GE has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) that will bring GE Digital’s breakthrough digital industrial solutions at scale to the Middle East, Africa and Turkey. GE said the three-year agreement with HPE, is the first collaboration of this scale and scope in the region, and will focus on cybersecurity solutions in operational technology, with the potential to move into other digital solutions in the future.
One of the first solutions this partnership will focus on is OpShield from GE Digital. OpShield was created specifically to protect critical infrastructure, drawing on years of embedded device testing and assessments of hundreds of industrial facilities. The solution reduces risk of cyber-related unplanned downtime; improves asset protection from cyber-related damage; helps safeguard protected health information (PHI); reduces risk of damage to reputation and intellectual property theft due to cyber incidents; and increases customers’ confidence to connect and optimize assets.
In the first year of the partnership, GE Digital Cyber Security solutions will be distributed through the HPE Channel Partner Network across the MEA &T region, with a particular focus on the Gulf, Levant, Northern Africa, South Africa, and Turkey. By using this existing Partner Network with more than 1,500 partners in the region today, HPE and GED together will bring critical digital and cybersecurity solutions to industrial controls and infrastructure networks.
Ali Saleh, senior vice president and chief commercial officer for GE Digital MEA, said: “This partnership will enable our most important customers and partners in the region to begin the journey of digital transformation in a secure environment. HPE has the strongest partner program among peers to manage a partnership of this scope and scale, to bolster a secure digital ecosystem, and reach customers quickly through an innovative business model.”
Johannes Koch, managing director, Middle East and Africa for HPE, said: “This agreement for Middle East, Africa aur Turkey builds on our global partnership with GE to help our customers and partners take advantage of the Industrial Internet of Things and drive digital transformation across their business. The requirement for security in both information technology and operational technology environments, and the need to protect critical infrastructures, makes this an ideal opportunity for our partners.”