Tag Archives: Cloud

Cloud, Connectivity, AI, Security: What SMBs Need From Technology

August 8, 2024 Varinderjit Singh Leave a comment

Small and medium businesses are different from their larger competitors because the chief strategist in many SMBs is often still the owner or the founder.

The challenge for SMB owners is therefore often to understand the technological trends that might apply to their business. This can be complicated, in part because the rate of change in technology is high.

Yet many of these technology areas, such as access to mobile devices and the growth of cloud services, have special relevance to SMBs. Integrating technology should therefore be a central part of any SMB strategy, rather than an option, even for very small companies. The technology is needed to meet customer demands for better experiences, to ensure that businesses and customers can transact quickly, and because being online makes it easier and faster for SMBs to open up new global markets.

Employees of SMBs have similar expectations and the same driven goals of the business owners. They believe that having the right technology improves their productivity, helps drive business growth and increases flexibility in a hybrid working world.

At the center of how SMBs can leverage technology are four trends around mobility, AI-enabled services, and cloud automation, all under a security umbrella.

Taking teams to the next level of productivity, flexibility and customer satisfaction will require businesses to find a balance between implementing emerging technology and training employees to use this technology to provide personalized experiences for customers.

How do each of these technologies support and influence SMBs?

Connectivity

Slow and unstable connectivity is a major obstacle for a distributed workforce that relies on device technology to collaborate and to provide value to customers. Even as 5G continues to be rolled out around the world, WiFi 6E is already offering advanced connectivity in many countries. SMBs can make their investments in WiFi 6E and 5G today, to take advantage of higher-bandwidth, ultra-low-latency connectivity, and high-speed connectivity to the cloud. It’s worth noting that 5G deployments are accelerating around the world, and WiFi 7 is already on the horizon. SMBs should at least understand where these might fit into their existing and future strategies.

Device speed and functionality will continue to match this high-speed connectivity, and users will continue to seek out ever more productive designs that match lifestyle, work style, and mobility. An example of a device that is made for such high-speed connectivity is the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 4 operating on Windows 11 Pro. Simplify your workday and improve productivity with Windows 11 Pro With AI-powered experiences, intelligent workflows, and unmatched personalization, you can do it all on your Windows 11 Pro device. From features to get organized in a snap to fast performance and smart videoconferencing, Windows 11 Pro devices help you improve productivity anywhere. It has a built-in secondary screen offering alternative and distinct functions. Such an innovative device requires high-speed connectivity so that employees will be “always available” and “often on”, working flexibly to accommodate their personal lives.

Cloud automation

Cloud automation, and cloud applications, are an easy entry point for many SMBs that are looking to speed up or otherwise improve their business processes. As data, apps and workloads continue to expand into the cloud, SMBs will be able to automate simpler tasks, programs and customer services. Efficient automation of data analytics, customer feedback and trends or smarter scheduling can free up more time for teams to focus on creative growth engines.

The cloud also allows more SMBs to consider Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) options. While often being more cost-effective, hybrid cloud solutions will be more future-proof and allow for greater scalability through flexibility. IDC has predicted that the growth of cloud services among APAC SMBs, for example, will continue through to 2025.

AI services and products

AI services are increasingly playing a role in helping businesses address common challenges such as staffing, security monitoring, financial management, and tailoring services to customer needs.

Some SMBs are now incorporating AI chatbots to provide round-the-clock resources for employees, adding convenience for those seeking answers to common questions about employee benefits, scheduling, insurance, vacation availability and sick time.

Companies that adapt smartly to incorporate AI-enabled services and products have a competitive advantage. AI and machine learning can provide real-time targeted data analysis, allowing employees to do creative and social media tasks that AI simply cannot credibly do. This, in turn, frees up time for innovation, and product and service development – investments that can be made without sacrificing current revenue and cash flow.

Securing the IT ecosystem

Across all these technologies sits security, from the devices all the way through to cloud access. Remote and hybrid work styles have already changed the nature of security risks, with many organizations, including SMBs, now allowing employees to have flexibility in where they work and use their own devices. As more services move to the cloud, access security risks also increase, and while cloud service providers can provide secure access inside their data centres, access between a business’s devices and the cloud can still attract cyber security risks. Threats are very real and lack of adequate protection can have devastating effects, but best practices and solutions exist to mitigate those threats.

SMBs must strategically implement the appropriate infrastructure, cloud automation and AI tools that will help their business scale. Businesses of all sizes demand client and data centre 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 boundaries.

For SMBs, this sometimes represents new challenges, but they can leverage the experience and investment made by larger companies, peers, partners and competitors, and with the right business and technology strategies in place, they will have the advantage of being more dynamic and responsive to growth opportunities.

Business, Feature

Businesses Need to Go Back to Basics and Focus Customer Experiences as Generative AI Tools Become Mainstream

November 23, 2023 Nur Jeevan Leave a comment

Where it was once heavily reliant on customers’ experience through physical interactions, it is now primarily dominated by digital experiences where bots dominate these interactions. From a customer interaction model where nearly every experience the consumer goes through is positive or unique, it is now one where AI and Bots guide consumers coldly through touchpoints. Oftentimes, this paradigm and approach leave customers dissatisfied and irate.

people inside strucure — Photo by Demian Smit on Pexels.com

This is where Infobip is now looking to change things by looking at the emerging behavioural trends of consumers. Today’s consumers want things to be faster, more efficient and personalised all while being online. The company is placing their focus on adapting Generative AI into its systems with the intent of providing customers with a more personalized experience shopping online akin to the experience they’ve become accustomed to offline.

Back to Basics – Interactions & Experiences Matter

“…It goes all back to the basics.” That is the overarching theme of the solutions that Infobip is developing. Miguel Turnbull, the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Infobip explains a fundamental shift in the paradigm of customer interactions, “The goal is to bring back personalization and the uniqueness of these interactions to a digital experience. So still, in the comfort of your phone, being able to have the same experience you would have if you physically went to a shop.”

IMG 20231013 100724 882 — *Infobip’s Executives at the recent panel discussion.*

This could not be more true with the shift of consumers from buying offline to buying online. A phenomenon that was put into overdrive over the course of the recent pandemic. In fact, the business landscape has changed so drastically we’re seeing the re-emergence of experience-centric behaviours rather than choice and brand-driven ones.

George Ni, Regional Director of Partnerships and Alliances for APAC at Infobip explains, “It is about experiences as Miguel said, but it is also about timely responses meaning that I want it tomorrow, I want it now and how do I quickly get into a particular experience platform? It has evolved that it is no longer a single point-to-point service provision but a single point-to-multi-point or multi-point to multi-point service provision and this is what we call the ecosystem. Meaning that a vendor who must survive in this business today will be required to survive in this greater ecosystem.”

An Omnichannel Solution for a Multifaceted Problem

Infobip is developing solutions that will help businesses leverage business insights and interconnectivity. The mainstay of their offering – the Infobip exchange marketplace – empowers businesses to stay on the ball by democratising the marketplace and allowing businesses to more readily monetize their intellectual properties. Of course, with an open forum like the Infobip marketplace, businesses are also able to collaborate and develop solutions that can then be provisioned.

Infobip’s solution in assisting future partners or businesses in this era of change is by providing an Omnichannel Platform; A platform provides a range of services across channels seamlessly. Together with this, they have also created user-friendly stack automation tools known as SaaS (Software as a service) layers consisting of diverse building blocks or APIs that partners can easily incorporate into their platform.

Conversational Cloud with Generative AI in Forging Lasting Business-Customer Relationships

In leveraging these tools, brands and businesses will be able to leverage their insights to forge lasting relationships – albeit digitally – with their customers. In fact, according to Velid Begovic, Infobip’s Vice President of Revenue in APAC, the cornerstone of this lasting relationship is smoother, more thoughtful and efficient communication between brands and their audiences. This can be achieved by using an emerging technology called the conversational cloud.

*Velid Begovic, Infobip’s Vice President of Revenue in APAC, expounded his views on the shift in paradigm and the emergence of the conversational cloud.*

He explains, “The rise of conversational cloud, a set of cloud-based solutions facilitating business-customer interactions, is driven by the shift to mobile-first online experiences. Brands are moving beyond reactive social media use to adopt a proactive conversational strategy. WhatsApp for business is gaining traction, especially in regions like Malaysia. Brands are integrating Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions to extend conversations across various channels, including in-app, popular OTT platforms, and traditional communication channels. This shift reflects a broader transformation of transactions into conversations, emphasizing the importance of immediate and responsive communication. Brands embracing a conversational-first approach aim to provide a personalized and outstanding customer experience, setting the stage for success.”

We’re seeing an increase in the importance of these interactions. Platforms such as Meta’s Facebook and Instagram now rate pages and businesses on their responsiveness. While we can use chatbots, Generative AI and conversational cloud are the natural next steps in developing solutions that will allow businesses of any size to forge lasting relationships with their customers.

A Delicate Balance Between Customer Experience (CX) and Customer Service (CS)

It has become more apparent that customer service and customer experience go hand in hand. However, there needs to be a delicate balance between the two; one that is unique to each business but makes all the difference in a world where CX and CS go hand-in-hand. According to a recent McKinsey report, 71% of customers expect relevant and personalized attention from brands and are frustrated by not getting quality responses, especially through online engagements.

Infobip is looking to drive a shift in paradigm to alleviate and turn around the outcomes from these customer interactions. According to Turnbull, “The McKinsey report is unique, as we also have reports from our groups stating that 75% of people are tired of talking to robotised machines.”. He further explains, “In a world of abundant choices and rapid technological advancements, consumers’ impatience is fueled by the vast information and options available. Brands must adapt by promptly delivering information and responding to customer needs, the increasing pace of technological development, using the example of ChatGPT as a trend that gained widespread attention. This technology, integrated into their platform in collaboration with Microsoft, aims to provide a humanized experience through chatbots its why Infobip was the first to integrate their platform ChatGPT technology. By infusing personality into these automated solutions, brands can enhance the consumer-brand relationship. This personalized approach is crucial as brands compete fiercely for customer attention and loyalty.”

At The Edge of A Paradigm Shift, Poised to Lead

It comes as no surprise then that businesses will need to inevitably invest in technologies that will enhance and improve their CX. It would then be prudent for businesses to look at solutions that will not only provide short-term advantages but also long-term outcomes.

The Malaysian business landscape has already, albeit defiantly, tapped into this strategy. However, the nation still remains an early adopter of technologies which empower this strategy. This can be seen in both individual and large-scale aspects like governments and businesses. In fact, Malaysia’s speed in moving from a nation depending on cash to a cashless one demonstrates the nation’s willingness to adopt and adapt to technologies in day-to-day business systems.

While Infobip continues to deliver solutions in the form of data centres, SaaS stacks and even advisory, it falls to the businesses themselves to develop policies and approaches that will minimize exposure and keep potential threats at bay. With growing concern among businesses and the general public about data privacy, it would be prudent that businesses then make strides to deploy these technologies tactfully.

Business, Contributed

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

November 14, 2023 Azhar Abdullah Leave a comment

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.

white switch hub turned on — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

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.

close up photo of person typing on laptop — Photo by Christina Morillo on Pexels.com

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.

hands holding a smartphone with data on screen — Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels.com

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.

photo of triangle shape digital wallpaper — Photo by Adrien Olichon on Pexels.com

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, News

Nutanix & ST Engineering Form Partnership to Transform Singapore’s Cloud Computing Landscape

September 19, 2023 Rae Lim Leave a comment

In efforts to advance hybrid cloud capabilities and empower Singapore’s workforce with essential tech skills, Nutanix and ST Engineering have joined forces through a two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

Hybrid cloud technology is a way of using both public and private cloud services together. It allows organisations to store some data in a public cloud while keeping other sensitive data in a private cloud.

Nutanix, a multi-cloud computing company, and ST Engineering, a technology and engineering group, have outlined their commitment to several key areas. Among these areas are:

Develop cutting-edge hybrid cloud technologies

Firstly, the partnership aims to develop cutting-edge hybrid cloud technologies tailored to the specific operational needs of organisations.

This collaborative effort combines public and private clouds to store data and manage multiple cloud services. It does this while prioritising strong security measures for data protection.

Additionally, the partnership aims to create a user-friendly cloud management portal. This portal will simplify multi-cloud management for businesses and enhance their control over cloud resources.

Cultivate a future-ready workforce through a curated training curriculum

Secondly, ST Engineering and Nutanix plan to cultivate a future-ready workforce through a curated training curriculum focused on hybrid cloud technology. This educational initiative will target higher learning institutions, equipping students with the skills necessary to excel in cloud-centric environments.

The training curriculum will include various cloud-related domains, aligning with government-wide efforts to build deep tech skills, particularly in cloud computing.

In conclusion, this collaboration between Nutanix and ST Engineering represents an important step towards enhancing Singapore’s hybrid cloud capabilities. It should also ensure that the workforce is well-prepared to navigate the evolving technology landscape.

Business, Contributed

Tech Solutions Executives Must Consider Levelling Up Their Team

September 12, 2023 Varinderjit Singh Leave a comment

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.

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.

Mobile, News

[MWC 2023] Qualcomm enhances IoT with iSIM, partnerships to leverage Snapdragon Spaces and Qualcomm Aware

March 3, 2023 Thina Hareesh Leave a comment

Qualcomm continues to drive innovation for IoT at MWC 2023, with a host of announcements for both their hardware and software platforms.

iSIM announced for Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 platforms

A huge step for IoT devices with iSIM available on Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

The highlight of these announcements is the unveiling of Integrated SIM (iSIM) for their flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform. The iSIM is a highly desirable form factor for developers as it allows space saving in design, be it smartphones or even wearables, while also reducing supply chain costs. The iSIM saves space by eliminating the need for a separate component while also requiring significantly less power than eSIMs. Both of these traits are cornerstones for developing IoT devices.

Collaborating with French developer Thales, Qualcomm has also confirmed GSMA’s (Global Association for the Mobile Communications Industry) security certification for what would be the world’s first commercially deployable iSIM. This assures best-in-class security level while also being compliant with the GSMA Remote SIM Provisioning standard that Thales eSIM already offers. This form factor also complements existing SIM and eSIM designs, and research by Kaleido Intelligence suggests the market share to grow to 300 million by 2027.

Snapdragon Spaces to kick start AR experiences with global partners

7 global operators will leverage Snapdragon Spaces for new and exciting AR experiences.

Qualcomm has also furthered their commitment towards Extended Reality (XR) with plans to leverage Snapdragon Spaces with 7 leading global operators. These include a multi-year collaboration with Japan’s KDDI corporation focused on the expansion of XR use cases and creation of a developer program. The Snapdragon Space XR Developer Platform is a cross-device, open-ecosystem that provides developers with the tools to pioneer Augmented Reality (AR) experiences, with a focus on headworn AR devices. Just recently, Xiaomi has set things in motion with the recently announced Xiaomi Wireless AR Glasses Discovery Edition, powered by the Snapdragon XR2 Platform. Oppo too has confirmed a new mixed reality (MR) device, the first Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 device to be approved as Snapdragon Spaces Ready.

Scaling digital transformation with Qualcomm Aware Platform

Qualcomm has also unveiled their Qualcomm Aware Platform, which aims to provide the resources necessary to simplify and scale digital transformation. These include a combination of industry-leading cloud and edge technologies, API-first architecture and developer-friendly tools.

Scaling digital transformation through the Qualcomm Aware platform

Qualcomm already offers industry-leading IoT modem chipsets, including the recently announced Qualcomm 216 IoT LTE Modem capable of speeds of up to 10 Mbps at ultra-low power. With the recent acquisitions of Skyhook Wireless, Inc. and the assets of PoLTE Corporation, new proprietary positioning techniques and a now global signal database allows Qualcomm Aware to deliver intelligent and ubiquitous location capabilities in an always-on, low-power manner.

Having the best silicon and global connectivity is not enough to guarantee IoT deployment success, so Qualcomm has worked hard to address a key challenge in this area; ecosystem fragmentation. Qualcomm Aware brings together an ecosystem of hardware and software partners to develop solutions for varied yet specific business needs. This has culminated with Qualcomm Aware Blueprints, which enable enterprises to quickly and efficiently roll-out pre-designed solutions, tailored to requirements.

A growing list of Qualcomm Aware Supporting Partners

With efficiency in mind, Qualcomm Aware also offers a highly customizable framework and implements standard APIs that interoperate seamlessly with private clouds, industry-specific application platforms, enterprise tools and softwares. These include enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management, inventory management and many more. One of the key integrations will be with Microsoft Dynamics 365, a major cloud-based business application that combines components of both ERP and customer relationship management (CRM) with additional AI tools and productivity applications.

Sources: Qualcomm^1,2,3

Advertorial, Business, Lifestyle

Celcom Business – The Trusted Partner to Accelerating Your Success

October 28, 2022 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

Running a business is difficult. In the current climate, there are plenty of opportunities to be explored. The current business climate also presents more challenges than before.

It is not just businesses that are being challenged though. It is everything from running a team in your organization, the government sector is being challenged to also keep up with the times, the banking industry had to evolve very quickly thanks to new threats. Thanks to the threat of the pandemic businesses, organizations, and governments are being forced to change and evolve.

The pandemic has caught many off-guard. The need to digitalize businesses, services, and even governmental functions was abrupt and very sudden. With nearly zero warning, businesses are forced to close their doors physically, government offices and functions must completely shut down, other forms of organizations must cut back on their on-site and physical services too. It was a nightmare for traditional organizations.

Digitalizing organizations became rather crucial in these few years, exaggerated by the pandemic. Organizations are forced to start digitalizing their workflows and business functions in less than a few months in order to survive. It is not just offices that has to adapt, traditional businesses like restaurants had to quickly adapt to digitalizing in order to survive the pandemic.

Accelerating Your Business

Celcom Business offers productivity tools like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, digital payment gateways like mPOS and POS. Whether managing task or projects for your business or simply completing your daily work, digital tools can make you more productive, collaborative, and consistent. Celcom Business offers business tools such as M365 and Google Workspace to allow you to collaborate seamlessly from any across any device wherever you are in despite time and location.

Digitalizing Your Processes

Remote working is not a new idea. Tech firms like Google have been championing remote collaboration and productivity outside of the formal work environment. In some ways also, the pandemic has forced companies to adopt remote working strategies and develop tools for it. While the pandemic has become the biggest test bed for remote working, it has also presented organizations a challenge in transforming their workplace and methods.

With Celcom Business, the transformation does not have to be as difficult as it sounds. All the same tools available from Celcom Business are available for corporations at various scales. Organizations can start with cloud services available from Celcom Business’ network, for example. Microsoft 365 that can be accessed through Celcom business also allows businesses to monitor its workforce and allow for more comprehensive collaboration. At the same time, Celcom Business offers comprehensive cyber defense tools and services for businesses.

A Smarter City

The idea of a Smart City has never been closer to reality than it has ever been. Celcom Business does not just stop at digitalizing businesses too. It is the beginning of a smarter, more digital city. But what is a smart city?

In this context, a smart city is a connected city. At the heart of a smart city lies a digitalized network that shares information and data across multiple services and systems. One of them could be in the area of securities where strategic partnerships between Celcom and the Malaysian Royal Police force (PDRM) allows the police force in Malaysia to have an integrated communication network that allows them to operate at an elevated efficiency and effectiveness level.

Beyond that, Celcom’s strategic partnership also offers traffic and fleet management capabilities like no other. With Celcom Business’ clever traffic monitoring and management, you can ensure your deliveries are alwayson time. It also allows you to ensure that your deliveries are done in the most economically efficient manner. At the same time, Celcom Business’ fleet management can help you keep track of every vehicle’s condition to ensure that you are always operating at an optimum state. All of this allows Celcom’s partner to develop unique technologies and tools for a more sustainable city.

To find out more about Celcom Business and how it can help you, you can head on to their website.

*DISCLAIMER: This is a paid advertorial by Celcom Axiata Berhad. It does not reflect the opinions or views of the techENT editorial board or writers.*

Business, Computers, Contributed

Cyberattackers are Using the Cloud too – Are Malaysian Enterprises Prepared?

June 29, 2022 Goh Chee Hoh Leave a comment

Cloud technology has been an integral component in paving the way for organizations across industries to undergo digital transformation. Globally, 50% of organizations are adopting a cloud-native approach to support both employees and customers, and the number of connected devices is expected to climb to 55.9 billion by 2025.

In Malaysia, we’ve also seen swift progress in cloud adoption – with the most recent milestone being the upgrade of the Malaysian Government’s Public Sector Data Centre (PDSA) into a hybrid cloud service called MyGovCloud. The pace of cloud adoption is expected to accelerate following the government’s decision to provide conditional approval to Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Telekom Malaysia to build and manage hyperscale data centres and cloud services in Malaysia.

With cloud-based systems becoming a key component of organizations’ operations and infrastructures, malicious actors have been turning to the cloud, taking advantage of weaknesses in cloud security to perform various malicious activities — leading to new complexity regarding effective attack surface risk management.

Why Malaysian Businesses Need Better Risk Management

The shift to the cloud and dramatic increase in connectivity gives malicious actors new and often unmanaged attack vectors to target.

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As revealed in Trend Micro’s semi-yearly Cyber Risk Index (CRI) report, 67% of organizations in Malaysia report they are likely to be breached in the next 12 months – indicating a dire need for local organizations to be better prepared in managing cyber risks.

To better reduce the risk of cyberattacks, enterprises must first understand how cyberattackers are exploiting the cloud for their own benefit and bridge security gaps by proactively anticipating data breaches.

One of the most common ways that organizations put themselves in a vulnerable position to be attacked is through misconfigurations of the cloud. While misconfigurations might seem straightforward and avoidable, they are the most significant risk to cloud environments – making up 65 to 70% of all security challenges in the cloud. This is especially true for organizations that have been pushed to migrate quickly to the cloud since remote work became the new norm.

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Malicious actors are also turning to low-effort by high-impact attack strategies in gaining access to cloud applications and services. On top of exploiting new vulnerabilities in an enterprise’s network, cyberattackers will persistently exploit known vulnerabilities from past years as many enterprises still lack the ability to get full visibility on environments that are left unpatched.

How Malaysian Businesses can Stay Prepared

Since criminals can execute their attacks more effectively, they can also target a larger number of organizations, potentially leading to an increase in overall attacks. Organizations now have much less time to detect and respond to these incidents, and this will be expounded as the business model of cybercriminals matures further.

With that in mind, enterprises must strengthen their security posture foundations to defend against evolving cyberthreats. Among the key cybersecurity strategies to adopt include:

Automating everything

We live in a world where skills shortages and commercial demands have combined to expose organizations to escalating levels of cyber risk. In the cloud, it leads to misconfigurations and the risk of knock-on data breaches, as well as unpatched assets which are exposed to the latest exploits. The bad news is that cybercriminals and nation states are getting better at scanning for systems which may be vulnerable in this way.

Better digital attack surface management starts with the right tooling. Solutions such as Trend Micro Cloud One enable and automates platform-agnostic cloud security administration and cloud threat detection and response, which can help security teams improve the efficiency of threat investigation and response, as well as reduce the risk of a security breach.

Empowering employees with resources and tools to ensure cloud operational excellence

Many enterprises are already well on their way in the world of cloud, with more and more security teams using cloud infrastructure services and developing cloud-native applications. However, this can often be a steep learning curve for cloud architects and developers – leaving gaps in protection, compliance, and visibility.

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To improve the situation, organizations need to provide resources to employees to ensure that the cloud service configurations adhere to industry best practices and compliance standards. One such way is to use tools that automatically scan cloud services against best practices, relieving teams from having to manually check for misconfigurations.

Adopt a Shared Responsibility Model

Clouds aren’t secure or insecure, they’re as secure as you make them. Instead of “who is more secure – AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud?” ask “what have I done to make all of my clouds as secure as I need them?”

Security in the cloud works using the Shared Responsibility Model – which dictates who is responsible for any operational task in the cloud and security is simply a subset of those tasks. Security self-service for the cloud is fully here in all its forms, and understanding this model is critical to success in the cloud.

While increased cloud adoption allows organizations to be more agile, scalable, and cost-efficient, the benefits of using cloud services and technologies are no longer just reaped by legitimate companies, but also cybercriminals who keep up with the trend. As criminals accelerate attacks and expand their capabilities, businesses must adopt a solid cybersecurity strategy to stay a step ahead.