iXDev plans to expand in the Arab Gulf and North Africa regions in the coming period, as well as attract new investments worth $1m to finance this expansion.
Karim Al-Fateh, chief business officer of iXDev, and Ayman Al-Refaey, CEO of iXDev, spoke to Daily News Egypt about the company’s plans to establish a network of agents and distributors in various governorates of Egypt in 2018.
Can you tell us about your company’s services?
Al Refaey: iXDev is an IT startup founded in the United Kingdom with a vision of providing technology solutions to all sectors at low prices. Egypt was chosen to be the location of iXDev Middle East and Africa headquarters (iXDev MEA) and the region’s excellence centre for development and technical management.
Any company needs software and technological applications to develop its business and push its growth rates. However, these applications cost a lot of money, estimated at $1m in some cases. So, most small- and medium-sized companies cannot obtain these solutions.
With our cloud-based software and solutions, such companies can get all the required technical solutions to develop their business without the need to purchase hardware to store data or buy software licenses. Our company provides these services for a low monthly fee, which saves more than 85% of technological solution costs.
Our services also allow customers to follow their business from outside the country using the internet.
How does your company ensure the security of data?
Al-Fateh: All the services and software provided to our customers are fully secured. According to statistics, 90% of data leaks happen through companies’ own employees. Cloud computing solutions provide data protection by specialised engineers.
We also have multiple levels of security, the lowest of which is the password used by the customer. All the data of customers have backups saved on other servers to protect them in case the passwords were hacked.
Al-Refaey: We also contracted with Comodo Group to provide cybersecurity services to our customers. Comodo challenged us to hack their cybersecurity system, and we actually brought some hackers, but they were not able to penetrate the data.
In addition, we use the data centres of Microsoft and IBM, which ensures additional protection of our customers’ data.
What are the most prominent applications offered by the company?
Al-Refaey: We currently have two applications, iXERP and iXCRM. The first is an accounting application that can be used in large and small companies and is suitable for all sectors, whether industrial or commercial. One of the companies that benefited from this application was Alfa LEDs.
The other application can be used in marketing campaigns and is also suitable for large and small businesses.
What are the advantages of cloud computing?
Al-Fateh: Cloud computing allows small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to use advanced software at low prices. It also allows them to accelerate their growth rates based on technology solutions.
Why did your company choose Egypt to open its regional headquarters, despite the current economic conditions?
Al-Fateh: Egypt has the best software developers in the world and has skilled human resources, in addition to its unique location in the region.
We also consider any challenge an investment opportunity. The current economic changes and currency differences represent a good investment opportunity, especially as all sectors need technological solutions to develop their businesses and increase their sales and revenues at the lowest cost.
We believe there is a growth opportunity in cloud-based solutions in the Egyptian market over the next two years, especially for the SMEs sector.
How do you see your chance in the Egyptian market with the presence of large companies providing the same services?
Al-Refaey: Large companies provide their services to large customers, but they are not suitable for the SMEs sector which increased dramatically in Egypt in the recent period. Our company targets this segment mainly.
For example, obtaining a license to use one of the major technology companies’ software may cost $600 per month, and SMEs cannot afford this sum. On the other hand, we provide a similar service for EGP 250 per month.
Which company applications have the best chance for growth?
Al-Refaey: We expect that the electronic payment sector will witness significant growth in the coming period, especially after the recent measures adopted by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). Therefore, we created an electronic payment application that will be launched after obtaining the CBE’s approval. It would provide our customers with integrated solutions to manage their financial operations.
What are your expansion plans in the coming period? Do you have any plans to attract new investments for the company?
Al-Fateh: We seek to hold partnerships with a number of technology companies to act as our agents with the aim of expanding our services to all governorates in Egypt.
We plan to sign contracts with two or three partners and agents in each governorate. Alexandria is expected to witness an increase in the use of our applications, as well as Assiut, Mansoura, and Suez.
