Mesiniaga Berhad

A MAINSTAY IN MALAYSIA’S TECHNOLOGICAL STORY

MESINIAGA BERHAD

2 | APAC Outlook issue 46

TECHNOLOGY

Helping Customers Succeed Mesiniaga Berhad has been a mainstay in Malaysia’s technological story – the company has been providing best-in-class IT products and services since it was established in 1981 Writer: Tom Wadlow | Project Manager: Vivek Valmiki

APAC Outlook issue 46 | 3

MESINIAGA BERHAD

M

alaysia’s IT sector is no small contributor to the nation’s economy.

According to a Gartner estimate, spending on technology products and services reached $15.5 billion in 2019, an increase of 4.6 percent on 2018 which is well above the global average (3.2 percent).

Malaysia’s National Industry 4.0 Policy is the country’s action plan for catalysing the adoption of emerging technologies to increase productivity and competitiveness across industry sectors, the vision being to elevate the country to a primary destination for high-technology industries.

A constant throughout the nation’s recent technological rise has been Mesiniaga Berhad.

“Mesiniaga was established on December 17, 1981 at a time when the country’s IT industry was still in its infancy,” explains Datuk Wan Mohamed Fusil, the firm’s current CEO. “The establishment was in response

Datuk Wan Mohamed Fusil, Mesiniaga Berhad, CEO

to the government’s aspiration to increase local participation in the technology industry.”

Fusil explains that a plan was developed to cultivate local entrepreneurial talent and involved utilising a pool of readily available talents in IBM, and incorporating a company that would serve as IBM’s sole dealer and agent in Malaysia.

“The team was headed by the late Ismail Sulaiman, who was formerly the General Manager of IBM Malaysia,” he continues. “With a team of 50 ex-IBM personnel, Mesiniaga became fully operational on January 1, 1982 with a paid-up capital of RM500,000 ($120,000).

“Since then, Mesiniaga has been in the technology business for almost four decades. What started out as a company selling IBM office products has now evolved into a multi-platform business solutions provider with a paid-up capital of RM60.4 million ($14.5 million).”

STRENGTH IN SUPPLIERS Q: How important are partner and supplier relationships to the success of your business?

Datuk Wan Mohamed Fusil: “We are proud and honoured to be continuously associated with the biggest and brightest brands in the market.

“I believe that it is important for Mesiniaga to have a strong relationship with our key technology partners that will allow us to be in a position to keep our engineers updated with the latest technical knowhow, and for our sales team to be able to iterate the various value propositions from these brands to aid in positioning the right solutions that will provide the best outcome for our customers.

Testament to our partnerships with known technological partners are our premier statuses among many of the brands, and the many awards that we have picked up over the past years.

“Aside from technology partners, a key component of how we deliver on our projects is our relationship with distributors, who play a key role in ensuring we balance our inventories by providing just-in-time supplies of equipment and goods required for a successful rollout. Among others, Netpoleon has been a reliable partner of ours, by supplying us with security solutions with admirable working relations. Other notable distributors that we work with include M.Tech, VSTECS and Glocomp.”

4 | APAC Outlook issue 46

TECHNOLOGY

“AS OF THIS YEAR, WE HAVE BEGUN EXPANDING OUR PORTFOLIO OF SERVICES TO INCLUDE TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL BE ABLE TO ASSIST SMES”

that we have developed for the larger enterprises can be repackaged to provide comprehensive enterprise grade solutions at affordable prices for the SME market.”

ADAPTABLE AND AGILE Indeed, today the firm stands proud as an enterprise solutions integrator specialising in complex IT solutions and project management for its customers, along with postimplementation services and nationwide technical support to clients who have branch operations throughout Malaysia.

Key offerings include IT outsourcing services, ranging from total IT operations to cloud management and security services.

Mesiniaga’s technical expertise spans numerous categories such as in system infrastructure, security, enterprise and telco networks,

customised application development and change management, its current team standing at more than 1,200 people spread across the country. Key sites include its HQ at Subang Jaya and offices in Pulau Pinang, Johor Bahru and 22 other nationwide service locations.

“Traditionally we have been a technology company that serves the large enterprise and public sector market space,” adds Fusil.

“However, as of this year, we have begun expanding our portfolio of services to include technologies that will be able to assist SMEs, as we have realised that pockets of solutions

This year has also shown Mesiniaga’s ability to adapt to the unexpected.

With 2020’s agenda disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the CEO explains how the company has had to accelerate adoption of more flexible and remote working, all the while being able to serve its customers without any drop in the level of service.

“As simple as the idea of working from anywhere may seem, the actual mechanisation of the processes, equipment, policies, culture, productivity measurements all had to be taken into account and finetuned to allow for operations to run smoothly,” Fusil explains.

APAC Outlook issue 46 | 5

The Mindset Shift Felt ‘Round the World Data from the global survey The New Remote Work Era: Trends in the Distributed Workforce

A new global survey1 of 5,700 IT, HR and business decision makers conducted by Vanson Bourne, in partnership with VMware and Dell looked at how employees are adapting to remove work and the shifting attitudes that will dictate the future of the workforce.

Data from

The New R Trends in

Perk vs. prerequisite Prior to the global pandemic, the ability to work remotely was widely regarded as ‘nice to have,’ not something most employees would expect.

But having seen the benefits directly, many now consider a remote work option to be a crucial component of employee experience.

68 %

agree their stress levels have improved

76 %

The ‘Rou

Respondents who considered remote work to be a prerequisite (rather than a perk):

agree personal connections with colleagues have improved

59 minutes a day

average time saved commuting and getting ready for work

1. Global survey conducted between June and July of 2020. Survey included 5,700 IT, HR and business decision makers— conducted by Vanson Bourne, in partnership with VMware and Dell.

42%

A new globa conducted b looked at ho attitudes tha For Respondents in North America, the contrast was especially stark compared to respondents in EMEA or APAC:

Perk v

41% Prior to the g 23% was widely r employees w Prior to the pandemic directly, man Once businesses return to a normal working environment a crucial com 30%

Boomers embrace remote work

Mindset Shift Felt und the World Perhaps counter intuitively, older cohorts seem to be embracing remote work even more readily than their younger counterparts.

“Our IT is not equipped to manage a remote workforce”

the global survey

Meanwhile, respondents in government are more likely to cite technical challenges:

Central government

42%

listed in top 3 challenges

Local government

40%

listed in top 3 challenges

Average

32%

listed in top 3 challenges

Remote Work Era: Interestingly, these respondents in government also experienced some of the the Distributed Workforce most positive shifts in perception regarding the importance of remote options: Respondents who considered remote work to be a prerequisite (rather than a perk)

Central Local al survey1 of 5,700 IT, HR and business makers Average — governmentdecision government

by Vanson Bourne,Prior into the partnership with and Dell30% — pandemic 14% VMware 21% ow employees are Once adapting businesses can to remote work and the shifting return to a normal working 36% environment 42% 39% at will dictate the future of the workforce.

Change over time

22 points

18 points

vs. prerequisite

12 points

Despite experiencing some challenges in implementation, even the most traditional organizations are increasingly embracing remote work as the rule, rather than the exception.

global pandemic, the ability to work remotely A look future regarded astoward ‘nice tothe have,’ not something most would expect. But having seen the benefits It’s becoming clear that employees are experiencing the benefits of remote ny now consider a remote work option to policies. be work and may no longer be content with strictly office-based To compete in this “new normal,” businesses must offer employees the mponent of employee experience. flexibility to work where and how they’re at their best.

Learn more and download the full report at vmware.com/go/distributedtrends

MESINIAGA BERHAD

“Not to say everything is perfect at this stage; we are constantly in a state of improving and enabling a better experience for our employees, our partners, vendors and ultimately our customers to ensure that they are accorded an even better experience than before the pandemic when working with us.”

Although movement restrictions under the government’s Movement Control Order (MCO) are not as severe as they were earlier in the year, Mesiniaga is continuing to embrace flexibility, adopting a hybrid approach towards working with offices serving as collaboration hubs and most work being completed remotely.

Such a shift has required buy-in and commitment from the company’s 1,200 staff, who Fusil describes as the heart and soul of the organisation.

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“Recently, due to the shift in how we work because of the new normal, we have noticed individuals in the company that have delivered above and beyond expectations,” he adds.

“Senior management of the company has taken it upon us to recognise and deliver hand-written notes of commendation to those who excel during these trying times.

Other than this, we have always had recommendations from managers and given out respective awards or a token of appreciation to employees.”

To keep employees engaged with company leadership, Mesiniaga organises several activities including fortnightly tea sessions which occur on a rotation basis, the CEO recognising the challenge of maintaining this regular dialogue while enabling colleagues to work remotely.

“WE ARE CONSTANTLY IN A STATE OF IMPROVING AND ENABLING A BETTER EXPERIENCE FOR OUR EMPLOYEES, OUR PARTNERS, VENDORS AND ULTIMATELY OUR CUSTOMERS TO ENSURE THAT THEY ARE ACCORDED AN EVEN BETTER EXPERIENCE THAN BEFORE THE PANDEMIC WHEN WORKING WITH US”

TECHNOLOGY

To keep employees engaged with company leadership, Mesiniaga organises several activities including fortnightly tea sessions which occur on a rotation basis, the CEO recognising the challenge of maintaining this regular dialogue while enabling colleagues to work remotely

APAC Outlook issue 46 | 9

ESG: AI leaders with advanced servers outperform laggards.

According to an ESG survey, organisations that run artificial intelligence workloads on modernised IT with advanced servers improve business results, grow revenue and outperform competitors that do not.

Read full ESG report

“AI-mature� organisations reap significant advantages in business intelligence, analytics, cybersecurity and more.

AI maturity depends on hardware and software being integrated seamlessly into a modernised data centre for speed, accuracy and efficiency. AI-mature organisations are:

3.3x

More likely to outperform competitors in digital marketing effectiveness*

3.1x

More likely to outperform competitors in customer experience and support*

Modernised IT improves the value of AI. AI leaders with AI-optimised compute are nearly 8x more likely than laggards to say AI is very effective at driving value in their organisations,* with results such as:

2.3x

More likely to outperform competitors in product development*

18%

Average improvement in customer spend*

21%

Average reduction in business risk*

19%

Average improvement in decision speed*

Servers optimised for AI improve the revenue impact of AI initiatives.

AI leaders drive more than

AI leaders are

10%

6.6x

of revenue from AI*

more likely to say all revenue from AI is incremental*

What advanced technologies are AI leaders using?

Organisations seeing the most success with AI have fundamentally more modern IT environments and use advanced compute technologies with these key capabilities:

Modern servers with extensive automation Accelerators like GPUs or FPGAs Converged/hyper-converged infrastructure

Drive AI value with advanced servers from Dell Technologies.

It’s clear: modern technologies separate AI leaders from laggards. Whether you are embarking on your AI journey or taking next steps, PowerEdge servers — with extensive automation and embedded support — can help you achieve your AI goals.

Read full ESG report

*Based on ESG Research Insight Paper commissioned by Dell EMC and Intel, “Three Transformational Compute Technologies Veried to Accelerate AI and Business Value,” November 2019.

Based on a survey of 750 global IT decision makers. Actual results will vary. Full paper: https://www.dellemc.com/en-us/collaterals/unauth/analyst-reports/products/servers/esg-three-transformationalcompute-technologies-veried-to-accelerate-ai-and-business-value-en.pdf

MESINIAGA BERHAD

Lenovo Putting employees first and elevating your company’s work from home model The global pandemic has abruptly forced many companies to quickly adjust to working remotely despite the Movement Control Order ending.

Notwithstanding the implementation of SOP and modifications in workplaces, Lenovo continues to focus on providing a positive employee experience while working remotely.

“ANOTHER IMPORTANT ELEMENT IN ENHANCING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IS THROUGH MANAGING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION... WE HAVE IMPLEMENTED MULTIPLE INITIATIVES THAT ARE AIMED AT IMPROVING SERVICE DELIVERY AND OUR UNDERSTANDING OF CUSTOMER NEEDS” HELPING CUSTOMERS SUCCEED Maintaining a motivated, dedicated team will be critical for Mesiniaga moving forward in its mission to Help Customers Succeed.

This drive, for Fusil, is what enables the company to stand apart in the field.

“Technology trends constantly evolve, resulting in innovation fluidity with how companies do business,” he says. “Across the board, companies these days are always on the lookout for solutions that will give them an edge over their competitors. As such, Mesiniaga strives for ways to provide our customers with an experience that will allow them to achieve their business goals.

“This is the reason we have made 12 | APAC Outlook issue 46

it our mission to Help Customers Succeed, by delivering technology and business solutions to improve customers’ business efficiency, productivity and competitive edge, as well as to create new business opportunities for them.”

Client understanding and engagement is crucial to this end, Mesiniaga basing its customer interactions around professionalism and empathy at all stages of projects.

“Another important element in enhancing customer experience is through managing customer satisfaction,” Fusil adds. “Hence, we have implemented multiple initiatives that are aimed at improving service delivery and our understanding of customer needs.

Many employees who were not accustomed to working remotely are still finding it difficult to stay focussed and productive, especially if introduced to new company-owned devices and software programmes with limited accessibility to the company’s IT helpdesk. Here are several options to help employees overcome challenges and provide a positive experience: 1. Educate. Providing virtual trainings on new software or hardware that they received for a thorough technical understanding.

2. Support. Consider easing the workload of your IT staff and help bolster your IT helpdesk capabilities with Lenovo Premier Support.

3. Engage. Encourage business meetings and team meet-ups by video conferencing that allows actual face time with one another.

4. Protect and Secure. Secure and manage endpoints beyond the office walls with Lenovo’s ThinkShield that combines innovation, processes and partnerships to protect businesses against digital security threats.

5. Reflect and Plan. Lenovo Services has curated a list of work from home solutions that you may also find helpful to not only support your devices, but configure, deploy and manage them cost effectively.

Companies that use this time to implement initial tools and processes that move them closer to digital transformation, will be better positioned to make more concrete steps in the future.

MESINIAGA BERHAD

Netpoleon Netpoleon Group is a Value-Added Distributor (VAD) of Network Security products, headquartered in Singapore with various full-fledged offices across APAC. Netpoleon began its journey in 2000, and has constantly reinvented itself to keep abreast of the dynamic needs of the evolving IT landscape. In the process, Netpoleon has established itself as a regional player and a leader in the Southeast Asian Network and Cybersecurity Industry.

Through its strong partnership with channel partners, Netpoleon has gained a strong foothold in several highly demanding industries namely the financial services sector where data protection is a key competitive edge for the businesses, the telecommunication sector which is a critical information infrastructure and also the public sector where highly secure and protected environment is required to protect governmental classified information.

“...THE CENTRAL THEME IS TO CREATE AN OFFERING REVOLVED AROUND HELPING SMES TO ENTER THE DIGITAL WORLD IN A WAY THAT IS EASY TO ENACT AND AFFORDABLE” “Our people are already acknowledged as having superior technical skills, mainly because we actively encourage them to pursue or upgrade their professional certifications. They also undergo numerous soft skills training sessions in order to improve their understanding of customer requirements and how best to meet them. The end objective of these initiatives is to give our customers full confidence to deal with Mesiniaga.”

And such customers are likely to include more small and medium-sized enterprises, a priority for the coming year very much being to serve a 14 | APAC Outlook issue 46

greater range of customers.

This has involved developing a range of products and services suitable for the SME market. Here, the central theme is to create an offering revolved around helping SMEs to enter the digital world in a way that is easy to enact and affordable.

For example, among the products primed for such clients include XyberGuard, Mesiniaga’s all-in-one cybersecurity solution. Another example is Chup, a reservation management application for any business premises, while Lele serves as a digital enablement application for food and drink retailers.

Partnering with major leading technology vendors, Netpoleon continues to value-add the vendor’s offering through pre-and post-sales services, as well as professional advisory services on cybersecurity to its channel partners across the region.

Netpoleon continues to look forward, to aim to be one of the most trusted partner (MTP) to its vendors, resellers and customers.

Further strengthening the company, Netpoleon entered into another phase of growth in 2017, where Macnica Networks Corporation entered into an equity partnership with Netpoleon.

The equity partnership with Macnica, a leading value-added distributor of network security solutions in the Japanese and the world markets, has elevated Netpoleon into the international arena, where it can engage with global market players from its offices in APAC.

www.netpoleons.com

Jul

2000

Established as Value Added Distributor (VAD) since July 2000.

ABOUT NETPOLEON Leading VAD for Network and IT Security Solutions and service in the region.

Regional presence in APAC

Netpoleon Group is a Value-Added Distributor (VAD) in network and security solutions, headquartered in Singapore with various full-fledged offices across APAC region.

Selective of our products & focus on best-of-breed solutions

24/7 Technical Service Support and Advanced Hardware Replacement

Certified Engineers

01

Provide POC & Architecture Design

02

04

WHY NETPOLEON 03

Provide Installation, Implementation, Migration, Commissioning and Reconfiguration

7

05

Certification and Customized Technical Training

06 Regional Growth Opportunity with Netpoleon's Regional Coverage

ADAPTIVE NETPOLEON MALAYSIA SDN BHD Unit 210 & 211, Level 2, Lobby 5, Block C, Damansara Intan, No.1, Jalan SS20/27, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.

Tel : 03 7118 1818 Fax : 03 7725 5787 Email : my.marketing@netpoleons.com Website : www.netpoleons.com Singapore . Australia . Cambodia . India . Indonesia . Malaysia . Myanmar . Philippines . Thailand . Vietnam

MESINIAGA BERHAD

The company holds start-up programmes and seminars specically targetting SMEs to demonstrate the value of products digitisation solutions

Whether for smaller or large clients, Mesiniaga is also acutely aware of the potential to develop products and services based on how it runs itself as an enterprise.

This is another priority for the CEO moving forwards. “We feel that the expertise and capabilities that we have built throughout the years can be capitalised on in the form of developing in-house systems and 16 | APAC Outlook issue 46

applications to serve the market better,” Fusil says.

“Our approach is to develop better and more affordable digitalisation, monitoring, security, network and infrastructure tools suitable for the different segments of the Malaysian market.”

The CEO cites several examples that will be introduced in the near future, the first being NetSys Care, a

predictive IT infrastructure and device monitoring and maintenance software solution.

Workforce+ is another product due for launch, this being a system that allows remote engineers to be assigned jobs on the go, refer to a knowledge base and create job reports in quick time.

In the area of cloud computing, MB Cloud and Mesiniaga EverGreen are

TECHNOLOGY

“OUR APPROACH IS TO DEVELOP BETTER AND MORE AFFORDABLE DIGITALISATION, MONITORING, SECURITY, NETWORK AND INFRASTRUCTURE TOOLS SUITABLE FOR THE DIFFERENT SEGMENTS OF THE MALAYSIAN MARKET”

Mesiniaga-managed cloud services that adapt a hybrid cloud framework to deliver the lowest total cost of ownership for every enterprise’s computing needs.

Finally, Mesiniaga will also offer cybersecurity monitoring as-a-service via its Security Operations Center, recognising that demand for integrated security services will always be a high priority for the company’s customers.

These far-reaching developments leave the CEO full of optimism regarding the next chapter of Mesiniaga’s development, the conversation coming to a close with Fusil looking ahead to what the upcoming year has in store, both in terms of its offering and how this is communicated to the market.

He concludes buoyantly: “To offset the decrease in demand and to offset potential losses in some business segments, Mesiniaga will strategically focus on technologies that may surge during and after COVID-19.

“We will be strengthening our product and service offerings to take advantage of opportunities in the migration of a traditional to a mobile and remote workforce, in ecommerce, in data analytics, in cybersecurity and in cloud services.

“In order to achieve a foothold into the market with our products and services, we have embraced digital

marketing as a means to create greater awareness among those who might not have been familiar with the products and capabilities that we bring to the table.

“We also conclude that our marketing and selling should be enhanced with digital marketing, including emails, SMS, instant messaging, radio, television and online media. This entails an enhancement of our capacity in content writing, to convince potential customers that we are the right choice and that we will ‘Help Customers Succeed’.”

MESINIAGA BERHAD Tel: +603 5635 8828 marketing@mesiniaga.com.my www.mesiniaga.com.my

APAC Outlook issue 46 | 17

MESINIAGA BERHAD Menara Mesiniaga 1, Jalan SS16/1, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan Malaysia Tel: +603 5635 8828 marketing@mesiniaga.com.my www.mesiniaga.com.my PRODUCED BY APAC OUTLOOK MAGAZINE