Digital tools help Milaha ‘reimagine’ maritime logistics

“Our goals have been aligned with the Qatar National Vision 2030 to build a diversified and sustainable economy,” said Milaha president and chief executive Abdulrahman Essa Al Mannai. Mr Al Mannai added “Being a prominent player in the maritime logistics industry, we realise the importance of our contribution to the country’s vision, and hence it is imperative for us to evolve and navigate to build the new norm. Our long-term partnership with Microsoft is built on trust and innovation, the key pillars of our digital transformation journey.”

A major player in marine transportation in gas, petroleum products, containers and bulk cargo, Milaha owns a fleet of offshore support vessels, harbour tugs, LNG and LPG carriers, tankers, bulk and container vessels.

Plans call for Milaha to adopt Microsoft’s new technology tools and solutions. One of those is Microsoft Teams, a unified communications platform that will be used by over 800 Milaha workers to connect, collaborate, conduct audio and video calls, and share files. Milaha has also adopted Microsoft’s Threat Protection solutions to better protect, detect and respond to cyber attacks.

Furthermore, by using Microsoft’s Power Platform, Milaha has optimised and accelerated many of its internal processes, and has driven business agility to reduce the burden on its workforce, which is now free to drive value and innovate for customers, said the company. The Power Platform allows Milaha to create and connect existing business applications, and harness all complex data sources across the organisation, delivering business intelligence to make informed decisions.

Microsoft Power Apps were key in enabling Milaha to respond rapidly to the challenges it faced during the Covid-19 pandemic, allowing its remote workforce to collaborate, minimising disruption and ensuring delivery of business services to clients and the community.

Milaha used the Emergency Communication App to not only connect all employees working from home but also ensured they received the latest updates on the Covid-19 situation from government authorities and trusted media channels, and any internal responses to developments. In addition, Microsoft Power Apps provided the technology needed to build automated systems to ease the handling of some of Milaha’s manual processes involving documentation and approvals, which sped up service delivery.

“It is inspiring how an organisation like Milaha has continued steadily in its digital transformation journey by equipping its workforce with the right collaboration tools to reimagine its business model, while driving cost efficiency and agility,” said Microsoft Qatar country manager Lana Khalaf.

In 2019, Milaha and Microsoft collaborated to build a smart-logistics platform using artificial intelligence and internet of things powered by the Microsoft Azure Cloud. This advancement has delivered data-driven insights, reducing operating costs and further increasing efficiency.

Demand for Microsoft’s intelligent cloud services in the region has led the company to announce plans to launch a data centre in Qatar in 2021.