The Malaysian Data Centre Alliance (MDCA), a professional alliance for the data centre industry, was launched to oversee the collective development of data centres in Malaysia. MDCA will lead key initiatives towards growing the industry, and will play an instrumental role in transforming Malaysia into a preferred data centre hub in the region.
At a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur today, the MDCA was launched by Yang Berhormat Dato' Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Minister of Communications and Multimedia.
In his speech, Dato' Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said, "The data centre sector was identified as a key growth area under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and has in the past couple of years shown steady progress. The half-year revenue for the industry is RM292 million and is set to achieve target revenue of RM562 million for 2013, which marks a 20% growth from 2012.
"With the formation of MDCA and the initiatives that it will undertake, the data centre industry is set to grow further and contribute to a total of RM2.1 billion to the country's Gross National Income (GNI) by the year 2020."
"I am happy to note that with MDeC behind the reins, we are well on our way to meet the EPP's target of making Malaysia the preferred destination for data centre investors. The Ministry of Communications and Multimedia will work closely with MDeC, lending its support to ensure that our vision can be further accelerated," said Dato' Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek.
The Malaysian Government, via the ETP recognised the data centre industry as a key growth area in 2010. This resulted in the development of the Entry Point Project 3 (EPP3), which aims to position Malaysia as a world class data centre hub.
Ms. Ng Wan Peng, chief operating officer of MDeC said "As the advisor and champion of the EPP3 initiative, MDeC's role is to facilitate growth of the industry. We are working with the industry to elevate Malaysia's standing in the robust global data centre sector. Such initiatives include understanding the needs of the industry through regular forums, creating the awareness of the importance of DC in a business entity, catalyzing the industry through incentives and programmes for data centre professionals, provision of comprehensive facilities, services and expertise that create a conducive business environment for the sector.
"With the establishment of MDCA, this effort will be more streamlined and will attract more Domestic Direct Investments (DDI) and Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) which will subsequently contribute to the country's economic growth."
Key initiatives identified for implementation to support the objectives of EPP3 include:
- Benchmarking data centre to identify gaps and improve performance
- Enhancing the credibility of data centres via certifications from globally-recognised bodies
- Increasing the availability of data centre talent pool through professional certification programmes and adoption of university courses
- Designating data centre parks with world-class telecommunications network, power and other infrastructures.
- Engaging stakeholders to continuously develop and provide a more supportive ecosystem for the data centre industry.
The combined data centre floor space of all 17 founding members of MDCA is approximately 1 million square feet, catering to thousands of customers across diverse business sectors such as telecommunications, information technology, manufacturing, financial services, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as the government and public sector. The data centre industry is thriving, with the current trends and push for it that are so pervasive in today's businesses, with its services for enterprises and consumers that include social media, cloud, big data and mobility.
Billy Lee, Chairman of MDCA, commented, "As the voice for the data centre industry in Malaysia, it is important for MDCA to raise overall awareness with the general public on the roles and importance of data centres, and how they impact lives of the people today. MDCA will act as a platform for members to contribute to the establishment of best practices, education programmes, industry leadership initiatives and technical standards to which the data centre industry adheres."
Mr. Lee added that MDCA's initiatives will centre on five main areas - business development, connectivity and bandwidth, green technology standards, energy, and standards & policies.
