Skali goes No-Frills

By JO TIMBUONG

ALAM Teknokrat Sdn Bhd, or Skali as it is better known, is going into the no-frills business.

In a recent press conference, the company announced its No-Frills Technology portfolio, which includes No-Frills Web Hosting and No-Frills Business.

The No-Frills Technology solutions will be targeted at SMBs (small-and medium-sized businesses) and SoHo (small office home office) users.

Under No-Frills Webhosting, SMB or SoHo users can pay a fee of as low RM35 for three years. Subscribers start off with 100MB of space and if they realise they need more, additional space can be bought.

“This way, customers pay for what they need,” Skali president and co-founder, Aimi Aizal Nasharuddin said.

Skali could not comment on its No-Frills Business offering as it is still in the midst of development.

Aimi said the No-Frills approach is also a branding exercise that would help Skali gain a better foothold in the local IT scene.

“You can think of it as an Air Asia approach for CIOs. With them, everyone can fly – with us, everyone can have an IT solution,” Aimi said. Aimi added Skali’s approach to No-Frills Technology is to make technology simple and accessible.

“Technology is now a commodity and users are more concerned with the fact that it works well,” Aimi said.

Skali will still continue with its other IT business solutions such as data hosting, systems integration and maintenance and services. These solutions will now be marketed as Premier services.

Expansion plans

Skali also announced its plans to expand into the global market, starting with South East Asia. To get the ball rolling, the company said it has already secured business deals in Indonesia and Brunei.

The company said it is helping the Indonesian government prepare an IT blueprint for West Java.

Its business in Brunei concerns capacity building and training for Skali’s technology platform and other technologies under the Brunei Economic Development Board.

Skali also has its eyes set on China and the Middle East. In China, it plans to target its products at the retail sector.

Aimi added that Skali will tread carefully in the Middle East market after learning an expensive mistake in the past where it experienced lacklustre performance.

“Our entry into the Middle East did not go as planned but we are cooking up some new plans to re-enter that region,” he said.

Assessed on Thursday February 21, 2008,

The Star Online

http://bangtrade.com