Malaysian consumers are most comfortable when it comes to organisations gaining completely accurate data of their daily lives as compared to other nations, according to VMware Inc. VMware’s Digital Frontiers 3.0 study found that more than half (58%) Malaysian consumers are comfortable or excited about sharing completely accurate data about their daily lives with the government if it leads to better government digital services. 79% of Malaysian consumers also defined themselves as “digitally curious” or “digital explorers”, on par with the other Southeast Asian countries surveyed (averaging 78%) and their counterparts from the US (59%), France (55%), Germany (57%) and the UK (64%).

The prior technology investments made by organisations in Malaysia have also paid off, with two thirds (67%) of Malaysian consumers reporting that while 2020 had forced them to engage with organisations digitally, they found the experience to be enjoyable. This is just slightly below Southeast Asia’s overall average of 69% and contrasts with findings from other developed nations: US (40%), France (40%), UK (33%) and Germany (33%). The study also found that in Malaysia, Financial Services, Retail and Government organisations have led the country’s digital transformation with Malaysian respondents saying that they are now happy to engage digitally with Financial Services (66%), Retail (62%) and Government (45%).

“With more Malaysians embracing digitalisation, businesses must transform the way they deliver digital experiences,” said Devan Parinpanayagam, Country Manager, VMware Malaysia. “Malaysia has done well as a whole in 2020, where business and society responded and adapted to the disruptions from COVID-19. This year, we are in prime position to accelerate our growth with technology playing a key role in powering the recovery of our economy. It is critical for organisations to build on a robust digital foundation to develop and deliver experiences that are not only secure, but will also delight digitally-hungry Malaysian consumers.”

Reflecting the new digital reality that Malaysian businesses now compete in, 79% of Malaysian consumers stated that they have started engaging with brands that delivered superior digital experiences, while 59% stated that they will switch to a competitor if the ongoing digital experience they have does not live up to expectations. In a bid to capture this opportunity, organisations must enable the security, user experience and speed of the digital services they offer. This is reflected in the top three critical digital experiences that Malaysian consumers value most: high level of protection for personal data (60%), ease of access all platforms and devices (48%) and faster speed of service (43%).

The study also found that in Malaysia, certain industries fared better in terms of meeting consumer expectations in 2020, with respondents stating that Retail (60%), Financial Services (58%) and Government (41%) organisations now deliver improved digital experiences compared to before the Covid-19 pandemic. In Malaysia, Financial Services and Government organisations lead other industries when it comes to trust, with respondents stating that Financial Services (59%) and Government (42%) provide them with the assurance that their personal data is well protected.

The digital expectation from Malaysian consumers is set to continue growing, with those surveyed saying they find Retail (62%), Financial Services (56%), and Education Institutes (38%) more exciting to engage with because of the digital services they offer.

VMware innovations enable Malaysian organisations to drive greater digital transformation outcomes, adapt to new digital frontier, and accelerate growth and recovery

For organisations in Malaysia, recovery and growth rest on leveraging innovations that enable them to adapt and accelerate in the new digital frontier. In a fast-changing business environment, digital transformation is key to unlocking greater opportunities in Malaysia’s dynamic digital economy. VMware’s portfolio of cloud and app modernisation, networking, security, and digital workspace anywhere platforms form a flexible and consistent digital foundation that enables organisations to deliver powerful and personalised digital experiences to end users seamlessly and more securely.

Accelerating infrastructure and application modernisation: The updated VMware Tanzu portfolio brings support across VMware Cloud on AWS, Azure VMware Solution, and Oracle Cloud VMware Solution. VMware Tanzu is a portfolio of products and services for modernising applications and infrastructure with a common goal: deliver better software to production, continuously.

Empowering organisations to build their multi-cloud future: Advancements to VMware’s cloud portfolio enables customers and partners to unlock multi-cloud’s full potential value by providing more developer freedom while providing IT with consistent and efficient security and operations. SaltStack will also enable VMware to significantly broaden its software configuration management and infrastructure and network automation capabilities.
 
Advancing security for distributed workforces, public and private clouds: VMware Carbon Black Cloud Workload delivers advanced protection purpose-built for better securing modern workloads to reduce the attack surface and strengthen security posture. This enables Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) to intelligently manage and better secure access to any app, on any cloud, delivered to any device, as they build resilient and future-ready businesses.

Future-ready workforce solutions for the distributed workforce: VMware’s Future Ready Workforce solutions combine VMware Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), Digital Workspace and Endpoint Security capabilities to help IT manage and optimise more secure access to any app, on any cloud, from any device while providing a simple, high performance, and safer user experience for the distributed workforce.

Networking innovations that connect and protect today’s distributed, multi-cloud enterprise: Innovations from VMware’s Virtual Cloud Network enable customers to create a modern network that better supports current and future business initiatives, giving organisations the ability to manage the rapid shift to remote work, deliver traditional and modern applications faster and more securely, and reduce the cost and complexity of connecting and protecting the distributed enterprise.

“VMware will continue to help drive the digital transformation journeys of Malaysian businesses, enabling them in accelerating innovations, agility and speed to market and capitalise on growth opportunities in the digital-first environment,” added Parinpanayagam. “We are excited to continue working closely with our customers and partners to help strengthen business resiliency as Malaysia gears up for recovery and growth in the coming year. By tapping on these next-generation technologies, Malaysian businesses will be able to respond seamlessly, more securely and swiftly to meet the demands of our digital-first consumers.”