By Sherilyn Goh
Computer technology solutions provider Oracle Corp is upbeat on the prospects of businesses’ investment spending in technology despite increasingly challenging business environment, according to Oracle Malaysia managing director Jimmy Cheah.
“It’s proven that technology helps in any organisation’s competitiveness, the challenge comes about from what is the cost of investment,” said Cheah. Holding back on tech investments at the point of an economic slowdown, he added, will result in companies playing catch-up over the longer term.
Based on a Gartner poll, Malaysian companies rank above average in the digitisation of business. According to market intelligence firm IDC, 60% of Asia-Pacific’s 1,000 enterprises will have digitised transformation at the centre of their corporate strategy by 2017.
“It’s no longer an economic question but a human question. Can we afford not to talk to each other, can we afford not to communicate and collaborate no matter how expensive it is?” asked Oracle Malaysia general manager of database sales Andrew Lau.
Going big into cloud computing
Statistics from the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (Mosti) estimated that cloud computing will reach RM2.8 billion by 2020. Oracle Malaysia plans to capture this trend via its core product offering in cloud computing solutions.
“Cloud computing has become a stable, accepted, proven form of technology for organisations to get into. The cost of entry into computerisation via a cloud approach is now very low, the investment is much lower than what many may think,” opined Cheah.
Elaborating further, Oracle Corp senior director of product management in Asia-Pacific Chandru Relwani cited Gartner’s data which said that out of the total spending of US$3.8 billion (RM16.7 billion) spent on information technology, only 25% goes to innovation, with the rest going into maintenance and routine integration.
In order to shift the ratio of spending towards innovation, Relwani said the adoption of cloud computing could turn out be both a cost-saving and practical path. Companies that are not comfortable with shifting all their database to cloud, he said, could opt for a hybrid model of cloud and private storage.
Describing the beginning of 2016 as both the best and worst of times in terms of economic climate, Cheah proffered: “It’s not about the investment into technology but what you want the technology to do for you.”
A wholly-owned subsidiary of Oracle Corp USA, Oracle Malaysia was incorporated in August 1988. Its clientele include banking and finance, telco, transportation, manufacturing, hospitality, public services, oil and gas, utilities consumer goods and automotive industries.
It offers customised solutions in the focus areas of unified data management, hyper-converged infrastructure, modern human capital management and modern customer experience.
You must be logged in to post a comment.