Category: Partner News

StarLink revealed a new distribution partnership with Extreme Networks for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Extreme Networks are the providers of end-to-end enterprise networking solutions, can deliver an IT infrastructure that’s fast, resilient and can tune itself to the demands of users, applications and security threats – from wired to wireless, desktop to data center.

StarLink through its extensive channel network in the MENA region will drive new business opportunities for Extreme Networks with a focused team that will sell, install and support the entire portfolio of products.

Mahmoud Nimer, General Manager at StarLink said, “We have primed our portfolio for a best-of-breed network infrastructure vendor, and the timing could not be more well aligned with this partnership. Extreme’s growth strategy to lead the networking industry from the data center to the wireless edge, secures their position as a top player in the enterprise networking market. We are excited about the opportunity to assist Extreme Networks achieve exponential growth in region.”

Mark Smith, Regional Sales Director MEA at Extreme Networks said, “We are eager to work with StarLink as our new distributor, as the partnership will significantly strengthen our position as the industry leading solution in the MENA enterprise networking market. We expect StarLink to play a pivotal role in our regional growth strategy, enabling us to reach more resellers with end-to-end software-driven solutions that will drive their customers’ digital transformation initiatives.”

TAKELEAP has partnered with IKEA to develop Virtual Shopping Experience by IKEA POPUP concept throughout the Middle East. The pop-ups have taken place in malls within five cities across three countries, including Jordan, Kuwait and Morocco.

Visitors to the pop-ups can create their own virtual living room by placing IKEA signature products in the scene using VR technologies to facilitate the home furnishing experience. Users can choose from pre-set room layouts to match the dimension of their living space, then purchase the products on site if they wish, removing the need to visit a traditional IKEA store to visualize and purchase products.

“Technology is advancing at increasing speeds and will quickly redefine the future of the business. We are thrilled that IKEA has become a first-mover in developing this technology and look forward to our partnership for years to come” said Salman Yusuf, Managing Director at TAKELEAP.

“We are very thankful to have TAKELEAP’s support in helping us push the way we design things and give our customers a completely different kind of experience. This is something that none of our competitors have done before and a monumental step for the future of IKEA shopping” said Diana Sabouni, IKEA Regional Interior Design Specialist.

Customers can now choose their favorite items in as little as 20 minutes while having a realistic view of what the furniture is like. With a 1:1 scale, users can understand the real size of their products while recognizing the photo-realistic colors and texture of fabrics. In Kuwait, TAKELEAP will also introduce another VR activation to give users a full 360 virtual tour of IKEA Kuwait store, aiding in the process of finding items around the outlet.

Seclore and Boldon James revealed a worldwide OEM partnership.  As part of this strategic partnership agreement, which includes deep technical collaboration and joint global go-to-market, Boldon James’ best-of-breed classification software will be integrated with the industry’s most advanced and most secure Rights Management.

The two companies are launching an end-to-end, automated data protection and compliance solution. Customers now have a seamless, straightforward way to protect data from the point of identifying and classifying sensitive data, to then securing data, auditing data and ensuring data compliance with regulations such as GDPR, NIST and NYDFS.

Under the terms of the OEM agreement, by automating data-centric security with this integrated solution from two worldwide leaders, Seclore and Boldon James are removing what has been one of the stickiest barriers for protecting information end to end – the complexities of user adoption.  Now users simply select a Boldon James classification label when they create or share documents and other types of files, and Seclore’s persistent protection automatically attaches based on policy rules that the customer has predetermined according to their security requirements.

“Boldon James continues to be the best-of-breed partner for data classification to provide customers with competitive advantage and we’re excited to be working with Seclore to offer greater protection throughout the data lifecycle” said Martin Sugden, CEO at Boldon James.

“Customers now have one solution that delivers end-to-end, data-centric security with data classification from the global innovation leader, Boldon James, with rights management, auditing and data compliance capabilities from Seclore,” says Vishal Gupta, Founder and CEO, Seclore.

Spectrami has been appointed as an official distribution partner for Micro Focus following the completion of its merger with Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s software business.

Anand Choudha, Managing Director at Spectrami, said, “We are extremely excited by the opportunities this partnership opens up to us and we are pleased to expand the Micro Focus portfolio across the MEA region. With the addition of Micro Focus in our portfolio, Spectrami will be able to offer wide range of high quality, enterprise – grade scalable software to customers through its extensive network of channel partners, working closely alongside with Micro Focus’ global sales and support team to ensure its channel partners receive strong Pre-sales, marketing, implementation and Post – sales support.”

Spectrami strives to build a diverse portfolio of products to enhance its offerings to customers through an extensive network of Channel Partners.

“By leveraging on our strong channel network, we plan to provide Micro Focus with an extensive market reach that could secure significant market share and a sustained growth opportunity in the region”, said Anas Handous, Director of Global Alliance at Spectrami.

Marwan Shanti, Channel Director Emerging Markets at Micro Focus, stated: “Our mission is to provide a best-in-class portfolio of enterprise-grade scalable software with built in analytics, and build high-quality products, putting customers at the centre of our innovation. Through our partnership with Spectrami, we are uniquely-placed to help customers and partners address opportunities and challenges within the new hybrid model for enterprise IT – from mainframe to mobile to cloud. We look forward to working with Spectrami to enable and support our partners in driving true digital transformation for customers.”

The combined Micro Focus organisation will be entirely focused on building, selling and supporting software to solve the most complex technology problems for customers, in key areas including:

DevOps – enabling the rapid delivery of quality, secure applications with end-to-end visibility.

Hybrid IT – simplifying the management of a complex mix of platforms, delivery methods and consumption models.

Security & Risk Management – securing data, applications and access; powering security operations and governance to mitigate risk and maintain compliance.

Predictive Analytics – helping customers translate siloed data into real-time proactive analytics at scale.

Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA) hosted its second Partner Conference in Luxor, Egypt, over three days. During the event, Canon highlighted its commitment to the region and its strategy to expand its network of partners across new and existing markets in Africa.

The event, which brought together more than 135 partners from 45 countries in Africa, further underlines Canon’s focus on being closer to its customer and strengthening its regional presence. The Annual Partner Conference served as a key platform for the company to highlight its achievements in 2017 and to outline the strategic growth priorities and opportunities in 2018, which also included organisational enhancements to better serve its partners.

Roman Troedthandl, Managing Director of CCNA, said: “The Annual Partner Conference is a flagship event, and being in Luxor is extremely significant as we reflect on the incredibly history of the past while focusing on the path of the future ahead of us. As we celebrate our achievements, Canon also aims to discuss business growth opportunities and strengthen our association with our partners, who contribute significantly to our success.  Africa region is of strategic importance to us, and with the support of our partners, we have been able to make strong inroads in building our market share.”

At the Conference, Roman Troedthandl highlighted the initiatives by Canon in the region including expanding its presence with partners in Senegal, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Morocco, all of which reflect Canon’s emphasis on being closer to its customers by providing targeted, on-ground support.

CCNA will continue to build on the momentum through its objectives set for 2017 including growing and enhancing the market through market assessment with a key focus on new partner development, in addition to channel expansion and adding market value. The company’s plan and strategies for the next year also include maintaining its market share by providing a full range of products and managing them by using its overall business operations.

StarLink will now sell ForeScout’s technology through its extensive network of channel partners to enterprise and government customers in Turkey. “We are seeing a surge of Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) and Internet of Things (IoT) strategies in enterprises and critical infrastructure across the region, representing a fundamental shift in the way CIOs and CISOs operate and secure their environment,” said Hamed Diab, Regional Sales Director for Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META) at ForeScout.  “You cannot secure what you cannot see, and organizations need visibility and control of devices the instant they connect to a network. StarLink will play a fundamental role in our META expansion strategy and help businesses and governments reduce security risks and make informed decisions.”

ForeScout provides enterprises and government agencies with the ability to instantaneously see traditional and IoT devices when they connect to a network, control device access based on security posture and policy, and orchestrate system-wide response. In addition to its expansion into Turkey, ForeScout currently works with StarLink in the Middle East and Africa.

“The attack surface in Turkish organizations is growing due to the rapidly increasing number of devices connecting to the corporate network and to critical infrastructure,” said Avinash Advani, SVP Strategic Alliances & International Markets at StarLink. “Together, ForeScout and StarLink will be able to address these challenges through leading visibility and control technology, as well as value-added services. The expansion of our ForeScout distribution rights into Turkey will enable us to deliver another best-of-breed security offering to our channel partners in Turkey.”

OMA Emirates Group has partnered with Karma Technology and successfully completed a safe and seamless mobile payment solution across all 15 Maison BMore outlets. The multi fashion brand stores in the UAE now has a new deployment that allows sales staff to run the fully customized ECR application in the palm of their hands and enriches the customer experience. Payments can now be processed anywhere within the store and also fulfils the company’s requirement for smart payment devices which accept multiple modes of payment including Smart EMV, Magstripe and NFC/Contactless. This enhances the customer and merchant experience through ease of usage, safety, security and is a convenient way of transacting.

Designed for mobility, the pocket sized Ingenico iSMP terminals supplied by OMA Emirates and implemented by Karma Technology are lightweight and allows ease of movements within the stores. It will lend itself significantly to build on customer interaction capabilities, control inventory management and delivery.

Compatible with iPhone, the new solution integrates between the iSMP application and Karma Technology’s iOS merchant application and payment gateway, connected to a proprietary ERP system developed to automate the company’s retail operations. The sturdy barcode reader provides the fast-paced retail demands with rapid scanning of multiple items from a variety of angles and is capable of validating loyalty cards as well as QR codes. More importantly, the long-lasting lithium-ion batteries support the usage for longer periods and suits the needs of the stores while raising the performance value.

“We are extremely privileged to supply a Mobile Point of Sale (mPOS) device for an organization that is focused on raising its customer services and experience. The customized application and the advanced iSMP terminals will add value and innovation within the stores,” said Niranj Sangal, Group CEO, OMA Emirates.

While eliminating the need for cash registers and external bar-code readers, the new mPOS Cashier System provides greater freedom and flexibility to enhance customer service across any part of the store. A significant advantage is the ability to engage and interact with customers and allows a convenient mobile checkout experience that saves time, improves efficiency and strengthens customer loyalty. The enhanced services are also equipped with automated payments and receipts that are easy to track.

“We see a definite increase in business processing and efficiencies with this new deployment and stronger customer loyalty and confidence,” said Mr. Anis Aljallaf, Chairman and CEO of Maison BMore LLC.

SPECTRAMI partnered with PhishMe. The mutually beneficial partnership will combine SPECTRAMI’s expertise and in-depth knowledge across a wide range of technology solutions, with PhishMe’s market leading platform, to help protect organizations from advanced security threats.

PhishMe’s incident response and phishing threat intelligence solutions enable security operations and incident response teams to respond quickly to threats in real-time, thereby reducing the risk of security breaches. PhishMe’s intelligence-driven solutions engages the employee to be an active line of defense and a human threat detector by enabling them to recognize and report phishing attacks, malware, and other surrounding threats.

“We are extremely delighted to launch this partnership as PhishMe fits into our Data security solutions offerings with its unique ability to integrate with many of the existing technologies in our portfolio,” said Anand Choudha, Managing Director at SPECTRAMI. “With an unprecedented increase in the risks faced by enterprises due to the growing number of data and security breaches, the alliance with PhishMe allows for an enhancement in our current offering of niche and Next – Gen Threat management solutions to customers through our extensive network of channel partners across EMEA,” he added.

“Collaboration with IT security industry leaders like SPECTRAMI extends our ability to provide phishing defense services to a very large number of customers,” explained Jim Hansen, Chief Operating Officer at PhishMe. “Through our partnership, we can help organizations in Middle East, Germany and neighboring countries leverage the power of human intelligence to proactively respond to and neutralize sophisticated cyber-attacks.”

BT extended its strategic partnership with Cisco to include two new capabilities: a new Cisco-based customer premise equipment virtualisation solution managed by BT and the integration of Cisco’s network automation and orchestration software platform into BT’s networking offerings. The new capabilities are part of BT’s Dynamic Network Services initiative, designed to give BT customers more choice, security, resilience, service, and agility in the roll-out of future networks that support their digital transformation.

With Connect Services Platform, customers will be able to deploy new network functions at branches and remote locations within hours, using the integrated BT and Cisco technology. These functions will run on the Connect Edge multifunctional hardware, combining the strengths of Cisco’s Enterprise Network Compute System (ENCS) platform with BT’s global service management, design capability, security wrap and support coverage. This will provide customers with a secure end-to-end service that avoids the pain and time of having to deploy new devices when new functionality is needed. These functions  will be deployed and managed remotely without the need for specialist technical staff to visit each site for installation. As a BT-managed service, the solution will support virtual network functions (VNFs) from multiple vendors and will be accessible to customers via their BT MyAccount portal.

In order to deploy its new virtualisation offerings, BT has integrated Cisco’s Network Services Orchestrator (NSO) software platform and virtual Branch Core Function Pack into its own networks and uses network automation to deliver high-quality services faster and more easily to its customers.

Maria Grazia Pecorari, President, Digital, Global Portfolio & Marketing, Global Services, BT, said: “By combining BT’s strong virtualisation, service management and security expertise and new Cisco technologies, we are reinforcing our position as a trusted partner to our customers, guiding them on their digital transformation journeys.”

“With these new network automation, orchestration and virtualization solutions from Cisco in place, BT can operate a more intuitive network that gives them the scale, intelligence, and security to power the world’s most dynamic business applications with ease” said Scott Harrell, Senior VP and GM, Enterprise Networking Business, Cisco.

Finesse has entered into a strategic alliance with Image InfoSystems to implement Value Added Tax (VAT) Systems for enterprises in the region with a special focus on Banking and financial institutions.  The impact of VAT regulations and the required regulatory compliance for the financial services industry is expected to impact almost every aspect of the organization’s technology landscape.

Finesse, with a strategic vision to assist organizations in this transition, has tied-up with Image InfoSystems, providers of ExpressTXR, a high-performance transaction processing platform that enables collection, organization and management of transaction data, a dynamic rules engines to accurately and speedily process transactions with total reconciliation with all back-end source systems, will provide the organizations in the region with the necessary capability to comply with the regulations.

Mohan Das P, Managing Director of Image Info LLC said “Image InfoSystems offers its experience and expertise, embodied in the product ExpressTXR, to provide the capability and the platform for organizations that generate and process millions of transactions every day, to meet with the challenges posed by regulatory requirements, offering the breadth of functionality and the ease of adaptability, to enable them to make path breaking transitions as seemingly every day mundane tasks.”

Sunil Paul, Co-Founder and COO of Finesse said, “A major part of the VAT Implementation is to make the processes and IT systems compliant so that all the provisions of law are incorporated. Finesse is thrilled to partner with Image Infosystems to bring easy into the entire seemingly daunting implementation. We look forward to working together in this area”