Five Minutes With… Jawad Squalli, Regional Vice President, Epicor ME

Can you outline Epicor’s operations in the Middle East?

The Middle East has always been a strategic market for Epicor. We have had a direct presence here since 1997, and we have since significantly increased operations. Our regional headquarters for the Middle East, Africa & India has been in Dubai since 2011 and our employee headcount has doubled in the last few years. We have a highly experienced team of over 40 direct employees and more than 30 channel partners who are serving almost 450 customers across the Middle East.

Our regional customer base is spread across all major industries including manufacturing, distribution, services, hospitality and oil & gas. Few of our regional customers include DNO International, EMDAD, Thomsun Group of Companies, Madina Group, Khalid Cement Industries Complex, Hanna International, OWS Auto Parts and Barakat International.

What is your company focusing on this year?

Currently, the company strongly focuses on expanding its presence worldwide and Middle East is no exception. We are actively recruiting new channel partners and signing up new customers across the region.

Will you be launching any new products/services?

We are always working on improving our next-generation ERP solution.

Will you be hiring this year?

Hiring for highly experienced and talented professionals is part of our expansion policy.

What are the main challenges in the enterprise and mobility industry at the moment?

The biggest challenge is integration between enterprise applications and mobility solutions without compromising on the security. There is no doubt that Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) increases efficiency but also it also poses a serious risk to corporate data. Mobile devices are more prone to loss of data or data breach, therefore controls that enable the remote wiping of corporate data and any such data should be held in encrypted partitions. Even handling of new appointments and termination of old employees requires careful consideration.

How can these problems be addressed?

These problems are not small issues but can be addressed by investing in a solution that provides strong and robust security, without compromising on functionality, efficiency and productivity. There is need to invest in proven business software that has built-in security measures and caters to specific requirements for employees. Corporate data should be logged in and controlled with a clear understanding among data security and governance staff about the data and where is it made available. Fine-grained removal of data from devices is essential in this regard. New techniques and solutions for data portioning and grooming from mobile devices are being developed.

What are the growth areas currently for your business?

As the global economic situation has improved a lot in the last few years, businesses are now looking at investing in IT solutions to integrate their business processes and increase operational efficiency; this in turns creates business opportunity for software vendors like Epicor.

What’s your leadership style?

Love what you do, deliver what you commit and always think out of the box.

What makes the perfect employee?

Teamwork, passion, integrity and innovation makes a perfect employee.

Define success in five words…

Successful accomplishment of committed task.

Three tips for becoming the boss…

Trust your team, think out of the box, and always deliver the best.

When I’m not at work I like to…

Spend time with family and read books.