Signed in the Jordanian capital of Amman, the agreement aims at taking the development of smartphones and tablets applications and games in the Arab world to the next level. It paves the way for producing a new set of games that will be built by MadVillage.

Upon the agreement, Kindi will provide ground-breaking solutions that will enable MadVillage to design interactive and educational games targeting smartphones and tablets. Kindi will also deploy its broad network with the world’s largest game studios, opening the doors to MadVillage to export its products to the global markets.

In his comment, the CEO at Kindi, Ammar Mardawi, said: “We are keen in Kindi to supply our clients with comprehensive, up-to-date tools utilized for developing high-quality apps for smartphones and tablets.”

“Our choice went rather naturally in favor of MadVillage, whose staff encompasses competent employees and enjoys an excellent track record in producing interactive games along with other applications supported by different platforms. There’s no doubt that tablets and smartphones are major mediums used by companies around the world today to communicate with their clients,” Mardawi added.

For his part, the CEO at MadVillage, Ata Alqadi, welcomed the signing of the agreement, saying: “We are pleased to partner with Kindi, which will share with us its large expertise and business network in the games development industry. Through Kindi’s database of over 6000 clients world-wide, we will be able to launch our new game titles and expand our business to global markets.”

“Our future plans are to target gaming fans in the Arab world and companies looking for new social and smartphones games to spread their brand. In addition, preparations are currently underway at MadVillage to build customized applications for our clients that would satisfy their various needs,” Alqadi added.

It is worth mentioning that Kindi operates as a leader in software development tools with its flagship product secureSWF, which is the world’s best Flash applications security software being used by international companies such as Adobe, Sony and PopCap.

- Ends -

About Kindi

Established in 2006, Kindi was named in honor of the brilliant scientist, Al-Kindi, and his contributions to the field of cryptography. Kindi is specialized in building software development tools. It’s flagship product, secureSWF, is the world’s best Flash applications security software being used by international companies such as Adobe, Sony and PopCap.

Headquartered in the Jordanian capital of Amman, Kindi has more than 6000 clients in the American, European and East Asian markets. Additionally, it holds strong partnerships with the largest technology companies worldwide. To learn more about Kindi, visit www.kindi.com

About MadVillage

MadVillage Entertainment develops easy-to-pick-up, hard-to-put-down casual games, as well as apps of all kinds for iOS, Android, Facebook, and other platforms. Available in many languages, MadVillage games feature world-class design and game mechanics that satisfy the varying needs of clients. Its apps are the first choice of individuals and businesses everywhere. To learn more about MadVillage, visit www.madvillage.com

*****

For more information, please call

PRLaunchers / Tel: 00 962 6 55 20 681 – Fax: 00 962 6 55 20 681

Email: info@PRLaunchers.com – Web: www.PRLaunchers.com

]]> http://www.kippreport.com/news/press-release/kindi-enters-into-strategic-partnership-with-madvillage/feed/ 0 http://www.kippreport.com/news/press-release/first-utm-solution-to-deliver-combined-gateway-endpoint-and-cloud-web-protection/ http://www.kippreport.com/news/press-release/first-utm-solution-to-deliver-combined-gateway-endpoint-and-cloud-web-protection/#comments Sun, 19 May 2013 09:53:58 +0000 anila http://www.kippreport.com/?p=75121 Dubai, UAE – May 19, 2013 – Sophos today announced the availability of Sophos UTM Connected, the latest version of its award-winning UTM (unified threat management solution). This release introduces expanded UTM managed endpoint protection with unique Web in Endpoint functionality, broader wireless coverage for large scale wireless deployments and higher performance networking.

As the complexities of securing all networks have grown, so have the struggles for businesses to fully optimize the many point security solutions they have purchased. A UTM is the proven solution to address this problem, however most simply put layers of protection on a single appliance. The introduction of Web in Endpoint functionality lets Sophos UTM go a stage further and make security layers communicate and combine to deliver more effective protection. This approach simplifies user experience and delivers a higher level of overall protection on which customers can rely.

“Small businesses face many of the same security challenges as do large enterprises— a distributed workforce and doing more with fewer resources,” said Charles Kolodgy, research vice president, IDC. “With Sophos UTM Connected, these businesses have a single consolidated security solution, one that allows them to deploy an endpoint client that synchronizes with their gateway web policy. Web security becomes easier to configure and stronger as a result.”

Through a unique integration of gateway, endpoint and cloud technology, the Sophos UTM now provides administrators with full web protection and control for endpoints roaming outside of the corporate network. As systems roam the globe, this integration enables complete oversight and security for endpoints as though they are in the office. Policies can be updated and reporting data accessed in near real-time for every protected endpoint.

Sophos web protection is backed by SophosLabs, the company’s global network of threat intelligence centers that identifies and protects against tens of thousands of infected URLs and hundreds of thousands of new variants of malicious code daily. Web in Endpoint is available at no extra cost to UTM Endpoint and Web Protection customers.

New UTM wireless capabilities enable businesses to extend wireless and accelerate VPN access faster and more securely. With wireless bridging and repeating support, Sophos access points reach further – capable of extending wireless range without the need for Ethernet cables. Sophos VPN functionality now  makes load balancing and failover of traffic between IPsec VPN tunnels simple to set-up.

“We’re excited about this latest release from Sophos and feel it will provide considerable benefit to customers, in particular, businesses with distributed workforces,” said Sam Heard, president, Data Integrity Services. “Businesses need to ensure their employees are protected against web-based threats, and employees want ultra-fast wired and wireless connectivity; this makes Sophos UTM Connected a win/win for the entire organization.”

“Customers and partners shape our UTM roadmap, ensuring that we deliver innovative technology that is practical to use in a business environment,” said Chris Kraft, vice president, product management, Sophos. “Web in Endpoint is a great example of solving a complex problem with a simple solution. Because we have proven endpoint protection and secure web gateway expertise, we are uniquely positioned to help IT administrators secure their roaming workforces – and having a single solution like this makes life easier for our channel partners to deploy security too.”

Additional information on all of the additional features in Sophos UTM Connected can be found here. For additional information on Sophos’ unified solutions, please visit www.sophos.com/networksecurity.

About Sophos

More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos’ complete security solutions as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Simple to deploy, manage, and use, Sophos’ award-winning network security, encryption, endpoint security, Web, email, and mobile solutions are backed by SophosLabs – a global network of threat intelligence centers.

Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.

Media Contact:

Nirmala D’souza

OAK Consulting FZ LLC

+971507343840

nimi@oakconsulting.biz

An investigation traced the “coordinated and simultaneous attacks” to hundreds of Internet protocol addresses in a number of countries, an unnamed source at the Saudi Interior Ministry told state news agency SPA.

The interior ministry website crashed on Wednesday after it received a “huge amount” of service requests, but was back online less than two hours later after the “necessary technical drills” were performed to counter the attack, the source said.

The report made no mention of a possible motive.

Businesses, government agencies and critical infrastructure operators face unprecedented challenges from increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks launched by criminals, hacker activists and foreign governments.

An attack last year on national oil company Saudi Aramco - the world’s biggest oil company – damaged some 30,000 computers and was one of the most destructive cyber strikes conducted against a single business.

That attack used a computer virus known as Shamoon. A group that claimed responsibility said Saudi Aramcowas the main source of income for the Saudi government, which it blamed for “crimes and atrocities” in several countries including Syria and Bahrain.

On Friday, the website and Twitter feed of the Financial Times newspaper were hacked, apparently by the “Syrian Electronic Army”, a group of online activists who say they supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Red Hat’s TAM support for SAP solutions builds on an already strong platform of services offered to customers of both companies by taking existing support systems a level further. Red Hat’s TAMs have in-depth knowledge and expertise on SAP solutions, allowing them to provide customers with guidance and insight into their installations, including recommendations on strategic and proactive planning, technical and product roadmaps, and more. As a result, TAMs help organizations optimize their environments running SAP software with Red Hat’s solutions, enabling businesses running technologies from both SAP and Red Hat to get the most out of their investments.

Red Hat’s Technical Account Management Services portfolio provides customers with access to a single, dedicated senior resource who works collaboratively with them to optimize their solutions for their business. Red Hat’s TAMs offer customers personalized and proactive guidance based on familiarity with each customer’s environment and business goals, as well as overall industry best practices. TAM customers also receive priority access for product feature requests and fixes and visibility into current and future Red Hat products.

Red Hat first established its TAM program in 2001, beginning as a broad effort that covered all Red Hat solutions. Since then, the company has begun offering TAMs that focus on specific products and services, including SAP solutions, cloud computing, virtualization, storage, and platform and middleware deployments.

Availability

Red Hat TAM services for SAP solutions are now globally available for any subscribing Red Hat customer.

Supporting Quotes

Marco Bill-Peter, vice president, Global Support Services, Red Hat

“Solutions from Red Hat and SAP provide the technological backbone for thousands of enterprises around the world. As such, we’re very pleased to expand our Technical Account Management Services program with a specialty in SAP solution-centric environments. Red Hat TAMs can provide customers running SAP solutions with invaluable support services and strategic guidance that will help them grow their business.”

About Red Hat, Inc.

Red Hat is the world’s leading provider of open source software solutions, taking a community-powered approach to reliable and high-performing cloud, Linux, middleware, storage and virtualization technologies. Red Hat also offers award-winning support, training, and consulting services. As the connective hub in a global network of enterprises, partners, and open source communities, Red Hat helps create relevant, innovative technologies that liberate resources for growth and prepare customers for the future of IT. Learn more at http://www.redhat.com.

Media Contact:

Colin Saldanha

PROCRE8 for Red Hat

Tel: +97150 6400762

Email: colin@procre8.biz

Another highly successful endeavour has been the R&M Cube, the recently constructed Swiss headquarters of the cabling specialist, which is proving to be even more environmentally sound than expected. Its CO2 emissions fall 80% below the reference standard, even though initially, a reduction of just 30% had been planned. The CSR report indicates plans for the long-term implementation of similar measures at the remaining production facilities, supply chain hubs, and sales offices.

Jean-Pierre Labry, Executive Vice-President of R&M Middle East, Turkey and Africa said, “Being a family-owned business, R&M remains completely dedicated to conducting business in a manner that is socially responsible. The measures taken by our Swiss headquarters to further improve efficiency and reduce our ecological footprint are being applied throughout our world-wide offices including the Middle East. We regularly put into action new initiatives based on the continual review of all areas of our business such as procurement, development, product management, production, logistics, marketing, sales, quality assurance and installation right down to the end users.”

This is the second CSR report from R&M and has been prepared in line with standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), an international organization which promotes economic and environmental sustainability in businesses and society. Besides reporting on environmental and climate-related developments within the company, the CSR report also addresses some fundamental issues of corporate policy. The word “quality” has a particularly prominent place in the CSR report, which pledges that “R&M sees quality as a key factor in sustainability. After all, a good product does not waste resources.” R&M is demonstrating in detail the efforts it is taking to ensure high quality and continually improve its products. For example, R&M tests every single network connector and each connection module before the products leave the plant. The Continuous Improvement Process (CIP), introduced in 2012, took just three months to produce 323 optimization ideas from members of staff. Almost half of these suggestions could be immediately implemented.

The issues of social, ethical, and social responsibility are also central to the sustainability report. In the report, R&M demonstrates how it is developing its personnel management and sets out the code of conduct which has been integrated into everyday operations.

“The 2012 CSR report records a new era in the history of R&M,” said CEO Michel Riva. Besides other developments, R&M strategically expanded and strengthened its management team in 2012. The Reichle family are now focusing on their strategic duties on the Board of Directors and defining the company’s cultural values. In the wake of the management reshuffle, finalized in 2012, R&M satisfies all international expectations relating to a transparent, controlled, and balanced management strategy. This is another aspect which the GRI deems to be an integral part of commercial sustainability. “From the word go, R&M has aimed to create a business that brings long-term benefits for everyone – customers, employees, partners, and society as a whole” – these words, taken from the CSR report, underline the company’s pledge of sustainability and balanced corporate responsibility.

The 2012 CSR report proves that the company operates in a way that is responsible and geared towards social, environmental, and economic sustainability. It is available for download at: http://www.rdm.com/en/co/about-us/corporate-social-responsibility.aspx

About Reichle & De-Massari (R&M)

Reichle & De-Massari (R&M) develops and produces passive cabling solutions for communication networks and has established itself as a leading producer of high quality copper and fiber-optic solutions. The company has set up its own sales organizations in 30 countries and these are streamlined into seven sales regions. Around two thirds of R&M’s sales revenue is generated abroad. In 2011 sales reached CHF 189.4. More than 5% of sales revenue is invested in research and development every year. R&M is ranked one of the 500 leading companies in Switzerland and currently employs approx. 600 people. The company is wholly owned by the Reichle family and is managed as an independent family business.

More information is available at http://www.rdm.com

Marketing Contact:

Sandrine Prat

Marketing & Communication Manager

Regional Office- Middle East & Africa

Reichle & De- Massari MEA

PO Box 54281

Dubai Airport Free Zone K09/K10

Dubai U.A.E

Tel: + 971 4 236 87 61

Fax: +971 4 236 87 62

Email: sandrine.prat@rdm.com

Media Contact:

Colin Saldanha

Managing Director

Procre8

Tel: +97150 6400762

Email: colin@procre8.biz

The new virus, known as novel coronavirus, or nCoV, is from the same family of viruses as those that cause common colds and the one that caused the deadly outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that emerged in Asia in 2003.

“This is the first time health care workers have been diagnosed with (novel coronavirus) infection after exposure to patients,” the Geneva-based U.N. health agency said in a disease outbreak update late on Wednesday.

The health workers are a 45-year-old man, who became ill on May 2 and is currently in a critical condition, and a 43-year-old woman with a coexisting health condition, who fell ill on May 8 and is in a stable condition, the WHO said.

France has also reported a likely case of transmission within a hospital, but this was from one patient to another patient who shared the same room for two days.

NCoV, like SARS and other similar viruses, can cause coughing, fever and pneumonia.

Scientists are on the alert for any sign that nCoV is mutating to become easily transmissible to multiple recipients, like SARS – a scenario that could trigger a pandemic.

WHO experts visiting Saudi Arabia to consult with the authorities on the outbreak said on Sunday it seemed likely the new virus could be passed between humans, but only after prolonged, close contact.

State-backed Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways are stitching deals, while Gulf states race to become regional hubs linking the Asia-Pacific region and Europe.

SIA’s promotional fares on its mainstay long-haul routes have helped it boost traffic, but yields are under pressure. Premium class travel, which makes up about 40 percent of revenue, has been hit by cutbacks in corporate budgets.

“They have competitors who have strong financial backing and are also forming alliances, so it’s getting to be a much tougher space,” said Kristy Fong, investment manager at Aberdeen Asset Management, which holds about a 4 percent stake in SIA.

“So the question is whether they can really keep that premium, which is sliding. I don’t think it’s an easy one.”

Under Chief Executive Goh Choon Phong, who took charge in January 2011, SIA is relying on a multi-brand strategy and stepping up its exposure to the budget airlines segment.

With a market value of $11 billion, Asia’s second biggest airline desperately needs growth. Profit slumped nearly 70 percent in the year to March 2012, while revenue edged up, highlighting the severe pressure on margins.

Emirates and Qatar are fiercely challenging the company, controlled by Singaporean state investor Temasek, for the title of top luxury carrier as they invest millions in upgrading lounges and enhancing services.

Singapore’s best known brand also faces stiffer competition from Southeast Asian rivals such as Malaysian Airline System Bhd and Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk PT, which are introducing newer aircraft and adding more connections in an attempt to win back some of their nationals who have previously flown via SIA andSingapore.

On Thursday, SIA - also known by its code SQ – is expected to report a 22 percent rise in net profit to S$409.6 million ($330 million) for the year ending March, according to an average of Thomson Reuters StarMine SmartEstimates. SmartEstimates places emphasis on timely forecasts by top-rated analysts.

The airline has been cutting costs. It said in January it would release all 76 pilots who were employed on fixed-term contracts. These foreign pilots would be let go by the end of June. SIA employs around 2,300 pilots. It did not provide financial details of the cuts.

This week the Capital Market Authority, operating under a new chairman, announced a series of measures designed to reduce the volatility of shares, make them harder to manipulate and improve the quality of listed companies.

Authorities have tried in the past to lift the market’s tone, with limited success. Currently over 90 percent of daily trading on the Arab world’s biggest stock market, which has a capitalisation of about $400 billion, is conducted by retail investors rather than institutions, officials say.

Because such investors often chase short-term gains in low-priced shares that are easy to manipulate, prices can become very volatile and money is sucked away from blue-chip companies that deserve to be more highly valued. This hurts the market’s role as a stable source of funds for corporate investment.

The CMA’s initiatives this week suggest it is making its strongest effort in years to change that pattern, fund managers and analysts said.

“The new management of CMA has started their work to enhance the market overall – expect a few more changes,” said Mohammad Omran, an independent financial analyst in Riyadh. “These initiatives will try to organise the practices in the market and move it away from illegal and speculative trading.”

If successful, the reforms could make the Saudi market more welcoming to foreign as well as local institutional investors. At present foreigners can invest only via a small number of exchange-traded funds and swap arrangements; Riyadh has for several years been preparing to permit direct investment, though it has not set a date for implementation.

Stock market reform also has political implications. After the Arab Spring uprisings elsewhere in the region, the government is spending billions of dollars to ease social discontent by cutting unemployment and poverty. Stronger capital markets could stimulate the private sector and create jobs.

NEW CHAIRMAN

The move against speculation appears to have backing at the top of the government. King Abdullah appointed Mohammed bin Abdulmalik Al al-Sheikh, previously an executive director at the World Bank, as chairman of the CMA in February.

Al-Sheikh has worked at U.S. law firm Latham & Watkins in Riyadh; the firm said he had nearly two decades of experience representing sovereign wealth funds and government bodies in Saudi Arabia, and that his law practice focused on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and project finance.

Last week Al-Sheikh told reporters that with other government bodies, the CMA was developing a strategy to promote institutional trading on the stock market, and was disappointed by the current “high levels of speculation” in shares.

“The CMA should put a limit on this manipulation to safeguard investors. We are currently trying to address this issue,” he said.

Gulf investors, flush with petrodollars and facing limited growth options at home, are stepping into other frontier and emerging markets in Africa and Asia to get a foothold in debt and equity markets.

“We’re also making a push into sub-Saharan Africa, basically the triangle of South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria. The plan is to open an office in South Africa by the fourth quarter of 2013,” Riad Meliti told Reuters in a interview.

“This is driven by the growth rate in those markets, opportunities, stock market development, the undervalued stocks and lack of information on companies,” he said.

The four year-old investment bank, which has offices in Dubai, Beirut, Libya and Egypt, is also looking at the best entry point into Saudi Arabia and will not shy away from acquisition opportunities in the largest Gulf Arab economy.

“Organic and inorganic options are available but it all depends on the right opportunity,” Meliti said.

Arqaam capital sees itself as a frontier and emerging market investment bank taking advantage of the flow of money into these markets. The firm currently offers research on 121 stocks across the Middle East and aims to capitalize on investor interest and extend its research coverage to 150 by the end of the year.

“If Tadawul (the Saudi stock exchange) is classified as emerging market, it will attract 5-10 percent of the MSCI, which is $65 billion out of the $1.3 trillion index,” Meliti said, referring to the possibility that Saudi Arabia could be added to influential MSCI Emerging Markets Index for investors.

Saudi Arabia’s stock market is currently not open to direct investments by foreigners but the kingdom is finalising a framework to allow foreign ownership, the head of the market regulator said earlier in May.

According to research by Arqaam, $1.3 trillion of liquidity was allocated to emerging markets in 2012 compared with $200 billion in 2002. In the frontier market world, it was $5 billion in 2002 and is currently close to $100 billion.

Arqaam earlier this year hired ex-Credit Suisse banker Wafic Nsouli to head its institutional equity sales unit, tapping talent from retrenching global banks for its expansion.

Arqaam last year bought Libyan financial services firm Al Rashad Finance and Management Advisory to tap into economic growth as the country rebuilds after civil war.

It also bought Egyptian brokerage firm El Rashad Securities in January.

“We are optimistic on the medium term in Egypt. It’s the right time to position yourself to add value to people who might require the service of financial intermediation,” Meliti said.

The U.S. Treasury Department slapped penalties on Al Hilal Exchange and Al Fida International General Trading, saying they had provided financial services to Iran’s blacklisted Bank Mellat.

Kuwait Airways would pay around 850 million dinars ($2.98 billion) for 25 new planes, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Monday, adding that a deal could be closed as early as this month.

Such an order would be worth $4.38 billion at list prices, but aircraft are often sold at a discount.

Under the deal, which still needs government approval, Airbus would also lease a further 13 aircraft.

The state carrier found that the Airbus offer was better than one by rival Boeing because of the cost and other specifications, Salem al-Othaina was quoted by newspaper al-Rai as saying, confirming reports earlier in the week.

He gave no further details.

The deal would be the most sweeping overhaul of Kuwait Airways since part of its fleet was seized after Iraqinvaded the Gulf state in 1990.

The source said on Monday the 25 new planes would include 10 wide-bodied A350-900 jets and 15 of the slimmer medium-haul A320neo.

Kuwait Airways and Airbus, which is owned by aerospace and defence group EADS, have so far declined to comment on the deal.

Exchange auditing is critical to companies that run the Microsoft email solution and are subject to HIPAA, SOX or other regulatory laws. Companies that cannot demonstrate HIPAA compliance, for instance, may be fined up to $1.5 million. Moreover, the HIPAA Omnibus Rule will soon expand the number of regulated companies to include many previously exempt organizations that are indirectly related to the healthcare sector, such as web design and business process outsourcing firms. Despite the clear need, Exchange auditing remains a difficult task for most organizations as user actions and user permissions are logged in separate Microsoft systems.

“IT administrators need an Exchange auditing solution that automatically collects audit stats that are difficult to procure otherwise and presents them in formats conducive to decision making,” said Manikandan Thangaraj, director of product management, ManageEngine. “We added customizable views, reports and alerts to Exchange Reporter Plus, so admins can quickly and easily identify who modified Exchange configurations, when a user logged into her mailbox, unauthorized mailbox logins and the like. Ultimately, this auditing and alerting feature set will help companies achieve their email security and compliance objectives.”

Inside Exchange Reporter Plus

Exchange Reporter Plus now includes an enhanced alerting system that can be configured to track and alert about critical events, such as a CIO’s mailbox permission being changed. Alerts can also be configured to look for certain suspicious event patterns such as a high rate of non-owner mailbox accesses or mailbox permission changes made in quick succession. To prevent email outages, Exchange Reporter Plus also cautions administrators about mailbox stores that are about to dismount. These real-time alerts are displayed on the Exchange Reporter Plus dashboard and can be delivered to administrators’ inboxes as well.

To accelerate decision making about critical events, Exchange Reporter Plus presents every report with a configurable view. For example, the user logon activity report lists the mailbox logins and the servers that handled them. This report can be customized to identify the top “n” servers handling login requests, giving administrators the information they need to balance the load on servers. The same report can be customized to indicate the top “n” users who accessed mail on a given day or to highlight the number of logins a mailbox received in a day.

Exchange Reporter Plus offers four categories of auditing reports: Mailbox Logon, Mailbox Permission Changes, Mailbox Property Changes, and Exchange Store Changes.

Mailbox Logon Reports shed light on the mailbox logins, regardless of their origin — whether from a computer terminal within the organization or from a mobile device. The reports include:

• User logon activity report, which lists all the mailboxes that were logged into, logon time, and the server that handled the request.
• Non-owner mailbox logon report, which shows users who accessed others’ mailboxes, the names of the mailboxes they accessed, access time and the server name.
• Server-based logon report, which is a unified view of the abovementioned reports.

Mailbox Permission Change Reports offer an audit trail for mailbox permissions changed, a crucial piece of information that could help in compliance or e-discovery. The reports include:

• Mailbox permission changes report
• Mailbox ‘Send As’ permission changes report
• Overall mailbox permission changes report

Mailbox Properties Change Reports highlight the modifications made to two key mailbox properties, quota and size restrictions, as well as the users who made the changes. The reports include:

• Mailboxes activated/ de-activated report
• Mailboxes moved report

Exchange Store Change Reports indicate the Exchange stores that mounted or dismounted.

Each report category supports customized report generation, so administrators can track specific events or changes rather than confine themselves to the product-supplied reports. For example, an administrator who wants to track authorized users accessing a CEO’s mailbox can create a “non-owner mailbox logon” report specifically configured to report about the CEO’s mailbox and the people who accessed it.

Pricing and Availability

Exchange Reporter Plus is available immediately and can be downloaded at http://www.manageengine.com/products/exchange-reports/download.html. The pricing starts at $295. A fully functional, 30-day evaluation edition of Exchange Reporter Plus is also available.

For more information about Exchange Reporter Plus, please visit www.manageengine.com/products/exchange-reports. For more information on ManageEngine, please visit http://www.manageengine.com/; follow the company blog at http://blogs.manageengine.com/, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ManageEngine and on Twitter at @ManageEngine.

About Exchange Reporter Plus

Exchange Reporter Plus is a web-based reporting, analysis and auditing solution for Exchange servers. Through its 100+ reports, the software offers profound insight into every aspect of Exchange email infrastructure. Through the self-explanatory statistics on email traffic, mailbox storage growth, and usage patterns, it equips the administrator with all the vital information required to optimize an Exchange server. Auditing capabilities of the product help make compliance demonstration easy. For more information, please visit www.manageengine.com/products/exchange-reports.

About ManageEngine

ManageEngine delivers the real-time IT management tools that empower an IT team to meet an organization’s need for real-time services and support. Worldwide, more than 72,000 established and emerging enterprises — including more than 60 percent of the Fortune 500 — rely on ManageEngine products to ensure the optimal performance of their critical IT infrastructure, including networks, servers, applications, desktops and more. ManageEngine is a division of Zoho Corp. with offices worldwide, including the United States, India, Japan and China. For more information, please visit http://www.manageengine.com/; follow the company blog at http://blogs.manageengine.com/, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ManageEngine and on Twitter at @ManageEngine.

###

ManageEngine is a trademark of Zoho Corp. All other brand names and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Media Contacts:

Gitanjali Sreepal (Geet)

ManageEngine
gitanjali.s@manageengine.com
Follow us on Twitter: @manageengine

Or

Nirmala D’souza

OAK Consulting FZ LLC

+971507343840

nimi@oakconsulting.biz

The exhibition, which will open at 7 pm on May 15^th 2013, will showcase over 30 selected artworks of both upcoming as well as well acclaimed Turkish artists such as Devrim Erbil, Arzu Akgun, Demir Kardas and Murat Germen

“Contemporary Turkish Art Exhibition ‘will take  place between May 15 – 1 June 2013,will provide visitors with a glimpse at a different era of Turkish contemporary art, aims at promoting artists from Turkey as well as creating a market for Turkish contemporary art in U.A.E.

Turkish art developed simultaneously with the larger art world, embracing movements like Pop Art, Photorealism, Minimalism, and Conceptual Art. By the end of the twentieth century, Turkish artists were more active, exploring new visual paths in art.

Tatiana Faure, Owner and Founder of Pro Art Gallery, adds “The exhibition will provide visitors a chance to witness and discover the historical development in Turkish art and how its art market is not only becoming more mature and specialized, but is increasing in popularity and international recognition which is being fueled from within the  country  itself.”

-Ends-

Note to the Editors:

Biographies:

Devrim Erbil

He was enrolled in the painting department of the State Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul where he first studied.Devrim’s unique painting style caught the attention of an international audience. He was awarded an art scholarship to study painting in Madrid and Barcelona. He later continued his academic career in Paris and London.  Devrim was elected Turkey’s “Young Artist of the Year” and was awarded the prestigious title of Turkey’s State Artist. In addition to his painting career, Devrim also dedicated himself to the development and promotion of the arts in Turkey. Erbil also served as Director of the Istanbul Museum of Painting and Sculpture.

Demir Kardas:

He refers to his works as “Colouring”. He is an artist who avoids talking extensively about and defining his works and his process of creating art, without being lost in details. This may be the reason why he simply terms them as “colourings”. Whereas, when his art, in his own words, “his colourings” meet the viewing eye, it implies an aesthetical/visual construct far beyond colouring. In the area of art where colours, lines and planes come together, you feel the presence of an infinite universe that moves in its own rhythm based on its own specific principles. Like in all visual constructs, when the viewing eye, in other words, “the observing subject” meets the work of art, many processes, perceptions, sensations open up the door of the world of meanings beyond the visible. The meaning is located there, expecting the viewer with all its potentiality and possibilities.

Murat Germen

He is an experimental artist that often uses photography as his medium. He received a Bachelor of Science in city planning and a Master of Architecture. Germen is a photographer with a strong conceptual message. For him photography is an opportunity to find things that people ignore. He focuses on the ordinary and latent extraordinariness in regularity. He challenges himself to create extraordinary work of things that are perceived as normal. For his series Muta-Morphosis he created bizarre panoramic photographs or multidimensional cityscapes in various places around the world. The concept is the combination of the notions of mutation and metamorphosis. These images are produced by the compression of the horizontal levels.

About Pro-Art:

Founded in 2010, Pro Art gallery is the brainchild of art collector Mrs. Tatiana Faure and is one of the first places in the Middle East where collectors can acquire artworks such as masters, lithographic prints and serigraphs of over 100 artists from 15 different countries. Pro Art Gallery offers an impressive collection of fine arts, selection of styles and mediums from one-of-a-kind paintings to affordable limited edition prints, sculptures to photography. Our variety of portfolio gives collectors access to a range of artists with the highest level of quality, integrity and taste within their chosen field. From acclaimed street art, to renowned masters or the showcasing of upcoming artist, Pro Art is your one source for Art.

Showcased artists include works by Carlos Nadal, Pablo Picasso, Fernando Botero, Damien Hirst, Marc Chagall, Tyeb Mehta, S.H. Raza, Banksy, Andy Warhol, Alberto Giacometti, Bernard Buffet, and many more.

For further details, please visit ProArt gallery located in Palm Strip Shopping Mall, F 21, Jumeirah Beach Road, Opposite Jumeirah Mosque from 10am – 9pm Saturday to Thursday

Media Contact:
ProArt Gallery
Tel.: +971 4 345 0900
Fax: +971 4 345 0912
E-mail: info@proartuae.com

Or

Anila D’souza

OAK Consulting FZC

Mobile:+971558754851

Email: anila@oakconsulting.biz

Aviation union Hava-Is, which says it represents 14,000 of the airline’s 15,800 workers, is demanding that the company rehires 305 employees dismissed after industrial action that grounded hundreds of flights in May last year.

The prospect of a strike this week comes as Turkish Airlines denied media reports of strife within management over the labour unrest and a move to ban female flight attendants wearing red lipstick and nail polish, which it withdrew this month.

Hava-Is had set a May 15 deadline to resolve the dispute with one of the world’s fastest-growing airlines, and the union’s general secretary, Mustafa Yagci, said on Tuesday that “there looks to be a high probability of a strike”.

Yagci said that the union’s chairman had talks with Turkish Airlines Chairman Hamdi Topcu but without any sign of a deal.

“Management stands where it stood five months ago,” he added.

The union said in a previous statement that a strike would begin at 3am local time on May 15. It was not clear how many employees would take part in strike action, but Yagci suggested on Tuesday that there could be significant disruption.

“Turkish Airlines has about 800 daily flights from Istanbul alone. When you consider this, their loss will be great,” he said.

The workers the union wants reinstated were dismissed after the airline had to cancel 223 flights when staff reported ill in protest at a draft law making it illegal for them to strike. Parliament passed the bill last year but the union says it still has the right to take industrial action.

Turkish Airlines Chairman Topcu told NTV television on Monday that collective bargaining talks with Hava-Is were blocked because of the precondition for the 305 dismissed workers. He said that the union should wait for a court ruling on their fate.

The company, which is 49 percent state-owned, also denied that management itself is in dispute over the airline’s recent troubles.

“The characterisation of the issue by some press outlets as a management crisis does not reflect the truth. There is no disagreement in the Turkish Airlines management,” it said in a statement to the Istanbul stock exchange on Monday.

It added that Chief Executive Temel Kotil had requested leave because his father was unwell but had delayed the leave until next week because of the ongoing talks with the union.

Riyadh, KSA – May 5, 2013:

At the recently held awards ceremony marking the 5^th Anniversary of KSA’s leading news website “Sabq.org”, the Chairman and CEO of Choueiri Group, Pierre Choueiri was presented with an honorary crystal plaque, in recognition of DMS / Choueiri Group’s valuable exclusive media representation partnership with Sabq.org and the Group’s contributions to the website’s remarkable success story.

This honor was conferred in the company of local dignitaries, senior officials, scholars, prominent ambassadors from Arab as well as other friendly states, distinguished businessmen, as well as the Chief Editors of local newspapers and journalists who were in attendance at glittering ceremony held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in the Kingdom’s capital city of Riyadh. The evening’s proceedings were held under the patronage of his Excellency the Minister of Culture and Information, Dr. Abdulaziz Bin Mohieddin Khoja, in the presence of his Excellency the Deputy Minister of Culture and Information, Abdullah al-Jassir.

The well-organized event setting extended the website’s creative and modern flair to the guests who were treated to state-of-the-art presentations. On behalf of his Excellency the Minister of Culture and Information, his Excellency Dr. Abdullah al-Jassir inaugurated the event with a technical presentation outlining the most important stages related to Sabq’s evolution over the course of its five year journey. In addition, His Excellency, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Eng. Abdul Aziz Khereiji also delivered a speech in which he expressed pride on the success of Sabq and appreciation for the Board of Directors’ efforts, by stating that the portal had become a true reference point, “Which has proven itself day-after-day amongst the local and Arab mass media”. He also hoped that Sabq’s success would lead to another growth phase, aimed at raising the stature of Saudi media, along with the standing of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its esteemed leadership.

Mr. Ali Al-Hazimi, the Founder, General Manager and Chief Editor of Sabq.org also made a unique presentation, which traced the challenges and difficulties which were faced in the early days, and how these were overcome to build a solid foundation for Sabq.org. Notable moments from his address included his relay on how Sabq.org began as a mere dream, how the name was coined, and how the lack of a proper headquarters, led him to initially utilize internet cafes in Riyadh from where he gather news and remit coverage. He also pointed out a host of administrative and financial challenges, extending special thanks to an elite group of fellow journalists who contributed to the start-up.

In accepting the award for Choueri Group, Pierre Choueiri expressed his appreciation to the Management team at Sabq and praised the website’s leadership and the distinct success which it has achieved.

In a TV interview immediately following the event, DMS’ Managing Director Michel Malkoun stated that “DMS’ partnership with Sabq is aimed at optimizing the website’s long-term success, as the leading news portal in KSA, in the face of growing prospects for digital media spends in KSA”. He also went on to say that Sabq’s success was the direct outcome of Sabq team’s dedication and commitment to excellence, which had placed the website as by-far #1 market leader, concluding that “We are truly honoured to have played a significant role in channelling the high potential, reach and appeal of this website as a premier advertising platform”.

______________________________________________________________________________

XXX

Contact Person: Assad Jamil
Company Name: Choueiri Group (Marketing & Research Department)
Phone: +971 4 454 54 54
Fax: +971 4 454 54 44
URL: www.choueirigroup.com
email address: ajamil.mr@choueirigroup.com

The hotel will feature three food and beverage outlets, Al Fursan Restaurant the all day dining buffet restaurant serves a wide range of International dishes and an al a carte and it it located  at the lobby level. Emarati N More Restaurant specializes in traditional Emarati Cuisines and Arabic majlis  is an ideal location to enjoy a wide selection of tea and coffee or savour our light snacks, homemade cakes and pastries.

Recreational facilities will include a fully equipped gymnasium with techno gym equipment and professional instructors, Steam room, Sauna room, Jacuzzi, Swimming Pool at the roof top, massage room and table tennis, animation area ideal for birthday celebrations and special events, kids club and  The hotel has two meeting room  which they can provide  a range of options for conducting important business meetings, seminars, product launches and banquet facilities and can be equipped with podium, flip charts, LCD Projector, screen, stationary and standard Audio system and with a capacity of 150.

Five Continents Hotels & Resorts  has a mission to develop and operate unique hotels and resorts with those handpicked properties across the world, we aim to deliver the best hospitality service and to give the local and international guests a reason to choose UAE as a destination offering culture, adventure and high quality hospitality facilities. Cassells Al Barsha Hotel is the second Five Continents Hotels and Resorts property in Dubai joining Cassells Ghantoot Beach Resort.

Many may forget but we will NEVER overlook at any point of time the confidence many owners have given us and take this opportunity in UAE to thank the Chairman of Casseslls His Excellency Saeed Al Romeithy on his support and confidence pledge to Five Continents. This gives us personal and moral commitment to exceed his expectation as well as those owners we select to be true partners with and not only mere operators with percentages and figures but to be human and understand their needs and dreams.

Dubai’s First Cruise Specialty Agency Offers Worldwide Sea Vacations at Exceptional Prices

Dubai, UAE – May 14, 2013

CruiseOne -Vacation Sisters, the regions first cruise specialty agency, brings its personalized service, exceptional low prices and exclusive industry offers on worldwide cruise vacations to Dubai.

CruiseOne Vacation Sisters are part of the top travel retail network in the world with incredible buying power, resulting in exceptional low prices and exclusive offers such as upgrades, discounts and more.  Recognized by the industry’s finest for its commitment to excellence, CruiseOne Vacation Sisters prides itself with a unique touch of outstanding personal service blended with cruise travel expertise.

CruiseOne have been the United States’ largest cruise retailer for over 20 years but have yet to appear anywhere in the gulf.  Recognizing that there was no dedicated cruise agency that just specializes in cruise vacations, the Vacation Sisters brought the CruiseOne franchise to Dubai.

“We knew the region was missing a cruise industry partner agency such as CruiseOne Vacation Sisters.  We are excited to be able to share our exclusive industry offers with Dubai and the UAE.   Whether you’re planning a family reunion, a relaxing retreat or a honeymoon, we will provide you with the best options available”, says Managing Partner, Kristina Lauderdale.  “Because we are a part of the largest vacation retailer in the United States, we don’t only guarantee exceptional insider savings and special fares but we provide all of our customers with distinguished, top-notch personal service every step of the way.”

CruiseOne Vacation Sisters prioritize the importance of walking clients step-by-step through the entire booking and planning process, from selecting destinations and excursions based on clients’ interests to providing packing lists and enhancing memorable cruise vacation moments.

Danielle Monds, Business Partner states, “We feel confident in calling ourselves ‘Dubai’s Cruise Vacation Experts’.  Having been on over 75 personal cruise vacations, we know the importance of an agents’ cruise industry knowledge.  By getting to know our clients’ needs and interests, we make it our priority to plan their dream vacation no matter the budget.”    Their clients will receive experienced and personalized assistance in selecting cruise vacation packages for independent travelers as well as groups ranging from family reunions at sea to corporate meetings and ship charters.

For more information or to book a dream cruise vacation, please call +971 50 8556095 or visit www.vacationsistersdubai.com.

About CruiseOne^®

A member of the International Franchise Association (IFA), CruiseOne® is the United States leading home-based travel agent franchise and is consistently ranked as a franchise leader by Entrepreneur and Forbes.  As part of World Travel Holdings, one of the US’s top travel retail networks, CruiseOne offers consumers the lowest possible pricing on cruise and land vacations through its relationships with every major cruise line and many tour operators. In operation since 1992, CruiseOne has received numerous awards and a top-ranking status by all the major cruise lines including Norwegian Cruise Line®, Royal Caribbean International®, Celebrity Cruises® and Carnival® Cruise Line.

About Vacation Sisters

Sisters, Danielle Monds and Kristina Lauderdale have been on over 75 cruise vacations around the world. Their passion for travel and dedicated professionalism give them a unique recipe in the travel industry; outstanding personal service, personal cruise travel expertise and a commitment to excellence.  Launching in Dubai in 2013, Vacation Sisters were able to open Dubai’s first dedicated cruise industry partner agency bringing the region superior service, priceless professionalism and remarkable rates.

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Media Contact:

Kristina Lauderdale

+971 50 8556095

klauderdale@cruiseone.com

“For five years, Gulf Marketing Review (GMR) [The Gulf’s most reliable marketing, advertising and media resource] has been working with Brand Finance Middle East to compile the Top 50 Corporate Brands. This year, we have extended it to include Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, making it the most comprehensive ranking to date. GMR’s target audience is primarily media agencies and marketing professionals,” says Siobhan Adams, group managing editor, GMR.

This year, however, Saudi Arabia’s Al Maraai, affirmed its position as the most valuable food brand in the Middle East, with a brand value growth of 60 per cent. Sitting just behind the telcos and ahead of Qatar’s top banking brand, QNB, Al Maraai is now the seventh most valuable brand in the region. In a ranking traditionally dominated by airlines, telcos and finance companies, Al Maraai has dramatically improved since the list was first published in 2007, becoming the first brand outside of these sectors to break into the top 10.

“This is the first time a food and beverage brand has made it into the top 10, and it is great to see a local FMCG name in there,” says Adams.

The recent rebranding of Qtel to Ooredoo demonstrates the growing self-confidence of GCC brands.  Bold marketing actions and big budgets are now driving the organic growth of GCC brands. This year, Qatar based telecom, Qtel, became the most valuable telco brand in the Middle East, with a brand value of $3.39bn, overtaking Etisalat. Saudi brand, Mobily, has seen the strongest growth this year, increasing its brand value by $892m. Middle East businesses still have a long way to go to capitalise on the full potential of their brand power.

The UAE and Saudi Arabian brands occupy 29 of the 50 places in the table and constitute 68 per cent of the total brand value. While Saudi’s brands have grown by an average of 17 per cent, the UAE’s growth has been less than one per cent, so the race to be the Middle East’s brand champion is heating up.

“For the past five years, the ranking has been dominated by airlines. Emirates has been consistently at number one – not just in the UAE, but across the GCC – followed by telcos and financial institutions, but this year we have a newcomer in the top 10, with Almarai. The ranking is a clear demonstration of the growing confidence in and success of locally created brands and products in a region that was traditionally dominated by imported brands,” explains Adams.

While 20^th century business was concerned about supply, the 21^st century is demand-driven. In this new business paradigm, brands are the crucial catalysts for growth. Businesses in the Middle East have successfully laid the foundations of strong tangible assets, whether in manufacturing, service or distribution. They must build on their existing successes, focusing on the intangibles; emulating local champions such as Emirates, to capture market share and deliver for the global consumer.

For the past 20 years, GMR has been the most authoritative and reliable information source for marketing professionals operating across the Middle East. An indispensable blend of robust analysis, meaningful insights and solid research, spanning a broad range of marketing disciplines, issues and product categories, has kept GMR at the forefront of the region’s business media for nearly two decades. Subscribe to GMR to get your monthly dosage of information by sending your request to info@mediaquestcorp.com, or call +971 4 363 03 32.

Find GMR on iTunes: Gulf Marketing Review Magazine Interactive.

“Cards and Payments Middle East is one of the most important security tradeshows for HID Global. We are delighted to be showcasing our products and solutions at Cards and Payments Middle East, especially our recently launched products such as the FARGO HDP8500LE, enhanced HDP5000 and the new HDPii Plus for the banking sector. It is a fantastic opportunity to interact with security and industry professionals from both the government and banking verticals,” said Nat Pisupati, Regional Sales Director, Middle East and Africa.

“We will be available to meet channel partners, end users, OEMs, systems integrators, security and IT managers to understand what key secure identity challenges need to be addressed in the workplace and how our future proofed solutions can assist them”

The products, solutions and services on show for the banking and governmental sectors at Cards Middle East, at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre – Stand K30, May 14–15, 2013, will include:

Solutions for Creating a Secure Identity

• HID Secure Identity Services™: A comprehensive suite of services to help customers address every aspect of requirements for cards and digital credentials for mobile access, including managing the daily flow of ID card badge requests, large-volume re-badging projects, and combining multiple technology platforms onto one credential.
• Card Personalisation Solutions: HID Global will present  the following card personalisation solutions focused on the banking and government sectors:

• FARGO HDP5000 Printer/Encoder: The enhanced superior high definition industrial ID printer for extended-run, high throughput ID issuance with optional lamination and add-on modules to help meet specialised print requirements in the future.
• FARGO HDP8500LE Industrial Series Card Printer/Laser Engraver: New GSA-approved solution for high duty cycle, high-volume ID programs.
• FARGO HDPii Plus high definition card printer/encoder: A printer that makes instant card issuance practical, affordable, and profitable for a wide range of financial cards. This will be combined with the Gemalto Dexxis instant issuance software. HID Global will showcase the complete issuance solution for the banking environment.
• FARGO DTC1000 dual side and DTC4500 printer/encoders: The most advanced compact printer, the DTC1000 is a simple to use, plug-and-play model while the DTC4500 is a robust, high performance printer perfect for large businesses and government institutions, producing full color ID cards and security encoding – all in one pass.
• Asure ID® card personalization software:  This changes the paradigm of how ID card personalization software looks, feels and performs

• PIV Enablement Solutions: pivCLASS® Government Solutions including the latest portfolio of pivCLASS credentials. pivCLASS allows international government agencies, contractors and other facilities to easily PIV-enable their existing physical access control systems (PACS) to meet the standards established by the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 201 without requiring a “rip and replace” of their existing PACS infrastructure.

Solutions for Using Secure Identity

• Government-to-Citizen ID Solutions: E-documents, readers, inlays, prelaminates, LaserCard® optical security media (OSM) and smart card ID credentials for e-passport, national ID, foreign resident, worker ID and vehicle registration programmes.

Solutions for Managing Secure Identities

• Mobile Access Solutions: Technology-independent iCLASS SE® access control platform including the iCLASS Seos™ credential that delivers advanced security, portability and flexibility while enabling the use NFC-enabled smartphones for access control and other applications.

• Layered Authentication Solutions For Secure Online Banking: The latest ActivID® Appliance enables Banks to take ‘Authentication Beyond Passwords’ and easily deploy risk-based authentication solutions that prevent fraud and secure transactions using our latest threat detection and transaction signing technology.

HID Global will be speaking during the Digital ID World Middle East session on Tuesday, 14^th May 2013:

• Joby Mathew, Regional Sales Manager EMEA – Government ID Solutions: “Combatting fraud and counterfeiting with highly secure ID card issuance” from 12:30 to 13:00 p.m.

The following HID Global executives will be available for interviews during Cards and Payments Middle East 2013:

• Anthony Ball: Senior Vice President, IAM Solutions
• Nat Pisupati: Regional Sales Director, Middle East and Africa
• Christophe Malgorn: Director of Sales, Secure Issuance
• Joby Mathew: Regional Sales Manager, EMEA – Government ID Solutions, MEA and India

For more information on the range of electronic access and identity solutions from ASSA ABLOY and HID Global, visit www.thekeytoifsec.com.

To read more comprehensive press briefings and product information, or to interview key members of the ASSA ABLOY and HID Global team, contact the press relations staff listed below, or visit Hall 4, Stand C40 and C50.

Stay Connected with HID Global
Visit our Media Center, read our Industry Blog, subscribe to our RSS Feed and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

About HID Global
HID Global is the trusted source for secure identity solutions for millions of customers around the world. Recognized for robust quality, innovative designs and industry leadership, HID Global is the supplier of choice for OEMs, system integrators and application developers serving a variety of markets. These markets include physical and logical access control, including strong authentication and credential management; card printing and personalization; visitor management systems; highly secure government and citizen ID; and identification RFID technologies used in animal ID and industry and logistics applications. The company’s primary brands include ActivID®, EasyLobby®, FARGO®, LaserCard® and HID®. Headquartered in Irvine, California, HID Global has over 2,000 employees worldwide and operates international offices that support more than 100 countries. HID Global® is an ASSA ABLOY Group brand. For more information, visit www.hidglobal.com.

# # #

® HID, the HID logo, AsureID, ActivID, Crescendo, iCLASS, iCLASS SE, HID Secure Identity Services, EasyLobby, naviGO, EDGE EVO, VertX EVO, pivCLASS and FARGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of HID Global in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks, service marks, and product or service names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Media Contact:
Sapna Capoor
HID Global
M: +44 (0) 7798 617 946
E: scapoor@hidglobal.com

Held annually with the participation of hundreds of Jordanian university students from the Faculties of Science, Engineering, telecommunications and IT, the event was hosted by Mutah University and organized by Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship (QRCE) in cooperation with the UN Women.

In the awards ceremony, Prof. Battah praised the qualitative projects and ideas presented in the two-day event, underscoring the importance of creating a scientific environment suitable for fueling the spirit of research and development among academic talented minds to help achieve sustainable economic development and support production and services sectors in the Kingdom.

“By closely scrutinizing the participating graduation projects, we were able to learn about the level of knowledge and skills the students have, as well as their ability to lead to an improved quality of life for themselves and future generations. What caught our attention most are the participants’ unique ideas which imply the sincere keenness of the youth to track the news of the nation’s scientific institutions and try to add richness and depth to their scientific research,” Prof. Battah said.

Highlighting the role that the national institutions, including QRCE, play in supporting gifted students, Prof. Battah said: “Since its inception in 2004, the strategic objective of QRCE, which operates under the umbrella of iPark (Member of El Hassan Science City), has been to push the nation’s economy forward through providing services and launching programs that would promote technical entrepreneurship throughout the Kingdom. The achievements accomplished by QRCE have boosted its position as a locally and regionally-recognized leader in disseminating knowledge among university students, scholars, and inventors as well as in building their individual skills.”

In his comment, Dr. Rida Al-Khawaldeh, President of Mutah University, said: “The graduation projects competition is an ideal platform to inspire developers and endowed university students whose creative ideas are the assets for taking the community to the next level.”

“The academic institutions in Jordan enjoy good reputation, especially at the regional and international levels. This is attributed to the fact that our students occupy leading positions in a number of the world’s largest companies, not to mention the pioneering enterprises they founded over the past few years and which have become success stories, continuously grasping media attention,” Dr. Al-Khawaldeh added.

For her part, Anoud Al-Majali, Equality Project Officer at UN Women, said: “We are keen to take part in this event through offering two prizes to the best two graduation projects executed by female university students to augment the economic role they play in enhancing the local labor market. Being an entity concerned with women affairs, our duty is to inspire women and aid them to free their capabilities to help build a brighter future for the rising generations. The national responsibility is mutual and should not be limited to a single party.”

In the NTP, several specialized lectures were organized to groom participants’ research skills and introduce them to means of successfully changing abstract concepts into marketable products. The event also included an exhibition featuring the graduation projects which were short-listed.

The competent panels of judges announced the winning projects. Prizes were awarded to winners of the first positions, while the UN Women awarded two prizes to the best two female student-created projects to underline women’s role in community development.

The Parade addressed eight themes: water and renewable energy, e-learning, Robotics and smart systems, health and medical applications, green environment and construction technology, smart artificial systems, IT and telecommunications,  games, and mobile applications.

In his turn, Eng. Farhan Kalaldeh, the Executive Director of QRCE, said: “The graduation projects competition comes in line with QRCE’s policy which aims at motivating the innovative thinking and practical skills of Jordanian youth. It contributed in making the technical obstacles which companies encounter the topics of student’s graduation projects and unveiling their creative talents and skills in research and development.”

Kalaldeh added that QRCE, in order to add excitement to the ambiance of the Parade and enrich its activities, has launched the “Industry University Linkage” competition as part of the NTP, noting that the winners of the competition will be revealed in an awards ceremony in October.

Ends-

About Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship (QRCE):

A Non-Profit organization established in 2004 to help develop Technology Entrepreneurship in Jordan. The Center is part of El Hassan Science City, and plays the role of a national Centerof Excellencefor Entrepreneurship. As part of QRCE strategic plan, the Center is implementing a comprehensive initiative focusing on four key areas: Networking, Recognition & Awareness, Capacity Building & Support, and Funding. Over the last five years, the center has organized many activities that benefited thousands of entrepreneurs, professionals & students in Jordan. For more information please visit: www.qrce.org

For more information, please call

PR Launchers / Tel: 0096265520681 – Fax: 0096265520681

Email: info@PRLaunchers.com – Web: www.PRLaunchers.com

The company is also announcing major upgrades for Applications Manager, the on-premise application monitoring solution; OpManager, the data center and network monitoring software; and Site24x7, the cloud infrastructure monitoring service.

“Our users are finding that passwords to cloud services are just as difficult to remember as passwords to traditional applications when there’s no single sign-on solution in place, and the help desk pays the price in a deluge of password reset requests,” said Manikandan Thangaraj, director of product development, ManageEngine. “In response, we’ve extended ADSelfService Plus to work with a variety of cloud-based services, including some of the most popular business apps and storage services on the market. Users now effectively have single sign-on access to the online and on-premises systems they need to get their jobs done and keep their companies running smoothly.”

Self-Service for Cloud Passwords

ADSelfService Plus now allows IT administrators to synchronize passwords between Active Directory and several cloud-based apps and storage services without the hassles of implementing single sign-on methodology. In turn, end users gain a password self-service system that synchronizes their various passwords, sparing them the burden of remembering multiple passwords for multiple IT systems, both behind the firewall and in the cloud. Likewise, administrators are free to increase password complexity for secure on-premise and cloud-based service access. Other highlights of the latest version of ADSelfService Plus include:

        Password strength analyzer and enforcer – Administrators can deploy customized password complexity rules that must be satisfied to create valid passwords.

         Non-synchronized password reset – End users can reset their passwords for cloud-based apps and storage services individually, in a non-synchronized fashion, using their Windows user IDs.

         Mobile user support – Users working from mobile devices can synchronize application passwords while on the go as well as reset their Windows passwords while out of network.

         Mail group subscriber – End users can subscribe to and opt out of email groups that administrators make available to them — without any intervention from the help desk.

         Enhanced notifications – In addition to email, the notification system can deliver alerts to end users via text.

Pricing and Availability

ADSelfService Plus 5 (Beta) is available immediately. In addition to a fully functional, 30-day evaluation edition, ADSelfService Plus is available as a Free Edition, Standard Edition and Professional Edition. Standard Edition prices start at $595 per year for 500 users. Professional Edition prices start at $995 per year for 500 users.

For more information about ADSelfService Plus, please visit http://www.manageengine.com/products/self-service-password/. For more information on ManageEngine, please visit http://www.manageengine.com/; follow the company blog at http://blogs.manageengine.com/, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ManageEngine and on Twitter  @ManageEngine.

About ADSelfService Plus

ADSelfService Plus is a turnkey IT self-service solution which can be easily implemented by administrators and quickly adopted by end users. It offers password self-service, self-service directory updater, password expiry notifier and a people search. It helps the IT help desk by reducing their chief source of burden — the password reset tickets — and spares the end users from frustration due to computer downtime. For more information, please visit http://www.manageengine.com/products/self-service-password/.

About ManageEngine

ManageEngine delivers the real-time IT management tools that empower an IT team to meet an organization’s need for real-time services and support. Worldwide, more than 72,000 established and emerging enterprises — including more than 60 percent of the Fortune 500 — rely on ManageEngine products to ensure the optimal performance of their critical IT infrastructure, including networks, servers, applications, desktops and more. ManageEngine is a division of Zoho Corp. with offices worldwide, including the United States, India, Japan and China. For more information, please visit http://www.manageengine.com/; follow the company blog athttp://blogs.manageengine.com/, on Facebook athttp://www.facebook.com/ManageEngine and on Twitter at@ManageEngine.

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ManageEngine is a trademark of Zoho Corp. All other brand names and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Media Contacts:

Gitanjali Sreepal (Geet)

ManageEngine
gitanjali.s@manageengine.com
Follow us on Twitter: @manageengine

Or

Nirmala D’souza

OAK Consulting FZ LLC

+971507343840

nimi@oakconsulting.biz

Meanwhile Gary Stevens (Captain), one of the USA’s greatest ever jockeys, will be joined on the Rest of the World team by Japanese ace Yasunari Iwata, who has won three Japan Cups including the last two on Buena Vista and Gentildonna, and Brazilian star Joao Moreira, who is currently re-rewriting the record books in Singapore.

Colm McLoughlin, Dubai Duty Free Executive Vice Chairman, welcomed the news:

“The Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup is truly deserving of its status as a major international horseracing event. We are delighted to be bringing together a group of top international riders and creating a unique opportunity for the public to see them in action on the same stage.

“We look forward to revealing the European contingent who will complete the line-up (Teams Europe and Great Britain and Ireland) after the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the end of June.”

Napravnik, 25, is currently ranked second in wins and fifth in earnings on the North American leader board.   She finished eighth in the jockeys’ earnings lists last year, which was the highest place ever by a female jockey.  She became the first female jockey to win the prestigious 2012 Kentucky Oaks on Believe You Can and won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Shanghai Bobby.

Last weekend, following her third consecutive meet title at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, she finished fifth on Mylute in the Kentucky Derby and rode a double – both Grade Two winners – at Churchill Downs over the weekend.

Allpress, 37 and a mother of two, was the first female to pass 1000 winners in New Zealand. She won the New Zealand premiership last season with 159 winners after finishing second with 145 winners the year before. She has ridden over 90 Group and Stakes winners and will take up a three-month contract in Singapore later in the year.

Allpress said about her Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup appearance: “It is a fantastic opportunity. I have always wanted to go to England… and to go there and ride at Ascot, well that is just so wonderful.”

Hayley Turner, 30, a Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup regular who has ridden four winners in the competition in the past, will captain the Girls Team. She said: “I’m really looking forward to captaining the Girls Team again in an event I always enjoy and hopefully we can win it this year.”

Nick Smith, Head of International Racing at Ascot, concluded:

“We set the bar really high in 2012 with our first all female team, with Chantal Sutherland and Emma-Jayne Wilson competing alongside Hayley. So we are particularly pleased in year two to have arguably the two outstanding riders in their countries – of any sex – in Rosie and Lisa, joining Hayley this year.

“The Rest of the World Team is also as strong as usual with Gary captaining a new face in Joao, who is simply in a league of his own in Singapore, and Yasunari, who has won the last two Japan Cups.”

The announcement follows a demand for integrated campaigns that feature face-to-face engagement with customers. This dovetails an increase of touch points that are opening in malls and outdoor venues across the UAE, which can host entertaining concepts that connect consumers on a personal level with the brand.

Leading the discipline as Experiential Marketing Director will be Hassan Tirmzi, formerly Director of Events at Armani Hotel. Tirmzi will work in close collaboration with the planning department, integrating experiential into client campaigns as a supporting component at any stage of a client’s brand development. It will also ensure the convergence with digital amplifies any live experience Cheil creates.

Azmi Yafi, COO of Cheil MENA discusses the future plans for the discipline: “We have recruited a team to support Hassan and together they will draw a line through any skepticism that experiential can’t target the masses – by creating big ideas that move people into action. So in the beginning education will be a priority, reappraising the role of experiential marketing especially now we can evaluate and track the ROI of ideas beyond sample numbers and footfall.”

Hassan Tirmzi added: “As an agency with South Korean roots, Cheil is working incredibly hard to define itself as an agency that is changing attitudes towards marketing. Through its ‘Tuhon’ philosophy it has an efficient way of working with clients that allows innovation, technology, and most importantly creative thinking to break through. Opening an experiential department is testament to its commitment to the Middle East and its commitment to integration.”

Also joining Tirmzi is Sunyoung Park as Experiential Marketing Manager, moving from the Cheil network in Jordan and Aisha Khan as Experiential Marketing Executive. Together the team will begin working immediately on Samsung and offer its solutions to other existing clients including DEWA, DED, Hankook and Orion.

As part of an agency that has full production facilities for retail interiors, digital signage and manufacturing, the experiential department will be well supported to manage end-to-end solutions.

(ends)

About Cheil

Cheil Worldwide Inc. is one of the world’s leading integrated marketing communications networks. Established in 1973 with headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Cheil’s 4,000 global employees create ideas that move brands, products and people from its 57 offices in 32 countries. Cheil delivers innovative communications strategies that drive business results through full-service advertising capabilities and beyond, with specialties in shopper marketing, experiential retail design, PR, sports marketing, and special events. Cheil’s creativity is world renown, as the network is highly awarded by international festivals including Cannes Lions, CLIO, Spikes Asia, Dubai Lynx, AdFest and Effie Awards.

The coronavirus is from the same viral family that triggered the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that swept the world after starting in Asia in late 2003 and killed 775 people.

WHO Assistant Director-General Keiji Fukuda, speaking after a visit to Saudi Arabia, the site of the largest cluster of infections, told reporters in Riyadh there was no evidence so far that the virus was able to sustain “generalised transmission in communities”.

But he added: “Of most concern … is the fact that the different clusters seen in multiple countries … increasingly support the hypothesis that when there is close contact, this novel coronavirus can transmit from person to person.”

A public health expert, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, said “close contact” in this context meant being in the same small, enclosed space with an infected person for a prolonged period of time.

Daily Al-Watan cited sources close to the decision-makers as saying that the airline would start receiving the new aircraft from Airbus, owned by aerospace and defence group EADS , from 2019.

Kuwait Airways plans to buy 10 wide-bodied A350-900 jets and 15 of the slimmer A320 neo, the newspaper said, adding that the deal would include support services.

The airline also aims to lease 13 of the A330 and A320 models for six years, the paper said, without giving details of the leasing cost.

“The sources made clear that the deal, which will be signed with Airbus very soon, is one contract that will include both the leased and purchased planes,” the newspaper said.

Kuwait Airways and Airbus were not immediately available for comment.

Rival Boeing also made a bid, but the Airbus offer was deemed more attractive, Al-Watan said.

“A number of enterprises in the Middle East are building their data centers from ground up. Since they are not tasked with overhauling legacy systems, they can focus on deploying technologies that will help them see long term rewards from their investments,” said Renton D’Souza, Divisional Director at Comstor. “We believe in empowering customers with end-to-end data center solutions and our partnership with Panduit furthers our ability to deliver this fully-integrated data center vision. The new relationship is focused on helping us enhance the reliability and profitability for our channel partners and customers in the evolving data center and cloud computing market.”

Panduit is a leading vendor for physical infrastructure systems and provides products like energy efficient switch & server cabinets, copper and fiber high speed data transport solutions, intelligent software and services and pre-configured infrastructures. As per the agreement, Comstor can now offer Panduit’s Nexus, Cat6k and UCS pre-configured cabinet solutions, and switch and server cabinets for Cisco UCS deployment. For physically connectivity within the datacenter, the distributor will offer Panduit’s QSFP and SFP+ copper cables, small diameter patch cords and fiber-optic solutions.

Customers will also be able to easily monitor energy consumption for both new and existing data center deployments by utilizing Panduit’s rack energy monitoring solutions. In addition, Comstor will distribute Panduit’s internal and external enclosures for Cisco Wireless Access Points and will offer the vendor’s software and services solutions for data center environments.

“Companies like Panduit are changing the face of the data centre – enabling users to better connect with, manage and automate the physical infrastructure,” said Russell Blackburn, European Data Centre Director, Comstor. “As Comstor boasts the market’s most in-depth experience on Cisco data centre technology distribution, together we can help customers realize the power of dynamic cloud computing infrastructures.”

Under terms of the agreement, Comstor will deliver these technologies to its broad range of partners across the Middle East, backed by the distributor’s world-class implementation, integration and training services.

About Westcon Group
Westcon Group, Inc. is a value added distributor of category-leading unified communications, network infrastructure, data center, and security solutions with a global network of specialty resellers. Westcon’s teams create unique programs and provide exceptional support to accelerate the business of its global partners. Strong relationships at every level of the Westcon Group organization enable partners to receive support tailored to their needs. From global logistics and flexible customized financing solutions to pre-sales, technical and engineering assistance, the company works with partners to respond with agility and speed to changing market conditions so they can achieve the fastest time to revenue. Westcon Group’s portfolio of market-leading vendors includes: Cisco, Avaya, Brocade, Polycom, Check Point, and Blue Coat. For more information, please visit www.westcongroup.com.

For more information, please contact

Meenu Raje

Westcon Middle East

+971-4-8839888

meenu.raje@westconme.com

FVC joins Sight & Sound to launch Telepresence Centre in Kenya

Centre is a result of collaboration between FVC’s partner, Orange and ESBC to offer telepresence rental options to Kenyan enterprises

Dubai, UAE/Nairobi, Kenya, 12 May 2013: Dubai-based FVC, a leading Value Added Distributor in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA), joined its partner, Sight & Sound, to launch the Orange Telepresence Centre in Nairobi. Launched in collaboration with Orange, an Integrated Communications Service provider, the commercial facility complete with a Polycom OTX 300 Immersive Telepresence Suite, will be hosted at the ESBC’s new Business Centre at the Landmark Plaza. The new Telepresence Centre will be used to demonstrate the value of video conferencing to local businesses, thereby making communication more efficient.

The Telepresence Revolution study, commissioned by the Carbon Disclosure Project (DCP) and released in 2010, revealed that “telepresence technology can help speed up decision making, improve human resource productivity as well as provide employees with a better work-life balance, as a result of reduced business travel.”

“Collaborative work groups, global development teams and everyday meetings are enhanced by the clarity, rich video and content detail offered by Polycom’s Open Telepresence Experience (OTX). Communication is an important tool in business and this video conferencing facility will allow dynamic enterprises in Kenya to communicate and collaborate with partners around the world, save on time, travel and resources,” said FVC’s General Manager for East and West Africa, Ahmed Youssef.

“Our team of experts has been providing Audio Video conferencing solutions to customers in Kenya and this region, for a long time. Our solutions not only equip conference rooms with this technology but also empower the users by connecting from their smart phones and tablets. The service we launch today takes this to the next level by bringing the fully immersive telepresence experience to users,” says the CEO of Sight & Sound, Rajesh Lakhani.

During the launch event, guests experienced live telepresence with an interactive call with specialists overseas. The launch coincided with the recent official opening of FVC’s office in Kenya. About FVCFVC is one of the most recognised Value Added Distributors (VAD) across the Middle East and North Africa, having built a successful business in providing cutting edge technologies in three clear areas of enterprise computing: Unified Communications, Information Security and Advanced Networking.

With dedicated offices across the region, FVC works through its growing network of channel partners in over 45 countries. Uniquely in the region, its combination of full support for its channel partners and market-leading solutions from emerging technologies provides both FVC’s partners and their customers with the full confidence to invest in integrated next-generation IT and networking solutions.

About Sight & Sound Ltd.

Sight & Sound Ltd. Is a solutions-oriented audio visual company specializing in telepresence, video and audio conferencing solutions giving an end-to-end solution by giving clients flexibility and scalability, providing the highest level of service in the planning, designing and implementation. Sight and Sound Ltd. is a Polycom certified Gold partner in Kenya.

About Polycom

Polycom is the global leader in open standards-based unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) solutions for voice and video collaboration, trusted by more than 415,000 customers around the world. Polycom solutions are powered by the Polycom® RealPresence® Platform, comprehensive software infrastructure and rich APIs that interoperate with the broadest set of communication, business, mobile and cloud applications and devices to deliver secure face-to-face video collaboration in any environment. Polycom and its ecosystem of over 7,000 partners provide truly unified communications solutions that deliver the best user experience, highest multi-vendor interoperability, and lowest TCO. Visit www.polycom.com.uk or connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to learn how we’re pushing the greatness of human collaboration forward.

ADATA has a history of responding to consumers’ needs with innovation and swiftness. This approach is highly compatible with Google’s brand philosophy: “Never settle for the best”. With the advent of cloud computing, this cooperation with Google indicates that ADATA is moving beyond its role as merely a purveyor of chic technology products, and transforming into an industry leader that is highly sensitive to the requirements of end users worldwide.

Purchasers of ADATA USB Flash drives will receive for free a valuable bonus pack. This exclusive bonus pack includes the UFDtoGO, OStoGO, Norton Internet Security 60-day trial, and the 60-day trial version of Video Easy. Depending on the personal needs of the end user, the Chrome browser can be quickly installed with just a click of the icon, bringing better all around internet performance. ADATA products can be instantly registered at:

http://www.adata-group.com/index.php?action=ss_main&page=ss_reg_1&lan=en

About ADATA

ADATA Technology, one of the world’s largest vendors of DRAM Modules and USB Flash Drives, provides complete memory solutions, including memory cards, solid state drives, and portable hard drives. ADATA products are internationally recognized by Germany’s iF Design Award, red dot Award, CES Best of Innovations Award, Japan’s Good Design Award, Best Choice of Computex Award, and Taiwan Excellence Gold Award. The company’s slogan of Love, Life, Dreams, embodies the ADATA brand and the role of innovative memory products in the human pursuit of universally cherished ideas. For more information, please visit www.adata-group.com.

The company fulfilled its pledge to plant a Ghaf tree for every energy efficient Inkjet printer, Laser printer, Toner cartridge, Photo lens and Calculator product it sold at National Stores showrooms in the UAE during the first quarter of this year, as it gathered staff and volunteers yesterday to plant 2,939 Ghaf trees in Dubai’s Al Barari Nursery, a 1.2 million sq ft plant farm that houses over 800 different types of plants.

“Canon’s corporate philosophy of ‘Kyosei’, meaning living and working together for the common good, has shaped Canon’s vision and values, the way we do business and how we interact with stakeholders around the world. This serves as foundation for the company’s presence in the region, pre mediating not just the strategic direction and investments that sustain its position as the leader in imaging solutions, but also the kind of high profile activities that Canon Middle East supports. We have stayed true to the spirit of ‘Kyosei’ with the ‘Give a Ghaf’ initiative which is testament to our efforts to make a positive contribution to the society we operate in,” said Anurag Agrawal, Managing Director, Canon Middle East.

Canon partnered with Goumbook.com, the Middle East’s first online green business directory, for the initiative as part of their ‘Give a Ghaf’ campaign, which launched at the beginning of the year as an on-going initiative to educate and inspire end-users on the environment and to give back to the community. The seeds were planted in a protected area where the plants could grow safely and will be donated after a year to a local school of the company’s choice.

The Ghaf is a drought – tolerant, evergreen tree native to the UAE, and is renowned for being among the sturdiest plants in harsh desert environments. In recent times, however, Ghaf groves have succumbed to urbanization and the rapid infrastructure development in the country, resulting in the loss of a plant that has aesthetic, cultural and ecological significance to the country.

Hendrik Verbrugghe, Marketing Director, Canon Middle East said; “The environment and community has always been high on Canon’s agenda over the years and we have been focused on taking proactive steps to promote environmental sustainability, whether that manifests itself through innovative products that reduce environmental impact or raising awareness through these types of initiatives.”

The ‘Give a Ghaf’ initiative from Goumbook is a great way in spreading the message in the importance of the environment, while helping to protect an integral part of the UAE’s culture. It also fits in perfectly with Canon’s overall policy of responsibly pursuing economic growth, while placing less burden on the environment and supporting sustainable growth for the company,” he added.

“The ‘Give a Ghaf’ Tree Planting Program was initiated by the Social Enterprise Goumbook to raise public awareness about the Ghaf tree and its values, as trees are fundamental components in the ecosystems that provide us all with health, food, breathable air, water, fertile soils and a stable climate,” said Tatiana Antonelli Abella, Managing Director from Goumbook.com.

This partnership comes in line with MenaITech’s policy aiming at fueling the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation among youth, while prompting them to keep in pace with the world’s technological advances, through assisting them to utilize their technical skills and creative abilities and giving them a voice in the future they want for Jordan.

The world’s premier student technology competition seeks to support student innovators and owners of social and technological start-ups from all over the world, as well as helping the winners to transform their unique ideas to successful for-profit and non-profit enterprises.

In his comment, MenaITech’s CEO, Dr. Bashar Hawamdeh, said: “Since its inception as a pioneering company in the IT sector, MenaITech has been distinguished for developing ground-breaking e-solutions based on novel concepts to bring the community up to luxury level. Our sponsorship of Imagine Cup competition in Jordan stems from our vision to stimulate further economic development at the local level and support young talents in the IT industry.”

“We believe that technology has great potential to make a positive change in the world. This competition proves every year that technology can be a great power of change when it is combined with innovation and creativity,” Dr. Hawamdeh, a member of the judges’ panel, added, highlighting the importance of curbing online piracy and protecting intellectual property rights.

Dr. Hawamdeh also underscored the importance of Microsoft Imagine Cup competition in prompting students to boost education, raise environmental awareness, and help solve tough social problems through taking their one of kind app ideas from concept to marketplace with Microsoft latest resources.
It is worth mentioning that Microsoft Imagine Cup 2013 is a leading, worldwide technology competition for students aged between 16 and 26. It aims at creating a computer equipment and technology-based environment intended for innovation while helping participants to unveil their technical skills, along with establishing and maintaining long-term friendships with their peers from different parts of the world.
- Ends -

About MenaITech
Founded in Jordan in 2003, MenaITech develops and provides Human Capital Information Systems (HCIS) for public and private organizations. MenaITech’s products include the human resources information management system MenaHR®, the payroll & personnel solution MenaPay®, the employee & manager self service solution MenaME®, the employee 360 degree feedback evaluation software Mena360®, the comprehensive HR consolidation and analysis module MenaExplorer®, in addition to the revolutionary cell phone notification service MenaSMS®.

MenaITech also provides services related to product implementation, hosting, training, and support. The company serves customers in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Learn more about MenaITech: www.menaitech.com

For more information, please call
PR Launchers
Tel: 0096265520681 – Fax: 0096265520681
Email: info@PRLaunchers.com – website:www.PRLaunchers.com

Sims Recycling Solutions FZE Dubai signs Landmark Agreement with Microsoft

Becomes Microsoft Authorised Refurbisher for Middle East Region

Sims Recycling Solutions FZE (SRS) of Jebel Ali has signed an agreement with Microsoft that allows them to supply refurbished computers and servers preinstalled with genuine Microsoft software to businesses, consumers and non-profit organisations. SRS offer Asset Management and End of Life Solutions for IT Assets that include Secure Data Destruction, as well as full IT & Electrical Recycling Services from their base in Jebel Ali.

Philip Hughes, Managing Director Middle East explains. “For our Corporate Clients, many of them seek solutions to enable their old assets to be re-used in a compliant and environmentally beneficial manner, or for use in their internal Corporate Social Responsibility programmes. Being able to refurbish their old systems and then for us to offer them for re-use or re-sale with fully licensed Microsoft software pre-loaded helps to improve the return that we can offer them.”

This agreement allows SRS to work with Channel Partners in each Country across the Region to help them begin to build their own Value Add solutions in Partnership with SRS. According to Hughes, “whilst there is not yet a mass-market in the Gulf Countries for re-furbished machines, there is a demand from Service Centers for spare parts and systems to support their clients”.

Further afield in the Greater Middle East & North Africa region Compliant and Warrantied refurbished IT systems provide an established niche business opportunity to channel partners.

Chris Acker, WW Director Microsoft added “The Microsoft OEM Refurbisher team is pleased to welcome Sims to the Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher program as one of a very select group of secondary PC refurbishers worldwide. We look forward to collaborating with Sims in developing innovative offerings to the Middle East marketplace.”

SRS in Jebel Ali commenced operations in May 2012 and are building Compliant Electrical, Electronic & IT Recycling Solutions for Governments, Corporates and SME’s in the Region, and are supported by a Network of Reseller Partners across the Region.

According to latest report from leading investment bank Alpen Capital in its GCC Hospitality industry report estimates that the GCC hospitality market is anticipated to grow at an annual rate of 8.1% to USD28.3 billion by 2016 compared to USD19.2 billion in 2011.

F1 Infotech in association with INFOR unveiled their Hospitality Management Software (Infor HMS) at the Arabian Travel Market. This next generation software can optimise day-to-day operations to deliver excellent guest services and take necessary steps to increase profitability. During the show, F1 also demonstrated the entire suite of Infor Hospitality Solutions.

The company also showcased its Enterprise IT solutions like IPTV, WLAN, Room Management Solution, Building Management Solution, Electronic Door Locks, HSIA, and Mobility among others that are fundamental for any turnkey infrastructure project. During the show F1 also presented its portfolio of IT Design & Consultation.

“ATM provided us excellent platform to position F1 as a one stop solution provider offering end to end solutions to the Hospitality Industry. We understand the industry appreciates F1 having specific divisions handling Software, Enterprise Turnkey and Design & Consultation. The show also helped us achieve positioning INFOR HMS as the next generation Property Management Solution alongside the entire hospitality portfolio,” said, George Linu Varghese, Business Unit Manager – Middle East and India, F1 Infotech.

George further adds that, “Our tie-up with MCOM IPTV has reassured the industry that it has a unique interactive TV and mobile application as well as Meru Networks as a visionary vendor on the WLAN as products having seamless connectivity without compromising technology.

During ATM, F1 Infotech signed business deals and also been shortlisted as one of the technology partners with some of the leading names in the ME region. Overwhelmed by the response F1 intends to participate next year of Arabian Travel Market too.

F1 Infotech has a long list of satisfied customers in UAE, including leading names in the hotel industry like, Le Merdien, Millennium Group of Hotels, Sheratons by Starwood, Radisson Royal, ADNH & NCTH Group of hotels – Abu Dhabi, Gloria Hotels –Dubai, Al Ghurair Goup – Dubai, City Seasons Group, Al Jawahara Hotels – Lootah Dubai, Emirates Star Group of Hotels – Dubai and One to One Group – Abu Dhabi, etc.

About F1 Infotech:
F1 Infotech is a leading technology & training provider that offers planning, designing, migration and implementation of IT Infrastructure solutions for all Hospitality environments offering best breed products for every requirement. It also achieves a sustainable mix of solution for each environment through its unique process of Design & Consultation, Turnkey ELV Solutions and Hotel Software.

F1 Infotech carries industry specialists on both technical and operational levels, recognizing the end customers’ requirements. The reach to world class technology vendors enables it to be a complete solution provider for the Hospitality & Infrastructure Industry. The company has office in UAE, Saudi Arabia and India. For further details visit us at www.F1infotech.net.

The state-owned Tourism and Development Investment Company (TDIC) opened a slew of resorts and handed overs hundreds of villas in 2012 but said it might need to sell more assets this year.

“Asset sales remain a viable option for the company and with the success realized on our first two commercial sales the board will make the appropriate determination as we progress through 2013,” Shaun O’Connor told Reuters in an emailed statement.

He gave no details of the assets which were sold.

Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, is investing billions of dollars in tourism, industry and infrastructure as it diversifies its economy away from oil.

But property prices have dropped significantly with residential real estate prices down some 50 percent from their peaks in 2008.

TDIC made a net loss of 2.17 billion dirhams ($591 million) in 2012 due to impairments and depreciation compared with a loss of 1.27 billion in the previous year.

Last year’s asset sales, along with the handover of a large number of residential units, lifted TDIC revenues to 1.27 billion dirhams from 333.8 million in 2011.

Total impairments and depreciation amounted to 2.26 billion dirhams, leaving TDIC with total assets of 41.48 billion dirhams in 2012 compared with 43.37 billion the previous year, its financial statements showed.

The company ended the year with a cash balance of over 2.4 billion dirhams last year.

The company has committed to its board to deliver positive results in another five to seven years, O’Connor said.

The Louvre museum is scheduled to open in 2015 and the Guggenheim in 2017.

“Users demanded the same performance as larger desktop PCs from our ZBOX but the small size made it virtually impossible to deliver the same performance as desktop PCs. After many months of engineering and fine tuning, we came up with a solution that enables us to install desktop LGA1155 socket Intel Core i5 and i3 processors without sacrificing size, noise or power consumption that will make our end users very happy,” says Carsten Berger, senior director, ZOTAC International.

Users have two choices of processor with the 3^rd Generation ZOTAC ZBOX with Intel Core Processors. Casual users seeking great performance for everyday computing can opt for the dual-core Intel Core i3 3220T-equipped ZBOX ID88 series while more demanding users can step up to the Intel Core i5 3470T-equipped ZBOX ID89 series.

The Intel Core i5 3470T processor adds Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 technology to intelligently increase clock speeds of individual processor cores up to 3.6 GHz depending on computing demands of the operating system and applications. Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) enhances virtualization capabilities on the Intel Core i5 3470T for superior performance for virtualization uses.

Intel HD Graphics 2500 graphics processing transforms the 3^rd Generation ZOTAC ZBOX with Intel Core Processors into powerhouse HTPCs with Intel Quick Sync Video technology for lightning fast video conversions, Intel InTru 3D technology for stunning and smooth Blu-ray 3D playback with advanced audio technologies, and Intel Clear Video HD technology for hardware-accelerated high-definition video playback.

It’s time to play with the 3^rd Generation ZOTAC ZBOX with Intel Core Processors.

General details

• ZOTAC Introduces 3^rd Generation ZBOX with 3^rd Generation Intel Core Processors
• New ZBOX ID88 and ID89 series
• Desktop Intel Core processors (Ivy Bridge)(LGA1155)
• ZBOX ID88 series
  • Intel Core i3 3220T (dual-core, 2.8 GHz)
• ZBOX ID89 series
  • Intel Core i5 3470T (dual-core, 2.9 GHz, up to 3.6 GHz Turbo)
  • Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 technology
• PLUS models available with preinstalled memory and hard drive
  • 4GB DDR3
  • 500GB HDD
• HDMI & DVI-I outputs
• 802.11n Wi-Fi & Bluetooth 4.0 w/ dual external WiFi antennas
• Dual Gigabit Ethernet
• High-amperage USB charging capable (yellow ports)
• Bundled MCE-compatible remote w/ USB IR receiver
• Bundled VESA75/100 mount

3^rd Generation ZBOX with Intel Core Processors Specifications:

ZBOX-ID88-PLUSZBOX-ID89

ZBOX-ID89-PLUSMemory 2 x 204-pin DDR3 SO-DIMM slots (Up to 16GB)

DDR3-1600Hard DiskSupport 1 2.5-inch HDDPLUS Configuration4GB DDR3 / 500GB 5400RPM HDDCPUIntel Core i3 3220T (dual-core, 2.8 GHz)Intel Core i5 3470T (dual-core, 2.9 GHz, up to 3.6 GHz Turbo)GPUIntel HD Graphics 2500Video MemoryShared MemoryDisplay OptionsHDMI & DVIMemory Card Reader4-in-1 (SD/SDHC/MMC/SDXC)SATAN/AEthernet2 x 10/100/1000MbpsWiFiOnboard 802.11n Wi-Fi & Bluetooth 4.0USB Ports2 USB 2.0 (rear) (high-amperage charging supported)

2 USB 3.0 ports (1 on top, 1 on front)AudioOnboard analog stereo high-definition audio

HDMI audio (bitstream)

Digital Optical S/PDIFDirectX® SupportDirectX® 11 with Shader Model 5.0Other FeaturesHardware video decode acceleration, Blu-ray 3D support, dual-display capableHDCP:YesSoftware Features Windows CapabilityWindows 7 & 8 ready

About ZOTAC International (MCO) Limited

ZOTAC International is a part of PC Partner Ltd. Group. ZOTAC is also one of the largest NVIDIA graphics cards and motherboard manufacturer in the world with over 10 years of quality manufacturing experience. The ZOTAC philosophy is to deliver the latest products at competitive prices without sacrificing quality.

For further information please visit www.zotac.com

Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman at Dubai Duty Free, explains how the M&M’s store is perfectly aligned to his company’s retail ambitions: “Concourse A has provided Dubai Duty Free with the opportunity to introduce new brands and innovative retail concepts.  The M&M’s retail area is a good example of our team working with our supplier to produce a fun and interesting retail attraction that has great shopper appeal.”

Lieke Duijmelings, Marketing Director, Mars ITR comments on the opportunity from the Mars perspective: “Dubai’s stunning Concourse A, specifically tailored to serve the A380 and its passengers, exemplifies an exciting new expression of the airport experience and we aim to echo that commitment in the retail experience.  We believe that not only can we engage more strongly with existing shoppers but we can also seduce non-shoppers by tapping into the travellers’ thirst for entertainment with a highly engaging and satisfying reason to step out of their seats and into the store.This approach is uniquely effective within Confectionery as the category has the highest levels of impulse purchase.”

The new Dubai Duty Free retail area delivers a vibrant sense of place through a strategic blend of the fun and energy of the M&M’s brand with the dynamism and excitement of Dubai. This local twist is expressed through images on wall units, special destination merchandise and picture opportunities with M&M’s 3D characters. The store carries a tailored and extensive range of M&M’s products, including a wide range of novelties, souvenirs, toys, candy dispensers and M&M’s-themed travel accessories, providing the shopper with an appealing array of Gifting, Self-treating and Snacking options. In-store theatre includes a series of interactive encounters to enhance the shopper experience.

The in-store experience taps into the global appeal of the M&M’s brand, expressed through the instantly recognized M&M’s yellow and red characters, using fun and energy to promote the strength of the brand to engage with travellers of all ages.  This global appeal makes the M&M’s brand the ideal focus to drive the under-exploited potential of the Confectionery category by delivering a unique, fun and memorable experience to every traveller’s journey.

Lieke Duijmelings adds:  “Dubai is an amazingly dynamic destination that epitomises the way to blend retail into the airport experience and we’re delighted at this opportunity to work with Dubai Duty Free to develop a compelling approach to drive footfall and conversion. The category growth and performance of our M&M’s brand have been phenomenal across all regions, implementing the right blend of in-store theatre, attractive point-of-sale, innovation and promotions.”

This is why the University of Strathclyde Business School will be hosting a third annual Middle East Marketing Academia Meets Practice Roundtable at their Dubai campus from 9:30am-3:30pm on Saturday, May 18^th.

The roundtable brings together marketing practitioners and academics to address the common complaint that lack of communication between the two communities leads to less productive marketing practices and less targeted marketing research than could be achieved with improved collaboration.

Marketers’ frustrations over mismatches between traditional marketing frameworks and the realities of 21^st century society tend to be amplified in the Middle East, where the behaviors, preferences, and values of local consumers do not always align with those of the Western markets studied in the vast majority of academic research.

Fortunately, the field of marketing research is alive and well in the Middle East, and a host of optimistic UAE academics are actively seeking to help resolve the disconnect between marketing academia and practice.

One prominent proponent of reviving the discourse between local marketers and academics is Dr. Catherine Demangeot, a Dubai-based Senior Lecturer of Marketing and Strategy at the University of Strathclyde Business School. She serves as the Chair of Strathclyde UAE’s roundtables and is preparing to facilitate next Saturday’s marketing roundtable.

“This participative event is open to the wider academic and professional communities,” says Dr. Demangeot. “The roundtable generates and renews important dialogues between marketers and researchers, and thus helps to build collective wisdom about timely regional issues that can benefit marketing professionals and academics alike.”

Four parallel discussion tracks at this year’s roundtable will explore the following primary topics:

• Branding in the Middle East
• Islamic marketing and its relationship to other forms of marketing
• Listening to social media
• Cultures of the Middle East: Retailing, service, satisfaction and loyalty implications

According to Dr. Ron Bradfield, Director of Strathclyde Business School UAE and Associate Dean of the Global MBA, this event “creates an opportunity for the local business and academic communities to network and strengthen mutual understandings of the complex regional marketing considerations of today and tomorrow.” Dr. Bradfield will be delivering an academic keynote at the event about scenarios on the future of social media.

Having grown in popularity over the past two years, the roundtable promises to have a strong turnout for 2013. In addition to participants from the University of Strathclyde Business School’s Abu Dhabi and Dubai campuses, attendance has been confirmed from academic lecturers and professors hailing from at least fifteen highly regarded UAE institutions of higher education as well as representatives from several major regional corporations and marketing/ad agencies.

Registration for the May 18^th event is free, and attendance will be confirmed on a first-come, first-served basis. Anyone interested in participating is invited to review details and sign up for preferred tracks this week at the event webpage – http://strathclydeuae.com/events/third-strathclyde-roundtable-middle-east-marketing-academia-meets-practice/.

About University of Strathclyde Business School

Winner of the Times Higher Education UK University of the Year 2012-2013, the University of Strathclyde is one of only 57 institutions in the world to hold all three major international accreditations (AMBA, AACSB, and EQUIS) for its MBA programme, which is also accredited by the UAE Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research. In the recent 2013 Financial Times Global MBA rankings, Strathclyde Business School ranked in the top 100 MBA programmes in the world, and in the top 25 in Europe. The University of Strathclyde was established in 1796 as ‘the place of useful learning’ and this remains its mission today: to combine academic excellence with social and economic relevance. The university is committed to the advancement of society through the pursuit of excellence in research, education and knowledge exchange, and through creative engagement with partner organizations at local, national and international levels. With a UAE presence that was established in 1995, Strathclyde Business School offers part-time executive MBA programmes via state-of-the-art campuses in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi. For more information, please log on to www.strath.ac.uk.

1. Building Retail Brand Equity & Sustainability – Kevin Lalonde, Accelerate International
2. Predicting Future Vendor Winners – Howard Davies, CONTEXT
3. Price & Promotions – David Lewis, GfK
4. Cross Channel Strategies – Fabrizio Valente, ‘Kiki Lab – Ebeltoft Group’
5. Generation Y: Catalyst for Change – K.S. Vasudevan, Navo
6. Retail Channels in East Africa – Bobby Gadhia, RETRAK
7. Encouraging Profitable Shopping Behaviour – Michael White, VIA International
8. Changes Rocking the Retail Landscape – Ryan Mackey, Consultant

The event will take place from May 21^st to 23^rd at the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The region’s leading annual ICT and consumer electronics (CE) retail event will play host to 600 senior channel executives, providing a powerful opportunity to discuss topical issues impacting the market.

Farouk Hemraj, CEO and co-founder at DISTREE Events, said: “DISTREE Middle East is a neutral event and this year’s conference programme will include panel discussions, Retail Academy workshops and keynotes that address some of the major challenges facing the retail channel.”

As demand for ICT and CE products continues to grow in the wider Middle East region, but there remain a number of structural and development issues that vendors, distributors and retailers will look to address.

Hemraj continued: “In addition to the Retail Academy workshop session, this year’s DISTREE Middle East also includes a number of panel debates. Issues such as pricing, promotions, the impact of e-tail and product flows within the regional retail channel concern all major channel stakeholders. DISTREE Middle East provides an open platform for honest discussions.”

DISTREE Middle East attracts more than 600 senior executives each year and is completely focused on business-to-business interaction between vendors, distributors and retailers. DISTREE Middle East is a business-focused event, offering ICT and CE vendors and distributors the opportunity to interact with buyers from leading retailers and e-tailers from across the region.

With support from multiple research houses and channel consultancies, DISTREE Middle East gives delegates access to a variety of opinions and market data from multiple sources. This allows each attendee to assess various viewpoints and focus on market intelligence that is relevant to their current business needs.

“We are delighted to welcome so many expert speakers to DISTREE Middle East 2013,” continued Hemraj. “By uniting them with senior executives from the vendor, distributor and retailer community, DISTREE Middle East can address a wide range of topical and sometimes controversial issues. Open dialogue forms the foundation of the event’s conference programme.”

The world’s fourth largest carrier in terms of international passengers boosted profit to 2.3 billion dirhams ($622 million), up 52 percent compared with 2011.

The profit rise at the world’s largest customer of the Airbus A380 superjumbo was in sharp contrast to the first-quarter operating loss at Franco-Dutch airline Air France-KLM and a bigger than expected loss at Germany’s Lufthansa.

Emirates is betting that its location – a third of the world’s population is within a four-hour flight – will continue to attract passengers away from other global hubs such as London, New York and Singapore.

“Our strategy for growth has reaped high benefits this past financial year, which has been our strongest ever in relationship to capacity growth,” said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Emirates.

Emirates entered a 10-year alliance with Qantas Airways in September, which included switching Qantas’ hub to Dubai from Singapore for European flights.

The Gulf airline, which received 34 new aircraft in 2012, said profit for the wider Emirates Group was 3.1 billion dirhams, including airline services arm, Dnata.

Its fuel bill increased by 15 percent over last year to 27.9 billion dirhams.

The airline, which launched in 1985, flies to 133 destinations and carried 39 million passengers last year.

Whether it is stored in one place, distributed across the enterprise or located in different geographies, data growth is making its presence felt in companies of all sizes in the Middle East. It’s unfortunately becoming all too common for yesterday’s backups to run into tomorrow and too many companies are reporting that they risk missing Service Level Agreements (SLA) if processes can’t keep up. In itself this is perhaps an indication that existing storage strategies are no longer capable of tackling huge volumes of data or, just as importantly, of supporting the business challenges of today.

Allen Mitchell, Senior Technical Account Manager, MENA at CommVault Systems says that a revolution in data management in the region is now called for in order to minimise the investments needed to protect and manage large volumes of data both inside and outside of the data centre. This means thinking differently about each of the traditional data management processes and technologies and increasing the use of automation and enterprise-wide policies to introduce efficiencies and cost savings whilst reducing management headaches at the same time. Instead of creating archive, backup and storage silos merely as a business insurance policy, each element should be valued equally but then converge to streamline the process and start to make data the real asset that it should be to an organisation.

So far, it’s likely that making data work for an organisation will have involved trying to mine large volumes of existing data across multiple storage types and locations to gain new insights – perhaps for research projects or compliance challenges but this can then put a massive strain on operational staff who are already overstretched. Adopting the cloud and looking at virtualisation is widely accepted as one of the best ways to increase efficiency but it also adds another layer of complexity to data management which must be addressed. The Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) movement again offers potential savings but also introduces new risks to data security at the edge as well as the challenge of getting information on to these devices efficiently.

It should be no surprise then that according to Gartner, 2012, only 26% of CIOs think they have effective tools and skill sets in place to manage these issues and to make data an asset to the organisation. What is needed is a scalable modern information management architecture that is fit for purpose; helping businesses to protect and manage more information more efficiently. It should also be able to meet the demands of a virtual world that is typified by a dynamic pool of computing and storage.

At the heart of this modern information structure should lie the ability to collect data just once to reduce the overall storage and infrastructure burden, and then enable access to it from anywhere in order to re-purpose it. Snapshot, backup and archive data operations already take place, so why not combine those tasks into a collection process that sends deduplicated data to single ‘content store’? This drives a large number of efficiencies; the content store can then be used for recovery or repurposing of the data. Generating metadata in the form a content index at the same time is a key process that enables the access downstream. Combined with good access and security controls this repository can then be presented to the whole workforce and potentially from any device. When set against the traditional multiple silo approach where backup stores just sit there offering little value except insurance and use invasive technologies to acquire the data in the first place, one could wonder why a streamlined collection to combined multi-purpose store isn’t the norm. Having a searchable content store may also negate the need for a dedicated and expensive ‘Big Data’ repositories if you can search and recover just the research data needed to perform your analysis.

Controlling the amount of data on live systems by moving to automated policy-based retention with search capabilities will then certainly increase the ability of companies to find the right piece of information when it’s needed, practically on demand. Using a combined data management and search engine also means that a single search can cover many different repositories allowing the organisation to leverage different types of storage media; from dedupe disk through to removable media or cloud storage.

The ultimate goal for any business has to be about changing the way its global and connected workforce discovers, accesses and analyses information in the future; ideally without requiring IT intervention. A single, central, virtual repository that keeps only one copy of all data secure, de-duplicated, tiered to optimise costs and application aware will be critical to achieving instant ways to search and make sense of existing data to enable faster decision making. It will obviously reduce storage needs overall but more importantly it will transform the administrative process into a more dynamic capture of business critical information that can be ‘re-used and recycled’. In a world where regulatory requirements, compliance and the need to demonstrate a strong return on investment (ROI) are constantly under scrutiny in the boardroom, a content resource such as this will dramatically improve the ability to search for, and access, data with ease from any device anywhere.

This access challenge really affects BYOD strategies; while they may offer the promise of reduced cost and happy employees, they also present risks of corporate or sensitive data becoming detached from the enterprise with no ability to control access or expire the information. Getting the right mix of the individual’s own work related data and the desired corporate information, not just email, to tablets and smartphones can be tricky. If and the organisation doesn’t provide effective enablement tools, users are left with public cloud offerings that at best are awkward to manage and at worst risk significant data breach.

The ability to get files to any device from a secure corporate content store has to be matched by transparent and automated collection of data created at the edge as well as from primary systems. The collection process from user’s laptops, by default, also provides them with a backup which for the most part can be very low impact when leveraging the latest dedupe and other technologies. This vehicle not only frees users from the pain of managing external cloud solutions to get their data onto their smart device, but it also brings the data they create for their job into the organisation’s control. Not only are workers more productive but it provides a platform for good corporate governance or compliance that fully extends to edge data.

Putting centralised content and sophisticated indexing in the data management driving seat, instead of focusing on the individual components that play a role in the data management process overall, is sure to be the most effective way to help companies of all sizes to take control of Big Data going forward. Content-based retention policies that only keep data that really matters to a business is set to change the way we view and utilise data, re-purposing data from the archive and bringing it back to life instead of consigning it to history.

Bringing together over 130 Jordanian university students, graduates, and workers in IT companies, the event acquainted attendees with means of entrepreneurial success and ways to boost creativity.

Linking participants with the nation’s entrepreneurial thought leaders in an interactive environment, the workshop also aimed to provide the participants with innovation tools necessary to develop their ideas and transform them into tangible projects that can push the nation’s economy forward.

In his comment, MenaITech’s CEO, Dr. Bashar Hawamdeh, said: “It is our pleasure to be a strategic partner of this initiative, working towards achieving its goals and making it a success. Our support of this event through MenaIP initiative stems from our keenness to unify mutual efforts and offer ideal opportunities to innovators, while prompting them to adopt creativity and entrepreneurship, the key elements of future success.”

Dr. Hawamdeh noted that the two initiatives seek to encourage talented and bright minds through supporting them and creating an environment that would help them to create brand names enjoying full intellectual property rights on the basis of their unique ideas.

The workshop included a number of activities and lectures, allowing attendees to pitch their ideas which will be examined and adopted by the organizing parties.

About this experience, the Founder of TTI, Belal Raslan, said: “This event represents a first step towards establishing a strong partnership with MenaIP. It is also considered a qualitative leap forward in the telecommunications and IT sectors, as it is expected to introduce new opportunities for youth in those sectors.”

It is worth mentioning that Trip to Innovation is a local initiative that seeks to cultivate the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship among young talents and owners of start-ups, as well as introducing participants to a number of successful enterprises through organizing field visits to business incubators, national companies, and other entrepreneurial work environments.

- Ends -

About MenaITech

Founded in Jordan in 2003, MenaITech develops and provides Human Capital Information Systems (HCIS) for public and private organizations. MenaITech’s products include the human resources information management system MenaHR®, the payroll & personnel solution MenaPay®, the employee & manager self service solution MenaME®, the employee 360 degree feedback evaluation software Mena360®, the comprehensive HR consolidation and analysis module MenaExplorer®, in addition to the revolutionary cell phone notification service MenaSMS®.

MenaITech also provides services related to product implementation, hosting, training, and support. The company serves customers in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Learn more about MenaITech: www.menaitech.com

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Standout design, innovative user interface

The Nokia Asha 501 makes high-end design and quality accessible to more people. The device is available in a choice of six striking colours that complement the elegant design. It comes in just two parts: a durable, removable casing and the scratch-resistant glass display, which features a three-inch, capacitive touchscreen and a single ‘back’ button. The compact new Asha weighs only 98 grams, for the ultimate portability.

The Nokia Asha 501 is built to make it easier for people to access everything they love, with a simple swipe and a choice of two main screens: Home and Fastlane. Home is a traditional, icon-based view for launching individual apps or accessing a specific feature, like the dialler or phone settings. The new Fastlane view was inspired by how people really use their phone. Recently accessed contacts, social networks and apps, unique to each person, are stored and presented in Fastlane. It provides a record of how the phone is used, giving people a glimpse of their past, present and future activity, and helping them multi-task by providing easy access to their favorite features.

Smarter and more personal Internet experiences

The new Asha comes with Nokia Xpress Browser pre-loaded, which compresses Internet data by up to 90%. This is aimed at making mobile browsing faster and more affordable. Nokia also announced the availability of Nokia Xpress Now, a new Web application that recommends content based on location, preferences and trending topics. It will be available via the Browser homepage or as a download from Nokia Store.

“Nokia has surpassed expectations of what’s achievable in the sub-100 USD phone category with a new Asha handset that is unlike any other, with design cues from Lumia and a mix of features, services and affordability that is valued by price-conscious buyers,” said Neil Mawston, executive director, Global Wireless Practice, Strategy Analytics. “This is a welcome addition to the market and a refreshing option for consumers looking to upgrade from feature phones.”

 Asha platform for next-generation family of devices

 The new Nokia Asha 501 was purpose-built to give people the best possible mobile experiences at an affordable price. It is highly efficient, with an industry-leading standby time of up to 48 days*. The Asha 501 is the first smartphone built on the new Asha platform, which leverages Nokia’s investments in Smarterphone, a company which Nokia acquired in 2012.

The new Asha platform provides developers with an open, standards-based environment for creating quality apps for consumers. Developers can create apps for the Nokia Asha 501 that will be compatible with future Asha platform-based devices. Nokia gives developers the chance to make more money through the global reach of Nokia Store and tools like Nokia In-App Payment and Nokia Advertising Exchange (NAX), as well as Nokia’s unparalleled operator billing network.

Many of the most popular applications are already available or in development for the Nokia Asha platform, including CNN, eBuddy, ESPN, Facebook, Foursquare, Line, LinkedIn, Nimbuzz, Pictelligent, The Weather Channel, Twitter, WeChat, World of Red Bull and games from Electronic Arts, Gameloft, Indiagames, Namco-Bandai and Reliance Games. WhatsApp and other key partners continue to explore new Asha.

The HERE experience, based on Nokia’s leading location-based platform, will also be available as a download for the Nokia Asha 501, starting in Q3 2013 and will initially include basic mapping services.

“The new Nokia Asha 501 raises the bar for what is possible in affordable smartphone design and optimization,” said Timo Toikkanen, executive vice president, Mobile Phones, Nokia. “The synergy between the physical design and the engine that is the new Asha platform has created a smartphone with both style and substance at a great price.”

 Facebook and global operators to support Nokia Asha 501 with free data plans

 The Nokia Asha 501 is expected to start shipping in June 2013. It is expected to be available through approximately 60 operators and distributors in more than 90 countries worldwide.

Product specifications and availability

The Nokia Asha 501is available in single or EasySwap Dual SIM models. All come with WiFi and Bluetooth. Other specifications:

•           Dimensions: 99.2 x 58 x 12.1 mm; 98 grams

•           Camera: 3.2 MP

•           Single SIM standby time: up to 48 days***

•           Dual SIM standby time: up to 26 days***

•           Talk time: up to 17 hours

•           Additional memory of 4GB (card included in box), expandable up to 32GB

•           Forty free EA Games worth €75 downloadable from Nokia Store

•           Available colours: Bright Red, Bright Green, Cyan, Yellow, White and Black

•           Suggested pricing is 99 USD before taxes and subsidies.

Saudi Arabia has reported 23 confirmed cases in total, Qatar two, Jordan two, Britain two and the United Arab Emirates one, the WHO said. Although there is no evidence of sustained human-to-human spread, there are concerns about clusters of cases.

France reported its first case on Wednesday.

The latest Saudi outbreak was restricted to al-Ahsa governorate in Eastern Province and all those infected had pre-existing health conditions, Arab News newspaper quoted Doctor Jafar al-Tawfiq, an infections specialist in Eastern Province, as saying.

Officials at Al-Moosa hospital in the town of Hofuf in Ahsa, where the patients are being treated, declined to comment.

WHO spokesman Glenn Thomas said in Geneva on Wednesday that Saudi authorities are organising a mission with two WHO staff and that their focus will be on Hofuf. The first reports of infections in the recent outbreak were on April 14, WHO said.

Saudi state news agency SPA quoted Deputy Health Minister Mansour al-Hawasi on Tuesday as saying the situation “called for no concern” and that the ministry had taken all precautions around anyone who had been in contact with those infected.

Worldwide, there have been 30 laboratory-confirmed infections, including 18 deaths, since it came to scientists’ attention last September, the WHO’s Thomas said.

Other strains of coronavirus can cause common colds as well as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that emerged in Asia in 2003 and killed 775 people.

A retrospective study in Jordan found that there had been an outbreak of the new virus there as long ago as April 2012, with two confirmed cases and 11 probable ones, including 10 health care workers, the WHO’s Thomas said.

Password Manager Pro MSP Edition allows MSPs to centrally manage the privileged passwords of their clients through a fully automated, policy-driven approach. This ensures MSPs are able to offer critical data protection above and beyond their clients’ best practice security guidelines for sensitive information and also helps them demonstrate to their customers that the critical data are being securely handled.

MSPs, in particular those managing the IT and network infrastructure of their clients, are swamped by the ever-increasing number of privileged passwords. Without appropriate management tools, this can lead to a haphazard style of password management where the administrative passwords — which grant unlimited access privileges on the IT assets — are stored in plain text in volatile sources like Excel spreadsheets, printouts and text documents; insecurely shared among technicians without relevant protection, leaving the client organizations open to security attacks.

“Identity theft often lies at the root of modern-day cyber-attacks. Cyber-criminals are increasingly targeting login credentials of employees and administrator passwords to gain access to IT resources through various techniques,” said Rajesh Ganesan, director of product management at ManageEngine. “Since MSPs manage the IT infrastructure for many clients, the risk level is very high, and they are looking for a secure and reliable solution for privileged password management.”

Ganesan added, “While there are many good enterprise-class privileged password management solutions on the market, they do not cater to the specific needs of MSPs. The ManageEngine Password Manager Pro MSP Edition bridges this crucial gap by offering an easy-to-implement yet affordable password management solution that provides effective security protection to both the service provider and all its customers.”

The new edition enables MSPs to manage the passwords of each of their clients separately, from a single management console. Passwords can be securely shared between MSP administrators and their respective customers, making sure that users only get access to the passwords they own or ones that are shared with them. The solution offers the flexibility to entrust the control of the password vault to the MSP administrator, the end user or both, as desired. The IT policy of the respective organization can be enforced through automated password resets.

In addition, users requiring access to passwords can be directed to go through password request-release workflow resulting in tighter access controls. All activities with respect to password access are audited, and reports can be generated on ‘who’ accessed ‘what’ passwords ‘when.’  When a technician at the MSP leaves the organization, all passwords accessed by the technician can be automatically changed on remote resources, easily eliminating the chances of potential misuse in the future.

The MSP edition also features all the security measures of the existing ManageEngine Password Manager Pro Premium Edition.

Other Highlights

Mobile Access – Secure retrieval of privileged passwords and approval of access requests on the go from mobile phones.

AD/LDAP Integration – Users or user groups can be imported from Windows Active Directory or LDAP from the customer network and the authentication mechanism leveraged.

First-in-Class Remote Login – MSPs can launch highly secure, reliable and completely emulated Windows RDP, SSH and Telnet sessions from a browser without any plug-in or agent software.

Privileged Session Recording – Privileged sessions launched from the product can be video recorded, archived and played back for forensic audits.

Real-Time Alerts – Real-time alerts on the occurrence of various password events enabling integration with Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions.

High Availability Architecture – Uninterrupted access to enterprise passwords through the deployment of redundant server and database instances.

Pricing and Availability

The ManageEngine Password Manager Pro MSP Edition (Beta) is available immediately and can be downloaded at http://www.manageengine.com/products/passwordmanagerpro/download.html. The production version will soon be generally available with pricing details.

For more information on Password Manager Pro, visit http://www.manageengine.com/passwordmanagerpro/. For more information on ManageEngine, please visit http://www.manageengine.com/; follow the company blog at http://blogs.manageengine.com/, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ManageEngine and on Twitter at @ManageEngine.

About ManageEngine Password Manager Pro

Password Manager Pro is a secure vault for storing and managing shared sensitive information such as passwords, documents and digital identities of enterprises. The benefits of deploying Password Manager Pro include eliminating password fatigue and security lapses by deploying a secure, centralized vault for password storage and access; improving IT productivity many times by automating frequent password changes required in critical systems; providing preventive and detective security controls through approval workflows and real-time alerts on password access; and meeting security audits and regulatory compliance such as SOX, HIPAA and PCI. For more information on Password Manager Pro, visit http://www.manageengine.com/passwordmanagerpro/.

About ManageEngine

ManageEngine delivers the real-time IT management tools that empower an IT team to meet an organization’s need for real-time services and support. Worldwide, more than 72,000 established and emerging enterprises — including more than 60 percent of the Fortune 500 — rely on ManageEngine products to ensure the optimal performance of their critical IT infrastructure, including networks, servers, applications, desktops and more. ManageEngine is a division of Zoho Corp. with offices worldwide, including the United States, India, Japan and China. For more information, please visit http://www.manageengine.com/; follow the company blog at http://blogs.manageengine.com/, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ManageEngine and on Twitter at @ManageEngine.

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The companies were identified as Al Hilal Exchange and Asia Exchange Centre.

“The first company had major regulatory and anti-money laundering compliance violations and the second company had major regulatory violations,” a central bank statement said without elaborating. Central bank officials did not return calls seeking further comment.

The UAE, a major oil exporter, has more expatriate workers than nationals, and the foreigners use exchange houses to remit money home. There are 114 money exchange firms in the country, according to the central bank’s website.

Additionally, these solutions will also be demonstrated live to customers in the Brocade booth (#225) at EMC World, to be held in Las Vegas May 6 – 9.

ESG Lab test results showed that the EMC VSPEX configurations with Brocade networking was able to easily scale from 100 to 500 virtual desktops while maintaining high performance and quick responsiveness to applications. The network for the 100-VM configuration was found to provide a highly reliable and resilient foundation with full redundancy, including automated failover and failback. Tests with both configurations validated ease-of-deployment and automated VM mobility with VMware hypervisors. Test workloads for the VDI solution included document access and log-in, with the 100-VM solution running on-line transaction processing, Microsoft Exchange, web server and backup applications.

For the EMC VSPEX end user computing solution for 500 virtual desktops, the report stated, “ESG Lab testing validated that the 500 virtual desktop VSPEX with Brocade networking reference architecture was easy to set up and manage and provided a robust and highly available platform. With 500 simulated desktop users hammering the infrastructure, activities such as logging in, and creating and editing files functioned properly with good response times; administrative tasks such as provisioning, cloning, and vMotion experienced the same solid performance.”

“The highly reliable and available Brocade switches and fabric provide virtualization-focused benefits and network reliability. Advanced features and intelligence-enabled automation of tasks such as configuring ports for vMotion, forming ISLs and trunks, and using striping to maximize both availability and performance were tested and validated, and Brocade executed path failover and failback flawlessly.”

For the 100-VM configuration, ESG analysts stated that the solution “was easy to set up and manage and provided a robust and highly available platform. With 100 virtual machines running simulated real-world workloads, the solution was able to deliver excellent responses times of 8ms or less while easily reaching our targeted 2,500 IOPS. Together, Brocade and EMC VSPEX proved their ability to handle a 100-VM environment without a hitch. This integrated solution provides a fast and easy way to get to the cloud, making it possible for more organizations to leverage improved agility and responsiveness to compete in their markets.”

EMC VSPEX™ Proven Infrastructure, available only through the EMC’s Velocity™ Program channel partners, uses Brocade cloud-optimized networking technologies with EMC unified storage and next generation backup architecture, while enabling customers to leverage their server and hypervisor of choice. EMC VSPEX offers customers a simple, efficient and flexible means of deploying virtualization and cloud technologies, without added layers of IT complexity or risk. These solutions are designed for organizations that do not have the in-house technical expertise and resources typically found in large enterprises.

“Integrated computing platforms can mean the difference between success and failure, offering relief from having to acquire and integrate individual components. Integrated platforms can not only ease the burden of deploying virtualization-focused infrastructures, but also ensure a successful implementation,” said Brian Garrett, vice president, ESG Lab. “From our tests, we found that EMC VSPEX solutions with Brocade networking to be rock-solid in delivering performance and agility with intuitive management interfaces. The solutions are highly redundant across all domains, ensuring high availability of server, storage, and network resources, which is especially essential for virtual desktop implementations, as this it directly impacts the user experience. In addition, the ability of the solutions to move virtual machines between physical hosts is a critical function that enables IT to be delivered as a service.”

The EMC VSPEX configurations tested by ESG Lab included Brocade VDX switches serving as the foundation of an architecture linking EMC VNXe storage and Windows x86 servers hosting VMware virtualization software. Brocade Network Advisor management software was used to manage the VDS switches and for providing automated movement of network port profiles through vMotion, along with EMC Unisphere for storage management.

“ESG Lab validation of the EMC VSPEX solutions with Brocade networking helps our channel partners better communicate the value we bring to small and mid-sized businesses to help them achieve greater business agility and cost efficiencies by transforming the way applications and the supporting infrastructure – including compute, storage and networking – are deployed in the data center,” said Regan McGrath, vice president, Global Channel Sales and Marketing, at Brocade. “Integrating Brocade networking into VSPEX solutions is a key element of our 15-year relationship with EMC and has also enhanced our relationship with the channel.”

The group is on track to complete its $4 billion phase two by the end of 2014, when it capacity will rise to 1.3 million tonnes from the current 800,000 tonnes a year, making it one of the largest single-site smelters in the world.

The global aluminium industry is already facing a massive stock overhang, which is growing each month as smelters produce more than the world economy needs.

“Emal is still planning to build further capacity, however, as it expects demand for aluminium to rise from 46 million tonnes to 60 million tonnes by 2015,” Emal chief executive, Saeed al-Mazrooei, told reporters during a visit on Tuesday to the smelter complex sited between Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

“The international market is growing for aluminium in many countries – China, India, Brazil, the United States. This demands us to grow,” he added.

Asked if a third phase could be launched around 2017, Mazrooei said he hoped so, adding that the company’s state-backed owners would unveil details later. He declined to elaborate on the investment outlay or production capacity.

The majority of Emal’s production is exported to the US, Europe, southeast Asia and the Middle East. Only approximately 200,000 tonnes is consumed locally, he said.

Emal, which burns vast quantities of natural gas to make the electricity it needs in order to operate the energy-intensive aluminium industry, has secured supplies for phase one and two from Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC), Mazrooei said.

Cheap gas supplied to state-linked industry has driven a boom of energy-intensive development in the United Arab Emirates over the last decade which, combined with rapid immigration, has turned the UAE from a gas exporter into a net gas importer.

As there is not enough gas to go around, Dubai, which owns half of Emal, has to import increasing volumes of expensive liquefied natural gas (LNG) from around the world to meet demand for electricity.

Global investor sentiment towards Dubai has improved greatly over the past year, helping the emirate tap capital markets. In January, it raised $1.25 billion from a two-part international bond sale, drawing heavy investor demand.

“The market is right, the price is right, then why not?” Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum, a close advisor and uncle to Dubai’s ruler, said when asked whether the emirate might make a second sovereign debt issue this year.

Sheikh Ahmed, a key figure in the emirate’s recovery from its 2009 debt crisis, was speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of a Dubai travel industry conference. He holds a host of top positions in Dubai including the chairmanships of its largest bank, Emirates NBD, state-owned investment firm Dubai World and the Emiratesairline.

Despite its recovery from the crisis, a major concern among Dubai’s creditors has been the slow pace of asset sales, which are seen as a major means for the emirate to finance repayments of its obligations.

Four years ago, Dubai was forced to request a $25 billion debt restructuring for Dubai World. The restructuring plan envisaged the sale of some assets to meet obligations, but there still has been little progress with sales.

Sheikh Ahmed said the emirate was looking at an alternative plan to repay its debt.

“We will look at something like this. I can’t specify what, since it’s confidential information because of the restructuring,” he said when asked if an alternative to asset sales was in place.

Sheikh Ahmed said that in some areas, asset sales might have to be delayed, “because we might see in six months to one year things will be better.”

RESTRUCTURING

Banks in the region are worried that the emirate might push lenders into a second round of debt restructuring in the absence of a pick-up in asset sales.

Dubai and its state firms have an estimated $48 billion of debt in the bond and loan markets due to mature between 2014 and 2016, which includes about $10 billion in restructured debt at Dubai World and Nakheel

A research note by British-based lender Standard Chartered said last November that conglomerates had made little progress in raising cash from asset sales and that the emirate’s overall debt burden remained a challenge.

A $10 billion restructuring of Dubai Group, a unit of ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum’s personal investment firm Dubai Holding, is on track and may happen as early as the first half of this year, Sheikh Ahmed said.

There is no need to recapitalise the financial support fund which provides aid to Dubai’s indebted state-linked companies, he added.

“I am confident Dubai companies can take care of themselves,” he said.

Lucchini brings more than twenty years of business strategy, management and operational excellence to Sophos. He will be responsible for driving the company’s cloud strategy, a key strategic priority. Lucchini previously served as chief operating officer of OnForce, Inc., where he was responsible for all day-to-day operations for the company, a leading cloud-based technology talent marketplace for on-site field service providers.

Prior to OnForce, Lucchini spent 17 years at Intuit. He held a variety of leadership roles in several of Intuit’s key SaaS offerings including Intuit QuickBase, an online database used by Fortune 100 companies; the Intuit Partner Platform, Intuit’s platform and app store for delivering small business SaaS applications; and QuickBooks Online, Intuit’s SaaS-enabled small business accounting product. He also led Intuit’s Mid-Market Division where he launched Intuit’s first VAR channel.

“Our customers and partners around the world are keenly interested in how Sophos is leveraging cloud-based technology to deliver complete security without complexity,” said Kris Hagerman, CEO, Sophos.  “We’re excited to bring in an accomplished industry veteran like Bill to lead this key business unit. Bill’s leadership and experience in driving cloud-focused product strategies, coupled with his deep background in working with SMBs and the channel, make him an ideal fit for this role.”

“Bringing Sophos’ complete security portfolio to the cloud promises to be a strategic differentiator for the company, and will dramatically simplify the delivery and administration of IT security for time-strapped enterprises and MSPs,” said Lucchini. “I’m thrilled to join Sophos and help the company leverage the power and flexibility of the cloud to fully deliver on its vision to ‘make security simple.’”

About Sophos

More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos’ complete security solutions as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Simple to deploy, manage, and use, Sophos’ award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, mobile and network security solutions are backed by SophosLabs – a global network of threat intelligence centers.

Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.

Dubai Duty Free, which achieved record sales of US$1.6 billion in 2012 and has been acknowledged as the largest single airport duty free operation in the world, came out tops in the readers’ survey conducted by the magazine within the category ‘Best Airport in the Middle East for Duty Free Shopping’.

With more than 300 travel industry managers representing their industries at the gala dinner ceremony, the event was organised by Motivate and Panacea Publishing, and featured H.E. Fadi Abboud, Minister of Tourism, Lebanon and Khalid Hadi, Executive Director, Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority as guests of honour.

Commenting on this 12^th consecutive award, Executive Vice Chairman of Dubai Duty Free, Colm McLoughlin said: “This award reflects the views and opinions of frequent travelers and we are delighted to once again claim the top spot in the duty free category. It is a great endorsement of the operation that we continue to win and reflects the hard work of all of our employees. My thanks to H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman of Dubai Duty Free, for his ongoing support. My thanks also to all of our 5,700 employees who deserve this recognition.”

The Business Traveller Middle East award is the second major award to be won by Dubai Duty Free this year. In April, the operation received the Duty Free News International (DFNI) Awards for Travel-Retail Excellence for ‘Best Airport Travel Retailer of the Year’.

Shaheen Haque, Territory Manager, Middle East & Turkey at Interactive Intelligence says that to capitalize on these opportunities, regional insurance providers must acknowledge the need to transform from policy and product based, to customer based organizations. Ineffective business processes or lack of integrated communications within an insurance organization have an impact on customer experience. Like any industry, insurance faces significant challenges in its quest to provide excellent customer service. Often, insurance providers are acutely aware of the need to apply technology to improve customer facing processes, but fail to correctly identify key requirements of proposed solutions. The situation is complicated by disparate systems, legacy data structures and ineffective contact centre platforms which result in the creation rather than the solution of problems.

Mr. Haque makes a case for the deployment of advanced technology solutions in the contact centres of modern insurance providers. While identifying pain points, he also outlines the business benefits and potential streamlining of operations that result from addressing these through smart technology deployments.

Automation of processes

In many insurance organizations, critical business processes are often still completed by passing documents and file folders from department to department, manually typing in information from those documents, or copying and pasting between multiple different applications. IT departments should explore opportunities to digitize, both documents and processes, and deploy advanced technology solutions that support communications and the automation of document-centric business processes. This process automation should include the ability to easily source data from multiple other systems such as policy or claims management and legacy databases without custom integrations, to avoid Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) having to manually type or copy/paste. The right solution will enable reduced process cycle times and reduced errors. CSRs should have automated reminders for pending due dates. Work items should be tailored to a CSR’s specific task, include customer data and phone numbers to initiate a call with a single click, and have that call, as part of the customer case recorded. Escalations and exception reporting to managers should also be part of the solution to ensure that the process remains intact through completion.

Visibility and accountability

A common complaint that insurance providers have is that their processes seem to disappear into a “black hole” where supervisors and managers have little or no visibility into what is happening at any stage of the process. Any technology solution should provide the same granular level of visibility for process work as it does for contact centre communication interactions. This visibility should help judge important metrics such as: How long is the average handle time for a given work item? How many work items does a CSR or workgroup have pending? What is the status of a policy application, claim, etc.? Who was the last to handle the work item? Supervisors, managers and authorized CSRs should also have the ability to reassign work or transfer a call with the same simplicity as forwarding an email.

Competing priorities

Along with clear strategic objectives and goals from management, technology can enable increased productivity both, for communications interactions and for document-centric processes. Solutions that leverage the power of proven contact centre technologies such as skills-based routing, rule-based prioritization, and user presence can speed the right kind of work to the right person when they are available. This kind of automation removes the subjective element and reduces human latency.

Information overload

With multiple legacy and other core business systems, the idea of another application seems counter-intuitive, unless that application can serve as a process orchestration layer. That layer would present information from multiple systems in “custom” role-based interfaces that the insurance organization defines and configures. Modern technology solutions should easily bring together information from multiple systems into a single work item, or enable a user to access a third-party system directly, while tracking task and process time. Ideally, users should receive work in a familiar way, only having to deal with the work that relates to their role or task, and move on to the next bit of work.

Servicing different stakeholders

For insurance providers to effectively deal with the wide variety of participants in their business processes – end consumer segments, CSRs, brokers, and other third parties- they should consider a technology solution that could address the unique needs of each. At the same time, they should look for opportunities to consolidate support. Multi-channel strategy, business process automation and document management are all elements required to ensure that each customer stakeholder can effectively interact with the organization to meet their unique needs.

Mobile support

It is no longer a question of whether policyholders want to communicate via mobile channels. Rather only a question of what the experience is like when they do. For insurance providers to successfully implement a mobile strategy that delivers an exceptional customer experience, they need to be able to rapidly deploy customer service applications on multiple mobile operating systems, devices and social media websites. More importantly, providers need to be able to link the mobile customer directly to the contact centre in the channel of their choice and supply contextual information to the CSR. Any customer-facing business process must be suited for customer interaction on mobile devices.

While technology alone cannot ensure the transformation of insurance providers from policy-oriented to customer-oriented organizations, technology can help to make this customer-oriented vision a reality. There are technology solutions available that can address enterprise, contact centre and policyholder needs from a common platform that can turn the customer experience into a competitive weapon. Regional insurance providers need to leverage these to capitalize on opportunities that might be hiding in plain sight.