The document summarizes digital transformation efforts at Bahrain's Kanoo Group and how centralizing IT led Gulf-based Rotana Hotels to rethink its security.
Specifically, it discusses how Kanoo Group IT director Jameel Al Sharaf has led the company through a digital transformation, including implementing Microsoft Office 365 across the business and moving to cloud computing. This has helped improve collaboration and reduce costs. It also summarizes Rotana Hotels' experience centralizing its critical applications in a corporate datacenter, which led it to invest 20% of its IT budget upgrading its security systems, starting with a centralized antivirus system.
The document discusses several new products and services unveiled by different companies:
- Oracle demonstrated advances in its autonomous cloud platform, expanding autonomous capabilities beyond the Oracle Autonomous Database to make its cloud platform services self-driving, self-securing, and self-repairing.
- Huawei launched its Intent-Driven Network and AUTIN Automation and Intelligence solutions at Mobile World Congress 2018. The Intent-Driven Network will create a digital twin of network infrastructure to maximize business value. AUTIN delivers automation and intelligence for modernized operations.
- Dell EMC expanded its converged infrastructure portfolio with the new Dell EMC VxBlock System 1000, which offers greater flexibility and choice of storage, data protection,
This document provides an overview of several topics related to cloud computing and migration. It discusses how cloud migration has become common for enterprises but most applications still need to be migrated. It also discusses challenges with migrating data warehouses to the cloud and the need for thorough data mapping and testing migrations in parallel. Finally, it discusses how cloud-enabling software applications have introduced new challenges around delivering scalable and efficient software-as-a-service solutions due to a lack of automated platforms.
The report examines the opportunities and challenges for digital platforms and services in ASEAN countries. It finds that while countries like Singapore have created an accommodating regulatory environment, other ASEAN nations can provide major opportunities due to their large populations but also present regulatory barriers. Digital platforms can help stimulate economic growth, but data localization policies and unclear privacy rules hinder their potential. Public-private cooperation is seen as key to overcoming issues and maximizing the benefits of digital transformation.
This document summarizes an IDC white paper about Oracle's total cloud strategy. It discusses how the cloud has transformed IT environments, with ubiquitous access to data and applications from any device. It also discusses Oracle's challenges in proving it can act like a startup with lean pricing and services, while also providing enterprise-grade applications. The document outlines Oracle's portfolio of cloud and cloud-enabling technologies across infrastructure, platform and software as a service to address customer needs in both cloud and traditional environments.
Kellton Tech, a global IT conglomerate, is a CMMi Level 3 and ISO 9001:2008 certified organization. We offer customized IT services and solutions in the mobile, web, ERP, security and cloud space. We offer offshore product development, technology consulting and resource augmentation services. The following presentation elaborates on our expertise in developing consumer and enterprise web applications.
- Cloud computing is a major shift in how companies obtain software and computing capacity through web-based applications instead of local servers or desktops. This includes software as a service, hardware as a service, and data storage on demand from large data centers.
- Analysts believe cloud computing will surge to a $95 billion annual global market within 5 years as more companies use the internet to access applications and computing resources. Major tech companies are positioning themselves in the cloud computing space.
- While cloud computing provides benefits like reduced costs and increased collaboration, many CIOs remain concerned about reliability, security, and compliance with regulations for moving critical systems to the cloud. Adoption is expected to be gradual as both cloud services and
The document discusses the future of connectivity and mobility. It covers several topics:
1) Connected cars are increasing in popularity, with apps that allow remote control and monitoring of vehicles. Nissan's SmartCar app launched in partnership with Etisalat allows functions like remote start/stop and vehicle tracking.
2) The future of cars involves greater connectivity and integration with mobile devices. Technologies like Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and Microsoft Windows for Cars will bring mobile apps and functionality into vehicles.
3) 5G networks promise improved data speeds and connectivity to support technologies like the Internet of Things. This will allow more devices, including cars, to connect and be controlled remotely.
Value Journal, a monthly news journal from Redington Value Distribution, intends to update the channel on the latest vendor news and Redington Value’s Channel Initiatives.
Key stories from the July Edition:
•Redington Value strengthens RPA offerings with Automation Anywhere
•Microsoft Cloud datacenter regions now available in the UAE
•Redington Value Inks Distribution Agreement with Cohesity
•Salesforce to acquire Tableau
•Business and IT heads recognize AI can transform the Contact Center
•Organizations can lose $20 Million in a year due to poor data management
•Fortinet rapidly expands its partner focused Security as a Service Cloud offerings
•Malwarebytes simplifies enterprise endpoint security orchestration with ServiceNow integration
•Partners see increased avenues for growth with Nutanix and HPE Partnership
•Microsoft and Oracle to interconnect Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud
•Huawei drives 5G adoption to accelerate digital transformation
The document discusses several new products and services unveiled by different companies:
- Oracle demonstrated advances in its autonomous cloud platform, expanding autonomous capabilities beyond the Oracle Autonomous Database to make its cloud platform services self-driving, self-securing, and self-repairing.
- Huawei launched its Intent-Driven Network and AUTIN Automation and Intelligence solutions at Mobile World Congress 2018. The Intent-Driven Network will create a digital twin of network infrastructure to maximize business value. AUTIN delivers automation and intelligence for modernized operations.
- Dell EMC expanded its converged infrastructure portfolio with the new Dell EMC VxBlock System 1000, which offers greater flexibility and choice of storage, data protection,
This document provides an overview of several topics related to cloud computing and migration. It discusses how cloud migration has become common for enterprises but most applications still need to be migrated. It also discusses challenges with migrating data warehouses to the cloud and the need for thorough data mapping and testing migrations in parallel. Finally, it discusses how cloud-enabling software applications have introduced new challenges around delivering scalable and efficient software-as-a-service solutions due to a lack of automated platforms.
The report examines the opportunities and challenges for digital platforms and services in ASEAN countries. It finds that while countries like Singapore have created an accommodating regulatory environment, other ASEAN nations can provide major opportunities due to their large populations but also present regulatory barriers. Digital platforms can help stimulate economic growth, but data localization policies and unclear privacy rules hinder their potential. Public-private cooperation is seen as key to overcoming issues and maximizing the benefits of digital transformation.
This document summarizes an IDC white paper about Oracle's total cloud strategy. It discusses how the cloud has transformed IT environments, with ubiquitous access to data and applications from any device. It also discusses Oracle's challenges in proving it can act like a startup with lean pricing and services, while also providing enterprise-grade applications. The document outlines Oracle's portfolio of cloud and cloud-enabling technologies across infrastructure, platform and software as a service to address customer needs in both cloud and traditional environments.
Kellton Tech, a global IT conglomerate, is a CMMi Level 3 and ISO 9001:2008 certified organization. We offer customized IT services and solutions in the mobile, web, ERP, security and cloud space. We offer offshore product development, technology consulting and resource augmentation services. The following presentation elaborates on our expertise in developing consumer and enterprise web applications.
- Cloud computing is a major shift in how companies obtain software and computing capacity through web-based applications instead of local servers or desktops. This includes software as a service, hardware as a service, and data storage on demand from large data centers.
- Analysts believe cloud computing will surge to a $95 billion annual global market within 5 years as more companies use the internet to access applications and computing resources. Major tech companies are positioning themselves in the cloud computing space.
- While cloud computing provides benefits like reduced costs and increased collaboration, many CIOs remain concerned about reliability, security, and compliance with regulations for moving critical systems to the cloud. Adoption is expected to be gradual as both cloud services and
The document discusses the future of connectivity and mobility. It covers several topics:
1) Connected cars are increasing in popularity, with apps that allow remote control and monitoring of vehicles. Nissan's SmartCar app launched in partnership with Etisalat allows functions like remote start/stop and vehicle tracking.
2) The future of cars involves greater connectivity and integration with mobile devices. Technologies like Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and Microsoft Windows for Cars will bring mobile apps and functionality into vehicles.
3) 5G networks promise improved data speeds and connectivity to support technologies like the Internet of Things. This will allow more devices, including cars, to connect and be controlled remotely.
Value Journal, a monthly news journal from Redington Value Distribution, intends to update the channel on the latest vendor news and Redington Value’s Channel Initiatives.
Key stories from the July Edition:
•Redington Value strengthens RPA offerings with Automation Anywhere
•Microsoft Cloud datacenter regions now available in the UAE
•Redington Value Inks Distribution Agreement with Cohesity
•Salesforce to acquire Tableau
•Business and IT heads recognize AI can transform the Contact Center
•Organizations can lose $20 Million in a year due to poor data management
•Fortinet rapidly expands its partner focused Security as a Service Cloud offerings
•Malwarebytes simplifies enterprise endpoint security orchestration with ServiceNow integration
•Partners see increased avenues for growth with Nutanix and HPE Partnership
•Microsoft and Oracle to interconnect Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud
•Huawei drives 5G adoption to accelerate digital transformation
The Biggest Artificial Intelligence Milestones Of The Decade So FarBernard Marr
We are only a few years into the '20s, but by any measure, it's been an eventful decade so far. It’s frequently been said that we’ve already seen five years’ worth of technology-driven change packed into the last 18 months, mostly out of necessity, since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. And artificial intelligence (AI) development certainly hasn’t lagged behind.
Back in 2019, in what seems like another lifetime, I had a stab at picking out what I thought were the most significant developments so far in the history of AI. With everything that has developed since then, I thought it would be a good idea to round up the biggest breakthroughs and most significant developments of the current decade.
Unsurprisingly, many of the biggest and most headline-grabbing developments have been in the area of healthcare. However, ongoing research has also pushed boundaries of what is possible with natural language processing and vehicle autonomy.
The document discusses the benefits of remote work and cloud computing. It notes that remote work was already becoming more common before the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 1.5 million people in the UK working remotely in 2019. The pandemic accelerated the trend, proving that productivity does not necessarily decrease when working from home. Cloud computing has enabled more companies, especially tech giants, to implement remote work policies. Remote work offers cost savings for businesses from reduced office space needs and allows employees more flexibility. However, companies must implement appropriate cloud-based solutions to enable secure and productive remote work. The document then profiles 10 cloud computing companies that can help organizations effectively transition to remote work.
Karanjit Singh, CEO Kellton Tech Solutions Ltd delivers a talk on Digital Transformation at Avenir, DoMS IIT Roorkee
Theme: "Shifting Sands, Insight driven India"
Atos - Trusted Partner for your Digital Journey Paris, Bezons
At Atos, through digital transformation we strive to create the firm of tomorrow. We believe that bringing together people, technology and business is the way forward.
Every day, we power progress for our clients and partners. It is our unique approach as business technologists that makes this possible.
Marty Cole, Chief Executive of Accenture's Technology Group, argues that mobility is driving major changes in business and technology. He notes that the number of mobile devices now exceeds the world's population, driving demand for more mobile apps and services. Enterprise customers want mobility solutions that seamlessly extend existing applications, leverage cloud and analytics, and support native mobile experiences. Cole concludes that the combination of applications, cloud, analytics, mobility, and social media will define the future of the enterprise.
Value Journal, a monthly news journal from Redington Value Distribution, intends to update the channel on the latest vendor news and Redington Value’s Channel Initiatives.
Key stories from the November Edition:
•Commercial Bank of Dubai adopts the Microsoft Cloud to accelerate digitization
•The next frontier of value
•Abu Dhabi Municipality chooses Aruba for digital workplace transformation project
•Nutanix announces new IT automation for private clouds
•Fortinet ranked high by Gartner for SDWAN equipment market share by revenue
•Okta launches Okta SecurityInsights to protect global workforces
•Automation Anywhere launches AI-Powered RPA-as-a-Service platform
•New Mimecast report finds staggering increase in BEC Attacks
•Huawei stresses on key pillars for digital economy in the region
•DU chooses Oracle to accelerate uptake of UAE FEDNet programme
•VMware ranked 1st in cloud systems, service management
This document discusses data governance challenges that arise when organizations move to cloud computing. It notes that cloud impacts every aspect of a business's data governance by changing decision rights and accountabilities around information. It argues that some CIOs struggle with data governance because they think more like former CTOs focused on hardware rather than understanding business issues. Additionally, revelations about government surveillance have made some businesses nervous about putting data in multi-tenant cloud environments. However, experts say the risk to most companies is overstated, and the key is choosing a reputable cloud provider and understanding where data will be located and how it will be managed.
This document discusses the shift from prescribed personalized experiences to cooperative experiences where users have more control and agency. It notes that while personalization is in demand, users have growing concerns about how their data is collected and used. Some companies are now giving users more transparency and options to provide preferences that guide recommendations rather than decide experiences for users. Emerging technologies like 5G and AR will further enable customized experiences, but also bring more risks if users feel their boundaries are being overstepped. The document advocates for cooperative models where users participate in experience design through feedback and interactive tools.
This document discusses how 5G networks and small cell infrastructure can help cities become smart cities and realize economic benefits. It states that 5G will enable smart city solutions that can save on energy usage, traffic, and transportation costs. Deploying small cells across cities will be key to delivering 5G and unlocking these benefits. The document estimates that 5G deployment could generate $275 billion in infrastructure investment, creating up to 3 million jobs and adding $500 billion to GDP. It also provides examples of how 5G could enhance energy grids, transportation, and public safety in cities. Overall, the document argues that cities that support 5G deployment through policies like streamlining permits will be best positioned to benefit economically and become smart cities.
The document discusses the increasing adoption of cloud-based app development tools that allow users to build mobile apps without coding through a drag-and-drop interface. Such tools are gaining popularity due to their ability to significantly reduce development costs and timelines compared to traditional coding. However, some critics argue that these tools limit innovation due to their constraints. The document outlines several benefits of cloud-based app development tools, such as lowering costs by eliminating developer salaries, accelerating development timelines, allowing non-technical staff to build apps, simplifying testing across devices, and enabling rapid prototyping. While such tools have constraints, their simplicity has driven more widespread app development across many industries.
The document discusses the increasing adoption of cloud-based app development tools that allow users to build mobile apps without coding. It provides arguments for and against these tools.
The key benefits mentioned are lower costs than traditional development since developers are not needed, faster development times, the ability for non-technical staff to build apps, and ease of deploying apps across multiple devices without extensive testing. However, some argue these tools have limitations that can frustrate companies. While critics defend traditional coding, cloud-based tools are becoming very popular for quickly building internal apps to improve business processes.
Bright talk summit ea and innovation - jude umehJude Umeh
1. The document discusses the relationship between innovation and enterprise architecture and argues that enterprise architecture can play a more prominent role in enabling innovative business models given increasing business complexity.
2. It explores how enterprise architecture focuses on people, processes, and technology to successfully bring innovation to life while overcoming perceptions that it is restrictive.
3. The author is a senior consultant and enterprise architect who helps clients define strategies for responding to digital challenges.
Value Journal, a monthly news journal from Redington Value Distribution, intends to update the channel on the latest vendor news and Redington Value’s Channel Initiatives.
Key stories from the December Edition:
• New Dell EMC Solutions Bring Machine and Deep Learning to Mainstream Enterprises
• Fortinet Expands Security Fabric Visibility and Protection to Industrial Internet of Things
• Profitable Partnerships - Rajesh Mathrani, General Manager -
Sales MENA & Director of Operations - Value Distribution
• Oracle: Moving to IaaS Fundamental to Remaining Competitive
• Huawei Launches VR OpenLab Industry Cooperation Plan
• Cambium Networks Announces New Wireless Broadbrand Solutions
• Malwarebytes Releases New Data on the Efficacy of Traditional AV Solutions
• Veeam Releases New Availability Console
• AWS Announces Availability of C5 Instances for Amazon EC2
• Check Point: Cryptocurrency Miming Presents New Threat to Business
The document discusses how the Internet of Things (IoT) can improve productivity and efficiency in both consumer and workplace settings. It provides examples of how IoT devices like beacons, RFID tags, and smart locks can help track supplies and monitor employee usage to reduce costs. Other devices mentioned include The Nimbus dashboard, Spotter sensors, and smart power strips that can help automate tasks. The document argues that as more specialized microchips and interconnected devices enter the market, businesses will be able to collect and analyze more data to streamline operations and potentially improve job performance. Overall, the Internet of Things is presented as having great potential to revolutionize how businesses and employees operate through increased monitoring, automation and analytics.
Stepping into the Digital Future with IoTCognizant
A document discusses how 14 companies across industries are leveraging IoT technologies to generate efficiencies and new business models. It provides examples of how an oilfield services provider uses connected pumps to optimize oil production remotely. It also describes how a large automotive OEM created a global connected car platform delivering new applications and services. Finally, it outlines how a life sciences company increased patient adherence to diabetes treatment through a connected device that pushes button reminders for insulin injections.
Enable Oauth2.0 with Sentinet API Management (Massimo Crippa @ BTUG Event)Codit
Find here the slides of the presentation on Sentinet, given by Massimo Crippa (Codit) on the BTUG Event of 13th of October 2015.
Sentinet has recently introduced the support for the OAuth and OpenID Connect protocols.
In this presentation you will see the supported authentication flows, how to secure a regular BizTalk SOAP and REST service with OAuth 2.0 and how to call an OAuth-protected API from BizTalk with no coding or any changes in the existing application.
This document outlines Oracle's top 10 predictions for the enterprise cloud by 2025. The predictions are:
1) Second-generation cloud providers will offer 100% data center replacement capabilities.
2) 80% of all enterprise workloads, including mission-critical workloads, will move to the cloud.
3) All applications will incorporate AI to further distance themselves from legacy applications.
4) AI and emerging technologies will double productivity.
5) 85% of customer interactions will be automated.
6) The developer community will expand 10 times and productivity will increase 400%.
7) More than 50% of data will be managed autonomously.
8) 90% of enterprises will use a single
Cbs social media & innovation in ibm anders quitzau Anders Quitzau
Anders Quitzau gave a presentation on social media and innovation at IBM. He discussed IBM's definition of innovation as the intersection of invention and insight that creates value. Quitzau also explained how IBM has embraced social media internally through initiatives like Innovation Jams, which involved over 500,000 employees collaborating on ideas. Externally, IBM uses social media like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs to engage with customers and partners on innovation.
The document discusses how digital transformation and cloud computing are accelerating changes in business. It notes that companies and users now expect constant change and innovation, unlike 5 years ago. The cloud has changed expectations around IT infrastructure, requiring new approaches to security, skills, and managing applications. The document argues that companies must rapidly transform their operations, products, employees and customers to keep up with these changes in order to survive. It promotes the services of PCM in assisting companies with their digital transformations.
Value Journal, a monthly news journal from Redington Value Distribution, intends to update the channel on the latest vendor news and Redington Value’s Channel Initiatives.
Key stories from June Edition :
•Hewlett Packard Enterprise Expands HPE GreenLake
•Alibaba Cloud and Redington Boost MEA Technology
Ecosystem
•Cisco Announces New Service Enhancement For XDR And
SASE
•Dell Technologies Announces Planned VMware Spin-Off
•Microsoft-EIU Study Reveals Digital Preparedness Helped
Firms Adapt to COVID-19
•Huawei Releases CloudCampus 3.0 for Fully Wireless Networks
•Forcepoint Acquires Remote Browser Isolation Innovator
Cyberinc
•New Avaya OneCloud CCaaS Features to Enhance Customer
Experiences
•Citrix Research Uncovers New Approach to Security
•Fortinet Unveils New FortiEDR Capabilities
•Mimecast: 61% of Firms were Infected with Ransomware in 2020
•Palo Alto Networks Introduces Complete Zero Trust Network Security
•Software AG Delivers New webMethods Upgrades
•Veeam Accelerates Data Protection Strategies at VeeamON 2021
•Talend: Over a Third of Business Leaders Don’t Use Data for Critical Decisions
CLOUDFX: Addressing Challenges in Cloud Migration and Paving the Way for IT T...Nicholas Yap
1. The document discusses the challenges that organizations face when migrating to the cloud, such as a lack of support and skills to navigate the transformation.
2. It introduces CloudFX as a company that addresses these challenges through offerings like Cloud Select, a cloud service automation and management platform.
3. CloudFX takes a three-stage approach to IT transformation that provides a measurable, phased transition to cloud services and aims to deliver business value and competitive advantage for customers.
The Biggest Artificial Intelligence Milestones Of The Decade So FarBernard Marr
We are only a few years into the '20s, but by any measure, it's been an eventful decade so far. It’s frequently been said that we’ve already seen five years’ worth of technology-driven change packed into the last 18 months, mostly out of necessity, since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. And artificial intelligence (AI) development certainly hasn’t lagged behind.
Back in 2019, in what seems like another lifetime, I had a stab at picking out what I thought were the most significant developments so far in the history of AI. With everything that has developed since then, I thought it would be a good idea to round up the biggest breakthroughs and most significant developments of the current decade.
Unsurprisingly, many of the biggest and most headline-grabbing developments have been in the area of healthcare. However, ongoing research has also pushed boundaries of what is possible with natural language processing and vehicle autonomy.
The document discusses the benefits of remote work and cloud computing. It notes that remote work was already becoming more common before the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 1.5 million people in the UK working remotely in 2019. The pandemic accelerated the trend, proving that productivity does not necessarily decrease when working from home. Cloud computing has enabled more companies, especially tech giants, to implement remote work policies. Remote work offers cost savings for businesses from reduced office space needs and allows employees more flexibility. However, companies must implement appropriate cloud-based solutions to enable secure and productive remote work. The document then profiles 10 cloud computing companies that can help organizations effectively transition to remote work.
Karanjit Singh, CEO Kellton Tech Solutions Ltd delivers a talk on Digital Transformation at Avenir, DoMS IIT Roorkee
Theme: "Shifting Sands, Insight driven India"
Atos - Trusted Partner for your Digital Journey Paris, Bezons
At Atos, through digital transformation we strive to create the firm of tomorrow. We believe that bringing together people, technology and business is the way forward.
Every day, we power progress for our clients and partners. It is our unique approach as business technologists that makes this possible.
Marty Cole, Chief Executive of Accenture's Technology Group, argues that mobility is driving major changes in business and technology. He notes that the number of mobile devices now exceeds the world's population, driving demand for more mobile apps and services. Enterprise customers want mobility solutions that seamlessly extend existing applications, leverage cloud and analytics, and support native mobile experiences. Cole concludes that the combination of applications, cloud, analytics, mobility, and social media will define the future of the enterprise.
Value Journal, a monthly news journal from Redington Value Distribution, intends to update the channel on the latest vendor news and Redington Value’s Channel Initiatives.
Key stories from the November Edition:
•Commercial Bank of Dubai adopts the Microsoft Cloud to accelerate digitization
•The next frontier of value
•Abu Dhabi Municipality chooses Aruba for digital workplace transformation project
•Nutanix announces new IT automation for private clouds
•Fortinet ranked high by Gartner for SDWAN equipment market share by revenue
•Okta launches Okta SecurityInsights to protect global workforces
•Automation Anywhere launches AI-Powered RPA-as-a-Service platform
•New Mimecast report finds staggering increase in BEC Attacks
•Huawei stresses on key pillars for digital economy in the region
•DU chooses Oracle to accelerate uptake of UAE FEDNet programme
•VMware ranked 1st in cloud systems, service management
This document discusses data governance challenges that arise when organizations move to cloud computing. It notes that cloud impacts every aspect of a business's data governance by changing decision rights and accountabilities around information. It argues that some CIOs struggle with data governance because they think more like former CTOs focused on hardware rather than understanding business issues. Additionally, revelations about government surveillance have made some businesses nervous about putting data in multi-tenant cloud environments. However, experts say the risk to most companies is overstated, and the key is choosing a reputable cloud provider and understanding where data will be located and how it will be managed.
This document discusses the shift from prescribed personalized experiences to cooperative experiences where users have more control and agency. It notes that while personalization is in demand, users have growing concerns about how their data is collected and used. Some companies are now giving users more transparency and options to provide preferences that guide recommendations rather than decide experiences for users. Emerging technologies like 5G and AR will further enable customized experiences, but also bring more risks if users feel their boundaries are being overstepped. The document advocates for cooperative models where users participate in experience design through feedback and interactive tools.
This document discusses how 5G networks and small cell infrastructure can help cities become smart cities and realize economic benefits. It states that 5G will enable smart city solutions that can save on energy usage, traffic, and transportation costs. Deploying small cells across cities will be key to delivering 5G and unlocking these benefits. The document estimates that 5G deployment could generate $275 billion in infrastructure investment, creating up to 3 million jobs and adding $500 billion to GDP. It also provides examples of how 5G could enhance energy grids, transportation, and public safety in cities. Overall, the document argues that cities that support 5G deployment through policies like streamlining permits will be best positioned to benefit economically and become smart cities.
The document discusses the increasing adoption of cloud-based app development tools that allow users to build mobile apps without coding through a drag-and-drop interface. Such tools are gaining popularity due to their ability to significantly reduce development costs and timelines compared to traditional coding. However, some critics argue that these tools limit innovation due to their constraints. The document outlines several benefits of cloud-based app development tools, such as lowering costs by eliminating developer salaries, accelerating development timelines, allowing non-technical staff to build apps, simplifying testing across devices, and enabling rapid prototyping. While such tools have constraints, their simplicity has driven more widespread app development across many industries.
The document discusses the increasing adoption of cloud-based app development tools that allow users to build mobile apps without coding. It provides arguments for and against these tools.
The key benefits mentioned are lower costs than traditional development since developers are not needed, faster development times, the ability for non-technical staff to build apps, and ease of deploying apps across multiple devices without extensive testing. However, some argue these tools have limitations that can frustrate companies. While critics defend traditional coding, cloud-based tools are becoming very popular for quickly building internal apps to improve business processes.
Bright talk summit ea and innovation - jude umehJude Umeh
1. The document discusses the relationship between innovation and enterprise architecture and argues that enterprise architecture can play a more prominent role in enabling innovative business models given increasing business complexity.
2. It explores how enterprise architecture focuses on people, processes, and technology to successfully bring innovation to life while overcoming perceptions that it is restrictive.
3. The author is a senior consultant and enterprise architect who helps clients define strategies for responding to digital challenges.
Value Journal, a monthly news journal from Redington Value Distribution, intends to update the channel on the latest vendor news and Redington Value’s Channel Initiatives.
Key stories from the December Edition:
• New Dell EMC Solutions Bring Machine and Deep Learning to Mainstream Enterprises
• Fortinet Expands Security Fabric Visibility and Protection to Industrial Internet of Things
• Profitable Partnerships - Rajesh Mathrani, General Manager -
Sales MENA & Director of Operations - Value Distribution
• Oracle: Moving to IaaS Fundamental to Remaining Competitive
• Huawei Launches VR OpenLab Industry Cooperation Plan
• Cambium Networks Announces New Wireless Broadbrand Solutions
• Malwarebytes Releases New Data on the Efficacy of Traditional AV Solutions
• Veeam Releases New Availability Console
• AWS Announces Availability of C5 Instances for Amazon EC2
• Check Point: Cryptocurrency Miming Presents New Threat to Business
The document discusses how the Internet of Things (IoT) can improve productivity and efficiency in both consumer and workplace settings. It provides examples of how IoT devices like beacons, RFID tags, and smart locks can help track supplies and monitor employee usage to reduce costs. Other devices mentioned include The Nimbus dashboard, Spotter sensors, and smart power strips that can help automate tasks. The document argues that as more specialized microchips and interconnected devices enter the market, businesses will be able to collect and analyze more data to streamline operations and potentially improve job performance. Overall, the Internet of Things is presented as having great potential to revolutionize how businesses and employees operate through increased monitoring, automation and analytics.
Stepping into the Digital Future with IoTCognizant
A document discusses how 14 companies across industries are leveraging IoT technologies to generate efficiencies and new business models. It provides examples of how an oilfield services provider uses connected pumps to optimize oil production remotely. It also describes how a large automotive OEM created a global connected car platform delivering new applications and services. Finally, it outlines how a life sciences company increased patient adherence to diabetes treatment through a connected device that pushes button reminders for insulin injections.
Enable Oauth2.0 with Sentinet API Management (Massimo Crippa @ BTUG Event)Codit
Find here the slides of the presentation on Sentinet, given by Massimo Crippa (Codit) on the BTUG Event of 13th of October 2015.
Sentinet has recently introduced the support for the OAuth and OpenID Connect protocols.
In this presentation you will see the supported authentication flows, how to secure a regular BizTalk SOAP and REST service with OAuth 2.0 and how to call an OAuth-protected API from BizTalk with no coding or any changes in the existing application.
This document outlines Oracle's top 10 predictions for the enterprise cloud by 2025. The predictions are:
1) Second-generation cloud providers will offer 100% data center replacement capabilities.
2) 80% of all enterprise workloads, including mission-critical workloads, will move to the cloud.
3) All applications will incorporate AI to further distance themselves from legacy applications.
4) AI and emerging technologies will double productivity.
5) 85% of customer interactions will be automated.
6) The developer community will expand 10 times and productivity will increase 400%.
7) More than 50% of data will be managed autonomously.
8) 90% of enterprises will use a single
Cbs social media & innovation in ibm anders quitzau Anders Quitzau
Anders Quitzau gave a presentation on social media and innovation at IBM. He discussed IBM's definition of innovation as the intersection of invention and insight that creates value. Quitzau also explained how IBM has embraced social media internally through initiatives like Innovation Jams, which involved over 500,000 employees collaborating on ideas. Externally, IBM uses social media like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs to engage with customers and partners on innovation.
The document discusses how digital transformation and cloud computing are accelerating changes in business. It notes that companies and users now expect constant change and innovation, unlike 5 years ago. The cloud has changed expectations around IT infrastructure, requiring new approaches to security, skills, and managing applications. The document argues that companies must rapidly transform their operations, products, employees and customers to keep up with these changes in order to survive. It promotes the services of PCM in assisting companies with their digital transformations.
Value Journal, a monthly news journal from Redington Value Distribution, intends to update the channel on the latest vendor news and Redington Value’s Channel Initiatives.
Key stories from June Edition :
•Hewlett Packard Enterprise Expands HPE GreenLake
•Alibaba Cloud and Redington Boost MEA Technology
Ecosystem
•Cisco Announces New Service Enhancement For XDR And
SASE
•Dell Technologies Announces Planned VMware Spin-Off
•Microsoft-EIU Study Reveals Digital Preparedness Helped
Firms Adapt to COVID-19
•Huawei Releases CloudCampus 3.0 for Fully Wireless Networks
•Forcepoint Acquires Remote Browser Isolation Innovator
Cyberinc
•New Avaya OneCloud CCaaS Features to Enhance Customer
Experiences
•Citrix Research Uncovers New Approach to Security
•Fortinet Unveils New FortiEDR Capabilities
•Mimecast: 61% of Firms were Infected with Ransomware in 2020
•Palo Alto Networks Introduces Complete Zero Trust Network Security
•Software AG Delivers New webMethods Upgrades
•Veeam Accelerates Data Protection Strategies at VeeamON 2021
•Talend: Over a Third of Business Leaders Don’t Use Data for Critical Decisions
CLOUDFX: Addressing Challenges in Cloud Migration and Paving the Way for IT T...Nicholas Yap
1. The document discusses the challenges that organizations face when migrating to the cloud, such as a lack of support and skills to navigate the transformation.
2. It introduces CloudFX as a company that addresses these challenges through offerings like Cloud Select, a cloud service automation and management platform.
3. CloudFX takes a three-stage approach to IT transformation that provides a measurable, phased transition to cloud services and aims to deliver business value and competitive advantage for customers.
The document discusses predictions for how cloud computing will impact businesses in 2017 and beyond. It predicts that (1) enterprise cloud computing will become the most secure place for IT processing, (2) digital transformation will become the norm for more companies, and (3) 60% of organizations will move their systems management to the cloud while 50% of development and testing workloads will move to the cloud.
Value Journal, a monthly news journal from Redington Value Distribution, intends to update the channel on the latest vendor news and Redington Value’s Channel Initiatives.
Key stories from the June Edition:
•Redington Value On Navigating The New Normal Through Digital Innovations
•AWS Outposts Now Available In UAE And Saudi Arabia
•Dell Technologies Delivers The Power Of Open Source Networking
•HPE Announces General Availability Of GreenLake Central
•Oracle Announces Oracle Analytics For Fusion HCM
•Fortinet Announces Secure SD-WAN Innovations
•Aruba Unveils New Secure AI-Powered Solutions
•Tableau 2020.2 Introduces New Data Model For Powerful Multi-Source Analysis
•Huawei Announces White Paper On Future Network Architectures
•A10 Networks: Mobile Telecom Industry Advances Toward 5G
•Nutanix Simplifies Advanced Business Continuity With Automation
•Cohesity Unveils Mobile App For Enterprise Data Management Platform
•VMware Announces Next-Gen SOC Alliance
•New Veeam Backup For Microsoft Azure Now Available
Digital transformation is the process of reorienting an organization to focus on value creation through the widespread and persistent application of digital technologies.
The disruptions in 2017 will be an extension of trends that took off in 2016, albeit with higher adoption rate and stronger reinforcements. India’s e-commerce revenue is growing steadily to reach its $120 billion mark by 2020 and playing a big part to its progress would be cloud
The disruptions in 2017 will be an extension of trends that took off in 2016, albeit with higher adoption rate and stronger reinforcements. India’s e-commerce revenue is growing steadily to reach its $120 billion mark by 2020 and playing a big part to its progress would be cloud.
As the amount of data used by organizations continues to grow, securing critical information and programs on in-house computer servers has become crucial. Cloud computing offers secure access to users from anywhere and has been widely accepted around the world for its business efficiencies, cost-effectiveness, and competitive advantages.
This e-Book explores the business benefits of cloud migration, including flexibility, higher security, easy accessibility, data recovery, and minimal maintenance. It also provides an overview of the leading cloud service providers, such as Microsoft Azure, Citrix, CompTIA, and AWS.
The e-Book covers the following topics:
The history of cloud computing
An explanation of the three different cloud computing services
A comparative analysis of Cloud vs On-Premises
The advantages of Cloud computing
Quick stats on Cloud-migrated business profits
The top 10 entrepreneurial benefits of Cloud migration
Common Cloud migration challenges faced by every CIO
How to overcome these challenges with Cloud skilling plan solutions
A roadmap to master Azure, Citrix, CompTIA, and AWS Cloud certifications
We hope this e-Book provides valuable insights for organizations considering Cloud migration or looking to optimize their existing Cloud solutions.
Check for more information in these blogs: https://www.netcomlearning.com/blogs/347/microsoft-azure-certification-path-for-2023-the-ultimate-microsoft-azure-certifications-training-guide.html
For aws: https://www.netcomlearning.com/blogs/585/the-ultimate-guide-to-aws-certification-how-to-get-certified-and-succeed-in-your-career.html
Value Journal, a monthly news journal from Redington Value Distribution, intends to update the channel on the latest vendor news and Redington Value’s Channel Initiatives.
Key stories from the January Edition:
• Mashreq migrates to the Microsoft intelligent cloud
• Veeam launches new AWS-Native Backup and Recovery Solution in AWS Marketplace
• CrowdStrike partners with ElevenPaths to bring its platform to
customers worldwide
• Dell Technologies names Jeff Clarke as Chief Operating Officer
• GDPR compliance rate remains low according to new talend research
• Mobile Service providers preparing to fortify Security in anticipation of 5G deployments, according to survey
• New Mimecast research finds data loss is primary concern for
financial industry
• Barracuda MSP announces strong performance internationally
• Fortinet Secure SD-WAN chosen by over 21,000 global customers
• IT security budgets lower than average in 45% of SMBs and 50% of enterprises
• IDC MarketScape positions VMware as leader in three end-user computing vendor assessments
This document discusses how cloud computing has reached widespread adoption across businesses in the UK. Some key points:
- Cloud computing provides benefits like affordable scaling, speed, and collaboration that are driving many organizations to transform how they operate.
- Cloud adoption is happening rapidly, with over 70% of businesses expected to have the majority of their operations in the cloud within 3 years. It reduces costs for startups and allows both small and large companies to be more flexible and agile.
- While almost universal adoption is expected, some industries with sensitive data have barriers preventing them from hosting it in the cloud due to regulations. The cloud continues to evolve quickly and take on new forms to better meet business needs.
The 10 Most Innovative CDN Disruptors to Watch in 2022 May2022.pdfinsightssuccess2
This edition features some of the most innovative CDN companies that are disrupting the industry with their innovative services.
Read More: https://www.insightssuccess.com/the-10-most-innovative-cdn-disruptors-to-watch-in-2022-may2022/
Top 10 Companies Leading the Cloud Revolution 2021 features a handful of companies leading their respective industries to the adoption of cloud computing
Global IT services provider FPT Software has officially obtained the Security Services Competency badge from Amazon Web Services (AWS). This competency badge reaffirms the company's leading position in the cloud transformation domain.
This document discusses cloud computing, including its evolution and impact. It begins by defining cloud computing and identifying its three main service models. Next, it examines the growth of cloud computing and provides examples of companies using cloud services. It then explores the history of computing-as-a-service and how cloud computing emerged. The document also outlines the benefits cloud computing provides businesses, such as flexibility, security, and cost savings. Finally, it discusses how cloud computing is changing businesses and enabling innovation.
Gcr featured in Bisinfotech Magazine, August 2018GCR India
GCR featured in Bisinfotech Magazine August 2018. Amod Phadke, Director Sales and Marketing, GCR shared his views on Cloud- The New Job destination for Young India.
The 10 Most Scalable Cloud Solution Providers of 2019Mirror Review
The article discusses Shane Mahon's experience with 3D printing and his search for a better entry-level solution. As a product designer who races bicycles, Shane originally used an FDM 3D printer but found limitations in detail and support structures ruining prints. An SLA printer provided higher resolution but many print failures. This led Shane to question if there was a better entry-level SLS 3D printer option that could overcome these limitations and allow him to continue his projects. The article explores Shane's journey to find a more suitable 3D printing solution.
Cloud Computing in VA Why It Is Important.pptxIVIRY
To improve efficiency, production, and cost, organizations must innovate in today's fast-paced digital world. Companies function significantly thanks to Cloud Computing Services In Va.
Learn More:-https://iviry.com/cloud-computing-services/
The future is in the cloud, or at least it's migrating there. Offering scalability, flexibility and agility, the cloud is the obvious solution for businesses seeking to make sense of the deluge of data. Cloud services can also help companies meet sustainability goals and even cut costs. But cloud strategies need to be carefully crafted to avoid the risks of remote storage and realise the potential of cloud-enabled efficiencies.
4 best practices_using finance applications for better process efficienciesKaizenlogcom
The document discusses the need for modern financial applications to improve process efficiencies and data accuracy for CFOs facing increasing demands. It outlines challenges such as legacy systems relying on manual data entry and inability to access timely and comprehensive data. The document then provides best practices for identifying financial applications including regularly assessing legacy systems, focusing on automation and integration, considering cloud-based systems, using single integrated systems, and automating the financial close process. Implementing appropriate applications can result in immediate impacts like accelerated ROI, greater productivity, improved reporting and analysis, stronger financial controls, and a more responsive finance team.
Infor CloudSuite Corporate is a cloud-based ERP solution that provides financial management, procurement, human resources management, and analytics capabilities. It aims to help companies modernize their business operations with a flexible system that offers lower costs than traditional on-premise ERP through benefits like automatic upgrades, mobile access, and reduced IT workload. The solution claims to improve productivity, cost savings, and growth opportunities for organizations through its unified platform.
White papers selecting erp for oil and gas industry contractors and vendorsKaizenlogcom
This whitepaper discusses enterprise resource planning (ERP) software options for contractors and vendors serving the oil and gas industry. It notes the industry is facing cost pressures and demands for greater accountability. It recommends ERP systems that can harmonize processes, standardize quality practices, and provide real-time risk management across engineering, fabrication, project management and aftermarket services. Specifically, it suggests ERP features important for different business models, such as project planning for engineering, procurement, construction contractors, and integrated engineering and purchasing for complex manufacturers.
White papers why and how to achieve global erpKaizenlogcom
Global ERP aims to integrate a company's operations onto a single ERP system and database. This allows standardization of processes, consolidation of IT costs, and improved management visibility. However, achieving true global ERP faces impediments including disagreement on standards, resistance to change, and implementation challenges. Selecting software flexible enough to support global needs and using a phased approach can help overcome barriers to achieving the benefits of global ERP.
White papers selecting erp for performance based logistics contractingKaizenlogcom
This document discusses the requirements for suppliers to take on performance-based logistics (PBL) contracts with the Department of Defense. PBL contracts shift traditional defense supply chain and maintenance functions to suppliers, who are then paid based on guaranteed levels of system performance. To succeed with PBL contracts, suppliers will need business systems that can handle the ongoing maintenance and support services required over the life of the contracts, which can last decades. Specifically, suppliers' ERP systems may need to integrate additional modules for predictive maintenance, risk management, and service management. Legacy ERP systems designed for manufacturing may not have the necessary maintenance functionality or ability to separate government data to meet PBL contract requirements.
YouGov, an international market research firm, implemented NetSuite's cloud-based ERP system to help integrate acquired companies and multiple subsidiaries into a single environment. With NetSuite's automatic cloud upgrades, YouGov avoids the fragmented upgrades of on-premise systems that waste time and resources. NetSuite provides YouGov with a complete and single view of its business without disruptions from upgrading. YouGov increased revenues 53% while adding just six staff, and accelerated its annual budget cycle by two weeks with NetSuite's always up-to-date integrated platform.
The document compares cloud ERP systems to on-premise ERP systems. It notes that upgrades can disrupt business for on-premise systems, taking time and resources, while cloud ERP systems like NetSuite provide automatic upgrades that eliminate these problems. The guide outlines issues companies face when upgrading on-premise systems, such as lengthy upgrades, lack of new features, disruption to operations, costly customization migration, and integration challenges, and how NetSuite's cloud solution addresses these issues through automatic updates, instant access to new features, no additional resources needed for deployment, automatic customization migration with each upgrade, and prebuilt integration with other systems.
An ERP system integrates various business processes like inventory, order management, accounting, human resources and customer relationship management into a single system. Cloud ERP solutions provide various benefits over on-premise systems like lower costs, easier upgrades, mobility, flexibility and scalability. Businesses are moving to Cloud ERP for cost savings, flexibility, mobility, automatic updates, security and compliance. The document examines factors to consider when choosing between on-premise and cloud ERP and concludes that cloud ERP now provides opportunities for businesses of all sizes.
A real time comprehensive view of your businessKaizenlogcom
NetSuite provides an integrated cloud-based software suite that allows businesses to gain a real-time comprehensive view of their operations. The software integrates ERP, CRM, HR and other functions on a single database, providing end-to-end visibility of processes. It can be easily deployed in new countries and customized as needed. NetSuite also ensures disaster recovery and business continuity with daily backups and secure servers in the cloud. Customer testimonials highlight how NetSuite improves efficiency, supports growth, and provides real-time visibility across organizations.
Ctac wanted to support its customers' business process innovations with a robust, in-memory cloud solution to provide real-time insights. Ctac deployed SAP HANA on IBM Power Systems to create a new cloud offering for in-memory processing. This solution provides reliable services with less operational support required and allows Ctac to help companies take advantage of real-time analytics.
This technical white paper evaluates how SAP HANA's in-memory database improves cold start performance and quality of service on IBM Power Systems when using IBM Non-Volatile Memory Express adapters. It finds that NVMe significantly accelerates performance ramp-up time after database reactivation by providing very low latency and high read bandwidth. A sample configuration using RAID100 with NVMe in parallel with traditional storage delivers increased resiliency without negatively impacting database read performance.
This document discusses how IBM Power Systems can provide benefits for businesses running SAP HANA and S/4HANA. It identifies four types of businesses that can benefit: 1) those with HANA appliances needing refresh, 2) those on commodity architecture moving to HANA, 3) those with traditional databases and SAP applications on Power Systems, and 4) those on Power Systems not currently using SAP. Power Systems provides flexibility, resiliency, and performance advantages for HANA workloads. It allows for workload consolidation and more efficient scaling. The document argues Power Systems is well-suited for the data-intensive needs of HANA and S/4HANA environments.
Ecogas is replacing its legacy commercial systems with SAP for Utilities running on SAP HANA to prepare for growth in Argentina's natural gas market. Migrating to IBM Power8 servers accelerated payment processing by 73% and compliance reporting by 83%. Implementing SAP HANA is expected to provide even greater performance boosts and enable deeper analytics of customer energy usage and payments.
Indus Motor Company, a manufacturer of Toyota vehicles in Pakistan, implemented SAP S/4HANA on IBM Power servers to integrate its front-to-back operations and gain real-time insights. This will enable 95% faster materials planning to reduce supply chain risks, 20% fewer defects to accelerate manufacturing, and 10% more accurate orders to meet demand. The new system will provide data to decision-makers immediately to help Indus Motor Company strengthen its competitiveness against new foreign entrants.
HR Group, a major shoe retailer, implemented SAP HANA on IBM Power Systems to gain near-instant insights into sales and market trends. This allowed HR Group to more quickly adapt its product assortments to shifting customer demands. The new platform reduced processing times for analytics by 60% using half the processor cores. Migrating SAP HANA to IBM Power Systems also simplified HR Group's IT environment and reduced costs.
MySQL 5.7 includes several improvements such as 3x faster performance for point selects, native JSON support with indexing capabilities, InnoDB optimizations like online buffer pool resizing and general tablespaces, and replication enhancements including multi-source replication and transaction-based parallel replication. The document provides details on these and other new features in areas like security, high availability, geospatial functions, and monitoring capabilities exposed through the performance schema and SYS schema.
The document provides an overview and evaluation guide for MySQL Cluster, a distributed, in-memory database that combines high availability and scalability. It discusses MySQL Cluster's architecture with different node types, considerations for evaluating it like hardware requirements and query patterns, best practices for testing performance and configurations, and tips for troubleshooting issues. The goal is to help efficiently evaluate if MySQL Cluster is suitable and accelerate adopting it.
This document discusses how IBM Power Systems and EnterpriseDB (EDB) Postgres can help organizations reduce database costs and free up funds for innovation. It notes that many organizations spend the majority of their IT budgets on basic maintenance rather than innovation. Adopting the open source EDB Postgres database, which provides enterprise-grade capabilities, on IBM Power Systems servers can significantly reduce database costs compared to proprietary solutions. The Power Systems platform is optimized to run EDB Postgres with high performance and price efficiency. This allows organizations to accomplish more with existing budgets and pursue new technologies.
Idc analyst report a new breed of servers for digital transformationKaizenlogcom
Digital transformation requires organizations to leverage new technologies like mobile, cloud, and big data analytics to develop new strategies. This transformation demands new approaches to data management and infrastructure. A robust, high-performing 1-2 socket server infrastructure is critical to support evolving applications from basic web and cloud services to advanced analytics. IBM's OpenPOWER LC servers, powered by the POWER8 processor and accelerators, provide such an infrastructure while also helping control operational expenses associated with low server utilization rates.
The Ipsos - AI - Monitor 2024 Report.pdfSocial Samosa
According to Ipsos AI Monitor's 2024 report, 65% Indians said that products and services using AI have profoundly changed their daily life in the past 3-5 years.
Predictably Improve Your B2B Tech Company's Performance by Leveraging DataKiwi Creative
Harness the power of AI-backed reports, benchmarking and data analysis to predict trends and detect anomalies in your marketing efforts.
Peter Caputa, CEO at Databox, reveals how you can discover the strategies and tools to increase your growth rate (and margins!).
From metrics to track to data habits to pick up, enhance your reporting for powerful insights to improve your B2B tech company's marketing.
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This is the webinar recording from the June 2024 HubSpot User Group (HUG) for B2B Technology USA.
Watch the video recording at https://youtu.be/5vjwGfPN9lw
Sign up for future HUG events at https://events.hubspot.com/b2b-technology-usa/
Enhanced Enterprise Intelligence with your personal AI Data Copilot.pdfGetInData
Recently we have observed the rise of open-source Large Language Models (LLMs) that are community-driven or developed by the AI market leaders, such as Meta (Llama3), Databricks (DBRX) and Snowflake (Arctic). On the other hand, there is a growth in interest in specialized, carefully fine-tuned yet relatively small models that can efficiently assist programmers in day-to-day tasks. Finally, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) architectures have gained a lot of traction as the preferred approach for LLMs context and prompt augmentation for building conversational SQL data copilots, code copilots and chatbots.
In this presentation, we will show how we built upon these three concepts a robust Data Copilot that can help to democratize access to company data assets and boost performance of everyone working with data platforms.
Why do we need yet another (open-source ) Copilot?
How can we build one?
Architecture and evaluation
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Me 1016 ezine_pp20
1. 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
Home
3. cw middle east October-December 2016 3
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
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
4. cw middle east October-December 2016 4
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
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
5. cw middle east October-December 2016 5
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
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.
6. cw middle east October-December 2016 6
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
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
7. cw middle east October-December 2016 7
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
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
8. cw middle east October-December 2016 8
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
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.
9. cw middle east October-December 2016 9
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
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
10. cw middle east October-December 2016 10
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
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
11. cw middle east October-December 2016 11
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
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.
12. cw middle east October-December 2016 12
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
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
13. cw middle east October-December 2016 13
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
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
ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING
“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
14. cw middle east October-December 2016 14
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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
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.
ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING
SWISSHIPPO/FOTOLIA
Saudi Arabia’s oldest and
largest family businesses are
turning to large IT projects to
boost their performance
15. cw middle east October-December 2016 15
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
HOME
16. cw middle east October-December 2016 16
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
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
17. cw middle east October-December 2016 17
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
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
GOOGLE
18. cw middle east October-December 2016 18
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
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
19. cw middle east October-December 2016 19
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
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
20. cw middle east October-December 2016 20
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
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