REGIONAL business solutions provider BT Business Solutions (BT-BS) this year marks a decade of service to businesses in the region, offering state-of-the-art solutions that cater to the specific needs of each industry it serves.

The company, which has established strategic alliances with world-class software vendors, currently counts on its client list more than 45 Saudi companies that are relying on its expertise in enterprise resource planning (ERP) based on Oracle technologies to increase their efficiency, improve performance and build competitive advantage.

Headquartered in Saudi Arabia and having branches across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, the company has gained a profound knowledge of each business sector it serves – whether it is construction, manufacturing, distribution, retail, education, healthcare, hospitality or services – and continues to hone its skills and refine its processes. These efforts have recently earned it CMMI-ML3 approval, placing it among seven companies in Saudi Arabia that have managed to reach this level.

The CMMI is an appraisal method for process improvement that aims to increase an organisation’s ability to reliably develop and continually improve products and services.

General manager Saed Al Banna comments that having attained this level, the company is now motivated “to pursue the ML4, which only two companies have managed to reach until now”.

The leading technology solutions integrator offers complete solutions to facilitate the key operations of construction companies – from initial project identification through contract close-out.

“We have proven experience in Saudi Arabia’s construction sector and have successfully implemented Oracle solutions to meet the requirements of construction companies in the kingdom,” he says.

As an Oracle-certified partner, BT-BS has implemented a number of multi-million-dollar projects in the kingdom with domain skills covering a diversified range of industries and has a track record in delivering high-quality cost-effective turnkey solutions. It has been implementing Oracle ERP (EBS and JD Edwards) applications, Oracle E-business suites, and database for the past 10 years.

Oracle EBS provides powerful technologies and comprehensive business applications that enable the integration and implementation of key applications such as Primavera, Timberline, Prolog and Maximo.

Other solutions like Oracle’s unified data model lets companies integrate information across departments to enable project collaboration, control project execution, improve consistency in forecasts, and streamline payment collection.

One of its key clients is Saudi Binladin Group (SBG), which has entrusted it with yet another order this year. Having provided the contracting giant with financial and supply chain tracks last year, BT-BS has now delivered the Oracle BI (business intelligence) and HCM (human capital management) core modules.

BT-BS has started work this year for SGB’s Public Building and Airports Division (PBAD) in Jeddah where it will be implementing the HCM and eAM (enterprise asset management) tracks for financials, projects, inventory management, etc. Meanwhile, for SGB’s Rush Projects Division (RPD), also in Jeddah, its scope of services includes various modules for finance, HR (human resources) and payroll, project costing and billing, contracts, management, landed cost management, sourcing, subcontracting management, Primavera inventory, product cataloguing and purchasing.

BT-BS is also working on projects for a number of other companies in Saudi Arabia. For instance, it is set to continue work for Mazen Al Saeed Holding Company (Mashco), where its scope of services includes implementation of various modules of Oracle EBS R12 for finance, HR and payroll, project costing and billing, contracts, management, subcontracting management, Primavera inventory, product catalogue and purchasing.

In another new contract this year, BT-BS will be implementing the HCM and eAM tracks for financials, projects, inventory management, etc for Al Mashriq in the Eastern Province.

Other clients BT-BS is currently serving include Al Fouzan Trading and General Construction Company in the Riyadh region, to which it provided consultancy services through allocating professional Oracle EBS R12 consultants to install, train, set up and configure the Oracle modules in their standard functionality.

Its other clients in the Riyadh region include the Ajami Construction and Saudi Pan Kingdom (Sapac) where it implemented the HCM and eAM tracks for financials, projects, inventory management, etc.

Over the past year, BT-BS has seen a number of developments within its organisation. Its branch in Riyadh has upgraded its partnership level with Oracle to platinum. It is also expanding its scope of services by signing new partnerships with various software houses that offer supplementary solutions to the construction market such as Primavera project management solutions, Autodesk and Content Management Solutions.

“BT-BS’ strength lies in its ability to manage large-scale projects by providing design, architecture, development solutions and integration and operational support of complex technology solutions to serve its clients’ business-critical needs,” says Al Banna.

“Our services enable companies to integrate and extend enterprise applications and data throughout their operations, across the supply chain, and directly to customers, leading to increased revenue, decreased costs, and more effective communication with employees, partners, and customers,” Al Banna adds.

Explaining how BT-BS applications work, he says they integrate internal and external management information across an entire organisation, embracing finance and accounting, manufacturing, sales and service, customer relationship management. Its ERP systems automate this activity with an integrated software application.

“The purpose of ERP is to facilitate the flow of information between all business functions within the organisation and manage the connections to outside stakeholders. Our systems can run on a variety of computer hardware and network configurations, typically employing a database as a repository for information,” says Al Banna.

Using its solutions, the company’s construction clients have been addressing some of the recent challenges in business by achieving cost reductions via self-service transactions to reduce human resources and other operational costs; gaining better business results through a fully-integrated, comprehensive HCM and talent management solution; improving efficiencies with integrated contracting, procurement, and payment for materials; and producing greater organisational visibility and improved decision-making with the ability to collate clinical data meaningfully across disparate systems.

While focusing on transferring knowledge to customers, BT-BS ensures transparency and involvement of the client at all stages to continuously reinforce the partnership, mutual agreement and shared progress towards successful completion of the project, says Al Banna.

It has a large pool of skilled and experienced professionals from diverse areas, ranging from systems and software technology to specific industry domains and business practices. Its well-experienced project management office (PMO) and senior experienced professional teams continually audit all aspects of the project, status, schedules, deliverables, and the efforts expended on tasks with a confirmed methodology.

BT-BS was established in 2003 and employs more than 100 people. It is headquartered in Jeddah with branches spread across the Middle East including the UAE, Egypt and Jordan.