< PreviousEricsson has appointed Kevin Murphy as its new vice president and head of Ericsson Levant Countries, according to a company release. Murphy will also head up Ericsson’s Global Customer Unit for Ooredoo Group. Murphy will pick up the reigns at his new role, effective from the 1st of September 2020. Murphy brings a host of industry experience to the role, having previously held several senior sales roles including Key Account Management assignments in Egypt, Indonesia, Oman and Malaysia. He has also served as the head of industry verticals sales support and head of the managed services practice for Ericsson in the North East Asia region. Murphy has more than 25 years of experience across the Ericsson business portfolio and multiple markets in Asia and Africa. Murphy will be a member of Ericsson’s MEA leadership team. “I am excited to take on this new challenge and return to a region that is close to my heart. I look forward to join the team and support our customers realising their visions and accelerating digitisation in the region,” said Murphy. Virgin Mobile has announced that it has appointed Eng. Yaarob Al-Sayegh as the company’s first Saudi CEO. Eng. Al-Sayegh will be tasked with overseeing the strategic growth of the company across the Kingdom. Eng. Al-Sayegh brings more than 22 years of experience in the Saudi telecommunications sector to the role. He will be instrumental in delivering on the company’s transformation strategy in support of Saudi Vision 2030. Under Al Sayegh’s leadership, Virgin Mobile will continue to play a pivotal role in the development of a world-class telecommunications experience to help unlock the potential of the kingdom’s people and economy. The appointment of Al-Sayegh underscores Virgin Mobile’s commitment to communities and businesses across KSA. Creating jobs for Saudi citizens – and improving upon Virgin Mobile’s impressive track record of female empowerment, are central to the new CEO’s plans, alongside providing opportunities for internal and external Saudi Digital Talent to flourish. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has announced the appointment of Ahmad Alkhallafi as the new managing director of HPE in the United Arab Emirates. Alkhallafi will work across HPE’s Dubai and Abu Dhabi offices. Under his direction, HPE will continue to work closely with government bodies and private sector organisations to accelerate digital transformation and tech innovation across the country while leading the response to COVID-19 locally. Alkhallafi brings a wealth of industry experience to HPE, with over 14 years’ experience working in the UAE’s technology sector. He joins from Emirates Post Group, where he served as a board member in Electronic Document Center while leading its large enterprise and nationwide government sales strategy and spearheading a major transformation initiative. Prior to this he helped launch the Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (du), where he led Enterprise Government sales and oversaw the design of new products, services and solutions for private cloud computing. PEOPLE Channel Middle East brings you a roundup of comings and goings in the regional IT channel Kevin Murphy will report to Ericsson’s MEA president Fadi Pharaon Eng. Yaarob Al-Sayegh will lead the company’s digital transformation strategy HPE NAMES AHMAD ALKHALLAFI MD FOR UAE ERICSSON APPOINTS NEW VP VIRGIN MOBILE APPOINTS NEW CEO FOR SAUDI ARABIA Alkhallafi to lead HPE’s growth in the UAE To contribute or feature a new appointment, please contact sarah.rizvi@itp.com (10) CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020 www.channelmiddleeast.com Alkhallafi joins at the new MD and will work across HPE’s Dubai and Abu Dhabi offices. Eng. Al-Sayegh brings more than 22 years of experience in the Saudi telecommunications sector. I am excited to take on this new challenge and return to a region that is close to my heart, says Murphy.(11) www.channelmiddleeast.com CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020 Virgin Mobile has announced the appointment of a new managing director to oversee its business in the UAE, according to a company release. Rob Beswick will become managing director for Virgin Mobile in the UAE with immediate effect. Beswick will be tasked with building on Virgin Mobile UAE’s position as a customer champion by creating a benchmark digital model for the mobile industry. By embracing next generation technology, such as 5G, he is committed to leading the brand forward ensuring that it offers the most innovative, simplest and best digital lifestyle experience for customers in the market. Beswick’s appointment builds on nine successful years in the region with Virgin Mobile, most recently as Commercial Director of the UAE business, where he shaped the innovation, marketing and growth strategies of the UAE’s award winning digital mobile brand. Beswick brings a wealth of industry experience to the role in commercial planning, digital transformation, customer-centric innovation, product and propositional development, as well as a strong foundation within brand and marketing development and execution. With his extremely well-rounded experience, he has been instrumental in the success of the Virgin Mobile brand in the Middle East, firstly in Saudi Arabia and more recently with the launch of Virgin Mobile’s fully digital offering in the UAE. Beswick will be tasked with building on Virgin Mobile UAE’s position as a customer champion. ThreatQuotient reaffirms commitment to the region with the appointment of Firas Ghanem, as regional director – Middle East & Pakistan. An industry veteran, Ghanem will be responsible for expanding the company’s presence in the region by continued investment in local sales, training, customer success and professional services. Ghanem will also be responsible for driving ThreatQuotient’s channel program and establishing and growing all reseller partners and strategic alliances. Ghanem brings over 20 years of experience to the table and will play a pivotal role in achieving and maintaining a high-level of mutual success with all ThreatQuotient partners. Prior to joining ThreatQuotient, previous senior executive roles Ghanem held include Managing Director for Blue Coat Systems, and VSS Monitoring (part of Danaher Group). His role will focus on customer success, sales growth and building ThreatQuotient’s channel to satisfy the demand for threat intelligence solutions in the Middle East and Pakistan. ThreatQuotient’s offerings, including the ThreatQ threat intelligence platform and the industry’s first cybersecurity situation room, ThreatQ Investigations, are uniquely positioned to address these challenges by helping organisations understand and act upon the most relevant threats facing their operations while ensuring the optimisation of existing technology investments. NUTANIX APPOINTS NEW DIRECTOR FOR GSI BUSINESS IN EMEA Tarbox will be responsible for developing and executing an overarching regional alliance strategy THREATQUOTIENT APPOINTS NEW REGIONAL DIRECTOR Firas Ghanem joins as regional director – Middle East & Pakistan Nutanix has appointed Adam Tarbox as Director of Global System Integrator (GSI) Business for the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region. In his new role, Tarbox will be responsible for developing and executing an overarching regional alliance strategy for Nutanix’s GSI partners. He will lead a team distributed across the EMEA region, and be focused on driving go-to-market (GTM) activities with GSIs around joint offerings for both horizontal markets and industry verticals. With more than 25 years’ experience in the IT industry, Tarbox moves to Nutanix from NetApp, where he spent more than a decade running the Service Provider, Channel UKI and GSI UK business units, before moving to head the EMEA GSI business. As EMEA Director GSI, he built the EMEA strategy and a high performing sales team to support business with and through the GSIs. Adam Tarbox, Director of Global System Integrator (GSI) Business, EMEA, Nutanix, said, “GSI partners are a key element of our ability to deliver exactly what customers need, both in EMEA and the rest of the world. We currently work with almost half (44 percent) of ‘Global 2000’ companies. Delivering with, and through, tier-one partners allows us to engage more effectively with those enterprise customers, develop joint offerings and create the solutions they need to solve their business challenges most effectively.” VIRGIN MOBILE UAE APPOINTS NEW MD The new MD will look to accelerate the company’s digital growth in the UAE Tarbox moves to Nutanix from NetApp, where he ran the Service Provider, Channel UKI and GSI UK business units. Ghanem’s role will focus on customer success, sales growth and building ThreatQuotient’s channel.Channel Middle East, in association with Microsoft, delves into the essential elements of the digital workplace (12) T he digital workspace is more than just software. It is about integrat- ing technology with people to cul- tivate a new normal that is inclu- sive, connected and collaborative. It encourages knowledge sharing across the organisation, and results in talent attraction, increase in employee produc- tivity and satisfaction. Such a workplace includes physical infrastructure, devices, and cloud services by Sarah Rizvi to create an analytical and creative work- force that delivers better business out- comes. Ingraining such a culture into the organisation encourages innovation as the company’s talent is freed of the mundane, repetitive tasks. In the absence of the right structure, such an enterprise may seem daunt- ing. W hen properly implemented, it gives teams the opportunity to share ideas and collaborate efficiently with- out the constraints of physical bound- aries. To support this outcome, employees must have access to the right tools to collaborate, communi- cate and connect. The array of workplace applications available is indicative of the need for an interface that offers the shortest path to the required resources. A holistic digital workplace strategy must clearly articulate the business CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020 www.channelmiddleeast.com (12)(13) direction in order to identif y relevant tools that can empower its employees. While there are no hard and fast rules when designing and setting up a digital workplace, leading practices do exist. The ideal solution would be a digital hub that simplifies processes and consoli- dates information to enable collaborative work beyond organisational boundaries. Further, it is vital to select a platform that is flexible enough to evolve with chang- ing market demands as well as those of the organisation. An excellent place to start would be to identify a unified digital platform, rather than selecting individual tools and applica- tions. Such a platform should be able to provide a centralised interface for busi- ness processes, projects and discussions while maintaining control and visibility over digital and network assets. The optimum digital workspace will be one that is tailored to provide the right balance of security, productivity, experi- ence and governance objectives. tion and collaboration, while leaving suffi- cient control with the employers to miti- gate risks and adhere to regulatory com- pliance mandates. Often organisations implement such tools in silos. The final element for a highly productive and efficient workforce would be software integration that brings all the functionalities together to integrate data in one place. This integration, however, is not just about bringing together an assortment of technology tools. It means connecting strategically selected software on a unified platform to achieve higher productivity. However, the benefits of deploying even the best tools will be negated if proper training is not included in the agenda. The productivity of a remote team relies entirely on effective collaboration and communication. This dependence on tech- nology makes it imperative for the remote team to be digitally competent. Digital lit- eracy will help remote employees develop job-and remote-work specific skills while allowing them to be flexible, competitive and engaged. Employers can use the same communi- cation and collaboration platform to engage and train their staff through virtu- al training sessions and empower them to utilise available technology better. USER EXPERIENCE The digital workplace is the virtual equiv- alent of the physical office, and it contin- ues to evolve with new technologies, trends and market demand. Its success will depend on how this modern work- place is developed and whether it aligns with business requirements. Understandably, it must be carefully planned to include structured processes that can optimise, simplify and streamline business workflows. Communication, collaboration, mobility and availability of varied business applica- tions are the key building blocks of the dig- ital workspace. Digital workplaces foster collaboration between colleagues, improve the employee’s digital experience and enable better customer service. A user-cen- tric digital workplace will increase efficien- cy and effectiveness by allowing access and transfer of information in a secure manner, across multiple devices. ACCESSIBILITY Cloud and mobile services are integral to nearly every digital and business transfor- mation strategy, and remain a top priority for the distributed workforce. These tech- nologies can remove geographical barri- ers from collaboration and processes to improve employee engagement, productiv- ity and content management. One of the key benefits of cloud is that it is flexible, which means that the digital workplace can be customised to fit both business and individual needs. The digital workplace combines the advantages of cloud with high speed internet connectivi- ty to offer seamless, cross-device produc- tivity with real-time access anywhere. Cloud-based software not only gives employees more versatility but also increases an organisation’s access to tal- ent around the world. SECURITY The right digital platform should not only offer flexibility and accessibility, but it should also have the option to impose rele- vant restrictions to safeguard corporate data. Such controls protect sensitive data from hacks, malware and end-user mista- kes, while restricting permissions based on job role, location, device or activity. When creating a digital workplace, organisations need to develop a governan- ce model that supports connectivity and collaboration while mitigating risks and enabling compliance. It is imperative to have appropriate governance structures and management processes, and data usage must comply with the organisation’s policies and industry regulations. Lack of appropriate controls underpins the effective use of technology in the digital workplace. Today, digital plat- forms have machine learning and artifi- cial intelligence built-in, making it easier for the IT team to stay ahead of both internal and external threats. With better insight and control over the network traf- fic, users, data and endpoints, the IT team is able secure the borderless work- place more efficiently. INTEGRATION The digital workplace empowers employ- ees with tools that improve communica- (13) www.channelmiddleeast.com CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020(14) CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020 www.channelmiddleeast.com We caught up with Bridget Bisnette, senior vice president of global channel sales, programs and operations at Riverbed to discuss the challenges in the channel and Riverbed’s role in supporting its partner ecosystem during the global pandemic From cash flow to implementa- tion, the channel has had to face its fair share of challenges because of the disruptions brought about by the COVID-19 pandem- ic. However, the channel remains as resil- ient as ever. With the need to rapidly implement remote working, ramp up digital services and accelerate time to market for new offerings, the crisis has been the driving force of digital transformation for many organisations. “At R iverbed, we have seen our part- ners rise to the role of being enablers of this new wave of business continuity focused IT initiatives. Our partners are actively engaging with customers and helping them rapidly design and implement future-proof transformation strategies that have not only enabled enterprises to adapt to the new normal but have also better positioned them for long-term success,” says Bridget Bisnette, SV P global channel sales, programs and operations at R iverbed. Of course, there has also been the opportunity for growth for partners that have cemented their position as a trusted advisor to customers. The surge in demand for work from home solutions has dramatically cut the sales cycle, and we have seen a 10x growth for our Client Accelerator solutions, and double-digit growth in our network performance management portfolio. Our partners that have invested in building technical competence in these (14) RAMPING UP CHANNEL ENGAGEMENT our partners. Riverbed in turn supports our distributors with financial options. In parallel, the recent updates to our Riverbed Rise program continue to reward partners financially for performance. COULD YOU EL ABOR ATE ON THE CHANGES THAT HAVE BEEN MADE TO RIVERBED’S CHANNEL PROGR AM AS THE COMPANY REALIGNS ITS STR ATEGY TO FOCUS ON DIG- ITAL PERFORMANCE? Since its introduction in 2018, the Riverbed Rise program has been very well-received in the market. Each year, we have analysed the feedback from partners, as well as customer buying preferences to make sure we modernise, and thereby keep the program simple, flexible, and rewarding for our partners. The enhancements that we introduced earlier this year include the addition of incremental dividends for Refresh and Trade Up deals, even greater dividends for partner-initiated wins, and dividends being awarded for all Riverbed solu- tions, including SteelHead. R iverbed continues to enjoy an extremely high market penetration and one of the pillars of our strategy is to refresh our large install base. We are therefore rewarding partners that successfully refresh their customers’ solutions, which in turn works to bet- ter position these organisations to adapt to new workforce dynamics and areas have been able to close purchase orders that would have otherwise taken between three to six months within a week or in some cases just 48 hours. WHAT CAN VENDORS DO TO HELP PARTNERS, INCLUDING FINANCIALLY? Vendors need to be cognizant of the challenges their partners face and demonstrate a commitment to working together with their channel through these challenging times. Vendors need to keep in mind that the situation is rapidly evolving, and with various gov- ernment regulations and measures to contain and control the virus, market dynamics can differ significantly from region to region. Partners, vendors and customers are facing never seen before challenges and this calls for transparency, and clear and regular communication so both parties are aware of the issues and potential threats to business. Riverbed has a 100% channel-driven go-to-market strategy in the Middle East. We understand the vital role our partners play and have been closely tracking the situation in the region. Together with our value-add distributors – Mindware, StarLink and Crestan International – we have focused on our supply chain and currently have adequate inventories of Riverbed appliances on-hand to meet demand. Additionally, our distributors have multiple financial programs to assist by Sarah Rizvi(15) www.channelmiddleeast.com CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020 (15) a more rapid pace of technological advancement. HOW IS RIVERBED TR AINING AND CERTIFYING ITS PART- NERS, PARTICUL ARLY IN THE CURRENT SITUATION? We have a large sales force that aug- ments the capabilities, particularly in pre-sales, of our channel partners. This has been a good working model but at the same time, our strategy in the Middle East has been to go deeper with our focused channel partners. The channel is realising that their customers need them to add more value which is why at our sales kick-off this year, we made some solid commit- ments. For one, our partners are now getting the same world-class training as our own account managers, which we are doing online. Equally important, we have now been enabling partners in parallel with the enablement of our internal sales resources. We have also been working closely with our partners to ensure that they are too needs to commit to this modernisa- tion. They have to understand the changes in customer preferences and accordingly plan to go from traditional, on-premise deployments to cloud-based and subscription-based offerings. For this, they need to invest in new skill sets – in the areas of sales, implementa- tion, and support – so that they can lead their customers through the trans- formation journey. A recent report by Gartner estimates that public cloud services revenue in the Middle East and North A frica (MENA) will total nearly $ 3 billion this year. End-customers are now ready to make the transition – whether the channel joins them for this next phase will depend on whether partners are ready to make the right invest- ments today. With the channel being central to our go-to-market strategy, our partners can rest assure that R iverbed is here to support and enable them with market-leading technolo- gies, rewarding programs and incen- tives, and on-the-ground expertise. clear of our strategy and product posi- tioning. Riverbed is focused on helping customers to maximise performance and visibility of networks and applica- tions, which is even more critical today as employees are increasingly working remote. Riverbed is training our part- ners on our four key solution pillars: WAN Optimization, Application Acceleration, Network Performance Management and SD-WAN. All these new enablement programs began rolling out in January, including 101 for Sales and 201 for SE’s and include complimen- tary playbooks for GTM execution. Our ask of our partners is to actively participate in these trainings so they can realise the full set of benefits and be well prepared to help our custom- ers. They are all available on our Partner Center. WHAT IS YOUR MESSAGE TO PARTNERS RIGHT NOW? Riverbed has been modernising with the intention of being laser-focused on the needs of the market. Our channel Bridget Bisnette, senior vice president global channel sales, programs and operations at Riverbed.// SPECIAL REPORT - GAMING NAVIGATING CHALLENGING TIMES by Sarah Rizvi (16) CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020 www.channelmiddleeast.com We caught up with channel stakeholders to gauge the current pulse of the channel and understand how partners can wrestle the immediate and far-reaching effects of the pandemicGAMING - SPECIAL REPORT// (17) www.channelmiddleeast.com CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020 large remote workforce. Making busi- ness-critical applications available for remote users was a key challenge, and customers who deployed a cloud envi- ronment were able to adapt to this change rapidly. During the past few months, there has been a surge in the demand for integra- tion of current technologies across private and public entities. This integration has enabled them to gather, contextualise and analyse operational data for immediate and effective decision-making. What is interesting is the shift in most channel players’ approach to reach out to the market. The channel is increasingly banking on digital marketing and online tools to address the requirements of part- ners and customers. Webinars, work- shops, collaborative methodology and joint marketing efforts with partners are slowing becoming the norm. Clearly, global economies have been severely impacted by the current pan- demic. However, it has also prompted organisations to re-evaluate their priori- ties and adjust their business models to prepare for the post-pandemic world. Further, organisations have increased their focus on digital transformation and ramped up existing digital agendas. It has served as a wakeup call for compa- nies that have been procrastinating their transformation plans. We caught up with industry leaders to understand the state of the channel and how it can survive the impact of this glob- al pandemic. 19 in the region. The general consensus is that most projects have been pushed a quarter or two, rather than being cancelled or shelved. Further, cash flow continues to be a big concern and developing new busi- ness is still difficult. However, channel stakeholders remain optimistic and believe that with relaxation in lockdown, business- es will slowly start recovering. Further, there has been an increase in automation and in collaboration among peers as well as different parts of the businesses. Customers are now looking for flexible consumption models to reduce cost and explore digital-first rev- enue streams. Companies have also come to realise the importance of solu- tions that can optimise operational per- formance through process analysis, inte- gration and IoT. Vendors and distributors play a vital role in supporting channel partners and customers. This support can be in the form of additional discounts, extended license terms or flexible payment terms to customers that are struggling. Covid-19 has impacted every type of business across all industry sectors. There has been much uncertainty with companies scrambling to implement remote work strategies and cater to a Covid-19 has changed the way businesses operate across the globe. In preparation for a new era, we are witnessing a shift in priorities as the channel strives to main- tain business continuity while optimis- ing costs at the same time. Closure of offices globally, remote work and reduction in the workforce have impacted organisations and their supply chains, impacting overall budgets. As corporate networks extend beyond the firewall, security remains an ever-pres- ent concern, especially as malicious actors look to exploit fears over the pandemic. The pandemic has also placed new demands on IT infrastructure, especially networks and data centres. The explosion of exposure points has not only increased the attack surface area of organisations but has also taxed IT departments. Most businesses remain fluid despite the progress in controlling the spread of Covid-PRIORITY SHOULD BE SUPPORTING YOUR CUSTOMERS, NOT TRYING TO MAKE A SALE MORE NEW OPPORTUNITIES ARE BEING BROUGHT IN BY PARTNERS Hesham Tantawi, vice president, Asbis Middle East Dee Dee Acquista, SVP of Global Channels and Alliances at BeyondTrust The whole world is adjusting to a new temporary reality. The most important part of your job as a business owner is to support your customers and team. The best way to help is by taking a top -down approach. Your internal communications should be as compassionate as your external outreach. Relay to your internal team that messaging must focus on safety first and business second. They will bounce back stronger than ever if they show their customers that they can serve them when they need it the most. Additionally, make sure that your digital channels are up to date and accurate. This way, your team can easily direct their customers to the products and services that align with their most immediate needs. It is incredible how much you can accomplish with video calls by treating them just like it is a real face- to-face meeting. These calls should include all three legs of the stool — the customer, the manufacturer and the partner. Create an agenda, come up with a fun idea (to make light of our current situation), and review action items after each call. Leverage the extra time saved, not sitting in traffic, etc., to get more trained on your favourite new technology — and apply that knowledge during these virtual sales calls. SERVICES REVENUE FROM LOYAL CUSTOMERS IS BETTER THAN TRANSACTIONAL REVENUE Graham Porter, channel director MEA, Infor Focus on your existing customers, understand their business problems and identify which vendors can add value, especially when the customer realises they need to be online or in the cloud. Our experience has been that we can even do an ERP rollout where most of the work is done remotely. It can be quicker and cheaper, but you just need to manage those web meetings with the usual “can everyone go on mute” moments, and need someone who can manage to make such meetings interactive and manage the outcomes effectively. (18) CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020 www.channelmiddleeast.comCHANNEL NEEDS TO OFFER REAL VALUE FOR LONG-TERM SURVIVAL CHANNEL NEEDS TO BE CYBER RESILIENT AND ADOPT AD- VANCED TECHNOLOGIES PARTNERS ARE CHALLENGED BY LACK OF FUNDS AND RESOURCES TO DRIVE MARKETING INITIATIVES Asim Al Jammaz, president, Al Jammaz Distribution Lara Yousuf, partner manager at Mimecast Steve Lockie, group managing director, Westcon-Comstor Firms that were already digitising their solutions for the past few years did not face many challenges in the post-pandemic world. Going forward, customers will rely on multi-cloud and businesses will continue remote operations to some extent. Decision- makers need to re-assess their complete outlook about the ways we work to maximise digital investments. Partners also need to think about how they can utilise new and emerging technologies to fulfil customer requirements. Growth is not driven by a short-term imperative but rather by continuous work and effort to achieve a profitable long- term vision. As with other organisations, our channel ecosystem will need to continue to view challenges as opportunities to make things better and to support their businesses to thrive. The challenges that Covid-19 has presented now might not be the same as in the next 6 to 9 months, and that is why partners will require a shift in thinking. They need to gain a deeper understanding of the constantly evolving cyberthreat landscape, as well as implement flexible go-to-market strategies that adapt to the changing environment. There is a need for our partners to generate new demand as some of their existing customers are highly impacted. Many of these partners are themselves challenged due to lack of funds and resources to drive these marketing initiatives. As a distributor, we are at the crossroads of thousands of business ICT transactions, which gives us immense insight into technology trends, customer needs and buying patterns. We are uniquely positioned to take advantage of this data-rich opportunity to benefit our vendors and partners. We will continue to share this insight with our partners and help them identify verticals/areas that still have an opportunity even if this crisis escalates. We will also continue to assist our partners to create new demand through our value-added offerings such as MaaS. Our teams will continue to work with channel partners and provide them with assistance as per their needs. (19) www.channelmiddleeast.com CHANNEL MIDDLE EAST_JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020Next >