FUTURE TECHNOLOGY
the latest innovations and advancements
in technology are in short supply.
Software defined approach
enabling digital transformation
In 2017, VMware had a marquee year.
VMware announced partnerships with
Amadeus, Amazon Web Services, Dell EMC,
Fujitsu, Google, HARMAN, HP, Microsoft,
Oracle, Samsung, Vodafone Group. VMware
launched new and expanded versions of
cloud, mobility, virtualisation, and security
solutions, led by AppDefense and NSX.
In the Middle East, VMware also
announced a partnership with StarLink
to become the world’s first specialised
distributor for VMware’s NSX SDN
solution. StarLink is one of the fastest-
growing value-added distributors in the
region with 770 partners, and will expand
VMware NSX’s regional channel breadth
and revenue growth.
“The Middle East’s main business driver
for innovative technology take-up is the
urgency in becoming digital businesses in
the digital economy and Internet of Things
era,” says Ossama Eldeeb, Senior Manager,
MENA Partner Organisation, VMware.
Educating CIOs on the need for
having a software-defined approach to
their IT infrastructure to boost business
competitiveness, efficiency, and productivity
remains one of the biggest inhibitors to
digital business in the Middle East. VMware
and its channel partner ecosystem are
educating CIOs on the need for the right IT
mobile cloud infrastructure to deliver digital
workspaces, enhance employee productivity,
and new digital business models.
VMware is committed to supporting
the Middle East’s digital transformation.
Over the past year, in the Middle East,
VMware announced digital transformation
partnerships with leading innovators such
as AL-MAWARID Bank in Lebanon and
the Saudi Ministry of Municipal and Rural
Affairs. VMware also joined forces with
educational institutions in UAE and the
Saudi Arabia to drive digital skills.
Specialisation in data
management as differentiator
For Condo Protego, 2017 was a landmark
24
The shortage in
specialised IT and
cybersecurity
skills is a global
problem that
affects companies
in every industry
and region, not
just in the
Middle East.
year. They were a finalist at Dell EMC’s
Global Partner Summit for EMEA Partner
of the Year and Go Big, Win Big Services
Partner, beating out hundreds of other
channel partners from across the globe.
In the Middle East, channel partners
have benefited from organisations
investing in information management
to drive business competitiveness. As
more devices and business applications
are connected to networks, organisations
need to manage their data for better
decision-making.
“Among the major inhibitors to Middle
East channel partner success is that the
region is dominated by generalists, which
makes it difficult for customers to choose
the channel partners with the right value-
added services that can best meet their
business needs,” says Savitha Bhaskar,
COO, Condo Protego.
Condo Protego has seen strong
success in taking a specialised approach
to IT infrastructure and information
management. Condo Protego works with
more than 300 organisations on their
digital transformation plans, deploying
and integrating solutions across the entire
data stack across datacentres and storage,
cloud solutions, data protection, backup
and data recovery, and cybersecurity.
Condo Protego is seeing strong
demand across converged and hyper-
converged infrastructure, software-defined
technology, all-flash storage, and disaster
recovery and orchestration solutions.
Repositioning after the spin-off
Since splitting from Dell in November
2016, SonicWall has achieved several
key milestones and has set a record for
the most number of products launched
in the history of the company. SonicWall
released a new partner programme, a
series of channel trainings, sales and
technical certifications, multi-engine
sandboxing technology, email security on
multi-deployment platforms, hardware,
virtual and cloud services.
The number of registered SecureFirst
channel partners reached 10,000 in
150 days since SonicWall became an
independent company with 20% of
partners new to SonicWall. The SonicWall
University was launched that enables
partners to address the skills gap facing
small and medium-size businesses. The
vendor introduced global marketing
programmes to enable channel partners
to address key new cyber threats including
ransomware, encrypted communications
and email threats.
More recently, SonicWall announced
the launch of a new lineup of professional
security services to help customers
implement and operate security solutions
that protect them from relentless cyber-
attacks. The new professional security
services, distributed by SonicWall’s new
Partner Enabled Services Programme,
are designed and delivered in partnership
with SonicWall’s extensive network of
channel partners.
“In the last 12 months, there have been
tremendous efforts put on enabling channel
partners across Middle East, Turkey and
Eastern Europe. Each quarter there were
one or more sales training sessions to
enable partners on product positioning and
consultative selling techniques. Partners
were trained and enabled on comparative
differentiators, unique selling points,
business tools for partner oportal, usage of
marketing collaterals, deal registration,”
summarises Shahnawaz Sheikh, Sales
and Channel Director, META and Eastern
Europe, SonicWall.
Issue 13
INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS