Author: Dimple

PETALING JAYA: Censof Holdings Bhd’s unit has bagged a government contract worth RM4mil from the Inland Revenue Board (IRB).

In its filings with Bursa Malaysia, the company said its wholly owned subsidiary, Century Software (M) Sdn Bhd, had accepted a letter of award from the IRB to implement an accounting software system.

The contract was for a period of three years, commencing from March 1, 2020 to Feb 28, 2023.

Censof said the contract is expected to contribute positively to its earnings per share and future earnings. It added that the job is not expected to have any material effect on the issued and paid-up capital, substantial shareholders’ shareholding, net asset per share and gearing of the company and its subsidiaries.

February 6th, 2020

LETTERS: In 2019, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad launched the 2030 Shared Prosperity Vision (SPV) as an effort to make Malaysia a country that is developing sustainably with fair economic distribution as well as equitable growth at all levels of incomes, ethnics, regions and supply chains by 2030.

The 2030 Shared Prosperity Vision which is the primary strategic policy document that will guide the restructuring priorities for Malaysia’s development was used as a baseline to identify the technology companies at the cutting edge of empowering or delivering shared prosperity in Malaysia.

To make the list, companies needed to demonstrated that they were able to participate in a meaningful manner towards the shared prosperity vision enablers, namely effective institutional delivery, financial capital, governance and integrity especially related to increasing transparency, and lastly was the use of Big Data.

Coupled with a positive contribution to the Key Economic Growth Activities (KEGA) of digital economy, industrial revolution 4.0, advanced & modern services together with a history of innovation and delivering e- government projects that have had a direct impact on the community or business ecosystem.

Identifying homegrown leadership has become increasingly important as according to Malaysian government data technology adoption still remains low in the services industry with a rate of uses of just 20% in 2018 while the government’s target is 30% by 2030.

This year’s list has highlighted those companies best positioned to drive this vision from the private sector.

Big Dataworks is a Malaysian grown tech company providing solutions in data supply, data analytics, management of information and physical documents storage. The innovative approach to data driven business solutions has made it possible to manage a nationwide user base of over 200,000.

The nimble solution provider has delivered higher productivity, better value for consumers, and the next wave of growth in the business through big data solutions to a wide range of stakeholders. The ability delivering directly with to the public, government, government linked corporations and the private sector has ensured that Big Dataworks makes this year’s list.

The company has a strong track record of “eco-system changing” delivery to government that is “a positive disrupter” appointed by the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) or Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (SSM) as its technology and service provider for the SSM MYDATA Services. MYDATA has become the go to source for legitimate and legal information on companies incorporated or registered in Malaysia.

MYEG Services Berhad or MYEG builds, operates and owns the electronic channels that deliver services from various Government agencies, including DBKL, Jabatan Insolvency Malaysia, Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan, Polis Diraja Malaysia, Tenaga Nasional Berhad and Telekom Malaysia to Malaysia citizens and businesses.

Its first wave of solutions were deployed between 2000 to 2010 for the Government to Citizen (“G2C”) and Government/Enterprise Solution (“GES”) categories. They make the list because over the past 5 years MYEG has invested in deploying next generation technologies based on The Internet of Things (“IoT”) solutions coupled with big data analytics that will bring significant improvements to overall quality of life in Malaysia.

Commerce Dot Com Sdn. Bhd. Established in 1999 Commerce Dot Com Sdn Bhd (CDC) was incorporated for the fundamental purpose to develop and operate an electronic procurement system for the Government of Malaysia, known as ePerolehan. This initiative was undertaken with the intention to steer the nation’s commerce into the forefront of the digital economy.

Currently CDC boasts ePerolehan as one of the largest Government-to-Business (G2B) marketplace in the world with more than 30,000 government users and 180,000 suppliers throughout Malaysia and over 2 million catalogue items available online. Procurement via ePerolehan has grown tremendously to over 2 million transactions valued at more than RM20 billion annually.

POS Digicert made the list due it ability to deliver the latest convergence of services, the public will no longer be required to go to SSM offices to obtain documents with “Certified True Copy” CTC stamp. The collaboration between Big Dataworks, SSM and POS Digicert has allowed digitally certified documents can now be purchased online via MYDATA SSM portal by consumers.

Government agencies, the likes of Immigration, Road Transport (JPJ) and Municipal Councils have implemented the use of these documents for official submissions. Digital CTC is a transformation of the manual document authentication service through a combination of statutory imaging technology, digital signature and Quick Response Code (QR code) with security features

Censof Holdings Bhd established in 2008 as a technology investment holdings company specializing in financial management software solutions.

Since then, Censof has expanded its portfolio of financial services solutions to include e-payment gateway services and wealth management software solutions.

Censof acquired a major accounting solution business that cater to SME business market. Through its subsidiaries, the technology solutions are widely used in public and private sectors in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong. In January 2011, the Group was listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia.

TM One made the list as connectivity and security is a core element of a trust based digital economy. TM ONE is positioned as the only enabler of a Hyperconnected Ecosystem for business’s digital journey.

As the enterprise and public sector business solutions arm of Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) Group the people driven organisation delivers seamless and complete digital solutions, processes and state-of-the-art technology. With the mission to fully transforming Malaysia into a digital nation in line with TM’s philosophy of “Life Made Easier” for a better Malaysia.

Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation Sdn. or MDEC was established in 1996, it was the Government’s response to the then new concept of “Digital Economy”. Today, the global Digital Economy is estimated to be worth USD3 trillion, and MDEC continues its role to organise and lead Malaysia’s Digital Economy forward.

It’s on the list as a key ecosystem enabler. MDEC has driven significant digital transformation and adoption across the public and private sectors in Malaysia since its establishment, including the formulation of policies and coordination of agencies. The development of a futureproof workforce to grow the Digital Economy ecosystem and the creation of global champions to increase contribution from the Digital Economy to GDP.

Nordin Abdullah

Founding Chairman MGBF

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times

February 4th, 2020

The new partnership offers an electronic invoicing solution that helps small and medium enterprises save time, reduce errors and improve business growth. ABSS users can become Peppol-ready instantly through their existing ERP and fully compliant in all their trading transactions.

ABSS and Pagero signed their new strategic partnership in 2019. The agreement combines the ABSS ERP solution focused on small and medium enterprises with Pagero’s open, cloud-based business network for automated exchange of business documents across Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable processes.

Since entering the partnership, ABSS and Pagero teams have worked in coordination with IMDA in Singapore to achieve Peppol accreditation; the companies now offer a fully complaint solution to meet IMDA standards. In parallel, the partnership will allow both companies to offer their integrated solutions to the regional market.

Rhys Brown, CEO of ABSS says, “ABSS is very excited to partner with Pagero, the leading global e-invoicing service provider. Together we bring improved invoicing efficiency to over 30,000 Singapore SMEs. ABSS accounting solutions combined with the Pagero technology framework will help SMEs save time, reduce errors and improve business prosperity in Singapore.”

Luis Ortega, Managing Director for Middle East, Africa, Asia at Pagero states, “In the everchanging world of e-invoicing regulations and governments extending their digital footprint, companies need an agile technology platform and expert consulting services to maintain local compliance with cross-border operations. Our partnership with ABSS will help their customers across Singapore and Southeast Asia stay compliant in the face of changing regulations and multiple jurisdictions. We are pleased to see how Australia and New Zealand, as well other Southeast Asian countries, have adopted or are looking into Peppol as their standard for e-invoicing as this will facilitate interoperability in cross-border trading processes.”

For small and medium enterprises operating in the Southeast Asia region, it’s important to prepare for new regulatory developments in the digital trading, tax, accounting and financial reporting landscape – regionally and abroad—in a pragmatic way and at reasonable cost. There is a rising trend pushing businesses, as part of their digital transformation journey, to become digitally compliant in all their trading transactions. The adoption of e-invoicing, seamlessly integrated with their ERP or accounting solutions, will improve business efficiency, quality of data and reduce errors. Businesses will easily meet compliance needs locally and globally while reducing their total operating costs.

Kuala Lumpur, 16 January 2020 – Knowledgecom Corporation Sdn Bhd (“KCOM”), a subsidiary of Censof Holdings Berhad (“Censof”) and 10 technology and training companies exchange Memorandum of Agreements (“MOAs”) today to outline their respective participation in the BEYOND4 initiative.

Over the span of a decade, KCOM has evolved into a leading local industry player in the design and delivery of Information Technology training programmes. Now spearheading BEYOND4, the company aims to integrate Industry Revolution 4.0 (“IR 4.0”) practices and technology into business operations.

The BEYOND4 initiative consists of a neutral, non-competing open vendor ecosystem in training, technology and strategic partnership. The goal is to drive digital transformation as value exchange, fostering synergy among alliance partners to collaborate and innovate.

Chief Executive Officer of KCOM, Mr. S. T. Rubaneswaran said, “As the world move towards the IR 4.0 era, there is rising demand to upskill and prepare the workforce to embrace new trends and developments impacting our manufacturing and service industries.”

“Starting from Malaysia, we plan to expand this initiative further by replicating this model throughout the South East Asia region. Our goal is to attract 50 technology and training partners in each country to form a strategic and collaborative alliance to propel the adoption of digital technology in the respective countries.”

This will also tackle the issue of decreasing job opportunities faced by the growing middle-income population and the Non-STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) workforce.

The BEYOND4 ecosystem saw the exchange of MOAs between ten partners today which include: –
1. Knowledge Group Consulting Sdn Bhd
2. CXS Analytics Sdn Bhd
3. Loops Solution (M) Sdn Bhd
4. Bureau Veritas Certification (M) Sdn Bhd
5. Dagang Net Technologies Sdn Bhd
6. Quandatics Academy Sdn Bhd
7. AceStar Sdn Bhd
8. Trainocate (M) Sdn Bhd
9. GKK Consultants Sdn Bhd
10. Secure IOT Academy Sdn. Bhd

KCOM’s other digital transformation efforts include its tie up with Hong Leong Financial Group Berhad via HLX Management Sdn Bhd, an innovation exchange startup wholly owned by property arm GuocoLand Malaysia Berhad, to operate a digital campus at Menara HLA.

Rochester, NY (PRUnderground) –

CertNexus announced that KnowledgeCom was named APJC ATP of the Year at the inaugural Partner Meeting and Award Ceremony in Rochester, NY.

Awarded to exemplary CertNexus Authorized Training Partners (ATP), the ceremony was designed to recognize partners with consistent representation of CertNexus products and committed to outstanding performance.

“KnowledgeCom has only joined us within the past year but they have accelerated their onboarding process and deliver of providing CertNexus solutions,” said Jeff Felice, President of CertNexus, “They have become one of the most consistent and largest training partners in the APJC region in such a short time.”

“KnowledgeCom Corporation is a specialized company that aims to upskill the workforce of the nation by training and certifying students from public and private universities, fresh graduates, government servants and professionals,” said Rubaneswaran Thevasenabathy, CEO at KnowledgeCom

Kuala Lumpur, 3 January 2020 – Censof Holdings Berhad (“Censof”) has completed the acquisition and subscription of a 51% stake in enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) software provider, Netsense Business Solutions Sdn Bhd and Netsense Business Solutions Pte Ltd (“Netsense Group”) for approximately RM 0.64 million.

With offices in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta, Netsense Group offers a wide array of business solutions ranging from Acumatica Cloud ERP Software, Accounting Software, CRM, HR Solutions, Payroll, Project Management, Business Intelligence Tools, Customised Dashboards, Mobile Apps and e-Commerce Solutions. Censof is an OEM partnership with Acumatica Inc., a leading innovator in cloud ERP that enables technology partners like Censof to customize its applications to suit the needs of end-users

Censof Group Managing Director, Encik Ameer bin Shaik Mydin said, “Having built a strong market presence in providing financial management solutions to the public and private sector, we have in recent years expanded our service offerings to include other functions such as human resource management, customer relationship management, e-commerce and many others.”

Censof as a group is an established market leader in the SME industry. This acquisition will only strengthen the presence and complement our position in the SME industry.

“By acquiring Netsense, a company with an existing portfolio of SME clients who are using the Acumatica ERP application, this will fast track our expansion into the private sector. We look forward to this venture with Netsense Group and incorporate our other technologies within the Group to deliver innovative solutions that support the business growth of SMEs,” he added.
With the rapid advancement of technology, the SMEs’ requirement for increasing automation and productivity in their business is evolving day by day. This need will serve as an opportunity in creating demand for an industry specific EPR solution.

Netsense Chief Executive Director, Abdul Rehman Khalid said, “A partnership with Censof came at the right time, as we have planned our next major leap into the implementation of industry specific solutions for SMEs such as the Acumatica Field Service edition, Construction edition and Manufacturing edition.”

“To add on, we have also made arrangement for payment plans such as monthly payments, so that our SME clients can adopt these systems without affecting their cashflow.”

The equity stakes in the two newly acquired companies, Netsense Business Solutions Sdn Bhd and Netsense Business Solutions Pte Ltd will be held by Censof Holdings Berhad, and not Century Software (M) Sdn Bhd as previously announced in May 2019.

Netsense Group currently supports around 90 reputable clients across more than 15 industry verticals. The industries served are retail, distribution, trading, professional services, logistic, F&B, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, construction and supply chain management, amongst others.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 — Industry players are urged to assist the government in providing education to the community in information communication technology (ICT) in facing the challenges of the industrial revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0).

Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo said the effort was to ensure every strata of society especially those living in the interior regions and the senior citizens were not left out of the rapid development in the world technology.

“We want all sectors of the industry to participate in our initiatives to educate the general public on how they could use the IR4.0 infrastructure for their benefit,” he said after witnessing the exchange of the Memorandums of Understanding (MoA) between Knowledgecom and HLX for the development and implementation of Industrial Revolution 4.0 at Menara HLA today.

The exchange of the MoA documents were represented by KCOM Group Chief Executive Officer S.T. Rubaneswaran and HLX was represented by Guacoland Malaysia Berhad Executive Director Lee Wee Kee.

Commenting on the agreement between the two companies, Gobind said the effort could become an example for more groups to share expertise to develop IR4.0.

“This is an example how industries used the ability of their workers to assist other industries and for us to reskill them by sharing the other skills that they have for better benefits,” he added.

– BERNAMA

Kuala Lumpur, 23 December 2019 – Knowledgecom Corporation Sdn Bhd (“KCOM”), a subsidiary of Censof Holdings Berhad (“Censof”) welcomes new strategic shareholders at its Singapore subsidiary, Knowledgecom Pte Ltd (“KCOMS”), with the aim of strengthening its market presence in Singapore.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Chief Executive Officer of KCOM, Mr. S. T. Rubaneswaran said, “There is rising demand for programmes to upskill and prepare the workforce for the Industry 4.0 era. Our expansion into Singapore is a great way for us to gain recognition as a formidable training provider that accelerates the digital skills of the workforce to become future ready.”

A leading player in designing and delivering Information Technology training programmes for more than 10 years, KCOM is spearheading Beyond4, an initiative to integrate Industry 4.0 practices and technology into businesses’ operations.

In Malaysia, KCOM has tied up with the Hong Leong Financial Group Berhad via HLX Management Sdn Bhd, an innovation exchange startup wholly owned by property arm, GuocoLand Malaysia Berhad to operate a digital campus at Menara HLA.

Today, KCOM signed a share sale agreement to strategically divest 30% of its stake in KCOMS to Mr. Philip Teng Chee Wan and Dr. Sharon Lim Siok Lin for SGD 300,000 (equivalent to approximately RM918,000 based on exchange rate of SGD1:RM3.06). KCOM will retain a 70% interest in KCOMS.

This follows the partnership announced on 18 April 2019 with Millet World Pte Ltd (“Millet World”) for both parties to collaborate and develop business in education, training and skills development in emergent technologies.

Mr. Philip Teng and Dr. Sharon Lim, whom are directors of Millet World, have many years of academia, research and training background, and experience in Deeptech, Fintech, Internet of Things (“IoT”), as well as business and property investments. Mr. Philip Teng has a Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering in Carnegie Mellon University while Dr. Sharon Lim earned her Doctorate degree in Computer Science from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Both of them have a strong business network within Singapore and the ASEAN region and are passionate about accelerating businesses’ growth via regionalization.

Mr. S. T. Rubaneswaran concluded, “KCOM is pleased to welcome these two highly capable individuals onboard. We hope to leverage on Mr. Philip and Dr. Sharon’s strong expertise and knowledge to strengthen our market footprint in Singapore and potentially, throughout the ASEAN region.”

“Their invaluable input will enable us to develop suitable programmes that cater to the Singaporean workforce and businesses. Furthermore, they can also open doors for us to work together with Singapore universities as well as the public sector to deliver our training programmes.”

Kuala Lumpur, 16 December 2019 – Censof Holdings Berhad’s (“Censof”) wholly-owned subsidiary, Century Software (M) Sdn. Bhd. has secured a contract from Ministry of Finance Malaysia (“MOF”) to provide maintenance and support services for MOF’s budget management information system, MyResults.

The contract is valued at RM5.3 million and carries a tenure of 12 months, from 2 January 2020 until 1 January 2021.

MyResults is an outcome based budgeting (OBB) system which was developed by Century Software for MOF. Under the OBB system, high-level national strategies are linked to specific budget programs and activities. This will lead to an improvement in resource management while enhancing transparency and accountability. As this budget system is integrated across
the various ministries, government officials are able to plan their budgets more effectively.

Censof Group Managing Director, Encik Ameer bin Shaik Mydin said “We are honored to be awarded with the contract to carry out maintenance services for MyResults. It enables us to continue our long standing relationship with MOF, having completed the project hand over of MyResults in May 2019. We appreciate the continued confidence MOF has for the group, as it lends credence to our technical capabilities and strengthens our track record in the area of financial management solutions.”

Century Software has been providing IT solutions specializing in financial management to the public sector and has on-going contracts with government agencies such as the Inland Revenue Board (“LHDN”), Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (“DBKL”) and Pertubuhan Keselamatan Sosial (“PERKESO”).

Inclusive of this contract, Censof’s orderbook now stands at approximately RM55.7 million. The subsidiary has also significantly increased its recurring maintenance contracts to approximately RM37.2 million per annum.

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Rhys Brown as the new CEO of ABSS. He was previously appointed as the COO earlier this year. Rhys will be responsible to drive ABSS to the next level, building on the solid foundation and bringing significant growth in the company. On behalf of our board and management, we wish Rhys all the best in his new role.