in the smart retail as robots make shopping experience easier for consumers as it simplifies the process of finding the product one is looking for, as well as manages back-end and shelfkeeping inventory up-to-date for a retailer. Also, the robot uses inventory scanning and auditing software with autonomous navigation capabilities and uses voice recognition software. The hardware market is expected to hold the largest share for smart retail. The higher growth rate of the market for hardware can be attributed to the increasing need for hardware platforms with high computing power to run various AI software for robots and, the presence of major robotics companies that mainly invest in hardware components for use in AI-based robots for smart retail.

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