ICT Insight (January 2014)

Managed Security Digital Signage Video Surveillance Digital Hospital

Smart citieSImproving the quality of life in urban settings

iNSiDe

Etisalat Business Update

etisalat.ae

Issue 16 | January 2014

08Securing your business needsEtisalat helps its customers address the security challenges in the face of the ever-changing threat landscape.

06Perfect hostArguably, the UAE’s hospitality segment has never been so strong. Growth is healthy, hotel rooms are occupied and construction of new hotels has been at its highest rate since before 2008.

12Security surveillance gets smarterAs businesses grow in scope and complexity, maintaining a secure working environment for customers, employees and physical assets has never been more critical. This is the vital role that digital security surveillance plays.

14moving to the cloudSensing the increased demand for more cloud services in the UAE, Etisalat recently launched a new cloud services solution, which it calls the Cloud Unified Platform (CUP).

21NewsEtisalat partners with GlobeX Data

Etisalat and UAE University organise mobile learning conference

Etisalat in tie-up with NEC for unified communications services

Etisalat extends M2M offering

16Digital hospitalsHow technology is transforming healthcare.

20cloud-based digital signage Delivering right information to right people in right time

Contents

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16

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Gearing up for smart citiesA smart city uses intelligent technology to enhance our quality of life in urban environments. Cities can use data in a variety of ways—to save money, minimise waste, measure domestic water usage and manage transport routes. Smart technologies can help deliver a cleaner environment, a higher quality of life and a vibrant economy.

ChairmanDominic De Sousa

CEONadeem Hood

EDitOrial

Group EditorJeevan thankappan

[email protected] +971 4 375 1513

Editortom Paye

[email protected] +971 4 375 1499CirCulatiON

Circulation Managerrajeesh M


PrODuCtiON aND DESiGN

Production ManagerJames P tharian


Designeranalou Balbero


DiGital SErViCES

Digital Services Managertristan troy P Maagma

Web DevelopersErik Briones

Jefferson de Joya

Photographer and Social Media Co-ordinator

Jay Colina

[email protected]+971 4 440 9100

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Printed byPrintwell Printing Press

regional partner of

© Copyright 2014 CPiall rights reserved

While the publishers have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information

in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein.

Looking forward: 2020 and beyond

abdulla Hashim, Senior Vice President, ict, etisalat

if information is power, then it is Etisalat’s goal to empower the people of the UAE by

implementing smart technologies.

The Smart City concept put forward by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al

Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, has already

started to take shape, and Etisalat is taking active steps to play the key role of an enabler to

drive and support the creation of smarter cities in the UAE.

Enthusiasm for turning Dubai into a Smart City has reached fever pitch since the Emirate

was awarded the right to host the World Expo in 2020, and rightly so. Organisations across

all verticals are keen to showcase the very best of what the UAE has to offer, and in many

cases, this means pushing the envelope of what is technologically possible. Etisalat supports

every push to make the UAE more efficient, and it will also be pulling its weight in the lead-

up to the Expo.

But this is not to say that we have been idle in recent years—far from it, in fact. Already

smart meters line the streets of Dubai—the fruits of a project that the emirate’s Roads and

Transport Authority implemented with the help of Etisalat. Meanwhile, scores of organisations

have saved costs in recent years through reducing their energy consumption, thanks to the

Emirates Energy Star programme. Perhaps more importantly, though, the programme has

helped to reduce the UAE’s carbon footprint as a whole.

Achievements such as this should not be taken lightly, but there is still much work to

do. Happily, when it comes to Smart Cities, the possibilities are endless. We foresee a future

in which high-performance wireless networks are readily available to the inhabitants of the

UAE, and in which businesses can act in real-time on the most relevant information available.

Emerging technologies such as M2M and cloud will drive greater efficiency across key

verticals vital to the growth of the local economy, and smart devices will become gateways

into a plethora of next-generation public services.

As we prepare for the Expo 2020, much is already being done to realise this future, and

we at Etisalat want to be at the forefront of this change. In this issue of ICT Insight, you can

read about how we are leveraging emerging technologies to achieve the goal of a Smart City,

and you can see how we are helping specific verticals to drive greater efficiency.

Lastly, we’d like to wish you a happy and prosperous 2014 as we embark on this exciting

new adventure. Enjoy.

etisalat.ae

Management Speak

A smart city uses intelligent technology to enhance our quality of life in urban environments. Cities can use data in a variety of ways—to save money, minimise waste, measure domestic water usage and manage transport routes. Smart technologies can help deliver a cleaner environment, a higher quality of life and a vibrant economy.

Gearing up for smart cities

allowing the public access to real time information enables

people to make more informed choices, such as planning

a journey by checking for available room on trains and

buses or even identifying car parking spaces before leaving

the house. There is much more money to be made in

embedding sensors than in analysing existing datasets.

And while data given passively or pro-actively by citizens

wielding smartphones is by far the most important smart

city development of recent years.

Cover Story

Zpryme research forecast the smart energy technologies

market (including smart grid) reaching $220 billion

worldwide by 2020, whilst markets & markets research

estimate smart transport to be $156 billion, and smart

water to be $22 billion globally by 2020 (Frost and Sullivan

Research). Additionally, Arup conservatively estimates

both smart waste and assisted living technology markets

to reach $5 billion each globally. Collectively these figures

aggregate to reach an estimated annual $408 billion

worldwide by 2020.

Growth opportunities lie, no less, at home through

smarter approaches to transport management, healthcare

and energy. On the back of better connectivity and better

access to public information, we can manage cities more

effectively, anticipate and solve problems more cost

effectively, and raise the economic prospects and the

quality of life in every UAE citizen. In so doing, the UAE can

strengthen its position as a global hub of expertise at a time

when cities throughout the world are seeking innovative

solutions to the challenges of urbanization.

What is a “Smart city”?

The concept of a Smart City goes way beyond the

transactional relationships between citizen and service

provider. It is essentially enabling and encouraging the

citizen to become a more active and participative member

of the community, for example, providing feedback on

the quality of services or the state of roads and the built

4 ICT Insight

Benefits of smart city solutions - Smart solutions across

the verticals optimise resources through better information

on where resources are being consumed. This information

enables better monitoring and management on the part

of the utility and also enables consumers to make more

informed use of resources, and lower their consumption.

This in turn reduces utility operating costs and extends the

operating life of existing infrastructure. Smart technologies

also provide opportunities for new services to citizens.

There is still confusion in the market as to the distinction

between Smart city solutions and Future city solutions.

Future city solutions are innovative physical projects which

are often but not exclusively associated with low carbon

economies. Smart city solutions apply digital technologies

to address social, environmental and economic goals.

Smart city solutions can combine physical and digital

infrastructure or can be based on digital infrastructure

alone. This confusion is a barrier to growth of this market

as confused customers find it difficult to justify investment.

Smart city solutions are disruptive technologies which

require system-wide deployment to yield the most benefits.

Existing processes will need to change. Furthermore

successful deployment will require collaboration between

multiple actors in value chain. This could be a barrier in

some verticals where there is little incentive for established

players to change.

Opportunities for UAE business and UAE cities - There

is great potential for UAE business in this growing market.

Furthermore there are benefits to cities and citizens by

deploying smart solutions. This in turn would improve the

chances of UAE companies by opening the market here and

providing them with a platform to export their services. In

the verticals, UAE Government is taking a lead in removing

barriers to innovate and facilitate collaboration between

multiple diverse actors. This has already begun to happen

in the Energy and Transport verticals, but more needs to

be done.

There is also a need for cities and government to take

a cross-sectoral approach. Cities and government have

traditionally considered these resources by verticals:

energy, water, waste, transport and health have been

considered and managed separately, since the deployment

of smart solutions has happened largely within these

vertical value chains, without much interaction between

different verticals. However cities are starting to look at

smart city solutions as part of a more integrated approach

to information technology and data. Furthermore they

are looking to smart solutions and open data to address

wider economic and social challenges. This cross-sectoral

approach leads to additional opportunities for cities and

citizens, and should also yield additional opportunities for

UAE industry.

The estimated value of the smart energy technologies market by 2020.

$220bn

environment, adopting a more sustainable and healthy

lifestyle, volunteering for social activities or supporting

minority groups. Furthermore, citizens need employment

and “Smart Cities” are often attractive locations to live,

work and visit.

But the concept is not static: there is no absolute

definition of a smart city, no end point, but rather a process,

or series of steps, by which cities become more “liveable”

and resilient and, thus, be able to respond quicker to new

challenges. Thus, a Smart City should enable every citizen

to engage with all the services on offer, public as well as

private, in a way best suited to his or her needs. It brings

together hard infrastructure, social capital including local

skills and community institutions, and (digital) technologies

to fuel sustainable economic development and provide an

attractive environment for all.

There are five key aspects to smarter approaches, which

are strongly information driven:

a modern digital infrastructure, combined with a secure

but open access approach to public re-useable data, which

enables citizens to access the information they need, when

they need it;

A recognition that service delivery is improved by being

citizen centric: this involves placing the citizen’s needs at

the forefront, sharing management information to provide

a coherent service, rather than operating in a multiplicity of

service silos (for example, sharing changes of address more

effectively), and offering internet service delivery where

possible (at a fraction of the face to face cost);

An intelligent physical infrastructure (“smart” systems or

the Internet of Things), to enable service providers to use the

full range of data both to manage service delivery on a daily

basis and to inform strategic investment in the city/community

(for example, gathering and analysing data on whether public

transport is adequate to cope with rush hour peaks);

An openness to learn from others and experiment

with new approaches and new business models; and

transparency of outcomes/performance, for example, city

service dashboards to enable citizens to compare and

challenge performance, establishment by establishment,

and borough by borough.

But cities and firms we have consulted agree that

the key attribute for a Smart City – the sixth and critical

criterion - is that the leadership has a clear and consistent

vision of what the future city offers its people, with a

commitment to deliver the necessary change. It is a vision

which has been developed in consultation with its citizens,

creating an attractive environment for business across the

city, so that the quality of life of all its citizens is enhanced

by anticipating their needs and meeting them, such that

firms and people embrace the vision and want to locate

and live there.

Etisalat Business Update 5

Arguably, the UAE’s hospitality segment has never been so strong. Growth is healthy, hotel rooms are occupied and construction of new hotels has been at its highest rate since before 2008.

Perfect hostthe strength of this particular vertical, however, hasn’t

just come on the back of well-known hotel brands

setting up shop in the emirates. In recent years, the most

successful hotels in the UAE have seen success because

of their commitment to ICT spending. And, keen to help

the hospitality segment up its game through technology,

Etisalat has crafted a number of offerings aimed squarely

at this vertical.

“The hospitality market in the UAE is flourishing—growth

is around 10 percent in terms of the number of guests

coming in. This is expected to continue year on year with

Vertical Insight

6 ICT Insight

an anticipated doubling of guest numbers by 2020. The

awarding of Expo 2020 to Dubai will add greater confidence

in these numbers. The sector contributes an important and

sizable share of our ICT revenues, so naturally we put a lot

of focus into tourism and travel,” says Irfan Jeraj, Director

ICT Solutions, Etisalat.

“Etisalat serves the complete spectrum of scales across

the hospitality sector. At the top end of the sector, you’ve

got your super-properties. They’re the single properties

that have scaled to around 1,000-plus rooms, and you can

effectively treat them as a large enterprise. Then you also

have the national and the global chains, which have set

standards and policies and expectations. They want the

same experience across all of their hotels, but naturally

obviously they will have a regional variance in terms of

their requirements.”

Naturally, the mid and lower-end hotels still need ICT

solutions, but they are inclined to require more standalone

products, which Etisalat is fully capable of providing them

with, Jeraj adds.

That said, the more impressive implementations come

with higher-end hotels, which see Jeraj and his team

conduct an initial consultation, ahead of building what is

essentially a bespoke and turnkey solution for the hotel.

And while this sounds like Etisalat is simply taking the role

of a large systems integrator, Jeraj believes that Etisalat’s

latest offerings in the hospitality segment will provide a

large portion of differentiation.

“Services have traditionally been around Internet

access—so Internet Direct Access (IDA), television services,

and telephony services. However, recently we’ve now

enhanced those services,” he says.

These enhancements have been created on the back

of a deep understanding of how to improve the guest

experience, gleaned from Etisalat’s customers in the

hospitality segment. According to Jeraj, technology now

plays such a fundamental part in the guest experience that

the market simply needed better services on offer.

“Increasingly, the most important thing for a high-end

hotel has been the guest Internet experience. There’s

the guest room, there’s the hotel facilities, but it’s now a

common check when you’re on a search engine to see if the

hotel has free Wi-Fi (Internet access),” he says.

“If you’re a personal guest staying there with your family,

you probably have five or six devices with you, so you

want to make sure that all of your devices connect with a

good performance. You expect to be able to have the same

experience that you have at home, and sometimes you may

even want a better experience because you’re staying at a

certain grade of hotel.”

Of course, hotels have understood quickly that guests

demand high-speed Internet, and are looking to upgrade

their infrastructures accordingly. But according to Jeraj,

Etisalat now offers a regional first with an intelligent, cloud-

based solution—called Bandwidth on Demand—which can

help hotels to more efficiently provide high-quality Internet.

“Some of the top hotels here might want a 500 Mbps

connection, but to pay for that sort of level every month

is not going to be cost efficient. We’ll do an analysis with

them and they’ll realise that, actually, they may only need

20 percent of that capacity, but at certain events they’ll

need to be able to burst to certain levels,” he says.

“We give them the capability to automatically do that,

and they just pay for the usage that they have on that day

or for the week.”

Jeraj adds that Etisalat is also able to smartly manage the

bandwidth—the solution allows hotels to allocate dedicated

bandwidth to business or VIP guests, even during busy

times. This capability can be linked into the hospitality

management system, making it easy to pick out VIP guests

or those on loyalty schemes.

Bandwidth on Demand isn’t only about making Internet

provision more economical, however, according to Jeraj,

who says that it also affords the opportunity to monetise

Internet connections in hotels.

“You can have gold, silver or bronze levels and you can

sell that on. You may bundle the premium service in for

your VIP guests, or you can give regular guests the option

to pay a little bit extra for a faster connection,” he explains.

This is just one part of a new drive in the hospitality

industry to use technology as a differentiator, according

to Jeraj. Guests now expect high-quality content and

entertainment systems, high-speed Internet with next

generation WiFi infrastructure and seamless telephony.

Some hotels have even opted for advanced video-

conferencing capabilities, too, Jeraj says.

“Complementary to that, we have digital signage and

security surveillance. We provide the ability to do data

analytics from a security point of view as well as from

a hotel management point of view. With our security

surveillance solution, we provide the cameras, we provide

the storage, and we also do the data analytics. This helps

us show when facilities such as restaurants are busy at

certain times, when the lobby gets congested, or when

staff need to be moved around. Hotels can use this to

optimise their workforce,” he says.

As time goes on, more hotels are going to be waking up

to the benefits that such technologies can bring, and Jeraj

believes that Etisalat has the right solutions to offer this

growing market.


Services & Solutions

Securing your business needsthe first half of 2013 witnessed a significant increase in

the number of cyber-attacks globally. Organised hackers,

political “hacktivists”, cyber-extortionists, international

cyber-terrorists and nation states are targeting businesses

every day, incapacitating them, causing huge losses and

tarnishing brand repute permanently. With social media

being welcomed into the corporate world, the spate

of attacks by hackers attempting to capture personal

information and thereby gather industry information has

shown an alarming increase. This wave of cyber-attacks

has also shown a tremendous increase in the market

activity in the security business and it is predicted that,

by 2017, the global cyber-security market is expected to

skyrocket to $120.1 billion. The victims of cybercrimes

globally have lost well over $500 billion over the last

two years. With smartphone population increasing

exponentially, and with more and more services provided

on mobile devices, criminals are trying out new ways and

means to get access to information.

The UAE witnessed targeted attacks to multiple

industry segments during the beginning of this year.

These growing threats of global nature compromised

various sites, which were rendered inactive causing panic

among employees and also putting a stop to certain

citizen services. This has caused loss of income and

8 ICT Insight

To combat this ever changing threat landscape, Etisalat

provides an array of Managed Security Services (MSSP)

that will facilitate supreme protection to its customers.

The services are rolled out in partnership with Industry

stalwarts in security and will help customers enjoy the

best protection for their infrastructure whilst focusing

on their core business. All MSSP services are provided

to customers at a minimal Capex to ensure that both

Enterprise and SME segments receive the best services

without investing heavily. “The roadmap for the security

is already laid out and customers are already showing

affinity to our proven capability in the security practice,”

says Al Forah.

Abdulla Hashim, SVP ICT, Etisalat, adds, “We have

been offering security services to our customers for

over a decade now and the services bouquet is planned

to help every customer segment, be it large enterprise,

SMB or consumers, to choose services for Perimeter

Security, DDOS Protection, Email Security, Web Security,

Governance Risk & Compliance, Audits and Vulnerability

Management. Customers are also relying heavily on

Etisalat to provide them with tailor-made professional

services in security. Our services can be rendered

through on-premise equipment, or from the Etisalat

Cloud Computing platform. This allows the customer

full freedom to choose services based on their business

model, and also selects customised services to suit their

business needs.”

Threat of DDoS

Today’s businesses are increasingly reliant on Internet

connectivity for their day-to-day business needs. Non-

availability or down time of the service causes a huge

impact both financially and will lead to loss of customers

and irrevocable brand image. A DoS attack is an attempt

by an attacker to exhaust the resources available to a

network, application or service so that genuine users

cannot gain access. Present-day attacks have far reaching

consequences with the emergence of DDoS (Distributed

Denial of Service), whereby hundreds of thousands of

compromised hosts jointly target a single entity, be

it businesses, government or service providers. DDoS

attacks in essence are weapons of mass destruction and

impacted businesses have been permanently shut down.

Using Intelligent DDoS Management System (IDMS),

in partnership with Arbor, a unique combination of

hardware, software and managed solutions, Etisalat

productivity, loss of reputation and loss of customers as

well. In the UAE, experts estimate that three-quarters of

Internet users in the country will become victims of cyber-

crime. Of that figure, 75 percent of information hacking is

slated to happen around our financial accounts. Though

organisations have been trying to increase awareness on

the threat landscape, the activity on safeguarding against

cyber-crime is still low and it is estimated that only one

out of 10 have installed anti-virus software on mobile

phones.

Etisalat, over the last four decades, has built a modern

telecoms infrastructure and established its stature as a

preferred ICT partner for customers in the UAE as well as

its growing customer base in other markets.

Khalifa Al Forah, Chief Digital Services Officer, Etisalat,

says, “Etisalat ICT transformation has arisen out of planned

investments in the area of state of the art infrastructure,

Security & Network Operations Centers (CNOC/SOC),

Managed Services, Security Practice, Vertical Solutions,

Unified Communications, Cloud Computing, M2M, Data

Centers, Professional Services & Project Management.

Our industry best practices & SLM management is ably

supported by qualified professionals available 24x7x365

which in turn helps our customers to accomplish the ever

growing needs of this challenging market”.

The amount that cyber-crime victims have lost over the last two years

$500bn


Managed Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Service

enables its customers’ business to respond proactively

to DDoS attacks, while keeping legitimate traffic flowing

into customer network thereby avoiding loss of revenue

and business impact due to downtime. Etisalat provides

a unique combination of both cloud and cloud-plus-CPE

(hybrid) services to combat this ever growing menace

of DDoS attacks. The customers benefit from supreme

protection from DDoS attacks and help them avoid

tarnished reputation, which in turn boost business

continuity and productivity.

Etisalat Web Security Cloud Service Enables business

beyond the corporate network

In today’s dynamic business environment, users are

everywhere, and applications and data are moving to the

cloud. At the same time, the rise of social media, web 2.0

applications, and the bring your own device (BYOD) trend

are blurring the lines between corporate and personal

usage, exposing companies to new risks from threats that

target individual users and spread through social networks.

As a result of this shift, traditional security appliances

often get bypassed. This new, dynamic world demands

a new security solution that integrates web, mobile and

newer channels of communication.

Etisalat Web Security Cloud Service in partnership

with Zservices, enables organisations to embrace new

cloud applications and social media technologies, while

gaining the industry’s most advanced protection from

accidental data loss, malicious attacks and emerging

threats. With Etisalat Web Security services, you get the

key capabilities you need to securely enable business

beyond the corporate network, including the industry’s

most advanced protection from mobile threats across

multiple devices, including smartphones, tablets and PCs.

This service delivers to the organizations IT, powerful and

most advanced web security control and protection tool,

whereby organizations enjoy Advanced Threat Protection,

Cloud Application and Social Media Control, Anti-Virus and

Anti-Spyware, Dynamic URL Filtering, Real-time Reporting

and Analysis, Unified Policy Administration, Complete

Visibility and Control, Mobile user and data security, Safe

Browser for iOS and Android, Unified Policy on Any Device:

Etisalat Zservices Web Security Cloud is the first of

its kind hosted locally in the UAE. The service offering

comes with no hardware or software allowing uniform

policy implementation over any device with a real time

reporting capability.

Protecting your email from the cloud

Email is well-established as a prime means of

communication for business purposes that is quicker

and cheaper than more traditional methods. Yet it

brings with it the necessity to make one’s corporate

messaging system as secure as possible. Inadvertent

employee error, laptop theft, contractors’ unauthorised

access to information, disgruntled employees, password

mismanagement—all of these factors can mean drastic

revenue loss, legal liabilities, diminished productivity and

brand erosion. The risk of crucial corporate data, including

corporate intellectual property and confidential business

information being stolen from within the company is much

higher than from outside.

Etisalat maintains the industry’s most comprehensive

email security threat classification and email security

management solution against phishing, virus, spam

emails, and other email borne malware. Enterprise emails

are classified based on the level of email security threat to

an organisation and managed accordingly.

Etisalat’s Managed Email (SaaS) Security threat

protection solution uses real-time email message tracing

to provide the necessary security tools to triage any

security threats while backed by an enterprise-class

support organisation focused on supporting your mission

critical communications. It enforces email security policy

to assure legal and regulatory compliance for both inbound

and outbound email across your organisation.

Powered by ZServices (Zscaler – Middle East cloud),

Etisalat’s Managed Email Security service allows

businesses to provision a security suite over a cloud

thereby minimizing capital overlay, avoiding complex

deployments and reducing support infrastructure set-up

to run day to day affairs. Its is a secure, hosted service

that provides enterprise-grade spam, virus protection and

email content filtering, hence delivering cost-effective

email management.

Managing your network security is a cumbersome task

Etisalat Managed Secure Connect proactively tackles

all concerns related to your network’s security and is

a dependable security service that includes supply,

installation, configuration, onsite support, and proactive

24x7x365 remote monitoring. The services are delivered

through security features by qualified professionals,

manning the Customer Network Operations Centre

(CNOC), and maintaining the integrity of the network’s

security requirements.

The estimated size of the global cyber-security market by 2017

$120.1bn


10 ICT Insight

Source: IDC, Gartner

Customers will also benefit from multiple appliance

options that cater to small branch offices, standalone

businesses including large enterprises. Using multifaceted

secure services gateway appliances from Juniper, these

appliances can be accessed remotely for change of

configuration, updating security patches, virus patterns,

fault troubleshooting and restoration without the

necessity to deploy manpower to the site. A combination

of service components, which include Anti-Virus. Anti-

Spam, Web Filtering and Deep Inspection provide

customers the best Unified Threat Management service,

caters to their growing security demands.

Securing the remote worker adds complex challenges to

your network

As network privileges are extended beyond employee

access, administrators have to be vigilant of thwarting

new network security threats such as viruses, hacker

attacks and malware. With the proliferation of remote

employees working from distant locations away from

central business offices, high network performance

and secure access to critical business applications and

information has become vital requirements to achieving

maximum productivity.

With Etisalat’s Managed Remote Access service, your

organisation can empower its employees by providing

them with flexible 24x7 work environment in a simple,

secure, stable and scalable manner. Offered as a managed

service, the solution is highly compatible with corporate

office networks and needs the basic requirements like

Internet access through a standard browser, a corporate

username and password, in order to activate the service.

Ideal for remote users, the service not only enables

professionals to retrieve email and access corporate

resources and applications, but also enables business

executives to use web-based intranet applications from

public or personal PCs. Being a business centric solution,

security has been developed as the core. Remote

users from respective business customers are securely

configured on the Security Appliance (SA) Device located

at Etisalat Data Centre and ensuring that only authorized

users are able to log in to their business resources. With

Etisalat’s Managed Remote Access service, businesses

can effectively lower the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

for secure remote extranet and intranet access to mission

critical network resources.

Etisalat’s constant endeavor is to deliver customers the

best available protection from impending threats. Though

it boasts of a rich services catalogue in security, it clearly

understands this ever changing landscape. Customers

are finding it increasingly difficult to deploy new

technologies every day to mitigate this growing threat

landscape. At Etisalat, the commitment is to deploy the

best in class security services, best practices and certified

professionals to help alleviate this customer problem and

deliver affordable services to our customers.

With Etisalat Integrated Security Device Management

services, Etisalat provides an end-to-end security solution

to customers where we supply firewall (appliance)

devices, install and conduct 24x7 proactive monitoring

and remote management from centrally located CNOC/

SOC in UAE. These managed firewall devices provide

the highest level of security performance, proactive

support, policy management, support and resolution

management to tackle any eventualities that arise

and are mitigated anticipating complete resources/

applications breakdowns.

Khalifa Al Forah adds, “Etisalat is presently revitalising

our security offerings to the market. An array of new

services will be launched this year which includes

Cyber Security Services, Managed Security Devices,

Mobile Security, Forensics, Authentication Services,

Security Event Management, Cloud Based Offerings

as well as customized security projects to suit every

market demand. To facilitate this growth, a brand new

Customer Security Operations Centre is being deployed

in partnership with Telefonica.”

Security is an amalgamation of Technology, People and

Processes. Etisalat is committed to providing the best of

breed in all these three realms to protect its customers

and to help enterprises focus on their core business.

(For information on our security services, please write

into [email protected] or contact your

Account Manager)

We have been offering security services to our customers for over a decade now, and the services bouquet is planned to help every customer segment, be it large enterprise, SmB or consumers.

The number of Internet users in the UAE estimated to be a victim of cyber-crime

75%


As businesses grow in scope and complexity, maintaining a secure working environment for customers, employees and physical assets has never been more critical. This is the vital role that digital security surveillance plays.

Security surveillance gets smarter

the legal framework in the UAE requires businesses

and facility owners to install and maintain surveillance

systems. In addition, the legal requirement for the

duration of storage of videos files keeps increasing.

Security managers have to scale up with hard disks

on regular basis. Sometimes these hard disks are not

properly configured or they go corrupt due to hardware

failure. It results in loss of video files without the

knowledge of security manager.

Digital security surveillance solutions have the power

to augment human resources and deliver comprehensive

security. But that’s not all. Today’s digital security

surveillance solutions have the intelligence to help

drive informed business decisions in areas ranging from

enhanced security and loss prevention to the analysis

of retail store traffic for optimal product placement.

Digital Security Surveillance Solutions include an ever-

expanding range of video appliances used for physical

security, intelligent traffic management, emerging

business intelligence applications, and many other

video analytics-based applications.

Customers are looking for secure, scalable, and simple

deployment and operations of their digital security

surveillance environment, especially when video

systems are large and span across multiple locations.

Regardless of where a digital security surveillance

solution is deployed—in healthcare, in an educational

facility, in a retail, commercial or industrial application,


12 ICT Insight

or in any other environment—digital oversight can

complement human resources. Video security provides

immediate, actionable information.

The cost for IP digital camera systems has reduced

dramatically over the past years, making analogue

camera technology redundant. IP systems provide high

performance while maintaining a low cost monitoring

and storing environment. However going digital doesn’t

mean that all the investment in the analogue system

needs to be written off. Smart architectures integrate

the existing infrastructure with new systems till their

respective end of life.

Traditionally, video surveillance cameras were

connected to a separate network, increasing costs and

restricting viewing of video feeds to consoles connected

to the same network. More recently, organisations

have begun connecting their cameras to their existing

IP network. This is part of a global trend called the

Internet of Things, referring to burgeoning connections

between people, process, data, and things, including

digital security surveillance cameras and physical

access controllers.

The Internet of Things is transforming safety and security

operations. For example, situational awareness improves

because mobile personnel can receive alerts and view

video from anywhere, on any device, including tablets and

smartphones. In addition, you can automate response to

events by integrating different safety and security systems

connected to the same network—for example, by capturing

video in response to gunshots or an opening door.

To capitalise on the potential of the Internet of things

for video surveillance, you need:

• A secure architecture that can adapt to evolving

business needs. This might include adding many more

cameras, capturing high-resolution video to enable

facial recognition, or storing video. Today, supporting

requirements like these typically requires costly efforts

such as rebuilding the infrastructure or replacing cameras.

• Automated processes to minimise management

overhead. The challenge is not simply making the

deployment work, but making it work with your existing

resources. Adding ten times more cameras is not

economically feasible if it requires ten times more staff.

The setup of security systems under the facility

manager desk or at times under the reception area

without any proper guidelines and polices is another

factor for the loss of video and risk of undetected thefts

and pilferages. The average cost of pilferage to business

is about 2 percent of their annual revenue. This is a

very high cost to pay when effective converged IP-

based security system can be installed at fraction of

this cost.

Transformation of infrastructure security system

from traditional reactive systems to proactive system

architecture with IP Cameras and Digital Recording has

been made easy by Etisalat’s Smart Digital security

surveillance Practice. Security Managers are provided

with one stop shop for all their Digital security

surveillance gear and setup. In addition, the customer

is provided with useful analytics that enables them to

respond to events more effectively.

Etisalat has built the Digital security surveillance

practice from the customer centric perspective. The

hands-on approach involves Etisalat visiting customer

premises for site survey, providing a quote, installing

and configuring the system and training the customer

on the usage. In addition, in the post-sale stage, Etisalat

manages all the camera systems and hard disks and

conduct Predictive Maintenance to give the customer

peace of mind that the system is working well and is

in good hands.

Customers with distributed facilities can have all

their video files located at a secure Etisalat data center

and access it from their central Security office. Etisalat

provides all the connectivity of the satellite office to the

central Etisalat Data Center for video footage transfer.

While Etisalat takes care of the Security Systems,

customers can focus on their core businesses. We

believe with Etisalat customer can trust that their data

is secured, their camera systems are working and their

hard disks will never run out of space.

the cost for iP digital camera systems has reduced dramatically over the past years, making analogue camera technology redundant.

The average cost, as a percentage of annual revenue, of pilferage to business

2%


moving to the cloudit seems almost certain that 2014 will bring about an

increase in the consumption of cloud-based services. Despite

predictions from some analyst houses that concerns over data

privacy might cost the industry billions in the coming year,

businesses have found it hard to resist the draws of high-

quality cloud services that can be paid for on an OPEX basis.

Sensing the increased demand for more cloud services

in the UAE, Etisalat has recently launched a new cloud

services solution, which it calls the Cloud Unified Platform

(CUP). CUP allows Etisalat to broker cloud services

between vendors and customers, on top of its own

platform. The platform is a natural progression in Etisalat’s

cloud offerings, which began with infrastructure as a

Emerging Technology

service (IaaS), according to Ahmed M. Al Hammadi, Senior

Manager, PM-e Business Solutions, Etisalat.

“It’s a platform that integrates with different

applications from different companies, and we only broker

these services. The platform itself does not have services

on top of it; it’s only integrated with those applications, so

the customer goes to the online portal, sees the catalogue

of services, chooses what services he wants, and then

pays online for those services, depending on the number

of users he wants and what packages he selects,” he says.

However, Al Hammadi stresses that, while Etisalat

brokers some of the services that it is offering through

CUP, the platform itself is still a strong one.

14 ICT Insight

“It does a lot of automation, a lot of reporting, business

intelligence types of things, billing and ordering, so it

does everything else other than the provisioning of the

services,” he says.

What’s more, he explains, Etisalat believes that

brokering these advanced services from reputable

vendors is probably better than attempting to create

them in-house. After all, these vendors have been

creating cloud-ready solutions for years, and have the

ability to be far more dedicated in terms of research

and development.

In terms of the services on offer, then, there are around

10 cloud applications that were available upon CUP’s

launch in January 2014. When working out which services

to launch with, Al Hammadi and his team categorised

which services would most appeal to the market.

Therefore the first applications to be made available were

around security (Web and endpoint), storage and back-up

services, and CRM and ERP. Mobility tools and help-desk

applications are also available, Al Hammadi says.

“These are the service types that we’ve chosen, and

then we have chosen who are the leaders in those types

of services. For example, in CRM, we are dealing with

SugarCRM, and in security services, we have Symantec

and Zscaler. Then we have online storage with a Swiss

company called GlobeX Data, so it’s a mix of services,” he

explains.

As the year goes on, Etisalat aims to add two to three

more cloud-applications to CUP every quarter, according

to Al Hammadi. That said, he believes that it’s more about

quality rather than quantity when it comes to cloud

customers.

“The quantity is not what the customer expects—the

quality is what the customer expects. And the right mix of

products is what the customer will be looking for,” he says.

the quantity is not what the customer expects—the quality is what the customer expects. and the right mix of products is what the customer will be looking for.

The customers in question are expected to be small and

medium-sized enterprises, Al Hammadi adds. He says that

the ability to pay on an OPEX model will attract a number

of SMEs, and that this is true when discussing Software-

as-a-Service (SaaS) anywhere in the world. However, he

adds that other customers should also be interested in

Etisalat’s CUP offerings.

“Definitely government is a big portion of the target

market, but they take different types of services. The

government type of customers, or some enterprise

customers, are looking for private cloud services. If we

talk about SMEs, they look for public cloud or hybrid cloud

services. In terms of addressing, we are addressing all of

the customers and segments,” he says.

Naturally, a large part of the cloud question has turned

to where the data is ultimately stored. However, this

shouldn’t be a worry for Etisalat customers, according to Al

Hammadi—a mandate from the UAE government has said

that all cloud services must include a local node, so that

any data uploaded to the cloud can be kept in-country.

“Though the service providers are international service

providers, we will have nodes for each of these services

inside the country, and the data will remain in the country.

This is not a strategy for Etisalat only—this is the strategy

of the country itself, so we have to follow the same,” Al

Hammadi explains.

With this promise to its customers, Etisalat eventually

wants to have a wealth of applications to offer its

CUP customers. Al Hammadi likens it to becoming a

cloud application hypermarket: “When you go to the

hypermarket, you don’t have just one brand of each type;

you have different brands, and you have the elite ones

and you have the medium ones. We to have different

ranges of prices for different types of customers,” he says.

With other service providers such as systems

integrators and value-added resellers also now getting

into the cloud brokerage game, it’s true that Etisalat may

face some stiff competition in the coming years. However,

according to Al Hammadi, procuring these cloud services

from a telco could be much more beneficial in the long run.

“The advantage that the telco will have is that you can

take everything from one telco, the telco can give you one

proposition. There’s applications, plus the infrastructure,

plus the storage services, connectivity, and end-to-end

SLA as well. The advantage to taking those services from

a telco is beyond what you get from others,” he says.


How technology is transforming healthcare.

Digital hospitals

a digital hospital is a patient-centric healthcare environment

in which all systems—clinical, business, and facility—fully

integrate and connect, enabling information to flow seamlessly

and securely among departments and personnel.

It provides increased quality, efficiency, productivity, and

patient and staff satisfaction while controlling costs. In short,

the digital hospital orchestrates the care.

A digital hospital is comprehensive. It exploits

communications and device technology, wireless, cloud

architecture concepts and integration, imaging technology,

and radio frequency identification (RFID)—as well as business

process reengineering and organizational transformation.

The breadth and depth of a digital hospital is driven by the

business. It can be isolated to the digital enablement of a single

device such as an infusion pump or to a clinical area such as

radiology. It also can encompass a facility’s IT ecosystem, a

building or ward, or be expanded to the enterprise or a hospital

campus and beyond including outpatient, affiliated hospitals,

and research facilities.

Technology is the enabler—digital hospital initiatives are

being sponsored not only by IT professionals, but also by

physicians and other clinicians, who are demanding better

tools and see technology as an enabler. Clearly, this is not

technology for technology’s sake. Rather, technology is

required to ensure the future success of a healthcare facility.

The digital hospital provides a foundation to integrate

diverse technologies; including medical systems, building

controls, communications, and information management,

enabling closer alignment of IT architecture and the hospital’s

Deep Dive

mission. This real-time information environment permits

a transformation to Lean technology enabled processes

that facilitate evidence-based, personalised medicine, and

alignment of IT and business.

Providing real-time, evidence-based—information, the digital

hospital is an evolution and synthesis of e-health and health

informatics fields into a real-time, evidence-based, hospital

information environment. It relies on technology as an integral

and fundamental part of business strategy. A digital hospital

strategy enables the adopting healthcare organisation to

provide higher quality care and patient safety in increasingly

efficient ways by employing state-of-the-art IT and process

redesign.

It goes beyond advanced clinical systems and includes

additional integration among IT, medical, communications,

and physical facility technologies to create a top-level, real-

time health information environment. For example, in the

United States, the digital hospital is closely associated with

the concept of the National Health Information Network,

linking autonomous healthcare information systems into

a virtual digital healthcare environment. This enables

patients, physicians, hospitals, and public health agencies to

collaborate and share clinical information in a secure, real-

time environment, decreasing healthcare costs materially and

measurably while vastly improving patient care.

The digital hospital concept is based on IP connectivity (“IP

everything”). It represents an integrated platform connecting

hospital technologies and business systems to meet the

availability, security, and reliability requirements of clinical

16 ICT Insight

Digital hospitals

application deployment. It brings together information,

communication, medical, and facility technologies to support

the care process freeing healthcare professionals from many

manual tasks that reduce their ability to focus on patient care

and safety.

It also greatly reduces paperwork by supporting electronic

medical record systems and provides easily stored and

transferred digital images versus cumbersome X-ray film.

More importantly, digital hospitals represent a holistic solution

to healthcare, as they encompass people, process, and

technology.

Through integration practices, digital hospitals make

intelligent devices found in hospitals interoperable bringing

information out of individual departments, devices, or isolated

process control systems. This is done through a common

communications and middleware platform (a device bus)

a network that connects all intelligent devices through a

common language supported by the IP.

It tightly integrates and collapses healthcare IT domains

such as network and infrastructure, information and

administrative systems, point-of-care systems, communication

and collaboration systems, and building management and

facility systems. It brings together advanced technologies,

including location-based services, remote application, and

information access. An example, imagine identifying a patient

in a treatment room using RFID and automatically presenting

the attending physician with patient information such as

medical history, allergies, or lab test results.

Unified communications play a key role in providing an agile

enterprise that can mature along with business processes

and clinical needs of caregivers and supporting staff. The key

service of the digital hospital environment is collaboration

and communication. Digital hospitals provide communication

services based on role, ensuring that clinicians and other

healthcare professionals get the information they need for

decision-making.

This means providing the correct information, in the correct

format, to the correct recipient, when and where they need

it. It is also about providing service related to content and

knowledge management in support of research and evidence-

based medicine practices, closed loop exchanges/transactions

for building/facilities, and supply chains within the hospital

ecosystem/enterprise.

A digital hospital network and its supporting infrastructure

network must be highly available, and all computing platforms

and data storage platforms installed on the network must

provide the same level of high-availability. The network

consists of a wired network, wireless network, and location

based services with this key capability.

As we journey down the digital hospital path, we find

many technical frameworks are evolving to support this

growing market. The goal of a technical framework is to

identify the minimum set of unifying concepts, axioms, and

relationships independent of specific standards, technologies,

or implementations that aim to provide an agile and unique

solution to solving the digital hospital business challenge.

There are many major engineering components associated

with a digital hospital and its organiaation, including:

-Network Infrastructure that supports data, voice, video

communications, and location-based services with highly

reliable, converged, wired and wireless IP-based infrastructure.

-Devices and building systems: Intelligent monitoring and

building management controls, caregiver communication

devices, and patient interactive system.

- Foundation: High-availability, high-reliability servers

and storage, and the requisite system management and

monitoring tools.

- Medical devices: Medical informatics devices (biomedical)

that capture, collect, monitor, transmit, or store patient point-

of-care information.

- Middleware: It connects different software components

or applications located anywhere in the network or running

on different operating systems, providing a closed-loop,

role-based business rule engine that enables messages—

communications, alerts, and notifications—to be routed to the

proper role or individual.

- Services Unifies communications and collaboration

services, providing unified operations, platform management,

and security necessary to ensure highly available, dependable,

and secure systems

- Applications provide essential functionality for clinical

systems and data services, such as computer physician order

entry, electronic medical record, clinical documentation, and

picture archiving and communications system

- Process support includes work flow-oriented systems

such as bed management, time and attendance, billing, and

patient flow and decision support systems

- Health information exchange Integrates external entities,

permitting the mobilization of healthcare information

electronically across the organization and with partners from

the community, region, or nationally

- Integration and identity management Integrates enterprise

directory services and identity management systems for look-

up and access control

everything is interconnected: Digital hospitals rely on

a model in which everything is interconnected through a

highly available, secure, pervasive network, one where

clinical staff is provisioned with the right information at

the right place at the right time. Time wasted locating

personnel, devices, and reports is vastly reduced, and the

links provided outside the hospital better facilitate care at

lower cost, resulting in improved outcomes. This fosters

and supports one of healthcare’s primary goals: Focus on

the patient, with the patient central to all activities and

information. That’s what makes a digital hospital a genuine

patient-centric healthcare system.

One of the key communication technologies being used in digital hospitals

rFiD


10 Jaw-Dropping FactsAbout Our Mobile World

There are 5.6 billionmobile subscriptions in the world

That’s over

85%of the global population.

There are

10.7 millionmobile subscriptions in the

Unites Arab Emirates alone, averaging

2 cellphones per resident

You have

15,145messages

Account SummaryThe world’s most expensive phone bill.

$218 trillionOutstanding Total Due

89the number of

texts an average 18- to 29-year-old sends a day

15,145the number of text

messages an average user sends a year.

Source: Visage - Jaw-Dropping Mobility Insights

Mobile usage has exploded in recent years. Just how much? Enough to make our mouths gape. Here are some out-of-

this-world numbers on mobility’s enormous reach.

The number of iPhones it would

take to…Reach the moon:

3.4billion

Reach the deepest point of the ocean:

98,560

Circle the globe:

351million

200cellphones are left in NYC cabs a day, that’s 205,343

years73,000a year. The collective amount of Angry

Bird playtime in one year.

Delivering right information to right people in right time

cloud-based digital signage the global advertising landscape has seen a dramatic

transformation from traditional print advertisements to dynamic

advertisements over years. More and more enterprises are using

digital displays within customer facing branch or store locations

to optimize the customer experience, increase sales, and enhance

customer and associate communication.

The Digital Signage is viewed as the “next big thing” for

advertisers, marketers and promoters in a wide range of

market segments, including retail, hospitality, entertainment,

restaurants and convenience stores.

The Digital Signage market is on the cusp of a dramatic growth

curve thanks to the digital revolution and it is estimated in size as

US$ 22 million in UAE and US$ 77 million in MENA.

The ideal market segments for digital signage are:

• Retail

• Financial Services/Banking

• Hospitality

• Services

• Transportation

• Government

• Business with multiple locations

While digital signage systems have been broadly adopted

across a wide array of vertical markets, many companies

still have difficulty budgeting for the upfront and ongoing

expenses that these systems require.

With Etisalat Cloud Digital Signage Solution utilizing LGE

display systems, companies can quickly and efficiently deliver

digital content via Etisalat’s reliable, scalable network and

system by simply subscribing features and functionalities.

The below diagram shows quick comparison Cloud based vs

On-premise digital signage system.


Less staff required More staff and IT skills needed

More cost-effective More resource-intensiveEasily accessible from anywhere Access is limited

Free software update and support Additional cost for software update and support

Rent system Buy and own system

Choose if looking for budget friendly solution

Choose if there is clear strategy and roll-out investment

Etisalat as an owner

of whole ecosystem

of the solution

has built a digital

signage platform

at data center for the operation and management of complete

signage system including site devices.

The building blocks of Etisalat Cloud Digital Signage

Solution are as follows;

Screen

Professional screen having wide viewing angle, reliability,

brightness, less energy consumption and 24x7 operations

but, at affordable price.

media Player

Presenting the right content on the right display at the right

time but also used in digital signage also offer interfaces for

remote monitoring and configuration.

content management System

Ability to create, change and delete play schedules and to

transfer these lists to media player that are organized in the

head-end through dedicated systems.

Etisalat Cloud Digital Signage Solution is one-stop, turnkey

solution providing:

• Site systems including digital screen and media player

• Content management software

• 24x7x365 system operation and technical support

• Installation and training

• Preventive operations and system maintenance

• Full reporting on system performance

• The key benefits that customers are getting

• No initial investment

• Rapid deployment

• Flexible payment plan

• Lowered total cost of ownership

• Fully hosted and managed service

(For more information contact Etisalat account manager or

visit us at www.etisalat.ae/digitalsignage.)

20 ICT Insight

@etisalat.ae

Abdulazizhelabi4h@Abdulazizhelabi4h

7:11 PM - 9 Dec 13

https://twitter.com/Abdulazizhelabi/sta-tus/410245233989787648

@EAUtalasitE أوِه العرض جميل ومغري .. بس أنا انتظر تنزلون عرض على تلفون )جلكسي

سامسونج ( و لكم كل الشكر واالحترام

Issausman@issausman75

11:12 PM - 3 Dec 13

https://twitter.com/SaddmaarebMC/sta-tus/136763322598035457

@EtisalatUAE i like etisalat services thanks keep it up pic.twitter.com/qeeRY4P9aI

Eng.Hend Kamali@HendAlKamali

4:57 AM - 2 Dec 13

https://twitter.com/HendAlKamali/sta-tus/407493838979096577

@EtisalatUAE amazing great job etisalat

Beibhinn Aisling@beibhinnisargel

6:16 AM - 24 Nov 13

https://twitter.com/beibhinnisargel/sta-tus/404614557663907841

Finally! I got to pay my 1st bill from @Etisalat_Care through @AlAnsariEx So Convenient. Thanks!!!

Kang Leader@_skyyy_

6:16 AM - 24 Nov 13

https://twitter.com/_skyyy_/sta-tus/404196823889231872

@EtisalatUAE i love you guys for fixing my Monthly data plan. good job

@SharjahHCP

6:16 AM - 24 Nov 13

https://twitter.com/SharjahHCP/sta-tus/403064124680069120

etisalat partners with GlobeX Data

Etisalat has announced its partnership with GlobeX Data,

a cloud storage technology provider, to offer enterprises

and individuals secure data storage and back-up services

for critical business data and applications.

The partnership enables Etisalat to introduce the

DigitalSafe and SecurusVault technologies in the Middle

East, thereby reiterating its position as the region’s

leading integrated services provider.

The two new services are designed with Swiss high

encryption and privacy technology architecture and

ensure that there is 100 percent assured safety and

confidentiality of critical information.

Abdulla Hashim, Senior Vice President ICT, Etisalat

UAE, said: “Data is at the heart of any organisational

activity, therefore it is crucial for organisations to protect

their data and back it up regularly. With business

continuity gaining popularity in the region, an increasing

number of individuals and corporations are faced with the

burden of handling confidential digital data.

“Recognising the need for top-notch services to

address this issue, we have partnered with GlobeX Data

to bring to the Middle East market two new data storage

and back-up offerings. The two new technologies follow

the highest standards of confidentiality and privacy,

and have been designed keeping the clients’ needs and

requirements in mind. Further, the services use eco-

friendly technology, in line with Etisalat’s commitments to

adopt sustainable practices for growth and development.”

The DigitalSafe technology features a protected digital

vault for the safekeeping of confidential information.

Using a mobile- and web-based secure cloud storage

application, clients can share individual files with specific

people, maintain multiple file versions, store passwords,

bank details, travel documents and much more.

Alain Ghiai, CEO of GlobeX Data Group, said, “We

are pleased to partner with Etisalat to bring to the

region our two state-of-the-art technology offerings. At

GlobeX Data, we firmly believe in establishing long-term

partnerships with the best organisations that constantly

offer innovative solutions to promote business and

individual developments. Our partnership with Etisalat

is part of a tradition of aligning ourselves with the best

in the market and we look forward to servicing Etisalat’s

client base globally.”

Etisalat and UAE University organise mobile learning conference

Etisalat and UAE

University (UAEU)

organised the first mobile

learning conference

‘Embracing Mobile

Learning’, aimed at

modelling best classroom

practices and showcase

how mobile technology can be integrated effectively

into teaching and learning.

The event took place at the campus of UAE

University located in Al Ain. This was a unique

platform to exchange insights and innovations from

the region’s ICT domain. The conference was a

medium to share research regarding the effectiveness

of mobile strategies and their influence on student

engagement and learning.

UAEU invited foreign delegations from various

fields to encourage global perspectives in this

conference. They welcomed representatives from

higher education faculty members and executives,

graduates and PhD students, instructional

technologists, business and government officials.

Participants had a chance to network, attend

professional development workshops, and discuss

topics such as materials production, engaging

teaching techniques, and mobile literacy.

Abeer Nijmeh, Director, Information &

Communication Technology, Etisalat said, “Our aim

has always been to stand on the forefront of ICT

technology in the UAE. As partners of this unique

event, we are proud to offer ICT solutions and

applications for the education sector.”

Etisalat has supported educational initiatives in

the past, including the Duroosi tutorial videos at the

Ministry of Education, and continues to contribute to

technology-based learning, reinforcing its dominance

as the preferred telecom and ICT partner in UAE.

News

عمرو محمد أبوكحيل@someoneinalain

11:06 AM - 4 Dec 13

https://twitter.com/someoneinalain/sta-tus/408311272258940928/photo/1

هدايا اتصاالت الجميلة . @EAUtalasitE #شكرا wEYn8ZQks1/moc.rettiwt.cip اتصاالت

ismail Aljwabra@ismail_Aljwabra

10:05 AM - 4 Dec 13

https://twitter.com/ismail_Aljwabra/sta-tus/408296071698194433

@EAUtalasitE اهلل يبارك في اتصاالت

Noura Alzaabi@mpshah

12:52 PM - 2 Dec 13

https://twitter.com/Nayooor/sta-tus/407613223580340224

@EAUtalasitE اجمل زينه زينة اتصاالت

رواضي@umRowdha

10:10 AM - 3 Dec 13

https://twitter.com/umRowdha/sta-tus/407934861857406976

@EtisalatUAE it’s awsome, thank you etisalat

DubaiExpo2020

الشارقة مدينة صحية

EAUtalasitE@ شكر وتقدير لمؤسسة اتصاالتعلى رعايتهم الماسية لبرنامج #الشارقة_

S8ow1nBK0N/moc.rettiwt.cip مدينة_صحية


@etisalat.ae

etisalat in tie-up with Nec for Unified communications services

Etisalat, the leading telecom company in the Middle East

and Africa, today announced its partnership with NEC,

a global provider of internet, broadband network and

enterprise business solutions, to deliver unified cloud

services to the UAE and Middle East market.

The partnership enables Etisalat to deliver to the

regional market a Cloud Unified Platform (CUP), which

offers enterprises a one-stop-shop-solution for all their

cloud service needs. The Etisalat CUP marketplace will have

cloud services such as BigTinCan, LibreOffice among others.

The Etisalat CUP, which is hosted in Etisalat data

centers in the UAE, cuts down on the time taken to

conduct research to select a suitable cloud service,

allowing customers to save on time and money. To

maximize their benefits, clients also have the opportunity

to contact Etisalat representatives, who offer their expert

guidance on the best choice of cloud services to suit their

business requirements.

The Etisalat CUP, powered by NEC, offers a carrier-

grade services brokering, federation and aggregation

platform, with multiple propositions on Infrastructure-

as-a-service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). The Etisalat CUP also

entails a Development Platform for young entrepreneurs,

where they can develop, compile, deploy and publish

cloud applications in the CUP’s marketplace.

Abdulla Hashim, Senior Vice President- ICT, Etisalat

UAE, said: “Adoption of Cloud Services in the region is

gaining momentum, due to the obvious benefits it brings

to customers and their businesses. However, selection

and subscription to the right cloud service is no easy

task. Customers find that the process of adoption can be

time-consuming, as well as expensive.”

Etisalat extends M2M offering

Etisalat has announced new shared fixed data

packages to be offered to Enterprise and SMB

customers from the M2M Control Center launched

last year.

The new fixed shared data packages, in addition

to available per SIM flexible data packages, enhance

the telecom major’s Machine-to-Machine (M2M)

offerings for enterprises planning M2M deployments.

The different types of packages will facilitate M2M

deployments in automotive, health, metering, energy

and smart city sectors.

Etisalat’s enterprise and SME customers can now

choose a package most suitable for their data needs.

This will provide them full control over costs and data

usage on their SIMs even as they enjoy real-time

visibility into activities of their connected devices

across the UAE.

The fixed package allows 1 GB to 2,000 GB data

usage which can be shared by any number of SIMs.

It is optimum for big projects where expansion is on

long-term basis.

Earlier this year, Etisalat launched the UAE’s first M2M

flexible shared data pool packages which offer data

allowance ranging from 10 MB to 100 MB per SIM. They

are best suited for small to medium M2M deployments,

where minimum amount of data is used per SIM.

Abdulla Hashim, Senior Vice President, ICT, said:

“Pioneering the latest—whether in technology or

services—is a business requirement as we progress

from being a telecom operator to becoming a complete

ICT solutions provider. Based on market study, we

found that customers value real-time visibility into

devices and their activities and an understanding and

diagnosis of wireless connectivity issues. In this age of

globalisation, connected device operations must scale

along with businesses and need to work anywhere

in the world. Hence our solutions were custom-made

to suit all these business needs of large enterprise or

SMB customers.”

News

Ahmed El Kholy7:19pm - 5 Dec 13

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=668304766523719&set=a.370568849630647.84288.107009842653217&type=1

Best network in UAE, always number one

Elfatih Khalid@elfatihkhalid

9:01 PM - 17 Nov 13

https://twitter.com/elfatihkhalid/sta-tus/402300619312353280

@Etisalat_Care Dear all, Thank you very much for your prompt response the problem was resolved yesterday night, now it is working fine

Kate Lowhan4:45pm - 5 Dec 13


Etisalat, u are the best.@Naseemulaziz. I'll refer u to a distant friend who works as a site engineer.

Wessam Chaabi2:24 pm - 7 Dec 13

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=667892969898232&set=a.116622321691969.13401.107009842653217&type=1&relevant_count=1

كثير حلوووووووووو

7:19pm - 5 Dec 13


you are the best and always the best

Mackdonald Arinze

4:28pm - 1 Dec 13

https://www.facebook.com/Etisalat/posts/666043880083141?comment_id=6913569&offset=0&total_comments=18

i like dubai ad etisalat

Alamin Mia

4:29pm - 3 Dec 13

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.666010586753137.1073741832.107009842653217&type=1

My best network

Mackdonald Arinze

12:59am - 1 Dec 13


AMAZING!!!!!

Marwan El Nemr

12:16am - 1 Dec 13


Wessam Chaabi

@AlHetliy

10:11 AM - 19 Nov 13

https://twitter.com/AlHetliy/sta-tus/402861796111175680

@eraC_talasitE اشكركم على سرعة الرد واتمنى لكم التوفيق

الهتلـي

روووعه

22 ICT Insight

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• The widest channel presence for easy access

• Dedicated account managers

• Tailored mobility solutions and services

• More roaming partners

Business keeps changing.Our commitment to you doesn't.

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ICT Insight (January 2014)

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Transcript of ICT Insight (January 2014)