Omer Saleem, Deputy CEO, Proven • Interview
Proven’s internal organization meant it was well prepared to tackle the COVID-19 period from a workforce perspective, and the firm believes that, thanks to government action, the economy will rebound strongly over 2021.
How have you managed the COVID-19 crisis internally and with your customers, whose credentials you manage?
Since 2018 we have been internally diversifying our service delivery model. Change was needed, and the industry had to evolve. We can proudly say that we have successfully created a distributed team model, moving away from just having our team based in Saudi Arabia. We established our UAE team in 2013; however, it was limited in size, and in 2018 we started expansion into Kuwait and Bangalore, India. These functional teams and offices were just an extension of the base team here in Saudi Arabia rather than performing back-office activities, allowing us flexibility as the SOPs and work delivery modules we had were all very modular and technology based. With humble beginnings, we were able to fine-tune, adapt, grow, and up-scale our model in 2019, and when our offices opened in Bangalore and Belarus, our team almost doubled in size. Our diversification strategy unknowingly prepared us for the pandemic we are still facing now; fortunately, the model was already in place when COVID-19 hit. A remote work model was no longer a foreign concept, and the team was comfortable working in the new norm of WFH. Technically speaking, nothing much changed internally for our Riyadh office since it collaborated with its teams using virtual workflow tools from the start.
What was your experience in terms of business demand during the pandemic?
Most of our IT services clients experienced growth in this period; however, there was a lesser growth seen with our specialized services clients such as audit and consulting, but progress was still visible. Therefore, our services that can be delivered remotely were faring much better than those that may have had multi-projects frozen due to budget constraints and the current situation. The first half of the year was tough on the revenue stream, but many of our clients are retainer-based, and it was business as usual for most of them. However, new business was essentially frozen for the first half of the year as per our projections in March, highlighting some clients as high risk. Proven functions on a partner model rather than a service provider and this allows us to adjust our strategy with the help of real insights from our direct and regular client interactions.
Can you tell us about the development of your business offerings?
We projected 2021 or 2022 to be a starting point for our new business efficiency service offerings, but the market is already there due to the WFH experience. Productivity gains from new working models for the Saudi and global economy, in general, will start materializing over the next two to three years. If you have an employee base of 80 employees and 50 of them can be based as your core structure/team, then the remaining 30 can either be booked out as a scope of work, or better yet the team can be efficiently scaled up in markets where there is a deeper human capital pool. Recruiting and cross-checking the best talent is a function we perform by building you a team without barriers to any specific locale. Your new team member joins without the hassle of recruitment, onboarding, or getting them operationally prepared. They will arrive ready and in line with your policies and procedures.
What are your business expectations for 2021?
The Saudi government's reaction to COVID-19 was exceptional; its swiftness and strict regulations allowed businesses some level of positivity for a COVID-19free future. The strict policies and regulations were necessary, and the results speak for themselves. Due to the measures taken, the Kingdom was and still is one of the better countries to live in during the COVID-19 crisis. The impact on business was felt in the first half of the year, but the positive results of decisions materialized in the latter part of last year. Given that there is a very effective plan afoot for disseminating the vaccine and effective management of returning to business and projects, overall, from the second quarter onwards, we will see quite a volume of business return to the Saudi market.
BIO
Omer Saleem has 14 plus years of experience in the finance sector, specifically financial valuations, management, and internal strategy. He has added value in operations and strategy arenas at some of biggest players in the industry, like Goldman Sachs and Credit Agricole. His work experience is complimented by an MBA from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.