David Chan, CEO of leading Malaysian cloud provider AVM Cloud Sdn Bhd, is definite that cloud opportunities will grow in Malaysia and across the region.

“The cloud computing paradigm has proven itself over the last two years. Every business out there will try and take advantage of the cloud to further improve their business,” explained David.

He said this during a recent BFM podcast called ‘Business Firmly In The Clouds’, presented by TechTalk anchor and expert Richard Bradbury. Also participating in the podcast was Devan Parinpanayagam, Country Manager of VMware Malaysia.

According to Devan, cloud computing has been around in various forms and factors for a long time.

“The idea behind using the cloud is for us as consumers to access data or applications from the Internet; it could be as simple as Office 365 or Dropbox or even something like Disney+ Hotstar or Netflix as well.

“I think it’s only going to get bigger and better. The VMware vision is that every company will have a multi-cloud vision, and only the specific mix of workloads on-premise, vs. any other particular cloud will differ from company to company. This journey is only going to get bigger.

“We are in an environment that is cost-prohibitive and we need to get the most bang for our buck. All CIOs see that - all consumers see that as well, and this is pervasive. The cloud environment is here to stay.”

David concurred, noting that cloud computing has evolved since the 1990s, and has become a critical business enabler.

“One of the first cloud delivery companies is Salesforce, and they’ve been around since the 1990s using the Internet to deliver software to their end-users. AWS (Amazon Web Services) started in 2006. Apple introduced iCloud in 2011.

Getting speed of delivery, convenience of services

For AVM Cloud, David stated, their cloud customers get speed of delivery and the convenience of using the services.

“Nowadays, with the market going through so much interference, especially with COVID, they’re always looking for something to give them an edge over their competitors, and they’ve realised that the cloud is something they can take advantage of. “

AVM Cloud was started by a group of friends and business partners who were ‘passionate about technology and also have a great sense of entrepreneurship’, as David described.

“We initially started a company called IGS – Integrated Global Solutions – back in 2003 doing a side business. One of the new technologies that we brought on board during that time was VMware virtualisation, which we felt would disrupt the current IT situation and also bring value to our customers.

“During the first 10 years, we developed and learned quite a lot of new technologies; one of which is cloud. VMware was the technology company that introduced the cloud to us, and when we heard about it, we thought that this technology would bring value to our customers and benefit their businesses.”

Since its inception in 2010, AVM Cloud has gone from strength to strength..

“We were one of the local pioneers of cloud computing. In 2014, we implemented one of the largest virtual storage projects in Malaysia, thanks to the cloud.

“In 2017, we became one of the largest cloud services provider when we managed to secure a contract with a customer who has 2500 virtual machines – like virtual servers – and we did the enterprise migration for them. We were selected by VMware in 2018 as its Hybrid Cloud provider.

AVM Cloud’s acquisition by TIME dotCom (TIME) earlier in 2021 was the result of both parties’ appreciation of the synergy between them. When TIME approached AVM Cloud, the two parties came to the understanding that AVM Cloud would be left to conduct its own operations.

“TIME recognised us as masters of our own trade; by leaving us alone, they would give us the chance to grow better and move faster. And that is the reason why they wanted to acquire us, because they want us to evolve and grow without any interference from the other side and do what we do best.

“TIME has a good track record and a presence in Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Then we have AVM Cloud that is well-known in virtualisation and local cloud service, we have a good track record and we are looking for regional expansion. Hence, our two parties are able to ‘click’ together.

Working with TIME, AVM Cloud is now better placed and in a stronger position to help customers in their digital transformation, cloud journeys, even to the basic needs of connectivity.

“We want to position ourselves as a one-stop-shop, providing complete services to our customers end-to-end. Our customers can benefit from this because now we can help them in other areas aside from IT.”

Devan agreed that AVM Cloud complemented well with TIME.

“AVM Cloud and its sister company IGS have been selling VMware even before there was a VMware office in Malaysia. We’re very proud of the journey that they’ve taken with us, and they have grown as VMware has grown, and that journey has taken them to where they are today with us, as one of our trusted partners within the industry.

“TIME putting in a stake into AVM Cloud is just giving us all a big opportunity to do a lot more in Malaysia. With what TIME brings in terms of connectivity, the knowledge that AVM Cloud has and its expertise in private cloud, and with the VMware solution, I think it's an unbeatable proposition that we can give to the customers.

“Much of what David and the team have done is their own intellectual property. They've taken our base and built upon that, and have provided some really cool solutions to the customer.”

Being customers’ trusted cloud provider of choice

David stressed that one of cloud computing’s main issues was trust, which AVM Cloud handles particularly well.

“Trust is something you need to earn. When we talk to our customers, we share with them the benefit and the truth about the cloud – how cloud deployment can benefit them, but also the risks that come along with it.”

“Cloud computing can be pretty complex. Depending on the steps they want to take, deployment can be quite daunting, and also quite risky, if they were to take the wrong step along the way. We realised that the customers wanted a partner they could trust.

“When we talked about being customers’ trusted cloud provider of choice, we want to be able to be with the customer beyond planning, design, implementation, migration, and post-support. We want to be part of their plans of how they want to take advantage of cloud for their businesses. We feel we are in a strong position to help customers succeed in their digital transformation or their cloud journey end-to-end.

“For many people, when you talk about trust, they think about security. We have to show them we have the security in place to protect their data, as well as the data privacy policy in place. And this is a very strong point that AVM Cloud and VMware have been driving for many years since our virtualisation days; I know you bet your business and your data on us; we will reciprocate by guaranteeing that you will be protected, and then we'll also continually invest in security for years to come.”

To listen to the full BFM podcast, click here.

Source: AVM Cloud

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