VOICE OF THE MALAYSIAN TECH INDUSTRY
my VOL. 3 • NO. 2 • 2020 RM10
LEADERSHIP IN CRISIS: Managing your Stakeholders
PIKOM WILL OVERCOME THE COVID-19 CRISIS
USING TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION TO SOLVE PROBLEMS Dato’ Seri Ivan Teh, Fusionex Founder and Group CEO
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PIKOM COUNCIL CHAIRMAN Danny Lee E-Tech IT Sdn Bhd IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN Ganesh Kumar Bangah Commerce DotAsia Ventures Sdn Bhd DEPUTY CHAIRMAN Sean Seah SCCW Holdings Sdn Bhd SECRETARY Ong Chin Seong Powerware Systems Sdn Bhd TREASURER Alex Liew Glocomp Systems (M) Sdn Bhd
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my CONTENTS
Cover Story Dato’ Seri Ivan Teh, Fusionex Founder and Group CEO
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Vol 3 No. 2
Chairman’s Views
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COVER STORY Using Technology and Innovation to Solve Problems
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Strengthening PIKOM’s Membership
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PENJANA to help businesses recover
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Rise of e-Commerce in Malaysia during Covid-19
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Hitachi Vantara: Driving Social Innovation with Cutting-Edge Technology
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Lenovo: Putting Employees First and Elevating Your Company’s Work from Home Model
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Leadership in Crisis: Managing Your Stakeholders
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Hitachi Sunway Information Systems: The First Decentralised Blockchain Files Storage Platform in ASEAN
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MPC: Harnessing Digitalisation Will Boost Productivity
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Arm Yourself With A Recession-Proof Mindset
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MDEC: Free Access to Courses
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NetApp: Liberating the Transformative Potential of Hybrid Multicloud in Malaysia
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The Rise of Webinars
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A round-up of the webinars during the MCO
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PIKOM Celebrates Chinese New Year in Style
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Inspiring Quotes from Tech Icon Steve Jobs
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Designing the Future
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PIKOM Members
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FEATURE / INTERVIEW CHAIRMAN’S VIEWS
WE WILL OVERCOME THE COVID-19 CRISIS TOGETHER The Covid-19 is an unprecedented global crisis that has affected every country. PIKOM too is reeling from its effect but it has put in place strategies to see the organisation through this crisis, says Chairman Danny Lee.
• By Sharmila Valli Narayanan How is PIKOM coping with the unexpected economic turmoil brought on by Covid-19?
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n the more than 30 years of PIKOM’s existence, the organisation has seen many economic crises come and go. Among the worst crises during those years were the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and the recession of 2008. But these crises are nothing compared to what the world is going through today: the Covid-19 pandemic. “Covid-19 is unprecedented,” says Chairman Danny Lee. “It has caused major disruption to the world economy; nothing on this scale has been seen in the last 100 years.” He speaks of how this pandemic has affected PIKOM and what the association is doing during this challenging time to help its members.
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Covid-19 has had a huge impact globally and PIKOM has not escaped the negative impact of this pandemic. Our activities with members such as dialogues, conferences and tech event, which, are the bedrock of the association, have been affected. Looking at the way the virus has spread around the world, it became obvious to us within two weeks of the MCO that mass gatherings are now a thing of the past and social distancing is the new norm. Unless a vaccine is found soon, this is how life will be in the near future. All major events have been cancelled including key events such as the PIKOM Leadership Summit, OM Conference, the Cybersecurity conference and the main event – the PIKOM Unicorn Tech Awards and Annual Dinner. These events, besides being very engaging and informative, are also the most sought after in the tech industry. Without these events, the association is really challenged. We have to find quick ways to restrategise to manage how we engage
with our members and industry partners. Since the lockdown, we have organised more webinars in collaboration with member companies and Government agencies like MDEC. We are also working with HRDF on ICT training programmes under the place and train scheme. This programme addresses the needs of the people who have lost their jobs due to MCO and for fresh graduates. We work with employers and employment agencies to provide training programmes for these people so that they can be placed in jobs. These programmes will be tailored according to the needs of the industries. PIKOM has taken concrete steps to cut the cost of operations by partnering with the different agencies to ensure continuous engagement with members. It also helps us run the association better.
What about the fate of major events like WCIT2020? WCIT2020 in Penang was going to be the major event in PIKOM’s calendar with an expected attendance of
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IT HAS CAUSED MAJOR DISRUPTION TO WORLD ECONOMY; NOTHING ON THIS SCALE HAS BEEN SEEN IN THE LAST 100 YEARS.
tech leaders from over 80 countries. Unfortunately, because of Covid-19, this event is cancelled. The good news is that we have managed to negotiate with WITSA (World Information Technology and Services Alliance) which holds the license for WCIT, to host this event in 2022. Meanwhile, we will have the Road to WCIT taking place in November, along with Penang’s satellite event, the Penang Tech Fest 2020, which will run in a different form. All the physical events such as street tech festival with smaller crowds will be complemented with online events which will be broadcast to the world via online. We will have world-class thought leaders from the ICT world share their ideas and deliver talks. We are looking for sponsors who can work with us to make this event a success. Another major event in the PIKOM calendar is #MYCYBERSALE. We have an agreement with MDEC to go ahead and plan for the event this year as usual. Traditionally, it is held in September, but we haven’t fixed the dates yet. We are very excited about this event because the MCO has proven the popularity and the wide reach of e-commerce. This year’s #MYCYBERSALE will be bigger.
The Government has issued four economic stimulus plans from February to June 2020 in an effort to protect the people and to jump-start the economy. Some feel that the ICT sector was neglected by the Government via these packages. What are your views on this?
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Earlier, the first three economic stimulus packages the Government lumped ICT in the services sector. The ICT industry was not happy with this as it said ICT is an essential service under the support sector. PIKOM had several key meetings with the relevant Government Ministries and Agencies to change this view and was able to make them realise that the ICT industry has its own ecosystem that just does not consist of a vendor and a buyer. We are very happy that the Government is very receptive to us because they too want to learn more about this sector so that they can use the information whenever they plan any further policies regarding the ICT industry. Every time we wanted to meet up, they were ready to engage with us. We gave our facts and figures as a neutral party and they were thankful for the honest feedback. They used the information to incorporate into the future economic plans. Under the Short-Term Economic Recovery Plan (STERP) announced on 5th June, there were provisions for the ICT such as: • A matching grant totalling RM10 million through MaGIC (Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre) that is given to social enterprises through crowdsourcing tech-related projects. • An allocation of RM25 million to MDEC for the Global Online Workforce (GLOW) programme. • An investment fund of up to RM1.2 billion to support the digitalisation of Malaysian businesses • Up to RM70 million for the
“Shop Malaysia Online” campaign to encourage online consumer consumption with promotional codes and discount vouchers that will be given out on various e-commerce platforms The continuous dialogues between PIKOM and the Government will ensure that we will always put forward the issues that are close to our members’ hearts.
Any advice for those in the ICT industry in the post Covid-19 world? It is going to be a bleak world for some time. The general consensus among economists is that a recession will hit the world hard. More people will lose their jobs, consumer spending will be down, etc. Even in this bleak scenario, a few sectors will thrive, and ICT will be one of them. Food delivery, health care, online content, webinars, e-commerce platforms, etc., industries which use ICT are expected to show healthy growth. My advice to members is to use the opportunities presented to grow via connectivity, applications, common solutions and collaborations. They also need to invest in cybersecurity to beef up the protection for their systems so that they are not hacked. Also, look at how to cut cost. This pandemic has proven that you don’t need people to be in the office for work to be done. So, do you really need that large office? Move to a smaller office, rotate the workers to come on alternate weeks and save on rent. This pandemic has moved forward the need for better technology for faster connectivity. 5G technology is moving fast in Malaysia. There are currently 70 application centres testing 5G. You should start planning and strategising a new direction for your business next year with 5G technology in mind – it will be a game changer!
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COVER STORY
USING TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION TO SOLVE PROBLEMS Fusionex founder and group CEO Dato’ Seri Ivan Teh transformed his childhood fascination with superheroes who use science and technology for the betterment of society into creating a company that uses innovative technology to solve problems for businesses. Sharmila Valli Narayanan has the story.
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ato’ Seri Ivan Teh started Fusionex as a one-man show where he did everything from coding software to business pitching, looking for customers and marketing the company. This period lasted nearly eight to nine months, where he would often work 18 hours a day, sometimes seven days a week. He met many obstacles along the way, but he never gave up. His hard work and determination have certainly paid off. Today, Fusionex is one of the largest and leading AI and data technology companies in the region. It employs hundreds
of people, and its headquarters in Petaling Jaya is an impressive office that spans three floors with 60,000 square feet. The company is a name to reckon with in the ICT industry in the region. Dato’ Seri Ivan has won numerous awards over the years, including the prestigious Ernst & Young Technology Entrepreneur Award, the Asia Corporate Excellence & Sustainability Young Entrepreneur Award, the Enterprise Asia’s Most Outstanding Young Entrepreneur Award, as well as being honoured by CNBC as one of the Top Asian Business Leaders, just to name a few. These awards were in recognition for his outstanding
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COVER STORY
Forrester, Edison and Huffington Post, Fusionex is the largest Big Data Analytics company and market leader in ASEAN, bringing state-ofthe-art, innovative and breakthrough data-driven platforms to its stable of clientele including Fortune 500, FTSE companies, large conglomerates as well as a wide array of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that spans across the United States, Europe as well as Asia Pacific.” Fusionex has the distinction of being the only ASEAN-based company to be featured in two august publications of the tech world, Gartner and IDC, thus, cementing the company’s credentials in the data technology market for this region.
FASCINATION WITH SCIENCE AND SUPERHEROES
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IF YOU WANT TO SEE CHANGES IN THE INDUSTRY, YOU HAVE TO BECOME A CATALYST FOR CHANGE. – Dato’ Seri Ivan.
innovation, foresight and inventive strategy in creating brand excellence. His vision for the company, his work ethics and his rise from his humble beginnings have made him a role model, tech icon and a source of inspiration for many. The company he founded is now
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an established multi-award winning data technology provider specialising in Analytics, Big Data, IR 4.0, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Its offerings “are focused on helping clients unlock value and derive insights from data. Featured on Forbes, Bloomberg, Gartner, IDC,
Born into a modest middle class family in Petaling Jaya, Dato’ Seri Ivan credits his parents for instilling in him the values and work ethics that would propel him to success. His mother, a teacher, and his father, who climbed up the ranks to become a manager, emphasised the importance of an all-round education. His mother was also his tutor at home. From his father he learned a lot of life lessons, and how to work and interact with people. “My parents taught us the importance of having humility, working hard and being grounded,” he says with a smile. Dato’ Seri Ivan was also an avid reader, especially of science and technology. His love for science and math started from young. “Science, math and technology always challenge us to ask difficult questions. They open up different horizons, force us to think out of the box and most importantly, make us find solutions to problems.” He was not the typical ‘science nerd’ in school. “My parents also
taught us that it was important to strike a balance in our lives: we needed to be good in languages and soft skills so we can communicate well with people and put forward our ideas clearly; I also enjoyed literature, art, etc. That sparked my interest in painting, art, music and drawing as well.” He was also an ardent fan of comic book superheroes. These comics brought together all the things he liked: science, drawing, colour and ordinary men like Tony Stark (Ironman) and Bruce Wayne (Batman) who use science and technology for the betterment of society and defending it from villains. It was not so much the superpowers but their underlying heroic attributes and spirit that created an epiphany for Dato’ Seri Ivan. This is what truly inspired him to want to create something that would have a positive impact on society.
COMING HOME After graduating with a first class degree in computer science, he began a successful corporate career in various multinational IT corporations such as Intel and Accenture. In the six years he worked overseas, his career took him to the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, Hong Kong and Singapore. “When I was working for these top ICT companies, I became aware that there was something missing. I realised that if you want to see changes in the industry, you have to become a catalyst for change,” recalls Dato’ Seri Ivan. That was when he made the momentous decision of starting his own company, which would be a fusion of business and technology to make businesses faster, more efficient and cost-effective. Thus, Fusionex was born. He eventually decided to base Fusionex in Malaysia, although other neighbouring countries offered more
subsidies and incentives. “Malaysia is close to my heart and it’s where most of my family and friends are. Malaysia has a pro-business environment and is well-supported by many agencies. Our company works closely with organisations such as PIKOM, MDEC, MATRADE, MRCA, FMM, MOSTA, SME Corp and many others. These agencies are supportive and are ever-willing to work with us to ease the flow of doing business,” he says.
BUSINESS IN A POSTCOVID-19 WORLD Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Fusionex was looking toward to an exciting business year. “The company had grown tenfold over the last seven years. The current economic climate is challenging and volatile with major headwinds but we are still growing strongly, albeit cautiously,” reveals Dato’ Seri Ivan. Things turned bleak for international trade after the world became engulfed by the health crisis. With many countries going into (and still remaining in) lockdown, world trade literally ground to a halt. The world’s largest economy, the United States, is facing unemployment levels not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The one industry that has shone through this dark period is tech.
Dato’ Seri Ivan explains, “Although some of our clients from the travel and tourism industries have been badly affected, our e-commerce and digital trade business has thrived. Businesses that are still without a clear online strategy are making plans to hop on board the digital bandwagon. A major lesson this pandemic has taught companies, especially SMEs, is to embrace digital transformation. Those who have been putting it off for all this time now know they can no longer afford to be left behind. “Gone are the days where businesses can expect people to come through their doorsteps organically. Businesses must have an online/offline presence, be connected to social media and be able to offer an omni-channel digital experience. Start now and start small if you do not have the budget, but do start now. “As a nation, we need to have a contingency plan in place should something like this happen again. What lessons did we learn from this pandemic? What were our weaknesses and how can we improve upon them? According to scientists, Covid-19 is not going to be a one-off pandemic. There will be other such outbreaks in the future and we must be better prepared.”
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FEATURE / DEPUTY CHAIRMAN
STRENGTHENING PIKOM’S MEMBERSHIP Sean Seah, the deputy chairman of PIKOM, says the new council members are committed to growing PIKOM’s membership.
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t the last AGM of PIKOM in December 2019, PIKOM elected a new line-up of council members for the year 2019-2020. Among those elected was Sean Seah who is now the deputy chairman of PIKOM. Sean has been involved in the ICT industry for more than 25 years. He started his career in the mother of the tech industry centre, the Silicon Valley right after he graduated from the California State University with a degree in Masters in Computer Science in 1993. He spent the next decade working for world-class companies in the United States. He also worked in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau under Sun Microsystems. In 2004, he returned to Malaysia and embarked on an entrepreneurial career in the tech industry that saw him start a number of successful IT companies over the years. Currently, he is the CEO/Co-founder of SSCW Holdings Sdn Bhd. Sean has been actively involved in PIKOM for the last 10 years. In 2018 when he was the secretary of PIKOM, he was appointed to the board of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (Witsa). Witsa is a leading consortium of ICT industry association members from over 80 global economies. Witsa was founded in 1978 and today it the association through its members represents more than 90% of the world ICT market.
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AS DEPUTY CHAIRMAN, MY MAIN ROLE IS TO BE THE BACK-UP FOR THE CHAIRMAN AND TO SUPPORT HIS VISION AND OBJECTIVE FOR PIKOM.
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He was also the deputy chair of the Venture Investment Chapter (VIC) of PIKOM and was actively involved with other members of VIC in launching the successful Sea Dragon Venture Platform. This is a premier Southeast Asian venture pitching platform for successful scale-up companies looking for VC funding, business mentoring and global market expansion.
INCREASING PIKOM MEMBERSHIP “As deputy chairman, my main role is to be the back-up for the chairman and to support his vision and objective for PIKOM,” explains Sean. The new council members have a strategic and planning session meeting earlier this year where one of the things which was discussed was on how to increase the membership of PIKOM. Sean firmly believes that to strengthen its position, PIKOM needs to aggressively recruit new members, especially from the newer technology sectors. “We will be listening more to what kind of events our members need and use these events to sign up new members,” says Sean. “We need to take an outsidein approach, meaning we need to ask ourselves what new members would want from us,” he continues. The tech industry has changed in the 35 years since PIKOM was founded. A slew of new tech companies that focus on apps, e-commerce, startups, blockchain, big data, AI etc. have appeared on the scene. “We need to increase representation from these new players in PIKOM. We need to ask ourselves, what do these
companies want in an organisation and how can we attract them to PIKOM? A large membership should be able to sustain an organisation.”
PUTTING MALAYSIA ON THE WORLD IT MAP PIKOM as an IT association is very well-known at the international level among the top IT associations in the world. PIKOM has been leveraging its association with international IT bodies to bring the attention of the IT world to Malaysia. PIKOM members have held high positions in some of the most important international IT associations such as Sean’s appointment to the board of Witsa. One of the most eagerly awaited functions in 2020 was the WCIT2020 which was to be held in Penang from Sept 13 to 16. As chairman of WCIT2020 Sean has been busy looking into the organisation of this went. Everything was progressing very well with the full support from the Government in the form of the Ministry of Multimedia and Communications (KKMM) and the Penang Government. And then the Covid 19 epidemic which until February was only associated with China became a worldwide pandemic with many countries imposing a lock down which ground the world economy to a halt. In light
of this pandemic, this event has been cancelled for now and moved to 2022. It is a big disappointment for Sean and his team who have worked so hard for this event. But Sean is not one to dwell on lost opportunities. He is already looking to the future in the post Covid-19 world. He has already set his eyes on the next big event for PIKOM to bring to Malaysia: RISE. RISE is the largest tech conference in Asia. Held every two years in Hong Kong (the next one is in 2021), Sean hopes that with the help of MDec and the Government via KKMM, RISE 2023 will be held in Malaysia. Staging this event here in Kuala Lumpur will be a huge coup of PIKOM because this event attracts more than 16,000 attendees, more than 500 world renowned speakers and nearly 800 journalists from international media such as CNN, BBC, Bloomberg etc. More than 71% of the attendees are from the senior management, informs Sean. “Having RISE in Malaysia will put our country in the world map and greatly enhance PIKOM’s image, especially among the new tech industries that have not yet joined PIKOM. I am sure many new companies would want to join PIKOM to be able to take advantage of this conference.”
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FEATURE / HITACHI SUNWAY
PENJANA TO HELP BUSINESSES RECOVER The fourth and latest economic stimulus Pelan Jana Semula Ekonomi Negara (PENJANA) aims to help businesses recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Some of the incentives of this package are specially tailored for the ICT industry.
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ver since the coronavirus pandemic hit Malaysia, the Government has been proactive in protecting the people from feeling the worst effects of the pandemic by declaring the Movement Control Order (MCO) on March 18 which, literally shut down the country’s economy. So far Malaysia has been spared from severe outbreaks of the virus, unlike some countries in the west such as the United States, which has more than three million people infected and more than 137,000 dead! Malaysia, like many other countries that has been hit by the pandemic, has seen its economy suffer. The Government has been proactive in introducing various economy stimulus plans to help the ordinary man and woman in the street and several sectors badly hit by the pandemic.
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ROAD TO RECOVERY The Government has set a sixphased approach to bring the country out of the economic doldrums caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, i.e. Resolve, Resilience, Restart, Recover, Revitalise and Reform. The PENJANA stimulus package unveiled by the Government on Prime Minister YAB Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on 5th June 2020 is the fourth of the six economic recovery phases planned by the Government to get the country back on the road to recovery. The PENJANA package is valued at RM35 billion. Since the launch of the first package, so far the country has issued over 250 billion worth of incentives to help the country
tackle the challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.
TARGET OF PENJANA There are three core objectives of PENJANA • Empower people • Propel businesses • Stimulate the economy • There are 40 initiatives under this plan. One of the hallmarks of this plan is that is has for the first time allocated funds for the ICT sector, which the other three stimulus packages did not address. The funds for the ICT have been discussed by the Chairman of PIKOM, Danny Lee in his interview (see page 4). The Deloitte report on PENJANA
• Loan for microbusinesses including RM50 million for women entrepreneurs: RM450 million • Loan for MARA entrepreneurs: RM300 million • Tax rebates for new SMEs for the first three years (formed and operating on 1st July 2020 until December 31 2021) • Stamp duty for M&A transactions wavered from 1st July 2020 until 31st December 2021 MITI APPLAUDS PENJANA
states that “PENJANA is targeted and focused towards protecting jobs, empowering businesses, especially the SMEs, and ensuring Malaysia takes advantage of new opportunities arising from the pandemic, such as attracting foreign investments that are looking to relocate part of its business. “Some of the bold measures introduced are generous tax incentives for foreign companies in the manufacturing sector to relocate their businesses into Malaysia, the setting up of the Dana Penjana Nasional to accelerate digitalisation efforts by Malaysian businesses, and the Technology Innovation Sandbox
to encourage innovation and creativity,” the report stated.
BOOST FOR SMES There were rumblings among SMEs that the previous three packages did not go far enough to help SMEs which employ the bulk of Malaysians, to help sustain their business during this difficult time. The Government took their views seriously this time and it is reflected in the PENJANA package especially for badly affected sectors like tourism. Here are some of the incentives for the SMEs. • Loan for tour operators, transformation in the new normal: RM 1 billion
Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, Senior Minister, Minister of International Trade & Industry in a statement released the day after the PENJANA stimulus was announced, applauded the package, saying that PENAJA “is an enabler to prosper people, boost businesses and energise the economy.” He also applauded the tax break offered by the Government for the purchase of ICT equipment in a move to encourage more workers to work from home. “MITI views this as a crucial intervention by the Government in efforts to advance towards a digital economy. This incentive will support the private sector to remain productive and vibrant even while working from home. This will enhance the use of technology in the work process and help realise the Government’s aspiration towards fostering a digital culture in our economy.” MITI is confident that the tax incentives in the package will be the much needed boost for investment and job creation. He concluded by saying that MITI is confident “that these incentives will boost both local and foreign direct investment as well as attract multi-national companies to re-shore their operations to Malaysia.”
• Deloitte: PENJANA Short Term Economic Recovery Plan (ERP) • Additional information from the website MyPF (https://mypf.my) MY•IT 13
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FEATURE / RISE OF E-COMMERCE
THE RISE OF E-COMMERCE IN MALAYSIA DURING COVID-19 The Covid-19 pandemic has made online shopping the new norm, thus making the e-commerce business boom globally as people shift their shopping towards online platforms. Malaysia too, has seen a huge increase in online shopping. A study shows what Malaysians shopped online during the movement control order (MCO).
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uring the lockdown or the movement control order (MCO) nearly all economic activities in the country had ground to a halt. The only sector that thrived during this period was the e-commerce sector. Malaysians turned to online shopping with a vengeance for their needs as there were no shopping malls or shops (except for some selling essential goods like supermarkets, pharmacies etc.) that were open. Many who had never shopped online started buying things online as well, Now that the MCO has been lifted, it is expected that it will take a long time before things really get back to normal as many Malaysians are still wary of being around crowded places and would rather shop online.
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THE SURGE IN ONLINE SHOPPING Thanks to the Commerce.Asia Group of Companies, an e-commerce ecosystem of technology and big data solutions, we now have a clear picture of what Malaysians shopped for during the MCO. Commerce.Asia reports that it saw a surge of 149% year-on-year Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) growth in the first quarter since the MCO was introduced. According to the company’s founder and executive chairman, Ganesh Kumar Bangah, e-commerce continues to be one of the few industries that would thrive in such challenging circumstances. The former National Tech Association of Malaysia (PIKOM) Chairman added that, despite the pandemic, Commerce. Asia’s ecosystem is seeing a very encouraging spike in this first quarter of the year. “We are seeing significant growth in our merchants’ sales across various product categories. While some were practical purchases of essential items, other purchases were complete surprises to us given that the country is undergoing MCO. This change in buying behaviour shows that Malaysians are adapting to the new living situations”, added Ganesh. “We foresee a permanent change in consumer behaviour with many opting to make their purchases via digital marketplaces even after the MCO is lifted.” Even as e-commerce continues to catapult after the implementation of MCO and merchants work tirelessly to keep up with the demand, what were Malaysians really buying online? Commerce.Asia leveraged its huge database to analyse sales trends (30 days of MCO vs 30 days before MCO) across their merchants. They then compiled a list of the fastest growing e-commerce product categories. The results are quite fascinating! From the graphics, we can discern
that the MCO has had a marked effect on the consumers’ purchasing behaviours. With health being a major concern, it was no surprise that latex gloves saw staggering increase in sales as people try to protect themselves from Covid-19. As expected, essential items such as food, toiletries and baby products surged in sales. What was surprising was that the fastest-growing product transacted during the MCO was ladies underwear!
IMPORTANCE OF LOGISTICS Ordering goods online is one thing, but delivering the goods to the customers on time is equally important. Ganesh stresses the importance of merchants to be on top of logistics arrangements to ensure on-time delivery. Given the unprecedented consumer demand via online platforms, merchants are not just fulfilling these orders, but must be
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FEATURE / RISE OF E-COMMERCE
on top of logistics arrangements to ensure on-time delivery. “Logistics play a vital role in supporting e-commerce by ensuring efficient processing and delivery of orders. In addition, logistics and transport services support the supply chain of essentials which ensures continuity of daily supply to consumers. The Commerce. Asia ecosystem has been built with this in mind, which is to give a one stop solution to e-commerce merchants from onboarding to delivery, which would enable merchants to sell quickly and effectively,” added Ganesh. “It’s also vital that e-commerce businesses equip themselves and their employees with the appropriate resources to manage operations remotely with little or no disruption.”
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DURING THE LOCKDOWN OR THE MOVEMENT CONTROL ORDER (MCO) NEARLY ALL ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN THE COUNTRY HAD GROUND TO A HALT. THE ONLY SECTOR THAT THRIVED DURING THIS PERIOD WAS E-COMMERCE SECTOR. MALAYSIANS TURNED TO ONLINE SHOPPING WITH A VENGEANCE FOR THEIR NEEDS.
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WTO REPORT: HOW THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS AFFECTED E-COMMERCE WORLDWIDE
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he World Trade Organisation (WTO) Secretariat has published a new information note looking at how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected e-commerce, including the implications for cross-border trade. The WTO Work Programme defines “electronic commerce” as the production, distribution, marketing, sale or delivery of goods and services by electronic means. It notes the increased use of e-commerce as consumers adapt to lockdowns and social distancing measures and draws attention to several challenges, such as the need to bridge the digital divide within and across countries.
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Some key points from the report: • The enforcement of social distancing, lockdowns and other measures in response to the Covid-19 pandemic has led consumers to ramp up online shopping, social media use, internet telephony and teleconferencing, and streaming of videos and films. • This has resulted in spikes in business-to-consumer (B2C) sales and an increase in business-tobusiness (B2B) eCommerce. The increase in B2C sales is particularly evident in online sales of medical supplies, household essentials and food products. • Demand has also increased for internet and mobile data services. The network capacity and spectrum
to accommodate the shift to online activities has urgently had to be adapted by both operators and governments. Demand has fallen, however, for certain services with a large online component, such as tourism services. • Ecommerce for goods and services trade has been adversely impacted by the same factors that have caused disruption in supply and demand overall. Such disruptions have resulted in delivery delays or outright cancellation of orders. Several other ecommercerelated challenges have arisen or been further amplified during this pandemic. These include price gouging (i.e. Increasing prices to unreasonably high levels),
COMMERCE.ASIA COMES OUT AS THE TOP E-COMMERCE COMPANY IN ASIA PACIFIC Malaysia’s Commerce.Asia has emerged as the Top Winner of the APAC CIO Outlook Awards for being the “Best E-commerce Consulting/Services Company in APAC 2020” among the selected Top 10 companies in the AsiaPacific region. APAC CIO Outlook is an international print magazine published from the hub of technology, Silicon Valley, with the aim of connecting the region’s various Enterprise IT communities. Ganesh Kumar Bangah, the founder and executive chairman of Commerce.Asia said that he was “humbled to have received such a prestigious international
product safety concerns, deceptive practices, cybersecurity concerns, the need for increased bandwidth, and development related concerns. • The pandemic has highlighted the glaring need to bridge the digital divide, both within and across countries, given the central role the digital economy has played during the crisis. Many traditional obstacles have been accentuated and have continued to hamper greater participation in ecommerce activities by small producers, sellers and consumers in developing countries, particularly in least-developed countries (LDCs). This has underscored the need for efficient and affordable information and communications technology (ICT) services, such as telecommunication, computer and other IT services and emerging technologies.
award” and vowed to continue empowering brands and merchants to realise their fullest potential via e-commerce. “It’s difficult for brands to manage on their own with increasing e-commerce consumer demand, especially during the MCO,” said Ganesh.“This is where we come in: We had set ourselves the high bar by being the region’s most reliable outsourced/managed services provider to enable merchants to get a bigger share of increased consumer demand, and to ensure that they have the fulfilment capabilities to cope with increased demand,” he added. “We cover aspects of e-commerce that
• Governments have adopted new measures, and the private sector has also acted, to respond to and ensure that ecommerce can help to alleviate some of the challenges faced in combatting the virus. These have included increasing network capacity, offering expanded data services at little or no cost, lowering or scrapping transaction costs on digital payments and mobile money transfers, improving delivery services and other logistics, using digital tools to enforce measures and disseminate information, promoting telehealth services, and leveraging ICT for surveillance. • The global nature of Covid-19 and its impact on ecommerce may encourage strengthened international cooperation and the further development of policies for online purchases and supply. The pandemic has made it clear that
businesses often have to struggle to learn, including warehousing, payment, delivery, marketing and order management. It’s a commitment to truly remove the stress of working with technology for businesses that may not be so tech savvy,” he added. He explained that the group’s end-to-end, one-stop solution enables brands and businesses to sell online, while managing all aspects of their online businesses from developing their own online stores to managing product sales across multiple e-marketplaces such as Lazada, Shopee, Lelong, PrestoMall, Amazon and eBay.
ecommerce can be an important tool/solution for consumers. Ecommerce can also support small businesses and, by making economies more competitive, be an economic driver for both domestic growth and international trade. • The pandemic has highlighted the importance of digital technologies in general, but also several vulnerabilities across the world. The resulting experiences and lessons are relevant to various discussions in the WTO, including those on electronic commerce, which could benefit from looking at greater international cooperation to facilitate the cross-border movement of goods and services, narrow the digital divide, and level the playing field for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
Original Source : WTO News taken from the website eTrade for all (https:etradeforall.org)
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FEATURE / HITACHI VANTARA
DRIVING SOCIAL INNOVATION WITH CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY
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itachi Vantara has been at the forefront of datadriven solutions and believes in empowering social innovation with cutting-edge technology. Having recently launched the world’s fastest enterprise-class NVMe flash storage array with 21 million IOPS, the Fortune 500 company is also a leader in IDC’s Worldwide Object Storage category for four consecutive years through its Hitachi Content Platform. Based at Menara UOA Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, Hitachi Vantara Sdn. Bhd counts amongst its clients’ industries ranging across Education, Financial Services and Insurance, Hospitality, Manufacturing, Public Sector and Telco as well as some of the largest conglomerates in Malaysia. Moti Uttam, Managing Director of the Malaysian operations comprising a team of 300 employees, said, “Businesses need capabilities to scale operations, enable data-driven work functions and build AI-driven environments that add value and reimagine delivery of products and solutions. “As innovators, we are partnering Disney Parks in the USA to bring data-driven operational intelligence and Industrial IoT to Disney’s theme parks, accelerating innovation in precision medicine with the American Heart Association (AHA), and in Turkey, enabling the City of Istanbul to make their smart city vision a reality. “For 2020, our focus is primarily on data centre modernisation and data governance – key elements in
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dealing with digital disruption.” Data storage and analytics solutions innovated by Hitachi Vantara realises powerful business outcomes. Aligning to its focus for Malaysia, the Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform (VSP) 5000 series and the Hitachi VSP E990 were launched to complement the nation’s business digitalisation drive.
BUILDING DIGITAL ADVANTAGE The Hitachi VSP 5000 series is the world’s fastest enterprise-class NVMe flash storage array, providing the core data storage foundation for all digital business operations, and optimized to deliver best-inclass performance and resiliency. Businesses can experience data retrieval at any volume or scale with response times as low as 70 microseconds, backed by the company’s signature 100% data availability guarantee. It aims to help data centres modernise to fit market demands and technology.
SIMPLIFIED STORAGE PROVISIONING FOR MID-SIZED ENTERPRISES Harnessing the same innovation, the Hitachi VSP E990 is a highperformance and low latency supercharge for business applications, with industry-leading data deduplication capabilities that can free up to 75% of storage capacity. The Hitachi Ops Center’s powerful artificial intelligence (AI)-driven management software simplifies storage provisioning for AI, machine learning (ML) and containerised applications. It allows speed and resilience to protect business continuity, flexibility and pay-per-usage, especially in these testing times. Hitachi Vantara has led the industry for decades with proven and reliable data solutions that are time-tested for performance, availability and scalability. Through it all, its vision remains unchanged: to help its customers extract more value from their data and improve their businesses, while powering good for society.
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FEATURE / LENOVO
PUTTING EMPLOYEES FIRST AND ELEVATING YOUR COMPANY’S WORK FROM HOME MODEL
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s economic sectors reopen with the ‘new normal’, Lenovo continues to focus on the safety and wellbeing of employees and communities during these times. The global pandemic has abruptly forced many companies to quickly adjust to working remotely. Some companies may even continue to encourage a work from home model despite the Movement Control Order ending. However, a major concern identified during discussions with businesses and partners over the last two months has been maintaining a positive employee experience while working remotely. Many employees who were not accustomed to working remotely are still finding it difficult to stay focused and productive, especially if introduced to new company-owned devices and software programs. These tools are meant to facilitate remote collaboration and drive productivity. However, without access to the company’s IT helpdesk that many employees often rely on,
the opposite can ensue. Not to mention the psychological impact of employees who prefer working in an office and enjoy collaborating faceto-face, as they may begin to feel unmotivated and out of touch with the organization and their colleagues. Here are several options to incorporate to help employees overcome challenges and provide a positive experience:
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EDUCATE
Providing virtual training on new software programs or hardware that your employees have recently received and continue motivating their learning by willing to mix it up as employees have various levels of technical understanding.
2SUPPORT
There’s a high chance your IT staff are working overtime as the importance of keeping the company network running is especially crucial during this time. Consider easing their load by adding a premium support service to bolster your IT helpdesk capabilities. Technology Business Research, Inc. (TBR) in March 2020 studied the attributes of the PC support experience. It found that Lenovo Premier Support package exceeded customer satisfaction in the areas of resolution on first contact and proactive support.
3ENGAGE
Utilise videoconferencing software for more than just business meetings. Encourage team meet-ups that allow for actual face time with one another in a relaxed atmosphere.
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4PROTECT AND SECURE
Implementing security protocols is imperative. When working from home, employee’s devices are not protected by company firewalls. To secure and manage endpoints, companies should look for nextgen solutions with AI-powered capabilities to predict cyberattacks and automatically self-heal devices. Lenovo’s ThinkShield portfolio combines innovation, processes, and partnerships to protect businesses against digital security threats.
5REFLECT AND PLAN
Noting all the roadblocks that prevented you from offering your workforce a positive remote working experience is important. There are many commercial tools and offerings that can be incorporated into businesses to not only support their devices, but configure, deploy and manage them cost-effectively. Lenovo Services has curated a list of Work from Home solutions that you may also find helpful as you continue to enable a remote workforce. Digital transformation is here and companies that use this time to implement initial tools and processes that move them closer in that direction, will be better positioned to make more concrete steps in the future.
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FEATURE / HITACHI SUNWAY
LEADERSHIP IN CRISIS: MANAGING YOUR STAKEHOLDERS
The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of business leaders possessing strong abilities in crisis management, says Anthony Raja Devadoss, the managing director and business head of PERSOLKELLY Consulting.
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usinesses and its people are the lifeblood of the economy. Businesses are not only accountable to its stakeholders, employees, partners, but also to the larger society. This is most evident during the Covid-19 pandemic that has affected almost every sector of the global economy. The early part of the outbreak saw leaders of major countries floundering in their initial denial and response to the pandemic. Some national leaders failed to manage their
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citizens by properly communicating the full extent of the crisis and their response measures, leading to the worsening of the global crisis. It was not much better in the private sector, as business leaders failed to grasp the severity of the situation. Some were slow in activating their business continuity plans and others in adapting their strategies to the severe economic challenges. Covid-19 has demonstrated the importance of business leaders possessing strong abilities in crisis management.
THE BEST TEST OF A LEADER IS DURING TIMES OF CRISES Unexpected crises like the current covid-19, is one of the best ways to test the mettle of a leader by separating those who rise to meet the challenges and those who flounder helplessly. Being prepared can help business leaders manage their multiple stakeholders – many, if not all, of whom are looking to their leaders for a clear and concise response. But how does one prepare oneself? They need to equip themselves with their personal crisis management toolkit. Below are some tips on how to face a major global crisis such as the current one.
MANAGING UP Leaders need to inspire confidence in their main stakeholders, namely the board and shareholders, in their ability to be decisive and expertly guide the organisation through a crisis. First, they must be able to work together with fellow executives from various functions and different expertise to form a fully dedicated crisis team, before aligning on the multiple scenarios that might unfold from the crisis. Leaders can then develop a plan of action that considers these scenarios, while their crisis team monitors issues in real-time to develop a holistic and up-to-date understanding of the crises and its implication on the economy, business and people. As the Covid-19 crisis went from an epidemic to pandemic within weeks, the leaders needed to shift their focus from managing a short-term crisis to bracing their organisations for many longer-term scenarios instead. Leaders must be able to conduct strategy reviews continuously to evaluate and refine current and future plans during a crisis. This
would include updating demand forecasts, managing revenue disruptions and potential liquidity crisis, implementing immediate cash conserving measures, and developing a forward-looking plan that positions the business to outperform competitors during the post-crisis recovery period.
REASSURING THE WORKFORCE A pandemic like covid-19 needs leaders to consider its economic and psychological impact on the people generating value and keeping their business going. When lives are at stake, it is only natural for employees to be fearful. Employees need regular communication from their leaders during such times. Therefore, it is important for a leader to sharpen his employee management and crisis communication skills. It is vital for a leader is to protect their employees’ safety and health. During global health crises like Covid-19, having a deep understanding of change management can help leaders ensure accurate and transparent two-way communications with their employees, providing them with clear HR policies, workplace guidelines and necessary guidance for employees to then manage their customers. Concerns over their livelihoods would see employees seeking reassurances over their jobs and salaries. As businesses deal with demand shocks from a global crisis, leaders must ensure excess manpower is managed in an appropriate manner. Businesses can take such opportunities to send workers for retraining and reskilling. In the worst-case scenario, leaders must ensure the downsizing of their workforce is done with care and sensitivity. It is only right for your senior management to provide
these employees with sufficient notice and severance packages. In some countries, leaders might need to work with unions to manage such redundancies.
ADAPTING BUSINESS PROCESSES Knowing how to evaluate current processes and team structures amid a prolonged and unpredictable crisis like covid-19 is another important skill within a leader’s crisis management toolkit. Implementing alternative working arrangements, such as remote working, staggered hours, rotating shifts, virtual meetings, and reducing all or non-essential business travel might be necessary to keep employees safe and healthy. This would require a shift in management’s focus towards employees’ value add and output, rather than facetime or, in a remote environment, being logged into the company’s enterprise instant messaging software. However, such alternative working arrangements then poses a new challenge for leaders to maintain morale among their newly-remote workforce. During cross-border crises, leaders might need to manage a possible drop in manpower as governments introduce border restrictions, travel bans and social distancing measures such as quarantine orders, leave of absences, and stay-home notices. Leaders need to be adaptable and swiftly develop contingency plans for different areas of the business, possibly shifting existing labour to meet customers’ different needs. For example, airlines and online travel booking sites are increasing their staffing of customer service or call centres to deal with the increased number of customers reaching out to cancel their flight or accommodation bookings in light of travel restrictions from Covid-19.
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FEATURE / HITACHI SUNWAY
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IN THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO, LEADERS MUST ENSURE DOWNSIZING OF THEIR WORKFORCE IS DONE WITH CARE AND SENSITIVITY. IT IS ONLY RIGHT FOR YOUR SENIOR MANAGEMENT TO PROVIDE THESE EMPLOYEES WITH SUFFICIENT NOTICE AND SEVERANCE PACKAGES.
Finally, in developing their future plans, leaders must also plan for future investment in IT systems and tools to improve their processes, protecting their business from future crises.
KEEPING PARTNERSHIPS STRONG Covid-19 has caused disruption in businesses and global supply chains around the world. Leaders must be equipped with a deep understanding of their supply chains, so that they can quickly evaluate disruptions and conduct relevant risk assessments during a crisis. They can then get ahead of stabilising their supply chains against geographic and labour-related disruptions that come about from governments’ travel restrictions or lockdowns due to the pandemic. In the near term, leaders must know how to support supplier stability, prepare the supply chain to return to pre-crisis production levels after the crisis is over, and also develop greater supply chain risk management in the longer term. Leaders need to prepare a communications plan to engage key customers and reassure them of their ability to deliver even amidst a crisis. Knowing how to take strong action during a crisis will set their companies up for success after the crisis.
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”
GIVING BACK BY DOING THEIR PART Working with public authorities and government bodies is a key, but oftoverlooked part of a leader’s crisis management toolkit. During times of a national or the current health crisis brought about by Covid-19, leaders must be able to liaise with authorities and even support public efforts to mitigate the crisis. While leaders stay updated with the latest directives and advisories to ensure clear and thorough communication with their employees, they must also be able to rally their workforce, possibly pivoting employees towards more CSR-related efforts, such as providing donations and supplies to communities most impacted by the disease. For more customer-facing companies, such as those in the customer service, aviation, hospitality, retail and F&B sectors, leaders need to ensure that there is proper communication to the public on any changes to their
frontline operations or policies. For example, customers who have booked flight tickets or hotel stays can then be reassured of their options to refund or postpone their trips without incurring additional fees. Demonstrating such common sense and flexibility will help these businesses retain their customers’ loyalty beyond the crisis. Leaders in some sectors might also need to field media queries. Being able to expertly engage the press can not only maintain their company’s public perception during a crisis, but could also improve their company’s reputation beyond the crisis. During times of crises, stakeholders ranging from the board to members of the public are looking to their leaders, both in government and in the business world, for a clear and concise response. Only by being prepared and equipped with the right crisis management skills will leaders be able to demonstrate their leadership in crisis and manage their stakeholders, employees, partners and the wider society.
Article courtesy of PERSOLKELLY References: Bain & Company (2020). Covid-19: Actions To Take Now. McKinsey & Company (2020). Coronavirus Covid-19: Facts and Insights.
HITACHI SUNWAY INFORMATION SYSTEMS / FEATURE
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THE FIRST DECENTRALISED BLOCKCHAIN FILES STORAGE PLATFORM IN ASEAN Hitachi Sunway Information Systems Sdn Bhd has signed a tripartite MOU to provide eXceLKEY and eXeLDRIVE branded blockchain services.
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lockchain has been described as one of the most disruptive technologies in decades. Blockchain is a game-changer for many industries as it enables trust, provides transparency and reduces friction across business eco-systems. One of the leading one-stop ICT and digital services and solutions provider in ASEAN, Hitachi Sunway Information Systems Sdn Bhd (“Hitachi Sunway”) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with BaaS Holdings Pte. Ltd. (“BaaSid”) and BaaS Asia Sdn Bhd (“BaaS Asia”) to provide enterpriselevel blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) platform service in ASEAN. This strategic collaboration will empower businesses and protect data privacy through enterprise class blockchain technology. Hitachi Sunway is excited to announce the availability of an enterprise-level blockchain platform service – eXcelDRIVE, a blockchain-driven data storage & protection platform, and eXcelKEY, a blockchain-driven mobile authentication platform for 2-FactorAuthentication. These blockchain platforms are built to empower organisations to take control of distributed transactions securely and conveniently. eXcelDRIVE and eXcelKEY are hosted on Hitachi Sunway’s unique hybrid cloud framework, eXcelCLOUD solutions and managed services – which covers both on-premise and offpremise cloud platforms. “I am excited that after months of intensive discussion with BaaSiD
and BaaS Asia, we are ready to launch an enterprise-level blockchain platform service. Blockchain has the power to impact almost all industries and it has applicability to verticals from transportation, supply chain and logistics, energy, retail and ecommerce, to financial services, telecommunications and public sector. We believe eXcelDRIVE and eXcelKEY will enable organisations to reshape their operation and business models leveraging on blockchain platform” said Cheah Kok Hoong, Group CEO / Director of Hitachi Sunway. eXcelDRIVE and eXcelKEY are powered by blockchain services that are oriented towards decentralization. The key here is to create a link between blockchain and non-blockchain methods,
perform verification in the absence of a source, and to achieve complete decentralization through a public network consisting entirely of participants (users or nodes) without the necessity of an authenticated certificate from a third-party certification authority. Organisations will be able to identify and validate every process, transaction and payment in a digital record and signature stored in a distributed fashion based on a split and distribution engine to eliminate a single point of failure. This is crucial because the central data repository is often the target for cybercriminals. The signing of this MOU will further enhance Hitachi Sunway’s image as a premier one-stop ICT and digital services and solutions provider in ASEAN.
From Left: Kevin Dose (Business Development Manager of BaaSid), Yoshihiro Inoue (Senior Vice President of Cloud, Security & Infrastructure Division of Hitachi Sunway), Cheah Kok Hoong (Group CEO / Director of Hitachi Sunway), Sean Seah (Director of BaaS Asia), James Huang (Founder of BaaSid / CEO Taiwan), Moon Inshic (Founder of BaaSid / CEO Korea), Eric Foo (Vice President of Cloud, Security & Infrastructure Division of Hitachi Sunway), Tan Chee Wee (Deputy Head of Hitachi Sunway Data Centre Services).
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FEATURE / MALAYSIA PRODUCTIVITY CORPORATION
HARNESSING DIGITALISATION WILL BOOST PRODUCTIVITY The time is now to implement a change of mindset, as the year 2020 started off by taking the industry throughout the world off guard with the Covid-19 pandemic.
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igitalisation is seen as prominent to boost productivity growth in the long-term. We have seen how high-productivity nations adapt quickly to changes brought in by technology advancement. This involves the willingness to acculturate new ways of producing goods & services, resulting in new ways of doing business. The ICT subsector has evolved beyond being a mere collection of technological tools. It is a socioeconomic enabler, as well as a key driver to business transformation. Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) through Digital Productivity Nexus (DPN) is responsible for assisting the effective implementation of the productivity improvement initiatives are realized. DPN is led by Dato’ Wei Chuan Beng, an active industry captain and recognized entrepreneur in the telecommunications sector and ICT industry. His illustrious career in developing the nation’s ICT growth and national initiatives goes beyond 30 years. He is the Founder of REDtone International Berhad and former Chairman of PIKOM. He is supported by tech industry experts and governing committees from various ministries and agencies, private sectors and industry associations. With full support from MPC, DPN
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embarked on the initiative ‘Go B.I.G with Digital’ which aims to achieve breakthrough productivity via digital and technology adoption for drastic and huge impacts in businesses. ‘Go B.I.G with Digital’ focuses on catalysing productivity growth for Breakthrough results, strengthening Integrity and empowering best practices and Good values to increase productivity growth or ‘Go B.I.G with Digital’. This will be done through the adoption of IR4.0, producing stronger connectivity and innovation of technology. As an example, when half a million companies, start-ups and businesses initiate a digital project each, this will potentially roll out the entire digital tech companies and community. Investment from foreign IR4.0 companies will start to make its entry into the market economy in Malaysia, set up companies, and train their people. This is the intended virtual cycle. This initiative includes all sectors via collaborations and smart partnerships. Businesses are expected to grow from 10X to 100X of incremental productivity. The digital industry will include the rest of sectors in growing together via this initiative and no one will be left behind. This is the essence of DPN’s ‘Go B.I.G with Digital’. Businesses will boom and move forward with greater momentum.
Dato’ Wei Chuan Beng, Champion of Digital Productivity Nexus (DPN).
To unleash the power of the industry, it needs to have less regulation, with more focus on outcome. Strong leadership and consistent transparency pave the way into knowing exactly what needs to be done when we digitalize. This includes the ability to access information from all directions and communicate clearly with all parties for clarity and understanding of tasks. Subsequently, this results
About Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) is a statutory body under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). MPC promotes productivity, quality and competitiveness to the industries and organisations in Malaysia. MPC’s vision is to be the leading organisation in productivity enhancement for global competitiveness and innovation.
Dato’ Abdul Latif Haji Abu Seman, Director General of MPC and Dato’ Wei Chuan Beng with Secretariat of National Oversight Productivity Council (NOPC), 16 January 2020 at MITI.
About Digital Productivity Nexus (DPN)
Digital Productivity Nexus Governing Committee (NGC) comprises of ministries and agencies, private sectors and industry associations.
in breakthrough outcomes and productivity, and revolutionised change. Dato’ Wei highlighted that digital services would inevitably be the global frontier and he intends to be involved in the development. He is excited to see all the different
technologies and what they are capable of. He is confident that with this initiative enabling the adoption of digital technology and business model, the country’s digital transformation is imminent. Digital Malaysia will be ready for challenges and opportunities post-2020.
Digital Productivity Nexus (DPN) is a one-stop centre that caters to businesses to boost productivity by increasing digitalisation and innovation and capturing growth opportunities. The Nexus’ initiatives emphasise the development of a holistic ecosystem to increase the adoption of technology and digitalisation and further strengthen key industry enablers.
The change of mindset in now, especially when the year 2020 began by taking us all off guard with the unthinkable situation. However, this is the right time and moment to kick- off what we have been talking about for years, digitalisation.
Adopt Digital, Achieve Breakthrough, Accomplish Results. Let’s Go B.I.G with Digital.
“Memacu Produktiviti Negara” | “Driving Productivity of the Nation” www.mpc.gov.my
facebook.com/MPCHQ
@MPC_HQ
@mpc_hq
Malaysia Productivity Corporation
PRODUCTIVITY WAY UP Malaysia
...your productivity improvement site
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FEATURE / HITACHI SUNWAY
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ARM YOURSELF WITH A RECESSION-PROOF MINDSET • By Dr Victor SL Tan
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oday, the world is facing an unprecedented change driven by the tiniest adversary – the coronavirus also known as Covid-19 which has wreaked havoc to companies, businesses, economies and countries. To date, more than 11 million people were infected worldwide with with more than 500,000 deaths, as of 8th July 2020. This number will keep increasing by the day. Offices, entertainment outlets and factories are shut down while the malls and food outlets are almost empty. Major business sectors that are badly hit include airline, banking, energy, hotel, retail, transport, tourism and travel. Many economists are in concurrence that the world will face a recession in 2020. The Secretary-General of United Nations had said that a global recession perhaps of record dimensions - is a near certainty due to the COVID 19 pandemic. The International Labour Organisation predicted that as a result of this pandemic crisis, there would be a spike in global unemployment as high as 24.7 million, which would be higher than the 22 million increase in the global financial crisis of 2008-2009. During a recession, many companies would certainly initiate cutbacks. Employees would live in fear of losing their jobs. There is a better way to work in such perilous times without fear and worry. Employees can develop a recessionproof mindset by practising positive and productive work behaviours.
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DO WHAT OTHERS ARE UNWILLING TO DO Having worked in the past 3 recessions as a consultant, I had privy information on the key criteria companies use to select staff they want to retain during tough times. Many leaders singled out the attitude of the staff; in particular in doing the tasks others are unwilling to do. During a business slowdown, some companies practise nonreplacement of staff when they leave, resulting in existing staff having to do more work. While many would complain about doing more work, this would be a good time for them to stand out from the workplace by adopting a positive work attitude towards the added work responsibilities. Those who continue to practice such good work behaviour during these challenging times will have little difficulty retaining their jobs. Every employer would value such staff and would do everything possible to retain them.
PRODUCE EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS When the economy is booming and the company is doing well, excellent performance by individuals attract less attention. That is because many other individuals are also doing well. However, during a recession, when many others are showing poor results, the one who produces excellent results will shine in a distinctive manner. Go ahead, put in the extra effort, make more sales presentation and exceed that sales target. Win over that difficult
customer and bowl your boss over! Indeed there has never been a better time to produce extraordinary results than now.
SOLVE PROBLEMS THAT MATTER MOST One hallmark of a valuable employee is his or her ability to adapt to changes. An economy in recession can alter the priorities in companies. For example, a company which once used to emphasise workplace cleanliness, now shifts towards focusing on business development. It will serve employees well to start prioritising their work to address the company’s current concerns. Find out what matters most to your company and start actively to play a role to help solve them. Such an approach may be the key to ensuring the employee survives in this company during challenging times.
DEVELOP A UNIQUE SKILL It is time employees start to differentiate themselves to break away from the crowd. In selecting candidates for job interviews, I notice that it is rare to find those who stand out. It is very common today to have candidates with a Bachelor’s degree and even with an MBA. The idea is to develop a unique skill which is relevant and useful to the company and which no one else in the company has. For example, one senior person who worked in the administrative office of a company which was going through a financial crisis was retained and promoted while many of her colleagues were
$ asked to leave. The reason was she not only had administrative experience and skill but also had the added advantage of experience and certification in the area of change management. She was promoted to Change Manager to lead an organisational transformation project.
TAKE RESPONSIBILITY During a crisis, speedy actions are required. Companies need employees to take charge and get things moving. Those who are willing to take responsibility, address issues and solve problems are highly valued. Often staff complain that companies are not grateful. In trouble times, they argue that companies seem to forget their past contributions. An employee is indeed as good as his or her current performance. To ensure their bosses continue to remember their achievements, staff should stop the blaming. They should instead start to lead and take the necessary actions to counter the current business slowdown and improve performance in whatever way they can.
BE A CHANGE AGENT During a business slowdown, many would sit around waiting to see what would happen. They argue that there is no point in working hard as the company might just fold up. Such defeatist thinking is detrimental. One does not need to be crystal ball reader to know that if everyone does nothing in a declining business situation, the company’s closure would become a reality. Instead, why not start identifying the critical changes in your area or function which you can undertake to help the company. This is the time to mobilise all your knowledge, skills and effort to pull everyone together
and turn around the company. Lead a change initiative; be it a productivity improvement program or a business transformation program – be a change agent, make a difference and be noticed!
GO THE EXTRA MILE Recession is not a time to panic and shirk responsibilities. It is a time for greater commitment to working together to overcome whatever challenges that come in the way. Practice the work philosophy of “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”. This is the time to put in the extra hours, stretch one’s limits, tap into creativity and do whatever it takes to succeed. In such critical times, the results would speak for themselves. There is no running away from going the extra mile to achieve the desired results. The late former President of United States, Ronald Reagan used to quip, “Recession is when your neighbour loses his job. Depression
is when you lose yours.”. It does not matter whether there is a storm of recession or depression coming; for as long as one adopts the above positive work behaviours at the workplace one will be wanted and welcome everywhere. Job security lies not in companies, but with the individual himself – his recessionproof mindset.
Dr Victor SL Tan is an international change authority who undertakes change management consulting and seminars. He is the author of 11 change management books. His most recent book is Leading Positive And Profitable Change. His latest program is on Developing A Recession Proof Mindset. For comments, WhatsApp him at 012-390 3168 or email him at victorsltan@ klscc.com.
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•••••
FEATURE / MDEC
FREE ACCESS TO COURSES
MDEC partners with Coursera to provide free access to courses for unemployed workers.
T
he Covid-19 pandemic has upended all our lives in unimaginable ways. One of the worst affected areas is employment. The lucky ones are those who get to work from home or still have jobs but with pay cuts. More people are being laid off and unemployment figures in many countries have skyrocketed. For example, in the United States, the unemployment figures stand at 30 million, the highest since the Great Depression nearly 90 years ago! If you’re unemployed, there’s some good news from MDEC. MDEC has partnered with Coursera to offer free access to 3,800 courses including professional certificates for unemployed workers. This campaign is called Let’s Learn Digital and it starts on 1st May and lasts until 30th September 2020. The free access period for the courses is until 31st December 2020. Let’s Learn Digital aims to encourage Malaysians who have lost their jobs due to Covid-19 to take up online courses on digital and data skills. Coursera is a world-wide online learning platform founded in 2012 by Stanford professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller that offers massive open online courses (MOOC), specializations and degrees.
Normally the Coursera subscription is US $399 per year and during this campaign period, it is being offered FREE! Do not let this golden opportunity pass. Use this downtime to upskill yourself and make yourself more marketable once things return to normal and companies start hiring again.
For more information and to register, please go to this URL: https://mdec.my/digital-economy-initiatives/for-the-people/talent-development/lets-learn-digital/ 30 MY•IT
my MY.IT is the official publication of PIKOM which was formed in 1986. PIKOM plays a vital role to steer the ICT industry in Malaysia in the right direction. With a membership comprising over 900 ICT companies, which in turn represents about 80% of the total ICT trade in the country, PIKOM is the voice of the ICT industry in Malaysia. MY.IT is primarily intended to serve the needs of the dynamic ICT industry in Malaysia, especially when it comes to voicing out the needs and concerns of the ICT industry. Be a part of this essential and vibrant scene by advertising in MY.IT, the voice of the Malaysian ICT industry. ICT is one of the leaders of change for Industrial Revolution 4.0. According to studies, ICT has become integral to the function of modern society. There are about 3 billion people having access to the Internet and 8 out of 10 Internet users owning a smartphone. Even in developing countries, ICT has become a must for everyday life. The Internet Users Survey 2017 by Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) on ICT penetration in Malaysia found that smartphone is the most common device to access Internet with 89.4% of Malaysians. Malaysians generally use the Internet for text communication (96.3%), visiting social networking sites (89.4%) and getting information online (86.9%). The percentage of Internet users in 2016 was 76.9%, which translates to 24.5 million Internet users. ICT is increasingly becoming an important contributor to the nation’s GDP. In 2015, its contribution was 17.6%, driven by the ICT services sub-sector.
VOICE OF THE MALAYSIAN TECH INDUSTRY
my
SERBA DINAMIKPIKOM UNICORN TECH AWARDS
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VOICE OF THE MALAYSIAN TECH INDUSTRY
my JAN-MAR 2020 VOL. 3 • NO. 1 • 2020 RM10
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PIKOM’S NEW COUNCIL MEMBERS FOR 2019/2020
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TAKING ASOCIO TO NEW HEIGHTS
FPX #MYCYBERSALE ASIA 2019 Breaks new sales record for online sales in Malaysia
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•••••
FEATURE / NETAPP
LIBERATING THE TRANSFORMATIVE POTENTIAL OF HYBRID MULTICLOUD IN MALAYSIA
• By Oon Chew Boon, NetApp’s Lead Solution Architect, Malaysia & Brunei
H
ybrid cloud is becoming the go-to approach in cloud because it gives enterprises the best of both private and public cloud models. According to a 451 Research survey, globally, 69 percent of enterprises should have adopted multicloud/hybrid IT environments by the end of 2019. In APAC, more than half of businesses surveyed are already using hybrid cloud and have managed to deliver critical business functions seamlessly, across multiple cloud environments. The move is also seen in the public sector in the region. These transformative efforts are also taking shape in Malaysia. The government introduced its cloud-
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based unified communication and collaboration services, MyGovUC, several years ago, as part of its efforts to reduce public sector spending and optimise online government services. MyGovUC has also enabled the government to integrate resource deployment models (public, private, and hybrid) with service delivery models (software as a service, platform as a service, and infrastructure as a service).1 In fact, a recent study revealed that the Malaysian government has managed to save spending by up to half of the original cost of developing and maintaining conventional data centres. With the Malaysian government intensifying efforts to create a
robust technology ecosystem for further developments in the cloud, its transition to a hybrid cloud environment should be seen as inevitable. To do so effectively however, government agencies will need to collaborate with the right cloud solutions and data management partner. This will require a strong and dynamic private and public partnership at all levels of development. As a data authority in hybrid cloud that has worked with public and private sector organisations around the world, NetApp has identified the three ways in which Malaysian government agencies and even the private sector can ensure that this transition is successful.
#1
Adopt a “solve before buy” approach to hybrid cloud migration It boils down to helping agencies by providing valuable insights to their data, allowing them to make informed decisions for their journey to cloud, rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach or trying to re-engineer custom solutions in the cloud. That means carefully evaluating options based on service and mission needs, assessing requirements, identifying gaps and making informed decisions about what applications and data should stay, move to the cloud or be replaced.
#2
Create a single repository of truth
In order to leverage multiple cloud environments, public sector agencies and private sector partner organisations will need the ability to create environments on-demand, by building a single repository of truth. This repository will store not only application code and dependencies, but anything that is needed to build an environment from version control. A single repository of truth will also include application code, database schemas, environment creation tools, scripts, automated tests, and even documentation and release notes. This will allow them to predictably build environments in a repeatable way, no matter which cloud you choose as a foundation for your workloads.
Develop a hybrid #3 multicloud strategy roadmap Finding the right cloud for the right job within mandated timelines can be tough for government IT leaders and business CIOs. Personnel may lack the expertise to determine which workloads should be moved to the cloud or how to effectively implement hybrid multicloud
scenarios. Shifting workloads to multiple cloud providers can also add new security and data distribution challenges. Therefore, it is important for private organizations and public sector agencies to develop a strategic roadmap for their hybrid multicloud adoption. This enables agencies to optimize networks, simplify hybrid multicloud complexity and distribute security controls, and data and analytics to the edge. The roadmap can outline the following key parameters that agencies can take to build a secure, trusted hybrid multicloud platform: Simplify multicloud connectivity and operations by placing traffic exchange points close to users and clouds using interconnection hubs. Increase multicloud security effectiveness with a zero-trust security model (applied to traffic flows across all parties) through policy-based border control, packet inspection, enabling traceability and real-time security analytics at all layers Minimize costly intercloud data transfers by data compression, deduplication and end-to-end encryption capabilities to minimize moving large data sets between clouds. Scale geographical multicloud demand by distributing workloads securely across geographicallyplaced edge nodes, in proximity to users and cloud availability regions to address growth in traffic, data volumes, data protection and processing. Build multicloud agency platforms to interconnect with citizens, other agencies and partners for direct transaction and data exchanges. Establish new flows (agency service chains) and continually adapt to changes in regulations, technologies and emerging partners and markets. Speed, agility, and flexibility are the top factors that drive a successful
• •
•
•
•
transformation to a hybrid multicloud environment. NetApp offers the full range of capabilities that public sector customers need to build and manage the unique data fabric they need. With a data fabric powered by NetApp, any organisation, from government agencies to multinationals can solve the financial, operational, and technical barriers to adopting hybrid multicloud environments, leading to a truly secure, transformative and rewarding journey. International Journal of Engineering Business Management: Acceptance of cloud computing in the Malaysian public sector: A proposed model Amron, M, Ibrahim, R, Chuprat, S, et al. Preliminary study on the implementation of 1GovCloud among public agencies in Malaysia. 2018; 6: 92–103.
• •
Oon Chew Boon NetApp’s Lead Solution Architect, Malaysia & Brunei Chew Boon is NetApp’s Lead Solution Architect for Malaysia & Brunei. He has more than 27 years of experience in the IT industry during which he has held various positions from the Support Engineer to IT Architect. Prior to joining NetApp, Chew Boon had worked with as the Industry Technologist of Healthcare and Life Sciences (HLS), Asia Pacific at Hitachi Data Systems. He has vast experience in High Performance and Mission-Critical IT environment. He has also led the Unix team in design and implementation of robust Enterprise IT Systems Infrastructures which integrates SAN Storage, IP Networks, Systems, Data Protection and Fault-Tolerant solutions.
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THE RISE OF WEBINARS During the Movement Control Order (MCO) which started on March 18th till June 9th, Malaysians faced a situation which they had never faced before: a complete shutdown of all businesses which slowed down the economy. People had to work from home and webinars became the norm. Conferencing software like Zoom and Microsoft Team became the new buzz words among people.
A
ccording to the website webopedia, “a webinar (short for web-based seminar) is a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is transmitted over the web the using video conferencing software. A key feature of a webinar is its interactive elements and the ability for a presenter to give, receive and discuss information in real-time.” During the MCO, PIKOM, in collaboration with other agencies, held a few webinars which were successful. This section will highlight some of them.
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BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY, CRISIS MANAGEMENT AND CONTINUITY IN A COVID 19 WORLD Date 31st March 2020 Time 6-7pm Moderator Dr Alan Downe (Multimedia University) Panel Members Surina Shukri, CEO, Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Dr Mugunthan Murugen, MD, Head of Marketing (R&I), Accobiotech Sdn Bhd, Clara Pat Ro, Business Continuity Specialist at Maxis Bhd and Business Continuity Planner at the Disaster Recovery Institute. Voices from the Industry Dato’ Munirah Looi (CEO, Brandt International), Kim Chin Kuang (Jabil), Rajan Seenivasan (Basis Bay) Organised by PIKOM, Outsourcing Malaysia (OM) and the Contact Centres Association of Malaysia (CCAM).
IMPORTANCE OF DIGITALISATION The MCO caught many by surprise. Offices had to think of ways to continue their business during the lockdown. Work from home or WFH, once only practised by very few companies and most of them MNCs, has now become the norm and has been embraced by companies large and small. This scenario was unthinkable prior to the MCO. WFH has proved that Malaysians can do their job outside of the office. For this to succeed, it is important that companies are into digitalisation. “It was fairly easy for our company to still function as normal because we were digitalised so communication between staff and our clients was easy,” said Dato’ Munirah. Digitalisation will help companies survive in this crisis and in the future. It is the way to go, said Clara. Dr Alan pointed out that the MCO has shown that with regards to food logistics, much more work needs to be done to digitalise it. “During the MCO because of the interruption to transport, farmers in Cameron Highlands had to
dump their vegetables because they could not secure transport to deliver their goods to other states. Thank goodness Lazada stepped in and got them onto its platform so that the farmers could sell directly to consumers,” he said. The MCO showed the vulnerability of the food logistics supply chain. The
Government and private sector need to look into this more deeply so that it becomes a win-win situation for both the farmers and consumers. On a lighter note, Surina noted that even children are mastering digital communication. Many of them talk to friends, their grandparents via video conferencing during the
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used to keep in touch with friends, colleagues and families. “During the designated office lunchtime, one can make use of Zoom or WhatsApp to video conference with friends and have a virtual gathering over a cup of coffee!” Some companies which used to toy with the idea of allowing its employees to WFH now get actually get the chance to do it. Rajan’s company is an example. “WFH is working! We have to adapt to the situation. If we can accomplish our goals and task from wherever we are, then WFH is very good. In my case, I don’t have to be physically in Malaysia to run the data centre,” he explained.
THE OFFICE IN THE POST COVID-19 WORLD MCO. It has become normal for them. “My children also know that video conferencing is not just for family and light hearted things. They see me having meetings via Zoom and know that I use video conferencing as part of my job.”
PROTECTING DATA AND PRIVACY One of the issues about digitalisation was the concern over protecting data and privacy, especially with WFH. The importance of companies in investing in a good cybersecurity system was stressed. “Ever since companies began going digital, long before the imposition of MCO, cybersecurity should have been one of the main priorities. But many companies did not pay enough attention to this. The MCO has forced them to take cybersecurity seriously as every company, even the SMEs, need it,” said Clara. Data management centres have been thrown into the spotlight during this crisis, said Dr Alan. He asked Rajan how his company is coping
36 MY•IT
during the MCO. “We are working as normal. We have a small team of engineers who manage things. If an emergency arises, we have a crisis management team on the standby via digital communication,” said Rajan who stressed that the worker’s safety is a top priority for the company. “We ensure that social distancing is practised, proper hygiene matters are in place and the equipment are sanitised and protected.”
WORK FROM HOME (WFH) Dr Mugunthan touched on some of the issues that arise from WHF. “One of the questions that I often get asked is how to deal with the isolation of MCO and WFH where you don’t get to interact with colleagues? If you’re living in an apartment alone and only get to stare out of the window, it can get depressing. With Zoom and Google Team you can still see your colleagues for discussions and meetings.” He also stressed that the video conferencing software should also be
Life as we know it can be normal after the MCO has been lifted. Until a vaccine is found for Covid-19, everyone has to be on guard. Wearing masks, using hand sanitizers, and practicing social distancing will be the norm. There will be anxiety among workers when they return to the office and it is important for the employers to make them feel safe and secure said the panellists. Some of the suggestions offered are: • Daily cleaning of the office to give the staff a sense of security that their surroundings are clean and hygienic. • Have staggered workforce or rotate when the staff should be in office. • Create a position at the C-Suite level for health and safety in the workplace. “If you create this position for a safety manager, it will also need to have its own KPI,” said Dr Mugunthan. “The well-being of the employee is very important. A good business leader needs to think of the wellbeing of their workers,” emphasised Surina.
A ROUND-UP OF THE WEBINARS DURING THE MCO POST COVID-19: REBOOT YOUR BUSINESS MODEL Date 16th April 2020
Time 10-11am
Moderator Assoc Professor Dr Johari Abdullah Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
Speakers Dato’ Abdul Latif Haji Abu Seman, Director General Malaysia Productivity Corporation Dato’ Dr IR. TS. Mohd Abdul Karim Abdullah, CEO, Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd
Organised by Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC)
OPPORTUNITY IN CRISIS Everyone agreed that the one good thing that has come out of this pandemic is that companies have accelerated their digitalisation. “Government has been urging companies especially the SMEs to go digital for a long time. Unfortunately, it has taken a pandemic like Covid-19 for everyone especially the SMEs
which have been resistant to about digitalisation to get onboard the digital platform,” said Dato’ Abdul Latif. MPC had taken advantage of the MCO to hold many webinars on digitalisation for SMEs. This webinars have gotten overwhelming response from the industry. Covid-19 has heightened the importance of modern technology for businesses to survive in the 21st century.
REBOOTING THE BUSINESS MODEL POST COVID-19
• Technology Dato’ Karim stressed that it was important for businesses to invest in technology and automation. “Companies cannot avoid this. Technology is about being in the frontier of new development. And if you are in the frontier, your company will reap the rewards,” he said. He said it’s important for the manufacturing sector in Malaysia to move towards using robotics as this will cut down the country’s reliance on foreign workers. • Funding for digitalisation and automation SMEs cite the lack of funds as the major reason they have not embraced digitalisation and automation. This should not be an excuse said the speakers. The SMEs must have the commitment and desire to modernise their operations and the funding will be there. They point out to the stimulus packages that the Government has rolled out to meet the needs of SMEs to boost their business.
Dato’ Abdul Latif urged the SMEs to look into all the grants available from Government, banks and other agencies for funds or grants. He asked SMEs not to give up easily and to knock as many doors as possible to search for funds • Investment in automation and digitalisation cuts cost in the long term Investing in modern technology might be expensive but in the long run it will cut down the cost of operation. “A majority of our members who had to adapt to online business model were surprised to find that it was cost effective,” revealed Dato’ Abdul Latif. Dato’ Karim champions the automation of the manufacturing sector. “We cannot rely on labour intensive industries as there will be other emerging economies where the cost of labour will be low and factories will shift there. We should move to be a manufacturing centre using robotics which will make the manufacturing sector more cost efficient.”
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THE CURVE TO FLATTEN TALK SERIES: INNOVATION IN THE MIDST OF CHAOS Date 17th April 2020
Time 6pm-7pm
Moderator Phil Captain, CEO Nexdrone
Speakers Sheila Singam, Managing Partner and Founder, Human Equation Gopi Ganesalingam, Vice President Global Growth Acceleration, MDEC
Organised by OM, PIKOM & CCAM
POINTS RAISED
• This pandemic is a great opportunity for companies to innovate. • There are opportunities in crisis. “When the MCO was announced, we had many companies that came to MDEC with solutions for people and businesses,” said Gopi. • Employers need to address the fears of the employees. Post Covid 19, many people are going to lose jobs or get pay cuts. Be truthful to employees so that they know what to expect. “It’s just not enough to give severance pay. Retrain them, give them emotional support,” said Sheila. • CEOs need to get rid of the gate keepers and talk to the staff. “Make yourself accessible especially to your employees at the lower levels,” advised Sheila. 38 MY•IT
• This crisis has forced people to have a mindset change with regards to technology. “My 85 year-old mother has learned to use video calls to talk to her grandkids. Farmers and fishermen have learned how to use apps to sell their goods directly to customers,” explained Gopi.
THE NEW WORLD ORDER POST COVID-19 Date 4th May 2020
Time 3pm-4.30pm
Moderator Caroline Ong, country general manager Leadernomics
Speakers Anthony Raja Devadoss, Managing Director, Persolkelly Consulting Asia Pacific, Dato’ Munirah Looi, CEO, Brandt International, Hew Wee Choong, vice president Investment Development (ID), MDEC, Tan Lin Nah, CEO, INTI International University and Colleges and Cheah Kok Hoong, chairman of OM.
POINTS DISCUSSED
• Despite the widespread economic downturn all over the world due to Covid-19, the GBS industry in Malaysia has been resilient and had performed well thanks to the ability of its workers to work from home, said Hew. “GBS will be even more powerful once this pandemic ends. People from the hospitality industry and tourism who have been laid off can be reskilled to work in GBS. The workers from these industries generally are fluent in English.”
• The GBS industry is Resilient, Agile, Virtual and Engaging (RAVE) said Anthony. Malaysia is well connected via Internet and it has potential to become one of the top GBS and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) centres in the world, he added. • The lockdown period has boosted Malaysia’s GBS and BPO compared to countries like India. “In India during the lockdown, many workers couldn’t work from home because the connectivity wasn’t good unlike Malaysia where because of good Internet co0nnection, it was easy to implement WFH, said Munirah. • Industries must be prepared for I 4.0, stressed Caroline. It is the way of the future. • Tan pointed out that her organisation invested in e-learning from 2004. During the MCO there was no problem in implementing the online classes programme. “We had no problem conducting exams online because we already had a system in place,” said Tan. • Look for new collaboration and new opportunities during this period. “Covid-19 will co-exist with us for some time until a vaccine is found,” said Cheah. “Have a positive mindset. Look into your company’s cash management, cost management and digital transformation. There is no perfect formula, find one that fits your business.”
THE NEW NORMAL OF ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENT AND CULTURE BUILDING Date 17th April 2020
Time 4pm-5pm
Moderator Ong Kian Yew, CEO PIKOM
Speakers Anthony Raja Devadoss, Managing Director, Persolkelly Consulting Asia Pacific, Leo Lee, founder TraitQuest & Nadia Tan Abdullah, chief human resources officer, SP Setia
Organised by PIKOM
IMPORTANCE OF ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE Organisational culture is the heart of how a corporation or business operates. “That is why it is very important to support the business culture of an organisation or company,” explained Leo. It is the leadership of an organisation that sets the tone for its culture. Leo broke down organisational culture as made up of three aspects: • Psychological safety: how everyone in the organisation behaves and feels especially during this trying period. • Centralisation: what is the working culture within the office? Does every rule and regulation come from one source and is it uniform across the office?
• Job control: Everything is micro managed and workers do not have much autonomy to make decisions for themselves. • Strengthening the employer employee relationship The relationship dynamic between the employer and employee will affect the performance of a company, more so during a crisis. A crisis is the best time to bring out the leadership qualities in an organisation. It will show the true mettle of leadership: whether it is able to lead everyone through a turbulent time. Leaders must understand the current situation to understand why employees are behaving in a certain way. • Trust and transparency are very important. Leaders must communicate effectively and transparently with everyone on the company – from the highest management to those in the lowest rung. Nadia explained that in her organisation, “Eighty percent of our workers have a lap top so we can communicate with them via email or video conferencing. As for the other 20%, we send messages via WhatsApp so that everyone can get it, even the despatch or the cleaning lady,” she explained. • Importance of emotional support: Providing emotional support is not the first thing many Malaysian employers will think of giving their workers. Unofficial data shows that many employees are under great stress during this pandemic and will continue to be so when they return to work in the post Covid 19 period, said Nadia. “My friends who work for BeFrienders have said that the number of calls from people who are depressed has increased dramatically. Employers need to face the fact that many of their workers probably have some mental health issues. Not addressing employee’s emotional disconnect can be costly
in the long run for the company. Better to invest in it now.” • Effect of MCO on Malaysian working culture The MCO has changed the Malaysian working culture overnight. Companies that began digitalization had an easier time switching over when workers had to work from home. “There has been a strong will among people to embrace new technology,” said Nadia. Unfortunately many companies were not as prepared and were caught off guard by the MCO. “I had a conference where over 500 participants from different companies took part and more than 50% had not digitalised their company and were struggling when MCO was implemented,” said Anthony. This pandemic has forced even the most reluctant companies to move towards digitalization because it is the way of the future. • Government and private partnership Ong asked the panel who should take the lead in reviving the economy? The Government or the private sector? Anthony said a balance between the two would be the best. “The Government has been listening to the concerns of the employers and it has been friendly to them in its economic stimulus packages. If the employers’ concerns are taken care of, then in turn, the employers can take care of the employees.” • Keeping workers motivated A happy employee is good for the company. But how to keep the workers motivated during a time when due to cash crunch, giving generous bonuses is not an option? Employers need to find creative ways to keep their workers’ morale high. Giving a thank you card for a job well done or giving a day off on their birthday are small gestures that go a long way in rising the spirits of workers.
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•••••
FEATURE / PIKOM CELEBRATES CHINESE NEW YEAR
PIKOM CELEBRATES CHINESE NEW YEAR IN STYLE PIKOM held its annual Chinese New Year dinner, which was well attended by members.
WHAT PIKOM Chinese New Year Dinner WHEN 16 February 2020 WHERE Ballroom at Sime Darby Convention Centre Mont Kiara
P
IKOM started off 2020 in a grand manner with its annual Chinese New Year dinner for its members and partners. The event was a full house, and the entire ballroom was filled with excitement and anticipation of everyone having a good time, spending time with friends and business partners and of course to enjoy the good food. PIKOM Chairman Danny Lee gave the welcoming remarks where he laid out his strategic objectives for 2020: • Building on the strong foundation • Provide tangible value to members • Strengthen PIKOM’s brand as the
40 MY•IT
Voice of the Tech Industry • PIKOM to achieve self-sustainability • Focus on delivering industry value in the short term • Preparing for future growth in the medium term Danny also touched on the key events held by PIKOM which created an impact such as the #MYCYBERSALE 2019 which broke the record sales of 2018; the first national cybersecurity conference, which focused on issues in Malaysia organised by the Cybersecurity Chapter, the ASOCIO PIKOM Digital Summit 2019 and the PIKOM Unicorn Tech Awards. He also stressed on the benefits and value of being a PIKOM member. He also touched on the exciting line-up of events for 2020. The top among them is the WCIT2020 Malaysia to be held in Penang from 14-16th September and the APICTA Awards, which will be held in Kuala Lumpur in November. This year’s awards also coincide with APICTA’s 20th anniversary. Other interesting
things to look forward to this year are: • The setting up of Future Digital, a think-tank made up of key industry players and academicians to help advise the government in formulating and implementing policies in order to ensure the country does not fall behind its neighbours in digitalisation. • The setting up of a new chapter called “Women in Tech”. He ended his speech on an optimistic note with the opportunities that the launch of 5G will bring to the country. The digital landscape of the country will be interesting, he said. The dinner started with Danny and the other office-bearers Ganesh Kumar Bangah (immediate past Chairman), Sean Seah (deputy chairman), CS Ong (secretary) and Alex Liew (treasurer) offering toast for a prosperous and happy new year. The whole hall reverberated with an enthusiastic cheer for the toast and then it was on to tossing the yee sang. Good food, good company and good cheer. It was a memorable dinner indeed.
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•••••
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FEATURE / PIKOM CELEBRATES CHINESE NEW YEAR
STEVE JOBS / FEATURE
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INSPIRING QUOTES FROM TECH ICON: STEVE JOBS This column is about quotes from some of the most influential tech icons of our times.
“Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.” “Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.”
W
ho better to start off this column than Steve Jobs (1955 – 2011) who has become a legend in the tech world for his visionary ideas that led to Apple to become the world’s most valuable company for many years. Steve Jobs co-founded Apple with his partner Steve Wozniak. In 1985 he was fired from Apple but returned to the company 12 years later when Apple bought one of the companies Jobs founded called NeXT. During his second tenure at Apple, through the launch of products such as iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad, he turned Apple from a struggling company to the leading tech giant it is today. Along the way, he also revolutionised six industries: phones, music, animation (via another company he founded Pixar), PCs, tablets and digital publishing. Members who would like to contribute to this section, please contact us at harini.mservices@gmail.com.
“Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.” “You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you’re not passionate enough from the start, you’ll never stick it out.” “I’m as proud of many of the things we haven’t done as the things we have done. Innovation is saying no to a thousand things.” “My favourite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.” “My model for business is The Beatles: They were four guys that kept each others’ negative tendencies in check; they balanced each other. And the total was greater than the sum of the parts.” “For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”
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FEATURE / HITACHI SUNWAY
DESIGNING THE FUTURE
Companies have learned a hard lesson during this pandemic: innovate or become extinct. The good news is innovation can be learned.
• By Sheila Singam
I
t’s amazing how a tiny, unseen pathogen has wreaked such havoc around the globe. The world has almost come to a standstill. Airlines have stopped flights, hotels and restaurants have closed down operations, offices are shuttered worldwide and the streets in the most congested cities of the world are traffic-free. And yet, in the midst of this quiet chaos, something has broken free. This pandemic appears to have awakened the innovation gene in all of us. Oh, wait! Is there a gene for innovation? Are we born with it? Or is it something we can learn?
THIS CRISIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO INNOVATE Hal Gregersen, senior affiliate professor of leadership at INSEAD and co-author of The Innovator’s
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DNA believes that innovation can be learned, both at a personal and corporate level. And there’s nothing like a crisis, such as a pandemic, to spur change in the way we do things, says historian Yuval Noah Harari. He adds that under normal circumstances, people don’t have the motivation to try new things and experiment. “And then some crisis comes and forces them, and afterwards everything changes,” he told Radio France Internationale in an interview. Everything changes. True. Everything as we know it has changed. The way we work, eat, interact, socialise, exercise, engage in leisure activities and a host of other activities has changed drastically. Social media is flooded with examples of the innovative ways we have adjusted to working and living under lockdown. The most significant
benefit to this pandemic is that it has swept away the barriers we built against change – both within our minds and our organisations. Some people have asked if conversations about innovation are relevant at a time when businesses are struggling to stay afloat. Well, innovation is not only relevant, it is imperative. And the relevance of such conversations is in itself irrelevant, for we are already innovating in ways we never dreamed of. But this is unplanned innovation born out of necessity. Should we be innovating in a deliberate way and making it part of our corporate strategy? Most definitely.
A FRAMEWORK FOR COMPANIES TO ORGANISE BUSINESS STRATEGY In his book, The Three Box Solution: A Strategy for Leading Innovation,
expert Professor Vijay Govindarajan offers a framework for companies to organise their business strategy. As its name implies, his approach involves categorising innovation into three boxes. The Box 1 solution, labelled “Manage the Present”, advises organisations to focus on optimising current business. In the context of the present situation, this would mean innovating for business continuity by adapting the way they do business, forging collaborative partnerships and focusing their attention on the most profitable activities. It would involve finding out what customers need and designing solutions for new products and services to meet those needs. The Second Box in Govindarajan’s strategy is called “Forget the Past”. It exhorts corporations to let go of all that is holding them back. For many companies entrenched in tradition, hierarchy and out-dated practices, this is the biggest stumbling block to innovation. Innovation requires flat corporate structures, transparency and a will amongst senior management teams to inculcate it
“
INNOVATION CAN BE LEARNED, BOTH AT A PERSONAL AND CORPORATE LEVEL. AND THERE’S NOTHING LIKE A CRISIS, SUCH AS A PANDEMIC, TO SPUR CHANGE IN THE WAY WE DO THINGS.
as part of the culture. Today, more than ever, companies should use the downtime to revisit their values, policies and processes and toss out the archaic, irrelevant ones. Box 3, the final one, dubbed “Create the Future”, is where breakthrough innovation takes place. This is where companies should innovate in anticipation of discontinuities over the next ten years. Govindarajan advocates setting up a new entity and dedicating at least 10% of resources to do this. Box 3 innovation is bold, it is aspirational and not many companies have the foresight to do it. Yet, it is vital in today’s fast-changing environment. It requires teams
The 3-Box Framework Box 3
Box 2
FORGET THE PAST
CREATE THE FUTURE
”
to hypothesise about what could happen in the future and asking “What if?” questions. It often involves extrapolation based on postulating about the desires and needs of customers in the near future; the technology that might be designed; new distribution channels that might be developed; and non-traditional competitors that could disrupt the market. It is based on possibilities, yes, but it also allows us to be prepared for those possibilities, should they arise. What if we had done Box 3 innovation and asked ourselves what new technologies could allow us to do business differently and then leveraged on those to design a new business model before Covid-19 hit us? Well, those organisations that did would have been better prepared for this season. Having said that, most of us are adapting, re-designing and evolving for the new norm, and it’s never too late to start making innovation part of the culture in a calculated and systematic way. If we can do it in chaos, we can definitely do it when things return to “normal”.
Box 1 Let go of whatever will hold you back
MANAGE THE PRESENT
Optimise current business
Invent a new business model Box 1: Compete for the PRESENT Box 2 & 3: Compete for the FUTURE
Sheila Singam is the founder of Human Equation Sdn Bhd, a company dedicated to accelerating growth in individuals and corporations alike. She believes that innovation is not an option but a necessity in a fastevolving world.
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PIKOM MEMBERS
SYSTEM MANAGEMENT SERVICES SDN BHD
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Since its inception in 1997, System Management Services Sdn Bhd (SMS) has stayed focused on 2 key IT areas: data management and data protection. Starting with Backup & Recovery solutions for both large and small enterprises, SMS has evolved together with the industry into Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity, Virtualization, and Cloud Computing. In the age of Industry 4.0 and the “new normal” postCovid-19 period, with many people working from home and away from the on-premises Data Centres, single data management platform, cloud computing, secure file-sharing, efficient test & development environments are becoming increasingly important. SMS is here to help Malaysian enterprises of all sizes select and implement the best-in-class solutions that are right for your particular situation. Person-in-charge: Mr Nicholas Leong Address: 327, Level 3, Block A, Kelana Centre Point, 3, Jalan SS 7/19, SS 7, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Tel: +6012-290 0876 Email: nicholas.leong@smssb.com
Akademi GA (AGA) is the partner of General Assembly in Malaysia offering courses in Data, Technology and Engineering, Design, Marketing, and Product Management. With 100,000+ alumni and 7,000 hiring partners worldwide that have benefited from 130+ courses and workshops, Akademi GA is committed to bringing GA’s global know-how to upskill and reskill the Malaysian workforce. As a training provider registered with the Ministry of Finance (MOF), HRDF and MDEC, training products and courses are delivered online or on-site (at client offices or on the AGA campus in Kuala Lumpur). Person-in-charge: Jacey Lee Address: Ground Floor, Bangunan ECM Libra, 8, Jalan Damansara Endah, Bukit Damansara, 50490 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: +603-2300 3330 Email: jacey@akademiga.com Website: www.akademiga.com
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As an experienced company powered by the Intelligent Enterprise, SAP is the market leader in enterprise application software, helping companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world’s transaction revenue touches an SAP® system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT) and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers’ businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps people and organisations by providing deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of the competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can use our software the way they want – without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enable more than 440,000 business and public customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people’s lives. Person in charge: Christina Kua Address: Suite 22.09, Level 22, GTower, S199, Jalan Tun Razak, 50400 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: +603-2175 5000 Email: christina.kua@sap.com Website: www.sap.com.
Cydentiq is a leading cybersecurity company focused on helping organizations to build the identity security journey from a more holistic approach to protect businesses against digital risk – ensure the right people have the right access to the right data at the right time and doing the right thing for the right reason. We are a group of people driven by WHY and HOW. Identity security is in our DNA. With our team of 10 years of experience focused in identity management domain – IGA, IAM, PAM, SSO, MFA, Insider Threat, we are committed to helping you succeed in building the nextgeneration identity security platform that is integrated, scalable and sustainable using our ultimate identity security framework and customer success methodology. Person-in-charge: Mr Jason Lim Kean Hong Address: S-06-10, Wisma YNH, 163 Retail Park, 8 Jalan Kiara, Mont Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tel: +603-6419 9592 Email: jason.lim@cydentiq.com Website: www.cydentiq.com
INTEGRICITY TECHNOLOGY SDN BHD
With a mission to improve life for businesses by ensuring technology uptime, Integricity Technology was founded in the year 2000. We distribute proven, best-in-class enterprise IT solutions for desktop & server management, network monitoring, IT audits and next-gen cloud cybersecurity. Above all, we are an enthusiastic team that nurtures our channel partners to succeed by selling rock-solid products. We provide presales support, sales training, extensive product training & certification in addition to deployment assistance. We’re not your average technology distributor – we will scale the highest mountain to support you. Person-in-charge: Mr Johnny Lim (Channel Sales Director) Address: Unit 3-3A, Oval Damansara, Jalan Damansara, 60000 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: +6010-332 7584 / +603-2779 0505 Email: johnny.l@integricity.my Website: www.integricity.my
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WORLD EDUCATION PLACEMENT SERVICES SDN BHD
WEPS is an HRDF-registered Training Provider, focused on providing opportunities for all to upskill and further one’s education in terms of learning new skills, programmes, etc. Partnering with NIIT – the global leading talent development company with 39 years IT industry experiences and continuous R&D, offering learning solutions and training across 40 countries. Being NIIT representative in Malaysia, WEPS has the edge in providing training programmes based on current market trends, specifically in IT and Management related Programmes. Tell us your training needs and we may tailor it to your company’s requirement. Person-in-charge: Mr Mughilen Rathakrishnan Address: 1st Floor, No. 20, Jalan SS15/8, SS15 Subang Jaya, 47500 Selangor. Tel: +603-5636 2020 Fax: +603-5613 0220 Email: info@weps.com.my Website: www.weps.com.my
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