SpecTec Middle East, the UAE branch of an Italian software company, has seen great success with its asset management software AMOS. The software helps control operating costs on ships, allowing customers to recoup their investment within a few months. SpecTec is developing new applications to optimize energy consumption and fuel purchasing. Since fuel is 60% of maritime operating costs, this can significantly reduce expenses. SpecTec also sees potential for growth in selling to Saudi Aramco, which has invested billions in compatible SAP software.

1. 27
January 2015
INTERNATIONAL
GULFITALY
SUCCESS STORIES
“With AMOS (asset manage-
ment operating system)
keeping operating costs on a
ship under control, one can
offset their investment within
a few months”. According to
Nencha, this was a crucial el-
ement of SpecTec’s success.
The company is now aiming
for further development, with
an application which optimises
energy consumption, organis-
ing the fleet’s refuelling where
prices are most advantageous.
Since 60% of the cost of mari-
time management is spent on
fuel, this new application has a
direct effect on one of the larg-
est outgoings. Another string to
SpecTec’s bow is the Saudi mar-
ket. “Saudi Aramco has spent 3
billion dollars on SAP programs,
to which our AMOS software
can connect. This is a poten-
tial area for growth,” Nencha
told us.
SAVINGS WITH AMOST
he success of SpecTec Middle
East in Abu Dhabi was born out
of failure, as Alberto Nencha,
the man who founded the branch,
sportingly admits. “In the Gulf,
more so than elsewhere, a negative
experience is necessary to get a good
company going”, the current President
of the Italian Business Council in
the Emirates’ capital explained. In
2009 Nencha had tried to start up a
company producing pleasure boats,
able to ensure high quality and pristine
finishing touches, while maintaining a
competitive price. The brand, Emocean
Marine, was not as successful as had
been hoped. In the meantime, Nencha
moved to the Gulf and, in 2011,
accepted the offer of SpecTec in La
Spezia, to give himself to developing
business in the UAE. SpecTec in
La Spezia was the Italian branch of
an American multinational which
produces software for management
of maritime assets and is particularly
involved in the oil and gas industry.
Taking advantage of the large-scale
expansion of the offshore oil industry,
SpecTec’s product easily gained
a foothold. Even in Dubai, where
SPECTEC – SOFTWARE
IT and low costs the way to success
commercial traffic has compensated
for the lack of oil in the immediate
territory, SpecTec managed to do very
well. The real leap forward came in
2012, when the company from La
Spezia was bought by Constellation
Software, a Canadian company founded
by venture capitalist Mark Leonard,
which had been doing extremely
well on the Toronto stock exchange.
Constellation’s main business idea is
to acquire specialist software in the
most diverse industrial sectors and in
the tertiary sector. Their first move
was to propose that SpecTec’s sales
network, with 25 branches worldwide,
enter into a partnership with the
parent company. Each distributor was
offered the opportunity to buy out their
branch, with the guarantee of a lengthy
and exclusive contract giving them
products from the parent company.
“The Emirates are focusing a lot on the
savings that can be made through the
application of IT in key sectors such as
transport, energy, defence, industrial
production and public administration”,
Nencha, who has managed to ensure
a wider use of his software in defence
and general industry, revealed. With
offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai,
SpecTec Middle East has
a multi-million euro turnover;
the company is also looking to set up
in Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
In the maritime sector in particular,
SpecTec software almost has a
monopoly, as it is the only platform
which easily integrates management
programmes from SAP, Oracle and
IBM, at a cost of between five and
eight thousand dollars.
Alberto Nencha is also President of the
Italian Business Council in Abu Dhabi.
X FACTOR
T
he company’s flagship is the
Clock Tower in Makkah, a
masterpiece of engineering
and design. Other than being the
largest clock tower in the world, five
times the size of London’s Big Ben,
its design and finishing incorporate
procedures which were studied
ad hoc. MAPEI had to develop
a special adhesive, Kerapoxy,
in order to stick together the
98 million tiles which make
up the mosaic on the face of
the giant clock. They also
had to make a varnish would
resist the intense sunlight in
the desert climate, which the clock is
exposed to all day long, throughout
the year. Furthermore, thanks to their
achievements in Saudi Arabia, the
company run by Giorgio Squinzi had
a special role in putting the finishing
touches to the Armani Hotel, on
the 80th floor of the Burji Khalifa,
the tallest skyscraper in the world.
Completion of this work necessitated
high quality materials and also great
speed of execution, so that areas
treated with the adhesive could be
used within 24 hours. MAPEI’s
business in the Gulf region has
MAPEI – CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
To fight competition from
Switzerland and Germany,
where the two multinational com-
panies most involved in MAPEI’s
target market come from, the
Italians have focused on flexibil-
ity; in other words, the ability to
offer tailor-made solutions to their
customers, as well as follow-up
support. This led to commissions in
some of the most prestigious pro-
jects: Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi;
terminals 1, 2 and 3 at the airport
in Dubai; the Burji Al Arab in Dubai;
and the lavish Emirates Palace in
Abu Dhabi, the height of luxury.
FLEXIBILITY
How to survive the sun in the desert
products to serve large-scale civil
construction, such as roads, tunnels
and underground transport systems.
They are a supplier for the main
contractors, such as Salini-Impregilo.
The company is also looking, in
the immediate future, to enter two
other markets in the area, Oman and
Kuwait, which are both involved in
large public investment programmes.
X FACTOR
grown continuously since 2005, with
double digit percentages, arriving at
a turnover of 100 million euros in
2013. “The margins are pleasing”,
explained Stefano Iannacone, the
company’s General Manager in the
area, who runs operations from the
factory in Dubai. In addition to the
Saudi market and that in the UAE,
MAPEI is aiming to do business
in Qatar, where they have opened
a second production plant, over an
area of around 80,000 square metres,
with 140 employees. In Qatar,
business is mostly focused around
The clock tower
in Makkah, with
the clock face,
in mosaic,
pictured below.
Below: Stefano
Iannacone