1. An office and a team in the Kingdom
A system is not finished at launch. It needs changes as the business changes, and someone who can be reached in your working hours and your time zone. Ask where the company's office is, who will actually do the work, and who you call when something stops.
2. Arabic, where your users need it
If your staff or customers read Arabic first, the interface, the documents and the support have to work in Arabic, laid out right to left, not translated as an afterthought. Ask to see Arabic screens from a system already in use.
3. ZATCA e-invoicing for anything that invoices
A point of sale or accounting system used in Saudi Arabia has to issue invoices that meet the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority's e-invoicing rules (Fatoora), and in the integration phase connect to ZATCA's platform. Ask which phase the system supports, and how it is kept current as the rules change.
4. Personal data handled under Saudi law
The Personal Data Protection Law applies to personal data processed in the Kingdom and is overseen by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority. Ask where your data will be hosted, who can reach it, and how access is controlled and reviewed.
5. Who owns the code and the configuration
If only the supplier understands how your system is configured, every change depends on them. Ask what is handed over at the end: source code where it is custom, configuration, documentation, and the accounts the system runs under.
6. Support after launch, written down
Patching, backups that are actually tested, changes as the operation grows, and a named route for urgent problems. Ask for the support arrangement in writing before the build starts, not after it ends.
7. References you can call
A portfolio shows what a company can design. A reference tells you what it is like to work with when something goes wrong. Ask for a client in a business like yours, and call them.
How Cambridge Technology answers these
Our office in Saudi Arabia is in City Centre, Mishrifah, Jeddah, and we work with businesses across the Kingdom and the Gulf. We have built software since 2014. Delivery is staged so you see working software early; configuration is handed over documented so you are not dependent on us; and support covers patching, tested recovery and extension as the operation changes.
Ask us the same seven questions, and ask the other companies on your list too.