Construction and real estate companies turn to IT-enabled performance to stay competitive in the Middle East

With rapid growth in the Middle East's construction and real estate sector, companies are looking to maximize efficiency and cope with the challenges of managing their operations in line with the pace of expansion.

'A boom in any industry comes with its benefits as well as challenges and that's what the Middle East construction and real estate sector is experiencing today. To cope with these challenges, companies require sound IT-enabled systems to ensure efficient cost control, as well as high levels of efficiency in project resource management, change management and human resources management,'

said Sergio Maccotta, managing Director, SAP Middle East and Africa.

Members of the roundtable panel were drawn from global leaders in IT, construction and real estate. The panel discussed priority issues that provided insight into challenges of the Middle East construction industry; some of the issues were, procurement optimization, financial performance (monitoring cash returns), project stakeholder management, project feasibility analysis, as well as maximizing compliance with local and global regulations.

The event was moderated by Professor Mustafa Alshawi, Director of the Research Institute for the Built and Human Environment, University of Salford. Professor Alshawi is a consultant to the World Bank and an accomplished author. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Construction Innovation: Information Process Management.