Standard Operating Environment III

Latest news indicated that NCS is leading tech bigwigs in SOE bid. Before this news, I told Sunshine, that I foresee NCS will be in the forefront of the race. Why? Because under the existing bulk tender, NCS has the lion share of 60-70% of the market.

The NCS-led consortium surprisingly partnering IT giant IBM as its exclusive Tier 1 partner, which means that IBM will not be a part of any other consortium vying for the SOE tender. Singtel is its parent company, Microsoft and Cisco are winners no matter which consortium wins. But IBM? Because IBM has been promoting its managed services aggressively and trying to eat into NCS turf. Now, they are partners holding hands, like a "happy couple"?

GLCs are a boon or bane in Singapore? GLCs are getting more aggressive to boost their bottomlines, SMEs are always struggling to keep up in order to compete with them because they have deeper pockets. They have the top brains in the management team, can easily get consultants to work out with better procedures and system. SMEs have to stay nimble on the foot, need to be more gutsy and makes decisions fast, yet careful not to over extend ourselves and get blogged down with cashflow...

Reference: News from Singapore Business Times

Standard Operating Environment II

EDS has just announced the first consortium in bid for Singapore $1.5 billion SOE tender. As expected, it is made up of industry heavyweights - Singapore Computer Systems, Avanade, Cisco Systems and Microsoft.

EDS, SCS and Avanade are exclusive members of oneMeridien, which means that they will not be part of any other consortiums that are expected to be bidding for the tender. Cisco Systems and Microsoft are non-exclusive, but they are also part of the EDS Agility Alliance, a partnership of 10 firms. While EDS and SCS are product- and platform-neutral service providers, Avanade is owned jointly by Accenture and Microsoft.

So it seems like the Microsoft technologies will indeed gain the upper hand and dominate the Government sector. While the SOE project is beneficial to the Government, expecting to cut 30-40% of IT expenses, it is definitely not good news to the existing vendors and suppliers. From the signs of things to come, the local SMEs, notably the smaller players in the IT industry, as feared, will be increasingly sidelined in the Government sector.

Is this a fair level field of play? The Government is "encouraging" the SMEs to focus their attention overseas, but at their own backyard, they are already disadvantaged. It is analogous to a tree without strong roots, how will the branches and leaves grow?

Everyday, I have been seriously thinking how to survive being "a small fish in a big pond"? Recalling historical stories from "The Spring Autumn Warring States Chronicles" and "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", the smaller states (but not necessarily weak) need to band together in order to survive. But unlike larger states, each states have its own manifest and they more than often, united only in name but not in hearts.

企业家的使命

An excerpt from Robert Kuok Hock Nien on "entreprenuership":

“企业家都有一种使命感。赚钱当然是最重要的工作，可是，当获得大量金钱后，使命感便会油然而生。没有使命感，一个人很快便想到退休，每天在高尔夫球场出现。

做生意有如逆水行舟，必须不断向前划，否则，一停下来便可能倒退。因此，我们不能停下来，必须不断向前、不断寻找机会。而危机就是机会，一名生意人必须保持对时势的敏感与警觉。

成功领导人的要诀，是必须拥有一批强大及有高度效率的经理人才，并与属下的各级员工密切合作，为公司奋斗 。要公平及诚实。领导人应以公平及诚实的态度与所有人交往，平时以礼待人，讲究信用，将会建立良好的声誉。一旦面临困境时，将会得到贵人协助。同时拥有坚强的体魄及精神意志，随时为公司的前途尽力奋斗。”

——“亚洲糖王”郭鹤年 <联合早报 02 Feb, 2006>

Let me try to translate the excerpts for the benefit of non-Chinese readers:)

"Enterpreneuers are driven by a sense of mission. Primarily, they are into the business of making money. But in the process of amassing wealth, the sense of mission will prevail. Without which, one will think of retirement and play golf everyday.

Being in business is analogous to rowing a boat against the tide, the only way is forward. If one do not forge ahead, one will left lagging behind. One must also keep constantly vigilant and alert of latest business developments, because for every crisis there is opportunity.

A successful leader need a strong and efficient management team, to inspire and foster team cohesiveness among the staff. One must be fair and sincere in dealing with people, treat everyone with respect and dignity, hence fostering trust and credibility. So that in time of difficulties, others will be more than willing to lend a helping hand. Lest, one must also physically and mentally strong, in order to commit to the continual and future success of the company."

Robert Kuok Hock Nien is the richest man in Malaysia. He tops the Forbes Southeast Asia's richest list again in 2005, with an estimated wealth of US$5.3 billion.

He studied at the old boy of Raffles College in Singapore and was a schoolmate of Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew in the late 40s. In the 70s, he was known as the "Sugar King" as he controlled more than 10 percent of the global sugar market. Currently, he has diversified his business empire, which include the prestige Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts Chain along with dozens of other companies, primarily in the property, mining and agriculture sectors.

Fine Country

It's Chinese New Year, but a little incident spoilt some of the festive mood.

I was parking my van at my parents' HDB carpark over the night on the eve, and was slapped with a $50 fine. It was 5 pm already that day, all the shops are already closed for business. I teared a 50 cent parking coupon for half-an-hour. The overnight coupon was $2.00 from 10:30 pm to 07:30 am, I thought I won't be needing it as it was holiday the next day, and it was a free parking day for HDB carparks.

However, to my surprise, when I returned to the vehicle the next day, and was issued with the $50 fine. The time of the offence is 11:07 pm. Seems like our carpark assistants are out on full force on the day...

This month seems like a little down on luck, contributed a tidy sum of $100 of fines as hong bao to the "maintenance" of the road ;P