CHANNEL CHIEF
Passionate about
cybersecurity
His keen interest in cybersecurity helps Mazen Dohaji convert demands and
challenges at work into motivation to achieve results. By Arun Shankar.
Mazen Dohaji is
Regional Director for
Middle East, Turkey
and Africa at
LogRhythm.
A
s Regional Director for Middle
East, Turkey and Africa,
Mazen Dohaji’s responsibilities
include business development, sales and
customer support, as well as management
of the security vendor’s Dubai office. The
global security vendor recently inked
deals with high-profile companies within
the region, including multimillion dollar
businesses operating within aviation,
banking, oil-and-gas, media, and
government market segments.
“We are working with various
governments within the region to secure
their digital ecosystems as they move
towards a smarter environment. Today
we are competing with giants like IBM,
HP, so when you win accounts over
them, it is quite exciting,” explains
Dohaji. He mentions that the most
satisfying part of his job is getting a win.
“Each demo and each proof of concept
is also hugely satisfying because of
how impressed customers tend to be
with the technology, the team and I are
presenting,” he continues.
On the flip side, the most challenging
part of his job role, is the general lack of
awareness regarding cyber security. “Some
organisations do not understand why
they need comprehensive cybersecurity
and some do not realise the type of
cybersecurity their organisation needs.
Some organisations are just looking to tick
a compliance box rather than make their
organisation truly secure.
Previously when Dohaji started
university, even back then it was evident
that IT would soon dominate every
aspect of life and technology would
become indispensable. “This promise of
growth, this vision of the future, is what
first interested me in pursuing a career
in technology.”
Dohaji believes the hot technology
talking point is cyber security. “Due to
the massive increase of cybercrimes
globally, and in our region specifically,
organisations will shift their focus to
developing cybersecurity and augmenting
their detection and response strategies.”
About his workstyle, Dohaji explains
that he is a macro-manager and quite
averse to micro-management, which
he believes can act as a deterrent to
productivity. He is a lot more concerned
with the bigger picture and strategies for
the future, rather than stressing about
things the team can manage capably.
Dohajii does not find his work life
stressful. “I genuinely like what I do, I love
and enjoy my job, and have a lot of passion
for the field I am in. So, it is easy for me to
handle the stress and demands of the job,
and turn it into motivation. Knowing that
dedication will earn me rewards is what
keeps me going and visualising positive
results helps keep stress at bay,” is how he
explains his balance in life.
Cybersecurity is one of Dohaji’s
principal interests. He mentions he is
passionate about it and interested in
advances being made in the field and the
emerging solutions. Off work, Dohaji is
a pilot and flies a single-engine Cessna
plane. Whenever he finds free time, he
heads over to the aviation club to clock a
few hours of flying time.
Visualising
positive results
helps keep
stress at bay.
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