Microsoft .NET Framework

Customer Solution Case Study

CALMS revolutionizes smartcard usage in Malaysia

Overview Country or Region: Malaysia

Industry: Information Technology

Customer Profile

Formed in 2002, Calms Technologies Sdn

Bhd offers cost effective and leading edge

smartcard based solutions focusing on

multiple applications in One Card

environment.

Business Situation

Calms saw that many companies

embarking on the use of smartcards faced

problems as they often required multiple

applications and cards. A system was

needed that could allow more applications

to be shared and subsequently added onto

the same card.

Solution

Calms developed its Card Application Life

Cycle Management System (CALMS) on the

Microsoft .NET platform and the Microsoft

SQL Server database platform to to

integrate fragmented smartcard systems.

Benefits

Slashes costs

Productivity boost

Enhances security and control

Better market penetration

“CALMS runs on the Microsoft .NET and Microsoft SQL

Server, which are highly stable, scalable and reliable.

It enables our customers to benefit from the user

friendly attributes of the Microsoft platform.”

Adam Tan, Sales Director, Calms Technologies Sdn Bhd

Calms Technologies Sdn Bhd is a Malaysian company formed to

offer cost effective and leading edge smartcard based solutions

enabling companies to benefit from One Card environment. Calms

realized that many companies embarking on the use of smartcards

faced problems affecting smooth implementation as they required

multiple applications, and the use of multiple cards became a

nagging deterrent to productivity. Calms Technologies recognized

the need to integrate these fragmented systems and customized its

Card Application Life Cycle Management System (CALMS) to

improve data sharing to simplify processes and reduce operational

costs. With CALMS, companies are able to overcome problems

posed by such disparate systems to simplify the implementation

and management of card issuance and control.

Situation When Calms Technologies Sdn Bhd was

formed in March 2002, its founders CEO Koh

Lee Ching and two of her pioneer staff who

later became partners of the company,

Technical Director Chin Swee Hong and Sales

Director Adam Tan targeted a growing

business niche among many industries by

focusing on expanding its range of services

based on its core smartcard solution – the

Card Application Life Cycle Management

System (CALMS).

The market then was thriving with many

companies embarking on the use of

smartcards which typically encountered

cumbersome processes affecting smooth

implementation. As most companies required

multiple applications, the use of multiple

cards became a nagging deterrent to

productivity. A system was needed that could

allow more applications to be shared and

even subsequently added onto the same

card.

Calms Technologies recognized the critical

need to integrate existing and often

fragmented systems and customized its

CALMS solution to improve data sharing in a

way that would simplify processes and reduce

operational costs. By leveraging on CALMS,

companies are able to overcome problems

posed by such fragmented systems to

simplify the implementation and

management of card issuance and control,

says Calms Technologies‟ Sales Director

Adam Tan.

Solution CALMS handles the process of encoding and

printing, including card policy for access and

exit by incorporating the various devices

including the door and alarm systems. In

addition, other CALMS software would

manage information like meal allowances by

linking with appropriate reader devices at the

company‟s cafeteria.

CALMS runs on the Microsoft .NET platform

and the Microsoft SQL Server database

platform, which Tan says is “highly stable,

scalable and reliable”. It enables Calms

Technologies‟ customers to benefit from the

user friendly attributes of the Microsoft

platform. And this means that for companies

which already have a system for membership

cards on the Microsoft platform, the

migration and integration to CALMS would be

relatively easy.

Benefits The CALMS smartcard solution helps

corporations and organizations automate and

improve their operational processes, cut

costs and boost productivity without

compromising security.

Slashes costs

The implementation of CALMS results in

controlled issuance and tracking of

individuals leading to enhanced productivity

and improved business processes that saves

time and optimizes resources while ensuring

better security. “The solution primarily

simplifies operation processes for clients,

and this translates into huge costs savings.

Whatever system they may be using, we help

to simplify their operations and give them

peace of mind on card handling from

beginning to end,” Tan says.

“For example, in collaboration with IRIS

Corporation Berhad, CALMS‟ MyKad

Integrator System allows customers to extract

common MyKad information for automated

registration while authenticating the

fingerprints for identification purposes.”

This cuts costs, time and labor that would be

otherwise incurred in manual registration and

authorization at entry or exit points to a

company‟s premises. The fast and easy plug-

and-play deployment of the system boosts

productivity and reduces manpower either at

“CALMS is a versatile

solution that allows

corporations to

determine how they

want users to use the

smartcard and we just

help to automate their

many processes.”

Adam Tan, Sales Director, Calms Technologies

Sdn Bhd

guard houses or receptions while eliminating

the need to obtain and keep visitors‟ driving

licences or equivalent documents.

Productivity boost

The implementation of CALMS has helped

some of the country‟s biggest corporations to

reap major productivity gains in the

management of their smartcard systems.

Prior to deployment of Calms Technologies‟

solution, one of the region‟s biggest budget

airlines services provider would typically

plough through a long series of loops before

cards could be issued and distributed. Such

procedures when repeated and multiplied

many times over in a company with a huge

user base of thousands would translate into

very high costs involving time and labour.

With the deployment, the airline‟s backend

HR system is integrated with CALMS to

retrieve latest staff records as well as

integrated with existing card printer and door

access systems. “After implementing the

CALMS solution, the process of issuance and

setting policy for cards has become more

efficient and automated. This has enabled

the airline to reap major productivity gains

and substantial cost savings,” states Tan.

Enhances security and control

CALMS gives peace of mind to customers by

ensuring card handling is secure and

efficiently processed. Financial institution

clients have benefited from CALMS Visitor

Management System that tracks not only the

movement of visitors to the company‟s

premises but that of its staff and contractors.

The system has a feature which alerts the

management against blacklisted visitors.

In the case of an insurance company, the

insurer previously issued cheques based on

physical identification without ensuring the

chips in the MyKad were accurately matched

to the agents. This potentially posed a

security threat. However, implementing the

CALMS system in all 24 branches in Malaysia

eliminated this security risk.

Multiple usage

The implementation of the Access Control

System in the smartcard not only helps

ensure security by controlling who could

access which points and at what time, it can

also be encoded with other applications that

help track meal purchases and subsidies

allocated to the user.

So when local financial institution wanted to

include finger print use in its automation

process, Calms Technologies helped to

include these features by riding its

applications onto the MyKad of the bank

staff. “CALMS is thus a versatile solution that

allows corporations to determine how they

want users to use the smartcard and we just

help to automate their many processes,” says

Tan.

“Whether the card system is radio frequency

identification (RFID) enabled, „touch and go‟

or contact type, we can customize CALMS‟

one-card solution on any platform to help

customers integrate and simplify their system

to free up resources and even interface with

existing devices to raise productivity and

profits,” Tan concludes.

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 .NET provides you with a comprehensive and

consistent programming model and a

common set of APIs across all tiers of your

application. .NET helps you to build

applications that work the way you want, in

the programming language you prefer, across

software, services, and devices. .NET helps

developers move quickly from idea to the

creation of rich, responsive applications that

people want to use.

.NET Framework 3.5 SP1 expands and

improves offerings in the .NET Framework

and Visual Studio 2008. .NET Framework 3.5

SP1 introduces the ADO.NET Entity

Framework and ADO.NET Data Services,

which simplify data access code in

applications by providing an extensible,

conceptual model for accessing data from

any source.

For more information about the .NET

Framework 3.5, please go to:

www.microsoft.com/netframework

For More Information

To access information using the World

Wide Web, go to:

www.microsoft.com/en/my

For more information about IFCA products

and services, call (+603) 7805 3838 or

visit the Web site at: www.ifca.com.my

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. Document published August 2010

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Microsoft SQL Server 2008

Technologies

− Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5