Future of business lies in the cloud

Pham Hong Phong

Pham Hong Phong, managing director at Oracle Vietnam, told VIR’s Trang Nguyen how this helps transform business operations to better meet market and customer demands.

Advanced technology is taking centre stage in almost all aspects of our daily lives. How far has it transformed the way businesses operate here in Vietnam?

In Vietnam, I’ve seen that IT has won the trust of local residents, enterprises, and the government, as they all perceive the clear benefits of its application in everyday life and work. In an era of digital transformation, I’ve seen the local government be very active in welcoming and promoting Industry 4.0, embracing artificial intelligence (AI), deep machine learning, blockchain, and, above all, cloud computing.

Cloud computing in particular has changed how businesses go about developing their IT system. It used to be complicated, requiring the enterprises to recruit IT specialists and invest in equipment and software to deploy and operate such systems. This was costly and time-consuming. Now, with cloud computing, these issues are all solved by simply signing up with a cloud provider which equips them with the necessary services and software, and they then can be effectively and efficiently managed by companies like Oracle.

Enterprises can ultimately focus on their core business, with resources that used to be spent on IT infrastructure available to invest in innovation and bringing their products to the market more quickly.

In Vietnam, everyone from customers and businesses to the government is excited about the applications of cloud computing, as it can clearly bring added value to each party.

How challenging would it be for chief information officers (CIO) in Vietnam to switch to cloud computing this way?

CIOs may face numerous challenges, including switching from a traditional IT structure to an Industry 4.0-oriented system. This challenge is encountered by CIOs we have come across in all industries, from banks and telecommunications to governments, it is the issue of how to transform their current internal business processes and procedures, as well as customer services, into an internet-based approach, taking advantage of the power of the internet.

For instance, as banks are heading in the direction of digital banking, they are digitalising their products and services, which means opening an account will be simple, with no physical presence at the bank needed and no hassle of carrying personal ID there, while lending will not require the same complicated procedures as before. All of these tasks will be conducted through the internet, with scanned IDs, attached documents, and other information that can be fetched directly from social media accounts.

This is not only a challenge, but also an opportunity for them: to once and for all get their business processes digitalised with the help of advanced technologies like AI, big data, and cloud computing, with the ultimate goal of meeting their customers’ needs and being creative in the products and services they provide.

What does Oracle have to offer these CIOs and how are your cloud products becoming the norm?

Oracle is a premier company in databases and we are working towards being a leading provider of cloud services. We currently offer a comprehensive range of products including infrastructure (computing, storage, networking) solutions that come with a data management platform for database workloads and big data; software services specialised on customer experience, human capital management, and enterprise resource planning; and data services that aggregate and analyse consumer data for customer understanding. As you can see, enterprises’ demand, from infrastructure to applications, are all met by Oracle Cloud and provided in an autonomous manner, which requires minimum interference from users. Cutting costs, enhancing productivity, reducing risks, and minimising the time to launch a product to the market are what Oracle can offer our customers.

Can you give an example of local companies that have successfully implemented Oracle Cloud products?

One of the local companies we have successfully co-operated with is Bac Ky Logistics, which has a port warehouse. It has the demand to manage some 200 trucks and 300 drivers, as well as their warehouses, customers, and sub-contractors for logistics services.

Solving the puzzle of how to manage these drivers, trucks, and routes of transport, as well as driver rosters and accounting, was a real headache, especially since Bac Ky also has its river logistics route from the province of Bac Ninh to Haiphong.

Given these requirements, Oracle has come up with Oracle Transportation Management Cloud and the Internet of Things Fleet Management applications, to help them improve their speed of service, optimise costs, and improve transparency. In addition, with analytics embedded into the solution, they will also be able to visualise their supply chain and relevant logistics and trade information in real time.