Business

Monday May 18, 2009

Motorola expects rising IT spending by SMEs, govt sector

By YEOW POOI LING


MOTOROLA Inc sees increasing opportunities for its business-to-business segment in Malaysia as IT spending is expected to increase 4% to 5%, surpassing the US$6bil mark, this year based on a recent industry report by IDC.

IDC also foresees the small and medium-scale enterprises to be more innovative in business operations by leveraging on mobile and wireless technology, and outsourcing certain business functions and mail services to reduce operating costs.

In addition, Malaysia’s stimulus packages are fuelling growth in the government and public safety sector, as well as across various vertical industries like private security, oil and gas, transportation, logistics, construction, utilities, financial services, supply chain and hospitality.

Vice-president of government and public safety for enterprise mobility solutions Phey Teck Moh told StarBiz in an email reply that despite the global meltdown, mission-critical communications and homeland security remained high priority for governments due to rising security threats and concerns.

Phey Teck Moh

“We see two key trends. First, governments and public safety agencies are increasingly looking at adopting wireless technologies for their needs, and second, they are also open to exploring partnerships with the private sector for collaboration and investment in new technologies,” he said.

Part of Motorola’s business is offering enterprise mobility solutions, which allow seamless connectivity and provide information in a secured manner during mission and business-critical processes.

These alleviate the workforce from being tied down by procedures and to focus instead on addressing customers’ needs.

Phey added that mission-critical communications solutions were important to sectors like transportation, oil and gas, and utilities, as their operations also required secured, reliable and fail-safe communications. Motorola’s equipment comply with industry standards for ruggedness and protection against dust, water, heat and accidental drops to concrete.

New growth opportunities were also available in hospitality and healthcare sectors, and wireless security for enterprises, he said. Motorola’s customers in the country include top brands like Petronas, Tesco, 7-Eleven, Pos Laju, Nestle Malaysia and Intel Malaysia.

In the wireless broadband segment, for example, a local municipal had opted for Motorola’s point-to-multipoint solution for its integrated public security surveillance system, which was the largest deployment of cameras with a central command and control by a local council, Phey said. Internationally, Motorola has close to 80 years of serving public safety customers.

Meanwhile, in the professional commercial two-way radio business, growth potential is seen in sectors like property management, hospitality and retail.

While the global economic weakness has resulted in reduced consumer spending, which has severely impacted Motorola’s consumer business segment, it intends to introduce new consumer products later this year.

“We see this global meltdown as a temporary phenomenon and are confident that we’ll continue our role as the technology partner of choice to our customers in the government and public safety, consumer, enterprise and wireless communications space,” Phey said.

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