60 MinsShow dates: 9-13 October 2011, Dubai World Trade Centre | AT GITEX TECHNOLOGY WEEK | Exhibition hours: 10am - 5pm

@cpiatgitexFOLLOW US

Strategic ICT Partner

Visit us at Gitex: Zabeel Hall ZL-C5 and Z-C10

Our partners:

Adding value to your business

www.almasa.com

Technology Partners

“We are at GITEX to promote our products which include pharmaceutical ERP solutions, file tracking management systems and health management systems. GITEX is a great way to connect with customers and clients in the Middle East. We have had a very good response from companies who want to collaborate with us. Companies from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Iraq and Lebanon have all expressed interest and this proves the reach that GITEX has.”

Collaborative ICT services coming

WHAT’S INSIDE

Spotlight on FDC

Method to madness

MA Mubin Khan, Managing Director, Ethics Advanced Technology

Etisalat today signed an MoU with Dimension Data, a global specialist ICT services and solution provider, to explore collaborative opportunities for offering joint go-to-market ICT services to customers. The partnership agreement was signed by Abdulla Hashim, Senior Vice President, ICT at Etisalat and Youssef Fawaz, General Manager Dimension Data in the United Arab Emirates.

As per the agreement, Etisalat and Dimension Data will work together to carve out joint go-to-market ICT value propositions in the areas of managed services and advanced ICT services. The organisations will endeavour to share intellectual capital and industry expertise, towards developing and offering collaborative ICT value propositions to organizations in the UAE. Etisalat will engage Dimension Data for Professional and managed services for their clients. The two organisations will work together to identify, develop and provide end to end solutions and services to Etisalat’s business customers.

Commenting on the partnership, Abdulla Hashim said: “This is a

A new era of entertainment Etisalat announced today the launch of ‘eLife TV’, the UAE’s most advanced television and video services.

4 CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

“This is a strategic partnership for Etisalat and we see great potential in delivering joint solutions around managed services that can drive efficiencies within enterprises.”

Abdulla Hashim, Senior Vice President, ICT, Etisalat.

my GITEX

Proper project management is difficult to achieve in organisations.

P3@cpiatgitex

A new era of entertainment

Collaborative ICT...

4 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

strategic partnership for Etisalat and we see great potential in delivering joint solutions around managed services that can drive efficiencies within enterprises. Given our respective strengths, we will be introducing a range of innovative solutions that will provide a differentiated user experience to its customers while reducing complexity and cost.”

Youssef Fawaz commented: “We are delighted to bring our managed services expertise to the fore. Our ability to deliver services and our experience gained from our clients around the world is what sets us apart. The combined strength of Dimension Data and Etisalat will enable managed services solutions to meet client experience. This partnership is a noteworthy endorsement of Dimension Data services’ capacity to offer IT solutions to corporations looking to focus on their core business and get a maximum return out of their IT investment. Etisalat will enhance services to its customers through world class solutions and services.”

Etisalat announced today the launch of ‘eLife TV’, the UAE’s most advanced television and video services. Senior executives of the company showcased the next-gen service at a press conference held on Etisalat’s stand. Delivered on Etisalat’s high-speed fiber optic network, eLife TV will offer its customers interactive, cutting-edge television experience through the most robust and feature-rich service available in the country. eLifeTV is made available within the corporation’s flagship ‘eLife’

Triple Play (Fixedline, Internet and TV) fiber-based residential broadband services. Starting with the completion of fiber optic roll-out in Abu Dhabi, making it the world’s first fiber-connected capital city, Etisalat will soon connect all residences in the UAE. At launch, nearly 100,000 homes are enjoying the new eLife TV service. eLife set top boxes were automatically upgraded to present eLife customers with eLife TV’s new superior menu and many added features.

my GITEX

Maher Jadallah, Regional Manager – MEA, Sourcefire

“Sourcefire has showcased our extensive range of security innovation and also discussed the need for informed, adaptive and automated security solutions. Besides our new product launch, we’ve also been focusing on our latest Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) and software technology at the event along with our Middle East distributor, Secureway Network Distributors.”

P4 @cpiatgitex

VENDOR FOCUS

Incomedia is a leading developer and publisher of multimedia software for the global PC market and used GITEX 2011 to announce the release of a new version of its successful WebSite X5, the ideal software for creating professional and fully-working Web sites in just five steps, guaranteeing simplicity, flexibility and tailored solutions.

“GITEX delivers a leading platform for industry innovation and an impressive track record of attracting the biggest names in the IT sector so it was the perfect gateway to present in one of the world’s fastest emerging and investment ready ICT markets,” explains Federico Ranfagni, Incomedia’s CEO. “This new version has been designed specifically for all those people who want to create their own Web site and our aim was to produce a software that permits everybody, including those with no programming skills, to create their own professional and attractive Web site. And we believe that this version does just that.”

Spotlight on FDC FDC International, among the largest IT distribution companies in the region, is showcasing its various products at GITEX.

It has a full suite of products comprising hard drives, motherboards, graphics cards, optical storage drives, digital storage and memory solutions and is the distributor of IT products such as Western Digital, Seagate, Maxtor, XFX, Palit, Nvidia, Asus, Asrock, ECS, Intel, Lenovo, Acer, Kingston, Apacer, Adata, PCX, Sony, Liteon and Shuttle.

Speaking about FDC’s presence at GITEX, infrastructure manager Alan Pourmirza commented: “We are at GITEX to showcase the best and latest products. This is an opportunity for us to meet with existing customers as well as new customers. The response has been good, we have had the opportunity to connect with real and interested customers.”

Among the brands highlighted at the FDC stand at GITEX is Shuttle. Their PC series has been getting a fair deal of attention. Nazmi Karakoc, market development specialist, Shuttle commented: “We already have a presence in global markets including the

US and Europe. We are now trying to put more focus into emerging markets. We find that customers love the design and look of our products.”

Also highlighted at the stand are Plextor’s most recent offerings including the PX-B950SA Blu-ray disc writer which allows for fast 12X recording.

“GITEX is a great place to showcase our products. It is so important to the Middle East as it brings to together all the vendors and people who work within the IT field in the region together.”

FDC provides end to end solutions within key specialist areas including components distribution, enterprise systems distribution and corporate services.Alan Pourmirza, infrastructure manager, FDC

Federico Ranfagni, Incomedia’s CEO.

P5@cpiatgitex

Paramount – The regional leader in Information Security

www.paramountassure.com

Suite 102, Building No 1, Dubai Internet City

P.O Box 25703,Dubai, UAETel: 971-4-3918600

Email: puja@pcsuae.com

Publisher Dominic De Sousa, COO Nadeem Hood, Managing Director Richard Judd, Sales Director Rajashree R Kumar, Editorial Director Dave Reeder Senior Editors Sathya Mira Ashok, Jeevan Thankappan, Arun Shankar Circulation Manager Rajeesh M, Production Manager James Tharian, Art Director Kamil Roxas, Designers Analou Balbero, Froilan Cosgafa IV, Glenn Roxas, Digital Services Manager Tristan Troy Magma

Web Developers Jerus King Bation, Erik Briones, Jefferson De Joya, Louie Alma, Jay Colina

P6 @cpiatgitex

Method to madness

There are few elements within an IT team that touch as many departments within an organisation and remain a complex beast as proect management. IT managers across the region and over the globe struggle to implement and enforce project management across their organisations. And the reasons for it continuing to bewilder departments are multiple.

“I think the whole idea of a project being unique has not sunk in. People still confuse operations with projects. It is not entirely unusual to come across IT heads that think regular backups of their data and software is a project in itself. Most organisations do not have a framework to segregate normal operations from proect management. The notion in the industry is that such efforts are meant only for large construction proects,” says Vikram Suri, MD at Sage Software.

“The history of this is related to the fact that there is no touch-and-feel or tangible element to IT projects. There is an element of history related to this as well. IT in the western world has already achieved a certain level of maturity; of course, they have had a lifetime of their own and there is a lot to be accounted for the time, cost and effort that has gone into their learning cycle. That same level of maturity and understanding has not yet transmitted and not yet been absorbed in developing world. The lack of a touch-and-feel element is

the biggest contributor to the fact that proect management remains a complex function within organisations,” says Krishna Gopal, VP, MEA-sales at Tech Mahindra.

Within the Middle East the lack of maturity among organisations is one of the most crucial factors for the continuing issues faced with proect management. Besides this there are several challenges that continue to plague the speciality.

Counting themChief among these challenges is

that of simple communication – the exchange of ideas and requirements between the business team and the IT

team. To solve such a challenge, the higher management in an organisation would need to be able the nail the business user to specific requirements. A mature PMO (project management office) or business analysts that sit between the groups to translate have seen things work much better.

The continuing confusion in project management roles – wherein operational staff are pulled in to do project management – creates problem areas for organisations, as personnel struggle to balance the roles in an effective fashion.

“Project management should not simply be an added responsibility. In more organisations, proect management is yet not recognised as a distinct job function. For companies to move to the next stage it is important for them to realise that it is an important function that requires structural thinking patterns and organised execution,” states Suri.

He adds, “Many large organisations

in the region generally already have a PMO. But setting up as a central office and ensuring that this office has some far reaching influence which is blessed by top management which cuts across specific dept heads – jobs are assigned by central project team. That is slightly more rare and it shows signs of an organisation that has the basic recognition of project management as a methodology,” says Suri.

While this might be the case in the majority of organisations there are yet others which become examples for the other extreme as well. Solling points out that not every project needs the PMO, and there is a fine line that should not be crossed when defining PMO requirements.

The general lack of resources and a knowledgeable staff affect the speciality of project management as it does any other in the region.

Exposure and practiceIt is true that when it comes to project

“I think the whole idea of a project being unique has not sunk in. People still confuse operations with projects. It is not entirely unusual to come across IT heads that think regular backups of their data and software is a project in itself. Most organisations do not have a framework to segregate normal operations from project management.”

Proper project management is difficult to achieve in organisations. However, by learning from Western peers and referring to global standards, Middle East enterprises can learn to work within their limits to achieve an effective, working PMO.

Krishna Gopal, VP, MEA-sales at Tech Mahindra

P7@cpiatgitex

management, the Middle East is far behind its counterparts in the Western world. But the entire comparison could be wrong, says industry stakeholders, since they have had a much longer time to achieve this maturity in processes and management.

Solling says, “Lot of changes in the ME. As IT becomes more of a business supporting process in any organisation it gets more attention from the company. Business owners of the company and you get more project management focus on these projects as well. Critical business project has the correct budget assigned, business focus associated to it, then we will see strong PM on these projects. Reason these two are happening is simply becos that IT project is now a business critical

resource.”“Project management can turn out

to be largely a personality thing, rather than a process thing. I have seen cases where when there are too many people involved in a proect everyone tends to think the elephant looks a certain way and works based on their particular understanding and outlook. Every proect requires a person who looks at things from a bird’s eye view point, brings together IT and business objectives effectively and has the power to implement his will to get the proect done. That might seem like a tall order and proves to be in many organisations – regional or otherwise,” states Gopal.

While there might be no perfect path to achieving a good PMO or ensuring that the current PMO is consistently results-oriented and functions at the highest levels of efficiency, there are best practices and standards that can be used to guide an organisation to a large extent.

More IT departments need to undergo the PMI certification to give

them an element of exposure, perhaps to some western world projects.Suri agrees, “The PMI document can become your ultimate guide; it should be adopted in a structured manner and updates regularly with processes across the organisation. With that the firm can be assured of keeping abreast with the latest in methodologies and controls. Having said that, it is important to highlight that when you look at best practices you can have diff implementation strategies and these could be driven by different drivers. Everything is subjective to the organisation’s business goals.”

For most organisations in the Middle East this is ust the start of the ourney when it comes to proect management within IT. It is likely that they will make a lot of mistakes, either because they are unable to use the standards or because it is not customised enough for them. The belief though, is that they will learn from these mistakes and the only way to go is up the curve to further maturity.

Common project management methodologies

There are three leading approaches for managing IT projects. The first is based on traditional proect management. It works with any IT project regardless of the technology involved or the duration of the project work.

The second approach is called Extreme Programming. It’s sometimes abbreviated as XP (not to be confused with the Windows operating system.) Extreme Programming is a project-management approach designed specifically for software development. XP uses a software development model that involves the users, customers and programmers in four iterative phases: planning, coding, designing and testing.

Scrum is the final leader in IT project management. This approach, named after a rugby term, also uses iterations of planning, coding, executing and testing software. Scrum employs its own vernacular and has some rigid rules about meetings, hitting milestones and the duration of planning activities.

“There are definitely customers who are doing proect management very well. But the general lack of understanding and the lack of trained staff continue to affect it adversely. Companies also have to pick the right control mechanism for the delivery of each proect. If they fail to identify that then they might not get the right results at the right time or to their satisfaction.”

Vikram Suri, MD, Sage Software ME

Get a 3 day Technical Workshopvoucher along with a Avaya IP Office Demo Kit on a purchase of Avaya Voice Product worth USD 25,000

For Free Sales Workshop on Avaya Data & Voice Products please register on