logo
GITEX Africa 2025: Westcon-Comstor to showcase IT channel's role in powering continent's digital future

GITEX Africa 2025: Westcon-Comstor to showcase IT channel's role in powering continent's digital future

Zawya11-04-2025

MARRAKESH, Morocco – Westcon-Comstor, a global technology provider and specialist distributor, today announced details of its participation in GITEX Africa 2025, the continent's largest and most influential tech and startup show.
The event takes place in Marrakesh, Morocco from 14 – 16 April and will see thousands of delegates gather to explore how technological innovation is powering Africa's digital future.
Key themes include cybersecurity, smart cities, the data economy, mobility, healthcare and telecoms, with an over-arching focus on the transformative potential of generative AI.
Across two booths the distributor's Cisco-focused arm, Comstor, will showcase the strategic role of distribution and the IT channel in the technology ecosystem.
The relationship between Cisco and Comstor dates back more than two decades, with Comstor distributing Cisco products and solutions in multiple key markets across Africa and globally.
Comstor will have a joint presence with Cisco and leading Cisco channel partners at both booths.
The Comstor booth with Axians (Hall 4, Stand 4B-25) will highlight how the two companies are bringing Cisco's cybersecurity portfolio to a wider audience of end-user businesses through added-value offerings.
Meanwhile Comstor's joint booth with Casanet (Hall 4, Stand 4C-50), will illustrate how end-user businesses can experience Cisco Meraki's cutting-edge cross-architecture solutions on a dynamic platform that ushers in new levels of innovation and collaboration.
'GITEX Africa 2025 provides the perfect opportunity to demonstrate the strategic role that we as a value-added technology distributor, together with our channel partners and vendors, play in shaping the continent's digital economy,' said Laurent Boleau, General Manager, North Africa at Westcon-Comstor. 'We're proud to maintain our 100% participation record since the event was launched three years ago. GITEX Africa has become an important date in the African tech calendar and we can't wait to attend.'
Visit the Comstor and Cisco booths at:
Hall 4, Stand 4B-25 (joint presence with Axians)
Hall 4, Stand 4C-50 (joint presence with Casanet)
About Westcon-Comstor
Westcon-Comstor is a global technology provider and specialist distributor, operating in more than 50 countries. It delivers business value and opportunity by connecting the world's leading IT vendors with a channel of technology resellers, systems integrators and service providers. It combines industry insight, technical know-how and more than 30 years of distribution experience to deliver value and accelerate vendor and partner business success. It goes to market through two lines of business: Westcon and Comstor.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Rwanda quits Central African bloc in dispute with Congo
Rwanda quits Central African bloc in dispute with Congo

Dubai Eye

time9 hours ago

  • Dubai Eye

Rwanda quits Central African bloc in dispute with Congo

Rwanda has said it would withdraw from the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), underscoring diplomatic tensions in the region over an offensive this year by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in eastern Congo. Kigali had expected to assume the chairmanship of the 11-member bloc at a meeting on Saturday in Equatorial Guinea. Instead, the bloc kept Equatorial Guinea in the role, which Rwanda's foreign ministry denounced as a violation of its rights. Rwanda, in a statement, condemned Congo's "instrumentalization" of the bloc and saw "no justification for remaining in an organization whose current functioning runs counter to its founding principles." It wasn't clear if Rwanda's exit from the bloc would take immediate effect. The office of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said in a statement that ECCAS members had "acknowledged the aggression against the Democratic Republic of Congo by Rwanda and ordered the aggressor country to withdraw its troops from Congolese soil." M23 seized eastern Congo's two largest cities earlier this year, with the advance leaving thousands dead and raising concerns of an all-out regional war. African leaders along with Washington and Doha have been trying to broker a peace deal. Congo, the UN and Western powers accuse Rwanda of supporting M23 by sending troops and weapons. Rwanda has long denied helping M23, saying its forces were acting in self-defence against Congo's army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide that killed around 1 million people, mostly ethnic Tutsis. US President Donald Trump's administration hopes to strike a peace accord between Congo and Rwanda that would also facilitate billions in Western investment in the region, which is rich in minerals including tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper and lithium. ECCAS was established in the 1980s to foster cooperation in areas like security and economic affairs among its member states.

VAST Data Expand Partnership With Cisco
VAST Data Expand Partnership With Cisco

Channel Post MEA

time3 days ago

  • Channel Post MEA

VAST Data Expand Partnership With Cisco

VAST Data has announced the expansion of its strategic partnership with Cisco to deliver a fully integrated and validated AI infrastructure stack that spans compute, networking, storage, and observability. The VAST AI Operating System is now available directly through Cisco's Global Price List (GPL) and is fully supported by Cisco as part of the joint solution – simplifying how enterprises implement, operate, and scale modern AI environments by enabling customers to seamlessly procure and deploy VAST AI OS alongside Cisco UCS servers, Nexus switching, and Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric AI. Together, VAST and Cisco provide a turnkey platform for building enterprise AI Factories – agentic, data-intensive AI systems at scale – ensuring security, performance, and operational agility from edge to core to cloud. The joint solution stack enables customers to unify data pipelines, automate infrastructure management, and reason over real-time data using scalable, zero-trust AI infrastructure. VAST Founder and CEO, Renen Hallak, will join Cisco President and Chief Product Officer Jeetu Patel on stage at Cisco Live's Executive Symposium, for a fireside chat discussing this strategic partnership. The conversation will highlight how the two companies are driving enterprise AI adoption and explore key trends shaping the future of AI-driven business. 'Cisco and VAST share a vision for making AI infrastructure accessible, secure, and scalable for every enterprise,' said Jeremy Foster, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Cisco Compute. 'We're enabling customers to collapse complexity and unlock faster time-to-value by providing a unified infrastructure stack built for the demands of AI. The joint solution integrates key technologies across both platforms, including: A Consolidated AI Infrastructure Stack: A jointly validated, enterprise-grade platform that brings together Cisco's compute and networking leadership with the industry defining VAST AI Operating System – delivering a full-stack solution for AI infrastructure that's simple to deploy, easy to manage, and built to scale from day one. Integrated AI Execution with InsightEngine and AgentEngine: Customers can now run end-to-end AI pipelines – from retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to real-time reasoning – directly within VAST's AI OS on Cisco UCS. VAST InsightEngine accelerates vector search, data preparation, and inference workflows at the point of data, while AgentEngine takes this further by orchestrating autonomous agents that continuously operate on live data streams, enabling real-time, event-driven decision-making. These capabilities empower Cisco environments to become intelligent execution layers – turning raw data into continuous, actionable insight. Unified AI Data and Compute Services: A consolidated software stack via the VAST AI Operating System that simplifies infrastructure complexity by unifying structured, unstructured, and vector data management with agentic compute services – enabling real-time reasoning for next-gen AI applications and workflow automation at scale. Enterprise-Grade Performance and Scalability: High-performance compute with Cisco UCS and scalable, AI-optimized network fabrics via Cisco Nexus, validated to run seamlessly with VAST's Disaggregated Shared Everything (DASE) architecture – delivering predictable performance across even the largest AI deployments. Faster Time-to-Value with Turnkey Automation: SaaS-based orchestration and lifecycle management from Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric AI, combined with VAST's intelligent dataflows and global namespace, streamline infrastructure provisioning, monitoring, and scaling across the full AI pipeline. Built-In Security and Multi-Tenant Readiness: A zero-trust infrastructure model that combines VAST's native data governance and multi-tenant controls with Cisco's secure platform architecture—ensuring isolated, compliant environments for sensitive AI workloads across hybrid and on-prem deployments. A Consolidated AI Infrastructure Stack: A jointly validated, enterprise-grade platform that brings together Cisco's compute and networking leadership with the industry defining VAST AI Operating System – delivering a full-stack solution for AI infrastructure that's simple to deploy, easy to manage, and built to scale from day one. Integrated AI Execution with InsightEngine and AgentEngine: Customers can now run end-to-end AI pipelines – from retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to real-time reasoning – directly within VAST's AI OS on Cisco UCS. VAST InsightEngine accelerates vector search, data preparation, and inference workflows at the point of data, while AgentEngine takes this further by orchestrating autonomous agents that continuously operate on live data streams, enabling real-time, event-driven decision-making. These capabilities empower Cisco environments to become intelligent execution layers – turning raw data into continuous, actionable insight. Unified AI Data and Compute Services: A consolidated software stack via the VAST AI Operating System that simplifies infrastructure complexity by unifying structured, unstructured, and vector data management with agentic compute services – enabling real-time reasoning for next-gen AI applications and workflow automation at scale. Enterprise-Grade Performance and Scalability: High-performance compute with Cisco UCS and scalable, AI-optimized network fabrics via Cisco Nexus, validated to run seamlessly with VAST's Disaggregated Shared Everything (DASE) architecture – delivering predictable performance across even the largest AI deployments. Faster Time-to-Value with Turnkey Automation: SaaS-based orchestration and lifecycle management from Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric AI, combined with VAST's intelligent dataflows and global namespace, streamline infrastructure provisioning, monitoring, and scaling across the full AI pipeline. Built-In Security and Multi-Tenant Readiness: A zero-trust infrastructure model that combines VAST's native data governance and multi-tenant controls with Cisco's secure platform architecture—ensuring isolated, compliant environments for sensitive AI workloads across hybrid and on-prem deployments. The VAST + Cisco solution is purpose-built for generative and agentic AI workloads, enabling customers to power complex, data-driven applications with the performance, insight, and operational control needed to drive business transformation. 'This partnership represents the convergence of two best-in-class platforms to create a foundational blueprint for enterprise AI,' said Renen Hallak, Founder and CEO at VAST Data. 'By aligning the VAST AI OS with Cisco's UCS and Nexus infrastructure, we're delivering the turnkey simplicity, observability, and scalability that enterprises need to deploy and manage intelligent systems globally.

Skills shortage remains a huge problem as Cisco reveals results of its Cybersecurity Readiness Index 2025
Skills shortage remains a huge problem as Cisco reveals results of its Cybersecurity Readiness Index 2025

Tahawul Tech

time4 days ago

  • Tahawul Tech

Skills shortage remains a huge problem as Cisco reveals results of its Cybersecurity Readiness Index 2025

Cisco has published the findings of their Cybersecurity Readiness Index, and the pressing need for more skilled cybersecurity professionals has increased as AI adoption continues to skyrocket. However, there was good news for the UAE, as it was revealed that 30% of organisations across the country had reached mature or progressive levels in terms of their readiness to withstand cybersecurity attacks. This represents an improvement from last year's Index, however further efforts are required to address cybersecurity preparedness as hyperconnectivity and AI introduce new complexities for security practitioners. AI is revolutionizing security and escalating threat levels, with 93% of organizations in the country having faced AI-related incidents last year. However, only 62% of respondents are confident their employees fully understand AI-related cybersecurity threats, and only 57% believe their teams fully grasp how malicious actors are using AI to execute sophisticated attacks. This awareness gap leaves organizations critically exposed. AI is compounding an already challenging threat landscape. In the last year, over half of organisations (55%) suffered cyberattacks, hindered by complex security frameworks with siloed point solutions. The top three types of cybersecurity incidents include malware (76%), phishing attacks (59%), and data breaches by malicious actors (47%). Ransomware attacks were mentioned by 39% of respondents. Fady Younes, Managing Director for Cybersecurity at Cisco Middle East, Africa, Türkiye, Romania and CIS, said: 'As AI reshapes our world, it brings an entirely new class of risks at an unprecedented scale, putting even more pressure on infrastructure and those who defend it.' He added: 'Our region's leadership in AI adoption is remarkable, paving the way for a dynamic future where innovative, AI-driven cybersecurity measures are critical for enhancing and protecting our digital landscape. Cisco is committed to support organizations in the region in enhancing their digital resilience by prioritizing AI solutions, streamlining security architecture, and addressing talent shortages. Today, preparedness is key to ensuring that businesses remain relevant and can thrive in the AI era.' The Index evaluates companies' readiness across five pillars – Identity Intelligence, Network Resilience, Machine Trustworthiness, Cloud Reinforcement, and AI Fortification – and encompasses 31 solutions and capabilities. Based on a double-blind survey of 8,000 private sector security and business leaders in 30 global markets, including 202 in the UAE, respondents detailed their deployment stages for each solution. Companies were then categorized into four readiness stages: Beginner, Formative, Progressive, and Mature. Findings Cybersecurity preparedness in the UAE remains alarmingly low, especially as 75% of respondents anticipate business disruptions from cyber incidents within the next 12 to 24 months. Further: AI's Expanding Role in Cybersecurity: An impressive 96% of organizations use AI to understand threats better, 93% for threat detection, and 77% for recovery, underscoring AI's vital role in strengthening cybersecurity strategies. An impressive 96% of organizations use AI to understand threats better, 93% for threat detection, and 77% for recovery, underscoring AI's vital role in strengthening cybersecurity strategies. Generative AI (GenAI) Deployment Risks: GenAI tools are widely adopted, with 45% of employees using approved third-party tools. However, 20% have unrestricted access to public GenAI, and 54% of IT teams are unaware of employee interactions with GenAI, underscoring major oversight challenges. GenAI tools are widely adopted, with 45% of employees using approved third-party tools. However, 20% have unrestricted access to public GenAI, and 54% of IT teams are unaware of employee interactions with GenAI, underscoring major oversight challenges. Shadow AI Concerns: 33% of organizations lack confidence in detecting unregulated AI deployments, or shadow AI, posing significant cybersecurity and data privacy risks. 33% of organizations lack confidence in detecting unregulated AI deployments, or shadow AI, posing significant cybersecurity and data privacy risks. Unmanaged Device Vulnerability: Within hybrid work models, 88% of organizations face increased security risks as employees access networks from unmanaged devices. This is exacerbated by using unapproved Gen AI tools. Within hybrid work models, 88% of organizations face increased security risks as employees access networks from unmanaged devices. This is exacerbated by using unapproved Gen AI tools. Investment Priorities Shift: While almost all (98%) organizations plan to upgrade their IT infrastructure in the next 12-24 months, only 9% allocate more than 20% of their IT budget to cybersecurity. This finding suggests an opportunity for enhanced investment in comprehensive defense strategies, as the pace of threats continues to rise. While almost all (98%) organizations plan to upgrade their IT infrastructure in the next 12-24 months, only 9% allocate more than 20% of their IT budget to cybersecurity. This finding suggests an opportunity for enhanced investment in comprehensive defense strategies, as the pace of threats continues to rise. Complex Security Postures: Over four in five (81%) organizations report that their complex security infrastructures, dominated by the deployment of more than 10 point security solutions, are hampering their ability to respond to threats swiftly and effectively. Over four in five (81%) organizations report that their complex security infrastructures, dominated by the deployment of more than 10 point security solutions, are hampering their ability to respond to threats swiftly and effectively. Talent Shortage Impedes Progress: A staggering 87% of respondents identify the shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals as a major challenge, with 57% reporting more than 10 positions to fill. To tackle today's cybersecurity challenges, organizations in the UAE must invest in AI-driven solutions, simplify security infrastructures, and enhance AI threat awareness. Prioritising AI for threat detection, response, and recovery is essential, as is addressing talent shortages and mitigating risks from unmanaged devices and shadow AI.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store