As the twentieth century drew to a close, Dr. Ng Kok Loon was convinced that the market was ready for business intelligence solutions. With more than 10 years of experience in both the public and private sectors, he was a firm believer in what IT could deliver to businesses.
With this conviction, Dr Ng founded iCo-op.net, a business intelligence solutions company with the vision of going global with its own indigenous technology. He set his sight on distant shores, using Singapore as a platform to the rest of the ASEAN region. "It is tough for a start-up to rely solely on the Singapore market," he says, "to succeed in the long run, you must look to the overseas markets."
By developing its own business intelligence tools powered by technology from Computer Associates Inc (CA), iCo-op.net has been able to weather the uncertainty of the fast-changing IT market.
Partnerships are vital to success, Dr Ng said. "In today's business environment, there is no way you can do everything yourself. You also can't rely on just organic growth. By working with a good partner, you can shorten the development time and time to market."
Partnering with CA under IDA's Infocomm Local Industry Upgrading Program (iLIUP), iCo-op.net has achieved considerable successes in regional markets like Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines, but Dr Ng is still hoping to do more: "Working with an established company like CA, we have the opportunity to move beyond the region. With iCo-op.net adding value to CA's solutions, we are looking forward to bringing things to the next level and the global market."
In the early days of iCo-op.net, companies were wary of investing in new technologies when the economy was uncertain. Many felt that the safer option was to hold down investments and wait out the storm. Dr Ng said that the way he overcame this reluctance to spend was through patience, persistence and education. "I would show them the capabilities of our solutions and let them know what benefits they could provide them. As I showed sincerity, they were gradually won over," he said.
Looking back, Dr Ng was glad that he was able to turn the adversity brought about by the economic doldrums into an opportunity. "I understood that things wouldn't get better overnight," he said, "I anticipated it would take at least two to three years, but I was willing to wait. So both the company and I stayed focused and confident on what we could achieve." The hard work by him and his team was a contributing factor to their solutions' success.
Now as iCo-op.net heads for further expansion, he is looking forward to the new challenges that success brings. "It is important to get your strategy right. As you grow, you must stay focused on what you want to achieve and find the partner who shares this vision. By working together you can bring value to your customers and you will both succeed."