STREAMLINES WITH FOCUS RT BUSINESS APPS GO … · STREAMLINES WITH FOCUS RT P08 ... Focus Softnet has emerged into a multinational or- ... Focus Softnet. The company’s Toronto office

GULF CRAFTCRUISES TO SUCCESSYACHT & BOAT MAKER RUNS ON FOCUS P12

BEAUTYLICIOUS ON FOCUS RTBEAUTY SUPPLIER STREAMLINES WITH FOCUS RT P08

THIS ISSUE: MOBILE ERP APPLICATIONS OPEN UP NEW POTENTIAL FOR BUSINESSES

CONVERGENCE BETWEEN CONSUMER MOBILE DEVICES AND CLOUD COMPU-TING IS ENABLING A MOBILITY REVOLU-TION FOR ENTERPRISE APPLICATIONS

BUSINESSBUSINESSAPPS GOAPPS GOMOBILEMOBILE

FOCUS SOFTNET GROUP OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER September 2013

POSMOBILE

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September 2013 FOCAL POINT 3www.focussoftnet.com

05_MEET THE TEAMTHE FOCUS SOFTNET STORY; INTRODUCING THE

REGIONAL LEADERSHIP FOR THE MIDDLE EAST

06_NEWSFOCUS SOFTNET LAUNCHES NORTH AMERICA

OFFICE; FOCUS PREPARES FOR GITEX 2013

12_GULF CRAFTSUPER YACHT MANUFACTURER RUNS

FOCUS I TO MANAGE GLOBAL OPERATIONS

08_BEAUTYLICIOUSLUXURY BEAUTY BRANDS COMPANY BEAUTY-

LICIOUS USING FOCUS RT TO SCALE UP BUSINESS

11_SOLUTIONS: MPOSNEW FOCUS MPOS SOLUTION BRINGS FLEXIBI-

LITY OF MOBILE TO RETAIL ORGANISATIONS

16_FOCUS IN THE UAEINSIDE THE TEAM DRIVING FOCUS

SOFTNET’S OPERATIONS IN THE UAE

17_FOCUS KUWAIT LEADSFOCUS KUWAIT BUSINESS BUILDS

STRONG REPUTATION AND PRESENCE

18_COMMENT: MOBILE ERPCOMPANIES NEED TO LEVERAGE THE

POWER OF MOBILE ERP SOLUTIONS

ISSUE 01 • SEPTEMBER 2013

A MESSAGE FROM THE CEO

Dear Customers and Partners

It gives me great pleasure to intro-duce our first edition of Focal Point, a window to the news, views and insights from Focus Softnet and our customers. Through this magazine, we hope to bring you the latest technology trends, interes-ting case studies from across different verticals, product updates and intro-ductions to the Focus Softnet teams in different countries.

Focus Softnet began its Middle East operations in 1995 and our successful journey and growth over the years would not have been possible without your con-tinued support and valuable feedback. It is our privilege to be associated with you and we would like to thank you for placing your trust in us. You have been an integral part of our success story in ma-king Focus one of the top three mid-tier ERP solution providers in the region.

Focus Softnet has always been in the forefront to recognise the needs of businesses in this region and address their challenges by creating customised solutions that are on a par with global technological advancements. Our wide-

range of solutions that address different market vertical segments, help compa-nies reduce operational costs and help them streamline their businesses. We will always strive to deliver not only world-class quality solutions but also the best service and support.

Last but not least, our accomplish-ments would not have been possible without the heartfelt commitment and unified effort of our dedicated team of professionals and business partners. Their passion is truly inspirational and we would like to thank them for contributing to Focus’ success.

Sincerely,

Ali HyderGroup CEO,Focus Softnet Fz LLC.

International HOGrosvenor Business Tower

17TH Floor Office #17-10 & 17-11 Tecom Area ,Emirates Hills South Barsha

PO Box 500151 Dubai-UAE Tel: +9714 - 4347395Fax: +9714 - 4327545

Email: [email protected]

Corporate H.O.6-3-659/A, Kapadia Lane,

Somaijiguda, Hyderabad - 500 082 Tel: +91-40-40353535 Fax: +91-40-23396674

Email: [email protected]

Published on behalf of Focus Softnet FZ LLC by ITP Technology Group.

Published by and © 2013 ITP Business Publishing, a division of the ITP Publishing Group Ltd. Registered in the B.V.I. under Company number 1402846.

in this issue

Sincerelely,y

Ali HyHyyyydededeededededededdededededededdddededdedeededdedddeededd rrupp CECECECCECECCECCCCECECECEECCEECECCCECECCECCECCECEECEECEEECEEO,O

net

IndiaHyderabad

Tel:[email protected]

New Delhi

Tel:+91-011-4304 [email protected]

MumbaiTel:+91-22-61419786

[email protected]

KolkattaTel:+91-033-40163535

[email protected]

ChennaiTel:+91-44-30487777 / 30481111Email:[email protected]

BangaloreTel:+91 80 25550700

[email protected]

UAEDubai

Tel:04-3912670Email:[email protected]

Sharjah


Abu DhabiTel:00971 2 6228277

[email protected]

Saudi ArabiaJeddah

Tel:+9662 6575317, 6575275, [email protected]

RiyadhTel:+966-1-403 9787, 403-2876

[email protected]

Al KhobarTel:9663 8645819, 8645841, 8650491, 8650492

[email protected]

KuwaitTel:+965 -22440410/13/[email protected]

Bahrain


QatarDoha

Tel:+974 44353659, [email protected]

Oman

Tel:+968 24788636 / [email protected]

YemenSana


Lebanon

BeirutTel:+961 (1) 900051

[email protected]

EgyptAlexandria

Tel: +203 [email protected]

LibyaTripoli

Tel:+218 21 484 [email protected]

Malaysia

KualalumpurTel:+603 22423000

[email protected]

SingaporeTel:(65) 68442326, 68441456/57 Email:[email protected]

PhilippinesMakati City

Tel:+632-5550559 / 5550560 / 5550561 [email protected]

South AfricaJohannesburg

Tel:(0027) 0117830084 / 0879412993Email:[email protected]

KenyaNairobi

Tel:+254 20 4938 520Email:[email protected]

CanadaToronto

Tel:905 232 [email protected]

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Established in 1992, Focus Softnet has a rich history of innovation, growth and glo-bal expansion. Over the last two decades, Focus Softnet

has emerged into a multinational or-ganisation with an extensive network of 24 offices spread across 16 countries.

FOCUS ON GROWTHFocus Softnet began its Middle East operations in 1995 and then moved its regional headquarters to Dubai Internet City in 2001 with only 10 employees. Since then, the company has expanded to over 200 employees working across its Middle East offices. In 2008, Focus Softnet established of its fully-owned subsidiary in Saudi Arabia and in 2009, the company moved its international headquarters to TECOM.

The company’s commitment to customer interaction and satisfaction has ensured that Focus Softnet’s client list is constantly growing to include some of the biggest brand names, such as Air Arabia, Boeing, National Bonds, ICCAT, Taleem, Chapal World, Ajman Bank, SNASCO, Alinco, Total Lub-ricants, to name a few.

At GITEX 2012, Focus Softnet unveiled its dynamic new corporate identity with its latest brand logos for its products.

FOCUS SOFTNET AN INCREDIBLE GROWTH STORYFOCUS SOFTNET IS BUILDING A MARKET-LEADING GLOBAL PRESENCE BASED ON SUPERIOR SOLUTIONS, STRONG CUSTOMER SERVICE AND SUPPORT AND TEAMWORK

solutions, Focus Softnet has hel-ped over 30,000 clients across the globe increase productivity and efficiency, and run better.

One of the major focuses of the company in the last two years has been improvement in customer services by int-roducing a dedicated Quality Control Department which takes regular customer feedback on the quality services and mo-nitors quality of deliverables during COC approvals.

FOCUS ON BUILDING A SOLID TEAM OF PROFESSIONALSFocus Softnet believes in its team and its talent. The company’s training and deve-lopment capabilities are the best in industry and it adds value to customer satisfaction. Focus Softnet offers equity ownership to its employees and has achie-ved highest employee satisfac-tion with extremely low (8%) staff turnover. More than 60% of its employees are part of its team for over 10 years.

MEET THE MANAGEMENTAli Hyder – Group CEO

1 Mohammed Jawad Ali Khan – Regional CEO for Middle East, Africa and N.America

2 Nisith Naik – Regional CEO for UAE, Far East Asia and Pacific.

3 Syed Ali Hasan – Executive Vice President for Kuwait, Qatar, Jeddah, Oman, Yemen and Kenya.

4 Sunil Mathew – Executive Vice President for UAE and Levant Region.

SOLUTIONS THAT MOVE BUSINESSThe hallmark of Focus growth story is its zeal and ability to keep itself tech-nologically ahead so as to provide its customers the best. Be it the first to develop a GUI-based ERP application on DOS or among the very first in providing built-in report writer or integrating BI tools with the ERP, Focus has always been way ahead of its competitors.

With more than 10,000 customers in the GCC, Focus Softnet stands as a veritable force in providing the best solutions. Focus uses the latest technologies to develop its products and customises them by offering regional-specific features, which significantly reduces the implemen-tation time.

FOCUS ON STRONG CUSTOMER SER-VICE AND SUPPORTAs an IT solutions provider with over 20 years of experience and multi-domain expertise, Focus Softnet›s consulting services and skill sets are backed by a vast knowledge-base and a keen understanding of what it takes to run and grow a business. By re-engineering business processes and optimizing resources, developing and deploying user-friendly, flexible and cost-efficient industry specific

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the Focus Softnet story

6 FOCAL POINT September 2013 www.focussoftnet.com

news

Focus Softnet opened its newest office, in Toronto, Canada, in July, to better serve growing demand from the North American market.

Through this new office, Focus Softnet plans to promote its enterprise softwa-re solutions and managed services of-ferings, including organisation change management, staffing solutions, Bu-siness Process Consulting and imple-mentations services to customers in Canada and the US.

FOCUS SOFTNET EXPANDS OPERATIONS TO NORTH AMERICATORONTO OFFICE TO HELP FOCUS SOFTNET SCALE UP NORTH AMERICAN OPERATIONS AND OFFER HIGH-QUALITY TECHNICAL SUPPORT AND CONSULTING SERVICES FROM A LOCAL TEAM

them high-quality technical support and consulting services closer to home,” said Jawad Ali Khan, Regional CEO for Middle East, Africa and North America, Focus Softnet.

The company’s Toronto office will be headed by two senior experienced Focus employees, Kishore Kumar Kentali as Vice President Operations for Canada, and Santhosh Joseph Vaikath as Technical and Func-tional head. The company plans to recruit more people locally in the coming months while expan-ding its local operations.

Over the last two decades Focus Softnet has emerged into an established multinational organisation with an extensive worldwide network of 24 offices spread across 16 countries. The software development vendor works with Business Associates globally to bring its state-of-the-art products to the marketplace, which are deemed as absolute value for money. Carrying the same model in Canada, Focus Softnet intends to work very clo-sely with system integrators, IT solution providers and consul-tants based on a highly rewar-ding revenue sharing model.

The Focus Suite of advanced business applications has enhanced business efficiency at more than 30,000 corporations across the globe.The company counts amongst its clients lea-ding names such as Air Arabia, Boeing, National Bonds, ICCAT, Taleem, Chapal World, Ajman Bank, SNASCO, Alinco, Total Lubricants, to name a few.

Among the portfolio of en-terprise applications that Focus will bring to North America are solutions such as Focus i, Focus RT, Focus CRM, Focus POS and Focus PMS.

(L-R) Santhosh Vaikath, Technical & Functional Head Canada; Jawad Ali Khan, Regional CEO for Middle East, Africa and North America; Neeraj Kaneria, Business Development Manager Canada, and Kishore Kentali, VP Operations Canada of Focus Softnet.

“Over the last few years, Focus has seen great demand for our solutions from companies in the US and Canada. Expanding into North America at this time makes perfect strategic sense as we already have clients in the USA. Hence we opened our twenty-fourth global office in To-ronto, which is also our first office in North America. This new office will help us scale up our North American operations and strengthen our ties with our local customers by offering


news

Focus Softnet is planning to increase its participation at GITEX, the Middle East’s le-ading technology exhibition, and to launch several next

generation business applications at the show. The company will reveal the latest generation of its ERP software, as well as mobile applications for its range of ERP and vertical solutions.

Focus Softnet will also place the spotlight on its best-in-class enterprise software solutions such as Focus i, Focus RT, Focus CRM, Focus POS and

FOCUS TO LAUNCH ERP & MOBILE APPS AT GITEX 2013EXPANDED PRESENCE AT GITEX TECHNOLOGY WEEK TO ENABLE COMPANY TO SHOWCASE LATEST SOLUTIONS IN ERP AND MOBILITY

promote our products, increase brand awareness and also raise our corporate profile across the multi-layered visitor profile at this high profile ICT exhibition. This year, we plan to announce some big product launches, sha-re our success stories for Focus CRM and Focus POS, which we launched last year, introduce mobile apps for our leading en-terprise solutions as well as sign new partnerships at the event.

“Our focus this year will be on mobile apps in a big way. We have developed separate mobile apps for our ERP and vertical solutions including healthcare, property management, POS, Restaurant solutions etc. We plan to launch these during GI-TEX and hold demos for visitors at our stand. Focus’ mobile apps will help companies customize their business solution dashbo-ards on their mobile phones,” Hyder adds.

Focus Sofnet, which has been participating in GITEX since 1996, has been growing at a fast pace. 2013 has been an expansion year for Focus Softnet with the company opening new offices, creating innovative sof-tware solutions for its customers and offering customers even better services and support.

At GITEX, Focus Softnet will be promoting Focus i, the company’s flagship brand, which is a revolutionary mid-tier ERP solution with fully integrated Business Intelligence (BI) tools along with its ERP solution — Focus RT, its Academic solution — Focus AIMS and Focus Mobile Point of Sale, a software solution that incorporates the functiona-lity of a traditional point of sale workstation into a mobile device which in turn helps businesses to serve customers.

The Focus Softnet team is ready for another outstanding appearance at GITEX expo.

Focus PMS as well as its managed services, organization change mana-gement, staffing solutions, Business Process Consulting and implementa-tions services to customers across the MENA region.

Ali Hyder, CEO of Focus Softnet says: “We have been participating in GITEX for the last 17 years and the response we have received from the exhibition each year has been fantas-tic. GITEX is the largest technology event in the Middle East and a per-fect platform for us to showcase and


Beauty

The company caters to upscale beauty salons, spas, medi-spas, nail bars, estheticians and select retail outlets

When luxury beauty brands company Beautylicious wanted to streamline its business proces-ses and improve the efficiency, speed and scalability of its opera-tions, the company selected Focus

Softnet’s flagship ERP solution, Focus RT, to deliver the right solu-tion across all areas of its business.

Established in 2005, Beauty-licious is a company dedicated to sourcing unique luxury beauty brands from around the world, such as June Jacobs, Eminence Or-ganics, Alterna, Fudge, Bella Lucce

case study / Beautylicious


LUXURY BEAUTY BRANDS COMPANY IMPROVES PROCESSES AND EFFICIENCY WITH FOCUS’ FLAGSHIP ERP SOLUTION

and Zoya, and bringing them to the Middle East. The company specialises in brands that are globally inspired, in-novative, unique, revolutio-

nary, eclectic, contemporary, stylish, as well as result-orien-

ted. With its wide-range of beauty products, Beautylicious caters to upscale beauty salons, spas, me-di-spas, nail bars, estheticians and select retail outlets. Headquarte-red in Kuwait, Beautylicious has more than 100 employees working from its facilities and retail outlets in Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE.


y liciousimplements Focus RTto help scale-up business

Floyd Paes, Finance Manager, Beautylicious, explained: “We were looking for an ERP solution that could take care of all areas of our business processes apart from offering us stability, scala-bility and speed. The ERP had to have the ability to scale up when required and needed to be easily customisable.

“We studied and analysed va-rious solutions available in the market and decided to go with Focus as it met all of our requi-rements in business knowledge, customisation and price point. We were impressed with Focus RT’s features and flexibility which would facilitate future customisations as we continue to expand and streamline our operations,” he added.

“Our relationship with Focus’ Kuwait office goes back to 2005, when we signed on for their accounting software. We sub-sequently upgraded to Focus RT in 2009. With the rapid growth of our business, there was a conti-nuous need to upgrade and mo-dify our processes and procedu-res, which was possible due to the experience, knowledge and patience from the Focus team in

Kuwait. Another important reason for working with Focus is that they have their own development team which caters to that extra, ‘over the top’ requirements that we have.”

Beautylicious was looking for an ERP, which would offer order mana-gement that linked the entire sales orders to picking list process and de-liveries, web based order booking and back office invoicing and financial updates. Beautylicious decided to go with Focus RT, which is a real time ERP solution that seamlessly integrates all facets of the business, including planning, manufacturing,

finance, sales, marketing and HR. It is a completely modular and scalable software, which helps increase pro-ductivity and reduce costs thus pa-ving the way for increased revenues for businesses.

Focus RT has been assisting Be-autylicious’ regional offices, ware-houses and retail stores to operate efficiently as well as providing real-time updates on its operations. The software has the capability to run from remote locations on a centrali-sed database. Using its highly integ-rated sales module, Focus’ team were able to link entire sales orders

“We were impressed with Focus RT’s features and flex-ibility which would facili-tate future customisa-tions as we continue to expand and streamline our opera-tions.”

en st t --

Floyd Paes, Finance Manager, Beautylicious.

case study / Beautylicious

Beautylicious is a supplier of global luxury beauty brands.

September 2013 FOCAL POINT 9

wewerere rs


to picking list and deliveries th-rough which the customer managed to achieve better monitoring of sa-les orders with stock analysis, better management of inventories and bet-ter customer management and value added services.

Focus customised and provided Beautylicious with a solution for website integration using Focus Application Programming Interface (API), which enables the company’s customers to do online shopping using shopping cart and this raises real time sales orders in the back of-fice. The linkup of the online store

with Focus RT has enabled Beauty-licious’ customers to purchase items with real-time inventory quantities.

“With robust configuration set-tings, Focus has integrated the sales & inventory module for back office financial updates. The ERP has func-tionalities that best fit the current and future needs of our business. The Focus team was professional, quick to understand our needs and showed us how these needs could be fully addressed by Focus RT’s func-tionalities. Also, having local support and development capability at our doorstep was an added advantage,

and increased our confidence in the product and after sales support,” explained Paes.

Beautylicious implemented the finance, sales, inventory and order management, web based order booking and MIS repor-ting modules of Focus RT. The company is currently working on ‘Focus RT Online’, the online version of the ERP using Inter-net=1 functionality over Data DSL and Internet DSL.

“Beautylicious brands have a strong market presence and loyal consumer base across mul-tiple age groups. The choice of Focus RT, in preference to other ERP vendors, is a vote of confi-dence for us that our solutions are best-in-class and offer the best return on investment ratios in the IT industry,” said Baqtiyar Siddiqui, AVP, Kuwait and Qatar, Focus Softnet.

“Focus RT is user friendly and easy to customise. It is perhaps the only ERP solution that pas-ses on the reins, tools and know-how of addressing change to the user. We strive to ensure that our customers realize their business potential by unlocking the infor-mation inside their companies to make better-informed deci-sions,” Siddiqui concluded.

“We strive to ensure that our customers realise their business potential by unlocking the information inside their companies to make better-informed decisions.”

Baqtiyar Siddiqui, AVP, Kuwaitand Qatar,Focus Softnet.

Beautylicious brands include June Jacobs, Eminence Organics, Alterna, Fudge, Bella Lucce and Zoya.

The company caters to upscale beauty salons, spas, medi-spas, nail bars and retailers. The company is running Focus RT.

toororouug

case study/ Beautylicious


Focus Softnet is bringing new flexibility to retai-lers, with the launch of Focus Mobile Point of Sale (MPOS). The software so-

lution incorporates the power and functionality of a traditional POS workstation into a mobile device, to allow businesses to serve customers from anywhere and at any time. Focus MPOS enables associates and store managers to spend more time on the sales floor thereby improving productivity and profitability in ad-dition to improved service.

“We are pleased to launch Focus MPOS, which is another robust so-lution created for our customers. Engaging shoppers quickly and efficiently is crucial to providing exceptional service in today’s fast-paced retail market. Focus MPOS gives customers the best POS sys-tem experience and increases their operational performance by incor-porating time-saving solutions. The software is convenient for users and can be easily integrated with our enterprise solutions - Focus RT and Focus i,” said Ali Hyder, CEO of Focus Softnet.

“The solution is powerful with multiple features, which will help businesses improve customer ser-vice and store productivity tremen-dously. Focus MPOS runs on any

POINT OF SALE GOES MOBILEFOCUS MPOS INCORPORATES THE POWER AND FUNCTIONALITY OF A TRADITIONAL POS WORKSTATION INTO A MOBILE DEVICE THAT ALLOWS BUSINESSES TO SERVE CUSTOMERS ANYWHERE AND AT ANY TIME

FOCUS MPOS ENABLES STORE EMPLOYEES TO:• Improve customer interactions• Review customer information• Perform item look-ups on the sales floor• Discover stock on hand• Locate out of stock items• Manage inventory

FEATURES

res include retail transactions, mobile payment processing, locate out of stock items, price look-up, and many more featu-res that enhances the customer shopping experience.

Focus MPOS can perform the functions of a full POS mobile station from anywhere inside or outside the customers’ store. The software can also be used to conduct sales transactions, secure payments and print cus-tomer receipts.

Focus MPOS engages custo-mers with personalised inte-ractions and allows orders to be booked on smart phone or handheld devices. The softwa-re allows businesses to increase transaction volumes, increases units per transaction with the ability to offer complimentary products, enables real time visibility of the company’s in-ventory across their operations, saves potential lost sales due to long queues at the billing coun-ters and enhances customer experience. Businesses using Focus MPOS can also wirelessly manage inventory and pricing.

The software will be available through the company’s offices and channel network across the Middle East and Africa.

The Focus MPOS solu-tion gives retailers access to point of sale services on mobile plat-forms.

smart phone and it is simple to use with menu driven features and a customisable dashboard. We have built this solution specifically for retail chains, hypermarkets, su-permarkets, restaurants and any business that is into indoor and outdoor retail sales,” he added.

Focus MPOS is a customer cent-ric mobile POS application with complete POS functionality. It can integrate with any existing POS, track customer history, manage fa-vorites and promos, cross sell with bill optimisation and do checklist tracking. Some of its other featu-

pos / mpos


case study/ Gulf Craft

Gulf Craft Inc, a leading UAE based manufacturing com-pany, designs and builds superyachts, quality mo-tor boats and cruisers that

meet and exceed international stan-dards of excellence. Over the last three decades, the company has graduated from building small boats to designing and manufacturing bigger and more sophisticated luxury vessels such as its Majesty Yachts and Oryx Sport Cruisers range. The company now stands as one of the leading boat builders worldwi-de, building more than 400 vessels an-

nually exporting the majority of its pro-duction to Europe, Australia, Asia and across the MENA region. As Gulf Craft’s business continues to expand, the com-pany has started demanding more from its business applications and systems. Implementing a good enterprise sof-tware system to aid its growth plans had become a top priority for the company.

“Over the last few years, Gulf Craft has grown tremendously with customers across the globe. We have been constant-ly innovating and customizing our boats and yachts to meet and exceed custo-mers’ expectations. More than a deca-

CRUISES TO NEW FOCUS SOFTNET SOLUTIONS HELPS GULF CRAFT TO MANAGE GLOBAL OPERATIONS

GULF CRAFT

Gulf Craft produces a range of different vessels.



HORIZONS WITH FOCUS

de ago, we were using Focus 5.1 and eventually upgraded to Focus RT in 2007, which helped us streamline our business processes and operations. We have now upgraded to Focus i and in the process we have not only added a new dress to the software or user interface but we have also added brand new features and functionali-ties thus enabling us to automate our financial and operational processes and helping us make better decisions by organising, analyzing and gene-rating reports out of the ERP data,”

“Focus i is allowing us to create new rewards sys-tems, which is a win-win situation for both the com-pany and the employee.”

Erwin Bamps Chief OperatingOfficer, Gulf Craft.

70YEARS

Potential lifespan ofa Gulf Craftfiber-glass

vessel.

line of troubleshooting or get initial repairs done. The com-pany also flies engineers who have been involved in building the vessels to different parts of the world as they understand the workings and minute details of the vessels.

“Gulf Craft is a vertically integ-rated company and as a manu-facturer we go beyond what most other manufacturers do, being a A-to-Z manufacturer rather than

an assembler. We create all the parts of our vessels from

scratch. We start with a simple sheet of stain-

less steel, a leat-her hide or wood

from a tree that is coming from Indone-

sia and we create a fully finished superyacht out of

it. Everything from our ma-nufacturing, management and activities including accoun-

says Erwin Bamps, Chief Operating Officer of Gulf Craft.

Gulf Craft has over 1,500 peop-le working at its offices, yards and service centres across the UAE and the Maldives. While the company’s clientele is spread across the globe, the company’s manufacturing facili-ties are in the UAE and the Maldives as they require highly technical re-sources and continuously evolving engineering. Gulf Craft has service centres at different locations where boat owners can come for the first

The company is a specialist in manufacturing luxury yachts and other craft. Gulf Craft maintenance is global.

anandd nn-



ting, stores, logistics are integrated and accounted for with our ERP software,” Bamps explains.

Gulf Craft evaluated solutions from diffe-rent vendors but decided to go with Focus as they understood their requirements and created customised modules to address those requirements. Focus i is a cost-effective solu-tion that combines Focus’ highly customis-able ERP with business intelligence tools. It is not only scalable, flexible and easily custo-mizable but it is also easy to use. Another ma-jor deciding factor in choosing the solution was Focus Softnet’s local after-sales service and support.

Focus Softnet was also able to integrate third party software such as the biometric software and the bar coding software with Focus i, which helped Gulf Craft get data on its inventories and production in real time. With this integration, Gulf Craft was able to bring man hours into the costing module as well as bring real time store management where even the smallest inventory item used

Gulf Craft, one of the leading builders of luxury vessels worldwide is using Focus i to automate and enhance core business processes.

in production could be tracked in real time.“For the first time in our company’s his-

tory, we are now able to print out a costing report as of the current date, which includes costs for materials and services provided, and salaries paid including the actual hours performed on that project. This is a major Gulf Craft CNC Machine

Gulf Craft Waterjet Machine

tiiacaccco


reduce costs. The solution has helped Gulf Craft achieve greater efficiency in their day to day ope-rations by avoiding delays in ret-rieving information and posting data online to the ERP from the stores and inventory locations,” says Sunil Mathew, Executive Vice President of Focus Softnet.

Deploying the customised version of Focus i has brought in many benefits for Gulf Craft including introducing a perfor-mance linked reward system to encourage employees to perform better. “Traditionally employees were given salaries and a regu-lar increment if they performed well on the job. Now we have a rewards system in place where the software allows us to gauge targets and performances and reward the deserving employees accordingly. So I can effectively say that Focus i is allowing us to create new rewards systems, which is a win-win situation for both the company and the emp-loyee,” says Bamps.

Gulf Craft is in the process of updating its ISO 9001 certifica-tion and it goes parallel with the implementation of Focus i. “The Focus i implementation process

is also a continuous learning process for the organiza-

tion, not only in terms of our own ISO 9001

procedures but also in general

on how we deal with each other’s

offices and so it is chan-ging the way we deal with

our company on the ground and on the floor,” he adds.

While exploring and imple-menting the features of Focus i, Gulf Craft is now looking forward to implementing Focus mobile accessibility to help faster deci-sion-making in the near future.


“Everything from our manufactur-ing, manage-ment and activities including accounting, stores, logis-tics are inte-grated and accounted for with our ERP software.”

Erwin Bamps Chief OperatingOfficer, Gulf Craft.

1,500Gulf Craft employees

operatingworldwide

Focus solutions were selected for their strong integration and support, says Bamps.

achievement for us as we can actual-ly manage and monitor production through an up-to-date logistics and man hour costing module.”

The implementation of Focus i is also helping Gulf Craft maintain qua-lity controls not just at the finishing stage of the product but throughout the manufacturing process. The af-ter-sales service is done by Gulf Craft itself and hence it was also important to maintain a proper service record for each vessel.

“The lifetime of a boat could easily be 60-70 years as there is no limita-tion to the lifespan of the fiberglass material if well-built. Hence it is also essential to maintain a service record for each boat, where we can track ser-vice history even if the owners chan-ge,” Bamps adds.

Gulf Craft decided to invest in ex-tended IT automation for its emp-loyees as they needed terminals for

data entry but they did not want to spend on expensive software licen-sing fees. The company proposed working over a Linux environment, which would help the organisation save on costs. Gulf Craft worked closely with Focus Softnet to adapt Focus i to work on Linux. Through its integration on Linux, Focus i now allows Gulf Craft to get more raw data direct from the floor and cut out on the reprocessing steps of data entry.

“Gulf Craft has been working on Focus’ solutions for over a decade and is a valuable customer to Focus Softnet. We studied their business requirements and customised Focus i to suit their requirements. This imp-lementation helps Gulf Craft access the application from any of their loca-tions across UAE, Maldives and ot-her representations across the globe seamlessly over a Linux environment thereby helping the organisation


country profi le/ UAE

FOCUS SOFTNETIN THE UAE

The UAE was Focus Softnet’s first overseas destination. Since it began its UAE operations in 1995, the company has witnessed remarkable growth year-on-year. To res-pond to the overwhelming business opportunities, the company shifted its regional headquarters to Dubai

Internet City in 2001 and opened its international headquarters in 2009 in Grosvenor Business Tower in TECOM. Since then the company has expanded its operations throughout the UAE with ful-ly-fledged branch offices in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. The company

FOCUS SOFTNET’S FIRST OVERSEAS OPERATION CONTINUES TO DRIVE GLOBAL REVENUES

“Since we began our UAE operations in 1995, Focus’ business in the UAE and the region has grown tremendously. We connect closely with our customers, understand their requirements and design new solutions to suit their requirements. This is a big value-add for them and one of the reasons for Focus Softnet’s success. Our team has always put our custom-ers’ needs first and developed solutions that move businesses and helped them grow in a highly competitive environment. We offer them highly customized solutions that are easy to use and simplify their day to day operations. Our best-of-breed products and excellent customer service

is what differentiates us from other vendors. We plan to continue to offer our customers comprehensive solutions and services to ensure that we make it easier, faster and cost-effective for them.”

now serves more than 6,000 customers across all business ver-ticals in the country.

Despite the economic downturn in 2008-2009, Focus was able to grow its business in the UAE market because of the company’s commitment to offer cost effective solutions that meet the bu-dgets and demands of SMEs across the region.

To ensure service excellence, Focus Softnet UAE branch office launched a dedicated Quality Control department which receives regular feedback from customers and offers timely corrective me-asures on the quality of service.

The branch has successfully implemented high value projects in record time and performed consistently well among all the branc-hes, with nearly 30% of global revenues of the company coming from the UAE operations over the last decade. This could not have been achieved without the hard work, dedication and determina-tion of the more than 100 professionals working across the UAE.

Today the branch is aiming to reach new heights of success un-der the leadership of Sunil Mathew, Executive Vice President of the company.

Sunil Mathew, Executive Vice President for UAE & Levant Region.


country profi le/Kuwait

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IN KUWAIT

Focus’ operations in Kuwait began in 1996 under the name Focus Softnet Company WLL, which was the second branch of the company in the GCC region. Since its inception, the Kuwait branch has seen tremendous growth with more than 1,000 satisfied customers using

different Focus solutions for their diverse business requirements.The company’s presence can be felt in the market by the very fact

FOCUS SOFTNET FORGES STRONG REPUTATION IN KUWAITI MARKET

“Kuwait is one of the fastest growing markets, which is driven by a strong purchasing power vested in In-frastructural projects, the retail industry and a strong trading and oil industry. Kuwait has been in the fore-front when it comes to adopting the latest technolo-gies in the Gulf region. Over the last few years, the country has seen tremendous increase in IT spending due to the boom in infrastructural projects and con-struction and Oil industries, which in turn has create

vast opportunities for SMBs to further grow in the region. This is where Focus has been a key player in providing cost effective and efficient IT solutions in Kuwait,” says Ali Hassan, Executive Vice President of Focus Softnet, Kuwait.

Ali Hassan, Executive Vice President for Kuwait, Qatar, Jeddah, Oman, Yemen and Kenya.

that Focus’ solutions are used in almost all the leading corporations in Kuwait. Focus also has customers in the Government sector with Amiri Deewan as one of its most prestigious customers in Kuwait.

Focus has overcome many hurdles during its operation in Kuwait. It has stayed strong and supported its customers du-ring the difficult days of the 2003 Gulf War and the economic slowdown in 2010 and 2011.

As a reputed name in the Kuwaiti market, Focus Softnet has successfully carried out high value projects in the record imple-mentation time. The branch has a well experienced team of 20 professionals under the leadership of Ali Hassan — Executive Vice President and Baqtiyar Siddique — Asst. Vice President, the branch has consistently recorded significant revenue contribu-tion to the Focus Group and achieved several excellence awards and has participated many IT events in Kuwait.


comment/ mobile erp

With the ‘Bring Your own Device’ (BYOD) culture setting in, employees are inc-reasingly using their

smart phones and tablets for work. Com-panies too have begun encouraging the BYOD concept to increase employee pro-ductivity. According to estimates from analysts, approximately 50% of business applications will be accessed through mobile devices over the next few years.

Organisations are recognising the strong business benefits that mobility brings and are creating new programs and strategies to make better use of mobility. ERP vendors are taking note of this trend and creating mobile ERP solu-tions for their customers that could help increase staff productivity significantly, streamline business processes, ensure flexibility and agility for the business and drive growth.

Businesses need their ERP system to give them instant and real time access to information for better decision-making. And this is only possible with mobile ERP. With mobile ERP, employees are now able to use the application on their mobile devices to take advantage of its business capabilities and real-time insights into the business.

The business benefits of using mobile

ERPs NEED TO ADAPT TO BYOD CULTUREMOBILE ERP PUTS MISSION CRITICAL DATA INTO THE HANDS OF THE DECISION MAKERS THAT NEED IT, WHEREVER THEY MAY BE, WRITES NISITH NAIK, REGIONAL CEO FOR UAE AND ASIA PACIFIC, FOCUS SOFTNET

With mobile ERP, the organisation’s employees especi-ally those on the field could take advantage of the functionalities, data, and benefits of their ERP system not only in office but also on the move. However, the IT departments need to take enough measures to ensure appropriate security and support to protect their data just in case a mobile device is lost or compromised.

A major hurdle for ERP vendors while developing business apps was deciding on which operating system to use, but most have now narrowed it down to just Android and iOS.

A brief market survey reveals that the best of breed ERPs are either ready or getting ready to bring out OS specific apps. As of now the number of ERP Apps by different vendors on iOS and Android are about same.

More than generic ERP, indust-ry specific Apps integrated with the backend ERP would be the norm in future as generic ERPs would require too much custo-misation to fit different verticals.

Mobile ERP allows for timely decisions and better response to customers, says Naik.

ERP are many, ranging from improved quality of service to customers, increa-sed productivity to accurate real-time data and improved decision-making capabilities to name some. Employees are able to forge stronger business rela-tionships with customers by having information at their fingertips by just logging in to their ERP systems from their mobile devices from anywhere and at anytime thus reducing response times. Field staff are also able to enter data into the system directly without having to come back to office and key it into the company’s backend system.

Benefits of mobile ERP:• Ease of use• Multiple apps can be integ-

rated into the same ERP for different users.

• External stake-holders can also access the system as appropriate

• Higher level of service• Monitor progress of tasks to

meet service level agreements• Lower administrative costs

and enhanced data integrity• Faster access to critical

information enables smart decision making

• Management can access the ERP dashboard, reports, authorisations and business critical alerts while on the move for quicker response.

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STREAMLINES WITH FOCUS RT BUSINESS APPS GO … · STREAMLINES WITH FOCUS RT P08 ... Focus Softnet has emerged into a multinational or- ... Focus Softnet. The company’s Toronto office

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