The Malaysian Minister of Communications and Multimedia Tan Sri Annuar Musa has announced in October 2021 that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) would implement new licensing requirements on the provision of cloud services in the country. Its major objective is to allow MCMC to ensure that cloud service providers maintain a high level of data security while also providing legal protection to Malaysian consumers and public agencies.

Additionally, the proposed requirements align with one of the initiatives set out in the National Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL) which ​​focuses on a ‘cloud first’ strategy at both the federal and state levels to help facilitate the adoption of cloud technologies. Earlier last year, SAP Malaysia MD Hong expressed support for the MyDIGITAL program and dubbed it as a major “breakthrough yet realistic” digital vision to transform the Southeast Asian nation towards a technologically-advanced economy.

Furthermore, Hong’s stance is that cloud computing serves as the “great enabler” for the transformation needed in the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) as it lays the groundwork for the most advanced technologies — including the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) — to enable business innovation. At the Intelligent Cloud Forum held by TM ONE in Q4 2021, he maintained that the cloud is used by critical cyber-physical systems and that it drives Industry 4.0 technologies.

“All enterprises – even and especially SMEs – can be part of IR4.0 to survive and thrive in this new revolution,” Hong said during the event.

Leveraging the Partner Ecosystem to Advance the SAP for Cloud Strategy

To further reinforce the SAP for cloud strategy, SAP Malaysia leverages the partner ecosystem to help facilitate the development of cloud offerings, accelerators, industry information, and integration services. In August last year, the company forged a strategic partnership with TM ONE to assist local businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in accelerating digital transformation and enhancing their operational efficiencies through digital solutions.

As part of the alliance, TM ONE was named as the first local hyperscaler to become an SAP Partner Managed Cloud (SAP PMC) provider for SAP Business Suite solutions in Malaysia. In addition, TM ONE offers its corporate customers a comprehensive subscription-based model of SAP Business One hosted on TM ONE’s Alpha Edge (a Edge), integrated with managed services.

The tech companies’ collaboration is aimed at making it easier for businesses to move their enterprise systems to the cloud with security and transparency. Sharing more about the partnership, Hong stated:

“Together, SAP and TM ONE are making available to local companies the largest sovereign cloud to empower SAP Business One solutions targeted at SME and medium-sized enterprises.”

Moreover, Hong also represented SAP Malaysia at the Huawei Cloud Summit 2021 in December. He took part in a discussion titled “Charting the Right Path and Building a Resilient Ship to Set Sail on the Open Seas of Digital Transformation”. Hong believes that companies must transform holistically, encompassing their culture, processes, and technology, in order to achieve true business transformation.

“Cloud computing gives businesses the means to innovate and stay ahead of the competition. Some of the world’s best solutions are, of course, from SAP,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post.

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