1. Microsoft Office System
Customer Solution Case Study
Qinetics’ Enterprise Information Portal
automates HR processes, boosts productivity
system
Overview “Qinetics decided to run Enterprise Information Portal
Country or Region: Malaysia primarily on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
Industry: Information Technology
because it is more stable and secure.”
Customer Profile
Brent Lee, Senior Technical Manager, Qinetics Solutions Berhad
Established in July 2000, Qinetics
Solutions Berhad is a global company
headquartered in Malaysia that delivers
Internet services and enterprise solutions
to customers around the world. Hood Abu Bakar, MISC General Manager, Information & Communication Technology
Qinetics Solutions Berhad, which specializes in Internet services
Business Situation and enterprise solutions in the region, saw the potential to develop
To meet growing demand from
corporations and small-medium products targeting management and automation solutions to
enterprises, Qinetics developed a suite of corporations and small-medium enterprises. This resulted in the
office collaboration applications to help
companies increase productivity and office development of its Enterprise Information Portal (EIP), a suite of
efficiency. office collaboration applications that enables companies to
Solution increase staff productivity and office efficiency by improving
Qinetics opted to develop its Enterprise collaboration and workflow. Qinetics leveraged on Microsoft .NET
Information Portal (EIP) on Microsoft .NET
technologies and Microsoft Office technologies and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server to offer
SharePoint Server. automation tools for efficient management of complex operational
Benefits processes and functions on a platform that strengthens user
Automation and increased productivity control, boosts security, as well as allows quick deployment and
Increased cost savings
User friendly and customizable
customization to meet diverse policy environments and operational
Enhanced security configurations.
2. Situation eLeave application allows employees to apply
Since its inception in July 2000, Qinetics for leave anytime and anywhere. The
Solutions Berhad (Qinetics), a global application is eco-friendly as it creates a
company headquartered in Malaysia, has paperless office environment that improves
progressively expanded into Internet services the efficiency of leave application and
and enterprise solutions in the region. approval processes. The eClaim application,
meanwhile, allows employees to make claims
Its subsidiary Web Commerce using a structured process. It has advanced
Communications Limited (WEBCC) is the configurable features to automate and
largest ICANN Accredited Registrar in standardize much of the detailed calculations
Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. such as mileage claims and multicurrency
Qinetics, which has recorded and managed support.
more than 600,000 domain name
registrations in 40 countries, is committed to “EIP is an evolving suite of applications with
provide solutions and services that are the existing flagship applications continually
flexible, intuitive and cost-effective. being upgraded and enhanced. Qinetics
plans to add more modules such as
As a Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) eRequisition, eResourceBooking, eHelpdesk
pioneer-status company capitalizing on and eInventory”, says Brent Lee, Senior
research and development, Qinetics is Technical Manager of Qinetics.
backed by a 60-strong team of professionals,
resources and technologies that continually EIP incorporates web2.0 and unified
innovate to address business opportunities communications to enhance collaborations
and challenges faced by its clients and among employees, which includes blogs,
partners. These growing challenges that forums, instant messaging, calendar/event
demand consistent quality meant Qinetics sharing, announcements, etc. Users can
had to ensure its in-house customization of personalize their landing site according to
products, solutions and systems for a wide their preference and work priority. There is no
range of Internet focused businesses can be technical learning curve for administrators as
effectively sustained by the right use of EIP features drag-and-drop and user friendly
advanced technologies. content management. Other features such as
multi-site support, access control and
Qinetics recognized the need to develop document sharing are among the many
products for the local market targeting others that have already been incorporated
management and automation solutions to with ongoing improvements.
corporations and small-medium enterprises.
This provided the impetus for the
development of the Enterprise Information Solution
Portal (EIP), a modular off-the-shelf Enterprise In the building of EIP, the Microsoft platform
Collaboration System for Human Resource provided a definitive technological boost,
and Intranet management, in 2007. offering rich online resources above its suite
of cutting edge technologies as well as the
EIP is essentially a suite of office promise of reducing development time.
collaboration applications that enable
companies to increase staff productivity and Riding on the advantage of Microsoft .NET
office efficiency by improving collaboration technologies and Microsoft Office SharePoint
and workflow. For example, the component Server nicely complements EIP’s unique
3. selling points, which promises quick Automation and increased productivity
deployment within a week, enhanced user An EIP implementation essentially helps
control, flexibility and leveraging on Active companies to eliminate manual processes
Directory. and paperwork. In the case of Berjaya Sompo
Insurance, the EIP eLeave system is currently
Developed on VB.NET, EIP is based on built-in benefiting its more than 500 staff.
industry practices and user-friendly interfaces
resulting from Qinetics’ extensive research With the eLeave system, the leave application
with small and medium industry (SMI) process was entirely automated, minimizing
companies. Lee adds that Qinetics decided to the need for HR to support user enquiries.
run EIP primarily on Microsoft Office This benefits the HR personnel as it enables
SharePoint Server which allows programmers them to better utilize their time for other key
to build dynamic websites, applications and areas of work. “The EIP system has a
services and for users to work in a Web- complete set of features that any HR
based collaborative environment. department would appreciate such as tools
for year-end closures, carry forwards, leave
EIP also supports multiple content adjustments and so on,” says Lee.
management systems (CMS) to meet the
policy environments typical of diversely-run Likewise with eClaims, claims are automated
Human Resource departments. The company and this again eliminates a lot of paper work.
provides the option for customers to deploy When the data is entered into the system, the
EIP on the free and professional versions of total records can be churned out for
dotNetNuke, an Open Source Web content particular months and imported into the
management system and application accounting system as well. All records are
development framework for Microsoft .NET. tallied and do not need to be manually
verified one by one.
The EIP system has already made a
significant impact for a number of businesses “These advanced features greatly reduce the
as Qinetics has clinched deals with manual mistakes and enhances efficiency in
corporations such Berjaya Group, U Mobile the claims process, and the result is
and Berjaya Sompo Insurance Bhd (BSI) for employees get their claims approval faster
system development and enhancement work and the finance department saves time in the
of its EIP system. verification process.
The work flow is also improved. For example,
Benefits a leave application requires approval of the
supervisor or immediate head before the
Qinetics has leveraged on the Microsoft
application moves up to the next level of
advantage to offer companies automation
scrutiny. “As it is now automated, when an
tools for efficient management of otherwise
immediate supervisor is not available, the
complex operational processes and functions
application automatically shifts to the next
across subsidiaries on a platform that
higher up authority for approval,” Lee says.
strengthens user control, boosts security, as
well as allows quick deployment and
Cost savings
customization to meet diverse policy
Lee points out that one of the main benefits
environments and operational configurations.
of using EIP for internal management of
operations and data is cost savings.
4. “Compared to conventional management, Enhanced security
companies using the solution could cut costs The use of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server
up to 40 percent.” in EIP provides customers with the added
assurance that their company’s data is well
All the time that could be saved processing protected. Lee points out that Qinetics
claims, requisitions, leaves and finance decided to run EIP primarily on Microsoft
matters related to Human Resource Office SharePoint Server 2007 because it is
translates into substantial cost savings. “more stable and secure in that Qinetics
Instead of spending hours manually cross- could run a lot of codes and settings on it
checking files and records for transaction that could be programmed to effectively vet
accuracy, staff expertise could be redeployed user access and unknown installations.”
effectively for higher value-added tasks.
With Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, Lee
Even integrating data from Human Resource adds, plug-ins need to be configured before it
and other departments into the accounting could be in the application, and this adds to
system, means double entries by users and better security as unauthorized users and
relevant departments could be eliminated. unknown installations can be blocked. Lee
“Essentially, centralized document control explains that EIP essentially provides
helps to track and avoid missing or misplaced companies with a secure unified access point
documents. Time previously used to recover and is designed to integrate the information
or locate documents is saved,” says Lee. within the organization through internet
services.
On top of it all, the time needed to deploy EIP
is less than a week, and this in itself ensures To sum up, Lee states the EIP applications
the solution is up and running in no time. enable companies to increase staff
productivity and office efficiency by improving
User friendly and customizable collaboration and workflow. “They will
As EIP supports multiple companies with transform your company into an intelligent
diverse configurations, those with enterprise,” he adds.
subsidiaries stand to benefit from using the
solution as all that is required is to add the
branch number and assign the relevant staff
to that particular branch following the right
Human Resource codes. “In other words, EIP
is highly configurable and it can be done by
the company itself as it is very user friendly,”
says Lee.
Users also benefit from sharing a lot of
information through the network. This means
the HR department does not need to process
a mountain of records manually and
repeatedly as leaves, claims, and requisitions
could all be automated.