ISSUE 21
A
Intelligent briefin
gs for Middl
e East and Africa
PUBLIC ATION
channel partn
ers
Effective chann
el
progr
ammes
BASSAM ALMAS
RI, SR MANAGER
CHANNEL, NUTAN
IX – ME
Hosting
data locally
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.
DR FAHEM AL NUAIM
I,
ANKABUT CEO
Top
IT trend
s
SAMI ABI ESBER,
PRESIDENT OF
SYSTEM INTEGR
ATOR MDS GULF
SAFER NET
WORKS
Sam Kumarsam
y, Senior Prod
uct
recommend
s crucial netw Marketing Manager, Gigam
ork security
best practices. on,
GET SOCIAL
. . .
@IntTechCha
nnels
www.linkedi
n.com/compa
ny/lyn
chpin-media
www.intellig
enttechchan
nels.com
EDITOR’S COMMENT
W
elcome to the latest edition
of Intelligent Tech Channels
(ITC). This month’s cover story,
starting on page 19, focuses
on an issue that it’s all too easy
to become complacent about:
network security.
We hear from Gigamon’s
Senior Product Marketing Manager,
Sam Kumarsamy, about the best
ways to ensure effective network
security. With network attacks
becoming more and more prevalent, he
recommends nine crucial best practices.
His recommendations, for those of us
concerned about network security, are a ‘must read’ with
so much as stake. The good news though is that there are
measures that can be taken to protect against the Bad Actors.
Kumarsamy’s recommendations include ensuring you
maintain your software, improving visibility and keeping
an eye on user permissions. He puts a special emphasis on
the threat posed by disgruntled employees who may be
intent on causing significant damage. He tells us that while
unintentional insider threats may be the more widespread
problem, intentional ones where authorised users attempt
to steal valuable data are also a major cause of concern.
On the next few pages we look at the factors that make
for a successful partner programme. Bassam AlMasri, Sr
Manager Channel, Nutanix – Middle East, tells us that it’s
vital for partner programmes to stay ahead of industry
trends with an achievable and transparent recognition and
INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS
Issue 21
reward programme. He says that the channel
charter offered by Nutanix is designed to
empower the company’s partners and to
ensure they get back what they put in – and
this is based on performance. Nutanix also
places a great emphasis on the importance
of training partners. There is no doubt
they are right to do so – untrained channel
partners will not achieve their potential and
training is a significant help in increasing
confidence that they have the all-important
expertise that is demanded in the market.
We also hear from Mohammad
Meraj Hoda, Vice President of Business
Development – Middle East and Africa at
Ring. He tells us how over the years channel
partners have been incredibly flexible when
it comes to dealing with change.
It is certain that there is no doubt that for
the channel to work successfully this degree
of flexibility is incredibly important especially
when the technology sector continues to
evolve at such a rapid pace.
Mark Bowen
Editor
15