How Malaysia Helps To Future Proof Your Business Services Operations

The digitalization of Global Business Services (GBS) was the main highlight recently when my team and I had the privilege of co-hosting more than 40 GBS business services companies, together with Outsourcing Malaysia (OM), a chapter of PIKOM, the country’s national ICT industry association, at the GBS Focus Group forum held in Kuala Lumpur. 

GBS is an abbreviation for shared services and outsourcing enabled operating model, is an important focus for Malaysia, especially as one of our key initiatives is to strengthen our country’s position as an ideal location of choice for digital services.

To help drive positioning, MDEC in 2011 initiated The GBS Focus Group initiative, which is a platform ‘for the industry by the industry.’

Caption: The GBS Focus Group consists of relevant stakeholders to the GBS industry in Malaysia, i.e. captive shared services, government agencies, industry association, professional bodies and academia.

The forum’s topic – the Digitalisation of GBS - is very close to my heart. In fact, I am heartened by SSON’s 2019 State of the Shared Services Market Report on Malaysia, which mentions that about half of the GBS centres in Malaysia are leveraging on Centres of Excellence (COEs), and shifting away from being just about transactional excellence and improvement.

Now, GBS is fast becoming a value adding partner to the business by offering insights based on thorough understanding of services delivered, optimized by digital technology such as automation and data analytics.

Ascending the value chain

Take Jabil, a US-based global manufacturing services as an example. They first set up their Global IT Services in 2009 in Penang, and 10 years later, they have expanded into a global business centre, spearheading digital transformation within the group with an impressive setup of COEs for Robotics Process Automation, API Management, B2B Services and Cloud Management.

The Penang GBS operation has ascended the value chain by moving from transactional to more strategic consulting and advisory roles that include global finance, centralised procurement and risk governance.

Capitalising on Malaysia’s quality talent (95% of their 950+ employees are Malaysian), they have ventured into data analytics and Factory of the Future initiatives, as well as investing in emerging technologies such as hybrid cloud computing, internet of things, edge computing, next-generation network, predictive analytics and artificial intelligence.

Caption: The GBS Focus Group is chaired by a GBS practitioner, supported by OM as the group secretariat. Immediate past chairman: DHL IT Services. Current chairman: Jabil Global Business Center.

Malaysia’s digital ecosystem: futureproofing business

The Jabil story is strong testament of Malaysia’s capabilities to move up the value chain in digital services.

To ensure that companies such as these continue to augment and accelerate their growth in Malaysia, MDEC is constantly strive to provide the industry with strategic and innovative initiatives, from talent to infrastructure to legal framework, to ensure that the country has a strong and robust ecosystem to meet the growing demand from investors such as Jabil.

Through our digital innovation ecosystem initiatives, we have setup ASEAN Data Analytics eXchange (ADAX), Asia Cybersecurity eXchange (AsiaCyberX) and Orbit, to further spur the growth of data analytics, cybersecurity and fintech respectively, in Malaysia.

 These initiatives focus on building and facilitating skilled digital workforce, as well as creating innovative solutions, increasing technology adoption and building a thriving tech startup ecosystem. We also play an advocacy role in ensuring that Malaysia has supportive government policies, such as national frameworks on big data analytics, artificial intelligence, internet of things, and eCommerce, to move the nation forward towards becoming a leading regional and global player in these areas.

Digitalisation of GBS: Move Up or Move Out

Among the topics discussed during the GBS Focus Group event that I mentioned earlier was on “GBS Moving Forward: Move Up or Move Out”.

The audience expounded the sentiment that as the world rushes headlong into the digitalized era, digitalisation and the holistic support structure that Malaysia offers is the key to futureproofing their operations here.

Digital services is a key sector in driving Malaysia’s digital economy agenda. As the country deepens our niche in digital economy, Malaysia is the right location with the right ecosystem to catalyse a business’ digital transformation.

No matter where you are in your digitalisation journey, it is our focus to encourage more GBS companies to drive transformational excellence and value for your business operations by embracing disruptive technologies such as big data analytics, automation, artificial intelligence and blockchain.

As the Head of the Investment team in MDEC, I welcome you to come talk to me and my team members to learn more about how you can leverage on Malaysia to futureproof your digital services operations.

- Hew Wee Choong is the Vice President for Investment & Industry Development, at Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC)