my.IT|Vol 3|No 1|2020|PIKOM Council

VOICE OF THE MALAYSIAN TECH INDUSTRY

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SERBA DINAMIKPIKOM UNICORN TECH AWARDS

JAN-MAR 2020 VOL. 3 • NO. 1 • 2020 RM10

MAKING PIKOM MORE INCLUSIVE

Honours the brightest and the best in the tech industry!

Danny Lee Chairman

PIKOM’S NEW COUNCIL MEMBERS FOR 2019/2020

Sean Seah Deputy Chairman

Ong Chin Seong Secretary

Alex Liew Treasurer

Ganesh Kumar Bangah Immediate Past Chairman

Driving Growth through

together in natural synergy. With roots firmly set in a rich data

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my CONTENTS

Vol 3 No. 1

COVER STORY Making PIKOM More Inclusive PIKOM’s new chairman Danny Lee talks about PIKOM’s push towards diversity including more women as members and the important short term and midterm plans for the association.

Cover Story Danny Lee, Chairman, Pikom

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PIKOM’s New Council Members

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WCIT 2019 in Yerevan, Armenia

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PIKOM Unicorn Tech Awards Night 2019

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AVOWS Bets on Malaysia’s Future

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Making Investments Easy for Millennials with Mytheo

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Daythree: Malaysian business service provider servicing the world

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GHL, a leading payment service provider in ASEAN

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COVER STORY

MAKING PIKOM MORE INCLUSIVE Newly elected Chairman Danny Lee talks to Sharmila Valli Narayanan on PIKOM’s focus for the year through its short term and midterm plans for the association, at the same time push towards diversity by introducing a new chapter solely focused on developing women in the tech industry.

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anny Lee’s involvement with PIKOM goes back more than a decade.

He became directly involved with the association when he was elected as council member in 2009. Over the years he went up the rank within the association holding various posts as treasurer, secretary and deputy chairman. At the recent PIKOM AGM, he was elected chairman for the term 2019-2020.

Congratulations on being elected as the chairman of PIKOM. How does it feel to lead the largest tech organisation in the country that is also regarded very highly overseas?

I’m honoured to be elected chairman.

It has been very fulfilling to have spent years contributing to the association. As a council member, I was privileged to get a feel of what the organisation is about by leading various chapter projects before heading the association.

I have big shoes to fill as the previous chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah has done an excellent job.

I will definitely continue the good

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work he has done and push for more things to be done. We are the largest and most influential tech association in the country. We need to get more connected to the public and the private sector.

What are your objectives for PIKOM? We intend to continue working on the primary objectives that were set a couple years ago. PIKOM has always looked at improving its membership value for our members. We have managed to increase membership over the years by bringing in industry value through our chapter activities and flagship events.

Another key direction is to institutionalise the association by putting in the right strategies necessary to attract cross-industry associations, private sector and form further collaboration with the Government.

As with any association, PIKOM has its short-term, midterm and long-term goals. We are heading in the right direction in achieving these goals.

Could you elaborate on what you mean by short term and midterm goals?

Short term goals are major events which PIKOM will be organizing this year, namely the World Congress on IT (WCIT2020) in Penang. Often referred as the Olympics of ICT, this premier global ICT congress brings together more than 5,000 global leaders in business, government and academia from over 100 countries to impact economic and social development through the exchange of policies, practices, trends and ideas on ICT. In conjunction with WCIT 2020, a 10-day exhibition called Penang TechFest 2020, takes place to feature new technologies like the 5G application and experience the latest technology showcase from around the world. Another international

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ANOTHER KEY DIRECTION IS TO INSTITUTIONALISE THE ASSOCIATION BY PUTTING IN THE NECESSARY PROCESS AND CONTROL ON MOVING FORWARD THROUGH OUR FLAGSHIP EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES; PROTOCOLS ON HOW WE MANAGE OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE GOVERNMENT, THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND WITH CROSS-INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS. .

event in 2020 which PIKOM will host is the Asia Pacific ICT Alliance Awards 2020 (APICTA) popularly seen as the ‘Oscars of the ICT arena.’ APICTA is a platform to push forward new ideas, products and services into the global market.

Our midterm goals are based on key activities developed by our 5 chapters: • OM (formerly known as Outsourcing Malaysia) – developing the Global Services Sector • PIKOM Venture Investment Chapter – connect entrepreneurs with investors and angels • PIKOM CIO Chapter – represented by 130 members from various sectors, the CIOs often meet to network and share tech experience in building their businesses further • PIKOM Cybersecurity Chapter aims to address the cybersecurity challenges and opportunities, for the private sector, government and public.

• PIKOM e-Commerce Malaysia – is an initiative to develop Malaysia’s eCommerce sector further through key projects like the #MYCYBERSALE series Other midterm goals include promoting our much-sought training programs under PIKOM Academy.

All our tech, leadership and project management programs are HRDF claimable.

With the role of the association

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getting larger, we felt the need to develop new initiatives. Recently we launched a new initiative in PIKOM, a think tank called Future Digital.

The committee of Future Digital will consist of people from the academia and the captains of the industry who will advise on policies relating to the tech industry. This think tank will also be a platform for us to communicate the tech industry’s concerns to the Government. We believe the Government will consider reviewing proposals and concerns we raise because as the voice of the tech industry, we know what the industry needs.

PIKOM seems to be very much a men’s club. Where are the women?

One of the most exciting midterm goals for 2020 is the establishment of a new chapter dedicated to women which, we are temporarily calling ‘Women in Tech’. Its final name will depend on what the committee finally decides to call it.

This chapter will help women get equal opportunities to contribute in the tech industry. It will also be a great platform for networking among women and for younger women in the tech industry to look for mentors and to seek advice from other women. I hope this chapter will be able to attract all the top women in tech. You’ll be hearing more about this chapter in the coming months.

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FEATURE / COUNCIL MEMBERS

PIKOM’S NEW COUNCIL MEMBERS PIKOM elected its new council members for the year 2019/2020 during its 33rd annual general meeting (AGM) in November 2019.

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IKOM held its annual AGM on 26th November 2019.

The meeting was chaired by Ganesh Kumar Bangah, the outgoing chairman.

In his speech, Ganesh outlined the important milestones that PIKOM had achieved under his leadership.

One of the most important changes was the rebranding of PIKOM to the National Tech Association of Malaysia. PIKOM started out as an association representing the vendors who sold computers and other peripherals associated with it. “Over the years the whole industry has gone through a huge transformation: we’ve moved from an association that represented computer vendors to become the voice of the tech industry in Malaysia. A rebranding was therefore necessary to project our growth and what our association represents,” he said.

He also highlighted several milestone events during his tenure as chairman. Among the rebranding of Outsourcing Malaysia as OM; the starting of a new chapter Cybersecurity and its first major event held in 2019. “The cybersecurity conference organised by this chapter received tremendous response,” said Ganesh.

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The PIKOM annual dinner 2019, always the high watermark event for PIKOM, was the biggest ever in PIKOM history. The annual dinner, which was named Serba DinamikPIKOM Unicorn Tech Awards Night 2019, saw 118 tables taken up by members with more than 1100 guests attending the event.

“PIKOM has something for you, the member no matter what your interests,” said Ganesh. He also announced the creation of Future Digital, a PIKOM think tank which will be chaired by him and will have other local tech leaders as its members.

“The last two years have been great. We have become more vocal with the Government and in turn, the Government is listening to us. Of course, there’s more work ahead of us, but we are on the right trajectory,” summed up Ganesh.

THE NEW CHAIRMAN OF PIKOM Danny Lee was elected as the new chairman. “I am very humbled to be given the honour of serving as chairman of PIKOM 2019-2020. I am grateful to my fellow members who trust in me to lead the association during such exciting yet challenging times when the tech industry is going

through such monumental changes in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

“To kick off my tenure, my priority is to call upon everyone’s support to work together for the association to be recognised as the leading voice of the tech industry.

We must continue to work hard and smart in our initiatives and efforts so as to benefit all of our members,” said Lee, who is also chairman of E-Tech IT Sdn Bhd. Lee stressed that moving forward, providing membership value will remain PIKOM’s paramount importance, as currently, it represents over 1,000 tech players.

2020 AN IMPORTANT YEAR FOR PIKOM 2020 will be a watershed year for PIKOM as the eyes of the ICT world will be on Malaysia thanks to PIKOM hosting many important international events. One of the most high profile events will be the WCIT2020 in Penang and APICTA 2020 in Kuala Lumpur. These high profile events will give a chance for PIKOM members to access global markets and win recognition as tech players to be reckoned with in today’s borderless world.

PIKOM Council Members 2019/2020

Immediate Past Chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah

Deputy Chairman Sean Seah

Secretary Ong Chin Seong

Treasurer Alex Liew

Anthony Raja Devadoss

Dato’ Seri Ivan Teh

Eng Kin Hoong

Stan Singh-Jit

Datuk Teoh Eng Kee

Dr Dzaharudin Mansor

Alex Loh

Tan Chen Chiang

KT Ong

Dzuleira Abu Bakar

Johary Mustapha

Tay Chia Chia

Wing K Lee

Chairman Danny Lee

Councillors

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FEATURE / COUNCIL MEMBERS

FEATURE / WCIT 2019

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WCIT 2019 IN YEREVAN, ARMENIA The 23rd World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) was held in Yerevan, Armenia successfully. Malaysia will host the next WCIT2020.

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erevan, Armenia, successfully hosted the WCIT2019. Yerevan can pat itself on the back for being able to attract many good speakers and a large number of delegates from around the world to attend the event. One of the speakers at the event who garnered a lot of attention from the world press was entrepreneur and beauty mogul Kim Kardashian West, who was a special keynote speaker and panellist.

Malaysia stood out prominently at WCIT2019. PIKOM in collaboration with the Malaysian Digital Economic Corporation (MDEC) were in the spotlight Malaysia will host the next WCIT2020 to be held in Penang.

Ganesh Kumar Bangah, the thenChairman of PIKOM, received the symbolic crystal of WCIT from Armenia.

Penang, the next host city of WCIT2020 was present with a large delegation headed by its Chief Minister YAB Chow Kon Yeow. Also present with him in Yerevan were the state minister of Penang for Public Works, Utilities and Flood Mitigation, Zairil Khir Johary; Penang city mayor, Dato’ Ar. Yew Tung Seang, Invest Penang as well the Penang2030 unit.

The Chief Minister praised Armenia for its excellent organisation of WCIT2019. “Congratulations to Armenia for a successful 23rd

congress of 2019. Now that you have set a great benchmark for us, we will ensure to take WCIT2020 Malaysia to another level next year when it is held in Penang next year,” he said.

Dato’ Ng Wan Peng, Chief Operating Officer of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), said, “This is the second time Malaysia has the honour of hosting WCIT, having hosted the first-in-Asia highly successful 16th WCIT back in May 2008. As the year 2020 has special significance for Malaysians, this is a magnificent opportunity for Malaysia to influence global digital industry trends and policy advocacy and to showcase its innovative role on the digital stage. Malaysia’s geographic location and talent, which is borne out of rich cultural diversity, is uniquely positioned as a hub and gateway into the digital economies of ASEAN, and beyond, to the rest of the world.”

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FEATURE / SERBA DINAMIK PIKOM UNICORN TECH AWARDS

A NIGHT WHERE TECH STARS SHINE The Oscars of the Malaysian tech industry, the prestigious Serba Dinamik – PIKOM Unicorn Tech Awards Night 2019 was a grand affair which saw the local tech industry recognise and celebrate its best achievers.

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nyone who says that the tech industry parties are staid, dull affairs have certainly not been to the one by PIKOM. This year’s Serba Dinamik – PIKOM Unicorn Tech Awards Night 2019 (Tech Awards) was a glitzy, glamorous and fun affair filled with music, dances, good food, great networking, stirring speeches and beautiful people dressed up to their nines!

It was also the largest with 108 tables filling the Grand Ballroom at the KL Convention Centre. Nearly 1,080 people from the Malaysian tech industry gathered to celebrate the brightest and best from their industry. The title sponsor for the event this year was the leading

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company in the oil-and-gas industry, Serba Dinamik Holdings Sdn Bhd. The special guest for the evening was Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who delivered the special address for the evening.

What made this particular Tech Awards night special was that it was held for the first time in collaboration with the MSC Malaysia APICTA (Asia Pacific ICT Alliance Awards) and GBS (Global Business Services) Asia Awards.

IMPORTANT SPEECHES There were three important speeches given that night. The first was by the then PIKOM Chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah where he unveiled the new name of PIKOM as the National Tech Association from its previous name of the National ICT Association of Malaysia. He explained the rationale for this change: “In its early days, we were known as Persatuan Industri Komputer Malaysia. With time and the changing IT landscape, the association transitioned to Persatuan Industri Komputer dan Multimedia Malaysia. To fit into the forwardthinking and fast-changing digital landscape of today, the association has evolved to become known as the National Tech Association of Malaysia.”

He also valued the title sponsor Serba Dinamik’s participation in the award night. “They are also moving big into the tech industry, realising the vision of PIKOM is very similar to theirs,” he said.

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FEATURE / SERBA DINAMIK PIKOM UNICORN TECH AWARDS

Dato’ Abdul Karim Abdullah, Tech Personality of the Year: “As a company, we are honoured to be the title sponsor for this event. We have high respect and regard for PIKOM. It’s a brand name that is recognised and respected domestically and internationally.”

“This dinner is to recognise the tech icons of this industry. The various awards given tonight are to find the next tech unicorn. I’m proud to say that a few years ago, a company called Grab was recognised for its efforts and given an award on such a night like this,” he added.

PIKOM had been advocating for a ministry that is focused on technology for a long time, said Ganesh. “Since the technology

PIKOM UNICORN TECH AWARDS 2019 WINNERS 1. Technology Organization Excellence Award: Tenaga Nasional Berhad 2. CIO Excellence Award: Chia Nam Liang, Hap Seng Consolidated Berhad 3. Member Excellence Award: Fortinet Malaysia Sdn Bhd 4. Technopreneur Excellence Award: See Wai Hun, Juris Technologies 5. GBS Company of the Year: Jabil Sdn Bhd 6. Regional Tech Company of the Year: GHL Systems Bhd 7. Special Recognition Award: MDEC for the GAIN Programme 8. Tech Personality of the Year: Dato’ Abdul Karim Abdullah

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industry has become so important and it will be the backbone of future industries, it is vital that the country has a tech ministry to look into the tech issues.”

There was a palpable buzz in the audience when it was the turn of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to deliver his keynote address for the night. He congratulated PIKOM for remaining relevant to the needs of the industry.

He also touched issues such as social disparity, the need for Malaysia to catch up in the digital march and for the tech industry to work towards technology opportunities for all.

Sean Seah, the Dinner Organising Chair, in his speech, explained the significance of the word unicorn in the name of the award night.

“We are in search of the Malaysian tech unicorn,” he said. “A unicorn is a company with USD1 billion in

EXCERPTS FROM THE SPEECH OF YB DATUK ANWAR IBRAHIM:

At present there are too many agencies and ministries dealing with IT, digital technology and it can be cumbersome. What I saw from my experience in Bangalore, India, was that a tech tzar was given full authority by the Government and he was able to focus to ensure that the implementation of policies was fast, effective and supportive of the industry.

For this country to move forward, we must be competitive with our neighbours.

We cannot afford to lag behind. But unfortunately in some areas, we are already lagging.

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I have a clear vision. The tech industry must remain our main focus if we are to be a developed nation.

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Digital technology must emphasise the need to democratize the whole facility; in other words, it must be accessible to all. The Government must make sure it must be humane in the sense that it must cater to the welfare of the common person. The industry must develop apps that enable stakeholders like smallholders and fisherman. For example, it would help the fishermen on the East Coast a great deal if they had an app with which they can check the price of fish being sold in Kuala Lumpur so that they can set a reasonable price for their catch. This will help increase their daily wages.

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Unbridled capitalism that caters only to the elite becomes problematic.

I am passionate that the IR4.0 and digital technology will help to alleviate the problems of the IT industry and at the same time eradicate poverty.

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market capitalisation. We hope to inspire our tech companies to think internationally and to reach global heights.” He also thanked Serba Dinamik and hoped that the company would be back next year as the title sponsor.

He reminded the guests of the important event in 2020, the WCIT2020, the premier event in the tech world. “This is one of the most important PIKOM projects for 2020 and we hope it will be a huge success. WCIT2020 is a rewarding event to bring to Malaysia which will propel the country forward in terms of the tech industry and the exposure Malaysia will be getting from the tech world.”

He also thanked his committee members who worked very hard to ensure that the evening would be an event to remember with the “best food, best entertainment – in short, a world-class event”.

In between the giving of the various awards, the evening was filled with entertaining dances, performances by the live band Arjuna Malaysia, wonderful food and guests networking and meeting old friends and acquaintances while making new friends and business contacts. The evening ended with a grand lucky draw and prizes for best-dressed awards. The band continued to play songs by popular demand and everyone agreed that this was truly one of the best PIKOM award nights that truly lived up to the promise of being a world-class event.

I have followed PIKOM’s progress very closely. I must express my profound thanks to PIKOM and especially to Ganesh who have been enthusiastic supporters of my Digital Native Agenda 23 (DNA23).

My role now, among other things is to try and emphasise the importance of digital technology and help accelerate the process.

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FEATURE / SERBA DINAMIK PIKOM UNICORN TECH AWARDS

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FEATURE / SERBA DINAMIK PIKOM UNICORN TECH AWARDS

MSC MALAYSIA APICTA 2019 RECIPIENTS No HEAD CATEGORY

SUB CATEGORY

COMPANY NAME

1

Junior Student

Sekolah Menengah Jenis Kebangsaan Care 4U

Student

PROJECT NAME

STATUS

Winner

Chung Ling Private High School

Surgeons’ VisionMetric: Potential Diagnosis for Cancerous Cell

Merit

CEC CLPHS

oHelmet

Merit

SJKC YUK CHAI

WOW Project (Work On Waste)

Merit

Treehouse Learning

Quick Park IOT Based Smart Parking System

Merit

SMK Damansara Jaya

Chef de Bot

Merit

Chong Hwa Independent High School

Driver Drowsiness Detection System

Merit

SMK Infant Jesus Convent

Moonlight Dream

Merit

Senior Student

Tertiary Student Asia Pacific University of

Technology and Innovation

“Prevention is Better than Cure”... Winner A Sensitive, Low Cost and Portable Detector to Prevent Cancer

Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

IoT motor monitoring and control system for industrial application

Merit

2

Property Management System

Winner

Cobnb Sdn Bhd

Short-term-rental Host Management System

Merit

Analytics of Customer Experience (ACE)

Winner

Consumer

Tourism & Hospitality Xhinobi

Digital Marketing/ Advertising

Telekom Research & Development Sdn Bhd

3 Inclusions Education Assoc Prof Dr Nantha Kumar Instructional-based Intelligent Merit

and Subramaniam Chatbots

Community Services

4 Industrial Agriculture REDtone International Bhd REDtone Smart Farming

Winner

EasyParcel

Winner

Global Connectivity and Managed Services

Winner

Transport EasyParcel Sdn Bhd ICT Networks &

IX Telecom SDN. BHD. Communication

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No HEAD CATEGORY

SUB CATEGORY

PROJECT NAME

STATUS

5

Business

Finance & Accounting Soft Space

Fasstap

Winner

Services

Solutions (Fintech)

EMAS eKYC

Merit

Silverlake Digital INX Sdn Bhd

Silverlake GTS SmartInvest – Robo Advisor Platform

Merit

ICT Services Solutions Telekom Research & Development

Sdn Bhd

Fixed-line Voice over Wireless (FiVoW)

Merit

Telekom Research & Development Sdn Bhd

Open Innovation Platform to Enable Rapid Digitalisation

Merit

Security Solutions Centagate Box

Securemetric Berhad

Winner

NEXPLATFORM Sdn Bhd

NEXPLATFORM

Merit

Origin EMR-on-HIS

Merit

Marketing Solutions

COMPANY NAME

Innov8tif Solutions Sdn. Bhd.

Professional Services Origin Integrated Studios Sdn Bhd

(Legal, HR etc)

Solutions

6 Public Government and National Defence University

Sector and Citizen Services of Malaysia

Government

7 Cross Start-Up Xhinobi

Categories Research and Development

Assoc Prof Dr Nantha Kumar Subramaniam

TACCOMS : Tactical Communications Operations Management System

Winner

Gamfication & Game

Merit

Instructional-based Intelligent Chatbots

Merit

Telekom Research & Development Open Innovation Platform to

Sdn Bhd Enable Rapid Digitalization

8 Technology Artificial Intelligence MIMOS Berhad Automated Licence Plate

Recognition Platform (Mi-LPR)

for Malaysian Vehicles

Merit

Merit

Serba Dinamik IT Solutions Sdn Bhd SMART Maintenance

Merit

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FEATURE / SERBA DINAMIK PIKOM UNICORN TECH AWARDS

GBS ASIA AWARD 2019 RECIPIENTS Corporate Category

Organization

Status

Operational Excellence in Information Technology

Serba Dinamik IT Solutions Sdn Bhd

Winner

Avows Technologies Sdn Bhd

Winner

Operational Excellence in Finance & Accounting

Jabil Sdn Bhd Winner

Association of International Certified Professional Merit Accountants Operational Excellence in Human Resources

HSBC Electronic Data Processing (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd

Winner

Operational Excellence in Contact Centre

Daythree Business Services Sdn Bhd

Winner

Best Practices in Information Technology

HSBC Electronic Data Processing (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd

Winner

Best Practices in Infrastructure Management Services

HDC Data Centre Sdn Bhd

Winner

Best Practices in Information Management Systems

Amway Business Services Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd

Winner

Best Practices in Business Process Transformation

CBRE Asia Pacific Business Services Sdn Bhd

Winner

Best Practices in Corporate Social Responsibility

AGCO GSI (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd

Winner

Best New GBS Provider of the Year

Aspiro Sdn Bhd

Winner

UST Global Malaysia

Winner

Woodwing Digital Services Sdn Bhd

Merit

SANCY Berhad

Merit

Tricor Shared Services Sdn Bhd

Merit

Best Digital GBS Provider

DELL Technologies Malaysia

Winner

Serba Dinamik IT Solutions Sdn Bhd

Merit

UST Global Malaysia

Merit

Individual Category

Name

Company

Status

Best Professional Agent in Information Technology

Chin Chong Kang

AIG Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd

Winner

Best Team Leader Information Technology

Logaraj Chamuhenaden

AIG Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd

Winner

Ganeshkumar K Karunagharan AIG Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd

Merit

Best Operations Manager

Jegathesh Loganathan

AIG Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd

Winner

Information Technology

Taniushbabu Gilvarajil

AIG Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd

Merit

Best Operations Manager Contact Centre

Chiew Sin Kwang

Daythree Business Services Sdn Bhd

Winner

Best Operations Director Contact Centre

Praba Chilatorai

Daythree Business Services Sdn Bhd

Winner

Best Transformation Leader Contact Centre

Chiew Sin Kwang

Daythree Business Services Sdn Bhd

Winner

Best Thought Leader Contact Centre

Raymond Devadass

Daythree Business Services Sdn Bhd

Winner

AIG Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd

Winner

Best Account Manager Information Technology Kalaiselvan Perumala

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FEATURE / AVOWS

AVOWS BETS ON MALAYSIA’S FUTURE With almost two decades of experience in the Malaysian IT industry, Ashok K Ramavath, Group CEO of AVOWS, has seen it all – the gears of IT in Malaysia, the intricacies of customer interaction, the importance of resource-management, and the onset of the era of Emergent Technologies- Industry 4.0. AVOWS Technologies is Ashok K Ramavath’s answer to how Malaysian firms can handle the changing paradigms of IT.

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Incorporated in 2008 in Kuala Lumpur, AVOWS has grown into a multi-national behemoth operating in five countries, with more than four hundred engineers, consultants, and designers within its ranks. The AVOWS team, consisting of both industry veterans and creative newcomers, holds technical excellence and a human-centric design focus as the twin pillars of their vision - of “turning our Customers’ Vision of the Future into the Reality of the Present.”

The extent of the expertise the AVOWS’ team specializes in is inspiring – ranging from AI/ ML to RPA/ Chatbots to IoT – backed by a tried-and-tested Delivery team and a veritable army of industry experts, consultants, and partners. The quality of this team has been borne out by more than one client, and no few awards- such as the recent GBS 2019 trophy.

More interestingly, AVOWS endeavors to “give back” to Society as much as it can, through various educational and technical ventures.

One of these ventures is AVOWS’ flagship Technology Seminar, the quarterly TECH-CONNECT, the most recent edition of which was organized in December 2019. The seminar saw the participation of dozens of high-profile IT industry luminaires, CXOs, and managers from all over Malaysia and featured

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multiple sessions and panel discussions involving IT industry experts and consulting. Every edition of TECH-CONNECT is meant to not only provide the IT leaders of Malaysia a window into global and local IT trends, but also an indepth look at certain key emerging technologies.

In addition, TECH-CONNECT also serves as a channel to showcase yet another of AVOWS’ key programsALGO LEAGUE, a nation-wide coding

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contest for University students.

“We at AVOWS wish to nurture Malaysia’s local talent, to provide them a proper platform so that they can stand toe-to-toe with international competition in the future. ALGO LEAGUE is our small attempt to ensure that the AVOWS’ difference makes its mark far beyond the bounds of our own firm. We make the dreams of Malaysia’s future generations a feasible reality,” said Ashok K Ramavath.

IT HAS BECOME A CLICHÉ THESE DAYS TO REMARK THAT DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION WILL CHANGE THE WORLD BUT THAT IS ONLY IF THERE IS THE TALENT AND VISION TO ALLOW IT TO HAPPEN.

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- Ashok K Ramavath, CEO, AVOWS Technologies

How did it feel to win the award?

What does the award mean to you?

Winning this award has been a validation of not only our accomplishments till date, but also of the AVOWS vision regarding IT and Society. For many years, AVOWS has endeavored to combine delivery excellence and technology leadership with outstanding customer service, and I am honoured that the work we’ve been doing has been recognized as such. The award has also served to recognize the work of our young team and we are all reinvigorated and confident to continue the work we’ve been doing.

Lastly, this award has entrusted within us a sense of responsibility; the eyes of the World are upon us and it is up to us to continue scaling ever-higher pinnacles by innovating dynamic practices and better usage of technology.

What is the USP of your company’s product?

At AVOWS, we believe that Consumers don’t want to buy products – they want to solve their problems. This is why we focus not only on mere technical excellence, but also in going above and beyond in providing them the experience that they would wish their clients and end-users to have from them. We believe that all technology is a medium to turn the customer’s vision of the future into the reality of present; and we try to make this true through innovative strategy, transparent communication, and new age thinking That is why our USP can be summarized as “turning your Vision into Reality”.

How has the response been for your product? Which is the most popular of your products and why?

We work with our customers as a trusted digital partner for providing IT solutions, primarily in the areas

of customer experience and data analytics. I am proud to state that we’ve worked extensively in digital technologies, especially in areas of AI/ ML, Big Data and Cloud technologieswith some substantial wins under the scope of Chatbots.

We would describe our successes in this field as a product of our USP, “Vision into Reality”, since any AVOWS enterprise takes into account a holistic view – Technology, UI Design, Maintenance, End-User Experience, etc., all customized to suit the customer’s business, instead of being just another IT solutions problem.

Our Customers are appreciative of such a stance, where we work as a trusted digital partner instead of being merely another brick in the wall. We work closely with all our customers under a completely trust-based “tell us all” approach “where you started, where you want to go next, what is the end goal and what problems you have foreseen, who are your customers, why they care about you.” This is what helps us build goodwill with them.

What is the marketing technique you are using to sell your solution?

We work exclusively in the B2B domain using our talent pool, global expertise and knowledge of the IT industry to act as partners and change agents. In recent times, we’ve modified this direct marketing-based approach to further provide techcentric content and organizing tech seminars for our customers/contacts so that they can have an overview of the changing trends across the world

in general and Southeast Asia in particular. This is an extension of our goal to work as partners and change agents to solve problems, alongside our customers.

The digital transformation is unavoidable. How well must businesses, especially SMEs, prepare for it and how can AVOWS help?

SMEs face an enormous amount of pressure with commodity prices and supply fluctuations, increasing competition, geopolitical uncertainties and demographic change and the exponential pace of digital evolution.

Every organization has a unique DNA; a uniqueness that has to be protected and amplified through the power of digital technologies and analytics.

AVOWS Technologies brings its entire gamut of expertise – from consulting to implementation – to ensure that digital journeys can enable an end-to-end transformation. Our goal is to bring a human experience to technological developments, providing ways to maximize value creation across asset and operations lifecycles while improving profitability.

We understand that going digital is a journey into fundamental business transformation that begins with reimagining prevailing business processes and user experiences.

Our team of design-thinkers and industry experts help our clients break down blocks by combining deep knowledge of business processes with user-centric design principles to truly visualize the potential of digital technologies.

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FEATURE / MYTHEO

MAKING INVESTMENTS EASY FOR MILLENNIALS WITH MYTHEO MYTHEO, a Digital Investment Management (DIM) service, a groundbreaking wealth management service that handles everything with minimal human intervention, is winning plaudits from all over.

Photography Courtesy of Kevin Teh

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uring the MSC Malaysia APICTA 2019 Awards which was held during the Serba Dinamik – PIKOM Unicorn Tech Awards Night 2019 in October 2019, the DIM service MYTHEO, was awarded the Finance & Accounting Solutions (Fintech) Merit Award under the Business Services category.

MYTHEO Digital Investment Management (DIM) service is provided by GAX MD Sdn Bhd, which is a joint venture company of Silverlake Group, Malaysia. The Silverlake Group made a name for itself as one of the largest and most successful IT solutions providers in Asia. With over 30 years of experience, the company has become well-known as the digital innovation leader in providing innovative solutions for their clients in the financial, capital market, fund management, digital payment and digital economy. The Group has partnered with Money Design Japan, which pioneered the first roboadvisory service in Japan.

THE RISE OF ROBOADVISORY SERVICES Robo-advisor, also known as a DIM service, is a wealth management service that handles every aspect of investing with minimal human intervention. Based on each individual’s profile and preferences, this service would recommend a suitable investment portfolio, followed by selecting and investing in suitable assets accordingly. It is

driven by software which utilises algorithms to automatically allocate, manage and optimise clients’ assets.

MYTHEO is a DIM platform that was licensed by The Securities Commission (SC) Malaysia in May 2019. It is a continued legacy from Japan’s THEO, which manages over 75,000 investors with over USD450 million in assets under management (AUM). When MYTHEO was launched in June 2019, the Group became the first local digital innovation company

to offer digitalised investment management services in Malaysia.

Ronnie Tan, the CEO and Managing Director of GAX MD, believes that MYTHEO will be a game changer in financial management because it “promotes financial inclusiveness and helps instil the importance of saving and investing among Malaysians, especially the millennials.”

Why invest in MYTHEO?

• It’s revolutionary: As a robo-

advisor that is relatively new in the Malaysian market, MYTHEO is an exciting alternative investment service that is applicable and attractive to all members of the public.

• Simple: MYTHEO bridges the gap between investing and individuals inexperienced with investing. The user-friendly platform interface and the sophisticated automated investment decisions make investing simple and comprehensible to the general public. Now, everyone can invest thanks to MYTHEO! • Convenient: MYTHEO can be easily accessed via either the web page or the mobile application.

• Affordable: Financial inclusiveness is one of MYTHEO’s main focus, and this is emphasized through a low entry point of just RM100 to start investing. On top of that, MYTHEO only charges a management fee of 0.5% to 1.0% per annum, with no other hidden fees.

• Potential: MYTHEO’s system is

built to scale and to manage large investment funds. The AUM in Asia Pacific is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.7% to over USD29 trillion by 12025. In addition, the share of the AUM under robo-advisors is increasing, leading to a huge potential for MYTHEO in the near future.

• Unique: MYTHEO keeps it simple and allocates the investor’s fund into three functional portfolios, which are ‘Growth’, ‘Income’, and ‘Inflation Hedge’. Each functional portfolio has its own purpose and benefits, and is able to address individual needs and preferences.

MYTHEO also invests in a large range of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) (over 25), further diversifying risks across different asset classes, geographies and industries.

• MYTHEO’s functional portfolios achieved attractive annual returns in 2019 with Growth Portfolio at 20.24%, Income Portfolio at 9.64% and Inflation Hedge Portfolio at 18.01%.

1 2025 AUM projection based on “PWC Asset & Wealth Management 2025” https://www.pwc.com/sg/en/publications/asset-management-2025-asia-pacific.html

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MALAYSIAN BUSINESS SERVICE PROVIDER SERVICING THE WORLD

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aythree, one of the leading global business service providers in the region combines knowledge, experience and cutting-edge technologies to improve customer experience and operational outcomes for its customers.

Raymond Devadass, the founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Daythree Business Services Sdn Bhd describes the company as “an organisation open enough to see opportunities, wise enough to be grateful, and courageous enough to be happy.”

This philosophy has brought great success to the company. Founded in 2008 as a start-up with only three employees, today it has evolved to more than 1000 employees with revenue coming in from Europe, the United States, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Best of all, this company has its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur and all eleven of its global delivery centres are also located in Malaysia.

As a forward-thinking business process management company envisioning tomorrow’s drivers, Daythree offers clients a superior way to deliver extraordinary customer experience (CX) and a reliable implementation of automation technology to improve business processes.

“We are involved in the business of looking after customers. We invest in optimising customer experience through technology,” says Raymond Devadass.

Daythree focuses on customercentricity with its domain expertise of over 10 years, delivering and reshaping the business services industry with cognitive offerings ranging from

integrated IT-BPM, Social Media Management to Digital Services and Solutions such as Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Chatbots, Analytics and more, for a connected business services ecosystem.

The global CX industry is undergoing a major revolution as a result of automation, artificial intelligence and machine learning.

These new disruptive technologies are forcing the industry to re-think the way CX activities operate. Daythree is a Malaysian GBS organisation at the forefront of embracing IR4.0 “We look at things from a different perspective, embrace change, look out for opportunities,” states Raymond Devadass.

Daythree’s excellence in GBS was recognised during the Serba Dinamik-PIKOM Unicorn Tech Awards 2019 where the organisation was named the winner of GBS Asia Awards 2019 in the Contact Centre Operational Excellence category.

The company also bagged other individual awards on that night such as Best Thought Leader (Won by the CEO Raymond Devadass), Best Transformation Leader, Best

Operations Director and Best Operations Manager categories.

In addition, Daythree won the Best Digital Innovation Award at CCAM’s 2019 Industry Excellence Awards ceremony and also the Contact Centre Asia Pacific Innovation Award held in Jakarta in September 2019. The company was presented the 2019 Malaysian Global Digital Icons Award by MDEC together with ASOCIO and PIKOM. “These awards are in recognition for the ground-breaking work we do on enhancing overall cost efficiency and workforce utilisation through digitalisation,” states Raymond Devadass.

These awards are prestigious as they were based on enterprisewide assessment and judged by some of the most visionary industry professionals.

In 2019, MDEC named Daythree Business Services as one of their Data Technology Partners to empower more Malaysian businesses to go digital and strengthen the nation’s position as the region’s tech and digital hub.

For more information, contact Daythree at its central office: Level 8, Tower 7, UOA Business Park No 1, Jalan Pengaturcara U1/51A, Seksyen U1, 40150 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.

Tel: +603-5567 2388 Email: askme@daythree.co Website: www.daythree.co

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FEATURE / GHL

THE LEADING ASEAN PAYMENT SERVICE PROVIDER GHL is a leading payment service provider that deploys products and services to clients across various industries.

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henever you use your credit card to pay for things and the retailer whips out the payment device, have you ever wondered where the device comes from? Similarly, when you use the debit card via a device or book your airline tickets for Air Asia, Firefly and Malindo, do you ever think about the people or organisation behind these payment providers?

These various payment providers have become such an integral part of our lives we hardly give them a thought. But without such a payment service provider, our whole lives will be in a limbo.

BEHIND EVERY PAYMENT GHL is the unsung hero that makes all our lives that much easier for us to shop, pay our bills, settle our loans all seamlessly and hassle-free. GHL deploys products and services that have become a part of our lives, not only in Malaysia but also in the Phillippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Australia and China. It employs over 1,000 employees across these regions to service clients across vertical segments in industries such as banking and financial services, oil and gas, retail, telecommunications and transportation.

GHL has also been doing this with more than 25 years of experience in the e-payment industry. GHL’s experience and excellent service have seen its business grow to such an extent that today it processes more than RM1 billion in transactional value per month!

All the major organisations and governing bodies such as Visa, MasterCard, JCB, UPI, MEPS, SIRIM and the Line Encryption Working 24 MY•IT

Group have accredited GHL. GHL has also the honour of being listed on the Main Board the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.

A RANGE OF SERVICES GHL’s business comprises an extensive range of payment solution services under one roof.

Dubbed as ASEAN’s principal Third Party Acquirer in ASEAN, GHL represents major financial institutions, as well as locally and globally reputed payment schemes. They are also the largest acquirer for debit payments (MyDebit) for Non-Banks in Malaysia, with a volume of over 45,000 acceptance points.

One of GHL’s subsidiaries, under the emblem of the well-recognised purple logo of e-pay, is Malaysia’s largest reload and bill collection network. It processes a total of over 30 million transactions, amounting up to RM350 million in value, nationwide per month.

Embarking on the next generation payment of cashless wave, GHL alongside with significant Asian mobile/digital payment players, powers major local and cross border e-wallets’ acceptance across their footprint.

GHL also offers online payment solutions via their online payment arm, eGHL. eGHL provides secure internet payment gateway covering both card and non-card payment channels, and online businesses throughout the ASEAN region.

GHL provides Android All-in-one Point of Sales (POS) terminals and other payment acceptance devices that are able to perform several electronic payments for credit cards, debit cards, e-Wallets, loyalty points capture, redemption transactions, loan repayments, and other bank/ merchant-specific requirements.

GHL also offers a complete set of Solutions Services of a more secure and ‘PCI-DSS-compliant’ payment network that supplies software and hardware solutions. On top of that, GHL provides extensive loyalty and prepaid e-wallet solution that supports the collection and redemption of loyalty points, via various acceptance methods, QR Code, magnetic cards, and acceptance of contactless cards.

One of the reasons why GHL has successfully become the number one choice for electronic payments by merchants is because it has a strong track record of extensive merchant underwriting and fraud monitoring supported by its own in-house technology.

That is why GHL has become a trusted name in the ASEAN region.