It’s double-digits all the way: HDS on its outlook

• ‘We believe that we are eating into our competitors’ market share’
• Talent acquisition and retention will be top-of-mind for the C-suite

DESPITE the impending economic slowdown faced by the Asean region, Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) believes it can still attain double digit-growth in its fiscal fourth quarter ending March 2016, according to its Malaysian country head.

HDS Malaysia managing director Wee Kai Teck (pic) declared that the Japanese storage and software systems player is also expecting to continue this double-digit growth throughout 2016.
 
“Malaysia is doing fantastically,” Wee told a media briefing in Kuala Lumpur last week.
 
“Looking at our deals in the pipeline, I’m confident we can attain our targets in closing our year. We also believe we can keep our double-digit momentum throughout 2016,” he said, declining however to give specific figures.
 
Asked why HDS is so confident given that many countries in the region are facing an economic downturn, Wee acknowledged that while this is generally true, he argued that HDS continues to offer value to its customers – a factor he claimed is helping it win deals at the expense of its competitors.
 
“The economy may not be that good and in Malaysia, the public sector (government) space is not fantastic, as cost remains an issue,” he said.
 
“Today, the Government isn’t calling for any tenders. This is unlike three years ago, when the government sector was not that bad. There were a lot of projects, and we won quite a few then.
 
“But about 18 months ago, we undertook a transformation and began moving away from our traditional stronghold of government, government-linked companies and telcos verticals, and diversified into the financial services, oil and gas, and healthcare sectors to compensate for the downturn,” he added.
 
Wee was referring to HDS’ diversification strategy undertaken three years ago when he was first appointed to his current position.

He also said that together with its alliance partners – SAP SE, Microsoft Corp and VMware Inc – HDS has managed to strike deals using its technology such as its Unified Compute Platform and Content Platform.
 
“We are also working with others to build hybrid cloud platforms for customers wanting to move to the cloud,” he said.
 
“With all these efforts in place, we believe that we are eating into our competitors’ market share,” he added.
 
Asia predictions
 
At the briefing, Wee also presented HDS’ business and technology predictions for Asia Pacific for 2016, penned by HDS Asia Pacific chief technology officer Adrian De Luca (pic).
 
Looking at the major technology shifts expected this year, Wee argued that many of De Luca’s observations are expected to apply to Malaysia too, given that a lot of the trends are global.
 
Of particular importance is the fifth trend predicted by De Luca, that several factors will impact the technology employment market in 2016 and will force many organisations to look at how they fill the talent deficit in order to continue to innovate and remain competitive.
 
“Addressing the IT skills shortage will not just be about pumping out more IT graduates with in-demand skills such as data science,” De Luca had said.
 
“Appealing to the interests of the best young talent while investing in increasing the productivity of existing employees will be critical to bridging the gap in the long run.”
 
Wee said this trend will impact Malaysia in the long run and that C-level executives must take note or risk being at a disadvantage a few years down the road.
 
“With many projects involving cloud, big data, and mobility, and focused projects such as smart cities, talent will become a big issue that must be addressed,” he added.
 
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