Dubai, June 23, 2004: DAMAC Properties, the largest private freehold property developer in the UAE, signed yesterday (Wednesday, June 23rd, 2004), a contract with the Dubai-based Global Technology Services (GTS) - the IT subsidiary of Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) - for the acquisition and installation of a state-of-the-art Integrated Property Management System (IPMS) using the Oracle technology to better manage and serve its clients.
 
Peter Riddoch, Chief Executive Office (CEO) DAMAC Properties explained that the system will be implemented over a period of eight months and will enable the company to better serve its customers as the new system, which uses the latest Oracle technology II I, will hold more data and provide better overall management facilities for the properties company.
 
“We are acquiring the system out of our firm belief that it will help us provide better services to our customers and clients and bring them closer to us as the system will allow our customers to benefit from some of its applications and build a direct relationship with us on line,” he said. “We wanted to implement a system that will link together our properties with our clients providing our customers with an easier information access to their property,” Riddoch noted.
 
He added that the selection of GTS came after extensive technical review and “after we made sure that the new IPMS will meet our requirements and allow us to effectively manage our properties, and be on par with the latest technology used in property management.”
 
He revealed that the new IPMS includes several important features such as being web enabled and capable of providing sales statistics, as well as allowing for the general administration of properties.
 
Riddoch noted that the new system, which includes a full Client Relationship Management (CRM) suite, is linked to DAMAC’s Call Centre and will contribute in project costing and management as well as the day-to-day facilities management.
 
  “The first stage of the project will be completed in five months and will provide services and facilities for our CRM, call center, marketing, finance, sales and properties departments. The second phase that will follow for three months will provide for project costing as well as enterprise management.”
 
There are eight DAMAC properties currently under construction across master development projects in Dubai on the Palm Islands in Jumeirah and Jebel Ali, Jumeirah Lake Towers as well as Dubai Marina.
 
“As a group company managing large properties spread across the region for its retail chain and operation facilities, ENOC is also moving ahead in the implementation of Oracle e-business suite including property management,” said Hussain Sultan, Group Chief Executive and Board Member, ENOC. “The experience gained by GTS in implementing all the Oracle modules for a large number of external clients as well as ENOC itself will surely help in the DAMAC project,” added Sultan.
 
GTS won the contract against stiff competition from JD Edwards, a widely-used application in property management within the Middle East.
 
“DAMAC will experience numerous benefits from this project, including the availability of correct tools to analyse and control real estate finances, improve payment and billing processes, automate administration of leases, manage space assignment and finally optimise space utilization,” added V. Shankar Iyer, Chief Information Officer, Group Information Technology, ENOC.
 
Founded in 1982, the multi-million Dirham DAMAC Group is one the largest conglomerates in the Middle East operating across 16 countries and employing over 5,000 people from more than 25 nationalities.
 
The group, holder of ISO 9002 international accreditation, operates a diversified portfolio of successful businesses ranging from industrial catering, to franchised restaurants, product manufacturing, education, insurance, global stock market investments and property development including commercial developments, hotels and multi-million waterfront properties that are internationally renowned engineering projects in their own right.
 
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About DAMAC Group
The DAMAC Group is one of the leading enterprises based out of Dubai; with diversified business interests include real estate, hospitality, industrial projects, investment, logistics and commercial trading. The have operations in the Middle East, UK and USA. It’s one of the most respected property management companies to develop and market large projects in Dubai with finest available facilities.
 
About Global Technology Services LLC
Global Technology Services LLC (GTS) is full-fledged Information Technology Company actively providing IT services in the Europe, Africa and Middle East. In addition, it is the IT Service provider for the entire ENOC Group of companies. The core businesses of GTS are
 
· ERP Implementation (Oracle E-Business Suite)
· Business Intelligence (BI), Data Warehousing (DW) and OLAP/ROLAP/MOLAP
· Enterprise Application Integration with Oracle Applications, Fund Management, CRM applications and Enterprise Information Portals
 
GTS is a Certified Advantage Partner and Winner of Middle East Business Excellence Award given by Oracle Corporation. More information on Global Technology Services can be found at www.gtsuae.com and www.enoc.com
 
About Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is the world’s largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle in the Middle East, Please visit our web site at www.oracle.com or contact  +9714390 9000
 
For additional information please contact
Nagy Sedra,
Public Relations Manager,
DAMAC Properties on
+9714.3322005,
Fax +9714.3311028,
Mobile +97150 4594252
E-mail nagy@damacgroup.com
 
For further press information please contact
Robin Duff,
MCS/Action,
Tel: 04 3902960;
Fax: 04 3908161;
email: robin.d@actionprgroup.com    
 

© Press Release 2004