Malaysian company MyBiz breaks into Gartner’s Magic Quadrant

By Renuka Sena November 13, 2013

Malaysian company had the audacity to go up against global powerhouses such as Oracle and SAP
Recognised in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant and also described as a ‘Cool Vendor’ by the analyst firm

Malaysian company MyBiz breaks into Gartner’s Magic Quadrant

OF late, we’ve been hearing more about locally-developed software slowly being ‘accepted’ by large enterprises; as well as entrepreneurs who have secured contracts with GLCs (government-linked companies) and the like.

There is one local entrepreneur who has not only successfully penetrated this fortress, but had to compete against global powerhouses such as SAP and Oracle. Despite the perceived odds stacked against his company, it has successfully won tenders from a multitude of large corporations in the enterprise software space.

MyBiz Solutions has not only done that, but has managed to get a bit of ‘Magic’ into its arsenal – or to be more precise, Gartner’s Magic Quadrant.

To explain ‘Magic Quadrant,’ here’s an excerpt from CIO.com that appeared in January 2013:

IT organisations commonly rely on technology analyst firms to help them comprehend the overall outline of a technology sector. Once they have a grasp on a new sector, they once again turn to the firms to help them evaluate the vendors in the sector.

Here's where the power of the Magic Quadrant (MQ) comes to the fore. IT organisations use the MQ as a filtering mechanism; by definition, inclusion in the MQ bestows an imprimatur of technology leadership.

Moreover, occupying a place in the MQ virtually assures a vendor of being placed on an IT organisation's evaluation shortlist and getting a serious look. This is incredibly valuable, as most vendors know how challenging it can be to gain a fair evaluation.

After more than a decade serving large Malaysian corporates, MyBiz is finally receiving the accolades it deserves. It was evaluated and included in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for 2013.

According to a report published by Gartner in July 2013, “This is the first time any Asian vendor appears in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Strategic Sourcing Application Suites.”

Facing the challenge

MyBiz offers comprehensive Internet-based solutions such as e-procurement, spend analysis, e-tendering and e-bidding.

Its initial foray into the market over a decade ago was tough going, as customers were sceptical – especially since it was an unknown Malaysian company competing in the same space as those global giants such as SAP and Oracle.

Worse still, its solution sits on top of SAP, and therefore a customer would have to first buy SAP or something similar, and only then consider MyBiz’s application suites to fulfill a specific functional need.

In order to be taken seriously and be in the same league as SAP and Oracle, MyBiz chief executive officer and cofounder Cheong explains “I had to prove that what we had worked, not only in one industry but across multiple industries.”

So MyBiz targeted six industries and aspired to win projects from the top three players in each of these.

“Petronas was one of the first we won for the oil and gas industry. We then secured UEM for construction, Maybank for banking, Axiata for telecommunications, Sime Darby for plantation and IHH Holdings for healthcare.

“We secured many other clients in each of these industries, but essentially these were the top three of each industry, and we won the tenders outright and beat out the global brands,” claims Cheong.

Fuelled by its local success and feeling confident, the company embarked on its journey to penetrate the regional market. Unfortunately, according to Cheong, this was a huge disaster as it was unprepared for the response it received.

“Our solution was used by large organisations which are formidable players in their own right. Maybank is the world’s 13th strongest bank according to Bloomberg. Petronas is the 12th most profitable company in the world. IHH Healthcare is the second largest healthcare service provider in the world and Sime Darby is the world’s largest listed plantation company.

“Yet when we went outside Malaysian shores, we discovered all of that carried very little weight. The crux of the matter was that we were a Malaysian company and out there, we had to compete all over again to prove that we were better than SAP and Oracle,” Cheong says exasperatedly.