PM Network - August 2015

In conjunction with this growth, Muhammad Altaf, PMP, a Dubai-based project manager for IBM Middle East, a PMI Global Executive Council member, has seen a significant boost in the number of IT project manager positions advertised and filled by UAE companies compared to five years ago—especially in the financial and defense sectors. In particular, local banks are expanding into global markets and need savvy IT project managers to handle the transformation, Mr. Altaf says.

“Organizations here are spending heavily on technology projects. They realize that technology plays a vital role in competing in the international market.”

THE LONG HAUL

Across sectors, many UAE megaprojects are scheduled to span decades. For example, construction on the ongoing US$20 billion Masdar City project began in 2006, was delayed due to the 2008 global financial crisis, and is now slated for completion between 2020 and 2025. Masdar City aims to create the world’s first zero-carbon emissions, mixed-use development on a 6-square-kilometer ( 2.3-square-mile) parcel of land in Abu Dhabi.

In 2013, the first solar facility was commissioned in the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. The park is slated for completion in 2030 with a target capacity of 3 gigawatts.

Organizations sponsoring such long-term projects are particularly interested in project managers who will stick around for the long haul. But finding talented project managers who are content to stay in one position isn’t always easy.

“It’s a challenge for employers to find the correct person,” says Noman Zafar

We asked practitioners: Practitioner Perspective

“Organizations are looking for project
managers who also have business
intelligence and sales skills. They
want people who, while delivering
a project, are simultaneously
doing business development tasks
and leveraging interactions with
the customer. In UAE, most successful project
managers upsell additional services to the client.”

—Imran Malik, CAPM, PMI-ACP, PMI-RMP, PMI-SP, PMI-PBA, PMP, PgMP, PfMP, senior director of enterprise project management, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co., Dubai

“Organizations here
are spending heavily on
technology projects. They
realize that technology plays
a vital role in competing in
the international market.”

—Muhammad Altaf, PMP, IBM Middle East, Dubai, UAE

“Knowledge
of UAE
methods
of working,
experience
dealing
with local
companies and the ability
to get things done with a
multicultural workforce.”
—Mohmed Abbas Burmawala, PMP, system
project lead, Dutech LLC, Dubai