ALKHOBAR: At a well-attended conference of QAD, Inc. customers held at Le Meridien Alkhobar recently, participants had an opportunity to learn about the latest developments in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software applications.
“We organize such conferences once every year,” said Haroon Azam, GM of Abdulla Fouad Holding Company’s Mantech Software Division. “The idea is to understand issues facing our customers and to sort them out in the best possible way. This results not only in boosting their confidence in us but also offers us an opportunity to serve them better.”
M.A. Hasanain, the division’s national sales manager added, “Most of our key customers are based here in the Eastern Province. Abdulla Fouad Holding Company (AFHCO) is into many sectors but its primary thrust is in information technology. We want to let our customers know that they are in safe hands. That we are here to take care of them whenever the need arises. The main focus of this conference was QAD add-on modules which are basically comprehensive solutions designed for multinational mid-sized to enterprise companies streamlining their processes and customer demands.”
Hasanain explained that many among the conference attendees were prospective customers. Mantech believes that it is excellent to have these potential clients interact directly with Mantach’s customers so they can see for themselves the high level of service satisfaction.
“This is the best way of promoting our ERP software applications,” he asserted “A lot of them asked important questions during the presentation by Jean Claude Walravens, VP, QAD Inc, who had specifically come for the conference from South Africa.”
In his presentations, Walravens explained the future of QAD. “Through my presentations at the conference I tried to explain our philosophy at QAD, where we are headed and what are the new add-ons,” he told Arab News. “Our business philosophy is to transfer the right information and technology to our customers at the right time.”
He said awareness of QAD in Saudi Arabia was pretty high compared to other countries in the region. “People are very familiar with various ERP solutions, but as we always say there is always scope for growth,” Walravens remarked.
According to him, QAD is a solid company. “And there is equally solid local support in the form of Abdulla Fouad Holding Company,” he added.
Some of the speakers at the conference felt that people in Saudi Arabia are oftentimes fascinated with new things. They are more enamored by the user interface rather than the functionality aspect. “Yes, this is true of this market,” said Haroon Azam. “We addressed several issues — presented by Mantech Consultants, Brave Point, Eagle Soft and QAD,” he added.
Dr. Farida Abdulla Fouad, executive vice president, AFHCO, presided over the conference. Chief Operating Officer Nigel Eayrs explained the direction in which the company was headed. Later, recognition awards were presented to two major AFHCO clients — Olayan Group and Aujan Group. The Mantech Software Division of AFHCO was established in 1994 to cater to the growing needs in Kingdom for computer software solutions and services. The division has earned a leading role as an expert in ERP solutions through several other software solutions.
