INDUSTRY WATCH
based custom developed “ Single Sign On ” solution . Our security systems span from IBM Radar , Web Application Firewalls , Cisco IPS , Fortinet Meru WiFi delivery & heartbeat monitoring through sophisticated DNS systems to stay current as possible to the ever increasing cyber security threat portfolio .
Can you give us the time scales behind the project ( s ) and the cost-factor involved for the implementation and maintenance ? Total business transformation took about three years , with many strategic plans being executed in parallel . In Chronological order - Enterprise architecture design , IT Strategy , Key objectives & deliverables , Business process analysis , Tier 1 ERP selection and alignment with business requirements , Gap analysis , business process reengineering , enterprise applications blueprint , data centre consolidation , private hybrid cloud implementation with Production and Disaster recovery physically separated hosting five environments – Staging , Testing , Training , Disaster recovery and Live instances .
Migration mail boxes to Exchange environment , Implementation of ERP in the UAE that spans across 10,000 employees . To wrap it up being the first construction entity in the region to meet the Information Security Management Systems requirements of ISO 27001:2013 , thus being certified by UKAS in 2015 .
Business process Automation of Finance , Accounting , Supply chain management , eProcurement , Bid and Tender Management , Construction Project Management , Contracting Billing , Job Costing , Project Portfolio Management , Transportation & Camp Management , Consolidation , Business Analytics , Human resources , online Induction & online Leave & Payroll for 10,000 staff implemented over 270 days including organisation change management was a collective achievement for the group .
What used to take us months to mobilise with physical IT hardware , we do it hours today with our Hosted ERP & Infrastructure platforms . Being in construction and contracting , with our projects ranging over three years , demobilising these projects and the reuse of virtualised environments have proved to contribute to considerable cost savings and reduce in Fixed Asset investments .
The costs associated in building this system was $ 16 million initial investment with a $ 1.5 million operating expenses . This , however , projected a $ 6 million immediate cost saving and a minimum of $ 2 million of yearly recurring savings in the ERP alone , which was observed from year two onwards .
The important aspect of transforming the organisation digitally was recognised when we were able to measure our total regional IT costs and expenses were limited to 0.38 % of our revenue which is way below the Gartner and Forrester
THE IMPORTANT ASPECT OF TRANSFORMING THE ORGANISATION DIGITALLY WAS RECOGNISED WHEN WE WERE ABLE TO MEASURE OUR TOTAL REGIONAL IT COSTS AND EXPENSES WERE LIMITED TO 0.38 % OF OUR REVENUE WHICH IS WAY BELOW THE GARTNER AND FORRESTER RECOMMENDATIONS OF 3 ~ 4 % FOR A CONTRACTING COMPANY IN THIS MIDDLE EAST .
recommendations of 3 ~ 4 % for a contracting company in this Middle East . This played a major role in continued IT initiatives during the economic uncertainty in the region .
What would you say is particularly innovative about this project ?
• Defining the depth and scope of changes required over the next five years
• Redesign of the Internal Process and Information flow structure
• Aligning Agile technology and Open Standards that can adapt to moving strategic directions and business plans
• Engaging executive stakeholders that drive governance , risk and compliance
• First design , engineer and deploy a consistent best of breed technology platform , then optimise the process
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