Cisco Sees Strong Opportunity in Banking, Manufacturing Sectors in Msia

KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 (Bernama) -– Banks and manufacturing companies in Malaysia are increasingly investing in technology to accommodate the use of cloud applications and consumer devices such as smartphones and tablets at workplace. "The post-personal computer (PC) era, where smartphones, tablets and other mobile computing devices are proliferating at the expense of desktop PCs is here. It is changing the way we do business," managing director of Cisco in Malaysia, Yuri Wahab, said in a statement Monday. He said organisations and employees demanded the ability to work anywhere, anytime and on any device. "This presents a continued opportunity for Cisco as we have been observing interest in the enabling solutions among Malaysian banks and manufacturing companies," he said. According to a Cisco report, there were over 13 billion devices connected to the Internet globally, while one in every three employees used at least three devices to connect to the company's network. It said analysts were predicting that global PC sales would see a decline this year. Cisco said Gartner reported that tablet sales were expected to hit 118.9 million units in 2012, up 98 per cent from 2011. "Similarly in Malaysia, there has been an increasing adoption of smart devices and cloud applications that signals the arrival of the post-PC era," it said. It said Malaysia currently remained South-East Asia’s biggest tablet computer market, raking in US$374 million in sales in 2011. Smartphone penetration rate stood at 27 per cent in the first quarter of 2011, it said. In a recent survey, 34 per cent of organisations in Malaysia stated that cloud computing was their number one priority in the fiscal year with one-third them already using some form of cloud computing, it said. Yuri said the company was encouraged by these indications, which led businesses to seek innovative solutions and stimulate a new wave of local information and communications technology investments. "As employees bring their own devices to workplace, companies need to find a balance between flexibility and control to provide an uncompromised workspace where businesses can remain productive and cost-effective," he said. -- BERNAMA