ManageEngine Preps for SysAdmin Day 2016 with Meme Contest, Movie Posters, Video, More

Campaign Celebrates IT’s Hard-working Superheroes

• Need to exercise that right brain? Enter our sysadmeme contest: http://ow.ly/8dHr302711H
• How to thank your sysadmin? 500+ IT pros are using e-cards: http://ow.ly/runc302719D
• Is this a sysadmin’s life? Take a video sneak peek: http://ow.ly/D1VY301TSek

Dubai, UAE — July 13, 2016 — ManageEngine, the real-time IT management company, today announced its plans for celebrating the 17th annual SysAdmin Day on July 29, 2016. This year, the company is celebrating IT superheroes with a collection of Leonardo DiCaprio-themed movie posters as well as a sysadmeme contest, a sneak-peek video, e-cards and a word hunt game. The entire campaign can be found on PitStop, the ManageEngine community, at https://www.manageengine.com/community/sysadminday/2016.html.

“SysAdmin Day is a great opportunity for us to appreciate the silent strength behind all things related to IT,” said Vidya Vasu, Head of the ManageEngine Community. “Sysadmins are not just our day-to-day IT problem solvers; they are our warriors who continuously help keep IT and the business up and running in every organization. To commemorate the day, we at PitStop have launched a fun campaign that we hope will unleash their creativity and give each one of us an opportunity to acknowledge the value they bring to the table. Besides holding a meme contest, e-cards designing and a word search game, we have also released quirky, printable posters that will be a fun add-on to their already decorated desks!”

The ManageEngine SysAdmin Day 2016 campaign includes:

Sysadmemes – This caption-writing contest encourages sysadmins to let their creative juices flow and come up with memes around their work. The contest is open and new entries will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. PDT on July 22. Twenty winners will each receive a $25 Amazon gift card. The contest can be accessed at https://pitstop.manageengine.com/sysadminday/2016.html#Sysadmemes. Contest results will be announced on Friday, July 29.

Sysadmin personality posters – These movie posters will make you think twice about the sysadmin sitting in the next cubicle. The posters spoof a few popular scenes in DiCaprio movies, giving them an IT twist and turning them into images sysadmins will be happy to have on their desks and as wallpaper. The posters are available at https://pitstop.manageengine.com/sysadminday/2016.html#Posters .

Here’s to all the sysadmins! – This video captures the essence of being a sysadmin and the difference sysadmins make to IT every single day. It chronicles the everyday life of sysadmins and all they do to make our days go on without a glitch.

View the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo7BSTCRvco&feature=youtu.be.

Just find IT – This word hunt game is designed to send sysadmins searching for IT words hidden in plain sight. It’s sure to keep them glued to their screens for a few happy minutes. The game is available at https://pitstop.manageengine.com/sysadminday/2016.html#Justfindit.

E-cards – These heartfelt messages of thanks are for sysadmins, the unsung superheroes of any IT company. Within days of going live, more than 500 e-cards had already been sent. Users still have time to send their favorite sysadmins an e-card from https://pitstop.manageengine.com/sysadminday/2016.html#Ecards.

Malaria experts and African leaders challenged to maintain the momentum and win the race for malaria elimination

Novartis convenes the 15th Annual National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) Best Practice Sharing Workshop today in Dakar, Senegal

DAKAR, Senegal, July 13, 2016/ -- ·         National Malaria Control Program best practice sharing workshop takes place in Senegal, which has made great strides in malaria control ·         Event brings together delegates from 33 African countries to accelerate malaria elimination efforts ·         Novartis Malaria Initiative celebrates treatment delivery milestone, with more than 800 million treatments distributed since 2001, including over 300 million dispersible pediatric treatments Novartis (https://www.Novartis.com) convenes the 15th Annual National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) Best Practice Sharing Workshop today in Dakar, Senegal. Over the next two days, leading malaria experts and African leaders will discuss how to take on the challenge to win the race for malaria elimination. Representatives from academia, civil society, the donor community and the public sector from 33 African countries will share knowledge and best practices to help accelerate elimination efforts across the continent. “I’m delighted that Senegal has been chosen to host this year’s NMCP Best Practice Sharing Workshop because it gives our colleagues across Africa the opportunity to see the pioneering work undertaken by community volunteers,” said Awa Coll-Seck, Minister of Health of Senegal. “The country has witnessed huge declines in malaria incidence and deaths over the past five years, thanks to extensive malaria control interventions. We are confident our country can achieve complete elimination by 2030, along with the rest of the African continent.” While malaria deaths have declined by around 60% since 2000, with 6 million lives saved [1], major new challenges have surfaced, including growing resistance to frontline artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) and insecticides [2]. Although preventable and treatable, malaria continues to kill a child every two minutes and threatens the lives of many more [3]. This year’s event will focus on key issues including efficacy and quality monitoring of existing therapies, the growing tide of resistance in Asia and its potential effect on African countries. Host country Senegal has already proven to be a leader in home-based malaria management through the use of rapid diagnostic tests administered by community volunteers, and lessons from this success will also be shared.    “Novartis is proud to convene this unique forum and bring together leading voices from across Africa to advance malaria elimination efforts,” said Dr. Harald Nusser, Global Head, Novartis Malaria Initiative and Novartis Access. “Despite the many advances in the fight against the disease, we know there is still a lot to be done if we want to achieve a malaria-free world. Bridging existing gaps in access to key interventions and introducing novel tools, including next-generation antimalarial drugs, will be crucial to achieving elimination.” Delegates will also have the opportunity to meet community volunteers in a semi-rural area; attend public disease awareness sessions; hear from Global Fund representatives about the global replenishment drive to further mobilize efforts to end malaria; and hear plans for the Novartis SMS for Life 2.0 pilot – a project which uses mobile phones and online tools to improve access to malaria medicines and quality of care. The NMCP workshop is happening as the Novartis Malaria Initiative celebrates a new treatment delivery milestone. Since 2001, Novartis has delivered more than 800 million treatments without profit, including over 300 million dispersible pediatric treatments developed in collaboration with the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), mostly to the public sector of malaria-endemic countries. Novartis recently announced an expanded partnership with MMV to further drive the development of KAF156, the first in a new class of dual-acting antimalarial compounds known as imidazolepiperazines (IZPs) that target the parasite at both the liver and blood stages of its reproductive cycle. The NMCP Best Practice Sharing Workshop is co-chaired by Dr. Moustapha Cisse, Deputy NMCP Head in Senegal; Simone Kunene, Under Secretary of the Swaziland Ministry of Health and a former Head of the Swaziland NMCP; and Professor Zul Premji, Professor and Chair of the Department of Pathology at Aga Khan University. About the Novartis Malaria Initiative The Novartis Malaria Initiative (http://www.Malaria.Novartis.com) is committed to drive research, development and access to novel drugs to eliminate malaria. Operated by Sandoz, the Novartis generics and biosimilars division, the Novartis Malaria Initiative is one of the pharmaceutical industry’s largest access-to-medicine programs. Since 2001, the initiative has delivered more than 800 million treatments without profit, including over 300 million dispersible pediatric treatments, mostly to the public sector of malaria-endemic countries. Novartis has a long heritage in antimalarial drug development. Coartem®, the first fixed-dose Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT), was launched in 1999. ACTs are the current standard of care in malaria treatment. Currently, there are two potential antimalarial therapies in Phase II clinical trials in the Novartis pipeline, KAE609 and KAF156. Both are new classes of compounds that treat malaria in different ways from current therapies, and could help combat growing resistance to existing artemisinin-based combination therapies. In 2009, the Novartis Malaria Initiative spearheaded SMS for Life to manage stock-outs of malaria medicines in sub-Saharan countries. A new enhanced version of this award-winning program, called SMS for Life 2.0, uses tablet computers to track more stock items and more disease surveillance indicators. The platform will also be used to deliver high-quality training directly to health workers at their health facility.

Imdaad introduces use of bio organic pesticide solutions as part of innovative initiative

FM company aims to promote sustainability and ensure public healths

July 13, 2016 – Long-term use of conventional pesticide can lead to a range of harmful side-effects to the environment, as well as to the people who are constantly in contact with it. However, as bio-organic pesticides have been introduced to the market, companies are no longer confined to using synthetic solutions. The product offers a wide range of benefits that can address the needs of the customers without posing a significant risk. As bio pesticides can effectively target particular pests and specific areas, they are more effective even in small quantities.  They are also more environmentally friendly and reduces risk of prolonged exposure to the operators. In addition, they also decompose quickly and are less likely to have resistance issues.

In light of this, Imdaad, a leading provider of integrated facilities, environment and energy management solutions in the GCC, has recently announced that it is gradually replacing its chemical pesticides with organic bio-chemical pesticides. The move falls in line with Imdaad’s CSR projects and Green Environment initiative with the company’s Pest Control Division which aims to ensure that a significant percentage of the total chemical purchase in 2016 will include organic bio chemicals.

Jamal Abdullah Lootah, CEO, Imdaad said, “We are excited to pursue this new program as this is an important aspect of our Green Environment initiatives. We remain committed towards initiatives that will promote sustainability, protect the environment and ensure the health and safety of our workers and the public. We are currently developing a strategy for its gradual implementation so that we can make this change across all our projects.”

Green pesticides are not yet widely adopted, as most companies within the sector are not aware of the negative and potentially harmful effects of environmental pesticides. As a result, very few companies have integrated this change to their operations. The initiative will be gradually implemented in a strategic manner and falls in line with the company’s active efforts to promote environmental sustainability and protect the well-being of the community at large.

"إمداد" تشجّع البيئة الخضراء عبر إستخدام حلول المبيدات العضوية الحيوية

المبادرة تتماشى مع إلتزام الشركة بتحقيق الاستدامة البيئية وتعزيز الصحّة العامة

13 يوليو 2016 - أثبتت الدراسات أن الإستخدام طويل الأمد للمبيدات التقليدية قد يؤدّي إلى آثار ضارة على البيئة وكذلك على صحّة الأفراد ممن يتعرّضون لهذه المواد بشكل مستمر؛ غير أن الإنتشار المتنامي للمبيدات العضوية الحيوية في الأسواق يحول دون الحاجة لإستخدام الحلول المصنّعة، وذلك لما توفّره هذه المبيدات العضوية من فوائد جمّة لتلبية متطلّبات العملاء دون التسبّب بأي أضرار على البيئة أو الصحّة العامة حيث يتميّز هذا النوع من المبيدات بأن كميات صغيرة منه كفيلة للتخلّص الفعّال من الآفات وتطهير المناطق المحدّدة، بما يقلّل من مخاطر التعرّض المكثّف للمبيدات. كما تعد المبيدات العضوية الحيوية أقل تأثيراً على البيئة إذ تتّسم بالقدرة على التحلّل السريع والطبيعي في البيئة.

وفي هذا الصدد، كشفت "إمداد"، الشركة الرائدة في مجال تزويد حلول إدارة المرافق المتكاملة في دول مجلس ‏التعاون الخليجي، عن عزمها على الاستغناء التدريجي عن المبيدات الكيماوية واستبدالها بالحلول العضوية الحيوية، وذلك في خطوة تتماشى مع مشاريع المسؤولية الإجتماعية والمبادرات الخضراء التي ينتهجها قسم مكافحة الآفات في الشركة بهدف زيادة حجم المبيعات من الكيماويات العضوية والحيوية خلال العام الجاري.

وقال جمال عبدالله لوتاه، الرئيس التنفيذي لشركة "إمداد": "نتطلّع قدماً لهذه الخطوة التي تشكّل إضافةً نوعيةً إلى المبادرات البيئية الخضراء التي نؤكّد التزامنا بمواصلة تنفيذها كجزء من جهودنا الدؤوبة الرامية إلى تحقيق الاستدامة البيئية وضمان الحفاظ على الصحّة العامة وسلامة العاملين في القطاع. ونحن حالياً في طور إعداد إستراتيجية متكاملة سيتم تنفيذها على عدّة مراحل تدريجية لضمان هذا التحوّل في جميع مشاريعنا".

ويُذكر أن المبيدات الخضراء تعد من المنتجات الناشئة وغير المستخدمة على نطاق واسع، وذلك مرده إلى أن معظم الشركات في القطاع ليست على دراية كافية بالآثار السلبية والضارة للمبيدات الكيماوية، وهو ما يبرّر العدد القليل من الشركات التي تعتمد هذه المبيدات الصديقة للبيئة حتى الآن. ومن المقرّر تنفيذ هذه المبادرة بشكل تدريجي وإستراتيجي بما يتماشى مع الجهود الحثيثة التي تقوم بها "إمداد" لدفع عجلة التنمية البيئية المستدامة وتعزيز رفاهية المجتمع في الدولة.

QNB Group: Financial Results for the Six Months Ended 30 June 2016

Doha, Qatar, July 12, 2016: (ME NewsWire) QNB Group, the leading bank in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, announced its results for the six months ended 30 June 2016.

For the first half of 2016, Net Profit reached QAR6.2 billion, (USD 1.7 billion) up by 12% compared to last year. Total assets increased by 36% from June 2015 to reach QAR692 billion (USD190 billion), the highest ever achieved by the Group.

On 15 June 2016, QNB Group completed the acquisition of 99.81% stake in Finansbank A.Ş. – Turkey.

The growth in assets was driven by loans and advances which grew by 39% to reach QAR497 billion (USD136 billion). At the same time QNB Group increased customer funding by 29% to QAR488 billion (USD134 billion). This led to the Group’s loans to deposit ratio reaching 101.7%.

QNB Group’s prudent cost control policy and strong revenue generating capability allowed it to maintain an efficiency ratio (cost to income ratio) of 30%, which is considered one of the best ratios among large financial institutions in the region.

The Group was able to maintain the ratio of non-performing loans to gross loans at 1.8%, a level considered one of the lowest amongst large banks in the MEA region, reflecting the high quality of the Group’s loan book and the effective management of credit risk. The Group’s conservative policy in regard to provisioning continued with the coverage ratio reaching 127% in 30 June 2016.

Total Equity increased by 27% from June 2015 to reach QAR73 billion (USD20 billion) as at 30 June 2016. Earnings per Share reached QAR7.4 (USD2.0), compared to QAR6.7 in June 2015.

QNB Group successfully raised QAR 10 billion in Additional Tier 1 Perpetual Capital Notes, to strengthen the Group’s Capital Adequacy Ratios and to support future growth across the Group.

Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) calculated as per the QCB and Basel III requirements stood at 14.2% as at 30 June 2016, higher than the regulatory minimum requirements of the Qatar Central Bank and Basel Committee.

After completing the acquisition of Finansbank during June 2016, QNB Group solidified its position as one of the strongest rated financial institutions in the MEA region. This is a result of QNB Group’s strong financial position, high quality of its assets and its leading position in the financial sector.

Based on the Group’s continuous strong performance and its expanding international presence, QNB maintained its position as the most valuable bank brand in the MEA region. This continues to recognise QNB’s position as the leading financial institution across the MEA region and the value inherent in the QNB brand.

QNB Group is present, through its subsidiaries and associate companies, in more than 30 countries across three continents providing a comprehensive range of products and services. QNB Group staff exceeds 27,300 serving more than 20 million customers through 1,200 locations and 4,300 ATMs.

*Source: ME NewsWire

The release can be viewed online: http://www.me-newswire.net/news/18324/en

     مجموعة QNB : البيانات المالية المرحلية المختصرة الموحدة  للستة أشهر المنتهية في 30 يونيو 2016

الدوحة، قطر، 12  يوليو 2016 ): "إم إي" نيوز واير (أعلنت مجموعة QNB، المؤسسة المصرفية الرائدة في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وأفريقيا، عن نتائجها المالية للستة أشهر الأولى المنتهية في 30 يونيو. 2016

بلغ صافي أرباح مجموعة QNB 6,2 مليار ريال (1,7 مليار دولار أمريكي) للستة أشهر الأولى من عام 2016، بارتفاع نسبته 12% مقارنة مع نفس الفترة من العام الماضي. كما ارتفع إجمالي موجودات المجموعة بنسبة 36% منذ30  يونيو 2015 ليصل إلى 692 مليار ريال (190 مليار دولار أمريكي) وهو أعلى مستوى في تاريخ البنك.

وقد اكملت مجموعة QNB عملية الاستحواذ على حصة نسبتها 99,81% في "فاينانس بنك" التركي في 15 يونيو2016.

وقد تأتى هذا النمو في الموجودات بشكل رئيسي من ارتفاع محفظة القروض والسلف بنسبة 39 % لتصل إلى 497 مليار ريال (136 مليار دولار أمريكي). وبموازاة ذلك ارتفعت ودائع العملاء بنسبة29 % لتصل إلى488  مليار ريال (134 مليار دولار أمريكي)، مما ساهم في وصول نسبة القروض إلى الودائع إلى مستوى101,7 %.

وقد أدت سياسة المجموعة في إدارة التكاليف وقدرتها على تحقيق نمو قوي في الإيرادات الى المحافظة على نسبة كفاءة (المصاريف إلى الإيرادات) عند30 %، والتي تعتبر من بين أفضل المعدلات على مستوى المؤسسات المالية الرئيسية في المنطقة.

كما حافظ البنك على معدل القروض غير العاملة كنسبة من إجمالي محفظة القروض عند مستوى1,8 %، وهو من بين أدنى المعدلات على نطاق البنوك الرئيسية في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وإفريقيا، الأمر الذي يعكس الجودة العالية لمحفظة القروض وفعالية سياسة إدارة المخاطر الائتمانية. كما واصلت المجموعة سياستها المتحفظة في بناء المخصصات حيث بلغت نسبة تغطية القروض غير العاملة127 % بنهاية الربع الثاني من عام 2016.

ارتفع إجمالي حقوق المساهمين بنسبة 27% منذ30  يونيو 2015 ليصل إلى73  مليار ريال

(20 مليار دولار أمريكي)، كما بلغ العائد على السهم 7,4 ريال (2.0 دولار أمريكي)،  مقارنة مع 6,7 ريال (1.8 دولار أمريكي) في30  يونيو 2015.

ونجحت المجموعة في إصدار ادوات مالية رأسمالية متجددة ضمن الشريحة الأولى من رأس المال الإضافي بقيمة 10 مليار ريال قطري من خلال إصدار خاص لدعم نسبة كفاية رأس المال وذلك في ضوء توسع أنشطة المجموعة وعملياتها بموجب خطتها الاستراتيجية وللاستمرار بالوفاء بالمتطلبات الرقابية والتنظيمية.

وقد بلغت نسبة كفاية رأس المال المحتسبة بموجب متطلبات مصرف قطر المركزي ولجنة بازل III ما نسبته 14,2 % في 30 يونيو 2016، وهو معدل يتجاوز متطلبات مصرف قطر المركزي ولجنة بازل.

وحافظت مجموعة QNB على مستوى تصنيفاتها الائتمانية كواحدة من أعلى تصنيفات المؤسسات المالية على صعيد المنطقة. وجاء ذلك نتيجة للمركز المالي القوي للمجموعة وجودة أصولها العالية ومكانتها المتميزة في القطاع المصرفي.

وبفضل استمرار الأداء القوي وزيادة انتشار المجموعة على الصعيد الدولي، تمكنت المجموعة من الحفاظ على أعلى قيمة لعلامتها المصرفية في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وأفريقيا مما يعزز من مكانة المجموعة بوصفها المؤسسة المصرفية الرائدة في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وافريقيا.

وتتواجد المجموعة من خلال فروعها وشركاتها التابعة والزميلة في أكثر من 30 بلداً وثلاث قارات حول العالم، حيث تقدم أحدث الخدمات المصرفية لعملائها عبر 1,200 فرعاً ومكتباً تمثيلياً  و 4,300 جهاز صراف آلي، ويعمل لديها ما يزيد عن  27,300 موظف يخدمون اكثر من 20 مليون عميل.

المصدر: "إم إي" نيوز واير

How Organizations in Egypt get Public Cloud Security Wrong

By: Gordon Haff, Cloud Strategist at Red Hat 

If, just a few years ago, you were to ask CIOs in Egypt about their advice for securing a public cloud, the odds aren’t bad that their response would have been “Just don’t use one.” Today, you’re far more likely to get a nuanced response, the result of increased practical experience with both security and broader governance issues in public clouds.

However, as Oscar Wilde wrote, “Experience is the name that we give to our mistakes.” What follows are some of the security and governance-related mistakes that architects, IT managers, and consultants in the country have made that have led to them gaining much valuable experience.

Failure to take a business-based approach to risk

A lot of the pushback against the use of public clouds (and, for that matter, other trends such as employee-owned smartphones and laptops) has focused on the risks. Or the what could go wrong. Risks certainly need to evaluated and perhaps mitigated. For example, an organization might allow employees to use public cloud resources and personal devices but only if they use two-factor authentication.

However, risks also need to be considered in a business context. Perhaps using some third-party service does introduce a new level or type of risk such as the provider going out of business or discontinuing a service. But if the business benefit associated with getting access to, say, better customer analytics is significant, perhaps the incremental risk is worthwhile. Or not. In any case, the risk has to be viewed in a broader context than a narrow IT-focused one.

Adopting a hardline stance that led to “Shadow IT”

A widespread focus on risk, rather than cost/benefit, led directly in many cases to what came to be known as “Shadow IT.” Faced with IT organizations that decided the safest and most secure approach was to simply prohibit (or perhaps “take time to further study”) public clouds and other new aspects of computing, lines of business and individual users just took out their credit cards. They procured services on their own.

This was (and is) not a problem in some cases; with technology so pervasive within modern businesses, it’s neither practical nor beneficial for IT to be involved in every technology decision. However, at the same time, IT can play a valuable role in establishing best practices for security and evaluating third-party solutions. Those benefits go away when decisions are effectively being hidden from the IT organization.

Unrealistic expectations for on-premise information security

Much of the resistance to public clouds seems to have come from its comparison to what was largely a strawman--namely the on-premise IT infrastructure that never had a misconfigured firewall, was never accessed by a rogue employee, and that was always promptly updated and patched with the latest security updates. Certainly, some IT organizations run a tight ship. Others not so much (especially in smaller organizations lacking specialized security expertise). However, one doesn’t need to read too many headlines before coming across examples of on-premise data breaches. Especially with the increase in laws requiring that customer data breaches be disclosed, it’s clear that data breaches are common--no matter where the computing is hosted.

None of this is to say that one shouldn’t do due diligence with respect to the processes, certifications, and track record of public cloud providers. However, that due diligence needs to take into account that perfection isn’t a reality just about anywhere.

Failing to apply existing best practices

Once organizations adopt public clouds for at least some of their workloads, some then go on to make what is effectively the opposite mistake. Having decided that public clouds are acceptable, they delegate aspects of security to the provider that they, in fact, maintain control over and therefore responsibility for. (When discussing public cloud providers, there’s the idea of a “shared responsibility model” whereby, depending upon the type of cloud service, the provider is responsible for certain aspects of security while the user retains responsibility for others.)

For example, in the case of Infrastructure-as-a-Service, the user provides and maintains the operating system images running in the cloud. This means that the user needs to apply the same best practices around obtaining the software from trusted sources, keeping it updated and patched, monitoring it for vulnerabilities, and operating it in a secure manner that they’d use in their own datacentre.

Lack of a comprehensive management strategy

Historically, IT built infrastructure and wrote applications to run on that infrastructure. With public clouds and other third-party services, IT has been forced to transform into a broader business enablement role. This hasn’t always been an easy transition. It means taking a far more multi-faceted approach to delivering and managing a broad set of services in partnership with the lines of business.

From a security and governance perspective, this has often led to a lack of consistent policy over sharing data with third-party services and over where data can be stored. It’s led to a fragmentation of identity services and access controls. It’s led to the inconsistent application of best practices such as described above.

IT organizations are addressing some of these issues with specific technologies such as cloud management platforms, single sign-on, and identity management. However, dealing with this changing environment is also driving organizational changes such as the creation of cross-functional teams that include both IT and business owners. And that’s perhaps the most important message. Adapting to hybrid and public clouds will often require some specific practices, processes, and technologies. But it also requires an understanding of how IT and the relationship of IT to the rest of the business is changing.