Dubai: Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX), a leader in hybrid multicloud computing, announced Project Beacon, a multi-year effort to deliver a portfolio of data-centric Platform as a Service (PaaS) level services available natively anywhere – including on Nutanix or on native public cloud. With a vision of decoupling the application and its data from the underlying infrastructure, Project Beacon aims to enable developers to build applications once and run them anywhere.According to the Enterprise Cloud Index, 75% of IT teams expect to leverage more than one IT infrastructure ? including on-premises, in public cloud or at the edge ? in the next one to three years. Moving applications to a different environment is currently possible at the infrastructure layer. However, the PaaS services that many organizations use to help developers build and ship applications faster cause lock-in as they are tied to specific public clouds. This leads to high switching costs when looking to move applications to an environment that is more suitable, whether it’s due to cost, compliance, latency or other factors. Project Beacon aims to change that.“Project Beacon is our vision for enabling developers to write applications once and run them anywhere by delivering data-centric PaaS level services that are no longer tied to a single infrastructure provider,” said Rajiv Ramaswami, President & CEO at Nutanix. “We hope to enable enterprises to fully embrace the benefits of hybrid multicloud, not only at the infrastructure layer but also at the application data layer.”As part of Project Beacon, Nutanix aims to deliver the platform services that many organizations rely on, with a single API and console, integrated with Kubernetes® container orchestration, and consistent management across environments. This suite of data-centric platform services would be characterized by a consistent and simplified management experience, automated mobility, portable licensing, developer self-service, with built-in security and governance for cloud operations teams. Through these services, developers would have access to a suite of data-centric PaaS services whether in native public cloud, on-premises or at the edge, while operations teams would be able to remain in full control of data governance, compliance and data protection.“As the industry’s leading enterprise Kubernetes platform, Red Hat OpenShift helps customers build, deploy and manage any application, anywhere,” said Matt Hicks, President and Chief Executive Officer, Red Hat. “With Project Beacon, Nutanix will build on our mission with a vision of data-centric platform services delivered consistently, anywhere, further extending customer choice on Red Hat’s open hybrid cloud platforms with Nutanix’s advanced data services.”Nutanix is starting with database services, the foundation of all apps. As part of this effort, the company aims to extend the customer benefits of the Nutanix Database Service™ (NDB) solution as a managed service in the public cloud. This will build on the NDB database automation and management experience already available on Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI), as a managed service on native public cloud infrastructure.Nutanix would then expand from there to the most popular data-centric platform services, such as streaming, caching, and search. The goal of this effort is to deliver all key elements needed to build modern applications so that developers would not have to rely on solutions that will lock them into a single infrastructure.“Organizations have come to rely on public cloud services to accelerate the speed of development and innovation, but there are trade-offs – in terms of complexity, cost, lock-in, and more,” said Dave Pearson, IDC RVP for Infrastructure Systems, Platforms and Technologies. “With Project Beacon, Nutanix aims to reduce lock-in and increase application development simplicity through unified management, automated mobility, and the ability to write applications once and deploy them as-needed on appropriate infrastructure.”

Dubai: Augustus Media, the media company known for Lovin Dubai and the business-savvy Smashi TV streaming service, has launched a brand-new podcast called “Unspoken,” in collaboration with renowned hosts Sabine Sassine and Fouad Haidar. In doing so, Augustus Media, an award-winning Middle Eastern digital media company based in Dubai and Riyadh, is producing exciting podcasts across their multiple brands, and continuing to lead the way in providing modern, engaging content to its audience. “Unspoken” is a bi-weekly podcast that explores the unspoken truths and secrets that exist in our everyday lives, geared towards millennials and Gen-Zers. Each episode features candid conversations with hosts and a guest who has a unique perspective on the subject matter, together they delve into the topics that often go unspoken in our society.Sabine and Fouad are boldly tackling topics that are often considered awkward, uncomfortable, or taboo, such as mental health, emotional well-being, and sex education. Their new podcast breaks down barriers with its limitless approach, refusing to adhere to boundaries, borders, or gender stereotypes. With a focus on personal experiences and opinions, listeners are sure to feel heard on this show. As Sabine and Fouad often say, “different people, different opinions,” making their podcast a space for diverse perspectives and open discussion.The podcast is distributed across all Smashi TV platforms and falls under the Smashi Entertainment vertical. Smashi is a live streaming service from the heart of the Arab world, covering the best events, people and products changing our lives. New episodes of the podcast are released every Friday and are available wherever one gets their daily podcasts.Guests of the podcast have included names such as Fozaza, Mohanad Al Hamdi, Dr.Costi and Sandra Sahi, who have explored topics ranging from fertility, Arab media censorship, social media expectations and bullying. “It’s been a fantastic journey getting to create Unspoken with Sabine and Fouad, with a lot of heart and energy going into its inception. Unspoken is not just another podcast, it’s a platform where barriers are broken, and the unspoken is given a voice. It’s never more been so important to create content that matters and is relevant in today’s society, so having a team that’s leading the conversation has been fantastic. Unspoken was a necessary creation that both Sabine and I felt the need to unleash after being in the business for quite a few years," said Amy Jones, Senior Content Director, Augustus Media. "We wanted to bring our skills, our long array of guests, and our energy into a platform that breaks all the taboos in the Arab world, and give a voice for the unheard and the underrated. To us, Unspoken is raw, light, yet extremely moving,’’ said Fouad Haidar, Unspoken show host. In line with Augustus Media’s focus on in house production, they have also produced a 10-week, 10-episode series ‘MS Talks 2.0’ in collaboration with Novartis. The series brings together experts and members of the community to bring awareness and provide clarity on Multiple Sclerosis. The show goes live in both video and podcast formats across Lovin Dubai platforms, including The Lovin Dubai Show.All Augustus Media podcasts are accessible on Anghami, Spotify, Apple and Google podcasts.

Dubai: In a remarkable display of collaborative success, myco (previously known as MContent), the innovative web3 video streaming platform, and Xapads, the leading advertising technology company won big at Digixx 2023 Awards. Their joint campaign won gold awards in both the Insight & Research and Mobile & Apps Marketing categories, showcasing the exceptional creativity, innovation, and impact that resulted from their partnership.myco and Xapads embarked on a mission to position myco as a cutting-edge app for web3 video streaming and to give content creators the power to earn from their creations. By leveraging strategic in-app placements through Xapads, the campaign soared, achieving heightened brand awareness, expanded reach, improved user retention rates, and higher quality user acquisitions for myco.  Tariq Jaser, Head of Marketing at myco, commented on the victory, saying, "We are incredibly proud of our collaboration with Xapads and the success we've achieved together at the Digixx 2023 Awards. This recognition reflects our commitment to innovation, creativity, and the potential of web3 technology to transform the video streaming landscape”.With this seamless collaboration and effective planning and execution, the campaign successfully reached over 2.8 million users and boosted the signup rate by an impressive 33%.Expressing his excitement, Gagan Uppal, Country Head-MENA, said “Our excitement is boundless upon receiving these awards, and we extend our gratitude to the Digixx 2023 Awards for acknowledging our dedication and efforts. Our collaboration with MyCo has played a crucial role in this success, and we recognize their invaluable contribution”.