MDeC’s cloud acceleration for SMEs, ISVs

• Many organizations cite the cloud as priority this year
• MDeC moves to accelerate adoption amongst ISVs, SMEs

GETTING small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to adopt technology has always been seen as one of the greatest challenges facing vendors.
 
Vendors want to tap into a large greenfield area. The motive is pure profit, and they are undeterred by years of frustratingly slow progress.
 
Governments too are eager to see SMEs adopt technology in the hope they will become more competitive and grow to become tomorrow's multinationals. As a result, there have been many grand efforts by governments around the world to help their SMEs take a strategic view of technology.
 
Malaysia is one nation that has shown very strong commitment to helping its SMEs become more competitive via the adoption of technology.
 
A Frost & Sullivan report on the  State of Cloud Computing in Malaysia 2011  had 34% of organizations in Malaysia saying that cloud computing would be their No 1 priority in the current fiscal year.
 
Bolstered by this finding, Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) launched the MSC Malaysia Cloud Computing Enablement Initiative in October 2011, aimed at accelerating the adoption of cloud computing by not only Malaysian SMEs but also Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) with MSC Malaysia status.
 
According to Dinesh Nair, Director of the Infotech Industry Cluster at MDeC, the dual target is to first help these MSC Malaysia ISVs cloud-enable their software and hardware solutions, with the aim of allowing them to become more flexible in how they can monetize their services and solutions.
 
This new flexibility is then expected to help the ISVs in turn offer their services to Malaysian SMEs in a more cost-compelling delivery method.
 
But MDeC is not just relying on the “cloudification” of its ISVs to help them crack the SME market. It has also, via its Cloud Computing Enablement Initiative, offered SMEs a very compelling reason to adopt cloud-based solutions.
 
Malaysian owned SMEs will enjoy free usage of technology and services for a period of six months or up to RM1,500 per company, whichever comes first.
 
The incentive is only applicable if the SMEs adopt cloud solutions from one of the ISVs which have gone through MDeC's cloud programme.
 
Aside from getting MSC Malaysia companies to port their technology over to a cloud platform, the second objective is to support them in getting customers on the cloud and learning about what it takes to deliver services on the cloud, said Dinesh.
 
“To this end, each company gets up to RM30,000 in hosting services and marketing support via the three cloud infrastructure providers we have partnered with -- Maxis, Jaring and Microsoft,” he added.
 
MDeC is targeting 60 ISVs and 1,500 SMEs for the programme by the end of this year.
 
The programme is already benefiting two of the early ISVs that have ported their software and solutions to the cloud.
 
Mohandeep Singh, CEO of Soft Solvers Technologies Malaysia Sdn Bhd which offers CRM solutions, said that he has signed up 300% more SMEs customers since the programme began last October.
 
The association with top players like Maxis and Jaring has made a difference with SME customers, he added.
 
“They don't see me as an unknown company anymore but as a partner with MDeC, Jaring and Maxis,” he said. “It has made a huge difference.”
 
Yip Hon Choong, Managing Director of Penang-based Mywave Sdn Bhd which focuses on HR and payroll solutions, said his company has enjoyed a six-fold jump in customers since the programme began.
 
The association with bigger players has also seen Mywave landing multinationals as customers, and Yip wants to gone one step further and target the Australian market too.
 
The first step was receiving the ISO/IEC15408 international certification on cyber security from Australian-based consultant.
 
“We now plan to target the Australian market with our cloud services. At the same time, this will help Jaring expand its cloud globally too,” said Yip, adding that Mywave had received support from MDeC in its bid to get the security certification.