EPiC Agile expands into the Americas, bringing industry veteran Ron Laudadio onboard

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 -- Business agility firm, EPiC Agile is expanding into the Americas after bringing seasoned industry veteran Ron Laudadio onboard to continue its track record of exponential growth and global expansion.

According to a statement, the move comes as business booms for EPiC, which has grown its headcount by more than 75 per cent this year, as companies worldwide seek out business transformation solutions amid ongoing fallout from the coronavirus crisis.

EPiC Agile is a full-service business agility transformation company, with over 60 coaches through South-East Asia who help companies successfully implement business agility models.

“We are delighted that Ron is joining our international leadership team as we look to accelerate the momentum we've created across Asia, into the Northern Hemisphere," said EPiC co-founder, Rob Gaunt.

Laudadio spent more than two decades in various roles at global computer giant IBM, including as chief technology officer for Canada, before joining consulting firm CGI where he spearheaded agile transformations on various projects.

Having witnessed transformations in about 2,000 leaders throughout his career, he said he had good insight into business strategies that resonate with impact.

"This is why joining EPiC Agile was a natural fit. Their strategic implementation of business agility is unique and will be sought after by business leaders in this region,” he added.

Laudadio’s newly recruited team of eight, to be based in Canada and the US, joins forces with EPiC in the Asia Pacific region.

Having worked with the likes of Woolworths, Telstra, Cochlear and AfterPay, EPiC’s coaches mentor business leaders as they undertake major company transformations, as well as developing bespoke strategies that foster strong workplace culture and modern ways of working.

Since launching in 2016, EPiC has built up an impressive business transformation track record, now with more than 60 coaches across three countries through South-East Asia.

-- BERNAMA

Sweegen delights expanding extensive sweetener portfolio with brazzein

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 -- Sweegen is expanding its extensive sweetener portfolio in early 2022 with zero-calorie, high-intensity sweetener brazzein.

According to a statement, the product was developed in collaboration with long-term innovation partner Conagen, which has scaled it to commercial production.

“Introducing a high-purity brazzein to Sweegen’s portfolio of natural sweeteners is one more creative solution for helping brands make low-calorie better-for-you products,” said Sweegen's SVP, Head of Global Innovation, Shari Mahon.

“Brands can look forward to exploring the synergistic benefits of combining brazzein and stevia for reducing sugar in food and beverages in a cost-effective way.”

Brazzein is a small, heat-stable protein, 500 to 2,000 times sweeter than regular sugar, making it very attractive to food and beverage manufacturers seeking excellent value in a sweetener.

It is stable in a wide range of pH and retains its qualities after pasteurisation, and is also readily soluble, making it ideal for sugar reduction across a spectrum of food and beverage applications.

As a sweet protein, brazzein has great promise to fit into consumer diets, such as Keto, diabetes, or low-to-no carbohydrate lifestyles. Health-conscious consumers are also turning away from artificial sweeteners and accepting nature-based sweeteners, such as stevia and allulose.

Found sparingly in nature, brazzein derives from the West African climbing plant’s fruit, oubli. To scale brazzein sustainably, Conagen produces it by a proprietary precision fermentation process, a technology producing clean, nature-based ingredients.

Sweegen provides sweet taste solutions for food and beverage manufacturers worldwide. More details at www.sweegen.com.

-- BERNAMA

TDCX TO GRAB US$100 BILLION OUTSOURCED CX SERVICES MARKET OPPORTUNITIES VIA NYSE LISTING

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 (Bernama) -- TDCX Inc, a high-growth digital customer experience solutions provider for technology and blue-chip companies, announced its listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

As a listed company, TDCX is well-positioned to accelerate its growth strategy to capture opportunities from the global outsourced customer experience (CX) services market, which is expected to be worth US$100 billion by 2025. (US$1 = RM4.173)

Headquartered in Singapore, TDCX provides trusted digital CX solutions to help fast-growing technology companies and other globally recognised brands manage complex and critical customer interactions on their behalf.

The IPO raised US$348.5 million in gross proceeds, taking the company’s market value to US$2.57 billion or S$3.50 billion. Should the underwriters choose to exercise their over-allotment option in full, the total gross proceeds of the offering will be approximately US$401 million, taking the company's market value to US$2.62 billion or S$3.57 billion.

In a statement, TDCX Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Laurent Junique said: “Our successful listing reflects the world-class company that we have built and our position as the go-to partner for transformative digital customer experience services.

“Through our more than 13,000 talented, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural team members who are at the heart of our operations, we help our clients solve their most complex and demanding customer interactions in more than 20 languages daily across 10 geographies.”

According to Frost & Sullivan, there is a large and rapidly expanding market for digital CX solutions. In Southeast Asia, total demand is expected to reach US$14 billion by 2025, with demand from New Economy industries spearheading the growth at 19 per cent compound annual growth rate from 2016.

TDCX has an international footprint with offices in the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Japan, Spain, India, Colombia and Romania.

-- BERNAMA

NCSOFT reveals Lineage W takes off globally Nov 4

 

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 -- NCSOFT, a global premier game developer and publisher, has announced that the compnay’s upcoming multi-platform MMORPG, ‘Lineage W’, launches simultaneously in 13 countries and regions on Nov 4.

According to a statement, Lineage W hosted the 2nd online showcase titled ‘Lineage W 2nd Showcase : Answer’ to unveil the release date and service plans.

NCSOFT addressed players’ questions submitted on the official website to introduce the game’s detailed content.

The showcase provides English, Japanese, and Chinese subtitles for global players. Additional information on four classes -- Prince, Knight, Elf, and Mage -- is also available on the official website.

Lineage W launches at midnight of Nov 4 in 13 countries and regions, including Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Russia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Lineage W will expand service regions afterward to North America, South America, and Europe as well.

Character name reservation for preferred server begins on Sept 30 on the event page. The global pre-registration for Lineage W, which crossed the 10 million mark, is in progress on the official website, Google Play, and App Store.

-- BERNAMA

MANULIFE MALAYSIA PROVIDES COVID-19 VACCINATION SUPPORT TO EMPLOYEES AND ANNOUNCES 5 EXTRA PERSONAL DAYS IN 2022

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 (Bernama) -- In light of the evolving COVID-19 situation, Manulife Malaysia is helping employees and customers to stay safe and resilient with a number of initiatives, including facilitating vaccination and providing extra days off for employees, and offering financial assistance to customers.

Through Malaysia’s National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme, Manulife Malaysia is supporting employees and their family members who have not received their vaccination to get vaccinated more conveniently at prearranged clinics and health centres across various states in the country. This arrangement, which began in 22 July 2021, has since facilitated the vaccination of Manulife Malaysia’s branch employees.

Looking ahead to 2022, Manulife Malaysia is once again giving all employees five additional personal days to use next year in appreciation of all the hard work they have done to help make every day better for customers across Malaysia. Manulife Malaysia is also announcing “Fuel Up Fridays”, a Manulife global initiative to support employee well-being. The initiative sets aside the second Friday of each month through the end of the year to “fuelling up” through a morning of collective learning, followed by an afternoon off to recharge physically and mentally.

MANULIFE MALAYSIA PROVIDES COVID-19 VACCINATION SUPPORT TO EMPLOYEES AND ANNOUNCES 5 EXTRA PERSONAL DAYS IN 2022

AMMETLIFE INSURANCE BERHAD INCREASES COVID-19 FUND TO RM5 MILLION FOR LAUNCH OF HOSPITALISATION REIMBURSEMENT COVERAGE

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 (Bernama) -- As the Government prepares to transition Malaysia into the endemic phase of COVID-19, AmMetLife Insurance Berhad (AmMetLife) will expand its support to new and existing medical plan customers by adding a COVID-19 Hospitalisation Reimbursement Benefit. This benefit will form part of the company’s COVID-19 Fund that has been increased to RM5 million from RM1 million.

As part of its commitment to protecting the health and well-being of its customers, AmMetLife will reimburse medical expenses received as a *Category three, four or five COVID-19 patient at a Ministry of Health designated hospital. The coverage period is effective from 1 September 2021 until 31 December 2021 or when the total payout for the AmMetLife COVID-19 Fund reaches RM5 million, whichever is earlier. All claims payable for this benefit will be on a first-come-first-served basis.

“The pandemic has been an extremely difficult time for all of us and we remain committed to supporting our customers with coverage to help them live confidently. We hope the launch of our COVID-19 Hospitalisation Reimbursement Benefit will help alleviate some of our customers’ financial worry,” said Lee Jiau Jiunn, CEO, AmMetLife.


http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=41143

DELPHIX DATA CONTROL TOWER SECURES SOC 2 TYPE 1 COMPLIANCE

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 (Bernama) -- Delphix, the industry leading data company for DevOps, announced it has successfully completed a Type 1 System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 examination for the Delphix Data Control Tower (DCT).

According to a statement, the examination, conducted by Schellman & Company, LLC (Schellman), found that Delphix has suitably designed controls to meet the SOC 2 criteria for the Security, Availability and Confidentiality Trust Services Categories as of July 31.

“The increase in cyber attacks has made security top of mind. This attestation further confirms the robustness and compliance of our security protocols,” said Chief Trust & Security Officer, VP of Engineering at Delphix, Pritesh Parekh.

“As more and more enterprises become data companies, we are committed to providing them the best and most secure data solutions for DevOps.”

SOC 2 reports are attestation reports that opine on controls at an organisation relevant to the security, availability, and confidentiality of the system or services. Type 1 reports attest to the design and implementation of an organisation's controls as of a review date.

The Delphix Data Control Tower provides a single API endpoint enabling teams to automate a range of complex, critical data operations, including centrally managing enterprise application data with a SaaS interface, rapidly delivering test data through APIs, and finding and masking sensitive data for compliant test environments to safely automate CI/CD pipelines.

The company has built a robust control framework to meet the security, availability, and confidentiality commitments made to customers.

Earlier this year, the company announced that the Delphix DevOps Data Platform had achieved SAP certified integration with SAP NetWeaver® and SAP S/4HANA®. 

It also released new data compliance capabilities that help Salesforce customers unlock the strategic value of Salesforce® data while maintaining data privacy compliance.

More details at www.delphix.com.

-- BERNAMA