Are the (skilled) IT workers? - Reseller Malaysia
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KDN-PP19103/09/2016(034592) APRIL 2017
MARKET PRODUCTS PROMOTIONS VENDORS PEOPLE EVENTS
Where
are the (skilled)
IT workers?
Intel sets sights Skilled IT PIKOM hails DFTZ, MMD brings in
on AI with new workers still in says will benefit three new Philips
business group high demand members monitors
PG 12 PG 14 PG 8 PG 22
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In search of skilled IT
workers
W economy
elcome back! Amidst the doom and gloom of rising employment, a sluggish
and the incredible shrinking ringgit (that would surely be a great
premise for a horror movie if we’re not already experiencing it live!), it is also,
strangely, a difficult time to hire good staff. This is especially so in the IT industry.
While the job experts attribute this to poor command of the English language
and inadequate people skills, the more likely reason for our industry is that fresh
graduates are poorly equipped for the job – and yet demand way-too-high a salary.
Whatever happened to proving yourself first before making demands?
For this issue, I met with some industry leaders and the academia and they present
an interesting story. Even IT experts need to constantly learn new things and grow
to adapt to new technologies and environments. There are jobs today that did not
exist five years ago and the people doing these jobs today had to learn and adapt.
So, what we know today may be obsolete tomorrow.
What about undergraduates studying computer science and IT now? Will the current
subjects become obsolete by the time they graduate and will their knowledge be
useful to employers? As a reseller, you are under pressure to embrace change in
technology. You are told to change or be changed but without sufficient skilled IT
workers, that may be quite the task.
I’m so impressed with what one local university is doing to ensure that they churn
out productive and employable IT graduates. Of course, it helps with their student
recruitment drive but it also helps solve an urgent problem faced by the local ICT
industry. Find out more about what INTI is doing in our main feature this month.
When other universities make known their efforts to enrich the talent pool, we’ll be
sure to let you know, too!
I hope you enjoy our magazine and do not forget to visit our website, w ww.reseller
malaysia.my. Do register on our website to get updates and give us your feedback.
Best regards!
Stephen Chin, Editor
PUBLISHED BY EDITOR: GRAPHICS DESIGNER:
Verve Infotech Sdn Bhd Stephen Chin Milly Milk Ville - Sharon Sen / milkville@gmail.com
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9 Jalan 16/11, off Jalan Damansara Lim Chia Nean / chia@resellermalaysia.my CIRCULATION
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2 Reseller Malaysia www.resellermalaysia.my | APRIL 2017
CONTENTS
P5
News
Local
P5 P5 iPay88: Malaysians shop online more despite sluggish economy
P7 Sales and investments in Malaysian digital economy hit record highs in 2016
P8 PIKOM hails DFTZ, says will benefit members
P9 Exabytes to fund ‘cockroach’ startups
International
P10 Silver Peak enhances EdgeConnect to support thin branch offices
P11 New Cisco Spark devices enhance conference features
P12 Hasta la Windows Vista, baby!
P13 Intel sets sights on AI with new business group
P13 Extreme Networks to buy Brocade’s Datacentre Networking business
P14
Cover Story
Skilled IT workers still in high demand
Malaysia faces record unemployment among graduates, and yet has a severe shortage of
skilled IT workers. What causes the disparity? What is one local university doing right that
almost all its students are hired within six months of graduating?
P14
P17
Who is Who
P17 Jacob Pereira is APJ channel director for Nutanix
Avnet appoints Frederick Fu as APAC president
P18 Jason Thompson to lead GrabPay
P19
P19
Product News
HP offers detachable PC for on-the-go pros
P20 IBM enhances cloud offerings, announces extended NetApp partnership
P21 Thin and Wyse: Dell’s newest, smallest thin client
AMD ships Ryzen 5 chips this month
P19
P22 MMD brings in three new Philips monitors
P23
Feature
Troubles with Renewals
Subscription-based services are good ways to generate ongoing income but the headaches
arise when it comes to managing renewals. Reseller Malaysia spoke to Scott Frew who
shared how an in-house app he developed has become a global solution within the reseller
P25 channel ecosystem.
CONTENTS
P26
Column
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P28
Survey
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News
iPay88: Malaysians Surface-as-a-Service arrives in Malaysia
shop online more
despite sluggish
economy
I n 2016, payment gateway iPay88
recorded 38.2 million online
transactions, a 161% increase over
2015’s 14.6 million transactions. Despite
the perceived sluggish overall economy,
Malaysians appear to be buying online
more than ever, said Lim Kok Hing,
executive director, iPay88.
iPay88 payment gateway systems
represent over 70% of Malaysia’s
e-commerce market. It recently shared its
first ever statistics on Malaysians’ online
buying pattern.
“Over the review period, we thought
consumers would tighten their belts due
to the squeeze in their disposable income A fter introducing Surface-as-a-Service in the US in July last year, Microsoft has finally
introduced the same in Malaysia with partners Ingram Micro and 3StepIT. Under the
in the current economic ‘winter,’ Lim program, organisations can procure Microsoft Surface Pro 4 on a per user, per month
said. “However, iPay88’s system shows leasing package.
otherwise, as e-commerce and online
purchases went up by 210% in 1Q2017 The service offers up to four leasing options, covering either two- or three-year programs
over the same comparable period.” where businesses can acquire the Surface Pro 4 along with the Surface type cover,
extended hardware services warranty and Office 365 Business starting from RM212 per
This trend may be due to the convenience month.
of shopping online as well as the ability to
get better deals online, Lim said. “Online “Surface-as-a-Service provides our enterprise customers with greater flexibility and
shoppers do not shop only when they are freedom of choice in their deployment and purchasing decisions, as many seek to move
desktop-bound. Using the mobile phone is IT costs from Capex to Opex,” said Serene Ho, Windows devices business group lead,
just as easy. Issues like data security and Microsoft Malaysia in a statement. “The program will also enable faster device refresh
fraud have become negligible.” while providing flexibility of solutions that will evolve continuously with the best of Windows
and Office.”
Another factor that would encourage
online shopping could be the government’s Customers interested in purchasing Surface for their organisations can benefit from a
plans to abolish import tariffs on items flexible and efficient scheme, Microsoft said. It centralises billing and servicing and lets
priced above RM500, Lim added. customers work with Ingram Micro and 3StepIT to customise industry and organisation-
specific solutions. They will also enjoy periodically leased equipment refresh and end-of-
Based on iPay88’s online payment and lease term flexibility where they can return the device, keep it or extend the agreement.
transactional data for 1Q2017, spending
Microsoft added that Surface-as-a-Service will help organisations streamline the
at marketplaces grew in volume by 293%
replacement and exchange pipeline, as well as configuration and deployment service
and shoppers here are likely to purchase
requirements. Customers only need to work with one partner for end-to-end Surface
online games, general ticketing, fashion
support and deployment. The service also ensures the devices will automatically receive
and apparel.
the latest Windows and Office 365 updates with new features and security updates.
Lim noted that though online spending
“We received positive feedback from our customers who are seeking a delicate balance
grew, the types of goods purchased
between keeping up with technology advancements versus costs,” Jocelyn Tan, division
remain unchanged: apparel and footwear;
manager, Ingram Micro. “Surface-as-a-Service is a great model for us to reach out to
accessories and jewellery; electronics; and
customers who prefer flexibility when it comes to hardware investments.
sports equipment were among the most
popular, amounting to RM25.3m, RM1.7m, “With Microsoft, we can now deliver tailored solutions and services for a wider range of
RM5.1m, and RM3.3m respectively. customers seeking mobile yet powerful productivity without heavy financial outlay from the
start.
iPay88 also found that online shopping
occurs mostly during weekdays, from
11am-3pm and 7pm-11pm. For more information, visit http://aka.ms/surfaceasaservice_my
APRIL 2017 | www.resellermalaysia.my Reseller Malaysia 5
News
MyIX opens doors to international peering, slashes port fees up
to 47%
T he Malaysia Internet Exchange (MyIX) As at 14 March 2017, total member- as a catalyst for MyIX to achieve world-
is opening its doors to foreign ship comprises 39 ordinary members, 33 class benchmarks and standards. More
players. This was agreed unanimously at associate members and 16 peering partners importantly, we will be taking a major step
Persatuan Pengendali Internet Malaysia’s for a total membership of 88. With the local towards becoming a regional Internet ex-
9th Annual General Meeting held recently. market saturated, MyIX aims to increase its change,” he added.
It is also reducing its port fees by up to foreign membership in 2017.
47%. MyIX also announced a reduction in port
Admitting foreign members will accelerate fees across the board for all port speeds
The move is intended to get more MyIX’s development into a world-class ranging from 100Mbps to 10Gbps, with
International Content Brands (ICBs) Internet ecosystem and Internet peering savings between 25% and 47%. However,
and regional Internet service providers hub, Chiew said. “This will generate more the days of slow ports are numbered. To
(ISPs) to peer directly with MyIX, which peering activity to benefit members and encourage its members to upgrade their
will significantly benefit local members the local Internet ecosystem, while serving ports to faster speeds, only 1Gbps and
and ordinary Malaysians, MyIX said in above will be made available effective 2018,
a statement. Presently, several foreign whereby 100Mbps and 200Mbps ports will
companies, such as Cambodia’s S.I. Group
MyIX will continue to be discontinued.
Ltd, Hong Kong’s TATA Communications and
Singapore’s ViewQuest Pte Ltd, are already
drive its local agenda “MyIX remains committed to bringing down
peering with MyIX. but given that almost port fees for members’ benefit, with savings
all local ISPs, content hopefully passed down to consumers. The
“MyIX will continue to drive its local agenda providers and other reduction also enhances our overall value
but given that almost all local ISPs, content
providers and other players have peered
players have peered with proposition to international players,” Chew
said.
with us, it is now timely to woo foreign us, it is now timely to
companies,” said MyIX chairman, Chiew Kok woo foreign companies
Hin. For more information, visit www.myix.my
Exabytes offers to GROW entrepreneurs’ online branding
to passionate and enthusiastic micro Chan said many small start-ups and
businesses that want to amplify their online companies make the mistake of having
brand visibility. le
ngthy URL addresses that are hard to
remember. Furthermore, their domain name
“Brand awareness is more important is neither secured nor registered, which
than what most people think and online leaves the brand and identity unprotected.
visibility is critical to any business’ lifetime
success,” Chan said. “It is e ssential for He added that many such companies also
any e ntrepreneur who wishes to increase do not have a proper email and resort
conversions and sales through long-
to using free email services or any kind
term brand loyalty, to first increase brand of personal messenger. “Email m arketing
awareness before any sale can be made.” strategy can also be part of an overall
marketing strategy and business plan. Thus
Chan Kee Siak, Exabytes founder Exabytes’ GROW campaign is offered to it is important for SMEs to have a proper
all local micro businesses and SMEs. The email system that is reliable for an effective
W solutions
eb hosting services
provider
and e-commerce
Exabytes Group
package comprises one short c ustomised
.MY domain name (such as yourbrand.
email marketing strategy,” he said.
announced a social venture called GROW
my) and five personalised business email GROW is intended to address problems
that will grant RM20m worth of online accounts with the company brand (you@
commonly faced by young entrepreneurs
services and development support to young yourbrand.my) and domain redirection to the with the help of experts while enabling SMEs
entrepreneurs across Malaysia and help business’ Facebook page (http://facebook. to brand their business with a personalised
them build their online brand visibility. com/YourBrand/). domain and reliable email address.
Exabytes founder cum executive direc- The program will run for one year and be
tor Chan Kee Siak said GROW’s objective made available for 120,000 on a first-come- For more information,
is to offer immediate and vital assistance first-served basis. visit https://www.exabytes.my/grow
6 Reseller Malaysia www.resellermalaysia.my | APRIL 2017
News
Hitachi Sunway to implement Siemens Teamcenter in HANA
Thailand
I T services and solutions provider tests, revisions and confirmations. Mistakes icroelectronics, semiconductor, integrated
m
Hitachi Sunway Information Systems not only delay the production but impact the circuits, and more. It employs over 10,000
Sdn Bhd announced that it is implementing delivery of high quality, error-free products to employees in Thailand, China, US and
Siemens Teamcenter document manage- our customers,” Weir said. Cambodia.
ment solution for HANA Microelectronics
Public Co Ltd in Thailand. HANA is a leading electronics manufactur- Hitachi Sunway executive vice president
er in Southeast Asia, producing a variety of Billy Lee Kok Chi said, “With multiple sites
HANA will be implementing Teamcenter PDM and a high product lifecycle turnover, docu-
(product data management) in its c ustomer ment management can become a complex
service, operations, material and production problem for any company, especially one
control planner, quality management and with the capacity of HANA. Any mistakes
purchasing departments. or oversight in the production cycle can be
costly and stressful for the company. This is
“We chose Hitachi Sunway as we were why we suggested Teamcenter.
confident of their vast portfolio and
successful client implementations,” said
“With Teamcenter in place, HANA can track
Terry Weir, executive vice president and changes and have a visual of the whole
chief financial officer, MIS and corporate product lifecycle from one single point. This
affairs, HANA. “As soon as their team began helps eliminate any chance for costly errors,
to analyse the problems we were facing, while reducing cost and time of produc-
they identified the right solutions and best tion, improving the quality of production and
practices to help us resolve these issues.” delivery time,” he said.
“Errors in documentation can be a costly
affair for a manufacturer like us. Each From left: Terry Weir, EVP and CFO, MIS & Corporate For more information,
product lifecycle goes through elaborate Affairs, HANA with Billy Lee Kok Chi, EVP, Hitachi S
unway visit www.hitachi-sunway-is.com
Sales and investments in Malaysian digital economy hit record
highs in 2016
M export
SC companies recorded RM19.1bn in
sales for 2016, an 18% growth
the highest contribution to growth yet,” said
Dato’ Yasmin Mahmood, CEO of MDEC in a
2016 saw a tenfold increase in investments
for niche focus areas since 2014. These
over the previous year. The Creative Content statement. focus areas – e-commerce, Internet of
and Technology (CCT) cluster recorded the Things (IoT), cloud and datacentre, big data
highest export sales growth with a Export made up 40% of the total revenue analytics (BDA) and security – contributed
contribution of RM1.17bn. recorded, with Asia Pacific being the main RM3.7bn to total export sales last year, a
export destination followed by Europe. Local 38% growth year over year.
Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation MSC companies recorded a 21% increase in
(MDEC) also reported positive growth across export sales. “E-commerce saw favourable growth last
all clusters. “Not only did the CCT cluster year which brings us a step closer towards
exceed the RM1bn mark, Infotech’s growth Meanwhile, the nation also enjoyed our vision of doubling the e-commerce
surpassed the the Global Business Services RM16.3bn in new investments, of which growth rate and reach a GDP c ontribution
(GBS) cluster with a 26% growth, recording RM6.43bn came from new investors, another of RM211bn by 2020. With the e -commerce
record high for the second consecutive year. roadmap in place, we believe we can
Investments from existing investors stood at achieve this goal,” Yasmin said.
RM9.84bn.
With 2017 dubbed the Year of the Internet
“We are very proud of last year’s Economy, MDEC will continue to drive a
achievement,” said Yasmin. “Our strategy to sustainable digital economy built on a
lead the Digital Economy is paying off and vibrant domestic IT industry. It will adapt
we saw a positive healthy year from MSC- and diversify MSC Malaysia Cybercentres
status companies in Malaysia with record into new Digital Hubs. These hubs will be
new investment and strong investment catalysts for a robust start-up ecosystem in
Dato’ Yasmin Mahmood, CEO of MDEC numbers from new investors.” Malaysia.
APRIL 2017 | www.resellermalaysia.my Reseller Malaysia 7
News
PIKOM hails DFTZ, says will benefit members
The National ICT Association of
Malaysia (PIKOM) hails the introduction
Malaysia Digital Economy Corp (MDEC) and
will offer support in the execution of the
with their Alipay e-wallet. This will give
Malaysian merchants exposure to the vast
of the world’s first Digital Free Trade Zone DFTZ, which definitely complements our China market.
(DFTZ) on 22 March, saying it will greatly E-commerce chapter.”
benefit its members, more than half of MDEC will also collaborate with Catcha
whom are SMEs. Prior to the DFTZ’s launch, PIKOM and its Group to establish the Kuala Lumpur Internet
members provided their input and opinion on City (KLIC).
“We are excited that Malaysia will serve as the DFTZ, Chin revealed. “We are delighted
a regional e-fulfillment centre and become DFTZ has come to fruition and expect it to According to MDEC, the government
the regional hub for SMEs, marketplaces, provide a catalytic effect on e-commerce in e-commerce roadmap introduced last year
and mono-brands,” PIKOM chairman Chin the country and region,” he said. aims to double the country’s e-commerce
Chee Seong told Reseller Malaysia. growth and increase the GDP contribution to
“SMEs will have easier access to the RM211bn (US$25bn) by 2020. It generated
“SMEs should have a smoother gateway region,” Chin said. “and we will see greater $2.3bn revenue in 2015.
to reach out to their customers beyond cross-border trade.”
Malaysia. We want to applaud the The DFTZ will be a boost to the roadmap
government and all stakeholders for the
Malaysians, especially the younger and is expected to double the growth rate of
efforts in making Malaysia the leading generation, have really embraced the
Malaysian SMEs’ goods export by $25bn and
e-commerce market in the region,” he Internet economy and e-commerce, Chin create 60,000 jobs by 2025, said MDEC.
added. noted. “We believe the future of e-commerce
in our country is bright. But we would like to Development in phases
The DFTZ dovetails with PIKOM’s own see rural communities be included in this According to MDEC, the DFTZ consists
efforts to promote e-commerce and help journey, via good broadband Internet access, of three main components: the physical
SMEs to expand their businesses abroad. It at home and in school; affordable computers eFulfillment Hub and Satellite Services
formed an e-commerce chapter in January and smartphones; and proper ICT training Hub and the virtual eServices platform.
which became a founding member of the and guidance such as basic e-commerce These aim to give SMEs, marketplaces and
E-Commerce Alliance with the Asian- courses.” mono-brands a holistic e-commerce trading
Oceanian Computing Industry Organisation experience.
(ASOCIO) to promote cross-border Electronic World Trade Platform
e-commerce trade across the region, with
The DFTZ fulfils one part of Jack Ma’s The eFulfillment Hub will be centred at KLIA
the participation of 15 e-commerce players vision for an Electronic World Trade Platform Aeropolis which will cover key clusters of air
from five countries. (eWTP). The founder and executive c hairman cargo and logistics, aerospace and aviation.
of Alibaba Group is also an adviser to The initial phase will be rolled out before the
The E-commerce Alliance identified three end of 2017 by Alibaba, Cainiao, Lazada
the Malaysian government on the digital
areas that required attention, namely to and Pos Malaysia. Alibaba’s facility will be
economy.
accelerate sellers’ adoption of e-commerce, formally launched at the end of 2019.
lift non-tariff barriers, and promote the “The eWTP should be driven by b usinesses
national brand. “We want to develop regional and supported by governments. If we can The KLIC, to be sited at Bandar Malaysia,
SME and e-commerce champions,” said build an inclusive platform for businesses will be the first Satellite Services Hub. It
ASOCIO chairman, David Wong Nan Fay. and young people to trade and do will comprise key players within the Internet
business freely, openly, and fairly, it will be
ecosystem to facilitate end-to-end support,
The alliance also found logistics to be an fundamental to the world economy over the networking, and knowledge-sharing that will
issue. Costs must be brought down and next 20 to 30 years and (possibly) for the drive innovation in the Internet economy and
quick delivery is a must as e -commerce century,” said Ma. the e-commerce industry.
involves shipping large numbers of small
parcels, unpredictable demand of s hipments MDEC and Alibaba Group will collaborate “Catcha Group is proud to be a strategic
and a wide dispersal of origin and on the DFTZ in line with the objectives of partner of DFTZ. We are excited about
destination. the eWTP, and to develop a regional hub bringing all the key e-commerce players and
for e-commerce business, trade facilitation, Internet companies within close proximity of
These issues can be addressed with the SME onboarding, cloud services for each other to create a premier digital hub,”
DFTZ. At its launch, Prime Minister Dato’ Sri enterprises, and an eFulfilment and logistics said Patrick Grove, co-founder and group
Najib Abdul Razak said, “We want to help hub. CEP, Catcha Group. “Our vision is for KLIC
SMEs overcome the complex regulations, to be the ASEAN headquarters for global
processes and barriers, and eventually Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd and Cainiao Internet MNCs, regional leaders and aspiring
further encourage businesses and traders Network also signed a memorandum entrepreneurs in the Internet ecosystem.”
to connect and collaborate in cross-border of understanding to develop a regional
trading.” e-commerce and logistics hub in KLIA
The E-Services Platform – a virtual zone,
Aeropolis as part of the DFTZ initiative. will be made available in time to support the
PIKOM’s Chin said, “We are heartened to goods movement within DFTZ. It will also
see the government empathising with the Maybank and CIMB will be supporting Alipay offer integrated services that will help deliver
challenges faced by SMEs in a competitive barcode payment in Malaysia, which enables a streamlined and efficient e xperience to
world. PIKOM is in close consultation with mainland Chinese tourists to make payments users operating from the DFTZ.
8 Reseller Malaysia www.resellermalaysia.my | APRIL 2017News
Mellanox enters Malaysia, part of SEA expansion plans
M presence
ellanox Technologies Ltd is setting up a
in Malaysia to become a
datacentres operate at any scale while
lowering operational costs and infrastructure
Mellanox is actively seeking partners and
collaboration opportunities to support its
player in the country’s push into the digital complexity. customers from different industries, primarily
economy. within Big Data, datacentres and the cloud.
“For applications with high-performance “Investing in Malaysia makes good economic
There is tremendous growth in Malaysia’s requirements such as cloud and Big Data,
sense as this will bring Mellanox closer to
digital economy,” said Hong Mun Loong, the datacentre infrastructure needs to our customers and help us better serve the
Malaysia country manager, Mellanox eliminate performance bottlenecks by market’s demands,” Hong said.
Technologies. “This has sparked optimistic reducing communication overhead while
growth opportunities in Malaysia as maintaining a high cost/performance ratio,” Mellanox’s commitment to Malaysia through
organisations embark on their journey
he said. its strategic investment roadmap is timely,
toward digital transformation, improving as the country’s investment in Big Data, da-
customer centricity and building elastic cloud Mellanox InfiniBand solutions are already tacentres and the cloud is impressive, said
infrastructure.” used by large High-Performance Computing Charlie Foo, vice president and general
(HPC) customers in Malaysia, he revealed. manager, Asia Pacific Japan, Mellanox.
Hong predicts a rise in the need to move HPC customers use supercomputers “With a year-on-year growth of over 20% in
growing amounts of data faster and to gain and parallel processing techniques to the last five years, the field of digital data
data insights in real time. Mellanox supplies solve complex computational problems management is maturing rapidly,” he said.
high-performance, end-to-end intercon- and perform research through computer
nect solutions for datacentre servers and modelling, simulation, and analysis. They Foo said Mellanox’s investment in Malaysia
storage systems. Its Open Ethernet switch span various industries including education, will complement the country’s advancing
family delivers high performance and port bioscience, governments, finance, media and digital economy by providing intelligent
density, with a complete chassis and fabric entertainment, oil and gas, pharmaceutics, 10, 25, 40, 50 and 100Gb/s interconnect
management solution, to let converged
and manufacturing. solutions.
Exabytes to fund ‘cockroach’ startups
T he Exabytes Group has launched its
Cockroach Startup Program to help
Over the years, Malaysia’s
ecosystem saw increasing numbers of
startup “With our initiative, aspiring startups can focus
on validating their venture while we work with
develop and grow a strong start-up entrepreneurs with innovative products, Chan them through mentorship and coaching in
community in Malaysia. said. However, many startup founders lack other areas or even bringing their ventures to
insight on how to go beyond their borders the global startup ecosystem,” he said.
“A cockroach startup is one which keeps and scale up to bring their products to the
struggling and moving forward in spite of global market. “We see a need to provide a The Cockroach Startup Program is designed
changing environments, market conditions platform to a
ccelerate local startups which to support pre-seed to seed high potential
and investment scenarios, just like a have a scalable business model but lack startups from all industry c
ategories via
cockroach,” said Chan Kee Siak, founder insight on using strategic technology to technology funding.
and executive director, Exabytes. achieve maximum success,” he explained.
The program is part of Exabytes’
commitment to nurture startups by providing
a sustainable platform for high potential
aspiring Malaysian startups, he said. Chan
noted that Malaysia is the third largest
market for startups, naming Grab, iflix and
HappyFresh as examples of Malaysian-
founded startups with great innovations
and technologies that have established
themselves in Southeast Asia.
“The Malaysian government is always
supportive of startups and tech innovation.
There is also a passionate group of startup
advocates comprising business owners or
successful entrepreneurs who are willing to
help other entrepreneurs through investment
funding, mentorship and access to global
networks,” he said. Exabytes founder and executive director, Chan Kee Siak (front, centre) with Cockroach Startup Program Team
APRIL 2017 | www.resellermalaysia.my Reseller Malaysia 9News
Silver Peak enhances EdgeConnect to Red Hat and IBM
support thin branch offices join forces for
S ilver Peak announced a series of new advancements to its Unity EdgeConnect easier hybrid cloud
SD-WAN solution. Enterprises can simplify and consolidate their branch office
infrastructure towards using software-as-a-service (SaaS) and trusted web-based
applications.
access
“With the latest software release, EdgeConnect becomes the industry’s first fully
integrated SD-WAN solution to combine high-performance SD-WAN, WAN
optimisation,
I BM has become a Red Hat certified
cloud service provider. Since its
general launch at the end of March, IBM
routing and a stateful firewall,” said Tricia Png, regional director, ASEAN, Silver Peak.
customers have the option to use the
“By 2020, more than 50% of WAN edge infrastructure refresh initiatives will be based on OpenStack platform, as well as Red Hat
SD-WAN instead of traditional routers,” she added. Ceph Storage on the IBM Cloud. Users
can access the benefits of the OpenStack
A new feature called First-packet iQ automatically identifies over 10,000 applications and platform while having the option to offload
300 million web domains based on the first packet received. With granular insight into workloads to the IBM Cloud.
HTTP/HTTPS traffic, First-packet iQ enables Internet breakout automation by steering
specific, trusted SaaS and web-based application traffic directly to the Internet while The new agreement will also see Red Hat
redirecting unknown or suspicious traffic to a regional hub or datacentre firewall for further Cloud Access make its way to the IBM
inspection. Cloud, scheduled for the end of 2Q2017.
This will allow customers to move unused
First-packet iQ technology assures accurate application identification while direct Internet Red Hat Enterprise Linux subscriptions
breakout automation can optimise workers productivity and business agility, said Silver from their own datacentres to virtualised
Peak. cloud environments found in IBM data-
centres. This enables businesses to scale
EdgeConnect has an integrated “stateful” firewall that supports foundational firewall and
globally.
security capabilities for branch office locations that do not host applications. This allows
outbound traffic to exit but ingress traffic is only allowed in response to user-initiated The new hybrid cloud infrastructure
sessions. For applications traffic directed to regional or corporate firewalls, EdgeConnect is designed to help enterprises run
supports seamless service chaining that includes Check Point Software, Palo Alto cloud applications more efficiently with
Networks, Fortinet and zScaler. OpenStack APIs. IBM is also offering a
pay-as-you-go service for customers who
EdgeConnect now supports industry- standard BGP routing protocols for seamless in-
want to use IBM infrastructure ad-hoc.
teroperability between SD-WAN and legacy WAN architectures. This facilitates full mesh
network configurations and simplifies the addition of local subnets to an SD-WAN. With the “Our collaboration with IBM is aimed at
integrated stateful firewall and routing interoperability, enterprises can integrate acquired helping enterprise customers to more
companies or consolidate branch offices. quickly and easily embrace hybrid cloud.
Now customers who don’t have in-house
“We are embarking on a long-overdue revolution of the legacy WAN. Enterprise network
expertise to manage an OpenStack
managers are reaching a boiling point over the rigidity, complexity, and e
scalating costs
infrastructure,
can more confidently
associated with router-centric architectures,” said Png.
consume OpenStack Platform and Ceph
Enterprises are increasingly seeking to simplify branch and WAN Edge infrastructure Storage on IBM Private Cloud,” said
with SD-WAN solutions that connect users directly from branch offices to cloud-hosted Radhesh Balakrishnan, general manager,
applications without sacrificing application performance, noted Png. “EdgeConnect enables OpenStack, Red Hat.
distributed enterprises to immediately or progressively transform their router-centric WAN
infrastructures to SD-WAN to keep pace with changing business requirements,” she said. The strategic collaboration
...preserve their existing
investments
“The strategic collaboration between
IBM and Red Hat is designed to enable
clients to more easily adopt open
source products and OpenStack cloud
software while preserving their existing
investments,” said Zane Adam, VP, IBM
Cloud.
IBM and Red Hat will jointly market
the new capabilities for private cloud
customers, which include disaster recovery
services, capacity expansion, and
Tricia Png, ASEAN regional director, Silver Peak consolidation of datacentres.
10 Reseller Malaysia www.resellermalaysia.my | APRIL 2017News
PayPal, Visa New Cisco Spark devices enhance
extend partnership conference features
to APAC C isco is introducing new innovations for Cisco Spark, including new video conferencing
solutions and advanced security options.
The new Cisco Spark Room Kit Series helps integrators extend intelligent meeting
experiences to small, medium and large conference rooms. The series comprises two
products – Cisco Spark Room Kit and Room Kit Plus – which can be attached to standard
HD screens to convert them into video collaboration systems.
The Room Kit is an all-in-one device with a
built-in camera, speakers and microphones.
It accommodates rooms of up to seven Cisco Spark is already
a powerful platform,
P ayPal and Visa are extending their
US partnership to Asia Pacific where
people. The 5K Ultra HD camera has
intelligent view capabilities such as
but we are constantly
they will collaborate to accelerate the automatic framing and speaker tracking.
innovating to add more
adoption of secure, reliable and Cisco Spark-enabled kits can also count
convenient digital and mobile payments in and track the number of people in the
advanced capabilities
markets throughout the region. With the conference room during and between calls.
partnership, customers can pay with their
Visa card at retailers that accept PayPal, The Room Kit Plus has a separate quad camera bar with four individual cameras to
and pay with PayPal at any outlet – accommodate larger and deeper rooms and up to 14 people.
including banking apps – that accepts
Both systems are fully cloud-managed and can be set up in minutes. They can connect
Visa.
natively to Cisco Spark and existing on-premises systems.
Both companies also agreed to
“Cisco Spark is already a powerful platform, but we are constantly innovating to add more
extend participation in the Visa Digital
advanced capabilities,” said Jens Meggers, senior vice president and general manager,
Enablement Program (VDEP), which gives
cloud collaboration technology group, Cisco.
Visa partners access to tokenisation
technology for payment on mobile phones The Cisco Spark Room Kit is available for US$3,990 plus $99 per month subscription. The
and connected devices. This will expand Room Kit Plus will be available in May for $7,990 plus $99 per month subscription. The
the use of PayPal to retailers that accept Companion Mode, which can be used to combine a Cisco Spark Board and Spark Room
Visa in physical locations. Kit for even larger rooms, will be available later this year, Cisco said in a statement.
Visa said it will also give the option for Cisco Spark is designed as an enterprise-grade platform with end-to-end encryption for
PayPal to leverage Visa Direct (Visa’s push data in transit, at rest, and in use. “We encrypt and decrypt all content using dynamic keys
payments solution). PayPal customers can from a Cisco Spark Key Management Server. This server creates, stores, authorises and
move funds to their Visa accounts in real gives access to the encryption keys that Cisco Spark applications use to encrypt and
time across multiple markets. decrypt content locally,” Cisco said.
“This is a strong signal that our decision
For customers who require additional information protection options and controls, such
to partner with Visa in 2016 was the
as those in regulated industries, Cisco will introduce the option in early-June for them to
right thing to do for PayPal, Visa and our
own and manage their encryption keys by installing Cisco Spark Key Management Server
millions of merchants and consumers in
on-premises. Customers who manage their own keys will get Spark’s full functionality,
this region,” said Dr Rohan Mahadevan,
including searching encrypted data.
senior vice president for PayPal Asia
Pacific. “We look forward to partnering Cisco Spark spaces will have a persistent SIP URI, which lets any join a Cisco Spark
with Visa to offer more choices and better meeting even if they are using competing video conferencing endpoints. “We also
experiences together online, in-app and extended this capability to Cisco Spark Hybrid Media Services,” Cisco said.
in-store within Asia Pacific.”
Customers can transition to or try Cisco Spark meetings with virtually no risk, it added.
“Visa and PayPal are aligning our They can retain all their existing investment in infrastructure, endpoints, and conferencing
businesses to bring the best in class
solutions. No additional licensing is required for Cisco Spark Hybrid Media Service. The
payment services to the entire ecosys- capability is included with M3/C3 Cisco Spark meeting and WebEx licenses.
tem,” said Chris Clark, group execu-
tive, Asia Pacific, Visa. “From emerging Cisco also added customer care capabilities to Cisco Spark. Help desks and small teams
markets where we will give customers can provide customer care to both external and internal customers using web chat and
greater access to electronic payments call back. Cisco Spark care includes a customer care user workspace and integrated
to driving more seamless ways to pay in reporting with customer feedback. It is available as an optional licence on the Cisco
developed markets, Visa and PayPal will Spark c ollaboration platform with integrated administration and enterprise-class security.
deliver new commerce experiences across Available in April, Cisco Spark care is priced at $17 per named user per month, with an
the region.” annual subscription.
APRIL 2017 | www.resellermalaysia.my Reseller Malaysia 11News
Beware fake mods for Minecraft on Intel sets sights
Google Play, warns ESET on AI with new
R esearchers at security company ESET have discovered 87 malicious apps on Google business group
Play disguised as mods for Minecraft. So far, up to 990,000 users have installed
these fake mods, which pester Android gamers with aggressive ads and scam activity.
I ntel is realigning itself for artificial
i
ntelligence by forming a single
ESET researchers divided malicious activity related to Minecraft fake mods into two cross-organisation group called the
main categories: ad-displaying downloaders and fake apps that redirect users to scam Artificial Intelligence Products Group
websites. (AIPG), headed by vice president and
general manager Naveen Rao.
ESET reported 14 ad-displaying downloaders, detected by ESET as Android/
TrojanDownloader.Agent.JL found on Google Play with up to 80,000 installs. Due to their “Our strategy is to make Intel the driving
aggressive ads, these fake apps commonly received poor reviews. force of the data revolution across every
industry,” said Rao in a company blog.
For Android/FakeApp.FG which redirects to scam websites, ESET found 73 instances “As a data company, it is imperative that
with up to 910,000 installs. Once launched, they display a screen with a download button. we deliver solutions that create, use and
Clicking on the button redirects users to a website opened in a browser and displays all analyse the massive amounts of data that
kinds of obtrusive content, ESET reported. are generated each and every minute.
That is why AI is so important to Intel.
“To prevent getting tricked by fake apps and malware, always opt for official app
markets,” said Lukas Stefanko, malware researcher, ESET. “Be extra cautious when “This organisation is about aligning our
downloading third-party apps offering additional functions to existing applications. focus. The new organisation will align
resources from across the company to
“It also helps to check the popularity of the app by numbers of installs, ratings and most
include engineering, labs, software and
importantly, the review content – low ratings and angry reviews should be a good enough
more as we build on our current leading
indicator of their untrustworthiness.”
AI portfolio: the Intel Nervana platform,” he
explained.
The full analysis of fake mods for Minecraft on Google Play can be found at
WeLiveSecurity.com. Intel will also create an applied AI
research lab dedicated to exploring novel
architectural and algorithmic approaches
for future generations of AI. It will include
Hasta la Windows Vista, baby! products from the datacentre to edge
devices and from training to inference,
all to enable Intel and its customers to
M launched.
icrosoft has officially ended its support for Windows Vista, 10 years after it was first
As of 11 April 2017, Microsoft has ceased issuing security updates or
innovate faster. “This will be the home for
AI innovation at Intel.”
offering support options.
Rao was CEO of Nervana which Intel
Computers running Vista will still work but may become more vulnerable to security risks
acquired in August last year. “After
and viruses. Support has also ended for Internet Explorer 9, which exposes users to
six months here, I see how the world
additional online threats. Microsoft also warned that newer hardware and software may
can change when a company like Intel
not work with Vista.
focuses on an effort. I believe this new
“Microsoft has provided support for Windows Vista for the past 10 years but the time organisation will have a huge impact, not
has come for us, along with our hardware and software partners, to invest our resources only for Intel but on the entire evolving AI
towards more recent technologies so that we can continue to deliver great new space,” he said.
experiences,” Microsoft said in a statement.
Intel launched the Nervana p latform
The software giant suggested that users should upgrade to Windows 10 but warned that in November 2016 which offered
very few older computers can run Windows 10. “If your current PC cannot run Windows 10, comprehensive “deep learning”
solutions.
it might be time to consider shopping for a new one,” it said. “They’re more powerful, light- It also released a product roadmap which
weight, and stylish than ever before – and with an average price that’s considerably less included the Lake Crest, a CPU architecture
expensive than the average PC was 10 years ago.” optimised for deep neural networks. Lake
Crest will operate as a Xeon coprocessor
Another alternative is to install Windows 7 which is still supported until 14 January 2020. to handle AI workloads. It is expected to be
Windows 7 is still the most popular version with 48.41% market share, according to available to “key customers” later this year.
netmarketshare.com, followed by Windows 10 with 25.19%.
Intel is working on Knights Crest, which will
Windows Vista will not be sorely missed as only 0.78% of computers run it, while its blend its Xeon processors with Nervana’s
predecessor Windows XP still commands an 8.45% following despite support having ended technology, to handle neural networks and
on 8 April 2014. support a “high-bandwidth interconnect.”
12 Reseller Malaysia www.resellermalaysia.my | APRIL 2017News
Microsoft to acquire Deis
M by
icrosoft is boosting its Azure services
purchasing Deis which develops
urrency in the cloud. “At Microsoft, we’ve
c
seen explosive growth in both interest and
technology experience. Members of the
Deis team are strong supporters of the
tools for building applications using deployment of containerised workloads on
open source community, developing tools,
container orchestration technology. Azure and we are committed to ensuring contributing code, and organising d
eveloper
Azure is the best place to run them,” he meetups. We expect Deis’ technology to
Containers have been at the forefront of explained. make it easier for customers to work with
cloud transformation in recent years, wrote our existing container portfolio including
Scott Guthrie, executive vice president, Deis has been at the centre of container Linux and Windows Server Containers,
cloud and enterprise group, Microsoft, in a transformation, Guthrie said, giving devel- Hyper-V Containers, and Azure Container
blog post. opers the means to vastly improve applica- Service, no matter what tools they use,” he
tion agility, efficiency, and reliability through said.
Container technologies let organisations its Kubernetes container management
more easily build, deploy and move technologies. Gabe Monroy, chief technology officer, Deis,
applications to and from the cloud. With
said the company is impressed with the
this increased agility and portability, “In addition to their container expertise, the breadth, depth and reach of Microsoft to
containers help make applications the new
Deis team brings a depth of open source help define, shape and build new cloud-na-
tive applications. “We look forward to making
Azure the best place to run containerised
workloads.
“Over the years, we worked hard to be open,
reliable, and dependable open source main-
tainers. From our new home at Microsoft,
you should expect nothing less,” he said in
a blog. “We will continue our contributions
to Workflow, Helm, and Steward and look
forward to maintaining our deep engagement
with the Kubernetes community. The future
of open source infrastructure at Microsoft is
very bright.”
Extreme Networks to buy Brocade’s Datacentre Networking
business
E xtreme Networks, Inc. is acquiring
Brocade Communications Systems’
“The addition of Brocade’s datacentre net-
working business significantly strengthens
“This acquisition is important as it expands
our commercial relationship with Broadcom,”
datacentre switching, routing, and analytics
our position in the expanding high-end said Meyercord. “We already have our 200
business from Broadcom Ltd for US$55m in datacentre market and reinforces our
Series switches leveraging Broadcom’s
cash, comprising $35m at closing and $20m strategy of d
elivering software-driven net- Fastpath operating system software. This
in deferred payments, as well as additional working solutions for enterprise customers,” transaction will only broaden our strategic
potential performance-based payments over said Ed Meyercord, president and CEO, partnership.
a five-year term. Extreme Networks.
“Given the strong profitability of Brocade’s
Extreme expects the acquisition to be datacentre business, this transaction will
accretive to cash flow and earnings for accelerate Extreme’s objective to achieve
FY2018 and to generate over $230m in gross margins in excess of 60%,” he added.
annualised revenue.
Extreme has been on an acquisition
Broadcom is in the process of closing its drive in the last six months to expand its
acquisition of Brocade and indicated its p ortfolio of datacentre, core, campus and
intention to sell off the latter’s IP networking edge n etworking solutions. In October
business. In February, it agree d to sell 2016, it completed its acquisition of
Brocade’s Ruckus Wireless and ICX Switch Zebra Technology Corp. Earlier in March, it
business to ARRIS International. Both the a nnounced an agreement with Avaya Inc.
ARRIS and Extreme deals are expected to be the stalking horse bidder to acquire
to close after the Brocade acquisition is its networking business in an auction
completed. Ed Meyercord, president and CEO of Extreme Networks process.
APRIL 2017 | www.resellermalaysia.my Reseller Malaysia 13Feature
Clockwise from top left: Amy Hirst, director, Power, z Systems and Storage WW Technical Training, IBM Corporation; Timothy Johnson, senior vice president, marketing, products
and partnerships, INTI International University & Colleges; Gopi Ganesalingam, vice president, enterprise development, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation; Simon Si, regional
Reseller Malaysia
14 communications head, JobStreet. Middle: Timothy Bulow, CEO, INTI International University & Colleges www.resellermalaysia.my | APRIL 2017Feature
Skilled IT workers still in
high demand
Malaysia faces record unemployment among graduates, and yet has a
severe shortage of skilled IT workers. What causes the disparity? What
is one local university doing right that almost all its students are hired
within six months of graduating?
By Stephen Chin
I n Bank Negara’s 2016 annual report,
unemployment among youths in 2015
communications, JobStreet. “54% of our
clients said they will only hire to replace
ncourages analytical thinking. We have to
e
start children from young.”
was estimated at 10.7%, more than three while 18% will expand their hiring, compared
times the national unemployment rate of to 50% last year,” he said. Gopi noted that a lot of IT graduates could
3.1%. Among the youths, graduates be unemployed today because “I think it is
represented 15.3%. This observation seems not just a matter of technical knowledge.
contrary to the conventional wisdom that Demand for talent is strong When an employer is hiring, they are not just
higher education will bring increasing returns, looking for IT but also the soft skills. It is
Demand for IT talent remains strong but the
the central bank said. critical: they need to articulate, talk, think
talent pool is small, Si said. “For high-end
out of the box and ‘connect the dots’ really
sales and marketing jobs and e ngineering,
Bank Negara said the shortage of high- quickly,” he said.
there are about 200 a pplications for every
skilled jobs could be due to a
moderating
vacancy: for IT, there are only 120,” he JobStreet’s Si added, “Getting a job is not
economy and cautious market sentiment
noted. about how good you are at work, but how
causing local businesses to limit their
investments. good you are in that 40-minute interview.
“There is a demand and it is reflected in the
Applicants need to learn how to articulate
higher salaries that IT graduates command
Ironically, most businesses cited a shortage and differentiate themselves.”
compared to other specialisations, but
of high-skilled employees as a key reason
the supply is scarce. That is just for ‘pure-
for not creating new jobs, said Timothy Si believes the shortage of IT professionals
play’ IT. Today, IT knowledge is also a
Bulow, CEO, INTI International University & could be attributed to preferences of
requirement in every industry and almost
Colleges. Both employers and g raduate job- parents who preferred their children
every functional role,” he observed.
seekers must urgently recognise a changing to choose traditional careers such as
job landscape and adapt to it. Malaysia Digital Economy Corp (MDEC) said accounting, engineering, medicine and law.
Malaysia needs more Big Data and Analytics
He also noted employers and graduates
The education system may also be at fault.
(BDA) professionals to maintain a global
have different expectations on skill “Students are streamed into science and art.
competitive edge. It set a goal to raise
requirements. A survey commissioned by
IT is taught in the science stream, and the
2,000 data scientists and 16,000 data pro-
INTI last year found that 30% of employers talent pool is deprived of people in the arts
fessionals by 2020. Presently, there are only
ranked digital literacy or computational streams who may be interested in IT,” said Si.
300 data scientists in the country.
thinking as the most vital skill needed to
excel at a job, possibly in recognition of the “MDEC has the mandate to develop the
emerging digital economy. digital economy but there are many moving
Evolving jobs
parts involved,” said Gopi Ganesalingam, With technology changing rapidly, jobs are
However, only 4% of graduates considered vice president, enterprise development, also evolving. “Five years ago, the term
this as important. Instead, most of them MDEC. “The good news is, it has started. ‘data scientist’ did not even exist and now it
(29.5%) regarded communication skills as Talent plays a most crucial role in the digital is the hottest thing,” said Timothy Johnson,
the most important differentiator. Although economy. senior vice president, marketing, products
this is important, employers expect this to and partnerships, INTI.
be a given. “We started the ball rolling by introducing
computer science in schools starting from “Did people study or train to be data
The unemployment situation is expected to Standard One, Form One, and Form Three scientists? No. They evolved into the
remain soft, said Simon Si, head ofregional this year,” he said. “Computer science role. They had the right skill sets, were
APRIL 2017 | www.resellermalaysia.my Reseller Malaysia 15You can also read
