IDCMiddle EastCIO SummitAccelerating Your Journey to a Digital-First World
Hybrid Event | Dubai | February 22 - February 24, 2022
IDCMiddle EastCIO SummitOpening Address by H.E. Wesam Lootah 8:45 AM on 22 February 2022
IDCMiddle EastCIO SummitOpening Address by H.E. Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti 9:15 AM on 23 February 2022
IDCMiddle EastCIO SummitMeet Our Thought Leader Peter Diamandis 9:30 AM on 23 February 2022
With digital agendas accelerating significantly over the last two years, the result has been a continuously changing, digitally driven world. IDC research shows that 49% of Middle East CIOs have brought forward their digital agendas by at least one year – and 14% by almost two years – following the upheaval of 2020. Many of these CIOs are now actively reviewing and exploring new digital business models and ecosystem partnerships for the long term.
Whether they're building resilient digital infrastructures or addressing the unique demands of a distributed workforce, CIOs are adapting their organizations to meet a new set of challenges and rethinking their leadership practices for a digital-first world. They are accelerating their digital investments and building organizations that adapt to evolving business requirements and capitalize on change.
The 2022 edition of the IDC Middle East CIO Summit will explore the increasing pace of innovation, examine the region's evolving technology landscape, and present best-practice strategies that will help organizations transform themselves into digitally resilient future enterprises.
Summit Highlights
Highlights from the 15th Edition of IDC Middle East CIO Summit 2022
The CIO Masterclass Arena is back for a second year with the same promise of enlightening and educating business leaders on various technologies. The event will give delegates the chance to learn from high profile speakers and gain a better understanding of how these solutions can help promote innovation in their organizations and drive forward their digital transformation objectives.. Here, you will find a selection of CXO best-practice presentations, fireside chats, and panel discussions as respected industry pioneers and thought leaders share insights into the successful digital transformation strategies applied within their own organizations.
Open to All Delegates
The CIO Masterclass Arena is open throughout the one day of IDC Middle East CIO Summit 2022 to all delegates looking to maximize their learning and expand their organizational thinking.
A Wealth of Best Practices
CXOs from across the region and around the world will share first-hand experiences, strategies, and insights into their success stories.
Exchange Insights and Knowledge
This is your opportunity to share your very own journey with fellow CIOs to enhance collaboration and build long-term partnerships.
Easy to Use
Browse through a diverse library of videos on the topic of your choice. Just point and click!
James D. Swanson
EVP and Enterprise Chief Information Officer, Johnson & Johnson
Majid AlShehry
Spokesperson & General Manager, Studies Department, Saudi Data & Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) (KSA)
Amna Al Balushi
Chief Information Security Officer, Bank Nizwa (Oman)
Juan Perez
Chief Information and Engineering Officer, UPS
Andrea Isoni
PhD, Director and Chief AI Officer at AI Technologies
Dr. Amjed AlThuhli
Consultant, World Economic Forum (Oman)
Lareb Poonawala
CIO (Saudi Arabia), Procter & Gamble (KSA)
Aliasgar Bohari
Senior Director of ICT, Zulekha Healthcare Group (UAE)
Her Excellency Thuraya Mohammed Al-Hashimi
Executive Director Digital Data Enabling Sector, Federal Competitiveness & Statistics Centre (FCSC) (UAE)
Dr. Hoda Alkhzaimi
Director, Center of Cybersecurity, New York University Abu Dhabi
Debbie Botha
Chief Partnership Officer, Women in AI (UAE)
Hamad Al Mutairi
Director of Archives Department, UAE National Archives (UAE)
Ramakrishnan Natarajan
Vice President Information Technology, Emirates Hospitals Group
Binoo Joseph
Group CIO, Emaar
Jason Roos
Chief Information Officer, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KSA)
Su Le
Chief Digital & Strategy Officer, Technology & Digital, NEOM
Ayman Alharbi
Senior Director of Infrastructure & Operation, Red Sea Global (KSA)
Ahmed AlRifai
Group IT Director, Al Muhaidib (KSA)
Eng. Ahlam Al Sarheed
CIO, King Fahad Medical City (KSA)
Dr. Raed Al Hazme
Executive Director of the IT Department, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs (MNGHA)
Dr. Fawaz Alharbi
Deputy Chairman, Saudi Cloud Computing Association
Dr. Abdulrahman Al Khnaifer
CIO, King Saud University (KSA)
Dr. Abdulrahman Alhabib
Deputy Research Director, National Center of Artificial Intelligence (NCAI) - Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA) (KSA)
Hesham Al Ghamdi
Group Chief Data & Analytics Officer, Abdul Latif Jameel Motors (ALJR) (KSA)
Dr. Salem Alelyani
Director of Center for Artificial Intelligence, King Khalid University (KSA)
Paolo Cinelli
Chief Information and Digital Officer, (KSA & Bahrain), Al Sulaiman Group, IKEA (KSA)
Hani Saif
CIO, United Electronics Company (EXTRA) (KSA)
Hany Almansour
GM Information Technology, General Authority of ForeignTrade
Khaled Salem
Vice President & Head of Technology, Tamam - Zain Payment, (KSA)
Dr. Ahmed Darwish
Head of Digital Delivery, Bank Albilad (KSA)
Mohamed Abdel-Aal
Director, Digital Experience and Innovation (KAUST Smart), King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) (KSA)
Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Besher
Dean of Computing & Informatics, Saudi Electronic University (KSA)
Mohammed Shah
IT & Smart City Director, Knowledge Economic City (KSA)
Dr. Hossam Elshenraki
Associate Professor, Criminal investigation, Dubai Police Academy
Nadin Halabi
Business Development Manager, Dubai Business Women Council (UAE)
Arwa Alhamad
Head of Cyber Security, Sanabil Investment (Saudi Arabia)
Abeer Khedr
Director of Information Security, National Bank of Egypt
Dr. Reem Faraj Al-Shammari
Digital Transformation Corporate Solutions Leader, Kuwait Oil Company
Hessa Al Nahdi
CISO, Department of Culture & Tourism Abu Dhabi (UAE)
Heide Young
Founding Partner and Board Member, Women in Cyber Security Middle East (UAE)
Areej Al Shaibani
Director of Human Resources Development, Oman Ministry of Transport, Communication, and Technology (Oman)
Norah Fahad Alsharidah
Director General of Financial Planning, Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health (KSA)
Ayad (Ed) Sleiman
Head of Information Security, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KSA)
Mohammed Tarik
Head of IT Business Management, IT Services & Quality, Emirates NBD
Dr. Joe Perez
Senior Systems Analyst & Team Lead, NC Department of Health & Human Services (US)
The IDC Middle East CIO Summit 2022 features a tailored agenda filled with handpicked topics, discussions, panel sessions, and keynote presentations from regional and global technology experts that will explore all of today's hottest ICT issues.
The 2022 edition will be hosted as both a physical event on Days 1 & 2 (February 22 - 23) and as a digital event on Day 3 (February 24). Here's what you can expect:
Based on the belief of the political leadership of Kuwait in the role of information technology for the development programs of the Kuwaiti society, the Amiri Decree No. (266-2016) was issued to establish the Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT).
CAIT represents the house of expertise and resources in the field of information technology in the governmental sector.
The Amiri Decree defined the roles and responsibilities of CAIT as follows:
• Developing information technology plans and policies at a national level and approving them by the Council of Ministers.
• Supervising the implementation of the E-Government plans and projects in coordination with the ministries and government sectors.
• Coordinating all information technology development plans among government sectors.
• Developing and managing the methodologies, standards and patterns required for information technology systems, devices and services.
• Establishing and managing the Kuwait’s official online portal.
• Training and developing the capabilities of human resources working in the field of technology in Kuwait and developing their skills in this specific field.
• To build public awareness regarding the use of information technology and its practices among all segments of society.
• Study and express opinions on the technical and financial needs required for information technology projects in governmental sectors in coordination with other related sectors.
Strategic Partner
Gulf Business Machines (GBM)
Founded in 1990, GBM is leading provider of IT solutions in the Middle East. GBM is IBM's sole distributor for select products and services in the Gulf Cooperation Council region, excluding Saudi Arabia. GBM also has strategic partnerships with Cisco, VMware, Apple, Red Hat, and F5. GBM offers an extensive range of IT infrastructure, solutions, and services ranging from consulting, resource deployment, and integration to after-sales support. The company has offices in the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, and Pakistan.
Digital Transformation Partner (In-Person)
Tech Mahindra
Tech Mahindra is a $5.1 billion organization with 121,000+ professionals across 90 countries helping 1,007 global customers, including Fortune 500 companies. Tech Mahindra is focused on leveraging next-generation technologies, including 5G, blockchain, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and more, to enable the end-to-end digital transformation of global customers. Tech Mahindra has consistently emerged as a leader in sustainability and was recognized amongst the '2021 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World' by Corporate Knights.
Digital Transformation Partner (Digital)
Oracle
At Oracle, our mission is to help people see data in new ways, discover insights, unlock endless possibilities. For more than four decades, Oracle has delivered innovation upon which entire industries have been built.
The Oracle Cloud offers a complete suite of integrated applications for Sales, Service, Marketing, Human Resources, Finance, Supply Chain and Manufacturing, plus Highly Automated and Secure Generation 2 Infrastructure featuring the Oracle Autonomous Database. For more information about Oracle, please visit us at www.oracle.com .
Innovation Partner (In-Person)
Injazat
Injazat is an industry-recognized market leader in digital transformation, cloud, and cybersecurity. Injazat empowers organizations to optimize their business goals by utilizing cloud and emerging technology solutions and co-creating transformational digital platforms and services through public-private partnerships. Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Injazat draws on its local expertise and presence as well as its global technology partnership networks to develop market-leading services. Injazat’s purpose is to empower human achievement through end-to-end digital solutions that deliver impact and value to customers and communities.
https://www.injazat.com
Smart ICT Partner
Dynatrace
Dynatrace provides software intelligence to simplify cloud complexity and accelerate digital transformation. With advanced observability, artificial intelligence, and complete automation, Dynatrace's all-in-one platform provides answers, not just data, about the performance of applications, underlying infrastructure, and the experience of all users. Many of the world’s largest enterprises trust Dynatrace to modernize and automate cloud operations, release better software faster, and deliver unrivalled digital experiences.
Summit Partner (In-Person)
Riverbed
Riverbed enables organizations to maximize performance and visibility for networks and applications, so they can overcome complexity and fully capitalize on their digital and cloud investments. The Riverbed Network and Application Performance Platform enables organizations to visualize, optimize, remediate and accelerate the performance of any network for any application. The platform addresses performance and visibility holistically with best-in-class WAN optimization, network performance management (NPM), application acceleration (including Office 365, SaaS, client and cloud acceleration), and enterprise-grade SD-WAN. Riverbed’s 30,000+ customers include 99% of the Fortune 100. Learn more at riverbed.com.
Summit Partner (In-Person)
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is an IT services, consulting, and business solutions organization that has been partnering with world's largest businesses in their transformation journeys for over 50 years. TCS offers a consulting-led, cognitive-powered, integrated portfolio of business, technology, and engineering services and solutions.
As part of the Tata Group, India's largest multinational business group, TCS has businesses spanning across MEA, Europe, North America, and APAC. The company has been actively present in MEA for over 25 years and has more than 120 clients across different industries. The domain expertise of TCS has been built upon decades of experience working across industries and this knowledge underpins the suite of solutions. As global leader in digital and business solutions, TCS partners with clients to simplify, strengthen, and transform their businesses. TCS has been awarded as the Top Employer in the MEA region consecutively for the past 6 years.
Summit Partner (In-Person)
Unifonic
Unifonic is a customer engagement platform that enables organizations to delight customers with remarkable omnichannel experiences. By unifying communication channels, messaging apps, and chatbots, Unifonic streamlines conversations at every touch point throughout the customer journey. Unifonic’s solutions integrate customer communication channels including text, voice, messaging and web into a single platform to enable companies to create stronger customer relationships.
Summit Partner (In-Person)
Red Hat
Red Hat is the world’s leading provider of enterprise open source solutions, using a community-powered approach to deliver high-performing Linux, cloud, container, and Kubernetes technologies. It helps organizations standardize across environments, develop cloud-native applications, and integrate, automate, secure, and manage complex environments with award-winning support, training, and consulting services.
Summit Partner (In-Person)
AWS
AWS is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform, offering over 200 fully featured services from data centers globally. Millions of customers—including the fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading government agencies—are using AWS to lower costs, become more agile, and innovate faster
Summit Partner (In-Person)
SoftServe
SoftServe is a digital authority that reveals,
transforms, accelerates, and optimizes the way enterprises and software
companies do business. With expertise across healthcare, retail, energy,
financial services, software, and more, SoftServe implements end-to-end
solutions to deliver the innovation, quality, and speed that clients
expect. SoftServe delivers open innovation — from generating compelling
new ideas to developing and implementing transformational products and
services. Our work is built on a foundation of empathetic, human-focused
experience design that ensures continuity from concept to release. We empower
enterprises and software companies to (re)identify differentiation, accelerate
solution development, and vigorously compete in today’s digital economy.
Summit Partner (In-Person)
Lenovo
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a US$60 billion revenue Fortune Global 500 company serving customers in 180 markets around the world. Focused on a bold vision to deliver smarter technology for all, we are developing world-changing technologies that power (through devices and infrastructure) and empower (through solutions, services, and software) millions of customers every day and together create a more inclusive, trustworthy, and sustainable digital society for everyone, everywhere. To find out more visit https://www.lenovo.com, and read about the latest news via our StoryHub.
Summit Partner (In-Person)
Turbonomic
Turbonomic (an IBM company) applies AI to eliminate manual troubleshooting and other labor-intensive aspects of IT operations, so teams can confidently modernise applications, adopt new cloud and container-based technologies, and accelerate release cycles without the risk of cost overruns or performance degradation. Turbonomic’s AI-powered ‘Application Resource Management’ (ARM) platform continuously makes resourcing decisions based on real time application demand, ensuring that applications always get the compute, storage, and network they need to perform. The platform preserves that automation in context, meaning IT teams can take a data driven approach to automation, but also align to company SLOs and compliance parameters. Turbonomic ‘Application Resource Management’ (ARM) aids in digital transformation by ensuring business-critical applications get the resources they need to perform on any public cloud, private cloud, or virtualized environment, automatically, at the lowest possible cost. More info at www.turbonomic.com.
Summit Partner (In-Person)
MDS | VMware
MDS Systems
Integration (MDS SI) is the UAE’s leading enterprise systems integrator,
leveraging long experience in the region and providing excellent service
through a highly qualified, trained, and experienced team of engineers. Since
its inception, MDS SI has focused on integrating and delivering customized and advanced
enterprise datacenter solutions, including servers, storage, backup, network,
and security solutions. The company's extensive regional coverage is an
indicator of its experience, strength, and ability to grow, manage, and support
various types of projects and environments.
Summit Partner (Digital)
VMware
VMware software powers the world’s complex digital infrastructure. The company’s cloud, app modernization, networking, security, and digital workspace offerings help customers deliver any application on any cloud across any device. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, VMware is committed to being a force for good, from its breakthrough technology innovations to its global impact. http://www.vmware.com
Platinum Partner (In-Person)
SS&C Technologies
Blue Prism is the global leader in intelligent automation for the enterprise, transforming the way work is done. At Blue Prism, we have users in over 170 countries in more than 2,000 businesses, including Fortune 500 and public sector organizations, that are creating value with new ways of working, unlocking efficiencies, and returning millions of hours of work back into their businesses. Our digital workforce is smart, secure, scalable and accessible to all; freeing up humans to re-imagine work. Blue Prism’s vision is to provide a digital workforce for every enterprise
Platinum Partner (In-Person)
Wizards
Wizards is an IT and cloud consultancy specializing in the enterprise segment. Wizards helps organizations reach their business goals by providing them with enabling technical solutions. From on-premises and cloud infrastructure to cloud-native platforms and DevOps solutions, our experts plan and deliver successful projects. As a company jointly founded on Jewish - Arab cooperation, Wizards is proud of its diverse human and technological characteristics.
Platinum Partner (In-Person)
Denodo
Denodo is a leader in data management. The award-winning
Denodo Platform is the leading data integration, management, and delivery
platform using a logical approach to enable self-service BI, data science,
hybrid/multi-cloud data integration, and enterprise data services. Realizing
more than 400% ROI and millions of dollars in benefits, Denodo’s customers
across large enterprises and mid-market companies in 30+ industries have
received payback in less than 6 months. For more information, visit www.denodo.com
Platinum Partner (In-Person)
HCL Technologies
HCL Technologies is a next-generation global technology company that helps enterprises reimagine their businesses for the digital age. Our technology products, services and engineering are built on four decades of innovation, with a world-renowned management philosophy, a strong culture of invention and risk-taking, and a relentless focus on customer relationships. With a worldwide network of R&D, innovation labs and delivery centers, and 147,000+ ‘Ideapreneurs’ working in 44 countries, HCL serves leading enterprises across key industries, including 250 of the Fortune 500 and 650 of the Global 2000.
We offer an integrated portfolio of products, solutions, services, and IP through our Mode 1-2-3 strategy built around Digital, IoT, Cloud, Automation, Cybersecurity, Analytics, Infrastructure Management and Engineering Services, amongst others, to help enterprises reimagine their businesses for the digital age.
Platinum Partner (In-Person)
ServiceNow
ServiceNow makes the world of work, work better for people. We deliver digital workflows that create great experiences and unlock productivity by transforming old manual ways of working. We believe this is the future of work. Behind every great experience is a great workflow.
Platinum Partner (In-Person)
RiskRecon (A Mastercard Company)
RiskRecon, a Mastercard Company, provides the only continuous vendor monitoring solution that delivers risk-prioritized action plans custom-tuned to match your risk priorities, providing the world’s easiest path to understanding and acting on third-party cyber risk. Learn more about RiskRecon and request a demo at riskrecon.com.
Platinum Partner (In-Person)
Qualys
Qualys is a pioneer and leading provider of disruptive cloud-based IT, security, and compliance solutions with over 10,000+ active customers in more than 130 countries, including a majority of each of the Forbes Global 100 and Fortune 100.
Platinum Partner (In-Person)
CyberKnight Technologies
CyberKnight Technologies is a cybersecurity-focused, value-added distributor covering the Middle East with an on-the-ground presence in all key regional markets. The company's "Zero Trust Security" methodology, based on the Forrester framework, incorporates emerging and market-leading cybersecurity solutions that protect the entire attack surface by leveraging AI, threat intelligence, and collective defense. CyberKnight helps security and risk teams simplify breach detection, prevention, and incident response while addressing regulatory compliance. CyberKnight's "Art of Cybersecurity Distribution" methodology enables strategic partners to achieve greater market penetration, ROI, and time-to-value metrics.
Platinum Partner (In-Person)
Platinum Partner (In-Person)
Salesforce
Salesforce is the #1 CRM, bringing companies and customers together in the digital age. Founded in 1999, Salesforce enables companies of every size and industry to take advantage of powerful technologies—cloud, mobile, social, blockchain, voice, and artificial intelligence—to connect to their customers in a whole new way. The Salesforce Customer 360 is an integrated CRM platform that unites marketing, sales, commerce, service and IT departments. The company is a leader on Fortune’s World's Best Workplaces list, and Forbes has ranked the company one of the world's most innovative companies for nine years in a row. For information, please visit www.salesforce.com.
Platinum Partner (In-Person)
Platinum Partner (In-Person)
Cloud4C
Cloud4C is a Global Cloud Managed Service Provider serving 60+ of the fortune 500 multinationals and mission-critical businesses in 25+ countries spread across Middle East, Europe, Americas, India and Asia Pacific.
The Company supports Hybrid Cloud environment and allows customers to choose the cloud of their choices such as Microsoft Azure, AWS, GCP, IBM Cloud and Cloud4C. It has expertise in managing production workloads across various cloud platforms and also on its own community and Private cloud platform locally hosted across the globe in 25 countries with 50+ in-country Cloud Datacenters with end to end migration and managing the mission critical applications and workloads with a unique single SLA model. In Middle East, Cloud4C has its local Cloud Datacenters in UAE, Qatar & Saudi Arabia servicing to 120+ Enterprises across the region.
Platinum Partner (In-Person)
Micro Focus
OpenText has completed the purchase of Micro Focus . We are excited to combine together to provide expanded offerings that support our customers’ growing needs to digitize and work smarter. We are now 25,000 experts strong making us better able to help our customers and fuel our innovation.
Micro Focus brings critical technologies to OpenText, including new categories of AI & Analytics, Application Development & Delivery, Application Modernization, and Digital Operations Management. They greatly complement OpenText’s proven market leadership in Content Services, Business Network, Digital Experience and Cyber Security. With our combined capabilities, we will help customers gain an information advantage and accelerate their digital transformation.
The newly combined company will focus on future business growth that is inclusive, sustainable, and human centric. We can accelerate how we solve complexities by bringing information and automation together so businesses of all sizes can be re-invented through new digital fabrics, new rules, and new ways to work.
The world’s most trusted companies trust OpenText, and our expertise is in helping people work smarter. OpenText powers and protects information to elevate every person and every organization to be their best.
Platinum Partner (Digital)
Nutanix
Nutanix is a global leader in cloud software and hyperconverged infrastructure solutions, making infrastructure invisible so that IT can focus on the applications and services that power their business. Companies around the world use Nutanix Enterprise Cloud OS software to bring one-click application management and mobility across public, private and distributed edge clouds so they can run any application at any scale with a dramatically lower total cost of ownership. The result is organizations that can rapidly deliver a high-performance IT environment on demand, giving application owners a true cloud-like experience.
Platinum Partner (Digital)
AWS
AWS is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform, offering over 200 fully featured services from data centers globally. Millions of customers—including the fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading government agencies—are using AWS to lower costs, become more agile, and innovate faster
Platinum Partner (Digital)
BlackBerry
BlackBerry (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) is a trusted security software and services company that provides enterprises and governments with the technology they need to secure the Internet of Things. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company is unwavering in its commitment to safety, cybersecurity, and data privacy, and leads in key areas such as artificial intelligence, endpoint security and management, encryption, and embedded systems. For more information, visit BlackBerry.com and follow @BlackBerry.
Platinum Partner (Digital)
Tenable Network Security
Tenable® is the Exposure Management company. Approximately 40,000 organizations around the globe rely on Tenable to understand and reduce cyber risk. As the creator of Nessus®, Tenable extended its expertise in vulnerabilities to deliver the world’s first platform to see and secure any digital asset on any computing platform. Tenable customers include approximately 60 percent of the Fortune 500, approximately 40 percent of the Global 2000, and large government agencies. Learn more at tenable.com.
Technology Focus Group Partner (In-Person)
Equinix
Equinix is the world’s digital infrastructure company. Digital leaders harness our trusted platform to bring together and interconnect the foundational infrastructure that powers their success. We enable our customers to access all the right places, partners and possibilities they need to accelerate advantage. With Equinix, they can scale with agility, speed the launch of digital services, deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value.
Technology Focus Group Partner (In-Person)
OutSystems
OutSystems is a modern application platform enabling organizations to build applications that make a difference fast, right, and for the future. Every aspect of OutSystems is designed from the ground up to help organizations build compelling applications that drive differentiating and innovation at the pace that business requires. Leveraging advanced AI-powered tools and automation across the entire platform, OutSystems helps customers tackle strategic challenges such as application modernization, workplace innovation, business process automation, and customer experience transformation, as well as ensures solutions are secure, resilient, cloud-ready, and built to scale.
Technology Focus Group Partner (In-Person)
Aruba
Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, is a leading provider of next-generation networking solutions for enterprises of all sizes. The company delivers IT solutions that empower organizations to serve the latest generation of mobile-savvy users who rely on cloud-based business apps for every aspect of their work and personal lives.
Technology Focus Group Partner (In-Person)
NetApp Logicom
NetApp: NetApp is a global cloud-led, data-centric software company that empowers organizations to lead with data in the age of accelerated digital transformation. The company provides systems, software and cloud services that enable them to run their applications optimally from data center to cloud, whether they are developing in the cloud, moving to the cloud, or creating their own cloudlike experiences on premises. With solutions that perform across diverse environments, NetApp helps organizations build their own data fabric and securely deliver the right data, services and applications to the right people—anytime, anywhere. Learn more at www.netapp.com
Logicom: Logicom is a leading Distributor of Technology Solutions and Services and Cloud Solution Provider covering a wide geography in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Providing an indispensable link in the technology supply chain, Logicom facilitates mutually beneficial relationships with its vendors and channel partners. The company is headquartered in Cyprus and is listed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange since 2000. Its key technology vendor partnerships include Adobe, APC, Autodesk, Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc, IBM, Intel, Kingston Technology, Lenovo, Microsoft, NetApp, and WD. For more information on Logicom, please check our website distribution.logicom.net, ‘Like’ our Facebook page and follow Logicom on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.
Technology Focus Group Partner (In-Person)
Informatica
Digital transformation changes expectations: better service, faster delivery, with less cost. Businesses must transform to stay relevant and data holds the answers.
Informatica is the only proven Enterprise Cloud Data Management leader that accelerates data-driven digital transformation. Informatica enables companies to fuel innovation, become more agile, and realize new growth opportunities, resulting in intelligent market disruptions. Over the last 25 years, Informatica has helped more than 9,000 customers unleash the power of data. For more information visit www.informatica.com.
Technology Focus Group Partner (In-Person)
Mandiant, Inc.
Since 2004, Mandiant has been a trusted partner to security-conscious organizations. Effective security is based on the right combination of expertise, intelligence, and adaptive technology, and the Mandiant Advantage SaaS platform scales decades of frontline experience and industry-leading threat intelligence to deliver a range of dynamic cyber defense solutions. Mandiant’s approach helps organizations develop more effective and efficient cyber security programs and instills confidence in their readiness to defend against and respond to cyber threats.
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SUSE is a global leader in innovative, reliable and
enterprise-grade open source solutions, relied upon by more than 60% of the
Fortune 500 to power their mission-critical workloads. We specialize in
Enterprise Linux, Kubernetes Management, and Edge solutions, and collaborate
with partners and communities to empower our customers to innovate everywhere
–- from the data center, to the cloud, to the edge and beyond.
Technology Focus Group Partner (In-Person)
Confluent
Confluent is pioneering a fundamentally new category of data infrastructure focused on data in motion. Our cloud-native offering is the foundational platform for data in motion --- designed to be the intelligent connective tissue enabling real-time data, from multiple sources, to constantly stream across the organization. With Confluent, our customers can meet the new business imperative of delivering rich, digital customer experiences and real-time business operations. Our mission is to set data in motion so any organization can innovate and win in a digital-first world.
Technology Focus Group Partner (In-Person)
IFS
Our goal is to graduate teammates from mere operational slaves to transformative change-agents. Giving them back the time and energy needed to build the future. Automation looks after the routine work that happens every day so your people can progress the projects that really matter.
Technology Focus Group Partner (In-Person)
Entrust
Entrust keeps the world moving safely by enabling trusted identities, payments, and data protection. Entrust nShield HSMs are among the highest-performing, most secure, and easy-to-integrate HSM solutions available, facilitating regulatory compliance and delivering the highest levels of data and application security to enterprises, financial institutions, and government organizations. The unique nShield Security World key management architecture provides strong, granular controls over the access and usage of encryption keys.
Technology Focus Group Partner (In-Person)
Spectrum Networks
Spectrum Networks offers high-end professional training, consultancy, support, implementation, and managed services in a range of IT domains, including IoT, Big Data, cybersecurity, networking, and software applications. The company provides training sessions to IT teams in verticals such as government, telecoms, oil and gas, and manufacturing. Via a state-of-the-art datacenter that serves as a 24/7 lab and hosting unit, Spectrum augments its competent resource pool with infrastructure to deliver training of the highest quality.
Technology Focus Group Partner (In-Person)
Zoom
Zoom is for you. We help you express ideas, connect to others, and build toward a future limited only by your imagination. Our frictionless communications platform is the only one that started with video as its foundation, and we have set the standard for innovation ever since. That is why we are an intuitive, scalable, and secure choice for large enterprises, small businesses, and individuals alike. Founded in 2011, Zoom is publicly traded (NASDAQ:ZM) and headquartered in San Jose, California. Visit zoom.com. and follow @zoom.
Technology Focus Group Partner (In-Person)
Mendix
Mendix, a Siemens business and the global leader in enterprise low-code, is fundamentally reinventing the way applications are built in the digital enterprise.
The Mendix platform is built to promote intense collaboration between business and IT teams and dramatically accelerate application development cycles, while maintaining the highest standards of security, quality, and governance — in short, to help enterprises confidently leap into their digital futures.
We are steadfast in our belief that everyone, anywhere should have the ability to build world-class software. Our platform uses visual models and collaboration tools — opening the software development process to people with a wide variety of technical skills.
Technology Focus Group Partner (In-Person)
Udacity
Udacity changes lives, businesses, and nations through radical talent transformation in digital technologies. Udacity's global, online talent transformation platform focuses on in-demand digital technologies, mentor support, and project-based learning taught by industry experts. Programs include real world content for job-ready competencies in artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, autonomous systems, cloud computing, among other disciplines. Udacity has more than 100 enterprise customers including Airbus, Bertelsmann, BNP Paribas, Leidos, Mazda, and the United States Air Force. Udacity collaborates with more than 200 global industry partners including Google, Facebook, Mercedes-Benz, and NVIDIA to power technical education. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, the private company has operations in the United Kingdom, Egypt, Germany, India, and the United Arab Emirates. Udacity has raised $163 million in funding to date from investors including Bertelsmann, Andreessen Horowitz, Charles River Ventures, and Drive Capital. For more information, please visit www.udacity.com
Technology Focus Group Partner (In-Person)
ManageEngine
ManageEngine crafts comprehensive IT management software with a focus on making jobs easier. The company’s 120+ award-winning products and free tools cover everything the IT function needs. From network and device management to security and service desk software, ManageEngine brings resources together for an integrated approach that optimizes IT.
Technology Focus Group Partner (In-Person)
In-Person
SER
SER is a leader and pioneer of the enterprise content management (ECM) and content services market. SER’s AI-powered Doxis Intelligent Content Automation platform and its solution suites for business-critical processes automate content understanding across enterprise ecosystems. Acclaimed by market analysts, SER’s cutting-edge solutions make daily work easier for more than five million users. With over 35 years of experience, SER’s dedicated team works from 22 locations around the globe. Find us at www.sergroup.com.
Technology Focus Group Partner (Digital)
Red Hat
Red Hat is the world’s leading provider of enterprise open source solutions, using a community-powered approach to deliver high-performing Linux, cloud, container, and Kubernetes technologies. It helps organizations standardize across environments, develop cloud-native applications, and integrate, automate, secure, and manage complex environments with award-winning support, training, and consulting services.
Technology Focus Group Partner (Digital)
Denodo
Denodo is a leader in data management. The award-winning
Denodo Platform is the leading data integration, management, and delivery
platform using a logical approach to enable self-service BI, data science,
hybrid/multi-cloud data integration, and enterprise data services. Realizing
more than 400% ROI and millions of dollars in benefits, Denodo’s customers
across large enterprises and mid-market companies in 30+ industries have
received payback in less than 6 months. For more information, visit www.denodo.com
Technology Focus Group Partner (Digital)
Mandiant, Inc.
Since 2004, Mandiant has been a trusted partner to security-conscious organizations. Effective security is based on the right combination of expertise, intelligence, and adaptive technology, and the Mandiant Advantage SaaS platform scales decades of frontline experience and industry-leading threat intelligence to deliver a range of dynamic cyber defense solutions. Mandiant’s approach helps organizations develop more effective and efficient cyber security programs and instills confidence in their readiness to defend against and respond to cyber threats.
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Zoom is for you. We help you express ideas, connect to others, and build toward a future limited only by your imagination. Our frictionless communications platform is the only one that started with video as its foundation, and we have set the standard for innovation ever since. That is why we are an intuitive, scalable, and secure choice for large enterprises, small businesses, and individuals alike. Founded in 2011, Zoom is publicly traded (NASDAQ:ZM) and headquartered in San Jose, California. Visit zoom.com. and follow @zoom.
Technology Focus Group Partner (Digital)
Nintex
Nintex is the global standard for process management and automation. Over 800 customers in the Middle East and more than 10,000 public and private sector organisations across 90 countries turn to the Nintex platform to accelerate their digital transformation journeys and quickly and easily manage, automate, and optimize business processes. Nintex and its global partners are shaping the future of intelligent process automation.
Technology Focus Group Partner (Digital)
Technology Focus Group Partner (Digital)
Freshworks
Freshworks makes it fast and easy for businesses to delight their customers and employees. We do this by taking a fresh approach to building and delivering software that is affordable, quick to implement, and designed for the end user. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, Freshworks has a dedicated team operating from 13 global offices to serve 50,000+ customers including Bridgestone, Chargebee, DeliveryHero, ITV, Klarna, Multichoice, OfficeMax, TaylorMade and Vice Media. For more information visit www.freshworks.com
Technology Focus Group Partner (Digital)
Technology Focus Group Partner (Digital)
Trellix
Trellix emerges from the previously announced merger of McAfee Enterprise and FireEye in October 2021. Trellix is a global company redefining the future of cybersecurity. The company’s open and native extended detection and response (XDR) platform helps organizations confronted by today’s most advanced threats gain confidence in the protection and resilience of their operations. Trellix’s security experts, along with an extensive partner ecosystem, accelerate technology innovation through machine learning and automation to empower over 40,000 business and government customers. More at https://trellix.com.
Fireside Chat Partner
Fireside Chat Partner
Kyndryl
Kyndryl works at the core of businesses that move the world. With more than 90,000 skilled professionals serving customers in over 60 countries, we design, build, manage and modernize the mission-critical technology systems that the world depends on every day. With our partners and thousands of customers, we co-create solutions to help enterprises reach their peak digital performance. To learn more, visit www.kyndryl.com
Dinner Partner
Injazat
Injazat is an industry-recognized market leader in digital transformation, cloud, and cybersecurity. Injazat empowers organizations to optimize their business goals by utilizing cloud and emerging technology solutions and co-creating transformational digital platforms and services through public-private partnerships. Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Injazat draws on its local expertise and presence as well as its global technology partnership networks to develop market-leading services. Injazat’s purpose is to empower human achievement through end-to-end digital solutions that deliver impact and value to customers and communities.
https://www.injazat.com
Dinner Partner
Symphony SummitAI
SummitAI is an enterprise-class solution suite that delivers measurable business outcomes through digital transformation. SummitAI leverages the latest advancements in artificial intelligence, machine learning, analytics, and automation to take enterprises to greater levels of speed, responsiveness, and productivity. As a true multi-tenant solution, SummitAI is deployable in public cloud and on-premises environments, with enterprise-wide functions that go beyond IT to include human resources, shared services, facilities, and more. Through AI-driven knowledge intelligence, CIOs and service providers can simplify operations and reduce costs while factoring in on-demand scalability. SummitAI is your digital transformation partner to help unleash enterprise productivity.
Associate Partner
Women in AI
Women in AI (WAI) is a non-profit do-tank working towards gender-inclusive AI that benefits global society. Our mission is to increase female representation and participation in AI through community, events, and education. Women in AI is bringing all minds together across 140 countries, making change happen with more than 8,000 members and changing the role of Women in AI with 160 volunteers (including country ambassadors and leadership teams). It is a vibrant community with more than 22,000 LinkedIn followers. WAI has several well-established programs running across the globe, including datathons, talks, startup acceleration programs, and innovation hubs. Its educational programs are for women of all ages and backgrounds, and are aimed at raising awareness and empowering women for action in the field of AI. The organization provides access to learning, practice, and a community for support, with certain certifications.
Associate Partner
Emirates Digital Association for Women
Emirates Digital Association for Women is a non-for-profit society under ministry of social affairs UAE that has been established to curate community opportunities and ecosystems for women primarily. It as well supports all forms of STEAM, technology drivers, and industry enabling projects, curating better opportunities for all sectors around the and in the community starting with kids to senior citizens.
Associate Partner
Dubai Business Women Council (DBWC)
Established in 2002, under the umbrella of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Dubai Business Women Council (DBWC) is the leading platform for the personal and professional development of business women in the Emirate of Dubai. Since its establishment, the Council has dedicated its efforts to enhancing gender parity in society and encouraging women to play an active role in building the country and stimulating sustainable development. Providing education, training, and networking opportunities to assist the holistic development and career aspirations of UAE-based business women is at the heart of the DBWC’s mission, as well as inspiring and encouraging women to play their role in society and the economy. The DBWC’s tailored workshops and seminars are hosted exclusively for its members and provide valuable information about the latest knowledge, skills, and best practices for women entrepreneurs and leaders. For more information about the DBWC and how to join its community of visionary and influential trailblazing women and benefit from its services and initiatives, visit www.dbwc.ae.
Associate Partner
UAE Banks Federation (UBF)
Established in 1982, the UAE Banks Federation (UBF) is a professional representative body comprised of 51 members. The federation's mission and objectives are focused on representing its members and defending their rights. It provides a platform for cooperation and exchange of ideas and opinions among its members and plays a major role in raising public awareness about the distinctive financial, economic, and social contributions of UBF members to the UAE.
Associate Partner
Women in Cyber Security Middle East (WiCSME)
Women in Cyber Security Middle East is a collaborative and voluntary group by and for women. It was established in April 2018 to promote and increase the participation of women in the field of cybersecurity. The group also aims to connect women in the cybersecurity industry with thought leaders, mentors, and peers across the globe. The group today has 800+ women from across the Middle East region, including high school enthusiasts, senior executives, and national and international leaders.
Media Partner
Dubai Media Incorporated
Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI) is one of the leading multimedia and creative services companies in the Middle East, and the largest media organization in the UAE. The DMI portfolio includes three distinct sectors: TV and Radio, Publishing, and Print and Distribution. DMI is also home to the Awaan digital platform, the largest digital media library for local and Arab media in the Middle East, providing Arab audiences with a unique experience to enjoy free viewing of TV content.
Media Partner
International Business Magazine
Founded in 2018, International Business Magazine covers
trending topics across the globe, with a particular focus on the Middle East
and the world's emerging markets. The magazine has an avid readership across
the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America, providing extensive
coverage of all the latest developments in the world of business, banking,
finance, and technology.
GCC Business News (GBN) first appeared on the digital
landscape in May 2008 before being acquired by Consultfull in February 2015.
Today, GBN is a top-tier business news portal that serves entrepreneurs and
traders both within and outside the GCC region. With a focus on fact-based
reporting, GBN strives to be a reliable source of business news from the GCC
and worldwide markets.
Founded in 1994, Marhaba produces Qatar's premier information guide that has sections on everything you need to know about the country. Marhaba also produces the ever-popular Pocket Map – a must for navigating your way around town – and Qatar Image, a souvenir coffee-table book. All products are readily available for purchase in stores or can be customized to each client’s requirements.
Media Partner
Media Partner
Media 7
Media 7 is a global digital media network of publications. Its audience of decision makers and influencers totals more than 95 million across 120+ countries globally, and its 30+ brands have been inspiring, informing, and intriguing millions of people for years. Businesses use Media 7's brands to be seen and heard in their markets by prospective buyers and to engage them through highly targeted content, based on a deep understanding of these audiences. Brands, agencies, and platforms rely on Media 7 for audience engagement at scale, while marketers from large enterprises to SMBs turn to the company for their marketing, advertising, and lead-generation programs.
Media Partner
Media Partner
Media Partner
Media Partner
Media Partner
CIO
CIO attracts the highest concentration of enterprise CIOs and business technology executives in the Middle East with unparalleled peer insight and expertise on business strategy, innovation, and leadership. CIO readers gain key insights on career development for themselves and their employees, including certifications, hiring practices, and skills development, along with a strong foundation in digital transformation of their businesses.
"Many companies are looking for ways to become more 'data driven', and by this they mean that they want good data to shape their decisions and their processes so they can provide more effective and profitable services to their customers.
Partner Spotlight
Connected Worlds and Connected Experiences
Ram Ramachadran
SVP and Head (MEA), Tech Mahindra
"Connected worlds and connected experiences have become the reality of today.
Analyst Spotlight
Enabling Digital Resiliency to Thrive Beyond the Crisis
Ranjit Rajan
VP, Research (META), IDC
The pandemic has spurred a rapid acceleration of digital transformation, with over 70% of CIOs in the Middle East saying they have brought forward their digital roadmaps by at least one year
CXO Spotlight
Technology Reshaping Industries
Jason Roos
CIO, King Abdullah University
Technology is reshaping all industries and it is critical for CIOs and decision makers to keep informed about the latest trends disrupting technologies.
CXO Spotlight
Industry Leaders Join the Middle East CIO Summit Advisory Board
Eng. Haithem Al Faraj
Senior Vice President of Technology and Operations, STC (KSA)
"I'm pleased to announce that I will be joining the Advisory Board for the 2022 edition
Partner Spotlight
Advancing the Digital Enterprise with Unified Visibility and Actionable Insights for a Seamless Digital Experience
Mena Migally
Regional Vice President Middle East,Turkey & Africa, Riverbed Technology, Inc.
"Transformational shifts to hybrid work, hybrid networks, and distributed, multi-cloud applications make it imperative for IT
Analyst Spotlight
Cloud Platforms will re-define Enterprise Technology Adoption, Investment models & Services in the region.
Wilson Xavier
Research Director (META), IDC
"As governments and enterprises across the Middle East work towards a smarter and more sustainable recovery
Analyst Spotlight
Cyber-maturity and Policy-driven Approaches Among Key Growth Drives for the MEA Security Market
Uzair Mujtaba
Program Manager, Saudi Arabia, IDC
"Cybersecurity has undoubtedly taken on a more critical role when it comes to enhancing the response
CXO Spotlight
The IDC Middle East CIO Summit – A Proven Platform for Technology Leaders
Dr. Ammar H. Alhusaini
Deputy Director General, Central Agency for Information Technology (Kuwait)
"For the past 15 years, the IDC Middle East CIO Summit has been the platform of choice for technology leaders
Partner Spotlight
Leadership in 2022: CIOs Challenges and Opportunities
Rodrigo Castelo
Vice President (Middle East & Africa), OutSystems
"2021 proved that the changes made in 2020 were more than just an emergency response.
Analyst Spotlight
Redefining Customer Experiences Across the Financial Services Value Chain
"We need to recognize that frictionless customer experiences and contextual banking are facilitated by many processes running behind the scenes that are invisible to common eyes.
CXO Spotlight
The Key to Unlocking the Business Benefits of Low-Code/No-Code Solutions
"Currently, CIOs are redeploying IT budgets to accelerate technological investments in support of digital transformation.
CXO Spotlight
The Digital Journey is Accelerating in the Middle East Region
Fuad Al Ansari
Vice President, IT & General Services Division, Al Dhafra Petroleum (UAE)
"As the digital journey is accelerating in the Middle East Region, business resiliency and agility have become main factors
Partner Spotlight
Multicloud Unlocking Advanced Use Cases and New Sources of Business Value
Kamel Al-Tawil
Managing Director (MENA), Equinix
"Hybrid multicloud complexity is increasing as the lines blur between private and public cloud and on-premises workloads.
Partner Spotlight
Unlocking Data Creates New Customer Experience Opportunities
Ala Alsharif
Senior Solutions Engineer, Confluent
"The last 18 months have seen unprecedented challenges and radical innovation. This is no less true for CXOs, for whom the crisis has turbo-powered digital transformation and fundamentally changed how they interact with customers.
Analyst Spotlight
The Future of Work Requires Skills Building and Organizational Change Management
Nagia Al Emary
Country Director (Egypt) & Senior Consultant (MEA), IDC
"Digital transformation and business volatility are driving organizations to reimagine the future of work
Partner Spotlight
The Importance of Creating Value from Technology Investments
Greg Holmes
Regional Vice President, Presales, Apptio
"If the last two years have taught us anything about the intersection of technology and business, it’s that smart technology investments are crucial to long-term competitive advantage, and that the ability to pivot quickly — while making data-driven decisions — is critical
Partner Spotlight
Smart investments in modern technology are what IT leaders need to prepare their company for the future
Desiree Lee
Chief Technology Officer, Armis
" As enterprises focus and double down on post-pandemic transformation efforts, the need to shift run-rate expenses towards innovation opportunities is larger than ever.
Partner Spotlight
Co-Creation: The Key to Surviving in a Disruptive Digital World
Ussama Dahabiyeh
Chief Executive Officer, Injazat
"Surviving digital disruptions is not easy for any business. All businesses — large or small, software or non-software, established or start-up
Partner Spotlight
Digital Transformation Is Not Just About Technology
Gustavo Alvarez
Regional Sales Leader, Kyndryl
"One of the main challenges around achieving successful digital transformation and realizing the full potential of technology is a shortage of skills.
Partner Spotlight
Ransomware threat evolution
Sylvain Cortes
Security Strategist, Tenable
" A journey into the Evolution from Systems & Apps vulnerabilities to Active Directory vulnerabilities, and why conventional tools and methods are ineffective.
Partner Spotlight
Digital Transformation Necessities
Roman Spitzbart
Vice President, EMEA Sales Engineering, Dynatrace
" Across a sizable number of organisations, both public and private, we’ve noticed a sizeable increase in the complexity of applications.
Analyst Spotlight
Three broad themes that will shape the tech investment decisions of the region's CIOs
Harish Dunake
Research Director, IDC
"As industries across the Middle East bounce back from the economic turbulence of the last two years, International Data Corporation (IDC) believes there are three broad themes that will shape the tech investment decisions of the region's chief information officers (CIOs) and the organizations they represent through 2022 and beyond
Partner Spotlight
Achieving Digital Resiliency in a Changing World
Amr Refaat
CEO, GBM
"The IDC Middle East CIO Summit has come to be known as one of the foremost events
"Whilst working across many different industries and types of organizations in our advisory practice, there are some questions that come up regularly. Many companies are looking for ways to become more 'data driven', and by this they mean that they want good data to shape their decisions and their processes so they can provide more effective and profitable services to their customers.
This is an easy thing to say, but not so easy to do. At IDC, we have identified several components that combine to provide the conditions for this change. They can be grouped into six key areas — People, Attitudes, Values, Goals, Social, and Technology.
Whenever we see this change occurring in a sustainable way, these are the common factors that came together to make it happen. While technology is a key underpinning factor that cannot be ignored, the real change happens in the culture of the organization — employees learn to value the data they provide because it translates into the information they then use to make daily decisions.
The cultural change that must be apparent in any organization that aspires to this state is to embrace genuine transparency in the decision-making process. There must be a desire to learn from mistakes or unsatisfactory outcomes rather than to hide and/or forget them. This requires wise, mature leadership with an eye on strategic outcomes in the long term.
I'll be speaking at the IDC Middle East CIO Summit 2022 about how you can enact this cultural change in your own organization. So, join me on February 22nd at The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre to hear more."
Connected worlds and connected experiences have become the reality of today. We thrive on change that is powered by digital thought leadership — an intelligent symphony of technology and humans designing meaningful and sustainable experiences. Consumer "experiences" are driving and disrupting industries like never before. In this new reality, businesses must build seamless yet simple enterprises that collaborate, synergize, and drive change. Delivering experiences that span across the digital and physical worlds is the need of the decade. Tech Mahindra looks forward to showcasing these experiences at the IDC Middle East CIO Summit, the region's foremost gathering of business thought leaders, technology experts, and digital partners.
The pandemic has spurred a rapid acceleration of digital transformation, with over 70% of CIOs in the Middle East saying they have brought forward their digital roadmaps by at least one year, and one in seven bringing them forward by over two years.
As organizations battled to navigate the headwinds caused by the pandemic, there was an increased focus on business resiliency. This is the ability of an organization to rapidly respond to business disruptions and restore business operations in a timely fashion. However, this alone is not sufficient - organizations need to be digitally resilient as well.
This is different from being simply resilient. Digital resiliency is the ability of an organization to rapidly adapt to business disruptions by leveraging digital capabilities to not only restore business operations, but also capitalize on the changed conditions. While business resiliency tends to focus on anticipating the crisis and preparing for it, digital resiliency is focused on rapidly adapting to any business disruption.
Being digitally resilient requires resiliency across many parts of the organization, all working together. Organizations need to develop digital resiliency across all dimensions of the business – leadership and organization, financials, workforce, operations, brand and reputation, and customers and ecosystems – as they look to thrive in the post-pandemic, digital-first world.
"Technology is reshaping all industries and it is critical for CIOs and decision makers to keep informed about the latest trends disrupting technologies. The IDC Middle East CIO Summit has been an important platform for the past 15 years, providing an exclusive look at the very latest developments in technological innovation. I'm delighted to announce that I've joined the Advisory Board for the 2022 edition of the IDC Middle East CIO Summit, and I'm looking forward to another successful and informative event."
"I'm pleased to announce that I will be joining the Advisory Board for the 2022 edition of the IDC Middle East CIO Summit, the most anticipated event of the year for technology experts across the region. I'm also looking forward to serving on the judging panel for the IDC Excellence Awards and helping to recognize the region's most inspiring technology achievements."
"Transformational shifts to hybrid work, hybrid networks, and distributed, multi-cloud applications make it imperative for IT to keep digital services accessible, high-performing, and secure for all end-users. Visibility and control over the complex digital ecosystem that generates massive volumes of data is imperative, as organizations need performance tools that inform, accelerate and protect the digital enterprise. In addition, unified observability solutions capture every business activity and transaction across the network and application service transforming full-fidelity telemetry into actionable insights that delivers business outcomes. As the region’s top executives and digital pioneers convene at the IDC Middle East CIO Summit, Riverbed welcomes the opportunity to help these business leaders achieve their most ambitious innovation projects."
"As governments and enterprises across the Middle East work towards a smarter and more sustainable recovery, dynamic cloud-based platforms are taking center stage in their accelerating digital transformation journeys. Cloud services that have been growing at a fast pace over the last five years will continue their momentum – and with this, ICT monetization and investment models will undergo a significant shift. Moving forward, hybrid multicloud will become the norm, as highlighted by the results of a recent IDC survey that revealed how nearly 80% of the region's organizations expect to be deploying more than a single cloud over the coming period."
"Cybersecurity has undoubtedly taken on a more critical role when it comes to enhancing the response and resilience of key economic sectors across the Middle East and Africa (MEA). It's not surprising then that governments across the region are investing significantly in improving their national defenses. There is a clear drive to formalize market regulators and augment their role with supporting regulatory frameworks and policies. The approach to maintaining a robust security posture is becoming more centralized and concerted, which is driving new levels of security maturity within end-user organizations while also encouraging vendors and services providers to drive innovation around their capabilities and delivery models. As a result, IDC expects cybersecurity spending across the MEA region to increase at a CAGR of 6.6% over the coming years to top $5.3 billion in 2025."
"For the past 15 years, the IDC Middle East CIO Summit has been the platform of choice for technology leaders from both the public and private sectors. As we step into a new digital era, we look forward to the 15th edition of the Summit as the event has always supported the region’s digital journey through its in-depth discussions around cutting-edge tech solutions, emerging use cases, and proven strategies for driving success."
"2021 proved that the changes made in 2020 were more than just an emergency response. CIOs played a crucial role for the second year in a row in assisting enterprises in responding not just to the ongoing pandemic but also to global supply chain challenges and shifting employee needs, to the point that some economies and marketplaces lost a large portion of their workforce.
Whether this includes governmental, public, or private ventures, it has been made apparent that the Middle East can only rise to the top of the global economic food chain when its businesses embrace the benefits resulting from a complete digital transformation.
Some leaders boost collaborative ways of delivering change, employing technologies such as modern application platforms and low-code, as firms attempt to improve leadership styles, continue their digital transformation, and retain talent. These technologies have enabled CIOs to adapt and supply solutions quickly to support their companies' survival and growth.
CIOs will continue to be at the forefront when it comes to addressing the most significant challenges that businesses will face over the coming year, including coping with an ongoing pandemic, driving expansion and digitization, and facilitating recruitment and retention."
"We need to recognize that frictionless customer experiences and contextual banking are facilitated by many processes running behind the scenes that are invisible to common eyes. Banks are increasingly aware that to remain relevant and resilient, they must actively re-engineer processes across the value chain and invest in automation using technologies such as artificial intelligence, open banking, and robotics.
Also, with growing volumes of data, digital footprints, instant insights, and dynamic regulatory compliance, organizations are looking at security as the key element for investment and increasingly leaning towards cloud adoption.
With banks looking to engage customers across the value chain, traditional financial products will be replaced with contextual products and services fueled by a deeper understanding of customer behavior. This will also lead banks to shift from historical product-centric operating models to a platform-based approach, giving them the flexibility to define products and services as per their customers' needs.
Many organizations are looking at leveraging open API frameworks to explore newer models such as XaaS and marketplace finance. And as per a recent IDC survey, 66% of banks in the META region have adopted cloud for their transformation journeys to help drive innovation and assist with their data-monetization needs to open new revenue channels.
Data will be the key ingredient going forward for banking and financial services organizations. Organizations must evolve from simply capturing and managing data to using data to drive their strategic goals. Business leaders will need to make strategic decisions that emphasize experiences, journeys, trust, and satisfaction by using data and the prism of technology to understand customers’ individual needs.
Financial organizations will leverage analytics and AI/ML to personalize, slice, and dice their data to become trusted interfaces for life, embedded within the needs and lifestyles of consumers. Indeed, 53% of the organizations surveyed by IDC across the META region identified big data and analytics as a technology area where they plan to significantly increase their level of investment (by 10% or more) in the next 12–18 months. "
"Currently, CIOs are redeploying IT budgets to accelerate technological investments in support of digital transformation. Yet, SoftServe’s research has found that most senior IT leaders see their own team’s expertise constraints as their biggest obstacles.
While many CIOs want to use cybersecurity, business intelligence, analytics, and APIs to tackle their business priorities, there remains a gap between the needed skills and the desired outcomes.
One way to solve this is using low-code/no-code (LC/NC) solutions. Not only do LC/NC platforms make building and maintaining an app faster and cheaper, they broaden the base of who can build apps. However, by expanding the possible builders, CIOs then face significant integration and governance challenges.
If not done right, increasing the speed and broadening the community of those able to build business apps, can result in developing pockets of duplicated and overlapping business processes that can undermine the efficiency and maintainability that 'low code' claims to provide.
Working with an external vendor like SoftServe that has extensive experience in API management, DevOps, cloud, and enterprise architecture, coupled with years of 'low code' app design, enables CIOs to create and implement a comprehensive integrated LC/NC strategy.
LC/NC platforms are an old idea whose time has arrived. They have enormous potential to transform the speed of business app development. The key to unlocking the business benefits of LC/NC solutions, however, is in how organizations successfully integrate this technology as part of a well-structured federated architecture."
"As the digital journey is accelerating in the Middle East Region, business resiliency and agility have become main factors determining companies’ continuity and the IDC Middle East CIO Summit has always played a pivotal role in introducing industry best practices and helping organizations adapt and build resilient economies. The region stands at the threshold of growth and transformation, and this highly anticipated event will provide a bird’s eye view on the region’s digital road map."
"Hybrid multicloud complexity is increasing as the lines blur between private and public cloud and on-premises workloads. Working with an interconnected ecosystem of diverse cloud service providers will help unlock advanced use cases and new sources of business value.
To keep hybrid multicloud environments functioning as a coherent whole rather than a series of disjointed pieces, enterprises need to democratize cloud access and leverage AI/ML to move workloads between clouds dynamically.
Cloud automation that leverages AI/ML-enabled cloud services will significantly reduce the management overhead and costs of public cloud infrastructure and operations. Cloud automation will also improve critical functions such as DevOps for application modernization and security for risk detection across hybrid multicloud architectures — accelerating labor-intensive functions for greater optimization."
"The last 18 months have seen unprecedented challenges and radical innovation. This is no less true for CXOs, for whom the crisis has turbo-powered digital transformation and fundamentally changed how they interact with customers.
Gone are the days of batch updates and outdated stock inventory. Now, it's about leveraging real-time data to create meaningful, personal, and future-thinking customer interactions and understand why they need to happen.
At Confluent, we call it "data in motion", as the modern customer experience relies on the movement of data. If your data remains still, so does your customer experience. Put it in motion though and every customer touchpoint triggers a reaction across your organization that allows you to make decisions in real time.
Confluent looks forward to showcasing how we can help organizations switch to digital-first interactions at the IDC Middle East CIO Summit 2022, the region's foremost gathering of business thought leaders, technology experts, and digital partners."
"Digital transformation and business volatility are driving organizations to reimagine the future of work and deploy remote or hybrid-first work models, redefining their work processes and engaging diverse talent pools.
Moreso, with disruptive new technologies available, time-connected workers in task-based roles will increasingly use intelligence embedded in adaptive digital workspaces from anywhere to engage clients/colleagues and drive enterprise productivity.
However, DX-related IT skill shortages will affect businesses, resulting in delayed product releases, reduced customer satisfaction, and loss of business. To keep up with the needs of the business, select projects will necessarily begin before all the skills are in place.
Accordingly, it will be imperative to establish skills development as a "critical success factor" for achieving business results to ensure proper attention throughout the organization. IT organizations creating an organizational change management urgency will reorganize to meet the needs of digital transformation priorities.
"If the last two years have taught us anything about the intersection of technology and business, it’s that smart technology investments are crucial to long-term competitive advantage, and that the ability to pivot quickly — while making data-driven decisions — is critical. The majority of organizations increased their spending on digital initiatives as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and as a response to changing customer needs and the shift to remote work. As we move past the initial reaction to the pandemic and into a new normal, the swift pace of technological adoption — and the need for business agility — has continued. When making technology investment decisions, the margin for error can be slim. You need to move quickly and confidently when making technology investment decisions to stay ahead of the competition. It is critical for organizations to ensure value is created from of their technology investments and enable them to pivot quickly in response to a changing marketplace."
"As enterprises focus and double down on post-pandemic transformation efforts, the need to shift run-rate expenses towards innovation opportunities is larger than ever. In parallel, the costs tied to our technology environments continue to grow as – in many cases – the modern is being introduced alongside the legacy with no clearly defined timeline around the final transition. As a result, other business leaders are looking to the CIO and their team to better understand the situation and the corresponding recommendations around opportunities to improve the ratio of run-rate to innovation. Every CIO knows how to keep the trains running, but smart investments in modern technology are what IT leaders need to prepare their company for the future. Getting the economics right for this scenario means investing now to decrease waste immediately and over time. CIOs need this visibility and context today, not at the pace at which expensive consultants can consolidate and communicate such opportunities.”
"Surviving digital disruptions is not easy for any business. All businesses — large or small, software or non-software, established or start-up — are battling the imminent threats posed by tech advancements. To ensure their growth and sustenance, businesses need to co-create solutions that are relevant to their domains and customers' needs. The only way to create products and upgrade them regularly without losing focus on other important issues in a business is by collaborating with trusted experts.”
" One of the main challenges around achieving successful digital transformation and realizing the full potential of technology is a shortage of skills. With businesses progressing through the phases of digital transformation, investing in people must not only be an ongoing commitment for the existing workforce to remain relevant in the marketplace, but relevant skills also need to be taught as early as possible in the education cycle. The Middle East is already witnessing a growing number of successful collaborations between service providers, technology companies, and businesses with the aim of jointly developing and equipping current talent with the most sought-after digital skills. Another impediment that stands in the way of digital transformation is culture. It is one of the most overlooked components of a successful digital strategy. While choosing the right technology is key, failure to align a company's new direction and strategy with employee values and behaviors can hinder progress in many areas, if not managed properly. An effective internal communications plan is imperative to achieve culture transformation by educating employees, communicating relevant information and milestones, encouraging them to embrace change, and including them in the journey. Bottom-up communication is equally as critical for obtaining feedback from end users and improving or tweaking implementation plans.”
" A journey into the Evolution from Systems & Apps vulnerabilities to Active Directory vulnerabilities, and why conventional tools and methods are ineffective. Cyberattacks generally start as data breaches or network intrusions and escalate into full-fledged ransomware attacks. Over the last decade and a half, ransomware actors have actively exploited (and continue to do so) system and app vulnerabilities and AD misconfigurations to launch attacks. A staggering 60% of new malware include a specific code that targets AD. While conventional tools like EDR, SIEM, and IDS are highly useful, they prove ineffective in covering the whole spectrum of cyber risks. Even as malicious actors spread their wings to capitalize on weaknesses and launch sophisticated attacks, it is key to note that at the root of every attack, there exist only two ways they can attack any system – use an unpatched vulnerability or a misconfiguration. In the ransomware context, this means systematically exploiting unpatched CVEs on Windows systems and on remote access gateways to execute primo-infection, and then exploiting AD misconfigurations to execute the lateral movement and privilege escalation through discovered attack paths. These structural weaknesses are either yet-to-be recognized or fly under the radar of conventional tools and techniques. Organizations need to look for proactive solutions that can block attackers before they can act.”
"Across a sizable number of organisations, both public and private, we’ve noticed a sizeable increase in the complexity of applications. The digital transformation – accelerated by the global COVID pandemic – has accelerated this shift, and with it come public clouds, platforms like Kubernetes or OpenShift and a dynamic in how systems change we never saw before. Many customers tell us that they have reached the breaking point of what humans can cope with, looking at metrics on dashboards, manually setting thresholds and dealing with the incoming alerts. Observability promises to help but only focuses on the data acquisition – how metrics, logs and traces can be gathered – and not how to deal with the data overload. AIOps is a necessity to be alerted only if and when something needs to be looked at and combined with automated root cause detection helps organizations to deal with the ever-changing infrastructure and applications.”
"As industries across the Middle East bounce back from the economic turbulence of the last two years, International Data Corporation (IDC) believes there are three broad themes that will shape the tech investment decisions of the region's chief information officers (CIOs) and the organizations they represent through 2022 and beyond – the implementation of a digital-first strategy, the quest for digital resiliency, and the pursuit of hybridity. The pandemic has led many organizations in the Middle East to bring their digital road maps forward by up to two years and increasingly shift towards a digital-first strategy. Most organizations in the Middle East have taken strategic efforts to create new revenue streams and digital revenue channels in line with Digital First Strategy In order to be successful in the future, organizations need to go beyond business resiliency and strive instead for digital resiliency. While business resiliency tends to focus on anticipating a crisis and preparing for it, digital resiliency is focused on rapidly adapting to any business disruption. It is not just about recovering and going back to business as usual but also about capitalizing on the newly changed conditions. To this end, being digitally resilient requires resiliency across many parts of the organization, all working together, including in areas such as leadership, finance, workforce, operations, brand, customers, and ecosystems. Since the future of business is increasingly becoming hybrid, a trend of adopting a hybrid approach towards work, technology deployment options, and the choices of engagement with customers and supplier ecosystem (in person or virtual) are rising. The adoption will differ from industry to industry and country to country, however, Hybridity is here to stay at least in the near future.”
"The IDC Middle East CIO Summit has come to be known as one of the foremost events for thought-provoking insights on the future of the It has played a pivotal role in introducing industry best practices and helping organizations adapt and build resilient economies.
Today, as the region stands at the threshold of growth and transformation, collaborative discussions are instrumental in helping accelerate digital adoption among regional businesses. The IDC Middle East CIO Summit is a crucial platform for the technology industry to share its vision for digital evolution and as the Strategic Partner of the summit we look forward to sharing GBM’s global knowledge and local expertise with our industry partners."
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Ronita Bhattacharjee
Vice President - Conferences, IDC Middle East, Africa, & Turkey
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,300 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading media, data and marketing services company. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com.