Milaha expands partnership with Microsoft to drive operational excellence and transform supply chain industry
Milaha, Qatar’s leading force in Maritime & Logistics, has partnered with Microsoft to transform its workplace into a modern, secured, and virtual environment. The effort is part of the company’s dedicated drive to ensure business continuity and services, whilst simultaneously expanding Qatar’s supply chain connectivity.
“Our goals have been aligned with the Qatar National Vision 2030 to build a diversified and sustainable economy,” said Milaha’s President & CEO Abdulrahman Essa Al Mannai. Mr. Al Mannai added “Being a prominent player in the Maritime Logistics industry, we realize the importance of our contribution to the country’s vision, and hence it is imperative for us to evolve and navigate to build the new norm. Our long-term partnership with Microsoft is built on trust and innovation, the key pillars of our digital transformation journey. We look forward to adopting Microsoft new technology tools and solutions to ensure security and productivity of our workforce and our technology platforms, as we strive to safeguard and develop the continuity of our services from Qatar to the world.”
To develop into a truly modern workplace, Milaha has adopted Microsoft Teams, a unified communications platform to empower over 800 users in its workforce to connect, collaborate, conduct audio and video calls, and share files – all in one place. The organization has also adopted Microsoft’s Threat Protection solutions to better protect, detect, and respond to attacks in the ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape.
Moreover, by leveraging Microsoft’s Power Platform, Milaha has been able to optimize and accelerate many of its internal processes, and drive business agility to reduce the burden on its workforce, which is now free to drive value and innovate for customers. The Power Platform allows Milaha to create and connect existing business applications, as well as harness all complex data sources across the organization, delivering business intelligence to make informed decisions.
Microsoft Power Apps were key in empowering Milaha to respond rapidly to the challenges it faced in maintaining smooth delivery of services to clients during the recent period. For example, since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, remotely from home became the norm as a necessary measure in preventing the spread of the virus, Microsoft Teams enabled Milaha’s workforce to continuing working together and minimize disruption ensure smooth delivery of business services to clients and the community.
Microsoft Power Apps also provided the solution to the key initial challenge of keeping Milaha’s remote-working team connected and ready to do business, by enabling the building of a bespoke Emergency Communication App. The App not only connected all employees working from home but also ensured that they received the latest updates on the COVID-19 situation from government authorities and trusted media channels, as well as keeping them abreast of any internal responses to developments. In addition, Microsoft Power Apps provided the technology needed to build automated systems to ease the handling of some of Milaha’s manual processes involving documentation and approvals, which speeded-up service delivery.
“It is inspiring how an organization like Milaha has continued steadily in its digital transformation journey by equipping its workforce with the right collaboration tools to reimagine its business model, while driving cost efficiency and agility,” said Lana Khalaf, Country Manager, Microsoft Qatar. “We stand firm in our commitment to empower organizations in Qatar to pursue their digital agenda, by providing them with the right technological innovations to navigate the new normal and achieve more.”
Milaha and Microsoft have established a long-term partnership over the years. In 2019, both organizations joined efforts to build a smart-logistics platform using artificial intelligence and Internet of Things powered by the Microsoft Azure Cloud. This advancement has delivered data-driven insights, reducing operating costs and further increasing efficiency.
The surging demand for Microsoft’s intelligent cloud services in Qatar has led the company to announce plans to launch a datacenter in Qatar. With initial availability expected in 2021, organizations across all industries in the country will avail enterprise-grade performance of the Microsoft Cloud, combined with data residency, security, and the broadest compliance.
About Milaha
The company was established in July 1957 as the first public shareholding company registered in Qatar and holds commercial registration no. 1. Milaha’s current activities include marine transportation in gas, petroleum products, containers and bulk; offshore support services; port management and operations; logistics services; shipyard; trading agencies; real estate investments; and asset management.
The legal entity, Qatar Navigation Q.P.S.C., is publicly listed on the Qatar Exchange (QNNS).