The Future IT Summit 2016, organized by Enterprise Channels MEA and brought to you by Global Enterprise Connect, concluded on a high note at the Armani Hotel, Burj Khalifa. The two-day summit stood witness to some amazing presentations and discussions on Cloud and IoT by the keynote speakers and panelists as they engaged in some ice breaking sessions throughout the 2 days. The event hosted the top government organizations, ministries, business conglomerates and leading organizations from various verticals in the 2 days.

Setting a very non-conventional tone, the summit presented the audience the Future IT landscape of GCC countries with some thought provoking and technology rich presentations.

The first Future IT Summit was held in The Address Hotel, Downtown Dubai on 16th March 2015, it analyzed the hybrid cloud market and received a great response from the market and was applauded for exploring multiple layers of hybrid cloud along with top experts from the industry. The success of the first year led to the Future IT Summit to be held again for two days.

The sponsors for the FITS2016 were; platinum sponsor – DELL; gold sponsor- Veeam; networking partner- Intertec and HP Enterprise; Government supporting partner- Consulate General of India, Dubai Municipality, University of Ha’il, KSA, Ministry of Community Development, TRA Oman; Strategic partner- Finesse; Supporting Partner- Microsoft and Fortinet; Event Partner- Cisco, Rittal, Aruba, Emitac, Pure Storage, Oxygen, VCE, OMA Emirates, Spectrami, Unify; Official Airline Partner- Gulf Air; Hospitality Partner- Hyatt Group.

The first day of the Future IT Summit 2016 was dedicated to ‘CLOUD’, its growth, security and maturity in the market along with potential opportunities for cloud was analyzed. Future IT Landscape of UAE and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were examined with key speakers. The panel discussion on ‘Challenges and Opportunities- A Reality Check’ was a thundering one with experts like Mr Mubarik Hussain, Head of IT, Petroserv; Mr Faidy Sleiman, CIO, Waha Capital; Mr Mohammed Salman, Head of Managed Services, Emitac Enterprise Solutions; Mr Omar Akhtar, Regional Channel Manager, ME and SAARC, Veeam; Mr Loay Ahmed AlNakhal, Dubai Municipality. The panel was moderated by Mr Ashish Dass who is a leading IT industry veteran. Day 1 speakers were; Mr Mohammed Sayed, Cloud Services Leader, IBM, Middle East and Pakistan; Mr Omar Akhtar, Regional Channel Manager, ME and SAARC, Veeam; Mr Loay Ahmed AlNakhal, Dubai Municipality; Mr Hussam Juma, Director of Enterprise Architecture and Business Process, Dubai Customs; Mr Kevin Ashby, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Cloud and Enterprise, Microsoft; Dr Majed Alhaisoni, Dean of IT, University of Ha’il, KSA, Dr Mustafa H. Qurban, Consultant and CIO, KFMMC; Mr Tony Zabaneh, Channel System Engineer, Fortinet.

catalyst-award-2016The second day of Future IT Summit 2016 was packed with ‘IoT’ developments and future world of IoT. The ICT landscape of countries like Oman and India were analyzed. The speakers for the day two were Mr Venkatesh Mahadevan, Head of IT, Dubai Investments PJSC; Mr Basil Ayass, Regional Marketing Director, DELL MEA; Mr Anthony Sayers, IoT Strategist, DELL, OEM Solutions EMEA; Mr Yahya Al Mawali, ICT Advisor, TRA Oman; Mr Murat Ethem Eldem, Senior Director M2M and IoT, Etisalat; Mr Ashley Woodbridge, Senior Solutions Architect, Cisco; Dr Vivek Mansingh, Chairman of AxisCades. The thundering panel discussion was carried out by Mr Ashish Dass and the members of the discussion included Anthony Sayers, IoT Strategist, DELL, OEM Solutions EMEA; Mr Ajay Rathi, Director of IT, Meeras Holding; Mr Kumar Prasoon, CIO, Safeer Group; Mr Firoz Kumar Rauta, Head of IT, Skyline University; Mr Rusty Bruns, CIO of American University of Kuwait; Dr Hani Al-Zaid, Consultant and CIO, The Saudi Shura Council, KSA; Mr Nasser Mustafa, MD Channels, Alliances, BD & Ventures, MENAT, GE Digital.

In conjunction with the summit, the most awaited Catalyst Awards was held on the 7th April 2016, Enterprise Channels MEA values individuals and believe in awarding their capabilities and dedication to the efforts they put in project after project. Catalyst Awards was pioneered by Enterprise Channels MEA and which is a novel and one of its kind award to honor individuals.

CATALYST CIO AWARDS

CATALYST CIO IN OIL & GAS MUBARIK HUSSAIN, HEAD OF IT, PETROSERV,
CATALYST CIO AVIATION JASSIM HAJI, DIRECTOR OF IT, GULF AIR
CATALYST CIO CIVIL AVIATION – UAE MOHAMMED JAMEELUDDIN, GCAA
CATALYST CIO HEALTHCARE_KSA DR. MUSTAFA QURBAN,
CATALYST CIO HEALTHCARE_KSA ABUDLELAH ALMAYMAN, SAHMC
CATALYST CIO HEALTHCARE_UAE HASNAIN JUZER, SAUDI GERMAN HOSPITAL,
CATALYST CIO TELECOM SABRI YEHYA, ETISALAT
CATALYST CIO RETAIL VENKATESH MAHADEVAN, DUBAI INVESTMENTS PJSC
CATALYST CIO RETAIL KUMAR PRASOON, SAFEER GROUP
CATALYST CIO BANKING & FINANCE_UAE FADY SLEIMAN, WAHA CAPITAL
CATALYST CIO BANKING & FINANCE_KUWAIT FAISAL ALNAIBARI, KUWAIT CREDIT BANK
CATALYST CIO EDUCATION_UAE Dr. FIROJ RAUTA, SKYLINE UNIVERSITY
CATALYST CIO EDUCATION_KSA Dr. MAJED ALHAISONI, UOH
CATALYST CIO REAL ESTATE_INFRASRTUCTURE AJAY RATHI, MERAAS HOLDING
CATALYST CIO REAL ESTATE_RESEDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL SEBASTIAN SAMUEL, AW ROSTAMANI GROUP
CATALYST CIO REAL ESTATE MARIO FOSTER, AL NABOODAH GROUP
CATALYST CIO HOSPITALITY ROBIN KURIAN, SHERATON
CATALYST CIO GOVERNMENT_UAE HUSSAM JUMA, DUBAI CUSTOMS
CATALYST CIO GOVERNMENT – KSA Dr.HANI AL ZAID, THE SAUDI SHURA COUNCIL
IT MAN OF THE YEAR_KSA DR.EISA RAWAS, MINISTRY OF HAJJ
IT MAN OF THE YEAR_QATAR TREVOR MOORE, QATAR UNIVERSITY
IT MAN OF THE YEAR_OMAN YAHYA AL MAWALI, TRA OMAN
IT MAN OF THE YEAR_BAHRAIN ABDULLAH NASSER, BAHRAIN SHURA COUNCIL
IT MAN OF THE YEAR_UAE MOHAMMED ALZAFFIN, DUBAI MUNICIPALITY
IT MAN OF THE YEAR_INDIA Dr. VIVEK MANSINGH, CHAIRMAN, AXISCADES

CATALYST VENDOR AWARDS 2016

BRANDING MELITA RODRIGUES, All 4 one planners – OMA EMIRATES
CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS JITENDRA BULANI, Manager PR (Global) in Sophos
VISIONARY MARKETER ANKUSH MEHRA, Marketing Manager, SAGE
INTEGRATED MARKETER DIA HAMDAN, Regional Marketing Manager, TPLINK
ENTERPRISE MARKETING_SECURITY MAYA ZAKHOUR, Channel Director, Fortinet
ENTERPRISE MARKETING_STORAGE BINU THOMAS, DGB, PC and Client services, TOSHIBA
ENTERPRISE MARKETING_NETWORKING MANISH BHARDWAJ, Senior Marketing manager, Middle East and Turkey, ARUBA
ENTERPRISE MARKETING_INFRASTRUCTURE MARWA ABDULWAHED, VCE
EMERGING MARKETER BASEM AL BANNA, Country Manager Qatar, Jordon and Lebanon, SOPHOS
STRATEGIC MARKETING HASSAN HAMADANI, Senior Regional Marketing Manager, PURE STORAGE
INNOVATIVE MARKETING SANTOSH VARGHESE, General Manager, MEA Digital products and services, TOSHIBA
SALES- EMERGING MARKET NEHA CHAUHAN, Business Development Manager, REDINGTON
PRE SALES KHWAJA SAIFUDDIN, Senior Sales Director, Western Digital
ENTERPRISE SALES SHAMS HASAN, Enterprise Product Manager, DELL
PROJECT MANAGER ZUBAIR SKIREDJ, CIO, SEJEL TECHNOLOGY
MARKETING TRANSFORMATION ENABLER MALLIKA SHARMA, Marketing and Alliance Manager, EMEA 3IINFOTECH
MARKETER OF THE YEAR BASIL AYASS, Regional Marketing Director, DELL

CATALYST CHANNEL AWARDS 2016

BRANDING MARY AJI, Marketing Director, STARLINK
CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS RESHMA YESODHARAN, Channel Marketing Manager, COMGUARD
VISIONARY MARKETER RANIA AL-KHATIB, Regional marketing manager, MINDWARE
INTEGRATED MARKETER POURNAMI NAIR, Strategic alliance, QA and Group marketing manager, SPECTRUM GROUP
ENTERPRISE MARKETING_SECURITY ALEXANDRA Pisetskaya , Marketing Manager, HELP AG
ENTERPRISE MARKETING_STORAGE MANJU MATHEW, Marketing manager, STORIT
ENTERPRISE MARKETING_MOBILITY ROHAN DANIEL NAIR, Strategic Marketing director, ME and Africa, OXYGEN
NICHE MARKETING ASHUTOSH BARONIA, Strategic Marketing Manager, SPECTRAMI
STRATEGIC MARKETING BASAK YOLGECTI, Marketing Manager, ME and SAARC, VEEAM SOFTWARE
INNOVATIVE MARKETING BHARATI SURESH, Marketing Manager, EMITAC ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS
SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION SAMER DLIKAN, Senior Solution Architect, FINESSE
ENTERPRISE SALES RANJITH KAIPADDA, STORIT
CHANNEL SALES_MOBILITY HEMAYUN BAZAZ, Regional Manager Channel Sales, ARUBA
APPLICATION SALES MANAGER HIREN BHATIA, Senior Business development manager, FINESSE
PRE SALES MANJUNATH SUBRAMANYAM, EMITAC ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS
SALES- EMERGING MARKET GREGG PETERSEN, Regional Sales director, VEEAM
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING LATIF SHEIHK, Account Manager – Business Development, FINESSE

Tushar Sahoo, Managing Director, Enterprise Channels MEA said, “We are delighted for the response we received for Future IT Summit 2016. We had a fantastic array of expert and eminent speakers and experienced panelists along with enthusiastic delegates. Such events make us more confident and clear about the level of trust the IT market has in us, aim to bring to limelight various aspects of ICT and scrutinize them with professionals. I would say Future IT Summit is a good learning platform and Catalyst Awards is a way to award talents who explore and put to use IT solutions in the best of their organization’s interest.”

Mr Ronak Samantaray, Director of Marketing, Enterprise Channels MEA said, “This is indeed an exciting event for us and we always look forward to bring the best talents from the industry and put forth discussions that bring value to the IT fraternity, the end users and the region collectively. We are thankful to everyone who was a part of the event and we look forward to our other events like GEC open golf tournament and GEC awards too. I would like to thank our sponsors, speakers and participants for making this event a big success.”