About the Contributors
Fayez Albadri is a well-established academic, educator, consultant, and man-ager for over two decades. He holds a Doctorate in Management from MGSM Macquarie University in Sydney Australia, Masters in Intelligent Information Pro-cessing Systems from University of Western Australia in Perth, Graduate Certificate in Computer Instructional Design from Edith Cowan University in Perth, and Bach-elor degree in Engineering from University of Westminster in London, UK. He is recognized as IS&T Specialist and Management Expert for his record in managing IT projects, implementing ERP systems and e-business solutions. Dr. Albadri is a pioneer researcher and academic with important contributions in the areas of edu-cational technology and instructional design, entrepreneurship and e-business, IT strategic planning, project management, and risk management. He is renowned for his development of (IPRM) the Integrated Project-Risk Model and the introduction of (IELCM) the Integrated ERP Life-Cycle Management approach. He has also delivered numerous seminars and training workshops to hundreds of academics and professionals in Australia and the Middle East.
* * *
Salam Abdallah is an IS&T academic and practitioner. Dr. Abdallah has a PhD in Information Systems from Australia and a MSc degree from the United Kingdom. He has over 15 years of experience working as an IT consultant before joining United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees overseeing ICT facilities and curriculum development at schools and vocational training centers in UNRWA’s entire field of operations. He is a founding member of Special Interest Group of the Association of Information Systems: ICT and Global Development. Dr. Abdallah is also an active researcher in the field of Information Systems and has published articles in local and international conferences and journals. Currently, he is an Associate Professor of Management Information Systems at Abu Dhabi University, UAE.
Nooruddin Ahmed has nearly twenty years of experience in the information systems industry with stints in major companies like Tata Consultancy Services and DSQ Software in India, CITIBANK NA – Singapore, HAPAG LLOYD – Asia – Singapore, SEER Technologies, USA. He is currently working as the Head of the Information Systems Department in Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). Nooruddin has been instrumental in introducing the concept of green/sustainable information technology to key stakeholders with a focus on supporting ERP sys-tems, software development, and data/database administration and management. Mr. Ahmed has a Masters Degree of Science in Strategic Business IT from the University of Portsmouth, UK, certified as a Software Manager (CSM) from SIIA, USA, and Member of the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute.
Ahmed Al-Azri has BSc Education (Nizwa) and has recently completed a Master of Science (MSc.) in Management at Brunel Business School, Brunel University, UK. Mr. Al-Azri is currently the Director of External Scholarships at the Ministry of Higher Education, Oman, and his main interest is in the areas of change manage-ments and information systems.
Zahran Al-Salti has BSc Computer Science, MSc Business Information Tech-nology Systems (Strathclyde), and PhD Information Systems (Brunel). Zahran is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Information Systems at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), Oman. He has more than 11 years of academic and industry ex-perience. Prior to joining SQU in 2004, Zahran spent five years with the Ministry of Higher Education, Oman, in different technical and managerial positions. He served as a Director of Postgraduate Studies at the Directorate General of Scholarships. His current research interests include Information Systems (IS) outsourcing / offshor-ing, knowledge management, and e-government issues. Dr. Al-Salti has published several papers in international journals and conference proceedings.
Amer Dabbagh was born in Amman, Jordan, where he received his elementary and secondary education in government schools. For his university education, he went to Ankara, Turkey, supported by the JFK scholarship. In five years, he had a Civil Engineering degree in his bag. He worked in Gulf Oil and Gas Company for over 25 years in various capacities. He worked in the IT division as a System Analyst and progressed to the position of Team Leader, responsible for a team of around ten members responsible for the maintenance of a number of commercial applications. Later, he moved to the Commercial Division and was responsible for the ERP system in use at the time. In this capacity of Senior Business Analyst, he represented the Commercial Division in the EIS Implementation project. Mr. Dabbagh played a key role in the preparation of the user requirements, in the formulation of
the Commercial Business Processes, preparation of the user acceptance scenarios, data migration, and user training. His contribution in the book reflects his experi-ence in the implementation project.
Ahmad Fayez was born in Amman, Jordan. He started his schooling in Western Australia and continued in UAE. He studied both his Bachelor’s degree in Internet Sciences and Masters degree in Information Technology Management at Wollon-gong University, based in Sydney, Australia. He has worked as an IT instructor and analyst, and he is currently working as an Account Manager at Information Fort in Physical Record Management and Document Management.
Mohamed Elhefnawi worked as Lecturer and Assistant Professor in the Military Technical College, Cairo, Egypt, from 1969 to 1983. He joined ISC Department of Qatar Petroleum (formerly QGPC) in 1984 until 1996, where he worked in the infor-mation systems development area. From 1996 to 2012, he had several engagements with Qatargas, ADNOC, ADWEA, GASCO, and ADCO in the IT planning, ITIL Implementation, IT standards, Enterprise Architecture, and IT Strategy areas. Dr. Mohamed Elhefnawi has earned MSc and PhD degrees in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from VAAZ Academy, Brno, the Czech Republic, in 1975 and 1977, respectively. He also has a BSc degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering with first degree honor from Military Technical College, in 1969. He is a Senior Member of IEEE, since 1986.
Nabil Ghalib’s experience as an IT Specialist for over 32 years included the management of tens of projects in five continents and many countries since 1980. He has worked for some international companies in a myriad of industries, includ-ing manufacturinclud-ing, telecommunications, bankinclud-ing, and investment, as well as the oil and gas industry. His accomplishments include many in-house developments in the areas of facilities management and medical services.
Asim Hussain is ERP Project Implementation Specialist and Project Manager with a diverse and in-depth 29 year experience in all phases of ERP project and application life-cycle from its inception to retirement on medium to large scale systems. He uses his techno-functional skills for the implementation and subsequent support of business solutions. He has carried out implementation of a number of ERP and EAM project. He has conducted presentations in a number of conferences and seminars. He is currently working with Kuwait Oil Company as TPL Senior Specialist. He holds Master’s degree in Computer Sciences. He is also PMI certified Project Manager holding PMP certification.
Moh’d Jarrar’s experience as a project manager, an enterprise architect for upgrading IT infrastructure and data centers, as well as the academic curriculum in one of the leading universities in the Gulf region accompanied with more than twenty five years of international experience of work with many of the IT giants enabled him to bring many projects home with achievements beyond the wildest expectations of the stakeholders.
Wafi Al-Karaghouli’s academic qualifications include, BA Statistics, MPhil Statistics and Operations Research (London), PhD IS Failures (Brunel), MBCS, MElite. Wafi gained extensive experience with multinational companies. 12 years industrial experience including a Blue-Chip and 22 years in Higher Education. A qualified practitioner in TQM and Project Management Methodology PRINCE2. His interest and research revolve around IT systems failures, knowledge manage-ment, and civil aviation. Wafi has published extensively on the subject of IS failure. He contributed to the development of a Knowledge Management System at Merrill Lynch HSBC, BAA’s fast-track check-in desks, and the Iris Recognition Immigra-tion System (iris) at Heathrow Airport.
Eissa Khoori was born in Abu Dhabi, the cosmopolitan capital the United Arab Emirates. Upon the completion of his secondary schooling in Abu Dhabi, he pur-sued his university study and graduated from Al Hosn University with a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering. He has been working as ERP Maintenance Spe-cialist at ADMA-OPCO since his graduation in 2009. He also has taken a number ERP-related assignments including the replacement of HR legacy system with ERP HR module and a number of ERP task forces, business process re-engineering, and ERP post-implementation management of change.
Vladimir Kovacevic is a well-established management consultant with extensive experience in the business and IT industries. He holds a Master Degree in Chemical Engineering from University of Belgrade. For over 17 years he has covered opera-tions engineering, operaopera-tions management, number of feasibility studies, business process design/re-engineering, and business process optimization. He has success-fully managed a number of complex asset management systems implementations and ERP project management. Vladimir has designed many proven business/e-business solutions for a variety of clients in Oil and Gas, Utilities and Fertilizer industries. In addition to his roles as a management consultant, he has held positions of principal business consultant, professional services manager, and deputy GM of an internationally recognized IT solution company. Vladimir is well-recognized expert in ERP strategy and implementation. He currently works as ERP Advisor at Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company.
Firas Albataineh holds a BSc (hons) in Computer Studies and a Masters degree in Computing and Information Systems, both from the UK. He has 13 years of ex-perience in enterprise systems and systems implementations across the gulf region and across different industries covering utilities, facilities, oil and gas, transporta-tion, airports, airlines, and military. He was involved in tens of projects and gained the knowledge, experience, and the skills to deliver IT projects on time, within budget, and according to specifications. Firas had implemented systems from IBM, Oracle, and SAP, and was involved in many different implementation phases, where he played different roles relating to the implementation of ERP systems from one vendor or best of breed systems from different vendors.
Ali Sartawi is a Graduate Engineer in Electronics Engineering. He started his career in early 1985 with a European company in the field of electro-mechanical construction. He was mainly engaged in instrumentation and loop test as well as system and equipment commissioning. The project was an oil platform sponsored by an oil company in Abu Dhabi. Two years later, he joined the power sector in a power and desalination plant in Abu Dhabi and served in the operation depart-ment for 10 years, as control room operator, operation supervisor, and shift charge engineer. His assignment as maintenance instrumentation engineer in power plant (1996-2000) has given him the opportunity to represent his company in ADWEA CMMS implementation project in year 2000. In 2005, he was seconded to an AGPS (Asia Gulf Power Services) who took the plant ownership as part of ADWEA priva-tization scheme. The company approved an upgrade project for CMMS in which he was appointed as deputy manager and head of planning, providing business and technical support to all types of company users. After becoming an expert in as-set management implementation systems, he joined oil company in January 2008 as Work and Asset Specialist, where he led the maintenance group in the upgrade team project of the CMMS. Ali’s present role, since the completion of the CMMS upgrade, is to enhance maintenance performance using asset management system as the main tool. He also provides support and consultation for best implementation of CMMS facilities on commercial processes.
Rima Shishakly has PhD in Management Information Systems from University of Manchester, UK, and MBA, Belgium. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor in Ajman University of Science and Technology, UAE. Her studies focus on the role of Information Technology (IT) in organization change and innovation as well as implementation and development of Information System (IS) in different organiza-tions. A current specific area of interest is information technology in educational management. She has published in different international journals and conference proceedings, and also gives professional training.
