GITEX 2012 INTERVIEWS ITU TELECOM World 2012 - Teletimes

solution providers around theglobe. Please share some detailsof these partnerships.MZ - ARC has partnered withFujitsu for servers, NetApp forstorage systems, VMware for virtualisation,McAfee for security,Symantec for backup solutions,Schneider for infrastructure,Alcatel Lucent & NEC for voice &Unified communication to namea few.TT - Please tell us about yourregional business focus withreference to GCC states?MZ - Presently ARC is wellestablished in the UAE and ratedas one of the top five systemintegrators in the UAE and top20 in the GCC. It also has plans toexpand to other GCC countriesnamely, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.TT - Machine 2 Machine communicationis gearing up itspopularity in householdsmarket. Does ARC haveplans to address segment ofcommunication?MZ - ARC, in partnershipwith Digi International, isone of the pioneers to adoptM2M technology in the UAEto create end-to-end solutionsthat drives business efficiencies.It is also one of the first SIcompanies to release the GSM/GPRS routers in the market forATM machines, POS systemsand SCADA applications forData acquisition. and thefirst to promote Zigbeetransmission for M2Msolutions. ARC providesConsultancy,Solution Design,Implementationand Managedservices forM2M solutionswith the iDigiconcept. It’stargeting itsefforts on Home automation,Control systems, Utilities andEnergy segments where M2Mpenetration is at its maximum.TT - Is the ICT industry becomingmore competitive and challengingin the GCC region?MZ - Yes it is becoming morecompetitive and challenging.This is mainly due to the factthat the differential betweenvarious products & technologiesis narrowing and as a result, thefinal decision is on pricing. Alsodue to the policy of major productvendors to have multiplechannel partners, establishedsystem integrators who workclosely with the customer fromthe point of inception, haveto compete in pricing with lastmoment vendors whose onlystrength is to go on low margins“ARC, inpartnership withDigi International,is one of thepioneers to adoptM2M technologyin the UAE tocreate end-to-endsolutions thatdrives businessefficiencies.”as they don’t have the cost ofdeveloping customer & pre-saleefforts.TT - What changes do youobserve in the communicationneeds of the society whilekeeping in mind the growth ofBroadband services?MZ - Social Media has becomean integral part of the newgeneration and communicationtechnology and marketingideas have to be devisedaround this core behaviourwhich will give a boostfor the Broadband services.TT - Please share your views onthe benefits brought in by cloudcomputing to enterprises andbusinesses.MZ - Cloud computing is not anew concept. At the start of thecomputer revolution, there usedto be a client server architecturewhich was an earlier form ofCloud. However due to the limitationof bandwidth betweenthe server and client, it couldnot flourish. Now with the availabilityof Broadband it makessense to have cloud architecture.However before it is fullyaccepted by the Business communitythere are issues whichneed to be addressed and mostimportant of them all is Securityand Migration of applications tocloud.TT - Please share your briefprofessional career path. Whatare you future growth vision toexpand company’s presence?MZ - I am an Engineer in Electronicsand Communication withan MBA and a post graduatein Business Research. I have agood blend of Knowledge oftechnology and establishingNew Business ventures due tomy various responsibilities duringthe past 30 years.The future growth is expectedfrom Data centre solutions,Storage, Security, Virtualisation,Consultancy on Data centrecommercialisation, and managedservices.TT - Your thoughts onTELETIMES International.MZ - One of the most establishedTelecom Magazines ofthe Middle East, Asia and Africaregions and a very interestingread as it provides upto date market information.I read it regularly to understandthe latest developmentin the products and Markets. Iwish them all the best.November 2012www.teletimesinternational.com47