One cannot talk about Saudi sports without ALNassr Club Company coming to mind. Founded in 1955, the club has established itself as one of the most prominent football clubs in Saudi Arabia. Thanks to its impressive track record and high-profile signings, ALNassr has consistently reigned over the Saudi Pro League and made a mark in international tournaments and sports discussions.
Aligned with its ambition of becoming a global powerhouse, ALNassr recognised the need for a modern solution to digitise its board management processes and optimise its sporting operations. This decision aligns with the country’s ongoing technological transformation to propel Saudi Vision 2030.
Faisal Khan, ALNassr Club Company’s IT Director, sat down with the team to talk about the challenges of managing board communications, the inefficiency of manual processes, and the club’s transition to digital board meetings in the last four years.
The Need for a Smart, Paperless Meeting Solution
Prior to adopting Convene, ALNassr faced several challenges with its traditional document handling and meeting preparations. The process of organising board materials was all over the place — obtaining signatures was time-consuming, the risk of human errors was high, and arriving at a decision took longer than necessary, causing delays and compromising productivity.
ALNassr realised it was time to change their ways and look for a tool to help solve their board inefficiencies. Khan shared, “We started by conducting extensive research on various board management software providers in the market. We compared features, customer reviews, and overall reputation.”
After carefully evaluating their options, Convene emerged as the ideal solution. He continued, “Convene stood out as a top contender based on its robust feature set, positive customer feedback, and reputation for excellent customer service. […] Also, the interface (UI/UX) of the system is very smart and simple to use.” He also mentioned Convene’s impressive customer base in Saudi Arabia, which greatly influenced their decision to select the software.
Today, Convene provides ALNassr with a modern, paperless solution to improve its meeting management. Khan stated, “The meeting process now is much easier, and that makes the decisions from the [board of directors] faster than before.”
Seamless Meeting and Document Management, Faster Approvals
One of ALNassr’s primary reasons for employing Convene was simplifying document management. Since the club relied heavily on physical documents and manual processes of sharing, reviewing, and approving for the longest time, delays and errors were common. One document for the board’s review takes multiple rounds of signatures and email exchanges before it reaches final approval.
Convene addressed this by centralising all relevant board materials and organisational files into one easily accessible location. It streamlined meeting management and approvals by enabling board members to access documents in a secure Document Library before, during, and after meetings. They could make annotations, collaborate in real-time, and sign off — all in a single digital space, allowing for a quicker review and approval cycle.
This simplified workflow has significantly accelerated the club’s decision-making, which is crucial in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment such as the sports industry.
Robust System Security and Data Hosting
With significant financial and operational assets at stake, ALNassr required a board management system with top-tier security features to protect sensitive data. They found a trusted partner in Convene’s enterprise-grade security infrastructure, which includes: end-to-end data encryption that guarantees secure data transfer and storage, two-factor authentication that adds another layer of protection to user accounts, and multi-platform capabilities which allow users to access the board software through any platform or device.
The system also integrates seamlessly with existing vendor subscriptions, providing ALNassr with the flexibility to incorporate its current tools without disruption.
In addition, meetings are made secure with Convene’s Role-Based Access Control that helps manage user roles and permissions. This ensures that only authorised individuals can access sensitive documents. When signing off on documents, board members are prompted to verify their credentials before proceeding, creating a safer approval process.
With all the security features Convene offers, Khan believes the flexibility of hosting is the standout benefit. “The best part about the data hosting and the system security, which [Convene stands for], is having the flexibility of hosting on the cloud inside the Kingdom or even on our servers,” he said.
Convene offers government-approved cloud hosting, ensuring full compliance with local regulations and providing peace of mind for ALNassr’s IT team.
Round-the-clock Local Support
The availability of uninterrupted ground support was another deciding factor in ALNassr’s choice of Convene. Khan commends Convene’s high level of professionalism and expertise and the local team’s ability to address concerns promptly. “The dedicated account manager is in constant communication, discussing the usage, performance, and productivity, boosting us to use more and more.”
Convene’s support team, based in Saudi Arabia, has been highly responsive throughout the onboarding and training process, tailoring their approach to meet ALNassr’s specific needs. This local presence has been invaluable in resolving any concerns promptly and optimising the system’s use.
Why ALNassr Prefers Convene
ALNassr lauds the impact Convene has had on their previously paper-based operations. Since implementing Convene, the club has seen significant improvements in efficiency, collaboration, and overall success in board management. Most importantly, meeting preparation and management became faster and more organised.
Khan expressed his enthusiasm, “Considering the quality of the product and service, I strongly prefer to use Convene here at ALNassr Club, KSA, to manage the entire board and committee activities.” When asked about recommending Convene to other organisations, he responded confidently, “Yes, I [would] highly recommend using Convene.”
ALNassr’s experience reflects the growing trend among leading Saudi businesses. The Saudi Credit Bureau noted, “The Support Team was responsive, knowledgeable, and provided prompt solutions to our queries. Overall, our experience with Convene Support has been positive.”
Alinma Bank also highlighted Convene’s seamless system: “One reason we opted for Convene is the absence of interruptions when organising and attending meetings through the mobile application — anywhere, anytime.”
Do you want to kick off your next-level board and meeting management now? Book a demo with Convene today.