GEC NEWS WIREMobility, security and manageability are undoubtedly the key areas for organizations and workforces all over. The Internet Of Things has arrived and is here to create big ripples. Nader Henein, Regional Director, Product Security, Advisory Division, Middle East and Africa talks to Enterprise Channels MEA about the changing trends in enterprise manageability and how Blackberry strives to be the Best Manager.
“From manageability perspective, mobile phones, tablets, laptops and desktops are just the tip of the iceberg. We are looking at expanding this manageability to the Internet of Things and for this we are starting with the QNX Endpoints out there”
NADER HENEIN, REGIONAL DIRECTOR, PRODUCT SECURITY, ADVISORY DIVISION, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
How has GITEX changed over all these years ?
In the initial days, GITEX Shopper reigned more powerful than the Technology Week. Both used to be organised at the same time so it was all very messy. After the two events were separated, over the years, it has been seen that the Gulfcomms part of GITEX has been becoming far more enterprise-centric. It’s inclined heavily towards B2B instead of B2C. Now, GITEX Tech Week is an enterprise event. It’s a good place to meet your partners, to talk to prospective customers and interact with other firms displaying their solutions.
The event is also gaining more importance gradually as the place to come to if you wish to speak directly with the vendors or if one wishes to start his business and cater to the Middle East. This is a great platform to research about different solutions as well as launch new products and solutions. It is the focal point of the IT Calendar for the year not just for the Middle East, but gradually also for North Africa and Asia-Pacific.
What are your latest offerings for the enterprises ?
We provide the Blackberry Enterprise Solutions. The latest is the BES 12; with that, it’s possible to manage one’s blackberry devices, i OS devices, Android devices as well as Windows devices. Our focus is security and productivity. And then we have Blend; BlackBerry Blend is software you can download for your computer and tablet that seamlessly brings messaging and content that’s on your BlackBerry smartphone to your computer and tablet. There is no need of saving to a cloud, or transferring information between devices; all you need to do is login to your Blend ID and all your info is just there.
How has the manageability scenario changed over the recent times ?
From manageability perspective, mobile phones, tablets, laptops and desktops are just the tip of the iceberg. We are looking at expanding this manageability to the Internet of Things and for this we are starting with the QNX Endpoints out there. And that’s what the BES is aimed at; it will not just manage smartphones and tablets. We have been managing mission-critical software for God knows how long and we understand that when it comes to managing these, efficiency, speed and expertise all matter.
How is Blackberry positioned in the light of the changing cyber threat landscape ?
A lot of news that we hear these days is because people have gotten into this very comfortable position thinking “oh, it’s all good”. We are too relaxed about our private information, we are too relaxed about what we put into our devices and what we are allowing those devices to have access to and carry forward that information. All the apps that we use especially the free ones, they collect our data because they need to make revenues somehow and that they do either by selling data or advertisements. Every piece of data has a value. No services you use are free in the true sense.
Our focus is not just security. Security is what the enterprise cares about. Our focus is on retaining privacy of information. We put all the security features of the enterprises at the finger tips of the end users as well. We don’t aim for “good enough”; we aim for “best in class”. We don’t compare ourselves with others; rather we strive to be the best that can be possible.
So, what does the future hold for the sector ?
What we can look forward to is nothing that people expect. Technology is changing like never before; it’s time to expect the unexpected.
