Center for Business: Cloud computing taking Malaysian HR market by storm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Center for Business: Cloud computing taking Malaysian HR market by storm
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2011 a vibrant year for SaaS providers; more Malaysian companies now relying on cloud computing to derive HR efficiencies and drive competitiveness
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SINGAPORE (7 March 2011) – Malaysia’s Human Resource community searches for the next-generation technology and 2011 is a vibrant year for SaaS providers. According to an online technology monitor, about 40 per cent of HR executives plan to implement SaaS this year and 32 per cent anticipate that SaaS would simplify software management, whereas 40 per cent agree that SaaS provides costs savings – thus accelerating market demand by five times to reach US$ 15 billion. The HR Talk Show organised by the Center for Business Strategy and Tactics on 25 May 2011 at the Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia lifts the cloud so the HR community finds out more about this growing trend.

SaaS providers seem to be feasting on this uptrend from SMBs, because of its relatively low cost. However management costs that possibly run up to ten times the license fee and additional hardware costs that further reduce the ROI on technology threaten this buoyant uptake of HR solutions.

It goes without saying that companies only pay for what they use on SaaS – which stands for “Software-as-a-Service” – allowing business to avoid hefty server and staff maintenance fees. Upgrades are actually free and automatic and hence provide enhanced value, which helps explain why industry consolidation, continuous innovation, and SaaS together are continuing to change the market for core HR and talent systems. Because cloud computing is cost-effective and enables companies to achieve ROI-focused objectives, it is moving the market for HR technology solutions.

IBM and its 400,000 employees and many divisions used to “disparately build systems over and over and over again” that took an average of 26 weeks to deploy, said Christopher Dzieken, IBM Cloud Portfolio Executive, as he makes the case for cloud computing. With the cloud, that 26-week wait has been reduced to just two weeks or even a mere several hours. Dzieken maintains, cloud computing dramatically reduces new system deployment times. It was a case of “time to value”, said Dzieken.

Cloud computing refers to ‘floating’ web-based tools and applications that are not anchored by a local server installation and provide access to information anytime, anywhere. Encompassing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), cloud computing requires no large, upfront investments in hardware/software.

“The volatility on the markets means data fluctuates wildly and you have to ready for the spikes” said analyst Kevin McPartland. “You can’t have six days a year where you back out of the market while your computers catch up.” Large companies, to a lesser extent, adopt these cost-effective alternatives to ERP software systems to better facilitate communication amongst its deskless employees.

Accordingly Malaysian conglomerates are similarly cautious to ride the cloud, though the interest is there. In our most recent interviews, many of the largest companies like Sime Darby, put off by bottlenecks in integrating data and workflows between old and new systems and a higher cost of initial implementation, still rely on a hybrid combination of SAP solutions and add-on HR applications like TTMS.

To conquer the next frontier, purveyors of cloud computing will have to start with their clients’ core employee system of record and implement a next-generation, highly flexible underlying platform, from which a client business can deploy many interesting and integrated talent management applications to suit their needs.

Technology providers need to do more to obtain greater buy-in from such sales and management teams whether in terms of security, stability or customisation of its web-based services including end-to-end solutions since most technology purchases are subject to company budgets and senior management approval.

Alongside this trend, businesses on the whole are nonetheless quickly discovering online marketing and social media (i.e. Facebook, Twitter etc.) as a tool of engagement with their employees and their customers for increased sales. Coca Cola Enterprises, for instance, revealed a study, using intranet and online collaborative technologies to help reach up to 42,000 deskless employees working in the field or sales and distribution, enabling them to stay connected with one another.

Nowadays, social media can even be drawn upon for recruitment as companies tweet and broadcast their human resource needs. The wave that is cloud computing is fast sweeping across the Malaysian HR market. PEMANDU (a unit under the Prime Minister’s Department), for example, uses Facebook to attract candidates for their internship programmes. Internationally, consultant giant Ernst & Young has also created a Facebook community, showcasing the company with flashy videos and a Q&A section. More than 60,489 people are now part of this group.

It is only a matter of time when the next generation of flexible, streamlined, cloud-powered platforms take the market by rolling out unsurpassed efficiencies for HR departments across Malaysia and other fast-growing Asian economies. To reap the full benefits of these new HR technologies, one must analyse and ask fundamental, barebones questions, such as:
• What are the real costs of implementation and how long to go “live”?
• Which solution providers would best fit my organisation and its needs?
• How do I enjoy or exceed the levels of success that other companies possess?

Lift the cloud and find out more at the HR Talk Show 2011, happening on 25 May 2011 at the Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur.

The HR Talk Show series is a high-impact interactive platform that bridges the gap between the government and business initiatives to drive best practices and actionable insights into talent, technology and strategy. In a unique talk show format, Anne Edwards of Bernama TV will facilitate thought-provoking questions to most admired companies to ensure that you:
• Drive improved talent productivity and leadership succession
• Cast off accident-prone legacy strategies for talent management
• Secure a methodology to evaluate and implement HR technology and services
• Resume your role with a greater clarity of thought and vision

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If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with the speakers at the HR Talk Show,
please call Eunice Wee at (+65) 6844 2080 or email Eunice at hrtalkshow@arcmediaglobal.com

Keywords: SaaS, cloud computing, HR technology, collaboration, social media, recruitment, employee engagement, customer engagement, increased sales, improve efficiency, productivity, Malaysia, PEMANDU, TTMS, SAP, Dell, IBM, Sime Darby, end-to-end solutions, innovation, technology implementation

The Center for Business Strategy and Tactics (Center for Business) is an industry research centre (IRC) that works to bring top executives together in communities of learning and practice to act as a catalyst for generating high-value energy business insight and channel top expertise to where the world needs it most. Center for Business meetings are powered by Arc Media Global, a B2B/G2B integrated international marketing specialist headquartered in Singapore.

Contact: Eunice Wee
Arc Media Global
(+65) 6844 2080
hrtalkshow@arcmediaglobal.com
www.arcmediaglobal.com/hrtalkshow

PO Box 176 Robinson Road Singapore 900326

This release was published on openPR.