FINDING it alarming that the UAE has
no concrete legal mechanism to help it
defend itself from the phenomenon of 'dumping'
by external entities, he explains, "In
the West, if somebody tries to come in
and price his services below cost, just
to kick out incumbent business, the phenomenon
is called dumping and is not allowed by
law, even by the WTO regulations. You
need to fight that legally, and that can
be done only if there's a mechanism in
place.
"Unfortunately, we're not familiar
with such legalities, and an MNC can easily
come in and take over the local market.
We have already seen this happening in
consumer goods, when the local companies
could do nothing to defend themselves.
So, it's time to wake up and initiate
some regulations before we're surprised
even further."
Spearheading the Bin Zayed Group, Khaled
admits that technology is the Group's
current focus. "We started our first
IT division in 1995, at a time when the
Internet technology was not available
in the UAE. For me, it was an unchartered
territory, and the options seemed exciting.
The Bin Zayed Group has been involved
in real estate, trading, and other traditional
businesses. Although each entity revolves
around addressing customers' needs, they
still continue to remain traditional businesses,
where one can only bring in a limited
degree of innovation. The unlimited opportunities
offered by the Internet technology fascinated
me, and what started out as a hobby soon
evolved into a profession."
Unperturbed by the recent downturn in
the IT industry, Khaled says it had its
positive consequences too.
"While a lot of people wrote off
the IT industry after its recent slump,
I strongly believe that the crash had
its own benefits. Previously, a lot of
hype was built around the IT sector, and
anyone and everyone jumped into the technology
bandwagon merely because it was the current
fad. Expectations were high, and the return
on expectations was low. Today, those
participants have withdrawn from the industry,
leaving the field clear for committed
and realistic players who can add value
with their knowledge and expertise."
Within the span of seven years since
the Group's IT division, Vertscape Solutions,
was set up, it has stood out from the
rest of the pack by way of its innovative
solutions, but Khaled believes that only
the tip of the iceberg has been touched
so far, and a lot of the technology's
vast offerings is yet to be tapped.
"Our concentration is on automating
business processes through technology,
thereby creating a difference for business
entities or individuals. Big multinational
companies provide most of the E-business
solutions that's being used by the companies
in the UAE. These MNCs, which are headquartered
in the West, tend to develop products
for their own markets, which are then
brought in, and sold to local business
houses.
"You must understand that our market
is different, the type of businesses that
exist in the UAE or GCC markets tend to
be small to medium sized in comparison
to what you would find in the US. We have
companies with manpower ranging from just
about 1,000 to a maximum of about 10,000,
you'd hardly find any organisation employing
say, 100,000 staff. "Therefore, our
organisations need slightly different
solutions. Secondly, our way of doing
business and transactions in the UAE differs
from that of the West. Most businesses
are built around human relationships,
and still value interactions on a one
to one personal level."
Khaled believes that most of the e-business
solutions from the West bypass the human
element, and demand a re-engineering of
all business processes, forcing a shift
in many time-tested business formulae.
"This means you're expected to change
the way you do business. Now, if such
a change results in efficiency, then no
complaints.
Alternately, if it creates havoc in your
organisation because you're not willing
to make those changes that the technology
demands, there is bound to be problems."
Vertscape Solutions tailors its technology
for local markets by preserving the good
of the East, and bringing in technology
only as an enabler, as an enhancement
to the relationship between the businessman
and his client.
"We not only expedite all the processes
within an organisation by automating them,
we do that without the need to re-engineer
any of the business processes. So, when
we approach our customers with our solutions,
we are met with immense relief as most
of them prefer to resort to that technology
which allows their organisations to improve
efficiency without disturbing the human
factor of their businesses."
 SUCCESS
has not been very difficult for the Group's
IT division, hailing as it does from the
region, with its solutions based on its
understanding of the local market.
Khaled, however, admits that convincing
traditional business houses has not been
too easy.
"When you provide something new,
there is bound to be questions asked.
You could term it a fear of the unknown,
a diffidence of having to dismantle proven
business methodologies. However, when
you reduce the amount of change that's
required to bring companies on par with
modern technology, a comfort feeling settles
in.
"What's worked well for us is that
most of our solutions are module based,
it's not as if you have to take it all
or none. We encourage our end-users to
try out the first module, and if happy
with its results, we advice them to move
on to the next module. The entire process
is gradual and phased out."
The fact that Vertscape Solutions avoids
buying ready-made solutions from the West,
and develops all its technologies in house
could be a reason attributed to its success.
"I think by buying technology from
outside, we are in many ways trying to
imitate the West. Its not wrong in imbibing
good pointers of their technology, but
I don't see any reason why we should adopt
even their business practices just to
address the requirements of the new system.
For instance, why buy an accounting package
that incorporates taxes in its system,
when that is irrelevant to this region?
I hope more companies in this region would
resort to developing in-house E-commerce
solutions to enhance local businesses."
Commenting on the dismal acceptance of
the e-commerce technology in the region,
Khaled observes that e-commerce expected
people to change the way they conduct
business. "With e-commerce, you are
asking people to make a tremendous choice.
And this choice is not always in their
interest because by opting for e-commerce
they tend to lose control over their own
territory. Secondly, the market here continues
to be traditional. Very few people buy
online because time is not an expensive
commodity, and people prefer to window
shop.
"Finally, e-commerce succeeds only
when you're buying standard products,
when it's a repetitive operation, and
you know exactly what it is that you are
buying. However, factors like high cost
of transportation inhibit you from resorting
to buying online, especially when it comes
to small items.
"On the business front, suppliers
have good, personal relationships with
buyers, who in turn are disinclined to
alter that equation by resorting to something
as impersonal as the e-commerce. Moreover,
in e-commerce you need high volumes of
transactions. Unfortunately, most of the
organisations here are small, and the
biggest organisation here is the government.
And, if the government decides not to
channel its own purchases through e-commerce,
then you have almost eliminated one third
of the market, therefore the government
is forced to be a big player."
YET another recent initiative of the
Bin Zayed Group is its foray into 'knowledge
management'. A fast-growing market sector
that will be worth $12.7 billion by 2005,
research says Fortune 500 companies lost
a staggering $12 billion in 1999 due to
lack of Knowledge Management Systems,
and are bound to lose around $31 billion
by 2003.
"KM is all about capturing and sharing
intellectual capital. Most companies have
a lot of information within its walls,
and quite often, most of this information
is not shared or made available to all
the decision makers, for the simple reason
that the information is not collated and
documented in a systematic manner.
"Poor dissemination of information
to all management levels could result
in a huge loss for the organisation. TeknowledgyOne,
a division of our Group, gathers information,
filters, and streamlines it in a way that
could be used by companies while planning
their strategies.
"In a recent survey, 50 per cent
of US companies with 500 or more employees
indicated their inclination to implement
a knowledge management system."
Khaled confesses the concept of knowledge
management is still in its infancy stage
in this region. He is, however, confident
that it will eventually grab everyone's
attention for their own benefit. It's
hard not to notice the immense commitment
that Khaled nurtures towards taking technology
to the grassroots. "That's our primary
responsibility. We've made a beginning
through one of our charity organisations
based in Ajman, and developed a programme
wherein we collect obsolete PCs from organisations,
and ship them to less developed countries
where people do not have the resources
to buy them.
As a charity organisation, we have an
obligation to not only give needy people
food or money, but also enable them to
realise what lies beyond their little
world. By providing them access to a PC,
and an Internet connection in a community
room or school, we enable them to be more
useful to the region outside their locality."
Much like what the UN is doing in less
developed countries.
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