Headquartered in Bahrain with operations throughout the region, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) company, Almoayed ICT provides state-of-the-art solutions and services to clients. It is an example of one of Bahrain’s best success stories, with a multi-divisional structure, that is able to provide optimum solutions to Customers’ IT requirements. All divisions work together to provide end-to-end solutions and cater to a customer base that is diversified in terms of both industry and geography.
Established in 1982 by Mr. Nabeel Almoayed, the Almoayed Group has been a key contributor to the “Economic Vision 2030” of Bahrain and has been selected twice as the best ICT Solution provider in the country by Bahrain’s eGovernment Authority (eGA) in the years 2009 and 2011.
In a freewheeling interview with bizbahrain, Executive Director, Dr. Nawaf Almoayed, talks about his company’s growing presence in the region, the future of the ICT industry in Bahrain and what needs to be done.
In the beginning…
Almoayed ICT is a subsidiary of Almoayed Group, which was established in 1982 by my father, Mr. Nabeel Almoayed, with a very clear vision: to become a leading and preferred ICT solutions and services provider in the region and beyond. Almoayed ICT is the division within Almoayed Group that operates mainly in the ICT domain and focuses on delivering best-of-breed ICT solutions and services to its customers.
The services we offer today encompass a wide range including, Networking Infrastructure Solutions; Physical & Network Security Solutions; Voice, Video & Data Solutions; Servers and Storage Solutions; Telecom & Structured Cabling Solutions; Enterprise Software Solutions and Services; Managed & Professional Services focused on on-site software & hardware consulting.
Expansion in the works
Over the years, Almoayed ICT has formed business relationships with many reputed customers spanning across different industry verticals and geographical boundaries. Our experience has taught us that in order to expand within the region, we need to do so in a very organic and sustainable fashion. We currently have operations in Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Dubai and have plans to expand further into the GCC in the foreseeable future.
The evolution of the industry in Bahrain
The ICT industry has grown rapidly since I started working here in 2008. There are more players in the market, which brings more competition and in turn more focus from the people who thrive in this environment. There are quite a few system integrators in the market now that provide very similar services to ourselves, so it is up to us to come up with smart and innovative ways to add value to our solutions. We do this partly by ensuring that we have the most qualified technical and sales teams in the Kingdom.
Customers are also now more aware and educated on how they can run a more efficient business if they invest in the right ICT infrastructure. There has also been a huge shift towards virtualisation and cloud computing to ensure optimisation and cost savings on the customer’s end.
At Almoayed ICT, we firmly believe that our main strength is our employees.
We ensure that we recruit the most qualified professionals and give them the freedom to express themselves in their respective specialisations. This ensures that our vision is achieved and continues to inspire every individual working with us to deliver better products, more efficient solutions and flawless support to our customers. We constantly help clients to innovate, automate and execute their business processes at lower cost and higher quality. Our highly skilled IT specialists, are also constantly being trained and getting certified in new technologies and services to ensure that they are up-to-date with current market trends, which in turn allows them to better address our customers’ needs.
Mushrooming of ICT startups and positive competition
I definitely see this as a positive, as competition gets rid of complacency and ensures that we continue to re-invent ourselves as a company and look for new and improved ways of going about our business. This helps us remain successful and find innovative ways of solving our customers’ problems in a very cost effective manner. The ICT market is growing at a fast pace and competition forces you to adapt to new situations and market trends, which benefits well structured companies in the long run and allows them to remain very competitive themselves.
We are living in a digital age where more and more ICT products become available everyday.
There are more hardware and software solutions available in the market than ever before. Solutions to increase productivity, optimise workflow, and improve network and physical security that used to be too expensive for SMEs and individuals are now quite affordable. All types of organisations ranging from Government entities to banking institutions to single person companies are taking advantage of the increased availability of ICT solutions that enhance their businesses. This need will continue to grow at a very fast rate as we accelerate into the coming digital age of “The Internet of Things”. This concept revolves around increased communication between electronic devices and is built on cloud computing and networks of data gathering sensors, enabling an endless portfolio of “smart” devices, processes and applications.
We have some very talented and educated local talent in the ICT market, but on the whole we definitely have deficiencies in leadership qualities.
A lot of the top jobs in the ICT sector are still filled by people from abroad. There is definitely space for a Telecom or ICT academy to train locals and equip them with the skill sets they need to occupy more of the senior leadership positions in the industry. Hopefully we will get to see more of these initiatives appearing in the future.