By-Ronen Shpire, Director CSP Solutions Marketing at Fortinet

5G has been a particularly hot topic lately, sparking significant debates and being considered as polarizing to some extent. However, countries all over the world are rolling out their 5G networks, considering this evolution in mobile connectivity as a strong game-changer for end users, the mobility ecosystem, and many industries.  

Two Takeaways that Make 5G Unique 

5G differs from 4G and previous mobile generations in two significant and interdependent aspects. 

First, 5G breaks away from the gradual evolution from one mobile generation to the other by redefining its technology foundations, to support and drive the ongoing digital transformation businesses, consumers, and even whole societies are undertaking. It means that most of the legacy nature of the mobile network, such as the use of specific protocols and interfaces, is replaced by common IT protocols, APIs, and cloud technologies. 

Second, 5G brings customized mobile connectivity and added value services both for industrial organizations and mobile network operators (MNOs). Thanks to 5G capabilities, such as increased bandwidth and low latency, organizations can develop new products, services, and most importantly, best practices, such as significant safety and efficiency in production floors, greater automation in industry 4.0, better proactive maintenance and so much more. This wasn’t possible in the days of wired networks or Wi-Fi networks.

When it comes to MNOs, 5G represents a significant growth opportunity. Traditionally, their revenues were heavily dependent on SIM/package sales, as a basic service for a mobile provider. With the 5G capabilities and ecosystem, MNOs can now better address the business segment and deliver added-value services beyond cellular connectivity to their customers, creating new revenue streams and improving margins.   

5G Impacts on Cybersecurity 

5G “uniqueness” in the mobile generation evolution has had major impacts on many areas, including cybersecurity. With the use of common IT protocols and interfaces in the infrastructure, such as HTTP and API calls, combined with its open and distributed nature, as well as the expanded attack surface, 5G is an attractive target for hackers.

The 5G technology impact on security is multi-faceted. While the use of cloud technologies and architectures throughout the 5G infrastructure (RAN, core, and edge) enables enhanced agility, scalability, efficiency, and customization, securing that environment is also a key element to consider. Security must be integrated into the virtual infrastructure as well as the orchestration layer and embedded into the end-to-end network to ensure both security and business continuity.

Hyperscalability, ultra-low latency, support for machine communications, predictability, agility, and high precision are some of the capabilities that will drive 5G adoption and use cases in vertical industries and for consumers. It is mandatory that the cybersecurity approach and solutions will support, and not hinder, these capabilities. 

Security visibility, automation, threat intelligence, and control are critical to protect the 5G infrastructure and the 5G-enabled use case ecosystem (OT/IIoT/IoT devices, 5G public and private networks, MEC and public cloud environments, applications and APIs).

Cybersecurity: A 5G Enabler for Widespread Adoption 

5G is the most natively secured mobile generation. But the security foundations laid out in the 5G standards can only be a starting point for a security blueprint that secures end-to-end 5G-enabled innovation and use cases. 

In 2020, Fortinet conducted a survey around security in enabling 5G adoption in business verticals, and the results are very clear:

Almost 90% of respondents stated that the MNO’s security capabilities are either critical or very important for success in vertical industry use cases. More than 80% consider native 5G security features as important, but only a baseline for the security needed to serve the 5G market. 

Another interesting data point arising from the survey is that 54% of respondents believe operators should offer a shared responsibility model. However, nearly all those who support this approach believe that a shared responsibility model should be offered as an option alongside the alternative of comprehensive, full-stack, end-to-end security. True to the traditional telco business model, fully 86% of respondents believe operators should offer full-stack security.

In previous mobile generations, security was all about protecting the network itself, creating a walled-garden environment for the core of the network by securing all external exposure points, such as the internet/PDN, roaming, RAN to core access, external partners, etc. This is also valid to 5G, with the appropriate integration and compatibility to 5G technologies and architectures. But the unique nature of 5G and its role and criticality in the business segment means that security’s role is changing and expanding, and should encompass the following main roles: 

• Protect the 5G mobile infrastructure from attacks to ensure service continuity and availability. This is similar to the traditional security role in previous mobile generations.
• Protect the larger 5G ecosystem required to deliver 5G-enabled use cases for enterprise verticals to meet security and regulatory requirements. 
• Enable monetization via a wide range of 5G security services to organizations through managed security services as part of service/use case offerings. 

The Success of 5G

The benefits of 5G far outweigh its potential risks—but only when security is an integrated part of the process and solution. Although 5G has some built-in security, organizations will still need to integrate a larger cybersecurity strategy to confidently move to 5G applications. They need a solution that will provide comprehensive protection at 5G speeds without compromising end-to-end visibility, automation, and enforcement throughout the ecosystem’s attack surface. And to do that most efficiently and securely, the solution must also be part of a coherent, integrated, and self-healing security platform. This will enable organizations all over the world to confidently distribute 5G services from the core of their network out to its furthest reaches, while allowing them to continue developing and deploying critical digital innovation. 

Cybereason, the leader in future-ready attack protection, today released research findings from a global ransomware study of nearly 1,300 security professionals.

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), 37 percent of surveyed companies reported that they had bit hit by a ransomware attack in the last 24 months. A staggering 84 percent of these companies (24 percent higher than the global average) chose to pay the ransom but what is interesting is that of those, 90 percent suffered a second ransomware attack, often at the hands of the same threat actor group. The research also divulged that of the organizations who opted to pay a ransom demand to regain access to their encrypted systems, 59 percent reported that some or all of the data was corrupted during the recovery process.

“Our survey findings underscore why, with the exception of cases where there is a threat to life, it does not pay to pay ransomware attackers. Paying a ransom demand does not guarantee a successful recovery, does not prevent the attackers from hitting the victim organization again, and in the end only exacerbates the problem by encouraging more attacks,” commented Lior Div, CEO and co-founder at Cybereason. “Getting in front of the threat by adopting a prevention-first strategy for early detection will allow organizations to stop disruptive ransomware before they can hurt the business.”

Key UAE findings include:

• Ransom Demands Increasing: 63 percentof businesses (28 percent higher than the global average) that paid a ransom demand shelled out between US$350,000 – US$1.4 million, while 10 percent paid ransoms exceeding $1.4 million.
• Loss of Business Revenue: 63 percentof organizations reported lost business (19 percent higher than global average) as a result of the ransomware attack and 42 percent reported significant loss of revenue.
• Brand and Reputation Damage: 54 percent of organizations indicated that their brand and reputation were damaged as a result of a successful attack.
• C-Level Talent Loss: 50 percent of organizations (19 percent higher than global average) reported losing C-Level talent as a direct result of ransomware attacks.
• Employee Layoffs: In line with the global average, 29 percentreported being forced to layoff employees due to financial pressures following a ransomware attack.
• Business Closures: A startling 42percent of organizations (16 percent higher than global average) reported that a ransomware attack forced the business to close down operations entirely.

“Ransomware attacks are a major concern for organizations in the UAE and across the globe, often causing massive business disruptions including the loss of income and valuable human resources as a direct result. If we look at the recent Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack as an example, disruptions were felt up and down the East Coast of the United States and negatively impacted other businesses who are dependent on Colonial’s operations,” added Lior.

Other key findings included in the full report reveal the extent to which losses to UAE businesses may be covered by cyber insurance, how prepared regional organizations are to address ransomware threats to the business with regard to adequate security policies and staffing. In addition, the report provides actionable data on the types of security solutions organizations had in place prior to an attack, as well as which solutions were most often implemented by organizations after they experienced a ransomware attack.

The full report can be found here: Ransomware: The True Cost to Business.

R&M, the globally active developer and provider of cabling systems for high-quality network infrastructures, today introduced inteliPhy net 3.0, its software for Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM), in the Middle East. The latest version of this flagship solution incorporates a host of new features focused on further simplifying data center design, planning, and management via a single, centralized dashboard.

“Improved uptime, enhanced efficiency, and more cost-effective resource planning are all top priorities for data centers managers as the reliance of Middle East business on IT continues to rise,” said Alfred Tharwat, RCDD, Head of Presales, Training and Consultancy at R&M. “With the latest update to inteliPhy net, we have unlocked the ability to capture even more metrics and KPIs, while streamlining and automating the data gathering process. This makes it possible for businesses to gain a higher degree of insight into the performance of their data centers, leading to more informed decision-making regarding resource utilization, upgrades, and expansions.”

inteliPhy net 3.0 contains extensive monitoring functions. The software collects information from Power Distribution Units (PDUs), Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPSs) and other network devices that have an SNMP protocol interface. With its fully scalable system architecture, the software sets no limitations on the number of objects that can be managed. inteliPhy net 3.0 makes it easy to specifically select the most relevant data, display it clearly and raise an alarm in case an error or a precondition, such as excessive power consumption in a rack, is met. These alarms are displayed in the DCIM Client Graphical User Interface (GUI) and can be configured to trigger email notifications. Configurable dashboard widgets and other features allow users to handle data in new ways.

Furthermore, users can create their own metamodels with inteliPhy net 3.0. A metamodel can represent a pre-configured device with various plug-in cards or a completely assembled and wired cabinet. One simple step is all it takes to integrate a complete metamodel into an existing data center. The time-consuming construction of cabinets from individual components is no longer necessary.

inteliPhy net 3.0 also contains tools with which Optical Distribution Frames (ODF) can be configured and visualized. This function is suitable for planning the setup of 19” and ETSI-based meet-me rooms.

To aid data center planning and administration, inteliPhy net 3.0 offers comprehensive work order management capabilities. These include planning and generating work orders within the GUI, emailing work orders to installers, and time planning of work orders using Gantt charts. Work orders generated by the software include details of the individual tasks and bill of materials required, and the system allows dependencies to be set up which ensures proper execution of sequential processes.

A powerful global search function for quickly finding specific devices rounds out the feature set of inteliPhy net 3.0, optimized both in terms of performance and ease of use.

Breakthrough technology enables mobile operators to make prediction runtime 3 times faster and deliver network plans that are 25% more accurate

Infovista, the global leader in network lifecycle automation, today announced the availability of its Artificial Intelligence Model (AIM), the world’s first commercially available AI-based propagation model that changes the way wireless networks can be planned and optimized.

“Operators are at different stages within the 5G rollout, but the majority are still faced with the massive task of selecting, testing and commissioning new sites,” says Régis Lerbour, VP Product & R&D, RAN Engineering at Infovista. “Our AI-based propagation model, successfully presented to our customers at Infovista RAN Summit, is, by design, cloud-ready and scalable to increase agility and the ability to adapt the network more dynamically, thus offering a way to automate and accelerate the planning and roll-out of 5G networks.”

Infovista’s AIM has been built around state-of-the-art machine learning frameworks such as TensorFlow to focus on training and inference of deep neural networks. The project utilised over 10 million data points collected by the company during the last 15 years and spans multiple sub-6 GHz and millimetre wave bands, geographic locations, antenna heights, weather conditions, seasonal foliage variations and hundreds of additional variables – across urban, mixed and rural environments.  The AI-model predictions have been extensively validated against real-world measurement sampling data and are proven to deliver network plans that are 25% more accurate compared to those delivered using traditional propagation models. The initial testing shows that this improved accuracy translates into up to 20% CAPEX savings when it comes to radio site investments.

AIM avoids labour-intensive and repetitive calibration and parameter manipulation. It fully fits with the Network Lifecycle Automation vision of Infovista that aims to expand the reach of automation beyond network and service operations, into planning, testing and deployment, and reporting and monetization.

AIM is embedded into Infovista’s award-winning Planet software, which also includes an integrated feed of crowdsourced subscriber-centric data available in all geographies. Combining both provides mobile operators with higher accuracy and more efficient network planning workflows.

“Over time the combination of AIM with crowdsourced data will mean the new platform will enable operators to fully automate network planning thus allowing them to deploy in new frequency bands faster than ever,” Régis Lerbour adds. “Automated data collection and processing contribute to significantly reducing the cost of propagation model calibration and optimizing drive testing, helping accelerate 5G deployments to new levels.”

By: Edwin Weijdema, Global Technologist, Product Strategy, Veeam

As we become more reliant on technology to work, communicate, and be entertained, we are having to place our trust in it more than ever before. When I choose to work from home instead of travelling to the office, I am trusting that my laptop is fully operational, my Internet connection is stable, and that my ability to access the cloud-based applications I need for my work are available. Subconsciously, however, it is natural to worry more about your devices and connectivity breaking down when working from home than it is when you are in the office, with the IT team sat in the same building.

This is because putting our faith in technology often requires putting confidence in the unknown. Ultimately, this is what trust is all about. Am I confident enough in someone or something that I can overcome the uncertainty of the outcome? If you do not trust, you will not take risks or take a step into the unknown, which means you will never change. So, as organisations continue with their Digital Transformation (DX) journeys, how can they ensure that a lack of trust towards technology does not prevent them from taking the necessary risks that come with any attempt to initiate change?

In some ways, the process of trusting a piece of technology is very similar to trusting another human. We have a number of mechanisms to draw on. The first is our gut instinct. You often know whether or not you find someone trustworthy within 30 seconds of meeting them. This is also true of technology. Everything from the brand logo to our first interaction with the user interface adds to our perception of whether or not a device, website or communication is trustworthy or not. Various studies suggest that we are more likely to accept phone calls from numbers we recognise. We become suspicious about providing personal information about ourselves when registering for services online, when we would have no hesitation giving the same details to a bank clerk or mortgage advisor.

While our instincts are indeed powerful attributes, they can sometimes let us down. In the real world, this might be believing one of our friends when the story they are telling us is really a joke or accidentally driving towards the office on a Sunday because our brains are on autopilot. In the digital sphere, the consequences of us trusting our instincts or not thinking properly can be clicking on phishing links, compromising personal security information, and accepting fake news as a truth.

However, trust is not all about our gut reaction. Trust is earned over time through our own experiences, but also through other peoples’. When you can read up on experiences shared by those other people, who you never have met, you can reduce your uncertainty and posed risk. This way you can take a confident step towards the unknown. This can be referred to as distributed trust. We are more likely to trust a professional decorator with a job in our home if he/she has a high rating and visible track record online where maybe even examples of their work are displayed. This is an example of distributed trust, and the same concept also applies to technology. For example, the majority of people are not early adopters. These are the fastest people to get on board with the latest products available or use new technology concepts before they become mainstream. Technology assists us with reducing the uncertainty by giving access to a huge pile of information. This information is what you can call a trust enabler.

The majority of technology users and IT teams prefer to wait and see. Whether it’s buying a new smartphone or migrating data to the public cloud, many of us seek endorsement from people who have tried it first – including our peers, other businesses, independent consultants, and total strangers on the other side of the world. There’s a reason the IT industry has a saying that no one gets fired for hiring certain brands. Those brands have built a visible track record through being reliable, consistent, and delivering a great customer experience. People trust that their products and services will do what they say they will, based on years of success, so perceive their risk of investment to be lower than working with a brand they are less familiar with.

One of the major trust issues organisations have regarding new technology is whether or not it is secure. Will their data be safe and protected? They also want to know what happens when things go wrong. What happens if the technology fails? How do we get our services back online and quickly recover our data? So, with DX on the agenda of every business boardroom, CIOs and IT teams need to feel reassured that the technology providers they put their trust in are fit for purpose. According to the Veeam Data Protection Report 2021, over a quarter of business leaders in the Middle East (26% in UAE and 27% in Saudi Arabia) see cyber threats as a challenge to their DX initiatives in the next 12 months. This heightened awareness towards the impact of cybersecurity breaches on their bottom line will weigh heavily on the minds of organisations when choosing their DX partner.

Furthermore, organisations are starting to understand that one of the most sure-fire ways for a business to lose trust is for their data to be compromised – whether it is stolen or simply lost. Our research indicates that 50% of business leaders in UAE and 45% in Saudi Arabia think downtime and data loss could negatively impact customer confidence. 40% of respondents in both countries fear damage to brand integrity. Over a third (34%) of UAE organizations think this could result in a loss of employee confidence and 35% of Saudi Arabian enterprises think this could result in reduced stock price. All this shows the inextricable link between data protection and trust.

In terms of how successfully organisations in the Middle East are currently protecting data, 27% of all backup jobs and 24% of all restore jobs fail leaving 45% of data potentially unprotected. The issues of data protection and cybersecurity, therefore, pose a threat to DX. It is clear that humans’ relationship with technology, whether they are a customer, a business decision maker, or an employee, is all about trust. So, businesses must turn to trusted technology advisors who can help them ensure that their DX is built on solid foundations, with a data protection that is fit for purpose.

In April, Kaspersky experts discovered a number of highly targeted attacks against multiple companies utilizing a previously undiscovered chain of Google Chrome and Microsoft Windows zero-day exploits. One of the exploits was used for remote code execution in the Chrome web-browser, while the other was an elevation of privilege exploit fine-tuned to target the latest and most prominent builds of Windows 10. The latter exploits two vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Windows OS kernel: Information Disclosure vulnerability CVE-2021-31955 and Elevation of Privilege vulnerability CVE-2021-31956. Microsoft has patched both yesterday as part of Patch Tuesday.

Recent months have seen a wave of advanced threat activity exploiting zero-days in the wild. In mid-April, Kaspersky experts discovered yet a new wave of highly targeted exploit attacks against multiple companies that allowed the attackers to stealthily compromise the targeted networks.

Kaspersky has yet to find any connection between these attacks and any known threat actors. Therefore, they have dubbed this actor PuzzleMaker.

All of the attacks were conducted through Chrome and utilized an exploit that allowed for remote code execution. While Kaspersky researchers were unable to retrieve the code for the remote execution exploit, the timeline and availability suggests the attackers were using the now-patched CVE-2021-21224 vulnerability. This vulnerability was related to a Type Mismatch bug in the V8 – a JavaScript engine used by Chrome and Chromium web-browsers. It allows the attackers to exploit the Chrome renderer process (the processes that are responsible for what happens inside users’ tab).

Kaspersky experts were, however, able to find and analyze the second exploit: an elevation of privilege exploit that exploits two distinct vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Windows OS kernel. The first is an Information Disclosure vulnerability (a vulnerability that leaks sensitive kernel information), assigned CVE-2021-31955. Specifically, the vulnerability is affiliated with SuperFetch—a feature first introduced in Windows Vista that aims to reduce software loading times by pre-loading commonly used applications into memory.

The second vulnerability—an Elevation of Privilege vulnerability (a vulnerability that allows attackers to exploit the kernel and gain elevated access to the computer)—is assigned the name CVE-2021-31956 and is a heap-based buffer overflow. Attackers used the CVE-2021-31956 vulnerability alongside Windows Notification Facility (WNF) to create arbitrary memory read/write primitives and execute malware modules with system privileges.

Once the attackers have used both the Chrome and Windows exploits to gain a foothold in the targeted system, the stager module downloads and executes a more complex malware dropper from a remote server. This dropper then installs two executables, which pretend to be legitimate files belonging to Microsoft Windows OS. The second of these two executables is a remote shell module, which is able to download and upload files, create processes, sleep for certain amounts of time, and delete itself from the infected system.

Microsoft released a patch for both Windows vulnerabilities yesterday as part of Patch Tuesday.

“While these attacks were highly targeted, we have yet to link them to any known threat actor. That’s why we’ve dubbed the actor behind them “PuzzleMaker” and will be closely monitoring the security landscape for future activity or new insights about this group. Overall, of late, we’ve been seeing several waves of high-profile threat activity being driven by zero-day exploits. It’s a reminder that zero days continue to be the most effective method for infecting targets. Now that these vulnerabilities have been made publicly known, it’s possible that we’ll see an increase of their usage in attacks by this and other threat actors. That means it’s very important for users to download the latest patch from Microsoft as soon as possible,” comments Boris Larin, Senior Security Researcher with the Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT).

Kaspersky products detect and protect against the exploit for the above vulnerabilities and associated malware modules.

Learn more about these new zero-days on Securelist.

To protect your organization from attacks exploiting the aforementioned vulnerabilities, Kaspersky experts recommend:

Update your Chrome browser and Microsoft Windows as soon as possible and do so regularly

Use a reliable endpoint security solution such as Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business that is powered by exploit prevention, behavior detection and a remediation engine that is able to roll back malicious actions.

Install anti-APT and EDR solutions, enabling capabilities for threat discovery and detection, investigation and timely remediation of incidents. Provide your SOC team with access to the latest threat intelligence and regularly upskill them with professional training. All of the above is available within Kaspersky Expert Security framework.

Along with proper endpoint protection, dedicated services can help against high-profile attacks. The Kaspersky Managed Detection and Response service can help identify and stop attacks in their early stages, before the attackers achieve their goals.

The share of STEM course enrollments by women in the UAE also increased from 33% pre-pandemic to 41% in 2020

According to Coursera’s Global Skills Report 2021, the UAE ranks #1 in the MENA region and #2 globally in overall business skills, only after Luxemburg. This year’s study draws on performance data since the pandemic’s onset from more than 77 million learners on the platform to benchmark skills proficiency across business, technology, and data science for over 100 countries.

Communication, Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Management, and Strategy and Operations are areas where UAE learners have placed within the top 97 percentile or higher in business skills. These proficiencies are fundamental to accurately interpret and respond to the opportunities and challenges that determine an organization’s success.

While UAE’s overall business skills proficiency ranks near the top of the list globally, technology and data science skills represent areas for continued growth. With the UAE government’s prioritisation of digital transformation as a driver of national development and economic advancement, the Global Skills Report highlights a significant opportunity for UAE professionals to upskill in these fields — the country’s talent pools for technology and data science skills ranked just #72 and #71 respectively.

 “In recent years, the UAE government has implemented numerous initiatives, aimed at promoting a skills-based economy. These are having a positive impact on the economy as evidenced by the UAE’s business leadership position in our rankings,” said Anthony Tattersall, Coursera Vice President of EMEA, “When it comes to technology and data science skills, access to a variety of job-relevant credentials, including a path to entry-level digital jobs, will be key to help reskill at scale, not just in the UAE but worldwide”.

It was, however, promising to see an increase in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) course enrollments – which account for many foundational digital skills – by women in the UAE. The share of STEM enrollments from women in the UAE rose from 33 percent in 2018-19 to 41 percent in 2019-20. 

Another notable outlier in the overall technology skills performance of the country was its competitiveness in Security Engineering, where the UAE ranked in the 77 percentile. With the country witnessing a 250% increase in cyberattacks through the pandemic^[1], there has been a strong emphasis on attracting and developing cybersecurity skills within the UAE, which helps explain this high ranking.

Similarly, despite scoring in just the 34 percentile in overall data science skills, UAE learners have demonstrated strong capabilities in the highly-valued area of Data Analysis (82 percent), which is increasingly playing a part in everything from streamlining business processes and enhancing employee productivity, to recognising market trends, and adapting to customer behaviours and preferences.

Based on the performance data of millions of learners on Coursera globally, the report also reveals the skills and time required to prepare for entry-level roles:

• Recent graduates and mid-career changers can develop entry-level, digital job skills in as little as 35 to 70 hours (or 1-2 months with 10 learning hours per week). On the other hand, someone with no degree or technology experience can be job-ready in 80 to 240 hours (or 2-6 months with 10 learning hours per week).

• Learners must invest in both soft and technical skills to stay job-relevant in a rapidly evolving labour market. For example, an entry-level cloud computing role like a Computer Support Specialist requires learning both soft skills like problem solving and organizational development, and technical skills such as security engineering and computer networking. Similarly, entry-level marketing roles require data analysis software and digital marketing skills in addition to soft skills like strategy, creativity, and communication.

• The most transferable skills across all future jobs are in human skills like problem solving and communication, computer literacy, and career management. Foundational skills like business communication and digital literacy enable workers to participate in increasingly tech-heavy and global work environments. As people change jobs more frequently, job search and career planning skills will be critical to role transitions and sustaining employment.

To download the full report, visithttps://www.coursera.org/global-skills-report

---

[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/06/middle-east-facing-cyber-pandemic-amid-covid-19-uae-official-says.html

Demand will be strong for social events and concerts, especially with immersive technologies, as restrictions are being lifted

New research commissioned by Epson, the leading global projector manufacturer[1], reveals there will be a strong ‘bounce back’ for the events industry as restrictions are being lifted in the Middle East. The research, which was announced at the Theatre of Digital Art (ToDA) in Dubai today, was designed with the assistance of Professor Steven Taylor[2], a leading psychologist and expert in the impact of pandemics on social behaviour – suggesting that the UAE and Saudi Arabia markets will be more inclined to attend social events, such as concerts, visitor attractions and immersive technological experiences.

Epson is the world’s leading manufacturer of projectors with over a third share of the global projector market – and its high lumenlaser projectors have been used to create immersive and interactive experiential environments. The research has helped Epson gauge how the industry was going to respond after the pandemic.

The survey of 4,000 event-loving consumers from 9 countries across EMEA – with 500 respondents from UAE and Saudi Arabia – revealed that 87% are planning to go to the same or a greater number of technologically enhanced events and attractions as restrictions are being lifted – out of which 64% resonated with the sentiment that technologically enhanced events ‘Make Me Happy’ or are ‘Good for My Soul’.

• 

• 

• 

Among Middle East respondents, 75% have missed going to technologically enhanced events and attractions during the lockdown, with Saudi Arabia being the highest with 80% followed by 69% in the UAE. About three quarters (73%) of respondents in the Middle East cannot wait for their life to get back to normal – like in 2019.

“The survey indicates that the overwhelming majority of people are eager to resume their pre-pandemic social lives, which includes attending live experiential events,” Professor Steven Taylor commented. “This underscores the fact that people are resilient and that most will bounce-back to their pre-pandemic levels of socialising, regardless of how they are feeling right now.

“People will want to get out and socialise and this move will happen rapidly. In fact, I’m expecting that there will be a short-lived period of hyper sociability, a kind of mini roaring ’20s as people just bounce back. Live events will play a large role in this.”

Analysis of the findings with the assistance of Professor Steven Taylor also suggests that people may have understated their eagerness to attend live events, and the return to in-person events will be even greater than anticipated. 

As the events industry has been strongly impacted by the pandemic, the most promising result suggests that people would pay a higher price for events if it supported the people impacted by the pandemic within the sector. A high proportion (88%) in both UAE and Saudi Arabia are willing to pay more to attend events if they knew it was supporting people working in the events industry. Amongst those who are prepared to pay more, overall 86% said they would be prepared to pay more for up to 12 months.

Neil Colquhoun, Vice President of CISMEA, Epson Europe, added: “The events industry needs to prepare itself for an unprecedented surge in demand once lockdown ends. It is probable that the bounce back will be even stronger than people might imagine. The research tells us that amongst those consumers who have attended one or more events during the last two years, almost all have missed attending events, are looking forward to going to new events and are planning to go to the same number or more events once lockdown ends.”

“The events industry has suffered badly during lockdown, but this research shows there is light at the end of the tunnel. We can expect a serious party mood post-pandemic and organisers of events and attractions will now be readying themselves to make the most of the surge in demand,” Colquhoun added.

We are happy to announce that the Theatre of Digital Art is using Epson’s state-of-the-art projectors for the ‘Being Van Gogh’ multi-sensory, multi-media immersive exhibition of Van Gogh’s paintings in Souk Madinat Jumeirah.

Gabriel Afrim, General Manager of Theatre of Digital Art (ToDA), said: “As the events scene in Dubai and the Middle East begins to open up post-pandemic, immersive events are key for attracting visitors, and giving them new levels of engagement with art, music, and culture. The Theatre of Digital Arts’ use of Epson projectors in ‘Being Van Gogh’ has delivered high levels of guest satisfaction and repeat visitors, along with striking colour that brings to life Van Gogh’s paintings, and optimised costs and low levels of projector servicing.”

Epson is the world’s leading manufacturer of projectors with over a third share of the global projector market. It specialises in manufacturing compact, versatile, high brightness 3LCD laser projection technology for homes, offices, schools, retailers and for large-scale installations in entertainment venues, museums, galleries, outdoor events and visitor attractions.

Epson high lumen laser projectors are used to create immersive and interactive experiential environments at major venues and visitor attractions across the world. Recent examples of Epson’s AV technology in use include the Electric Forest Music Festival in America, the TeamLab Borderless installation in Shanghai and the international Festival of Lights in Europe.

---

[1] Epson is the global leading projector manufacturer for both volume and value market share according to data by Futuresource. Epson’s high lumens laser projectors are used extensively across the events industry to create experiential enhanced environments including projection mapping at festivals, live performances, arts and entertainment venues, museums, galleries and visitor attractions.

[2] Professor Steven Taylor is a worldwide authority on the impact of pandemics on human social behaviour. In October 2019 he published a book entitled the Psychology of Pandemics https://www.drsteventaylor.com/books and has given Ted talks on the psychological impact of Covid.

By: Chris Martin, Channel leader for EMEA & SAARC, A10 Networks

The rise in a globally dispersed workforce and new work-from-home requirements are placing extraordinary pressure on organisations’ networks. At the same time, COVID-19 has accelerated digital transformation across many industries, with a shift towards hybrid and multi-cloud to service both customers and employees in this new environment.

These changes further underline the importance of operational efficiency, management, visibility and security for organisations. This is where A10 Networks and its channel partners can ensure customers’ datacentre applications and networks remain available, resilient and secure in the months ahead.

With a hundred percent of our business transacted through channel partners in EMEA, partners are central to A10 Networks’ plans.  The channel is incredibly important to us and the pandemic has not affected our commitment nor our investment in the channel.  In fact, we have championed the channel in 2020, having made huge investments in our partner ecosystem and our Affinity Partner Programme over the last year or so. As such we have focused on three key areas: education, engagement and deal registration and we currently have underway five key channel initiatives which include developing our distribution relationships, deal registration, partner ecosystem, organic leads and channel enablement.

Having said this, we are much more focused on certain key vertical sectors and as such we are looking to work with partners who have specialist vertical market capabilities.  In effect, we are looking to identify the right partners, addressing the right gap in the right vertical market.

Training and certification

Training is key to this enablement and A10 Networks is passionate about helping our partners obtain the technical certifications needed to help their customers navigate this new environment. We know it isn’t easy for a partner to focus on their own business, while ensuring their customers’ operations remain up and running. We therefore want to ensure that our partners are up to date on their certifications, to continue to be a trusted advisor to their customers.

We launched new sales and technical training certifications this year, free of charge and aligned with our new branding and latest products and solutions. For example, we now have Sales Associate Training and Technical Associate for Service Providers Training.

However, when it comes to partnering, we know one-size-doesn’t-fit-all. As mentioned earlier, we work with partners to understand their vertical expertise, their technical abilities and their strengths. We then formulate a joint business plan and establish KPIs so together we can best address customers’ needs.

Distribution is key to growth

Distribution is a part of this strategy – which is why we are working more closely with our distributor partners than we ever have before. We have doubled our distributor presence across our territories because we believe that partners need a choice. We have onboarded 11 new distributors in the 18 months from mid-2019 to December 2020 in EMEA and SAARC.

Whether the distributor is a dedicated, niche player or one with huge scale and resources, they all deliver their own value. We have established KPIs for distribution around recruiting partners, net new revenue, certification and lead generation. We are also working together with distribution on recruiting those quality partners I spoke about.

Another increased area of focus is deal registration. We are actively encouraging our partners to register leads in line with our business growth and the increasingly competitive business landscape.

Recognising partners and individuals who go above and beyond

We have also created a new channel awards programme, known as Elevate.   This is because we recognise that certain individuals and companies within our channel community go above and beyond to drive business with A10, and we wanted to reward their hard efforts. This year, we will recognise both partners and individuals and categories for 2020 nominations including aspects such as the best financial performance, the best marketing campaign, the partners that provides the best technical support as well as individual nominations such as the best performing sales, technical and marketing person. Any member of the A10 channel community is eligible within EMEA and SAARC.

Likewise, we recognise that technical teams don’t always get rewarded for their contributions so we have created our ‘Tech Packs’ which provide a whole range of goodies that we are giving away to those techies who successfully complete certain certification levels.

Path to Platinum

Finally, we have created an initiative called Path to Platinum. This new programme is designed to accelerate our partners’ growth, and enable Bronze and Gold partners to achieve the highest accreditation in the A10 Networks Affinity Partner Programme

Importantly, we want to focus on certification, specialisation and commitment rather than solely judging a partner based on traditional run-rate revenue targets. If there is a partner that we are interested in developing a relationship with, we will talk about the level of discount we can offer, the support and how to build that relationship. With buy-in from both sides, we will create a bespoke plan to go out and win business together.

With the channel front and centre, we are expanding rapidly and winning new customers. These are businesses that have apps at the heart of their business, like Uber. Another is food delivery service takeaway.com, which needed to continue to service customers, despite the huge demand placed on their networks during COVID-19 enforced lockdown.

Last year has been one of unprecedented momentum for our partners. Despite being faced with much uncertainty this year, we know one thing for sure: A10 Networks will continue to expand and drive new business by putting the right incentives in place that deliver profitable and predictable business to our channel partners.