Date: 30/01/2019
Client: Xpress Egypt for Trading
Eng. Ragy Hassan - Chairman of the Board
MBA, The American University
MSc in Mechanical Engineering - Ain Shams University
You can learn more about him by visiting his profile on Linked In
- Editor: Could you tell us about the size of the company’s business?
Eng. Ragy: The company’s turnover currently stands at 40 million Egyptian pounds.
- Editor: Could you tell us about the largest clients your company has worked with?
Eng. Ragy: Careem, the ride-hailing and delivery company, is one of our largest clients.
- Editor: How did you first hear about Nama ERP?
Eng. Ragy: We actually heard about Nama ERP through a hardware company that had supplied the server for Nama ERP at one of its own clients; they recommended the system to us.
- Editor: Why did you choose Namasoft’s solutions to manage the company’s business?
Eng. Ragy: That question is a somewhat difficult one, but let me tell you that there are a few local systems in Egypt that support service centres and car dealerships, and they are largely similar to one another. What caught our attention about Nama ERP is its very high flexibility and the ease with which it can be adapted to the way the company is managed and the nature of its work, and that is what matters most to us.
- Editor: Has Nama ERP improved the way you work, and to what extent?
Eng. Ragy: I cannot really quantify the extent, but our business management has certainly improved since we went live with Nama ERP.
- Editor: How satisfied were you with the initial database setup carried out by Namasoft’s implementation specialists?
We contracted with Namasoft to purchase the system about two years ago, and during that period, unfortunately, more than one of the implementation staff changed, which meant the system had to be set up again more than once. That was probably due to the staff turnover.
- Editor: Thankfully, Namasoft’s team is now stable and, God willing, this will not happen again.
- Editor: How satisfied were you with the way staff were trained and with the schedule Namasoft planned? Was it suitable, and do you have any comments?
Eng. Ragy: Honestly, it was good and I have no negative comments. The ease of working with the system helped us in that regard.
- Editor: Were your users able to learn Nama ERP as quickly as needed, or were there difficulties in learning the system?
Eng. Ragy: Yes, thankfully. We had no difficulties in that respect.
- Editor: Do you have any negative comments about the cost of Nama ERP, whether the price of the software or the value of the annual maintenance contract?
Eng. Ragy: The price of the system and the cost of the annual maintenance contract are very reasonable for the size of our business. To be frank with you, I honestly do not know whether Nama ERP’s price is high or low compared with other systems on the market, as I am not very familiar with the pricing of local software.
- Editor: How satisfied are you with the level of technical support Namasoft provides?
Eng. Ragy: Honestly, the company does not delay in responding to the requests we submit.
- Editor: Have you faced any problems such as delayed responses or delays in resolving an issue?
Eng. Ragy: If we are being absolutely candid, that has happened a few times. But when a request is critical, we find someone who resolves the problem in perhaps five minutes, and that matters a great deal. My suggestion is that critical requests be flagged and assigned to specific people so they can be resolved very quickly, since they can bring the work of many employees to a halt.
- Editor: Are there any technical shortcomings you see in Nama ERP?
Eng. Ragy: I do not see any fundamental shortcomings in the system so far. But one shortcoming on your side is that clients do not have ongoing, immediate visibility of the successive releases Namasoft issues.
- Editor: Eng. Ragy, what you describe is a side effect of the way Namasoft responds to client requests, since at times a release is issued every day, and sometimes two releases in a single day if the situation requires it.
It is worth noting that Namasoft is currently working on a method to inform clients by email, as it happens, of the bugs that have been fixed and the improvements and additions that have been developed. These will also be published on Namasoft’s website, which will allow any client to review all the fixes and improvements developed each month from roughly the beginning of 2016 up to the present.
- Editor: As you know, Namasoft allows its clients to submit technical support requests when they encounter a bug or wish to request a software improvement. Have you ever done this, and how quickly did the company respond to your request?
Eng. Ragy: Yes, I do this often, and thankfully the company responds to the support requests we send at an acceptable pace. In truth, the support request system Namasoft follows is one of the things I like most about the way it deals with its clients.
- Editor: Have you ever complained about one of the staff, and what do you think of the way management handled that complaint?
Eng. Ragy: No, not really. All the staff are cooperative.
- Editor: Are there any substantial improvements you would like Namasoft to add to the system?
Eng. Ragy: I believe the system does not need any substantial improvements other than one software enhancement I have discussed with management, which is the ability to work with the system from a tablet or mobile phone.
- Editor: That will happen soon, God willing, with the new user interface (GUI). You will be able to work with the system from a tablet or mobile phone with ease.
It is worth noting that Nama ERP was designed from the ground up so that it can be used regardless of the operating system, the type of database (SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL) or the device connecting to the database (computer, tablet, mobile). However, it does not currently run on tablets and mobiles with the efficiency required, though it will work well with the new user interface, God willing.
- Editor: Have you ever faced a catastrophic situation such as losing data because no backup had been taken, and did you find enough help from Namasoft in such critical circumstances?
Eng. Ragy: Thankfully that has not happened to us. But of course I have sometimes needed rapid intervention from Namasoft because of a bug, which would have delayed our work had there not been sufficient and prompt assistance. As you know, there are situations that cannot wait.
- Editor: And did you find sufficient help in such situations?
Eng. Ragy: I used to contact the development manager personally (Eng. Ahmed Qasid), sometimes outside working hours and during holidays, and thankfully I always found the help I needed from him, as he would issue a quick release to fix the error.
- Editor: Do you follow Namasoft’s YouTube channel, and do you have any comments on it?
Eng. Ragy: Honestly, no. I think it would be more useful for new clients; we no longer need to explore the system further.
- Editor: Eng. Ragy, this channel can be useful for newly hired employees who have no experience with the system. In other words, it serves as training and not just as advertising for the system.
Eng. Ragy: I was not really aware of that.
- Editor: What do you think of Namasoft’s website, and do you have any comments on it?
Eng. Ragy: Again, I have not reviewed it closely enough to judge it.
- Editor: What advantages did you find in Nama ERP that were not present in your previous system?
Eng. Ragy: As an engineer, I have worked with international software at other companies, but Nama ERP is the first system for Xpress Egypt.
- Editor: Are there advantages you had seen previously in another system that you would like to see added to Nama ERP?
Eng. Ragy: International systems are of course distinguished by very high stability, even with extremely large databases, where the system responded to the user very quickly. I remember the system handling close to 37,000 customers with no effect whatsoever on its efficiency. Our data volume has not yet reached the scale I dealt with previously, so we cannot judge how responsive Nama ERP is to the user with a very large volume of data. In any case, I currently deal with around 2,000 customers and, as a user, I work smoothly with Nama ERP. Whether Nama ERP will stay at the same level once the data grows, I honestly do not know.
- Editor: It will, God willing.
It is worth noting that “Al Shitaa Wal Saif” in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the first clients to adopt Nama ERP to manage its business. It has more than half a million customers, more than a million invoices have been issued, and it has 27,000 employees in addition to handling around 23,000 items.
- Editor: Are there advantages you have found in Nama ERP that you had not encountered in any other system?
Eng. Ragy: I have not actually worked with other local systems; I have only worked with international ones. Namasoft is genuinely distinguished by its very high flexibility in meeting our requirements quickly, whether in modifying screens or delivering requested improvements, and that is what matters most to us. This would have taken more time and cost more with other international software.
- Editor: Eng. Ragy, in light of Nama ERP’s technical level and the way the company deals with its clients, how do you see Namasoft’s future, God willing?
Eng. Ragy: I believe that if Namasoft continues in this manner, its future is very promising. But I hope your staff will not change too often.
- Eng. Ragy, thank you for your time.
You can contact Xpress via the hotline 16212