HITEK to begin pilot project with major Sudanese bank
DUBAI, UAE—Leading UAE-based IT smart Facilities Management (FM) solutions company HITEKServices, which is part of the Farnek group of companies, is to start a pilot project withthe Bank of Khartoum (BOK) to digitalise it’s facilities operations.
Working with HITEK’s Khartoum-based partner, TAD FM, the pilot will start at BOK’sbranches in Khartoum East Sector. Initially, to complete the pilot project BOK hasordered five CAFMTeklicences and will install eight IOTek sensors to monitor footfall,temperature, vibration and voltage, amongst others.
Once the pilot is completed and ifsuccessful, it will be rolled out across BOK’s 140 branches to help digitalise andintegrate all of their facility operations.These state-of-the-art connected, automated and intelligent FM solutions complement aleaner and more sustainable operational process, improving productivity, lowering costsand reducing energy consumption.
The solution digitalises, connects and automatesfacilities management, using innovative technologies that integrate people, process,assets and facilities logically and seamlessly.
One unique feature is HITEK’s WhatsApp AI Chatbot, which provides connectivity toonsite project teams wherever they are, through an integrated mobile CAFM,streamlining service requests and once complete an automated closure notification.
This provides real-time visibility across various services and can also monitor, escalateand report dynamically through mobility, web portal and automated email reports.
Commenting about the project, Javeria Aijaz, MD – HITEK Services, said: “Thislandmark project will digitalise BOK’s conventional FM, into smart, sustainable andsecure digital facility operations,monitoring and controlling their assets as well theperformance of their FM teams.
“With a centralised and dynamic AI dashboard, our cloud-based solution will providecontinuous management and transparency for BOK’s operations, across all 140 sites.”
Headquartered in Khartoum, BOK is the largest and oldest bank in Sudan managingassets worth US$ 2 billion. It was established in 1913 and by 1954 it was rebranded asBarclay’s Bank. Almost fifty years later, after the bank had been nationalised by theSudanese government, in 2001 the bank was privatised, with UAE-based Dubai IslamicBank, taking a 60% share.
Across the group it has almost 3,000 employees with 150 branches and cash officesand over 325 ATM/CDMs, the largest branch and ATM network in Sudan, offeringservices to corporate, retail, microfinance and investment business sectors.
HITEK signed an agency agreement with Khartoum-based TAD FM in July 2022. It isone of largest FM companies in Sudan and has a workforce of over 1,500 employeesspread across Sudan, Egypt and the wider North and East African regions.
Also headquartered in Khartoum, award-winning TAD, which focuses on delivering aboth hard and soft FM services, has grown five-fold over the last five years to becomeone of the most prominent facilities management companies in the region.
“Given Sudan’s geography, HITEK’s mobility solution will make BOK’s operations morecost-efficient and sustainable. Their unique WhatsApp Chatbot will make it simple tosubmit and automate support requests. Whether it’s service requests, audits, ormanagement reporting, the mobile solution ensures technicians and supervisors cancommunicate with each other in real time, efficiently and effectively,” said MohamedAbdelhamied – CEO TAD.
