What is the activity of Procomix?
PROCOMIX mission is to help businesses take correct and planned IT design decisions, to assist in implementing practically and efficiently new technology into their infrastructure, and to help in operating, maintaining and enhancing the IT systems. PROCOMIX scope of service can be generalized into two main services; the first is based on Advisory Services and the second is based on Technology Integration. On the one hand, through advisory services, Procomix focuses on the tailoring of the technical environment to optimize the company’s Infrastructure, Migration and Operation.

On the other hand, on the level of the technology Integration, Procomix consultants, engineers, and technicians empower the company by implementing and integrating infrastructure services such as Email systems, with minimum downtime for high availability as required. PROCOMIX services also can improve the IT infrastructure with tools and solutions to manage network services and advanced security.

What made you want to start your own company?
Ten years ago, an IT project was mainly characterized by the hardware purchased, where all other items such as software, design and implementation were expected to come with the hardware. Moreover, warranty of hardware was expected to include IT support where a percentage of the hardware cost is charged on a yearly basis, since it is simply warranty. We noticed that this mentality in Information Technology have been changing all over the world. People started to notice that hardware and software licenses are products, whereas design, implementation and support of these products are services. It was about time to trigger and accelerate this shift in Lebanon too and we wanted to be part of this change.

We started our own company in order to make sure that our business will focus on this added value in services where our focus would be the customer benefit on the long term, where every IT infrastructure decision is an important and integral part of the company’s productivity. As a matter of fact, the mentality in the Lebanese market has been changing and we are happy to have influenced this change; it is now noticed that customers currently do ask for service cost, and they often expect service charges to be higher than hardware and software prices depending on the complexity of the requirements. Moreover, customers expect IT support charges to be more expensive than the project itself since now they started to understand that IT support is not related to the project implemented, it is rather related to the requirements of support intervention levels, to the environment complexity, and to the capabilities of the existing team.

What are the biggest challenges you faced starting up ?
We faced too many challenges. If we are to choose one main challenge, it would be the business planning challenge. All the partners are Computer Engineers with deep technical knowledge, but no Business background. Planning was somewhere non-existent. It took us time to notice that an important part of a business is the business planning, finance planning, expansion planning, …. Moreover, even after noticing, the big challenge was to actually do the planning with so many unknown variables and so little experience to be able to set best-guess assumptions for these variables.

How did you benefit from your stay in Berytech?
We started off with PROCOMIX in an office in Beirut in a commercial building. After three years, we moved to Berytech, and it turned out to be a very good decision. We benefit a lot from our stay in Berytech even though we were already an established company, not in the incubation phase:
1. Technology
a. Berytech has already a network infrastructure that can be leveraged to connect our peripherals and internet and telephony and inter office connectivity. This removes the burden of investing in physical connectivity every time we want to add or change something.
b. Berytech has Wifi availability all over the Pole, where we can use it when we are outside our office but still at Berytech
2. Convenience of resource sharing
a. A small business that require a lot of meetings will need to invest in dedicated space in its office for one or more meeting rooms, which is something that is really expensive when you add up all the components of a meeting room. Berytech has meeting rooms available all over the Pole without consuming a portion of our space for that. Actually we may have several meetings at the same time in more than one meeting room.
b. Receiving guest in a small business will need a reception, parking, reception area. Berytech has a common reception with a waiting area and they can redirect the guest directly to the meeting room.
c. Security is provided 24/24. It is important especially if a lot of people travel late night.
d. Electricity, UPS and generator are all provided seamlessly to companies, without investing in UPS systems or worrying about Generator subscriptions.
3. Business Development: This is one of the non-tangable benefit that we didn’t know before joining Berytech, and turned out to be very important.
a. The number of events and seminars and opportunities that Berytech has access to is large.
b. Berytech conduct special deals with several external parties and vendors that are often useful. Special relationship with software vendors, special relationship with Loan provider and investment funds, special relationship with payment gateways, and relation with other business development centers.

Where do you see yourself in the coming five years?
We strive to realize our goals of the coming five years.
• PROCOMIX aim is to be the Lebanese point of reference as Information Technology Integrators.
• PROCOMIX aim is to be recognized by all organizations in Lebanon as the premier trusted advisor in Information Technology Advising.