IBM Malaysia’s Main Area Focuses for 2020

As we move into a new decade, IBM Malaysia took the opportunity to share their prediction of tech trends for Malaysia for year 2020, and beyond. It’s newly-minted managing director, Catherine Lian, selected some market trends (and their concurrent IBM updates) to highlight to the local business IT community in hope that they would pay special attention to. They are listed as the following:

Trend 1:  Industry 4.0

IBM has signed a strategic partnership with SMART Modular, an electronics and supply chain company to accelerate the digital transformation of its entire manufacturing operations and customer supply chain via IBM PowerAI Vision and Robotics Technologies.

This helps transform every aspect of its business from product development to manufacturing and its supply chain, sales and after-sales service to be ready for IR4.0. As part of its first initiative towards IR.4 in Malaysia, IBM hopes to replicate and make an impact locally by partnering with Ministry of Trade to help support SMEs to automate their process in terms of investment.

Trend 2: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Adoption

Although the global statistics shows an increase of 38% in adoption rate, Malaysia does not show concrete, positive data. It seems that overall, limited AI knowledge and expertise poses a hindrance from a successful AI adoption by businesses to leverage digital transformation.

IBM predicts by 2025, AI will be pervasive across every industry with financial institution and government. AI will move from being used reactively to make better predictions to optimizes processes and to be used proactively.

In Malaysia, IBM is a consultant for two government bodies; the Penang Municipal Council and Sarawak Multimedia Authority. IBM hopes its presences will make an impact and shape the way government institutionalize these adoption of AI, and be replicated to the corporate industry.

Trend 3: Hybrid Cloud 

Here, the hybrid cloud approach has become more viable amongst organisations, especially as public cloud services within the hybrid environment has proven the ability to support security, data protection and compliance requirement in the business demand. Analyst studies shows, there is USD1.3 trillion opportunities and 80% of IT decision-makers see hybrid cloud as the future.

According to IBM, the ‘on-premise’ cloud has a higher adoption rate in Malaysia as compared to a public or hybrid cloud. This could be due to ease of management, change of management and easier deployment of utilization. IBM predicts in the next couple of years, the tech adoption of hybrid cloud will make an even bigger impact in Malaysia.

Trend 4: Quantum & Blockchain 

In 2020 quantum will move beyond the realm of theory to the world of practical, experimental and application. Quantum computers have the potential to greatly improve financial forecasting and chemical compound discovery to solve the complexity today.  In Malaysia, Quantum was covered though IBM ‘P-Tech’ program last November. This programme is currently being offered in two schools and IBM hope to deploy well and replicate this across.

In the area of Blockchain, IBM has been working closely together with UTAR on the agriculture of improving livestock and the productivity.

Lian concluded that IBM Malaysia’s continues to strive for better ROI in the local market, its main areas of focus will remain consistent with the country’s digital transformation journey.