acn - april 2013

Aligning business and IT strategies in the Middle East for 28 years

BYOD: MOBILITY TREND HYPE OR NEW AREA OF SECURITY RISK?An ITP Technology Publication April 2013 | Volume 26 Issue 4

Readyforgrowth

End user

MANAGING SKILLSHOW TO ATTRACT

AND RETAIN THE BEST IT TALENT

52

Projects Getting the best fromERP teams41

FIREWALLS:MOVING INTO THE CLOUD42

Project Round UpNew deals and ICT

project deliveries from around the region

IP Communications Avaya evolves solutions to

cater to the mid-market

PLUS

Ahmed Aljneibi, manager of IT Support for Al Ain Zoo, discusses building out solutions to support wide-ranging expansion plans.

Al Ain Zoo rolls out wide ranging IT upgrades to support new business growth46

Proving valueHow to demonstrate the value of projects

to all stakeholders

BI ANALYTICSBUSINESS

INTELLIGENCE EVERYWHERE

58

sas.com/vademoExperience Visual Analytics firsthand.

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April 2013 ARABIAN COMPUTER NEWS 1

/CONTENTS

April 2013 VOLUME 26 ISSUE 04

Ahmed Aljneibi, manager of IT Support for Al Ain Zoo, says the IT group is aligning with business to cater to the expansion programme.

Al Ain Zoo has implemented a number of IT projects to support ambitious expansion plans.

AL AIN ZOO BUILDSIT FOR GROWTH

4646

/CONTENTS

2 ARABIAN COMPUTER NEWS April 2013

05 4227

THE FRONT

SAP demonstrates

the capabilities of its

Business Suite running

on HANA in-memory

computing technology.

SAP ERP GETSHANA BOOST

23

Understanding team

relationships can be

key to steering major

projects to a successful

conclusion.

INSIDE ERP TEAM DYNAMICS

41 52 58

64

3812

58 52

/STARTThe latest news headlines and vital data from the local and international IT markets.

/AFTER HOURSLuai Bahder of Smartworld discusses working on one of the biggest projects in the UAE.

/TRENDSMobility and BYOD are hot topics, but is there a real regional requirement?

/COMMENTFirewall technology is switching to the cloud, bringing new benefi ts.

How can organisations

best manage their IT

talent pool to ensure the

right resources and skills

are available?

MIND THESKILLS GAP

Business intelligence

and analytics has moved

from a specialist niche

to become part of many

business systems.

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE


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Building and delivering IT solutions for the Middle EastAn ITP Technology Publication

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Issu

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201

3

PLUSSMARTPHONES SURGEStrong demand characterised smartphone market in 2012 P47

BLACKBERRY’S BUMPY ROAD BACKBlackBerry needs to wrest control of the market from Apple and Google.P17

REGIONAL DISTRIBUTORS SHARE INSIGHT ON BUILDING SUSTAINABLE VALUE-ADDED DISTRIBUTION MODELS (24)

PARTNER UP Channel experts on developing comprehensive partner programmes 30

VALUE CHAMPIONS

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GOING VIRTUALGuiding

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03

An ITP Technology Publication

16

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48

12

Critical analysis for telecommunications executives

MARCH 2013

An ITP Technology Publication www.commsmea.com

Hans Vestberg, CEO, Ericsson on broadband, operations and why differentiation is the name of the game

DATA DRIVER

We’re a quiet behind

the scenes kind of company. A

lot of people don’t know us as we’re often

branded as other things

but that’s fine with us.”

ANDREW SUKAWATY,

INMARSAT//p35

FOCUSWHY THE TIME IS RIGHT FOR LTE DEPLOYMENTS

CLINICTELCOS LOOK TO THE CLOUD FOR NEW REVENUE STREAMS

p4//EXPANSIONEtisalat seeks loan for Maroc Telecom bid

p11//OPERATIONSReview clears MTN of corruption charge

p14//FINANCEAirtel Africa’s losses rise in last quarter

COUNTRY FOCUSSaudi Arabia retains much potential, but

challenges persist

//p30

COMMENT:DEALING WITH TARGETED ATTACKS – TIME TO LOOK INSIDE THE NETWORKP14

AN ITPTECHNOLOGYPUBL ICATION

MARCH 2013 VOLUME 19

ISSUE 3

COMBATING THE DATA

FLOOD: COMPANIES MUST

START TREATING THEIR DATA AS

AN ASSETP40

ARE YOU PCI COMPLIANT?ALL COMPANIES PROCESSING CREDIT CARDS MUST COMPLYP24

Dubai World Central and Smartworld have installed the region’s fi rst multi telecom vendor network

THINK SMART

We would like to give every business and every resident

the ability to choose the telecom provider

he wants. ”NAJMUL HUSSAIN

P20


E-COMMERCE: NEW PLAYERS AIM FOR ONLINE RETAIL SUCCESSAn ITP Technology Publication February 2013 | Volume 26 Issue 2

Making the education

connection

End user

Security Managing integrated solutions52

COLLABORATION:NEW SOLUTIONS TO WORK SMARTER58

Project Round UpNew deals and ICTproject deliveries from aroundthe Middle East

Mobile dataDeploying advanced usage modelsto enable data mobility and BYOD

PLUS

Fahem Al Nuaimi, CEO of Ankabut, discusses connecting the UAE’s academic sector and creating collaboration culture.

The Ankabut network delivers connectivity and advanced technology to

drive the UAE’s knowledge economy46

Future ERPMoving away

from monolithic business apps

DATA PROTECTIONENCRYPTION IS

KEY TO KEEPINGDATA SAFE

42


INSIDE EDUCATI0N: TECHNOLOGY FOR THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMYAn ITP Technology Publication March 2013 | Volume 26 Issue 3

Powertochange

End user

PARTNER POWERSYSTEMS INTEGRATORS

SPEAK OUT46

Data management IBO aims for real time data benefi ts 36

UNIFIED COMMS:GOING BEYONDIP TELEPHONY58 Project Round Up

Latest project signings and updates from around the region

Customer Service What IT can do to

improve customer service levels

Smart CitiesNew technologiesset to drive future

urban development

PLUSYahya Ibrahim Abdulrahman, executive director, Information and Communication Technology, Saudi Electricity Company

Saudi Electricity Company prepares IT services for business restructure40

BlackBerry 10Analysts react to

BlackBerry’s latest platform launch

VIRTUALISATIONVIRTUAL DESKTOP

DEPLOYMENTS TAKING OFF

52

ITP TECHNOLOGYPUBLISHING


Oracle support, the need for more flexibility on li-censing, and the need for more training.

Speaking during an opening address, Abdul Rahman Al Theheiban, vice president of Oracle Middle East & Africa said that the region has shifted from lagging behind in its adoption of new Oracle solutions, to being an early adopter of Oracle solu-tions. This meant that the user group’s feedback to Oracle on products was having more influence, and contributing more to the development of products.

The opening sessions also included a presenta-tion from Oracle senior vice president Cliff Godwin, on Oracle’s applications roadmap, and a presenta-tion from Dr Ayesha Saeed Hussaini, director of the Manzil centre for people with special needs, which is supported by the MEOUG’s CSR activities.

The Oracle Middle East User Group (MEOUG) hosted its fifth annual conference in Dubai last month.

The MEOUG Majlis 2013 attract-ed almost 300 attendees from Oracle user organisations and channel part-ners around the Gulf region and wid-er Middle East, including a number of

government and public sector users.The event is intended to provide a platform

for Oracle users to share best practices and expe-riences, access training sessions, and give feed-back to Oracle.

Haresh Ahuja, founder and president of the MEOUG, said that the event helps Oracle cus-tomers to learn, collaborate and have a better ex-perience of usage of Oracle products.

“We learn from various experiences, we are participating in various international communi-ties, such as the EMEA Oracle User Group, the International Oracle User Groups and Oracle Open World, we gather knowledge from all these communities, and bring it back to the end user,” Ahuja said.

The MEOUG is one of 900 Oracle user groups, representing half a million members worldwide. The groups collaborate as a global community, with a global support forum and a useability lab, to test applications. The MEOUG is supported by Oracle, but is inde-pendent of the company, and receives no funding from it.

Formed in 2008, the Middle East organisation includes several special interest groups (SIGs), that focus on particular vertical sectors or solutions, including retail, healthcare, business intelligence, JD Edwards, and Oracle Hardware. The group also plans to launch six more SIGs this year, to include Java, E-Business and Fusion, and verticals including real estate.

Thameem Rizvon, founder and past president of the MEOUG, explained: “Our spe-cial interest groups are the key driving factor outside of the conference. The Majlis con-ference covers everything in terms of Oracle, it is too large a focus. With the SIGs, for example for BI, we run focus sessions on business intelligence, we talk about case studies, the security aspects, the challenges. The SIGs are all driven by volunteers.”

Issues raised by members during the conference included getting more value from

Fifth annual conference of the MEOUG discusses new technology, best practices

ME Oracle User Group meets in UAEBUSINESS

(l-r) Thameem Rizvon and Haresh Aruja of the ME Oracle User Group.

With Siemonmonitoring your network...

...doesn’t have to be difficult

Next Generation Intelligent Infrastructure Management

/START


Cloud computing taking off in Saudi ArabiaIDC expects 2012 year-on-year cloud migration spending increase of 34.86%

While Saudi Arabia is still in the early stages of cloud

adoption, an increasing number of IT decision makers are seeking a deeper un-derstanding of how cloud will fit within their organisation.

However, according to a recent report by international market research and advisory company IDC, although cloud continues to generate a tremendous amount of attention, primarily due to the benefits it offers in terms of operational efficiency and cost savings, only a hand-ful of providers in the kingdom currently offer cloud services.

“Organisations across the kingdom have traditionally preferred to man-age their IT operations internally,” said Hamza Naqshbandi, senior research analyst for IT services with IDC Saudi Arabia. “However, there has been grow-ing interest in outsourcing models, with organisations increasingly using host-

ing and managed services. This growing adoption of outsourcing services is seen as a first step toward moving to a cloud-based model, as companies become more comfortable with the concept of remote services delivery.”

IDC expects total spending on cloud delivery in Saudi Arabia to increase 34.86% year on year in 2012. In the long term, IDC projects spending to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 49.7% between 2012 and 2016.

Although Saudi end-user organisa-tions have been relatively slow to adopt cloud, the general consensus within the IT community in the kingdom is that cloud computing is not just hype. “The fact that cloud is making significant in-roads globally and has captured the im-agination of both the technology indus-try and the business community is likely to resonate well with CIOs in the king-dom,” added Naqshbandi.

CLOUD

Cloud computing is slowly coming to Saudi Arabia.

Cutting costsGood project management, change management and employee educa-tion can help IT departments cut costs without major issues

1. Challenges of Implementing Cost SavingsCost savings cannot always be expressed in

terms of hard dollars, but explaining the soft

benefits to the business can be a challenge.

Change management and process manage-

ment can make a huge impact on how much

you save and demonstrating those savings.

2. The Bottom LineThere is never enough money, time, or

resources to accomplish every project. The

key is to find new ways to decrease operat-

ing costs to fund new projects. With proper

cost-saving initiatives, IT will have the room

to continue to grow and add value.

3. Must-Haves for Motivating EmployeesWhen asking employees to do more with

less, show them that what they do directly

benefits the company and themselves. Every

project must directly benefit the business.

4. Golden Rules of Cost-Saving InitiativesThere is nothing more important than instill-

ing a total sense of ownership. Continually

evaluate the cost-effectiveness of existing

projects by tracking before and after costs as

well as increases in functionality.

5. Essential Take-AwaysSet a road map for new ways to save mon-

ey — then stick to it. Even the smallest of

changes can beget big savings. Sour

ce: E

xecB

luepr

ints

/START


SAP and Saudia KSA centreKAEC facility will aim to develop IT and business skills

SAP and Saudi Arabian Airlines

(Saudia) will partner to estab-lish a Competency Center in the King Abdullah Economic City, to teach business, IT and leader-ship skills to students.

The two companies have signed an MOU, to develop skills among young people, to enable them to develop high-level ca-reers in IT and business.

Training will include a range of elements such as negotiation and communication to conflict management and ‘design thinking’, along with SAP certifications on core business and indus-try solutions.

“Saudi Arabia needs to continue strength-ening its ability to create sustainable high-tech jobs, and Saudia is determined to do everything it can to support this process,” said His Excel-

lency Eng Khalid Abdullah Almolhem, director general, Saudia.

Saudia has already committed to moving 1,000 employees to its Smart Technology Hub in King Abdullah Economic City. The MOU will also entail SAP sharing aviation industry-specific best practices with help Saudia.

Sophos RED 50 for mid-marketSophos extends its line RED 50 (Remote Ethernet Device), billed as the first security solution to offer complete and centrally managed UTM for medium-sized branch offices.

PRODUCT FOCUS

BUSINESS

March 19thMuscat, Oman

Britain’s Prince

Charles visited

Oman’s Knowledge

Oasis during a trip to

the Middle East. The

Prince met staff at

the technology park,

located near Muscat,

which was established

to support technology-

based start ups and is

also home to the local

offices of a number of

IT majors.

MOHAMMED MAHJOUB/AFP/Getty Images

THE BIGPICTURE

(l-r): Sam Alkharrat, Managing Director, SAP MENA and Muhammad Ali Albakri, CIO and CFO, Saudia.

4-port gigabit switch and two gigabit

WAN interfaces, can be connected

to two Internet connections at once

Creates a secure Ethernet

tunnel to your Sophos UTM

appliance using AES256 encryption

and SHA1-HMAC authentication

Combines Net-

work, Web and

Email Security

Throughput speeds of more

than 300 Mbps, ten-times

faster than RED 10 devices

/START

9

/START


Optimus Technology and Telecommunications, has

been appointed as the Master Training Part-ner for the industry association the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) for the Middle East.

The value-added distributor will develop and train partners across the region and help promote the Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge (CCSK) programme.

According to the CSA, the new MTP pro-gramme will help accelerate worldwide ac-cess and adoption of the CCSK certification programmes.

The CCSK is intended to provide a ven-dor-agnostic program for security profes-sionals and other IT practitioners, to devel-op competency in cloud computing security best practices, and to enable secure deploy-ments of cloud technologies.

Jim Reavis, executive director of CSA said: “Our mission is to deliver the best practices

CSA appoints Optimus as ME training partnerOptimus is master trainer for Cloud Security Alliance’s cloud security certification

INDUSTRY

Respect ratings for IT sector slippingGlobeScan, an analytics company that helps companies to understand and engage with stakeholders, has warned the reputation of the IT sector is being eroded. The company, which has been tracking public opinion of the IT sector for over ten years, says that while the IT sector is still the most respected globally, respect for the sector is slipping. GlobeScan says that in the developing world, the high cost of IT solutions is becoming more of an issue, while in the developed world, issues such as data privacy, and lack of respect for privacy, is undermining the good reputation of IT.

Kaul: Security is an issue for 60% of CIOs

considering cloud.

IT

Sour

ce: G

lobeS

can R

adar

Net* Respect rating, by Sector(*Net equals 4+5 minus 1+2 on a scale where 5 equals “A lot of respect” and 1 equals “No respect.”)

for security assurance within cloud comput-ing and we are confident this enhanced alli-ance with Optimus will benefit regional se-curity professionals tremendously as we will have the added resources and investments needed to define and deliver a programme that keeps pace with a constantly changing cloud security landscape.”

Meera Kaul, managing director at Opti-mus Technology & Telecommunications, said: “In the recent past, we have run in-dustry surveys in the region with respect to cloud deployment readiness and over 60% of CIOs have stated security as the major impediment to the deployment deci-sion. The CCSK programme, the industry’s most trusted user certification programme for the advancement of secure cloud com-puting, helps security professionals under-stand cloud security and its challenges and best practices.”

PHARMACEUTICAL AUTO BANKING OIL

40

30

20

10

2010 2011 2012

/START


The threat from distrib-uted denial of service (DDoS) attacks to net-work operators is shift-ing, according to Arbor

Networks. The number of attacks, based on volume, ap-pears to have plateaued, but at the same time, application layer and multi-vector attacks have increased the complex-ity and longevity of attacks. In the eighth edition of the company’s Worldwide In-frastructure Security Report, the network security special-ist said that DDoS attacks on data centres and other ser-vices are increasing in speed and severity.

The study of 130 responses from a mixture of Tier 1, Tier 2/3, enterprise and other types of network operators from around the world, found that over three-quarters of survey participants expe-rienced DDoS attacks to-ward their customers within

the survey period of twelve months, 94% of which saw regular attacks. Over half re-ported seeing DDoS attacks against Internet services (DNS, email, etc.) and net-work infrastructure (routers, switches, load balancers, etc). Just under half of all respond-ents saw actual infrastructure outages due to DDoS.

The most commonly per-ceived motivations for DDoS attacks are political/ideologi-cal, online gaming and van-dalism/nihilism, with attacks mainly seen as reactions to real or perceived offence caused by the target entity.

While the study did find better awareness of the risk of DDoS among both data centre providers and their customer organisations, de-fending against them is still a challenge, with lack of skilled staff and lack of security funding affecting their ability to respond.

Attacks on data centres get bigger, faster and more complex

DDOS ATTACKS INCREASE

DDoS attacks have become...

BIGGERaverage bit rate of 1.48 Gb/Sec, up 20%

Fasteraverage packet rate in 2012 1.48 Mpps, up 11%

MoR3 c0mPl3xmulti-vector attacks experienced by 41% respondents

respondents at-tacked between

1 and 10 times per month

53%respondents

attacked over 100 timesper month

6%

/START


$10,000-50,000/hourCost to victim organisations of a DDoS attack in lost revenue

Top three most significant operational threats

DDoS attacks toward

customers

76%DDoS attacks

toward services

54%Infra-

structure outage

61%

Top three motivations for DDoS attacks

Political/ ideological

disputes

33%Nihilism/

vandalism

27%Online gaming related

31%

Most targeted customer types

gaming/gambling

21%government15%

financialservices

19%end user/

subscribers

32%e-commerce46%

Sour

ce: A

rbor

Netw

orks,

2012

Worl

dwide

Infra

struc

ture

Secu

rity R

eport

; Neu

star

/START


3 / SAUDI ARABIA

Cerner to deliver e-health

for two KSU hospitals

King Saud University is set to deploy

Cerner electronic health record (EHR)

systems to the 950-bed King Khalid

University Hospital and the 200-bed King

Abdulaziz University Hospital.

The solutions will automate clinical

processes and provide instant access

to clinical information and integrated

workflow for the two academic hospitals.

The contract was executed between KSU

and Saudi Health Information Systems

(SHIS), which is a joint venture between

Cerner and the Riyadh Valley Company.

/START

Arabian Computer News brings you a regional roundup of recently announced and ongoing enterprise IT projects

PROJECTS

2 / SAUDI ARABIA

Saudi MoE signs SMART

for 9,000 whiteboards

The Ministry of Education for Saudi Ara-

bia has awarded two tenders to SMART

for a combined installation of 9,000

SMART Board interactive whiteboards

and SMART Notebook collaborative

learning software. The solutions will

be implemented in 6,500 public school

classrooms and 2,500 computer labs

across the Kingdom, by SMART distribu-

tor Obeikan Education.

The deployment is part of the Ministry

of Education’s vision to create 50,000

collaborative classrooms in three years.

4 / BAHRAIN

BMI selects EMC for

infrastructure revamp

Bahraini retail and commercial bank-

ing institution BMI Bank has selected a

range of EMC technologies for an over-

haul of its infrastructure.

The technologies used include EMC

VNX unified storage with the EMC FAST

Suite, EMC Data Domain de-duplication

back-up system and EMC SourceOne

Email Management for Microsoft

Exchange. BMI Bank said it expects to

improve storage performance, simplify

system management and reduce OPEX

costs with the new infrastructure.

1 / KUWAIT

HBMeU brings online

classes to Zain customers

The Hamdan Bin Mohammed e-Universi-

ty (HBMeU) has showcased its new Cloud

Campus social media-based learning

service, developed in partnership with

Zain Group and Global Learning.

HBMeU will use Cloud Campus to

deliver a range of different educational

courses including languages, busi-

ness and academic subjects, support by

collaboration environments and sup-

port and communication with academic

faculty. The courses will be available

first to Zain Kuwait customers, through

subscription via mobile phone. The solu-

tion was launched at MWC in Barcelona.

/START


User: RAK Ceramics, UAE,

the world’s largest manufac-

turer of ceramic and porce-

lain tiles.

Project: ERP replacement.

The product: SAP ERP

The objective: Replace 13-

year old legacy systems to

manage UAE operations

What they said: Abdallah

Massaad, CEO, RAK Ceram-

ics: “The SAP ERP system

is a key part of our strategic

decisions to invest in new

technology and solutions

that will ensure our vision for

taking the company forward.”

/START

A regional enterprise project at a glance

DEPLOYMENT

7 / UAE

CARS to improve traffic safety in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi’s Department of Transport

(DoT) has announced a new Crash

Analysis and Reporting System (CARS),

which is intended to provide analysis of

accident data and other information to

improve road safety in the Emirate.

The AED 3.4m, ($920,000) solution

was developed by the British Trans-

port Research Laboratory, along with

DoT and the Abu Dhabi Police, and will

provide engineering analysis capabilities

to assess accidents data and information

related to road safety.

8 / OMAN

Oman electronic passport project provided by Gemalto

The Royal Oman Police has signed Ge-

malto to provide an end-to-end electron-

ic passport solution for the Sultanate.

The turnkey solution encompasses

Gemalto’s ICAO compliant Sealys

ePassport documents, and a full Coesys

solution suite to enroll citizens, person-

alize and issue secure documents. The

multi-year contract also covers training,

support and maintenance services.

Each ePassport will feature secure

eTravel embedded software and a con-

tactless microprocessor.

5 / QATAR

Qatar University connects with Cisco Jabber messaging

Qatar University has deployed Cisco’s

Jabber messaging application to connect

15,000, staff, students and faculty.

The Jabber application is a soft phone

that includes presence, instant messag-

ing (IM), voice, video, voice messaging,

desktop sharing, and conferencing, to

enable users at the university to connect

and collaborate. Jabber is available

for Android, BlackBerry, iOS, Mac and

Windows, and is also integrated with Mi-

crosoft Office, so that users can initiate

communications from within Office.

6 / UAE

HAAD rolls out Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1

The Health Authority of Abu Dhabi

(HAAD) has improved efficiency and

speeded up processes with the deploy-

ment of Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1.

The authority is using the Oracle ERP

solution to enhance and standardise pro-

cessing across a number of areas, with

benefits including a 20% reduction in

customer service transaction workload;

fivefold average acceleration of process-

ing, automation of the requisition cycle

and cutting the monthly financial closing

process from 10 days to 3 days.

The new ERP will improve productivity

and help the company exceed growth

expectations, says Massaad.

/START


Red Hat will host its ‘2013 Red Hat Tour’ event in Abu

Dhabi on 22nd April, as part of a 13-city show across Europe and the Middle East to discuss best practice for open source software.

The event series will cover strategies and best practices from Red Hat specialists and partners on approaches for transforming enter-prise IT architecture using open source tech-nology and migrating from physical to virtual and cloud solutions.

Red Hat argues that open source, flexible, IT architecture can help companies to be more adaptive to business and customer needs, and to

be faster to market with new products and services, in comparison to other software.

“What was once cutting-edge, proprietary enterprise computing has quickly become expensive legacy infrastructure,” said Werner Knoblich, VP and general manager EMEA, Red Hat. “Migrating mission critical applica-

tions onto more scalable, flexible, cost-effective open source systems, can make great business sense. Businesses spend years and millions of dollars developing IT infrastructure and more often than not have the common goal of leverag-ing existing investments in order to avoid rip and replace.”

COMMENT OF THE MONTH“Many organisations are certainly wary of defining a secu-rity strategy based on vendor input as many paint a glum picture. However, many also fail to perform a threat assessment on them-selves… Until organisa-tions go back to the foundations, they will be vulnerable to hype.”

GAVIN FERREIRO JOINS RSA BOSS ART COVIELLO IN CRITICIZING CYBER-SECURI-T Y SCAREMONGERS.

ITP.NET MOST READ1 Leaked! Samsung

Galaxy S IV pics

2 MidEast IT spend forecast to hit $192bn in 2013

3 Media watchdog names ‘Internet enemies’

4 Silicon Oasis TechForum to focus on trends

5 Saudi reaches for the cloud, says IDC

6 IT heads lack mobile and social media security skills

7 Saudi Crown Prince signs up to Twitter

8 Dell buyout hits another roadblock

9 Orascom Telecom’s loss deepens in Q4

10 80% of people polled want personal cloud

SOFTWARE

Red Hat announces Tour 2013Open source software roadshow coming to Abu Dhabi

Knoblich: What was once cutting-edge… has quickly become ex-pensive legacy infrastructure.

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What are people doingwith their smartphones?

On any given day, out of every ten subscribers:

Six users will... look up information –

including news, weather, blogs, and maps

Four users will... open a web browser,

use a social network application

Three users will... engage in e-commerce,

use Facebook, be served a mobile advert

Two users will... visit the App Store,

view mobile video content

One user will... use iTunes, use

YouTube, use Twitter

/START


Saudi Arabia sen-tenced three na-

tionals to prison terms for leak-ing confidential information about state-owned Saudi Arabi-an Oil Company, also known as Aramco, while they worked for a computer maintenance com-pany contracted by the energy firm, Arab News reported.

One person was sentenced to six years in prison, while the two accomplices were given three-year prison terms each, the newspaper reported, citing court records.

The main suspect in the case stole hard disk drives from Aramco’s computers with one containing confidential infor-

mation, as well as an external storage unit that belonged to an American engineer employed by Aramco, the newspaper added. The primary defendant was also accused of stealing a laptop, and was found to be in possession of a CD containing a program ena-bling users to hack password-protected computers.

The newspaper said the case is not connected to the hacking attack on Aramco last August. The 15th August attack wiped the master boot records of some 30,000 workstations at the oil company. Aramco claimed that none of the company’s employ-ees or contractors were involved in that incident.

Companies failing to fix common vulnerabilities, says Kaspersky

SECURITY WATCH

SECURITY

Three jailed for Aramco drive theftsHard drives and external drives stolen by computer maintenance contractors

A computer contractor was sentenced to six years prison after being found guilty of stealing hard drives from Saudi Aramco.(AFP/Getty Images)

Data from the Kaspersky Security Network, taken from 11 million Windows PCs in 2012, shows that eight vulnerabilities in three applications — Java, Flash and Adobe — were the most widely used ex-ploits, but users fail to update of fix them quickly.

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DATE OF ORIGIN OF TOP VULNERABILITIES( V ULNER A BILI T IES FOUND ON AT LE AS T 10% OF COMPU T ERS DURING 20 12 )

5

4

3

2

1

ORACLE JAVA (2011-2012) ADOBE FLASH (2011-2012) ADOBE READER (2011)

NUMBER OF ACTIVELY EXPLOITED VULNERABILITIES,BY SOFTWARE WHERE VULNERABILIT Y IS FOUND:

7 weeksOracle Java

AVERAGE TIME TAKEN FOR JUST ONE THIRD OF USERS TO UPGRADE TO NEW VERSION OF APPLICATION:

5-7 daysMajor Web Browsers

37 Vulnerabilities from this chart (above) account for over 70% of all detections of vulnerable software

/START


Video conferencing is on the rise among enter-

prise users, according to a survey by Wain-house Research and Polycom.

The survey of nearly 5,000 enterprise us-ers found that a quarter of respondents use video conferencing on a daily basis, while over 85% use it a least once a month. Re-spondents said that increasing productivity and efficiency was the main benefit of vid-eo conferencing, along with increasing the impact of discussions, expediting decision making and reducing travel costs.

Desktop PCs and laptops are the most common device used for video conferenc-ing (71%), followed by room/group video systems (65%), tablets (34%) and smart-phones (33%), and two thirds of companies

COLLABORATION

Video conferencing gains enterprise tractionSurvey shows 85% of enterprise users on video conferencing at least once a month

say they use equipment from multiple ven-dors, meaning interoperability is growing in importance.

At present the main venue for using video conferencing are static ‘in-office’ locations, such as offices or conference rooms, but mo-bile usage is expected to double. The vast majority of respondents also said they would use video conferencing more if more of the people they worked with had video.

Andy Miller, president and CEO of Poly-com commented on the results: “In addition to helping foster a more productive and en-gaged workforce, video collaboration helps enterprises and organisations thrive by ena-bling more effective sales and engineering teams, better customer service, and stronger partner relationships.

Miller: ‘Face-to-face’ virtual meetings

empower employees

/START


QUOTE OF THE MONTH“I think most

vendors are creating a bit of

confusion with the customers — some

are saying BYOD is the way to go,

some are saying be careful, all will hell

break loose if you do this. People have

taken a sales pitch to customers rather

than a technology evolution mindset.”

NOMAN QADIR, ACTING AREA VICE PRESIDENT, CITRIX MEA, ON THE CUR-

RENT STATE OF THE BYOD MARKET.

TICKER: CSCO

GLOBAL NEWS: Cisco saw sales

grow 5% to $12.1bn in the quarter

to end of January, while net

income was up to $3.1bn from

$2.2bn a year ago. In March the

company saw shares lift, but fall

back by month end. Also in March,

the company announced the

acquisition of cloud services man-

agement company SolveDirect,

and was ordered to pay $70m in

fraud damages to patent licensing

company XpertUniverse, over a

failed partnership deal.

LOCAL NEWS: At the Cisco

Connect 2013 UAE event, the

company announced plans for

continued investment in the Mid-

dle East region, including more

focus on ICT skills training and a

commitment to work with local

organisations and governments.

Cisco reiterates commitment to the Middle East

KPIs

Cisco Systems Inc

Largest ever DDoS attack detectedSpam blacklister hit by attacks of up to 300 Gbps, ‘rogue’ hosting service accused

The largest Dis-tributed Denial of

Service (DDoS) attack ever re-ported affected internet access around the world in March.

The DDoS attack, which be-gan around 15th March, was di-rected against Spamhaus, a non-profit organisation that provides blacklists of IP addresses alleged to be distributing spam mes-sages. Spamhaus has accused a Dutch hosting service provider CyberBunker, of initiating the attacks along with eastern Eu-ropean cybercriminals, after Spamhaus listed CyberBunker as a source of spam.

Since the attacks began, DDoS attacks have peaked at 300 gigabits per second, six times greater volume than is seen in a normal high profile attack, and three times the pre-vious largest recorded attack of 100 Gbps.

SECURITY

CyberBunker has been accused of being behind the DDoS attack on Spamhaus.

Spamhaus’ site was knocked offline on 18th March, but it was able to recover after partnering with content delivery company CloudFlare, who mitigated the attacks. The sheer volume of the DDoS attack is believed to have disrupted services worldwide such as Netflix, and the London Internet Exchange. Spamhaus is directly or indirectly responsi-ble for filtering as much as 80% of daily spam messages.

According to CyberBunker’s website: “Customers are al-lowed to host any content they like, except child porn and any-thing related to terrorism. Eve-rything else is fine.”

The attackers used a ‘DNS reflection attack’ method, which effectively amplifies the volume of DDoS attacks, allowing at-tackers to increase the volume of attacks to many times the size of the resources they control.

MAR 11 MAR 18MAR 4

21.80

21.00

20.60

21.40

MAR 25


/ANALYSIS

SAP demonstrates ERP on HANASAP has been promoting the potential of its Business Suite ERP runningon HANA in-memory computing, which it says will help organisations in the UAE to keep up with the demand for big data analytics

SAP has demonstrated its Busi-ness Suite running on the HANA in-memory computing architecture, to stakeholders in the UAE, to highlight the real-time advantages of the platform. HANA uses in-mem-ory architecture to amalgamate

transaction and analytics operations by per-forming both on a single, centralised store.

An elongated process of drilling down through global cash flow aggregates to iden-tify a group of bad creditors in a single geo-graphical region was performed in a short series of clicks. SAP demonstrators high-lighted the steps in the process as a means to highlight an operation that they claimed would take days in the most agile of ERP in-frastructures, while their demo took a hand-ful of minutes.

Business Suite on HANA is the latest manifestation of HANA, an in-memory tech-nology accelerant launched in 2010. SAP claimed the technology was gaining traction across MENA and had “enabled many cus-tomers worldwide to speed up business pro-cesses by over 100,000 times”.

“The unabated growth in enterprise data — both structured and unstructured — is increasingly driving discussions around the value that can be extracted from that data in order to drive competitive advantage. Big data technologies such as in-memory data-

bases make rapid trans-actional and analytical processing of that data possible, thus accelerat-ing business processes,” said Ranjit Rajan, re-search director, Soft-ware and Services, IDC MEA, who was present at the demonstration.

SAP describes Busi-ness Suite on HANA as an accelerant of core processes — such as HR, finance, marketing, sales, maintenance, ser-vices, manufacturing, procurement and sup-ply chain — while also offering a unified view of real-time information at any level of granular-ity and acting as a platform for “real-time interaction and data access of every type, on any device”.

SAP also pointed out that the platform is configured for continuous incremental change, and operates on a flexible, open ar-chitecture that gives customers choice of hardware, database, implementation part-ners, and solution providers.

“Business Suite on HANA is a massive calling card for SAP in the UAE,” said Qais

Gharaibeh, UAE managing director, SAP MENA. “This is a country where business is starting to move at incredible speed and data is growing at a relentless rate. To do nothing is to lose out. SAP is committed to partner with UAE businesses to enhance their ability to react in real time, to dive into oceans of big data and emerge with true insight, and to benefit from new tech-nologies like cloud, mobility, and in-mem-ory computing.”

Gharabieh: Business Suite on HANA will allow UAE

organisations to keep pace with business growth.

“BIG DATA TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS IN-MEMORY DATABASESMAKE RAPID TRANSACTIONAL AND ANALYTICAL PROCESSING OF THAT DATA POSSIBLE, THUS ACCELERATING BUSINESS PROCESSES.”

/ANALYSIS


Unified communications for SMEsAvaya has launched a new set of solutions that it says will help mid-market companies to get more benefit from unified communications technology, including enhanced collaboration, video conferencing and mobility

The scope of unified communi-cations has increased in recent years, to include new features such as video conferencing and collaboration, but many com-panies, particularly in the mid-market, have been slow to adopt solutions because of complex-

ity and cost. That situation may be about to change however, with a major launch of mid-market focused solutions from vendor Avaya.

The company has strong presence with IP telephony at enterprise level, but has now decided to introduce solutions for the SME – for companies with up to 1,000 users. Avaya’s new IP Office range has been tai-lored to meet the needs of the segment, and the Middle East is set to be the first region to get access to the new solutions.

Nidal Abou-Ltaif, vice president of Mid-dle East African and Turkey, Avaya, ex-plained that while nearly 90% of the com-pany’s customers in the region fall into the SME segment of 500 employees or less, the enterprise solutions that Avaya offered pro-vided a high degree of reliability, but also came with an enterprise-level price point and degree of complexity.

“Initially we were trying to scale down our enterprise solutions to meet the require-ment, and that was expensive [for the cus-tomer] so we used to subsidise it, even then, the running cost, the TCO, was expensive. Most of these companies don’t have an IT group to help them, so they need more self-sufficiency,” he said.

The new IP Office line has been devel-oped specifically for the mid-market seg-ment, with solutions that can typically be set up within two hours, and at a price point around 50% less than the corresponding en-terprise solutions.

IP Office is intended to cater to organi-sations with between five and one thousand users, at a single site or multi-site up to 32 locations. A technology upgrade in August will extend that to 1,500 users. The solution includes all of the Avaya features, includ-ing telephony and video, mobility and call centre applications, networking and secu-rity. The solution is available in five IP Of-fice editions, with additional features sets in each level.

“The days of complicated IT solutions, intended for larger enterprises, have come to an end; SMEs are busy expanding their core businesses, and need simple solutions that embrace innovation,” Abou-Ltaif add-ed. “SMEs are constantly growing and agile — they invest in new technology because they understand that in order for their or-ganisation to grow, they need to take in-formed decisions about which solutions can make them more competitive and custom-er-centric. The company is putting a lot of push into this, we see a lot of potential in the mid-market.”

The new solutions are intended to be not just affordable for the SME, but also to encourage more use of the different func-tions that IP Office offers. At present, most smaller companies are not really using inte-grated collaboration systems, or if they have solutions, they exist as islands rather than an integrated whole. The new solution is meant to provide easier to use features, with capabilities such as integration with Micro-soft Office and Microsoft Lync, to make it easier for the end user to get the most from the system.

IP Office is based on open standards, so that it is compatible with hardware from other vendors, allowing companies to pre-serve any existing investment in solutions.

“Another challenge faced by SME’s is

Abou-Ltaif: Avaya has developed solutions

specifi cally to cater to the mid-market.

AVAYA IP OFFICE FEATURESHD video softphone

Audio conferencing for up to 128 participants

Compatible with ERS 4000 series switches and Wi-Fi solutions to automate network set-up

Avaya One Number

Geo-presence to track users

Instant Messaging

Presence to show availability

PC Call management

Avaya Flare Communicator for iPad and Windows

Integration with desktop apps such as Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Lync and Salesforce.com


/ANALYSIS

SECURITY FEATURESVirtual private network (VPN) to connect home and remote users

Firewall transversal technology to enable video conferencing through firewalls

Secure remote management for service and upgrade

Session Border Controller (SBC) provides enterprise-class SIP security

their networking and video conferencing requirements. They are looking for a time-saving, straightforward process that’s ideal for organisations that may not have dedi-cated IT staff. Customers don’t want to be confined in expensive video conferencing rooms to stay visually connected with their customers, peers and partners and that mak-ing video mobile and affordable to mid-size enterprises helps them stay constantly con-nected through their device of choice.”

Increased usage of unified communica-tions and collaboration features can bring a range of benefits to organisations, Abou-Ltaif said, such as reductions in mobile bills, roaming bills and travel expenses, and

a boost to productivity. A recent survey by Wainhouse showed that 94% of respondents believe that video conferencing allows them to improve efficiency and productivity.

The solutions have already been adopted by a number of customers in the region, and Abou-Ltaif said that the company is seeing strong demand from a number of sectors, including industrial manufacturing, real es-tate, construction and education.

Avaya has selected specific channel part-ners, and implemented a new training pro-gramme for them, to ensure proper deploy-ment and support of the new solutions. The company is also undertaking an eight city roadshow to launch the solutions.

“THE DAYS OF COMPLICATED IT SOLUTIONS,

INTENDED FOR LARGER

ENTERPRISES, HAVE COME TO AN END;

SMES ARE BUSY EXPANDING THEIR

CORE BUSINESSES, AND NEED SIMPLE

SOLUTIONS THAT EMBRACE

INNOVATION.”

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/TRENDS

The Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is a popular topic in the industry at present, but are companies properly prepared to enable mobility and manage a mobile workforce and what solutions and approaches will deliver the promised results?

MANAGING MOBILES

Too much hype?Companies should take a strategic approach to mobility, with proper regard for data security

Too much talk around BYOD is clouding the fact that

solutions are not yet fully developed or understood

properly, according to Stefan Berner of help AG.

“I personally believe it is still a very imma-

ture market,” Berner says. “There is a lot of hype

around the subject, there are a lot of vendor princi-

pals who are going to try to position their products

as much as they can, but we have hardly seen any

MDM solutions successfully implemented within an

enterprise customer.”

Berner says that IT departments are trying

to enable BYOD without considering the security

consequences. Even with simple email solutions

serving a small number of users within the organi-

sation, there is a risk of exposing confidential in-

formation, and he believes that many MDM projects

will be put on hold once companies realise this.

Companies should avoid just putting in place

point solutions and take a more strategic view.

“It is much more about the policies than the

product. We work with Excitor which is focused on

mobile device security, by having MDM in place, and

having a phased and structured approach, we can

make sure that the confidentiality of the informa-

tion is going to be there.”

STEFAN BERNERMANAGING DIRECTOR, HELP AG


/TRENDS

As one of the pioneers in corporate mobility,

BlackBerry has been producing devices and ap-

plications to equip business users with mobile

tools for some time. The company’s market

share may have been hit by competitors, but

with the launch of its BlackBerry 10 platform in

January, it has come back with more solutions

to manage the needs of today’s mobile users,

according to Christophe Corsi.

“What we have done with our new plat-

forms, is to bring a product that consumers

want to have; and that manages the work/life

balance, both managing it as a person, and for

IT managers to manage it.”

The new platform and the BlackBerry En-

terprise Service 10 enables a ‘Balance’ mode on

the device, where users can switch between a

personal profile, which they control, and a work

profile, which is administered by corporate

IT, with encryption of corporate data, remote

wiping if the employee leaves the company, and

even provisioning of a customised app store

with only company-approved apps available to

download to the corporate profile.

BlackBerry has also extended management

to other devices running Android and iOS, with

its Universal Device Service, which enables

management on with the same server.

Balancing businessand personalBlackBerry builds on security credentials with new features of BlackBerry 10 platform

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/TRENDS

Data and application security are not the only

issues that need consideration for BYOD –

unmanaged and unmonitored use of mobile

devices on corporate networks is another

concern. Chris Moore of Blue Coat warns that

network administrators should be aware of the

network burdens of unscheduled, automatic

software updates; access to app downloads, and

recreational traffic — particularly video-related

traffic, and automated cloud backup services.

“It’s clear that BYOD network traffic — OS

updates, app downloads, cloud-based sharing

services — is going to have a growing impact

on network capacity and business applications.

A single BYOD at minimum will add 10GB of

traffic over and above what is currently on the

network. If network administrators do not take

action to gain visibility and control over BYOD

traffic then business operations and profitability

will be impacted,” Moore says.

To properly manage these issues, corpo-

rates need to be able to see what is happening

on their networks, through solutions to provide

real-time granular visibility into network traffic;

the ability to prioritise and segment network

traffic and traffic optimisation to mitigate the

impact of video traffic on the network.

“There is still a long way to go. This is a user

led revolution and the IT departments are play-

ing catch-up,” Moore adds.

Bandwidth burdenBYOD has implications beyond data security, including added load on corporate networks

CHRIS MOOREREGIONAL DIRECTOR MIDDLE EAST & TURKEY, BLUE COAT SYSTEMS


/TRENDS

Citrix is extending its expertise in virtual desk-

tops, and its ‘Mobile Workstyles’ strategy, to

offer a holistic approach to MDM and mobility,

according to Noman Qadir.

The company is leveraging application

delivery capability, and technologies from its

acquisition of Zenprise, now rebranded as

XenMobile and XenDesktop, to offer what it says

is an answer to managing security and data

integrity to mobile.

“We manage the end point device and give

absolute end-point control to the administra-

tors, in terms of what goes on the device, how it

connects to the network, what they are allowed

to do, and remote management to wipe devices

at the click of a button,” Qadir says.

Regional CIOs can see the opportunities and

benefits of BYOD, he says, although at present

most of them are moving from RFPs into proof-

of-concepts, although he expects to see faster

overall uptake once the benefits are proven.

Qadir says that initial talks with the education

sector in the region suggest its will lead the

market in the region.

“[Universities] want to allow that creativ-

ity and flexibility to students and teachers, at

the same time they are really concerned about

extending things they cannot manage.”

Virtual experience Citrix expects to see rapid uptake of BYOD in the region as companies realize the benefits

NOMAN QADIRACTING AREA VICE PRESIDENT, CITRIX MEA


/TRENDS

The burden of managing BYOD need not fall

completely on corporate IT, according to UAE

telco du. The operator has partnered with MDM

specialist Mobile Iron to offer a cloud-based

mobile device management solution, so that en-

terprises can allow their users to use their own

devices, including iOS, Android and BlackBerry,

for corporate data.

Hatem Bamatraf of du explains: “The

solution offers a ring fence around corporate

data; device security, application management,

monitoring and reporting, centralised adminis-

tration and policy management to ensure that

corporate data is secured and meets govern-

ance requirements.”

Bamatraf says that current MDM offerings

provide a depth of solutions to enable mobile

users, but that companies should also under-

stand key considerations before going down the

BYOD route, namely security both on the device,

in transit and in the application; employee pri-

vacy; network security to prevent rogue apps,

malware and virus penetration; application

management for both personal and corporate

data; and the overall financial implications of

different deployment methodologies such as

cloud or on-premise and the resources required

to manage the infrastructure.

HATEM BAMATRAFEXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT,ENTERPRISE BUSINESS, DU

Mobile in the cloudUAE telco du offers cloud-based MDM to give mobile benefits without major investment

HP SoftwareCIO Speaker seriesMamoun Al Homssey, CIO, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank

Read more at


/TRENDS

Securing the deviceSecurity software vendors extendingexpertise to the mobile platform

Among the leaders in tackling the challenges of

BYOD are many of the existing security software

vendors, who are turning their expertise to

the mobile space. But while the solutions are

there, management awareness of mobile risks

is lacking, says Khalid Abu Baker of Kaspersky

Lab, even though recorded volumes of mobile

malware have risen sharply.

“They [businesses] are not feeling the

threats on mobile devices,” he says. “Such

measures have to come from the top down, not

from IT, it has to come from the C-level. They

still feel the mobile device is personal.”

Kaspersky is driving awareness among

corporate customers that mobile devices can be

secured, and still maintain the end user’s pri-

vacy. It has delivered a mobile deployment to a

major bank in Egypt, along with a large number

of smaller deployments in the region.

The company’s MDM solution includes

containerization, to set up separate corporate

and personal data containers on the same de-

vice, along with remote configuration of device

policies, settings and security images via push

email or SMS. The solution also includes ap-

plication controls, and detection of rooting and

jailbreaking, along with safe browser solutions.

“It is our duty as a vendor to show that

these solutions would benefit the company and

not harm the privacy of the employee,” Abu

Baker explains.

KHALID ABU BAKERCORPORATE SALES MANAGER, KASPERSKY LAB

/COMMENT


Proving the value of IT investmentsInfor’s Phil Lewis argues that the net value of IT is too under-valued

in today’s business environment, and that CIOs need to quantify and

demonstrate the value of projects at all stages of their lifecycle

It’s no longer enough for technology to merely support busi-ness — it must propel it. Only when business and technology strategies are properly aligned will they be able to achieve the maximum possible value from their enterprise software investments. A business may face several top priority busi-ness and IT improvement projects, but find it increasingly hard to prioritise them. Or IT leaders may feel very comfort-able measuring financial performance and improvements,

yet struggle knowing how to include non-financial metrics such as customer satisfaction, lead times, or utilisation rates in this vital analysis. How can assurances be made that expected improvement initiatives will actually be in line with the strategy, or what the next move should be to stay at least one step ahead of the competition?

Many companies admit that they make decisions based on ‘gut instinct’ or struggle with the ‘do nothing’ option when they are evaluating potential business initiatives and wish that there was a definitive way to model the benefits of go/no-go. This is not sustainable. It is vital to clarify the benefits of going ahead with a particular project, or help decide which of the systems being evalu-ated would deliver the fastest payback and the most return in order to make the selection process easier.

It’s also important to understand whether a particular IT pro-ject has met expectations in terms of payback, ROI and overall value. By clarifying the benefits and quantifying the value, a bench-mark for success is automatically created, providing a mechanism for measuring success. Benefits and value identified before em-barking on the implementation project can be measured through-

out and after the project to ensure resources have been focussed in the right areas.

VALUE MANAGEMENTIt is imperative to uncover where there are potential improve-ments in existing business processes, systems, initiatives and the organisation itself. Start by quantifying achievable value for each initiative, and model their best possible options and outcomes. Potential initiatives can then be prioritised based on a company’s unique strategic business goals — which may be moving into ABC new markets, reducing costs by X for Y product, reducing the amount of inventory etc, and from this, a value roadmap can be fol-lowed with confidence to achieve real results. This also provides a platform and methodology for use in the future from a continuous improvement and investment maximisation perspective.

The ultimate success of initiatives depends on effectively man-aging the risks of any transformation. Success requires top-down commitment, as well as ground-up support and project manage-ment to execute effectively. Without that, as with any project, there can be delays, budget overruns, loss of internal support, resistance to change, or failure to deliver the expected results.

VALUE AIMSTypical areas of added value a company must strive for include:• Optimised business performance.• Improved customer service levels. Reduced inventory levels.• Faster time to market.

Lewis: Measuring the benefi t of projects is an important part of aligning IT with strategic business objectives.

“SUCCESS REQUIRES TOP-DOWN COMMITMENT, AS WELL AS GROUND-UP SUPPORT AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT TO EX-ECUTE EFFECTIVELY.”


/COMMENT

• Increased market share.• Lower costs and reduced risk.• Lasting competitive advantage

HOW CAN IT BE ACHIEVED?It is necessary to follow a proven methodology and tools to:• Benchmark against industry standards and competition.• Demonstrate the impact on company results - if a small per-

centage improvement in company performance versus peers could be achieved.

• Help align strategy and objectives to performance benchmarks.• Create a comprehensive business analysis, including a solution

roadmap and ROI based on benchmarks, executive and opera-tional interviews.

• Develop a more granular transformation study, including a de-tailed implementation plan.

It’s then possible to follow the roadmap and detailed imple-mentation plan and execute on the initiatives as they are laid out for optimal results.

Ultimately adopting such a strategic approach to an IT de-ployment helps identify critical areas where value can be added to a business. The process of clearly identifying the multiple stages of return on investment within the lifecycle of an IT pro-ject can then really help secure ‘buy in’ across an organisation for the greatest benefit to the organisation as a whole. Proving the worth of the investment will ensure all parties will be en-gaged with ensuring a succesful deployment.

When business and technology strategies can be properly aligned, then technology can be appropriately deployed in or-der to propel the business forward. Only then can companies achieve the maximum possible value from their critical enter-prise software investments.

“THE ULTIMATE SUCCESS OF INITIATIVES DEPENDS ON EFFECTIVE-LY MANAGING THE RISKS OF ANY TRANSFORMATION.”

WEDNESDAY 29TH MAY 2013, JUMEIRAH EMIRATES TOWERS, DUBAI

THE MOST CELEBRATED EVENT FOR MIDDLE EAST NETWORKING PROFESSIONALS

w w w. i t p . n e t / e v e n t s / n m e - a w a r d s

NOW IN THEIR 9TH YEAR, THE NETWORK MIDDLE EAST

INNOVATION AWARDS BRINGS TOGETHER THE REGION’S IT

COMMUNITY TO RECOGNISE THE LEADING PROJECTS, VENDORS

AND INDIVIDUALS IN THE NETWORKING SECTOR

Do not miss your opportunity be part of the 9th Network Middle East Innovation Awards.Visit www.itp.net/events/nme-awards or contact one of our team today

For sponsorship enquiries please contact:

Nayeem DakhwaySales ManagerTel: +971 4 444 3482Email: [email protected]

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/COMMENT

Understanding ERP project group dynamicsManaging the dynamics within an ERP team is key to reaching a successful conclusion for any deployment project, says Jawed Akhtar, Chief Applications Information Officer, Ebrahim Khalil Kanoo Co.

ERP projects are the single most strategic projects for most organisations — it establishes the basic framework for business, and touches almost all the business pro-cesses. You might have heard many stories of failures or unsuccessful attempts. Implementing ERP systems is still a major challenge and is one of the largest changes organisations ever have to face.

The ERP project team, is a typical group that goes through the normal lifecycle, of forming, developing, changing and dissolving. For a manager however, understanding the group be-haviour, the different skills and objectives of the team members, presents a new challenge — how to lead the team toward the cen-tral goal of a successful deployment? Managers also need to know the symptoms of unhealthy development and how to manage the team to work most effectively.

The project team is the most critical element of success, having the right team in place and making them work toward the com-mon goal is a real challenge. The ERP project team should consist of members from IT, business users and outside consultants, all of whom will tends to approach the project from different angles. The consulting members want to complete the project within time and budget, business users just want their business processes to be cov-ered with minimum changes, whereas the IT team struggle with scope and approach of the project deadlines, and would like to en-sure that there are no issues or problems that remain unresolved. In this article let’s discuss the role of project manager, and team dynamics as it evolves through its lifecycle.

The model of dynamics of the group includes several critical dimensions, namely:

Objective: The project team is typically formed with the core objective or purpose. Even if the central purpose is usually agreed, individuals usually develop secondary objectives. These may in-clude using the forum for their personal agenda, or to settle the interdepartmental issues or inter-personnel issues. The project manager, therefore often needs to clarify the core objective and reemphasis it at each and every meeting.

Authority: The dimension is so critical; it tends to influence all other dimensions. The client project manager and consultant project manager’s authority over the team, scope and solution is critical to success. Those project managers who are frequently in-terrupted with directions by senior executives are often not able to

take decisions properly, and can seriously jeopardise the project.Membership Worthiness: As the project work progress, each

member will periodically reassess his worthiness in the group based on his background, abilities and contribution. If the indi-viduals feel unworthy, they will be less likely to contribute to the project and can hinder the project progress.

Ground Rule Development: Teams also develop commonly accepted rules that determine how the team members will work together. These involve fixing the individual’s roles and responsi-bilities, team communications, and how to attend to and resolve any problems.

Dissolution: Towards the end of the project, team members start thinking, what next? Internal IT staff look forward to the next important role; business users worry about the changes in processes, reassess their importance and try to highlight their role and responsibility in the project; whereas consultant team mem-bers are keen to get on to next project of choice and their next pay packet. Towards the end of the project, which demands complete concentration, these dissolution symptoms start interfering with the project and create distractions.

These dimensions normally affect the group dynamics and the manager should be aware of them, to deal effectively. With the clear understanding and sense of group dynamics and skill requires to manage it, they will be better adapted to manage each project more productively.

Akhtar: Different roles within a project team may have differing additional goals such as fi nishing the project as quickly as possible.

/COMMENT


Is it the end of an era for on-premise firewalls?Cloud technology is enabling the evolution of firewall technologies beyond simple protection and into network and data management, says Wieland Alge, VP and general manager EMEA at Barracuda Networks

The cloud is a hugely discussed IT topic. Lately the dis-cussion has turned to its impact on firewalls, and I heard someone say that on-premise firewalls will eventually disappear and move into the cloud. Personally, I think it’s highly unlikely, but it made me wonder whether there was any truth in the statement.

We’re all aware that firewalls control the commu-nication of data and applications, so they will always be

required. They keep the network running smoothly, so the question isn’t ‘will on-premise firewalls disappear?’ but ‘how will firewalls be influenced by cloud technologies?’

CUE UNIFIED THREAT MANAGEMENTTen years ago the first perimeter architectures consisted of a fast packet processor (the firewall) and a battery of content scanning servers. Each server was dedicated to a specific task (a duty) such as finding spyware or searching for viruses. It was a complicated de-sign, and managing it was a challenge.

Then Unified Threat Management (UTM) architecture came onto the scene. This was driven by industry analysts attempting to solve implementation issues. But it failed. There was no efficient way one device could defend against every threat. So, firewall im-plementation always ended up as a compromise between network performance and security. Unfortunately, both tactics had their limi-tations and other options were sought which luckily coincided with the growth of cloud computing.

FREEING UP ON-SITE BANDWIDTH FROM THE ASYNCHRONOUS WORKLOADFirewalls interact with ‘cloudy IT’ in two ways. As a technology

that benefits the cloud and a solution which fights hackers and helps business critical applications. About ten years ago, networks had an abundance of perimeter scanning servers. But when consol-idated in one box, it ‘killed’ the performance. The firewalls strug-gled to keep up with tasks such as analysing, prioritising and block-ing network traffic. The cloud relieves the workload for firewalls by pulling out the asynchronous workload from the perimeter and redirecting it to cloud-based content filters.

UTM EFFICIENCY WITH FAR MORE PERFORMANCEWith regards to the Unified Threat Management (UTM) ap-proach; administrators still have one management console from which they can manage the on-site firewall capabilities like fast

Alge: Cloud-based scanning methods are a lot cheaper and more effi cient than current fi rewall architectures.

“FIREWALL VENDORS TRY TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS OF WHAT THEY CAN BLOCK, BUT THE MODERN FIREWALL IS NOT A DEVICE THAT BLOCKS THE MALICIOUS PEOPLE FROM THE CONTROLLED PART OFTHE NETWORK. FROM AN APPLICATION ARCHITECTURE POINT OF VIEW, THE FIREWALL IS SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE OF EVERYTHING.”


/COMMENT

packet processing, together with the content filtering capabilities taking place in the cloud.

COST SAVINGCloud-based scanning methods are a lot cheaper and more efficient than current firewall architectures. Cloud provides users with the ‘separation of duty’ architecture without the cost associated. Fire-walls will eventually become more efficient and provide a solution to the dilemma. Eventually, firewalls will become a far better device and will finally provide a solution to the 15-year-old dilemma, which firewalls in a perimeter architecture struggled with.

FIREWALLS IN THE CLOUD – FRIEND TO THE APPLICATION – AND FOE TO YOUR ENEMIESIn a private cloud or a closed and simple IT architecture, the basic questions asked of the firewall are; Do you block these attacks? Do you restrict access to that type of system? Can you limit access to the outside world?

In ‘cloudy IT’ questions which were originally asked of applica-tion delivery controllers in the data centre world and are now asked of firewalls. These questions include; Can you accelerate access to that particular application? Can you prioritise the traffic from this user group to this data? Can you provide access to that particular data?

Firewall vendors try to answer the questions of what they can block, but the modern firewall is not a device that blocks the mali-cious people from the controlled part of the network. From an ap-plication architecture point of view, the firewall is somewhere in the

middle of everything. Do firewalls contribute positively to data ap-plication access or not? Traditionally firewalls cause problems for the bad guys but this approach can also cause problems for everyone.

A lot of people thought application detection capabilities were largely used to block bad applications. In reality, it is used to iden-tify applications in order to prioritise them for end-user access, for example SAP access or WAN optimisation techniques to some parts of file sharing network. This is the reason why people use deep application detection. Even moving to the cloud, there will be a firewall somewhere.

FIVE POINTS TO CONSIDERIdeally you want a ‘firewall plus cloud’. You don’t want everything in ‘one box’ but you want to manage it as if it were ‘one box’. So:1. Cloud-amended firewalls provide the ultimate solution to the performance

and management dilemma that has plagued firewalls for a long time.2. Firewalls should support/accelerate access to applications or data.3. Deep application analysis should be used to prioritise good applications

and data access – as well as blocking the malicious.4. To accelerate cloud-based applications you need scalable management to

be effective to maximise the benefit of modern firewall capabilities.5. Don’t overcomplicate things because it will put people off.

“THE QUESTION ISN’T ‘WILL ON-

PREMISE FIREWALLS DISAPPEAR?’ BUT ‘HOW WILL FIRE-WALLS BE INFLU-ENCED BY CLOUD

TECHNOLOGIES?’”

/EDITOR’S COMMENT


picture of BYOD requirements, and realistic solutions, is getting lost in the din as the vendors each promote their own approach and solution set.

There are also questions over the overall necessity for wide-reaching and complex MDM deployments. En-terprise mobility is still fairly rare, with email account-ing for by far the largest proportion of business applica-tions that are on mobile devices at present. Mobile email is nothing new, and there have been secure solutions available for years. MDM is cited as a challenge, but how many companies actually need to concern themselves with it at present? Right now, many of the initial projects

are focusing on a small num-ber of executive users, with only those that need access to the most business critical data being included in pilot ERP or CRM on mobile devices and MDM projects.

Of course, administering a wide range of devices using different platforms, delivering data to the device and putting the security wrapper in place around it, results in a complex set of requirements, which will have different solutions and approaches based on dif-ferent business cases and dif-ferent policies. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to BYOD, and best practices are still in development. Organi-sations need to consider what

mobile applications they really need to provide to which workers, and what sort of access they need to those ap-plications to complete their work. As mobile adoption in the workplace increases, there is going to be a greater need to secure email on mobile devices, but full blown MDM across the organisation is a long way off at present for most companies.

Mark SuttonSenior Group [email protected]

Do workforces need mobile management yet?There are many different approaches to managing the BYOD trend being promoted, but organisations need to properly assess mobile risks andrequirements before deployment

In this month’s issue we take a brief look at the bring-your-own-device trend (BYOD), and some of the differ-ent approaches to handling the problem of increased penetration of mobile devices in the workplace. The mobil-ity trend is easily one of the most discussed in the past year or two, driven by a mix of consumer evangelizing of the latest smartphone and tablet devices, and the cor-porate drive to increase ef-ficiency and strain every last drop of productivity from the workforce, no matter whether they are in the office or on the road. Mobility as a part of our connected lifestyles certainly seems to be an unstoppable phenomenon, enabled by ever more powerful devices and ever more ubiquitous connec-tivity, so extending corporate applications and data to the mobile environment, to work-ers connected, seems to be both logical and inevitable.

As more and more mobile devices become part of the business infrastructure however, the big question seems to be how best companies can make sure that they give ac-cess to the right applications and data for each user, while making sure that corporate security is maintained. There is a definite feeling that the BYOD trend and mobile de-vice management solutions are presently riding wild on the hype cycle, without a great deal of clarity as to the real extent of mobility risks, or what needs to be done to manage them. In terms of how best to manage this, it seems that there are almost as many different approaches to MDM as there are vendors pushing MDM solutions. Everyone seems to have a solution to BYOD, and the true

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AL AIN ZOO HAS UNDERTAKEN A WIDE RANGE OFIT PROJECTS TO UPGRADE ITS INFRASTRUCTURE, TO SUPPORT THE FACILITY’S AMBITIOUS EXPANSION PLANS TO TRANSFORM ITSELF INTO A LEADING CENTRE FOR THE CONSERVATION OF THE WILDLIFE OF THE DESERT WORLD

BY MARK SUTTON

Ahmed Aljneibi, manager of IT Support for Al

Ain Zoo, has been involved with a number of the

projects to update the technology

solutions in use.

AL AIN ZOO BUILDS ITFOR GROWTH

/AL AIN ZOO


xpanding any organisation usually means an expansion of the IT infrastructure to match, whether the expansion is in terms of headcount, business activities, geogra-phy or other factors — IT usually needs to expand to meet the new business require-ments. For the Al Ain Zoo based on the out-skirts of Al Ain in the UAE, although it may not appear to be a traditional business, IT still needs to match the operational needs.

Founded by Sheikh Zayed in 1967, the zoo announced a major program of expan-sion in 2010, including the building of a resort hotel, increased park space, residen-tial projects, conservation and breeding centre and the Sheikh Zayed Desert Learn-ing Centre, a state of the art educational facility. The expansion meant a major increase in head count, and the addition of

new buildings, with a corresponding increase in demand for IT. The zoo also needed to overhaul its infrastructure, which was outdated in some areas, and non-exist-ent in others.

Ahmed Aljneibi, manager of IT Sup-port for Al Ain Zoo, who joined the or-ganisation at the start of 2011, explained that the zoo required updates to IT across a range of areas, which resulted in a number of projects with systems integrator Emitac Enterprise Solutions.

“When I joined Al Ain Zoo, there were a lot of requirements from the business and end users which could not be accomplished because there was no efficient infrastructure. Emitac helped us to provide the hardware and infra-structure” he said.

The various infrastructure projects undertaken in recent years included backup, disaster recovery, virtualisa-tion, storage and network infrastructure, while at the same time; the zoo has also added additional services to cater both to its staff and to visitors.

One of the most challenging areas was in connecting the whole site. As an older facility, with buildings dispersed over a wide area, the network fell short of the requirements of modern IT, Aljneibi said.

“There was no cabled-network infrastructure between the main buildings. The buildings were connected via point-to-point wireless technology and we’ve been facing some issues because of temperature and the weather conditions, and some-times natural obstacles between the buildings.

“One of the challenges was that we didn’t have any maps or drawings to assist us to pull our fibre optic cables in order to connect the main buildings. So we have asked Etisalat if they could help us by providing any drawings for Al Ain Zoo. They shared some information with us and we utilised their ducts, but there were still some locations where we needed to dig our own ducts and manholes. Now, most of our main buildings are connected with fibre optic links,” he explained.

“Moreover, we have two other locations (Al Ain Zoo Head Office and the project office which is located in the Senaiya Area. All three sites are connected via Etisalat MPLS. At the same time, we have WiMAX links between our Head Office and

the Zoo,” Aljneibi adds.To support the general business ap-

plications such as Microsoft Exchange for additional users at the Zoo, a new server room was implemented at the Zoo, using HP hardware. Around 80% of the servers have been virtualised us-ing VMware.

“One of our corporative values is sustainability,” said Aljneibi. “Vir-tualisation, in terms of sustainability, re-duces the hardware down into one box, with a cloud-based system or virtualised environment. That reduces the electric-ity usage and the heat that is coming out of the devices.”

Sustainability is also exemplified in Sheikh Zayed Desert Learning Centre (SZDLC), a new building, which has been designed and built using environ-mentally friendly materials, with ef-ficient power consumption, and the IT department is also using green-certified

Al Ain Zoo has improved the network

infrastructure to connect the buildings

at the site, to deliver more services to end

users and guests.

KIT LISTHP Servers, Storage, TL

VWWARE – Virtualisation

Microsoft Windows OS

Linux operating system

MS Infrastructure including Exchange,Active Directory

MS SQL Server

Cisco IP Telephony deployment

F5- Load Balancing solutions

HP SW – Network Node Manager

/AL AIN ZOO

49

/AL AIN ZOO


PC and server hardware from HP that will be used in the Sheikh Zayed Desert Learning Centre.

To support the new infrastructure, Al Ain Zoo also deployed new storage infrastructure, in the form of an HP EVA4400 SAN, with HP Command View EVA software, which includes simplified management, automatic performance load balancing, dynamic configuration, and re-configuration. For backup and recovery, Emitac installed and configured a file system backup for Windows workstations and Windows and Red Hat Linux Server. Emitac also provided training for staff on the HP Stor-ageWorks solutions.

Al Ain Zoo has also improved its disaster recovery, with host-based replication from head office site to the Zoo site, including replication of the file server, replication of SQL server and replication of SharePoint server as well. This replication helped the zoo to optimise communication between the pri-mary and secondary sites, and to prioritise critical applications for failover, reducing cost and complexity.

Infrastructure and general business applications are not the only things that the IT department supports, it is also respon-sible for other systems to cater to visitors to the zoo, including

Aljneibi has introduced the

ZIMS solution to key personnel at the

zoo, to help improve animal care and

management.

“THERE WAS NO CABLED-NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE BETWEEN THE MAIN BUILDINGS... THEY WERE CONNECTED VIA POINT-TO-POINT WIRELESS AND WE FACED SOME ISSUES BECAUSE OF TEMPERATURE, WEATHER, AND NATURAL OBSTACLES.”


/AL AIN ZOO

Gateway Ticketing System from Prologic, and InfoGenesis and Eatec which are both provided by Agilysys for point-of-sale and inventory systems respectively.

“IT, like any other department, should align its own strate-gies with the overall strategies of the business. We are working very closely with our end users to come up with solutions that will help the business to reach its goals and objectives,” Aljneibi explained.

Another System that will help advance the zoo’s strategic processes is the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), a web-based application which tracks species, animal’s medical history, and other data. The application was originally developed by the International Species Information System (ISIS) and it is currently in use with zoos around the world.

Aljneibi visited San Diego Zoo last year to see the system in action, and has since introduced it to a group of end users at Al Ain Zoo, to encourage its adoption.

“They [San Diego Zoo] introduced me to the system, and explained to me how it would help Al Ain Zoo to improve and enhance its core business. When I came back, I introduced the system to our concerned departments and users who might be interested in ZIMS and can contribute to it. The system is still in BETA version and it might take a couple of years to have it up and running with all its modules,” he said.

The IT Department is looking to extend its services to sup-port more applications which would enable more services for end users and visitors. One of the projects is the rollout of a MESH wireless network, which will provide high speed wire-less coverage of the whole site.

“That will give us an easy way to provide services, not only for our end users, but also for our visitors, as well,” Aljneibi said. “An example is we could provide a solution [for our visi-tors], if someone is standing in front of a lion exhibit, with a smart phone application connected to our MESH wireless, then all related information about lions could be accessed. It is just an idea, but we could also provide virtual tours by accessing our website and that would encourage people to come and visit Al Ain Zoo to experience the fun!”

“IT, LIKE ANY OTHER DEPARTMENT, SHOULD ALIGN ITS OWN STRATEGIES WITH THE OVERALL STRATEGIES OF THE BUSINESS. WE ARE WORKING VERY CLOSELY WITH OUR END USERS TO COME UP WITH SOLUTIONS THAT WILL HELP THE BUSINESS TO REACH ITS GOALS AND OBJECTIVES.”

ZIMS HELPS TRACK AND MANAGE WILDLIFE The Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS) application has been created by International Species Information System (ISIS) for those who manage wildlife in human care. This web-based application holds records on 2.6 million animals (374,000 currently living) and more than 10,000 species, and is intended to change the way zoological professionals manage massive collections in zoos and aquariums around the world.

The ZIMS vision is for one global, real-time, accurate Zoological Information Management System, enhancing local care, protecting population health and supporting international conservation efforts.

Zoological professionals use the ZIMS application to track pertinent information needed by their animal-care staff, including collection management, husbandry, and health and disease history to further enhance local care and international conservation efforts. ISIS (International Species Information System) members will enter their data directly into the ZIMS database.

ZIMS will benefit zoo personnel in all areas of Animal Care:• Curators: able to access, query, cross-reference and share current

husbandry, species management, and lab data on all animals, from any authorised computer, anywhere. Also they will be able to see 140 international studbooks and 1,200 regional studbooks in real time.

• Keepers: able to see a complete lifetime animal history with a single click. Moreover, they will be able to see all the animals in their work area and all the planned events for them from any authorised computer anywhere.

• Vet Staff: able to find and share the most recent advances in diagnostic, treatments and dosages with colleagues at 700 institutions around the globe.

• Studbook Keepers: receive automatic updates on births, moves and death in their species when they are entered anywhere in the world. So the data will be in real time.

• Registrars: One, global, lifetime, permanent ID Number for each animal, for the first time in the Zoological Profession. As a result, they won’t have to re-enter the same data others have entered from somewhere else. ZIMS’ customised reports will save them a time on permits and annual reports.

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A CONSTANT CHALLENGE FOR THE REGION’SIT INDUSTRY IS ATTRACTING AND RETAININGTHE RIGHT PEOPLE WITH THE RIGHT SKILLS, TO MANAGE THE CONTINUING ROLL OUT OF COMPLEX IT SOLUTIONS. ORGANISATIONS ARE FACING AN INCREASING PROBLEM WITH STAFFING THAT CAN HINDER THE UPTAKE OF PROJECTS. ACN LOOKS AT HOW THE REGION’S CIOS CAN BEST MANAGE THE TALENT GAP

BY KERI ALLAN

MIND THE SKILLS GAPThe lack of skilled

staff is cited as one of the reasons that IT organisations in

the Middle East can be slow to adopt new

technologies in areas such as cloud and security solutions.

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he Middle East has established solid foundations for a thriving IT industry. The challenge now is to build human capacity and employee engagement to meet the growing demand for skills. As competition increases, staff reten-tion in the region, which has already been cited as a major issue by many Middle East organisations, is set to become even more of a concern.

“In order to succeed, an organi-sation must not only train, but more importantly retain its skilled staff,” says Sufian Dweik, regional manager, MEMA at Brocade Communications.

Most organisations across the Middle East are evolving and have re-alised the importance of hiring quali-fied professionals, which in turn has

positively impacted their business. Some of the main skill sets currently in demand include security consulting, cloud comput-ing and virtualisation.

“From a certification perspective, areas like video, storage, and virtualisation of the cloud are becoming increasingly impor-tant,” says Eva Petz, business development manager at Fast Lane. “We also see more and more students attending courses in ad-vanced technologies — high-end data centre curriculum, security and video. Knowledge and data management are increasingly important to run international organisa-tions efficiently,” she adds.

Skills pertaining to ownership and execution are also in demand, as Zubair Ahmed, VP, head of IT at Emirates Is-lamic Bank, highlights.

“Based on the current IT echo system and future aspirations, there are several subject matter expertise roles which are required to work closely with the business. Apart from traditional technical and project management skills, these roles also demand the skills of people management, collaboration and innovation,” he says.

It is necessary to keep some roles

in-house, but CIOs are comfortable to outsource others. This decision depends on many factors, such as the size or location of the business, or the vertical segment it is in.

“Most companies are focusing on their core competency and outsource non-core activities to third parties,” says Petz.

“Roles which are away from our core business can easily be outsourced,” confirms Ahmed. “This way the organisation can benefit from scaling up on demand in an efficient and effective manner. Roles which are integral to our success are classified as differentiators and are nurtured in-house.”

Thameem Rizvon, IT director of the Kamal Osman Jamjoon Group LLC, supports most business applications internally and has minimal outsourced support. However, he always uses exter-nal consultants for projects. For Arun Tewary, VP (IT) and CIO at Emirates Flight Catering, the in-house focus is very much on ERP, as he explains.

“I’m comfortable outsourcing infrastructure maintenance related jobs like field support, network maintenance, data centre operations, server management, etc., but all functions related to the enterprise application that is ERP, I would prefer to retain in-house.”

Petz believes the market does face challenges in regards to outsourcing, however.

“The challenge the market is facing is a limited number of third parties that are available, who deliver high-end IT consul-tancy services. Furthermore, we see security concerns of the end customer, leading to hesitation around out-sourcing. Another limitation is access technologies, which often are not available in

Tewary: Making staff independent, and making them feel

recognised for their efforts, can aid with

staff retention.

Salary alone will not keep the best staff,

organisations need to nurture other aspects

of the role as well, says Trumpe.

Rizvon: Outsourcing can help companies

to scale up to meet particular IT needs, but core roles must

stay inhouse.


/RECRUITMENT

countries with unreliable infrastructure — this is especially ap-plicable for countries in Africa and the Levant,” she notes.

But where do CIOs look when they’re on the hunt for new staff? For many it’s a mix of finding staff through their own pro-fessional networks and via professional search firms.

“It depends on the experience of CIOs who are scouting for talent,” highlights Rekha Singh Chauhan, VP HR and Admin-istration of Spectrum group. “Most CIOs have a strong profes-sional network which makes it easy for them to spot the right professional for their assumed role,” she says.

“[For me it’s] a bit of both,” says Ahmed. “Referrals via per-sonal networks are growing with time. There are pros and cons in both approaches. Often when the position demands a totally new viewpoint in doing things, professional search from around the world helps in attracting talent with varied experiences. The demands of the vacant role guides the approach selection.”

Once the roles are filled, the most important thing is to retain staff — so what are the main steps CIOs take to engage and enthuse employees? Firstly, you need to go back to the beginning: it’s important not to just fill roles, but also get the right person for the role as this makes staff retention easier.

“Attracting staff is a two way process,” says Meera Kaul, managing director at Optimus. “It’s not only about the candidate who needs a job, but for a corporation it’s the sale of a career plan to the right candidate. The process of retaining the right candidate starts at the stage of being clear about the requirements of the role and the expectations of performance. If these are communi-cated to, and accepted and performed by the candidate, there is a

greater effort by the employer to ensure retention of the employee. The employer needs to ensure a conducive work environment and provide growth opportunities to address the career ad-vancement of employees to ensure long-term association.”

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES OF STAFF RETENTION

ACN asked several heads of IT and CIOs from across the Middle East what they believed were the biggest challenges in regards to staff retention. These are the main issues that arose: • Career paths: ensuring consistent professional growth.• Keeping staff in sync with the latest technologies.• Ensuring a consistent increase in salary and grade. “The biggest

challenge we face is the escalating cost of living,” says Rekha Singh Chauhan, vice president HR and Administration of Spectrum group. “This triggers the demand for higher salaries, which adds to the pressure of retaining staff on long term basis.”

“THE EMPLOYER NEEDS TO ENSURE A CONDUCIVE WORK ENVIRONMENTAND PROVIDE GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES TO ADDRESS THE CAREERADVANCEMENT OF EMPLOYEES TO ENSURE LONG-TERM ASSOCIATION.”

The biggest challenge in retention is how companies inspire and challenge their talent. The best performers need challenges and stressors or they’ll find themselves simply feeling bored in their proverbial comfort zone.

“This is, in our opinion, as important as financial compen-sation,” explains Daiga Trumpe, principal, head of Technol-ogy Practice Group, Middle East, at executive search company Pedersen and Partners. “The really great performers are always hard to retain; however, you will never retain them with money alone. Hence stakeholders and shareholders need to be empathic to the growth and development needs of top performers and their desire to innovate, and make them share in the success they create.”

“Unless people are doing what they love, what they’re good at and working on interesting projects, they will not remain engaged,” agrees Dweik. “Some projects involve working cross-functionally, some projects stretch employees to get them out of their comfort zone and learn a new area; some projects are highly visible — either to peers, senior management or even the board or shareholders; and some projects may involve a com-pletely new concept, strategy or approach which could have a potentially high business impact.”

This is an approach that Rizvon also takes, by being trans-parent about opportunities.

“Training on all IT applications is open to all members of staff, allowing them to hone their skills and be prepared from

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projects ahead. [I also provide] internal rotation in order to retain staff,” he notes.

Secondly there’s also supporting career paths and progres-sion. To truly maximise employee utilisation, and place the right person in the right position, Dweik recommends that organisa-tions implement individual development plans (IDPs).

“IDPs help to identify an employee’s strengths, skill gaps, interests and what they want to do next,” he explains. “The IDP should be such that everyone involved has full visibility into the process. Employees need to know where they are going and how they are going to get there; without this insight, they will eventually get stuck doing the same things over and over, and never get an opportunity to try anything new, which leads to dissatisfaction.

“On the other hand, by presenting high-performing people with the opportunity to work on highly-visible, cross-functional projects, and move into other roles, they grow within the or-ganisation and realise success through this,” he adds.

Training and professional develop is indeed key to staff re-tention, as organisations, and the CIOs themselves, agree.

“Education and training are important tools which help to engage and retain staff. Demonstrating a clear career pro-gression path with opportunities to develop skills also helps to protect the business against the risk of losing talent in the

long-run,” highlights Serge Radovcic, chief communications of-ficer, RIPE NCC — one of five Regional Internet Registries that distribute and administer Internet number resources and carry out coordination activities that support the operation of the Internet globally.

“I try to give [staff ] maximum independence and significant professional exposure by virtue of training, seminars and new projects,” notes Tewary.

“CIOs have to ensure they motivate staff by keeping their roles interesting, and inspire them to upgrade their skill set. It is important to shape their careers by giving them guidance. This is one of the best ways to retain staff and derive the best out of them,” Singh Chauhan adds.

Recognition and openness is something that allows em-ployees to better connect with the business, making them more likely to stay.

“I maintain and manage a transparent organisation where all my team members feel recognised and visible,” says Tewary.

“You must allow people to grow,” says Rizvon. “Provide staff with career paths but also share strategic plans, so the teams know about future opportunities,” he concludes.

“UNLESS PEOPLE AREDOING WHAT THEY LOVE,

WHAT THEY’RE GOOD AT AND WORKING ON INTERESTING PROJECTS, THEY WILL NOT

REMAIN ENGAGED.”

Companies should develop plans

for all their staff to grow with the

organisation,says Dweik.

/BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

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BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE AND ANALYTICS SOLUTIONS ARE NO LONGER THE PRESERVE OF THE MOST TECH-HEAVY INDUSTRIES, AND AS BI BECOMES EASIERTO DEPLOY AND USE ACROSS THE ORGANISATION,ITS STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE IS COMING TO THE FORE

BY KERI ALLAN

Business Intelligence

solutions have moved from standalone

applications to integrated

features of many other systems.

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS



he demand for business intelligence (BI) and analytics solutions is increasing across the Middle East as CIOs realise the value they provide as an analytical and decision making tool. The appeal of such solutions isn’t confined to just a few sectors: companies across various verticals are implementing BI and analyt-ics projects with success stories from leading banks and financial institutions, government and hospitality. Gartner pre-dicts that the MENA BI software market will reach $182m in 2013, an 11% increase from 2012.

“In the Gulf region, a lot of excess cash is fueling fast economic and struc-tural development and growth. Asset-based oil and construction industries, with little digitised information, did not

see an immediate need to focus on BI in the past, but they are now some of the fastest-growing segments,” says Dan Sommer, princi-pal research analyst, Technology and Service Provider Research, Gartner. “Financial services, aviation and pharmaceuticals are other industries showing great potential for adoption in this region.”

“The GCC business environment is undergoing a change towards better infrastructure alignment and as the need for more business value dependent decisions grows, the requirement of better business intelligence and analytics to drive decision making will come into play,” Meera Kaul, managing director, Optimus highlights.

Most of the main players software vendors such as Microsoft, SAS, IBM, Oracle and SAP have BI offerings, along with many tier two ERP solutions which have integrated BI tools.

Business intelligence is the focus of this market, which is about providing customers with the ability to report, analyse and visualise

data in a way that’s useful and meaningful to the user and organisation. But there are other features that also becoming more popular.

“Data discov-ery is becoming more common in the region,” says Paul Devlin, di-rector of business analytics at SAP MENA. “This will typically apply to a user’s personal data residing on their desktop. It can also apply to data held in the data warehouse. This type of software gives the user access to upload structured and unstructured data enabling them to find and detect new patterns and insights at the speed of thought. Furthermore, it then allows the users to share these new insights with the rest of the organisation, through email or internal collaboration engines. This type of software requires almost no involvement from IT, allowing users to create and own reports on the fly.

“We are seeing an increase in social media analytics, both inter-nally and externally,” he continues. “We are also witnessing the rise of predictive analytics. How do I move my organisation from its ‘rear view mirror’ view of data to being able to predict what might hap-pen today, tomorrow, next month or next year? It is a transition from hindsight to foresight.”

Sommer: Oil & gas and construction

companies are becoming the leading

users of BI in the Middle East today.

Better data discovery is allowing businesses

to tap into different sources of information

and better analyse data, says Devlin.

Hyder: BI has moved from the preserve of

tier one companies to a wider audience as it has become easier to

implement and use.

“TOMORROW’S MOST SUCCESSFUL COMPANIES WILL BE THOSE THAT CAN ORGANISE THEMSELVES AROUND ANALYTICS, ESPECIALLY PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS, AND DRIVE DIFFERENTIATION FROM DATA.”



Nowadays it’s easy for companies and staff to start using BI and analytics packages, as Ali Hyder CEO of Focus Softnet highlights: “Up to about five years ago, it was very difficult for enterprises to implement BI tools, as only tier one ERPs were providing BI, and it required lots of configuration and skilled implementation resources. Now the implementation of BI has become much simpler as cus-tomisation is more user-friendly at the interface level.”

Benefits are also becoming clearer, with businesses able to see how they can improve operational efficiency, productivity, reduce business risks, mitigate points of failure and almost always create differentiated and more personal customer experiences.

“[Benefits include] rapid access to information, version con-trol and removal of Excel proliferation,” notes Denzil Murray-Lee, Infor’s channel manager for Enterprise Performance Management for the MEA.

“The most important benefit is timely information as decision makers don’t have to wait for reports to be prepared and submitted by the users,” continues Hyder. “The analytical information which earlier was very difficult to get is now available at their fingertips. These solutions allow information to be leveraged to improve sales and marketing programs and help boost revenues and profits for the organisation.”

“A recent global survey from MIT Sloan Management Review indicates that up to 67% of companies surveyed are gaining a

THE NEWEST BI AND ANALYTICS TRENDS

The new trends in business intelligence (BI) and analytics solutions are focusing on mobile apps, big data and cloud, with social media also coming in from 2014.

“Big data and big analytics seems to be the new trends in the BI and analytics arena. Big data represents a transition-in-kind for both analytics and storage. For big data, the data being analysed will come from its original unstructured form (e.g. web logs, video clips, social data, open government data etc.) giving users the ability to analyse what is happening in the world around them, with all of the richness and detail of the original sensation,” says Hariram Kalidas, of GBM.

“The next trend would be BI and analytics in the cloud,” he continues. “Cloud-based services will have support for massive amounts of data. This could be a way for more organisations to broaden adoption rates and reap the benefits that analyt-ics can provide. Business analytics in the cloud provides more user communities with access to the analytics, performance management and predictive analytics.”

“The main trend is cloud-based BI and analytics but also SaaS, where organi-sations are able to reduce upfront costs in terms of hardware and infrastructure and still benefit from the latest software capabilities,” adds Denzil Murray-Lee, Infor’s channel manager for Enterprise Performance Management for the MEA.



competitive advantage by using analytics,” highlights Devlin. “This marks a 15% increase from last year’s survey and an 80% increase from two years ago. It stands to reason that companies can no longer survive on sustained differentiation through product, pricing and service alone. Tomorrow’s most successful companies will be those that can organise themselves around analytics, especially predictive analytics, and drive differentiation from data. Companies that base their decisions on gut feelings or data that is weeks or months old will, in time, simply not survive.”

Companies do face obstacles when it comes to getting the most out of BI and analytics solutions, however. According to Gartner the major issue worldwide is lack of skills, but this is especially an issue in the GCC region. Organisations are also concerned about the management of the enormous amount of data they generate.

“Two words: data and user adoption. If companies are to truly benefit from business intelligence, it is vital that they understand what success will look like before they start,” says Devlin. “They need to understand if the data is available to achieve their success and then be rigorous on change control. Set out your criteria for success, deliver to it and leave required changes until you go live. It’s also useful to work in 90-day deliverables after the initial go live. This is key, as it gives users confidence in using and accessing relevant data and driving real business benefit,” he advises.

Even as more businesses and users begin to embrace BI and

analytics, the solutions themselves will continue to evolve. “The market will evolve to address specific vertical market sec-

tors,” notes Hariram Kalidas, manager — Analytics and Information Management Practice, Gulf Business Machines (GBM). “GBM is already delivering analytics for finance, called financial performance management systems. Furthermore, there will be more and more usage of analytical applications around spatial information analytics (GIS analytics or location intelligence), production planning service operations, supply chain analytics and workforce analytics etc.

“Gartner and IDC are predicting growth in the social, mobile and cloud [arenas] as well as big data and predictive analytics in MEA, especially in the GCC and Levant regions,” he adds.

Indeed, BI and analytics is expanding to provide users with many more features and abilities, and advanced capabilities from advanced data mining, and machine learning algorithms.

“[BI] will grow to become analytics less just on structured data, but also unstructured and real-time data. Further, the BI space is moving from reporting mainly on what has happened (descriptive), to why it happened (diagnostic), to what will happen (predictive), and finally, what do we do about what will happen (prescriptive),” Sommer concludes.

“THE CREATION OF ADVANCED STATISTICS, DATA MINING, AND MA-CHINE LEARNING ALGORITHMS WILL DRIVE MORE POS-SIBILITIES FOR THE WORLD TO BENEFIT FROM KNOWLEDGE AND OPTIMISATION OF DATA.”

Kalidas: Business Intelligence for solutions designed for specifi c vertical segments are coming to the fore.

/AFTER HOURS


THIS MONTH: LUAI BAHDER,TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, SMARTWORLD

Arabian Computer News delves below the corporate strategy to

understand what really makes the region’s IT leaders tick.

How did you end up where you are now? Earlier on, when I was starting to map out my career, I created a vision and set of objectives for me to follow. I accom-panied this with a strategy and plan that I followed through hard work and perse-verance. These are the factors that have helped placing me into where I am right now in my career.

What is your management philosophy?My management philosophy is very sim-ple yet I have found to be highly effective. My philosophy has always been to put strong focus and at-tention to both leadership and friendship. Also, it pays to be tough and strict during crunch-time situations.

What was your first computer and when did you first use it? The first computer that I ever owned was an IBM 286, which was back then groundbreaking because of its introduction of a 6MHz Intel 80286 processor. It was faster than the ATs of that time due to its zero wait state RAM, which could move data more quickly. I used that computer for DOS and BASIC programming back in 1986.

What is your greatest achievement? I am lucky to have earned key experiences and achievements in the ICT industry over the last fifteen years. I am fortunate and privileged to have been part of teams across implementa-tions and initiatives in a range of areas such as security, data centres, services and infrastructure, and in sectors including aviation, smart cities, telecommunications and enterprise. One of my commitments and vision is to play a major role in the development of Dubai’s ICT segment. To date, I have been a part of some of the emirate’s top IT projects, which includes Dubai Internet City, Dubai e-Government, Dubai Municipal-ity, Emirates Group, Dubai Airports, Dubai World Central (DWC), Al Maktoum International Airport , Dubai TV, Emir-

ates Integrated Telecommunications Com-pany (du), Dubai Holding and Dubai Inter-national Financial Centre (DIFC).

What is your biggest mistake? I believe that its better to refer to these instances as lessons learned and not call them mistakes. Working in a segment that is both founded on technology and inno-vation, it is highly recommendable that we aim to learn and relish every experience.

What is your fondest memory of working in the Middle East IT industry? Working on Al Maktoum International Airport, Jebel Ali Project, which involved transferring our service provider expe-rience onto a larger enterprise complex project, while also building virtualized IT infrastructure for the airport systems. Dur-ing the completion of the project, we could not help but feel proud of the work we had done to bring the latest technologies and ushered Dubai into the forefront of IT.

What technology do you think will have the biggest impact on the market in 2013? I think that IT infrastructure automation has reached full maturity and today’s mar-kets have demonstrated a key need for it.

What is the best way to deal with stress? Stress always comes in as soon as work becomes too complicated. The best way to ward this off is to start things simple and easy — categorise, classify and set your priorities before entering or making major decisions.

GETTING PERSONAL

Nationality: Jordanian Number of years in the industry: 16 professional years in Dubai Favourite food: Grilled fish Holiday destination: Irbid Music: Arabic Oud Dream car: Mercedes-Benz-Ener-G-ForceGadget: iPhone Movie/book:Die Hard series Piece of advice: He who works smarter, achieves faster

acn - april 2013

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