For IT News Week 5 Mar 2016.

For this week / last week, here are / were the biggest news.

• PR - Apr 13, 2016 - Cloudera leads industry collaboration to groom more data professionals in Malaysia
• PR - Apr 13, 2016 - ECS takes the skies with DJI drones and cameras
• PR - Apr 13, 2016 - LSE announces a number of new product updates for multi-factor authentication
• PR - Apr 12, 2016 - Singapore Airlines to adopt next generation Amadeus Revenue Management technology
• PR - Apr 8, 2016 - Journey to a Modern Data Culture with Microsoft’s SQL Server 2016
• PR - Apr 8, 2016 - SAS Malaysia’s New Software Revenue Grew 32 Percent in 2015, Named Best Place to Work for Third Consecutive Year
• PR - Apr 8, 2016 - Kaspersky Lab Released New Version of Kaspersky Security for Windows Server with Protection against Cryptomalware
• PR - Apr 6, 2016 - Tata Comm: Air France-KLM invests in a next-generation network
• Juniper Research - Apr 6, 2016 - Uber, Lyft & Other Ride Sharing Services to See Revenues Double by 2020, Reaching $6.5 Billion
• PR - Apr 4, 2016 - UOB Malaysia sees a growing number of its regional corporate clients expanding into Southeast Asia through Penang

PR - Apr 13, 2016 - Cloudera leads industry collaboration to groom more data professionals in Malaysia

Cloudera, the global provider of the fastest, easiest, and most secure data management and analytics platform built on Apache Hadoop and the latest open source technologies, today announced the BASE (Big Analytics Skills Enablement) initiative – an industry-led ecosystem that is designed to groom a future workforce of data professionals.

Designed to strategically fill the skilled data professionals gap that the industry is currently facing, BASE pulls industry players and academic institutions together to equip more people with necessary skills in the areas of big data and analytics. The initiative also encompasses elements whereby trained data professionals will be matched to opportunities across sectors where their skills are required.


The BASE Initiative is also complementary to the Cloudera Academic Partnership (CAP) program, where the company partners with accredited, non-profit institutions around the world to help develop the next generation of data professionals.

Check out the BASE infographic.

PR - Apr 13, 2016 - ECS takes the skies with DJI drones and cameras

ECS ICT Berhad has been appointed as the first ICT distributor to bring DJI’s best in class aerial drones and cameras to the Malaysian market. ECS’ wholly-owned subsidiary ECS Astar Sdn Bhd has distributed its DJI’s Phantom 4 drone across 30 touch points across Malaysia.

DJI is the world leader in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology and accounts for 70% market share globally, according to a report published by Oppenheimer in February 2016. More recently, DJI launched the Phantom 4, the smartest consumer drone to date with first-in-market intelligent flight features such as Obstacle Avoidance, ActiveTrack and TapFly.

(L to R) : Kevin On (Associate Director of Communication, DJI), Foo Sen Chin (Executive Chairman of ECS ICT Berhad), Soong Jan Hsung (CEO of ECS ICT Berhad)

ECS’ Chief Executive Officer Soong Jan Hsung said that the target market for these drones expand beyond the general consumers and create new opportunities for businesses in construction, property development, surveying and mapping, agriculture, security and cinematography industries, amongst others. Meanwhile, the Osmo will spark creative possibilities for videographers, journalists, sports enthusiasts and anyone who aspires to become a content creator.

PR - Apr 13, 2016 - LSE announces a number of new product updates for multi-factor authentication

Germany-based LSE Leading Security Experts GmbH, a holding of MAX21 Management und Beteiligungen AG, will expand its family of adaptive multi-factor authentication products during the second quarter of 2016. Among other updates, an offline authentication facility will be gradually integrated into the product suite. Unlike conventional OTP tokens, this new approach enables strong authentication even without a direct connection to the LSE LinOTP server.

LSE LinOTP Offline Authentication:

This cross-product feature will allow companies to provide mobile workers with a secure form of offline authentication. This is particularly relevant for employees who travel a lot, or who work abroad without a direct connection to the company’s network and thus the backend OTP server.

PR - Apr 12, 2016 - Singapore Airlines to adopt next generation Amadeus Revenue Management technology

Amadeus announces a deepening of its partnership with Singapore Airlines, with the airline signing up for the full suite of Amadeus Revenue Management solutions. This will provide the airline with the necessary platform to future-proof its revenue management capabilities, allowing the carrier to react more nimbly in the face of a rapidly evolving landscape.

With this agreement, Singapore Airlines will adopt Amadeus Altéa Network Revenue Management, a next generation O&D based Revenue Management system designed with the future in mind, fully integrated with new merchandising practices such as dynamic pricing, fare families and ancillary sales. Drawing on data from multiple sources, it will provide faster, more accurate and intelligent recommendations on the best price and packaging of airline offers.

PR - Apr 8, 2016 - Journey to a Modern Data Culture with Microsoft’s SQL Server 2016

Malaysia and the data industry is in the midst of a revolution – in which businesses are transforming themselves and entire industries are being reinvented in ways we could never have imagined.

Amidst this revolution, Malaysia understands the importance of big data, and is cultivating and building up data science as a key component within the country. Microsoft’s vision of empowering every person and organization to achieve more is central in supporting the country’s push to build up data science.

As part of that unique vision, Microsoft Malaysia launched SQL Server 2016 today - built to power the transformation of this revolution, with technology and capabilities borne from the disruptions happening in cloud, data and intelligence. True to this revolution, SQL Server 2016 comes with R - the most popular language with data scientists - built-in to help them solve the most challenging problems in fields ranging from computational biology to quantitative marketing.

One such organization that has been taking advantage of SQL Server 2016 is MasterCard. The company wanted to design applications to help understand the returns from its customer programs and predict the actual broad impact of those programs over time. In order to do so, they needed to analyze volumes of disparate data, something that took both time and resources. By using SQL Server 2016 and its powerful analytical languages such as R, MasterCard was able to efficiently build the largest analytic model it has ever created - being five times bigger than the previous model - but completed in only less than one tenth the time.

PR - Apr 8, 2016 - SAS Malaysia’s New Software Revenue Grew 32 Percent in 2015, Named Best Place to Work for Third Consecutive Year

Growing customer demand for risk, fraud and customer intelligence analytics strongly influenced SAS’ revenue growth last year. SAS Malaysia recorded a 32 percent growth in new software revenue in 2015 and a total operating revenue of RM73 million, with RM54 million revenue from software sales. Globally, SAS posted US$3.16 billion in total operating revenue, up 6.4 percent in constant currency (2.3 percent US dollars) over 2014.

Andrew Tan, MD, SAS Malaysia

“For 30 years, SAS customers in Malaysia benefit from the deepest and most advanced analytics product portfolio on the market,” said Andrew Tan, Managing Director of SAS Malaysia. “Many of our applications and solutions target specific business purposes. Others suit a wider range of applications. Customers in practically every industry use SAS advanced analytics to increase revenue, improve business processes and lower costs.”

The top growth drivers of SAS Malaysia’s revenue last year came from new areas such as Capital Projection, Stress Testing and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for large financial institutions as well as Operation and Production Cost Optimization for the Oil and Gas sector.

A Best Place to Work:

Cornerstone to SAS Malaysia’s uninterrupted revenue growth and profitability is the company’s workplace culture. SAS Malaysia was one of the companies from 250 nominations in the country to win a Best Companies to Work for in Asia Award 2015 organized by HR Asia and one of only two companies to have won this award for three years consecutively.

PR - Apr 8, 2016 - Kaspersky Lab Released New Version of Kaspersky Security for Windows Server with Protection against Cryptomalware

Kaspersky Lab has unveiled new version Kaspersky Security for Windows Server application, which has been developed specifically for high performance corporate servers. The new Kaspersky Security for Windows Server provides cost-effective, reliable, scalable security for shared file storage, with minimal impact on resources. The solution’s Anti-Cryptor technology is designed to protect IT infrastructure from cryptomalware.

As the complexity of corporate IT infrastructure increases, the need for reliable, multi-layered cybersecurity, which protects business servers, also grows. A comprehensive approach to security is becoming essential for businesses, as a single infected file anywhere in a corporate network can spread rapidly, causing untold damage across the whole network. Cryptomalware, for example, can infiltrate and encrypt an entire network - including its backups - within minutes. This can bring entire business operations to a halt and leave a business without the ability to restore its critical data.

Juniper Research - Apr 6, 2016 - Uber, Lyft & Other Ride Sharing Services to See Revenues Double by 2020, Reaching $6.5 Billion

New data from Juniper Research has found that ridesharing services utilising freelance drivers, such as Uber and Lyft, are to increasingly see returns from their aggressive market strategies.

Juniper’s latest research, Sharing Economy: Opportunities, Impacts & Disruptors 2016-2020, found that shared transport platforms, who typically take just 20% of driver earnings, will see revenues grow from an estimated $3.3 billion in 2015, to $6.5 billion by 2020. The report found that a combination of driver incentives, flexible working hours, and new business models will draw in more drivers for these companies.

PR - Apr 6, 2016 - Air France-KLM invests in a next-generation network

Tata Communications announces today a multi-million dollar deal with Air France-KLM to enable Europe’s second largest airline to enhance passenger experience with new technologies such as wearables, and to drive the company’s growth in emerging markets.

Air France-KLM has partnered with Tata Communications to add next-generation connectivity to 170 sites globally. This superfast network will power the airline’s mission-critical systems for new aircraft, and provide the foundations for a more seamless travel experience to millions of passengers in the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

Air France-KLM’s investment in emerging markets reflects wider airline industry trends:

• In 2034 the journeys of 1.3 billion travellers are expected to touch China – 850 million more than today.
• India is expected to see 260 million more passengers.
• The next big growth hub is Africa: 8 of the 10 fastest growing airline markets are in Africa.
• Europe will act as key transfer hub to these emerging markets, with 1.4 billion passenger journeys in 2034 – nearly 600 million more than today.

As budget airlines continue to put pressure on traditional players’ revenues, Tata Communications' emerging markets expertise and its global fibre network will help Air France-KLM grab its share of new revenue streams in these regions.

PR - Apr 4, 2016 - UOB Malaysia sees a growing number of its regional corporate clients expanding into Southeast Asia through Penang

United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd (UOB Malaysia) expects to facilitate greater foreign direct investment (FDI) into Penang as more of its corporate clients are attracted to the Malaysian state’s conducive business environment and well-established status as a global manufacturing and services hub.

UOB Malaysia estimates that the number of its overseas clients, especially those from the electronics and semiconductor industries, investing in Penang will increase by 30 per cent over the next 12 months. These companies are mainly from China, Taiwan and Singapore who are looking to tap into Penang’s cost-effective manufacturing and electronics infrastructure, and have ambitions to extend their reach in Southeast Asia.



To help clients seize business opportunities in Penang, UOB Malaysia partnered government promotion agencies – MIDA and InvestPenang – to share insights on the state’s investment potential during a half-day forum held in Singapore on 30 March 2016. About 100 participants attended the event, which is part of the UOB FDI ASEAN Series that aims to help companies appreciate the different business environments in Southeast Asia. UOB Malaysia will hold its second investment forum in Kuala Lumpur later this year.

UOB Malaysia’s FDI Advisory Unit has also collaborated with MIDA and other agencies such as the Iskandar Region Development Authority (IRDA), the East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECERDC) and the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) to position Malaysia as a key investment destination in Southeast Asia.