The Uruk Platform is now on the market

It is official, we have made our first sale. Our first $1900 is in the bank!

The pitch deck and value proposition

For a presentation of our investment pitch, please check this link.

Our Unique Value Proposition is:

Uruk aims to help organizations improve their project management practice by providing enterprise-specific tailorable methods to support collaborative and frictionless decisions and effective performance tracking and optimization.

If you’re good, we’ll make you better.

If you want to discuss this opportunity, you can book time with me via this link.

A video explanation of our pitch

If you want a deeper understanding of our pitch deck, the following is an 11-minute video.

Why is the Uruk Platform a fantastic solution?

Uruk Unique Value Proposition

Partnerships

Sep 2022 Update: the Sustainability Module is now part of the Uruk Platform. It was released to the market on Sep. 22, 2022.

Traction

Currently, we have 90+ people already using or exploring the platform. We have signed one memorandum of understanding with a partner in Oman to sell Uruk for their customers in their territory. We are currently negotiating with four other potential partners.

We started to work on our go-to-market strategy and started a social media campaign to raise awareness about Uruk.

We participated in the largest project management conference on December 1 & 2, 2022, and generated 125 leads.

The problem

Despite the proliferation of project management software, the project success rate is still surprisingly low and stagnant. The resulting impact can amount to millions and billions of dollars of sunk costs and opportunity losses for organizations of all sizes. Although the severity might vary, the high failure rate is across all sectors.

The research on projects indicates a great deal of pain due to delays, budget overruns, and even failure of projects. Many projects fail to meet their targets and objectives. Consequently, they do not produce the anticipated profit or benefits, directly affecting shareholders' value.

The next image is from the PMO Squad and provides additional insights

The symptoms and root cause

Project failure is a symptom of deeply embedded and numerous causes. Many experts and researchers agree that one of the primary reasons for failures is the inadequate front-end development of the project (pre-implementation). However, this is also a symptom.

We believe that the root cause is the lack of understanding and recognition of project management's true strategic value, which manifests itself in the absence of adequate and effective project management systems if they exist. Poor systems (and project management culture) lead to improper practices, wasted effort, and lack of integration of project management with business and product management, among many other factors.

The Solution (currently active)

The initial product of the Uruk Platform is available today, and we are already using it on real projects. For a video showing updates and a demo, please see below. It is a long video, but you can jump around.

What is the core of the Uruk Platform?

Uruk offers users the following functionalities:

• The functionality to manage the project life cycle with tailorable methods (end-to-end, concept-to-success).
• The above image represents the standard project life cycle model. However, this is only an example of what is already included. Uruk will include numerous tailored methods applicable to a specific sector-domain-project type and class.
• Simplified and advanced modules with the processes for managing each stage.
• Simplified modules to consolidate the output of project management functions/actions.
• Performance charts, reports, and dashboards.
• Task management, with different views, including calendar & Kanban views.
• Time tracking and timesheets.
• The knowledge portal has numerous e-books, case studies, clarifications, and guidelines. The portal also includes a section for contributions by any Uruk user.
• Collaboration at various levels, including within the team, during the
• project development work with management for informed decision-making,
• and with all Uruk users to create a Community of Practice.
• There are numerous built-in templates for stage deliverables, stage gates, schedules, cost, captured lessons, issues and risk management, etc.

The Uruk Platform vision and current reality

Differentiators

The following are the primary differentiators:

• Project lifecycle management (from concept to success vs. task or phase management)
• Democratization of project data, integrating functional silos (business & operations)
• Tailoring (customize to domain & project type, adapt to project size & complexity)
• Always-on, real-time access, anywhere, any time, and on any device
• Informed project decision-making due to historical project performance & analytics
• Expedited initiation and planning of projects using historical data
• Methodology-agnostic, you can use Uruk with traditional or agile development approaches.

Significant differentiator

Uruk can be a critical element in a PMO and help enhance the success of PMOs:

• It takes Less than a week to set up Uruk.
• Hit the ground running with expedited onboarding and a minimal initial investment, at a fraction of building a system from scratch.
• The benefits start immediately with Uruk; instead of waiting months to build the process.
• Tailoring and customization are quick to implement at a fraction of the cost.
• Client staff involvement is minimal for set-up and maintenance, and the update is by Uruk.
• Risk: with Uruk, Try before you Buy!

A unique and pioneering concept, tailored methods

The Project Management Institute (PMI) and many other professional associations advocate the concept of tailoring. However, they offer concepts and theories with no practical approach. Uruk is filling this gap with the Uruk Platform's Tailorable Methods approach. The tailorable methods offer maximum diversity and flexibility. The following video is only a slide presentation but presents this concept.

Awesome features

In addition to the differentiators listed earlier, check out these awesome features.

• Cloud-based
• Every stage deliverable is built-in (and customizable)
• Customizable and tailorable PLC framework
• Chat and collaboration tools
• Trigger-based notifications
• Manages project assets
• Library of PLC templates, including built-in PLC and domain-specific PLCs
• Library of [stage] deliverable templates
• Library of tailored and tailorable methods
• Review-based collaboration tools, including role-based permission levels and multiple levels of reviews
• Team-member access to deliverables

Flexible development

There is a great deal of debate about waterfall and agile. However, we prefer to take project management beyond waterfall and agile. The Uruk Platform is suitable for all methods and approaches, including traditional, hybrid, iterative, incremental, or agile; this is why Uruk is an adaptive project management solution.

Why invest in Uruk Project Management (dba of SUKAD)?

Clarification: the company's full legal name is SUKAD Project Portfolio Management Solutions, Corp. However, we have filed with the State of Texas to operate with an assumed name (dba - doing business as) Uruk Project Management.

Many PPM (Project Portfolio Management) software tools are available. However, none of them offer Uruk's uniqueness, especially regarding tailorable methods with much flexibility and customization at various levels and sections of the platform. We know Uruk can become the leading project management digital solution and would enable the transformation of the project management practice.

Some of our perks

The solution, long-term vision

The attached image presents Uruk's long-term vision. Once the vision is accomplished, it offers our community a versatile, comprehensive, integrated project management solution. Our aim is for the Uruk Platform to become an enterprise project management and organizational solution.

The project management solution will include/integrate:

• Benchmarking and predictive analytics models
• Portfolio management enables CPOs & executives to manage the portfolio and enhance strategic alignment
• Program and project management, integrating life cycle management with business, operations,
• Consolidating the results of the various project management functions
• Collaboration at various levels, including within the team during the project development work, with management for informed decision-making, and with all Uruk users to create a Community of Practice
• Enhanced learning and knowledge sharing via the built-in knowledge portal and discussion forums.

Progress to date

The following image is a high-level view of the recent releases and their scope.

2022 plan

We close with an image of the plan for 2022.

The Story behind the Uruk Platform

Directors and Advisors

The following image displays our board of directors and advisors. For more information about each, please check their LinkedIn profiles. We are honored and excited to have them with us, and we appreciate their trust and support. Each of them has at least 20 years of professional experience and holds senior roles in their organizations. At least four of them are leading organizations offering project management services. They bring in expertise from hospitality, program management, pharma, medical, mining, technology, education, oil & gas, PM standards, project controls, and risk management.

1. Mr. Amr Maraie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amrmaraie/

2. Dr. Jihad Aysh (also the lead investor): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jihad-aysh/

3. Mr. Mounir Ajam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mounirajam/

4. Ms. Nada Chaban: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadachaban/

5. Mr. Navaid Jamal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/navaidjamal/

6. Ms. Sandra Hoskins: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandrahoskins/

7. Mr. Bill Duncan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wrduncan3/

8. Mr. Josh Medica: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-medica-b3041510/

9. Dr. Dan Patterson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danpatterson/

Personal: Mounir Ajam, the Innovator behind Uruk

First-generation college graduate, immigrant entrepreneur

Growing up in a civil war enticed me to go abroad to become an engineer and help rebuild my country. I had worked my way through college and got a civil engineering degree from the University of Houston and a master's degree from the University of California at Berkeley in Engineering and Construction Management. During these years, I discovered my passion for project management.

Over the years, I have obtained numerous project management certifications and am also a graduate of the PMI Leadership Master Class in 2007.

During the first half of my career, I worked on numerous capital-intensive projects, mainly in the oil & gas industry. In other words, I had learned project management in the real world, working on projects small and large, even megaprojects. I have learned the good, the bad, and even the ugly. I had seen success and failure. I learned about culture and project management maturity and how they directly contribute to project success and failures. I have been putting all of that experience into the Uruk Platform.

The learning from the second half of my career empowered me to become an entrepreneur and start SUKAD FZ-LLC (2004-2019) and SUKAD Corp (2019-present), which is now dba as Uruk Project Management.

The above experiences and our work at SUKAD led to publishing numerous e-books and books. The main books, and most recent, were published by CRC Press (a Taylor and Francis company). These include Project Management beyond Waterfall and Agile (2017), Leading Megaprojects, and a Tailored Approach (2020). These books are directly relevant to the Uruk Platform and serve as its knowledge foundation.

Awards and Recognition

In 2011, we were selected as one of the leading 100 small companies by the Dubai Government. Ranked No 81.

This image touches on some of our other awards and recognitions.