MARKETING | EVENTS | PUBLISHING
ANALYTICS | PR | DESIGN | ARABISATION
PUBLICATION
Providing Unparalleled Technology Intelligence
ISSUE 25 // www.intelligentcio.com
Intelligent
Education Partner
Intelligent
Supporting Partner
Intelligent
Cabling Partner
Intelligent
ERP Partner
Intelligent
Data Centre Partner
Intelligent
Security Partner
Intelligent
Energy Partner
CAPITALISING
ON DATA
Your staff’s greatest
resource could be right
there under their fingertips
BANKING
ON SUCCESS
Technology is transforming
Egypt’s increasingly agile
banking and financial sector
DON’T
BE UNSIGHTED
Why Middle East businesses
can’t ignore the EU’s new
data regulations
FULLY CONNECTED
The maritime industry is quietly undergoing its own digital
transformation. The Maritime Connect Solution from Orange
Business Services realises the dream of making ships ‘offices at
sea’ for Dubai-based Topaz Energy and Marine.
COUNTRY FOCUS | INDUSTRY WATCH | LATEST INTELLIGENCE
EDITOR’S NOTE
W
ith 2017 drawing to a close
it’s an apt time to reflect on
the outgoing year and all
that has happened. Technology moves
at such a pace that everything that has
occurred can appear merely as a blur
when we look back on it. Service is a comprehensive suite of cloud
translation services that is ideal for mid-
sized businesses that have the need to
translate documents. This allows users
to put an English language document
on the scanning glass and get an Arabic
version printed in less than 30 seconds.
In some respects 2017 has been the
year of digital transformation. There
are more connected devices than ever
before and we can only guess at the rate
of acceleration 2018 will see. A good
example of the multitude of connected
devices with increased functionality is
the once humble printer. This issue we also look at how the
banking and finance sector in Egypt
is developing. Rapid progress has
been made in recent times with the
launch of new agile products, flexible
payment platforms and a move
towards a cashless society. The country
is now capable of competing with
the UAE to become one of the most
popular locations for start-up fin-techs.
Furthermore, its banking and finance
sector is now intent on reaching those
parts of the population that have
previously not accessed banking services
such as women in rural areas.
Once upon a time all you could rely
on a printer to do – if you were lucky
– was to print the pages you sent to
it. Nowadays, however, printers have
become nothing less than modern
workplace assistants offering apps,
mobile awareness and advanced
security features. This edition sees us
talking to three experts from Canon,
Zebra Technologies and Xerox about the
latest product innovations.
We discover that in the age of internet
connectivity printers are increasingly
capable of utilising fingerprint
recognition and supplying translation
functions – two things that would have
been considered the stuff of science
fiction just a few decades ago. For
instance, the Xerox® Easy Translator
www.intelligentcio.com
We have all our usual features. This
month in Editor’s Question we ask why
enterprises are adopting a multi-cloud
approach and our three experts assess
the benefits or otherwise of doing so.
We learn what considerations come into
play when selecting a cloud provider
and the barriers CIOs face of reaching
the cloud regardless of whether we are
talking public or privately hosted.
One thing is for certain, as Mechelle
Buys Du Plessis of Dimension Data, tells
us by 2020, a no-cloud policy will be as
rare as a no-internet policy is today. She
says: “Cloud-first, and even cloud-only, is
replacing the no-cloud stance that has
dominated many large vendors in recent
years.” However, she draws our attention
to some of the pitfalls of this strategy
including cost implications and the need
to solve a skills shortage associated with
managing a cloud operation.
In Intelligent Data Centres we discover
more about Batelco’s ambitious project
to increase data centre capacity to
fulfil a vision of Bahrain becoming a
leading data hub in the Middle East. The
intention being to support the country’s
enterprise and government sectors and
offer world class data centre services to
service global data movement.
We always enjoy hearing from our
readers so if you would like to get in
touch please send an email to:
[email protected].
In the meantime, enjoy what’s left of
2017 and have a great start to 2018.
Enjoy the read!
Mark Bowen
Editor
INTELLIGENTCIO
29