ECGMA says: I met Justin only once about 6-8 months ago, work-related.
RIP, my friend.
http://mis-asia.com/news/articles/malaysias-extol-ceo-and-distinguished-pikom-member-passes-away
EXTOL MSC Bhd has appointed Grace Lim Chew Hian, the chief operating officer (COO) of the company, as the acting chief executive officer effective immediately. The appointment was done following the demise of Tan Seng Kooi, the executive director and chief executive officer of the company on October 3. Lim is a Malaysian aged 40 years old.
ECGMA says: It would have been around the time of this publication (below) when I first met Justin.
Extol-ling innovation
Extol MSC Bhd's direction was altered by two chance meetings — both for the better. The first happened in the late 1980s between Extol co-founder Xavier Tan, who was a pilot at the time, and a passenger who visited his plane's cockpit. The conversation eventually led Tan, who set up Extol in 1984, to become the exclusive distributor of Trend Micro's antivirus product called PC-cillin in 1989.
The second encounter took place after Extol dropped its successful Trend Micro distributorship when it decided to create its own antivirus software. The company met an IT whiz kid at an antivirus exhibition with whom they worked to produce the "Armour" antivirus software in 1992.
Armour got its big break when it was discovered to be the only antivirus that could eliminate the "Die Hard 2" virus that plagued almost all PCs in Malaysia in 1994.
Extol has been fortunate in finding talent. But the challenge lies in nurturing talent to spark innovative products like Armour.
"I strongly believe that given the right environment, ordinary people can sometimes produce extraordinary results. We all have talent. It's a matter of whether those talents can be put to some real use," says Justin Tan, son of Xavier Tan and CEO of Extol MSC Bhd, in an email interview recently.
The younger Tan says innovation requires people to challenge the status quo and companies need to create an environment that would encourage their employees to ask if there is a better way. Creating this environment means companies need to look at their mistakes or failures differently. However, it doesn't mean that a company should let its people do as they wish, he says.
"Finding the right balance is key. While we can't have too many rules that inhibit innovation, we need adequate rules for essential teamwork and meeting targets."
"We are constantly making rules and doing away with the ones that don't matter. The key to get people to still follow rules is to make them understand why some of these rules are necessary. Once they understand and see the necessity, they will follow them," he says.
Giving the innovation enough time to mature is also crucial as this helps the understanding of the idea itself and its main strengths and flaws.
"It's difficult to produce real innovation without giving it adequate time for it to mature. Our Artificial Intelligence (AI) research took over four years to 'cook' in our labs with numerous failures and [in] grasping the domain knowledge," Tan explains.
"Today, we have systems that can intelligently recognise a face and verify written signatures and these products of our many years of research can be applied to many other domains."
However, Extol learned that one has to be wary of the success brought about by innovation when its "Armour" antivirus did so well that the sales team became complacent. Tan says he tries hard to make innovation an inclusive enterprise-wide initiative rather than just being focused on the R&D team.
"In our previous office, we had rooms and cubicles and we realised that communications within a department was great but communications between different departments was a real problem. Today, we have our researchers sitting next to our marketing folks and our developers sitting next to the management folks and this mix seems to be working well for us," he says.
From 2002 to 2008, Extol spent a total of RM7.45 million on R&D in hopes of producing another project as successful as Armour but not many of its projects were commercially viable. "Our experience has shown that out of 10 initiatives, on the average, only one is successful," says Tan. He considers one out of 10 as "already being lucky".
The challenge is looking for a market that rewards innovation, he says, adding that the company is trying to break into mature markets such as international banks, which have a higher take-up rate for antivirus solutions.
About 90% of Extol's revenue comes from banks and financial institutions as most of its solutions are security-centric.
Extol holds 15 to 20 copyrights for its software solutions, and has patented its EC*TEG, a radio frequency identification reader system currently used in the garment industry. The software company's current projects are focused on artificial intelligence and threat research. "We're glad that we've taken a strategy to merge physical security with the electronic security and in the near future we're merging our AI research with our threat research," says Tan.
One such project involves authentication. Tan says Extol is working on a project called ePassport, which allows people to use the same system to authenticate themselves in the physical world as well as the digital one.
The software company is also working on an innovative idea where they would use their AI technology to count the number of eyeballs looking at a particular advertisement or banner. This could determine the peak period people look at a certain brand in for example, a supermarket aisle.
Creating an innovative product that is commercially viable is challenging — Extol posted a net loss of RM2.5 million in 1HFY2009 ended March 31. But the company is keen to continue on the innovation path.
"We've got pretty exciting projects and what I'm particularly excited about is the fact that these independent projects in mobile development, physical security, digital security and AI are all intersecting each other, producing products which I hope will make our lives safer, more convenient and more environmentally friendly," says Tan.
This article appeared in Manager@Work, the monthly management pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 783, Nov 30 - Dec 6, 2009.
RIP, my friend.
http://mis-asia.com/news/articles/malaysias-extol-ceo-and-distinguished-pikom-member-passes-away
Malaysia's Extol CEO and distinguished PIKOM member passes away
Strong management team in place, company to announce new CEO soon: Extol By
06 Oct 2010
KUALA LUMPUR, 6 OCTOBER 2010 -- The chief executive officer of Malaysian IT security solutions firm Extol MSC and key member of Malaysia's National ICT association [PIKOM], Justin Tan, has passed away in a road accident, 3 October 2010, at the age of 38.
"The passing of Justin is deeply felt throughout the company," said the Extol board of directors in a statement. "He was a cheerful leader who embodied the importance of work-life balance. He passed away while enjoying one of his favourite weekend activities, riding."
"Justin believed in his team members and trusted his management in the daily operations," continued the statement. "As a result, we have a strong, cohesive team at the senior management level. We just never thought that this management legacy of his will be called upon so soon."
Extol was started by Tan's father, Xavier Tan, in 1984 as a software distributor and IT shop. It has since grown into a prominent local firm offering information security offering managed security solutions, professional services, and secured enterprise applications.
Industry speaker
Justin Tan Seng Kooi had been CEO of Extol since 2003. Under his leadership, the company was listed on the Mesdaq Board in March 2006 and granted MSC (Multimedia Supercorridor) status in 2004. In addition, Tan guided the company to achieve the ISO 27001:2005 Certification in December 2006. As a PIKOM member, he also spoke at industry events including forums held by Computerworld Malaysia.
"We will announce the new CEO of Extol in due time," said the board. "In the interim, the current COO, Grace Lim, is acting CEO."
06 Oct 2010
KUALA LUMPUR, 6 OCTOBER 2010 -- The chief executive officer of Malaysian IT security solutions firm Extol MSC and key member of Malaysia's National ICT association [PIKOM], Justin Tan, has passed away in a road accident, 3 October 2010, at the age of 38.
"The passing of Justin is deeply felt throughout the company," said the Extol board of directors in a statement. "He was a cheerful leader who embodied the importance of work-life balance. He passed away while enjoying one of his favourite weekend activities, riding."
"Justin believed in his team members and trusted his management in the daily operations," continued the statement. "As a result, we have a strong, cohesive team at the senior management level. We just never thought that this management legacy of his will be called upon so soon."
Extol was started by Tan's father, Xavier Tan, in 1984 as a software distributor and IT shop. It has since grown into a prominent local firm offering information security offering managed security solutions, professional services, and secured enterprise applications.
Industry speaker
Justin Tan Seng Kooi had been CEO of Extol since 2003. Under his leadership, the company was listed on the Mesdaq Board in March 2006 and granted MSC (Multimedia Supercorridor) status in 2004. In addition, Tan guided the company to achieve the ISO 27001:2005 Certification in December 2006. As a PIKOM member, he also spoke at industry events including forums held by Computerworld Malaysia.
"We will announce the new CEO of Extol in due time," said the board. "In the interim, the current COO, Grace Lim, is acting CEO."
Extol names acting CEO
EXTOL MSC Bhd has appointed Grace Lim Chew Hian, the chief operating officer (COO) of the company, as the acting chief executive officer effective immediately. The appointment was done following the demise of Tan Seng Kooi, the executive director and chief executive officer of the company on October 3. Lim is a Malaysian aged 40 years old.
ECGMA says: It would have been around the time of this publication (below) when I first met Justin.
Extol-ling innovation
| Written by Aznita Ahmad Pharmy |
| Monday, 30 November 2009 00:00 |
The second encounter took place after Extol dropped its successful Trend Micro distributorship when it decided to create its own antivirus software. The company met an IT whiz kid at an antivirus exhibition with whom they worked to produce the "Armour" antivirus software in 1992.
Armour got its big break when it was discovered to be the only antivirus that could eliminate the "Die Hard 2" virus that plagued almost all PCs in Malaysia in 1994.
Extol has been fortunate in finding talent. But the challenge lies in nurturing talent to spark innovative products like Armour.
Tan: It's difficult to produce real innovation without giving it adequate time to mature
"I strongly believe that given the right environment, ordinary people can sometimes produce extraordinary results. We all have talent. It's a matter of whether those talents can be put to some real use," says Justin Tan, son of Xavier Tan and CEO of Extol MSC Bhd, in an email interview recently.
The younger Tan says innovation requires people to challenge the status quo and companies need to create an environment that would encourage their employees to ask if there is a better way. Creating this environment means companies need to look at their mistakes or failures differently. However, it doesn't mean that a company should let its people do as they wish, he says.
"Finding the right balance is key. While we can't have too many rules that inhibit innovation, we need adequate rules for essential teamwork and meeting targets."
"We are constantly making rules and doing away with the ones that don't matter. The key to get people to still follow rules is to make them understand why some of these rules are necessary. Once they understand and see the necessity, they will follow them," he says.
Giving the innovation enough time to mature is also crucial as this helps the understanding of the idea itself and its main strengths and flaws.
"It's difficult to produce real innovation without giving it adequate time for it to mature. Our Artificial Intelligence (AI) research took over four years to 'cook' in our labs with numerous failures and [in] grasping the domain knowledge," Tan explains.
"Today, we have systems that can intelligently recognise a face and verify written signatures and these products of our many years of research can be applied to many other domains."
However, Extol learned that one has to be wary of the success brought about by innovation when its "Armour" antivirus did so well that the sales team became complacent. Tan says he tries hard to make innovation an inclusive enterprise-wide initiative rather than just being focused on the R&D team.
"In our previous office, we had rooms and cubicles and we realised that communications within a department was great but communications between different departments was a real problem. Today, we have our researchers sitting next to our marketing folks and our developers sitting next to the management folks and this mix seems to be working well for us," he says.
From 2002 to 2008, Extol spent a total of RM7.45 million on R&D in hopes of producing another project as successful as Armour but not many of its projects were commercially viable. "Our experience has shown that out of 10 initiatives, on the average, only one is successful," says Tan. He considers one out of 10 as "already being lucky".
The challenge is looking for a market that rewards innovation, he says, adding that the company is trying to break into mature markets such as international banks, which have a higher take-up rate for antivirus solutions.
About 90% of Extol's revenue comes from banks and financial institutions as most of its solutions are security-centric.
Extol holds 15 to 20 copyrights for its software solutions, and has patented its EC*TEG, a radio frequency identification reader system currently used in the garment industry. The software company's current projects are focused on artificial intelligence and threat research. "We're glad that we've taken a strategy to merge physical security with the electronic security and in the near future we're merging our AI research with our threat research," says Tan.
One such project involves authentication. Tan says Extol is working on a project called ePassport, which allows people to use the same system to authenticate themselves in the physical world as well as the digital one.
The software company is also working on an innovative idea where they would use their AI technology to count the number of eyeballs looking at a particular advertisement or banner. This could determine the peak period people look at a certain brand in for example, a supermarket aisle.
Creating an innovative product that is commercially viable is challenging — Extol posted a net loss of RM2.5 million in 1HFY2009 ended March 31. But the company is keen to continue on the innovation path.
"We've got pretty exciting projects and what I'm particularly excited about is the fact that these independent projects in mobile development, physical security, digital security and AI are all intersecting each other, producing products which I hope will make our lives safer, more convenient and more environmentally friendly," says Tan.
This article appeared in Manager@Work, the monthly management pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 783, Nov 30 - Dec 6, 2009.
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