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cw middle east October-December 2016 1
Home
Editorial
Bahrain’s Kanoo
Group reinvents
itself through digital
technology changeover
How centralising IT
led Gulf-based
Rotana Hotels to
rethink its security
UAE companies
look to light fidelity
technology to enable
IoT applications
Saudi Arabia’s Zahid
Group uses enterprise
resource planning to
revolutionise business
Google cloud chief
targets enterprises
and Amazon
Web Services
Combined Dell and
EMC company, Dell
Technologies, targets
intelligent things
computerweekly.com
FRESHIDEA/FOTOLIA
Changing gear
Bahrain’s Kanoo Group drives ahead
with digital transformation
CWMiddleEastMiddleEastOCTOBER-DECEMBER 2016The quarterly magazine from Computer Weekly, focusing on business IT in the Middle East
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Home
Editorial
Bahrain’s Kanoo
Group reinvents
How centralising IT
led Gulf-based
Rotana Hotels to
UAE companies
IoT applications
Google cloud chief
targets enterprises
and Amazon
Web Services
Combined Dell and
EMC company, Dell
intelligent things
Business transformations gather pace
In this quarter’s CW Middle East ezine, we feature the IT journeys of three companies in the region, with detailed analysis of recent
IT projects that were designed to support business transformation in a changing world.
We hear how Bahrain-based conglomerate Kanoo Group is dealing with a company-wide digital transformation that has created
some of the biggest challenges its IT head, group IT director Jameel Al Sharaf, has ever faced. One major task is to convince the business
that it needs new technology. This is a growing challenge as CIOs attempt to replace legacy systems that have purred along for years.
Kanoo’s diversified business is steeped in legacy, both in systems and strategies.
Al Sharaf is not alone. CIOs across the world are tackling major changes as technologies such as cloud, mobile and big data trans-
form organisations. Take the Zahid Group. Read in this issue how this diversi-
fied business, which has interests in machinery leasing, construction, mining
and agriculture, made its biggest ever technology investment by implementing
a multimillion-dollar enterprise resource planning (ERP) project for its Zahid
Tractor and Heavy Machinery division in 2013. The roll-out of Infor’s M3 for
Equipment software marked the start of Zahid’s long modernisation process.
Also read how Gulf-based Rotana Hotels has centralised its IT security to
secure endpoints better and improve information about security threats.
We also take a look at how organisations in the UAE could become world
leaders in the use of light fidelity (Li-Fi) technology to enable internet of things (IoT) applications. Telecoms operators and technology
firms in the UAE are experimenting with applications for Li-Fi, which transmits data from device to device via light, rather than radio
bands, in the hope that the high-speed data transmission concept will aid the development of smart city systems.
Also in this issue we feature an in-depth interview with Google cloud chief Diane Greene about the company’s enterprise strategy
and how it plans to take on Amazon Web Services. Another supplier with big plans is Dell. We analyse how a combined Dell and EMC
company will target intelligent things. n
Karl Flinders, editor
EDITOR’S COMMENT
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HOME
This is a growing challenge
as CIOs attempt to replace
legacy systems that have
purred along for years

Home
Editorial
Bahrain’s Kanoo
Group reinvents
How centralising IT
led Gulf-based
Rotana Hotels to
UAE companies
IoT applications
Google cloud chief
targets enterprises
and Amazon
Web Services
Combined Dell and
EMC company, Dell
intelligent things
Bahrain’s Kanoo Group reinvents itself
through digital technology changeover
Kanoo Group IT director Jameel Al Sharaf explains the company’s IT transformation, and why implementing
Microsoft Office 365 across the business has been his biggest career challenge. Alicia Buller reports
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) conglomerate Yusuf Bin
Ahmed Kanoo Group is amid a company-wide digital
transformation that has created some of the biggest chal-
lenges its IT head has ever faced. Group IT director Jameel Al
Sharaf is tasked with taking the 125-year-old business forward,
while improving efficiency and cutting costs.
Since his appointment in 2013, Al Sharaf has busied himself
with transforming nearly every aspect of the firm’s technical
operations. With a solid record as former IT director of Bahrain’s
sovereign wealth arm Mumtalakat, he is well prepared for the role
of transformative agent for one of the region’s oldest businesses.
He told CW Middle East: “My role is quite challenging because
of the change management aspect. How do I convince people to
implement new technology in such a long-standing business?
How do I explain IT in layman’s terms? That is very challenging.”
Al Sharaf said Kanoo’s diversified travel, shipping, industrial
materials and transport business was steeped in legacy, both in
terms of systems and strategies.
“I was excited to embrace new technology and digitise the com-
pany, but I had to work hard to explain change in a simple manner
and I faced some scepticism,” he said.
The group employs 4,000 people at its head office in Bahrain
and offices in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. “With a company this
size, there is obviously a lot of bureaucracy,” he said. “I had to
work through those layers and, so far, we have completed 16 pro-
jects, mainly focusing on modernising company infrastructure.”
Into the cloud
Al Sharaf’s first task was to introduce Kanoo to the benefits of
cloud computing with the company-wide implementation of
Microsoft Office 365. “It was the biggest challenge I’ve faced in
my career,” he said. “Kanoo’s culture is very protective in terms of
information and the staff were wary of hosting their emails out-
side the room. I had to explain that things have moved on.”
Al Sharaf eventually reached a compromise with Kanoo’s
management team by implementing a hybrid model across
IT TRANSFORMATION

Home
Editorial
Bahrain’s Kanoo
Group reinvents
How centralising IT
led Gulf-based
Rotana Hotels to
UAE companies
IoT applications
Google cloud chief
targets enterprises
and Amazon
Web Services
Combined Dell and
EMC company, Dell
intelligent things
the company. Kanoo’s financial systems and business apps will
remain on site, while apps with a collaborative nature, such as
email and Skype for Business, have been moved to a cloud com-
puting model for improved accessibility and availability. “All of
these were quite new ideas. It took us eight months to migrate all
the staff to Office 365,” said Al Sharaf.
“People came to terms with the benefits of the cloud once the
business gains were explained. We have now managed to make
the company look so small by bridging and connecting people
together. We use Skype for Business for meetings, where in the
pastpeopleusedtotravelacrosstheregionforone-hourmeetings.
“We are already enjoying a lot of cost savings. Skype has
reduced our communications, telecoms and travel costs tremen-
dously. More savings have been achieved by giving staff access
to business communications using F5 Networks technology. By
doing this, we’ve managed to save time and reduce overtime.”
Changing the culture
The company chose F5 Networks to strengthen the performance
and security of its cloud-hosted apps. Al Sharaf said that the
organisation-wide F5 implementation was the company’s largest
IT project in 2015. The implementation of new collaborative soft-
ware has changed Kanoo’s work culture, he said.
“Our sales force is based around the region, so it was a dream for
them to be able to access emails from a mobile,” he said. “Mobility
was key to the solution. We convinced people that this is the way
forward. Our staff are loving it and it’s changing the dynamics of
our workforce.”
IT TRANSFORMATION
DRAFTER123/ISTOCK

Home
Editorial
Bahrain’s Kanoo
Group reinvents
How centralising IT
led Gulf-based
Rotana Hotels to
UAE companies
IoT applications
Google cloud chief
targets enterprises
and Amazon
Web Services
Combined Dell and
EMC company, Dell
intelligent things
The company has also invested in new hardware, said Al Sharaf.
“We have standardised our infrastructure and now have just one
supplier, Fujitsu, for our workstations. We have a good relation-
ship with it and have benefited from economy-of-scale savings.”
The group is just three years into the digital change process,
and over the next two years, Al Sharaf will turn his focus towards
the company’s business departments and use enterprise
resource planning (ERP) software to transform finance, HR and
supply chain management.
“The next step will be to reach out to the customer and provide
them with the best experience possible,” he said. “We have now
prepared our office environment, but my vision is one day to be
able to make every Kanoo customer happy – in terms of the infor-
mation they receive, customer service satisfaction, staff profes-
sionalism and cross-selling capability.”
The company is also in the early stages of looking at a customer
relationship management (CRM) platform, with a view to imple-
menting either a Microsoft Dynamics or Salesforce.com system.
“In the past, customer relationship management has not been
looked at seriously – there is not much shared cross-selling infor-
mation between verticals,” said Al Shafar. “CRM will help create a
corporate pipeline of opportunities, leads and prospects.”
Security concerns
As he continues to modernise Kanoo’s network, Al Sharaf is
focused on securing the company’s data, both internally and
externally. The group has suffered data leakages in the past and
Al Sharaf said he would like to minimise future data spills.
“For a company of this size, with so many retail outlets and
showrooms, the security around customer information leakage
and social engineering is a big issue,” he said.
“We will put in place some measures, not just IT, but also legal
and HR policies, to ensure all employees understand the legal
implication of data leakage.”
As Kanoo’s IT infrastructure evolves, its technology recruitment
needs will shift from regular IT support positions to hybrid busi-
ness/technology management roles, with a focus on supply chain
management and customer experience, said Al Sharaf.
In the coming years, it will also become clear just how much
Kanoo’s digital strategy has transformed the company from a
financial and innovation perspective.
Al Sharaf concluded: “Being at the forefront of this transforma-
tion is exciting and being able to generate tangible value out of the
investment in technology is fulfilling. We are improving efficiency
and reducing costs through technology and it’s just fascinating.” n
“The next step will be to
reach out to the customer and
provide them with the best
experience possible”
Jameel Al Sharaf, Kanoo Group
IT TRANSFORMATION
❯The UAE has overhauled its datacentre and network infrastructure.

Home
Editorial
Bahrain’s Kanoo
Group reinvents
How centralising IT
led Gulf-based
Rotana Hotels to
UAE companies
IoT applications
Google cloud chief
targets enterprises
and Amazon
Web Services
Combined Dell and
EMC company, Dell
intelligent things
How centralising IT led Gulf-based
Rotana Hotels to rethink its security
Abu Dhabi-based hotel group invested 20% of its total IT budget in upgrading its security systems
after centralising all its critical applications in its corporate datacentre, writes Edward Banda
Rotana Hotels had to rethink its cyber security strategy
after centralising its critical IT systems, and began by
implementing a centralised anti-virus system.
The Abu Dhabi-headquartered Rotana Hotel Management
Corporation has more than 50 properties across the Gulf
Co-operation Council (GCC) countries, with six more planned.
The group is an early adopter of hybrid cloud systems in the
Gulf hospitality industry, and delivers hotel business applications
as a service from its datacentre.
Security infrastructure
When, in 2015, Rotana centralised all its critical applications in its
corporate datacentre, including the property management sys-
tem, the IT section was forced to reconsider the company’s entire
security infrastructure.
“Centralising applications and IT services meant we needed
a scalable and secure IT environment,” said Biju Dharmarajan,
director of IT security and infrastructure at Rotana Hotels.
He said security was a top priority for the company, which
invested about 20% of its total IT budget in security systems.
“We have recently moved to next-generation firewalls, but our
security infrastructure revamp started with the implementation of
a centralised anti-virus management system,” said Dharmarajan.
Results of a recent IT security survey of Middle East organi-
sations by analyst IDC revealed that the top three threats to
IT SECURITY
“Advanced persistent threats
can go undetected for long
periods of time, which adds to
the complexity of the challenge”
Megha Kumar, IDC

Home
Editorial
Bahrain’s Kanoo
Group reinvents
How centralising IT
led Gulf-based
Rotana Hotels to
UAE companies
IoT applications
Google cloud chief
targets enterprises
and Amazon
Web Services
Combined Dell and
EMC company, Dell
intelligent things
enterprise security were infected USB drives, data theft by
employees, and advanced persistent threats.
IDC said that although these were threats across various indus-
try segments, they all had one thing in common – insider risk.
“Advanced persistent threats can go undetected for long peri-
ods of time, which adds to the complexity of the challenge,” said
Megha Kumar, senior research manager for software at IDC
Middle East, Africa and Turkey.
“Increasing the levels of awareness and proactivity around
security is critical for organisations across the GCC. Financial
motivation continues to drive cyber crime activity in the region,
although so-called ‘hacktivist’ incidents are compounding the
situation, with websites being defaced in support of a particular
political agenda.”
Consolidated view
Rotana Hotels’ network supports about 6,000 IT users and the
same number of endpoints, as well as more than 100 servers.
“We wanted to implement a single information security infra-
structure across all our properties,” said Dharmarajan. “We
wanted a system that could help us centralise and streamline the
management of endpoints and give us a consolidated view of our
security posture.”
ITsecurityfirmThinkSoftwareServicesproposedimplementing
McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO), which gives a unified view of
security, with drag-and-drop dashboards providing security intel-
ligence across endpoints, data, mobile and networks. McAfee
ePO software gives Rotana flexible, automated management
IT SECURITY
LEONIDANDRONOV/FOTOLIA
Rotana Hotels is based in
Abu Dhabi and has more
than 50 properties across
the GCC countries

Home
Editorial
Bahrain’s Kanoo
Group reinvents
How centralising IT
led Gulf-based
Rotana Hotels to
UAE companies
IoT applications
Google cloud chief
targets enterprises
and Amazon
Web Services
Combined Dell and
EMC company, Dell
intelligent things
capabilities that enable its security team to identify, manage and
respond to security issues. “Besides centralised security manage-
ment, we were looking for a system with multitenant-based archi-
tecture to help us drive down the cost and complexity of manag-
ing security,” said Dharmarajan.
After a phased implementation of McAfee ePO, Rotana’s secu-
rity teams can monitor the company’s security posture, improve
threat detection and expand incident response capabilities.
“The biggest benefit is that now we can roll out and enforce
security policies across all our hotels, and run pre-scheduled
scans without having to send our engineers to the locations to do
it manually,” said Dharmarajan.
This is done through McAfee agent handlers installed at each
property, which automates the workflows between security and
IT operations systems and handles the communications between
central ePO server and endpoints.
Be prepared
AlthoughRotanahasneverfacedanyseriousthreats,Dharmarajan
said it was essential to be prepared. “Many of the breaches can be
avoided through regular device scanning combined with under-
standing security policies and procedures,” he said. “What you
need is a complete picture of what is actually happening in your
environment to mitigate risks.”
Kumar added: “Budget constraints are likely to remain a chal-
lenge for the foreseeable future in the GCC. But the security
conundrum becomes even more challenging when organisations
start downsizing their headcounts in a bid to free up resources.”
In such scenarios, the threat of insider risk increases as disgrun-
tled staff leave, potentially taking sensitive corporate information
withthem,saidKumar.“Assuch,datalossprevention,dataaccess
management and governance are all major security factors that
organisations must address to avert unwanted drama,” he said.
Having secured its endpoints, Rotana’s security team is gear-
ing up to go to the next level to completely protect its network
devices and data. “From day one, we have been serious about
data protection and security is addressed at the highest levels of
our organisation,” said Dharmarajan.
“Now we are working on implementing a data loss prevention
system along with identity and access management, which will
give us more visibility into our security environment.”
The aim is for the group to be Payment Card Industry-compliant
within the next couple of years, he added. n
“We can roll out and enforce
security policies across all our
hotels, and run pre-scheduled
scans without having to send
engineers to do it manually”
Biju Dharmarajan, Rotana Hotels
IT SECURITY
❯The Bahrain government is trying to create an IT industry with global ambitions.

Home
Editorial
Bahrain’s Kanoo
Group reinvents
How centralising IT
led Gulf-based
Rotana Hotels to
UAE companies
IoT applications
Google cloud chief
targets enterprises
and Amazon
Web Services
Combined Dell and
EMC company, Dell
intelligent things
UAE companies look to light fidelity
technology to enable IoT applications
LED-based connectivity is slated as a key component of internet of things-related deployments. Tom Paye reports
Telecoms operators and technology firms in the United
Arab Emirates (UAE) are experimenting with applications
for light fidelity (Li-Fi) technology, in the hope that the
high-speed data transmission concept will aid the development
of smart city systems.
Li-Fi, billed as a complement to, rather than a replacement for,
Wi-Fi, transmits data from device to device via light, rather than
radio bands. It uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to transmit data,
resulting in – some claim – a data transmission potential of up to
10Gbps in real-world scenarios. Also, early trials suggest that, in
the right use cases, Li-Fi could be much cheaper to implement
than Wi-Fi.
Another benefit is that Li-Fi uses visible light spectrum (VLS),
which means it is unimpeded by radio interference and generates
no electromagnetic smog. This makes it an increasingly attractive
option for intrinsically hazardous environments, such as refiner-
ies, oil platforms and petrol stations.
The facts around this emerging technology have not been lost
on UAE firms. Dubai-based operator Du claims to be one of the
first major companies in the world to demonstrate use cases of
Li-Fi. Whether or not that claim is accurate, Du is certainly shap-
ing up to be one of the Middle East’s earliest adopters of Li-Fi.
The firm recently demonstrated how Li-Fi hotspots can be set
up to provide internet access, in conjunction with Zero.1, another
Dubai-based technology firm.
Li-Fi demand to grow
When announcing the successful demonstration, Du said it
would add Li-Fi capabilities to its portfolio of business services.
“We expect to see demand for this technology increasing expo-
nentially over the coming years,” said Saleem Al Balooshi, execu-
tive vice-president of network development and operations at Du.
“We wanted to ensure our customers were aware of this technol-
ogy and the demonstration of Li-Fi technology complements our
broadband portfolio for the business segment.”
Al Balooshi said Du was working with a number of its major cus-
tomers to create tailor-made Li-Fi systems, which he said would
further validate the technology’s use cases.
DATA TRANSMISSION

Home
Editorial
Bahrain’s Kanoo
Group reinvents
How centralising IT
led Gulf-based
Rotana Hotels to
UAE companies
IoT applications
Google cloud chief
targets enterprises
and Amazon
Web Services
Combined Dell and
EMC company, Dell
intelligent things
Although details of these use cases have not yet been released,
another recent announcement by Du suggested consumers could
soon benefit from Li-Fi deployments. The operator has tied up
with Zero.1, which provides Li-Fi-enabled technology, to roll out
Li-Fi internet connectivity at the Dubai Silicon Oasis technology
park by the end of 2016.
That deployment will see Li-Fi embedded in the zone’s street
lamps, creating pervasive connectivity across the area. It is
expected that most Android and iOS devices will be able to con-
nect to the Li-Fi lamps via their cameras.
Du already offers Wi-Fi hotspots around Dubai, and hopes Li-Fi
will enable it to roll out internet connectivity to more areas at less
cost. It said Li-Fi would also enable a number of other services.
“The outdoor deployment of Li-Fi enables motion detection,
geo-localisation and camera networks through street lights, while
the indoor deployment supports retail, healthcare, education and
cultural centres,” said Du in a recent statement.
Behind these implementations is a system largely provided by
Zero.1, which plans to introduce Li-Fi connectivity to the rest of
the Gulf region in the near future.
DATA TRANSMISSION
MOHAMMEDTAREQ/FOTOLIA
Li-Fi connectivity could
pave the way for Dubai
to become a smart city

Home
Editorial
Bahrain’s Kanoo
Group reinvents
How centralising IT
led Gulf-based
Rotana Hotels to
UAE companies
IoT applications
Google cloud chief
targets enterprises
and Amazon
Web Services
Combined Dell and
EMC company, Dell
intelligent things
The connectivity will be provided by the company’s intelligent
outdoor tower automation (IOTA) product range, which com-
prises traditional LED street lamps with Li-Fi connectivity.
The network is managed via Zero.1’s City.1 management soft-
ware, which allows network managers to access a dashboard
view of the infrastructure.
However, Zero.1 claims its systems will be able to provide more
than simple connectivity to the streets of Dubai. The company’s
CEO, Marc Fleschen, said the technology paved the way to enable
the concept of a smart city, which Dubai has been chasing for
more than a year.
He said the IOTA range, along with City.1 software, provides
“experiential and management solutions for public spaces, com-
munity places, industrial hubs and commercial plots”.
“Working with Du, we look forward to the roll-out of our Li-Fi
applications in the Dubai smart city platform and the retail sector
as the year unfolds,” said Fleschen.
Tour guides
The company also has its sights on museums, cultural centres
and galleries with the Li-Fi-enabled ART4U app, which can
deliver tour guides through audio or text in multiple languages.
Users can select a quick tour or full tour option, or choose a par-
ticular type of exhibit. With that information, the app will create
an individual tour guide and a timeline for the visit.
For museum managers, the app enables a better understanding
of visitor behaviour and traits. Managers can use it to identify the
venue’s hot and cold zones, and best and least-favoured exhibits
and services. The company also said the app was easy to update
when new exhibits were installed or the location of existing exhib-
its was changed.
Zero.1 is also targeting the healthcare sector with a Li-Fi-enabled
management system called Healthcare4U, which is due to
be launched before the end of the year. Fleschen pointed out
that the benefits of Li-Fi made the technology well suited to
healthcare environments.
“In such environments, Li-Fi provides a safer, faster and more
efficient system for many aspects of hospital management,” he
said. “Those involved in hospital development must consider the
role that Li-Fi will play in tomorrow’s healthcare centres. Li-Fi is a
cleaner solution that does not interfere with sensitive equipment
or patient wellbeing.”
Although Li-Fi is still in its early stages, research suggests that
the market for its applications is on track to be worth $80bn glob-
ally by 2021. But with companies such as Du and Zero.1 rushing
to prove its use cases in the Gulf, that number could end up being
much bigger. n
“Li-Fi provides a safer, faster,
more efficient system for many
aspects of hospital management”
Marc Fleschen, Zero.1
DATA TRANSMISSION
❯Al Murooj Rotana increases guest satisfaction with updated Wi-Fi network.

Home
Editorial
Bahrain’s Kanoo
Group reinvents
How centralising IT
led Gulf-based
Rotana Hotels to
UAE companies
IoT applications
Google cloud chief
targets enterprises
and Amazon
Web Services
Combined Dell and
EMC company, Dell
intelligent things
Zahid Group uses enterprise resource
planning to revolutionise business
As Saudi Arabia sets out to diversify its economy away from the oil industry, the kingdom’s
companies are undergoing a rapid transformation in their use of IT, writes Alicia Buller
Amid the liberalisation of the private sector, Saudi Arabia’s
oldest and largest family businesses face increased com-
petition and are turning to large IT projects to boost their
performance and productivity.
One such company is the Zahid Group, a diversified business
with 4,000 employees and interests that include machinery leas-
ing, construction, mining and agriculture. It began implementing
a multimillion-dollar enterprise resource planning (ERP) project
for its Zahid Tractor and Heavy Machinery division in 2013 – its
biggest technology investment yet.
Barig Siraj, director of IT and ERP for the Zahid Group, told
Computer Weekly that the company’s installation of Infor’s M3
for Equipment system was the start of a long modernisation pro-
cess. “For the next five years, our focus will be on replacing our
legacy systems, and M3 is a big part of that,” he said.
The M3 system, composed of scalable applications that are crit-
ical to the equipment industry, including supply chain execution,
warehouse mobility, sales management and financial accounting,
is expected to help Zahid increase visibility of critical business
information, support the smooth flow of data between depart-
ments, and streamline business processes across 40 sites.
As Saudi Arabia’s national dealer for Caterpillar, Volvo and
Renault Trucks, Zahid Tractor and Heavy Machinery is under
pressure to modernise its systems and make it easier to do
business with its partners and suppliers.
Demanding more
“IT is becoming ingrained with operations as we need to keep up
with suppliers’ and franchises’ needs,” said Siraj. “The franchises
we represent are demanding more from us. That is one reason
we moved from the legacy system to M3 – our legacy apps were
not responsive enough to what our franchises wanted.”
Siraj said suppliers often had their own technology initiatives
and the business must be able to respond positively. “For exam-
ple, Caterpillar is revising its digital strategy for rentals and we are
looking at how this coincides with our own digital plans.”
ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING

Home
Editorial
Bahrain’s Kanoo
Group reinvents
How centralising IT
led Gulf-based
Rotana Hotels to
UAE companies
IoT applications
Google cloud chief
targets enterprises
and Amazon
Web Services
Combined Dell and
EMC company, Dell
intelligent things
The first phase of the M3 system went live in 2014 with few
hitches, said Siraj. “We performed that implementation in less
than nine months and are happy with the results,” he added.
However, subsequent roll-out stages were less easy and
involved a few “corrections”, he said. With 50 people working on
the project over two years, Siraj discovered that some users were
resistant to change and attempted to use legacy systems as well
as the new applications.
“This discovery meant we made major changes with regard to
the leadership of the project,” he said. “We also chose to aug-
ment our staff with more open-minded, adaptive and knowledge-
able employees. We let go of the director of the ERP project and
I stepped in.”
The IT director plans to roll out the firm’s ERP system for rentals
in early 2017. “We have an ERP community that is 80% users and
20% IT staff and Six Sigma trained, so with that team we have
gone through the phases with Infor and we are progressing very
nicely,” said Siraj.
“When we mapped our new processes versus what suppliers
did, we found ourselves aligning with 70% of the systems on aver-
age. We are on a low modification implementation that is within
the benchmarks of international standards.”
Complex challenges
Three and a half years into the job, former IT venture capitalist
Siraj described his current role as “never boring”.
“There are a lot of complex challenges, which can stem from
the users, the suppliers or from the technology itself,” he said. “I
seldom come to the office when everything is going as usual. And
when it’s calm, I start to wonder if I’ve missed something.”
Asdirectorof50ITstaff,Sirajsaidhismainfocuswasmaintaining
and building a technology ecosystem that met the needs of the
business and customers without hindering company operations.
As the Zahid Group makes the transition from legacy systems to
app-based technology and cloud computing in the coming years,
Siraj predicted that “community change management issues”
would rise up the agenda.
He said his role at Zahid was becoming increasingly complex
and ad hoc. “The IT department is driving business performance.
It is becoming very regular that I get a call from operations saying
‘the suppliers are demanding IT solutions and e-readiness. How
do we respond to this e-initiative?’. I need to keep a very close ear
to the heartbeat of the business.”
Among the many challenges facing the Zihad Group, Siraj cited
security as the most important. “For the next five years, our main
“The IT department is driving
business performance – I need
to keep a very close ear to the
heartbeat of the business”
Barig Siraj, Zihad Group

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focus will be on building up our security level to the extent where
it is giving us the protection we need without hindering opera-
tions,” he said.
Siraj is looking at cloud security systems, but for now the com-
pany has installed robust on-premise security measures to com-
bat the growing problem of data leakage.
The Zahid Group recently installed encryption software for
notebooks in case of theft. It also uses Seclore for file encryption
and Sophos for media encryption, so all Zahid external drives and
USBs are fully encrypted.
Data leakage challenge
Siraj said the company’s data leakage challenge stemmed from
two distinct groups – naïve corporate users that inadvertently
leaked confidential information, and malicious employees or
partners that deliberately leaked information.
“To combat the naiveté, we have introduced education aware-
ness campaigns,” he said. “We also believe that encryption is the
answer – the files can’t be opened outside the company. It’s not
easy, but we’ve started with that.
“It’s going to take a long time, but we’re trying to implement it
in a way that will not impede operations and stop staff from doing
their day jobs.”
Tarik Taman, general manager for Infor’s India, Middle East
and Africa division, said: “In both a cultural and economic sense,
Saudi Arabia is ready for transformation. The Zahid Group is a
very good example of a forward-thinking company – it is a really
progressive organisation.” n
❯Proliferation of ERP integrations best tackled by data consolidation.
SWISSHIPPO/FOTOLIA
Saudi Arabia’s oldest and
largest family businesses are
turning to large IT projects to
boost their performance

Google seems intent on spending 2016 reminding enter-
prise CIOs that it is not just the Amazon, Microsoft and
IBM clouds they should be considering when working
out where to move their on-premise workloads.
The search giant formally kicked off this process in late 2015
when it enlisted the help of VMware co-founder and Google
board member Diane Greene to oversee the running of its
new-look cloud division.
Although the company has a play in both the cloud software and
infrastructure services markets, thanks to Google Apps and the
Google Cloud Platform (GCP) respectively, these ventures had
previously been looked after by different parts of the business.
That was until the powers that be at Google decided to give one
team overall responsibility for all the company’s cloud businesses
from a product, engineering, marketing and sales perspective,
and Greene was put at the helm.
Better integrated
In a blog post at the time, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the
restructure would help the company’s cloud initiatives become
better integrated and co-ordinated. It was hoped this would put
it on course to win a larger share of the overall cloud market.
Since then, Google has gone on to announce high-profile cloud
contract wins with the likes of music-streaming service Spotify,
which was swiftly followed by reports that suggested Apple had
joined Google’s growing roll-call of users.
While adoption of Google Apps has been steadily rising within
enterprises in recent years, it has taken a little longer to get large
Google cloud chief
targets enterprises
and AWS
Google cloud chief
Diane Greene tells
Caroline Donnelly
how the internet
giant intends to win
over the enterprise
market and give AWS
a run for its money
INTERVIEW
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corporations to consider using Google to fulfil their
infrastructure needs. This is an area Greene and
her team are seeking to address.
So far, the GCP has followed a similar adoption
path to Amazon Web Services (AWS). The com-
pany initially focused on courting the startup com-
munity before turning its attention to winning over
the enterprise market.
But, as any company that has ever embarked on such an effort
to widen the addressable market for a product will attest, it can be
tricky to balance the needs of existing users with the demands of
new customers, Greene tells Computer Weekly.
“I’ve been a board member since 2012, but when we decided
to do a public cloud, Google hadn’t had to do enterprise features
before,” she says. “So we started out as this terrific platform
for startups, but some of our startups
got quite big, and they scaled right up
with us.”
As these startups grew into bigger
companies, particularly in the case
of social media site Snapchat, they
found an increasing need to deal with
enterprise-like regulatory issues. This,
in turn, has helped inform Google about
how to improve the enterprise-readiness of its cloud platform,
says Greene.
“Now all those things are in place, we are ready for the big
enterprises,” she adds.
Putting all its cloud business initiatives under one
roof has played a major role in making the com-
pany enterprise-ready. It has also made it easier
for CIOs to get a hold on the full scope of its off-
premise propositions, which go far beyond simply
serving up business productivity tools and infra-
structure services to enterprises, says Greene.
“We have a broad array of assets to bring to the
enterprise table. Google Apps is just a better way for a company
to work. It allows you to empower all your workers, and every-
body’s collaborating, sharing data and having fewer meetings.
“We have a long history of research in artificial intelligence. We
have all these APIs [application programming interfaces] that
anyone can take advantage of, Chromebooks that – thanks to all
their security and administration features – people can bring to
work, and Google Glass too.”
The company’s cloud stack consists
of GCP, which Google reportedly uses
to run all its own online services, and
right on top is its online productivity
suite, Google Apps.
Cloud giant Amazon Web Services
has been making headway in recent
years towards climbing the stack in a
similar way, through the roll-out of its productivity-focused tools,
such as Webmail.
Google Apps is far more mature and, some might argue, bet-
ter known than the AWS productivity offerings. Indeed, Gartner’s
INTERVIEW
❯Google is set to expand its
global datacentre footprint
as competition in the cloud
infrastructure services
market heats up.
“We have a broad array
of assets to bring to the
enterprise table”
Diane Greene, Google

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2016 take on the market paints the cloud-based, enterprise pro-
ductivity market as a two-horse race between Google Apps and
Microsoft Office 365.
Synergy Research Group’s first-quarter look at the cloud infra-
structure services market in April 2016 revealed that Google had
quietly chalked up a year-on-year growth rate in excess of 100%.
Cloud leader
With that in mind, and the adoption of GCP appearing to gather
pace, how does Greene rate Google’s chances of closing in on
AWS – and even dethroning it as the leader of the cloud market?
“Amazon was there first and it has a lot of features and
a lot of partners,” she says. “We are bringing on those partners
and features very quickly, and we have really ramped up our
investment. I am pretty excited by how fast we are proving to
move and grow.”
The company’s continuing ability to move and grow will be
largely determined by how willing enterprises are to ditch their
private datacentres and run their business in the public cloud,
says Greene.
“People have huge, long leases on their datacentres, but I do
think they now understand the public cloud is more secure than
their datacentre,” she says. “For example, we have more than 600
people working full-time on security, and it’s hard to match that
scale if you’re not in the business of providing a public cloud.
“Everybody will migrate to the cloud, but on what schedule is
unclear. For some people it will take a very long time, while others
are already fully there.” n
INTERVIEW
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intelligent things
Combined Dell and EMC company, Dell
Technologies, targets intelligent things
The multibillion-dollar merger of Dell and EMC has created a technology giant with a remit to expand into the
software-defined datacentre market to support digitisation and the internet of things. Cliff Saran reports
Michael Dell recently unveiled newly merged Dell and
EMC company Dell Technologies, with a strategy to
address the IT infrastructure needs of a world of intel-
ligent things. The merger has created a $74bn organisation, with
150,000staffandaproductrangethatincludesDell,EMCServices,
Boomi, Pivotal, RSA, SecureWorks, Virtustream and VMware.
“We are at the dawn of the next industrial revolution,” said
Dell founder Michael Dell about the completion of the merger.
“Our world is becoming more intelligent and more connected by
the minute, and ultimately will become intertwined with a vast
internet of things [IoT], paving the way for our customers to do
incredible things.”
According to EMC Europe senior vice-president Jacques
Boschung, the coming together of the two tech giants repre-
sented a merger of scope. “We don’t have overlapping products
or people in the field. It is a seamless experience,” he said.
Dell Technologies is positioning itself as the IT company to
help CIOs support digitisation. Its core value is a fully integrated
INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS
“Our world is
becoming more
intelligent and
more connected
by the minute”
Michael Dell

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software-defined datacentre (SDDC), and analyst Forrester
expects the new firm to build on the SDDC credentials of EMC
following the merger.
Dell’s cloud focus has stayed on the enablement side, and
its acquisition of EMC is a strong adjacency play, according to
Forrester. The company noted: “This establishes Dell as the larg-
est system technology vendor in the industry, adding roughly
$24bn in storage-related revenues to its portfolio.”
In Forrester’s Vendor landscape: Software-defined data centers
report, analysts Robert Stround and Richard Fischera described
EMC as “a powerhouse player in the SDDC space”.
“Its offerings extend from increasingly virtualised enterprise
storage through the more advanced category, which includes
VCE [virtual computing environment] converged infrastructure
solutions such as the VCE VxRail and VxRack – hyperconverged
solutions centred on both OpenStack and VMware,” they said.
“Also of note is standalone software-defined storage, including
ScaleIO and ViPR Storage Management.”
Addressing an audience of IT leaders in Gothenburg in early
September 2016, EMC’s Boschung said: “EMC provides innova-
tive infrastructure to enable IT to spend a lot less time [on admin]
so they can spend more time doing other things.”
TheproductshighlightedbyForresterfilloutDellTechnologies’
range of products for simplifying run-of-the-mill IT administra-
tion chores, such as server and storage provisioning, thus free-
ing up time for IT innovation.
IT as an innovator
Boschung believes IT is well-positioned to drive business trans-
formation through digitisation initiatives.
“We are all living in interesting times,” he said. “It has never
been so good to be in IT. We can truly contribute to the top line.
The CIO is becoming the chief customer experience officer.”
Customer experience is one of the four pillars the new company
has aligned against. The others are IoT, artificial intelligence and
the shared economy. These represent data-driven megatrends,
according to the supplier. Data is set to become the core value in
which the new Dell-EMC company wants to be seen as a leader.
Pooling data for a zettabyte era
According to EMC advanced software division CTO Salvatore
DeSimone, the world is moving to an era of zettabytes (ZB) of
data. “We expect to see data grow to 44ZB by 2020,” he said.
This will require cheaper, faster and bigger storage with self-
service and utility consumption. Rather than build process-
ing power then add storage, EMC believes IT departments will
INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS
“It has never been so good
to be in IT. We can truly
contribute to the top line”
Jacques Boschung, EMC Europe

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organise their computing power around the storage foundation.
“When you have zettabyes, you need to move the compute
[power] next to the data,” said DeSimone.
In this new era of computing, EMC’s role is no longer about pro-
viding high-end enterprise-class storage. The company has rec-
ognised the need to support scale-out IT, where storage is largely
based on commodity disk drives.
“Scale-out eliminates silos of storage. You start with commod-
ity servers that grow as one logical system,” said DeSimone.
EMC sees the intelligence to enable such a system to grow
as one logical storage array, provided by software. DeSimone
believes protocols will become the next barrier to interoperabil-
ity. “Protocols lead to silos,” he said. “People have different data
pipelines, such as for Spark or Hadoop, so you have to extract,
translate and load [ETL] the data into an object store.”
DeSimone added that EMC now provides multiprotocol sup-
port, which means a single storage system can see the same data.
“There is only one copy of the data; no ETL or co-ordination is
needed,” he said.
EMC is regarded as a leader in solid-state disk (SSD) arrays, at
least according to Gartner’s latest Magic Quadrant report. SSDs
use flash memory and offer high data throughput, measured in
input/output operations per second (IOPS).
“Flash equals speed in the modern datacentre,” said EMC VCE
global CTO Nigel Moulton. “We can cloud-enable it, scale it out
and then it’s software-defined.” n
INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS

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