Firas Alragom

- Responsible for the strategic planning, management and implementation of IT projects across a group of companies in Kuwait, Dubai, Turkey and other subsidiaries.
- Responsible for setting annual IT objectives for IT Managers in subsidiary companies.
- Responsible for defining and managing IT budgets for all group companies.
- Responsible for coordinating with multiple audit parties to satisfy both internal and external audit requirements as well as ensuring compliance with both CMA regulations and internal corporate policies and procedures.
- Responsible for the recruitment, management, evaluation and development of IT teams in Kuwait, Dubai, and Turkey to support a staff of 150+ employees across our group of companies.
- Responsible for streamlining and managing IT services provided to 300+ tenant customers across various projects in Kuwait.
- Responsible for the selection and implementation of a Real Estate Management System based on Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online for the sales and leasing operations of group companies.
- Responsible for the migration of multiple finance ERP applications on-premise (Microsoft Dynamics GP) implementations into one Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP implementation hosted on the Microsoft Azure cloud providing consolidated financial reporting for the holding company and its subsidiaries.
- Responsible for the implementation of VAT for UAE and KSA operations on Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP.
- Responsible for the migration of on-premise Exchange email services to Microsoft Office 365 cloud email for both Dubai and Kuwait subsidiaries.
- Responsible for the implementation of a cloud-based disaster recovery solution for Kuwait and Dubai IT systems.
- Responsible for the provisioning, management and maintenance of IT networks, servers (both on-premise and cloud based), and security solutions across multiple locations.
- Responsible for the selection and deployment of a board meeting mobile application.
- Responsible for the implementation of a procurement management system.
- Responsible for the selection of a mobile application platform to provide mobile sales of real estate units to internal sales staff.
- Facilitated the enhancement of existing Call Center applications and systems in Dubai.
- Responsible for the implementation of a new Call Center system for Kuwait operations.
- Responsible for the design and selection of IT network and communication infrastructure for new real estate development projects.
- Responsible for the selection and deployment of a video conferencing solution for executive management meetings across multiple regional offices.
- Responsible for the implementation of an IT help desk system to manage support tickets, contracts, assets, change and problem management.
- Responsible for provisioning of internet and communications services to tenants across multiple projects and buildings throughout Kuwait.
- Responsible for the selection and implementation of security camera systems to monitor multiple buildings.
- Responsible for selection, project management and coordination of vendors based in Kuwait and UAE.
- Responsible for the acquisition and management of software licenses for all group companies.
- Provided consultation to the marketing department on various aspects of website design, management of websites and related maintenance contracts.

- Assisted the Executive Management in the selection and deployment of business applications to cater to the group companies’ Finance, Sales, Purchasing and Logistics departments, and oversaw their deployment.
- Hired IT personnel in Kuwait and UAE offices to provide technical support to over users across 7 offices.
- Established network and telephony infrastructure along with Internet data services.
- Oversaw the upgrade of Internet connectivity and computer hardware of offices in the UAE of an acquired company.
- Established procurement procedures related to IT hardware, software and services for group and subsidiary companies.
- Acquired and managed software licenses for all group companies.
- Defined IT budgets for the operations of subsidiary companies.
- Evaluated and deployed on-site and hosted application services for e-mail communication, business application backup, and file collaboration.

- Assisted upper management in the planning of company strategy.
- Managed a team of network technicians in the deployment and maintenance of long range outdoor and indoor wireless networks.
- Coordinated the training of field and support technicians.
- Coordinated with service partners the delivery and maintenance of outdoor wireless solutions to customers.
- Collaborated with technology partners in providing new solutions to customers.

- Assisted IT manager in developing annual IT project plans, budgets and quarterly management reports.
- Performed as Technical Project Manager and IT Steering Committee member in evaluating, selecting, and overseeing the deployment of a Leasing and Investment business application solution in addition to the support of the HR and Accounting systems.
- Evaluated IT solutions to determine suitable products for the company.
- Managed the purchases, renewals and maintenance of corporate software licenses.
- Supervised the performance of the in-house System Administrator and Software Developer.
- Assisted in the planning, deployment, and maintenance of the various IT services and solutions.

- Responsible for the study, evaluation and documentation of the company’s network infrastructure.
- Planned and implemented the restructuring of the network with installation of a new Cisco PIX firewall, Cisco switches, VPN Concentrator and a Trend Micro enterprise anti-virus solution.
- Managed several Microsoft Windows 2000 and 2003, Exchange 2000, and SQL 2000 servers.
- Planned and executed hardware consolidation and migration of old servers running Microsoft Windows 2000 Server to newer IBM xSeries rack mounted servers with Windows 2003 Server.
- Implemented an Exchange 2003 front-end back-end deployment, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager backup system, and Windows Server Update Services.
- Configured Wi-Fi (wireless LAN) network access points.
- Assisted junior system administrator/technical support technician in responding to technical support calls.
- Trained junior system administrator in system administration best practices.

- Planned, coordinated, and implemented the shifting of the Public Authority of Industry from three locations to their new location in South Surra which included approximately 500 PCs and related hardware, 10 Sun Microsystems Unix servers with network storage, and 20 Intel based Microsoft Windows servers.
- Upgraded IBM Lotus Domino R5 mail and application servers to version 6.5 for the Ministry of Energy in two locations while coordinating with the application vendor to ensure the continued operability and replication of application databases with servers in the UK.
- Configured IBM Lotus Domino on Microsoft Windows 2000 servers for the Ministry of Energy as e-mail servers for approximately 100 users.
- Configured Cisco PIX firewall at the Ministry of Energy to allow accessibility to their IBM Lotus Domino servers.
- Installed and setup Sun Fire servers and Sun Blade workstations at the Ministry of Defense with Sun ONE Web Server, Sun ONE Messaging Server, Sun ONE Directory Server, FTP server, and DNS server to provide network infrastructure services to the Ministry’s approximately1000 user environment.
- Performed basic installation, configuration, and upgrades of Sun Fire servers and Sun Blade workstations.
- Provided on-site technical support, installations and upgrades for Sun Unix servers running Solaris 8 and 9 at various customer sites such as Qualitynet, Wataniya Telecom, Kuwait Ericsson, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Energy, Kuwait University College of Engineering, and Kuwait University Center of Information Services.

- Provided technical support for Windows NT and Linux servers, basic network problems, and phone systems.
- Setup and delivery of new desktop and laptop systems to new employees.
- Prepared and setup a small LAN for an employee training room.
- Assisted in network security testing.
- Evaluated software solutions for possible deployment.

- Tested in-house intranet software applications.
- Conducted product demonstrations to potential clients.