COVER LETTER

For: Head of IT/ IT Director/Sr IT Leadership Position

Summary of Key Strengths for this position:

Quality experience of having worked in companies like Deloitte , Grant Thornton , (some of the
best in areas of consultation services) as well as in diversified groups like Algosaibi.
Have handled major IT projects for AHAB, RTA, AW Rostamani group, Hsbc dubai etc..
Presently working as Group IT Head in one of Deloittes biggest client in Saudi handling IT
governance, Business process automations, Bottom line productivity enhancements etc
Can provide very strong industry reference/ recommendations, the likes of Deloitte middle
east CIO , AHAB group CFO , etc if and when required, hence testifying the credibility factor and
performance assurance that I bring with me to the company.
Excellent communication and presentation skills combined with the ability to simplify the
complexity and obscurity of IT function for the stakeholders. Have developed a complete
framework for this purpose and would be happy to share the details of it in person.
Have spent more than a decade in middle east region and have a network of competent
vendors , technology partners and suppliers that I can leverage in favour of the organization ,
to reduce cost and enhance support contract terms.
Have some of the most coveted industry certifications like CISA , CISM, ITIL, CCNA , MCP etc
combined with a very strong foundation of BTech (Indus. Automation) and MBA (IT).
Hope I will get an opportunity to expand upon my claims in a very convincing manner in a face to face
interview and to dispel any of the reservations that you might have against offering me this opportunity
to truly help your organisation.
My detailed CV in the next few pages outlines some of my key achievements and strengths.
TABISH ASIFI
E: Tabish.asifi@gmail.com
M: +966 50 0568260

TABISH ASIFI

Summary of Key Strengths

Group IT Head

Passion for my profession; 14+ years Techno Managerial Exp in Middle east;
Rich experience in companies like Deloitte , Ah Algosaibi Group, Grant
Thornton, Hewlett Packard, ORG Telecom etc; Coveted industry
recommendations from the likes of Deloitte Middle east CIO, AHAB CFO..
Strong foundations with qualifications like (BTech, MBA-IT, CISA etc)

AH Algosaibi, Al Khobar, KSA

E: tabish.asifi@gmail.com

PRESENT COMPANY

M: +966500568260 , +966583178600
W: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tabish
Download CV: http://tiny.cc/tabishcv

Companies Worked for

Deloitte (Dubai), Grant Thornton (Dubai),

AH ALGOSAIBI GROUP- (KSA) As Group IT Head

Feb-2014 Till date
AH Algosaibi is a very established and renowned family business
group of Saudi Eastern province. I was handpicked from Deloitte to
lead their IT function across the group.

Aal Mir Group (Dubai) , National Bank of

Key Responsibilities: (Summary)

Dubai (Dubai), HP- Hewlett Packard (Delhi).

As a Group IT Head my main focus was on improving IT service

delivery, better compliance with industry standards and higher
business value delivery through business process automation, while
minimizing the information risk exposure to the business.

Qualifications
MBA (Technology Management) [2003-2005]
BTech (Engineering- Industrial Automation)
Certifications: CISA, CISSP, CCNA, MCP, ITIL

Highlights
Policy Development; Business Automation;
ITIL implementation, Office 365 rollout, ERP
Dynamics AX, Oracle 11i , Epicore ; IT Risk
Assessment, BCP / DR -ISO 22301; Info.
security- ISO 27001 , CoBIT 4.0, Audit IDEA.

Showcase (sample)
A sample of how my IT roadmap and Project
tracker lead to enhanced visibility and
alignment between annual IT projects and

Key Achievements: (Just a Few Highlights)

Strategic Alignment of IT with business.
Developed a strategic IT Roadmap for the next 3 years with a well aligned and

comprehensive project tracker.

Developed a group wide, set of policies and procedures for the whole IT function.
Group wide IT restructuring for better reporting efficiency and reduced cost.
Developed an IT Risk matrix exposing high risk areas, to set priorities right eg
licenses and enterprise security.

Improved IT Cost Efficiency

Consolidation of contracts and licenses to bring economy of scale wherever

strategic business needs. (Details available).

possible. Some of the most effective were in ISP contracts, Laptop/PC Stdn &
MS Licenses consolidations.
Group level auditing of IT purchases to check for price inflations and inappropriate
purchases. An average reduction of cost by 20-25% just through this practice.
Introduction of new technology (like server virtualization, VDI & thin clients) to
dramatically improve existing asset utilization.
Implementation of Office 365 and ECS (Microsoft cloud based solutions) across
the group to achieve 100% license compliance , streamlined and transparent
procurement, reduction of licensing cost by 30% and a 99.9% reliable email
services.

Improved IT Resource Productivity

Introduced a simplified KPI system to measure and improve productivity across

group for IT function and linked bonuses / increments based on achievements of

collective IT functions annual Targets & Objectives.
Focus on extensive internal and cross skill IT training to cover up the skills gap.
Introduced systematic and planned IT awareness training for end users to
increase bottom-line productivity.

IT Infrastructure Improvements
Ensured that in the first 6 months of joining all critical capacity and redundancy

issues were identified & reported across the head office its subsidiaries.
Handled around 50 odd projects, big and small in the last 2 years targeted
towards covering core IT infrastructure work. (towards network & security
upgrades, server upgrades, end point security , Data backups etc)

Business Automation
Completion of Core ERP implementation at the head office MS AX 2012.
Implementation of Navision in one of the FMCG sector subsidiary of AHAB group

with more than 20 plus stores distributed across the region.

Implementation of Epicor based ERP solution for a specialized vertical of the
shipping and freight forwarding subsidiary of AHAB.
Development of web centric wholesale travel agency solution for business
expansion of the existing travel agency business more to share on request.

E: tabish.asifi@gmail.com

TABISH ASIFI

M: +966500568260 , +966583178600

Group IT Head, AH Algosaibi Group

W: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tabish

Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia

PREVIOUS COMPANIES
DELOITTE MIDDLE EAST - FAS (Dubai, UAE) As IT Manager
Feb-2013 Jan 2014
DTME FAS is a Member firm of one among the Big 4 Auditing & Consulting firms of the world. As of today
Deloitte is the top ranked financial consulting firm in the word. I was in the role of IT manager for the Financial
Advisory Services/Offices for the Middle East region of Deloitte.
Key Responsibilities: (Summary)
As an IT manager for the Deloitte FAS offices, I was responsible for the overall IT alignment with industry
standards and best practices for all their offices in this region. There was a strong focus on IT compliance,
being in the financial industry, and a relentless effort towards improving IT service delivery, in line with CIS.
Key Achievements: (A few highlights)
Development of a Disaster Recovery Plan and Business Continuity Plan Document for the DTME FAS from the scratch. Got the
acceptance from the regional Deloitte compliance group in UK.

Developed and up-to-date and relevant IT security policies and Procedures for DTME FAS, which was followed by a successful
compliance clearance from UK Deloitte. (reference available)

Designed a secure Network Blueprint for HSBC data hosting project of Deloitte Forensic department, satisfactorily addressing the
security concerns highlighted by HSBC evaluation team.

Completed a proof of concept project along with the present deloitte middle east CIO. The project was for the Deloitte and India Joint
venture office (DIJV) in mumbai , which depended on our office acting as the data hosting and processing center for essentially UK
based projects to be handled remotely by the Indian deloitte team. I presented a simplified and cost effective alternative in record time
(viz a viz what they were proposing). I also got appreciation from the DIJV team head and the deloitte regional CIO as well for the same.
(reference available)

Helped in reduction of Network connectivity issues by 3 folds through optimization of the Network LAN, Wireless infrastructure upgrade
and File Server optimizations. (benchmarking documents available)

Put in place essential Network and Server support contracts in place with the vendors, to get us out of the high risk exposure of business
function disruption in case of any major hardware level issues in our IT infrastructure. Also helped us in getting the DR and BCP approvals
and acceptance.

Development of an in-house IT assets management system for tracking acquisition, disposal and flow of IT assets in a centralized
location. Also helped us in meeting reporting requirements of the IT capital cost allocations within the IT department.

Implemented a transparent and efficient assets depreciation policy with associated disposal process for IT assets (through a reputed
local vendor) in an environmental friendly manner which should positively affect our offices corporate social responsibility and CO2
footprint ratings.

Initiated and arranged for a contract revision with the Xerox to upscale it to a regional contract with deloitte middle east . There by getting
extremely preferential rates for the Printing managed services in use by us. It not only saved money for our DTME FAS office but was
also helpful for all the other Middle East Deloitte firms.

Implemented an efficient and automated help desk system for the FAS IT team for handling user end queries and providing them with
timely resolutions, It also provided us with accurate measurement of IT productivity and eventually helped us in having a more objective
and transparent annual appraisals.

Helped in a very cost effective and versatile cloud based voice and video conferencing services for the consultants to engage with their
clients easily and from anywhere. Resulted significant reduction of cost vis a vis our existing ISDN based video conferencing system.

Handled various other productivity improvements based on innovative use and mix of existing technologies and improved processes eg
introduction of pay as you go bulk SMS , media file automated filtering in the file server to reduce capacity wastage, introduced new
joiners and leavers checklists to ensure key elements were covered without delay or defaults etc..

A lot more would be happy to share if interested.

GRANT THORNTON (Dubai, UAE) As IT Manager

Feb-2009 Jan 2013
GT UAE is a Member firm of one among the top five Auditing firms of the world. I happen to be listed in their
IT leaders for middle east region on their GT International site, US.
Key Responsibilities: (Summary)
As an IT manager for GT my primary focus was on implementing Business Automation, Cost Optimization for
IT function and aligning the function with technology best practices. I also did IS Audits and IT alignment
related engagements for their clients. Some of the major ones were for Dubai RTA (ISO 27001) and AW
Rostamani (ERP Audit).

E: tabish.asifi@gmail.com

TABISH ASIFI

M: +966500568260 , +966583178600

Group IT Head, AH Algosaibi Group

W: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tabish

Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia

AAL MIR GROUP (Dubai, UAE)

As IT In charge
Dec-2006 Nov 2008
They are the biggest confectionary Trading and distribution group in UAE, with diversification into Logistics
and, Manufacturing, Packaging, Energy saving solutions etc
Key Responsibilities: (Summary)
As an IT In charge I was not just responsible for the overall IT operations but also played a key role in almost
all the technology centric projects that was being implemented across the group at that time. Some of the
most challenging projects of those times werelaunch of their warehouse automation system, Introduction of
barcode and handheld device system for automating their product inventory and movement tracking.
Migration of their old financial system to a full-fledged integrated ERP system etc.

ORG TELECOM LTD (Delhi, INDIA)

As Technical Consultant
Feb-2005 April 2006
One of the premier Systems Integrator in the Domain of Telecom and Networking in India. The company has
about 50 branches all over India and abroad and is Involved in handling major Government level projects of
India and other CIS and southeast Asian countries.
Key Responsibilities: (Summary)
My main focus area was on providing consultative role in Data network related projects. I was primarily
involved in Capacity planning, Network design and documentation, System security and Audit and also
occasionally in providing second level incident management support. Got a lot of exposure in complex,
multisite, technology intensive projects handling.

VCustomer (HP fully owned Tech Support Center) (Delhi, INDIA)

As Technical Support Engineer
May-2002 Aug 2003
The only HP owned and Quality Controlled Tech Center (under BPO model) in India at that time. The whole
of HP Customer Tech Support for its North American Customers was handled by VCUSTOMER in India at its
Gurgaon and Bangalore centers. I was based on their Gurgaon (Delhi NCR) centre.
Key Responsibilities: (Summary)
As a Tech Support engineer I was responsible for providing 2nd level support to (HP) Hewlett Packard's
North American customers for its Server and a few of its Network products (eg HP procurve switches). Within
a few months I was Promoted to Team Lead handling a team of 8 tech support personal. During this time I
also got familiarity with their Siebel-Call Center Module & received the Six sigma training.
Memberships
Professional Membership in IS
Auditing group - ISACA, USA, since
2007.
Active Member of APQC (American

Certifications

Essential Bio Data

CISA (Certified Information Systems

Date of Birth: 11.08.1980

Auditor) by ISACA.

Gender: Male

CCNA (Cisco Certified)

Family Status: Married

MCP (Microsoft Certified)

Dependent: 1 kid
Fathers Name: Mr Manzurul Haque

Productivity & Quality Center).

Languages

Member of INTEL Premier

English (fluent) , Urdu (fluent), French (basic)

Professional Group since 2002

Nationality: Indian

, Arabic (basic).

Driving License: UAE, Saudi, India

Member of Microsoft Technet Group

since 2004

References: Some of the best in industry,

Membership of Global CIO forum.

available on request.

Residency Status: Working Visa (KSA)