Microsoft Office System

Customer Solution Case Study

Qinetics’ Enterprise Information Portal

automates HR processes, boosts productivity

system

Overview Country or Region: Malaysia

Industry: Information Technology

Customer Profile

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.

Business Situation

To meet growing demand from

corporations and small-medium

enterprises, Qinetics developed a suite of

office collaboration applications to help

companies increase productivity and office

efficiency.

Solution

Qinetics opted to develop its Enterprise

Information Portal (EIP) on Microsoft .NET

technologies and Microsoft Office

SharePoint Server.

Benefits

Automation and increased productivity

Increased cost savings

User friendly and customizable

Enhanced security

“Qinetics decided to run Enterprise Information Portal

primarily on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

because it is more stable and secure.”

Brent Lee, Senior Technical Manager, Qinetics Solutions Berhad

Hood Abu Bakar, MISC General Manager, Information & Communication Technology

Qinetics Solutions Berhad, which specializes in Internet services

and enterprise solutions in the region, saw the potential to develop

products targeting management and automation solutions to

corporations and small-medium enterprises. This resulted in the

development of its Enterprise Information Portal (EIP), a suite of

office collaboration applications that enables companies to

increase staff productivity and office efficiency by improving

collaboration and workflow. Qinetics leveraged on Microsoft .NET

technologies and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server to offer

automation tools for efficient management of complex operational

processes and functions on a platform that strengthens user

control, boosts security, as well as allows quick deployment and

customization to meet diverse policy environments and operational

configurations.

Situation Since its inception in July 2000, Qinetics

Solutions Berhad (Qinetics), a global

company headquartered in Malaysia, has

progressively expanded into Internet services

and enterprise solutions in the region.

Its subsidiary Web Commerce

Communications Limited (WEBCC) is the

largest ICANN Accredited Registrar in

Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Qinetics, which has recorded and managed

more than 600,000 domain name

registrations in 40 countries, is committed to

provide solutions and services that are

flexible, intuitive and cost-effective.

As a Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC)

pioneer-status company capitalizing on

research and development, Qinetics is

backed by a 60-strong team of professionals,

resources and technologies that continually

innovate to address business opportunities

and challenges faced by its clients and

partners. These growing challenges that

demand consistent quality meant Qinetics

had to ensure its in-house customization of

products, solutions and systems for a wide

range of Internet focused businesses can be

effectively sustained by the right use of

advanced technologies.

Qinetics recognized the need to develop

products for the local market targeting

management and automation solutions to

corporations and small-medium enterprises.

This provided the impetus for the

development of the Enterprise Information

Portal (EIP), a modular off-the-shelf Enterprise

Collaboration System for Human Resource

and Intranet management, in 2007.

EIP is essentially a suite of office

collaboration applications that enable

companies to increase staff productivity and

office efficiency by improving collaboration

and workflow. For example, the component

eLeave application allows employees to apply

for leave anytime and anywhere. The

application is eco-friendly as it creates a

paperless office environment that improves

the efficiency of leave application and

approval processes. The eClaim application,

meanwhile, allows employees to make claims

using a structured process. It has advanced

configurable features to automate and

standardize much of the detailed calculations

such as mileage claims and multicurrency

support.

“EIP is an evolving suite of applications with

the existing flagship applications continually

being upgraded and enhanced. Qinetics

plans to add more modules such as

eRequisition, eResourceBooking, eHelpdesk

and eInventory”, says Brent Lee, Senior

Technical Manager of Qinetics.

EIP incorporates web2.0 and unified

communications to enhance collaborations

among employees, which includes blogs,

forums, instant messaging, calendar/event

sharing, announcements, etc. Users can

personalize their landing site according to

their preference and work priority. There is no

technical learning curve for administrators as

EIP features drag-and-drop and user friendly

content management. Other features such as

multi-site support, access control and

document sharing are among the many

others that have already been incorporated

with ongoing improvements.

Solution In the building of EIP, the Microsoft platform

provided a definitive technological boost,

offering rich online resources above its suite

of cutting edge technologies as well as the

promise of reducing development time.

Riding on the advantage of Microsoft .NET

technologies and Microsoft Office SharePoint

Server nicely complements EIP’s unique

selling points, which promises quick

deployment within a week, enhanced user

control, flexibility and leveraging on Active

Directory.

Developed on VB.NET, EIP is based on built-in

industry practices and user-friendly interfaces

resulting from Qinetics’ extensive research

with small and medium industry (SMI)

companies. Lee adds that Qinetics decided to

run EIP primarily on Microsoft Office

SharePoint Server which allows programmers

to build dynamic websites, applications and

services and for users to work in a Web-

based collaborative environment.

EIP also supports multiple content

management systems (CMS) to meet the

policy environments typical of diversely-run

Human Resource departments. The company

provides the option for customers to deploy

EIP on the free and professional versions of

dotNetNuke, an Open Source Web content

management system and application

development framework for Microsoft .NET.

The EIP system has already made a

significant impact for a number of businesses

as Qinetics has clinched deals with

corporations such Berjaya Group, U Mobile

and Berjaya Sompo Insurance Bhd (BSI) for

system development and enhancement work

of its EIP system.

Benefits

Qinetics has leveraged on the Microsoft

advantage to offer companies automation

tools for efficient management of otherwise

complex operational processes and functions

across subsidiaries on a platform that

strengthens user control, boosts security, as

well as allows quick deployment and

customization to meet diverse policy

environments and operational configurations.

Automation and increased productivity

An EIP implementation essentially helps

companies to eliminate manual processes

and paperwork. In the case of Berjaya Sompo

Insurance, the EIP eLeave system is currently

benefiting its more than 500 staff.

With the eLeave system, the leave application

process was entirely automated, minimizing

the need for HR to support user enquiries.

This benefits the HR personnel as it enables

them to better utilize their time for other key

areas of work. “The EIP system has a

complete set of features that any HR

department would appreciate such as tools

for year-end closures, carry forwards, leave

adjustments and so on,” says Lee.

Likewise with eClaims, claims are automated

and this again eliminates a lot of paper work.

When the data is entered into the system, the

total records can be churned out for

particular months and imported into the

accounting system as well. All records are

tallied and do not need to be manually

verified one by one.

“These advanced features greatly reduce the

manual mistakes and enhances efficiency in

the claims process, and the result is

employees get their claims approval faster

and the finance department saves time in the

verification process.

The work flow is also improved. For example,

a leave application requires approval of the

supervisor or immediate head before the

application moves up to the next level of

scrutiny. “As it is now automated, when an

immediate supervisor is not available, the

application automatically shifts to the next

higher up authority for approval,” Lee says.

Cost savings

Lee points out that one of the main benefits

of using EIP for internal management of

operations and data is cost savings.

“Compared to conventional management,

companies using the solution could cut costs

up to 40 percent.”

All the time that could be saved processing

claims, requisitions, leaves and finance

matters related to Human Resource

translates into substantial cost savings.

Instead of spending hours manually cross-

checking files and records for transaction

accuracy, staff expertise could be redeployed

effectively for higher value-added tasks.

Even integrating data from Human Resource

and other departments into the accounting

system, means double entries by users and

relevant departments could be eliminated.

“Essentially, centralized document control

helps to track and avoid missing or misplaced

documents. Time previously used to recover

or locate documents is saved,” says Lee.

On top of it all, the time needed to deploy EIP

is less than a week, and this in itself ensures

the solution is up and running in no time.

User friendly and customizable

As EIP supports multiple companies with

diverse configurations, those with

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.

Enhanced security

The use of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server

in EIP provides customers with the added

assurance that their company’s data is well

protected. Lee points out that Qinetics

decided to run EIP primarily on Microsoft

Office SharePoint Server 2007 because it is

“more stable and secure in that Qinetics

could run a lot of codes and settings on it

that could be programmed to effectively vet

user access and unknown installations.”

With Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, Lee

adds, plug-ins need to be configured before it

could be in the application, and this adds to

better security as unauthorized users and

unknown installations can be blocked. Lee

explains that EIP essentially provides

companies with a secure unified access point

and is designed to integrate the information

within the organization through internet

services.

To sum up, Lee states the EIP applications

enable companies to increase staff

productivity and office efficiency by improving

collaboration and workflow. “They will

transform your company into an intelligent

enterprise,” he adds.

Microsoft Office System The Microsoft Office system is the business

world’s chosen environment for information

work, providing the programs, servers, and

services that help you succeed by

transforming information into impact.

For more information about the Microsoft

Office system, go to:

www.microsoft.com/office

For More Information For more information about Microsoft

products and services, call the Microsoft

Sales Information Center at (800) 426-

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Microsoft subsidiary. To access information

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For more information about Qinetics

Solutions Berhad’s products and services,

call +(603) 8996 6788 or visit the Web site at: www.qinetics.net

© 2010 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. Microsoft, Example: Active Directory, Windows, the Windows logo, Windows Server, and Windows Server System are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. Document published August 2010

Software and Services Technologies

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5

Products Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

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