my.IT|Vol 2|No 1|2019|MyKris

VOICE OF THE MALAYSIAN ICT INDUSTRY

my VOL. VOL. 22 •• NO. NO. 11 •• 2019 2019 RM10 RM10

PIKOM LEADERSHIP SUMMIT The largest gathering of ICT professionals in Malaysia

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CONNECTIVITY Mykris Mykris Asia Asia evolution evolution and and Malaysia’s Malaysia’s readiness readiness for for the the onslaught onslaught of of Industry Industry 4.0 4.0 Revolution Revolution

Chew Chew Choo Choo Soon, Soon, Managing Managing Director Director and and Chang Wai Hoong, Executive Director Chang Wai Hoong, Executive Director

my CONTENTS

Vol 2 No. 1

COVER STORY Seamless 360° Connectivity The founders of MyKRIS International speak on the company’s evolution and Malaysia’s readiness for the onslaught of Industry 4.0 Revolution.

Cover Chew Choo Soon, Managing Director and Chang Wai Hoong, Executive Director Photography Song@Picture This Studio

Alan Fung: The Return

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Producing In-Demand IT Knowledge Workers

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PIKOM Leadership Summit

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Annual GBS Asia Awards

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PIKOM News

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PIKOM Secretary Sean Seah Appointed to WITSA Board

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Growth X Accelarator: Accelerating Malaysia’s Startups

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COVER STORY

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Incorporated in 2000, MyKRIS International Berhad has grown into an award-winning technology provider with a listing on Bursa Malaysia’s LEAP Market in October 2018. MyIT sat down with Managing Director Chew Choo Soon and Executive Director Chang Wai Hoong to speak on the company’s evolution and Malaysia’s readiness for the onslaught of Industry 4.0 Revolution.

• By Chiahui • Photos By Song@Picture This Studio

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oday MyKRIS is a Tier-1 licensed Internet content and service provider specialising in offering premium managed broadband services, one-stop high speed Internet access services, webbased application software and e-commerce solutions.

It is among the few service providers that are able to offer a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with a guaranteed service uptime of 99.3% to 99.9%.

On 22 February 2006, Mykris Net was awarded the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) status for its

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contributions to the development of Wireless and Internet Gateway applications and support for Malaysia’s knowledge economy initiatives. The following year saw MyKRIS Net being awarded Pioneer Status on 1 October 2007 by the Malaysian Ministry of Finance in recognition of the company’s contributions towards producing world class homegrown solutions and products.

Before the two head honchos started MyKRIS, Chew Choo Soon and Chang Wai Hoong were already experts in network systems integration. As Chew puts it, the

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COVER STORY

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SECURITY IS A PRIORITY FOR OUR MISSION-CRITICAL CUSTOMERS. BEFORE WE IMPLEMENT OUR SERVICES AND SOLUTIONS, WE SEND OUR TEAMS TO CONDUCT CONSULTATIONS TO ASSESS YOUR INFORMATION SECURITY. - Chang Wai Hoong, Executive Director, MyKRIS

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WE TOOK THE BEST COMPONENTS FROM DIFFERENT VENDORS SO THE EQUIPMENT MET ALL PERFORMANCE AND COST REQUIREMENTS.

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- Chew Choo Soon, Managing Director, MyKRIS

business model of the company that they were working for was on a project basis.

“The business model for system integration solutions then was hard to upkeep. Since it was on a project basis, I felt that it was hardly sustainable in the long run. We both felt we could do better.

“To have a sustainable business, we looked into having a recurring business model, hence it relied upon a tiered subscription model.

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We must also ensure the after sales service is top-notch, for example, good response time and flexible bandwidth,” he said.

Chew shared that MyKRIS, for the first five years, had to resolve a number of technology challenges to meet the high standards they set for themselves. In the early days, a decision was made to provide wireless connectivity service so the company didn’t need to lease fibre optic cables.

“About 18 years ago, wireless connectivity had an image issue.

This was because many customers had bad experiences when they first tried wireless services. So, it was an uphill task to ensure they would not encounter such issues with MyKRIS. “We looked into equipment by 30-odd vendors and did not find the equipment to meet all our requirements. Instead, we took it upon ourselves to re-engineer the equipment that we needed.

“We took the best components from different vendors so the equipment met all performance and cost requirements. I’m very proud to have clients who have been with us since the early years. I believe our unique selling points speak for themselves.”

From 2011 onwards, MyKRIS worked with Telekom Malaysia to create hybrid networks for its customers. A robust microwave wireless network is complemented with fibre networks to ensure reach.

The technology solutions by MyKRIS is capable of redirecting traffic, managing flexible bandwidth and anti-weather. It also allows for a seamless systems integration as MyKRIS manages the multiple service providers that their clients might use.

“In this way, our clients only need to come to us and not deal with different service providers,” said Chew. “With the exponential rise of application-based usage, our customers expect a highly reliable connectivity, especially those in mission-critical industries, e-commerce, and so on.”

In 2008, MyKRIS was preparing to list on the Bursa Malaysia’s ACE Market. However, its two-year preparation and investment were put on hold based on advice from its bankers. In 2011, MyKRIS looked to the New Zealand Exchange Alternative Market (NZAX) as there was an option to have a dual listing in Australia.

By 2012, MyKRIS Limited was successfully listed on the NZAX. During that time, the company was involved in financial activities to boost its presence in New Zealand.

“Although we later brought back the business to Malaysia in 2015, we had learnt a lot about corporate governance, compliance, and other market related components.

The knowledge and insight were invaluable when we were finally listed on Bursa Malaysia’s LEAP

(Leading Entrepreneur Accelerator Platform) Market in early October 2018,” said Chew.

MyKRIS International Bhd made its debut on LEAP at 23 sen, a three sen premium over the initial offer price. At the opening bell, 39.99 million shares were traded.

The company was the 10th company to be listed on LEAP and expected to raise RM8 million through this listing. “The LEAP listing is a pre-ACE exercise for MyKRIS. We are expecting an ACE listing in June 2019,” he said.

TALENT DEVELOPMENT In view of all the exciting plans ahead, MyKRIS recognises the importance of transforming their workforce.

“In order to grow as a company, we have to attract and retain talent.

We need to cultivate a strong corporate culture, give our people a sense of belonging and purpose as well as nurture a healthy employeeemployer relationship.

“Since taking measures to do so since 2012, we are reaping the results in recent years. Based on our internal employee surveys, we found that our talents strongly believe in the company. They have improved competencies as well,” said Chew.

He added that while customers are the foundation of the business, employees are the assets. The company was presented with the Silver Award for Best Employer of the Year at the recent SOBA Award ceremony.

GROWTH STRATEGY Chang, who is responsible for business development and strategic partnerships, shared the company’s expansion into Johor Bahru and Penang. While Penang has a fullfledged office and team, Johor Bahru will be equipped with a similar setup in the coming months.

“We are also expanding into

Sabah and Sarawak to strengthen our presence in Malaysia. As for international reach, we are actively looking for good local partners in Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia and Thailand.

“We expect to leverage on the local partners to implement our high standards and SOPs. While the different countries have their own set of challenges, we are confident that our fully resilient solutions will work well to spearhead their business into the digital age,” he said.

Chang added that the presence of MyKRIS regionally will enable them to attract new customers, increase customer base, and deploy their customised managed network services and technology.

MyKRIS 360 Its latest MyKRIS 360 Inclusion Network Services is an end-to-end approach to people and business, with a solution that includes hybrid net, managed services and managed security.

“Security is a priority for our mission-critical customers. Before we implement our services and solutions, we send our teams to conduct consultations to assess your information security.

“We will conduct interviews with key business department heads, review network architecture and security setups, provide advisory services on security protection, and documentations on security framework and road map.”

He said after the consultations, MyKRIS will customise a plan, addressing loopholes, security concerns and usage. “We are flexible enough to deploy services that our customers really need. Not everyone needs the highest levels of security and bandwidth. We are also able to accommodate any special needs, for example, e-commerce clients will need extra security and bandwidth for the Singles’ Day cybersale.”

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FEATURE

THE RETURN PIKOM’s new CEO of the Secretariat, Alan Fung, is a familiar face in the ICT industry and in PIKOM. He talks to My.IT about the his vision as CEO and what he hopes to accomplish during his tenure.

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hen PIKOM, the National ICT Association of Malaysia, announced the appointment of Alan Fung as the CEO of the Secretariat, the appointment was welcomed by many. Alan, a graduate of University Guelph, Ontario, Canada, in Computing Science and Business Administration, is no stranger to the ICT industry or PIKOM. He worked in the various sub-sectors of the former for more than 30 years. He also served as PIKOM’s Executive Director from 1994 to 2000 before leaving to embark on a career path that saw him start his own company and then move on a successful corporate career that included stints with MDEC where he served as Senior Manager for Enterprise Development Division. He was also the founding team member of MDEC Global Acceleration and Innovation (GAIN) programme that focused on globalizing selected high-growth Malaysian tech companies.

His first stint in PIKOM saw him working together with the Council and his team spearhead to turn the then loss making PIKOM into a profitable, respectable and vibrant industry association by the time he left it in 2000. He left such an indelible mark in PIKOM at that time that in recognition of his work, Computerworld Magazine named

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I WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND OUR MEMBERSHIP TO INCLUDE END-USER ORGANISATIONS AS WELL AND EXTEND MEMBERSHIP TO SMALLER SMES AS WELL.

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- Alan Fung, PIKOM’s new CEO of the Secretariat

him one of Malaysia’s top 50 IT Personalities. It is, Alan says, one of the greatest honours that he treasures.

PIKOM THEN AND NOW PIKOM has undergone many changes in the 18 years that he had been away from the organisation.

Now that he’s back, what are the significant changes that he has seen?

“The biggest change that I have seen is in the terms of the industry itself,” says Alan. “In the late 1990s, the association’s members mainly consisted of distributors and sellers of hardware and software. Now, there are many more companies that have their own Intellectual Property (IP) in terms of software. Those days the members mainly consisted of MNCs or some local large companies.

Now the members of PIKOM consist of many local ICT entrepreneurs which is great because this is what the MSC Malaysia has been trying to promote: to create more locallyowned companies that have their own IP. Twenty years ago, there were hardly any. My wish is to see these companies grow into billion ringgit companies and also the creation of more such companies in the future as well.”

HIS VISION AS CEO Alan is very happy that PIKOM has a very good branding in the

industry. “I regard PIKOM as one of the strongest ICT organisations in Malaysia. My top priorities include giving PIKOM a fresh approach to make it more relevant to the changing ICT landscape, by inviting newer generation of member companies to be part of the association as well as kicking off related initiatives in areas of Blockchain, AI, Internet of Things, Robotics and IR 4.0,” he says.

He also hopes to increase collaboration between PIKOM and other industry bodies such as the tech and non-tech based organisations. “PIKOM is in a very unique position with regards to our membership in that we have both vendors and suppliers as well as a sizable group of about 110 CIOs with each having a budget of more than RM10 million, thus collectively carrying a combined IT budget of RM1.1 billion annually,” says Alan.

“I also hope to expand coverage into a large base of end users. Our members are generally suppliers, CIOs, vendors etc. I would like to extend our membership to include end-user organisations as well and extend membership to smaller SMEs as well,” he adds.

On his second stint with PIKOM, Alan is thrilled to be back again. “It is great to be back at PIKOM again. I am humbled to be given the opportunity to re-join PIKOM at this exciting and challenging juncture of our industry

to help PIKOM in its transformation journey,” he says, adding that it is a well-recognised fact that in many countries, a strong industry association is imperative for the development of the local industry.

PIKOM Chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah says the Council is looking forward to see PIKOM play a more active role in the industry, taking shape under the guidance and support of Fung, who comes armed with a wealth of industry experience and insights over the past 30 years.

“Moving forward, we want to create a much stronger and a more dependable association with tailorsuit offerings for our existing, new and future members who are the driving force of the ICT industry which is one of the fastest growing industries in Malaysia” says Ganesh.

The new CEO was also part of PIKOM’s office bearers in the early 2000s, serving as the association’s Honorary Secretary.

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IT IS A WELLRECOGNISED FACT THAT IN MANY COUNTRIES, A STRONG INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION IS IMPERATIVE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LOCAL INDUSTRY.

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FEATURE / PIKOM ACADEMY

PRODUCING IN-DEMAND IT KNOWLEDGE WORKERS PIKOM Academy aspires to become a one-stop learning centre for the IT industry by offering a wide range of training courses from soft skills, leadership to selected technical courses.

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IKOM Academy, an integral component of PIKOM, the National ICT Association of Malaysia, was set up to become a talent-enabling platform to address the critical human resource issue of the mis-match between demand and supply of IT knowledge workers in the country.

As Malaysia moves full steam ahead in their Digital Economy agenda, it is important that the industry here is equipped with a big strong pool of talented and skilled workforce.

The Academy’s objective is also to address the concerns the industry is continuously facing, which is that many experienced Malaysian talents are moving to neighbouring countries for greener pastures; better salary offers, benefits and remunerations, for example. This brain drain issue is faced by many industries in Malaysia, including the digital economy due to regional competitiveness for the best

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talents in the markets which are in shortage.

Through the Academy and joint collaborations with the industry experts, academia community and government agencies, PIKOM has the finger on the pulse of the human resource element of the industry and aspires to provide a one-stop learning centre for a wide range of training courses in soft skills, leadership and selected technical courses.

It is the Academy’s objectives through its programmes to bridge the talent gap and overcome the brain drain as well as to create awareness of the current human resource requirements and promote programmes related to the latest technology trends.

PIKOM believes in lifelonglearning and continuous professional development and has diligently focused to make the Academy a talent-enabling platform where

PIKOM IS WORKING WITH THE MALAYSIA PRODUCTIVITY CORPORATION (MPC) AND INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS TO LAUNCH A MICRO-ONLINE LIFE LEARNING PLATFORM PROMOTING TRAINING PROGRAMMES IN CURRENT SKILLS, SOFT SKILLS AND FUTURE SKILLS.

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C.S. Chin, PIKOM Academy Chair & Honorary Chairman

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professionals can continue to arm themselves with relevant skills to enhance their contributions to the organisations they work and be an asset in the industry.

The Academy, through PIKOM, has close alliances with government bodies and international associations where we seek greater understanding in regional human resource issues, hold dialogues on crossborder talent requirements and to continuously facilitate sessions in knowledge-sharing and industry trends.

Through our firm relationships with the public sector and international bodies, PIKOM can fully grasp the human resource challenges faced by respective local and international sectors and requirements which will allow them to craft tailor-made training solutions for ICT Professionals.

PIKOM POWERPM LEADERSHIP COURSE (PIKOM PLC) One of the most highly successful programmes of the Academy is the PIKOM PowerPM Leadership Course (PIKOM PLC), a joint collaboration between PIKOM Academy and Team Synthesis since 2009.

Through this programme, PIKOM aim to go beyond the expected norm of just providing project management courses, said C.S. Chin, PIKOM Academy Chair & PIKOM Honorary Chairman.

“In this unique five-day training programme, we also offer subjects in leadership, communications and Emotional Intelligence (EQ),” he added.

After completing this programme, the attendees are entitled for 45 Professional Development Units (PDUs). PLC participants are also given hands-on training on project management office tools by experienced industry gurus.

To date, the Academy has offered 34 series of PLC programmes and trained close to 700 project leaders.

BENEFITS OF ATTENDING PIKOM ACADEMY The courses offered by PIKOM Academy have been soughtafter by ICT Professionals and corporations due to its relevance to the industry needs, reputable trainers and comprehensive modules that offer a holistic learning approach that go beyond textbooks and passive delivery.

“The individual will benefit from the courses because he or she will attain personal growth, career advancement, opportunities to network with industry peers and learn from experienced industry guest speakers,” said Chin.

“The fact that companies continuously send their staff for courses at PIKOM Academy bears fruit that that PIKOM is addressing the industry’s human resource concerns to equip professionals with relevant skills to be part of their organisations,”.

“PIKOM is also working with the Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) and industry associations to

launch a micro-online life learning platform promoting training programmes in current skills, soft skills and future skills,” said Chin.

He added that another important reason why the courses from PIKOM Academy are in demand is due to the PIKOM Academy ‘brand’.

“PIKOM Academy is a neutral body and it is able to endorse certification for selected training programmes,” Chin emphasised.

FUTURE PLANS FOR PIKOM ACADEMY PIKOM Academy aims to continuously be the platform which connects the ICT industry and the workforce. It will consistently create awareness about the future in-demand jobs in the ICT industry. The Academy will also be actively involved in the Government-related initiatives to upskill/reskill Malaysian workforce and thereby increase career opportunities related to IR4.0 and in-demand ICT jobs by 2020.

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FEATURE / PIKOM LEADERSHIP

PIKOM LEADERSHIP SUMMIT PIKOM Leadership Summit (PLS) 2018, the largest gathering of thought-leaders and C-level participants from the Malaysian ICT industry, was a huge success. It was also held together for the first time with the Smart Sourcing Summit, the business leadership event of Outsourcing Malaysia, which is a chapter of PIKOM.

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he final flagship event of 2018 for PIKOM was the PIKOM Leadership Summit (PLS) 2018, held last November. The PLS 2018 is a core programme by PIKOM that provides the ideal platform for hundreds of thought leaders and C-Level participants to network with some of the big names in Malaysia’s ICT industry. It is also an opportunity for participants to learn about the latest trends and insights in technology.

The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) is the strategic partner of this event.

The event was a huge success as evidenced by the attendance of hundreds of delegates who were from the who’s who in the ICT industry in Malaysia, captains of the

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industry, entrepreneurs, CIOs and many other rising stars. The event was valued at RM990 per delegate.

The theme for this year’s PLS was Embark on the Digital Revolution. For the first time, PLS was held together with Smart Sourcing Summit, the flagship business leadership event of Outsourcing Malaysia, which is a chapter of PIKOM. The main partner of this event was Fusionex. The other partners are Taiwan Excellence, Dimension Data, NEM,PWS, VeeAM, Exclusive Networks, GrowthX Academy and SRG. To underscore the importance of the event, the Minister of Communications and Multimedia Gobind Singh Deo officiated the event and launched the 10th edition

of the PIKOM ICT Strategic Review 2018/2019 (see side bar). The The one-day event from 9am till 5pm, was packed with important speeches, keynote addresses and panel discussions.

The main event was held in the grand ballroom, but the foyer outside was also a buzz of activity as many companies had their booths in the foyer which advertised their services and products. These booths were crowded with many visitors who wanted to get more information on the products and services.

One of the key themes of many of the speakers at the PIKOM Leadership Summit and the Smart Outsourcing Summit was that major changes were happening thanks to AI and the Industrial Revolution 4.0

and Malaysia must be prepared to embrace the change.

Minister Gobind Singh Deo in his keynote address said that Malaysia needs to cultivate more local tech talents, create more demand for tech industries and most importantly, provide startups with capital and encourage them so that they can succeed. He invited PIKOM to take the lead by building a digital leadership platform.

If Malaysia wants to make that leap into a becoming a developed nation with high tech industry and high paying wages, perhaps it should take a look at how Taiwan transformed itself from a nation that was known for its cheap goods to now a nation that is at the forefront of R & D and home to

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FEATURE / PIKOM LEADERSHIP

many innovative companies. ‘IR 4.0 – What Businesses Need To Know The Taiwan Experience’, the first Panel Session powered by Taiwan Excellence was a very interesting session which gave an insight into how Taiwan went about to change itself from a low cost manufacturing hub to become one of the most sophisticated industrial countries in the world. Some of Taiwan’s brands are household names around the world such as ASUS, Acer, Htc, Advantech etc.

One of the speakers on this panel, David Hsu, Director of Economic Division, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia had this advice for Malaysia: it needs to focus on manpower training as it lacks a highly skilled workforce which is necessary for a country if it wants to become a high tech industrial hub. He also advised the country to improve its high speed broadband (HSBB) connectivity so that more people can get connected via the Internet at a faster rate and cheaper price.

The Smart Sourcing Summit also had its series of talks and panel sessions after lunch. The common theme of these talks and discussions centered on how AI and Industry 4.0 was going to disrupt the old ways of doing business. This ‘disruptive innovation’, will transform the shared services, making them more efficient and saving time and money for companies said the experts.

Alan Fung, the PIKOM’s CEO in his closing address summed up the three most important messages of the summit. First, there was no running away from the digital transformation, he said. “Industries have to embrace it. Secondly, talent development is extremely important if companies and countries want to stay ahead of the competition. Finally, people must be prepared to change their mindset and learn new skills and knowledge.

The old ways will not work anymore,” cautioned Alan.

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THE LAUNCH OF THE 10TH EDITION OF PIKOM ICT STRATEGIC REVIEW 2018/2019: THRIVING IN THE DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM This 14-chapter, 130-page report covers a range of thoughtleadership topics such as the Economic Outlook, ICT Industry Outlook and ICT Salary Trends in Malaysia as well as Blockchain, Robotics in Human Resource, Digital Entrepreneurship, Digital Transformation Leadership, Women & Technology and Digital Tax. The report is anchored by PIKOM with articles contributed by industry leaders such as Microsoft, HP, IBM, Persol Kelly, Jobstreet, NEM as well as MDEC and IDEAS. The publication was officially launched by the Minister of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia Gobind Singh Deo at the PLS 2018.

PIKOM Chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah said the annual PIKOM ICT Strategic Review report is one of the core valuable offerings to PIKOM members and which positions the association as the private sector compass of the industry, while ensuring sustainability.

“I am very pleased and appreciative to see that the 10th

edition of the publication has drawn strong partner support from 19 major industry players, namely MDEC, Dell EMC, Ektech, Microsoft, CIS Solucis, Glocomp, Persolkelly, Jobstreet, Mykris, Dimension Data, daythree, Commerce.Asia, NEM, Epson, Fusionex, FireEye, Hitachi Sunway, knowledge.com and HDC,” said Ganesh.

He added this industry support towards this report signifies PIKOM’s mission statement that all of the association’s programmes and activities are ‘for the industry, by the industry.’

FEATURE / GBS ASIA AWARDS

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ANNUAL GBS ASIA AWARDS Outsourcing Malaysia honours the best in Malaysia’s annual GBS Asia Awards.

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he Global Business Services (GBS) has had a presence in Malaysia for more than 15 years. At present, this sector is represented by more than 700 companies and employs more than 100,000 workforce who serve the domestic and international markets.

The GBS sector has always been one of the core focuses in Malaysia’s economic development under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). The jobs provided by this sector are very much in line with the Government’s aim to create middle to high-income jobs in Malaysia.

One of the most prestigious awards to honour and recognise this industry is the GBS Asia Awards.

This award ceremony is organised by Outsourcing Malaysia (OM), a chapter of PIKOM with the Malaysia Digital Economy Cooperation (MDEC) as its strategic partner.

The 9th GBS Asia Awards held in December 2018 recognised winners in the corporate categories and also honoured individuals for their achievements in the respective fields in the GBS sector. Previously, this award was known as the Outsourcing Malaysia Excellence Awards. The change of name to GBS Asia Awards is to reflect the regional performance and activities of Malaysia’s GBS sector.

The eight winners in the corporate categories were Tenaga Nasional

Berhad for Best Practices in Business Process Transformation; HDC Data Centre Sdn Bhd for Best Practices in Infrastructure Management Services; Daythree Business Services Sdn Bhd for Operational Excellence in Contact Centre; Emerio (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd for Operational Excellence in Information Technology; Standard Chartered Global Business Services Sdn Bhd for Global Business Services Regional Growth Leader; Genpact Malaysia Sdn Bhd for Operational Excellence in Finance & Accounting as well as HSBC Electronic Data Processing (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and BP Business Service Centre Asia Sdn Bhd each for Best Practices in Corporate Social Responsibility.

GBS Asia Awards 2018 Individual Winners.

GBS Asia Awards 2018 Corporate Winners.

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FEATURE / GBS ASIA AWARDS

GBS ASIA AWARDS 2018 CORPORATE AWARDS WINNERS

Tenaga Nasional Bhd – Best Practices in Business Process Transformation.

HDC Data Centre Sdn Bhd – Best Practices in Infrastructure Management Services.

Daythree Business Services Sdn Bhd – Operational Excellence in Contact Centre.

Emerio (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd – Operational Excellence in Information Technology.

Standard Chartered Global Business Services Sdn Bhd – Global Business Services Regional Growth Leader.

Genpact Malaysia Sdn Bhd – Operation Excellence in Finance & Accounting.

HSBC Electronic Data Processing (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd – Best Practices in Corporate Social Responsibility.

BP Business Service Centre Asia Sdn Bhd – Best Practices in Corporate Social Responsibility.

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There were 15 individual winners.

Brandt International Sdn Bhd and Tenaga Nasional Berhad boasted the highest number of winners in the individual category where four employees from each company won awards in different categories. The other companies that had multiple winners in the individual category were AIC Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd with three winners, two from OSHRS Sdn Bhd and one each from Daythree Business Services Sdn Bhd and Standard Chartered Global Business Services Sdn Bhd. The criteria set to determine the

winners were based on the globally accepted standards and practices by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals.

In congratulating the award recipients, OM Chairman Cheah Kok Hoong said the GBS Asia Awards 2018 is a platform to recognise and nurture talents as well as to encourage more interest, grow prospects and investments in the sector. He also said that Malaysia’s GBS sector is expected to record a compounded annual growth rate of 10 to 15 per cent over the next five years.

PIKOM Chairman, Ganesh Kumar

Bangah also congratulated the winners and OM which continues to support the GBS sector. “OM has played a vital role in developing the GBS industry together with our supporting partner MDEC,” said Ganesh.

Anthony Raja Devadoss, GBS Asia Awards Chair, said that OM together with PIKOM and its supporting partner MDEC, will continue to create a viable environment for the growing GBS sector as these awards play an important role in recognising companies and individuals for their roles in creating this vibrant industry.

2018 GBS ASIA AWARDS Winners – Individual Categories Individual Categories

Winner

Company

Best Team Leader Information Technology

Mohammad Naveed Bin Mohammad Saddique

AIG Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd

Best Operations Manager Information Technology

Palaniappan Arunachalam

AIG Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd

Best Transformation Leader Information Technology

Thirumalai Srinivasan Subbarayalu

AIG Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd

Best Operations Director Contact Centre

Rita Rohini Joshua

Brandt International Sdn Bhd

Best Operations Manager Human Resource

Isabelle Liyu Beier

Brandt International Sdn Bhd

Best Operations Director Human Resource

Mohd Kabil Shamsuri

Brandt International Sdn Bhd

Best Transformation Leader Human Resource

Munirah Looi

Brandt International Sdn Bhd

Best Operations Manager Contact Centre

Chiew Sin Kwang

Daythree Business Services Sdn Bhd

Best Team Leader Human Resource

Nur Hayati Binti Che Ni

OSHRS Sdn Bhd

Best Professional Agent Human Resource

Ha Na Phi

OSHRS Sdn Bhd

Best Transformation Leader Information Technology Mohamed Abdel Razek

Standard Chartered Global Business Services Sdn. Bhd

Best Professional Agent Contact Centres

Nur Farhana Binti Fadzil

Tenaga Nasional Berhad

Best Team Leader Contact Centre

Nizam Bin Tukinam

Tenaga Nasional Berhad

Best Transformation Leader Contact Centre

Parameswaran A/L A. Shanmuganathan

Tenaga Nasional Berhad

Best Account Manager Contact Centre

Hemadasa A/L N. Amarasingam

Tenaga Nasional Berhad

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PIKOM NEWS

PIKOM COUNCILLOR HEADS THE ASIA PACIFIC ICT ALLIANCE (APICTA) It was a proud moment for Malaysia and PIKOM when one of its Councillors, Stan Singh, was appointed as the Chairman of APICTA during the 57th APICTA Exco Meeting in Myanmar. He takes over from Dr. Dileepa De Silva of Sri Lanka, who served as the APICTA chairman since 2014.

This marks the first time that the Malaysia economy will lead the 18 year-old global ICT alliance comprising 16 member economies in the Asia Pacific. The 16 economies in APICTA are Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. In Malaysia, PIKOM and MDEC are the representative ICT

organisations in the alliance.

Stan, the previous APICTA deputy chairman, is no stranger to the ICT industry. He has served almost three decades in IT management and business management roles in various industries ranging from hotel and properties, retail and supply chain management, manufacturing and finance and has led various IT and business projects in USA, UK, Australia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.

He is also a business coach who has so far coached 22 companies and an international speaker. He is also the founder and principal consultant of IronHorse Asia Sdn Bhd, which provides IT solutions for the retail and financial industries.

Commenting on his appointment,

FORMER PIKOM CHAIRMAN HEADS THE ASIAN OCEANIAN COMPUTING INDUSTRY ORGANIZATION (ASOCIO) PIKOM members continue to make their mark in international ICT organisations. Former PIKOM Chairman and the Co-founder and Emeritus Chairman of Outsourcing Malaysia (OM), David Wong Nan Fay, was re-elected to the Chairman post at the ASOCIO Digital Summit in Tokyo, Japan. ASOCIO is a grouping of

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IT industry associations representing economies in the Asian and Oceania region, in which PIKOM is a member of ASOCIO was established in 1984 in Tokyo, Japan and is the most active international ICT trade organization in Asia and Oceania. Its influence covers more than 10,000 ICT companies and represents approximately US$ 350 billion of ICT revenue in the region.

ASOCIO’s objective is to promote, encourage and foster relationships and trade among its members, and to develop the computing industry in the region.David has more than 30 years experience in the Information Technology and Logistic Industry.

He is the founder and Group CEO of SnT Global Sdn Bhd, a company that specialises in Lead Logistics Management, Warehousing, Transportation, Consulting and eFulfillment services. SnT is a pioneer

Stan said that it was “a great privilege and honour to be appointed as the new chairman of APICTA, making Malaysia as the new head of the global alliance for the first time. I am thrilled at the opportunity of working with the new APICTA Executive Committee to strive together to tap and unearth the talents and skills of extraordinary companies and individuals in the dynamic ICT Community of Asia Pacific.”

in the field of supply chain BPO in Asia and has won several major industry awards. SnT was recognised

by Global Services Awards as one of the top 100 most innovative outsourcing companies in the world as well as top 10 to watch in Asia.

Under his leadership, ASOCIO rebranded itself with a new vision “to be the catalyst of Asia Pacific digital transformation and enablement organisation”. ASOCIO has also announced its new tagline, `Reimagining the Digital Era’ with a mission to be “the voice of the ICT industry” at the international trade and technology level and “to be the focal point on the state of the digital economy of the region.”

David is a firm believer that the Asia Pacific region can be a global leader in the digital economy.

“Countries in the APAC have tremendous potential to embrace, transform and lead in the digital economy and a true digital revolution will transform the ICT development in the region and in the future,” he said.

PIKOM’S NEWLY-ELECTED OFFICE BEARERS

FRONT ROW, L-R: PIKOM Treasurer Ong Chin Seong, PIKOM Chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah, PIKOM Deputy Chairman Danny Lee and PIKOM Secretary Sean Seah.

BACK ROW, L-R: PIKOM Councillors, Anthony Raja Devadoss, Stan Singh, Alex Liew, Eng Kin Hoong, Dato’ Seri Ivan Teh, Datuk Teoh Eng Kee and KT Ong of Dell Global Business Centre Sdn Bhd. (Absent) PIKOM Councillor Dr Dzaharudin Mansor.

PIKOM’s newly-elected council for the term 2018-19 was unveiled at the association’s 32nd Annual General Meeting on November 22nd 2018.

Chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah, Deputy Chairman Danny Lee, Secretary Sean Seah and Treasurer Ong Chin Seong were re-elected for the 2018-19 term while Anthony Raja Devadoss of Kelly Services (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Dato’ Seri Ivan Teh of Adv Fusionex Sdn Bhd, Alex Liew of Glocomp Systems (M) Sdn Bhd and Eng Kin Hoong of CIS IT Solutions Sdn Bhd were elected for the 201820 term.

They will join Stan Singh Jit of IronHorse Asia Sdn Bhd, Datuk Teoh Eng Kee of EKTECH Communications Sdn Bhd, KT Ong of Dell Global Business Centre Sdn Bhd and Dr Dzaharudin Mansor of Microsoft (M) Sdn Bhd who were previously elected as councillors in the 2017 AGM.

CREATING GREAT VALUE FOR ASEAN START-UPS AND SCALE-UP COMPANIES The new partnership between PIKOM, SEATech Ventures Corp and GreenPro Capital Corp will set the stage for an unprecedented step which will create great value for the ASEAN start-ups and scale-up companies.

A Strategic Collaboration Agreement was signed between SEATech and GreenPro which is expected to bring advantages to the ASEAN tech companies by providing them the opportunities of business networking, access to funding, preIPO/IPO advisory, and expanding their business into new markets in Asia/US. The signing which took place at the PIKOM office also saw the launch of ADAQ, the next generation financial information market that facilitates pre-listed Emerging High-Growth Companies to connect with and to get access to potential

investors and synergetic companies.

ADAQ serves as a stepping stone for companies to enter the international capital market such as NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX and etc.

ADAQ helps hot scale-up companies, high-growth emerging enterprises and SMEs by providing an experienced professional team

that could assist in corporate exercise implementation such as M & A and listing process. It also provides an international financial information market to promote business value. In addition, it also furnishes effective resources and channels in international market expansion.

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MEMBER NEWS

PIKOM SECRETARY SEAN SEAH APPOINTED TO WITSA BOARD His new position follows a string of Malaysian ICT leaders, especially PIKOM Council members who play pivotal roles on the global ICT platforms.

P

IKOM Secretary Sean Seah has been appointed to the board of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA), a leading consortium of ICT industry association members from over 80 global economies. Founded in 1978, WITSA has members who represent more than 90 per cent of the world’s ICT market.

“I am deeply honoured to be appointed to the WITSA board especially as Malaysia gets ready to host the WCIT 2020. As a member of WITSA, PIKOM is appreciative to be given the responsibility to host this global event of this scale. WCIT 2020 will set Malaysia as the gateway to ICT industry in the Southeast Asia.” said Seah who began his career in the Silicon Valley after graduating with a Masters in Computer Science from California State University in 1993, working as a software application developer for Software Publishing Corporation and Netscape Communications Inc. With a decade of valuable experience working for leading-edge companies in the United States as well as for Sun Microsystems in Greater China, Seah returned to Malaysia in 2004 to embark on an entrepreneur journey.

He is the founder of a number of successful ICT companies in the past 20 years, including Afor Pte Ltd which was floated in Singapore Stock Exchange and rebranded as Epicentre Holdings Limited, Galasys PLC which was floated in London

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“

WCIT 2020 WILL SET MALAYSIA AS THE GATEWAY TO ICT INDUSTRY IN THE SOUTHEAST ASIA.

”

MEMBER NEWS

Stock Exchange, SCCW Holdings Sdn Bhd and SEATech Ventures Corp in the United States.

PIKOM Chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah expressed his appreciation to WITSA for appointing a representative of PIKOM to be on the board of the global ICT organisation.

“I would like to congratulate Seah on his new appointment which reflects the continuous important role that the Malaysian private sector ICT Association is playing in the international affairs of the growth of the global ICT industry,” said Ganesh.

In WITSA, Seah will be representing the interests of PIKOM members, highlighting the value propositions of the ICT companies for investment needs, seeking opportunities for multi-lateral trade and holding high-level discussions with other member economies on public policies to promote ICT growth.

His appointment is timely as in 2020 Malaysia will be hosting the 23rd edition of the Word Congress of Information Technology (WCIT), the signature global ICT event of

•••••

WITSA. PIKOM will play a central role in organising this mega ICT business conference and Seah is a key member of the WCIT 2020 Malaysia organising committee.

WCIT 2020 Malaysia, to be held from September 13th to 16th, is expected to attract over 4,000 visionaries, captains of industry, government leaders and academics from more than 80 countries. It will feature a dynamic exhibition of the next-generation innovations from global companies and a jampacked scheduled conference of talks, debates, forums, networking sessions and business-matching opportunities.

A gala dinner and the WITSA General Assembly will also take place during WCIT 2020 Malaysia.

The WCIT 2020 Malaysia theme Digital Economy in Action was conceptualized to reflect that the advent of the digital economy has unleashed a flow of possibilities that are limitless, borderless and continuous.

Seah’s new position follows a string of Malaysian ICT leaders, particularly PIKOM Council members who have played and are still playing pivotal roles on the global ICT platforms. PIKOM Councillor Stan Singh and PIKOM Advisor David Wong Nan Fay are currently the Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) chairman and the Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization (ASOCIO) chairman respectively.

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FEATURE

ACCELERATING MALAYSIA’S STARTUPS IT industry veteran and PIKOM Chairman, Ganesh Kumar Bangah brings Silicon Valley’s GrowthX Accelerator and Academy to Kuala Lumpur.

A

lthough there is no shortage of entrepreneurs and startups around the world, many investors, including Ganesh Kumar Bangah, found a particular issue among them. The Founder and Executive Chairman of Commerce DotAsia Ventures Sdn Bhd (Commerce.asia), said that entrepreneurs are focused on raising money and attracting investors while placing less time on market development.

“This becomes a frustrating environment for investors,” he said at the launch of the GrowthX Malaysia.

GrowthX Academy is located at a 5,000 square feet facility at DOJO, the latest Malaysia Digital HubTM in Menara AmpleWest, Kuala Lumpur.

“Entrepreneurs need to understand that it is not necessarily the technology that makes the products but the users. For example, Facebook users are the backbone of its success. Several industry

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leaders and I see the need to have an academy to enlighten the entrepreneurs so they can address this issue.”

In 2016, Ganesh was in Silicon Valley to mentor at the Google Launch Pad, an accelerator programme.

That was where he found GrowthX. “I realised that their methodology will be able to help the companies that I was mentoring.”

The Silicon Valley-based GrowthX has a Market Acceleration Programme that is designed to help founders develop, test and validate hypotheses at every stage of the market development process. It also includes a sustainable method to find productmarket fit through continuous giveand-take between the startup and its customers.

Through this programme, founders methodically go through a process to learn how customers acquire and use their product — enabling startups to organise and learn from customers.

In addition, the GrowthX Academy trains individuals who wants to upskill themselves in Business Growth, Growth Marketing or User Experience (UX) Design. Its world class instructors are entrepreneurs, founders, business owners and investors who teach the skills, mindsets and frameworks necessary in today’s competitive environment. Its mission is to help students acquire the job they love at a company they’ll love working at.

Another challenge that startups in Malaysia need to address is to improve user experience, according to Ganesh.

“Many of the products and services in Malaysia have terrible user experience. Many of the existing services make user experience mistakes that can be improved.

They need to realise that a great user experience is all about understanding humans — H2H. “User experience contributes greatly to business growth skills and with that, successfully take a product or service to market,” said Ganesh, who aims to train 50 to 100 entrepreneurs a month.

He added: “There is a process for market discovery — how to message and how to find your targeted customers. Then, market messaging — how do you reach those customers, which channels do you use?

“Finally, market results — how do you retain customers? This is the process that the founders can learn from GrowthX.” MDEC CEO Datuk Yasmin Mahmood who was at the event, said,

“Tech entrepreneurs will be able to tap GrowthX Academy’s extensive network of entrepreneurs, companies, world-class mentors and instructors, together with industry engagements designed to help them succeed.”

MoU SIGNING At the launch, Commerce.asia entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation (APU). The MoU was exchanged between Ganesh Kumar Bangah and the university’s Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Parmjit Singh while it was witnessed by Datuk Yasmin Mahmood.

“The MOU represents a collaboration between industry and academia that aims to inculcate into students not only the entrepreneurial and growth mindset that is required in today’s innovation economy but also to teach the foundation of growth from the perspective of marketing, business and user experience.

In addition, it aims to develop an acceleration platform within APU for innovative ideas from students to be identified, nurtured, developed and eventually commercialised. This will facilitate the growth of the start- up ecosystem within Malaysia” said Datuk Parmjit.

Ganesh said by early 2019 the acceleration programme at APU will not only provide students with

a structured commercialisation programme powered by GrowthX’s Market Acceleration Programme but also provide seed funding to students to start their business in exchange for equity. “We hope to find the next Mark Zuckerberg in APU,” he added.

The acceleration program will not only provide students with a structured commercialisation program powered by GrowthX’s MXP but will also provide seed funding to APU students to start their business in exchange for equity. We hope to find the next Mark Zuckerberg in APU.”

ABOUT GROWTHX GrowthX started in 2015 by a group of entrepreneurs who have extensive experience in building and mentoring startups. Based on that, they have developed a structured methodology and training syllabus that teaches organisations to grow their businesses effectively.

Two of its founding partners are Andrew Goldner and Sean Sheppard.

Goldner helps lead the fund, identify investment opportunities, and craft and guide the overall vision keeping everyone pointed towards a common North Star. His varied background as founder, funder, operator, advisor and technology attorney in the United States and Asia Pacific allows him to help entrepreneurs and companies from inception through exit. He is also

a Kauffman Fellow, Board Member of Venture for America, and a mentor at Galvanize, Alchemist Accelerator, and Matter.

Sheppard is a serial entrepreneur who has successfully grown dozens of early-stage companies across a wide variety of products and markets.

At GrowthX Academy, Sheppard is focused on sharing his expertise in monitoring and adjusting revenue pipelines to help startups improve the probability and predictability of sales and marketing success. He also co-founded the Professional Sales College to change the way the world values the sales profession through graduating the best educated and trained sales professionals in the world.

Mentors at the Academy in KL includes Ganesh, Dr Tom Tan (E-Commerce and Online Customer Behaviour Specialist), Stanley Lim (CEO of SiteGiant), Low Vway Huan (Social Media Marketing, Photobook Worldwide), Gerald Lee (General Manager, Red Bull Malaysia) and many more.

Meanwhile, the Silicon Valleytrained instructors are Dr Tom Tan (Business Growth), Logan Herzoq (Growth Marketing), Travis Lim (Growth Marketing), and Lim Yung Hui (UI/UX Design).

For more information, visit https.// www.growthx.asia.

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