Broadband what it can do for you
Tan Su-Yin
IT@Work-30/07/01
Shane Hodge firmly believes that broadband is the way to go.
It has been said that there is one thing you can never get enough of and that is bandwidth, the amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed amount of time. Speed is also always an issue. While the general public is still awaiting broadband — a type of data transmission in which a single medium (wire) can carry several channels at once - Cordoda Corporation Sdn Bhd is all out to bring it to businesses.
Shane Hodge, chief operating officer of Cordoda, has 26 years of experience in management and consultancy. He has been involved in projects such as wireless networks in China and Internet kiosks in the United States. Hodge was also the driving force behind Davnet (a listed Australian Communications company) establishing its broadband operations in Hong Kong and Singapore when he was vice president of its International Development unit.
When he’s not enjoying speed on fibre optic cables, Hodge prefers speed of a different kind, that on his superbike which he rides to Sepang for a heart-racing spin.
IT@ Work learns about Hodge’s need for speed and broadband.
What can broadband do for businesses?
We are increasingly moving towards a networked economy where businesses will be more customer-centric and customers will be more particular about the level of service provided. So, companies are forced to deliver high quality of service to meet the rising needs of their customers. This means leveraging on technological advances.
Courier companies, for example, can scan the parcel at each point of arrival and know exactly where the parcel is at all times. You get information at your fingertips!
In Malaysia, government agencies are driving the adoption of’ e-businesses and the transformation into a k-economy. To boost e-business adoption however, we need a reliable and secure connectivity and Internet access.
Where do you see broadband playing an important role?
Definitely the SMIs (small medium industries). SMIs need to be competitive and the use of technology and broadband can give them that edge. There may be many SMIs providing a spare part to an automotive producer, but say one company can transact through the Internet, or is able to track if their product has been sent out or where it is right now, there they have a competitive edge. But SMIs need to be armed with knowledge. Large corporations are into broadband because they can afford it, they have the skills to do it and they know they need it. Many say the problems SMIs face is lack of resources but I believe it is a lack of knowledge on how technology will help their businesses.
What is Cordoda doing to overcome this?
I always say “give people the knowledge and this will create the need.” We are not looking to sell our customers a pipeline, we first need to give them the knowledge - knowledge of how to use technology to cut down on deficiencies, how to leverage real-time information, how to have a fully automated system and ultimately how to make more money. On Cordoda’s end, we have interviewed hundreds of SMIs in manufacturing and retail and asked them “What do you need?” And what they have said is human resource solutions, sales database and e-commerce enablement.
We have listened and are coming up with a package for SMIs that will cater to these needs. For the SMIs, we are going to absorb almost all the cost in order to provide the broadband. The package will be available in three months, so I cannot reveal the figures now.
What about the cost factor? Do you think this is what makes people reluctant to use broadband?
The wonderful thing about technology is, it is one of the few things that get cheaper. Compare the cost of a PC ten years ago and now, and you will see what I mean.
Costs aside, the way to overcome this is for us to play a consultative role and not just a sales role. You don’t tell your customers why they should buy a really fast pipe, you show what it can do for them. When ATMs (automated teller machines) were first introduced, people were afraid to use them because they were not aware of the benefits and convenience it brings. But when people’s minds opened up, look what happened — nobody can do without an ATM card anymore.
Same thing with broadband — once people have embraced it, they will realise what they can do with it. Sure, you can use a dialup but it will consume time, and time is money Sooner or later, you are just going to need more pipe.
Incorporated in August 1999 and awarded MSC Status in February this year, Cordoda aims to provide customers a value-added service by providing robust connectivity and applications crucial to enhance network requirements through its flagship product, Enterprise Broadband Network (EBN).
The infrastructure is built upon fibre optic networks and has 18 points of presence in Malaysia. EBN’s Network Computing Centre (NCC) located at Technology Park Malaysia, Selangor is equipped with professionals to run and support the client network 24 hours a day. EBN supports customers in consulting designing implementing and managing a core value-added backbone that is capable of processing vast quantities of data, voice and imaging.
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