Horizons 2013 IT Magazine

2013issue
G ro w i n g C o n n e c t i v i t y

2012Highlights
2012HIGHLIGHT
A Tech Government
A Giant in Services
The Titans
Beyond the Hype
34
42
46
50
GBM Achieves APC
by Schneider Electric
Elite Data Center Partnership for GCC
Sanovi Technologies and Gulf
Business Machines
Partner to Deliver IT Disaster Recovery
Management Software Solutions
Virtual Bridges and Gulf
Business Machines
Partner to Deliver VDI Gen2 to
Organizations Throughout the Middle East
13
19
20
Partnerships
In The Media
Zain Bahrain
Selects Gulf Business Machines
for Cisco Training
Oman Arab Bank
Selects IBM® technology
for greater business agility
Arab Financial Services
Deploy IBM Mainframe Solution
12
16
26
News
©2013 Gulf Business Machines. All rights reserved. GBM, the GBM logo and START
LOADING THE FUTURE are trademarks of Gulf Business Machines. IBM and the IBM
logo are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)
in the United States and other countries and used under license. IBM responsibility is
limited to IBM products and services and is governed solely by the agreements under
which such products and services are provided. Cisco, the Cisco logo, and Cisco
Systems are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its
affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. Other third party trademarks
referenced are the property of their respective owners.

As I look at 2012 in retrospect, I
see a competitive marketplace,
where it had become increasingly
challenging to stand apart, and
above, from the crowd. Despite the
challenges, I am happy to say that we
have strengthened our positioning
as technology leaders and providers
and have succeeded in becoming
the consultant of choice – an
achievement that is by no means an
easy feat – for most of our customers
and partners.
No longer are we seen as merely
being systems integrators, bringing
together best-in-class technologies
based on our customers’ needs.
As the breadth of the projects we
have undertaken in the past year
indicates, our customers have
started approaching their challenges
knowing full well that GBM has the
ability to identify and then deliver the
right solutions.
Building Relations, Recognition
Throughout the past year, we also
worked on building and maintaining
relationships and partnerships with
key stakeholders across the region
and our activities regionally have Cesare Cardone, CEO
demonstrated GBM’s commitment
to our customers in the truest sense.
We’ve also invested in the right
people, ensuring that we have the
right teams in place regionally to
help our customers succeed in their
IT projects.
In addition to a number of business
wins, it was rewarding to be
acknowledged as System Integrator
of the Year by Reseller Middle East
magazine at its Partner Excellence
Award and by Network World Middle
East at their 3rd Annual Awards and
as Storage Integrator of the Year by
Vendors and Resellers magazine’s
VAR Channel Awards. In 2012, we
were also recognized as Cisco’s
Commercial and Services Partner
of the Year and Red Hat EMEA’s
Virtualization Partner of the Year.
Each of our lines of business has
emerged as a hotbed of innovation,
driving GBM forward into areas which
were previously untapped.
Intelligent Network Solutions
In 2012, we saw the successful launch
of the Intelligent Network Solutions
(INS) division where we were able to
involve our customers, partners and
industry players in this successful
milestone by conducting the first
ever INS survey. The survey allowed
us to identify the areas which we, as
solution providers, need to focus on
and it has also helped us envision the
upcoming trends which we will need
to lead, as we always do.
Through 2013, INS will be focusing
its efforts on establishing GBM’s
security framework, an initiative
which will eventually span other lines
of business to become a company-
wide offering. The framework will
help solidify GBM’s position as a
‘one-stop shop’ for our customers’
security requirements.
Software Group
GBM’s Software Group (SWG)
introduced a new buying model
which enables strategic customers
to acquire software on a basis more
closely aligned to their business
success. This ‘Large Deal’ model
can allow for unique buying flexibility
across the entire IBM software
portfolio. The model also combines
smootherpaymentsterms,simplified
enterprise buying and visibility for
the procurement team, while helping
minimize the risk of future decisions
on architecture and product choice.
Through 2013, SWG will seek to
leverage new IBM SW acquisitions,
which can deliver cutting-edge
solutions to customers in the region.
With IBM acquiring an average of one
new software company per month,
SWG will bring the capability of these
new acquisitions to the Gulf region
wherever significant local value is
apparent.
Business Solutions
GBM’s newly rebranded Business
Solutions (BS) group has refocused
its efforts on delivering excellence
in a number of key areas including
enterprise solutions such as
content, development of portals
and integration. Additionally, the BS
groupisalsofocusedonleveragingits
Business Analytics and Optimization
expertise in a number of key sectors.
With an enviable track record of
successful projects, BS is primed
for continued success even as it has
successfully optimized its solutions
delivery organization, delivering
quality more efficiently.
Looking Forward,
Looking Back
Hardware Group
GBM’s Hardware (HW) group has
been at the forefront of the IBM
PureSystems revolution in the
region. The group was able to bring
its extensive expertise to bear in
delivering a number of PureSystems
deployments to customers across
the region, one of which was among
the first Pureflex deployment in the
world and another was among the
world’s first AIX PureFlex running
on SAP. IBM PureSystems are widely
recognized as the future of computing
and the HW team was not only able
to deliver the hardware but also the
training required for the technology
to be seamlessly integrated into
our customers’ IT infrastructure.
Moving forward, however, the group
will also focus its efforts on IBM’s
new zEnterprise System which will
deliver operational analytics, trusted
resiliency and efficiency at scale to
our customers.
Technology Services
On the back of its successes with its
Network Operations Centre (NOC),
GBM’s Technology Services (TS)
is focusing its efforts on managed
services which will allow our
customers to focus their efforts on
running their businesses instead
of their IT infrastructure. While the
NOC was a first step in this direction,
TS is diversifying its service offering
to include solutions in business
continuity and disaster recovery.
Technical Support Services
GBM’s Technical Support Services
(TSS) unit has excelled at providing
customer support in a manner
that is both, timely and efficient.
To illustrate this, more than 70
percent of all customer networking
issues were handled directly by
the Network Service Desk team
through direct Webex connection to
customer infrastructure. Of these,
over half (55 percent) of the most
severe issues were managed within
an hour of them being reported. This
demonstrates how TSS is adding
value to our customers by ensuring
that issues have a minimal impact on
their day-to-day business.
As TSS works to further improve its
service offering, the GBM Service
Desk will become the single point of
contact for customers from across
our spectrum of businesses. In a
reflection of the innovation which
drives this company, TSS’ new iPhone
and Android mobility applications
will ensure that our customers have
all the necessary information at their
fingertips.
2013: Brimming with Potential
Businesses and decision makers are
quickly understanding the importance
of having a solid IT infrastructure
in place and acknowledging the
benefits of the IT investments. And
our role as industry leaders is to
continue supporting them with our
expertise and equip them with what’s
best in the market. GBM has earned
a reputation for fully anticipating and
understanding its customers’ needs
and I believe that in 2013 we will have
the chance to build further on this
reputation and be able to truly shine
in the Gulf IT market.
I look back at 2012 and I am proud of
what we have achieved as a company
and with our partners and customers
and hope that, together, we continue
to move forward. There are many
exciting developments in store for us
in 2013.
I would like to take the opportunity to
thank each and every one at GBM for
their dedication and efforts in 2012 as
well as our customers and partners
for trusting our capabilities and their
eagerness to continue collaborating
with us.
2013 is brimming with potential and
we are in a good position to make the
most of it.

G B M N E W S | 6
Gulf Business Machines:
Data Security Concerns Holding Back
Adoption of Cloud Services in GCC
Concerns over data security is the
top factor delaying the widespread
adoption of cloud-based services,
according to a new survey of
IT professionals conducted by
Gulf Business Machines (GBM).
According to the survey, which
coincided with the launch of GBM’s
Intelligent Network Solutions (INS)
division, concerns over service
reliability and availability,
as well as the cost
of cloud-based
solutions are often
cited reasons for
the slow adoption
of outsourced
enterprise cloud
services.
While two-thirds (62
percent) of the regional
IT professionals polled
stated that data security was a
concern and 40.5 percent identified
cost as a barrier, 43 percent cited
service reliability concerns. In
comparison, a lack of support
from non-IT decision makers was
mentioned by less than a quarter
(22 percent) of the respondents.
“These findings should come as a
serious concern for the industry
since perceptions, as opposed to
facts, appear to play a significant role
in decisions to defer the adoption
of cloud services in an enterprise
environment,” said
Hani Nofal, Director
of Intelligent Network
Solutions (INS) at GBM.
“While it is important
to note that the use of
cloud technologies is
part of the IT function’s
evolutionary process,
it is equally important to
realize that change is usually
a gradual process. It is only a
matter of time before the benefits
of using the cloud, such as
cost effectiveness and
scalability, outweigh
these unfounded
concerns.”
Nofal added: “At
GBM INS, we aim
to partner with
our customers to
introduce them
to cloud-based
services at a pace
that is in line with their
comfort levels. We truly
believe that the region offers
significant potential for scaling up
the adoption of cloud solutions and
we aim to use our combination of
experience and access to best-in-
class technologies to support this
trend.”
Significantly, almost a
quarter (24.6 percent) of
therespondentssaidthat
their organizations were
planning to outsource
business applications
and services to cloud-
based service providers
in the next 12 to 18
months.
The study also revealed
that while one-in-ten IT
professionals owns five
or more personal devices
- such as smartphones
and tablets - a third of those
polled owned up to three devices.
However, only 6.2 percent admitted
to owning one device.
GBM INS, previously known as
Integrated Networking & Site
Services(INSS),providescustomers
and partners with a portfolio of
solutions that captures all the
values of fully human-optimized IT
infrastructure. Designed especially
for the market’s current needs
and business requirements, INS
offers intelligent, creative solutions
that adapt to the customers’
requirements to provide them
with the benefits of four key areas
which include secure mobility,
video collaboration, social media
and cloud computing. GBM INS is
one of the few networking solutions
providers that address the need
to shift the networking solutions
space from traditional Systems
Integration to Human Systems
integration.
“At GBM INS,
we aim to partner with our
customers to introduce them to
cloud-based services at a pace
that is in line with their
comfort levels ”

Anti-Social:
Survey Reveals Workplace Social
Media Restrictions Across the Gulf
A majority of businesses in the
region restrict employee access to
social media platforms, according to
a new survey of IT professionals
conducted by Gulf Business
Machines (GBM).
The survey, which coincides
with the launch of GBM’s
Intelligent Network Solutions
(INS) division, found that an
overwhelming majority of the
over 900 respondents who
participated, were subject to
socialmediaaccessrestrictions
in the workplace, ranging from
partial to blanket.
While 32 percent of the
respondents reported un-
restricted access to social media,
just over a third (35 percent) of
those polled claimed that their
organizations’ IT policies completely
prohibited access. An additional 33
percent said that they experienced
“partial” restrictions.
“Although these findings do not come
as a surprise, it is a clear indication
of how seriously enterprises take
the potential impact of social media
on productivity,” said Hani Nofal,
Director of Intelligent Network
Solutions (INS) at GBM. “The
challenge that businesses face is in
finding a middle ground which allows
them to tap into the power of social
media, while ensuring that it does
not negatively impact productivity.”
Nofal added: “One option that is being
considered is the adoption of social
media-based collaborative tools that
have specifically been developed for
an enterprise environment. At INS,
we believe that these tools will allow
businesses to truly ride the social
media wave without compromising
on operational efficiencies.”
Significantly, the survey also found
that ‘Bring Your Own Device’
(BYOD) policies are widely being
implemented across the region; 62
percent of the IT professionals polled
maintained that their employers
allowed them to connect their own
devices to company networks. The
study also revealed that while one-
in-ten IT professionals owns five or
more personal devices - such as
smartphones and tablets - a third
of those polled owned up to three
devices. However, only 6.2 percent
admitted to owning one device.
G B M N E W S | 8
Survey of IT professionals reveals widespread adoption of Bring Your Own Device policies.
“At INS, we believe that
these tools will allow
businesses to truly ride
the social media wave
without compromising on
operational efficiencies.
”

Gulf Business Machines (GBM) has
been selected by the Abu Dhabi
Quality and Conformity Council (QCC)
to consolidate their IT infrastructure
using the latest solutions from the
new IBM® PureSystems™ family.
This project is the first application of
its kind in the United Arab Emirates
and in the government sector.
Through the integration of the
IBM® PureSystems™, which falls
under IBM’s new category of “expert
integrated systems,” QCC will
enjoy a ‘Scale-In System Design’, a
new concept in system design that
integrates the server, storage, and
networking into a highly automated,
simple-to-manage machine. The
technology and industry expertise
embedded through first-of-
a-kind software will also
allow QCC’s systems to
handle basic, time-
consuming tasks such as
configuration, upgrades,and
application requirements
automatically.
“At QCC, we understand that
unconsolidated IT infrastructures
increase the complexity of processes
and are costly to operate and
maintain,” said Sultan Al Kaabi,
Shared Services Director, QCC.
“GBM’s track record in the system
integration arena and the fact
that they are the providers for the
IBM® PureSystems™ family were
major incentives for us to select the
company for this project. We are
confident that this collaboration will
GBM Implements the First
IBM®
PureSystems™
Project in the UAE
for the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council
The Abu Dhabi Quality and
Conformity Council was
established in accordance with the
local law no. (3) for the year 2009.
The Abu Dhabi’s Quality and
Conformity Council (QCC)
was established to raise the quality
of Abu Dhabi’s exports and
of products traded locally while
protecting Abu Dhabi’s consumers
and supporting its competitive
economy.
www.qcc.abudhabi.ae
allow us to overcome any challenges
that we have been experiencing with
our existing IT infrastructure.”
Additional benefits which GBM will
offer QCC through the deployment
of the project is cloud-ready
integration. The IBM PureSystems
family of products is built for the
cloud, thus it will enable QCC to
quickly create private, self-service
cloud offerings that can scale up
and down automatically. Widely
hailed as the evolution of a new,
simpler era of computing, the new
IBM® PureSystems™ family will
also help reduce the high costs and
complexity associated with managing
information technology.
“Weareveryproudtobeimplementing
the first IBM® PureSystems™
project in the UAE for QCC,” said
Miguel Khouri, Country General
Manager, GBM Abu Dhabi. “As a
company, we always try to offer our
customers the best solutions that
will drive their business forward
while increasing the cost efficiency
and productivity levels. As a result of
a fully streamlined IT infrastructure
using IBM® PureSystems™, QCC
will be able to focus solely on its
operations with reduced IT-related
obstacles or inefficiencies.”GBM,
the sole distributor for IBM in the
GCC excluding selected products
and services, excluding Saudi Arabia,
announced the launch of the first
IBM® PureSystems™ technology
demonstrator in the GCC earlier this
month.
G B M N E W S | 1 0 G B M N E W S | 1 1
“We are
very proud to be
implementing the first
IBM®
PureSystems™
project in the UAE
for QCC ”

Gulf Business Machines (GBM),
has been recognized as an APC
by Schneider Electric Elite Data
Center Partner. GBM is now uniquely
positioned to provide its customers
in the GCC region with the complete
line of APC by Schneider Electric
products.
To achieve the Elite Data Center
Certification, the GBM design and
consultingteamhadtofulfillstringent
partner training requirements
set by APC by Schneider Electric.
The GBM team has also achieved
individual certifications to become
APC Certified Technical Consultants,
Integrated Design Consultants and
Sales Professionals.
GBM Achieves APC by
Schneider Electric
Elite Data Center Partnership for GCC
As a global specialist in energy management with operations in more than 100 countries,
Schneider Electric offers integrated solutions across multiple market segments, including
leadership positions in energy and infrastructure, industrial processes, building automation,
and data centres/networks, as well as a broad presence in residential applications.
Focused on making energy safe, reliable, and efficient, the company’s 110,000 plus
employees achieved sales of 19.6 billion euros in 2010, through an active commitment to
help individuals and organizations make the most of their energy.
www.schneider-electric.com
G B M N E W S | 1 2 G B M N E W S | 1 3
has been selected by Zain Bahrain,
a leading telecom provider in
Bahrain, for Cisco Certified
Network Associate (CCNA) staff
training.
During the training, Zain Bahrain
NetworkEngineersandBroadband
Specialists were introduced to the
latest products from the Cisco
portfolio and trained to use the
latest Cisco technologies.
The CCNA training program will
haveaspecialfocusonnetworking,
fundamental mitigation of security
threats, performance-based
skills and the use of various IT
protocols.
As industry experts, GBM trainers
took the opportunity to shed some
light on current trends in the IT
market and the overall industry.
Zain Bahrain entered the Kingdom’s telecoms market in 2003 as the second
mobile service entrant. Riding on the promise of innovative business practices
and cutting-edge technology, Zain Bahrain has delivered on these promises by
putting Bahrain on the global telecommunications map with a string of firsts
– the first country with nation-wide 3G, then 3.5G and now, WiMAX
coverage. Today, Zain Bahrain has developed into a successful fixed wireless
service operator offering full-spectrum corporate telecoms solutions, voice and
data services to customers in the Kingdom.
www.bh.zain.com
Zain
Bahrain
Selects Gulf Business
Machines for Cisco
Training

Gulf Business Machines:
First in GCC to Offer Revolutionary IBM®
PureSystems™
Technology Demonstrator
New category of “expert integrated systems” will reduce IT costs, complexity
announced in July the launch of the
firstIBM®PureSystems™technology
demonstrator in the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) region. The technology
demonstrator, which is available to
GBM customers around the region, is
designed to showcase the capabilities
of IBM’s new category of “expert
integrated systems,” widely hailed as
the evolution of a new, simpler era of
computing.
With the introduction of the new
PureSystems™ family, IBM is
unveiling major advances that
point to a new era of computing
technology that is designed to allow
businesses to reduce the high costs
and complexity associated with
managing information technology.
The new Systems family offers clients
an alternative to today’s enterprise
computing model, where multiple and
disparate systems require significant
resources to set up and maintain.
“PureSystems represents a major
evolution in computing technology
that features decades of inherited
experience bundled into one,
intelligent, cognitive system,” said
Lee Allcorn, PureSystems™ Sales
Manager, IBM, Middle East and Africa.
Advances, featured in PureSystems,
include ‘Scale-In System Design’,
a new concept in system design
that integrates the server, storage,
and networking into a highly
automated, simple-to-manage
machine; technology and industry
expertise embedded through first-
of-a-kind software that allows the
systems to automatically handle
basic, time-consuming tasks such
as configuration, upgrades, and
application requirements; and Cloud-
ready integration, which ensures
that PureSystems™ family members
are built for the cloud, enabling
corporations to quickly create private,
self-service cloud offerings that can
scale up and down automatically.
“The Information Technology function
is increasingly expected to drive
innovation and address new business
opportunities and it is apparent that
IBM has developed PureSystems™
with this in mind,” said Andreas
Weiss, Director of IBM® Systems and
Technology, GBM. “As a company,
GBM has always prided itself in its
ability to bring its customers the
very latest in solutions and yet again,
with this state-of-the-art technology
demonstrator, we continue to build
on our legacy of excellence.”
The Emirates E-Government hosted
a meeting between the Data Model
Dictionary initiative team and experts
from Gulf Business Machines (GBM),
the region’s leading IT solutions
and service provider, and IBM’s
representative in the Gulf Region. The
meeting was carried out as part of the
e-Government’s efforts to support
the development of e-services
available to the customers and the
implementation of new initiatives.
At the core of these initiatives was
the development of a common Data
Model for governmental bodies in
order to establish a data structure
that can be shared among the
different organizations. Additionally,
this would include implementing
an electronic mechanism to allow
the sharing of data between
governmental organizations and
gain direct access from its original
sources. The Data Model will help
reduce time and costs, in addition to
avoiding duplicates while ensuring
quick sharing of data.
According to the strategic plan of the
G B M N E W S | 1 4 G B M N E W S | 1 5
“As a company, GBM
has always prided itself
in its ability to bring
its customers the very
latest in solutions
”
E-Government and Data Model
Dictionary officials
meet GBM and IBM experts
initiative, coordination has started
with expert companies, such as GBM
and IBM in order to share ideas and
take advantage of the best global
practices. The aim is to identify the
best methodologies for data models
and the most effective way to create
Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) to meet
integration needs.
The Emirates e-Government was
representedbyAbdulWahabMustafa,
Hosny Abu al-Yazid and Ashraf Al-
Masry; while IBM team included
Khaled Sultan, Sales Manager and
Mazen Hesn, IT systems executive
designer,andSethuRaman,engineer
and software specialist. GBM experts
included Rawad Abdul-Malik, Sales
Manager and Rawad Abdul Baqi,
software specialist. IBM and GBM
experts made a presentation about
Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)
highlighting the two companies
experience in the integration projects
of e-services provision through
e-government portals in the Gulf
region and the world.

Oman Arab
Bank
selects IBM®
technology
for greater
business agility
International Business Machines
Corp. is an information technology
company, which provides integrated
solutions that leverage information
technology and knowledge of
business processes. The company
operates its business through five
segments: Global Technology
Services, Global Business Services,
Software, Systems & Technology
and Global Financing.
www.marketwatch.com
Oman Arab Bank (OAB), one of
the leading banks in the Sultanate
of Oman and a key player in
e-government services, has chosen
IBM technology with the
aim of greater e-business
agility and increased
competitiveness. Working
closely with IBM’s regional
partner, Gulf Business
Machines (GBM), the
implementation of IBM®
technologies has enabled the
bank to enhance customer service
through an open standards based
and tightly integrated virtualized
computing environment. A long
term user of IBM technologies,
OAB expects the new system will
enable increased responsiveness
to its retail banking, corporate,
investment, trade business,
government and business banking
customers.
“Highly advanced technology is
a critical enabler in the banking
industry, essential for competitive
In 1984 Oman Arab Bank acquired the branches of Arab Bank which were operating
in Oman since 1973 with Oman International Development & Investment Company
(OMINVEST) owning 51% of the shares of the new bank and Arab Bank owning 49%
with management control. This marked the birth of a local bank with an international
presence.
The bank provides a range of products and services in retail banking, corporate and
project finance, investment banking, and trade finance.
OAB has consistently earned one of the highest returns on equity for the last 25 years with an
average of over 20% per annum, one of the highest in the banking industry.
www.oman-arabbank.com
G B M N E W S | 1 6 G B M N E W S | 1 7
advantage and
helping to drive
d i f f e re n t i a t i o n ,
speed to market, and
ability to capitalize on
new opportunities,”
stated Amr Refaat,
IBM General Manager
for Middle East and Pakistan.
“IBM and GBM are working
closely with OAB to help the bank
reduce costs, increase return
on investment and optimize
business processes.”
OAB is a pioneer in the B2B
and B2G space using state
of art technology and Service
Oriented Architecture (SOA)
standards as an integration
enabler of B2B and B2G
services allowing it to add
value to its proposition
through more efficiently
delivered services tailored to
customer needs.
“Our approach has meant that
we can provision new computing
capacity on demand using IBM
servers,bladecenterandstorage,
within minutes as opposed to
hours and/or days”, commented
Hassan Abdul Ali Mohammed,
Deputy General Manager -
Information Technology Head,
OAB. “Speed to market is crucial
to gaining competitive advantage
and this, together with the strong
integration capability provided by
IBM and GBM, allows us to launch
new applications and associated
customer services quickly.”
T h e s t r a t e g i c
decision to invest
further in (BCP/DRC)
disaster recovery is
expected to minimize
business risk. The
integrated IT system was
implemented using ®IBM
®WebSphere software, and IBM
server and storage virtualization
products including IBM Power
Systems™ and IBM System Storage
SAN Volume Controller, which
have been key to creating a robust
and reliable platform for running
critical core banking and peripheral
applications.
As the need for fast and reliable
banking becomes a crucial factor
in in the highly competitive banking
industry, OAB remains at the
forefront of deploying advanced
technology aimed at enhancing
business continuity and growing
customer share. OAB is one of the
largest banks in Oman and also has
branches in Egypt and the UAE.
“Throughout our ongoing relationship
with OAB, we ensured their IT
infrastructure is up-to-date with
the latest IBM technologies. The
solutions implemented are aimed
at providing a stable, reliable and
well-suited platform to cater to the
bank’s specific requirements,” said
Christopher Lloyd, Country General
Manager of GBM Oman.
OAB has been using IBM® technology
for the past decade to upgrade and
improve its underlying infrastructure
to its current mature level.
“Throughout our
ongoing relationship with
OAB, we ensured their IT
infrastructure is up-to-date
with the latest IBM
technologies”

Sanovi Technologies
and Gulf Business Machines
Partner to Deliver IT Disaster Recovery
Management Software Solutions
Sanovi Technologies is an independent software vendor offering a suite of software
products and solutions in the IT Disaster Recovery Management (DRM) space.
Privately owned and financially backed by the Betul Group of India, Sanovi has
its corporate headquarters in Bangalore, with sales and service offices across India,
Dubai, and South Korea. Sanovi’s flagship DRM product enables service providers
and organizations to ensure that their IT applications recover predictably in a disaster
scenario to meet the required recovery goals.
www.sanovi.com
class of product that delivers real-
time DR readiness validation with
clear business and operational
advantages.
“In today’s volatile business
environment, Disaster Recovery
Management solutions are imperative
for the smooth functioning of
business. Sanovi solutions help
customers reduce business exposure
to IT outages, and increase confidence
in their DR plans, while lowering total
cost of ownership for DR solutions
with its DR Automation platform,”
said Cesare Cardone, CEO, GBM.
“We are excited to partner with Sanovi
to bring this value to organizations in
our region.”
The key business benefits of Sanovi
DR Management™ Suite include
increased availability of IT systems,
reduction of IT DR costs and business
risk mitigation through successful
DR fail-over and recovery.
“Demand for DR Automation
Solutions is growing as customers are
looking for ways to reduce production
downtimes, and perform successful
DR Drills. GBM has significant market
reach in the region and provides
Sanovi an excellent opportunity to
offer its intelligent DRM automation
solutions and provide measurable
ROI to customers,” said Chandra
Pulamarasetti, Co-Founder & CEO
at Sanovi Technologies.
Sanovi Technologies, a
leader in disaster recovery
management (DRM)
software and Gulf Business Machines
(GBM) announced a partnership to
resell Sanovi DR Management™
Suite to organizations throughout
the Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC, excepting Saudi Arabia) and
Pakistan. Sanovi DR Management™
Suite is a comprehensive family of
enterprise class Disaster Recovery
management software solutions
designed for validating, monitoring,
G B M N E W S | 1 8 G B M N E W S | 1 9
“We are excited
to partner with Sanovi
to bring this value
to organizations
in our region.
”
testing and automating recovery.
Founded in 1990, GBM is a spin-off
from IBM and the leading IT solutions
provider in the region fulfilling the
IT requirements of local, regional
and international organizations.
This major partnership agreement
establishes a long-term strategic
relationship between both companies
allowing GBM to remarket,
distribute, resell and support Sanovi
Technologies’ products, including
Sanovi DR Management™ Suite.
Sanovi Technologies is the leader in
the Disaster Recovery Management
Solution space and helps
organizations pro-actively manage
disaster recovery (DR) environments
to ensure that applications can
be recovered in compliance with
service level agreements (SLA).
The Company has been positioned
by Gartner as sample vendor for
“Recovery Exercising” in Gartner
Hype Cycle for Business Continuity
Management and Disaster Recovery
Management in 2011. Designed
for organizations that require a
comprehensive Disaster Recovery
Management Solution, Sanovi DR
Management™ Suite enables DR
monitoring, reporting, testing and
work flow automation of complex
IT infrastructure and applications.
Sanovi DRM suite offers a unified
disaster recovery management

Virtual Bridges, Inc. and Gulf
Business Machines (GBM) announced
a partnership to deliver Virtual
Bridges VERDE™ virtual desktop
management and provision-
ing capabilities to organizations
throughout the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC). Featuring online,
offline and branch VDI, VERDE is
proven to help organizations reduce
the cost and complexity of managing
desktops, while minimizing security
concerns and business risk.
Founded in 1990, Gulf Business
Machines (GBM), a spin-off from
IBM, is the leading IT solutions
provider in the region fulfilling the
IT requirements of local, regional
and international organizations.
This major partnership agreement
establishes a long-term strategic
G B M N E W S | 2 0 G B M N E W S | 2 1
Simple Protocol for Independent Computing Environments
(SPICE) provides a seamless user experience for bandwidth-
intensive applications, such as multimedia and VoIP, offering
a user experience comparable to that of a physical desktop.
Zero-admin Cloud Branch delivers LAN-like VDI performance
for branch users with bi-directional sync to provide disaster
recovery and business continuity while ensuring consistent,
high quality experiences that improve productivity.
EnhancedMicrosoft®ActiveDirectoryintegrationusingIBM®
Tivoli® Directory Integrator (TDI) provides synchronization of
user information between a Microsoft Active Directory server
and Virtual Desktop for Smart Business.
Enhanced management console for role and task-based
provisioning, and enhanced monitoring and reporting
capabilities help the IT administrator manage virtual desktop
infrastructures more effectively.
Single sign on for Windows guests enhances user productivity.
Full USB 2.0 peripheral support for integrated offline and
online VDI through single user console allows end users in
various industries to use a variety of peripheral devices such
as those used in retail stores, banks and hospitals.
Multiple server clustering based scale out specification and
support allows organizations to offer virtual desktops to more
end users.
Network Attached Storage (NAS) specification and support for
external storage provides a lower cost storage alternative.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
relationship by which GBM will
remarket, distribute, resell and
support Virtual Bridges products,
including VERDE, the industry’s
first VDI Gen2 solution.
Designed for organizations
that want to escape the
constraints of physical
computing, VERDE simplifies
desktop management,
improves security and
increases business agility. It
provides end users access
to Windows and Linux
desktops from any location or
device - including tablets, netbooks,
laptops and thin clients. In addition,
IT professionals can manage
desktops centrally, reducing the
costs and challenges associated with
provisioning, updating and securing
highly distributed PC environments.
“As the leading VDI Gen2 solution,
VERDE will help our customers
reduce desktop TCO while increasing
organizational agility, productivity
and responsiveness,” said Cesare
Cardone, CEO of Gulf Business
Machines. “We are excited to partner
with Virtual Bridges to bring this value
to organizations in the GCC region.”
Named a “Major Player” in desktop
virtualization by IDC, Virtual Bridges
helps customers easily
scale their environment
to meet fluctuating
business demands
without sacrificing
security or performance,
regardless of whether
the solution is deployed
on a customer’s own
infrastructure or hosted
or delivered as a
service. Among its many
advantages, VDI Gen2 eases
Windows7migrations.Insteadof
having to re-image all desktops
and laptops, VERDE will allow
GBM customers to create, test
and deploy a virtual desktop
with Windows 7 in minutes.
“Demand for VDI Gen2 continues
to grow as organizations seek
ways to drive greater efficiencies
and transform their desktop
environment to take advantage
of cloud computing and mobile
computing opportunities,” said
Jim Curtin, president and CEO
of Virtual Bridges. “GBM has an
incredible foothold in the market
and we’re thrilled to work with
them to expand our reach and
drive measurable ROI for their
customers.”
Key benefits of Virtual Bridges VERDE include:
Virtual Bridges VERDE is an award-winning desktop management and
provisioning solution that leverages virtualization to deliver desktops either
on-premises or in the cloud. VERDE helps enterprises transform TCO
by simplifying desktop management, improving security and compliance,
and increasing the organizational agility across Windows and Linux
environments. Virtual Bridges is headquartered in Austin, Texas.
http://vbridges.com
“As the leading VDI Gen2
solution, VERDE will help
our customers reduce desktop
TCO while increasing
organizational agility, productivity
and responsiveness
”
Virtual Bridges and Gulf Business Machines
Partner to Deliver VDI Gen2 to Organizations Throughout the Middle East

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in
networkingthattransformshowpeopleconnect,communicate
and collaborate. Cisco’s vision for the consumer is to
transform the home network into a solutions and services
platform that delivers great customer experiences..
www.cisco.com
The partnership will allow Cisco
Borderless Network Architecture
Learning Specialization to assess
the ability of a Learning Partner to
deliver quality classes around selling,
designing, installing, and supporting
Cisco products, technologies and
solutions that are under Cisco’s
Borderless Network Architecture.
With this partnership, GBM is entitled
to design and create Cisco Derivate
Works.
GBM shares a longstanding relation-
ship with Cisco and has been a Cisco
Learning Partner (CLP) since 2008
with strong presence in the UAE,
Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and
Pakistan. In addition, in June 2011,
GBM and Cisco jointly launched
Oman’s first and only Cisco training
center as part of GBM’s Learning
Services Platform. The full-fledged
training center was designed to offer
Cisco training services to job seekers
and IT professionals and deliver
Cisco authorized and approved
content, including technology,
product-specific and certification-
preparation courses.
This designation recognizes GBM
as having fulfilled the training
requirements and program pre-
requisites to design, resell, install
and maintain the Cisco® ASR 5000
Series multimedia core platform.
To qualify for the Cisco Mobile
Internet Technology ATP Program,
GBM had to meet a number of
requirements: having staff who fulfill
specific job responsibilities, taking
comprehensive courses, and passing
rigorous exams to validate technology
proficiency. Those requirements are
designed to help a partner maintain
high levels of customer satisfaction.
From Left to Right: H.H Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime
Minister, Chairman of the Supreme Committee for ICT, Kingdom of Bahrain presenting the
Diamond Sponsorship Award to GBM Chairman Mr. Jalal Mohammed Jalal
GBM Earns the
Cisco Borderless
Network
Architecture
Specialized Learning
Partner Status in the GCC
GBM recognized
by Cisco
as Mobile Internet
Technology Authorized
Technology Provider
in GCC
Gulf Business Machines
Receives Diamond
Sponsorship Award
at the Bahrain International
e-Government Forum
G B M N E W S | 2 3G B M N E W S | 2 2

revealed that a combination of
economic and operational factors
were the driving force behind a
significant uptake in demand for
virtualization solutions.
As it marked the completion of its
160th
virtualization project in the
Gulf region, earlier this year, the
company said that a combination of
a growing focus on reducing capital
expenditures, optimizing operating
expenses, improving business con-
tinuity and boosting business agility,
is driving businesses in the region to
invest in virtualization.
GBM, which had announced a 35
percent year-on-year growth in its
virtualization business, says that
its customers benefit from Total
Cost of Ownership (TCO) savings
ranging from 48 to 70 percent as a
result of deploying virtualization
solutions. Virtualization is the
technique of consolidating the
volume of IT resources required,
GBM: Economic, Operational Pressures
Driving Demand for Virtualization in Gulf
Businesses seeking to benefit from cost savings and improved efficiencies
This designation recognizes Gulf
Business Machines (GBM) as having
fulfilled the training requirements
and program prerequisites to
sell, deploy and support Cisco
TelePresence Video products and
solutions at the Advanced level.
The Cisco TelePresence Video
Advanced ATP Program is focused
on providing a new way of working
in which everyone, everywhere can
be more productive through face-to-
face collaboration with TelePresence
Video solutions.
GBM Recognized as Cisco
TelePresence®
Video
Advanced Authorized Technology
Partner in the Gulf region
G B M N E W S | 2 5G B M N E W S | 2 4
by creating virtual assets, such as
servers and customers experience a
range of benefits including reduced
power and cooling costs, a decline
in systems downtime, increased
IT administration productivity and
improved business agility.
“In many ways, the volume
of Virtualization projects
we are seeing in the
region is a clear
sign of the times
we live in. We
currently operate
in an environment
where the focus on
boosting efficiencies
is greater than ever
before and it is only
natural that businesses, big
and small, are seeking to reduce the
amount of underutilized IT resources
and, in the process, operating
costs,” said Cesare Cardone,
chief executive officer, GBM. “The
universality of this trend is reflected
in the diversity of our customer
base, which spans industries such
as banking, retail, government,
hospitality and transportation.”
GBM counts all the major server
consolidation and Virtualization
vendors as technology partners
in the region. This includes IBM,
VMware, Citrix and Red Hat.
Pappu R. Rao, director, Technology
Services, GBM, said: “Our track
record in virtualization is certainly not
a coincidence and is the result of our
long and varied experience in server
consolidation and our ability
to address all aspects
including design,
i m p l e m e n t a t i o n
and support for
v i r t u a l i z a t i o n
projects. We also
h a v e a l a r g e
technical resource
pool of certified
specialists that re-
presents all the key
competencies required to
successfully deliver virtualization
projects anywhere in the region.”
GBM also offers its customers
a seamless roadmap from vir-
tualization to cloud computing.
GBM’s Cloud Service offerings are
being evolved and now include
Cloud Infrastructure Management
comprising of PowerVM, VM Control
and Systems Director. GBM is also
able to integrate IBM and non-IBM
cloud solutions from partners using
an IBM cloud integration framework.
“Our track record
in virtualization is certainly
not a coincidence and is the
result of our long and varied
experience in server
consolidation”

Arab Financial Services (AFS), the
leading electronic payment service
provider in MENA, has selected Gulf
Business Machines (GBM), to install
the latest IBM’s Mainframe z114.
The deployment of the IBM
zEnterprise System Mainframe will
be managed by GBM’s division in
Bahrain, Bahrain Business Machines
(BBM). The deal also marks the first
deployment of IBM Mainframe model
z114 in Bahrain and across the GCC.
United Computer and Management
Consultancy Company (UCMC),
the leading IT solutions provider
in the UAE and Gulf Business
Machine’s (GBM) operation in
Dubai, announced that it has been
awarded an appreciation certificate
from the Department of Economic
Development (DED) for integrating
their IT environment and putting
in place the Department’s first IT
monitoring system. The managed
service is the first government
enterprise managed remotely by
UCMC, and it provides DED with the
ability to monitor and locate root
causes of incidents and mitigate
them more efficiently than previously
possible.
As part of the project, UCMC
implementedaRemoteInfrastructure
Managed Service in an OPEX model,
providing DED flexibility, better
control and availability of business
services to their end users. UCMC’s
solution includes a comprehensive
ITIL based Service Desk for incident
alert logging, tracking and resolution,
all of which is provided on a 24/7
basis from its NOC in Dubai subject
to Service Level Agreements (SLA’s).
Through the newly deployed service,
DED now has better visibility into
their IT infrastructure, including the
Network, and are able to proactively,
securely manage it.
Arab Financial
Services
deploy IBM
Mainframe Solution
GBM’s UCMC Awarded Appreciation Certificate
from Dubai’s Department of Economic Development
First-of-its-kind deployment by UCMC successfully provides DED with its first integrated monitoring service
Dubai, the second largest Emirate in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is one of the
fastest growing economies in the world. Driving this growth forward is the Department of
Economic Development (DED).
Led by the vision to set and drive the economic agenda of Dubai, our mission is to create
an environment for sustainable economic development to enhance the welfare and prosperity
of Dubai and the UAE. We plan to achieve this by developing economic policy and
regulations, identifying strategic growth sectors and providing efficient services to local and
international investors.
DED is responsible for business registration and licensing in Dubai as well as commercial
compliance and consumer protection. Together with our four agencies - the Foreign
Investment Office, the Export Development Corporation, the Dubai Shopping Festival
Office and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for Young Business Leaders - we
support and strengthen all economic drivers of Dubai, and work together to ensure that the
goals of the Dubai Strategic Plan are achieved.
Specialties
To create an environment for sustainable economic development to enhance the welfare and
prosperity of Dubai and the UAE.
http://www.dubaided.gov.ae
G B M N E W S | 2 6 G B M N E W S | 2 7
Founded in 1984, AFS is
the region’s leading provider of
electronic-payments and consumer-
finance outsourcing services. Created
by the financial industry to service
and support financial institutions
in the region and beyond, AFS
is owned by 40 of the region’s
leading banks and currently provides
outsourcing services to over 60 banks
and financial institutions.
www.afs.com.bh/company

International Information System
Security Certification Consortium
(ISC)² hosted earlier this month the
inauguration of the (ISC)² Kuwait
Chapter, the first approved (ISC)²
Chapter in the Gulf region. The
chapter was established by a team
of security professionals from the
Information Security Office at the
National Bank of Kuwait (NBK).
The (ISC)² Kuwait Chapter aims
to provide information security
managers and professionals in
Kuwait with quality insights to help
them enhance their understanding
of serious current and future IT
challenges and how to respond to
Cyber Security crimes.
The event, attended by over 50
security professionals was sponsored
in part by Gulf Business Machines
(GBM), who collaborated with its
partners IBM and Cisco to present a
holistic view on the cyber security
landscape in the region. Presentation
topics included insight into the
latest IT concerns facing the industry,
as well as findings on current IT
and Network Security challenges,
namely in Data, Applications, Identity,
People and Security Architecture
Infrastructure.
The findings were based on a recent
survey, conducted by GBM, polling
more than 900 IT professionals in
the region.
GBM Talks Cyber Security
at Middle East’s First (ISC)2
Chapter Inauguration in Kuwait
Gulf Business Machines chosen to present
key IT industry insights and predictions for
2013 at inaugural event
About International Information System Security Certification Consortium Chapter
(ISC)2
Headquartered in the United States and with offices in London, Hong Kong and Tokyo,
the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, Inc., (ISC)²®
, is
the global, not-for-profit leader in educating and certifying information security professionals
throughout their careers. They are recognized for Gold Standard certifications and world
class education programs.
They provide vendor-neutral education products, career services, and Gold Standard
credentials to professionals in more than 135 countries. (ISC)² take pride in their
reputation built on trust, integrity, and professionalism.
(ISC)2
Mission
To make society safer by improving productivity, efficiency and resilience of information-
dependent economies through information security education and certification.
G B M N E W S | 2 8 G B M N E W S | 2 9
GBM and BPMWave Partnering
for Customer Success
With a focus on Business Process
Optimization and Continuous
Improvement, BPM Wave AG
offers best-of-breed applications and
professional services to optimize and
continuously improve the performance
of client operations. BPM Wave’s
expertise in the areas of Enterprise
Architecture (EA), Business Process
Management (BPM), Enterprise
Application Integration (EAI) and
Enterprise Governance has been
recognized by both private and public
sector customers and strategic partners,
such as Metastorm and IBM, in both
cases, winning international awards for
application excellence.
The company’s Business Performance
Solutions Group develops and sells a
deep portfolio of market tested and
ready process applications for both
horizontal business use and Vertical
Market operations such as Oil & Gas,
Manufacturing, Retail & Distribution,
Legal and Pharmaceutical, to name
some. The company is headquartered
in Switzerland with development
operations in Bucharest.
www.BPMWave.ch
Customers want business outcomes,
not just IT infrastructure. In 2012,
GBM selected specific international
partners who have been leaders for
solutions in their markets, but have
not been active in the Gulf Region.
One example is BPMWave, which has
now formally partnered with GBM
to bring investment management
(MCP™) and approval management
(Plenary™) to the GBM territory.
BPMWave is a Swiss Headquartered
company with an operational center
in Bucharest. The company has
regional partnerships in the US,
Middle East, Europe and Australia.
Launching MCP™ and Plenary™ in
the Gulf region has opened many
opportunities for GBM and BPMWave,
including providing investment and
approval management solutions for
private and public organizations in
industries like Oil & Gas, Energy,
Government, and Telco.
This partnership will strengthen the
GBM capabilities around industry
domains and business process
optimization.
“The immediate response from
customers, particularly in Kuwait and
Abu Dhabi, has been outstanding. Big
project spend means big financial
risk. We now have a partner who
can talk the language of large scale
investment and complement GBM
knowledge of customers’ current
IT environment,” said John Banks,
Director of Software Group at GBM.
“For us, the openness of the Gulf
market and the need for BPM,
integration and analytics have
proven that while specific in
culture and practices, companies
face similar problems worldwide
and need specialized providers to
offer turnkey solutions to these
challenges. Investment and approval
management are areas where
BPMWave can serve the market
with globally proven solutions and
seamless expertise for fast and high
ROI implementations,” says Adela
Cornescu, BPMWave CEO.
“This partnership will
strengthen the GBM capabilities
around industry domains and
business process optimization.
”

OUR
EXECUTIVES
Andreas Weiss
Director of Systems and Technology Group
Haneef Akhtar
Chief Financial Officer
John Banks
Director of Software Group
Seyed Golkar
Director of Business Solutions
Shawki Hussain
Director of Human Resources and Learning
Services
Cesare Cardone
Chief Executive Officer
Christopher Lloyd
Country General Manager, GBM Oman
Piero Corsini
Country General Manager, Khorafi Business
Machines (KBM)
Soubhi Chebib
Country General Manager, GBM Qatar
Hani Nofal
Director of Intelligent Network Solutions
Miguel Khouri
Country General Manager, GBM Abu Dhabi
MEET OUR EXECUTIVES | 30
Abdulla Ishaq
Country General Manager, Bahrain Business
Machines (BBM)
Akram Ayyad
General Manager, Personal Systems Division
Ashok Bhola
Country General Manager, United Computer
and Management Consultancy Company (UCMC)
Pappu Rao
Director of Technology Services
and Technical Support Services

G B M I N T H E M E D I A | 3 2 G B M I N T H E M E D I A | 3 3
GBM: IT Security Solutions for Law
Enforcement or Corporate Entities
Interview Soubhi Chebib, Country General Manager, GBM Qatar
Could you describe Gulf business Machines’
activity and its main offers in Security
Solutions?
...............................................
Founded in 1990, Gulf Business
Machines (GBM) is the leading IT
Solutions provider in the region
fulfilling the IT requirements of
local, regional and international
organizations in the GCC through
1,000 professionals and over 20 solid
strategic partnerships forged with
internationally-recognised IT solution
providers. GBM is the sole distributor
for IBM-excluding selected IBM
products and services – throughout
the GCC, except for Saudi Arabia.
GBM’s momentum was further
enhanced in 1999, when the team
secured the Cisco portfolio. Today
GBM holds the highest level or
recognition in the region from Cisco,
Gold Partner status.
You are displaying the IBM Law Enforcement
Analytics & Crime Prevention Solution, a
solution used by different police department
in the USA where it served to decrease serious
crime by up to 31%. Can you tell us more
about this predictive tool and how it might
be used in the Middle-East?
.............................................
The goal of intelligence activities is
to uncover security threats with pre-
emptive approach and to enable law
enforcement agents to take action
before a threat occurs. To meet this
challenge predictive analytics is
required.
IBM predictive analytics software
compiles volumes of crime records
in seconds, including incoming data
sources from patrols pertaining
to type of criminal offence, time of
day, day of week and various victim/
offender characteristics. With this
information, police departments
can better guide daily decisions that
address criminal activity and place
officers in a better strategic position
to respond to an unfolding crime.
Predictive analytics solutions apply
sophisticated, statistical data
exploration and machine-learning
techniques to historical information
in order to help agencies uncover
hidden patterns and trends – even
in large, complex datasets. Not only
in huge tables of structured data
but also in vast amounts of textual
data – including e-mail and chat
room interactions – that agencies
must evaluate. By using predictive
analytics, you can anticipate what
types of intervention will be needed
and where. With the wide variety of
data dimensions, types and sources
on an ongoing basis, combined with
the Middle East being one of the most
significant global hubs for travel,
banking, tourism and commerce, law
enforcement agencies can leverage
this capability to enhance the fight
against people smuggling, organized
criminal activities, hacking attacks,
serious fraud and other threats to
national security.
Also offer some security solutions in terms of
data recovery or cyber-crime.
How sensitive are your clients to these risks
they might sometimes underestimate?
.............................................
Organizations are placing increased
emphasis on improving their data
recovery capabilities. They are
looking for complete data backup
and recovery system and strategy
to ensure that the critical data be
available and accessible when you
need it. GBM, through IBM software
products and services provides
solutions to address this challenge.
IBM provides unique solutions for
continuous real-time protection of
critical data on laptops and file servers.
Threats have increased exponentially
to disrupt services of organizations.
Hacktivism, Cyber-crime, cyber-
espionage and cyber-war-fare have
increased to make the job of CIO/CSO
extremely complex for organizations.
In such situations Being Proactive
is very critical for organizations
to understand the risks within.
“GBM: IT security solutions
for law enforcement
or corporate entities”
published in Milipol
Qatar Daily, October 2012

G B M I N T H E M E D I A | 3 4
A Tech
Government
Hani Nofal, director of Intelligent Network Solutions at GBM discusses the
relevance of technology in modern-day governance and explains how political
bodies should use it for better efficiency in policy implementation.
What is the relevance of IT to the modern
government?
................................................
Several governments in our region
have recently begun to be vocal
about the main values and drivers
behind their national agendas. For
example, Bahrain Vision 2030 talks
about fairness and openness,
Qatar Strategy 2030 includes social
development and personal freedoms,
Dubai Strategy 2015 addresses
the quality of social services, and
Abu Dhabi Vision 2030 stresses on
building knowledge-based industries
in the future.
On the macro-level, a common
priority across all these strategies is
developing a sufficient and resilient
infrastructure capable of supporting
the anticipated economic growth.
Policy makers surely realise the
critical role that a modern IT platform
plays to allow them to achieve that.
The immediate benefits of such a
platform will be gain operational
efficiencies and employee pro-
ductivity. They can also use it to
improve the quality and relevance
of policymaking and government
services in a way that makes a real
difference to the general population.
A modern IT platform not only
enables governments to offer
new suites of electronic services
to citizens and businesses, but
could also be used to improve the
communication and interactions
between Government and the public
and increase transparency.
The latest Web 2.0 or social media
tools change the way we collaborate
and communicate and represent a
fundamental shift in the nature of
the Internet and our relationship
with it and with each other. No longer
just a way to distribute and access
information and services, the web
is now allowing people to come
together and do things in new ways.
How conducive are government organisa-
tions to using the latest in technology in the
Middle East?
................................................
The public, especially the young
“millennial” generation, is increas-
ingly using the latest IT and social
media tools to fulfill the most of their
desires: belong to a community of a
group, share experiences, seek out
new information and opportunities
and engage in conversations and
debates.
In a young region like ours,
governments have started to realise
that they need to go where their
constituents are in order to engage
them proactively. The biggest proof
point is that a number of regional
leaders have created Facebook,
Twitter or Youtube channel accounts.
This is in addition to almost every
major public figure, or government
organisation.
With increasing public participation,
regional governments might have
the chance to further engage
more skilled users in improving
e-services through access to co-
production tools, and to expand the
use of government services and data
through user-friendly application
interfaces.
What countries in the region are more
advanced in their technology usage in the
region? Why?
................................................
It is important to realise that public
access to the network will decide
the extent to which the region can
build extensive, representative and
enabled communities. Hence the
readiness and affordability of both the
broadband and mobile infrastructure
plays a major role in the adoption and
success of any government services.
According to the United Nations
e-Government Survey 2012, the
UAE, Qatar and Bahrain where
among the few countries from our
region that come close to having a
pure one-stop-shop e-government
portal with information, services and
participation services integrated on
one site, whilst most countries follow
the approach of having separate
portals for their e-services.
According to the same survey, the UAE
jumped in the world e-Government
development index from rank 49 in
2010 to 28 in 2012 becoming one of
the most advanced in the western
Asia region. This is probably not a
surprise for a country that enjoys a
broadband infrastructure with the
highest quality, and more than 69%
internet users penetration and almost
66% Facebook users penetration
(ref: www.socialbakers.com and
www.internetworldstats.com).
Qatar jumped from position 62 in
2010 to 48 in 2012 whilst Bahrain
came in position 36. Kuwait and
Oman followed in positions 63 and 64
respectively.
What are the challenges faced by governments
in implementing and using technology?
What are the most common mistakes
governments make when implementing and
using technology?
How should governmental IT teams
function differently from their peers in the
private enterprise sector?
................................................
Governments in general face en-
ormous pressures and obstacles. In
addition to high public expectations
for improved services and better
outcomes, along with severe
financial pressure, governments are
confronting large challenges that
cross boundaries and are influenced
by factors far beyond the ability
of any one government to control.
Unfortunately, for the most part, gov-
ernments seek to address these 21st
century challenges using 19th
century
structures, processes, and tools.

As a result, much work is being done
globally to harness the concepts,
technologies, and applications of
IT to explore and develop effective
new models of government and
governance, for today and the future.
Successful governments have the
potential to lead the innovation
and development that can position
the public sector as a driver of
demand for ICT infrastructure
and applications in the broader
economy. Governments can learn
from the private enterprise model in
building their collaborative services
across departments and agencies
and drive towards personalisation
and multichannel service delivery.
In addition, build the structures
to support the government-to-
government (G2G) and citizen-to-
government/government-to-citizen
(C2G) services.
However, the public sector in general
could be slower in adopting some of
the complex services such as Cloud-
based services. Although such
services will equip governments with
greater efficiency by helping them
scale up their e-services and storage
capacity as it evolves.
Obviouslyamongthemainchallenges
from large scale adoption of cloud
based services in governments is
data security, privacy and regulatory
environment.
This topic is understood and respected
when it comes to the sensitive
data that some of the government
agencies might deal with.
Without a doubt, governments cannot
avoid adopting cloud, mobility or
social media based services. Hence
the continued reform in governance
systems will be critical to accelerate
growth and ensure success. A topic
that might seem less relevant to
some private enterprises that by
default will be faster to the decision
and more open to take risk.
How important is the government segment
for GBM? What are GBM’s strategic
initiatives for the next 12 months in order to
remain relevant for government organisations
in the region?
................................................
The public sector and government
sector represent a substantial
business for GBM in the region.
We have been serving this sector for
more than two decades which allowed
us to understand the challenges
of this business and gave us the
opportunity to grow our solutions
and services to better serve it.
We realise that governments in the
region want to fully harness the
power of ICT to evolve their internal
and external services. Public sector
agencies are looking for regional
solutions providers, such as GBM, that
can evolve to support them to achieve
that. GBM is uniquely positioned to
achieve that with its exclusive and
comprehensive solutions portfolio,
strong partnerships, rich services
offerings including professional
services, support and learning
services.
GBM understands the need to move
from being a traditional systems
integrator to become a human
systems integrator which will enable
governments to unleash the power of
their internal users and extend their
e-services to their citizens anywhere,
anytime and on any mobile device.
We, at GBM have built over the
years a rich intellectual capital and
experiences in key public sector
verticals such as public safety and
security, education, healthcare
among others. Moreover, GBM
is taking this experience and
portfolio to the next level by
allowing governments to build new
consumption cloud-based models
for these services whilst supporting
the latest collaboration and video,
social media, security and mobility
services.
“A tech government” published in
Industry Focus (CNME), July 2012

A Different
Beat
Regional system integrator Gulf
Business Machines is transforming
its networking business with a focus
on four emerging technologies.
GBM’s networking business, which
was known as Integrated Networking
and Site Services, will now be
rebranded as INS (Intelligent Network
Solution), reflecting the shift in the
company’s strategy to transform its
networking business. “The idea is not
to drop an S and we believe there is
an inflection point in the networking
systems integration business.
We have been very successful in
delivering traditional networking
solutions but now we are moving
into advanced and innovative areas
of technology, and the idea is to be
ready for the next three to five years,”
says Hani Nofal, Director of INS.
According to Nofal, the traditional
role of SI was focused on building
multiple systems in silos and finding
“A different beat”
published in Computer News
Middle East, August 2012
a common language to get these
systems to work together:
“WE are moving to build on
that experience and rather
than just integrating systems
together we are moving to the
concept of human systems
integration. We believe this
is the key to success in our
industry where you have to
not only integrate systems
but also drive that experience
to connect with humans around the
systems,” he says.
GBM’s network strategy is based on
four key components and the first
trend that SI aims to cash in on is
the increased demand for secure
mobility. “Users are demanding to
be always connected and have bigger
pipes. This year, the number of
mobile devices globally has equaled
the population of the earth, and by
2016, the total number of connected
devices will reach around 10 billion.
This puts increased demand on
networks, whether it’s mobile
networks or Wi-Fi, and we should be
ready for this demand for bigger and
reliable pipes,” says Nofal.
The third pillar of GBM’s
growth blueprint is
around social media
and Nofal cites some
of the stats to back
up why it is important
to his company.
“Facebook has 900
million users and is still
counting. In 2010 YouTube
had two billion views a day and
as of May 2012, it has four billion
views. More and more businesses
are looking to integrate social
media as a way to reach out to
customers and employees. This
phenomenon is going to test
our readiness and ability as Sis
to provide solutions to enterprises
that will allow them to benefit from
social media.”
He adds SIs will no longer have to
just lay the foundation of network
and leave it to customers, but build
networks that will support social
media and video. “We are spending
a lot of time building our own
capabilities in this area. You have to
build intelligent networks and load it
with applications and solutions that
will allow enterprises to harness the
benefits of social media.”
GBM is also trying to benefit from this
intersection of social media video and
mobility and drive solutions around
some nice areas such as mobile
commerce and mobile banking.
“Banks that were conservative are
now forced to offer online banking
on mobile devices and we need
to be ready to capitalize on
these trends.
Another evolving area
where we have a keen
interest is mobile
wallets, and we are
trying to develop
solutions that can sup-
port both retailers and
consumers,” says Nofal.
GBM reckons one cannot be
successful in any of these new areas
of technology if they don’t really
understand how to deliver solutions
and services in a new manner;
underpinned by virtualization and
cloud, which is the fourth component
of company’s growth blueprint. “You
need to really build much bigger
reliable and highly virtualized data
centres to be able to store your data
and deliver in a cloud fashion,” says
Nofal.
Though GBM will continue to offer
basic network foundation layer
services, it is planning to raise the
bar and differentiate from others
by the strength of its vast regional
experience and intellectual assets.
“You have
to build intelligent
networks and load it
with applications and
solutions that will allow
enterprises to harness
the benefits of social
media ”
“It is very easy for
you to be in the
foundation layer, and
build connectivity, data
centres, etc. But to be
able to offer your services
around these emerging
technologies you need to be able
to spend a lot of time in the kitchen
and upgrade your skills. Though this
is primarily a networking strategy,
we will have to collaborate internally
across our multiple lines of business
to be successful,” says Nofal.
Can GBM pull off this ambitious
plan? The SI, which boasts of around
22 years of regional experience and
some of the leading vendors under
its belt, has the right credential but
it requires completely new way of
thinking in order to reach where it
wants to be in the next three years.

Banking on Mobility
The influence of mobility, driven by
the proliferation of smartphones and
tablets, has spread rapidly through
demographics and verticals. In no
industry has this been more the case
than banking, which is both blessed
and blighted with one of the highest
levels of consumer expectations.
Customers want the high level of
user experience they get on their
smartphones to be matched when
carrying out services at their bank.
Why should someone have to go to
a bank or even computer to get a
statement or make a transaction
when they’ve got a device in their
pocket perfectly capable of doing the
same thing?
However, banks must be careful to
balance this question with the vital
issue of maintaining security. It’s all
well and good being able to carry out
these services on your smartphone,
but that of course opens up a plethora
of new protection concerns. It is this
convergence of all online, offline
and mobile technology into a “post-
channel world’ that is the top trend
in the Middle East banking industry
right now, according to Seyed Golkar,
Director, Business Solutions, GBM.
“Smartphones and tablets are
ubiquitous and banks will have to
launch next generation technology
initiatives not only to stay competitive
and increase their market share, but
to also counter security concerns
relatedtothesometimescarefreeuse
of mobile devices by their customers
and staff,” Golkar says.
“The competitive edge will be
with those banks who master this
mobile evolution best while gaining
meaningful insights into customer
behaviour and profitability from the
vast amount of data gathered along
the way,” he adds.
Riding the wave
According to Golkar, banking is one
of the most progressive industries
in the Middle East, which excels as
a region where banks look to apply
state of the art technologies in order
GBM’s Director of Business Solutions, Seyed Golkar, gives his take on the Middle
East banking industry, emphasising the importance in embracing the significant shift
towards mobility, and protecting customers accordingly.
to enhance their market position.
This is particularly the case when
it comes to operational efficiencies
and customer services. He refers
to the “next wave” of technology
advancement being experienced in
the Middle East.
“Banks in the region have either
completed their data consolidation
and application integration, or are
actually going through this step as
we speak. The next, and crucial,
task for Middle East banks will be
to utilise the technology available to
them in such a way that noticeably
improves the customer experience,”
Golkar says.
Looking forward, the next technology
trendthatwillcapturetheMiddleEast
banking industry is the application of
analytics. “For example, banks can
look into the wealth of warehoused
data and social media information in
order to get a better understanding
of customer services, and thus offer
services that are much more tailored
to individual customer needs.
“This will eventually take the ‘know
your customer’ (KYC) concept to
‘know your customer behaviour’
(KYCB).Fromanin-houseproductivity
and efficiency perspective, banks
will largely depend on their
implementation of business process
management solutions with models
and concepts customised to the
social, economic and regulatory
requirements of the region.”
Golkar refers to the cultural and
demographic diversity of banking
customers in most GCC countries
as necessitating a “reasonably
sophisticated” banking industry in
the region. This, in turn, demands
application of advanced technologies
in this market sector. “We do
encounter some early adopters of
new trends in technology, such as
cloud computing. The majority of
banks, however, seem to prefer a
more conservative approach,” Golkar
says.
A sensitive subject
The banking industry, with the
possible exception of government,
is the vertical which holds the most
sensitive customer data.
With this in mind, there are existing
tools and technologies that, if
deployed correctly by banks, will
allow a much higher data protection
and help eliminate vulnerabilities
that have recently been experienced
by some organisations. “These
technologies have successfully
been used by some cloud service
providers and are available to
any organisation,” Golkar says.
“Regardingdataprotection,weseean
increasing trend in the region to plan
ahead and create the behavioural
changes that are needed, instead
of reacting to the next ‘big event’.”
He adds that security in general,
and data protection in particular,
is not a regional issue, but one that
concerns organisations worldwide.
“Customer trust will naturally lean
towards those organisations that
take timely actions and correctly
deploy the necessary preventative
measures. The key to gaining and
retaining customer trust, however,
can not only be based on protecting
and safeguarding data - which is not
only invisible to the customer but also
expected from a bank - but also on
finding the right balance of security/
risk protection and service quality in
the business processes. This avoids
the situation where every customer
interaction with the bank becomes
time consuming and cumbersome
just for ‘security reasons’.” With
regards to implementing the right
solutions to ensure protection of
customer data, Golkar believes the
best approach is to employ an overall
security framework that addresses
people, applications, channels
and processes. He adds that these
existing sophisticated technologies
that address vulnerability must be
deployed as a matter of urgency.
Looking forward, business process
managementandchannelintegration
are key requisites for any bank to
provide their customers with the
banking experience of the future,
while at the same time increasing
efficiency and ensuring regulatory
compliance, according to Golkar.
“Many banks in the region still
struggle with how best to streamline
their processes, especially across
multiple channels, and the technical
challenges of collecting data,
analysing it and producing actionable
insight,” he says.
“With the technology available today,
the driving forces within the bank
will no longer be IT and operations,
but the risk managers, customer
relationshipmanagersandmarketing
managers. Data consolidation and
integration, together with analytics,
analytics and analytics will epitomise
the banking industry in 2013.”
“Banking on Mobility” published in CNME,
Banking Supplement, December 2012
“With the technology available
today, the driving forces within
the bank will no longer be IT and
operations, but the risk managers,
customer relationship managers
and marketing managers
”

A Giant in Services
“GBM Business Solutions comes
to the forefront by offering true-blue
consultancy on IT in business.
”
What are the various services GBM
provides?
................................................
GBM offers a broad expertise across
servers, storage, software and
technical support and is specialized
in delivering innovative products and
solutions that help meet customer
business goals in ways not previously
thought possible. From applications
and skills to technology resources,
GBM delivers flexibility through
a choice of platforms, a broad
portfolio and integrated virtualization
capabilities—all built on open
industry standards to help meet any
enterprise’s needs, which include
IBM Power Systems, IBM System x
and BladeCenter, IBM System z and
IBM System Storage.
Discuss your various divisions?
................................................
The company offers key services in
several areas. Among these, GBM
Technical Support Services has
Founded in 1990, Gulf Business Machines (GBM) is a leading IT solutions
provider in the region. A spin-off from IBM, GBM is the sole distributor
for IBM – excluding selected IBM products and services – throughout the
GCC, except for Saudi Arabia. Cesare Cardone, CEO, GBM speaks to The
Integrator about the company’s domains of focus
cultivated an offer comprising of top-
notch project management experts
that are able to determine the most
effective means of achieving the
IT objectives and demands of an
organisation. GBM’s Technology
Services (TS) encompasses a wide
range of services from infrastructure
design and implementation to
IT operations. TS has two major
portfolios of service offerings -
Platform Software Services and
Managed Services.
GBM Networking Services includes
a cluster of world-class consultants,
architects and project managers to
offer relevant consulting, integration,
deployment and network support,
region wide. The company is able to
deliverlarge,complex,missioncritical
Emerging Network Technologies and
IT infrastructure solutions.
GBM Business Solutions comes to
the forefront by offering true-blue
consultancy on IT in business. This
is achieved by providing counsel on
methods for the effective, efficient
implementation of IT solutions and
services through a team of highly
skilled consultants.
GBM Learning Services is the region’s
leading IT training provider. With
over 1,000 comprehensive training
programs on offer across the Middle
East and North Africa (MENA) region,
GBM Learning Services trains over
3,000 IT professionals annually.
It is an exclusive training provider
for selected IBM technologies and
a Cisco Borderless Network
Architecture Specialized Learning
Partner for the MENA region.
Please elaborate in detail about services
rendered by your Technical Support Services,
Technology Services and Networking Services:
................................................
GBM’s TSS specialists aim to provide
an all-encompassing holistic IT
support from deploying resources
to end-product functionality, to a
reliable, integrated, secure system, in
addition to support and maintenance.
Undoubtedly, TSS offers the industry’s
most complete menu of IT services
in the region.
The services menu includes GBM
maintenance services that protect
the IT investment and ensure
the availability of the production
environment after deployment and
GBM support line services which
provide on-call IT answers to all
‘how-to’questionsrelatedtosoftware
installation and usage. Platform
Software Services and Managed
Services are part of GBM’s Technology
Services (TS) Platform Software
Services cover Server Platform.
Platform Software Services team
comprises of consultants, technical
architects, specialists and project
managers offering consultation,
technical design, implementation
and solutions. The team has deployed
numerous small, medium to large
scale projects, successfully, in
nearly all industries across the GCC.

Typically, is the percentage of work
orders more from recurring customer
upgrades?
................................................
Going by 2011 data, around 80% of the
business is from existing customer
base. This is not something new. Over
the years, if we analyze the data, we
will find a similar trend.
Do you see the Pareto principle apply
well to your business?
................................................
Yes, it does apply well. In fact,
sometimes the percentage goes
above 80%.
How do you handle larger customer
accounts separately within the company
structure in terms of dedicated Account
teams etc?
................................................
We do have dedicated Account
representative for each customer.
Apart from this, there is also the
involvement of various functions and
specialists at various levels. This
involves relation building, Solution
offering, proposal preparation, project
delivery and so on. This is the
usual approach we take to handling
customeraccounts.Wemanagelarge
accounts with dedicated sales team
focused on specific industries such
as Financial Services, Government,
Energy, and so forth.
“A giant in services”
published in The Integrator, July 2012
highest level of recognition in the
region from Cisco. Today, GBM is
one of the largest IT solutions
providers in the GCC, with more
than 1000 employees and over 20
solid strategic partnerships forged
with internationally recognised IT
solution providers. This means that
GBM can offer an extensive range
of IT infrastructure, IT solutions and
services ranging from consulting,
resource deployment and integration
to after-sales support.
In comparison to other SI partners of
IBM in the region, do you believe GBM
is more privileged by virtue of its closer
association with IBM?
................................................
Given GBM’s unique and close
relationship with IBM, GBM has been
both,privilegedandmorespecialized.
GBM has maintained its status as not
only the largest SI partner for IBM
technologies, but also the leading
SI player in the region. GBM is in
this position today on account of its
strong affinity with IBM from a people,
process and technology standpoint.
Firstly, the majority of the people in
GBM across all lines of businesses at
all levels are in fact ex IBM employees
from all over the world. They bring
along a rich set of skills, certifications
and experiences that are much
appreciated by our customers.
Secondly, GBM’s business processes
including sales, marketing, training
We have tie-ups with major server
consolidation and virtualization
vendors including IBM, VMware,
Citrix and Red Hat and have delivered
numerous successful virtualization
projects in heterogeneous server
and storage environments.
We offer Managed Operations to
provide on-site and remotely through
State Data Center (SDC) network,
infrastructure and application
operations. Our Managed Workplace
services for the desktop and smart
devicesincluderemotemanagement,
software distribution, asset tracking
and service desk services.
As for GBM Networking Services, the
company’s special legacy relationship
with IBM and decade old partnership
with Cisco adds considerable value by
ensuring professional expertise with
the highest level of Cisco Certification.
This includes Cisco’s CCIE and CCNP/
CCDP professional status, and Cisco
Advanced Technology Provider (ATP)
status in TelePresence (TP- ATP),
Outdoor Wireless Mesh (OWM- ATP)
and Video Surveillance (VS- ATP).
How has GBM benefitted from close
association with both IBM and Cisco?
................................................
GBM is the sole distributor for IBM–
excluding selected IBM products
and services – throughout the GCC,
except for Saudi Arabia. In 1999,
GBM’s momentum was further
enhanced when the team secured
“GBM has maintained
its status as not only the
largest SI partner for
IBM technologies, but
also the leading SI player
in the region.
”
A Giant in Servicesand education, project services
implementation, post implementation
support and most importantly our HR
processes are substantially based
on IBM policies, methodologies and
standards.
Finally, working with customers
across complex projects for a
number of years in conjunction with
IBM, GBM has been able to build an
enormous knowledge base of best
practices,frameworks,architectures,
SOPs and so forth that are constantly
enhanced.
The above factors have ensured that
satisfied customers place their trust
and confidence in GBM’s capabilities
as their partner of choice thereby
differentiating us from anyone else.
In summary, GBM is IBM for our
customers, being also the exclusive
distributor for a vast number of IBM
products in the region.

Companies across the GCC have
grown enormously over the years.
Each company has to go through
the process of fixing the inevitable
inefficiencies built up during their
time of growth and focus on building
an efficient corporation. It is imp-
ortant to maintain this focus, and
always be on the lookout for areas a
company can enhance. We are facing
different market conditions today and
it is vital to make sure we become
more efficient in order to make it
work,” says Cesare Cardone, CEO at
Gulf Business Machines (GBM).
He continues, “When GBM was
first formed, it functioned
in a very different en-
vironment to what we
experience today. The
differences do not
begin or end with
the sophistication of
technology at the time.
We now work in an
industry, which caters
to increasingly granular
needs, be it technology or
skills. We also contend with
a fast evolving environment
where companies like ours
need to adapt quickly.
“Whether the challenge was
economic, technological or just
plain simple business, Cardone
says the company overcame them
all by following a customer centric
approach. “We focused on delivering
the right products and services at the
right time. That, in essence, is the
bottom line. On the other hand, the
value of a systems integrator is
to become the right medium
between business needs
and the use of IT. Skills
are very different now
as customer needs
have changed and it’s
important to keep
ourselves constantly
updated in order to
face today’s challenges,”
Cardone adds.
Cardone who prior to joining
GBM, spent close to 25
years at IBM across
v a r i o u s r o l e s
including VP of HR
for South Europe,
IBM VP of EMEA
operations and IBM
GM for the MEA
region, believes that the
role of a group executive
changes as the culture of the
company changes. In addition,
the responsibilities evolve in
accordance with changes in
the market and customer
environment. “The economic
recession has reminded us
that as company leaders, we
must keep our feet on the ground
and maintain our growth strategies
in line with how we predict the
economic landscape to be,” he says.
Cardone believes that without
passion one cannot be successful.
Even after 37 years in the business,
he says he enjoys every minute of
what he does. He adds that the ability
to look ahead and make decisions
based on long term strategies is
equally important. These strategies,
he feels must work with a company’s
strengths while addressing its’ weak-
nesses. The tricky part is balancing
your focus on with the need to remain
flexible in order to adapt market
dynamics, he adds.
Cardone adds that the ability to
understand the market, the industry
and its various components and
stakeholders is fundamental to
success.
“The IT industry moves very fast and
we are always trying to foresee the
challenges and opportunities that the
next six months to a year will bring.
The complexities of the market can
be overcome by being prepared for
future requirements as the market
changes. A huge part of success lies
in increasing the skills of individuals
you employ and then the number
of people you can afford to employ.
Finally, I believe a little bit of luck
goes a long way,” Cardone says.
“Making the right decisions is not
always difficult,” he says. There is a
great chance of risk involved, which
according to him is both, the most
challenging and the most enjoyable
part of being a CEO Perhaps the
most challenging part is when you
need to make crucial decisions. “It
is very dangerous to build prejudice
or have sympathy based on affinity
or any other personal emotions. It is
always important to remind yourself
that your customer’s benefit as a
priority,” he says.
“The Titans”
published in Reseller Middle East, June 2012
“The IT
industry moves very
fast and we are always
trying to foresee the chal-
lenges and opportunities
that the next six months
to a year will bring ”

Q&A Future
Focused
“The years between
2005 and 2008 saw
formidable growth for
the IT industry.
”
What does your company do?
................................................
Gulf Business Machines (GBM) is
a leading IT solutions provider in
the region fulfilling IT requirements
of organisations in the GCC. The
company was founded in 1990 and
has offices in the UAE in Abu Dhabi,
Dubai and Sharjah, as well as Kuwait,
Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain.
A spin-off from IBM, GBM is the
sole distributor for IBM – excluding
selected IBM products and services –
Network Middle East talks to Cesare Cardone, CEO of Gulf
Business Machines about the IT solutions market in 2012
throughout the GCC, except for Saudi
Arabia. In 1999, GBM’s momentum
was further enhanced when the team
secured the Cisco portfolio.
Today GBM holds the highest level of
recognition in the region from Cisco,
Gold Partner status, in addition
to the Cisco Borderless Network
Architecture Specialised Learning
Partner status.
GBM offers a wide range of IT
infrastructure, solutions and
services from consulting, resource
deployment and integration to after-
sales support.
What is the biggest challenge for CIOs in
2012?
................................................
For some, the biggest challenge
CIOs will face in 2012 is that of
limited access to capital expenditure,
while simultaneously dealing with
pressures to curtail operational
expenditure.
We expect that our customers will
not invest in large projects but in a
few, focused initiatives. In 2012, we
anticipate that our customers will
focus on projects where short-term
return on investment is well defined
and will focus on virtualisation,
consolidation, outsourcing / out-
tasking expenses.
Summarising 2011 from GBM’s perspective
................................................
2011 was a challenging year for the
IT industry and we, at GBM, were not
immune to its effects. The first half of
2011 saw us achieve growth that was
higher than expected. However, we
did start to see a significant cooling
in demand during the third quarter,
though this was partially offset by
a very good recovery in the fourth
quarter of 2011.
Predictions for 2012
................................................
I believe that 2012 will see an
extension of the challenging
economic climate we witnessed in
I’ve said this before and I will
unhesitatingly say it again: the
years between 2005 and 2008 saw
formidable growth for the IT industry.
Post-2008 however, the market
has returned to a more stable,
less surprising environment with a
growth rate that can be described as
robust growth compared with US and
Western Europe.
Yes, the market has not fully
recovered and there is still a strong
element of caution but the fact of
the matter is that this scenario is
moving toward a stabilisation. For
us, this creates a new challenge and
an opportunity. It has been necessary
to change the mindset that evolved
during the 2005-2008 period that saw
the industry catering to demand.
The challenge we now face is that we
have to create demand. How do we
do that? We do it through innovation
and developing solutions that our
clients need.
“Q&AFutureFocused”published in
Network Middle East, April 2012
2011. I believe that 2012 will be a
year of caution as businesses will
try their best to safeguard their cash
flow and contain capital expenditure
and expenses. We do not expect
much investment in large, long-term
projects as our customers retain
their focus on immediate priorities
and on solutions that deliver much-
needed short-term benefits.
From a GBM perspective caution will
certainly not translate into stalled
growth. We will continue to act with
prudence and will invest in areas of
our business that we see demand
for. One area we see as having
significant potential is our Network
Operations Centre (NOC). It helps
reduce costs, boosts operational
efficiencies and has an immediate
impact on improving a company’s IT
expenditure.
Is the market fully recovered? Or are there
still challenges of the previous economic
crisis?
................................................

“Globally, the reason why companies
are virtualising is for lower TCO,
in terms of reducing the amount
of spend on maintenance and
energy costs,” says Pappu Rao,
director of technology services
at Gulf Business Machines,
which has completed over 160
virtualization projects in the region.
Rao does observe however, that
companies with more business on
the web often have a greater affinity
for virtualization. “They probably
see greater benefits. Also, I think
organizations that have strategy
aligned to their business objectives
see more benefit,” he adds.
Despite all these benefits, vendors
admit projects often don’t run
smoothly with some organizations.
“We see varying degrees of
maturity from customers in terms
of skill levels and experiences in
virtualizations. Certain organizations
are already ahead, but other are a
bit late in catching up,” says Rao.
“Challenges come with how aligned
the organization’s virtualization
strategy is with their particular
business strategy. There is a lot of
hand holding that we have to do
with these customers. Then from a
project management point of view,
when you are trying to convert to
virtual servers, you need down time.
People don’t really plan down time
in ever structured way,” he adds.
“I am very bullish on the fact that
all of the projects we have done
have been successful. In terms of
success, whatever objectives these
organizations set forward to achieve
they achieved that and far beyond that.
There are challenges in between in
terms of not having detailed amount
of planning, but overall these projects
have by far achieved their objectives.
When it comes to cost saving,
better manageability and
ease of administration,
all objectives have
always been met,”
Rao says.
Rao speaks of three
distinct patterns that are emerging.
The first being virtualization
emerging very strong within small
and medium sized enterprises that
are looking at it as a stool more
for business agility and business
continuity. The second being the
growth of desktop virtualization. “The
third that we see is enterprises now
looking at virtualization as a national
journey into private cloud computing
they are looking at setting up private
clouds and experimenting with
private clouds. We are working with
organizations that have private clouds
and they are trying to put less critical
workloads and staging environments
on the private cloud. Virtualization is
s prerequisite of the cloud,” he says.
He adds that GBM has observed
the UAE as “pretty much in
the forefront” in terms
of adoptability of vir-
tualization and cloud
computer will
become a universal
practice,” he says.
“Beyond the Hype” published
in CNME, April 2012
Beyond the Hype
“I am very bullish on the
fact that all of the projects
we have done have been
successful
”

Horizons 2013 IT Magazine

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