Think Software Booklet 2015

ExpEriEncE you can trust

ISSUE

01VOL 1

OctOber 2015

Published by

converged IT

Deepak VermaManaging DirectorTel: +971 (0)4 4288388Email: [email protected]

ashu VermaDirector – AccountsTel: +971 (0)4 4288376Email: [email protected]

Gautam ChakrabartyHead of SalesTel: +971 (0)4 4288330Email: [email protected]

Faheem siDDiquiHead of ServicesTel: +971 (0)4 4288327Email: [email protected]

suDip ChatterjeeFinance & Operation Manager Tel: +971 (0)4 4288305Email: [email protected]

kaVitha aDVaniMarketing ManagerTel: +971 (0)4 4288345Email: [email protected]

mohit sharmaProduct ManagerTel: +971 (0)4 4288324Email: [email protected]

tushar VatsaProduct ManagerTel: +971 (0)4 4288328Email: [email protected]

Think SS PARTnERS

Think SS kEy conTAcTS

2 Issue 01

A special supplement of Think Software Services

inTRoDUcTion

The Systems Integration landscape has changed drastically recently. With the proliferation of vendors and their

large scale acquisitions over the past three years, the technology industry in general has changed as well. Companies have moved from simpler technologies to com-plex solutions and integrations. To achieve their goals, organisations have begun to rely on a suite of vendors. These rapid changes have brought about a complex problem of integration. The fact is simply

We at Think SS specialise in soft-ware and applications within Intranet and Internet environments. Our focus, however, is local. The Gulf is home to many infrastructure and security provid-ers, but until Think SS, none have been able to provide a full 360 view that is rel-evant to the region’s industries. Our team of skilled IT consultants understand the unique challenges presented to our cli-ents in the GCC. We want to operate only in the region, without diluting any of our expertise.

Think SS’s success starts with an un-derstanding of our client’s needs through a consultative approach. Sizing and scop-ing is fundamental; we view ourselves as partners – your success is our success. We support enterprises and organisa-tions of all sizes with products, solutions and services which offer the highest de-gree of availability, scalability and se-curity in the IT industry. Our solutions are customised to meet the unique needs of our clients and designed to optimise business processes by development and deployment of our software. Our facility includes a fully functional data centre, a business management headquarters and professionals equipped with onsite and offsite expertise.

Think SS has been honoured to partner with some of the region’s most influential businesses across verticals, including oil and gas, hospitality, govern-ment and banking. We attribute our track record of success with these companies to a heady mix of products and services as well as our highly skilled staff that act as trusted advisers on each business’ IT roadmap. Together, we can meet your goals and achieve the best ROI possible.

In the next few pages, we will high-light the key to our success – our solu-tions and experts – as well as some of our most recent and comprehensive imple-mentations. Here, we hope to shed light on who we are, what we have done, and what Think SS can do to streamline your IT environment.

TomoRRow’S TEchnologiES ToDAy

that newer, more complex technologies re-quire more detailed and complex integra-tions services.

At Think Software Services our goal is to simplify the increasingly complex world of vendors and implementations. We aim to be a one-stop shop for all of your ICT solutions needs. We provide a complete range of IT and network solu-tions to create a more streamlined and efficient IT environment so that our cli-ents can focus on their core business.

Deepak Verma, managing Director

3Issue 01


comPAny STRUcTURE

At Think SS, we believe our company is only as great as the people who work here. We attribute our success to our commitment to teamwork. The vision of the company is shared by each mem-ber, and collectively keeps both our departments and customers delivering their best work.

Our mission is to be your one-stop shop for all ICT solutions needs. We provide a complete range of affordable IT and network solutions that streamline business activities, offer greater efficiency, and allow you to build solid relationships

with your customers so you can focus on your bottom line.

gAUTAm chAkRAbARTyhead of Sales

mohiT ShARmAProduct manager

AShU VERmADirector – Accounts

DEEPAk VERmAmanaging Director

TUShAR VATSAProduct manager

FAhEEm SiDDiqUihead of

Technology Services

SUDiP chATTERjEEFinance &

operation manager

hiTESh VADgAmAProject leader

kAViThA ADVAnimarketing manager

4 Issue 01


nEwS

Both Dell Software and Barracuda recog-nised Think Software Services’ successes this year by awarding the company with highly sought after distinctions.

Dell Software recognised Think Soft-ware Services at its annual User Group Conference held at grand Hyatt, Dubai in

Think Software Services makes its SI Power List debut having posted an impressive $9.5m rev-enue figure for 2014. With a solid client list in the banking, financial services and public sector, the SI wants to consolidate its creden-tials and solutions offerings in the Middle East public sector.

Last year Think SS managed to establish in India a centre of excellence (COE) for project de-livery and won the ‘Sharjah Safe City Project’ award for several security projects such as Ministry of Finance, Dubai Lands Depart-ment and Fujairah Egov projects.

This year, Think SS want to establish and develop business in the security and surveillance ver-tical, deliver key projects around the Sharjah Safe City, initiative. Think SS will also increase our focus on products, services and solutions.

The majority of growth last year came from the numerous security implementations and projects that the company suc-cessfully participated in.

Thinks Software Services was included on the Channel Power List compiled by ITP.net. The distinction is given to Channel players based on performance numbers of the year. With a number of successful and notable projects for pri-

Think SoFTwARE SERVicES REcogniSED FoR ExcEllEncE AcRoSS ThE boARD

Think SS TAkES iTS PlAcE on chAnnEl PowER liST

DUbAi lAnD DEPARTmEnT honoURS Think SS

Think SS lAUDED on REgionAl Si PowER liST

Think SS is pleased to announced the re-ceipt of the latest in a string of awards. This particular distinction is received with a great deal of honour. The Government of Dubai Land Department has recog-nided the company for outstanding service to the agency. This award is the result of a long-standing relationship between Think Software Services and the Dubai Land De-partment and is a testament to the commit-ment the company demonstrates to its cus-tomers’ requirements and services. “Our mission,” says Deepak Verma, “is not to work towards just being successful, but to

vate and public clients alike, Think Soft-ware Services has had a bumper year, and seem at home in their ranking. In the coming year, the company intends to expand their business and focus on new verticals.

become value added SI to our customers.” Verma thanks his team of dedicated em-ployees, and most especially, the Govern-ment of Dubai Land Department.

June of this year. The ‘Excellence Award for Network Security - Enterprise’ award honoured the company for its continued support and accomplishments with Dell Software Products and the credibility it has developed with its customers by ex-tending the best to them.

At the Barracuda Networks EMEA Conference, Think Software Services was awarded ‘EMEA Storage Special-ist of the Year’. This event is by invita-tion only, and is extended to key channel partners. The company was recognised for its commitment to Barracuda’s back-up offerings.

5Issue 01


PERFEcT PARTnERS

w hat is your approach to selecting a system integrator as a strate-gic partner?

Market credibility is a key factor for us. They also need resources with core technology and product strength as well as a thorough understanding of network security. Access to key ac-counts and a promise to deliver qual-ity service are also factors that we con-sider heavily. What value does Think SS bring to the table for you?Think SS couples its technology exper-tise with every product they sell. The combination of best products with best technical advice and execution leads to optimal and comprehensive solutions that meets the customer expectations. What key verticals you are focusing on? How do you plan to leverage Think SS’ specific expertise in these markets to drive growth?We are strong in certain verticals and we would like to grow in other specific verticals. For example, government, banking, oil and gas are all areas in which we are looking to grow.

Shahnawaz Sheikh, DeLL Software DiStribution ChanneL DireCtor, iS aLL too aware of how important partnerShipS Can be.

The role of the SI is changing from implementation/consulting to deliver-ing long-term business solutions that provide agile, future-ready technology

roadmaps that users demand. How do you enable this evolution?We are always of the opinion that an SI who takes a strategic approach to represent a vendor’s products will be able to better demonstrate it’s technol-ogy. In this way it can create a road-map to its customers and prepare the

customer with the right expectations based on products and technology. In our partnership we believe that our strategic SI’s should be enabled in all areas of products, technology, best practices, product roadmap and more. What disruptive technologies that will go mainstream in the next 12 months, and how is that aligned with your strat-egy?There will be a continuous enhance-ment in products and technology as time progresses. From time to time we bring this state-of-the-art technology to replace ageing technology. We see that there is a huge demand and a busi-ness need for encryption, and today our email solutions that are already deployed globally are updating their solutions with encryption services. What is Dell’s ‘Connected Security’ vi-sion?Dell’s Connected Security Vision is to bring together the security technology and products that it acquired to inter-operate and collaborate with the aim of offering end-to-end security and stronger security effectiveness to our customers.

PARTnER Dell

Think SS coUPlES wEll

iTS TEchnology ExPERTiSE wiTh EVERy PRoDUcT ThEy SEll. ThE combinATion

lEAD To oPTimAl SolUTionS.

Shahnawaz Sheikh, Dell Software, Distribution Channel Director

6 Issue 01


the changing threat landscape is forc-ing organisations to look for next-gen-eration firewalls. What should users keep in mind while evaluating nGFWs?Customers should keep in mind granular application controls, comprehensive IPS signatures, enhancements on CFS and SSL. Deep inspection with comprehen-sive scanning and visibility into the net-work is a key differentiation of NGFW. What kind of options do you provide for users to manage multi-platform threats under a single pane of glass?As far as managing multi-platform threats from a single window is con-

cerned, there is a single window man-agement of all products using Global Management System. Many other technologies from Dell’s acquisition will be stitched together to offer an in-tegrated solution. Do you offer intrusion prevention ca-pabilities with the application and user awareness on a single platform?The IPS solution is by far one of the best and is also endorsed by NSS Lab reports. We have one of the best IPS sig-natures on a firewall supporting a high number of applications. If the custom-ers want to use our NG Firewalls as a

Dell software attributes much of its suc-cess to the Dell PartnerDirect program. When a partner joins Dell’s PartnerDi-rect program, they see that teaming up with Dell is easy and efficient for business. Dell offers many tools and resources to help partners raise profits and provide the flexibility and exper-tise customers deserve. From business development to sales, marketing to sup-

port, Dell PartnerDirect recognises and rewards the most committed and quali-fied partners with the tools and resourc-es to drive profitability and growth.

As a testament to their partner sup-port, Think Software Services recently received an award from Dell Software at the “User Group Conference” held at Grand Hyatt, Dubai on 3rd June 2015.

The Dell User Group Conference,

Dubai was targeted for end users across all industries. The event served as an excellent platform to extend knowl-edge sharing on Dell Software prod-ucts as well as highlight contributions of their key channel partners. Think Software’s award was for the team’s excellence in Network Security and ac-complishments as a trusted partner of Dell Software.

Deepak Verma, Managing Director, Think Software Services, said, “We ac-knowledge the ongoing support of Dell Software and thank them for recognis-ing Think Software Services with the Network Security excellence award.”

The award reflects Dell software’s continued support of its trusted part-ners. “This also is an added responsi-bility to continue delivering our highest potential towards Dell Software’s part-nership. Our prime focus is to jointly work with our partners and expand our product offerings for each industry seg-ment,” added Verma.

DEll SoFTwARE STREngThEnS PARTnER RElATionShiPS

dedicated IPS appliance, they have the option to disable other functionalities and enable only IPS engine to make it a dedicated device in the network. Does your family of firewalls provide visibility and analysis to deter advanced, multi-vector threats?Granular control of applications and visibility of flow of traffic via firewall is one of the core requirements of next generation technology. We believe that we do the deep inspection, granular app control and visibility of the traffic more effectively to offer better security to our customers.

7Issue 01


licEnSE REnEwAlRekha Soman

kEEPing UP wiTh ThE conTRAcTSrekha Soman, buSineSS unit heaD, knowS more than moSt the importanCe of timeLy LiCenCe renewaL. her team, baSeD in inDia, iS DeDiCateD to enSuring CuStomerS have the moSt up-to-Date Software. to Do that, She knowS that CuStomerS muSt keep to their SubSCription SChemeS. Soman expLainS how her team heLpS think SS CuStomerS navigate thiS SometimeS ConfuSing territory.

These days, a growing number of applications require us-ers to pay for yearly or even monthly fees for use of the software, updates and techni-

cal support. How does Think SS help in managing subscriptions?Managing a number of subscriptions can be confusing, and failing to renew can be a costly mistake. To ensure that our customers are alerted with plenty of time to renew their contracts, we use a robust analytical tool to source out the data and contact them with plenty of time to assess their options and renew as appropriate.

Do you see the traditional software li-censing model changing from multi-year contracts to subscription basis?Not really, I think that multi-year con-tracts are here to stay. The model keeps customers satisfied as a multi-year con-tract is usually more affordable which keeps their bottom line safe, and the long-term support associated with most multi-year contracts can be essential when it is time to troubleshoot.

How do you help customers navigate complex product licensing terms and help get them bigger volume discounts? Each product has different licensing terms – pages and pages of fine print can be daunting for anyone. Think Software Services takes our customers through each licensing agreement pertaining to each product in detail in a simple and easy manner that allows them to make the most informed decision.

How do you make sure that your cus-tomers have the right number of licens-es and avoid the most common licensing mistakes?It is simple, really. Think Software Ser-vices has the right questionnaires and checklists for the our clients. By know-ing the specific details about each client in terms of each unique product we can fetch the correct details in all aspects.

rekha soman, business unit head

9Issue 01


PARTnER Dell

What is your approach to selecting a system in-tegrator as a strategic partner?moufarrej: We look for

three key things: energy, engagement, and exploration. These key high-level indicators translate into skills and market expertise, as well as the synergies needed for successful partnerships.

How can customers get the most of out of this relationship?Nader: While other technology providers in the industry are splitting apart, Dell is com-mitted to remaining a true source of end-to-end solutions. Our partners choose Dell be-cause they profit from the efficiency, agility, and value that comes from a single Tier 1 technology source.

Which are the key verticals you are fo-cusing on? How do you plan to leverage Think SS’ specific expertise in these markets to drive growth?

Nader: Organisations around the world choose Dell solutions and services to help them achieve unique business goals, im-prove competitiveness and better serve cus-tomers. As the only private company amidst the biggest tech companies in the world, cus-tomers have our undivided attention. These customers come from a variety of industries and have a variety of different needs in their IT journey. Dell is the only tech company that offers a portfolio of end-to-end software and technology solutions and we are able to look at problems holistically from a technol-ogy and business perspective.Moufarrej: We also have specialised solu-tions grounded in deep industry expertise that align with your distinct challenges in different industries including education, en-ergy, BFSI, government, healthcare, manu-facturing, retail, telecommunications, me-dia, and web development.

The role of the SI is changing from imple-mentation/consulting to delivering long-term business solutions that provide ag-ile, future-ready technology roadmaps that users demand. How do you enable this evolution?Moufarrej: Today our strong go-to-market strategy executes programs with our Chan-nel Partners across the Middle East where SIs play a major role. Our focus on SIs is as end-to-end as our unique technology capabil-ity in the industry. As SIs look to evolve with market trends and demands, in Dell they can find a partner that provides a full spectrum of opportunities to grow and explore. nader: Beyond these resources, we focus heavily on enabling our SIs through train-

PEAk PERFoRmAncEnazih moufarrej anD SaeeD naDer of DeLL have their fingerS on the puLSe of the enterpriSe teChnoLogy worLD in the region. from Data Centre tranSformation to DiStruptive teChnoLogieS, they Share their viewS on the inDuStry toDay.

ing – as well as regular bespoke engage-ments on site. We also support our SIs on the field directly with customers; while this is crucial to successful sales-engagement, we are also mindful of the opportunity for joint learning. Dell is always watchful to ensure knowledge, collateral, content, and material proliferates and flows to the channel. Towards enabling SIs to pursue unique aspirations that are afforded with our unique end-to-end capability, we also have programs and training engagements that focus on specific technology and trend verticals.

What disruptive technologies will go mainstream in the next 12 months, and how is that aligned with your strategy?Nader: IoT is not new to Dell, and neither is data insights management. Dell has gate-way solutions that enable aggregation, nor-malisation, and backhauling of sensor data near the point of origin instead of sending all data directly to the cloud. We are one of the few Tier-1 information technology suppliers with assets in each of the critical categories of an IoT solution including se-curity, data acquisition, transport, aggrega-tion, analytics, and deployment services. We also have very strong solutions in the area of data insights and management with Dell Statistica and other Dell advanced ana-lytics products.Moufarrej: The world of data is changing. Inside the IT shop talent levels are beginning to meet demand, however outside the IT shop stakeholders and users are expecting more – often this is the CEO, CFO, CMO, their SMT and the likes. IT leaders will have to either continue investing in Big Data technologies their stakeholders need or deal with any fallout as non-IT business leaders, users, and customers eschew IT and turn to SaaS offerings.

Is Data centre transformation strategy in Dell’s Roadmap this H2?Nader: Dell has the most success with cus-tomers looking for data centre transforma-tions. This is because with Dell’s solutions

nazih mouarrej, regional sales Director, Dell

10 Issue 01


customer can evolve and scale on their own terms, without compromise. Our future ready IT solutions are built with easy-to-use standard-based technologies and follow a commitment to open-approach design. Dell solutions also lead the way in modular and flexible solutions. Finally, looking for a ven-dor to partner with in data centre transfor-mations, it is crucial to find a partner with a history of both reliable technology as well as innovation.Moufarrej: This July, Dell became the first storage array provider to announce adop-tion of the industry’s newest, highest-den-sity, and lowest-cost-for-performance enter-prise flash drives based on Triple Level Cell (TLC) 3D NAND technology. This inno-vative milestone brings the cost of all-flash storage solutions to as low as $1.66 per raw gigabyte of capacity. Now, Dell Storage ar-rays with new enterprise flash drives offer up to 24x performance improvement and the same price for capacity as 15K hard disk drives.

At the end of last year, Dell announced its FX Architecture – a 2U flexible con-verged infrastructure building block that allows us to build data centres based on workloads and application-appropriate server and storage blocks. Engineered for both modern and legacy workloads, Pow-erEdge FX architecture lets you precisely tailor, quickly deploy and easily manage your infrastructure – and does it all pack-ing 100 percent greater density than the 1U rack server.

Earlier last year, launched its Dell Net-working Z9500 Fabric Switch the highest-density fixed-form factor data centre switch with a full suite of L2/L3 routing and switching protocols, designed to address data centre 10/40 GbE aggregation require-ments through centralised core or distribut-ed core architectures for high performance enterprise data cen-tres, cloud comput-ing, provider hosted data centres, and en-terprise LAN cores. The Z9500 is ideal for workloads such as Web 2.0, high per-formance computing and virtualisation.

What is Dell’s ap-proach to SDN? Nader: In January 2014, Dell set out to fundamentally change how networking is done with its Open Networking initiative. As a result, Dell was the first tier-one ven-dor to disaggregate network switching soft-ware and hardware to provide customers with more choice and flexibility. Software-defined networking is disrupting legacy ven-dors’ business and opening the door for Dell to act as an instigator in a major paradigm shift.Moufarrej: Over the year Dell’s Open Networking initiative showed impressive momentum. Leading industry analyst firm Gartner published research validating the importance of the open networking market, customer interest, and future market oppor-tunity – observing Dell’s leadership position in this direction. This vision and strategy and the developments that result offer Mid-dle East Dell customers a companion that enables them for the future, with solutions that meet the real challenges in their busi-ness environments, as well as strong refer-ences. Dell’s alliances allow local channel partners wider reach with a variety of cus-tomers as well.

How do you plan to aid your customers in their move toward software-defined net-works and next-gen data centres?Moufarrej: Michael Dell says, “It’s all about how you provide great value to customers.” Dell networking offerings provide customers with a more open, flex-

ible, economical, programmable, and dynamic network environment. Dell’s SDN offerings can save customers up to 65 percent in capital expenditures versus Cisco with switches that deliver as much as 14 times greater density and 86 per-cent reduction in time to design and deploy network fab-rics with Dell Active Fabric Manager.

What differentiates Dell in today’s market?Nader: At Dell, our vision is to provide our customers, around the world, the power to do more. Our customer relationships are the cornerstone of our business. We listen to our customers and help them solve their business problems with innovative, practi-cal IT solutions. Our competitors may offer IT-as-usual approaches, at Dell we know there are better ways. With our people, our passion, and our channel partners we help customers optimise, evolve, and achieve their goals. We partner with customers to understand what they want to achieve and find the best way to achieve it. Dell sees an opportunity to deliver better value than competing approaches by driving down both initial and ongoing costs.

Saeed NaderChannel Manager, Dell

For enquiries please contact Shams Hasan, Enterprise Product Manager, Dell at [email protected]

Today our sTrong go-To-markeT

sTraTegy execuTes programs wiTh our channel parTners across The middle

easT where sis play a major role.

11Issue 01


mAnAgEmEnT TEAm SoUnD oFF

Deepak Verma, manaGinG DireCtor The office in Abu Dhabi, which we opened in Q1, will scale up and will have a head count of at least ten by

the end of the year. We are hoping to incre-ment overall team size by 50 percent in 2015.

what is your vision for Think SS in the coming year?

mohit sharma, proDuCt manaGerI think that we will grow in the education and government sec-tors in the next 12 months. Those

industries are expanding here in the region, and Think SS will be there to provide sup-port as they grow.

ashu Verma, DireCtor, aCCountsI believe we will see some mergers in the next year. We will move forward with

our development plans, and we are sure to see successes.

Gautam Chakrabarty, heaD oF sales Think Software Services has al-ways been seen as a trusted partner. I think that this track record will

support future partnerships.

Faheem siDDiqui, heaD oF teChnoloGy serViCes In the next year, I see growth across the region for Think Software Services. We have a

strong history of good relationships here, and I am certain that we will continue to make our customers happy.

kaVitha aDVani, marketinG manaGer My vision for Think SS is to cre-ate great visibility for the compa-ny and for Think SS to establish

itself as the leading value added System In-tegrator for IT Products and Solutions.

suDip Chatterjee, FinanCe & operation manaGerI see global expansion for Think SS in the next year. I think we will move beyond the borders of

the UAE and strengthen our relationships outside of the country.

tushar Vatsa, proDuCt manaGerIn the next year, I believe that Think SS will solidify its reputa-tion as a leader in virtualisation

and cloud.

12 Issue 01


TEchnicAl ExPAnSionFaheem Siddiqui

Can you briefly highlight some of Think SS’s technical and sales accomplishments over the past year?On the technical side, we have

accomplished a great deal this year. Most notably, we now provide a complete suite of data leak and loss prevention services within banking, finance and insurance in alignment with the PCI-DSS framework. We have also seen the region’s first digi-tal audio and video conferencing in-tegration between Cisco CUCM, Polycom RMX and Microsoft Lync 2013 for a govern-ment holding. We have worked with an e-government agency to trans-form their data cen-tre and set up disaster recovery for them. We also worked with an education insti-tute to migrate their Exchange and email to cloud hosted services provided by Of-fice 365.

In which industry verticals do you ex-pect to see the most growth in the coming year?We see a great deal of growth in the areas of data and image analytics in conjunction with business process au-tomation. Also, clients are looking to improve their information risk manage-ment frameworks, compliance and busi-

TEch TAlkfaheem SiDDiqui, heaD of teChnoLogy ServiCeS at think Software ServiCeS knowS that hiS poSition iS key in keeping the Company moving forwarD. SiDDiqui fiLLS uS in on the LateSt anD greateSt in the teCh LanDSCape.

ness continuity arrangements. Finally, we are also seeing interest in plugging information leaks and preventing other data loss.

What is driving this growth, and what ex-pertise can Think SS bring to customers in these specific industries?Dubai is the fifth-highest performing metropolitan economy in the world for last year, according to Brookings Insti-

tution. An uptick in trade and tour-ism industry posi-tively impacted the Emirate’s employ-ment and GDP per capita during the period. Increas-ing trade fuels the BFSI, Logistics, e-Government com-pliance industries.

Information’s availability when required, intelligence where it can be derived and confidentiality where desired, will be the drivers of this growth.

On the technical side, what new partner-ships and solutions does Think SS have on offer for the coming year?We will, of course, continue to fur-ther enhance our engagement with the always-expanding Intel Security portfolio, leverage our premier part-nership with Dell towards bringing our customers a mature and advanced data analytics portfolio and build

strategic best-of-breed capabilities in the area of governance, risk and com-pliance (GRC) framework.

What unique skills, services or knowl-edge do Think SS sales experts offer po-tential and existing clients?Each of our personnel comes with an un-matched experience that allows them to carry both local and international market experience with a desire to select the best and most effective solutions for our cus-tomer needs. Focused product mapping to business needs helps in skilled and ef-ficient technology deployment within a stipulated time and budget.

What services and solutions do you see on demand from customers as of late?There is an upsurge of maintaining infor-mation systems availability by designing a holistic IT disaster recovery solution that not only withstands outages at times of incidents but also establishes an easily operable, maintainable and dependable infrastructure around critical services.

Solutions related to converged in-frastructure that combines compute, storage and networking components have moved beyond the slope of en-lightenment towards the plateau of productivity within the hype cycle. With server virtualisation becoming mainstream, converged infrastructure will be high in demand amongst all those who are considering to upgrade their hosted infrastructure or shift to private cloud.

Faheem siddiqui, head technology services

wE SEE gRowTh in ThE AREAS oF DATA

AnD imAgE AnAlyTicS in conjUncTion wTih

AUTomATion.

13Issue 01


Think Software Services is always on the lookout for exceptional partners and we have found one in Nutanix. Recently, our esteemed part-

ner was recognised for its accomplish-ments when it was named a leader in the 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Integrated Systems. The company has gained huge market credibility since it’s founding in 2009, and has established a worldwide presence with approximately 30 percent of revenue coming from out-side it’s homebase in North America. The company has built an installed base of more than 1,400 customers, working through more than 750 channel partners worldwide. It has created a worldwide presence that encompasses more than 70 countries across six continents.

Nutanix has done an excellent job of aligning its marketing and product development strategies in the develop-ment of Nutanix OS renamed Acropo-lis for the runtime software and Prism for the management software in its latest release and its software stack that spans storage, networking, and compute. By eliminating the need for external stor-age arrays and building compression, deduplication and erasure coding into its distributed storage fabric, Nutanix has created a compelling low total cost of ownership story wherein availability, performance and scalability are not sac-rificed.

With the launch of the Xtreme Com-puting Platform composed of Acropolis and Prism, Nutanix is now a complete infrastructure solutions company, pro-viding its customers flexibility in their

choice of hypervisors and cloud usage. Owning the entire software stack has also enabled Nutanix to offer its cus-tomers cross-hypervisor high availabil-ity and mobility — a big deal for users leveraging the unique value propositions of various hypervisors or considering bursting to Amazon or Azure clouds.

The Acropolis scale-out architec-ture, along with the ability to scale com-pute and storage independently, enables users to grow Nutanix deployments in-crementally to meet application needs.

nUTAnix AnD ThE mAgic qUADRAnT

Gartner predicts that hypercon-verged integrated systems will repre-sent over 35 percent of the total inte-grated system market revenue by 2019. As Nutanix is the only vendor of hy-perconverged solutions positioned in the leader’s quadrent, the company stands to see healthy growth over the next year. Nutanix is no longer small enough for the established system ven-dors to ignore or dismiss, and is sure to provide some tough competion moving forward.

think SS partner nutanix iS reCogniSeD by gartner anD nameD a LeaDer in the magiC quaDrant

PARTnER

chAllEngERS

Fujitsu

Teradata

huawei

ibm

gridstone Pivot3

nimboxx

Sgi

cisco

Emc (VcE)

oracle

hP

SimpiVity

nutanixlenovo

hitachi

Dell

Scale computing

comPlETEnESS oF ViSion

Abili

Ty To

ExEc

UTE

As of August 2015Source: gartner (August 2015)

netApp

lEADERS

nichE PlAyERS ViSionARiES

nutanix

14 Issue 01


What is your approach to selecting a system integrator as a stra-tegic partner?When it comes to

choosing a strategic partner a number of key factors come into play including nurturing a partner with increasing un-derstanding of the security landscape as well as specific technologies and prod-ucts to best meet our customers’ needs. To achieve this we offer an enablement program designed to give our partners the strategic insights, knowledge bank, and practical skills to deliver what customers need to secure their businesses with indus-try leading Intel Security technologies. It is also important to agree a joint market-ing and sales plan with our partners to present the value proposition for the cus-tomers as well as using the partners’ do-main knowledge to customise solutions for their market.

What value does Think SS bring to the table for you?Think SS has been always one of our loyal partners. Through this partnership Intel Security was introduced to new accounts in UAE, moving quickly from a focus on endpoint only to propose new solutions.

How can customers get the most of out of this relationship?Our customers look for partners who have references, an expert team and can be the first point of contact and support for the client. Think Software is certainly this part-ner for us. It is a one stop shop for all ICT

Safety in numberSIntel SecurIty knowS the Importance of choSIng a StrategIc partner In the SyStemS IntegratIon InduStry. wIth the company on a mISSIon to make SecurIty Integrated and pervaSIve, hamId dIab, regIonal dIrector, Intel SecurIty knowS the Importance of the kInd of end-uSer Support thInk SS provIdeS.

partnerintel Security

solution, providing the client with com-plete range of IT and network products that streamline business activities and offer great efficiency. We at Intel Security always work toward growing and maintaining such successful partnerships.

The rise of cloud and mobile technolo-gies has made the protection of data and users a mission-critical undertaking. How does Intel Security help?There are six new online threats found every second, according to a recent Intel Security report. As digital security threats increase and consumers use more devices and apps in more locations, there is a need to deliver innovations that transcend mal-ware protection to include protection of devices, personal data and identity. Intel Security is working to address this need by providing consumers with multiple cross-device security offerings that help users bet-ter secure their devices and personal data.

Companies in the region tend to protect their entire networks with standalone security appliances. Does this approach work in today’s world?The Security Connected framework from McAfee addresses the persistent need for innovative security solutions and sets the new “normal” in the world of network se-curity. By bringing together the endpoint, network, and cloud, and connecting it to a broader ecosystem, the Security Con-nected framework provides full visibility into emerging threats and an unparalleled view across the threat landscape. Under the umbrella of the Security Connected archi-

tecture, Intel Security developed McAfee DeepSAFE technology, which sits below the operating system and close to the sili-con to extend the security footprint further into the computing stack and enable the de-velopment of hardware-assisted products that defend against rootkits and advanced persistent threats.

How does Intel Security plan to bring network and endpoints together? Do you share threat intelligence in real time with your customers?Threat intelligence is critical. The ability to quickly spot and pre-empt advanced threats is now a business differentiator as compa-nies seek to protect their intellectual prop-erty and assure customers that their data is safe and secure. Building on Intel Security’s leadership experience across network, end-point and data security, McAfee Threat In-telligence Exchange allows organisations to orchestrate security controls to identify patterns, immunise assets against newly-identified malware and prevent data exfil-tration in real-time – optimising security for each organisation.

The Threat Intelligence Exchange (TIE) allows a real-time notification of any malicious download as it quickly reviews the legitimacy of the program. If the user decides the program is legitimate, then they can just change its status to ‘Trusted’, and all authorised users on the network can im-mediately run the programme. If the user decides that it is a threat, all gateways and firewalls are notified to block execution, and all endpoints notified to terminate any running processes.

Hamed Diab, Regional Director, Intel Security

15Issue 01


FAcE To FAcE operations & Finance

Which vertical markets generate the most revenue for Thinks Software Solutions?Ashu: Right now we are

seeing a great deal of revenue from the pub-lic sector and education. Also, the banking and finance sector, hospitality, oil and gas and large local conglomerates contribute heavily. Our consulting revenues make up around five percent of our total, while man-aged services contributes around 15 percent.

How do you achieve the best value for your clients?Sudip: Once we have identified the area of impact, value to the organisation, and an appropriate metric, we need to set a time frame for achieving the value of that client. Keep in mind that this timeframe may not coincide with the scheduled completion of the project work. For example, reducing the time to process a loan within 24 hours may be achievable once the system is implement-ed, but instant growth of market share from

10 to 25 percent may take few a months. Set-ting the time frame for achieving the value of the client can be determined by asking the question: When do we want to achieve the target metric?

What should users keep in mind when choosing a systems integrator?Ashu: We are seeing an increase in demand from users in the areas of infrastructure improvement, virtualisation and the con-solidation of data centres, applications and data. Their aims included achieving lower-cost, higher performance IT. We work on the depth and breadth of their capabilities to help these customers solve and simplify their platforms.

What is your approach to reaching a con-tract agreement with a client?Sudip: Careful planning is essential before entering into any contractual agreement. A report that examines issues, requirements, and costs is needed early in the contracting process. The RFQ and RFP processes are the most useful for finding potential pro-viders and how they propose to deliver the services. If responsibilities are split between two or more providers holding each ac-countable must be addressed.

What is your partnering approach? What are the criteria for selecting partners?Ashu: We look at our target market and pay attention to where customers are experienc-ing the most significant pain and difficulty. Through this process we are able to iden-tify the gap between what constitutes a to-tal solution and what functionality we can

bETTER TogEThERaShu verma, think Software ServiCeS' heaD of operationS anD finanCe anD SuDip Chatterjee, finanCe manager, are uniqueLy poSitioneD to See the future roaDmap of the Company. in the Coming quarter, verma anD Chatterjee See think Software ServiCeS expanDing in key SeCtorS, whiLe Strengthening their Current reLationShipS.

realistically deliver. The gap represents our partnering roadmap. This shows where we need to partner to deliver a total and com-plete solution. Then we make our identi-fied partners work for our common targets. Identified partners are further segmented based on local implementation and case studies, trainings and on the ground support and services.

Do you offer system maintenance and full lifecycle support in addition to inte-gration services?Ashu: All of this is well factored while building relationships with our customers. We start by thinking “WIFT” – What Is in It for Them. We remain customer driven, and that is what drives our sales. The after-sales bond we have with our customers is what supports our long-term relationships. We aim to make our services reliable to our customers and as a result they reach out to us for all of their IT queries. Our specialists do their best to provide solutions or consul-tancy in has instances. Further, we offer an-nual services such as annual maintenance contracts. On the product size, we have soft-ware license annuity plans with upgrades. To ensure that our customers never miss out on an update, we call them individually be-fore the expiry of their licenses.

What are some of the unquantifiable ben-efits your clients receive?Sudip: We provide account to account re-lationship management, a global delivery centre, 24 hour customer service, round the clock onsite and offsite support and different time zone compatibility

Sudip Chatterjee, Finance & Operation Manager

ashu Verma, head of Operation and Finance

16 Issue 01


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cASE STUDy Dubai land Department

lAnD oF TRUSTabDuLLa Saiem atiq aL yaLooq, it DireCtor - information teChnoLogy Department, government of Dubai, haS buiLt the agenCy'S network from the grounD up. he began aS pC Support teChniCian, anD puLLeD Some of the infraStruCture'S originaL CabLeS. now that he iS LeaDing hiS Department, he neeDS a SyStemS integrator that he Can truSt without heSitation.

18 Issue 01


D ubai Land Department (DLD) is a key agency un-der the umbrella of the Dubai Executive Council

and has, since its establishment by HH Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum in 1960, been an invaluable player in the development of the Emirate. The Land Department provides more than 230 services to the residents, all of which go to safeguarding the property rights of Dubai.

DLD’s operations and activities focus on providing the best real estate environment in line with the highest in-ternational real estate standards. This creates a lucrative incentive for busi-nesses to invest in Dubai, while protect-ing citizens and residents from all seg-ments of society. DLD also champions new and necessary legislation to sup-port the real estate sector in Dubai, and promotes safe and sustainable invest-ment in the region. As well, the depart-ment is committed to the distribution of clear and accurate real estate knowl-edge to residents and land owners.

Though the department’s goals are lofty, the staff at DLD does not stop there. The department’s aim is to go above and beyond basic services such as registration and tilting, to offer a fully integrated and streamlined ex-perience for their customers. Abdulla Saiem Atiq Al Yalooq, Director of IT, Dubai Land Department knows that to achieve this goal, the department needs modern technologies on a ro-bust network.

“When I joined Dubai Land De-partment in 1999 as a PC support tech-nician,” Al Yalooq recalls, “we were

only managing two servers and around 15 to 20 PCs.” Al Yalooq is more aware than most the backbone upon which the DLD network is built, as he pulled many of the cables through himself in those days. As Al Yalooq essentially built the network from the ground up, it follows he would only entrust his work to the most skilled and experienced of systems integra-tors.

“I met the team at Think Software in 2008,” says Al Yalooq. “I recall that our relation-ship began with a negotiation on price,” he laughs. “In the end, Think SS were flexible with the budget, and we were able to come to an agreement.” It was this moment that began what would be a nearly decade-long relationship between Al Yalooq and the team at Think SS.

Now, the bond between Al Yalooq and the Think SS team is one based on trust, respect and understanding. “I can call these guys at any time of day,” he says. “I tell them that it is their network – not mine, but theirs.” The thing that separates Think SS from other systems integration firms, he says, is those two elements – the dedication to their proj-ects, and after-care and support that go far beyond contracts or agreements.

“Trust,” says Al Yalooq, “is key. I may not get down in to the technical bits any more – setting up routers and

repairing PCs – but I can rely on Think SS to keep me and my department up to date with the latest technologies. Also, I trust them to know what is best for our network. Sometimes I will sug-

gest something, and they will sug-gest that it might not be the best fit for DLD. I trust them to not to make decisions for DLD based on invoices, but based on experi-ence.”

The network that both Al Ya-looq and Think SS helped to build has grown far be-

yond the two servers and 15 PCs of 1999. “We are running Dell Sonicwall, as well as solutions from Solarwinds, Cisco and more,” says Al Yalooq. The network now supports 135 servers and 460 PCs. “Not to mention over 100 printers,” he says.

As for the future of the DLD net-work, that is a decision that he will make with Think SS by his side, he says. “We now meet three times per year,” he explains. “We discuss what has been successful, new technologies and what our plan is for the coming quarter.” As for the future, while no one can reveal for certain, it is worth noting, he says, that much of the leg-acy hardware is due for a refresh. “As I said, I pulled some of those cables myself,” he quips, “I think it may be time to pull some new ones.”

i cAn cAll [Think SS] Any TimE oF DAy. i TEll ThEm ThAT iT iS ThEiR nETwoRk - noT

minE, bUT ThEiRS.

19Issue 01


Sales & marketing

What is going to be the sales and marketing strategy under your leadership?I will be focusing on

three key areas. The first is retention – it is paramount that we nurture relation-

A FRESh lookgautam Chakrabarty, heaD of SaLeS haS onLy reCentLy joineD think Software ServiCeS. hiS new view of the Company'S StrengthS anD ChaLLengeS, CoupLeD with hiS team'S vaSt inDuStry experienCe wiLL SureLy be a reCipe for growth in the Coming yearS. it iS not SurpriSing that Chakrabarty anD hiS team See a bright future for the Company.

isting customers. This is the solid base upon

which Think Software Services has de-veloped over the years. Now we must look to use these strengths to char an ag-gressive growth trajectory.

What are some of the emerging tech-nologies that will drive the next phase of growth for Think Software Services?We will continue to put an emphasis on our security solutions, as well as our cloud and virtualisation services. We see these areas as potential for tremendous growth in the coming years.

Do you have any plans to leverage your own data centre to offer cloud services or get into a cloud broker model of busi-ness?In fact, we are making moves in this direc-tion. We are building a centre of excellence in India. This COE will house fifty engi-

FAcE To FAcE

ships with our existing customers and key accounts. Strong existing relation-ships will translate into a solid reputa-tion, which will support business in the

future. The second area of focus will be on expansion. By this I mean expansion of the organisation as well as its capa-bilities. I want to support the growth of our reach and penetration, and there for the business overall. Finally, I want to concentrate on building our existing strengths. We have excellent relation-ships with our vendors as well as our ex-

wE will conTinUE To PUT An EmPhASiS on oUR SEcURiTy

SolUTionS, AS wEll AS oUR cloUD AnD ViRTUAliSATion SERVicES.

gAUTAm chAkRAbARTy, hEAD oF SAlES

i Enjoy PlAnning SUccESSFUl EVEnTS FoR Think SS ThAT AllowS mE To connEcT wiTh VEnDoRS AnD

cUSTomERS AT All lEVElS.kAViThA ADVAni, mARkETing mAnAgER

20 Issue 01


last year – to what do you attribute that growth?There are a number of factors that have supported our success in the past year. We have taken a focused approach with process, and have developed strong re-lationships with the right partners. Our customers see us as a valued partner in their business. Services that deliver capa-bilities will go further to strengthen our growing market penetration.

What trends in technology and services do you see taking hold in the next year?Everyone knows that IoT, Big Data and hybrid cloud are the buzz words these days. We see those becoming increas-ingly popular, of course, but we are also excited by a few, lesser known trends that we believe will gain a great deal of traction in the coming year. Context-rich systems are top of our list. Most devices today have embedded intelli-gence and analytics. This will eventually

make systems become more responsive to their surroundings – issuing location based alerts. We believe this will be of immediate relevance to our industry. We are also looking at pervasive com-puting as an up-and-coming trend. Mo-bile computing is, of course, slowly and steadily becoming integrated with cloud computing. In the very near future, apps that can use intelligence and stor-age effectively will see lower bandwidth costs. One immediate impact that we expect is the ability to use applications simultaneously on multiple devices. Fi-nally, we expect to see further growth in software-defined infrastructure and applications. software-defined network-ing, storage, data centres and security are maturing as are software-defined servers and networking. This trend is about increasing the agility of an organ-isation, minimising vendor lock-in and improving the organisation’s ability to serve their customers and consumers at a better rate.

neers with expertise in various technolo-gies. Our long-term aim will be to partner with a large cloud aggregator for both solu-tions and services capabilities. We will con-tinue, however, the current broker model with vendors at the same time.

Think Software Services has a very di-verse portfolio of clients – is there any particular industry in which the compa-ny is looking to expand its operations?We see the education sector to be a huge potential for growth in this region – schools and universities are keen to keep up with the latest in technology. We also will continue to grow our operations in oil and gas, hospitality, banking and gov-ernment as well as the SME sector.

The company’s presence in the mar-ket has clearly been growing over the

wE hAVE TAkEn A FocUSED APPRoAch wiTh PRocESS,

AnD hAVE DEVEloPED STRong RElATionShiPS wiTh ThE RighT

PARTnERS.TUShAR VATSA, PRoDUcT mAnAgER

wE SEE ThE EDUcATion SEcToR To bE A hUgE PoTEnTiAl FoR gRowTh

in ThiS REgion - SchoolS AnD UniVERSiTiES ARE kEEn To kEEP UP.

mohiT ShARmA, PRoDUcT mAnAgER

21Issue 01


What is your approach to selecting a system integrator as a stra-tegic partner?There are a few reoc-

curing themes and points that we find very important when seeking out new partnerships. We look for an established partner - one who has the experience in both the security and storage spaces. We look at the histroy of a potential part-ner, and their relationships with in their region. Reputation is key, as is a track record of strong pre and post sales engineers. This is particularly true in the Middle East. Regional experi-ence and reputation mean everything in the GCC region. We also put a great deal of value in sales and technical support. A partner should have dedicated re-sources to offer and a strong focus in relevant markets. It is worth repeating

PARTnER barracuda

A gooD REPUTATionbarraCuDa'S preSenCe in the miDDLe eaSt haS been boLStereD by their partnerShip with think SS. toni eL inati, regionaL SaLeS DireCtor mea, barraCuDa networkS, expLainS the importanCe of the Company'S reLationShip with think Software ServiCeS.

– in the Middle East, peer networks, rec-ommendations and word-of-mouth are strong indicators of a good reputation, and a strong potential partner. Without these boxes ticked, we would look twice at creating a partnership.

What value does Think Software Ser-vices bring to the table for you?As I mentioned before, reputation within Barracuda’s key industries is our first concern, and Think Software

Services has an excellent reputa-tion. The com-pany also brings solid technical expertise, which is paramount for us. Think Soft-ware Services has always been very helpful for us when it comes to cross-selling and the development of our accounts. Everyone in the company have excellent commu-nication with us, provide updates

Toni El Inati, Regional sales Director, middle east and africa, barracuda

regularly and are quick to offer clear ex-amples of what solutions they can avail. Those kinds of activities push things for-ward in a very real way.

How can customers get the most out of this relationship?Think Software Services support us in our ability to offer all the most in demand products – not only storage focused solu-tions, but also security. There is an in-creasing demand for security solutions, particularly in the Middle East, and we need to address those needs in a way that reflects an awareness of regional hap-penings. In short, we need local people on the ground to work to the best of our ability, and Think Software Services sup-port that aim. When we began our part-nership it quickly became apparent that the company not only understand, but share our ethos of fast and complete sup-port – we see them as a continuation of our own philosophy. We want our part-ners to be able to replicate that kind of support, and for this reason we are more than comfortable in our partnership with Think Software Services.

Which are the key verticals on which you are focusing? How do you plan to leverage Think Software Services’

wE nEED locAl PEoPlE on ThE

gRoUnD To woRk To ThE bEST oF

oUR AbiliTy, AnD Think SoFTwARE

SERVicES SUPPoRTS ThAT

Aim.

22 Issue 01


The role of the SI is changing from im-plementation and consulting to deliver-ing long-term business solutions that provide agile, future-ready technology roadmaps for users. How do you enable this evolution?We at Barracuda have taken this shift on board and believe that other outlets need to as well. We proactively enable this change through the provision of a wide portfolio of products that include solutions in content, application secu-rity, productivity and storage. We are not approaching this shift cautiously, in-stead, we look at the change as a chance to bring value to the customer through long-term opportunities and support.

For example, Barracuda offers a free hardware refresh for customers every four years. It is a value-added service that we believe reflects our commite-ment to keeping our customers running the latest technologies. This helps us to bring companies in for longer-term business solutions. Hardware refreshes let our customers partner with us with confidence and trust.

specific expertise in these markets to drive growth?The key verticals for us – and, I would say, for most in the Middle East – are hospitality and real estate. Tourism is growing rapidly, and peo-ple are coming to the GCC for both recreation and for work. Hotels, to give an example, have an increasing volume of data to back-up due to an growth in clients and visitors. This is where Think Software Services have a strong reputation and existing customer base. With them, we can provide solutions to help increase back-up and archiving business. Think Software Services have built their reputation in hospitality and real estate and already have a strong list of clients in those industries, as well as a number of trusted partners. Think Software Services has a depth of product knowledge in those indus-tries as well as a long standing his-tory with many hospitality and real estate outlets in the Middle East. It is easy to trust Think Software Ser-

Barracuda Networks offers industry-leading solutions designed to solve mainstream IT problems – efficiently and cost effectively. The company’s products span three distinct markets, including content security, networking and application delivery and data stor-age, protection and disaster recovery.

While the company maintains a strong heritage in email and web se-curity appliances, their award-winning portfolio includes more than a dozen purpose-built solutions that support ev-ery aspect of the network – providing organisations of all sizes with true end-

to-end protection that can be deployed in hardware, virtual, cloud and mixed form factors.

Barracuda is known for support-ing its partners, and in that vein has announced it recently awarded Think SS ‘EMEA Storage Specialist of the Year’ at the vendor’s 2015 Networks EMEA Conference held in Dubai.

The Barracuda Networks EMEA Conference is an invitation only event for key channel partners to get up close with the company’s team of technology experts and business leaders.

“The award will give confidence to

existing and prospective customers that Think has the experience, knowledge and technical capabilities to deliver Barracuda’s storage solutions in the region,” said Richard Rimmer, Barra-cuda’s Field Marketing Manager UK and MEA.

The Barracuda Networks EMEA Conference focuses on product releas-es, insight into how to cross-sell and up-sell opportunities through the ex-tensive Barracuda portfolio, best entry-point sellers and the opportunity for in-depth technical and sales training.

bARRAcUDA REcogniSES iTS VAlUED PARTnERS

Think SoFTwARE SERVicES

SUPPoRT US in oUR AbiliTy To

oFFER All oF ThE moST in DEmAnD PRoDUcTS - noT only SToRAgE

FocUSED SolUTionS, bUT AlSo SEcURiTy.

vices to implement the correct so-lutions, in an appropriate way that brings value to both their customers and partners.

23Issue 01


cASE STUDy

ToP oF ThE clASS

Canadian University Dubai is one of the few universities in the UAE that provides a cur-riculum based on Canadian

education principles. Since 2006, lo-cated in the heart of Dubai, has offered its students a portal to Canadian Higher Education, often supporting its stu-dents as they go on to study or conduct research in Canada. The university of-

fers classes across six schools, including engineering, architecture, business ad-ministration and technology. With 3000 students in attendance during the 2014 to 2015 academic year, it is critical for CUD to grow its IT infrastructure in re-sponse to the demands of its population.

Ali Hamici, Head of IT, Canadian University Dubai, has the sometimes daunting task of maintaining the uni-

versity’s IT infrastructure, while meet-ing the changing and increasing IT needs of staff and students. “Canadian University Dubai built its infrastructure gradually, in parallel with the strategic growth put in place by the university’s management,” says Hamici.

The infrastructure in place was cer-tainly meeting the university’s needs for the moment, but Hamici understood

when CanaDian univerSity Dubai neeDeD to upDate it'S it ServiCeS, it turneD to think Software ServiCeS for heLp. with over 3000 StuDentS in attenDanCe in Six SChooLS, it waS CritiCaL for the univerSity to expanD itS infraStruCture, whiLe keeping Downtime During the impLementation at a bare minimum.

cUD

ali hamici, head of it, Canadian university Dubai

24 Issue 01


that as the university grew, it needed to take on a clear road map to IT maturity. They needed a solid infrastructure and advanced solutions upon which to build their future IT. In short, CUD needed to reassess its legacy technology, and implement a solution that could tolerate their potential for expansion.

The existing network infrastructure was five years old, and a drag on the overall IT environment. It lacked the scalability and agility that the 24/7 con-nected campus needed to serve its staff and students. With future plans that included the expanded use of wireless technology in the classroom, a network upgrade was more than necessary. With new end-users connecting every day, se-curity is also of top concern for CUD. It was critical that any new network infra-structure be backed by a trusted security solution and firewall.

“Prior to the upgrade,” recalls Hami-ci, “Canadian University Dubai had a

heterogeneous infrastructure. The serv-ers and data were initially hosted exter-nally before it became a necessity to move them on premises and invest in internal resources as well as a solid data centre.” The network and security upgrade proj-ect, he says, was the first step to infra-structure maturity.

When CUD took on the upgrade, Hamici knew that the university would need a trusted i mple me nt a t ion partner. “Think Software Services had successfully delivered many projects prior to the upgrade,” says Hamici. “Any cli-ent can rely on them without any concerns.”

The solution presented was a mix of Dell as a network infrastruc-ture, supported by McAfee secu-rity and FortiGate firewalls. Cloud services were also on offer with the new upgrade. Of-fice 365 was imple-mented to provide email services as well as student and faculty portals to the university community.

The architecture and design of the solution were presented to CUD by Think SS. It was the clarity in their plan that made it an easy choice for the university to move forward. “The flexibility during the negotiation of the contract was also an important factor in our choice,” says Hamici of Think SS. “CUD did not hesitate to choose Think SS as our implementation partner.”

The upgrade was both comprehen-sive and swiftly rolled out. With profes-sors, staff and students had connectivity at all times, they needed to minimise total downtime during the implementa-tion. In all, Think Software completed the upgrades to network and security in a scant six days. This not only met, but exceeded the university’s timeline.

The change to the university’s infra-structure was im-mediately appar-ent. “Now we trust that we have robust network and secu-rity to handle all of our traffic and mitigate risk,” says Hamici. “Our engi-neers have perfect visibility of events and incidents, and can take proactive measures to defend our data from at-tacks.” Having a homogenous infra-structure will al-low the university to leverage excel-lent interoperabili-ty between systems and give the IT de-partment access to the solutions’ full capabilities.

As for the Canadian University Dubai’s relationship with Think SS – “The quality of the products recom-mended as well as the level of support promised and delivered were key in our choice to partner with Think SS,” says Hamici. Think SS is an important tech-nology partner to CUD, he says. The university plans to engage Think SS on future requirements, including the up-coming implementation of SolarWind operational solutions.

cAnADiAn UniVERSiTy DUbAi hAD A

hETERogEnEoUS inFRASTRUcTURE. ThE SERVERS AnD

DATA wERE iniTiAlly hoSTED ExTERnAlly bEFoRE iT bEcAmE A nEcESSiTy To moVE ThEm on PREmiSES

AnD inVEST in inTERnAl RESoURcES AS wEll AS A SoliD

DATA cEnTRE.”.

25Issue 01


EVEnTS

Think SS hosts fun and successful events in q3!

On August 26th, the Think SS team hosted the Dell Software Team for a day of calls and crazy fun!

Barracuda joined us on September 9 to combine work and fun on a very successful day of sales and marketing!

On May 25th, Evanssion, Nutanix and Think SS came together at Madinat Jumeirah to discuss the Software Definded Data Centre.

EMC/Arrow came to the Think SS offices to connect with existing clients and create new partnerships.

Think SS has come together with partners throughout Q3 for a number of marketing and sales events. It just goes to show that fun and success can go hand in hand.

26 Issue 01


For More Information Contact Think SS: + 971-44-288-379 | [email protected]

Think Software Booklet 2015

Documents

Transcript of Think Software Booklet 2015