by SHAZNI ONG/ pic by TMR FILE

MALAYSIA’S digital economy is set to soar to new heights following Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) and Huawei Technologies (M) Sdn Bhd’s (Huawei Malaysia) joint effort to expand cloud computing services in the country.

The collaboration will see TM expand its cloud offering through its enterprise and public sector business arm TM ONE, with the introduction of TM ONE Cloud α (Cloud Alpha). The new service will enable next-generation innovation for its users.

“The collaboration with Huawei Malaysia is another milestone for TM ONE as we now have full cloud capability as a core offering from TM ONE to capture growth in Malaysia, which is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 27% in the next five years,” TM ONE executive VP and CEO Ahmad Taufek Omar said at the memorandum of agreement (MoA) signing ceremony between TM ONE and Huawei Malaysia last Friday.

“More smart services and big data analytics solutions based on artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities can also be introduced to the market, powered by Cloud α.”

By tapping into Huawei Cloud technology, which provides a powerful computing platform and an easy-to-use development environment, Cloud α service will give TM ONE customers a reliable, secure and agile cloud platform and services to drive their digital transformation journey.

Huawei Malaysia has been one of TM’s key suppliers since 2003. With the MoA, TM ONE customers and organisers in the small and medium enterprises segment will enjoy the full capabilities of Cloud α solutions.

This year, TM One will focus on driving cloud and AI innovation, TM group CEO Datuk Noor Kamarul Anuar Nuruddin (picture) said.

He also noted that TM is the only local player with its own state-of-the-art core data centres and cloud infrastructure which have full data residency, locality and sovereignty in Malaysia.

“With these digital infrastructure and services, we can offer a complete data residency and locality in Malaysia,” Noor Kamarul said.

“Combining cloud, AI and the most advanced cybersecurity practices and technologies for our cloud operations, TM is striding forward as the only Malaysian-owned end-to-end cloud infrastructure service provider.”

Meanwhile, Huawei Malaysia CEO Michael Yuan said the Chinese technology firm plays a role in nurturing digital talents to develop their digital skill sets through various information and communications technology (ICT) programmes, and competitions to encourage young talents’ interest towards ICT.

“I believe that there is a huge demand out there for cloud infrastructure professionals as the cloud infrastructure market looks set to eventually replace traditional data centres,” he said.

In the present challenging economic climate, it is most important for Malaysia to accelerate digital adoption for economic recovery, Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin said.

“Malaysia will now focus on economic growth and towards reaping the full benefits of the Industrial Revolution 4.0,” he said.

Earlier in April, TM One launched Cloud α, the end-to-end, full stack cloud service comprising infrastructure-as-a-service, platform-as-a-service, software-as-a-service, cloud professional services and managed cloud services.

TM’s share price closed 0.7% or three sen higher at RM4.14 last Friday, valuing the group at RM15.59 billion.