Hari Athilat, Group Divisional Manager of Almoayyed Commercial Services, tells us how the Company began its journey in 1982 as an office equipment company selling copiers, fax machines, and typewriters, in a small showroom at Exhibition Road in Bahrain, and how it radically altered its marketing thrust by growing its product range from state-of-the-art AVs in the 2000s to AI digital solutions in 2020s.

BENTREPRENEUR: How has Almoayyed Commercial Services evolved over the years from the time it started in 1982?

GDM:  When we started, we barely had 28 employees spread across the sales showroom, administrative   office and warehouse operations.

I was one of the sales executives and my first sale was a fax machine from a nondescript manufacturer, after which I was branded Tattung by my colleagues, after the product’s brand name.

By the year 2000, as technology paved the way to more advanced modes of business communications, Almoayyed Commercial Services forged dealership agreements with world-class AV Solutions Providers such as Hitachi, Crestron, and Extron. We catered to the Kingdom’s big league companies and offered diverse AV solutions from wide screens to projectors, from speakers to all types of AV solutions for meetings, conferences and various business communication requirements; with extended services for installation, setup and maintenance.  Alongside it, we set up a support team specializing in AV technology across all verticals.

As emerging technologies and trends in information technology continued to improve efficiency in the workplace, Almoayyed likewise expanded its line of automated equipment and tailor-made solutions. Our range of high-demand products promoting advanced office automation included Document Management Solutions (DMS), Customer Contact Management (CCM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and Manage Print Solutions (MPS); tailored applications to efficiently manage day-to-day operations and suit specific requirements demanded by ministries and different industries.

Our ISO certification helped us to sustain our guarantee of quality and productivity from products to daily operations which equally impacted our mission on total customer satisfaction. Consistency in quality comes from a periodic monitoring of our operational strategies. Since its started, Almoayyed has continued to evolve to address changing market demands and demographics.

BENTREPRENEUR: What do you think are the pillars or essentials which made Almoayyed one of the oldest running businesses in the country today?

People success is the key to Almoayyed’s success. Our dedicated and hardworking sales and technical staff people are the main pillars which continuously help us to reach our goals.  That is why we do our best to maintain a positive work environment wherein they are productive and at the same time fulfilled.

We provide a congenial work environment and close friendly communications, a sense of oneness from all levels of the organizational hierarchy, from the office boy to the managers. Annually, we hold family gatherings while every day of the year, we pay attention to the welfare of each employee.

Of course, our people provide the necessary support mechanism to our successful and world class portfolio of products elaborated on earlier which include managed print services, document management solutions, communication and artificial intelligence solutions in demand on print and display categories.

BENTREPRENEUR:  What are your future plans for Almoayyed Commercial Services?

GDM:  Within the next few years, we will pursue future market penetration in other GCC countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, to augment our fast-growing presence in UAE and Qatar.

To sustain our continuous drive to evolve and adapt to changing market trends and demands, we are expanding into the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). Currently, our team of experts are setting up the infrastructure to facilitate the shift.