As technology moves at warp speed, transforming industries and lifestyles and bringing people closer and making them more connected, a very thin line exists between the real and fictional worlds. To establish the trends and promote them and present a bird’s eye picture on what is real today and what possibly could be the reality tomorrow, mega expositions such as GITEX Global provide a barometer to gauge and tap into the tech matrix.
Starting today at the Dubai World Trade Centre and on till October 20, GITEX Global brings together the world’s most innovative enterprises and best minds to elevate business, economy, society and culture. For tech enthusiasts and the curious minded alike, the takeaways are many, and they are magical.
Takeaways and impact
For Walid Yehia, Managing Director - UAE, Dell Technologies, for instance takeawys include observing the new and emerging technologies altering the business landscape and the world , while seeing how best Dell could complement and support this movement. Speaking to GN Focus, he says, “From artificial intelligence (AI) and edge computing to multi-cloud solutions and augmented reality, these groundbreaking innovations are revolutionising business processes by introducing fresh opportunities for increased efficiency, enhanced customer interaction, and market competitiveness.
“At Dell Technologies, our primary focus is to help our customers harness these transformations and thrive in a fast-evolving business landscape. With our long-standing presence in the region, customers look to Dell to help them drive their IT strategies and infrastructure. We look forward to continuing these discussions with our customers and partners at GITEX Global 2023. This year, Dell will highlight new growth opportunities comprising AI, multi-cloud, APEX, data storage, servers, and security. There will be a particular focus on assisting enterprises to address the big five unsolved challenges that hinder their growth and productivity. These include the future of work, multicloud, AI, edge computing and cyber security.”
Crucible of innovation
For Sunil Paul, Co-Founder & MD, Finesse, the premium Made in UAE systems integration brand, GITEX Global is familiar ground, being seasoned participants for over a decade. However, the sense of familiarity does not take away the sense of wonder the tech spectacle has on his team and its impact on his sector of choice even after all these years. Speaking to GN Focus, Paul says, “We, at Finesse possess a keen understanding of GITEX’s profound influence, extending not only to the broader technology landscape but also to specialised sectors like digital system integration and transformation.
"GITEX stands as a crucible of innovation, a dynamic platform unveiling cutting-edge technologies and solutions that shape the future of the technology industry. This far-reaching influence permeates niche domains, instilling innovation and prompting businesses to embrace progressive practices and solutions. Beyond this, GITEX offers an abundance of knowledge sharing opportunities, enabling professionals to remain abreast of emerging trends and continually enrich their expertise.
“For Finesse, being an active participant in this transformative event offers a myriad of advantages. It grants us a global platform to demonstrate our expertise in digital system integration and transformation, facilitating the formation of strategic partnerships and providing valuable insights into emerging technologies. Through GITEX’s extensive networking opportunities, we engage with industry leaders, experts, potential clients, and partners, significantly expanding our market reach. This heightened visibility solidifies our position as industry pioneers within our niche sector.
"This empowers Finesse to excel and make substantial contributions to the ongoing progress of technology and innovation across the board.” In fact, substantial technology contributions are exactly what participants at GITEX hope to contribute during the five-day extravaganza.
Product launches
John Shier, Field CTO, Sophos, the global security software brand, considers the Middle East an extremely important market for Sophos, and GITEX being the largest technology exhibition in the region, an ideal platform for Sophos to showcase its best-in-class security solutions portfolio, meet with regional customers and partners at a single venue and strengthen the channel network.
Having made major inroads into the cybersecurity realm, Shier elaborates on the brand’s highly popular service portfolio. “Sophos Managed Detection and Response (MDR) is a threat hunting, detection and response service. Sophos’ Cybersecurity as a Service capabilities, which is a combination of Sophos’ experts and tools provided as a service, can help organisations of all sizes to deal with any cyberattack issues 24x7 365 days of the year. It helps organisations to have the right technology, people, and processes to effectively provide the active threat protection their business needs. It also helps organisations to proactively hunt for threats, scope their severity, initiate action, and provide actionable advice to address the root cause of incidents.”
Revealing what Sophos will have on show at the event this year, Shier says, “Sophos is introducing Active Threat Response, a new cross-product integration that enables security analysts to immediately and automatically block any active threat discovered on the network via Sophos Firewall in real-time. This is a game changer for locking down active threats as it requires no firewall interventions, rule changes, or policy adjustments and it automatically identifies (and blocks) any new or additional compromised devices.
"This new Sophos Firewall capability is extensible, enabling third party threat feeds to also initiate an automated response to active threats in the future.” For other players, cybersecurity is critical but so is exploring and identifying facets of new-age technology that could promote efficiency across all levels of the work matrix.
Embracing AI efficiently
Dell Technologies, for instance is hoping to expand the AI narrative through collaborations with its value partners at GITEX this year. Yehia from Dell says, “Dell’s focus has always been to add value and support the growth vision of regional organisations with industry-leading solutions and services. This year, we are excited to continue the conversation with our partners and help UAE businesses embrace AI more efficiently.
"Currently, as the clear leader in compute and storage, we help customers run AI workloads anywhere they need them and scale AI from proof of concept to production. We are at the epicenter of AI and have the world’s broadest Generative AI (GenAI) infrastructure portfolio.
“As the market demand for AI-enabled solutions continues to climb, we will continue to capitalize on opportunities within four areas: AI-In, AI-On, AI-For and AI-With.
AI-In ensures AI is built into our products, AI-On ensures we run solutions that customers can run their AI workloads on, AI-For is how we use AI to modernize our business and AI-With is how we work with our ecosystems of partners to make AI real.
"Visitors can join us at GITEX at stand Hall 6 - A1, to explore our GenAI infrastructure portfolio of integrated solutions. We will be exhibiting them with some of our participating technology alliance partners including AMD, VMware, Nvidia, Microsoft, RedHat, Vertiv and APC/Schneider and our participating local partners such as KIT, Diyar KWT, Tuqnia, MDS/CDA, Cloudbox, Condo Protego, Nexthink, Emircom, Mindware, Ingram, Jammaz, Metra, Redington, Stor IT, IT Valley, CIS, ZAK Solutions for Computer Systems, and Logicom. We are dedicated to actively engaging with our partners, and GITEX plays an increasingly significant part in nurturing the discussions with our valued customers.”
Championing a cause
In the end, global tech spectacles such as GITEX provide a platform for the best tech minds to pave the road and present architecture codes that would become the building blocks for future lifestyles and modes of work.
Yehia puts it succinctly when he says, “Our purpose at Dell is to create technology that drives human progress, and GITEX has enabled us to actively connect with and support our customers in navigating the rapidly changing business environment and play a central role in fostering their growth.”
SPOTLIGHT ON DIGITAL SYSTEM INTEGRATION
Digital system integration is expected to be a big draw at Gitex Global, feel industry watchers. Eljo J P, Chief Business Officer & Director, Finesse spotlights possible trends in the sector that could be experienced at the event.
In the dynamic realm of digital system integration, we are witnessing several promising trends. We anticipate a substantial presence of these trends at GITEX Global this year.
1. Hyper-automation: Hyper-automation stands out as a transformative approach that revolutionizes how businesses optimize their processes. It harnesses advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), robotic process automation (RPA), natural language processing (NLP), and other automation tools to automate intricate tasks and workflows that once relied heavily on manual efforts. Gitex is poised to place significant emphasis on hyperautomation as forward-thinking organizations come together to explore solutions capable of automating repetitive tasks and elevating operational efficiency.
2. Edge Computing Integration: The exponential growth of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has thrust edge computing into the spotlight. This trend revolves around the concept of processing data nearer to its source, facilitating real-time decision-making and minimizing latency. Gitex is expected to feature innovative solutions that seamlessly incorporate edge computing into digital systems. This will enhance data processing capabilities and enable faster and more efficient digital experiences.
3. Security and Compliance Integration: In an era marked by cybersecurity threats and incidents, security and compliance measures take center stage. Gitex is set to delve into this trend, highlighting the significance of robust security measures and compliance protocols within the realm of digital system integration. Organizations are increasingly committed to ensuring that their integrated systems adhere rigorously to stringent security standards and regulatory requirements, ultimately safeguarding sensitive data and preserving trust among customers and stakeholders.
GITEX has consistently been fertile ground for innovative technologies, making it the ideal platform to first-hand experience and engage with these emerging trends.
