Malaysia’s cloud adoption: SLOW AND STEADY · 2018. 2. 3. · 9 Jalan 16/11, off Jalan Damansara 46350 Petaling Jaya PUBLISHER Satish EDITORIAL [email protected] EDITOR:

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Malaysia’s cloud adoption:

SLOW ANDSTEADY

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We will meet all your business needs 一 from network installations for your business to trainings. We also provide routine care and maintenance for your digital network to ensure your business stays connected to the world.

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Reseller Malaysia2 www.resellermalaysia.my | NOVEMBER 2017

Cloudy with a Chance of …

H ello and welcome back! This issue, we talk about cloud computing. This is one of the game changers in the journey to digital transformation. The government is

determined to create an SME-driven digital economy. Technology vendors are desperately trying to get SMEs on board.

Although they quote impressive numbers of companies in Malaysia coming around to it, our pace of adoption seems to lag other countries in the region. We run the risk of being left behind. The big players such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform are recording astounding growth, so this is not a passing fad.

I am a glass half-full kind of guy. What I see here is tremendous opportunity for the reseller community. The early adopters and the rest of the world are moving forward with cloud technology, which ensures the technology is constantly getting improved and the bugs and problems are continually ironed out. Meanwhile, we have a practically untapped market waiting to be mined – with products and services that are already tested and proven!

SIs and VARs have always played an important role in connecting SMEs to the tech vendors and that will not change. The type of tech may change but the need for them will always be there.

This window of opportunity will not last forever. One of the downsides of having our neighbours – and competitors – going digital first is that they will become strong competitors who can outmuscle our home-grown Stone Age SMEs and push them into extinction. With every company that goes bust, that is one potential customer off the board.

Do drop us a note to say Hi or give us your feedback – we want to keep improving to serve you better. We would also love to have you on our panel of respondents: from time to time, we would like to get your views on new developments in the market or product releases. Don’t forget to visit our website at www.resellermalaysia.my for more news and articles.

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CONTENTS

LocalPIKOM launches cybersecurity chapterMalaysian malware encounters higher than global averageTelecoming comes to Malaysia via AxiataMDEC delighted with Budget 2018IDC names digital transformation winners for Malaysia

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P12P13

International Alibaba Cloud, Fusionex forge strategic regional partnershipMalwarebytes Labs unveils upcoming threats in 4Q17

P5 NewsP6

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P14

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Malaysia’s cloud adoption: slow and steadyJust a few years ago, cloud computing was considered an interesting concept occurring

in Western countries that may take some time to catch on in Asia Pacific – and Malaysia.

P14 Cover Story

P18P19P20P21

P22

P25

HP ElitePOS aims to enhance in-store shopping experienceFinancio targets micro SMEs with freemium accounting applicationSony throws a solid punch with A1 Bravia OLED TVMicrosoft extends Azure on-premise with new product launches

P18 Product News

Modern Tech Users and their HabitsIn the world of mobility, users are increasingly creative in how they use their phones and

computers. Here are some interesting statistics of their habits.

P27 Survey

P22

P22

Be a star: how to stand out from the crowdTo gain an advantage over their competitors, technology service providers often try

to differentiate themselves by their uniqueness. Unfortunately, 90% of such plays

will fail.

Five tips to secure your digital contentDistributed denial-of- service (DDoS) attacks can do more damage than just block

access to your website. Here are some tips to counter them.

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T he National ICT Association of Malaysia (PIKOM) formed a new

chapter on cyber security to address the growing issue of online security threats and incidents.

PIKOM believes that greater awareness and stronger policies are needed as present measures in place are insufficient. If left unchecked, the potential fallout would be huge, given the growing importance of the digital economy and its rising contributions to the overall ICT industry and Malaysian economy.

“With the vast growth of digital transformation, digital economy and e-commerce, cyber-security must be regarded as a critical business factor,” said Chin Chee Seong, PIKOM chairman. “Cyber attacks are the new means used by criminals to cripple organisations and critical infrastructures and ‘attack’ countries.

“The devastating effects include financial loss, data loss and irreparable damage to reputation and credibility. Hence, PIKOM is taking this issue very seriously. We aim to heighten awareness and to work with all stakeholders towards the creation of a robust cybersecurity framework for Malaysia,” Chin said.

The Cybersecurity Chapter will be helmed by PIKOM councillor Alex Liew who also represents Glocomp. Former PIKOM chairman Woon Tai Hai will serve as adviser. The committee includes representatives from leading infosecurity names such as Cisco, Symantec, FireEye, Trend Micro, Dimension Data, Mesiniaga, F-secure and L GMS.

“Recent experiences show that no one can claim to be safe, as cybersecurity threats do not discriminate,” said Chin. “Any enterprise or entity can be a victim. Protection is the best means to achieve prevention. Identification and incident response are crucial.”

“Cyberthreats are not limited to ransomware,” said Alex Liew. “There are many other threats to different industries. Crucial infrastructure such as public transportation and utilities may be compromised. We aim to increase awareness of these threats and ways to combat them.”

Apart from raising awareness, the Chapter will also advise the government on policy formulation to combat cybercrime, by engaging Cybersecurity Malaysia and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) among others.

The Chapter also aims to address the lack of skilled workers in cybersecurity by engaging universities and colleges to nurture cybersecurity talent and promote career prospects in the industry. “A steady talent pipeline is required. Going forward, cybersecurity will provide potentially exciting and promising career opportunities. The supply of qualified talent is crucial to building the overall cybersecurity framework or infrastructure for the country,” said Chin.

According to Liew, the Chapter will be talking to universities and polytechnics about cyber-security syllabus. It will also work with PIKOM Academy to upskill and reskill current ICT workers on this subject.

Additionally, the Chapter will be promoting knowledge sharing and propagation of best practices via engagement with CIOs across industry verticals.

“Our industry experience and expertise, drawn from over 1,000 member companies, give us valuable insight to help companies especially in the strategic area of policy and decision-making,” Chin said.

The Cybersecurity Chapter will go on a membership drive to recruit more corporate and individual members as well as other PIKOM members to join its quest.

(From left) Bernard Seah, business development director, Munio; Joseph Giam, executive director, Glocomp Systems

PIKOM launches cybersecurity chapter

L ocal startup Munio is offering a package called ServerSure to

Malaysian SMEs to mitigate their financial risks from cyber attacks. It provides a complete cybersecurity technology and assurance package.

“Munio was conceived as an answer to companies’ uncovered financial risks due to digital threats,” said Bernard Seah, business development director, Munio. “As first movers, we hope to educate the market on how to implement a comprehensive digital security plan. We aim to deliver complete, easy-to- understand digital risk solutions that will protect, assure, and insure our customers’ digital assets.”

Seah added that Munio’s first offerings are targeted towards the needs of SMEs because “this is an extremely relevant market as over 98% of business establishments in Malaysia are SMEs. This market is expected to contribute over 40% of the nation’s total GDP, and are often the most digitally vulnerable.”

Under the package, Munio’s customers will have their digital assets protected by its technology partners such as SecureKi, Symantec, and FireEye, and underwritten by Chubb, one of the largest insurers in the world. Glocomp is the sole distributor for this cybersecurity bundle.

“All of us at Glocomp are excited to start rolling out our services to Malaysian businesses,” said Joseph Giam, executive director, Glocomp Systems. “With the escalating cybercrimes happening at our very doorsteps, such as the WannaCry ransomware, we must act now to prevent similar events from happening.”

For more information, visitwww.muniotech.com or www.glocomp.com

Munio offers cyber security and assurance package for SMEs

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M alaysia has a higher rate of malware encounters, with about 12.9% of

computers having encountered malware in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the global average of 9%, said Microsoft Malaysia in the latest, 22nd edition of its Security Intelligence Report (SIR).

The SIR is derived from telemetry collected from computers running Microsoft’s real-time security products. A malware encounter is where the security products detect unauthorised behaviour from malware but it does not necessarily mean the computer was infected or compromised.

Overall, however, there has been a significant decline in total malware occurrences in 1Q17, falling by 16.7% year-on-year. There are two sub-categories listed under malware: malicious software and annoying (potentially unwanted) software, said Dr Dzahar Mansor, national technology officer, Microsoft Malaysia.

“Of the two, malicious software appears to be on the rise while annoying software fell drastically. The fact that the combined totals are lower, is masking the reality that malicious software encounters are on the rise. This is a concern,” Dr Dzahar told Reseller Malaysia.

Ransomware attacks risingThe biannual SIR noted that ransomware attacks are on the rise. “Hackers today are motivated by profit, unlike the older generation who did it for fun or to demonstrate their skills,” Dr Dzahar said.

In the first half of 2017, WannaCrypt and Petya exploited vulnerabilities in outdated Windows operating systems worldwide and disabled thousands of devices by encrypting their data. The attacks were disproportionately concentrated in Europe.

Attackers evaluate several factors when determining which regions to target, such as a

Malaysian malware encounters higher than global average

country’s GDP, the average age of computer users and the available payment methods. Language is also a factor as the attacks often required sending out personalised messages to convince a user to execute the malicious file, the report said.

Globally, Win32/Spora was the most wide-spread and commonly encountered ransom-ware family in March 2017. It encrypts files that have popular extensions such as .doc, .docx, .jpg, .pdf, .xls, .xlsx, and .zip. It also has worm capability and can spread to other computers in the network.

Cloud under siegeThe SIR noted a 300% increase in attacks on consumer and enterprise accounts managed in the cloud. The number of login attempts from malicious IP addresses increased by 44% y-o-y. The cloud is an increasingly attractive target for cybercriminals because organisations are increasingly storing their data and digital assets on the cloud.

A large number of security compromises were the result of weak, guessable passwords and poor password management; followed by targeted phishing attacks and breaches of third-party services. This increases the need to move beyond using passwords for authentication, the report said.

Microsoft recommended four best practices for individuals and organisations to adopt to minimise their cyber risk exposure and stay resilient:• Always practice caution when connecting

to a public Internet domain. Assume you are being watched and monitored; encrypt all communications; password-protect your machine

• Ensure your software is always up to date by installing the latest patches. This reduces the risk of vulnerability exploitation. “Whenever a security patch

is released, it both fixes a vulnerability in the software as well as alerts hackers to the vulnerability’s existence,” said Dr Dzahar. “They can reverse engineer the patch to identify the vulnerability and program an exploit to target it. That is why, within 30 days of a patch release, there may be a spike in attacks on machines that have yet to install the patch. We have seen the lead time shorten, as well, to as little as two weeks.”

• Use the latest technologies and software for security and privacy protection against the latest threats. Do not use unsupported operating system and soft-ware.

• Make cybersecurity and data privacy policies and governance a high priority in your organisations. Implement risk-based policies to protect identities across the organisation, block or reset passwords for users who have no proper authorisation, and enforce multi-factor authentication.

“In today’s digital age, security cannot be an afterthought. It must be ‘built-in,’ all-inclusive and intelligent,” Dr Dzahar said.

In conjunction with the SIR release, Microsoft Malaysia launched a Cybersecurity Health Check Campaign for Small Medium Businesses (SMBs) in Malaysia. It aims to generate awareness on cybersecurity and equip SMBs with the right tools.

SMBs can complete a Cyber Security Self- Assessment on the campaign’s website and receive a free risk assessment score. Based on the full report generated by the assessment, SMBs can schedule a personalised consultation with a certified Cybersecurity Architect for guidance. The campaign runs from 16 October to 31 December 2017.

For more information, visit aka.ms/cyberhealth.

(From left) Dr Dzahar Mansor, national technology officer, Microsoft Malaysia; Dato’ Dr. Hj. Amirudin Abdul Wahab, CEO, CyberSecurity Malaysia


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Chin Chee Seong, PIKOM chairman

and 87% of users place mobile as their favourite device.

The partnership signals Telecoming’s commitment to the diversification of the current content monetisation market. Axiata’s customers will benefit from innovative content monetisation services.

“We are thrilled to partner with Telecoming and be able to bring longer-term value to customers through this partnership in the digital ecosystem. With the MIFE platform being available at each of Axiata’s operating companies, leading content service providers like Telecoming can instantly access a few hundred million mobile customers in Asia and accelerate the pace of service delivery through one central point,” said Mohd Khairil Abdullah, chief executive officer, Axiata Digital.

introduced in schools; science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education; RM250m allocation for teachers’ training; and RM190m to upgrade 2000 classes into smart classrooms that encourage creative-based learning and innovative thinking.

“We also welcome Capital Allowances for ICT equipment, including spending on software development, claimable for a period of four years,” Chin said. “This will boost companies’ productivity and reduce the cost of operation.”

“The association is also pleased that Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak announced Malaysia as the host of the World Congress on IT (WCIT) in 2020, which is also declared Visit Malaysia Year,” he said.

“PIKOM is delighted to receive the rights to host WCIT2020 from the World IT and Services Alliance (WITSA) and we look forward to welcoming our international visitors to this event, dubbed the ‘Olympics of the ICT industry,’” he added.

In its Budget 2018 wish list, PIKOM also voiced hopes that the government would drop the cost of broadband services and exempt ICT products and services from GST. However, these failed to materialise.

T he National ICT Association of Malaysia (PIKOM) welcomed Budget

2018’s focus on spurring the economy and Transformasi Nasional 2050 (TN50) which will have a positive impact on the ICT industry.

“With a strong economy expected to grow by 5.2% in 2017, there are some perks that businesses can look forward to,” said Chin Chee Seong, chairman, PIKOM.

PIKOM pleased with Budget, hoped for a bit moreAmong the highlights of the Budget that will benefit the ICT industry are:• RM200m allocation to Malaysian

Investment Development Authority (MIDA) for high impact projects;

• RM2bn fund for Industrial Revolution 4.0 with 70% government guarantee;

• RM200m to SME Corp for training;• RM150m for exports, including the Market

Development Grant (MDG);• Start-up funds for VCs including a RM1bn

fund;• RM1bn for Sabah and Sarawak for broad-

band infrastructure;• RM170m in ICT projects and RM100m for

communications systems for Polis DiRaja Malaysia (PDRM);

• RM100m allocation for eRezeki, eUsahawan, and eLadang;

• Enhancement of Futurise Centre in Cyber-jaya;

• DFTZ focus on 1500 SMEs, RM83.5m funding and de minimis increased to RM800; and

• Setting up of regulatory sandboxes to boost start-ups.

PIKOM is pleased to note the government’s added emphasis on human capital development especially with coding

“It’s a market with a great growth potential,” said Ali Karaosman, APAC director, Telecoming. “Mobile payments are a real alternative to credit cards since their penetration among the population hardly reached 45%. Moreover, it is a market with a consolidated content consumption culture

Telecoming comes to Malaysia via AxiataS panish content monetisation company

Telecoming formed a partnership with Axiata Digital, the Axiata Group’s digital services arm, to integrate its service into Axiata’s application program interface (API) hub or Mobile Internet Fulfilment Exchange (MIFE).

Through this partnership, Telecoming will launch its mobile billing services in Malaysia and further develop multi-device monetisation models within the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. It expects to invest US$4m in the region over the next two years.

Smartphone penetration in APAC is remarkably high, with over 1.3bn users, said Telecoming, in a statement. Juniper Research said digital content billed to direct carrier billing in APAC is expected to reach $786m in 2018.

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recognises the evolving needs of industries in Malaysia, Bangah added.

The focus on DFTZ will require a new breed of tech suppliers, partners and providers. “The formation of such an ecosystem is integral to ensure all segments can participate in what is to be Malaysia’s major initiative for many years to come. The execution and opportunities must be made tangible: the initiative cannot stop at fund allocation and soft loans. It must be translated downwards with a push from the relevant agencies to get SMEs actively involved,” he said.

The country’s focus on Industry 4.0 and allocations toward upgrading to Smart Manufacturing facilities will create a strong ecosystem of suppliers, developers and SMEs partnering or providing solutions and products or services in robotics and IoT, he added.

“We are glad fundamental issues such as connectivity to rural areas were not ignored. It plays an important part in elevating Malaysia to become a more connected society that can take advantage the digital initiatives announced,” he said.

“We are pleased to collaborate with one of the region’s largest logistics company to furnish their Penang warehouse site with Ricoh’s multiple services,” said Kazuhisa Goto, managing director, Ricoh Asia Pacific.

“With every new warehouse PKT builds, we invest effort and resources to improve it in every dimension possible, such as space optimisation, environmental impact, functionality, safety, security, and others,” said Dato’ Michael Tio, group chief executive and managing director, PKT Logistics Group. “Coupled with attractive, themed designs of our warehouses, we aim to provide industry-leading storage solutions to our customers.

“Therefore, PKT is proud to partner Ricoh in bringing the most advanced and holistic security system to The 12 Waves,” he said.

For more information, visit www.ricoh.com.my and www.pktgroup.com

(From left) Kazuhisa Goto, managing director, Ricoh Asia Pacific; Dato’ Michael Tio, group chief executive and managing director, PKT Logistics Group

Sudev Bangah IDC ASEAN

M alaysian logistics services provider PKT Logistics Group engaged Ricoh

Malaysia to set up a warehouse in Penang called The 12 Waves with advanced surveillance solutions.

The 12 Waves is the fourth in PKT Logistics’ series of iconic warehouses, namely The Waves, The Ship and The Lighthouse. Located in Batu Kawan, The 12 Waves has a wave-shaped design that not only stands out visually but also incorporates

environment-friendly features such as the use of natural lighting, natural ventilation, solar panels and LED lighting.

Completed in May 2017, The 12 Waves offers 650,000sf of storage space with 54 loading bays to serve customers in the North, in the automotive and electronics sectors. The complex also includes office suites, a food court, a convenience store, a truckers’ lounge and a Japanese garden which is open to the public.

Ricoh equipped the site with integrated analytic systems to enhance its overall security. The solutions include Ricoh’s intelligent network cameras, automatic licence plate recognition (ALPR), access control system, alarm system with 24/7 central monitoring system (CMS), visitor management system (VMS), and LED motion floodlight system. The 12 Waves’ entire setup was designed to provide high security to the premises and assets, giving PKT’s customers peace of mind and confidence.

Ricoh secures The 12 Waves warehouse

“Allocations in eUsahawan will encourage the emergence of entrepreneur and bring them to the fore. This MDEC-driven initiative will definitely be a solid focus for 2018. IDC believes it is timely for such initiatives to be introduced. If executed correctly, it will have the positive impact that will drive Malaysian SMEs and entrepreneurs to more prominence in the near future,” he said.

The provisioning of a fund for SMEs to obtain training is a good move that

IDC lauds Budget 2018 boost to digital economyB udget 2018 is expected to bring

positives to Malaysia’s drive towards a digital economy.

“The digital projects announced by the government this year seem very focused on a few themes: Industry 4.0 and future development in robotics, automation and aerospace; the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) and positioning Malaysia as a fulfilment hub; and the upskilling and encouraging of SMEs and entrepreneurs to be a part of this ecosystem,” said Sudev Bangah, managing director, IDC ASEAN.

“While they cannot be seen as an overall ‘win’ for the mass digital industry per se, these focused initiatives will be the backbone of Malaysia’s digital economy evolution and represent the core focus areas for Malaysia in the coming years,” he said.

Bangah added that initiatives announced under strategic Thrust 6 – most notably the DTFZ and Industry 4.0 – will have the most impact on SMEs. “They help create a tangible and workable ecosystem that SMEs can strive towards while feeding into a segment that requires support to be successful,” he said.


NewsNews

Investment Strategic Fund to upgrade Smart Manufacturing services and support in-vestments and business activities under Industrial Revolution 4.0.

The Futurise Centre in Cyberjaya will also be upgraded as a one-stop centre for cor-porations and universities to develop product prototypes and boost innovation.

The government will also extend incentive periods for Fast Capital Allowance by 200% on automation appliances for assessment years 2018 to 2020. The same Fast Capital Allowance incentives will also be given for the manufacturing and services sectors.

For information communication technology (ICT) appliances, capital allowances – including computer software expenditure – can be claimed from assessment year 2018 until 2020.

“In a hyper-connected world, it is becoming abundantly clear that artificial intelligence (AI) is the defining force and ‘game changer’ of the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” said Yasmin. “AI is the natural progression from data analytics, and as such, Malaysia should start looking at developing a National AI Framework. This will then be an expansion of the National BDA Framework.”

Digital Free Trade ZoneThe Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) will see Malaysia’s SMEs doubling their exports and establish the country as a regional trans-shipment hub for e-commerce logistics while creating 60,000 jobs by 2025. It will go “live” on 3 November with 1900 export-ready SMEs. “This is encouraging as our previous target was 1500 SMEs,” Yasmin said.

P rime minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak presented Budget 2018 on 27 October

2017 with some allocation targeted at enhancing Malaysia’s digital economy.

The digital economy is expected to con-tribute some 18.2% of Malaysia’s GDP in 2017 and may exceed the projected target of 20% earlier than 2020. “We are delighted that Budget 2018 is focused on accelerat-ing growth, enhancing the rakyat’s well-be-ing, and further enhancing Digital Malaysia,” said Datuk Yasmin Mahmood, CEO, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).

Digital inclusivityThe government is allocating RM100m for eRezeki and eUsahawan programmes, both of which are entering their third year. An estimated 150,000 people will be trained in 2018, totalling 341,745 participants with an estimated total income and revenue of RM544m.

“The allocation would ensure the digital economy continues to be inclusive for the people, particularly the B40 and M40 groups.

“Digital inclusivity has also been extended to a new flagship initiative called eLadang to encourage farmers to leverage the latest smart farming technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and big data ana-lytics (BDA) to improve yield and income,” Yasmin said.

Talent developmentThe budget allocated RM250m for the education of the future National Transformation 2050 (TN50) generation. It will be used to develop Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) centres and improve computer science modules, including coding.

RM190m of the allocation will be used to transform 2000 classes into “Smart Classrooms for 21st-century learning” to increase creative and innovative learning.

“MDEC is pleased that it would ensure Malaysia’s students have exposure to the #mydigitalmaker education initiative launched last year,” Yasmin said. The #mydigitalmaker initiative is a joint public --private-academia project aimed at developing digital producers and innovators. It helps develop skills such as coding, app development, robotics, embedded programming, and creative technology.

“Our forecast reveals that we need one million digital workers, such as coders,

MDEC delighted with Budget 2018 application developers and software engineers by 2025. The continuous emphasis on talent development for the future is indeed encouraging,” she said.

Start-up ecosystemThe government will assist start-ups with several initiatives to encourage venture capital activities. The Prime Minister announced that investors from major institutions will allocate RM1bn for venture capital investments in selected sectors.

These initiatives include widening income tax exemption to cover management fees and performance fees, a reduction in minimum investment limit in a venture company from 70% to 50% from 2018 to 2022.

Companies or individuals investing in venture capital companies will get a tax deduction equivalent to their investments, limited to a maximum of RM20m per year. Income tax exemptions for angel investors in venture companies will be extended until 31 December 2020.

“The start-up ecosystem is the job creator of the future,” Yasmin said, adding that MDEC introduced two successful initiatives last year, namely the Malaysia Digital Hub and the Malaysia Tech Entrepreneur Program. The former supports start-ups and communities and connects them to the ASEAN and global digital ecosystems, while the latter is aimed at attracting global technopreneurs to operate out of Malaysia.

Fourth Industrial RevolutionThe government will be providing grants worth RM345m under the Domestic

Datuk Yasmin Mahmood, CEO, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC)

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There were no winners in Malaysia for four other categories: DX Leader – L3D Mastery; DX Leader – Information Visionary; DX Leader – Operational Transformation; and DX Leader – Talent Acceleration. “We received many nominations and scored them on IDC’s DX MaturityScape Benchmark Assessment. They were disqualified because they missed some criteria,” Bangah said.

In other countries around the region, there were also several categories that were unclaimed. Winners from around Asia Pacific will gather at IDC’s DX Summit and DXa Gala Night on 28 November where the regional winners for these categories will be announced.

I DC ASEAN introduced its inaugural Digital Transformation Awards (DXa)

2017 and named Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd as the 2017 Digital Transformer of the Year from Malaysia. Also honoured were Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd and Grab as DX Leader – Omni-experience Innovation and Digital Disruptor of the Year, respectively.

IDC’s DXa recognises organisations that significantly disrupted the market or transformed it using digital and disruptive technologies. “Organisations in Malaysia are rapidly adopting DX to stay competitive globally,” said Pranabesh Nath, research director, IDC Malaysia. “Our winners in

IDC names digital transformation winners for Malaysia

Malaysia show that DX is no longer just a buzzword but a must.

“Our research shows more than 90% of enterprises in Malaysia now recognise the importance of DX in transitioning to the new digital economy. Almost a quarter of these companies are now actively working on DX strategies and projects,” he said. “This indicates the awareness and adoption of emerging technologies are increasingly at an impressive rate.”

“IDC believes this is the right time to recognise the digital transformation trailblazers across the region for their achievement, especially in developing economies,” said Sudev Bangah, managing director, IDC ASEAN.

(From left) IDC Asean MD Sudev Bangah; Astro Group CEO Rohana Rozhan; Alliance Bank Malaysia Head Group Transformation Office senior VP Ken Yong; Grab Malaysia communications manager Reina Robin; and IDC Malaysia research director Pranabesh


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2017 DIGITAL DISRUPTOR OF THE YEAR – MALAYSIAGrab, the carpooling and ride-hailing company, won the award for disrupting the transportation sector. “We did not disrupt businesses,” insisted Regina Robin, communications manager, Grab Malaysia. “We disrupted complacency.”

According to her, Grab was born out of the desire to help people improve their lives, and used technology to facilitate it. Grab started as a mobile application that assigns taxis to commuters using mapping and location- sharing features

2017 DIGITAL TRANSFORMER OF THE YEAR – MALAYSIA“Having started 22 years ago, Astro is not a digital native company. In our journey of reinvention, Astro is embracing change brought about by digital, online, and mobile. Today, we serve 72% of total Malaysian households, across multiple generations of consumers,” said Dato’ Rohana Rozhan, group CEO, Astro.

The company made a decision to transform itself fundamentally rather than incrementally. “As a known brand, we cannot afford to lag behind. We have more to lose than challengers and disruptors,” she said at the award

big and bureaucratic and get disrupted in turn. Keen to avoid that, Astro decided it needed to democratise technology and be willing to cannibalise and disrupt itself. “If we don’t, someone else will,” she said.

ceremony. “We are platform-agnostic and will deploy the best technology available to be a deserving market leader.

“Today, all customer-facing systems are digital and we are omni-channel,” she said.

Astro is collaborating with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to move its media assets to the cloud. “AWS is who we want to be when we grow up. We will be collaborating on technology, people, culture and processes in the spirit of innovation and learning. This is a concerted, architected, and measured effort,” she said.

Rohana said the disruptors of today will be incumbents of tomorrow. They will get too

of the smartphone. “One of the earliest challenges of MyTeksi (the original iteration of Grab) was convincing taxi drivers to embrace the smartphone and teaching them how to use it,” said Robin.

Since then, the app and service have been constantly improved. It introduced Grab Share that allows commuters to carpool. “This is in line with the government’s encouragement to reduce congestion by carpooling and help drivers optimise their journey and earn more. Customers can share rides, save on waiting time and enjoy the same level of security that the app offers.

“What users see are the result of continuous iteration. We are constantly improving to make life easier,” Robin said.

2017 DX LEADER – OMNI-EXPERIENCE INNOVATORAlliance Bank introduced Cash2Home, a mobile foreign remittance solution to improve customer experience and generate additional revenue.

“Our bank conducted a ‘forward position research’ to draw out a roadmap of where we can to go, see where our strength lies and areas where we can make an impact,” said Ken Yong, senior vice president and head of group transformation office, Alliance Bank Malaysia. “We are a bank for SMEs and a financial services institution (FSI) with value-added fintech services.

“We consider our legacy, size and banking knowledge to be our assets, which put us ahead of fintech start-ups who have limited resources and customers. We treat our SME customers like partners and work with them to build an ecosystem as we develop digital assets,” Yong said.

Cash2Home was created to meet the needs of an underserved market segment. “SMEs had to handle hundreds of thousands of Ringgit every month, preparing pay packets for their blue-collar foreign workers. This is a security risk.

“Without a bank account, foreign workers have to hold on to cash and remit money home. They often had to go in groups to the bank, like a school of fish, in hopes of

(From left) Sudev Bangah, managing director, IDC ASEAN; Dato’ Rohana Rozhan, group CEO, Astro; Pranabesh Nath, research director, IDC Malaysia

(From left) Pranabesh Nath, research director, IDC Malaysia; Regina Robin, communications manager, Grab Malaysia; Sudev Bangah, managing director, IDC ASEAN

(From left) Sudev Bangah, managing director, IDC ASEAN; Ken Yong, senior vice president and head of group transformation office, Alliance Bank Malaysia; Pranabesh Nath, research director, IDC Malaysia

avoiding being extorted or robbed. They could also be cheated by intermediaries who offer to help them transfer money,” related Yong.

“To open a bank account, the employ-ers have to bring them to the bank and it takes about 40 minutes per person to complete the transaction. It could take hours for a group to get it done, and banks also do not like large groups of foreign workers waiting at the bank for fear it would turn regular customers away,” he added.

After examining the needs, Alliance Bank developed the app and system to let workers set up accounts via their smartphone. They could get large groups registered in under two minutes using instructional videos in a classroom setting at the employers’ premises.

“We focused on what the customer wanted, not what the bank can do,” he said.

News


well as providing them with the opportunity to scale at a much faster rate,” said Dato’ Seri Ivan Teh, CEO, Fusionex.

Teh stressed the importance of digitalisation for SMEs in Malaysia. “If they do not digitise, their business will simply cease to exist in the next few years. They can start small and grow as their needs change. Our solutions are priced at levels that are easy to consume,” he said.

The partnership will initially focus on Malaysia and subsequently expand to other countries in the region. “I see digital transformation happening very actively in Malaysia,” said Raymond Ma, head of ASEAN and ANZ, Alibaba Cloud. “The fundamentals are good and the IT infrastructure is ready.

“We are very pleased to partner with Fusionex who shares our vision of developing the next generation of technology and empowering our customers with drivers of change. As we enter a new era of digital transformation, businesses across ASEAN require new levels of support to tap into emerging opportunities. Machine intelligence and cloud computing, combined with BDA, will play a crucial role.

A libaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group and data technology

provider Fusionex announced a strategic partnership to provide end-to-end cloud solutions in the ASEAN region.

Under the partnership, Fusionex will deploy its big data solutions on Alibaba Cloud’s scalable and cost-effective infrastructure, and become Alibaba Cloud’s key go-to-market partner in the ASEAN market. Both companies will jointly market their combined offerings as a total solution to clients.

Fusionex will leverage Alibaba Cloud’s infrastructure and data intelligence services, such as data processing and machine learning, to provide advanced big data solutions to its customers, especially in financial services, trade f acilitation, e-commerce, retail, aviation, travel, hospitality, and manufacturing. Enterprises can access Fusionex’s offerings via Alibaba Cloud.

Both companies will also collaborate to drive innovation in big data analytics (BDA), machine learning, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things. Alibaba Cloud will empower Fusionex’s innovation centre with

D ell Technologies celebrated its first anniversary after the merger of Dell

and EMC to become the world’s largest privately-controlled technology company. In its inaugural year, the company formed a unified Dell and Dell EMC sales force and created a US$35bn global channel program that added 10,000 new business customers to the Dell EMC portfolio.

The company also nearly doubled its historical growth rate in under -penetrated accounts in 1H17, fuelled by cross- selling of server, storage, client and converged infrastructure solutions.

During its maiden year, Dell Technologies also paid down approximately $9.5bn in debt, divested three major businesses and continued investing in innovative technologies, the company said in a statement. An IDC survey revealed that 91% of customers worldwide believe that Dell and EMC delivered on the promises they made before the merger.

its infrastructure and solutions to develop technology and platforms.

“The sophisticated cloud services provided by Alibaba Cloud and data technology offered by Fusionex will complement each other and create synergy in servicing our customers more swiftly and effectively, as

Dell Technologies also announced that GE signed a multi-year commitment to use Dell Inc infrastructure and end-user computing solutions to support its digital transformation efforts. Dell Inc will become the primary IT infrastructure support for GE. This is one of the largest non-governmental contracts in the history of Dell Technologies, Dell or EMC.

Dell Technologies released an annual report to customers to highlight how it helped customers in the past year. “We set the bar high and exceeded our own expectations,” said Michael Dell, chairman and CEO, Dell Technologies. “We made enormous strides this past year in serving the needs of our

Alibaba Cloud, Fusionex forge strategic regional partnership

Dell Technologies is one year oldcustomers, from governments to fast- growing small businesses to many of the world’s largest enterprises who call Dell Technologies their most strategic IT partner. And we’re just getting started.”

The company said it invested $4.5bn in R&D annually, plus an additional $100m in start-ups focused on future tech areas such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, Internet of Things, and genomics. Since the close of the merger, it committed to invest almost $1bn incrementally in its people, go-to-market strategy, and technology for key growth areas.

Dell EMC also clocked a few number one achievements. Its PowerEdge servers became the world’s bestselling x86 server based on units shipped; it is the top converged systems provider; the top in worldwide workstations and monitors shipped; and, top in all-flash storage. Its Unity storage array family chalked $1bn in revenue in its first year.

(From left) Raymond Ma, head of ASEAN ANZ, Alibaba Cloud; Ivan Teh, CEO Fusionex

News

NOVEMBER 2017 | www.resellermalaysia.my Reseller Malaysia 13Reseller Malaysia 13

F ujitsu Network Communications Inc launched an SD-WAN-as-a-Service

that service providers can offer to their enterprise customers, instead of having to spend months designing and implementing their own solution.

The Fujitsu offering uses a subscription- based, pay-as-you-grow model, minimising the service provider’s investment and operational costs. It is managed by Fujitsu Network Operations Centre (NOC) and complies with service providers’ requirements for security, reliability, availability, and scalability, the company said in a statement.

The solution combines Fujitsu’s SDN/NFV Consulting Service and Managed Network Service with the Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect SD-WAN solution. Enterprises can use existing WAN connectivity from any service provider as the service is access-network agnostic and can be delivered over any type of WAN, including Internet (broadband or dedicated), MPLS VPNs, Carrier Ethernet, WiFi and LTE.

Fujitsu’s SDN/NFV consulting practice can customise services for service providers and can integrate the service into the latter’s OSS applications and web portals.

Silver Peak’s Unity EdgeConnect SD-WAN appliances are used to interconnect subscriber locations, data centres and cloud applications. They also support WAN optimisation and zero-touch provisioning of physical and virtual SD-WAN Edges.

“Time to market is critical in today’s highly competitive market,” said Greg Manganello, senior vice president and head of services, Fujitsu Network Communications. “The Fujitsu SD-WAN-as-a-Service lets service providers focus their efforts on winning customers. They now have the ability to integrate the service into their operations and support methodologies later.”

Fujitsu, Silver Peak offer SD-WAN-as-a-service C ybersecurity company Malwarebytes released its forecast of upcoming threats in

4Q17, based on trends it observed during the third quarter of the year.

The third quarter of 2017 saw a number of unusual events, such as the leak of over 143 million confidential records from credit reporting firm, Equifax, which is supposedly one of the world’s largest and self-reputed security and fraud mitigation specialists, and the arrest of Marcus Hutchins, famed for stopping the WannaCry ransomware outbreak, for allegedly developing another malware called Kronos.

According to Malwarebytes Labs’ third Cybercrime Tactics and Techniques report, spam will continue to be the driving force in the delivery of malware variants. Dominant malware families such as Locky, Trickbot, GlobeImposter, PrincessLocker, and Emotet use spam as a distribution mechanism for new samples. Cerber remained the dominant ransomware for the fourth quarter in a row, but Locky is closing in on that lead.

Emotet has demonstrated the ability to evolve as a highly modular banking trojan. With the continuing development of this malware family, Malwarebytes expect new features to show up soon.

Tech Support Scams will get worse. In North America, such scams will likely shift their lead generation to a blend of malvertising and licence potentially un-wanted program (PUP) deals. Apart from English-speaking users, tech support scammers are now also targeting francophones. Malwarebytes said Astrum via AdGholas was one of the most sophisticated malvertising operations to date due to the use of SSL and additional exploits to evade detection.

Activity from exploit kits is on the decline, although Rig Exploit Kit, Disdain Exploit Kit, and the Terror Exploit kit continue to spread various ransomware campaigns. Exploit Kits using SSL in their infection chain will become more common and create new challenges. Variants of existing exploit kits or newcomers are likely to show up as there is still room and market share to take away from Rig EK.

Malwarebytes predicts a return of fake virus scanners used by system optimiser PUPs to push their products. “This is similar to the landscape a few years ago, where you could find a ‘cleaner’ around every corner and nearly all of them lied to you,” said the report.

The increase in malware for Android devices is expected to continue. The latest “clicker” malware for mobile devices will morph with new code and more obfuscation to avoid detection by security vendors and to bypass Google Play protect.

Android users are being targeted by a new ‘clicker’ trojan named Android/Trojan.Clicker.hyj which also possesses spreading capabilities via the victims’ contact list.

Mac users have seen a 240% increase in the number of malware this year over the last with the addition of new variants of OceanLotus.

The report noted that many of its key predictions from the previous quarter have yet to materialise, but said a vast number of attacks against critical networks and devices still occurred. “We would like to remind readers that attacks are indiscriminate, and no system is immune. Remember to conduct regular backups of sensitive information and always perform due diligence when handing out confidential information to others,” said Malwarebytes. “Use a combination of security solutions and best security practices to help mitigate attacks against computer networks.”

Malwarebytes Labs unveils upcoming threats in 4Q17

Adam Kujawa, director, malware intelligence, Malwarebytes Labs

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Just a few years ago, cloud computing was considered an interesting concept occurring in Western countries that may take some time to catch on in Asia Pacific – and Malaysia.

C loud computing is evolving very rapidly. Yet in Malaysia, the adoption is still

slow. This is a concern as embracing the cloud is considered a quick and easy way for small medium enterprises (SMEs) to join the digital economy.

IDC forecasts that the cloud-related services market in Malaysia will have a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.8% over the next five years. “The pace of change in Malaysia is a tad slow because of the inherent preference for traditional and on-premise IT architecture and services sourcing models,” said Sherrel Roche, senior market analyst, IDC Asia Pacific services research group.

“A majority of enterprises in Malaysia are lagging behind the cloud maturity curve,” she added, citing IDC’s latest Asia Pacific Cloud MaturityScape research. “They are still in the early stages of cloud adoption, with mostly ad hoc or opportunistic use of infrastructure and non-critical cloud services.

“This implies a marked preference for leveraging cloud to drive down operation costs. Additionally, we are seeing increased deployment of cloud services in the government, telecommunication, and financial sectors,” she said.

“Organisations in Malaysia have multiple flavours of cloud delivery models,” she said. SMEs tend to adopt public cloud while large enterprises tend to go for private or hybrid clouds. “The demand for private or hybrid cloud is mainly due to concerns for security, sensitive data, and regulatory compliance. Enterprises will prioritise customer-facing

Malaysia’s cloud adoption: slow and steady

By Stephen Chin

applications, followed by data and analytics, office and e-commerce applications in a hybrid cloud environment.”

Cloud adoption growth varies by country and its Internet infrastructure. “The only way for customers to reach cloud solutions is via the Internet. There are very few Southeast Asian economies like Singapore or South Korea where the Internet penetration is deep enough to serve all the population. As governments update their infrastructure, the adoption will grow,” said James Forbes-May, vice president, APAC sales, Barracuda.

Microsoft’s Digital Transformation Study found 79% of business leaders in Malaysia acknowledging cloud computing as essential for digital transformation. “According to 81% of business leaders in Malaysia, cloud computing and the decreasing cost of devices have made it more affordable for companies of any size to transform digitally,” said Dr Dzahar Mansor, national technology officer, Microsoft Malaysia.

“Organisations are starting to realise the need and urgency to transform and stay relevant in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. There is much more awareness in the value of the cloud and how it works for their businesses. With an array of cloud solution providers, such as Microsoft, available to support them, their confidence and adoption rates have been rising,” he added.

Barracuda Networks’ Public Cloud Survey Malaysia 2017 found that a whopping 92% of respondents said their security concerns

Is Security Still a Thing?

restricted their organisation’s migration to the public cloud.

Dr Dzahar acknowledged a continued perception among business leaders that the cloud is less secure. He said advances have been made in the cloud on security and privacy. “They need more exposure on how, with a constantly evolving threat environment, it is safer being in the cloud than relying on traditional forms of IT security,” he said.

Security is always a concern whether on cloud or on-premise, said Raju Chellam, vice president, new technologies, Fusionex International. “It pays to be paranoid about your data. The complexity is compounded because companies are now optimising workloads across multiple clouds.”

He cited an IDC report that said by next year, 60% of enterprise IT organisations will have committed to multi-cloud architectures. To manage this environment, they will seek management solutions from external providers, he added.

Businesses can improve their security by moving to the cloud, adopting modern plat-forms, and using comprehensive identity, security, and management solutions, said Dr Dzahar. “Digital transformation must be built on trust. People don’t use technology that they don’t trust.

“The truth is, the cloud is likely to be more secure than most customers can invest in their own operations today,” Dr Dzahar said. “Microsoft has made trust its number one priority, investing over US$1bn annually

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Cloud technology evolved rapidly in the last five years, said Barracuda’s Forbes-May. “Last year, Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced more than 1000 new features and capabilities.

“When people say cloud, they could mean many different things. We need to look at cloud technology from the point of view of what it offers,” he said.

• Software as a Service (SaaS). “Solutions like SalesForce or Office 365 fall in this category and have a very high rate of adoption. Many vendors provide SaaS solutions but some are much more technologically advanced because of the size of the customer base they need to support and the scope of work that needs to be done,” Forbes-May said.

• Platform as a Service (PaaS). “These solutions are provided by vendors like AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google, Alibaba, Heroku and many others. This is a great enabler for organisations to start building their own solutions without worrying

The State of the Cloud

about building their own data centres,” he explained.

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). “This is, by far, the most technology i ntensive offering. With SaaS and PaaS, the networking and infrastructure are hidden from the user and controlled by the provider. In IaaS, the platform vendors need to expose multiple facets of their internal infrastructure so that customers can build their own super-flexible and highly scalable solutions,” he said.

Forbes-May noted that SaaS solutions like SalesForce and Office 365 are very popular because of many factors such as having no deployment or maintenance hassle; not requiring experts or staff to manage the solution; their 24x7 availability and ease of access from anywhere; and the solutions’ features.

On the other hand, newer services take longer to gain acceptance. “There are some which are meant for highly specific use cases, such as an AI engine for image detection and classification. They may not be of interest or much use to a large number of users,” he said.

According to Fusionex’s Raju, many SMEs are using public clouds for their entire business processes and transactions. “Initially most were using just IaaS. Now, they are increasingly using PaaS and SaaS but that is not the end of it. New cloud usage and pricing models are rapidly emerging, including niche areas such as Big Data Analytics (BDA), especially in Malaysia.”

IDC predicted by next year, new cloud pricing models will emerge for specific data analytics workloads. Growth for cloud analytics solutions will be three times more than on-premise analytics solutions. The IDC Asia Pacific Software Study 2016 revealed 42% of respondents from Malaysia were planning to deploy cloud-based analytics

software in the next one to two years, while some have already deployed it.

Raju said AWS, Azure and Google Cloud will continue growing their share globally, but aggressive players from China, typically Alibaba, are chipping away at their share. Synergy Research Group’s Q2 data reported AWS, Azure, Google and IBM maintaining or growing their share of the worldwide IaaS market. AWS’s market share was 34%; Microsoft, 11%; Google, 5%; and IBM, 8% thanks primarily to its hosted private cloud services. “Among the next 10 top-ranked cloud providers, Alibaba and Oracle are achieving the highest growth rates,” the report said.

In September, Fusionex formed an alliance with Alibaba to provide end-to-end solutions across Southeast Asia. It will deploy its big data solutions on Alibaba Cloud’s infrastructure and become Alibaba Cloud’s go-to-market partner in Asean. “Our companies will help drive innovation in BDA, machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence,” Raju said.

Public Cloud vendors such as Azure and AWS are crossing over to hybrid clouds and pushing into the enterprises aggressively, Barracuda’s Forbes-May noted. “AWS is drawing enterprises into its public cloud with hybrid offerings extended through IBM’s Softlayer and VMware.

“Microsoft Azure Stack offers the same public cloud offerings of Azure in physical servers sold by HPE, Dell-EMC and Lenovo. This gives hybrid cloud that exact look and feel of the public cloud. Moving forward, new solutions and services from the public cloud marketplace will further enrich public and hybrid clouds and boost cloud adoption by enterprises,” he said.

RightScale’s 2017 State of the Cloud Report reported that companies are reducing their investments in private cloud and more existing private clouds will be extended to the public cloud through a hybrid strategy.

It also found that companies are hedging its bets by investing multiple cloud platforms: 20% have a multi-cloud strategy while only 9% believe in using a single public cloud. Enterprises often kept disaster recovery sites on a different cloud plat-form. They also chose platforms based on their strengths. For example, it found AWS customers running BDA workloads on Google’s platform.

Cost optimisation was a top concern among enterprises after moving workloads to cloud,

to ensure security, privacy, and compliance across various industries are being met.”

To ease the resistance of enterprises moving to the cloud, most public cloud providers today submit themselves for industry and even localised governmental certifications to establish additional trust and compliance, said Forbes-May. “Microsoft Trust Centre offers a rich resource of i ndustrial and governmental compliance matrices. It helps to build confidence in the enterprises to move their workload to Azure. A recent study by Barracuda found over 58% of respondents in Malaysia said they trust public cloud more than they did five years ago,” he added.

James Forbes-May

Sherrel Roche

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V eeam Software appointed Kate Hutchison as chief marketing officer

(CMO). She will lead Veeam’s global marketing organisation and continue to strengthen the company’s brand momentum. She will report directly to Veeam co-CEO and president, Peter McKay.

“Kate’s proven experience, particularly in leading marketing teams during periods of fast growth and transformation, will bring valuable strategic and industry insight to our team,” said McKay. “Kate has accelerated market share and driven brand recognition at some of the most notable technology companies.”

Hutchison brings more than 20 years of experience to Veeam, having served as CMO at various technology companies, such as Riverbed, Polycom, VMware, Citrix and BEA. Most recently, she was senior vice president and CMO of Riverbed, a private company dealing with application performance infrastructure and software-defined networking.

“Veeam is an exciting company with outstanding fundamentals, a large and loyal installed base and an exciting vision for extending our lead in ensur-ing the Availability of data powering the digital economy,” said Hutchison. “This is a great time to join Veeam and I look forward to increasing our market share and expanding the awareness of our brand in the company’s second decade of growth.”

Hutchison received her master’s degree from San Francisco State University and a bachelor’s degree from Long Island University, Southampton College.

Kate Hutchison

“This is a great time to join Veeam and

I look forward to increasing our market share and expanding

the awareness of our brand in the

company’s second decade of growth.”

Veeam appoints Kate Hutchison as chief marketing officer

As workloads increase, the operational expenses for cloud storage and computing will rise. However, Barracuda’s Forbes-May does not think SMEs will move their work-load on-premise. “Costs consideration for compute, network and storage should be considered with the additional skilled engineering and support resources needed to keep the lights on for these systems to be kept on-premise.

“For most start-ups, it is hard to attract the right talent and hire the resource to develop and build their killer applications rapidly to establish first-mover advantage. The start-up that leverages on public cloud could be paying a little more for actual subscription or metered fees, but the economics work better in the cloud for them because they do not have to be distracted or suffer loss of confidence if their applications suffer an outage when hosted on-premise.

“When they grow to critical mass and have more resources at their disposal, they can decide to bring the applications on-premise or leave them in the cloud,” he said.

Fusionex’s Raju said the cloud is still more viable as companies do not need to invest in hardware infrastructure. “On the cloud, they can increase or decrease the use of IaaS which is not possible on-premise,” he said.

“Through our observations, we found companies that have not yet gotten to the

As enterprise customers embrace cloud technology, they will realise they need help not only from technology vendors or providers, but also from local system integrators (SIs) and value-added resellers (VARs). “Enterprise buyers will evaluate SIs and VARs by their ability to scale, overall focus, and key partnerships with cloud technology vendors.

“SIs and VARs will continually be as important as they are today to make up a cloud vendor-partner ecosystem,” Forbes-May predicted. “They have the ability to bridge the gap between end customer and cloud technology provider, and help customers have a seamless, worry-free migration. Enterprise customers with a global presence may need an SI with a global presence to rely on their expertise to do large roll-out management and delivery.

“Additionally, after a customer has migrated to a cloud environment, buyers will need continuous support to operate and maintain the new operation while technology transfer to end users takes place,” he said.

Public to Hybrid

Building an Ecosystem

cloud will need to spend aplenty to build and operate their infrastructure just for month-end and year-end processing, usually done once a month or year. With cloud technology, they would only have to pay an additional fee for the computing power for a day or two during month-end and year-end processing,” said Microsoft’s Dr Dzahar. “Our existing cloud customers reported an average of 50% cost savings.”

Dr Dzahar added that Microsoft’s pricing mechanism is tailored to the customers’ workload requirements. “Microsoft Azure operates on a ‘pay as you go, scale as your business grows’ concept. It offers scale, speed, agility as well as strong backup and disaster recovery mechanisms,” he said.

the report said. The other concerns were a lack of skills and expertise.

The most used public cloud services are managed databases offered by Amazon RDS, Azure SQL Database, and Google Cloud SQL. The next most used are push notification services. Machine Learning was used by only 11% of respondents, it said.

Raja Chellam

Dr Dzahar Mansor

Products


information that passes through the device daily.”

Verizon reported that 64% of data loss-related breaches in the retail industry were caused by POS intrusions. HP ElitePOS incorporates security features such as:

• BIOS-level device security, with HP Sure Start Gen3 and HP BIOSphere Gen3

• User authentication, with fingerprint reader (optional), Credential Guard, and Device Guard

• Physical security, with bolt-to-counter configuration (optional), VESA mounting K-Lock, and external fingerprint reader

The ElitePOS is expected to be available in November. HP said retail independent software vendors (ISVs) GK Software, LS Retail, Manhattan Associates, Omnico Group, PCMS, Retail Pro and TCPOS plan to support the new solution.

For more information, visit http://www8.hp.com/my/en/products/possolutions/index.html.

H PE-owned networking company Aruba announced a new business-grade Wi-Fi

solution for small businesses. The HPE OfficeConnect OC20 is designed as a cost-effective wireless solution for businesses without dedicated IT resources. With OC20, small businesses and their channel partners can rapidly deploy and manage Wi-Fi for small businesses across all vertical industries.

The 2015 e-book, the Appification of Small Business, by Intuit Developer reported that 43% of small business owners use smartphones over Wi-Fi as the primary device to run their operations, while 65% conduct bookkeeping and accounting on cloud-based apps. This creates a need for reliable, ubiquitous wireless connectivity. However, small businesses tend to have limited IT resources, said Aruba.

The new HPE OfficeConnect OC20 offers small businesses an intuitive and cost-effective solution that is simple to manage without technical expertise. Reseller can now offer small business customers a fast,

Aruba offers business-class Wi-Fi for small businessesbusiness-grade Wi-Fi solution that keeps their employees connected and productive.

“Small and medium businesses are a critical growth engine for economies in Southeast Asia. With the OC20, SMEs can focus on their business goals and increasing productivity with the knowledge that they

have a strong network infrastructure in place,” said Justin Chiah, director and general manager (SEA and Taiwan), Aruba.

The OC20 intelligently optimises wireless coverage and performance while minimising interference. Its built-in website filtering can block access to malicious websites as well as inappropriate or non-compliant websites.

Businesses or their resellers can configure and monitor the network remotely via a mobile app. New OC20 Access Points (AP) can join the network as the businesses expand. They can copy their configuration settings from a previously configured OC20 AP.

OC20 can create a separate guest network with a choice of open guest access, simple password sign-in or Facebook Wi-Fi log-in, and add the company logo for a branded Wi-Fi experience.

Aruba also offers the OfficeConnect 1920S switch which secures and extends small business networks. This can also be monitored by the OfficeConnect mobile app.

H P Malaysia introduced a new all-in-one point-of-sale (POS) system, the HP

ElitePOS, aimed at improving the in-store experience of customers in the retail and hospitality industry.

According to a study by InReality, 69% of shoppers said they would more likely buy in-store if given access to digital self-help tools such as interactive displays and kiosks.

“The new HP ElitePOS solution is built for versatility and can adapt to multiple retail and hospitality environments while still offering security, performance, and long-term durability,” said Kym Lim, managing director, HP Malaysia.

The ElitePOS has a modular design and can be used for more than just check out. It supports interactive signage, employee attendance, and self-service applications such as customer check-in and access to additional product offerings in the “endless aisle.” The display can also be separated from the input/output (I/O) base and placed elsewhere.

HP ElitePOS aims to enhance in-store shopping experience

The system is complemented by optional accessories such as receipt printer, magnetic strip reader, barcode scanner and standalone printer. It runs on Windows 10, 7th generation Intel Core processors with vPro and DDR4 memory.

“The POS device will be a critical hub in delivering in-store experience for customers,” said Ronald Sim, head of retail solution, APJ & Japan, HP Inc. “However, with rapid transformation in digital business comes increased threats. Retail POS systems must balance the needs of the customer and brand while protecting the sensitive

Products


With Financio, users can track sales, purchases and miscellaneous transactions through a simplified dashboard, and automatically generate financial reports and tax records, or forward transactions to recipients via email and inventory tracking. Businesses can also collaborate with each other seamlessly and share documents on the platform.

“Our partnership with Microsoft comes from a shared interest to empower micro SMEs to operate business-critical actions anytime, anywhere through a device, and access data on the go. We are delighted that our customers will now experience Microsoft’s cloud solutions to accelerate their business growth,” Conway said.

Part of the experience is Microsoft Office 365, which can work seamlessly with Financio. Customers who subscribe to Office 365 will be given a free half-day training to utilise the full capabilities of the software.

“A large proportion of new technology adoption and use in Malaysia will be driven by SMEs, as they account for over 97% of business establishments,” said K. Raman, managing director, Microsoft Malaysia. “We have been their trusted partners in this journey and our collaboration with Financio is a step further in this direction.”

Financio is free for micro businesses, offering up to 10 invoices monthly. “This is one way for customers to trial the product and get used to its workings. It is a good way to develop good accounting practices and build up a pedigree,” Conway said. “Furthermore, when their transactions are few, they do not really require premium features.

“The premium version comes with unlimited invoices, more detailed reporting, profit & loss statements, GST reports and so forth,” he said. “All premium features can be accessed for RM32.95 a month. There is only one pricing for premium with no additional charges for new features.”

pson launched a new signage printer, SureColor SC-B9070, touted as the

company’s fastest B-series signage printer. The high-performance dye-based printer is suited for high-volume, short-term in-door signage installations for retail and advertising.

The printer uses dual PrecisionCore Thin Film Piezo printheads and is capable of printing up to 100sqm per hour. The nozzles enable multi-sized dot control for precision printing.

The SC-B9070 comes with large 1.5- litre capacity ink tanks which reduce the frequency of ink refills. Epson says the high-volume ink tank also lowers total cost of ownership for greater cost savings.

The printer uses Epson’s Precision Dot image processing technology with features such as Half Tone Module, Look Up Table and Micro Weave that help reduce graininess and banding, and ensure smooth colour gradation for high-quality prints.

It has a precise media feeding system to ensure continued stable printing with high reliability and minimum downtime. The Advanced Auto Tension Control feature and an automatic initial skew correction mechanism ensure smooth media feed and minimal errors during high volume production. The printer also has an after-heater to dry the ink and minimise transferring wet ink to the roll.

The SC-B9070 comes with Epson Edge Print software which provides a user- friendly interface for enhanced workflow, image editing and colour management. It also works with the Epson Control Dash-board software that can control up to four printers for remote maintenance, real-time monitoring of consumables and perform updates.

A sian Business Software Solutions Sdn Bhd (ABSS) aims to empower micro SMEs with its accounting application, Financio. To reach this goal, it is partnering with Microsoft

to offer Financio as a fully cloud-based end-to-end accounting solution.

“Through Financio, businesses can leverage accounting technology to boost productivity, drive collaboration and stay on top of their finances,” said Paul Conway, CEO, ABSS. He added that Financio is already deployed by 4500 small businesses and helping them save over 384,000 manhours a year.

ABBS aims to increase its user base to 125,000 within the next 12 months, of which 50,000 to 75,000 are expected to come from Malaysia, given its large number of SMEs. “Start-ups and micro SMEs can save time and money by moving from spreadsheets to accounting automation. It takes away most of the bookkeeping process such as double entries, generating reports and GST tax records; business owners and accounting teams can focus on their business,” Conway said.

Financio targets micro SMEs with freemium accounting application

Epson launches new signage printer

E

(From left) K. Raman, managing director, Microsoft Malaysia; Farid Awang, head, finance & account division, SME Corporation Malaysia; Paul Conway, CEO, Asian Business Software Solutions Sdn Bhd.

Products


Reseller Malaysia was invited to review the KD-65A1 in comparison with other brands in the market and the difference was stark. In default mode, the KD-65A1 provided very good crisp images with vivid colours and superior contrast – and the blacks are truly so, as promised.

The TV is powered by Sony’s proprietary 4K HDR Processor X1 Extreme. It controls each of the over 8 million pixels and features an upscaling capability to enhance video images. The X1 Extreme uses two image reference systems: one adds details to the image and the other removes noise. This makes HD video look like 4K, and even lower video resolutions are upscaled at least one level higher. The system is also augmented by Sony’s Triluminos colour processing technology which calculates and adds extra pixels to the image.

During the review, we watched clips from numerous movies of varying quality off Netflix. The picture quality was superb and the motion playback was smooth. There was no judder in fast action sequences. The image remained detailed without losing saturation even when viewed from acute angles.

The sound reproduction is superb and yet, this TV has no speakers. Sony turned heads by turning the glass screen into an “Acoustic Surface”, effectively making it the speaker. This is achieved by mounting four actuators – two on each half – behind the screen.

Sony throws a solid punch with A1 Bravia OLED TVS ony ventured into the large-screen

OLED TV market with the Bravia A1 series that comes in 55-inch (KD-55A1) and 65-inch (KD-65A1) models. The design and technology are so revolutionary that one would be hard-pressed to find a rival to match.

The most obvious difference is the appearance. The TV has what Sony terms as a monolithic design. It looks like a giant sheet of glass with a tilt-stand behind it. Think of a very, very large picture frame. The system can also be wall- mounted using standard VESA mounts.

The screen has a very thin frame (bezel) on all four sides. This makes it a possible candidate for use as a video wall in corporate offices, by compositing several units into a gigantic wall display. This is traditionally the domain of in-plane switching LCDs. The bezel’s width may be a slight challenge (since the TV is not designed for this purpose).

OLED (organic light-emitting diode) uses an organic substance that glows when an electric current is introduced. It drastically reduces the thickness and weight of the screen, which allows the monolithic design. Furthermore, each individual pixel produces its own light and can be switched off – unlike backlit displays where light bleeds through and washes out just-above-black images, OLEDs can produce true black and better contrast.

They vibrate the glass to produce stereo sound!

The frequency is too high to affect the display and lower frequencies are handled by a sub-woofer built into the tilt-stand. Sony assured us that the display will not deteriorate over time from the vibrations. Apparently, we were not the first to ask.

The Acoustic Surface technology produced amazing sound, unlike rival systems that often require the use of sound bars to boost audio. The sound quality remained undampened even when viewing far from the centre. With display and audio quality undiminished across a wide angle, it caters to a bigger viewing audience and is also useful for video walls.

With the tilt-stand, the screen leans back a slight 5 degrees. The stand is also weighted to keep the TV from tipping over. Interestingly, the tilt angle did not diminish the viewing experience.

The A1 Bravia is intended to be future-proof or at least to last a long time since it comes with a big price tag. The tilt-stand has four HDMI HDCP 2.2 ports; three USB ports; RS-232; Wi-Fi; Ethernet; satellite and terrestrial RF input; headphone jack; audio line out; subwoofer line out; and optical digital audio output.

The series supports HDR10 4K standard and will also handle Dolby Vision and Hybrid Log Gamma in future through a firmware upgrade. It runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and will be upgraded to 7.0 Nougat by the year-end, said Sony.

Products


M icrosoft Malaysia launched Azure Stack, Microsoft 365 and SQL Server

2017 that extends its Azure public cloud services into hybrid clouds. With these, enterprises can host Azure-type services on-premise and run them alongside Azure in the cloud seamlessly.

In a recent Microsoft survey of 1200 IT leaders across Asia, 50% of cloud usage in Malaysia is hybrid, 31% is on private cloud and 19% is on public cloud.

“For Malaysian businesses today, hybrid cloud is a natural progression to reach their digital ambitions, regardless of their size and budget,” said K. Raman, managing director, Microsoft Malaysia. “Many in the industry who adopted these solutions include UEM Edgenta, Genting Plantations, Malaysia Airlines and Nando’s Doctor2U, among others.”

Azure Stack extends the Azure ecosystem to on-premise environments and enables an Azure hybrid cloud configuration. This is ideal for environments where connectivity may be limited, such as on ships, or where regulators require data to reside within the country, said Nigel Cain, chief technology officer, Microsoft enterprise services, applications and infrastructure domain, Asia Pacific, Greater China, Japan and India.

“Azure Stack offers a consistent cloud platform and runs like an Azure service appliance. Organisations do not need to build applications in a different way,” he said.

Microsoft 365 brings together Office 365, Windows 10 and Enterprise Mobility + Security to deliver a complete, intelligent and secure solution to empower employees. It is tailored to address commercial needs from the largest enterprise to the smallest business, in the form of Microsoft 365 Enterprise and Microsoft 365 Business, respectively.

“Empowering employees is one of the four pillars of digital transformation promoted by Microsoft,” said Raman. “Employees need to be given access to all the information they need to serve the customer better.”

With Microsoft 365, companies can better connect employees, customers, and suppliers; protect company data across devices with always-on security; and, simplify the set-up and management of employee

Microsoft extends Azure on-premise with new product launches

devices and services with a single IT console. Employees are also empowered to get work done from anywhere on any device.

SQL Server 2017 provides intelligence on a long-trusted secure data platform and enables innovation for all the data of a company. “Microsoft is baking in analytics and intelligence into all its products,” said Cain.

With SQL Server 2017, companies can run Advanced Analytics, Business Intelligence, Data Warehousing and online transaction processing (OLTP). Due to the computing limitations of on-premise hardware, SQL Server 2017 does not have the full range and power of SQL services on Azure, but both can share the workload. SQL Server is touted as the most intelligent, fastest and a more secure database, and the most in-telligent data warehouse that enterprises can rely on for operational analytics, said Microsoft.

Present at the launch was Wan Murdani Mohamad, director, enabling ecosystem, MDEC. “As cloud is one of the digital ecosystem focus areas for MDEC, we work very closely with all related service providers and relevant stakeholders to advocate and facilitate the delivery of competitive and sustainable ecosystems, and to promote and accelerate the adoption of such services.

“Services launched by Microsoft today engage all three pillars of innovation: infrastructure and apps; data and artificial intelligence; and modern workspaces. These ongoing efforts are crucial in enabling digital transformation and proper migration to the cloud,” he said.

Peering One is the first Azure Stack service provider in Malaysia. Customers who have hybrid cloud requirements can now extend their Azure services to Peering One data centres.

As part of the launch, Microsoft is offering a host of offers. Users who sign up for Azure would receive US$200 worth of credit to explore services for 30 days, 12 months of popular free services and 25-plus services free of cost.

Microsoft 365’s Fast Track customer service is available as part of the subscription. Microsoft engineers will help users migrate email and content, set up Microsoft 365 services for new users, and deploy and manage devices.

There are also up to 30% of discounts to run SQL Server on Linux. Additionally, businesses migrating to SQL Server will be entitled to free licences, free training and subsidised assessment and support services until June 2018.

(From left) Wan Murdani Mohamad, director, enabling ecosystem, MDEC; K. Raman, managing director, Microsoft Malaysia; Nigel Cain, chief technology officer, Microsoft enterprise services, applications and infrastructure domain in Asia Pacific, Greater China, Japan and India

Feature


To gain an advantage over their competitors, technology service providers often try to differentiate themselves by their uniqueness. Unfortunately, 90% of such plays will fail.By Rob Addy, vice president, research, Gartner

Be a s tar: how to s tand ou t fr om the cr owd

Feature


M ost technology service providers are indistinguishable, with claims and

capabilities merging into one amorphous mass of marketing mush. Some providers make themselves look silly by creating complex convoluted explanations of their “uniqueness.”

Gartner believes, 90% of service provider differentiation efforts during the next three years will fail, as they will overly focus on the perceived “need” for uniqueness. The reality is, there are no truly unique providers: pretending otherwise convinces no one. Saying it repeatedly does not make it so.

Differentiation within the current service marketplace is difficult because many providers are similar and offer very similar

To succeed, it’s important to create a clear white space between your business and your competition in the minds of your buyers. Understanding a buyer’s pre- existing perceptions and biases, and learning to use them to your advantage is becoming increasingly important. Positioning is always relative: if the buyer cannot see any difference, there is no difference!

Softer differentiators such as “cultural fit,” “customer experience” and an

Winning in a crowded market

services. Faceless providers of commodity services are expendable, which is not healthy.

Gartner analysts evaluate a lot of vendor and service provider presentations. It’s often hard to see the difference. More importantly, the buyers don’t see it either. In a Gartner survey, only 5% of technology buyers rated providers as being very effective or extremely effective at establishing differentiation from the competition.

Many providers overthink the selection process used by buyers to evaluate them against their rivals, especially in the early stages of the sales cycle. The many differentiators they cite are often immaterial or irrelevant in the buyers’ minds.

Being a provider that stands out from the crowd will get you into the game. And you need to be in the game to have a chance of winning it.

Feature


“innovation-based DNA” are easy to ignore or dismiss. They rarely convince buyers unless they can be made tangible and demonstrable.

Pragmatically evaluating your business against competitors in the current commercial situation is the essence of real differentiation, whether the focus is on technical, operational, commercial, cultural, messaging, believability or quirkiness factors.

Being seen as different in every area in unnecessary, however, which is fortunate as it would be unfeasible. Each situation requires a different differentiation play. Tactically selecting which differentiation stories to leverage for a particular scenario or audience is a critical success factor.

Start by identifying one or two differentiators that separate your business from the subset of the market you are compared with, in the eyes of the buyer. By focusing on specific meaningful differences, and using evidence to demonstrate the nature and scale of the contrast between the various options, you can give buyers something to believe in and a fact base to justify their thinking when making a decision.

Irrational buyers like to give the impression they are making considered logical selections based upon a detailed analysis of all the available evidence. Giving them the supporting evidence they need to justify their decisions to themselves and their peers can help to ensure you are the provider that wins.

Rob Addy is a research vice president at Gartner, focused on commercial models and services marketing best practices. His research examines the industrialisation of service delivery, service productisation and the use of value articulation techniques to drive growth. Rob Addy, vice president, research, Gartner

• Resist the temptation to create convoluted sto-ries that push the boundaries of credibility in your desperation to come up with something novel and unique

• Benchmark your business against your immediate competitors and collect data points regarding your rivals

• Prepare a set of messaging assets for your sales teams to deploy, depending on who they are up against

• Make the intangible tangible and accessible through the use of customer reference stories and quantified indicators

• Recognise that two separate and distinct differentiation plays will be required. Differentiating service offerings is irrelevant if you do not establish differentiation for yourself as a provider. Start there.

How to stand out

Feature


F i ve tips to se cur e y our digi tal c onte ntDistributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks can do more damage than just block access to your website. Here are some tips to counter them.

P eople today are spending more time online every day. A study by Limelight

Networks found nearly half of adult consumers in Southeast Asia are online 16

hours or more each week. As digital grows in importance, however, it also becomes an increasingly bigger target for attacks. The impact of a DDoS attack is greater than

you’d think. Not only do these attacks diminish website performance, but there is the risk of long-term damage to brand reputation.

By Jaheer Abbas, regional director Southeast Asia & ANZ, Limelight Networks

Feature


Furthermore, DDoS attacks can also result in significant costs for a company – the obvious example is lost revenue. What businesses may not realise is that they’re paying for the “bad traffic” that’s attacking them, which can add up quickly and become very expensive.

Therefore, it’s important for businesses to have the right technologies and infrastructure in place to protect them-selves against DDoS attacks. Specifically, by implementing a layered defence that quickly identifies and mitigates these attacks, brands can protect their websites and reputations, while also ensuring they are only paying for the delivered clean traffic.

Even if a business’ website is scalable, it’s crucial to have a back-up plan in place to prepare for unexpected traffic spikes and ensure the website is secure in any situation. As a bare minimum, businesses should utilise a content delivery network (CDN), as it can scale with traffic spikes and allow websites to effectively absorb traffic.

If a business isn’t quite ready for DDoS protection, it should at least look to set up DDoS detection as a first step – this way it can understand issues within its network and work to respond to an attack as quickly as possible.

Safeguarding digital content often involves multiple techniques and layers of security. However, there are some easy-to-implement ways to protect your content.

The most fundamental level of protection is delivering digital content over HTTPS. HTTPS, or HTTP-Secured, refers to the encryption of communication between a single client (typically a device with a web browser) and the destination, such as a website, through a trusted certificate that verifies ownership of the destination.

When a successful HTTPS connection is established, any data that passes over that is encrypted. This way, you can be assured that you’re protected from anyone who might intercept the transmission.

Many organisations today also use two- factor authentication to access specific areas or types of content. It requires users to enter a randomly-generated, single-use number each time they log in. This ensures that even if a password is guessed or

The sophistication of cyberattacks some-times warrants a layering of security technologies in front of a website. For example, where DDoS protection can help prevent a flood of malicious traffic, a web application firewall (WAF) can help filter traffic against a set of rules that prevent more targeted activity such as cross-site scripting (XSS) and SQL injections.

The bottom line is, safeguarding your digital content is now more important than ever as digital experiences become the focal point for consumer engagement and commerce. Implementing these methods and technologies will protect your digital content, ensure high availability, and maintain superior quality of experience for every digital visitor.

Today’s websites integrate with third- party services such as Facebook and Twitter, include targeted advertisements, and can even be reshaped based on user history. Some of that data can be “personally- identifiable information” (PII) such as names, addresses, emails, and credit card numbers. These types of data need to be protected and encrypted.

Using server-side scripting, for example, you can code part of your web pages to do the encryption and decryption on the fly, ensuring that data placed into the database, especially PII, is secured even if a breach does occur.

Organisations should store URLs to content in a database rather than hardcoding them directly on to a page with a link. That way, if someone views the code on your page, he

HTTPS

User Authentication

WAF

Encryption

Mask Locations

discovered, the perpetrator would still need to enter the code in order to gain access.

won’t be able to find the content location. Storing sensitive content such as media files above your www directory will also prevent anyone from crawling the website to find the location of your content.

Jaheer Abbas, regional director Southeast Asia & ANZ, Limelight Networks

Survey


Modern Tech Users and their Habits

Advocacy Among Tech Brand Users% of users of the following brands who say they

would advocate the brand to others

globalwebindex.net /// Question: Which of these brands would you advocate to others (e.g. write/post positive reviews about, recommend to family/friends)? /// Source:

GlobalWebIndex Q2 2017 /// Base: 34,828 Tech Brand Users aged 16-64

Huawei

Bosch

Samsung

Dell

Sony

Apple

Philips

HP

Intel

LG

60%

58%

57%

56%

56%

56%

51%

51%

51%

50%

The Online Activities of Tablet Users% of Tablet Users who say they have done the following

in the last month

globalwebindex.net /// Question: In the past month, which of the following things have you done on the internet via mobile/tablet? /// Source: GlobalWebIndex Q2 2017 ///

Base: 32,724 Tablet Users aged 16-64

Ratio

0.82 88%72%

Visited/used a search engine Ratio

0.61 43%26%

Used an online encyclopediasuch as Wikipedia

0.78 89%70%

Visited/used a social network

0.59 33%19%

Visited an online auction site

0.76 79%60%

Watched a video clip or visited a video-sharing site

0.58 38%22%

Visited/used a blogging service

0.68 76%51%

Visited an online retail site orstore such as Amazon/Taobao

0.55 60%33%

Used a webmail service toaccess, read or send emails

0.63 33%21%

Watched sports coverage orhighlights online

0.54 72%39%

Visited a newswebsite/app/service

Via Mobile Via Mobile

Fast Food Eaters UsingMobile Payments*

% of Fast Food Eaters across the following regions who have used their phone to pay for an item / service in

the past month

60% 50% 40% 30% 20%

globalwebindex.net /// Question: Which of the following have you done on your mobile phone in the past month? /// Source: GlobalWebIndex Q2 2017 /// Base: 19,849

Fast Food Eaters aged 16-64

*Fast Food Eaters are defined as internet users aged 16-64 who eat fast food at least once a week

Asia Pacific

% IDX

EuropeLatin AmericaMiddle East & AfricaNorth America

5132413126

1.231.641.431.291.18

Index Against the Average per Region

*First-Time Home Buyers are defined as those who do not currently own a property (either outright or with a mortgage) and are planning to purchase a home within the next 6 months

The Online Brand Interactionsof First-Time Home Buyers*

% who say they have done the following online brand-related action in the last month

globalwebindex.net /// Question: Which of the following actions have you done online in the past month? /// Source: GlobalWebIndex Q2 2017 /// Base: 4,684

First Time Home Buyers aged 16-64

Visited a brand’s website 59%Index1.01

Watched a video made by a brand 30% 1.22

Liked/followed a brand on a social network 28% 1.18

Read an email/newsletter from a brand 27% 1.07

Visited a brand’s social network page 27% 1.17

Used a social networking “share” button on a website 24% 1.26

Clicked on a promoted/sponsored post on a social network 18% 1.28

Asked a question to a brand on a social network 18% 1.31

Clicked on an online ad on the top or side of website 17% 1.19

Shared a brand’s post on a social network 15% 1.23

Survey


Modern Tech Users and their Habits

Dual-Screening Devices Among Gen Zers% of internet users aged 16-20 who use the

following devices while watching TV

globalwebindex.net /// Question: Thinking about when you’ve watched TV recently, which of the following devices have you also used at the same time? /// Source:

GlobalWebIndex Q2 2017 /// Base: 9,243 Internet Users aged 16-20

Laptop / PC Mobile

AsiaPacific

Europe LatinAmerica

Middle East& Africa

NorthAmerica

81%34% 70%37% 74%30% 76%28% 74%55%

Devices Used to Watch Television% of internet users aged 16-64 who watch

TV (in any form) on the following devices

globalwebindex.net /// Question: In the past month, which devices have you used to do the following? This includes any TV you watch in your home, office, while traveling or any

other location. /// Source: GlobalWebIndex Q2 2017 /// Base: 72,529 Internet Users aged 16-64

TOTAL 24%13%

16 TO 24 13%18%

25 TO 34 17%15%

35 TO 44 25%12%

45 TO 54 39%8%

55 TO 64 52%5%

TV (but not PC, Laptop, Mobile or Tablet)

PC, Laptop, Mobile or Tablet (but not TV)

AGE

Asia Pacific 17%18%

Europe 39%7%

Latin America 24%7%

Middle East& Africa

26%8%

North America 38%6%

REGION

The Rise of Social Video Viewing% of internet users who watched a video on Facebook,

Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat last month

globalwebindex.net /// Source: GlobalWebIndex Q3 2015 - Q2 2017 /// Base: 443,016 Internet Users aged 16-64

APAC (excl. China)

ENGAGEMENT BY REGION (2017)

EuropeLatin AmericaMiddle East & AfricaNorth America

58%46%72%68%59%

60%

40%

20%

2015 2016 2017

38%

51%

56%

*Tablet Second-Screeners are defined as internet users aged 16-64 who say they recently used a tablet while watching TV | **Indexes are against other Second-Screeners

Activities of TabletSecond-Screeners*

% who say they often do the following on another device while watching TV

globalwebindex.net /// Question: When watching TV, which of these things do you often do on another device at the same time? /// Source: GlobalWebIndex Q2 2017

/// Base: 19,006 Tablet Second-Screeners aged 16-64

Use social networks

Chat to / Message friends

Search for products to buy

Search for information related to what I’m watching

Share my opinion of a TV show

Interact with the online content of the TV show

57

% IDX**

1.15

56 1.11

38 1.46

33 1.43

23 1.80

21 1.77

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Malaysia’s cloud adoption: SLOW AND STEADY · 2018. 2. 3. · 9 Jalan 16/11, off Jalan Damansara 46350 Petaling Jaya PUBLISHER Satish EDITORIAL [email protected] EDITOR: