Publisher's note
Dear reader, We celebrated the 10th edition of the VAR COC Awards in March this year with the winners ceremony being held at the majestic St.Regis
Contents
hotel in Dubai. I am also happy to note that the event saw a large
Pg 4 - Awards overview
turnout of invitees from the industry including the winners.
Pg 8 - The future of Display: AOC
For the past many editions, the awards have endeavored to recognize the best of the industry and the intent towards that
Pg 9 - Innovating for better connectivity: Linksys
objective continues to be resolute. These are the only awards that are
Pg 10 - Competing hard : D-LINK
based on massive online voting from the channel. Over the past two editions, we have also included jury voting with a small percentage
Pg 12 - NAS champion: QNAP Pg 16 - Steady growth: Dell
weightage being considered for their votes. Preceding the voting, we actually go through an exhaustive online nominations process wherein we invite entries form companies that wish to participate in the voting. They also submit collateral documents that support their entries. The process helps enter only relevant nominations into the online voting form. We ensure that we are meticulously doing justice to the process of finding out who have been the best over the year. This has helped the awards stay the most credible in the segment. They are also most relevant as we revise product categories each year based on industry
Pg 18 - Driving advantage with differentiation: Sony Xperia Z5 Premium Pg 22 - Securing the Mobile front: Norton by Symantec Pg 28 - Making strides: Trigon Pg 30 - Bright outlook: New Trend Computer Networks LLC Pg 34 - Snapshots
trends. My congratulations to the deserving winners of the 2016 COC awards. This annual awards compilation highlights the winners and include key interviews that detail out some of the winning strategies in the market. I am hopeful, you will find it an engaging read.
Vivek Sharma
Founder & CEO
VAR marketing Management LLC & JNS Media International MFZE
Publisher: Vivek Sharma Managing Editor: R. Narayan Art Director: Faiz Ahmed
Business Development Manager: Mallika Rego Sr. Sales Manager: R. Subramanyan Business Development Executive: Christopher David Sales Coordinator: Smitha Jithesh
Powered by VAR Magazine
P.O. Box: 121075, Montana Building 404, Zabeel Road, Near GPO, Karama, Dubai-UAE Tel: 04-3705022 Fax: 04-3706639 Disclaimer: While the publishers have made every attempt possible to get accurate information on published content in this handbook they cannot be held liable for any errors herein.
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VAR COC 2016 Awards | Overview
A rousing applause for 2016 VAR COC Awards winners
The 2016 edition of the VAR COC (Choice of channel) Awards concluded on a grand note at a glittering awards ceremony held in the majestic St. Regis hotel in Dubai. This year also marked the 10th edition of the VAR COC Awards, the premier awards for the region’s ICT channel. The awards gala was well attended by the industry’s who’s who. The winning brands received a rousing applause for their stellar performances over the past year. Over the past decade, the awards have come to be regarded as the industry’s most comprehensive recognitions and are much sought after because they echo the channel’s opinion. This year’s awards process was kick started in the beginning of the year with the call for nominations that was communicated industry wide through our print and online communication.
Multiple nominations were received in all categories. Thereafter, relevant entries were entered into the online nomination form. After the nominations process was duly concluded, the online survey form went active and the survey link was communicated to the industry’s most comprehensive channel database in the region. The survey form included all validated nominations. The online poll ran for over three weeks with regular email campaigns that encouraged channel to vote. This enabled this year’s voting process to have the largest number of votes polled vis-à-vis the past years. All voters were instructed to vote on the basis of the Brand's channel commitment, product availability,
pricing, market performance and mindshare. The Brands that emerged with most votes from the survey were frontrunners to win in the respective categories because of the high percentage of weightage given to channel votes. However, besides the channel voting, the final leg of the polling process included votes from an esteemed jury panel of three which consisted of Mr. Krishnamurthy, former MD of Acer Middle east, Mr. Tarek Kuzbari, formed MD of Kaspersky Lab and Mr. Philip Hughes, former GM of APC Middle East. This helped calibrate the overall voting and help adjudge the eventual winners across different categories. Mr. Vivek Sharma, Founder
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VAR COC 2016 Winners List
CEO of VAR marketing LLC and JNS Media International MFZE said, “This year marked a major milestone for the awards which are the longest running in the ICT channel. We have put in place a very substantially comprehensive voting process that helps decide and applaud the deserving winners from among nominated brands in the survey.” While the voting has always seen an increase in the number of votes registered with each year, also adding to the increase is the fact that several of the nominated brands ensured that their reseller partners took part in the voting through their own separate email campaigns. More votes registered mean better validated verdicts and Brands that were able to mobilize a larger part of their own channel to vote had a better probability to emerge with most votes. In summary, the awards finale was a grand culmination of a comprehensive survey process that helped decide brands that have battled in tough market conditions and have endeavored to give their best to the channel and the market. These winning Brands truly deserve their moment of glory for sustaining momentum in the industry.
Projector Brand of the Year
Epson
Printer Brand of the Year
HP
Display Brand of the Year
AOC
Storage Devices Brand of the Year
WD
SOHO Networking Brand of the Year
Linksys
SMB Networking Brand of the Year
D-link
NAS Brand of the Year
Qnap
PC Security Software Brand of the Year
Kaspersky Lab
Laptop Brand of the Year
Dell
Convertible Tablet Brand of the Year
Lenovo
Smartphone with Best Design
LG G4
Smartphone with Best Features
Sony Mobile Xperia Z5 Premium
Best New Smartphone
Oppo F1
Emerging Smartphone Brand of the Year
Magnus
Mobile Security Software Brand of the year Norton Innovative ICT Retailer of the Year
Carrefour
ICT E-tailer of the year
Souq.com
Mobility Distributor of the Year
Redington Gulf
Networking Distributor of the Year
Aptec
Component Distributor of the Year
Musallam Trading
AV Distributor of the Year
Trigon
Retail Distributor of the Year
Asbis
Emerging Distributor of the Year
Prime Technology
Networking Innovations Vendor of the Year TP-Link Storage Innovations Brand of the year
SanDisk
Projector Innovations Brand of the year
Ricoh
Regional Brand of the Year
Touchmate
Visionary ICT Business Group of the Year
Telelink
Networking Reseller of the Year
New Trend Computers
Mobility Reseller of the Year
Computer Care
Champion Reseller of the Year
Promise Gulf
Channel Executive of the Year
Kamran Khayal, AVP, Trigon
Brand of the Year
Dell
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COC Awards 2016
Projector Brand of the year
The Projector Business is one of the dynamic segments in terms of innovations which cater to rising expectations from users. Most vendors have expanded line-ups with new offerings at various price points for different user segments. Epson topped this category as winner courtesy its comprehensive lineup matched by its expanded market reach
Storage Devices Brand of the Year
WD wrested the top honours in the Storage Devices Brand of the Year category, perhaps riding on the advantages of its commitment to stable regional presence along with an exhaustive product range and channel commitment. Among milestones of the past year included the launch of a number of innovation products and solutions targeted to help enterprises.
Printer Brand of the Year
The printer market is seeing continued evolution of new technologies that focus on keeping printing costs on the lower side and quality of print high. HP remains unstoppable in the printer category as it walked away with the Printer Brand of the Year. HP’s innovations include LaserJets with JetIntelligence technology, the smallest, fastest and smartest range of LaserJet.
PC Security Software Brand of the Year
Kaspersky Lab is one of the fastest growing IT security vendors in the world and is firmly positioned as one of the top four leading vendors of security solutions for endpoint users. Kaspersky Lab emerged the winner among all contenders, winning the nod from voters for its impressive products helped by its considerable market presence and channel reach.
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Display Brand of the Year | AOC
AOC was the winner of the Display Brand of the year at the 2016 COC Awards, wresting the top spot from a field of tough competition. Vineeth Sebastien, Regional Sales Director – MEA at AOC and MMD discusses how the company has innovated to stay ahead
Future of Display Discuss the major focus areas for the company’s display products? How is the AOC range different from the Philips range of monitors in terms of positioning as that is a brand that is marketed by MMD? AOC and Philips brands are positioned to reach across all three segments mentioned. AOC range is positioned mainly for the B2C market. They are focused on offering sleek designs and also include models for high end fashion conscious users. We are tying up with Swarovski and Porsche for better design. In addition we intend to take on the gaming market with our Agon 1 and Agon 11 series. Under the Philips range, we have products for B2B customers. Our focus is more on the B2B customers and have specifications to suit the corporate buyer who looks for premium features without compromising on style and luxury.
Are all current available models featuring IPS technology? Our models come with MVA, TN and IPS screens. We have IPS as optional on most of the screen sizes. Discuss the highlights of the Agon range of display screens? AGON is our new series of gaming monitors with very high end gaming features. AOC Agon 1 is flat screen based gaming monitors and Agon 11 is curved screen based gaming monitors. Both come with Gsync and free sync technologies. We see gaming as a growing market especially in southern Africa. Discuss the focus on curved monitors- are they focused on enhanced gaming experience? Our focus is still on flat monitors as we still do not see much of demand for curved monitors especially in the MEA region. Curved monitors
do enhance the overall gaming experience. Besides premium models featuring the latest technologies, discuss the demand and growth in the entry to mid-range models? 20” till 27” is the biggest growing market in this region with entry level screen sizes paving way to these screen sizes. The market is witnessing needs of bigger and higher resolution monitors to cater to app based graphics from mobile devices, laptops etc. You have signed up with Trigon a few months ago. Discus in that context your current distribution channel to address different market of the region? Recently, we have tied up with Trigon is for the AOC brand of monitors after a successful relations we had with Trigon for our Philips range of monitors. Trigon is an ideal distribution partner for the display solutions in Middle Eastern marketplace. The key emphasis for our channel strategy is to foster a healthy and profitable channel that can make reasonable margins across various segments in the region. Is the region price sensitive or do you see the consumers of the GDP richer countries of the GCC willing to spend on premiums that many of the monitors would demand? Certainly the region is price sensitive, even though consumers are willing to spend the extra money on premium monitors. We have witnessed a steady growth for feature rich monitors in the region.
SOHO Networking Brand of the Year | Linksys
Discuss the success of MU-MIMO technology routers since their launch in 2015 in the region? Linksys was the first to pioneer routers with MU-MIMO (MultiUser, Multiple-Input, Multiple Output) technology in May 2015, which ensures uninterrupted Wi-Fi connectivity to all the devices in a home and function as if multiple devices have their own dedicated route. Since its launch, our router sales have tremendously shot up owning over 45 percent of the market share. The popularity of such premium products and the constant product innovation is proof to the success of the MU-MIMO technology. How are you helping drive consumer awareness regarding new technologies offering better performance? At Linksys, we believe that educating consumers is primary for the advancement of a smart home. The ‘Wi-Fi Clinic’ is one of the most recent initiatives conducted across the retail stores in the UAE. It is essentially, a clinic where people can visit to cure their internet headaches. We have highly trained ‘Wi-Fi Doctors’ offering expert advise to customers making sure their home networks are fit and healthy. Other ongoing initiatives include experiential tech benches, in-store Planograms, kiosks and online videos, which educate customers on the right products based on their usage criteria. We are dedicated to enhance the consumer experience and will continue make investments to educate our customers.
Linksys edged out its competition and with the great technologies such as MU-MIMO that it is bringing to market, it is a deserving winner as the SOHO Networking Brand of the Year. Amanulla Khan, MD, Linksys, Middle East, Turkey & Africa discusses the Brand’s focus on new technologies.
Innovating for better connectivity What were the new technologies showcased at the CES launch and when are some of these likely to made available in the region? The new Linksys MAX-STREAM lineup was announced at CES 2016 in Las Vegas, leveraging the next generation of Wi-Fi - 802.11ac Wave 2 MU-MIMO. The new range of products include EA7500 - MAX-STREAM AC1900 Dual Band and EA9500 - MAXSTREAM AC5400 Tri-Band routers which aim to elevate the consumer experiences for connected families and was launched in March in the Middle East along with the Linksys Dual Band AC750 Wireless Access Point (WAP750AC). The new access point will help extend the home Wi-Fi signal throughout the home for better connectivity and performance in hard to reach areas. Linksys has also expanded its MU-MIMO portfolio, for the connected homes to include a range extender
and a USB adapter Now in June, we have the launch of the ‘next big thing’ in home networking. Award-winning industry firsts are set to include Linksys MAX-STREAM AC5400 TriBand Wi-Fi Router with MU-MIMO (EA9500) routers with Smart Wi-Fi Software applications, one of the most powerful tri-band routers on the market, which delivers premium business-grade connectivity to the home, and the first MU-MIMO enabled USB adapter the Linksys MAX-STREAM AC600 USB MU-MIMO Adapter (WUSB6100M) that upgrade Wi-Fi technology in smart devices. Also launching is the first range extender with next-generation AC Wave 2 technology - MU-MIMO the Linksys MAX-STREAM AC1900+ MUMIMO Wi-Fi Range Extender (RE7000) that provide greater performance with seamless roaming that eliminate Wi-Fi blackspots in the region.
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SMB Networking Brand of the Year | D-Link
Discuss how the SMB strategy of D-Link is paying off in terms of making inroads? With every year, we’re increasing our reach in the SMB segment, delivering a wide range of networking equipment such as Switches, Unified Wi-Fi Solutions, IP Surveillance Solutions, IP Telephony, UTM Security and Structured Cabling Solutions. Due to our extensive product selection, many system integrators partnered with D-Link and we have been very successful in deploying numerous projects in the past years. In the context of the challenges in the market, do you think SMB customers are still making significant investments in ICT and especially networking? D-Link plays a major role in providing our SMB networking solutions in various business scenarios, one of them would be supplying our products for start-up businesses in the region, and another one would be implementing end-to-end networking equipment for business/ network expansions. Our product reliability – being one of the oldest, existing networking vendors; this month we are celebrating our 30 years anniversary - along with the attractive pricing, has new customers approaching us, and existing customers coming back for renewed products and services. How are your key partners responding to your focused SMB strategy? Our partners respond well to our support systems in place. They frequently promote the D-Link brand in their projects, and some of our
Competing hard D-Link emerged the winner of the SMB networking brand of the year. Sakkeer Hussain - Sales & Marketing Director at D-Link Middle East & Africa discusses how the company has increased its focus in the SMB segment and is working closely with the channel partners even grow to that extent that we delightedly observe them reinforcing their support teams. To increase their level of confidence, we have made it one of our priorities to endow them with the needed skills and expertise by holding regular trainings. Would you be looking to expand the SMB channel base in different GCC markets? Yes, we will be further expanding our reach in the region. We would like to make sure that D-Link SMB Solutions will be available throughout the region. What are the structured channel benefits for your SMB partners?
There are many benefits we are providing to our partners, some of them would be “locking” of registered deals, designing BOQ’s, POC at site, Site surveys, technical trainings, demo materials and on-time RMA support. How expansive is your SMB portfolio – please discuss in brief? D-Link offers a vast range of SMB networking solutions. Our portfolio provides the answer for nearly all possible end-to-end networking setups. From Switching, to Security, to Structured Cabling Solutions, we have SMBs covered. Within each product line, the latest technologies and updates are being launched frequently, in line with the newest technology standards.
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NAS Brand of the Year | QNAP
You have a range of NAS solutions for Home and SOHO segments. Discuss actual demand growth in this region from home to soho users? Are more home users taking up NAS storage solutions instead of mere external drives? QNAP has started operating Dubai office from 2015 onwards and since then we have seen the NAS market grow significantly. We are now providing better marketing and support here for users. Based on the successes we have achieved in EU and the USA, we are hopeful the Middle East market holds huge potential. People here are more eager to learn about new technologies. As a leading NAS brand, we understand we have to play the important role of information delivery and driving awareness of NAS technologies. We have seen our efforts bearing success with the end user market showing growth and this growth should continue. How many NAS solutions do you offer for home and soho users and do they start up from 4 TB onwards? QNAP NAS products provide data store, data backup and data sharing by network functionalities. They also provide home video & audio entertainment, underlying the fact that NAS is not only for storage. Home users typically opt for the 2 bay or 4 bay NAS, offering storage from 4TB up to 24TB, but 8TB and 16TB are also popular solutions. As they scale from 4 TB to 32 TB I believe, discuss if there are home users who opt for 32 TM solutions
NAS champion According to a research report, NAS market growth will be primarily driven by the increase in the number of home and small business networks, continued data explosion, and the growing need for data backup and archiving. QNAP, the 2016 winner of the NAS brand of the Year at the COC Awards is a company that has a strong legacy in manufacturing and is making strong inroads through its channel. Tim Chen, Sales Manager- QNAP Dubai Office discusses the company’s focus on growing the NAS market in the region
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and ready to pay a premium for effective NAS storage? Yes, there are some power user will scale up their NAS capacity in short time, because of huge volumes of video and photo files. QNAP is aware of this situation and so we have a storage extension device wherein there is no need to purchase a new NAS when user needs more capacity. You offer some solutions including the fanless range meant for home users. Discuss if you are selling these products through channel and through large retailers? How are fanless solutions different – are they priced more than regular solutions? The fanless model HS-251+ was created as a silent NAS solution that allows users to enjoy files and media with no distractions, providing a perfect match for home theatre enthusiasts and audiophiles looking to maximize their audiovisual experience and users who wish to constantly run their systems without any background noise. Coupled with the support of HDMI connectivity for 1080p video playback and hardware transcoding capability, the HS-251+ is an ideal companion at home for multimedia entertainment. We are dealing with power retailers now but are planning to launch QNAP in power retailer channel soon. How do you recommend the right NAS solutions for consumers? For instance, not all buyers may come on website and do the selection and
“As a leading NAS brand, we understand we have to play the important role of information delivery and driving awareness of NAS technologies.”
they may need consultation at the stores from where they are looking to buy? Since NAS features are rich, so we educate shop sales regarding the NAS main features that will help them to explain to users. If users need more information, the shop sales will guide the user as to where he or she can get more information. For instance, we have the official facebook, Youtube channel, blog and QNAP official forum and users can even search for information on the internet as tyere is a lot of literature and video content available that has been uploaded by some power users of QNAP products. Are your NAS solutions application rich? What are these applications? While the main features of a NAS is data store, sharing and backup, QNAP offers more. The QNAP app center is installed on every NAS device. Users can download QNAP app for free, as like online video player for
entertainment, home surveillance station, virtualization station, FTP station, website server station and so. Discuss the focus on the SMB range of solutions? Many SMB users buy QNAP for office data store and backup. They store and backup all PC & laptop data to QNAP NAS directly and can also backup through Windows server to QNAP. QNAP offers built-in free remote file sharing, FTP station, website server, print server…etc which can save user budgets when they create a new office. Discuss your focus on solutions for different verticals including surveillance and healthcare? Is the SMB business growing at a strong pace in the region? Some governments like Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Kuwait have special requests for public Video Surveillance project that demand 90-120 days video recording. So system integrators need the external storage solution from 30 days to 120 days. QNAP NAS is the right solution for such scenarios as we provide up to 1,200 TB with one cluster, enough for big video surveillance project 120days recording. In healthcare industry, as they are open 24/7 and so system should work 24/7 as well. It is a challenge for their IT manager to have High Availability system. QNAP NAS helps address this with its multiple High Availability solution to make storage system work by 24/7 and never lose important data.
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COC Awards 2016
Convertible Tablet Brand of the Year
The popularity of detachable devices that are able to serve as both a laptop and a tablet is on the rise and has given a fresh lease of life to mobility segment. The winner in this category is Lenovo that has a strong focus in this segment, especially with its quite Yoga series that meets demand from consumer and commercial segment users.
Best New Smartphone
This award goes to a smartphone that has a range of exceptional new features, is great on price and is already selling actively in the region through multiple channels. The winning brand in this category is OPPO F1, which is arguably seeing sales picking up at a very rapid pace, also benefitting from the "Selfie Expert" campaign the manufacturer has been running.
Smartphone with Best Design
LG G4 was the winner among the nominees of the category. Introduced across the region in May 2015, the G4 raised the bar with its handcrafted leather coated cover. Its leather finish and brilliant edge-to-edge 5.5 inch Quantum display provides an unsurpassed visual experience and a sleek sophisticated design.
Emerging Smartphone Brand of the Year
The Award is a recognition for a Brand that is relatively new and is making significant inroads in terms of retail visibility with a sizable portfolio of models that target a wide customer base. The winner of this category Magnus, a brand that has tied up with retailers and with telecom and is building up wider visibility and reach.
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Laptop Brand of the Year | Dell
STEADY GROWTH Laptops have their secured space in the workplace and at home and remains a strong segment and Dell, the winner of the category continues to offer a strong range of models. Shams Hasan, Enterprise Product Manager, Middle East at Dell Middle East discusses the trends in the market and how Dell has kept up leadership. Discuss the overall outlook in the region for laptops? The overall Middle East regional laptop segment saw a decline in CY2016 Q1; this was expected with delays in budget planning in both the public and private sector at the beginning of the year. At Dell though both the PC category and Dell’s laptop PC business are very much alive and well. We’ve seen strong QoQ and YoY growth in the laptops category generally; and in particular in the government and education sector. In both these sectors we hold the #1 rank.
lineup of powerful, VR-optimized products at this year’s E3 in Los Angeles. Currently celebrating its 20th anniversary as a pioneer in specialty high-performance PC gaming systems, Alienware offers new solutions targeted at gamers looking for the best experiences in PC gaming and virtual reality. Some of the products geared to gamers looking to take advantage of the VR experience include the new Alienware Aurora desktop, the new Alienware Alpha compact desktop, and one of the most revered performance PCs of all time the Alienware Area-51 desktop.
Are any VR enabled laptops being offered by Alienware? Alienware has rolled out a fierce new
Discuss if the ultrabook segment continues to see strong demand? The HPB Ultrabook segment is one
of the strongest segments for Dell, one in which we took the #1 position end of CY2015, and grew the #1 gap further Q1 of CY2016. In this segment the new Dell Latitude 13 7000 series is one of the strongest players in the market today: the world’s smallest 13-inch business-class laptop with an InfinityEdge display, featuring an aluminum or optional carbon fiber LCD back for incredible durability, and comes in a 2-in-1 configuration as well allowing Customers to take advantage of both business and tablet form factors if they want to. This product has gathered some of strong reviews already in the market as well – Computer Shopper Best of CES 2016: Best Business Laptop, TechRadar, PCmag,
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Smartphone with Best Features | Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
Driving advantage with differentiation Sony Xperia Z5 Premium was the winner of the category ‘Smartphone with Best Features’ in the 2016 VAR COC Awards. Gita Ghaemmaghami, Regional Marketing Communications Manager & Head of PR at Sony Mobile Communications MEA discusses trends and strategy for the company in the region.
Is the market demand for feature rich smartphones growing in the region? The Middle East is a region which has exhibited and continues to exhibit strong growth and the fundamentals of its economy indicate that its potential will remain buoyant. The region has young and tech savvy consumers who are brand conscious, seeking premium products. UAE specifically is an important market as it is a hub and trendsetter for the rest of the region. The region has always been very important for Sony Mobile and we look forward to continued growth with the help of our distribution and retail partnerships in Middle East and Africa. What is the company’s outlook on demand vis-a-vis challenges also related to the stiff competition from other top brands? We will continue to differentiate
our products by leveraging Sony assets such as our leading camera technologies, and we will also continue to innovate technologies, applications, and user experiences that deliver new value to customers. In addition, with Sony’s unique spirit of innovation, we will pursue new business opportunities wherever possible to bring forth new products and services that enrich users’ lives through the new means of communication they make possible. Enhancing relationship with operators, distributors and retailers in market is one of our priorities to provide best experiences for our consumers. Discuss the brand’s focus on the premium segment vis-a-vis the midrange or the entry segment phones market? Each segment plays a role in meeting the demands of the market and
bringing alternatives to consumers, our strategy is to focus on Premium and mid segments. Our premium range of smartphones, the Xperia X Series and Xperia Z5 series are very popular for its sleek design and its premium look and top of the range performance. We have also introduced a mid-range smartphone, Xperia XA/ XA Ultra, which offers consumers great features of the Xperia Z5 and Xperia X series at an economical price range. What have been recent launches by Xperia in the premium segment and are the current flagship models for the company in the region? Xperia X has been launched in the GCC starting June, we have also announced Xperia X and Xperia XA Ultra at the mid segment which are expected to be available in the region in July/August.
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What are the standout features in some of your current and new top end models? The Xperia X features Sony's unique camera technology, Predictive Hybrid Autofocus, which allows you to track an object, and then cleverly predicts its movement to give clear, blur-free shots. So, even if one can’t predict where the shot is headed, the smartphone can. Also it incorporates Sony’s smart battery management to deliver up to two days battery life . Not only will it keep the phone running far longer after one charge, but the Xperia X will deliver up to two times battery lifespan where most smartphone batteries quickly decline in strength, using its groundbreaking Qnovo Adaptive charging which maintains battery health while charging. With Xperia XA consumers can enjoy a curved glass display
that seamlessly meets its rounded frame; Xperia XA is as pleasing to the eye, as it is to the hand. It features a distinctive and beautifully integrated edge-to-edge display that stretches over the full width of the phone, to make full use of the 5” display. How is the X range different from the Z series of phones in terms of range and market positioning? Also discuss positioning of the other series? The X series is a brand new concept under the new brand vision which sets it apart from our previous range of not only the Xperia Z series, but also our entry and mid-range series line-ups. With the direction and vision focusing on enriching people’s lives through new intelligent communication, it was only fitting the latest range was differentiated by a new series name. How is Sony addressing VR
technologies in phones? Do you see VR as a factor that can help improve demand for new phones? There is no doubt that VR has became a new trend in current technologies however I would not be able to comment on utilizing VR in our smartphones for time being. How frequently does the company refresh flagship models? We do look at the consumers & market demand and we continue to provide consumers with latest innovation and technology. What are expected new launches before the year ends? We would not be able to confirm the future possibilities of our product line-up; we have entered a new chapter of our Xperia brand by launching new Xperia X series at MWC.
Re-imagined Xperia brand At the Mobile World Congress earlier this year, Sony Mobile Communications (“Sony Mobile”) unveiled a new-look XperiaTM brand with the first “X” series smartphones. The Xperia X series embodies Sony Mobile’s new brand vision through adding new layers of intelligent technology across popular and acclaimed Xperia features: camera, battery and design, to make every day smarter and simpler. The next generation Xperia camera takes spontaneous capture to another level allowing you to shoot in sharp focus, even for spurof-the-moment shots. The all-new Predictive Hybrid Autofocus in Xperia X and Xperia X Performance
is developed in close collaboration with Sony’s camera engineers, it lets you choose your subject and then predicts its motion, so you can capture the action in perfect focus, free from blur. Xperia X series incorporates Sony’s smart battery management to deliver up to two days battery life. Not only will it keep your phone running for longer from one charge, Xperia X series benefits from a battery lifespan that’s up to twice as long with Qnovo’s Adaptive Charging technology and Sony’s smart battery management system. Each phone is powered to make the most of their advanced capabilities, with Xperia X featuring the Qualcomm
Snapdragon 650 processor and Xperia X Performance introducing the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor for ultra-fast connectivity. Each X series smartphone brings a curved glass display within a rounded, continuous frame for a familiar form that feels comfortable in your hand. The unified design concept is also extended to Xperia XA, which features a stunning edge-to-edge display to integrate seamlessly into your life. Xperia X, Xperia X Performance and Xperia XA each have a range of matching Style Covers and will roll out in four elegant finishes; White, Graphite Black, Lime Gold and Rose Gold, from Summer 2016.
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COC Awards 2016
Innovative ICT Retailer of the Year
The recognition goes to the power retailer that has built a strong all around ICT retail portfolio, has a widespread network of stores, is innovative with strategies and is believed to be a top destination for prospective buyers of Technology products in the region. Carrefour was the winner of the category.
Mobility Distributor of the Year
The award recognizes the distributor who includes a strong portfolio of Mobility products and is associated with the Technology leaders in the space. The distributor is recognized for its extensive portfolio of Brands and products as well as its extensive reach into the retail and reseller channel across the region. Redington Gulf emerged the winner in this category.
ICT E-tailer of the Year
Online purchases of technology products continue to see a steady rise in the region and the segment now has multiple players present. From several nominations received, the winner of the category for the second straight year was Souq.com.
Networking Distributor of the Year
Aptec is one of the leading distributors of Networking products and Networking solutions in MEA region with its current distribution agreements including vendors like Cisco, HP networking, 3M, APC by Schneider Electric, Avaya, Brocade, Emerson, Juniper, D-Link, Linksys. The distributor yet again was declared winner of the Networking Distributor of the Year.
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Mobile Security Software Brand of the Year | Norton by Symantec
Norton by Symantec emerged the winner of the Mobile Security Software Brand of the Year category at the COC Awards 2016. Tamim Taufiq, Head of Middle East Partnerships, Norton by Symantec discusses some of the technology highlights of its solution as well as the inroads the product has made in the following interview
Securing the Mobile front Discuss if more number of smartphone users are aware and buying mobile security software. According to the independent market research company eMarketer, the UAE has the highest per capita mobile phone penetration, estimated at 80.6 percent of the population. However, there isn’t a widespread awareness amongst the smartphone users about protecting their devices. In fact, according to the Norton Cybersecurity Insights Report, nearly one in four consumers use devices that have not been protected (22 percent) and three in four do not have security software installed on their smartphone (77
percent). The research also indicated that 73 percent of UAE consumers feel the chance of experiencing online crime is significant enough to worry about. Our findings demonstrate that the reality of cybercrime still hasn’t led to widespread adoption of simple, yet secure protection measures. As cyber-crime continues to infiltrate into our everyday lives, it’s vital that consumers in the Middle East protect themselves and their devices with robust security technologies. How has the growth been for Norton by Symantec in terms of mobile security products? Which is the
latest version product in mobile security from Norton? Norton by Symantec is the leading global cybersecurity company, and given our robust mobile security offerings and competitive pricing, our products are well-loved by our customers. Our business continues to do well and grow across the region. The Middle East is a strategically important market for Norton and we are working closely with our partners and resellers to expand our footprint in the market. Our award-winning flagship service, Norton Security, allows consumers the flexibility to choose
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between tiers of service that match their personal security needs and across a myriad of devices they use. It delivers multi-layered protection in an easy-to-use subscription service and leveraging one of the world’s largest threat-monitoring networks, Norton Security helps defend against the most sophisticated attacks across multiple platforms including Windows PCs, Macs, Android smartphones and tablets, iPhones and iPads. In addition, we also have an award-winning mobile specific product, Norton Mobile Security that proactively blocks suspicious applications before download and, in case of theft or loss, allows customers to remotely locate and lock their device and wipe the data if needed. Fake apps and phishing – are these among the more prevalent threats in smartphone usage? Malware and other risks on mobile platforms continue to grow as adoption of mobile devices increases worldwide. According to Symantec’s 2016 Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR), Android users were highly targeted with phishing and ransomware in the last year. Notably, cybercriminals attacking mobile devices are becoming highly sophisticated. In addition to using familiar tricks, such as hiding malicious codes inside ostensibly legitimate apps, attackers are using more organized techniques to make money from their victims. For instance, the latest Android
“Our business continues to do well and grow across the region. The Middle East is a strategically important market for Norton and we are working closely with our partners and resellers to expand our footprint in the market.”
target platforms with the largest user bases and many consumers are unaware of the potential hazards. Hence, the best way for smartphone users to thwart cyberattacks is educate themselves on the potential threats lurking on their device and take simple but adequate preventive measures to protect their digital lives. Some easy ways that users can protect themselves is ensure that they use secure, private connections; only share personal information on trusted, secure websites; and use robust security solutions across their devices.
ransomware copies Google’s design style to make it appear more legitimate and intimidating when it displays fake FBI warnings on users’ lockscreens. Symantec’s Norton Mobile Insight report revealed that of the 10.8 million apps it analysed, 30.5 percent of the apps (3.3 million) were classified as malicious while 27.7 percent (3 million) were identified as containing grayware (programs that do not contain viruses or malware but is annoying or even harmful to the user). Grayware increased 30 percent y-o-y in large part to a 77 percent rise in apps containing unwanted madware (mobile adware). On the other hand, total apps classified as malicious increased 200 percent y-o-y. A key reason mobile devices are vulnerable is that cybercriminals
What happens in case someone loses a smartphone - how can data on it remain protected or erased remotely with Norton? Smartphones and tablets are integral to our digital lives so, there’s nothing scarier than losing one’s device! More than half of the Millennials surveyed for the Norton Cybersecurity Insights Report stated that they know someone that has had their mobile device stolen. Luckily, the Norton Mobile Security includes features like Remote Locate and Anti-theft, both of which are useful in cases where a user loses their smartphone or tablet. The Remote Locate helps pinpoint lost or stolen Android, iPad or iPhone on a map while the Anti-Theft feature remotely locks and wipes the personal information on lost or stolen device to prevent anyone from accessing it.
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COC Awards 2016
Component Distributor of the Year
While PC components may seem to be on the decline, specialized segments including gaming continues to provide demand for components. The shortlist included distribution companies with a strong portfolios of components. Musallam Trading emerged as the winner from amongst the shortlisted nominations garnering maximum votes.
Emerging Distributor of the Year
This Award recignises a distributor that is seen as fast rising in its profile and association with leading brands across a wide range of product lines. Prime Technology was the winner in the category.
Retail Distributor of the Year
The shortlist included distributors which have a strong retail focus as well as an extensive retail friendly portfolio to offer. The winner of the category this year was Asbis Middle East, one of the leading distributors of the region that has for long held a formidable portfolio of brands and has good reach into retail channels.
Networking Innovations Vendor of the Year
The award for the Brand that introduced significant innovations in the category/ product line from nomination entries went to TP-LINK, a vendor that has emerged among the top three networking brands in the region’s channel. TP-Link has been redrawing the industry’s landscape in the region with an exhaustive range of networking products.
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AV Distributor of the Year | Trigon
Please discuss current major areas of focus for the company? There is more focus on the retail Business and we are expanding retail related product line. We are also focusing more on growing the B2B Business (SME segment) and have an expanded product line related to vertical segments like healthcare, hospitality, financial sector etc. Discuss how you have strengthened the focus on the AV segment? During 2015, Trigon put a strong emphasis on strengthening its Display / AV division. A new partnership agreement was signed with LG Electronics for Digital Signage products thus enhancing the overall display brand portfolio since Trigon has existing relationship with Samsung and ELO Touch systems. In 2015, Trigon floated a dedicated division to focus on Digital Signage business segment. Trigon realized that creating and distributing content via digital signage serves as an effective marketing tool, which is expected to spur adoption in the corporate sector and hence a dedicated business unit was
Making strides The awards recognizes a distributor that has a strong focus in terms of AV products in its portfolio. Trigon emerged the channel’s choice for this category with maximum votes as the distributor goes about consolidating its focus in this segment. Arun Chawla, CEO at Trigon elaborates on some key strategies set-up. This resulted in a growth of 50% higher revenues during 2015 compared to 2014 from the SI / Corporate segment. What were the other major additions in terms of partnerships? We joined hands with Philips & AOC for Displays during Q2-2015. Trigon signed distribution agreement with Philips displays as the authorised distributor for its entire range of monitors across GCC countries including UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The relationship strengthened Trigon’s product portfolio and cements Trigon’s positon as a dominant display technology company and open up new business avenues like healthcare where Philips has a strong presence. We have also signed up with PNY
for Accessories for smart phones & iphones, SSD and storage. We have signed up with Man & Machine for distribution of Medical Keyboards & Mice, Tangent- Medical related IT hardware. These are targeting the Healthcare segment Discuss updates on your vertical focus strategy? Last year, Trigon recruited additional new resources for sales and pre-sales to address the key vertical markets like Education, Healthcare, Hospitality & Retail and to provide consulting services to these businesses. Also, 8 additional technical engineers were employed to provide on-site after sales support. Major projects were awarded to Trigon during 2015 in the field of Retail, Hospitality and Healthcare.
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COC Awards 2016
Storage Innovations Brand of the year
SanDisk, the winning brand in this category is recognized for continuing to introduce significant innovations. SanDisk has dominated the flash storage market for years and continues to offer new innovations. Its recent innovations include the SanDisk Connect Wireless Stick, and the 200GB SanDisk Ultra microSDXC UHS-I Card.
Regional Brand of the Year
This category recognizes a brand that has originated from this region and has expanded its presence and visibility considerably. Touchmate, the winner yet again in this category has expanded and consolidated over the year, especially in the Mobility range of products while continuing to strengthen the rest of its exhaustive range.
Projector Innovations Brand of the year
This is an award for the Brand that introduced significant innovations in the category/ product line from nomination entries. Ricoh, the winning brand in the category is a manufacturer that has a strong legacy of innovations and has recently introduced laser light source projectors.
Visionary ICT Business Group of the Year
This award recognises a diversified regional Business group in ICT that has made strong inroads in the past year in several areas. The award was won by Telelink, an ambitious group of companies that has in recent past made inroads in retail and channel distribution and has tied up with telecom companies as well as is successfully promoting its own mobility brand.
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Networking Reseller of the Year | New Trend Computer Networks LLC
The award recognizes one of the leading reseller company perceived to be among the top few in the channel on reselling of networking products and a portfolio of several leading brands. Ashok Kumar, CEO and Managing Director of NEW TREND COMPUTER NETWORKS LLC, the winner of this year’s award discusses the reseller company’s strong forte in networking business and the bright outlook he sees for the segment
Bright outlook Discuss how networking business is a key segment for IT business despite slowdown in other segments? Networking plays a key role in IT infrastructure and in fact we are seeing a lot of migration from the traditional network to the latest technologies from Business and consumer segment customers. In today’s context, wireless technologies have advanced a lot and are faster than wired networks. At the same time the advent of IOT is expected to create new capabilities, richer experiences, and unprecedented economic opportunity for businesses and individuals. For the foreseeable
period ahead, networking industry has a bright outlook. Which are the major networking brands you do business with? We are quite focused in networking business for long and have partnered with most leading brands and some of them for a very long time. Our current partnerships are with Cisco, D-Link, Linksys, Netgear, HP, TP-Link, EnGenius, Asus, UBiQUiTi , Dell Sonicwall, Brocade and Huawei. Do you sell networking products for both SMB and consumer segments? Yes we address both the segments and we make sure to understand
their distinct requirements and help with the right solutions accordingly. We see lot of opportunities with the consumer segments as every consumer needs a fast and secured network. Do you see the SMB as a growing business opportunity for you? Have you built a SMB sales team? The number of small and medium businesses (SMBs) are growing across the Middle East. In fact, the sector plays an important role in the UAE’s well-diversified economy. Considering the rapid growth of SMBs, there is an increased competition within the sector. SMBs are more dependent
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on technology now than ever before. We do have a separate team addressing SMB requirements. We have partnered with leading Network vendors such as Cisco, D-Link, Linksys, UBiQUiTi and Netgear with custom made SMB bundles. These are tailored by us to address the small and medium customers. In the networking products portfolio, which are the products most selling (routers, extenders, access points, switches etc? Routing, Switching, Wireless and Security has been our main focus areas. We are seeing a huge potential opportunity on customers migrating there old fast Ethernet network to Gigabit network and at the same instance, wireless is another key area where we see huge migration with the user’s growing hunger for better speed. We have done many wireless AC migration workshops and campaigns to communicate and inform our existing base of customers about the technology’s benefits offering them rich experience and seamless connectivity. Do you also sell PoE smart home devices such as a smart plug from the vendors you partner with? Have these products seen demand or is the demand quite marginal? We do sell Smart Home devices and we have partnered with Cisco D-Link, UBiQUiTi ,Securifi TP-Link for these products. Our partnership with some of the smart home automation integrators has enabled us to support with multiple vendor options and with
“We are planning to extend our presence in Gulf and in discussion to open our showrooms in Oman and Qatar by end of FY16. We are also looking to set up a new team focusing on cloud and Virtualization”
so many connected devices, network stability is the foundation for every smart home. It’s not just a “nice to have,” it’s a requirement. Discuss if you also do business in other areas like security, storage, systems etc? The threat of hackers and cybercriminals is very real, for large companies and small businesses alike. That means that business owners must accept that a strong cyber-defense system is a must in the modern business world. The good news is that there are lots of security firms out there willing to help and our strategic partnership with Cisco, Fortinet, Dell SonicWall and Huawei help addressed these requirements. Has the current year been a year of growth for your business? Comment
elaborately. FY16 has been great so far and we are very optimistic for the rest of the year. We have had good growth QOQ compared to last year. Especially Networking has been good and we have seen a 23% growth across all the leading vendors. SMB projects have been key to our revenue growth and having dedicated team has produced positive outcomes. The first half of FY16 has been really fantastic. With the expansion of our business in gulf we are seeing some good results and the channel breadth. We have always been a top player in networking and are holding at least 30% market share across key vendors. Have you introduced new networking range or partnered with any new vendor? Surveillance is another key segment we would be focusing and we are in talks with SAMSUNG,Axix, Huawei and HIK vision to bring solutions to market. Discuss any new initiatives that you have executed in the year or plan to? We are planning to extend our presence in Gulf and in discussion to open our showrooms in Oman and Qatar by end of FY16. We are also looking to set up a new team focusing on cloud and Virtualization. Adding presales engineers to our sales team will enable them to address some urgent requirements on time. An app based both on IOS and android will be launched soon to get quotes and check stocks and the app will also alert on new products and any flash sale.
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COC Awards 2016
Mobility Reseller of the Year
This award recognizes a reseller that has had the vision to include a focus on mobility products for several years now and has continued to expand through association with leading brands and expansion of outlets. Computer care is the winner of the Mobility Reseller of the Year Award in recognition of its successful focus on Mobility products.
Channel Executive of the Year
This Award was presented to Kamran Khayal, AVP at Trigon, an industry veteran who has been one of the key leaders at his company over the years. The award recognizes his contribution to his company’s continuing success in the distribution channel.
Champion Reseller of the Year
The award goes to the Reseller company that was perceived to be a top performer in sales and profitable growth, comprehensive in terms of product portfolios offered across multiple domains, was associated with top brands and remained steadfast to Best practices. Promise Technology LLC, one among the top resellers in the region’s channel was the winner of this award.
Brand of the Year
The winning brand is recognized for having strengthened its presence in the region’s retail market through successful execution of go to market strategies. And for continuing to achieve success and growth on multiple products fronts in the region over the year, the brand of the year recognition went to Dell.
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VAR COC Awards 2016 | Snapshots