With Oracle Cloud, Red Sea builds a foundation for growth

Founded in 1996, Red Sea is the construction arm of Orascom Development, a builder of destinations blending hotels and residences with golf courses and marinas. Red Sea’s projects span its native Egypt, neighboring countries like the United Arab Emirates and Oman, as well as the UK, Switzerland, and Montenegro.

To support rapid business growth, Red Sea needed to transform its core digital systems by automating financial, project management, and HCM processes. For example, project inventories of more than 10,000 items are common. Managing those inventories—including the availability and distribution of items across supply chains—is critical. Red Sea wanted to automate and integrate applications for better visibility and faster decision-making.

After trying another platform first, then looking at SAP and Microsoft, Red Sea chose Oracle on the strength of its reputation in the Egyptian construction market. The construction firm tapped Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP to upgrade its financial systems and integrate with Oracle Fusion Cloud SCM and Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM solutions.

“Oracle delivered a full back-office solution with supply chain, procurement, and HCM, which gave us a single source of truth and faster decision-making,” says Ramy Anwar, director of information technology.

Oracle Cloud ERP also won on price and performance. Offering lower total cost of ownership, it was less expensive than reimplementing Red Sea’s on-premises platform. Ease of use, both for leadership and employees, was another factor.

In moving to Oracle Cloud, Red Sea standardized its systems and improved collaboration. “Our cloud platform gave everyone views of the same data,” Anwar says. “It was easier for us to collaborate and align on decisions. When employees at all levels had the information they needed, they felt more empowered.”

With Oracle automation, finance teams cut the time to close by about 70%, while requiring fewer people to get the job done. The company also saved time by streamlining accounts payable and accounts receivable processes.

In inventory management, Red Sea gained more control over procurement process, with better tracking from procurement request to item delivery and payment. Mobile access also eliminated paperwork, saving time and supporting sustainability goals.

Oracle Cloud HCM let Red Sea manage all HR processes on a single platform, making it easier to develop staff from hire to retire. Red Sea employs 1,600 contracted employees, plus an average of 5,000 casual workers.

In addition, security and support have improved across the business. “With security built into the platform, we’re better equipped to prevent or address any vulnerabilities,” Anwar says. “And the customer support has been seamless.”

His advice to fellow innovators? “More cloud, more automation.”

Based on its portfolio and market experience, Red Sea partnered with APS on the Oracle Cloud integration. “APS handled implementation issues quickly and delivered on time,” says Ramy Anwar, director of information technology. “By using Oracle solutions to solve problems, they avoided any complications involving other vendors.”