Category Archives: Contributed

Business, Contributed

Embracing the Golden Digital Era: Elevating Malaysia’s Potential with Cloud Adoption & Skilling

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This article is contributed by Azhar Abdullah, Head of Enterprise at Amazon Web Services (AWS)

As Malaysia pushes towards becoming a regional leader in the digital economy under the Malaysia Madani vision of achieving a highly-skilled, prosperous, and sustainable economy, organizations must now take steps to adopt a digital-first mindset to innovate and transform their businesses.

The digital economy is one of the key economic pillars contributing to 23.2%[1] of Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP), which is set to increase to 25.5% by 2025. However, 77%[2] of small and medium enterprises, which contribute almost 40%[3] of Malaysia’s GDP, are still early in their digitalization journey. This represents a huge opportunity for Malaysian businesses to accelerate the pace of digital adoption for tech transformations across the board.

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As new technologies emerge, businesses need to invest in both solutions and training to enhance efficiency and productivity in day-to-day work and position themselves for growth. Digital upskilling is a key component of Malaysia’s digital transformation, which includes ensuring employees are equipped with capabilities to deploy cloud-enabled solutions, individuals are empowered for future digital careers, and the digital inclusion of citizens is advanced.

Keeping Pace in an Evolving Landscape

To keep pace with industry disruptions and evolving customer needs, it is essential for business leaders to embrace cloud technology as a strategic priority. Doing so will allow them to benefit from the cost-efficiency, reliability, flexibility, scalability, and security of the cloud.

One such example is the well-loved homegrown curry powder and spice brand, Baba’s Products[4], which adopted AWS cloud to efficiently scale, optimize costs, and implement disaster recovery strategies. With AWS, Baba’s Products has achieved faster time-to-value, reducing the order-to-cash cycle by 40%, and supporting its expanding regional presence with products sold across nearly all retail grocery stores in Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei.

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Malaysian businesses should move forward on their digitization efforts, to reduce the risk of falling behind as the country moves towards achieving its digital economy goals. Without integrating digital tools and strategies into operations, businesses may face several challenges such as inefficiencies in their productivity levels, resulting in slower delivery of customer products or services. Additionally, with data playing a critical role in decision-making, they might miss out on valuable insights, hindering their ability to make informed choices and strategic decisions.

As part of its strategy, Maxis, Malaysia’s leading converged solutions company and AWS Advanced Tier Partner, taps into resources from the global community AWS Partner Network[5] to drive innovation, modernization, and deliver enhanced personalized experiences for its end customers. Maxis leverages more than 400 AWS-accredited employees to date that provide solutions to local businesses to accelerate cloud adoption.

Building Malaysia’s digital workforce with the right talent

As technology continues to shape the world, education, skilling, and talent play a pivotal role in driving innovation, economic growth, as well as societal progress. In June 2023, Human Resource Minister V. Sivakumar highlighted that based on 2020 World Economic Forum predictions, 4.5 million Malaysians are likely to lose their jobs by 2030 if they do not improve their skills with the emergence of AI[6]. 

AWS has committed to training 29 million[7] people globally in cloud computing through free training programs by 2025 and has helped 13 million globally access cloud skills training to date. Since 2017, AWS has trained more than 1 million individuals across ASEAN and more than 50,000 individuals in Malaysia.

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Training programs like AWS re/Start prepare the workforce for a digital economy, as well as transforming lives in Malaysia. One example is Malaysia’s own re/Start alumni, Ganesan Mahesan, who was faced with the challenge of finding a professional job when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. “During the pandemic, I struggled to find employment in my field. I came across the AWS re/Start program, and it was an excellent introduction to core cloud concepts. I was excited to learn new skills.” Through the program, Ganesan secured a job with the chemical company Evonik as an IT Support Engineer.

Investment in skilling is equally beneficial to both individuals in the workforce and employers. According to a Gallup study,[8] organizations that employ digitally advanced workers, digital technology, and cloud technology reap higher business growth and innovation. In a similar vein, Malaysian workers with advanced digital skills can earn salaries 106% higher, and 74% of respondents express higher job satisfaction.

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To stay ahead of the evolving job landscape and skills demands, Bank Islam, Malaysia’s first listed Islamic financial services institution, launched a broad staff upskilling program to give more than 4,000 Bank Islam employees access to foundational cloud skills. This was achieved through a combination of on-demand digital training, live instructor-led training, and group interaction sessions, as part of a skills roadmap to establish the Bank Islam Digital Academy, a permanent learning centre that will drive and grow digital skills across the organization.

Long-term commitment to enable Malaysia’s Digital Era

It is inspiring to see the potential of how cloud technology can enable SMEs, enterprises, government agencies, and citizens. In the public sector, government agencies can tap into the Cloud Framework Agreement with the Malaysian Administrative Modernization and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU), which grants Malaysia’s government agencies and departments access to power IT modernizations and improve citizen services.

Earlier in March, AWS announced its plans to launch an AWS infrastructure Region in Malaysia, which will give government, developers, businesses of all sizes, and non-profit organizations across the country the access to greater choices – from compute and storage, to artificial intelligence and machine learning, and more, to foster innovation and growth. As part of its commitment to the region, AWS is planning to invest $6 billion (approx. MYR 25.5 billion) in Malaysia by 2037. We look forward to seeing how this investment will spur job creation, cultivate skills training, and provide growth opportunities to the communities surrounding our data centres, helping Malaysia reach its potential as a digital leader in the region.

[1]Department of Statistics Malaysia Official Portal, Ministry of Economy
[2] SME Corp, Post-pandemic growth: Address barriers to business digital transformation
[3] Contribution of SMEs in Malaysia and China, Department of Statistics Malaysia, Newsroom
[4] AWS, Baba’s Keeps Its Spices Fresh with Real-Time Data from SAP on AWS
[5] AWS, Join the AWS Partner Network
[6] HR minister: Malaysia needs to retrain 50% of workforce amid AI rise
[7] Amazon, Our Upskilling Commitments
[8] AWS, Study by Gallup and AWS shows digital skills drive economic growth across APAC

Business, Contributed

Edge Computing Unbounded: A look at How New Organizations are Using Edge Computing as Competitive Differentiation

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This article is contributed by Francis Chow, Vice President and General Manager, In-Vehicle Operating System and Edge, Red Hat

Organizations across the globe are deploying new services, generating massive amounts of data at the edge. With this explosion of data, companies are looking for ways to make real-time decisions where this data is being generated – this is where edge computing comes in. Whether it be massive amounts of data, clusters and nodes or disconnected and connected applications in hard-to-reach locations (or all of the above), edge computing can help companies create more intelligent devices, providing innovative ways to stand out in competitive and quickly evolving marketplaces.

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Scalability, low latency, more bandwidth, enhanced security, standardization and reusability – these are benefits every organization wants in their infrastructure. But how can they get there? How do they use the IT and OT human and physical resources they currently have to make this happen? Companies are partnering with software companies like Red Hat to provide the infrastructure, support, services and solutions from the far edge to the cloud and back. Red Hat believes in open source solutions at the edge. Adopting open source technologies at the edge helps minimize vendor lock-in, facilitating standards-based integration and means anyone can inspect, modify or enhance, unlike proprietary software that is limited to specific users. From device endpoints to gateways to edge servers to on-premise data centres to the cloud, open source solutions can help drive collaboration and standardization across industries so that everyone can benefit from better products and faster innovation.

In the early stages of edge computing, Red Hat worked with service providers like Verizon to successfully use open source solutions at the edge to transform networks. Verizon built its 5G core network on a modern cloud platform because Red Hat has the capabilities for critical infrastructure with extremely high availability, security and performance requirements within our open source technologies. Red Hat then helped Verizon roll out this same platform to the edge to host 5G RAN base stations at the edge, achieving a homogeneous platform with a leg up in operational efficiency. Verizon is driving 5G into its network to offer its intelligent Edge Network (iEN) and Network as a Service (NaaS) strategy aiming to make its network the most intelligent, adaptive and service-aware network available.

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Now, Red Hat is working with ABB to extend operational consistency for industrial use cases across edge and hybrid cloud environments. With Red Hat Device Edge and Red Hat OpenShift, ABB will be able to more easily connect cloud and control environments for optimized asset monitoring and efficiency by aggregating and analyzing data on hard-to-reach devices with limited resources.

Another example is automotive and software-defined vehicles. With software-defined vehicles, computing at the edge is critical as most of the computing workload is in the vehicle itself. We’re working with key players in the automotive industry to help them embrace new and innovative solutions that can keep up with the pace of change and overcome limitations that have created barriers to adopting new technologies, despite their efforts in standardization and reusability.

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Two years ago, we announced that we were investing in the automotive market to build a functional-safety certified Linux operating system. Since then, we’ve started working with companies like Luxoft, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and General Motors to help advance software-defined vehicles at the edge. Red Hat and GM are continuing to work together to develop next-generation platforms for GM’s software-defined vehicles, while also creating a methodology to build high-quality and functionally safe platforms and applications. The goal of this collaboration is to establish best practices that promote the adoption of new technologies and ensure interoperability across different vehicles and systems, making the automotive community more accessible for all, including developers. Today, Red Hat announced the next step in this important work with a collaboration with ETAS, a subsidiary of Bosch, to provide a more scalable platform to help accelerate software-defined vehicle transformation. As a result of this collaboration, automakers can benefit from a tightly integrated, reliable and scalable platform for developing, testing and deploying advanced driver assistance systems and automated driving applications on software-defined vehicles.

As our ecosystem work shows, Red Hat is committed to helping our customers with their biggest challenges and it’s clear to see that open source is the new normal at the edge, whatever the use case. Whether it be concerns about security at the edge, flexibility at scale, management, integration and complexity, Red Hat can provide the best open source infrastructure software as they move to the edge.

Business, Contributed

Careers in the P-Hailing Industry Deserves Respect –  A Path to Growth and Upskilling Opportunities

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This article is contributed by Shubham Saran, Head of Logistics, foodpanda Malaysia

Delivery riders see p-hailing as a viable income lifeline with its flexibility and quick access to fair and supplementary wages. A viable springboard to other industries and entrepreneurship, platform providers have been giving upskilling opportunities to delivery partners but will need the Government’s assistance to widen the scope.

Gig Economy’s Substantial Impact

The gig economy in Malaysia has witnessed an unprecedented surge over the last few years. Catapulted by the Covid-19 lockdown, this has revolutionised the country’s employment landscape, especially in how freelancing work is viewed. This transformation is most evident with the sheer number of p-hailing jobs out there now, which have also become integral to serving the daily lives of  Malaysians.

According to the Economic Planning Unit, the gig economy contributed approximately 7% to the nation’s GDP in 2021, underlining its substantial impact[1]. Moreover, this sector has provided income opportunities to around 2 million Malaysians, cementing its role as a significant source of employment. This was especially critical during the pandemic when it became a lifeline for many suffering from the economic impact of Covid-19.

From that, 7 out of 10 workers are p-hailing delivery partners, according to a survey by Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), showing just how important riders are to the economy. The same survey revealed almost half of all gig workers cited financial sustainability as their main reason for joining the gig economy. The reasons are obvious – gig work is the fastest and most flexible source of income, whether supplementary or primarily.

foodpanda Rider 4

Riders have seamlessly integrated into Malaysian life, facilitating the delivery of food, groceries, packages, and more. Millions of orders crisscross cities and towns to be delivered each day. P-hailing riders not only provide convenience to consumers but significantly boost the growth of quick-commerce and online services. Their work is the backbone of the gig economy and bolsters the broader economy by driving trade and consumption.

In Malaysia, the gig economy has been evolving over the years and the role of riders has been both crucial and complex. While riders view this job as a  convenient source of income, drawn in by its flexibility and quick access to fair income, many have criticised the nature of the work as an impediment to socio-economic mobility. But if we look from the lens of the younger generation, they would find gig work a viable springboard to other industries or even entrepreneurship opportunities.

We have to accept that there are many pathways to success for young Malaysians. However, the key importance is in recognising the potential for growth and upskilling within this sector. We delve into the issue currently and encourage our riders to embrace the upskilling opportunities provided to stay relevant in an ever-changing job market for those who view gig economy jobs as a mid- to long-term opportunity.

Commitment to Rider Upskilling

In line with this, it has been the core of foodpanda’s engagement with our delivery partners to provide numerous benefits and upskilling benefits for them. We recognise the pivotal role of riders in the gig economy and are committed to enhancing their value beyond delivery service.

For example, we recently partnered with Manipal International University (MIU) to provide riders with the opportunity to pursue tertiary education focusing on a  two-year sponsored journey to complete their Diploma in Business Management. This initiative aims to help our delivery partners enhance the skills and qualifications they need to advance their careers.

In recognition of the importance of language proficiency, foodpanda has taken proactive steps to empower its riders with short English courses. Called ‘Panda Purpose,’ these courses are designed to enhance the English literacy skills of delivery partners, ultimately increasing their job delivery capabilities and employability. This commitment to language education and skills development underscores foodpanda’s dedication to its workforce as well as the quality of service it provides to its customers

Hopes for Gig Workers in Budget 2024

While foodpanda and many of our fellow platform operators have taken proactive steps in providing upskilling opportunities for our delivery partners, we can certainly do more with assistance from the Government. In line with the upcoming Budget to be tabled in Parliament on Oct 13, we hope that this will be a priority in ensuring that gig workers are given every opportunity to upskill and reskill themselves.

foodpanda Rider 1

Furthermore, we anticipate and expect improved access to motorcycle loans for the B40 community, aiming to alleviate their financial burdens and for telco companies and 5G service providers to consider reducing pricing for riders and merchants, ensuring better connectivity for all.

P-Hailing Professionals as Pillars of Reliability

In this industry, riders constantly face challenges, and they respond well with solutions that improve the way things work. These riders are quick thinkers and always prioritise the customers. For instance, many riders share their tips among themselves to purchase marker pens and cling film to make sure orders are accurately written and the meals and drinks are delivered intact. This teamwork is key to successful deliveries. Merchants count on riders as a vital extension of their service, and their ability to work well together is a skill they’ve honed over time.

Although foodpanda and many other platform providers rely on cutting-edge data technology and understanding customer behaviour with surgical precision, it is our delivery partners who will ensure that every order will be an enjoyable experience for our customers. Exceptional customer service is a cornerstone of their work. They handle inquiries, resolve issues, and often go the extra mile to ensure customer satisfaction.

The gig economy, including p-hailing, is known for its ever-changing landscape. Whether it’s adapting to new routes, technologies, or customer preferences, these riders are always on their toes. They embrace change and adaptability as part of their daily routine. The ability to pivot in response to evolving circumstances is a skill the riders continually refine.

P-hailing workers are the backbone of modern food and goods delivery services, proving to be indispensable during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring access to essential items and enhancing the quality of life for many. Additionally, the gig economy provides crucial income opportunities for various individuals seeking flexible work arrangements, promoting financial stability and independence.

A career in p-hailing encompasses a rich tapestry of skills and qualities that profoundly impact our daily lives. These professionals are not just delivery partners but problem solvers, team players, customer service champions, and adaptable individuals in our society. It’s time we celebrate and honour their contributions to our society and economy while giving them the opportunity to thrive.

[1]  Chapter 3, Macroeconomic Outlook, Ministry of Finance

Business, Computers, Contributed

Where Next for Product Development In A Hybrid World?

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This article is contributed by Jerry Paradise, Vice President of Global Commercial & Product Management at Lenovo IDG

In product and device design there are inflection points that really lend themselves to new and innovative thinking. Some of these points involve disruption – the sudden move to working from home because of the Covid-19 pandemic around the world is the obvious example. Others are longer-term, with some being the consequence of that initial disruptive event – the new thinking around hybrid working for example. 

Lenovo Byline 3 Picture

Right now, there have never been so many areas in which to innovate, because there are so many new problems and opportunities. The past 2 years have certainly sharpened the focus across many industries on how to solve problems with technology and while the shift towards cloud-based collaboration and productivity was already underway, the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation initiatives across so many functions.

The focus of much of this innovation is on hybrid working. Technology and devices, supported by connectivity and software, remain the foundation for what this will look like and will shape design and engineering for some time.

What is necessary for hybrid workstyles?

It starts with defining what technology-for-hybrid means. At its most fundamental, for the end-user, it means technology that supports being able to move back and forth readily between home – and “everywhere”. For businesses and IT departments, it means offering the flexibility of roaming workspaces, while maintaining maximum levels of productivity and security.

On the surface, it may all sound familiar, but there’s an underlying fundamental change. Pre-Covid, for most this meant office-based with occasional “after-hours” at home, with some remote working at a customer, perhaps via an airport. We went from one tethered environment, for power and connectivity, to another. 

Now we’re seeking to create new experiences that are shared by people who no longer sit next to each other in the same space. We need high-speed wireless connectivity, always-on always connected, and using high-bandwidth applications that include voice and video nearly every hour of the working day, we need collaborative hardware and software that’s up to the job. 

In the new hybrid working models, we have been starting to see the next generation of devices designed specifically for this new world.

A great example is artificial intelligence (AI) will start to work out whether or not to close down a side conversation because it’s not front-and-centre to the meeting for security reasons, or that in fact it should be part of the conversation because that person is an integral part of the discussion. Context will play its part, and technology will slowly take that into account.

From webcams to security

Previously, companies were suspicious of webcams, and our Customer Advisory Councils made it clear that a physical shutter was needed to guarantee that even if a camera was hacked remotely, the criminal could not see anything. 

That design thinking started when hybrid working wasn’t even a concept. Now we’re looking at accommodating hybrid workspaces around new experiences that will demand cameras and microphones as essential to improve the efficiency and the comfort of meetings and be smarter as a result. That’s an interesting evolution that requires new thinking, and it demands new designs and innovation that we are actively working on.

Corporate security is also inverted. We previously had corporate networks where 80% or 90% of people were inside the firewall. If you entered your company’s building with your security tag, you were inside the VPN and were deemed safe to access the network.

Now, 80-90% of employees are outside the building at least some of the time and are outside the firewalled network. Often using their own devices on vulnerable home networks or remote hotspots without suitable VPN protection. For a company like Lenovo, I believe the responsibility lies with us, to put the security wrapper around the devices in this hybrid world, coordinating with the hardware layer and the operating system.

A great example is the Lenovo ThinkPad P14s i Gen 4 operating on Windows 11. Shield valuable data and enable secure hybrid work with the latest advanced security that businesses say results in 2.8X fewer instances of identity theft.[1]

Security fundamentals are too numerous to go into detail here, maybe for another time! But we’re taking a view of the multi-layer approach to security that says we’re going to do everything in our power to make the hardware design as secure as possible from supply chain integrity to endpoint protection for the end user. 

And much more

Other design factors also come into play.

As we’re more mobile and more remote, we need longer battery life. Even if we’re based at home, we still don’t want to have to be tethered to the power outlet in the wall. So that means application management, chip management, and power and heat management.

How can the device balance the resources that create heat, with those to keep it cool, all of which use up battery power – and still retain everything the user demands for instant use?

The answers include ultra-high-performance software and hardware tuning according to the different tasks and needs, and using AI to manage high power consumption of technologies such as displays, 4G LTE and 5G (which is high).

Above all else the challenge we relish is that it’s our job to ensure that, when users open the lid of their laptops, the devices are ready to do useful work, on-demand, secure, fully connected, using applications that are only going to get more sophisticated, in more ways than we have ever done before. 

Welcome to the hybrid future – and the devices we will use in it.

[1] Windows 11 Survey Report. Techaisle, February 2022. Windows 11 results are in comparison with Windows 10 devices

Business, Contributed

Tech Solutions Executives Must Consider Levelling Up Their Team

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This article is contributed by Varinderjit Singh, General Manager, Lenovo Malaysia

Today, integrating forward-thinking technology is not an option, but a key business strategy that touches nearly every part of a growing business. Not only do customers expect customized on-demand services, but employees do too.

According to recent research, nearly half (48.6%) of workers think using the right tech increases their productivity, and 35.8% say being equipped with appropriate technology helps make their job more flexible. Businesses small and large that want to take team creativity and productivity to the next level must leverage technology that can drive faster results and adapt to new trends in the market. It is imperative that enterprises harness modern technology such as mobile apps, AI-enabled services, and cloud automation as tools for their teams to help simplify or automate time-consuming day-to-day activities so they can focus on more challenging work.

Taking your team to the next level in our increasingly digitally driven world will require businesses to find a balance between implementing emerging tech for tasks that can be automated, and training their employees on how to provide personalized experiences for their clientele.

Here are the top three emerging technologies all business owners should have on their radar to scale their business efficiently.

Hi-speed Network Infrastructure

Slow and unstable connectivity is a major obstacle for a distributed workforce that is reliant on their PCs’ efficient technology to lead collaborative brainstorms, listen and engage during monthly planning meetings, and/or connect with team members during 1:1 meetings. Wifi 6E offers an advanced band connection needed for optimized work-from-home, online learning, live streaming, and faster speed for all your connected devices.  Emerging technologies like Wifi 6E will be instrumental in delivering high bandwidth, ultra-low latency connectivity and power to devices all over the world and will expand the landscape of solutions for businesses that want to grow.

ThinkPad X1

While devices must be faster and more functional, it is imperative that design and engineering teams also offer new possibilities of thinner and more flexible designs for employees on the go. For example, global PC manufacturers are designing unique laptops with extended battery life that allows you to work through the day uninterrupted—even with versatile usage modes on the go. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon operating on Windows 11 Pro is a great laptop for employees, especially in the hybrid working world. Windows 11 is the most secure Windows ever. Businesses report a 58% drop in security incidents with Windows 11 Pro devices.1 Forward-thinking technology equipped with always-on always-connected capability will be key for business continuity.

Cloud Automation

Cloud automation is an easy entry point for many businesses that are looking to expedite their processes through tech-enabled automation. As data, apps and workloads shift to the cloud, it can improve day-to-day operations and workflow, helping small-to-medium business (SMB) owners in particular automate tasks such as scheduling appointments, content marketing management and tracking business expenses in one place. By freeing up some time with the help of automation solutions, leaders can help their team build skills to become more productive through various training programs or employee enrichment opportunities.  These are a few examples of how digital transformation can be harnessed to enable businesses of all sizes to achieve efficiency, productivity and smart collaboration.

By automating certain tasks, business owners will provide employees with more time to deliver thoughtful and creative work. However, the prospect of automation can create uncertainty, both regarding job security and changes to day-to-day tasks. To reduce these fears, it is essential to communicate with employees throughout the entire process. The main message to reinforce is, “Automation technology is being used to support staff, not replace their roles.” Through open communication and continuous learning, employees will be given plenty of enrichment opportunities and stay loyal and engaged in their work and their companies long-term success.

AI-Enabled Services and Products

AI-enabled services are now in our homes, cars and personal computing technology, and they can also play a role in helping businesses address common challenges such as staffing, security monitoring, finance management, personalization of services, and more.

Some workplaces have incorporated AI chatbots to provide employees with resources around the clock, adding convenience for those seeking answers to common questions about employee benefits, scheduling, insurance, vacation availability and sick time. In turn, by allowing some HR processes to be accomplished without human intervention, chatbots offer a better allocation of HR staff members’ time toward addressing more complex employee concerns.

In fact, companies that smartly adapt to incorporating AI-enabled services and products have a competitive advantage. AI and machine learning can enable targeted data analysis, so employees can do creative and social tasks that AI simply cannot. Not only can companies save money by using AI to do repetitive work, but teams are able to focus their skills on more innovative assignments and, therefore, be more productive.

Uplevel your business by being adaptable and strategic

To take your team and company to the next level, businesses must strategically implement the proper infrastructure, cloud automation and AI tools that will help their business scale. Today, businesses of all sizes require client and data center infrastructure that enables growth rather than restricts it. As technology rapidly evolves, businesses need the ability to integrate new technologies and workloads efficiently and seamlessly, often within resource, budget and capital restrictions. The best way to ensure your plan is suited for growth is to routinely check in with your team, evaluate your structure and ensure it is adaptable for the unforeseeable obstacles that come with running a successful business.

Business, Computers, Contributed

How To Balance Business Innovation and Operational Excellence

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This article is contributed by Varinderjit Singh, General Manager, Lenovo Malaysia

IT decision-makers have officially earned their seats at the table — nearly three-quarters of CIOs say their roles have been elevated by the visibility they received during the pandemic. [1] Now they have to figure out what to serve first.

Picture1
The Lenovo ThinkPad® X1 Nano Gen 3 is powered by 13th Generation Intel® Core™ i5-1340P processor takes multitasking—and manageability—to the next level and is built for what IT needs and users want.

Digital strategy and transformation took the lead last year for 67% of CIOs, but the number fell to 60% in 2022 as IT decision-makers focused on the fundamentals of optimizing and managing technology.1 Priority whiplash has left more than 76% of CIOs struggling to balance two critical goals: business innovation and operational excellence.1

With the right technology partner, IT decision-makers don’t have to choose. Smarter digital workplace solutions raise the bar on productivity, business agility, and infrastructure integrity, freeing them to focus on strategic organizational change. In fact, that’s how they would prefer to spend their time — 83% of IT decision-makers are actively seeking digital transformation opportunities that will help their companies contribute good to the world.[2]

What should you look for in a technology partner?

An end-to-end solution provider will have your back, optimizing operations in three essential ways.

01. Productivity and collaboration

Exceptional technology is the baseline for productivity and collaboration, supporting hybrid workplaces, connecting employees, and securing data and devices from anywhere. When it works, technology enables peak performance and improves user experience. On average, three-quarters of employees credit their business technology with making them feel more productive and empowered.2 And 60% of IT decision-makers see their employee experience (EX) scores rise by focusing on improving users’ experience with technology.[3]

When technology doesn’t work, IT decision-makers put innovation on the back burner while they scramble to field help desk requests, respond to security emergencies, push out patches, and source new products to meet evolving business needs.

Look for technology that is optimized to work together, promises exceptional reliability, and leverages the most current innovations for data and employee security.

Lenovo delivers a portfolio of premium solutions — hardware, software, services, and accessories — ranging from PCs and smartphones to smart collaboration to augmented and virtual reality technology (AR/VR). Plus, remote management and automation technology innovations can cut time spent on manual processes by as much as 50%.[4] Hardware- and software-based security and manageability tools elevate productivity on modern devices like the ThinkPad® X1 Carbon Gen 11, powered by 13th Generation Intel® Core™ i5-1335U processor, built for what IT needs and users want.4

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About half of CIOs right now are spending significant time on operational IT improvements, and 26% are busy reacting to IT crises.1

What would you be doing if your technology could manage and secure itself?

02. Agility and optimization

Business transformation often depends on the ability to scale, requiring immediate access to mission-critical technology. Quick access to technology has proven elusive for some organizations, which results in IT teams spending significant time managing older equipment.

That’s an easy ask if they’re partnered with a technology provider that offers as-a-service solutions. With Lenovo TruScale, devices, infrastructure, services, and support can all be scaled easily to meet evolving business needs. Everything from the pocket to the cloud is available on demand, from a single point of contact, in a cost-efficient OpEx model. End-of-life recycling is also an important part of the package — streamlining the process for IT decision-makers, eliminating security risks associated with asset disposal, and helping to meet organizational sustainability goals.

When it comes to freeing up time for innovation, few decisions are as impactful as choosing an as-a-service partner. When everything from infrastructure to end-user devices is optimized, updated, and ready to be deployed anywhere in the world, operational excellence takes care of itself.

03. Intelligent infrastructure

Businesses need an infrastructure that delivers faster time to insights, improved application performance, enhanced security, and better manageability.

Cloud computing is an important part of the equation. As of 2022, 60% of corporate data worldwide is now stored in the cloud,[5] and that makes achieving operational excellence significantly easier.

Within just a few months after migrating to the cloud, 80% of businesses report operational improvement[6] thanks to the continuity, resilience, and efficiencies achieved with hybrid cloud computing.

The Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors in Lenovo’s ThinkAgile appliances optimize workloads and improve efficiency, providing significant improvement in data processing capacity. Along with flexible cloud storage, IT decision-makers also have access to remote management services and support analytics through one customer portal. With increased visibility across the entire fleet and the capability to manage technology remotely, they can significantly reduce organization-crushing downtime — and make time for transformation.

Smarter IT decision-makers don’t go it alone. 92% of CIOs believe technology vendors play a valuable role in their company’s overall success.[7]

[1] CIO.com, “State of the CIO, 2022: Focus turns to IT fundamentals,” March 2022
[2] Reach3 Insights and Lenovo, “Human-centered insights to fuel IT’s vision,” July 2022
[3] Lenovo, Intel, and Forrester, “Invest in Employee Experience, Drive Your Bottom-Line Growth,” October 2020
[4] Salesforce.com and Pulse, “Global IT Survey 2020,” accessed August 2022
[5] Statista.com, “Share of corporate data stored in the cloud in organizations worldwide from 2015 to 2022,” accessed August 2022
[6] Zippia, “25 amazing cloud adoption statistics,” May 2022
[7] IDG, “2022 Executive Summary State of the CIO,” 2022

Contributed, Editorial

Accelerating AI-driven outcomes with Powerful Super Computing Solutions

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This article is contributed by Mak Chin Wah, Country Manager, Malaysia and General Manager, Telecoms Systems Business, South Asia, Dell Technologies

As artificial intelligence (AI) technology continues to evolve and grows in capability, it’s becoming a growing presence in every aspect of our lives. One needs to look no further than voice assistants, navigation like Waze, or rideshare apps such as Grab, which Malaysians are familiar with.

robot pointing on a wall
Photo by Tara Winstead on Pexels.com

From machine learning and deep learning algorithms that automate manufacturing, natural language processing, video analytics and more, to the use of digital twins that virtually simulate, predict and inform decisions based on real-world conditions, AI helps solve critical modern-life challenges to benefit humanity. In fact, we have digital twin technology to thank for assisting in the bioengineering of vaccines to fight COVID-19.

AI is changing not only what we do but also how we do it — faster and more efficiently.

Advancing Human Progress

For companies like Dell Technologies who are committed to advancing human progress, AI will play a big part in developing solutions to the pressing issues of the 21st century. The 2020s, in particular, are ushering in a fully data-driven period in which AI will assist organisations and industries of all sizes to accelerate intelligent outcomes.

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Organisations can harness their AI endeavours through high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure solutions that reduce risk, improve processing speed and deliver deeper insights. By extracting value through AI from the massive amounts of data generated across the entire IT landscape — from the core to the cloud —businesses can better tackle challenges and make discoveries to advance large-scale, global progress.

Continuing to Innovate

Through transformative innovation, customers can derive the insights needed to change the course of discovery. For example,  Dell Technologies equipped Monash University Malaysia with top-of-the-line HPC and AI solutions[i] to help accelerate the university’s research and development computing capabilities at its Sunway City campus in Selangor. The solution aims to enhance and accelerate the university’s computation capabilities in solving complex problems across its significant research portfolio.

Financial services, life sciences and oil and gas exploration are just a few of the other computation-intensive applications where enhanced servers will make a difference in achieving meaningful results, for humankind and the planet.

At the heart of AI technology are essential building blocks and solutions that power these activities. For example, Dell’s existing line of PowerEdge servers has already contributed to transformational, life‑changing projects, and will continue to power human progress in this generation and the next.

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The most demanding AI projects require servers that offer distinct advantages – specifically built to deliver higher performance and even more powerful supercomputing results, and yet engineered for the coming generation to support the real-time processing requirements and challenges of AI applications with ease.

In addition to helping deploy more secure and better-managed infrastructure for complex AI operations at mind-boggling modelling speeds, these transformative servers will help meet organisations’ biggest concerns in productivity, efficiency and sustainability, while cutting costs and conserving energy.

Transforming Business and Life

While organisations are in different stages with respect to their adoption of AI, the transformational impact on business and life itself can no longer be ignored. Human progress will depend on the ability of AI to make communication easier, personalise content delivery, advance medical research/diagnosis/treatments, track potential pandemics, revolutionise education and implement digital manufacturing. In Malaysia, while AI is progressively being recognised as the new general-purpose technology that will bring about revolutionary economic transformation similar to the Industrial Revolution, adoption of Industry 4.0 remains sluggish with only 15% to 20% of businesses having really embraced it. On the other hand, the government is taking this emerging technology seriously, having set out frameworks for the incorporation of AI by numerous sectors of the economy. These comprise the Malaysia Artificial Intelligence Roadmap 2021-2025 (AI-Rmap) and the Malaysian Digital Economy Blueprint (MDEB), spearheaded by the MyDIGITAL Corporation and the Economic Planning Unit.

Moving Forward

With servers and HPC at the heart of AI, modern infrastructure needs to match the unique requirements of increasingly complex and widely distributed workloads. Regardless of where a business is on the AI journey, the key to optimising outcomes is having the right infrastructure in place, ready to seamlessly scale as the business grows and positioned to take on the unexpected, unknown challenges of the future. To do that requires having the expertise – or a trusted partner that does – to help at any and every stage, from planning through to implementation, to make smart server decisions that will unlock the organisation’s data capital and support AI efforts to move human progress forward.

[i] Based on Dell Technologies helps Monash University Malaysia enhance its R&D capabilities with HPC and AI solutions Media Alert, November 2022

Computers, Contributed, Gaming, Lifestyle

Concept Nyx and Explorations for the Future of Connection

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How will we connect with colleagues in five to ten years’ time? Will we all be interacting with holograms? Fully immersed in virtual worlds? Or will the reality be much closer to how most of us work from our laptops today?

Virtual worlds and immersive experiences could offer exciting new ways to connect with others – and our content. And with people more dispersed and working patterns more personalised than before, how we collaborate and get things done has never been more important.

Dell Concept Nyx Ecosystem 4

It’s my team’s role to dig into future trends and technologies, experiment with solutions and reimagine experiences. Though immersive environments will play a role in the future of work, face-to-face meetings, instant messages, collaboration tools, and video calls aren’t going anywhere. That’s why we’re focusing on the user experience and honing in on everyday micro-moments that could be disruptive as we potentially bounce between physical, digital and virtual worlds in the future.

We’re asking questions like: How will people interact at the intersections of these worlds? What tools will people need to move between these locations seamlessly? What if people don’t want to wear a headset and dive into a virtual world for 8 hours a day – would they be excluded from future projects or collaboration opportunities?

Intelligent, familiar tools for future interactions

Using Concept Nyx’s ability to deliver compute all around, powered at the edge, we have been exploring how familiar devices and peripherals could be paired with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to work together as an ecosystem to deliver easily accessible and immersive experiences beyond gaming.

Dell Concept Nyx Ecosystem 1

Our labs are packed with curated immersive demonstrations and concepts to help us test and explore how Dell could help people move between various spaces and tasks intuitively in the future. From fully immersive Virtual Reality (VR) builds to Mixed Reality (XR) experiences featuring displays and other tools that remove the need for a VR headset, these environments have helped us evolve concepts like the Concept Nyx Companion. As a lightweight tablet-style device that could be viewed and accessed in VR and XR environments, the concept could be a consistent tool throughout all these spaces and could ensure a user’s content is in one place as they move between spaces and tasks. No more taking photos of whiteboards or copying notes to be uploaded to a different space – users could just screenshot their project space and/or easily copy content for sharing across screens.

Together with the Concept Nyx Stylus, you could input notes by voice or via pen, and drag + drop them into digital and virtual collaboration spaces, and even use the voice activation for AI image creation – perfect for non-aspiring artists! All these tools could also seamlessly be used alongside the Concept Nyx Spatial Input in a future desktop environment with a keyboard and mouse, and possibly 3D displays too. We’ve been looking at creative ways to connect these traditional tools for a clutter-free space, and we’ve also been thinking about intuitive gestures for interacting with content – for example, using the tip of the Stylus for writing and the top of the Stylus for interacting with onscreen content or using the Spatial Input as a dial for a 360 view or for zooming in on details.

Dell Concept Nyx Ecosystem 2

We’ve even been thinking through how people might show up in future digital and virtual spaces. We’ve all been on video calls where we need to step away for a moment to answer the door or tend to a pet or child off-camera. Instead of leaving a blank screen, empty seat, or static 2015 headshot, imagine with a wave of your hand, you could stay present as an intelligent avatar while you step away or stay off camera completely. To explore this, we’ve been experimenting with gestures and movement tracking and building on our imaging technology and video conferencing expertise to create the Concept Nyx Spatial camera, which when paired with AI software, could learn a user’s expressions and mannerisms to deliver a more authentic representation of them for future interactions.

Advancing the Concept Nyx Ecosystem

From infrastructure to devices, Dell is at the centre of present and future workplaces and is focused on developing the tools that will be needed to navigate these spaces. Right now, this means bringing tools to market like a new generation of UltraSharp conferencing monitors and intelligent webcams with motion-activated controls and presence detection, and building on technologies like storage, 5G, multi-cloud and edge that provide the advanced connectivity and infrastructure to allow organisations to shape how they work. In the future, productivity tools will be connected and intelligent enough to seamlessly move from experience to experience and task to task, helping to break down barriers and redefine how colleagues connect with one another.  

Dell Concept Nyx Ecosystem 3

My team continues to explore the future of compelling, immersive experiences in both work and play. Concepts play a huge role in allowing our designers, engineers, and strategists to test and tweak devices and solutions to inform future experience roadmaps. We’re excited to keep you updated on our journey!

Contributed, Lifestyle

Advancing Gender Equality with Online Learning: 5 Ways it’s Making a Difference

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Earlier this week, the United Nations warned that progress in women’s rights is “vanishing” and based on the current trajectory it will take another 300 years to achieve complete gender equality. They stated that women worldwide face greater challenges in securing employment than previously believed. Despite this bleak outlook, it is crucial that we remain persistent in our efforts to combat this inequality.

By aligning efforts, governments, businesses, and academic institutions across the globe can increase women’s participation in education and employment to not only address gender inequality but also unlock sustained economic benefits, including an increase in annual GDP. Malaysia’s 2023 re-tabled budget includes commendable efforts to bring back 130,000 women, including new mothers, to the workforce.

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The proliferation of technology can also be a key contributor to closing this gap, with online education being a good place to start. Equitable access to learning opportunities and flexible work not only helps address the growing skills challenge but also promotes positive career outcomes for women.

Online learning is narrowing gender education gaps and preparing women for in-demand jobs in the digital economy by removing barriers, improving gender inclusion in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, connecting them to rising skills and job opportunities, and motivating them to explore interests without limits. Here’s how.

  1. Breaking down barriers: Women who struggle to access traditional educational institutions – often because of caregiving responsibilities – can achieve the education required to upskill themselves and enter high-demand, high-paying careers through online learning. The flexibility, affordability, and safety that online education provides have the potential to break down barriers that have historically disadvantaged women.
  1. Promoting gender inclusivity in STEM fields: Despite an increase in women enrolling and graduating from tertiary education programs worldwide, they still face disadvantages, especially in ICT and engineering. They are underrepresented in STEM fields crucial for the growing technology and digital job sectors. However, it is encouraging to see women in Malaysia embrace online learning to develop these in-demand digital skills that are crucial to realize the country’s digital economy vision. The share of enrollments in STEM courses from Malaysian female learners on Coursera has risen from 29% in 2019 to 38% in 2022. 
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  1. Supporting women’s access to jobs of the future: Online learning is opening up new avenues to connect women to the jobs of the future through flexible, affordable, and fast-tracked learning and career pathways. Entry-level professional certificates on Coursera are curated by industry leaders like Google, IBM and Meta to prepare learners for a wide range of high-growth entry-level careers like Data Analyst, UX Designer, Application Developer, and Social Media Marketer, among others. Each certificate is designed for learners without prior industry experience to complete in 6 to 8 months on average (3-10 hours per week), fully online. Popular courses among women learners in Malaysia include Foundations: Data, Data Everywhere, Foundations of User Experience (UX) Design, Ask Questions to Make Data-Driven Decisions and Foundations of Digital Marketing and E-commerce, which all stack up to these industry micro-credentials.
  1. Helping women expand horizons: This freedom to explore various interests is a valued benefit of online education, motivating learners to complete the courses they finally choose. Flexibility is a top priority for women learners specifically and is critical to keeping them in the education system. The range, cost, and accessibility of online courses also encourage more women to try new fields without a long-time commitment and heavy financial burden.
  1. Improving gender equality in leadership positions: Raising a family gives women many of the professional skills employers are looking for like problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration, teamwork and project management. By building technical skills online that complement professional skills, women will be well-positioned to take on new and expanded roles in the modern workforce.

Online learning is levelling the playing field for women by connecting them to fast-growing opportunities and better prospects. Such access can empower more women to reclaim lost ground in the labour market, and gain critical skills that prepare them for the careers of tomorrow.

Contributed

Cybercriminals are Ready to Crash Your Holiday Party

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During the holiday season, businesses tend to lose some of their focus on cybersecurity. Employees tend to take time off during this time of year, leaving just a skeleton crew on hand to address high-priority issues.

Threat actors understand this and use it to their advantage. In 2016, cybercriminals took advantage of the mismatched weekend between Bangladesh and the United States and Chinese New Year, which was being celebrated in the Philippines, resulting in a US$101 million bank heist.

The operation began by sneaking malware into the Bangladeshi bank sometime in January 2016. The criminals waited until the weekend of February 4. They began their financial transactions on Thursday night in Bangladesh, knowing that the weekend there was Friday-Saturday. Transfers arrived at the Federal Bank of New York on Thursday morning, New York time.

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Five transfers were processed as a matter of course, and funds were sent to accounts in Sri Lanka and the Philippines (a spelling mistake on $US850 million in transfers raised a red flag in New York, and the funds were placed on hold). On Sunday, when the Bangladesh bank realised the fund transfers were unauthorised, they sent a SWIFT message to the bank in the Philippines requesting a hold on the funds. However, due to the Chinese New Year and the resulting bank holiday in the Philippines, the money had already been transferred out of the account by the time Philippine bank officials saw the message. 

The criminals engineered a situation where there would be less oversight for a full 3-day weekend.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much that an organisation can do to prevent employees from taking well-deserved time off to spend the holidays with their families. However, there are a wealth of tools they can use to ensure constant security even while employees are away.

Improving Your Security Posture during the Holiday Season

Automation is the first step in maintaining a high standard of security even while employees are away. Automation helps teams do more with limited resources, a common occurrence every holiday season.

Automated workflows create a higher degree of visibility throughout every hidden corner of a network. It should autonomously ingest, connect, and query massive amounts of data in real-time. 

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Once breaches or suspicious activity are detected, these systems automatically repel cyberattacks in real-time, performing at a higher speed and accuracy than most human teams.

This visibility never stops. The autonomous nature of leading XDR solutions means 24/7 visibility. Even while employees are off enjoying the holidays, XDR solutions continue to respond to any cybersecurity threat, at machine speed.

Improving ID Management

Upgrading identity management is another tool security teams can use over the holidays when there aren’t enough team members to review employee activity logs for suspicious behaviour. Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) helps ensure that only authorised employees can access sensitive company information.

Without an identity management solution in place, organisations are vulnerable to phishing attacks, where employees are tricked into sharing their username and password credentials with criminals. Even adding a two-factor authenticator (2FA) can limit the risk involved, as cybercriminals would require both the user’s credentials and their phone or email address to access the one-time password. Again, this is a valuable defence tool during the holiday season, when understaffed teams can’t review logs to find suspicious behaviour.

Threat Hunting after the Holidays

When the holidays are over, and the full team is back in place, it’s always a good idea to conduct a thorough threat-hunting exercise. Dormant malware, like that which was inserted in the month before the Bangladeshi bank heist, can be found during a threat-hunting sweep, and protect an organisation from future attacks.

Stay Vigilant this Holiday Season

The sad truth is that threat actors take advantage of weaknesses. For businesses and government agencies, that means taking extra care during the holidays.

We’ve observed a sharp increase in the number of cyberattacks taking place across the Asia Pacific and Japan. Organisations need to act proactively by deploying automated cybersecurity tools that continue to monitor even when the offices are closed.

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In addition to threat hunting, he recommended organisations upgrade all operating systems and software, scan for vulnerabilities, use multi-factor authentication, and enforce a strong password policy.

With the right automated tools in place, supported by artificial intelligence and machine learning, and following recommended guidelines, cybersecurity teams should be able to enjoy a few well-deserved days off this holiday season.