GBM looks to know the future

Networked computing has changed the way that organisations do business.

It continues to evolve methods of working IT systems that can bring dramatic improvements in productivity by transforming industries and creating opportunities for entirely new market segments.

In respecting the crucial role of uncomplicated component networking and integration of an organisation's IT infrastructure, GBM has built a cluster of world-class consultants, architects and project managers to offer relevant consulting, integration, deployment and network support, region wide. They are able to deliver large, complex, mission critical Emerging Network Technologies and IT infrastructure solutions.

Under the collective guise of GBM Integrated Networking & Site Services (INSS), the right team mix is able to determine the most effective means of achieving the project objectives through network design, facility construction or renovation, environmental assessments and optimal resource allocation.

This mix has been carefully constructed over the years. Indeed, GBM's special legacy relationship with IBM and decade-old partnership with Cisco adds considerable value by ensuring professional expertise that is the industry's best, many with the highest level of Cisco Certification.

This includes Cisco's CCIE, and CCNP/CCDP professional status, and Cisco Advanced Technology Provider (ATP) status in Telepresence (TP- ATP), Outdoor Wireless Mesh (OWM- ATP) and Video Surveillance (VS- ATP). GBM achieved a Cisco Gold Partner Status across the GCC in 2003, and the Cisco Silver Partner status in Pakistan's in 2007.

The result is a broad skill-set ranging from security (Advanced Security specz.) to unified communication (Advanced UC specz.) to wireless LAN (Advanced WLAN specz.), to routing and switching (Advanced R&S specz.), and to data center (Advanced Data Center Networking Infrastructure specz.).

Today GBM can truly say that the INSS division is the leading Gulf-wide networking solutions company, with more than 192 Cisco networking specialists across GBM's nine locations, all able to connect 24-7 by Webex remote access to most systems.

INSS services broadly under the four umbrella categories of active, site, structured cabling and project management. Delivery is further enhanced by INSS's integration with a number of world-class strategic partners. These include BlueCoat, Aeroscout, Arc Solutions, iST, NEOS, Nevotek, Riverbed, Panduit, Reichle & De-Massari MEA, F5, IronPort, Symantec, Secure Computing, Trend Micro, Juniper, McAfee and Websense.

In-building and Wide-area Networking solutions

The foundation of GBM's networking division is the design and delivery of cost-effective networks institutions using Cisco's intelligent networking products. Convergence is today's reality and modern networks are designed to support multi-media applications such as IP Telephony and IP Video (Video Surveillance, Video Conferencing, IP TV…) as well as traditional data and internet connectivity.

This gives a building owner or an organisation the benefits of a single infrastructure for all communication requirements, 24x7.

However, wide-area networks or WAN's present unique challenges for companies with branches. The answer lies in Cisco's integrated modular switch/routers which have proven ideal for remote branches to offer advanced services such as IP telephony, security, as well as to enhance the quality of service delivery.

GBM is nominated as a Cisco Gold Partner across most of Cisco's advanced specialisations, such as unified communications, security, wireless LAN, data centre network infrastructure, as well as routing and switching.

Unified Communications solutions

Unified Communications is a general term used to cover a number of collaborative solutions based on voice communications. By enhancing collaboration, employees work more effectively, speeding decision making and enhance the competitiveness of the company.

GBM is Cisco-certified as a Specialised Partner in Advanced Unified Communications.

• Cisco Unified Personal Communicator offers PC and Mac users voice, video, instant messaging, conferencing, and presence information through a single application.
• Cisco Unity is a secure, scalable, voice and unified messaging platform.
• Cisco IP Communicator and Cisco Unified Video Advantage provide computers with the rich functions of IP phones, providing high-quality voice and video calling capabilities from every workspace.
• Cisco Unified MeetingPlace is a voice, video, and web conferencing solution for medium to large organizations that is also the on-premises voice conferencing option for WebEx web conferencing.
• Cisco Unified Presence is a standards-based platform that provides rich presence status and facilitates presence-enabled communications with Cisco Unified Communications.
• Cisco Unity Connection is a feature-rich voice and integrated-messaging platform based on the same Linux Unified Communications Operating System as Cisco Unified Communications Manager.
• Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator enables real-time collaboration by securely extending unified communication applications and services to mobile and smart phones.
• Cisco Unified Application Environment is a portfolio of applications and development tools used to transform businesses by integrating unified communications and network services into existing or new business applications.

Organisations across the board are wrestling with information security demands that span many overarching business challenges such as complying with regulatory requirements, preventing data loss and blocking malware.

Indeed, a digital crime-wave is rolling over many electronic shores. It is imperative that companies ensure the security of their data, voice and video traffic.

GBM's integrated network security solutions are modeled on the leading industry standards including BS7799, PCI-DSS, ISO, Cobit and ITIL. GBM's INSS team can plan, deliver and sustain end-to-end business and IT security solutions in order to reduce costs, levels of risk and operational challenges whilst maintaining the organsiation's performance and reliability.

The result is that confidentiality, integrity and availability of business data to the right person at the right time, every time is possible across multi operational activities. This includes Security Services such as Health Audits, Policy Studies, Penetration Testing, Payment Card Compliance Audits, as well as today's security staples, including:

• firewalls
• anti-spam
• content filtering
• anti-virus
• intrusion prevention
• network access control
• unified threat management
• authentication
• application delivery and optimisation
• identity management and physical access controls

Contact or Call Centres are often the main interface between companies and customers; and when deployed properly, can add significant value to an organisation.

In recognition of what this can mean to the business bottom-line, GBM has forged a result-driven relationship with iST, a Cisco IP Contact Centre ATP partner with offices in Australia, Egypt, Dubai and KSA.

iST has a vast amount of knowledge in deploying Contact Centres in many different industries, and the INSS-iST abilities drive the design and delivery of full Intelligent Contact Centre solutions including CRM and integration with back-end databases.

Computer Rooms and Data Centres

For many years, GBM has been designing and delivering computer rooms. In the early days IBM's standards were adopted. Today, GBM works alongside the TIA 942 Data Centre specifications of the official standards body and partners with a number of leading brands, including Liebert, Airedale, Carrier, APC, MGE, Chloride, ADT, Minerva, Lindner, Notifier, Panduit, among others.

GBM's INSS has numerous projects under its belt. These include a leading hosting data centre in the UAE, multiple hotels across the Gulf, one of the largest banks in the UAE, a large Government institution in Kuwait, a Service Provider in Bahrain, a Qatar Government Education Institute, and a major oil company in Oman.

A revolution is occurring in the Facility Management Industry.

The communications and telecommunications infrastructure within buildings has seen rapid change over the last few years. This happened as the technology changed to digital voice and the video-enabling convergence of voice, data, video and BMS communications and cabling infrastructures onto a single digital/data communications platform using IP (Internet Protocol).

Indeed, convergence has opened a whole new world of integration capabilities and has created a sub-industry delivering intelligent, smart building solutions. Software applications are now available to integrate Building Management Systems (BMS) from multiple vendors and many staple, facility management tasks can be automated. In addition, a building owner is now able to deliver a range of value-added services to tenants, operators and visitors that are ripe for turning into additional revenue streams. This is the true definition of a 'smart' building!

GBM has partnered with Central Data Control (CDC) a leading, global company recognised for their vision and leadership in this field. Meanwhile, as a Cisco Gold partner GBM has been delivering robust IP Data Networks for many years, installing more than 25,000 Cisco IP phones across many industries since its first IP-based telephony installation in 2002.

More recently the TV has become an IP device on the network, and GBM is now delivering interactive TV and Video-on-Demand systems into hotels and apartments, partnering with companies such as Nevotek, VDA and Active Mania. This is in addition to the value-added applications of the IP phone screen, such as billing services, hotel guest services, directory services, quick e-mail, news headlines and more.

As an IT Integrator. GBM has the skills and resources to be able to deliver and maintain the converged infrastructure and the IT equipment required for a 'smart' building.

GBM's team of Physical Security specialists are able to bridge the divide between traditional systems and the IP based systems by designing and installing IP-based video surveillance, analogue or hybrid solutions.

The latter, hybrid solutions, are fast becoming a staple requirement when the building has an existing analogue Video Surveillance system to take advantage of the benefits of IP without the expense of replacing the analogue equipment.

This convergence vision is shared with GBM's partners, Tyco Fire & Security. This strong, branded range includes American Dynamics, Kantech, Software House and Sensormatic.

Meanwhile, the futurists predict the demise of the security guard video analytics looks set to emerge as a stand-alone industry sector. In the physical security industry, video analytics will revolutionise how a building or campus owner will monitor and control security.

In readiness, GBM has forged a relationship with ObjectVideo, the global leader in this emerging market, as well as with Sony Professional Systems, a brand leader with an impressive range of intelligent IP cameras and Networked Video Recorders with integrated video analytics.

It is also important to watch out for GBM's partner, Cisco. Cisco looks poised to shake up this segment with their network infrastructure that is able to plug-in modules to link in analogue cameras and to capture video at the edge of the network.

GBM is the first Cisco partner in the region to qualify as a Cisco Video Surveillance ATP Partner.

Through digitisation and convergence, Access Control solutions are infinitely more reliable.

Biometric scanners are replacing traditional identifiers such as cards and by linking scanners to the digital video surveillance system. A digital snapshot is stored and/or databases searched for further identification using facial recognition software.

• Security Guard Tour
• X Ray Machines and Metal Detectors
• Turn-styles and Gates
• Infrared Barriers
• Nurse Call

For more than a decade, GBM has been delivering fibre and copper structured cabling solutions.

The cabling infrastructure in a building should last at least 15 years, and as most connectivity problems occur because of low quality cabling products and/or installation.

GBM will only specify the highest quality products and engage well-trained and certified installers.

This has resulted in a large number of successful projects spanning leading banks in the UAE, one of the largest mixed-use complexes in Kuwait; many Government and Educational institutes in Qatar and Oman; retail, banks and a port in Karachi, Pakistan.

GBM's Project Management Office (PMO), is responsible for much of the outstanding customer feedback that INSS service and solutions constantly generates.

The multi-faceted team recognises that a networking infrastructure is not only to meet today's requirements but it must be nimble enough to meet future needs by the constant evolution of IT product and skill integration.

The implementation activities fall across nine key areas from audit and design through to installation and acceptance testing.