In this Microsoft news feature series, we delve into some of the key industry trends in technology- big data, cloud analytics and machine learning. Dr Dzahar Mansor, National Technology Officer, Microsoft Malaysia interviews prominent key opinion leaders in tech and partners of Microsoft to find out how big data is applied across businesses in Malaysia.
In the final interview of the four-part series, Dr Dzahar speaks to Howard Woon, Technology and Operations Excellence Manager of LOOB Holding, the license owner of Chatime Malaysia. A leading lifestyle tea brand, Chatime has presence in 26 countries with more than 1,000 stores. In Malaysia, it employs over 800 trained tearistas (tea equivalent to baristas), across 150 outlets, offering up to 80 choices of beverages daily.
In this conversation with Howard, Dr Dzahar discusses how cloud analytics has enhanced their day-to-day operations.
Dr Dzahar: I understand that your point of sale terminals are Windows 8.1 devices, powered by Microsoft Azure. Tell us why you chose Microsoft Azure and how your journey on the cloud has been so far?
Howard: Using Azure as our cloud server has always been an obvious choice as our POS system uses a .NET framework. With Azure, it is easier to deploy services. Our journey in adopting the cloud has been particularly smooth as Microsoft has been helpful in providing the latest know-how about Azure. The convenience and ease of deployment coupled with the support from Microsoft are the top factors that lead us to choose Azure.
Dr Dzahar: What sort of analytics does Chatime need to run its operations more efficiently?
Howard: Chatime Malaysia uses a lot of descriptive and predictive analytics in order to better understand market trends and consumer habits.
Dr Dzahar: Could you give us an example of what insights you have gathered so far, and how it is has improved your business (e.g. being able to understand customers, or devise more targeted menu offerings)?
Howard: Having our customers’ purchasing trend data at our disposal, we discovered that our customers are also fans of other brands, and this has led to collaborations that resulted in positive sales.
Being able to constantly craft new offerings and predict our customer’s preferences have given Chatime Malaysia the competitive edge in the industry.
Dr Dzahar: Where do you see the most impact of this technology for your business? What has been your learnings?
Howard: The key highlight would definitely be the convenience and speed of information obtained. We are constantly coming out with new promotions based on up-to-date sales trends in our outlets, and we want to be able to rapidly respond to any business changes.
Having more than 170 outlets nationwide, the amount of data flowing through every second is humongous and the cloud server has to be able to handle all these with minimal interruptions.
Dr Dzahar: Were there any challenges that you faced during cloud adoption and how did you overcome them?
Howard: We are constantly facing a large volume of data, which is constantly increasing. This has led to some data query issues, and to overcome this, we had to optimize the query and also scale up the cloud server.
Dr Dzahar: Where do you see the future for cloud analytics? Do you plan to incorporate this into your future plans?
Howard: Cloud analytics makes the most sense given that most businesses choose to switch to cloud for the convenience, scalability and cost-saving factors. Having the analytics done in the cloud means decisions can be made faster and more accurately regardless of where the decision makers are. That said, we are also looking into this as part of Chatime Malaysia’s technology plans.
ABOUT THE SPOKESPERSONS:
Dr Dzahar Mansor, National Technology Officer, Microsoft Malaysia
Dr Dzahar has been at the heart of all the cloud and big data related initiatives in the organization. With his passion in technology, Dr Dzahar consistently represents Microsoft Malaysia as a technology thought leader at relevant events in both Malaysia and South East Asia, while acting as an academic advisor in several national universities and research institutions. He also previously contributed to the development of national technology and strategic roadmaps such as the Economic Transformation Program, the National IoT Blueprint and the National Strategic ICT Roadmap.
Howard Woon, Technology & Operations Excellence Manager, LOOB Holding
In 2011, Howard started Chatime in Malaysia, managing the service operations of LOOB Holding – the license owner of Chatime Malaysia. This experience has given him insights about how technology can complement different façades of the business. Howard was also instrumental in migrating Chatime Malaysia’s centralized POS system onto the cloud, and in scaling LOOB’s technical operations beyond Chatime Malaysia to the multi-label food and beverage organization it is today.