ISSUE 20
A
Intelligent briefin
gs for Middl
e East and Africa
PUBLIC ATION
channel partn
ers
Supplementing
supply
chain stren
gth
KUSHAL NAHAT
A, CO-FOUNDER
AND CEO OF FAREYE
Driving the
channel
market in Afric
a
ANDRIE
Mark Bowen is Lynchpin Media’s Managing
Editor, and Editor of Intelligent CIO Middle East
and Intelligent Tech Channels. He has more than
10 years’ experience of editing newspapers and
magazines in the UK.
S JANSE VAN RENSB
URG,
CHANNEL MANAG
ER AT WESTCON
Powering the
Internet of
Everything
FRED SAAYMAN,
PINNACLE’S HUAWE
I
BUSINESS UNIT
EXECUTIVE
DISTRIBUTI
NG SUCCES
Amanulla Khan
, Managing
Director, Links
Africa, on the
ys, Middle East,
company’s
continuing
Turkey and
success story
network of
working with
distributors.
a
GET SOCIAL
. . .
@IntTechCha
nnels
www.linkedi
n.com/compa
ny/lyn
chpin-media
S
www.intellig
enttechchan
nels.com
EDITOR’S COMMENT
W
elcome to the latest edition of
Intelligent Tech Channels (ITC).
On page 19 we look at the
continuing success story of
Linksys, a leader in networking
and WiFi innovation for the home
and business, which works through
a strong network of distributors.
Amanulla Khan, Managing
Director, Linksys, Middle East,
Turkey and Africa, was keen to stress
how partnerships are at the heart of
its business success.
He specifically mentions channel
partners such as Silicon 21 in Egypt,
Techno Blue WLL in Qatar, and Al Jammaz Telecom in KSA.
They are obviously working hard to bring value to their
customers and their efforts no doubt go a long way to
increase Linksys’s market share in key areas.
This edition we also talk to Matt Medeiros, CEO and
Chairman of StorageCraft, who shares his thoughts on
the challenges around data storage and how his company
works with its channel partners to remain successful.
We discover that managing and storing data correctly
is more important than ever as enterprises are expanding
exponentially. Turn to p64 to find out more.
On the next couple of pages we take a close look at
what 2019 might have in store for channel partners.
Craig Freer, Executive Head, Cloud at Vox, tells us that
channel partners need to consider how they can evolve if
they are looking to increase their margins.
INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS
Issue 20
He makes an interesting argument
stating that channel partners need to move
away from being mere ‘box droppers’
to trusted advisors who add value to a
‘solution’, rather than a ‘product’.
Sounding a word of warning, he argues,
that those who do not make the switch risk
losing their relevance to the market.
Meanwhile, Stephan Berner, CEO at Help
AG, says channel partners have already
begun enhancing the service they provide
to their customers and he expects this to
continue in the new year alongside further
growth of the managed services market.
He also predicts that the channel is set to
be impacted by the increasing take-up of
cloud with the adoption of hybrid cloud in
particular predicted to continue.
Both contributors make interesting
arguments and it will certainly be fascinating
to see how the channel develops in 2019.
All that remains for me to do is to wish
you a happy and prosperous 2019!
Mark Bowen
Editor
15