VADS Malaysia to increase ICT and data center investment

VADS Bhd, a subsidiary of Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM), sees revenue in its information and communications technology (ICT) segment growing 8% to 12% next year in line with the industry, driven by managed services with security, cloud and more value-added services.

Its CEO Ahmad Azhar Yahya said ICT, which contributes 55% to VADS' revenue, is an area that it sees more growth compared with its business process outsourcing (BPO) segment.

This is reflective of the shift in trends among customers from merely buying an item such as connectivity or data centre to requesting fully managed services.

"Customers now want a business outcome. The requirements have changed and it is just not about connectivity, but also security, managed network and hosting facilities," he said.

VADS has 15 data centers measuring 150,000 sq ft and Ahmad Azhar said it is in the company's pipeline to set up more data centers.

"The small and medium business (SMBs) is a segment that still has room for improvement in terms of ICT usage.

He added that VADS may look into vertical sectors such as banking, education, healthcare, retail and investing in go-to-market offerings.

And while the majority of VADS' businesses are local, the company is also expanding its business to Indonesia where it intends to expand its BPO business.