Arma Group boosts efficiency and

profitability with Microsoft 365 and

Azure
Arma Group, a leader in Egypt's FMCG sector, transitioned to
Microsoft Azure, addressing security and performance challenges,
and reducing capital expenditures. With a more scalable, flexible
cloud-based data center, the company has improved profitability
and productivity. With Microsoft Sentinel, Arma Group has also
enhanced its security posture. Finally, implementing Microsoft 365
enabled Arma Group to bring its departments closer together,
boost efficiency, and support data-driven decisions with Power BI.

Arma Group
Country: Egypt
Industry: Consumer Goods
Customer size: Large (1,000 - 9,999 employees)
Arma Group boosts efficiency and profitability with Microsoft 365 and Azure
Since its inception in 1992, Arma Group has become a leader in the fast-moving
consumer goods (FMCG) industry in Egypt. It manufactures, trades, and exports a diverse
array of products, ranging from detergents to home care items.

The FMCG sector is constantly challenged by evolving consumer demands and the
breakneck pace of technological advancements. "The world today is witnessing a
technological revolution in various fields,” remarks Muneer Hayel Saeed, Managing
Director at Arma Group. “We have to keep pace with these changes to compete in both
the financial and business market."
Facing performance and security issues with workloads hosted on-premises, Arma Group
decided to migrate to the cloud to increase its competitiveness. "We always strive to
provide the best for our customers,” Mr. Muneer Hayel Saeed notes. “Arma places clients
first, always lend an open ear, also part of our strategy is that we aim strong, stable
support, regular updates and improvements to accommodate the fast pace of
technology. Our strategy and demands met what Microsoft provide.”

“Arma places clients first, always lend an open ear, also part
of our strategy is that we aim strong, stable support, regular
updates and improvements to accommodate the fast pace
of technology. Our strategy and demands met what
Microsoft provide.”—Muneer Hayel Saeed, Managing Director, Arma
Group

A step-by-step transformation
The first step was to build a dedicated data center on Azure. “With this move, we aimed
to resolve the hardware issues we faced and clamp down on the ever-increasing capital
expenditures (CAPEX). A scalable, reliable, and flexible data center gave us exactly what
we needed without the high costs and complications of setting up our own data center
on-premises,” recalls Mohamed Khalifa, Chief Information Officer at Arma Group.
Next, Arma Group implemented RISE with SAP on Azure to provide a smooth holistic
migration of processes and systems onto the cloud, increasing security and scalability.
“We enhanced our security posture using Microsoft Sentinel, and we used Azure Monitor
for monitoring and reporting, and Azure Arc for infrastructure management,” says
Khalifa. By migrating to the cloud, Arma Group streamlined operations, eliminating
supply chain issues and delays in getting products to its customers.
Arma Group boosts efficiency and profitability with Microsoft 365 and Azure
Arma Group also adopted Microsoft 365 across various departments, including
manufacturing, distribution, marketing, and information technology (IT).

"Microsoft 365 became the foundation of our daily work."—Mina

Saad, Group IT Operation Manager, Arma Group
Our legal department uses Microsoft 365 to secure approvals, archive cases and alert
lawyers. Our IT team uses Microsoft 365 to manage the IT help desk. Having Microsoft
365 has not only enabled remote work and eliminated the distance between our staff,
but also strengthened ties between various teams.”
The company also integrated Power BI with different Arma Group databases to create
business dashboards for the various companies within the group, enabling senior
management to make data-driven decisions. For smoother collaboration, employees use
a document management system to keep track of paperwork.

Elevating business performance

Arma Group's migration to Azure has resulted in operational improvements across the
group. "Running RISE with SAP on Azure helped us reduce costs, save time, improve
quality, and work better and faster. Since moving to Azure, our uptime has increased
significantly. We are now able to get more work done without interruptions." The
organization can also swiftly adapt to changing business needs. “With Azure, we have
what we need to run our business and can scale up at a click of a button,” Khalifa
remarks.

“We are always aiming using latest technology, minimizing

the risk of having an on-premises servers that might got
affected by anything even by electricity cut-off, put business
in great danger, cloud comes as the best option for safety;
and here comes Azure, with the backup plans it carries." —
Mr. Mohamed Khalifa, Chief Information Officer, Arma group and HSA-Yemen
Arma Group boosts efficiency and profitability with Microsoft 365 and Azure
Looking ahead, Arma Group plans to deepen its collaboration with Microsoft
and consider the adoption of data warehousing and analytics solutions and
artificial intelligence (AI). Mr. Muneer Hayel Saeed concludes, "We are proud of
our success story and with Microsoft’s partnership. This transformation has
become an incentive to continue adopting advanced solutions to create a
brighter future for all."
Arma Group boosts efficiency and profitability with Microsoft 365 and Azure

Products and services

Azure

Azure Arc

Azure Monitor

Microsoft 365

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Sentinel

SAP on Azure

To find more stories like this, visit the Microsoft global evidence website.

This case study is for informational purposes only.

MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Document published March 2024.