AWS expands skills development program as Malaysia looks to retain workforce

AWS remains committed to developing talents in Southeast Asia, with over 100,000 individuals trained in Malaysia since 2017.

The AWS Cloud Day in Malaysia can be considered the largest tech conference in the country with over 3,000 attendees taking part in the various programs available. As one of the top cloud service providers in the country, AWS continues to support organizations, both large and small, not only in their digital transformation journey but also in developing and applying AI use cases.

In August 2024, the AWS Asia Pacific (Malaysia) Region was launched with a planned investment of US$6.2 billion (RM29.2 billion) in Malaysia through 2038. The new AWS Region in Malaysia will play a pivotal role in advancing the country’s digitization ambitions, meeting the high demand for cloud services while supporting innovation in Malaysia and across Southeast Asia.

In his keynote address at AWS Cloud Day, Gobind Singh Deo, the Digital Minister of Malaysia mentioned that the government's commitment goes beyond simply attracting investments.

“We are dedicated to fostering sustainable ecosystems for both local and global businesses. By offering secure, reliable, and user-friendly cloud services, we are building a resilient digital infrastructure that will drive innovation and accelerate economic growth,” said the minister.

The minister also mentioned that the country is committed to cultivating a regulatory landscape that promotes innovation and growth, while upholding rigorous standards in data security and responsible governance. This will be achieved through five key pillars which are focused on data storage and management, data protection, data security, data innovation and data governance.

“Innovation will not wait for us, and we cannot afford to be left behind. We are all here today because we want to play our own unique role in contributing to this future ecosystem for us all to mature into a high-income economy and a kindled entrepreneurial spirit,” added the minister.

AWS Tech Alliance

AWS also launched Jobs Tech Alliance to further enhance the skills of Malaysians to meet the demands of industries adapting emerging technologies. Collaborating with the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), the Tech Alliance aims to modernize tech programs of study at Malaysian higher education institutions, connect learners to in-demand tech jobs, and support the development of a highly skilled tech workforce.

According to Peter Murray, Malaysia Country Manager for AWS, since 2017, AWS has trained over 100,000 individuals in the country on cloud computing skills.

“By addressing the skills gap and preparing learners for in-demand tech jobs through Tech Alliance, we are proud to develop the local cloud talent pipeline alongside partners like the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), connecting students to high-value employment opportunities [at more than] 40 businesses in Malaysia. This initiative will complement the 3,500 full-time equivalent jobs that the AWS Malaysia Region is expected to support annually as we help to drive the nation’s digital transformation goals,” said Murray.

During a media conference at the event, the minister also highlighted that while there have been a lot of initiatives taken by AWS and other tech companies in developing local talents in the country, retaining the talent remains a concern for most organizations as well.

He explained that the government continues to discuss with enterprises, tech vendors and even the partner community on initiatives that can be taken to retain talent in the country. This includes ensuring there are career development opportunities planned for talent to remain with an organization.

Currently, Malaysia is facing a shortage of talent in several tech areas, including semiconductor engineers, data scientists as well as AI developers. However, the minister believes that with the right approach, the problem can eventually be solved.

CelcomDigi migrates 90% of workloads to AWS

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s largest mobile operator CelcomDigi also announced at AWS Cloud Day that it will migrate close to 90% of its workloads, comprising a wide variety of mission-critical applications, to AWS over the next five years. These applications include front-end customer and dealer channels, customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, API integration platform, customer experience applications, and business support systems.

Since the telco company started running its workloads on AWS, it has witnessed an acceleration in service deployment to just under an hour from one week. The migration to AWS Cloud has eliminated the need for hardware procurement and capacity and network planning associated with on-premises infrastructure.

Not only has this has enhanced CelcomDigi’s operational agility, it has also reduced IT operating costs by 20%, and enabled the company to continue innovating at scale while leveraging the security robustness of cloud to enhance data protection for its customers. CelcomDigi is also an AWS Select Tier Services Partner and is enabled to build specialized expertise in AWS's advanced technologies like machine learning, analytics, and generative AI.