For your ‘i’s only….

Nowadays, businesses simply love to put the letter “i” in their offerings. We have i-City, ipad, iphone, ipod etc. For me, the letter “I” brings a lot of meaning such as intelligence, independent, investment, interactive, interaction, interface and internet. The world now is moving into a more sophisticated phase which you can say the digital age. The direction of the companies offerings are simply towards creativity and mobility.

For example, in i-City Shah Alam there is “integration” between work and play. The same goes with the ipad whereby it can be a mobile office and for entertainment. Even entertainment also can be educational which can be called as “infotainment”.

The influx of social media application are being embedded into these mobile applications have helped business communicate with their customers. These tools can act as a great marketing tool to communicate with customers as it can be done in real-time. The reduction in time cycle can help to increase the revenue and profit of the company.

However, most companies are reluctant in investing in such technology. One of the main reasons is the high-cost of investment. Other reasons are such as it is difficult to justify the ROI, lack of knowledgeable workers to handle the IT system and company’s culture which does not want to change which they feel comfortable with the status quo.

As we all know that business now is about speed in delivering products and services without compromising quality. Hence, businesses need to understand that they need to compete. Their competitors are not only based locally but also abroad. If companies were to lag behind regards in their operations, delivery etc..they can lose business. 

Once companies are able to find a system that suits their company’s objective then the next step is to get an allocation (budget) to ‘i’-nvest.

iThankyou

Coffee, tea and me.

Coffee and tea is a well-known commodity worldwide. It’s universal. People around the globe are drinking coffee and tea..even as you are reading this blog. This means that the world does not sleep. There is always people around the world who are doing something or even working.

For me, being part of a global support centre sometimes can take its toll. This is because the global support centre is based only in Malaysia. Yes, Thomas L. Friedman was right. The world is certainly getting smaller. As demand grows, so does support issues. Thus when there are issues we need to work during weekends. 

Luckily via technology, we are able to work from home. Using VPN (virtual private network), we are still able to access the company’s system. One thing good is that, when we work from home during weekends..we are entitled for a replacement leave (1 for 1). Meaning 1 day working during weekends, we are entitled for 1 day replacement leave.

Personally for me, a day working throughout weekend and getting a replacement leave on next Monday is different. Why? Because weekend is family time. Nothing can replace these precious moments and taking leave on the next Monday is certainly “lonely”. Probably, I can suggest for the company to come out with a new benefit structure say like giving two (2) days replacement leave…hehehehe. That would be fun.

While I can just dream of such benefit…its better for me to just relax and enjoy my cup of coffee. Cheers! =D

Iphone, Blackberry & Strawberry

ALHAMDULILAH syukur nikmat. For year 2012, I’m blessed with a son. Hence, I decided to have an aqiqah for my son for this Raya Haji. I meet up with my uncle who has been in the madrasah committee (for many years) telling him on my intention to do aqiqah. He asked me “ Do you want to have the aqiqah here in KL or in Cambodia? Now, I have second thoughts.

I asked him on how is the state & condition of the people of Cambodia. My uncle told me that the people of Cambodia are in dire straits. If you are able to see a poor family in Malaysia, the people in Cambodia are 10 times much worse. In Malaysia, how poor the family is…that family is still to have an Astro tv and an handphone compared to the people living in Cambodia. 

Aah..now things began to suffice. He does have a point. I’ve seen that even those people living in flats do have Astros and smart phones. This is a fact. People are simply attracted to entertainment and simply can’t live without them. Look around us. People are mostly on their iPhones, Blackberry, Samsungs and tabs. Regardless in the LRT, bus stations and even while driving..people are hooked to their smartphones. From some point, you can see them giggling while surfing their smartphones. 

Nowadays, even primary school children are using smart phones and even tabs. Malaysia is flush of handphones/smartphones as they are ubiquitous and can be found everywhere and anywhere. For myself, I just recently upgrade to an iPhone. My previous “form of communication” is my Strawberry. (take a look at my old Nokia). Cool huh! Now, I’m hooked up to my iPhone nearly 24/7.  

For businesses, the influx of these mobile gadgets has helped businesses utilize this technology to improve their operations. Sales representatives can now communicate directly with their clients and they can do it real time. Orders can be taken via these mobiles and proposals too can be submitted via online. Regardless of geography and cultural barriers, businesses can still operate. 

With the business demand, there are many applications that are being developed. An application that is being developed by SAP is SAP Travel on Demand. Via this application, users can submit their claims and receipts online. In addition, approval (claims) and reports too can be done via mobile devices.

Check out the video.

From rags to riches. Unlocking the potentials from the heavens.

I was at a grocery store to buy some provisions. Meet up with their store assistant to ask on where are the goods being placed, she did answered me BUT without looking at me. This is because she was simply busy texting her hand phone. She was able to ignore a customer in front of her for the sake of someone who she can’t see physically. 

While reading the Al Quran translation, I came across this surah namely Surah Saba’ versus 24.

 

Source : http://quran.com/34

Now, why does ALLAH SWT mention that rezki comes from the heavens? It’s simply because those who are able to unlock potentials from the heavens will surely be rich and famous. Look at Ananda Krishnan (AK). Isn’t he one of the richest person in Asia simply by controlling the heavens with this Astro and Maxis company. Let’s compare this to the a person who sells pre-paid card at some corridor. Now, who makes the most profit? Certainly AK.

Let’s look at Airasia, a company who just started with just a few planes now plans to purchase more than 100 planes. He even has his own F1 team and even a football club. Now, let’s take a look at the top 5 riches football clubs in the world.

#	Football clubs	Value in USD
1	Manchester United	$2.23 billion
2	Real Madrid	$2.23 billion
3	Barcelona	$1.31 billion
4	Arsenal	$1.29 billion
5	Bayern Munich	$1.23 billion

Source : http://www.therichest.org/sports/richest-football-clubs/

Didn't they make their money by selling their broadcasting rights and we are willing to pay huge sums just to watch out favourite team play.

How do we want to tap into this potential? For businesses, they simply need to utilize the Internet for their business. By using the Internet, they can reach to the en masses breaking cultural and geographical boundaries. It’s low cost, easy to manage and simply you’re the captain of your ship. 

What I do hope? I do hope that we Muslims can utilize and tap into this potential. Probably I do hope companies such as Tabung Haji and Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar’s company can look forward to invest in this money-making industry for the betterment of the Muslims.

SAP & F1

I love watching F1 races. When Malaysia first built their F1 track in Sepang, I was one of those fans who got excited about it. With PETRONAS foray into the F1, it even made me proud as a Malaysia to be able to see our technical people working around to clock to perfect their car. In F1, it’s simply not about the drivers but the passion and technology behind it. 

In the quest of building a perfect car, the engineers (technology) need to look at the engines, aerodynamics, tyre, suspension, brakes and even communication. The technology are being embedded into the car does not compromise the comfort and safety of the drivers. On the drivers side, they simply need to have the passion to drive and win races. 

So when people ask me what do SAP consultants do. This is my reply.

SAP Consultants	Role
SAP Basis	In the Formula 1 (F1), they would be regarded as engineers who design the car. They are the ones who will prepare the infrastructures such as installation of the operating system/platform, SAP components, network, backup, hardening (security), and upgrades.
SAP Functional	In the Formula 1 (F1), they would be regarded as F1 drivers who such as Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel or Lewis Hamilton. They are the ones who are the industry experts, who meets up and consult with the clients. For most projects, functional consultants consists the SAP Financial, SAP Materials Management and SAP HR consultant. The main challenge for the functional consultants is to map the client’s current business process into SAP but this time making the processes work better. Say from the current process which takes 10 steps to execute is then reduced to 3 steps to execute.
SAP Abapers	Abapers are programmers. This is because the programming language used in SAP is Abap. They basically help in customization such as reports and customized programs (i.e. interfaces). Abapers will not liaise with the clients directly but will only act upon advise of the SAP Functional consultants. In the Formula 1 (F1), should the F1 driver (functional consultant) thinks that the car needs some improvement and tuning hence the Abapers will come into the picture to make those changes. Let’s say the F1 driver thinks that the car needs to fly, hence the Abapers will build wings for it. You can say the SAP Abapers are the “extension engineers” in SAP.

Simply put it, it’s about the combination of hardware (technology) and software (people). Now, when people who asks me what does F1 got to do with SAP? I’ll simply reply “It relates with everything”.