UAE-based IT smart Facilities Management (FM) solutions company HITEK Services, which is part of the Farnek group of companies, has signed a two-year contract with major, tier one Sudanese total FM company, TAD.

Under the terms of the agreement, which is HITEK’s first overseas venture, the company will provide TAD with state-of-the-art connected, automated and intelligent FM solutions which complement a leaner and more sustainable operational process, improving productivity while reducing energy consumption for building owners and managers.

HITEK’s solutions architecture and design, as well as its technical sales support, will transform TAD’s FM service offering into a fully digital and sustainable proposition by utilising HITEK’s CAFM suite, which includes a state-of-the-art WhatsApp AI Chatbot.

This provides real-time visibility across various services and can also monitor, escalate and report dynamically through mobility, web portal and automated email reports. HITEK’s WhatsApp AI Chatbot provides connectivity to onsite project teams wherever they are, through an integrated mobile CAFM, streamlining service requests and once complete an automated closure notification.

“TAD has a workforce of over 1,500 employees spread over vast areas, particularly in Egypt and East Africa and HITEK’s CAFM will offer TAD a distinct competitive advantage by digitalising, connecting and automating facilities management, using innovative technologies that integrate people, process, assets and facilities logically and seamlessly,” said Javeria Aijaz, MD – HITEK Services.  

“We are receiving enquiries for HITEK services from FM professionals right across the MENA region, who want to digitalise asset management, as well as monitor and control their assets and the performance of FM service providers. The FM market throughout MENA is becoming more informed of how properties can be maintained in a more efficient and cost-effective manner, which is creating exceptional demand for digitalised day-to-day operations,” added Aijaz.

Headquartered in Khartoum, Sudan, award-winning TAD, which focuses on delivering a complete suite of both hard and soft FM offerings to companies across North and East Africa, has grown five-fold over the last five years to become one of the most distinguished facilities management companies across the entire region.

The firm has worked alongside some of the biggest national and international companies that operate in the region, including Ericsson, Zain, UN, Huawei, NGO and national embassies. Using HITEK’s CADFM software, TAD can now develop and deliver customised service level agreements (SLAs) for both hard and soft services, across its entire client portfolio, as well as attract new prospective customers.

“HITEK’s mobility solution makes TAD so much more cost-efficient. Management will have access to updates from all of our customer’s sites and assets with a single tap. It gives me digital and automatic reporting, which helps me improve my FM services. Their unique WhatsApp Chatbot made it really simple to submit and automate support requests, which I had never encountered with any other solution. Whether it was Service Requests, Audits, or Management Reporting, the mobile solution enabled the workers and supervisors to communicate live and in real-time” said Mohamed Abdelhamied, CEO of TAD.

TAD has been awarded the internationally recognised ISO 41001: 2018 certification in International FM and is the first ISO 41001 FM company in Sudan. Unquestionably, one of TAD’s crowning achievements is its state-of-the-art in-house training centre. A one-of-a-kind facility within the East and North Africa region, the centre is the firm’s way of delivering on its corporate and social responsibility to help the local community.

Trainees can learn new skills completely free of charge, whilst also receiving daily allowances, for meals, and a certified qualification at the end. Graduates can then choose to either stay with the company, if there are positions available or seek other jobs in the market with their newfound accreditation.