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PA G E S 4 8
VOLUME O4 | ISSUE 06
JANUARY 2017
WWW.ENTERPRISECHANNELSMEA.COM
2017THE YEAR OF
INTEGRATED
GROWTH
A year that is ripe with
expectations of organic
growth and massive changes.
Sophisticated technologies
and a mature platform
would make way for nave
enterprises to embark on
digital transformation. /24
INDIAECM012017
For Enquiries:
Rittal Middle East FZE
PO Box 17599, Dubai, UAE I Tel: +971-4-3416855 I Email: emanuel.i@rittal-middle-east.com
FUTURE IT
SUMMIT 2017
CATCH THE TREND
A very happy new year to all the readers, friends and colleagues!
Like every year, 2017 too has come with its own share of expectations, predictions and resolutions
Hello for the global economy.
Though it would be worth a wait to see how the Trump rule will impact the global economy, it is
2017! worth stating that the Middle East is undisputedly poised for strong growth, keeping in mind all the
structural transformations that are happening in the physical infrastructure. Countries like KSA,
Qatar, Bahrain and UAE are standing on the threshold of organic growth driven by the visionary
leaderships.
Digitalization has emerged as the new mandate in 2016, leaving its Midas touch on all
sectors. The need for automated and connected enterprises have risen like never before,
which in turn pinched the technology providers and the channel partners to work towards
a common goal and bring in the best of both the worlds. According to IDC, the servers
and external storage market that comprise the enterprise infrastructure, suffered a 7%
YoY decline in Q3 the reason being the Middle East affected by the low oil prices and
Africa hampered by the currency depreciation. The need for customizing and optimiz-
ing the available resources will be yet again seen pushing the Digitization down the
nervous system of the modern enterprise. Virtualization would once again see ruling 2017
enterprises.
The Critical Infrastructure Forum, organized by EC MEA, also mirrored the growth
and pullbacks existing in the regional infrastructure and its varied sectors. On one hand,
S A N J AY M O H A PAT R A
we have future-ready projects like Hyperloop One that is set to redefine next-gen transportation, while
S A N J AY @ A C C E N T I N F O M E D I A . C O M
on the other hand we have great initiatives like Shjseen (Sharjah Seen) by the Sharjah Chamber of
Commerce and Industry that is empowering new organizations to thrive and succeed in the modern
economy.
With a great interest around cloud solutions and intelligence driven architectures, 2017 would
definitely bring in fresh wave of changes in traditional enterprises. While CIOs should not shy away
from adopting new technologies, they should definitely see its compatibility within their organiza-
tional structure. Any technology should be Adopted and not Pushed. Solutions and service providers
should take this resolution in 2017 to take showcase the value in their solutions rather than selling the
solutions. The IT fraternity will have to keep this in mind that growth in 2017 would be cohesive and
not in isolation.
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04 JA N U A R Y 2017
MEA
COVER STORY
VOLUME 04
ISSUE 06
JANUARY 2017
W W W. E N T E R P R I S E C H A N N E L S M E A . C O M
2017 CONTENTS
MY OPINION /35
EDITORIAL :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 04
PARTNER READY
FOR 2017 CHANNEL STREET :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 06
OMAR AKHTAR, GROWTH OF SI MARKET :::::::::::::::::::::::: 32
REGIONAL CHANNEL
INNOVATIONS :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 45
MANAGER - MIDDLE
EAST & SAARC AT VEEAM
SOFTWARE
ADVERTISER INDEX: RITTAL 02, FITS 2017 03, NEXANS 07, BULWARK 09, FINESSE 11, CATALYST 13, PURESTORAGE 15, HID 17, MINDWARE DELL 19,
GENOME 21, CES 23, MINDWARE VXRAIL 29, VEEAM 47, DELL 48
JA N U A R Y 2017 05
MEA
CHANNEL
STREET
PEGASUS SIGNS
MOU WITH DUBAI
POLICE
Pegasus, a DarkMatter company, has
entered a Memorandum of Understand-
ing (MoU) with Dubai Police to provide
a comprehensive Big Data platform on
which custom analytic solutions will be
developed to help solve and prevent crime
and make citizens safer. Pegasus Big Data
Platform is capable of processing billions
of data points per day to power a variety
of analytic solutions that generate critical
insights in near real-time. In relation to the
MoU with Dubai Police, Pegasus will assist
Police authorities to maintain safety and
security by applying both technology tools
and professional services to create a holistic
ecosystem for producing high-value
and high-impact information to drive
decision-making. Peng Xiao, Pegasus Chief
Executive Officer, said, We are honored
06 JA N U A R Y 2017
MEA
LANmark ENSPACE
Make room for scalability
Nexans offers smart solutions for reducing 144 LC connections in a 1U panel and
fibre cabling hassle and density. LANmark up to 576 connections in a 4U without
ENSPACE panels feature three individual compromising efficiency of patching.
sliding trays per U with finger tip access. Make room for scalability.
Middle East Regional Office -1703, Jumeirah Bay Tower - X3 - Jumeirah Lake Towers
P.O.Box 634339, Dubai - UAE - Tel: +971 4 369 7007 - w w w.nexans.com/LANsystems
08 JA N U A R Y 2017
MEA
CHANNEL STREET
IN PUBLIC
6
and visitors to Dubai can enjoy benefits
of 121 smart initiatives and 1,129 smart
SECONDS
services that are making Dubai a new global
benchmark for smart city experiences..
EHDF & SYMANTEC HOST CYBER
HER EXCELLENCY DR. AISHA BIN BISHR, DIRECTOR
GENERAL, SMART DUBAI OFFICE. SECURITY SEMINAR
Hosting DataFort and Symantec hosted a semi-
10 JA N U A R Y 2017
MEA
CHANNEL STREET
NetApp shares the latest advance- price point. The new system makes it Solutions & Innovation EMEA requirement, NetApp now offers an
ments in its portfolio of flash, cloud, easy for midsize businesses to move Our new entry-level A200 expands all-flash data management solution
and next-generation data center to all flash, and it features a compact our all-flash portfolio and gives that massively improves data center
solutions that help manage and 2U chassis design with an internal midsize businesses the full and ergonomics through footprint and
protect the worlds data: The new solid-state drive (SSD) shelf. proven strength of NetApps Data energy consumption savings and
NetApp All Flash FAS (AFF) A200 All-flash is the clear number Fabric, enabling them to manage gives customers control over their
is an entry-level all-flash array that one technology for productive a common set of data across flash, data across all on-premise and cloud
delivers enterprise-grade flash workloads, says Peter Wst, disk, and cloud resources. For deployments.
performance at a very attractive NetApp Senior Director Emerging every budget need and business
12 JA N U A R Y 2017
MEA
CATALYSTS
AWARDS 2017
RECOGNIZING EXCELLENCE
CONTACT
anushree@accentinfomedia.com,
ronak@accentinfomedia.com
SANS DUBAI 2017 PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON CYBER year-on-year decline in value to total $581
million in Q3 2016, according to the latest
SECURITY Quarterly Server and Disk Storage Systems
SANS Institute has opened registrations for SANS Dubai 2017, a training event hosting Tracker from International Data Corporation
three cyber security training courses, taking place from January 28th to February 2nd, 2017. (IDC). This decline is in line with IDCs previ-
The instructor-led classroom trainings feature a mix of security courses covering continuous ous forecast, which factored in the unstable
monitoring, web app penetration testing and ICS/SCADA. Ned Baltagi, Managing Director, political and economic environment currently
Middle East & Africa at SANS said, SANS Dubai 2017 features courses that specifically characterizing the MEA region.
address key security challenges that plague the region. These courses will impart a great deal
of knowledge and real-world experience, and will best prepare attendees for the GMON, AGILITYGRID TO FORTIFY SECURITY
GWAPT and GICSP Certifications. AT INTERSEC 2017
AgilityGrid will participate at Intersec 2017
to showcase its comprehensive video
security solutions across key vertical sectors.
18.7
GAME software partners to highlight fully integrated
solutions combining best-of-breed technol-
ogy to cater to the expanding security needs
JASON ROOS is Chan- of both public and private sectors across the
nel Director for MEA at
region.
Mimecast
14 JA N U A R Y 2017
MEA
Start tomorrow sooner.
Work smarter and dream bigger when you run on our all-ash storage.
Trend Micro has published information and monetary many things that our children use consumer is a safer one. Trend
Internet of Things Buyers Guide exploitation. daily, including toys, games, and Micro has released this buyers
for Smart Parents and Guardians Our goal with these resources is apps, are increasingly connected to guide and interactive content
as part of an informative content to help parents and guardians keep the internet and collecting a lot of package to prepare shoppers this
package for holiday shoppers. their families safe from online information. Our goal is to raise as holiday season and inform parents
Infographics and an interactive privacy and security risks, said much awareness about this among and guardians about potential
quiz are also available, highlighting Lynette Owens, founder and global all consumers, but especially par- privacy and security vulnerabilities
product features that threat actors director of Internet Safety for Kids ents whose kids may be impacted. in smart toy features and other
can use for accessing personal & Families at Trend Micro. So We believe a more informed internet-connected devices
16 JA N U A R Y 2017
MEA
Print a card.
hid-your-sec-cnnctd-si-22x31cm-en.indd 1
or registered trademarks of HID Global or its licensor(s)/supplier(s) in the US and other countries and may not be used without permission.
2016 HID Global Corporation/ASSA ABLOY AB. All rights reserved. HID, HID Global, the HID Blue Brick logo, and the Chain Design are trademarks
5/4/16 11:50 AM
Any card.
YOUR SECURITY. CONNECTED | Visit us at hidglobal.com/printers
Secure
Secure ID issuance WITHIN
WITHIN REACH.
REACH.
HID Global is leading the industry with the most robust portfolio of secure ID issuance
VISITUS
VISIT USAT
AT GITEX
GITEX TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY WEEK,
WEEK, HALL
HALL 66 MAC6
MAC635
35
Any card.
Secure ID issuance WITHIN REACH.
HID Global is leading the industry with the most robust portfolio of secure ID issuance
HID Globalinis the
solutions
solutions in the
leading
world.
world.
the
Our
industry
Our FARGO
FARGO
with
linethe
line
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of printers
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and encoders
and encoders
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financial institutions
are as secure as theyand
arebusinesses
affordable. of all sizes fast, efficient and reliable solutions that
are as secure as they are affordable.
Youll call it innovation on demand. We call it, your security connected.
Youll call it innovation on demand. We call it, your security connected.
2016 HID Global Corporation/ASSA ABLOY AB. All rights reserved. HID, HID Global, the HID Blue Brick logo, and the Chain Design are trademarks
or registered trademarks of HID Global or its licensor(s)/supplier(s) in the US and other countries and may not be used without permission.
2016 HID Global Corporation/ASSA ABLOY AB. All rights reserved. HID, HID Global, the HID Blue Brick logo, and the Chain Design are trademarks
or registered trademarks of HID Global or its licensor(s)/supplier(s) in the US and other countries and may not be used without permission.
Aruba is looking to build on its network project at Zewail City of Mr. Ahmed Fathy, Territory enabling communication and
success in Egypt in FY2016 by Science and Technology designed Manager, HPE Aruba, Egypt delivering business apps wherever
implementing an aggressive growth to enable the institution to leverage said, As trends like mobility people work. The launch of the
strategy for the forthcoming year. BYOD for innovation in education. and Bring-Your-Own-Device new partner program will enable
The company had several high On completion of the deployment, sweep the country, Aruba and its our partners to engage closely
profile customer wins in the the Institute will begin to offer partners are well placed to cater with customers in Egypt in order
healthcare, hospitality, govern- campus wide connectivity to its to the increasing demand for the to capitalize on the tremendous
ment and education sectors. It is students and faculty.. all-wireless workplace that sup- business potential in the country.
implementing a massive wireless ports BYOD securely and reliably,
18 JA N U A R Y 2017
MEA
CHANNEL STREET
An evening filled with music, the Middle East who battled it out WORKING apparently was limited
memories and some amazing and for the champions trophy. Sergio Initiated in 2014, GEC Open kicked to the WiFi and its bandwidth
overwhelming foreign guests, the DSouza from Dubai emerged as the in- and forced enterprises, business GEC Open blossomed. Our faith
GEC Open 2016 closed on a highly 2016 champion. GEC Open 2016 and individuals to rethink the was immense when we envisioned
successful and happy note. toured 8 countries Ghana, Turkey, way business is done and human- GEC Open, but the destination was
Held on the 15th December, 2016 Oman, Egypt, Kenya, UAE, Bahrain ity is preserved. A world where clearly invisible. Little did we realize
at the Emirates Golf Course Dubai, and India. Qualifiers from across the CONNECTION had increasingly that.. this is a journey that sees no
the grand finale gathered some countries flew down to Dubai for and seemingly materialized into end any sooner. So destination for
acute and avid golfers from across the grand finale. enterprise connectivity and NET- now is just- Ambitions Boundless.
20 JA N U A R Y 2017
MEA
A Miller Heiman Group Distribution Partner
www.gtcme.com
TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS
________________
INNOVATIVE FACILITY
launched Imtedaads mobile version in line with
our initiatives to address the growing demand for
access to business information and applications
MANAGEMENT
through mobile technologies.
We also offer an e-payment gateway in collabo-
ration with Dubai Trade. Under our partnership,
we utilize the trade facilitators Rosoom online
FOR 2017, IMDAAD IS OPTIMISTIC THAT THE REGIONAL INDUSTRY IS POISED FOR payment gateway to process the payment of
A CONSIDERABLE GROWTH IN THE COMING YEARS. VARIOUS KEY FACTORS AND ourclient base of around 2,900 customers for
ELEMENTS ARE DRIVING THIS PROGRESS, INCLUDING THE INTEGRATION OF services rendered.
NEW TECHNOLOGIES WITH FM INDUSTRY PRACTICES, RAPID TECHNOLOGICAL
INNOVATION, AND THE GROWING POPULARITY OF ENERGY FM SERVICES. What is Imdaads vision for 2020?
At Imdaad, we will help unlock new possibilities
for people and communities to become success-
ful contributors to the future and highlight the
importance of progress without compromising
the needs of the future generation. We fully
Imdaad is known in the region for tions and integration of advanced technologies understand that the key to a successful long-
its integrated facilities and waste across our processes, globally recognised term regional business lies in its commitment
management solutions in the GCC. solutions, and effective and timely delivery of to responsible, social, and ecological practices,
The entire industry is ripe with many services. among others.
key players in the market. How does
Imdaad ensure it emerges as a leader What are the unique and innova- Can you share Imdaads roadmap
in the market? tive solutions we can expect from or key strategies for 2017?
Amidst stiff market competition, Imdaad Imdaad in the coming months? We will aggressively pursue our expansion strat-
remains one of the leading providers of Imdaad is rapidly building new strategic egy across the GCC by bolstering our business in
top-notch integrated facilities management partnerships with major players across industries Qatar and venturing into Oman, in addition to
(FM) solutions in the GCC due in part to our in the region. Over the next 12 months, we driving inorganic growth through mergers and
steadfast commitment to deliver world-class expect to close major contracts with our new acquisitions. This strategy is supported by our
services to our diverse clients. What set us partners in Oman, the UAE, and Qatar three value-added offerings such as waste recycling,
apart from our competitors are our widely of our most important markets in the GCC. energy management, and our innovative Remote
recognized customer service, unique innova- Considerable opportunities have opened up for Asset Management.
22 JA N U A R Y 2017
MEA
Your brain might need a second to catch up.
OPPORTUNITIES &
GROWTH IN IT MARKET
24 JA N U A R Y 2017
COVER STORY
$ 3.2bn
As per IDC, IoT spend-
ing in the Middle East is
expected to reach $3.2
billion in 2019
1
$ bn
According to Frost and
Sullivan, GCCs network
security spending is set to
grow to $1 billion by 2018.
$3.2bn
As per IDC, IoT spending in
the Middle East is expected
to reach $3.2 billion in 2019
n B Y: A N U S H R E E D I X I T < A N U S H R E E @ A C C E N T I N F O M E D I A . C O M > n P H O T O : S H U T T E R S T O C K
T
he global community witnessed a As a Gartner report says, organizations went for
conservative 2016 with many ups SaaS instead of software licenses, voice over LTE
and downs, seismic market upheav- [VoLTE] instead of cellular and digital personal
als, political unsteadiness and mixed assistants instead of people. Patrick Hayati,
sector-based growth. The GCC Vice President - Global Channel and General
region was more conservative in its IT Spending, Business, SAP MENA said, 2016 was a banner
but strangely 2016 also witnessed some major IT year for SAP in announcing major co-innovation
projects coming up ,specially within the energy partnerships, and driving take-up of cloud
sectors and the BFSI sectors. 2017 is here and solutions running on the SAP HANA platform
as the region has been talking about, it is a year and SAP S/4HANA real-time business suite.
of expectations. Digital transformation was the According to Christian Putz, Director, EEMEA,
buzzword of 2016 and in 2017 we can definitely Pure Storage, the IT landscape is dominated by
see organizations gearing up for the same. vendors who are treating data as a compromise.
Like every year, we bring to you the opinions of As the businesses of legacy storage companies
some of the leading tech players in the region on continue to falter, some have asked why build
how they see 2017. a storage company at all? Our belief is simple:
in the increasingly digital economy data is key.
CHALLENGES THAT Independent of whether your infrastructure is
EXISTED; OPPORTUNI- public cloud, private cloud, SaaS, or most likely
TIES THAT EXIST some hybrid of all three data is key.
2016 was named as the year of absolute Maged Eid, Regional Director, Nexthink
dichotomy. The need for cost effective solutions believes 2016 has been a little bit of a challenging
led to the replacement of traditional technologies. year for everyone. However, things are settling
JA N U A R Y 2017 25
COVER STORY
PUI CHI LI, HEAD OF MARKET- DANA MURUGAN, SENIOR PATRICK HAYATI, VICE PRESI-
ING, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA, MARKETING DIRECTOR DENT - GLOBAL CHANNEL AND
XEROX ECEMEA, ORACLE GENERAL BUSINESS, SAP
MENA
2016 has been a year The most consistent
In 2017, SAPs resolution
of change for Xerox with technology trend we see
is to remain committed to
a number of significant is building momentum
joining forces on public-
announcements over the toward cloud technol-
private partnerships that
future structure of Xerox ogy adoption, even
will upskill local talent
and how we interact with among the worlds largest
and drive Digital Econ-
our customers corporations.
omy competitiveness, and
provide full support to
our channel ecosystem
DOS DONTS
strategy change across countries in the gulf region
who are looking for new energy sources and who
dont want to depend on oil anymore, which is l Customers should understand exactly what l Organizations should not buy technologies
very smart. kind of technologies they currently have in their based on vendor commitment alone.
The UAE government and the entire GCC portfolios and how they are being used. l businesses should not make firm plans
l Compare and contrast the different options based only on the published information
has gradually anchored their visions to diversity, which your prospects are facing daily to better
sustainability and innovation these are three l Do not hard sell your product or service. Mar-
understand the course of action which needs
keting is a delicate procedure
aspects of growth in which Svant Data System to be taken.
l never say no to change in technology trends.
sees a significant role to fulfill, says Michael l continue in adding more resources to
Lodge COO, Svant Data System. manage the growing demand of the region;
l focus on international partnerships to fuel
local economy
THE WAY AHEAD FOR
26 JA N U A R Y 2017
COVER STORY
JA N U A R Y 2017 27
COVER STORY
HESHAM EL KOMY, SENIOR MICHAEL LODGE, COO, SVANT SAJID MULLA, CEO,
DIRECTOR, CHANNELS, EPICOR DATA SYSTEM BUZINESSWARE
SOFTWARE
The UAE government Buzinessware believes
In 2017, we will be that the customer experi-
and the entire GCC
looking to bring on ence will soon overtake
has gradually anchored
partners that can help price as the new differen-
their visions to diver-
us extend our ecosystem tiator for customers.
sity, sustainability and
geographically, vertically
innovation these are
and by adding additional
three aspects of growth
technical expertise such
in which Svant Data
as is required in the cloud
System sees a significant
space.
role to fulfill.
now typically when theyll move to the cloud, not be vital for digital innovations such as virtual real- of cloud services here in the region. In fact, a July
if. The most successful CHROs hold their teams ity, drones and robotics, and blockchain. Rafik 2016 Gartner report predicts that the public cloud
accountable for focusing on the transformational Hajem, vice president, EMEA, Guidance Software services market in the Middle East and North
activities that can help their businesses win. is of the opinion that clients will look for complete Africa (MENA) region will grow by 18.3% in 2016
Xerox sees growth of Managed Print Services solutions that include a variety of tools for detec- to US$879.3 million.
(MPS) up take in the Small Medium Business tion, investigation, remediation, and coordina-
(SMB) space. Within the MEA geography, MPS tion. Tools like threat intelligence, sandboxing, FINALLY
awareness and usage still varies greatly between forensics, analytics and artificial intelligence will 2017 would indeed be an interesting phase in the
countries, however independent studies show be required to detect advanced zero-day attacks. technology calendar. We are 3 years away from
that there is an increase with both awareness and Hesham El Khomy, Senior Director Channels 2020, the opportunities are immense and the
interest to engage with a form of MPS. , says Pui of Epicor Software says that Epicor sees a great regional organizations appetite is also ripe for the
Chi Li, Head of Marketing for Middle East and inclination towards cloud in 2017. I definitely see emerging technologies. Digitalization is knocking
Africa, Xerox. Real-time cloud solutions will also a growing acceptance and increase in adoption at the doors! Time to open it Wide.
NOMINATE NOW
http://ec-mea.com/TOP-IT-COMPANY/
28 JA N U A R Y 2017
GUEST ARTICLE
The Protection
Revolution A
Needed Counter
to Attacks
Just as technologies and capabilities for attackers
have improved, so have technologies and capabili-
ties for defenders. This gives us a unique oppor-
tunity to move toward security systems built on a
foundation of broad-based visibility, depth of data n SCOTT MANSON, CYBER SECURITY LEADER FOR
collection, the ability to learn through correlation and M I D D L E E A S T A N D T U R K E Y, C I S C O
context, and then dynamically apply controls.
The Industrial Revolution changed the world intended to be static to meet regulatory compli- semi-automatic environments protection begins
forever, creating faster, better, and more efficient ance mandates. And while they do provide a to evolve, but it is not sufficiently standardized,
sectors of the economy. Drawing on parallels to baseline of protection, they still lack the agility mechanized, and process-driven to be as effective
this important period of history, much has been to protect and scale in a constantly changing as required.
written about the Industrialization of Hacking environment.
which has created a faster, more effective, and l Dynamic Dynamic controls are about high
more efficient sector aimed at profiting from l Human intervention Visibility and degrees of automation, where security systems
attacks to our IT infrastructure. Fueled by the intelligence is available, but defenders still need automatically respond to threats. Automation
convergence of mechanized and process-driven to manually change controls. Labor-intensive was at the heart of the Industrial Revolution and
methods, economic and political incentives, intervention isnt sustainable given the pace and it is at the heart of the Protection Revolution. It
weak links in the security chain, and new vulner- complexity of attacks and the cybersecurity skills is the only way to combat modern attacks that
abilities in evolving business models, hackers shortage. Although static controls are the reality circumvent protection using methods such as
are executing more sophisticated and damaging of most organizations today, more Security port/protocol hopping, encrypted tunneling,
attacks. Operations Centers (SOC) are being built to droppers, and blended threats and techniques
Hacking has evolved over time and protection compensate for the lack of flexibility and agility incorporating social engineering and zero-
will evolve over time as well. It requires moving of these controls and a dearth of trained internal day attacks. With dynamic controls, security
across a scale of controls that include static, staff. Reliance on human intervention to make practitioners increase degrees of automation
human intervention, semi-automatic, dynamic, security adjustments is no match for modern based on adaptive trust or increased confidence
and predictive, as outlined below: threats that use new methods that make it easier, in devices, users, and applications over time.
faster, and cheaper to launch attacks, penetrate
l Static Many traditional, point-in-time the network, and change rapidly as they progress l Predictive Predictive doesnt necessarily
security technologies work this way with through the enterprise. mean seeing an attack before it happens, but
defenders needing to wait for vendors to update leveraging machine learning and advanced ana-
protections. This approach worked fairly well l Semi-automatic Highly-sensitive data is lytics to learn and improve intelligence continu-
when basic PC viruses were the primary method precisely the type of data that well-funded and ously, leading to the prioritization of controls,
of attack. But today, in and of themselves, they fast-moving attackers target. Unfortunately, protection, and remediation. The foundations of
dont provide defenders with what they need to practitioners lack confidence that they have the predictive technologies exist but are in their early
properly assess their security posture and make right intelligence to make decisions. They tend days. Over time they will continue to evolve and
adjustments in real time. In some deployments, to revert back to human intervention, leaving improve, unleashing the full power of a new era
however, these process-laden controls are open a window of opportunity for attackers. In in protection.
30 JA N U A R Y 2017
MEA
MY VIEWS
L
ate last year reports surfaced that the that co-own the only fibre going into the country thing) requires a new type of standardisation
entire internet infrastructure of the are being targeted. During the attacks, websites and regulation approach to be adopted, which
African nation of Liberia had been inside the country are rendered unavailable. ultimately penalises the vendors flooding the
knocked off-line after it was targeted The incident in Liberia raises alarm even further market with insecure devices. At present there
by hackers using the same weapon given: is no regulation or standardisation requiring a
that caused the largest cyber attack in history 1. The national level impact of the attack on Libe- base-line security standard for IoT, meaning there
only a month earlier. ria, which could affect the functioning of critical is little incentive to make device manufacturers
The attack on Dynamic Network Services national infrastructure, which could in turn have meet any minimum criteria of security, as there
Inc., (Dyn), a New Hampshire-based Domain devastating real-life consequences, even resulting are few, if any commercial repercussions for not
Name Server (DNS) on October 21 was a massive in the loss of life. having done so outside of successful third-party
distributed denial of service (DDoS) incident. 2. The particular Mirai botnet that attacked litigation.
This type of attack is not new, and is based on Liberia, officially named Botnet 14, had a Twitter For as long as device manufacturers are
standard techniques where a network of infected account and is open source, meaning it can and removed from the negative financial and
computers a botnet are directed to bombard is being shared, and anyone with the requisite logistical impacts triggered by the compromise of
its target with traffic, overloading its servers. technical skill can use it. poorly secured devices, we will continue to count
The weapon used in the October attack, the 3. DDoS are successfully targeting connected the escalating costs of botnet attacks through IoT
Mirai botnet, was particularly effective because it devices with lower cyber security postures to gain devices.
harnessed infected, internet-connected devices, access to high-value networks and targets, with Minimum cyber security levels should not be
or so-called Internet of Things devices, which, severe consequences. an optional feature for IoT device manufacturers,
ominously from an expanding cyber threat It has been suggested the rise of IoT is likely to but rather there should be mandatory standards
landscape standpoint, are finding their way into prompt similar attacks in the future as inad- and controls introduced, and high commercial
more households around the world. equately secured IoT devices will continue to be sanction to the vendors that fall short of them,
The same weapon was reportedly used for an engine to facilitate breaches. given that such oversights jeopardise the security
several days in continued attacks on the West Protecting digital environments in the age of of the digital eco-system for all connected
African nation of Liberia, where two companies the IoT and ultimately IoE (Internet of Every- stakeholders.
JA N U A R Y 2017 31
MEA
FEATURE STORY
32 JA N U A R Y 2017
MEA
FEATURE STORY
A
long with the changing technologies, Solutions.
the role of SIs also changed and Our new brand identity reflects the spirit of
evolved dynamically in 2016. From strategic transformation that we embrace within
providing solutions and services to our organizational culture to serve our custom-
providing Cost-effective and Value- ers every day, every time, with unwavering
added solutions and services, system integrators have enthusiasm adds Tony.
come a long way in their journey as partners..
WALKING WITH THE
THE CHANGING ROLE OF TRENDS
CIOS The third platform technologies have already
2016 was a very decisive year for the CIOs as they made their way into the mainstream business. In
witnessed a very monetarily conservative year that 2016, despite the market being slow, the region
showed no signs of slowdown when it came to saw a good number of government and large
moving upfront with digitization. Hence, the CIOs enterprises investing in these emerging technolo-
were in a dilemma; to have a check on the pockets or gies. As Sunil says, In spite of the market being
on the technology. slow at present, the possibility for the System
Hyper converged infrastructures, SDNs, all Integration market is huge with an increasing
flashetc were the predominant technologies that adoption of Artificial Intelligence, Big data
compelled the CIOs to rethink business on a newer Analytics, mobile, cloud, social and IoT. We see
platform. this trend continuing in the coming years as well.
Pay as you Go models were a win-win situation for Condo Protego is also set to walk with the
the CIOs and the Sis came in to play a great role here. trends. In 2017, Condo Protegos resolution is to
Finesse is at the forefront in working closely with
our partners/CIOs to offer them with best of the opex
models. We now have most of our offerings on cloud
and on Pay as you Go model. Finesse continues to
deliver innovation and we have signed up for several
new projects which will be executed in the coming
months, says Sunil Paul, COO and Co-founder of
Finesse.
According to Savita Bhaskar, COO of Condo
Protego, as the majority of systems integrators shift
from competing on selling products to competing
on value-added services, they should act as trusted
advisors, and stay on top of technology trends and
industry certifications. Client CIOs should drive
organization-wide data management skills. Both sides TONY ALAM,
CEO, EMITAC ENTERPRISE
need to be knowledgeable about 2017 technology SOLUTIONS
trends such as hyper-converged infrastructure,
software-defined technology, and all-flash storage.
The major and most important transition is hap-
We are known for our
pening now. The broad role of SI is witnessing a key achievements We now
transferal in the offerings. Who will embrace the new
transformation and align with the impending necessi- need to be equally known
ties of the clients will reap good results. We have done
our own survey with some of the leading organiza-
for Redefining Excellence
tions in the UAE and we see a lot of the enterprise and to power growth for our
SMB customers moving towards Managed and Cloud
Services on an OPEX model which can provide high customers and lead the IT
quality of services while keeping operational costs
under control. The major markets would be UAE and
solutions & services space
KSA, says Tony Alam, CEO of Emitac Enterprise with our renewed vision.
JA N U A R Y 2017 33
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FEATURE STORY
MAJOR
continue being a trusted solution provider to our
customers, providing the right solutions at the
right time and cost to meet their business needs.
While Condo Protego is targeting customers
WINS
across all industry verticals, the government,
banking and finance, and tourism and hospitality
sectors are showing a strong pipeline. Hani says,
We completely understand how governments
OF 2016
and enterprises are embracing technology to
optimize and enhance their operations, compete
and deliver better services. GBM is committed
to continue to bring the most advanced digital
solutions to the region.
CONDO PROTEGO: Among Condo Protegos significant deployments were a govern-
ment agency on CCTV, a free-zone authority on software-defined infrastructure, and a
multi-national bank on software-defined architecture and virtual desktop infrastructure for FINALLY
thousands of users across over 50 sites worldwide. As we have been saying all through 2016 Digi-
tization is the next Reality and Value added cost
GBM: The addition of Apple to our strategic partnerships has enriched our portfolio and
effective solutions and services are the present
allowed us to enable our customers to achieve their digitization goals with innovative mobility
solutions. GBM is currently the only Apple Authorized Systems Integrator in the region Need, and there is no escaping this need and
reality.
FINESSE: We have signed up with leading enterprises like Lamprell, ASGC, Planet Payment, As more and more enterprises gear up to
Zulekha Health care Group, Byrne and many other Banks and Financial Institutions along embrace this new reality, SIs can see the grass
with various Government departments.
greener on all the sides. What the SIs have to
EMITAC ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS: Apart from our Rebranding, we also had major project take care is that, there is very thin line between
wins in 2016 including Al Faraa Group. We also launched our own Offshore Development Providing and Pushing services. Know your
Center in Bengaluru India. customers, understand their requirement.
Success is just a sign away!!
34 JA N U A R Y 2017
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MY OPINION
Partner Ready
partnerships in existence, but what
else is Veeam planning to do to
make its software even easier for
the reseller community to sell?
for 2017
Building on the relationships with the likes of
Dell EMC, HPE, Cisco, VMware, Microsoft
(and IBM in v10 next year), we believe our
channel partners are looking for us to further
expand the coverage to include seamless
support of all public cloud providers (Azure,
VEEAM, WHICH IS NOW OFFERING BACKUP TO VIRTUAL, PHYSICAL AND CLOUD AWS, IBM SoftLayer, etc.). Larger customers
PLATFORMS, IS EXPECTING FURTHER GROWTH NOW FOLLOWING A NUMBER OF tend to have a presence in all the major public
NEW ADDITIONS TO BENEFIT ENTERPRISE CUSTOMERS WITH THE LAUNCH OF cloud providers and therefore Veeam support
ITS VEEAM AVAILABILITY PLATFORM FOR THE HYBRID CLOUD, INCLUDING THE across all of them will remove any potential
VEEAM AVAILABILITY SUITE 9.5 PRODUCT RELEASE. EC MEA HAD AN EXCLUSIVE roadblocks for resellers. Were also delivering
ROUND UP WITH OMAR AKHTAR, REGIONAL CHANNEL MANAGER - MIDDLE EAST more in the way of Solution Design documents
& SAARC AT VEEAM SOFTWARE ABOUT WHAT THE IT SECTOR IN GCC AND ITS similar to the recent Cisco Validated Design
PARTNERS CAN EXPECT FROM VEEAM IN 2017. (CVD), which covers the availability with
Veeam on the Cisco Hyperflex platform.
JA N U A R Y 2017 35
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SPECIAL STORY
Economic
Outlook 2017
36 JA N U A R Y 2017
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SPECIAL STORY
P
eople of words and wisdom have a key role in redefining the ways in which
bifurcated the world economy of a national economy thrived, survived and
2016 with some amusing phrases; balanced.
from Brexit blues to Trump In spite of that, Asia is still perceived to grow
bump, from Patchy recovery to and come out as a Trump card (no pun intended)
Oil slump. in the global economy. The Indian subcontinent
The three key areas that economists around
the world have observed are; lower prices for
energy and other commodities, the United States
gradual tightening of monetary policy, and the A GLIMPSE INTO IMF
gradual slowdown and rebalancing of economic FORECASTS FOR 2017
activity in China away from investment and
manufacturing towards consumption and
services. 6.2%
Though the China government has aimed for Chinas economy is forecast to
expand 6.2 percent
a 6.5% growth in the next five years, economists
and strategists have claimed that this would be a
mission next to impossible. President Xi Jinping
will begin the final year of his first term in 2017,
and the challenges he faces managing the worlds 0.6%
second largest economy are manifold as said by Growth in Japan is
expected to remain
a Fortune report.
subdued at 0.6 percent
The demonetization wave that swept the
Indian economy was yet another ace that played
9.5%
KSA fiscal deficit
to decline further to
9.5 percent
2.6%
Oman to pick up
growth by 2.6%
JA N U A R Y 2017 37
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SPECIAL STORY
FINALLY
The global economy is set to set to go through
some ardent changes in 2017, owing to the
impact that the US monetory policies will have.
The influence that it will have in the Middle East
market and the way it will impact the technical
offerings will definitely be a determining factor
for years to come.
38 JA N U A R Y 2017
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GUEST ARTICLE
To Think Like
an Attacker, You
Need to See Like
an Attacker
Adversaries are no longer merely watching
networks and endpoints to determine how
they will attack. Social media, mobile comput-
ing, cloud services and the Internet of Things
(IoT) have changed the way we do business.
As we operate in this digital era and take
advantage of the business benefits these
new technologies offer, we leave behind a n A L A S TA I R PAT E R S O N , C E O A N D C O - F O U N D E R ,
digital footprint an electronic trail of activities. D I G I TA L S H A D O W S
To truly understand which threat actors pose information and CTI feeds you already gather text to understand what information is relevant
a viable threat to your assets and business to understand threats, the focus of this first and meaningful to your specific circumstances.
operations, as a security professional you need stage is to understand how you are perceived You do this by ensuring that the intelligence
to a better understanding of your organizations by hostile threats. By knowing where key directly references your organizations brands,
attack surface and own set of unique threats. information assets, employee credentials and assets, concerns and weaknesses, systems and
You need an attackers eye view. sensitive documents are being exposed online, defenses (i.e., those things most relevant).
While organizations have relied on cyber you can understand where it is likely to be most Through this lens you can identify which
threat intelligence (CTI) to gain a better vulnerable. threats pose the greatest risk and use this infor-
understanding of threats and threat actors, mation to guide security investment decisions
we need to do more. Data feeds, vulnerability Information is gathered by examining millions and strategies.
feeds, indicators of compromise (IOCs) and of social sites, cloud-based file sharing sites and
profiles of threats and research reports will other points of compromise across a multi-lin- Stage 3:
continue to be pertinent. But whats lacking gual, global environment spanning the visible, Projection The highest level of cyber situ-
is cyber situational awareness that provides a dark and deep web. Cyber situational awareness ational awareness involves making educated
more holistic and specific view of threats and also analyzes and provides information on and informed assessments about what might
vulnerabilities relevant to your organization. which malicious actors might be targeting an be around the corner to reduce uncertainty
With this view, you can think like an attacker organization or industry, why and their meth- and determine what action to take to mitigate
and more effectively address potential threats, ods of attack. The perception stage provides the the threat. Techniques include analysis of past
instances of sensitive data loss or compromised basis for better cyber situational awareness and behavior to predict future behavior, identi-
brand integrity. in and of itself provides significant new insights fication of trends, geopolitical analysis and
So how do you move your security practices in that you can immediately act upon to address understanding pre-cursors of previous attacks.
this direction? This three-staged approach can vulnerabilities or behaviors that violate policies. Cyber situational doesnt happen overnight,
help. And at each stage youll see real benefits. but with the right approach you can see what
Stage 2: an attacker sees, think like an attack thinks, and
Stage 1: Comprehension With data about yourself better protect against cyber-related incidents
Perception Building on the internal and your attackers, the next step is to apply con- today and in the future.
JA N U A R Y 2017 39
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THE
CRITICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE
FORUM 2016
13 DEC 2016 | BURJ AL ARAB HOTEL, DUBAI, UAE
WORLD CORP ORAT E C H AL L ENG E
GUEST ARTICLE
Why Private
Cloud Is Best
Of Computing
Worlds
When integrity and security of data is the
primary consideration, private cloud delivers n SACHIN BHARDWAJ, DIRECTOR MARKETING & BUSINESS
the best of cloud and onsite benefits. D E V E L O P M E N T, E H O S T I N G D ATA F O R T
When an organisation decides to enter the jour- development coding environment, then testing l Brings into focus costs of IT for business
ney into the cloud, they need to build realistic and improvement, and lastly deployment. All managers
assumptions on how they would operate. They three stages require vastly different types of l Greatly benefits internal application develop-
need to consider how much of their applications technology environments and if the private ment capabilities
and IT resources can they outsource from third cloud has been setup to deliver platform-as-a- l First step towards business continuity and
party cloud solution providers; how much do service, then internal application development disaster recovery
they need to keep under their control but hosted teams can gain significant benefits. Other l Virtually unlimited capacity if cloud bursting
in a third party data center; and how much do services that a private cloud can deliver for is supported by third party data center
they need to keep under their control and hosted internal users are infrastructure-as-a-service and
on-premise. software-as-a-service. There are also some disadvantages
If the answer to the first question on how Private cloud computing is therefore in many associated with private cloud
much they can completely outsource is very ways the best of both worlds - cloud based com- computing environments, which can
little, and the answer to the next two questions puting and the security of on-premises based be summarised as:
is a significant amount under their control, then administration. According to Yankee Groups l Higher initial outlay of investment in
such organisations need to consider private recent survey on cloud computing, private cloud comparison with public cloud migration
cloud as an option for their cloud computing computing is preferred 2:1 over fully managed l Return on investment largely depends on
needs. Typically, governments, critical infra- public cloud solutions. internal economies of scale and demand for
structure, transportation, telecom, banking, computing
finance, ERP centric, end users would be The key benefits of a private cloud l Return on investment largely depends on
those who prefer the private cloud computing environment can be summarised as removal of departmental silos of computing
approach. follows: l Return on investment largely depends
The biggest difference between public cloud l Highest levels of security in terms of data on demand for application development
computing and private cloud computing is there- integrity environments
fore the ease with which configurations can be l Break down of internal departmental silos of However, over a medium to long term,
modified and adapted to meet internal require- computing wherever a business is highly dependent on the
ments rather than being restricted by service l Reduced costs of scale-out computing integrity and control of its business data, private
level agreements dictated by the one-to-many l Cloud computing policy and services man- cloud computing environments will generally
approach of the shared public cloud service. aged internally give the best return on investment and support
This is particularly useful for application l Leverages Shadow IT across the organisation for the scale out of business users and business
developers who first need to scale in terms of into visible demand requirements.
44 JA N U A R Y 2017
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INNOVATIONS
KEY CAPABILITIES
n Enhanced access security
n ACLs, traffic prioritization,
sFlow, and IPv6 host support
n Capable of user-based
and port-based wired traffic
tunneling
n Speed remote deployment
with Aruba Central.
n Consistent wired and wire-
less experience with Aruba
ClearPass Policy Manager
and AirWave Network
Management.
n Zero Touch Provisioning
n Optional cloud-based man-
agement to allow enterprises
to simplify and slash network
deployment and manage-
ment costs.
ZXP SERIES 9
Zebra Technologies has enhanced its ZXP family of printers with the ZXP Series 9. This new
printer gives the user more control with its all-new, user-selectable print quality mode, allowing
for higher speed and improved print resolution.
Featuring industry-leading throughput, Zebras second generation retransfer technology
enables users to produce cards that have more detail with sharper images. With improved first
card out performance, the ZXP Series 9 has the fastest print speeds in the industry, printing up
to 190 cards per hour, while the dual-sided, simultaneous retransfer process provides best-in-
class printing, encoding and laminating throughput.
KEY CAPABILITIES
n Superior image quality with Zebras exclusive Color Predictive Technology
n Edge-to-edge images on a wide variety of card types including a biodegradable option
n Fast print speed: With improved first card out performance
n Transfer films and laminates with a multitude of holographic security features
n Patented waste-free laminate technology provides low cost-per-card operation
n Eliminating more than 50 percent of the waste compared to competitor
JA N U A R Y 2017 45
MEA
INNOVATIONS
HP DeskJet GT SNC-EB640
5820/10 All-in- Sony has launched eight new Full-HD video security cameras to
its latest line up of sixth generation (G6) range of network cameras,
One series
delivering on the ever increasing demand for greater image clarity
within the video security market.
Using advanced imaging technology, Sonys cameras offer security
professionals clear detail and higher visibility through excellent low-
HP has unveiled the new HP DeskJet GT 5820/10 All-in-One series, in light sensitivity, ideal for a wide range of demanding applications,
the UAE, targeted at high-volume users looking for a wireless ink tank including city, transport and commercial surveillance.
printer that never stops. Further displaying Sonys heritage in core technologies, these
The HP DeskJet GT series prints up to 8,000 pages with a set of three upgraded G6 cameras include high performance image sensors,
HP colour bottles or up to 5,000 pages with a HP black ink bottle out of lenses and image processors. The new V and E series cameras can
the box. Original HP inks are specially formulated to deliver sharp text, capture images beyond the reach of conventional security cameras,
vibrant graphics and photos that resist water and fading and professional helping to provide security professionals with better visibility and in
quality, borderless printing. turn greater accuracy.
The working environment today needs to be connected and wireless.
The new HP DeskJet GT 5820 All-in-One printer makes it easy for users
KEY CAPABILITIES
working remotely to connect via smartphones and tablets. The printer can n Recording quality to suit your network
be set up out of the box using just a mobile device. Even without a wireless n Edge recording on SD card for reliable operation
n Detect in confidence with Edge-based Analytics
network, Wi-Fi direct enables users to directly connect their printer to the
n Reduce cabling costs with Power Over Ethernet (PoE)
mobile device at home. n View and control with your smartphone
In addition, with the HP All-in-One Printer Remote app, users can n ONVIF (Open Network Video Interface Forum) compliance.
n Triple streaming for extra operational versatility
quickly send scans to email or cloud storage through their mobile device.
KEY CAPABILITIES
n HPs innovative spill-free refill system
n Users can easily monitor ink levels with the transparent ink tanks
n Makes it easy for users working remotely to connect via smartphones and
tablets
n Easily print from a variety of devices including iPhone and iPad using AirPrint,
or smartphones and tablets running Android, Windows 8, Windows 10, and
Google Chrome operating systems.
46 JA N U A R Y 2017
MEA
DellEMC_Gitex_Ad_HR.pdf 1 10/10/2016 11:52
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