ISSUE 219 | march 2015

PUBLICATION LICENSED BY IMPZ

www.resellerme.com

How partners can monetise Big Data and analytics Learn about IBMs One Channel Team CNS plans for 2015

Path to successA round-up of the prominent regional resellers and their unique business models.

Intel, the Intel logo, Xeon, and Xeon Inside are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

1 Based on Principled Technologies report Simplifying systems management with Dell OpenManage on 13G Dell PowerEdge servers, September 2014, commissioned by Dell, testing Dells 13th generation R730 with Enterprise-level Dell systems management. As compared to manual configuration.

2 Based on product specifications for Intel S3700 SATA SSD and Express Flash results from the Storage Networking Industry Association.3 Based on Dell internal analysis August 2014 comparing SATA SSDs to Express Flash - PCIe-Gen3 x4 testing random reads.

2014 Dell, Inc. Dell is a registered trademark of Dell, Inc. Pudae ratet faces rerrori beaquide ped etusae. Um lant, test fugiaes dit rem qui aribusd aepuditatur aut apit lam sandebisque ea volupienis ent, odipiendaeIhicatem rem eatur adiasim porero berum sim rem dolora es ad quam, to debitis est dolorest, omnihit la santusam re, corrovid ut aditias eseque ad

Learn more about our award-winning server and revolutionary in-server flash designs.

Visit Dell.com/accelerate

Scale smarter. Manage easier. Innovate faster.New PowerEdge servers can be configured up to %99 faster1 and boost IOPS by up to 10x2. Whether your business relies on data to predict the future, improve outcomes or engage more customers, the next generation of PowerEdge servers with Intel Xeon processors will help boost application and workload performance so you can scale smarter, manage easier, innovate faster.

Zero-touch automation configures up to

99 %faster1

Deploy

servers10,000

in an instant1

10XIOPS2

The 1st 2.5" hot-plug SSD 3 delivers up to

Contact your nearest oce for further details:mssales@mindware.ae | UAE: +9714 4500600

How to beat the market blues

E-mail:jeevan.thankappan@cpimediagroup.com

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This year, as I wrote earlier, started off with a great deal of optimism in the channel market and it seems to have evaporated quickly. Instead, a pall of gloom has descended upon the Middle East channel industry as we move to the end of the first quarter of this calendar year. A steep decline in oil prices has affected many GCC countries and cash-flow issues in the market have further exacerbated the problem for many channel players. It was pretty much a continuation of rather ordinary and dull last quarter many experienced during the end of 2014. Much of the talk in the industry today revolves around how tough and slow the first quarter has been, although some companies are seeing indicators for a better April-June block. And if that doesnt pan out, it could ruin many businesses, especially the smaller channel players.

Having said that, there were some exceptions to the rule. Some niche distributors, especially in mobility and security, have experienced a healthy market, and this probably is the key to survive a turbulent market environment. The economies might be on a go-slow mode but that doesnt mean business has stopped in its tracks. What smart channel companies should do is to focus on the what-must-be-done and their core competencies rather than spreading options wide.

Planning is now more important than ever and it is important for channel to get a handle on the trends shaping the IT world today. The world is going mobile, supported by cloud computing. On the networking front, software-defined networking (SDN) has quickly matured into a platform many regional enterprises are considering. Internet of Things and machine-to-machine communications are not just concepts discussed at technology seminars anymore. In fact, Cisco estimates IoT alone is a USD 19 trillion market opportunity for the channel.

The writing on the wall is clear either define your value proposition in terms of service and solutions around these mega trends or drift along to obscurity.

Jeevan ThankappanGroup Editor

editorial

3www.resellerme.com Reseller Middle East march 2015

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Intel, the Intel logo, Xeon, and Xeon Inside are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

1 Based on Principled Technologies report Simplifying systems management with Dell OpenManage on 13G Dell PowerEdge servers, September 2014, commissioned by Dell, testing Dells 13th generation R730 with Enterprise-level Dell systems management. As compared to manual configuration.

2 Based on product specifications for Intel S3700 SATA SSD and Express Flash results from the Storage Networking Industry Association.3 Based on Dell internal analysis August 2014 comparing SATA SSDs to Express Flash - PCIe-Gen3 x4 testing random reads.

2014 Dell, Inc. Dell is a registered trademark of Dell, Inc. Pudae ratet faces rerrori beaquide ped etusae. Um lant, test fugiaes dit rem qui aribusd aepuditatur aut apit lam sandebisque ea volupienis ent, odipiendaeIhicatem rem eatur adiasim porero berum sim rem dolora es ad quam, to debitis est dolorest, omnihit la santusam re, corrovid ut aditias eseque ad

Learn more about our award-winning server and revolutionary in-server flash designs.

Visit Dell.com/accelerate

Scale smarter. Manage easier. Innovate faster.New PowerEdge servers can be configured up to %99 faster1 and boost IOPS by up to 10x2. Whether your business relies on data to predict the future, improve outcomes or engage more customers, the next generation of PowerEdge servers with Intel Xeon processors will help boost application and workload performance so you can scale smarter, manage easier, innovate faster.

Zero-touch automation configures up to

99 %faster1

Deploy

servers10,000

in an instant1

10XIOPS2

The 1st 2.5" hot-plug SSD 3 delivers up to

Contact your nearest oce for further details:mssales@mindware.ae | UAE: +9714 4500600

48

50

52

cover featureISSUE 219 // MArCh 2015

highlights6 News

We help you catch up on all the

major news and announcements in the regional channel community.

oPinion

25 Unraveling MPS

Hendrik Verbrugghe, Marketing Director, Canon Middle East discusses channel opportunities in Managed Print Services.

interview

26 Charged up

Ihab Al Saheli, GM, CNS, discusses how the industry is evolving with the current market trends.

BlackBerry Classic

Xerox launches colour C60/C70 printer

Divoom presents Voombox-outdoor

review

hot Products

contents

35

With resellers being the key component of the channel landscape, RME profiles leading players and discusses important factors to their success.

30 Prioritising with partners

Mario Georgiou, Regional Partner Director, Juniper Middle East, elaborates on the enhanced partner programme.

feature 42 Betting big

Reseller ME explores how partners can monetise Big Data and analytics.

vendor focus

46 Identifying the advantage

Nat Pisupati from HID Global on channel plans for 2015.

Path to success

56Dell launches converged appliances

highlights

Cyprus-headquartered vendor, Prestigio is expected to launch mobile devices with the recently announced True Key by Intel Security across EMEA with an initial pre-install roll-out in Russia.

True Key is a cross-device application that removes the hassle of remembering passwords. True Key will be available across all of Prestigios Android tablets and smartphones by the end of this year, making its customers among the first to benefit from the app, said the company.

At a press briefing held this month, the recently appointed Kaspersky Lab Middle East MD, Ovanes Mikhaylov, announced the companys focus on aggressive growth in the enterprise security sect