Monthly Archives: October 2011

Time dotcom to provide global network for Scomi

Malaysian fixed-line telco Time dotcom (TIME) has been chosen as the sole network provider to oilfield, transport and marine services provider Scomi Group’s global business.

Under the agreement, which was announced on 18 October 2011, TIME will design, implement and fully manage Scomi Group’s (Scomi’s) private data network that connects its offices in India, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and Malaysia, said TIME chief executive officer, Afzal Abdul Rahim.

Afzal said the private data network would be delivered through TIME’s global network partnerships and its Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) layer to provide the required reliability, security and scalability.

A fully managed network would help Scomi to increase its communication efficiencies between its offices and Scomi’s global headquarters in Malaysia, he said. “Scomi’s trust in our technical capabilities to deliver critical network services for its global operations speaks volumes of our ability to support companies with a global presence.”

“We have worked hard in stitching together a network that spans across the world,” Afzal said. “Competitive SLAs (service level agreements) have been a pillar of TIME’s network and services, offering up to 99.999 percent binding uptime on the core network and 99.9 percent for back-up networks.”

Listed on Bursa Malaysia (Malaysian stock exchange), the Scomi Group, with offices at 60 locations in 29 countries, is involved in three core businesses: oilfield services, transport solutions and marine services.

Dell Malaysia wins Employer of Choice Award

Computer firm Dell Malaysia has been recognised as the Employer of Choice 2011 by winning the Grand Gold Award from the Malaysian Institute of Human Resource Management (MIHRM).

Dell Malaysia HR director Hooi Khoon Phor said this marked a milestone for the company in its efforts to attract, grow and retain its talented workforce in Malaysia. “We recognise that our people are our biggest asset. We want to build enduring relationships with all our team members. They are core to living the brand internally and externally.”

The Grand Gold Award was presented by the Human Resources Minister, YB Datuk Seri Dr. S.Subramaniam, at the Malaysia HR Awards 2011 held on 13 October 2011.

“The award is an outstanding acknowledgement of the terrific team at Dell,” said Dell Malaysia managing director, Dato’ Simon Wong. “We have a diverse, highly talented and hardworking group of skilled individuals who have consistently exceeded expectations, and we make it a point to ensure their contributions are both rewarded and nurtured. We are honoured and inspired by this recognition from MIHRM and will continue to make Dell a great place to work-championing our team’s efforts and providing incentives, training and development tools to enable them to grow and thrive both personally and professionally.”

The Employer of Choice award is presented to employers whose HR practices and systems attract and retain employees, and have a positive impact on the company’s business key performance indicators (KPIs). This year, 40 companies were nominated in this category.

Google helps unlock more net resources for Malaysians

Internet services giant Google helps break down barriers to English language search results by providing results in 14 languages including Malay, which would make more online information accessible. “Google is bringing the vast resources that’s available on the Internet to more Malaysians,” said Google Malaysia country head Sajith Sivanandan, on 19 October 2011. “Less than 1 percent of the Internet is in Malay, so this feature is able to open up more of what’s out there to native Malay speakers.” Sivanandan said this move was announced in a global announcement, called a Googlegram, which noted that English speakers take for granted that they can always find answers online, regardless of their search topic. “Language is one of the biggest barriers to making information universally accessible, and we’ve been working to make increasing use of machine translation to improve search across languages,” continued the announcement. “You’ll start to see relevant English-language pages when you’re searching in one of 14 languages: Afrikaans, Malay, Swahili, Serbian, Slovak, Macedonian, Slovenian, Norwegian, Hindi, Catalan, Maltese, Icelandic, Welsh and Albanian. If you click on the main result title, you’ll get to the original English-language page, while the translated link underneath will take you to a translated page.”

Bekenu to benefit from ADOC programme

BEKENU: The Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (KKLW) has allocated RM80 million for next year to uplift the development of human capital nationwide.

Deputy Minister of Rural and Regional Development Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun said his Ministry will focus directly on the development of human capital through various programmes.

“Among the programmes we will emphasise on are entrepreneurs and ICT,” he told reporters after declaring open the Asia Pacific Economic Corporation (APEC) APEC Digital Opportunity Centre (ADOC) programme at Kampung Selanyau here yesterday morning.

From the overall allocation, he said, half will be used for entrepreneur’s development programme while the rest is for human capital development in ICT.

Earlier, Entulu urged the rural folk to take advantage of the ADOC programme which will be implemented in stages with the aim of narrowing the digital gap between rural and urban areas.

The ADOC programme was established under the APEC initiative between Malaysia and the government of Taipei through mutual understanding.

More than 1,000 people from Kampung Selanyau and its surrounding areas will be able to uplift their knowledge and skills in ICT through the implementation of the ADOC programme.

Entulu said Kampung Selanyau had been chosen as the first place in Sarawak, and the third in Malaysia, to benefit through ADOC programme since it was first established last year.

He disclosed that two more ADOC centres will be built, one at Kampung Tagudon Baru Ranau in Sabah and the other at Kampung Renok Bharu in Gua Musang, Kelantan.

He urged the rural folk to take advantage of the opportunity provided which is in line with the government’s aspiration to have a knowledgeable and progressive society by the year 2020.

“Moreover, the establishment of this centre will narrow the digital gap between rural and urban communities in the country.

“It will give digital exposure and maximise digital applications by rural entrepreneurs to complement the existing Rural Tele-centre Project or known as MID” he added.

Kampung Selanyau is about 45km away from Miri City and 6km from Bekenu.

Also present at the event yesterday were Lambir Assemblyman Ripin Lamat , Taipei ADOC Secretariat representative Min Li Lin, Taipei Economic and Culture Office in Malaysia (TECO) representative Tsui Chuan Huang, Miri District Officer Boniface Intang Apat, local departmental heads and community leaders.

Entulu informed that since the pilot project was implemented 10 months ago in Kampung Gadek, Melaka and Kampung Guntung Luar, Terengganu, both centres have benefited a total of 482 people.

“Among the courses conducted were web development, social media and online marketing, as well as non-ICT courses like language and e-learning programmes.

“In addition, the ADOC centre in Kampung Gadek has been chosen as the host for the Taiwan-Malaysia Youth Exchange Programme, involving university students from Taiwan National University of Science and Technology and UniKL,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister hoped that the ADOC centre here would propagate the usage of ICT among the local community and be a stepping stone for them to climb higher to be on par with the rest of the world.

Secrets to successful mobile-apps development

KUALA LUMPUR: Mobile applications developers need to be aware that successful apps are not one-off projects. They are longterm labours that require much fore thought.

Chris Hong, founder of consulting, application development and training firm H. M. Hong & Associates, said it is critical that all stakeholders – from programmers to finance staff – are involved in the project from the beginning.

“Afterthoughts are expensive, you need to have everyone on the same page from the get go,” he said.

Hong said the developers must also invest in talent acquisition and retention; while working with a timeline that puts 60% of the budget into development and 40% into iterative refinement of the eventual product.

He was speaking to a crowd of more than 200 developers attending the Mobile App Developer Seminar 2011 here.

Another speaker, Tan Tze Meng – head of the Policy Planning & Advocacy Unit (Digital Infrastructure) at MSC Malaysia – said mobile apps are a game changer, with app downloads now exceeding music downloads.

It is also a lucrative industry. Tan pointed out that Apple Inc alone has paid out more than US$3bil (RM9bil) to app developers globally so far.

More Malaysians should get in on this pie and MSC Malaysia has an ongoing programme – Icon2 – to assist apps developers to produce higher quality content, with a view to generating more revenue.

Tan said the programme is slated to restart next month for new applications.

MSC Malaysia is a national initiative to develop the country into a knowledge-based economy.

Meanwhile, Microsoft Malaysia’s senior technology advisor, Ian Su, shared details on the support and resources available to the apps developers seeking to create content on the Windows Phone Platform.

Su said that while Microsoft’s (applications) marketplace is not yet available in this country; developers could contact the company directly to get their products online.

He said Microsoft’s App Hub developer portal would be available for Malaysians very soon, but declined to name an exact date.

More fail

Also present was Celcom’s developer programme manager Stephanie Chin, who shared that only 5% of apps launched in the marketplace are successful, with 95% failing to meet the projected take up rates.

“Ideas are limitless but what is your unique selling point?” Chin asked the participants.

She also said that increasing competition in value-added services, from app stores and other telecommunications brands, has led to an industry shift to a prosumer model, which embraces open collaboration and user-generated content.

Developers who are part of Celcom’s developer programme are able to fully leverage on the telco company’s resources to market their apps.

Another speaker, Edwin Choong of Micro Focus, a multinational software and information technology company, emphasised the need to conduct virtual load testing on backend systems before any public rollout of an app.

He pointed to the recent issues experienced by users worldwide in downloading and installing Apple’s iOS5 operating system as a case in point.

The seminar was organised by InStep Learning Asia, a training centre specialising in IT training and certification programmes.

MDeC programmes to boost ICT workforce

PETALING JAYA: The Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) has launched its MyProCert and MyUniAlliance training and international certification programmes.

It aims to produce 5,000 ICT (information and communications technology) professionals and 12,000 ICT undergraduates, respectively, by 2015.

The move is the agency’s latest initiative to upskill and upgrade the country’s ICT workforce, chief executive officer Datuk Badlisham Ghazali said.

These programmes are part of the Economic Transformation Programmes’ Human Capital Development Strategic Reform Initiative (SRI), which is under the purview of the Human Resource Ministry.

MDeC is the government agency tasked with the implementation.

According to Badlisham, the MyProCert and MyUniAlliance roles complement each other. “Both are expected to address the skills-demand gap that has been identified within the ICT industry,” he said.

MyProCert is a training-subsidy programme for anyone in the existing workforce who is interested in getting certification for relevant ICT skills, to progress in their professional career.

The international business solutions provider SAP has signed on as the first partner for the programme.

Under the MyProCert-SAP deal, the company will provide a marked reduction off its usual certification fees, while MDeC will provide recognition incentives to companies which sponsor employees, and individuals who pass the required SAP certification examination.

Partnerships

MyUniAlliance, meanwhile, complements MDeC’s industry academia collaborations to enhance the competencies of undergraduates on industry-relevant technology skills.

“The programme will enhance the employability of the students and creates a career path for them to move on to higher-value jobs,” Badlisham said.

MDeC has forged collaborations with industry prominents Cisco, SAP, Intel, Oracle, IBM, Microsoft and Huawei for this programme.

It has also roped in the participation of several top higher-learning institutions, including INTI International University, Multimedia University, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman and Open University Malaysia.

Badlisham said MDeC is looking forward to partnering with more technology players, as well as collaborating with other leading tertiary institutions in the country, to ensure the goals are attained.

Malaysian property portal receives facelift

 

Shaun Di Gregorio, CEO of the iProperty Group

PHOTO – Shaun Di Gregorio, CEO of the iProperty Group.

Malaysian property website iProperty.com.my has received a major revamp with improved site navigation and interface among other new benefits, said iProperty Group.

Asia-based iProperty Group’s chief executive officer Shaun Di Gregorio said the new design gives consumers easy access to more than 274,500 property listings from Malaysia as well as access to property information in other countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Philippines and all across the region.

“Just like any website, the need for continuous refinement and improvement is a must,” said Di Gregorio. “The revamp was in line with the company’s commitment to provide property buyers and investors with an innovative website that is equipped with clear and up-to-date information that will create a one-stop read for all things property.”

He said the revamp also gave the team the opportunity to incorporate new strategies and innovations and create a more engaging experience by equipping property buyers and investors with the right tools to help them make an assessed decision. “Aside from this, the revamped site has been designed to provide quicker access to the iProperty blog, mobile applications and also to the company’s Facebook page.”

“The keyword search engine feature has also been improved to enable them to use the search box for everything either by keywords, location, state, city/area, condos or street names and it will automatically be suggested via a predictive keyword search option,” said Di Gregorio.

The property and real estate website iProperty.com Malaysia works with more than 7,000 real estate agents, and attracts more than 950,000 unique visitors a month.

Budget 2012: Malaysian ICT industry’s careful welcome

Malaysia’s ICT industry has extended a cautious welcome to the latest Budget 2012 proposals, worth RM232.8 billion (US$74 billion), tabled on 7 October by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Themed ‘National Transformation: Welfare For The People, Well Being For The Nation,’ Najib, who is also the Finance Minister, said RM181.6 billion (US$57.54 billion) of the total cost of Budget 2012 would be used for operating expenditure and RM51.2 billion (US$16.22 billion) for development expenditure.

Of the development expenditure, RM29.8 billion (US$9.44 billion) is provided for the economic sector to support infrastructure needs, industry, agriculture and rural development, he said.

Prime Minister Najib also announced a RM100 million (US$31.69 million) allocation for creativity and innovation of which RM30 million (US$9.5 million) will be used to establish the Market Validation Fund to be managed by the Malaysian Technology Development Corporation together with the Malaysia Innovation Agency

To encourage development of the five ‘regional corridors,’ Najib said: “In 2012, the government will allocate RM978 million (US$310 million) to accelerate the development in five regional corridors. Among the projects to be implemented are the construction of Johor Bahru-Nusa Jaya coastal highway in Iskandar, Johor; heritage tourism development in Taiping in the Northern Corridor; agropolitan scheme in Besut in the East Coast Economic Region; palm oil industrial cluster project in Lahad Datu in Sabah Development Corridor; and Samalaju water supply in the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy.”

“To accelerate the banking, finance and capital market, continuous effort is required to promote the development of a more integrated and comprehensive financial services. This can be achieved with the establishment of the Treasury Management Centre, which will contribute to the development of Malaysia as a competitive financial centre in the region,” he said, adding that Malaysia would attract multinational corporations (MNCs) with income tax exemption of 70 percent for five years, withholding tax exemption on interest payments on borrowings and stamp duty exemption on loans and service agreements.

Najib said one of the expected benefits of Budget 2012 would be to reduce the budget deficit to 4.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) from 5.4 percent, while helping GDP to grow from five percent to six percent next year after growing as much as 5.5 percent in 2011.

Using ICT to compete in the global economy

KUALA LUMPUR: Local businesses must make use of the latest information and communication technology (ICT) solutions to enhance their productivity and to compete in the global economy, said SME Corp Malaysia CEO Datuk Hafsah Hashim.

She said one of the criteria for developed countries was that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should contribute to at least 40% of the gross domestic product (GDP), but local SMEs currently contributed 31% to GDP.

“This means that SMEs have to grow 1% or more per annum to reach the desired 40% by 2020 (the year Malaysia aims to achieve a developed-nation status). We need a leapfrog growth driven by innovation and productivity,” she said at the launch of Microsoft’s Office 365 cloud computing service.

The launch marked the beginning of a private-public partnership between SME Corp and Microsoft Malaysia to enhance the take-up of cloud computing among Malaysian businesses.

Office 365 is Microsoft’s newest ICT solution that utilises cloud computing to integrate business function over four primary products – office, sharepoint online, exchange online, and lync online.

“SME Corp and Microsoft will also promote the cloud service through joint roadshows as well as a Microsoft booth in SME Corp’s new one-stop referral centre in KL Sentral,” Microsoft Malaysia managing director Ananth Lazarus told StarBiz.

Hafsah also said SME Corp would use the SME Competitiveness Rating for Enhancement (Score) programme to evaluate the ICT effectiveness of SMEs. SME Corp will take the lead in adopting cloud computing by using Office 365 in their KL Sentral office.

Google updates Analytics

IMAGINE if you owned an e-commerce website and wanted to see just how effective your banner advertisements around the Web are in converting the clicks to actual visits, and ultimately sales, on your site.

This is where Google Analytics comes in – the free service has been around since October 2005 and since then, the company has been gradually building up the service and its scope to allow web companies to more accurately analyse statistics based on views, clicks and other criteria.

Currently the most widely-used website statistics service in the world, the latest version of Google Analytics now offers a number of new features to obtain even more information and data on visitors to any given website.

Multi-channel funnels

One of the new features is multi-channel funnels – traditionally, marketers and other website analysis tools attribute the last advertisement clicked on by the customer as the one that generated the sale.

However, according to Google, last-click attribution isn’t the whole picture – for example, a consumer could have, over the course of a few days to a month, clicked on various advertisements on various sites leading to the same company before the last click finally resulted in a sale.

Multi-channel funnels can track these multiple channels that played a part in influencing the customer’s decision, thus creating a more detailed and accurate view of what works and what doesn’t.

Tracking social interactions

The other major area that’s new in Google Analytics is the ability to track user interactions via various social networks.

For example, if there is a Facebook Like button or a Twitter button the on site, Google Analytics will also be able to track the effectiveness of a user sharing links via their social networking sites.

Better mobile reporting

With the increasing popularity of smartphones and other mobile devices, Google Analytics now supports tracking customer usage on mobile devices via a JavaScript solution for devices with more advanced browsers.

Android and iOS operating system SDKs have also been released which can track mobile usage in such devices.

As for what is tracked, it’s not just limited to what operating system the consumer is using, but can be as specific as what particular device as well as even more detailed information such as what kind of keyboard or whether the device even has a keyboard at all.

Such information is valuable to website designers especially when customising their websites for easy navigation with certain devices.

For more information on Google Analytics and how it can help a company, check out www.google.com/support/googleanalytics. – TAN KIT HOONG