Top Dubai Residential Hotspots Offering Strong Returns

The six key communities—Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC), DAMAC Island, Downtown Dubai, Dubai Marina, Meydan City, and Dubai South—are reshaping Dubai’s residential market. While central areas remain popular, suburban master-planned developments are gaining traction due to better value, improved infrastructure, and solid yields.

DAMAC Island is the most affordable, averaging AED 823 per sq. ft. with a yield of 7.38%. Competitive off-plan prices and strong early investment opportunities drive its appeal. Dubai South follows at AED 1,035 per sq. ft. and a yield of 6.77%. JVC averages AED 1,238 per sq. ft., with yields around 7.39%, attracting younger tenants and first-time buyers.

Dubai Marina commands AED 1,757 per sq. ft. and offers returns of 6.24%. Downtown Dubai, the most expensive at AED 2,504 per sq. ft., still delivers a reliable 6% return. Meydan City offers balance, averaging AED 1,915 per sq. ft. with yields of 7.14%, supported by infrastructure upgrades and spacious layouts.

Why These Communities Are Positioned for Growth

The rise of these Dubai residential hotspots reflects a broader shift in the city’s urban planning. With limited central land, developers are focusing on master-planned suburban zones that balance lifestyle and investment value. Major names like Emaar and Binghatti are launching projects that appeal to both investors and residents.

In parallel, government agencies such as the RTA and Dubai Land Department are introducing measures to ensure long-term sustainability. Furthermore, first-time buyers are benefiting from reduced down payment requirements and simplified mortgage approvals, often supported by developer-bank partnerships. These initiatives are creating more accessible pathways into the market.

Expert Insights from Chestertons MENA

Mania Merrikhi, Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director at Chestertons MENA, notes:

“Dubai has evolved into a global real estate powerhouse, and with the D33 agenda, we expect even stronger growth in the coming decade.”

Mohamed Mussa, Executive Director, adds:

“Government support is reshaping the market for first-time buyers, while international investors are increasingly drawn to lifestyle-focused master-planned communities.”

Investor Takeaway

With yields as high as 7.39% and prices starting from AED 823/sq. ft., these Dubai residential hotspots represent a balance of affordability, lifestyle, and long-term growth. For buyers, now may be the ideal moment to secure property in these rising communities before prices climb further.

If you’re interested in more UAE real estate insights, read our feature on Designing Hospitality Around the Modern Traveler’s Needs.

Elaborate on Palo Alto Networks’ principles about cybersecurity and speak about the latest solutions

Ercan Aydin, VP – Emerging Markets, Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks is the world’s cybersecurity leader. We innovate to outpace cyber threats, so organizations can embrace technology with confidence. We provide next-gen cybersecurity to thousands of customers globally, across all sectors. Our best-in-class cybersecurity platforms and services are backed by industry-leading threat intelligence and strengthened by state-of-the-art automation. Whether deploying our products to enable the Zero Trust Enterprise, responding to a security incident, or partnering to deliver better security outcomes through a world-class partner ecosystem, we’re committed to helping ensure each day is safer than the one before. It’s what makes us the cybersecurity partner of choice.

Palo Alto Networks aims to innovate and provide solutions to help its customers. We are the first and only vendor currently offering Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) 2.0, which helps secure connections for businesses with hybrid workforces. ZTNA 2.0 helps organizations protect all applications and data from any location, without compromising access for users. We have recently announced the Prisma SASE to enable customers to identify and remediate misconfigurations in SaaS apps using SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) capabilities.

What products and solutions will you be showcasing at GITEX Global 2022?

Customers visiting GITEX will be able to see live demos of our best-in-class cybersecurity platforms representing our 3 main security pillars plus our services: Strata (The Networks Security with NGFW and SASE), Cortex (Endpoint security and SoC Automation, Unit42 Incident Response), Prisma Cloud (Cloud Security) and Professional Services.

What types and sizes of enterprises that Palo Alto focuses on?

Palo Alto Networks supports firms of all sizes, from SMEs to multinational organizations. We are neither limited in terms of size nor the capabilities we can support. In addition to firewall support for businesses, Palo Alto Networks also offers cloud solutions. Our mandate is to consistently evolve, creating a safe and secure environment for our customers and partners.

How do you evaluate the way security solution business progresses in the Middle East region?

Technology is advancing rapidly and post the pandemic with continued hybrid work and the accelerating shift to the cloud; the need for a cybersecurity partner has become an even bigger priority. Palo Alto Networks helps deliver what’s next in security to help organizations get ahead of the threat landscape, with broad industry recognition of our best-of-breed platforms: network security, cloud security, and security operations.

The highlight of Avaya ENGAGE, a four-day forum hosted at the Atlantis the Palm hotel in Dubai, the Avaya Awards celebrate the role the company’s partners have played in driving Avaya’s success across the combined geographies of Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific. As customers’ needs and challenges evolve, Avaya’s partners are central to its strategy of delivering services-led, outcome-focused engagement.

Avaya ENGAGE is the premier thought leadership event combining the networking experience of the Avaya Partner Forum with the educational content of the Avaya Technology Forum, under one roof. More than 1300 customers and partners from across the combined regions interacted with Avaya global executives, solutions leaders and industry experts at keynote addresses, seminars and expert sessions.

“The Avaya Awards celebrate and recognize the role our partners play in driving Avaya’s growth and customercentric strategy. We are investing and developing our partner ecosystem to enable more companies to implement business communications solutions that help drive their digital transformation journeys. Avaya ENGAGE provides the perfect platform for us to drive innovation and deliver industry leadership across the combined regions,” said Fadi Moubarak, Channel Leader, AVAYA International

“Avaya ENGAGE is focused on innovation – we aim to highlight the importance of innovation in driving companies’ success and to celebrate how our customers and partners are delivering innovation every day, helping their customers and partners to achieve their digital objectives. The Avaya Awards showcase how we are helping organizations of all sizes achieve better collective outcomes – and how these organizations are helping us in our own transformation journey.” said Nidal Abou-Ltaif, President, Avaya International

Bahaa Salah, Managing Director of Aptec, an Ingram Micro company, commented, “We are happy to receive the award, it is a reflection of solid team work and great partnership.”

Dell EMC seeks to lead the digital transformation journey for its customers

The Dell EMC merger has redrawn the industry landscape significantly and promises to create a redoubtable market leader with perhaps the most extensive portfolio across the industry. The coming together of two industry behemoths is also an extraordinary instance of how the compulsions of emerging technologies is reshaping the future.
With Dell Technologies as the parent holding entity, the merged entity will operate under the name Dell-EMC. The merger also includes the companies, part of the erstwhile EMC federation and industry leaders in their own right. These include RSA Security LLC, Pivotal Software Inc., Virtustream and VMware
The new company, worth $74 Billion in revenues, has every reason to be confident that the consolidation will help it take leadership in the digital transformational journey for Business customers with its extensive range of solutions targeting the fast growth areas of hybrid cloud, software-defined data center, converged infrastructure, platform-as-a-service, data analytics, mobility and cybersecurity.
According to Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies, “We are at the dawn of the next industrial revolution. Our world is becoming more intelligent and more connected by the minute, and ultimately will become intertwined with a vast Internet of Things, paving the way for our customers to do incredible things. This is why we created Dell Technologies. We have the products, services, talent and global scale to be a catalyst for change and guide customers, large and small, on their digital journey.”
As a “Leader” in 20 Gartner Magic Quadrants and a portfolio of more than 20,000 patents and applications, the merged entity has unmatched credentials in terms of the range of solutions on offer for mid-market to enterprise customers.
Mohammed Amin, senior vice president, Turkey, Eastern Europe, Africa and Middle East at EMC Corporation, who leads the regional operations says, “This is an exciting phase; the consolidation is in the right direction and that makes it possible to offer the right technology portfolio to the end users. In the Gartner magic quadrant, we are leaders in 20 categories.”
He adds, “We offer a real wealth of options for end uses in their journey towards digital transformation as the largest private owned enterprise infrastructure technology company. I believe, in the next three years, Dell Technologies will be the largest cloud enabler company in the world.”
A successful journey for Dell EMC in the post-merger scenario hinges on bringing together Dell’s strength with small business and mid-market customers and EMC’s strength with large enterprises.
“Legacy EMC has been a leader in all the segments it covered but the company lacked some parts to service the customer end to end, such as the computing solutions for instance. From a go to market point of view, the two companies hugely complement each other because either didn’t have access to the areas of the market the other had access to. From a go to market point of view as well the product portfolios the two companies have to offer, there is synergy that benefits the end user as he will be happy getting everything under one roof,” says Amin.
In the region, the new company is ideally poised to play a larger role in the digital transformation initiatives, both in the private and in the public sector. Senior executives from Dell EMC had come down to Dubai last month to meet with customers and channel partners and discuss their roadmaps. They also met with key stakeholders in the UAE and have highlighted ways in which the merged company will support the government’s strategy to develop a knowledge-based economy and enhance service delivery for residents in line with Vision 2021.
At a regional press Round Table briefing last month, Aongus Hegarty, president of the EMEA region at Dell EMC, shared the insights on the region from the company’s perspective.
He said, “This region and the UAE specifically has the opportunity to make a quantum leap in using technology solutions to resolve pressing business issues – the lack of outdated infrastructure combined with the public and private sectors’ focus on creating employment opportunities and forging a digital transformation in education, financial services, government and other key sectors providing tremendous opportunity for collaborative problem-solving with Dell Technologies.”

Building synergies
The integration work between the teams is a work in progress. At the macro level, the new company seeks to bring together synergistic approaches such as exists between RSA and SecureWorks for instance, the former focused on cybersecurity and the latter on managed services in security.
Amin says, “SecureWorks and RSA complement each other because the focus of SecureWorks is around cybersecurity in the Internet and IoT, whereas the focus of RSA is around infrastructure security. Further, as Security is a top priority for CIOs today, we are now in a position to offer a solutions that secured from an infrastructure point of view, from an application point of view and from the cyber point of view. RSA is also known for the security analytics part which helps predict threats before they occur and which is an essential requirement in today’s landscape.”
An overlap can be seen in the converged infrastructure space as well because Dell has built a portfolio in tandem with its Nutanix partnership whereas VCE, part of the legacy EMC Federation has been a pioneer in the hyperconvergence space.
Amin’s explantion seeks to discount the overlaps and look at the synergies. He says, “In the hyperconverged space, we have the Dell XC Series web-scale solutions powered by Nutanix meant more for VMware applications. We have the VCE V-block which can be used for other applications. So there are different use cases for both solutions.”
The greatest synergy is perhaps in the storage market where now DELL EMC become a redoubtable storage leader that covers the needs of mid-market to large enterprises.
As Amin says, “In Dell, the storage portfolio was a small part compared to EMC’s portfolio that has had leading marketshare in the region, with as much 50% market share in Africa. Post consolidation, the portfolio of legacy Dell’s storage solutions will address the lower end segments whereas we will continue to address the mid to higher end segments with the legacy EMC range of solutions. While the EMC range address typically datacenter storage requirements, the Dell suite of storage helps address lower end requirements such as storage requirements in CCTV installations. EMC could not earlier address these requirements earlier and now we can with the Compellant and lower end storage solutions of legacy Dell. Further EMC has always been known for its support to customers and coupled with an entire suite of storage solutions, we can serve our customers better.”
Post merger, it is expected that the roadmap for all products will continue as scheduled, according to Amin. Legacy EMC has had a strong focus on smart city solutions whereas legacy Dell has been strong in IoT solutions.
Amin says, “We are getting this together- the coming together of the two companies is creating roadmap for additional products. We are going to be announcing a new product in the next few weeks, which has not been on the roadmap even for both companies. That is a result of the cooperative collaboration.”
One of the moot points in the post-merger scenario is the relationship that Dell has with Microsoft on the virtualization front in the face of the fact that VMware, Microsoft’s fierce competitor on the virtualization and cloud computing fronts is now part of the Dell EMC extended family. However, VMware is expected to remain an independent and publicly traded business.
Amin says, “VMware will operate under Dell Technologies which is the holding group. Dell EMC will have full access to their technologies. Microsoft is a strategic relationship for Dell EMC and will continue to be stronger than ever. We live in a world there is competition and collaboration; so we might compete with Microsoft in some instances while collaborating on other fronts.”
The realignment in the regional operations is expected to follow. Eventually, existing customers will have one Account Manager who will the one point of contact offering access to the entire solution range.
Amin says, “The customer will not be confused- he will have access to one Account manager who will offer them access to the whole portfolio and behind the Account Manager, there will be specialized presales and specialized sales. Between the two teams in the region, we have enough competent resources so that all customers can have their own dedicated Account Managers, so that there will be a single point of focus.”
On the partner front, Amin quips that this presents an opportunity jump because with no other vendor will they have access to such an extensive portfolio of solutions. The company is expected to unveil a combined program for partners by early next year.
He adds, “This gives them the opportunity to transform their Business for the future- for instance if they were only selling infrastructure before, they can now take other solutions as well to their customers. February 1st 2017 onwards, we will have a single partner program. Having said this, there are already select partners who are already being given access to both portfolios of solutions. The partner is one of the biggest beneficiaries of this merger.”
The merger clears a great path ahead for the new entity to play off the strengths of each other and counter the slowdown in traditional areas such as PC computing for Dell and storage for EMC. How all the synergies materialize is something that we will have to wait and watch as the script plays out.

System Integrators are enhancing capabilities to address customer needs even as they cope with the transformation coming in with emerging technologies

The fast paced emergence of new technologies continues to lead transformational shifts with both those who deploy technologies and end users who are beneficiaries of the deployments. For systems integrators in the region, the challenge is to be among the first as well as be the best in taking new solutions to market even when confronting the challenges of sustaining profitable operations in the face of visible slowdown.

Some traditional solutions have seen a drop in demand and Emerging technologies have disrupted traditional go to market models, which therefore necessitates the need for an SI to adopt new solutions and new approaches among their offerings. Integrators cannot choose to ignore the change that is coming and need to substantiate their value proposition to customers.

Stephen Fernandes, Executive Vice President – TransSys Solutions, an Oracle Platinum Cloud Select Partner says, “With several new and disruptive technologies such as IoT, software defined infrastructure etc. in the market today, a systems integrator’s role has become more relevant in today’s business. System Integrators need to have a good understanding of the customer’s strategy, business and their IT requirements. Customers are keen to engage in a partnership model where the SI on-boards the best practices, proven technology and innovates to deliver value to their stakeholders.”

While it may be challenging to have all necessary expertise in-house, collaboration with other solutions providers is an approach to boost overall capabilities to deliver. Companies are increasingly adopting new technologies and solutions from multiple vendors. This consequently creates a huge opportunity for system integrators in helping integrate solutions that differ in architecture and specifications.

Stephen adds, “SIs need to continuously innovate and evolve with changing times to remain ahead of the curve. They need to help customers drive higher services levels with the right blend of technologies. SIs have definitely shifted their game plan. To offer a high value proposition to their clients, they are collaborating across the board. They partnering with Managed Service Providers as well as Cloud Providers. Interestingly, in the new collaboration model size does not matter, it is the value that each partner brings to the table. Smaller consulting players and solution providers offer deep industry domain and niche technology to the consortium. Interestingly enough there is a growing trend of larger organizations preferring smaller niche solution providers for their skills and agility to deliver.”

BFSI, government, manufacturing, and telecommunications sectors and are domains that have a healthy demand for SI services, especially in application integration to deliver better customer services. A recent Market and Markets report forecasts the global EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) market to grow at a CAGR of 10.58% during the period 2016-2020. Finesse, an SI that offers software solutions in the areas of Business Intelligence, CRM, Enterprise Content Management, Governance, Risk & Compliance and Corporate Performance Management apart from several other software applications, company is continuously seeking to bring in innovative solutions into the segments its focuses on.

Sunil Paul, COO at says, “We have expanded our portfolio to cater to demands in the newer technologies and offerings. We have been adding different dimensions to our services by integrating solutions into our portfolio for unique positioning. With in – depth knowledge, extensive training and proven experience, Finesse offers the most suitable approach to meet the client requirements.”

He elaborates, “We continue to bring innovative solutions into our portfolio including the Currency Sterilizer, Robotic Wet Signature (Remote Signature) and HiMed Terminal (for patient-doctor interaction). We offer InfoArchiving solutions to take of legacy systems and applications. We have also added Infra practice to our existing portfolio to give a wholesome solution to our customers.”

The focus on new capabilities and solutions is quite pertinent especially in domains such as information security where the threat landscape is constantly evolving.

Jude Pereira, Managing Director, Nanjgel Solutions, a leading security solutions SI, says, “We are constantly on the lookout for the latest & greatest in technologies/ vendors that can prove immediate value to our clients, so we have most certainly added several new vendors for Incident Response Platform, Application Security – not from a scanning point of view but to be able to hardening the app & securing the same, Intelligent Threat & Machine Readable Management Feeds, Risk Management, End User Threat Behavior Analysis, Endpoint Detection & Remediation etc.”

Substantial shifts
Cloud based services are gaining acceptance for the convenience they offer across sectors. And with that, there has been a sea change in the way a lot of technology is being procured as the consumption based OPEX model gains ground over the traditional CAPEX model.

Sunil says, “Some of the larger projects are being put on hold or moving slowly due to the slowdown in the region. However on the other side, the demand for OPEX model based solutions is looking up.”

The shift toward OPEX consumption models is necessitating integrators to adopt and modify their terms of engagement and agreement with customers that need to follow best practices.

Stephen says, “There is a shift in the way companies procure today, and going forward, this will continue to spiral towards a consumption based model. An upward trend towards IT outsourcing has called for SIs to adapt to best practices in service delivery. Financial modelling, improved service level agreements backed by innovation and a continuous evolution in solutions to address business outcomes is now a key factor for clients.”

He opines that the perceived slowdown in the economy has made companies to take a cautious approach towards IT investments. Most companies have planned for growth both in revenues and profitability but with reduced budgets; there is a push towards OPEX based models leveraging cloud computing.

Stephen adds, “Companies demand business value from Systems Integrators and vendors. Forward-looking companies will continue to invest after taking a strategic view of the markets. They will invest in low cost high impact initiatives driven by Mobility and Analytics. Companies are making a shift to the digital journey, mandated by both their customers as well as their competitors.”

IoT is widely acknowledged as a game changer when it becomes more pervasive in deployments.

Jude adds, “There is certainly going to be a technology explosion with the coming of IoT which is going to change the current technology landscape and the control as well as management of the same drastically. We have already made sure that whatever solutions we currently have in our portfolio are in a position to address the challenges and changes that come with the emergence of IoT & SDN technologies. We have in fact already currently engaged with some projects in the region.”

What it takes
Jude elaborates the consistent effort that an SI needs to invest in to be on top of their game in all processes from understanding customer requirements to designing, deploying and supporting.

He says, “There are several factors that we consider to maintain the lead as a provider of IT Security Solutions. The first is to ensure we have the latest and the best in terms of vendors we are associated with and the technologies we have to offer. Secondly, we need to be able to have an excellent consultant to understand, design and document the customer’s requirements as well as how we can going to provide with the most ideal solution at the best price. Third, it is necessary to have an excellent certified team that can implement and take the design document, scope of work docs etc and put all of that into implementation of the most successful and automated solution. Finally, you need to be able to support the customer on daily operation issues with zero downtime on the solution. Guess it is easy to begin all these four processes but it’s a nightmare to sustain & maintain the same levels of enthusiasm at all times.”

He adds that as a company, he believes that Nanjgel, while being one of the more successful ones in the verticals its focuses on in the region, has potential to deliver much more and has enough projects in hand to complete. Therefore, the company doesn’t see the need to diversify outside its current areas of competence.

Stephen opines that TransSys see opportunities across all key industry verticals and adds that to be relevant to the industry sector, it is important to understand the organization’s business drivers for technology procurement. Based on its past experience and expertise gained, TransSys has developed industry specific frameworks and methodology that are offered to its clients as part of services. This holistic approach, Stephen claims helps to reduce the risk associated with any implementation and support services.

He elaborates, “Opportunities could range from advisory services around enterprise architecture, to transition their on premise infrastructure and services, including data centers, to a cloud computing model. As an SI, we need to continue to innovate to ensure that we address industry vertical challenges. We have successfully delivered complex solutions across Airlines, Banking, Insurance, Retail, Real Estate and Telecom. Besides we have worked with strategic clients in other industry verticals.

Ahead on the road
With the market becoming more commoditized, SIs now have to focus on delivering value added services that enable their customers to compete in a market led by digitalization. Innovation and differentiation with higher service levels must remain top of mind for system integrators to remain relevant.

Stephen adds that training and retaining talent is a key challenge, TransSys invests significantly in training as well as in building innovative solutions that will remain the key focus for the company in the year ahead.
He elaborates, “Attracting and retaining key IT talent and skills has always been an uphill task in the SI industry. To this end, TransSys trains its staff and enables skill development across all disciplines. These investments into our employee’s development helps us to retain the best talent with industry standard skill sets. In 2016-17, we will continue to invest in innovation and transformation solutions, thereby helping our clients increase their revenues and market share while improving their profitability. We have invested in building our industry knowledge and this has helped us in successfully delivering multiple transformational solutions across various industry segments.”

Integrators such as Finesse are also making concerted efforts and investments in participating at different regional ICT expos as well as doing focused events that help them drive visibility with target base of customers about solutions they offer.

Sunil says, “We are very active in organizing regular seminars, road shows and channel orientation programmes and that puts us in a leading position along with robust client acquisition, 100 % Project delivery, awards and recognition.”

The integrator is also quite upbeat about prospects ahead, having gone ahead with expansions into different markets and with plans to further stretch out into Africa and Europe.

Sunil elaborates, “Finesse continues to grow at a 50% YoY growth rate. With our operations across the region with over 175 clients, we have a very strong presence in Oman, Bahrain & Qatar apart from the UAE. We have recently stated our KSA operations. We will be expanding to the Africa & Europe markets by next year and our staff strength should cross 400. We are expecting our revenues to touch 100 million USD by 2022.”

Nanjgel’s Jude says that while he has heard about slowdown heat that some companies are facing, his company has enough projects in hand and also has requirement for additional engineers. The SI is now looking to expand its reach into additional verticals.

He adds, “We continue to see ourselves as the pioneers at what we do and confidently say that our dominance has been proved in the Oil & Gas, Telco, Government & Civil Service (Military/ Air Force/ Army etc) we would like to expand in to the BFSI sector, transport & health care in the next couple of months to a year. Certainly we also want to be recognized for successful implementations & excellent after sales support, which we provide whole heartedly literally without any help from our vendors.”

The system integration market has enough opportunities ahead to build on as ICT continues to interweave itself as an integral Business enabler and a necessary investment, offsetting the slowdown impact substantially. The challenge therefore remain for SIs to ensure they bring to their customers solutions that are built for the future ahead.

Planview has also been positioned in the Leaders quadrant by Gartner, Inc. in the 2016 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Integrated IT Project and Portfolio Management Software Applications, Worldwide. The company’s PPM solutions include Planview Enterprise, for resource and portfolio management, and Projectplace, a work collaboration tool for small teams and enterprises.

Based in Dubai, the business hub for Middle East and Africa, Meta Byte is well positioned to leverage Planview’s solution to further elevate its ability to deliver project and portfolio management and enterprise resource planning solutions throughout the region.

“We are delighted to partner with award-winning PPM solution provider, Planview, and look forward to forging an enduring partnership to successfully meet the requirements of our customers in the region.” said Salil Dighe, founder and CEO at Meta Byte Technologies. “With Planview´s world class solutions and best practices, together with our local experience and consulting capabilities, we can help our customers capture new opportunities, by optimising their resources and financing capacity.”

In addition to selling Planview’s products and solutions, Meta Byte as a Planview Partner, will also be responsible for implementation and integration services, project management consulting, process change and best practices consulting, product development process expertise, and much more.

Thom Everett, Executive Vice President Global Sales Operations at Planview said, “This partnership will provide enterprises with a robust solution that delivers the capabilities required to manage and improve the visibility into tasks and projects of all sizes and types. Meta Byte with their ability and capability to deliver successful projects across various verticals in Middle East combined with the power of Planview solutions, will be of great benefit to those enterprises looking to transform their planning and execution capabilities.”

Jacky’s required a high-end integrated ERP solution to further elevate its standard of accurate and efficient business transactions across its subsidiaries.

“For 46 years, Jacky’s has expanded from a mail-order business to retail and corporate divisions in the region. To ensure an increase in overall operational efficiency, we have decided to consolidate our business operations across Jacky’s Retail and Jacky’s Business Solutions,” said Ashish Panjabi, COO of Jacky’s Group of Companies. “Rolling out SAP Business One for SAP HANA enables us to integrate all areas of the two subsidiaries, provide insights within different departments and boost customer satisfaction through better control over costs and enhanced profitability.”

SAP Business One works from one central database and manages all core business operations across sales, finance, purchases, inventory and delivery functions. The solution provides Jacky’s Group a precise accurate management system to overlook its retail and corporate divisions in an efficient manner.

“Jacky’s has always been at the forefront of the retail sector and takes pride in offering best customer experience. Through SAP Business One for SAP HANA, Jacky’s will be able to run smarter analytics applications, implement faster business processes and simplify data infrastructures within its subsidiaries. The SAP Business One ERP allows Jacky’s field teams easier access to business information at their convenience,” said Prashant Kulshrestha, Managing Director, WMS Middle East.

Among the key benefits that SAP Business One for SAP HANA will provide Jacky’s Group are more accurate reporting, efficient warehouse management, swifter deliveries and shorter lead times. The solution also offers easier access to real-time business data for more informed decision making and proactive management of stocks and timely customer deliveries that significantly increases customer loyalty. In addition, the SAP Business One implementation will also include a customer relationship management (CRM) and service module for Jacky’s Business Solutions. Jacky’s Retail will benefit from a new point of sale (POS) system which will be integrated with SAP Business One. A new e-commerce platform will also be integrated with the new solution later in the year.

According to the vendor that manufactures solutions in the IP Surveillance, Wireless, Switching, Storage, Security, Cloud, VoIP, Print Servers, Structured Cabling, Digital Home, 3G/4G Routers, Power over Ethernet Kit, Powerline, KVM, Structured Cabling and Digital home offerings, the company is pushing its SMB offerings in the GCC as small businesses warm up to
D-Link’s products aimed at this segment.
Sakkeer Hussain, Director – Sales and Marketing, D-Link Middle East and Africa (MEA), said D-Link is preparing to roll out the SMB Partner Programme to help partners that serve and target this segment to increase their share of business with the company.

Hussain said from a product breadth, D-Link has one of the widest offerings for channel partners of all sizes to serve across the different vertical markets. “We will be pushing our AC router range, wireless LAN offerings, controllers, IP surveillance cameras and SMB offerings,” he said.

He added that the GCC has continued to show maturity in the IT market even though spending has slowed down largely due to the drop in crude oil prices. That said, Hussain pointed out that the UAE leads in terms of the number of projects, IT spending and business in general following by Kuwait, Qatar and Oman.
Hussain noted that Saudi Arabia is by far the biggest market in the GCC especially now that the country is moving away from its dependence on oil. “The SMB sector is doing well in Saudi Arabia and we have seen that with our own networking SMB business,” he stated. “All channel stakeholders (vendors, distributors and resellers) need to be upbeat about business prospects in the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia this year, despite a slowdown in IT spending and some projects being shelved,” he said. “There are some good initiatives in these countries as governments lead with smart city initiatives and digital transformation programmes.”

Hussain said from a D-Link standpoint, the company is also seeing a lot of opportunities opening up for channel partners in North Africa as the telecoms space opens up because of deregulation. “In the SMB segment, we are seeing a lot of businesses adopting wireless networking solutions and we are seeing an increase in the adoption of these solutions and services in the hospitality, education, healthcare and organisations involved with e-learning solutions,” he noted.

Looking ahead, Hussain added that without doubt, partners that combine products and services have a better chance of earning higher recurring margins in the SMB space. He said the networking, security, managed services, storage all present prospects for savvy channel partners to explore in the GCC market and beyond. “This, with opportunities in government, education, healthcare, hospitality, SMB and SOHO, partners serving any or a combination of these verticals stand a chance to earn decent margins if they can combine their product offerings with services,” he said.

According to the vendor that makes solutions in the IP Surveillance, Wireless, Switching, Storage, Security, Cloud, VoIP, Print Servers, Structured Cabling, Digital Home, 3G/4G Routers, Power over Ethernet Kit, Powerline, KVM, Structured Cabling and Digital home offerings, the move to target systems integrators comes at a time when the SI landscape has continued to witness growth despite the tough business climate currently prevailing in the Middle East IT industry.
Sakkeer Hussain, Director – Sales and Marketing, D-Link Middle East and Africa (MEA), said as a networking solutions vendor that caters to the consumer, SOHO, SMB, midmarket and enterprise segment, D-Link is sharpening its channel schemes and working closely with systems integrators so that they are able to implement and get involved in projects that are being rolled out especially in the UAE and Qatar.
Hussain said the IT market is moving towards a more services-oriented business in the Middle East and with this transition, the company is seeing more partners embracing services or developing within their organisations services business units. He added that to successfully play in the services space, partners will have to identify their key strengths and build capabilities around that. “We have a lot of initiatives and partner programmes that we will be rolling out throughout the course of this year,” he said. “We will enhance our training schemes to SI partners to ensure that more get certified. We will also augment the pre-sales support to them that they are enabled and ready to participate in projects that are coming online in the region.”

Hussain explained that D-Link is also pushing the partner Deal Registration programme to protect partners that register their opportunities early in the sales cycle.

“We are accelerating lead generation activities for partners to win more deals in the market and have beefed up our dedicated in-house team that looks after our systems integrator partners as D-Link moves to bolster its business in the SMB, midmarket and enterprise space,” he pointed out.

Hussain explained that because the systems integration space requires channel partners to invest in skills and develop specialisation and some domain expertise, progress in the Middle East market is favouring those partners that are willing to invest in skills development, training, certification and business consultancy.

He added that D-Link has programmes that are tailored at helping systems integrator partners in pre-, post-sales support, training, consultancy and solutions design and scoping.

“For D-Link, training, certifications and regular products updates for channel partners are critical if partners are to continue staying relevant to the different markets they serve,” he said. “We value every partner that works with the company regardless of the size of the business. Through our regular training sessions, we are able to engage with partners on wide ranging issues and try to find solutions to those challenges together.”