Join our community of SUBSCRIBERS and be part of the conversation.
To subscribe, simply enter your email address on our website or click the subscribe button below. Don't worry, we respect your privacy and won't spam your inbox. Your information is safe with us.
In Part 1, we looked at the benefits of hosted cloud computing-based applications and solutions especially in helping small to medium enterprises (SMEs), China-based company H3C’s next generation hosted Cloudnet Solution and how it helps SMEs to digitalise.
Here, we will look at Cloudnet in Malaysia and how its implementations are adapted to specific Malaysian conditions, how it helps various industries and SMEs in Malaysia to digitalise, and how H3C sees its next few years in Malaysia.
H3C introduced Cloudnet to Malaysia in 2020, during the COVID-19 movement control order (MCO) period and since then it has continuously evolved to its current Version 7.0, with additional features and modules being added Lego-like along the way.
Right now, H3C has more than 100 Cloudnet customers in Malaysia, including in the enterprise, hotel and government sectors who use its cloud services to simplify the management of their Wi-Fi APs and services, as well as their network devices such as switches and routers centrally through H3C’s common platform.
Different support needs
Overview of Kuala Lumpur City Centre
As for the different kinds and levels of support required by Malaysian SMEs compared to their SME counterparts in China, the developed countries of Asia, Europe and North America, most Malaysian SMEs tend to be more user-oriented, in that they want to know know what H3C can provide them, whilst whilst on the other hand, some customers in China understand the technology and want H3C to provide them with new applications which address their specific business needs on top of Cloudnet’s current services.
“Customers in China tend to be more innovative and demanding, as they hope Cloudnet can solve their business problems, but they also are more demanding. They have some idea and hope that Cloudnet can enable their business to be more innovative, and our R&D team is very eager to provide them with a solution”, said Ma.
In Malaysia, H3C would like its customers to understand its service, so they will let the company better understand their expectations and requirements, so it can develop more innovative applications for them.
At the same time, western markets are different, in that they have had cloud platforms and cloud management services for about 10 years already, as well as many innovative cloud applications having been developed there already, though they are also still evolving.
In Malaysia, H3C would like its customers to understand its service, so they will let the company better understand their expectations and requirements, so it can develop more innovative applications for them.
“The Eastern or Western worlds have different concepts of running a business, and we really would like to know their respective exact requirements, so we can further develop our platform to address their diverse requirements”, said Ma.
The road ahead
H3C headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Looking forward over the next three to five years, H3C would like to get as many more new customers as possible, both in Malaysia and worldwide.
The flexibility of the Cloudnet platform lets it be expanded to support more users on demand or on a pro-rata basis, to support up to 20,000 users on a single platform, since its resources can be expanded Lego-like to support more customers and partners as required.
Right now, H3C is opening up its platform to allow more ecosystem partners to provide their applications and services on top of its current offerings, and it can integrate applications from these independent software vendors onto its cloud platform, subject to discussion.
Whilst further negotiations and understanding are required to enable this technology and new applications to benefit SMEs, however, the technology is already here and they can already enjoy some of its basic and fundamental services, as the technology and applications continue to evolve over the coming years.
“As a digital solution leader in the world, we really want to use our technology, knowledge and expertise to drive adoption of our Cloudnet services worldwide. Whilst we are based in China, with long experience of the China market, we would like to replicate our successful experience in China with our customers worldwide, and especially in Malaysia”, said Ma.
Right now, H3C is opening up its platform to allow more ecosystem partners to provide their applications and services on top of its current offerings, and it can integrate applications from these independent software vendors onto its cloud platform, subject to discussion.
“We recently discussed with a smart manufacturing customer in Malaysia, which needs a very good cloud platform to run its services, and provide smart manufacturing applications to factories, which we can reveal more about later.
“Cloudnet is not difficult to understand. It’s a platform with a lot of technology, which one needs to know how these technologies can be used to help customers, and we are going to work with our ecosystem partner based on different industry characteristics or industry requirements to offer the solution to them”, Ma added.
(L-R) Lee Shiuh Haw, Director, N-Base (Sarawak) and Gary Huang, Co-President of H3C and President of International Business shaking hands at the H3C Tech Talk 2022
Meanwhile, 2022, H3C announced its partnership with N-Base (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd, an IT services provider, to advance the digitalisation of enterprises in Sarawak with a focus on the IT industry, at H3C’s Tech Talk 2022 event in Kuching, Sarawak on 24 November.
The collaboration between H3C and N-Base Sarawak is expected to boost Sarawak’s IT landscape, and both parties are hopeful that the partnership will benefit Sarawak’s businesses in the long run by making the most of available resources, reducing costs and time to market, scaling operations effectively, and streamlining deployments.
H3C’s implementation philosophy is based upon understanding unique objective and subjective factors relevant to customers in each country, part of a country or industry, including the availability of suitable broadband connectivity, affordability, their appreciation of the technology and its business benefits, the prevalent business culture, national regulations, the tech-savviness of management and end-users and so forth, rather than a one size fits all approach.
Charles Moreira was an Editor at Enterprise Trade Views, sister channel to Enterprise IT News. He was a veteran journalist of many years, most well known for his time at The Star's technology pullout.
