iSTYLE opens Pop-Up in Beirut and starts new chapter in the growth of the brand

iSTYLE has opened a new, small Pop-Up retail site in Beirut. The iSTYLE Pop-Up, which opened on July 5, 2022 in the ABC Mall in Achrafieh, is a small retail unit of around 22sqm with an important emphasis on selling and showing the latest Apple products with energy and flair.

Architect Marine Bustros, founder of mb Design Studios, has created the vision for the new iSTYLE Pop-Up and optimised the space so it can offer the full Apple experience in a smaller than usual footprint. The new brand is an important strategic move for iSTYLE. According to Edmond Hamati, iStyle Business Development Manager for Lebanon and Morocco, the company devised the new format as a way to explore smaller business locations and different customer demographics.

The new format is also a chance to try to explore different approaches to engage with customers. “The people we are hiring for iSTYLE Pop-Up are young and energetic,” explained Edmond Hamati. “It’s a shop for everyone, where there is lots of energy and music in store. Because of its small space concept, it makes it possible for iSTYLE to be everywhere very quickly. It’s a good way to create more awareness of iSTYLE and the Apple brand.”

More about iSTYLE

iSTYLE, part of the Midis Group, is the largest Apple Premium Reseller network in the Middle East and Central and Eastern Europe. Through its 70+ retail and online stores, iSTYLE offers the full range of Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch and Apple TV along with an impressive but carefully selected portfolio of accessories and software.

MDSap convene CFO Agenda 2022 welcoming CFOs from around Turkey to discuss digital agendas and investment plans

MDSap recently organized a CFO Agenda event inviting key CFOs from around Turkey to discuss their digital agenda and investment plans, as well as MDSap and Wolters Kluwer’s solutions for CFO offices. The CFO Agenda, organized in cooperation with MDSap, Wolters Kluwer and Fast Company, took place at the Wyndham Grand Hotel, Istanbul, on June 28.

Fast Company Director, Rauf Ateş, made the opening speech while MDSap Turkey General Manager Nesrin Demirci told the assembled CFOs that MDSap has operated in Turkey since 1999 with 12 offices in the Middle East, Turkey and Central Europe. The company serves more than 300 leading institutions. MDSap pre-sales manager, Ozan Azbazdar, shared a digital agenda for CFOs and the trends driving the modernization of finance.

In her presentation, Nesrin Demerci talked about Wolters Kluwer, a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services for the health, tax & accounting, governance, risk & compliance, and legal & regulatory sectors. Wolters Kluwer, through its CCH® Tagetik expert solution, provides the strategic and financial intelligence platform that enables CFOs and their peers to propel their strategy with faster and better-informed decisions. The proven Corporate Performance Management (CPM) solution streamlines financial close & consolidation, integrated business planning, and regulatory compliance. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 19,200 people worldwide.

MDSap Turkey Presales Manager Ozan Azbazdar listed what he sees as the priorities of CFOs for 2022 as follows:

• The ability to change the budget at any time and to respond quickly to change.
• Bringing employees to digital transformation competence.
• Institutional dissemination of digitalization.

He also added that CCH® Tagetik offers ready-made solutions to its customers for Environment, Sustainability and Management (ESG) reporting, which many professionals see as the hottest topic of the coming years. CCH® Tagetik ESG & Sustainability software is a solution that addresses evolving ESG regulations, and streamlines data collection, calculation, and KPI disclosure. The software helps organizations gain control, meet compliance requirements, and improve ESG scores while supporting strategic, sustainable growth.

CFO’s who participated in the event also shared their approaches and investment plans for technology during the event. In general, all CFOs talked about the importance of digitalization and the steps they have taken in this area as CFO officers. In feedback, they mentioned that they had to be more dynamic due to fluctuations in exchange rates. For many companies, ESG, with sustainability at the core, is one of the most important agenda items.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise operated by Selectium partnered with Intel to host MD Tech Forum in Lagos

Hewlett Packard Enterprise operated by Selectium (Nigeria) partnered with Intel to host an MD Tech Forum in Lagos, Nigeria on June 28, 2022. The event, titled ‘Building a Hybrid Digital Workplace for Financial Services’, attracted top IT professionals from the Financial Service industry and introduced some of the latest radical and innovative technologies available for business development.

The all-day interactive session was developed to introduce IT and FSI professionals to HPE and Intel’s secure and flexible VDI as a service solution that has immense benefits such as:
simple deployment and management; the ability to drive speed, agility, and economics; plentiful support for a full range of users; reduced risk of data exposure; and importantly, payment for only the resources consumed, obviously one of the key advantages of SaaS.

Presentations were made by Rita Amuchienwa, Country Account Executive for West Africa, Intel Corporation, alongside Oludare Ishola, Sales Account Manager FSI, Hewlett Packard Enterprise operated by Selectium. Others presenting were Koketso Letoaba, Intel Technical Specialist, and Ahmed Al-Jeshi, Regional Director, HPC & AI – Middle East, Turkey and Africa at Intel.

In the interactive sessions, participants were introduced to the benefits of embracing Hybrid Workplace Solutions, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) as well as High-Performance Computing (HPC) and how this would enable the Financial Service industry tap into the expertise of secure remote working.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise operated by Selectium partners at IDC West Africa CIO Summit 2022

Hewlett Packard Enterprise operated by Selectium Nigeria was a Technology Focus Group Partner at the IDC West Africa CIO Summit 2022 which took place on June 16 at the The Four Points by Sheraton hotel in Lagos, Nigeria.

The International Data Corporation (IDC) CIO Summit aimed to convene, collaborate, connect, and inspire CIO’s in the region as the industry explores accelerating the journey to a Digital-First World.
Now in its 15th year, the IDC’s CIO Summit Series is the foremost gathering of CIOs, providing a number of platforms for sharing ideas and advisory services to better assist C-suite leaders in their jobs, as well as establishing a peer-to-peer community.

The Summit explored the country’s changing technology landscape and speakers presented strategies to help organizations evolve into digitally resilient enterprises and secure their rightful place in the ‘Next Normal’. Selectium’s Country Manager (Nigeria), Ifeyinwa Kojo, was in attendance as a speaker and gave a presentation on ‘The Cloud that Comes to You.’

“Digital Transformation is the Future and the Future is Now,” said Ifeyinwa Kojo as part of her presentation. “As organisations think through the most successful strategy to take the journey to the Cloud, Hewlett Packard Enterprise operated by Selectium is changing the narrative by Bringing The Cloud to You. With HPE Greenlake – Selectium Programme, you can achieve better metrics in simplicity, security, accessibility, high performance, flexibility and reduced cost. We bring you the Cloud, where you want it, how you want it, when you want it and at the cost you want it…”

This year’s event featured three core sessions and panel discussions on:

• From Secure to Trusted: A Journey to Digital Leadership, Cloud Computing.
• The Springboard for Digital Transformation.
• The Convergence of 5G, IOT and Edge: Preparing for a Digital Quantum Leap (TBC).

On the Summit website, IDC summed up the digital transformation challenges in the country in this way – “As the definition of the New Normal continues to evolve, so does the shape of tomorrow’s digital enterprise. Organizations are digitally adapting as they encounter unprecedented challenges and a long road to recovery, with acceleration and resiliency emerging as key differentiators in a changing world.”

Apcom in Adriatic region welcomes first Mono Apple Authorized Reseller store in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Apcom in Adriatic partner AT Store opened their first Mono Apple Authorized Reseller in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on June 4 in Sarajevo. The new store was opened in Sarajevo Shopping Centre, following the premiere of two AAR stores in Sarajevo and Banja Luka.

A MAAR point of sale is typically smaller in size than the full-sized Apple Authorized Reseller site, while still having every element set by Apple store guidelines. Apcom in Adriatic is AT Store’s distributor as well as offering support in everyday operations and business development. 

“We are here to continuously progress and to enable the very best Apple experience for our customers. The new retail store in Sarajevo is designed to Apple standards, and keeps us on track to improve our offerings, to deliver the best customer experience, and to be the preferred Apple leader in the market” said Admir Tursum, Executive Director of AT Store.

“We are very proud about the opening of the first Mono Apple Authorized Reseller store in Bosnia in Herzegovina. On the opening day, we saw a big queue of people waiting in line to buy their new Apple devices. This is a milestone for BiH Apple business development and a milestone for MAAR expansion in the region” said Špela Veselko, Regional APR Assistant at Apcom.

More about Apcom in Adriatic Region

Apcom in Adriatic Region is an Apple Authorized Distributor in Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, and Bosnia & Herzegovina.

MDS Site & Power granted a fourth ISO Certification in Business Continuity Management Systems

MDS Site & Power has been granted a fourth ISO Certification in Business Continuity Management Systems (BCMS) 22301:2019. This important ISO standard shows that the company has demonstrated and understands the key processes before, during and after an incident or a disaster.

In September 2021 the company achieved two other key ISO standards, to add to their existing ISO 9001 (Quality management) mark.

The aim of the BCMS standard, in more detail, is to protect people, property and company assets. Organizations oftentimes misjudge the importance of business continuity management – MDS Site and Power Management is eager and committed to ensure that it will be embedded into the company’s culture.

“It was achieved through teamwork and effort from all departments working together and sharing critical information to come up with a plan to achieve the certification and the documentation necessary to meet the standards” said Khaled Nehme, Projects Director for MDS Site and Power.

“Obtaining this new standard is another company milestone that we can be proud of as an organization, it helps us acquire new knowledge and advantage moving forwards across all our lines of business. ISO 22301:2019 will be implemented and maintained across the organization, not only as a requirement but as part of the organization’s culture” added Khaled Nehme.

More about MDS Site & Power

MDS Site & Power has been operating in the UAE since 1981. It provides data center activities and turnkey power projects for oil and gas in addition to telecom and utilities. MDS S&P data center infrastructure specialists have skills that range from consultancy and design to final implementation and training. Facility management and services include consultancy, design, supply, installation and maintenance with a team that has an engineering ratio of 90% with customer satisfaction as its main objective.

Mindware Launches Azure ISV Hub Program

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, June 7, 2022 – Building on its status as a Microsoft Gold partner, Mindware, one of the leading Value-Added Distributors (VADs) in the Middle East and Africa, today announced the launch of its ‘Azure ISV Hub Program’. The initiative provides independent software vendors (ISVs), including young start-ups or any enterprise having a unique intellectual property, with a go-to-market strategy and a pool of other benefits that can be unlocked when their solutions are powered on Microsoft Azure.

To commemorate the launch, Mindware has created an immersive educational video that provides further insights into the program.

Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Silmi Khanfir, Director of Cloud & XaaS at Mindware commented “The intention of the Hub Program is to help purpose-driven ISVs or as we call them, technology partners, save time and money, become more agile and grow their business. The focus is on identifying and distinguishing individual partner needs and providing strategic support in sales, technical and business enablement. By hosting their apps on the Azure marketplace, ISVs get the widest reach and have access to the entire ecosystem of Microsoft partners and end-customers. In addition, if the solutions attain the ‘IP Co-Sell’ status, then Microsoft raises visibility of the solution within its established ecosystem of sellers and encourages collaborative co-selling in order to extend reach, expand deals and accelerate customer wins.”

Azure’s global infrastructure includes 60+ regions and is growing fast. It has a significant set of security and privacy certifications and more than 90 compliance offerings. With 3,500 security experts monitoring to safeguard data and a billion dollars a year spent on security alone, Azure is one of the most trusted cloud Platforms.

ISVs interested in starting their journey can register their interest on Mindware’s portal https://onlinemindware.net/microsoft-isv/ and get ready insights from the company’s video explaining about complimentary starter benefits of up to US$ 45,000.

“Scaling their unique IP from business idea to local-dominance, and then, to global footprint requires ISVs to have a technology partnership that supports them throughout the journey. Through the hub program, we enable our technology partners to take the first step to leveraging the cloud as the hypergrowth engine for their IP, and then help them graduate from each step to the next on their roadmap to success” concluded Silmi Khanfir.

More about Mindware

As one of the leading distributors of the finest IT products in the Middle East and Africa, Mindware’s extensive portfolio includes top-class global brands reaching out to over 4,000 partners. Mindware’s comprehensive offering includes a selection of infrastructure, networking, security, and storage leading brands. As part of its VAD methodology, Mindware also offers supplementary value-added services to its reselling partners including pre-sales consultancy, implementation services, local technical support, marketing enablement tools, and multiple channel-enabling programs. Headquartered in Dubai UAE since 1991, Mindware has been uncompromisingly serving its customers for more than three decades.

MDS Site & Power celebrates successful completion of major Modular Data Center in Northern Emirates

MDS Site & Power has celebrated the successful completion of their major Modular Data Center project in Northern Emirates for a telecoms customer after a certificate of completion was issued by the Municipality on May 25, 2022.  

The pre-fabricated MDC (Modular Data Center) was delivered as a turn-key solution, with MDS Site & Power supplying, installing and commissioning all the key data center components such as LV panels, CRAC units, UPS, PDUs, rectifiers, batteries, a raised floor, DCiM, BMS, CCTV, access control, fire system, and generators.

MDS Site & Power also secured all the necessary official approvals from the initial building permit to the final completion certificate. All the data center modules were fabricated, installed and commissioned by the MDS Site & Power factory, known as 2i, in Ras Al Khaymah, UAE.

The completed MDC has been certified as a Tier III design and facility by the Uptime Institute. The whole project was completed within eight months of obtaining the building permit, which included all the civil works such as trenches, foundations, and the substation building.

Earlier this year MDS Site & Power won the Leviton Strategic Data Center Partner Award 2022, recognizing the company’s continuous collaboration on prestigious projects with the American company.

More about MDS Site & Power

MDS Site & Power has been operating in the UAE since 1981. It provides data center activities and turnkey power projects for oil and gas in addition to telecom and utilities. MDS S&P data center infrastructure specialists have skills that range from consultancy and design to final implementation and training. Facility management and services include consultancy, design, supply, installation and maintenance with a team that has an engineering ratio of 90% with customer satisfaction as its main objective.

iSTYLE opens new Apple mono-brand point of sale at Szeged

iSTYLE recently opened a new mono-brand Apple point of sale at Szeged in Hungary, the third iSTYLE store of this kind in the country and the ninth within the region. This is also the first iSTYLE presence in Szeged, the third largest city of Hungary, expanding iSTYLE’s footprint now to the four major cities in Hungary.

At the opening at 9am on May 13, customers were welcomed into the new retail space with great offers for Apple products and accessories. On top of that, the first fifty customers were guaranteed a prize with their purchase and all of them could register to win an Apple Watch.

The new point of sale is 65sqm, with the core space and look and feel designed by Apple. As with larger AAR iSTYLE sites, store consultants are trained to the highest standards.

iSTYLE has been opening mono-brand point of sale units for the last two years. The first store of this kind was opened on February 2020, in Cluj, Romania. Stores in Bulgaria, Hungary and Macedonia followed, soon gathering over 600 000 visitors.

More about iSTYLE

iSTYLE, part of the Midis Group, is the largest Apple Premium Reseller network in the Middle East and Central and Eastern Europe and through its 53 retail and online stores, iSTYLE offers the full range of Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch and Apple TV along with an impressive but carefully selected portfolio of accessories and software.

MDSAP was Gold Sponsor at the Middle East Banking Innovation Summit – MEBIS – in Dubai

MDSap was a Gold Sponsor of the twelfth Middle East Banking Innovation Summit – MEBIS – in Dubai, on May 25 – 26 2022 at Le Méridien Dubai Conference Centre, UAE. Taking place face-to-face, the 12th edition of the Middle East Banking Innovation Summit 2022 brought together the top players in the banking and financial services industries for an in-depth look into the latest technologies and digital developments that are transforming the industry.

According to the organizers’ website, MEBIS has a keen focus on the MENA region, and with the UAE centrally positioned as a true financial hub, the event looked at how banks in the Middle East are adapting to the ever-changing digital landscape and innovating with technology in the financial services industry.

Ilker Tasdemir, Director of Intelligent Enterprise at MDSap Tech, spoke alongside HE Sameh AL Qubaisi, Director General – Economic Affairs, Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, in a morning keynote entitled ‘Global Insights with Local contexts – Fostering Digital Culture, Rethinking the Traditional Banking Model.’

Ilker Tasdemir also took part in a ‘fireside chat’ with Basma Rady – Head of Data Science and Advanced Analytics Hub at the Central Bank of Egypt. Titled ‘Fostering Analytical Culture – Rethinking the Traditional Banking Business Model,’ Ilker and Basma discussed a range of horizon-scanning subjects, including exploring use cases or examples of how analytics or AI has disrupted a particular project or initiative at the Bank. In the chat, among many other leading themes, they also discussed how all users of data in the organization (data scientists, data stewards, data engineers, analytics professionals & business users) could collaborate and unlock and impart value for business.

MDSap had an extensive exhibition stand and team members were present to explore key solutions that can offer transformational opportunities for the banking sector. These included Enterprise Risk Management; Strategy Management; Human Experience Management; Financial Planning and Consolidation; Data Management/Analytics; Group Financial Reporting & Disclosures and finally, Intelligent Enterprise.

More about MDSap

Mindware appointed as a VAD by Reichle & De-Massari for the Gulf and Levant regions

Mindware has announced that it has been appointed as a Value-Added Distributor (VAD) by Reichle & De-Massari (R&M) for the Gulf and Levant regions. Mindware will promote and distribute the vendor’s innovative cabling systems for high-end data and communication networks.

R&M is a top tier solution provider in the structured cabling industry and a smart innovator in data centre, LAN and telecom verticals. The company’s large portfolio of state-of-the-art solutions is based on well-established Swiss quality standards.  R&M is renowned for its agility in customizing solutions in response to various customer needs, in contrast to just selling off-the-shelf products. It’s globally distributed network of production plants and competence centres provides consistent and stable customer support.

Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Nicholas Argyrides, General Manager – Gulf at Mindware, said “R&M is a leading global cabling and connectivity solution provider and the company’s diversified and high-quality solutions perfectly complement Mindware’s portfolio. We are confident that Mindware’s wide market coverage through our reseller network, well-established supply chain system, and long-standing experience in distribution strategies are key to supporting the growth strategy of R&M in the region.”

R&M will support Mindware in providing turnkey technology solutions to the market, especially in the data centre segment. The vendor’s renowned, state-of-the art offerings will be now made available across the region via Mindware’s seven warehousing hubs. The distributor and their reselling partners will have access to an extensive database of knowledge, including the ability to enrol in the R&M Academy, providing a variety of courses covering various technology topics in different verticals. The vendor will also provide international and local support of senior technical consultants and technical engineers.

“Serving the channel for more than three decades, Mindware today enjoys a top position in the enterprise software and hardware distribution in the Middle East. We hope that this is the beginning of a long term, mutually beneficial partnership that will fuel the growth of R&M and Mindware in the region,” concluded Mr. Nabil Khalil, Executive Vice President, Middle East, Turkey and Africa at R&M.

Apcom partners with One, the leading Telco in Montenegro, to launch Apple Watch

Apcom the major Apple Authorized Distributor in Eastern Europe, recently partnered with One, a market-leading telco company in Montenegro, to introduce the Apple Watch to the market.

Representatives of One, which is part of the Hungarian 4iG group, announced the long-awaited device via a national marketing campaign to support the start of sales. With TV, digital and POS communication channels, the launch campaign resulted with many iPhone customers extending their user experience to Apple Watch.

The successful launch is just one part of the continuing partnership between Apcom and One to develop new projects and products that will complete Apple’s portfolio within the One network.

“Partnership with One has once again proved that we can achieve any goal with the right support and mutual understanding and that we are moving at an even stronger pace towards future challenges and successes” said Nastja Šimunić, Senior Regional Carrier Account Executive for Apcom in Adriatic.

More about One

One is a brand recently introduced in Montenegro and is the market leader mobile operator in the country. In 2020 and 2021 the company won the “BEST IN TEST” award for its independent and comparative measurement of the quality of mobile networks in Montenegro, conducted by UMLAUT. One became the best mobile operator in terms of overall performance and mobile internet coverage.

More about Apcom

Apcom is an Apple Authorized Distributor in Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Kosovo.

BlackBerry partners with Midis Group to drive growth in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa

WATERLOO, ONTARIO and DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – May 11, 2022 – BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) today announced that it has entered into a partnership with Midis Group to expand its go-to-market sales motion across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

A leading technology company, with a network of over 170 affiliates and partners across these markets, Midis Group will focus on driving growth for BlackBerry’s Cybersecurity business unit. Midis Group will leverage its on-the-ground expertise, market knowledge, and regional infrastructure to establish BlackBerry-branded local offices focused on representing BlackBerry’s comprehensive portfolio of unified endpoint management solutions and next-generation, AI-based Cylance® cybersecurity products.

“BlackBerry has always stood for security, trust, and innovation,” said John Chen, Executive Chairman and CEO of BlackBerry. “As a leading provider of cybersecurity products and solutions to governments, large enterprises, and small and medium businesses around the world, we are pleased to partner with Midis Group to further expand our business across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In the face of increasingly frequent cyberattack attempts and intensifying regulatory scrutiny, BlackBerry is committed to helping organizations build up their cybersecurity capabilities and prepare for, prevent, detect, and respond to cyber threats.”

Comprised of more than 5,000 employees who have partnered with the largest firms in the world, Midis Group excels at providing a deep bench of expertise, local infrastructure, and successful execution. Midis Group’s experience in delivering advanced IT products and solutions to their customers has benefited their clients for over 50 years.

“Working together with BlackBerry, Midis Group will offer a wide and deep portfolio of endpoint management and cybersecurity solutions to help our clients keep their employees connected and secure, while also ensuring the highest level of threat prevention and protection across their IT infrastructure,” said Nabil Bustros, Chairman and CEO of the Midis Group.  Rob Eckelmann, Midis Advisory Board Chair, added, “We are proud once again to represent a leading global technology firm, support the business goals of our customers, and deliver both world-class solutions and proven results.”

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world. The company secures more than 500M endpoints including over 195M vehicles.  Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company leverages AI and machine learning to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety and data privacy solutions, and is a leader in the areas of endpoint management, endpoint security, encryption, and embedded systems. BlackBerry’s vision is clear – to secure a connected future you can trust.

About Midis Group

With more than 5000 professionals, some 100 of the world’s leading technology vendors, and a solid 50-year track record of performance and reliability, the Midis Group is a multinational organization comprised of over 170 companies across Europe, Middle East and Africa.

The group is known for its advanced offering of managed IT services and consultancy, system integration, cloud and data center capabilities and infrastructure, software, and hardware solutions, as well as technology distribution and retail. The Midis Group was named in 2006 as one of the World Economic Forum’s initial 100 Global Growth Companies.

K-tuin achieves ‘Agente Digitalizador’ status in the EU-funded Spanish government ‘Kit Digital’ scheme

K-tuin has earned certification as an ‘Agente Digitalizador’ in the European Union-funded Spanish government scheme entitled ‘Kit Digital.’ The news was announced by Red.es, an agency attached to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation.

As part of the initiative, the European Union is distributing funds called ‘Next Generation EU’ that member states must use to achieve objectives such as the digitization of small and medium companies. For this purpose, the Spanish government launched the ‘Kit Digital’ campaign which is an initiative to drive these funds to companies that need them.

Beneficiary companies must have between 1 and 49 employees and can get up to €12,000 to use in software solutions/services within categories such as: Cybersecurity, Virtual Office, Process Management, Web Pages, E-commerce and Social Network Management among others.

Only trusted, certified Digitalizer Agents, or Agente Digitalizador, can offer these subsidized services and solutions to companies. Client businesses buy IT and technology services from the Agente Digitalizador and they then are refunded their investment. To win the certification, K-tuin needed to meet a series of requirements in addition to having software and service solutions that fit with the Red.es and Government requirements.

In response to the opportunity, the K-tuin B2B department developed a special service and solution Channel called “K-tuin Go Digital,” a dynamic campaign aimed at offering selected services to companies taking advantage of the EU subsidies.

K-tuin are offering four core solutions to businesses with Digital Transformation needs: Virtual Office and collaboration in the cloud, Cybersecurity, Secure Communications and Expense Management. As long as the client businesses meet certain requirements they can reclaim 100% of the cost from the Spanish Government.

More about K-tuin

K-tuin was founded in 1994 by Juan Fabre. The first store opened in Madrid and dozens of openings followed. K-tuin was the first Spanish company to become an Apple Premium Reseller, the highest classification among Apple Resellers. The company was acquired by Midis Group in December 2018.

In June 2021 Spanish Apple Premium Resellers Microgestio and Goldenmac signed an agreement with K-tuin to work together to build and strengthen their collective market across Spain. The combined businesses represent approximately 50% of the Apple Premium Reseller market in Spain. Read more about that announcement here.

iSTYLE opens new Apple Premium Reseller store in Bratislava

iSTYLE has opened a brand-new Apple Premium Reseller retail site in the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava. At the grand opening, the iSTYLE team welcomed buyers with special prices for core products like MacBook Air and iPhone 12, and every customer had the chance to enter a contest for a MacBook prize.

The new store, in the Central shopping center at Metodova 6, has 200 square meters of space in total and 167 square meters of dedicated retail space. The site opened to Apple fans on April 1, 2022 and is a relocation from an old store to the new premises.

The new site, double the size of the older location, has a team of six enthusiastic retail experts led by store manager, Štefan Lupták all ready to serve customers’ needs and requests.

iStyle stores offer customers the opportunity to meet and experiment with Apple’s innovative products and solutions in the most appropriate environment. Apple fans can enjoy the full range of Apple products and accessories along with the service and advice of experts in the store.

More about iSTYLE in Slovakia

iSTYLE in Slovakia currently operates three stores, two in Bratislava and one in Trenčín. iSTYLE has been operating in Slovakia since 2012, providing customers with service and products of the highest quality through an excellent team of certified, trained Apple standards specialists.

Apcom welcomes new partnerships in Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia & Herzegovina

Apcom in the Adriatic region has announced new partnerships with two key Eastern European IT retailers: Tehno Mag, with networks of stores in Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH), and Tehnomedia, with retail outlets sites across Serbia.

“Apcom is excited these new partners have joined our Apple Authorised Reseller channel in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. We look forward to growing the business further together with them,” said Branka Čander, General Manager of Apcom in the Adriatic region.

One of the significant new partnerships is with Tehno Mag. The company was established in 1998 and is present in two countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, with headquarters in Orašje in BiH. Today Tehno Mag employs over 100 people in both countries with the united vision to develop a winning network of customers and suppliers.

Apcom also announced a major new partnership with Tehnomedia. “We are excited about our future cooperation with the Apcom team and the Apple brand. We are looking forward to all the projects we will be able to implement,” said a spokesperson for Tehnomedia.

The company was founded in 2001 in Serbia and is today recognized as one of the leaders in the field of white goods, IT equipment, and household appliances, with more than 45,000 different products from renowned manufacturers. The Tehnomedia retail network extends to 60 stores in 37 cities around Serbia

More about Apcom

Apcom is an Apple Authorized Distributor in Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania and Kosovo.

MicroStrategy and MAGNOOS partnership to expand Business Intelligence footprint in MEA

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March, 2022 – MicroStrategy (Nasdaq: MSTR), the largest independent publicly-traded business intelligence company, today announced a strategic partnership with MAGNOOS Information Systems, the leading Software Value Added Reseller in the Middle East and Africa region and part of the Midis Group. This partnership centers on developing platform-neutral analytics driven solutions to help organizations consume business insights with ease and facilitate quick decision-making with actionable intelligence.

According to IDC, spending on Big Data analytics is expected to grow by 8.1% in 2022 to reach USD 3 billion in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa regions. This statistic reinforces regional organizations’ interest in powering their operations, customer engagement processes, and overall business growth with technologies driven by data and analytics.

MicroStrategy makes this process simpler and easier with its industry-first HyperIntelligence® solution. The cutting-edge solution directly injects Artificial Intelligence and analytics capabilities into third-party business platforms such as Oracle & SAP ERP Suite, IBM Maximo, Microsoft Dynamics and other platforms used by organizations. With zero-clicks required, intelligence on customers, products, customer journeys, preferences etc., is fed directly into applications and devices used by employees in the form of simple cards.

For example, a healthcare professional needs to manage patient queries physically and virtually, in addition, address emails flooding their inbox. With time constraints becoming a daily challenge, responding to queries swiftly or doing follow-ups is becoming increasingly difficult. Questions like how long has an individual been a patient of the clinic? What is his patient history? When should the patient come for a check-up? Answers to these questions require the healthcare professional to toggle between various applications and dashboards and maybe send emails to various departments requesting certain information.

HyperIntelligence® eliminates all these steps and allows the healthcare professional to hover over a keyword such as a patient’s name on their web application or even in an email and gain real-time insights with zero clicks. Essential intelligence is combined and delivered in a card format that will pop up on the screen and the card will contain all the required information.  Furthermore, the user can drill down on any of this card information in a seamless fashion. Integrating the HyperIntelligence® solution directly into websites or applications takes employee productivity to a new level.

Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, MAGNOOS enables regional private and public organizations to implement state-of-the-art technology solutions and adopt best practices to accelerate the cycle of business innovation. Through this partnership, their in-depth expertise and network will enable MicroStrategy to expand its footprint in the region.

“Since the onset of the pandemic, customer convenience is key to ensuring business plans’ success. There is a growing interest within the business community in the Middle East and Africa region to ensure customer convenience and satisfaction by using AI and analytics” said Michael Halas, Managing Partner at MAGNOOS, emphasizing the partnership. “Our vision with MicroStrategy is to help organizations overcome the challenges of integrating AI and analytics into their processes with ease to deliver business value. Every organization, regardless of size, uses multiple platforms to extract intelligence to meet business and customer demands. We want to eliminate the need to deploy several platforms for intelligence. With platforms powered by HyperIntelligence®, we will be able to help the workforce access relevant insights in real-time, round the clock on every device, application and interface they use on a daily basis.”

Commenting on the partnership, Ashruf Hassaballa, Regional Vice President, Middle East & Africa, at MicroStrategy said, “At MicroStrategy, we are focused on delivering intelligence across an organization by providing timely and relevant information in everyday applications used by all employees. This capability presents businesses in the Middle East and Africa region with a “money ball” moment. Our partnership with MAGNOOS will help us bring this breakthrough solution to organizations that seek to optimize and leverage their data to derive actionable insights effortlessly. Our solution will enable the workforce to flex their knowledge and expertise through readily available intelligence that requires zero clicks and discards the need to switch between applications.”

About MicroStrategy

MicroStrategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) is the largest independent publicly-traded business intelligence company, with the leading enterprise analytics platform. Its vision is to enable Intelligence Everywhere™. MicroStrategy provides modern analytics on an open, comprehensive enterprise platform used by many of the world’s most admired brands in the Fortune Global 500. Optimized for cloud and on-premises deployments, the platform features HyperIntelligence®, a breakthrough technology that overlays actionable enterprise data on popular business applications to help users make smarter, faster decisions. Learn more at microstrategy.com.

More about MAGNOOS

MAGNOOS, part of Midis Group, is a leading Software Value Added Reseller and Technology Implementation company with expertise in the Data Management & Analytics, Service Management and Automation software solutions industry. We operate in the Middle East and Africa region, and enable large private and public organizations to implement state-of-the-art Technologies and adopt best business practices that help them conceive innovative business ideas and incorporate them into corporate strategies. MAGNOOS is a “one-stop shop” of the world’s leading Data Management & Analytics, Business Intelligence, Big Data, Digital Service Management, Digital Business Automation and Robotic Process Automation Technology Vendors and Partners.

Mindware signs distribution agreement with Software AG

Mindware and Software AG have signed an agreement in MEA to distribute Software AG’s suite of solutions in support of the increasing digitization pace in the region. The partnership will include distribution of integration and API management, IoT and analytics and business transformation via the software company’s channel partner network.

The agreement was signed by Vlad Postelnicu, Director Alliances & Strategic Partnerships, Software AG and Nicholas Argyrides, General Manager – Mindware Gulf. The distribution partnership will see Mindware liaising with channel partners of Software AG’s trusted solutions. Mindware and its subsidiaries, under this agreement, will officially be added to the distributor roster of Software AG’s enterprise solutions along with unlimited access to Software AG’s global tools and resources within the partner network.

Commenting on the partnership, Argyrides said: “Trusted collaborations and local expertise are key to success in businesses. We proudly represent over forty-five leading technology brands in MEA and – with our local knowledge and understanding – we ensure the establishment of symbiotic partnerships resulting in win-win-win scenario for Mindware, our technology vendors and – most importantly – for our joint partners and customers. With the combined forces of Software AG and Mindware, we will confidently scale up to bigger heights in the realm of regional transformation.”

Vlad Postelnicu, Director Alliances & Strategic Partnerships, Software AG added: “The year 2022 has commenced with ample optimism among the business world to finally leave the pandemic behind and everyone is eager to look ahead with renewed spirits to take digitization to the next level. Among a few other sectors, technology not only stayed resilient but grew exponentially in the last two years. Furthermore, the sector became the driver of growth and progress for many legacy businesses who used the power of tech to stay resilient during these unusual years.

Mindware’s addition to our distributor network is a result of the growing popularity of Software AG and its offerings and it is an attempt to leverage on each other’s business strengths and acumen to collectively accelerate digitization in the region.”

More about Software AG

Software AG is the software pioneer of a truly connected world. Since 1969, it has helped 10,000+ organizations use software to connect people, departments, systems and devices. Software AG empowers truly connected enterprises using integration & APIs, IoT & analytics and business & IT transformation. Software AG’s products establish a fluid flow of data that allows everything and everyone to work together. The company has more than 4,700 employees across more than 70 countries and annual revenue of over €800m, with the aim of exceeding €1bn by 2023.

More about Mindware

As one of the leading distributors of the finest IT products in the Middle East and Africa, Mindware’s extensive portfolio includes top-class global brands reaching out to over 4,000 partners. Mindware’s comprehensive offering includes a selection of infrastructure, networking, security, and storage leading brands. As part of its VAD methodology, Mindware also offers supplementary value-added services to its reselling partners including pre-sales consultancy, implementation services, local technical support, marketing enablement tools, and multiple channel-enabling programs. Headquartered in Dubai, UAE, since 1991, Mindware has been uncompromisingly serving its customers for more than three decades.