CXO DX October 2022

STEERING THE TRANSFORMATION MOMENTUM

It is that time of the year when the who’s who of the region’s IT industry will head towards the Dubai World Trade centre to be a part of GITEX Technology Week from October 10th to 14th. GITEX is holding its 42nd edition this year and the longevity of the expo has gone hand in hand with its growing prominence as a must visit destination for Technology leaders, buyers and enthusiasts from across the region.

It is a place where you get more than a glimpse of breakthrough Technologies that are changing the world we live in. Advances across technologies including 5G, Artificial In telligence, Cloud & Edge, Cybersecurity, Fintech, Blockchain, Data Analytics and Smart Cities will be showcased by companies, many of whom are global powerhouses in their domains.

The fact that the UAE has been right at the forefront of technology adoption in the past couple of decades, perhaps owes a lot to GITEX, that every year showcases the latest from the world of technology and plays the role of a catalyst with the event’s attendees, a substantial number of who are technology decision makers or influencers in their re spective organizations. The numerous talks and demos at the event by technical experts, help drive greater awareness and make more people receptive to considering these new technologies as possible options for their organizations to deploy.

There is also an urgency towards digital transformation now, across globally and es pecially in the region. In fact, new research by market insight specialists YouGov says that IT decision-makers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are doubling down on their digital transformation efforts. In the survey, most decision-makers ranked 5G top of their trends chart (54%), followed by multi-cloud networking (41%).

With the focus on Metaverse and AI led use cases among the likely highlights of the show, this edition of GITEX promises to be as exciting as always and for certain, help accelerate the transformation momentum.

R. Narayan

Editor in Chief, CXO DX

The future of cybersecurity is cybersecurity as a service.

WSO2 TO SHOWCASE API MANAGEMENT, CIAM, AND ENTERPRISE INTEGRATION CAPABILITIES

WSO2 will showcase its software as a service (SaaS) offerings which includes Asgardeo, an identity as a service (IDaaS

WSO2 is set to showcase the latest ad vancements to solutions in its API man agement, identity management, and enter prise integration portfolios at GITEX.

“Business in the region is once again on the upswing following a successful recov ery from the pandemic. We now see the growth of e-commerce and other online channels increasing organisations’ de mand for new technologies that provide rich digital experiences to customers, con sumers, and partners," said Uday Shankar Kizhepat, WSO2 Vice President and Gen eral Manager for the Middle East and Af rica region. “Every company has evolved into a software company, and most CXOs are starting to realise that the only way to differentiate from the competition is by creating superior digital experiences. Giv en WSO2’s unique ability to address this need, we expect to have a highly engaging

and successful GITEX Global 2022.”

At the event, WSO2 will showcase its software as a service (SaaS) offerings. These include Asgardeo, an identity as a service (IDaaS) that helps developers implement secure authentication flows to applications in minutes, and Choreo WSO2’s digital platform as a service for creating new APIs, integrations, and ser vices in hours or days instead of weeks or months. By removing the complexities of cloud native infrastructure, these solutions enable customers to accelerate the deliv ery of new digital experiences and free up time for IT teams to focus on innovation.

Additionally, the company will demon strate its key software products, including WSO2 API Manager, a complete platform for building and integrating business ca pabilities as managed APIs, and WSO2

Identity Server for customer identity and access management (CIAM). Together, these solutions form a “digital core” for the modern business.

SWIMLANE TO SHOWCASE LOW-CODE SECURITY AUTOMATION SOLUTION

The showcase will include Swimlane Turbine, a breakthrough in low-code security automation

scale, low-code security automation plat form at the Middle East’s largest tech nology exhibition. Swimlane Turbine is a breakthrough in low-code security au tomation, capturing hard-to-reach telem etry and expanding actionability beyond closed extended detection and response (XDR) ecosystems.

Swimlane co-founder and chief strategy officer Cody Cornell will be in attendance with other Swimlane executives at the event to showcase the platform’s capabil ities. The company will be exhibiting in both the Evanssion booth at H3-MR#2 and Amiviz booth at H1-A1.

Swimlane, the low-code security automa tion company, announced its participation at GITEX Global 2022. The company plans to showcase its innovative cloud-

“As threat surfaces expand and present new headaches for security professionals to grapple with, it is absolutely vital for companies to stay ahead of the threat by

deploying flexible, low-code automation,” said Ashraf Sheet, Vice President of Mid dle East, Turkey and Africa (META) for Swimlane. “As a world leader in cloudscale, low-code security automation for companies across several verticals, Swim lane is committed to preventing breaches and enabling continuous compliance with a next-generation security automation solution that functions as a system of re cord for all security operations.”

“As part of our Middle East, Turkey and Africa expansion plans, we believe GI TEX is the perfect platform to showcase our cutting-edge security automation plat form to a huge regional audience looking for the latest technologies. This will help strengthen our channel network and reach by engaging with potential partners from different countries,” Sheet added.

Uday Shankar Kizhepat VP & GM, MEA, WSO2

Ashraf Sheet

Vice President, META, Swimlane

DATAIKU TO HIGHLIGHT ‘EVERYDAY AI’ PLATFORM

At GITEX, Dataiku experts will conduct demos and workshops for both technical and non-technical users

A Dataiku-commissioned YouGov study from earlier this year showed that the UAE leads its EMEA peers in the leverage of data, data science and artificial intelli gence (AI). UAE respondents were the most convinced of data’s utility, with 84% considering it essential compared with the EMEA average of 69%.

Sid Bhatia Regional VP & GM, META, Dataiku

Dataiku will participate at GITEX Glob al 2022, and will showcase how its Data Science Studio (DSS) can enable organi zations across the Middle East to make “Everyday AI” a reality.

But this positive reception for AI is not evenly distributed, with a clear gap emerg ing between managerial and non-manage rial employees. While 71% of UAE man agers say their use of data in daily work has increased in past five years and 73% believe their use of data will continue to increase over the next five years, only 44% of non-managers say they have used more data over the same period and a mere third expect to use more in the coming five years.

“We can see in the [YouGov] findings the need for a democratization of AI that

will drive universal buy-in and organiza tion-wide innovation,” said Sid Bhatia, Regional Vice President & General Man ager for the Middle East and Turkey at Dataiku. “Everyday AI is a culture of in clusion in which the use of data becomes second nature to every employee, from boardroom executives on down. UAE or ganizations have shown themselves to be masters of culture change for the sake of innovation and we expect to see Everyday AI taking root here quickly.”

Dataiku’s main GITEX showcase will be its end-to-end Data Science Studio (DSS) platform, which systemizes AI and turns businesses into AI creators. Dataiku experts will also conduct demos and workshops for both technical and non-technical users on how they can add value for their organiza tion as part of a culture of Everyday AI. At GITEX Global 2022, Dataiku will ex hibit in Hall 8, Stand H8-8

TRELLIX TO SHOWCASE ‘LIVING SECURITY’ XDR ARCHITECTURE

The Trellix XDR ecosystem goes beyond basic XDR capabilities and focuses on proactively predicting and prioritizing threats instead of just reacting after an attack.

Trellix will be making its GITEX debut at the 2022 edition of the show. Under the theme of ‘Living Security’, the company will showcase how Trellix XDR — with its unique ability to learn and adapt while being open and native — enables organizations to stay one step ahead of adversaries, adapt to new threats, and accelerate detection and correction.

“Organizations in the region have come to recognize that as the threat landscape expands and attackers get craftier and more so phisticated, adding more security tools is not the answer. To the contrary, there is actually a need for fewer vendors, platform con solidation and integrated frameworks with the tools already avail able. This is where a XDR platform can prove to be immensely valuable,” noted Vibin Shaju, General Manager – UAE, Trellix.

At GITEX, visitors to the Trellix stand will have the opportunity to understand how the company’s XDR platform is redefining the future of cybersecurity. The Trellix XDR ecosystem allows orga nizations to bring security to life, empowering organizations to stay one step ahead of attacks. Combining artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation, the living security platform is always learning and adapting, so businesses can remain resil

ient with advanced detection, response, and remediation capabil ities. By outfitting organizations with native and open technol ogy, Trellix XDR give them the ability to safely manage their IT ecosystems — no matter their unique circumstances. Finally, by embedding intelligent tools in their operations and offering expert insights to their security teams, Trellix ensures companies are better prepared to handle incidents when they do occur.

At GITEX, Trellix can be found in Hall 1, Stand H1-65.

SENTINELONE TO HIGHLIGHT AUTONOMOUS XDR CYBERSECURITY PLATFORM AND IDENTITY PROTECTION

Singularity XDR can autonomously supercharge, fortify, automate and extend protection from the endpoint to beyond

SentinelOne, an autonomous cybersecu rity platform company, plans to showcase its autonomous extended detection and re sponse (XDR) platform, and identity and credential protection solution at GITEX Global 2022, the region’s largest technol ogy exhibition. The company will also en gage with channel players in key Middle East and Africa markets as part of its aspi rations to expand further in the region, as the appetite for technology grows.

Joining GITEX Global 2022’s extensive conference and workshop agenda, Tamer Odeh, Regional Sales Director at Sen tinelOne will give a presentation on ‘The Importance of Identity Security Modern ization’ on the first day of the event.

“GITEX Global has evolved from its orig inal concept in step with the market and, as a result, it has maintained its position as the Middle East’s key ICT exhibition. We are excited to be part of the event this year and plan to showcase our Singular

ity XDR and Singularity for Identity au tonomous cybersecurity solutions. These solutions offer enterprises autonomous, comprehensive and responsive protection, which is absolutely vital given the rapidly evolving global threat landscape and the potential damage a security breach can cause,” said Tamer Odeh, Regional Sales Director, SentinelOne.

Cybersecurity solutions must be able to see across every corner of the enterprise, offer rapid and efficient protection across the organization, and offer an automated response across the connected security ecosystem. SentinelOne’s Singularity XDR was designed to respond to these requirements in full; it can autonomously supercharge, fortify, automate and extend protection from the endpoint to beyond, with unfettered visibility, proven protec tion, and industry leading responsiveness.

SentinelOne will be at stand C55 in Hall 1 at GITEX Global 2022.

AVEVA TO SHOWCASE ITS UNIFIED OPERATIONS CENTER FOR DATA CENTERS

The UOC brings end-to-end operational visibility across facilities to maintain uptime, to mitigate costs, and to manage complexity

plexity across multiple sites and systems, maintain uptime supporting service level agreements, and reduce costs tied to ener gy, water, workforce efficiency, and sus tainability.

ations Center helps them maintain uptime, increase integration and improve efficiency by digitally connecting assets, operations, and people across data center facilities. Our team will be onsite holding demos for visitors at Schneider Electric’s booth.”

AVEVA is participating in GITEX Global 2022 to be held from 10–14 October and will demonstrate its AVEVA Unified Op erations Center for Data Centers. AVEVA UOC provides data center owners and co-locators the ability to manage com

“We are pleased to be back at GITEX Global once again this year. As one of the world’s largest ICT exhibitions, it is a per fect platform for us to showcase our inno vations to an informed audience of technol ogy decision-makers and influencers from across industry verticals in the Middle East and Africa region,” says Nayef Bou Chaaya, Vice President Middle East and Africa, AVEVA. “Our focus at GITEX this year will be on AVEVA Unified Op erations Center for Data Centers, our solu tion that helps organizations converge and contextualize their data center operations. Converging IT and OT, the Unified Oper

AVEVA Unified Operations Center for Data Centers provides productized best practices in templated tools that are re peatable, scalable, and adaptable, en abling fast implementation and return on investment. Organizations deploying this solution will realize reductions in project implementation times by up to 60%, as compared to bespoke implementations of intelligent operations center solutions.

AVEVA will be holding demos of its UOC solution on Schneider Electric’s stand H5B40.

Tamer Odeh Regional Sales Director , SentinelOne

Nayef Bou Chaaya Vice President MEA, AVEVA

NEARLY 75% OF GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS ATTACKED BY RANSOMWARE HAD THEIR DATA ENCRYPTED

This Encryption Rate Was the Third Highest Across All Sectors Surveyed and Was 7% More Than the Cross-Sector Average

ed—7% more than the cross-sector aver age. In fact, only 20% of state and local government organizations were able to stop the ransomware attack before data could be encrypted —significantly less than the cross-sector average of 31% (8% had their data held for ransom but not en crypted). However, at the same time, the government sector had one of the lowest attack rates with only 58% hit by ransom ware in 2021.

Sophos, a global leader in next-genera tion cybersecurity, today published a new sectoral survey report, The State of Ran somware in State and Local Government 2022, which found that 72% of state and local government organizations attacked by ransomware had their data encrypt

“Traditionally, government organizations haven’t been prime targets for ransom ware attackers, since they don’t have as much money as traditional businesses, and criminal groups are reticent to attract attention from law enforcement. Howev er, when these organizations do get hit, they have little in the way of protection because they don’t have the budget for ad ditional, in-depth cybersecurity support, including threat hunting teams or security

operations centers. And, there are a couple reasons for this. One is that, while they collect a large amount of sensitive infor mation, they need to keep this information easily accessible. Second, they need to spend the majority of their budget on their actual municipality. Taxpayers can see if the streets are clean or if their schools are reaching their education goals. They can’t ‘see’ a cyberattack or understand why a Managed Detection and Response (MDR) provider might be necessary to defeat ran somware,” said Chester Wisniewski, prin cipal research scientist, Sophos.

In addition to experiencing a high encryp tion rate, the government sector also expe rienced a significant drop in the amount of encrypted data recovered after paying the ransom when compared to 2020—58% in 2021 versus 70% in 2020; this was also lower than the cross-sector average of 61%.

ESET’S SHOWCASE TO FOCUS ON PRODUCTS THAT PROTECT REGIONAL ENTERPRISES ON THEIR DIGITAL JOURNEY

During GITEX this year, ESET will highlight its world class cybersecurity solutions that ensure a secure and smooth digital journey ESET will highlight its new refreshed line of business products that ensures enter prises in the Middle East can embark on a secure and a smooth digital journey and prevent cybercriminals doing any damage to their networks.

Demes Strouthos, General Manager at ESET said: “ESET has been a pioneer in the digital security and we have part of several organisations in the region to keep their assests, employees and data safe for decades. With our refreshed line of busi ness products organization can be sure of running their networks smoothly and se curely, so that their digital journey is not hampered in any which ways.”

ESET Inspect Cloud is a sophisticated cloud-based tool, which enables the ESET PROTECT platform to evolve into an Ex tended Detection and Response (XDR)

solution for enterprise-grade security and risk management capabilities, includ ing advanced threat hunting, incident response, full network visibility, cloudbased threat defense, and more.

The ESET PROTECT platform has been enhanced with ESET’s customers in mind, with the main objective being in assisting IT admins to better manage the security risks in their environments. ESET PRO TECT will now offer a dashboard for ESET LiveGuard Advanced, an advanced threat defense solution with cloud sand boxing included within one of its layers.

ESET has also launched new cloud and XDR solutions for Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and with this launch, ESET’s MSP partners will now have ac cess to a sophisticated, cloud-based EDR solution with ESET PROTECT and new cutting-edge tools, which will increase visibility into their networks.

ESET will exhibit at Stand No. H1-E1 in Hall 1.

Chester Wisniewski principal research scientist, Sophos

Demes Strouthos General Manager, ESET

PURE STORAGE TO DEMONSTRATE HOW ORGANIZATIONS CAN UNCOMPLICATE STORAGE

The showcase focus on three themes – As a service, Infrastructure as a code and sustainability

Pure Storage will showcase a series of re cent innovations — including Evergreen// One, Pure Fusion, Portworx Data Services and FlashArray//X — that are intuitive, green and enable businesses to innovate at scale.

Omar Akar, Regional Vice President, Mid dle East & Emerging Africa, Pure Storage said,“With a design approach that is fun damentally rooted in simplicity and cus tomer-centricity, Pure continues to disrupt the storage industry with uncomplicated technology that enables transformation in a sustainable and cost-effective manner.”

Visitors to the Pure Storage stand will have a chance to experience and interact with the latest solutions across three key themes:

• As-a-service: Pure has advanced its un rivaled leadership in delivering Storage-

as-a-Service (STaaS) with updates to its Evergreen portfolio. This suite of products which includes Evergreen//Forever, Ever green//Flex and Evergreen//One prioritiz es cost efficiencies, a longer, sustainable technology lifecycle, and modernization without disruption.

• Infrastructure-as-code: By combining the simplicity of the cloud with on-demand consumption and back-end provisioning, Pure Fusion enables organizations to de liver a new scale-out storage model that unifies arrays and optimizes storage pools on the fly. Portworx Data Services (PDS), the industry’s first Database-as-a-Service platform for Kubernetes, enables devel opers to run heterogeneous data services from a single platform, on any cloud, and at a low cost.

• Sustainability: According to a recent product life cycle assessment (LCA) of its portfolio, specifically the FlashArray

Omar Akar

Regional VP, ME & Emerging Africa, Pure Storage

products, Pure Storage customers achieve up to 80% reduction in direct carbon usage by data systems compared to competitive products. At GITEX, Pure Storage can be found in Hall 7, Stand H7-G30.

Foundational technology for cloud native enterprise applications

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION GATHER PACE IN UAE AND KSA

YouGov survey of IT decision-makers highlights growing multi-cloud investments Joe Baguley VP & CTO EMEA, VMware

ITdecision-makers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) are doubling down on their digital transformation efforts, according to new research by mar ket insight specialists YouGov.

Commissioned by F5, the findings high light encouraging progress and awareness for emerging technologies set to underpin both nations’ future transformation plans.

“Businesses across the UAE and Saudi Arabia are clearly ramping up their abilities to provide fast, seamless digital experienc es,” said Fadia Abi-Ayad, Regional Direc tor for the UAE & Gulf at F5.

“We’re now seeing that organizations are starting to anticipate greater automation as IT and operational technology conver gence. In addition, they are embracing the promise of AI to adapt to conditions that change faster than ever. At the heart of all this are applications, and their safe deploy ment across multiple clouds.”

Driven by consumer demand and expand ing app portfolios, most decision-makers ranked 5G top of their trends chart (54%), followed by multi-cloud networking (41%). Web Application and API protec tion (WAAP) services were a close third, with 36% of respondents highlighting the importance of the technology, which en compasses WAF, DDoS protection, bot management, and API protection.

Other key trends top of mind include the integration of IT systems with operational technology (OT) systems (36%) and AIOps platforms (35%), the latter combining big data and machine learning functionality to support all primary IT operations functions.

Digital transformation gains (customer-centric) teeth

The focus of all respondents’ digital trans formation missions centered on custom er-centricity and operational efficiencies.

43% are automating business processes by integrating applications (e.g., multi-chan nel communications between chat and website, a seamless experience between mobile app and desktop for a digital bank ing or e-health solution), whereas 42% are employing AI and machine learning to automate and optimize business processes for efficiency and/or effectiveness (e.g., fixing workflow bottlenecks in custom er service). Furthermore, 41% said they were employing AI and machine learning to augment operations (e.g., AIOps or AIbased security).

In terms of specific digital transformation benefits, 43% hailed employee productiv ity improvements (improved collaboration and decision-making), followed by in creased revenue (39%), operational IT effi ciency (39%) and client satisfaction (38%).

In other future-seeking moves 34% are employing APIs to create new or partici pate in third-party ecosystems (e.g., open banking or social media logins).

Modernizing app portfolios and services

YouGov noted both growth and increased

distribution of app portfolios; 32% of re spondents from both countries work at organizations with between 100 and 500 applications in play. Twenty-four per cent juggled portfolios of between 500 and 1000 apps.

Zooming in further, application services are increasingly deployed in a variety of different environments, with a high per centage of organizations using a mix of models. Forty-four per cent use public cloud, 39% on-premises and 36% opt for managed services. The popularity of co-location (33%), edge (30%) and SaaS (24%) deployments further underline a shift towards app heterogeneity.

Notably, 51% of decision-makers are now deploying modern apps (mobile, cloud-native and microservices).

Navigating multi-clouds

In the UAE and Saudi Arabia, 65% of respondents indicated that cloud services spend was up in the past year. In related projections, 37% expect more than half of their app portfolio to be hosted in the cloud within the next three years.

The top emerging strategic cloud trends over the next three years include private cloud services (33%), Software-as-a-Ser vice (32%), Infrastructure-as-a-Service (30%) and Platform-as-a-Service (30%).

When asked about app deployment chal lenges across multiple clouds, 35% said they struggled to manage the complexity of management tools and APIs. In addi tion, 33% highlighted the difficulty in ap plying consistent security policies across all apps, and gaining visibility into appli cation health (e.g., status, performance, and capacity).

Security also remains a perennial chal lenge, with 84% reporting that they would benefit from additional cybersecurity ex pertise in their organization.

Fadia Abi-Ayad Regional Director, UAE & Gulf, F5

OMNIX UNVEILS CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

The centre will help customers accelerate digital transformation initiatives

Omnix, an end-to-end digital solutions and services pioneer, announced the launch of its Center of Excellence (XOC), an innova tive managed service offering that was con ceptualized to support businesses in their digital journeys.

Omnix’s XOC includes a unique com bination of a Security Operations Center (SOC), Network Operations Center (NOC) and Operations Control Center (OCC) with managed services aimed to assist organiza tions accelerate their digital transformation initiatives and overcome challenges relating to security threats, network issues and per formance, as well as operations-related tasks.

The XOC, equipped with the skilled re sources and tools, will enable customers to identify cyber threats and analyze network performance, with the goal of enabling organizations across sectors to remain fo cused on turning their aspirations into re ality. It is designed to provide a centralized and coherent view of the users’ network, security, and operations challenges.

“At Omnix we understand our customer needs and are committed to provide both strategic and tactical offerings, especially at a time when they are looking to strength en their digital transformation journey. The newly launched XOC builds on Omnix’s strength as an industry leading solution provider, and we are committed to provid ing an environment powered by best-inclass tools and highly qualified resources. Our XOC is the ideal solution for business es who want to reap the benefits of tech nology, while remaining focused on their business objectives,” said Walid Gomaa, CEO of Omnix International.

While embracing digital transformation, technology can provide many benefits in cluding superior business performance, a downside is that these businesses are increasingly targeted by cybercriminals across the globe. A report by Ponemon Institute revealed that data breaches result

in the average loss of $6.53 million per enterprise organization in the Middle East, which is significantly higher than the glob al average loss of $3.86 million. Based on data from Saudi Arabia and UAE-based companies, the reported financial impact caused by data breaches is said to have in creased by 9.4% over the past years.

Similarly, IT downtime and sluggish net work performance can have a direct impact on a business’ bottom line and ongoing oper ations. According to a report by Gartner, the average cost of IT downtime is $5,600 per minute, equaling to over $330,000 per hour.

Explaining the managed services’ capa bilities, Walid added, “With Omnix XOC offerings, and based on customers’ autho rization, potential security, network and operations threats/risks will be intercepted, logs will be analyzed and correlated which will give customers holistic view of the in cidents. When authorized, Omnix’s team can take immediate actions and correct the problems without needing any user inter vention, ensuring that the business environ ment is protected.”

With the Security Operations Center

(SOC), Omnix can support businesses with event classification, alerts prioritization and investigation, incident containment and recovery, remediation and mitigation, and attacks assessment and audits.

In addition, the Network Operations Center (NOC) supports businesses with network performance monitoring, network event management and traffic analysis, network configuration and change management, net work maintenance and incidents reporting.

The Operations Control Center (OCC) of fering supports businesses with proactive, pre-emptive predictive remote support for physical security systems (system cover age: CCTV, ACS intercom, PMS, PGS), hassle free remote monitoring and support for audio and visual equipment and is lo cated to monitor and stream any source of information to any screen for industrial au tomation systems such as SCADA.

Today, Omnix occupies a leading position in providing end-to-end solutions that ad dress a wide range of functional require ments for organizations of various sizes, enabling them to harness new levels of ser vice innovation, customer experience, data

CATALYSTS OF TRANSFORMATION

Finesse has steadily ascended the growth trajectory to become a top tier enabler of digital transformation

Overthe past decade, Finesse has built up its creden tials as a trusted SI and one that has constantly ex panded its portfolio of services, from being largely focused on BFSI early on to expanding into other verticals, from a digital transformation enabler to also offering a strong cybersecurity focus. Finesse has been consistent on an ambitious trajectory, emerging as a top tier digital transformation services provider with proven credentials across different enter prise segments.

Finesse, was founded in 2010 with the vision to positively impact the lives of people around. Firmly driven by this vision set by its founders, Finesse has grown immensely over the last decade and now supports the digital journeys of 350+ businesses across mul

tiple industry verticals - notably in Banking and Financial Ser vices, Energy, Education, Healthcare, Retail and Public Services.

It has focused on and refined the process of helping business es chart out their digital transformation journeys over the years. Whatever the type of business, Finesse looks to help them design the most effective path to experience the best results. As part of its commitment to helping businesses navigate digital transforma tion, Finesse offers a considerably extensive portfolio of the latest technologies and has a team of technical experts across these. The solutions portfolio includes AI chatbots, BI and Analytics, Block chain, CRM/CEM, Enterprise Content Management, Zero-trust modeling, infrastructure and cloud security, Robotic Process Au tomation (RPA), Intelligent Process Automation (IPA), and man aged IT services.

Finesse’s deep experience includes working with clients across several verticals, has enabled the team to employ a two-pronged approach to help organizations in the region to reach their digital transformation goals.

Sunil Paul – Co Founder & MD at Finesse elaborates, “The first is to identity, plan and enable the right digital initiatives for each organization. Organizations are at different stages of their digital transformation journeys. The solutions for each of them would vary based on their digital maturity, and the domain itself. According to the suitability, Finesse team identifies, plans, and delivers technology solutions for these organizations. Technolo gy offerings from Finesse include AI chatbots, BI & Analytics, Blockchain, CRM/CEM, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Intelligent Process Automation (IPA), and managed IT services.”

“The second aspect is that of securing the digital transformation for organizations. An important, but often overlooked part of dig ital transformation journey, is of digital risks which are very real, and have the potential to erode customer confidence, and will cost reputational, legal, and financial consequences for the business.”

This GITEX, Finesse is set to emphasize to companies the im portance of investing in cybersecurity as they embrace digital transformation.

Sunil says, “The increased digitalization of services has resulted in an increase of cybersecurity incidents and threats. These data breaches undermine the customers' trust in businesses and hinder smooth operations. Alongside digital transformation initiatives, a robust cybersecurity process is essential. With these two elements combined, businesses can benefit from their digital transforma tion journey sooner, better, and for longer.”

Finesse will be showcasing to clients how they can secure their digital infrastructure using solutions and services including Digi tal Risk & Compliance, Zero Trust, Cloud & Applications Assur ance, Digital Identity, Data Protection & Privacy, and Managed Security Operations.

Sunil Paul Co Founder & MD, Finesse

To support the growing need of cybersecurity initiatives in the GCC, Finesse, has rolled out a fully functional state-of-the-art Security Operation Centre (SOC) based out of Dubai. With the launch of this center, Finesse continues to invest substantially in the cybersecurity space.

Eljo JP – Director & CBO at Finesse says, “The newly expanded SOC will enable organizations in the region improve their secu rity posture significantly, by proactively detecting, analyzing and responding to cyberthreats to their digital infrastructure 24/7/365. The highlight of the SOC that would come as a boon for SMEs in the UAE would be the ‘pay-as-you-go’ model. Out of the 30+ services offered through our SOC / Cyber Defense Centre, busi nesses can pay per use for any service as they choose. A customer can, for instance, only opt for threat intelligence, data protection, SIEM, micro segmentation, Managed Detection and Response (MDR), Endpoint detection and Response (EDR), or Extended Detection and Response (XDR). Clients will be charged only in accordance with the duration and services they chose. As a result, organizations can begin with the basic or most essential services and gradually progress to full protection services.”

A strong cloud migration practice

Finesse has supported several organizations in the GCC regions on their cloud migration and digital transformation journeys.

Working across sectors, the SI has executed numerous hybrid

cloud implementations as well as cloud migration projects of on-premises infrastructure to cloud and edge infrastructure, in a phased manner, while taking care of data privacy, a factor that is vital especially in the BFSI sector. Cybersecurity has been at the forefront in these implementations.

Eljo adds, “We have focused on integrating cybersecurity into all phases of the client's digital journey. Kubernetes and DevSecOps has been the most used implementation method in order to integrate security throughout the application lifecycle.”

Finesse also offers cloud performance and optimization con sulting, in order to ensure customers across geographies have a great experience.

Building the CX focus

Yet another focus area for the company has been on delivering CX solutions as customer experience becomes paramount in the digital economy. A remarkable Customer Experience (CX) is critical to sustained growth of any business. Each touchpoint of the customer experience needs to be continuously enhanced and optimized, to provide the customers with the best available experience, and thus avoid churn.

Chats are often the first point of contact between a customer and the brand, especially during the awareness and post-sale phases. For automated chatbots to be effective, they must be able to

provide a positive customer experience from the outset of the customer's interaction with them.

Eljo says, “The Finesse team is aware of the importance of chat bots to the businesses from both the customer experience and operational perspectives and has been providing AI based chat bot solutions to our clients. The current focus of our firm is to provide our clients with dynamic, real-time, and self-learning conversational chatbots that provide the best possible customer experience, as close as possible to actual customer service.”

Digital acceleration

With more normalcy returning as the pandemic impact wears out, there is reason to speculate that perhaps there would be slowing down of the digital acceleration that was seen in past two years. However, that is unlikely to be so as companies have seen the productivity benefits from having the right technolo gies in place.

Sunil says, “During the course of the pandemic, many changes have taken place in the relationship between businesses, their customers, and their employees. The most notable change has been the shift to digital or remote interactions over in-person in teractions. Despite the pandemic slowing down, the structural changes that occurred during the pandemic seem to have become permanent. Therefore, businesses must invest in new digital tech nologies to remain competitive. Case-in-point - despite the slow down in the market, CIOs and CTOs are making investments in new digital technologies and reducing costs elsewhere. “

Finesse has been advocating adoption of new technology solu tions to its clients and continues to bring about advancements around these areas - tailored to their specific needs. With Busi nesses looking to invest increasingly in AI, RPA, ML, advanced analytics and cybersecurity, Finesse looks poised well to cater to these needs and emerge as a top tier enabler of digital trans formation.

Eljo JP

Director & CBO, Finesse

“We have focused on integrating cybersecurity into all phases of the client's digital journey. Kubernetes and DevSecOps has been the most used implementation method in order to integrate security throughout the application lifecycle.”

CYBERSECURITY

AS A SERVICE

Harish Chib, Vice President, Middle East & Africa, Sophos says Cyber security as a Service will be among the highlights of its focus at GITEX Technology Week

What will be your key focus at GITEX 2022? What solutions/ products will you showcase?

This year, our GITEX theme is ‘Cybersecurity as a Service,’ which we believe is the future of cybersecurity. Organizations need services to help them defeating cyberthreats, which have in creased exponentially in the last couple of years, both in volume and sophistication – to the point where it is difficult for businesses to handle alone.

The focus will be to highlight Sophos’ Cybersecurity as a Service capabilities, which is a combination of Sophos’ experts and tools provided as a service, that can help organizations of all sizes to deal with any cyber issues 24x7 365 days of the year. It helps organizations to have the right tools, people and processes to ef fectively provide the active threat protection their business needs. It also helps organizations to proactively hunt for threats, scope their severity, initiate action, and provide actionable advice to ad dress the root cause of incidents

We are expecting more attendees and engagement this year, as things have become normal as compared to the last couple of years.

What are the worry trends in the cyberthreat landscape?

Attackers are constantly changing their tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) to launch cyberattacks like ransomware. To make matters worse, the ransomware business model is continu ously shifting and expanding, with Initial Access Brokers (IABs) selling network access to any potential ransomware attacker. Even “unskilled hackers” can get into the ransomware business – by buying the network access, encry2ption code and other be

Harish Chib Vice President, MEA, Sophos

spoke pieces needed to launch the attack. Compounding the issue is the current cybersecurity skills gap.

At the show, we are showcasing our entire range of advanced cybersecurity solutions, including our broad portfolio of endpoint and network products and Managed Detection and Response (MDR) and incident response services, which help organizations defeat cyberattacks and defend against phishing, malware, active lateral attacks, ransomware, and more.

What can the regional customers expect from your firm this year?

Along with protecting our regional customers with our advanced cybersecurity solutions, we are also focusing on providing Cy bersecurity-as-a-Service (CSaaS) to organizations needing ful ly-managed, turnkey security solutions. Regional customers can manage their cybersecurity directly with Sophos’ security opera tions platform or use a hybrid approach by supplementing their in-house teams with Sophos CSaaS capabilities, such as threat hunting and remediation.

What are the challenges and opportunities in the cybersecu rity industry? How do you aim to support organisations in this aspect?

The opportunities are many. Cybersecurity is a 24/7 job; attackers often strike on weekends, during holidays or after hours, when a network could be less monitored. Sophos can help organizations to better protect their digital transformation by providing around the clock cybersecurity through advanced cybersecurity solutions and services.

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FORGING STRONGER CUSTOMER TIES

Discuss ManageEngine’s focus at this year’s GITEX?

This year marks the 20th anniversary of ManageEngine, the enterprise IT man agement division of Zoho Corporation. So our presence at GITEX, which is one of the world's premier technology events, will be bigger than ever before. All our top management will be travelling to Dubai, as we consider it as a great opportunity to network and share knowledge among stakeholders.

Rajesh Ganesan, president of ManageEn gine will participate in a panel discussion on Combating Cyberwarfare: A Clear and Present Danger, scheduled between 12:35 and 1:15pm in Hall 1 on October 11, during which he will discuss the top five cyber warfare and cybersecurity threats to watch out for. In addition, Shailesh Davey, co-founder and vice president of engineer ing at Zoho Corporation, will share his in sights on AI-enabled IT Management be tween 2 and 2:20pm at the Sheikh Rashid Hall on October 13.

How has GITEX served your objectives over the years to connect with a wider audience of the region?

ManageEngine has been doing business in the Middle East since 2005 and has been a part of GITEX since 2007. The Middle East is one of the main markets for the company worldwide. Considering the event has proven to be a great platform to connect with a wider audience in the region, ManageEngine highly values GI TEX.

Each year, this event has played a big role in establishing our presence in the region and building contact with potential cus tomers and partners, many of whom we

share a close relationship with still today. So, I expect our participation in the event this year will help us reiterate our com mitment to serve our customers better and forge stronger ties.

What solutions will you be showcasing at the event? Are there any launches? ManageEngine will showcase its entire suite of IT management and security solu tions , a portfolio of over 60 paid products, covering aspects like IT service manage ment, operations management, Active Directory management, security, endpoint management, analytics, and more for the Gulf Cooperation Council market at GI

Nirmal Kumar Manoharan regional director, ManageEngine

TEX 2022. Alongside it will also launch

CloudSpend, its cloud observability and cost optimisation platform, for Azure.

What is your key message for this year’s show?

The modern-day IT landscape, where the philosophy of "digital-first customers and remote-first employees" is deeply sowed, brings a plethora of challenges for IT ad ministrators and C-suite executives alike. ManageEngine will be positioning itself as a comprehensive IT management solu tions provider for organizations and enter prises, across all sectors, looking to over come all their IT-related challenges.

Nirmal Kumar Manoharan, regional director, ManageEngine says this year’s presence at GITEX will be the largest so far for the company.

ENHANCING OBSERVABILITY

Ramzi Bsaibes, Senior Manager, the Gulf Region at Riverbed Technology dis cusses the company’s focus at GITEX

What is the theme of Riverbed’s partic ipation at GITEX?

This year, our participation at GITEX will centre around the theme “Illuminate, Ac celerate and Empower Every Digital Ex perience”. Visitors to our stand will have the opportunity to learn how Riverbed is evolving all parts of its Alluvio Unified Observability and Acceleration portfolios to address the needs of today’s hybrid orga nizations, helping to deliver seamless digi tal experiences and enterprise performance.

What Solutions will Riverbed be showcasing at GITEX Global 2022?

At GITEX this year, we will showcase two industry leading product lines – Allu vio by Riverbed, our Unified Observabil ity portfolio and Riverbed Acceleration. These portfolios represent the logical evo lution of our company which this year has celebrated its 20-year anniversary.

Our Unified Observability software port folio has been designed to provide IT with a unified view to see through massive complexity and transform data into ac tionable insights across the entire digital ecosystem. This enables organizations to provide seamless digital experiences that drive enterprise performance for both the employee experience (EX) and customer experience (CX). The Alluvio portfolio in cludes our industry-leading visibility tools for network performance management (NPM), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (ITIM) and Digital Experience Manage ment (DEM), which encompasses appli cation performance management (APM) and End User Experience Monitoring (EUEM), that are available today and used by thousands of organizations across the world. GITEX will also offer regional IT stakeholders a first look at our newly launched cloud-native, SaaS-delivered Unified Observability service, Alluvio

Ramzi Bsaibes Senior Manager, Gulf Region Riverbed Technology

IQ. Complementing the Alluvio portfolio, Riverbed’s flagship Acceleration solutions provide fast, agile, secure acceleration of any app over any network to users, wheth er mobile, remote, or on-premises. Built on decades of WAN optimization lead ership and innovation, Riverbed’s indus try-leading acceleration portfolio delivers cloud, SaaS, client and eCDN (MS teams & streams) applications at peak speeds, overcoming network latency, congestion, and suboptimal last-mile conditions to empower the hybrid workforce.

What are your expectations from this year’s participation at GITEX?

The demand for and participation at in-per son event has rebounded this year so we expect a heavily attended show that will present us with the opportunity to engage with customers, partners, and prospects

from all across the region. We have set clear objectives for our presence at GITEX. These include evangelising attendees on the rapidly growing Unified Observability segment which is set to be a US$19billion market, and how Riverbed’s industry lead ing solution is complimented by our estab lished Riverbed Acceleration portfolio.

We will be unveiling the regional findings of a research study that we commissioned on Unified Observability that was con ducted by market leading research firm IDC. The survey revealed that a unified view of digital infrastructure is essential for IT teams that must improve the digital customer experience while boosting over all organizational productivity. This re search also highlights that IT teams at or ganizations of all sizes are overwhelmed, short-staffed and require more advanced tools that deliver intelligence and action able insights to help them troubleshoot issues in real-time.

In celebration of the 20-year anniversary of our company, as well as the launch of our new brand identity and our Alluvio Unified Observability portfolio, we intend to make this one of our largest ever partic ipations at GITEX.

What is the longer-term focus for Riv erbed in the region?

2022 has been a landmark year for River bed as it not only marked our company’s 20-year anniversary, but also saw us launch our new brand identity – including the new Alluvio by Riverbed portfolio for Unified Observability – reflecting the evolution of our company, technology, and the market. Our regional strategy is aligned with our company vision and our focus has been directed at building on the incredible mo mentum we have established in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa region.

TAPPING GROWTH

Sakkeer Hussain, Director - Sales and Marketing at D-Link Middle East discusses how the networking vendor has kept pace with a range of new launches incorporating innovations

Discuss how 5G and wifi 6 has been impacting demand growth?

5G and Wi-Fi 6 enable higher speeds and lower latency with in creased capacities. These advantages have led to an increased de mand-led growth. Organizations are able to enhance customer ex periences and greatly improve service delivery. It also allows for quick decision making in real time and operational optimization.

What have been some of your significant product launches in the year?

We have several new launches this year and they will continue to be in focus for the coming quarters. The new EAGLE PRO AI AX3200 Mesh Systems is designed for today’s device dense smart homes. These systems are equipped with dual-band wire less speeds of up to 3.2 Gbps with the latest Wi-Fi 6 technology, including 1024 QAM, MU—MIMO, and OFDMA technologies. EAGLE PRO AI AX3200 Mesh Systems can be easily man aged through the EAGLE PRO AI app. Some of our other recent launches include Covr Series Wi-Fi 6 solution, which includes multi-pack options that are all equipped with Wi-Fi 6 and mesh technology to provide faster speeds, greater capacity, and less net work congestion for the modern device-dense smart home.

Sakkeer Hussain Sales and Marketing, D-Link ME

Ranjith Kaippada MD, Cloud Box Technologies

Other new launches include DCS-8300LHV2 Full HD Wi-Fi Camera with AI-based person detection, Outdoor Industrial AC1200 Access Point DIS-3650AP and Indoor Industrial Access Point DIS-2650AP and so on.

Also, D-Link globally has just unveiled DWA-F18 VR Air Bridge, a wireless dongle designed specifically for Meta Quest 2 in an exclusive partnership with Meta. The DWA-F18 VR Air Bridge provides high-performance wireless links between Meta Quest 2 and PCs/laptops, eliminating cable clutter to provide enhanced and safer VR gaming experiences.

Discuss how the focus around cloud managed networking with Nuclias is helping you reach more Business segment customers?

We launched Nuclias during the pandemic and it continues to be a relevant solution for organizations of all sizes across all sectors. The remote working offering is enabling both large organizations as well as SMBs to power their distributed workforce. We have seen a lot of interest for Nuclias from across sectors and it contin ues to be a fast-moving solution.

What are the enhancements in the cloud managed portfolioon the hardware and software fronts?

We have enhanced our cloud managed switches, which can be managed via the Nuclias Cloud Web Portal through any connect

ed compatible PC or Tablet. Connectivity with the Nuclias Cloud platform is guaranteed, with a 99.9% Service-Level-Agreement (SLA), and its operation will continue even if the cloud connec tion fails. We are continuously making improvements to the soft ware with feedback from customers and partners.

It is back to normal now for most offices with the majority working on premise- how has this impacted demand across product lines you offer?

Many companies have adopted a hybrid model, while for many others it is 100% back to office. Our product lines have only seen a high growth till date as they continue to be relevant and easily adaptable with the changing market circumstances.

IP surveillance has been a segment of focus for you - has there be substantial growth in the outdoor surveillance segment as well as for indoor surveillance in the Business range of IT cameras?

Security has become a prominent and permanent element to ev ery organization. With new innovations in this space driven by data and analytics, we have seen a huge growth in both indoor and outdoor surveillance segments. There are huge opportunities here and as a leader in the regional surveillance camera segment with our extensive portfolio of solutions that includes a range of surveillance cameras, systems, switches and network video recorders (NVRs), we aim to offer customers continued innova tions.

MAKING STRONG GAINS

Toshiba was an exhibitor at Intersec in Saudi Arabia where its highlighted its strong product line up for surveillance data storage. The company is also rolling out its cam paign of ‘Build your own Data Centre’ in the region. Santosh Varghese, Vice President at Toshiba Gulf FZE discusses the key aspects of these focus areas and the growth trends

How long has Toshiba been an exhibitor at Intersec in Saudi Arabia?

This was the third year of participation for Toshiba at Intersec in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh. We have seen tremendous response, and a quality crowd come in on all days, evincing interest in surveillance and also for data stor age products.

How has Saudi Arabia been as a market for you over the years?

Saudi has been a very strategic market tra ditionally, it’s a market where we had a high brand equity and substantial market share, right from our PC days was above 30% and now with Storage products, it is above 55% in the surveillance range in spite of the fact that we started out late between end 2017 to early 2018. The market share then was 0.7%. That fact that today we have 55% market share in surveillance data storage shows how the brand is highly trusted by the Saudi market.

Discuss the surveillance range and focus for Toshiba?

The surveillance drives are mainly used in surveillance use cases for outdoor locations.

We have drives in different capacities from 1 TB up to 18 TB. We see a tremendous growth if data storage requirements. The way the surveillance storage requirements are growing year on year, millions of zetabytes of data will need to be stored by 2025. So, there will need for more storage and we see a tremendous interest in these drives that are fine tuned to work in all kinds of rugged and extreme weather conditions, 24 by 7 by 365.

Our surveillance HDD line-up targets the increasing demand of small & medium busi nesses, professional & public and big data & analytics and they are optimised for network video recorders (NVR), digital video record ers (DVR) or centralized backend storage.

We have the S300 and S300 Pro drives fo cusing on the surveillance requirements. The

Santosh Varghese Vice President, Toshiba Gulf FZE

S300 use cases would start from around 4 to 5 TB and scale upto 12 TB. The S300 has been fine tuned for surveillance and record even the smallest detail. They come with 24/7 reliability so you can analyze minute details of your security footage at any time. They can manage up to 64 HD cameras, can withstand the high tempera tures of 50 to 55 degrees that this region may experience. We offer three years full warranty and with no strings attached to it.

What have been some of the significant customer requirements in Saudi Arabia for these products?

We have had a lot of projects on the Bank ing front, for their ATMs. One of our cus tomers had a requirement of 5000 cam eras for their ATM locations. Then there are large projects like King Abdullah Eco nomic city and Neon that are driving large scale requirements and growth.

So while Banks are investing a lot on surveillance and security front, there are

also substantial requirements from verti cals like Education, where surveillance is mandatory and storage data needs to be kept for upto 6 months as per government requirements. And all video is now HD and hence storage requirement is more.

Discuss the requirements from the data center segment?

After the pandemic, everybody has real ized the importance of cloud storage and also about on-premise storage. So, now many customers are kind of going for a mix of storage, and many businesses want to have their data center storage. The fact is that now you can build your own data center storage; just buy the main frame and populate it with storage hard drive and you can have a cost saving of upto 30%. We are starting a campaign of ‘Build Your Own Data Center’ and we are going to teach the businesses, mainly the system integrators and value add resellers, as to how they can help the business build their own data center.

RPA:

Enhancing Healthcare

The deployment of RPA helps boost efficiencies in the healthcare sector

Healthcare system entail arduous tasks and rigorous regulations that calls for considerable resource al location like claims management and patient sched uling, leading towards slow operation, excessive costs, and inefficiencies. RPA (Robotic Process Automation) has emerged as a strong ally for the healthcare sector as the technol ogy can be utilized by the healthcare providers to address these issues and make healthcare system more efficient. Although healthcare tasks are highly sensitive, RPA can be employed for execution of time-consuming, repetitive tasks and administra tive tasks that don’t require specialized knowledge.

Veneeth Purushotaman, CHCIO, Group Chief Information Of

ficer at Aster DM Healthcare says, “There are several practi cal use cases when it comes to Robotic Process Automation in healthcare. I believe, the technology adoption in healthcare has not reached its expected levels due to the time taken for the key stakeholders like Nurses, Care Providers and Clinicians to learn the new systems and also because of the additional time they have to now spend looking at the monitor and screens instead of spending that time with patients and their relatives. RPA can help in reducing and eliminating all the mundane data entry works and use bots to do them while the Nurses and Clinicians spend their time with patients.

He adds, “The specific use cases tried by us at Aster DM Health

care group are around Pre-approval and Pre-eligibility checks on Insurance/Networks and also on some of the HR processes which require a lot of data capture as part of on-boarding and contracting.”

Similarly, Ali Asghar Bohari, Senior Director IT- Zulekha Hos pital says that are several repetitive tasks that RPA can help exe cute. The time saved can help doctors and staff focus on patient care better.

“In healthcare RPA is used to automate the repetitive tasks as sociated with healthcare and reduce cost of manpower. RPA has great potential and benefit for implanting in healthcare. It can be used to perform simple, routine, and complex tasks in the healthcare and allows healthcare organization to automate various processes which are repetitive in nature and gathered information from different data sources such as Medical Billing, Claims Administration, Claims Submission, document digitali zation, manage patient appointment etc.”

Zulekha Hospital has deployed RPA automation solution from Automation Anywhere implemented by Finesse Technologies to automate the process of checking patient insurance eligibility from insurance web portal sites. The solution is an unattended bot run through multiple insurance portals for checking patient insurance eligibility and runs until it gets all the required insur ance eligibility details of the patient. It checks and validates pa tient insurance eligibility before patient visit to hospital, which helps in reducing patient waiting time at the counter, thus en hancing patient experience.

Ali adds, “Currently we have implemented RPA for checking patient insurance eligibility check. Previously we were strug gling with patient insurance eligibility checking for potential customers which is a highly manual processes and resulting in denial of claims amounting to millions of dirhams. The insur ance validation was done manually by reception office staff at the counter. Multiple staff at front office reception were manu ally checking and validating patient insurance eligibility which is time consuming task and requires patients to wait at counter till their insurance eligibility check was complete. Since this process was time consuming and increases patient waiting time, it leads to patient frustration. The automation of this repeti tive process ensure that the insurance eligibility is checked and validated even before the patient comes to the counter, which has not only enhanced patient experience but has also increase hospital efficiency in providing seamless experience to the pa tients. Moving forwarded looking to satisfying result of RPA implementation, we are planning to extend its implementation to other areas such as billing, customer service, etc.”

RPA can be used to automate various tasks such as patient in surance eligibility check, Appointment Scheduling and Digital Patient Management, billing, payment & claims management. Repetitive tasks such as data entry, document processing and

Veneeth Purushotaman CHCIO, Group CIO, Aster DM Healthcare

communication between different departments within an organi zation are also various use case scenarios for RPA deployment.

RPA also helps hospitals in speedy payment recovery with time ly follow-up as well as in reducing insurance denied instances with accurate submissions & resubmissions.

Enhancing Patient Experience in Healthcare Setup:

The biggest impact of RPA is that healthcare providers can uti lize it to focus on patient outcomes and enhance the quality of healthcare services and patient satisfaction. Automating hospi tal processes has simplified data collection and analysis, sup porting evidence driven data in a healthcare organization, which in turn helps better patient support.

Ali says, “Implementing RPA in Zulekha Hospital has signifi cantly reduce the time spent by front office staff on manually checking patient eligibility by automating manual tasks e.g. Front office employee assisting a customer had to spent huge amount of time going through multiple insurance provides por tal to searching and check patient eligibility, shifting focus away

from the customer which ultimately lowering productivity. Im plementation of RPA has enabled staff to be more focus and attentive on the customer providing better service to patient.

“RPA solutions can take away all the mundane data entry which is being done by the Nurses and Clinicians and let the Bots do the work and thereby letting the Nurses take care of their pa tients and deliver a superlative patient experience,” says Ve neeth.

RPA can contribute towards an improved patient experience in the future by improving the quality of care and reducing costs, as well as increasing efficiency. RPA is a powerful tool for improving healthcare delivery because it automates repetitive tasks that are typically performed by humans and hence could be prone to manual errors and without delays. Patients get better treatment faster and with less human interaction. With errors re duced, patient safety improves significantly, and it also increas es the overall quality of care delivered to patients.

As RPA executes tasks faster and more accurately, the compli ance requirements can be easily met and overall enhances pa tient or customer satisfaction. The swiftness of RPA means cus tomer service executives can spend more time with patients in face-to-face interactions, which in turn helps enhance customer experience.

With RPA implementation, we see many benefits such as in crease in client satisfaction rates, reduction in cost, increase revenues, and decrease in errors and rework. The benefit of RPA system is that it works continuously round the clock and completes the task with greater accuracy and speed results in greater productivity while lower labour costs.

Regarding the fear of RPA taking aways jobs, Vineeth says that the fear is unfounded.

“That’s a myth and a very unfortunate misinformation being spread around. Technology tools will always be used to make the job easier, efficient and error free therefore making the job of the people/employees more satisfying and worthwhile.”

According to Ali, technologies like AI and RPA are being in creasingly used in healthcare sector and the investments will grow in this direction.

He says “The future of healthcare investments on RPA is very promising. The growth in the market for RPA solutions has been phenomenal and analysts predict that it will continue to grow at a rapid pace. The future of healthcare IT is going to be driven by automation and artificial intelligence. Healthcare organizations are increasingly realizing the benefits of using RPA and are al ready using RPA as a tool to improve productivity and reduce costs by automate routine tasks, freeing up their employees for more complex work

Ali Asghar Bohari Senior Director IT- Zulekha Hospital

In summary, with the multiple benefits that RPA delivers, from enhancing patient care to improving employee productivity, the instances of RPA deployment is only likely to accelerate in the healthcare sector.

The growth in the market for RPA solutions has been phenomenal and analysts predict that it will continue to grow at a rapid pace. The future of healthcare IT is going to be driven by automation and artificial intelligence.

DELIVERING VALUE THROUGH MDR

Jishant Karunakaran, Founder and Managing Director, Mindfire Technologies discusses how they add value to their customers with their expertise for managed security services

market is not new to us as we have been serving customers in Saudi Arabia as ser vice partner to our global vendors like AT&T Cybersecurity and PAESSLER.

As part of our expansion program, we have opened our office in Saudi Arabia with both sales and technical teams based in Saudi Arabia. We are confident that with our new office and the expanded team, we will be able to add better value to our Saudi customers.

Discuss business outlook for you as a growing MSSP in the region?

Ranjith Kaippada MD, Cloud Box Technologies

Jishant Karunakaran Founder and Managing Director, Mindfire Technologies

Discuss vendors you are showcasing with at GITEX? Are there any new partners being signed up?

At Mindfire we are into a niche space of complex cybersecurity when it comes to the solution providers we partner with.

Due to the sophisticated nature of the threats, organizations find it increasingly difficult to keep up to date with new de velopments in cybersecurity and to secure their business assets efficiently relying on in-house experts. We have been participat ing in GITEX for the last few years and the vendors we chose to showcase are unique and more importantly truly adds value to our customer base. This year we are showcasing solutions from AT&T Cy bersecurity, PAESSLER, ACCOPS, NEX US and Fresh Service.

Tell us about your expansion into Sau di Arabia? Do you already have exiting clients there?

At Mindfire, Saudi Arabia cybersecurity

The business outlook for managed secu rity services is exciting. There is a great interest from customers for our managed detection and response services. We are experiencing a huge interest in our MDR (Managed detection and response ) capa bilities. Our MDR services, rely on the capabilities of our well experienced team and globally acclaimed partner ecosystem and their vast knowledge, expertise, and monitoring capabilities. The value propo sition we unlock will help our customers to allocate their resources to other, more strategic tasks.

What do you are major trends on the cybersecurity landscape?

In the next five years, as the Every thing-as-a-service model spreads further, organizations will escalate investment and deployment of MDR services. A silver lin ing for the cybersecurity industry is that organizations will need security solutions and services to provide comprehensive protection of their environments. Mind fire MDR’s 24/7 monitoring, threat hunt ing, incident response, and professional guidance will be essential for both large enterprises and SMBs of all regions look

ing for an edge over the new threats. MDR’s promise will resonate with or ganizations in the foreseeable future.

Skills shortage has been an issue in cybersecurity. Is this one of the rea sons why people prefer to work with MSSPs such as yourself?

It is true that skill shortage is an issue, but this is a reality all industry players need to reconcile with. In light of the shortage of cybersecurity professionals, organizations are looking for ways to automate the process of threat detec tion and response. The new generation of solutions and services promises to deploy machine learning and artificial intelligence, automating decision-mak ing to improve the overall performance of the security stack. However, in reali ty, meaningful automation is still in the early stages of development. Organiza tions are aware that such technologies provide limited benefits right now and seek alternative paths to success. In the long term, the scarcity of cybersecurity professionals will boost the MDR mar ket growth, as the issue will persist (and possibly deepen).

How do you view the MDR market?

The global Managed Detection and Re sponse market is fragmented, highly competitive, and one of the most in novative in the cybersecurity industry. Unlike other cybersecurity competitive environments, no single vendor can get close to a 10% of the global MDR rev enue share. A factor that contributes to the share allocation is the relative nov elty of the market, leading to players growing within their niches without di rectly taking revenue from each other.

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EMBRACING THE DIGITAL FUTURE

Anas Mistareehi is the head of Operations at Al Wathba Insurance and has led the introduction of multiple technologies and major operative developments at AWNIC. He speaks about the company’s multiple transformation initiatives

What are the digital transformation initiatives that company has rolled out until today? What are the benefits you have realized?

We started with offering platforms to the public to buy online insurance with no human intervention. AWNIC app was launched two years ago and today we have exceeded 80 thousand downloads and several multiples of 100,000 trans actions and seamless customer journey, that was followed by ecommerce website available for and supporting B2B, B2C, and B2B2C, with a state-of-the-art mo tor claims management system, where we successfully used AI, ML and reached 100% paperless operations. This helped reducing the TAT by almost 80% and in creased the customer satisfaction to hit the 100% levels.

Anas Mistareehi

Operations head, Al Wathba Insurance

Discuss how digitalization has been a priority at your company? How important is going digital for the insurance sector?

We started our transformation journey few years ago and it has really helped improve our customer engagement and business process automation. Post pandemic, this became the new norm and without it I don’t think any company will service the near future. It is not just a priority, rather it is a must to maintain our market propo sition. Insurance sector is all about service and the fast-evolving technology develop ments meant the sector must adopt various technologies like AI, RPAs, ML etc. With out a strong presence in the digital world, companies would find themselves out of the race and gradually out of the market.

We implemented our AWNICone, which is a single sign on SSO platform that make available all of our 20+ portals in once single screen for our users as well as business partners. Apart from this, we have achieved more than 15 B2B portals to serve the commercial lines business, which was another milestone to achieve. RPA was introduced also to our financial management operations which signifi cantly contributed to improve the recon ciliation transactions on all payment lev els, approvals, and more.

Other deployments include Chatbot, eKYC, SSL self-service portal for busi ness partners where they can have smooth access to their accounts round the clock, CRM system, marketing automation tools, ICMS the information communica tion management system for online busi ness administration purposes, in addition to digital signature tools and more.

This transformation has helped us towards business process improvement, process automation, TAT enhancement, improved

efficiency, productivity, business growth, better market reach, higher customer re tention, and in offering seamless customer experience.

What are some of the exciting features you may have added in your services with digital transformation?

We introduced AI big data analytics to the claims management system in the cost estimation process helped reducing the average claim cost by not less than 15% which is huge considering the soft market situation we are experiencing. This helped us to better compete in the market and grow our market share at a time where many are losing.

We Implemented state of the art fully au tomated whatsapp chatbot and whatsapp business that helped maintain 24/7 com munication channels with our customers enabling them real time access to their documents and upto to date with their services.

Do you see cybersecurity as a priority investment?

Of course, this is a must to have and ac cordingly we have established a special ised section within the IT department to monitor, implement IT security policy and procedures and meet the requirements of the authorities. We have heavily invested in cybersecurity tools and techniques in order to prevent any potential threat and protect ours and our customer valuable data.

Being insurance company pioneers in the digital world, we have provided to the market cyber insurance products that fits ant enterprise form any size and any in dustry, and we see increasing demand for the product. We play the role of advisors to our clients and partners to help mitigate any potential risk and have all required precautions in place and protect them from any potential losses.

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TRANSFORMING EDUCATION

What has the learning curve been for the IT teams from the pandemic? Dis cuss how the post pandemic scenario is unfolding for the IT teams in terms of challenges as schools have got back to near 100% on premise since beginning of the year?

The pandemic affected businesses and changed and transformed the way they work. The role of IT during and after the pandemic also transformed and only those who were resilient prevailed. Everyone learnt many lessons from Covid-19 and this is inclusive of IT teams as well. A key learning was that it is quite important to

hire and retain good talent and to build a skilled team to face challenges and solve problems efficiently. Another key lesson that it is vital to keep IT close to the busi ness and clearly understand its short and long term needs to provide flexible & scal able solutions. IT is now the backbone of the organization and plays a major role in its success.

Schools are now back to 100% on prem ise teaching; students and staff are in their offices and classrooms and BYOD is back in effect. With thousands of endpoints on campus every day, security and connec

tivity become the principal concern. All services and applications must be always available to avoid any disruption in the ac ademic delivery.

Do you visualize the investments in dig ital transformation will keep pace in the education sector?

Like in all other sectors, educational in stitutions embraced digital transformation to improve and develop its operations and more importantly to meet the expectations and new learning needs of today’s stu dents. Any academic institution failing to embrace digitalization risks obsolescence.

George Akhras, CIO at AMSI discusses how IT has become a critical infrastructure enabler for the education sector

Investing in the digital education today is an important priority for all education providers. Email, instant messaging, so cial media; Smartphone, laptop, tablet, Intelligent gaming devices; there is no es caping it. Today’s student scrolls, clicks, and swipes their way through the day, ac quiring, processing, and sharing informa tion faster than ever before. Students are changing and it is essential that the edu cation sector keeps pace with this digital education revolution which is unfolding.

In the UAE, educational institutions are increasingly investing in digital transfor mation driven by the high-quality stan dard set by the MOE and the competition in the global education system.

Which are the major areas of likely invest ments from your point of view? What new solutions could likely be useful?

On the educational side, I believe cloud & AI, and AR/VR are top of the list. Schools and universities want to provide person alized cloud-based learning to students to complement and enhance traditional learn ing and AI based learning management systems infused with 3D content. Setting up new or additional VR labs and classes is another goal for many educational insti tutions. Many educational organizations including us at Al Mawakeb, are already experimenting with the metaverse to iden tify how this technology can enhance the learning process.

From the operational perspective, cyber security and process automation and key investment areas to us and many other institutions. Cybersecurity is the main fo cus of many IT executives. Investing in a comprehensive cybersecurity solution to protect the network and infrastructure, ap plications and the end points is essential, and must be coupled with staff awareness, and continuous training and support. Au tomation reduces time, effort, and cost, whilst reducing manual errors, giving the business more time to focus on your pri mary objectives. Many advanced RPAs are now available in the market.

With the multi cloud a reality, do you think managing such a diverse IT envi ronment can get challenging for the IT

teams? Do you have a multi cloud de ployment in your schools?

According to recent studies more than 80% of companies already operate a mul ticloud environment and more companies are destined to go in this direction. The in creased move into multicloud was a direct result of the demand on SaaS models and the improved and enhanced offering by cloud providers. While it enables scalabil ity, cost control, increased flexibility and other benefits, managing a multicloud en vironment presents many potential chal lenges, such as lack of consistency, poor visibility, acquiring & retaining talent, compromised data privacy and of course the continuous evolution of advanced cy bercrimes. Building a strong and effective multicloud strategy mitigates risks and solves many of the issues and challeng es IT teams face. At Al Mawakeb, we do manage and operate a multicloud environ ment. Most of our online systems are on

our private cloud and we use Microsoft Azure and Office 365.

How much is cybersecurity a prior ity? Do you think it is necessary to keep pace with the new approaches?

There is no argument among technology experts against how important and nec essary cybersecurity is to elements of business. Without proper security mea sures, all company data is always at risk. In fact, cybersecurity is always in the top 3 of the IT Executives lists of priorities and initiatives. The massive increase in number and severity of cyber-attacks on companies of all sizes and sectors in the recent years force companies to pri oritize security and increase its budget. IT teams must strive to achieve higher cybersecurity measures and standards must continuously improve to keep up with our companies’ digital transforma tion journeys.

George Akhras CIO at AMSI

OF SPYWARE, ZERO-CLICK ATTACKS, SMISHING AND STORE SECURITY

Ram Narayanan, Country Manager at Check Point Software Technologies, Middle East discusses the mobile malware landscape in 2022

Cyberattacks are increasing in number all the time. Indeed, our 2022 Mid-Year Report revealed a 42% global year-on-year in crease in attacks. And according to the World Economic Forum’s 2022 Global Risk Report, 95% of cybersecurity issues are traced back to human error. This should be a red flag for all organiza tions, especially with the transition to remote and hybrid work ing, where employees are using mobile devices more often. These devices now have access to sensitive company data and direct connectivity to the enterprise network. Combine that with the key ‘human error’ ingredient and you’ll see why mobile devices are such a prime target for cybercriminals.

Despite this, many corporate cybersecurity strategies tend to fo cus only on traditional endpoints, such as laptops. Do you know if all the mobile devices in your organization are safe from mal ware? Perhaps you have Mobile Device Management (MDM) and think that’s enough? Unfortunately, MDM does not provide intrusion detection or scan for malware. And with the mobile threat landscape constantly evolving, it’s never been more im portant to have a robust solution in place. Let’s take a look at the current landscape and what you need to know to stay protected in 2022.

Thriving spyware marketplace

The current mobile malware landscape is a minefield with more and more vulnerabilities being exploited and spyware software being deployed. In our last security report, we noted that NSO Group’s notorious spyware, Pegasus, was wreaking havoc after it was discovered gaining access to the mobile devices of gov ernment officials and human rights activists. Unfortunately, 2022 was no different, with Pegasus found to have compromised the devices of Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Spain’s Prime Minister as well as multiple devices of UK officials.

In July, Apple introduced a ‘lockdown mode’ for its devices to protect against Pegasus hacks. Even though this mode will in crease the security of the users who will use it, but it will also sig nificantly reduce the user experience and limit the functionality

of iPhones. However, while Pegasus is one of the most powerful tools currently on the market, the surveillance vendor ecosystem has also become more competitive. For example, Predator, a spy ware produced by commercial surveillance company Cytrox, in fected iPhones towards the end of 2021 via single click links sent over WhatsApp. As of today, the reach of these tools, let alone their mechanisms, is not yet fully understood by the cyber com munity despite extensive research efforts.

Zero Click Attacks

In terms of techniques, this year we have seen a surge in dis covered zero-click attacks. As the name suggests these attacks require no input from the victim before deploying malware. This is because they exploit existing vulnerabilities in already installed apps, allowing threat actors to sneak past verification systems and begin their attack unnoticed. This technique is particularly focused on applications that accept and process data, for example, instant messaging and email platforms.

We saw this in action in April when a new zero-click iMessage exploit leveraged to install Pegasus on iPhones was discovered, running on some early iOS versions. The exploit named HOM AGE was used in a campaign against Catalan officials, journalists and activists.

It’s important to emphasize however, that this technique isn’t just a threat to world leaders but to the everyday person and organi zations.

Smishing attacks on the rise

In addition to Zero Click attacks, we have also observed a con tinuous uplift in the spreading technique known as “Smishing” (SMS Phishing), which uses SMS messages as the attack vec tor for malware distribution. These attempts often imitate trusted brands or personal contacts to entice the victim to click on a link or share personal details in confidence. This method has proven particularly successful as after one device has been compromised,

Ram Narayanan

Country Manager, Check Point Software Technologies, ME

its entire contact list is up for grabs, creating an endless cycle of possible victims.

This is how the infamous Flubot was commonly deployed. Since its emergence in December 2020, it has been considered the fast est growing Android botnet ever seen. As such, in June, an in ternational law enforcement operation involving 11 countries led to its infrastructure being taken down and rendering the malware inactive.

Evidently, Flubot’s position could not remain vacant for too long, as a new Android malware operation called MaliBot emerged in the wild soon after. MaliBot is targeting online banking and cryp tocurrency wallets in Spain and Italy, looking to replicate the suc cess of its predecessor. At the time of writing, MaliBot is already the third most prevalent mobile malware worldwide.

Safety on the App Store?

The most secured stores like Google Play Store and Apple App Store have thorough review processes to investigate candidate ap plications before they are uploaded and are held to high security standards once they are admitted onto the platforms. A recent re port stated that throughout 2021, Google blocked 1.2 million sus picious applications and Apple blocked 1.6 million. Resourceful

cybercriminals continually try to bypass these security measures, though, with different tactics such as manipulating their code to pass through the filters or introduce initially benign applications and add the malicious elements at a later stage.

So, it’s not surprising to still find malicious applications hiding in these stores. In fact, these platforms remain the main infection vectors in mobile threats. For example, Check Point researchers recently analyzed suspicious applications on the Google Play Store and found a few of them masquerading as genuine Anti-Vi rus solutions, while in reality, once downloaded the apps installed an Android Stealer called SharkBot which steals credentials and banking information. And in February, an Android banking Tro jan called Xenomorph was spotted lurking behind a fake pro ductivity application on the Google Play Store. There were over 50,000 downloads.

It must also be noted that due to the pandemic fueling increased use of mobiles for work purposes over the last two years, leverag ing mobile phones for work purposes suddenly became the new normal for many users and enterprises, which meant targeting the mobile devices became also the new normal for cybercrimi nals. Unfortunately, the general awareness of the users of mobile phones with regards to cybersecurity attacks is much lower, and even though, many of them have started leveraging their personal or work-provided mobiles for work purposes, many still do not view it as a sensitive corporate environment, being less careful of malicious emails or links they receive.

Unfortunately, the threat landscape is evolving rapidly, and mo bile malware is a significant danger to both personal and enter prise security. To combat this risk, organizations should also be looking to instill proactive strategies that can keep staff and cor porate data safe from a potential attack. This must be a continuous journey as cybercriminals are relentless.

For mobile users themselves, we recommend additional safety measures such as downloading applications only from certified Google and Apple stores, and even while downloading them there – review the recommendations, and number of downloads of a certain application, to verify that the applications is legitimate. Mobile users should adopt on their mobile phones, the same rules they have as on their desktop devices such as not clicking on links from unknown senders, whether it comes via email, SMS mes sage or messaging applications, and not to download files from untrusted sources.

For some businesses it may be beneficial to employ the help of tools that fortify endpoint resilience and secure remote users. Check Point Harmony for instance, uses real-time threat intel ligence to actively guard against zero-day phishing campaigns, and URL filtering to block access to known malicious websites from any browser. It also enforces conditional access, ensuring that if any device does become infected it will be unable to access corporate applications and data.

THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF EMAIL COLLABORATION

Emerging technologies and changing work cultures are trans forming the email landscape in a number of ways. Due to the pandemic, we've all been forced to rethink the way we work, and many of us have come to realize that remote work is here to stay. The email landscape is changing rapidly, with more and more companies looking to adopt new collaboration tools. This shift is driven by employees who want more options for collaborat ing with colleagues, as well as by the need for companies to stay ahead of the curve in terms of budget ownership, product invest ment, and security risk assessment. As the workplace evolves, so must the way we collaborate. Email and its associated tools are key pillars of this change, and companies need to carefully con sider their options when it comes to selecting a company-wide strategy. When making this decision, it is important to weigh the costs and benefits of each option, as well as to assess the service agreement and data-centre credibility. Investment in transform ing workplace collaboration will continue for years to come, and companies that are able to stay ahead of the curve will be well-po sitioned to succeed in the new landscape.

Remote working has become an integral part of the growing num ber of hybrid workspaces around the globe. This shift has put new pressure on email collaboration tools, which now need to be able to facilitate remote work as well as in-person collaboration. The way we collaborate with each other has changed dramatically in recent years, and email has been at the forefront of this transfor mation. With the rise of cloud-based and hybrid enterprise email solutions, businesses are able to take advantage of the latest tech nologies to improve the way the workforce communicates and works. Email is no longer just a tool for sending messages back and forth; it has become a platform for collaboration and com munication. With features like shared calendars, task manage ment, and document sharing, email is now an essential tool for businesses of all sizes. According to a recent study, the average worker spends nearly four hours each day checking email. That’s nearly 20% of the workday! We’re now checking email around the clock, even when we’re not at work. This constant connec tivity has led to a change in the way we communicate with each other. We’re now sending more messages than ever before, but they are often shorter and less formal. Email has become the goto communication tool for many of us, and it’s not just for work anymore.

In today’s fast-paced world, businesses need to be able to com municate quickly and efficiently. They need to be able to share documents and ideas, and they need to be able to do it from anywhere. With the modern collaboration tools that are now

Pramod Sharda CEO, IceWarp Middle East & India

available, businesses can take advantage of the latest technolo gies to improve communication and collaboration. IceWarp, for example, is a pay-for-what-you-use, cloud-based collaboration software that allows firms to manage and collaborate on emails and team chat from a single dashboard. It offers a comprehensive and affordable solution for businesses of all sizes that provides enterprise email, real-time office document collaboration, online meetings, and team chat – all in a secure cloud environment. The safe cloud service may be used from anywhere, making it perfect for remote, hybrid, as well as in-office work.

Virtual desktops are another trend that is reshaping the email landscape. They are becoming increasingly popular, as they offer a more flexible and collaborative way of working. As more and more employees access their work email from personal devices, the line between work and personal email is becoming blurred. This makes it even more important for companies to have a clear email collaboration strategy in place. They should also carefully analyse the SLAs, costs, and other factors associated with each tool. Companies are also focusing their budget ownership, re search, and investment on software-based platforms and work place designs that enable collaboration. In the end, the goal is to create a workplace that is both productive and collaborative.

Pramod Sharda, CEO, IceWarp Middle East & India discusses why it is necessary for companies to have a clear email collaboration strategy in place

A STATS-BASED APPROACH TO HYBRID WORK IN THE FINANCIAL SECTOR

Mostemployees in the UAE want a hybrid or fulltime remote work arrangement. It is a sentiment that is echoed by people working across indus tries, including the local finance and banking sec tors. But as businesses began contemplating return to office plans earlier this summer, the financial and banking sector seemed to be reverting to old habits and rallying for in-office presence.

Bolstered by the COVID-19 pandemic and a tight labour market, worker demands for more flexibility have only increased in recent months - even with the world reopening again. Standard Chartered showed foresight and committed to continue to offer permanent flexible work for its staff from as early as January 2021. The ini tiative started with 9 of its primary markets, including the UAE.

The bank also collaborated with flexible workspace services pro vider IWG so employees worldwide can work from any of IWG’s 3,500 locations internationally. HSBC has also formally certified hybrid working with the ambition of reducing office space by 40%. On the flip side, Barclays announced that it was looking to ramp up employees’ return to its London and New York offices.

Clearly, only a handful of organizations within the financial sec tor are realising the risks of a ‘one size fits all’ work approach, as many workers want to retain the flexibility they had during the pandemic. Nevertheless, while the workforce may have changed, the office is still equipped for the old way of working. Recent changes are shaping a new paradigm, and businesses across the financial sector must keep up to meet employee expectations.

Ekta Puthran, MEA Lead - Collaboration, Barco writes that a flexible office envi

can better align employee needs and business goals

Office Revamp: A Much-Needed Initiative

Anyone who has entered an office since early 2020 would likely have experienced the eerie silence of the rows of empty desks and cubicles. Memories of battling colleagues for coveted meet ing spaces and groups huddling around a single laptop are prob ably still fresh.

From the advent of remote working, many of us have experienced significant increases in productivity. However, the quality of our interactions has dramatically fallen. As a result, work meetings have regularly failed to meet expectations. A recent study by Barco showed a 25-point decline between 2020 and 2021 on its meeting barometer. The findings further indicated that 57% of white-collar workers considered meeting rooms as the most use ful spaces in a post-pandemic world. Hence, employees no longer view the office as simply a place to work. Rather, they think of it as an encouraging space for more collaboration.

In this scenario, the opportunity to realign office spaces may come as a system shock to an industry long accustomed to the traditional "cubicle rows" layout. Nevertheless, as professionals now covet meeting spaces, they will be a functional must-have. Currently, 50% of workers visit offices to host meeting calls in a more professional setting, indicating that the desire for effi cient meetings will be the real drive to an office return. There fore, accommodating these new behaviours should be a priority for the financial and banking sector.

Tapping Into Hybrid Technology

Improved office layout isn’t the only change needed for a hybrid environment. There’s a great opportunity for businesses to up grade outdated or inefficient collaboration technologies.

Like other industries, financial sector employees have em braced the laptop as the main device to work, collaborate, and host meetings, fuelling the surge in preference for Bring Your Own Meeting solutions (BYOM). Barco’s research indicates that 77% of respondents cannot imagine working without their laptop and have enjoyed sharing their screen and content with just a simple click. With meetings now controlled via the us er’s laptop, businesses must invest in solutions that continue this seamless connectivity. To that end, agnostic solutions like Barco’s ClickShare allow workers to connect and collaborate irrespective of meeting platform ( Webex by Cisco, Zoom, Mi crosoft Teams, etc.).

Additionally, the return to offices is unlikely to be instant or unanimous. Despite calls from certain corners of the finance and banking sector to do so, many employees will continue to work from home periodically or permanently. Therefore, companies should ensure that their meeting rooms are well equipped for hybrid meetings. ClickShare and similar solutions would re quire implementation alongside updated Audio-Visual equip ment to make collaboration easier.

All-Round Security

While security is important in any industry, the highly sensi tive and data-driven nature of financial work makes it critical for success. Early in the pandemic, hijacked conferencing platforms and cyber-attacks by hackers/pranksters became a regular occur rence. With meetings likely to continue in a hybrid fashion, it is essential that any future tech invested in is secure. Particularly with agnostic solutions that connect the user’s laptop to meeting room equipment, there must be strong security considerations. For starters, the sector should prioritise investing in solutions that incorporate security directly into the product’s design.

Another key responsibility comes from within the company via the education of employees. Ensuring that workers are well aware of prevalent dangers and the necessary precautions to be taken when using a new device is paramount.

Like others, the financial sector is still learning to shape a fu ture of work that accommodates its employees' needs and pref erences. As the industry begins to embrace hybrid work, it cre ates plenty of opportunities to eliminate the inefficiencies of the pre-pandemic world, thereby reimagining everything from work technology to office spaces.

Ekta Puthran MEA Lead – Collaboration, Barco

ONESCREEN HUBWARE

Hubware is an all-in-one interactive vid eo collaboration solution for schools and businesses. Collaborate with video, voice & data, Interactive Whiteboard, screen sharing, annotating, polling, recording, saving, remote management & more. OneScreen Hubware offers your class an interactive whiteboard, a video and audio solution, and a large screen computer all in one device. OneScreen Hubware facil itates your efforts by supporting BYOD, remote student attendance, real-time ac cess to content, live collaboration on the same content and much more.

It offers plug-and-play, quick install and lowcost ownership for everyone. Anyone can

walk up to the Hubware and start working.

It is built to integrate easily in to your ex isting collaboration tech portfolio from hardware to software. Includes Windows, Mac, Android, iOS and Chrome OS.

It is like your computer with an extra large touchscreen, so it's familiar for highly technical teams or not so savvy users. It allows to teach, present, train or brain storm with your students anytime from anywhere, no download required.

It also allows simple screen share & stream up to 9 simultaneous devices in the room or remotely located.

Highlights:

• Hubware and Touchscreen products includewall mounts OS Hubware & Touchscreen

• Screen sizes: 55”, 65”, 75”, 86”, 98”

• 4K, 20-points of touch, thick an ti-glare glass

• (2) front facing 15-watt Dolby cert speakers

• Switchable USB ports

• HDMI/VGA/Display ports

• Less than 1% failure rate

FORTIGATE 4800F SERIES NGFW

The FortiGate 4800F series of hyperscale firewalls, which sets new standards for security, scale, performance, and innova tion to meet the requirements of hyperscale customers and 5G mobile network operators (MNOs). Powered by 16 of Forti net’s seventh generation network processors (NP7), FortiGate 4800F offers the highest performance figures of any compact firewall, with Security Compute Ratings that deliver up to 34x better performance than competitor solutions, including the ability to support an average of 19x more connections per second.

The FortiGate 4800F series NGFW delivers high speed net

5G CPE WI-FI 6 AX3000 DWR-3000M

As the demand for data surges, users require excep tional products enhanced by breakthrough technolo gies to power their most data-intensive online tasks. Equipped with world-changing 5G connectivity and the latest Wi-Fi 6 technology, D-Link’s new solu tions allow all connected devices to simultaneously experience excellent download speeds, drastically low latency, and massively reduced congestion.

Connect with next-generation 5G speeds up to 3.2 Gbps and experience lightning-fast downloads, lower latency and reduced congestion. Offering 2402 Mbps (5 GHz) + 574 Mbps (2.4 GHz), there is plenty of bandwidth for video streaming, cloud storage, social media, and downloading. It offers high-speed connections for wired devices and wired broadband. You can connect all your home’s Wi-Fi devices to share a single broadband connection and connect upto 128 devices. With support for IPv6, it is future-proof and compatible with the next genera tion of Internet standards.you can simply insert your SIM card into the SIM slot to share your mobile broadband connection throughout the home.

Highlights:

• Next generation 5G connectivity speeds up to 3.2Gbps1

• High Speed WiFi 6 AX3000

• 4 Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports and 1 Gigabit Ethernet WAN port

• 1 RJ11 Voice Port with the support of VoNR, VoLTE, CS and VoIP

• 1 USB 3.0 Port

• Connect up to 128 devices to your home Wi-Fi network

• Latest Wi-Fi security with 128-bit encryption

working, increased scalability, and optimized performance features. Enter prises and service providers using the FortiGate NGFW can manage all of their security risks with the industry’s best-of-breed IPS, SSL inspection, and threat protection. The FortiGate 4800F series can be deployed at the enter prise edge, the hybrid and hyperscale data center core, and across internal segments. The multiple high-speed interfaces, high port density, superior security efficacy, and high throughput of this series keeps your network con nected and secure.

Highlights:

• Delivers industry’s best threat protection performance and ultra-low latency using purpose-built security processor SPU) technology

• Provides industry-leading performance and protection for SSL encrypted traffic

• Identifies thousands of applications inside network traffic for deep inspection and granular policy enforcement

• Protects against malware, exploits, and malicious websites in both encrypted and non-encrypted traffic

• Prevent and detect against known and unknown attacks using continuous threat intelligence from AI-powered FortiGuard Labs security service

• Delivers advanced networking capabilities that seamlessly integrate with advanced layer 7 security and virtual domains (VDOMs) to offer extensive deployment flexibility, multi-tenancy and effective utilization of resources

75% OF ORGANIZATIONS ARE PURSUING SECURITY VENDOR CONSOLIDATION IN 2022

A recent survey by Gartner, Inc. found that 75% of organizations are pursuing security vendor consolidation in 2022, up from 29% in 2020.

“Security and risk management leaders are increasingly dissatisfied with the oper ational inefficiencies and the lack of inte gration of a heterogenous security stack,” said John Watts, VP Analyst at Gartner. “As a result, they are consolidating the number of security vendors they use.”

The survey found that 57% of organiza tions are working with fewer than 10 ven dors for their security needs, as they are looking to optimize to fewer vendors in key areas like secure access service edge (SASE) and extended detection and re sponse (XDR).

The survey was conducted online during March and April 2022 among 418 respon dents from North America, Asia Pacific and EMEA. Its objective was to determine organizations’ security vendor consolida tion efforts and priorities, and the drivers and benefits of consolidation endeavours. Gartner analysts are discussing how orga nizations can shape their security vendor

strategy and projects during the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit, taking place in London through Wednes day.

Improving Risk Posture Is the No. 1 Benefit of Consolidation

The survey found that organizations want to consolidate their security vendors to reduce complexity and improve risk pos ture, not to save on budget or to improve procurement. Sixty-five percent of sur veyed organizations expect to improve their overall risk posture, and only 29% of respondents expect reduced spending on licensing.

“Cost optimization should not be the pri mary driver for vendor consolidation,” said Watts. “Organizations that look to op timize costs must reduce products, licens es and features, or ultimately renegotiate contracts.”

Organizations that have not pursued se curity vendor consolidation yet indicated that the two primary impediments to con solidation were time constraints and hav ing a vendor partnership that is too rigid (34% of respondents for each answer).

SASE and XDR Are Oppor tunities for Consolidation

Lengthy procurement processes or re quests for proposals are allowing for consolidated offerings, such as XDR for endpoints and SASE for edge connectiv ity and security with integration on the backend.

The survey found that 41.5% of respon dents plan to have adopted SASE within their organizations by the end of 2022, while 54.5% of organizations have plans to adopt XDR by the end of 2022.

“Security and risk management leaders must consider XDR and SASE as com pelling options to start their consolidation journey,” said Dionisio Zumerle, VP Ana lyst at Gartner. “SASE provides secure en terprise access, while XDR focuses on de tecting and responding to threats through increased visibility on networks, cloud, endpoints and other components.”

In fact, the survey found that 57% of or ganizations resolved security threats fast er after implementing an XDR strategy. More than half of surveyed organizations use SASE projects to simplify network and security policy management and im prove security posture.

“While 89% of surveyed organizations want SASE and XDR to work together, security and risk management leaders will often opt to keep them distinct from one another but ensure they can interoperate,” said Zumerle. “This is an approach vali dated by 46% of surveyed organizations, which allows for flexibility to select bestof-breed functionality.”

“Security and IT leaders should plan at least two years for consolidation as it takes time to effectively consolidate and consider incumbent vendor switching costs,” said Watts. “It is also important to anticipate vendor M&A disruption as the security market is always consolidating but never consolidated.”

Businesses are using technology today in ways that wouldn’t have been possible even just a few years ago

From reaching new customers, managing stock levels and product development to cloud working and everything in between, there’s little doubt that technology is changing the world of business, helping companies to work smarter, grow and thrive

And when your business relies on technology, ESET is here to protect it ESET multi-layered technology provides advanced protection for your company’s critical data and provides comprehensive endpoint protection Meaning you can rely on your vital systems without fear of unwelcome interruptions

For more information, please visit progress.eset.com

“In the business world, real progress comes from being tuned into how evolution in technology is opening new doors.” Steven Johnson, Writer and Innovation Expert