29 October 2008 - Address By RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer, Infocomm Development Authority Of Singapore As Guest-Of-Honour At The SCS-HP Grid Launch At The Reflections At Keppel Bay
Address By RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer, Infocomm Development Authority Of Singapore As Guest-Of-Honour At The SCS-HP Grid Launch On Wednesday, 29 October 2008, 4.30pm At The Reflections At Keppel Bay
Mr Tan Tong Hai, President and Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Computer Systems,
Ms Tan Yen Yen, Managing Director, Hewlett Packard Singapore,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good Afternoon.
1. I am pleased to be here today to witness the launch of the commercial Grid services offered by Singapore Computer Systems & Hewlett Packard. Today’s launch marks yet another milestone in Singapore’s burgeoning Grid landscape.
2. As you know, Singapore’s Grid efforts started in earnest in January 2003, with the establishment of the National Grid Office. That marked a deliberate effort on the part of Singapore to focus on the adoption of Grid Computing. In the early years, the projects were confined to the R&D community in the IHLs and research institutes.
3. Since then, and with the increasing awareness of the computational and economic benefits of Grid technology, we have cast the adoption net wider to now include businesses and the industry at large. Indeed, the collaboration today between SCS & HP is a testament to this trend of increasing adoption of Grid technology.
4. According to a study by Springboard Research, a technology consultancy, the outlook for Grid services is good as the awareness and adoption of Grid-enabled offerings such as Software-as-a-Service or SaaS are on the rise. Springboard has observed a substantial increase in SaaS awareness among the 385 organisations they surveyed, up from 41 per cent in 2006 and 75 per cent in 2007. The increase in awareness has also led to a corresponding increase in the adoption of SaaS. The survey also revealed that 45 per cent of enterprises are now using some form of SaaS within their organisations, compared to 29 per cent in 2006.
5. Despite the economic slowdown, it is encouraging to note that there are businesses that continue to invest in technology, such as Grid, which help in cost-savings and productivity enhancements. In fact, a recent article by Business Times reported that based on a study by Financial Insights, an IDC-owned company, the banking sector will continue to invest in IT initiatives. It stated that the banking sector will invest in Grid-related technologies such as virtualization, platform standardisation and data consolidation to more effectively manage resources and realise cost-savings.
6. Indeed, Grid technology would be particularly appealing to companies today who are trying to cope with the global economic downturn. It allows companies to achieve higher utilisation of IT resources, obtain greater cost-savings and efficiencies. These could enable them to gain competitive advantages such as an earlier time to market.
7. In Singapore, Grid adoption is steadily gaining traction. Commercial Grid services on a pay-per-use basis was realised through a Call-for-Collaboration when IDA appointed the National Grid Service Providers or GSPs in June this year. Today, I am happy to share that the grid consortia, led by SCS, PTC System and NewMedia Express, are ready to offer compute, software and storage services on a pay-per-use basis.
8. Such developments augur well for the Grid scene in Singapore. With the GSP CFC, we will be one of the first in the world to embark on a national effort to draw together commercial grid service providers to offer pay-per-use access to compute, storage and software facilities.
9. Together with the industry, we will continue to create a vibrant Grid environment in Singapore, and we are well-placed to do so. For instance, with one in every two businesses and almost nine in 10 households here on broadband access plans, there is a ready pool of well-connected businesses and end-users who can access Grid services easily. In addition, the nation-wide Next Generation National Broadband Network or Next Gen NBN will be rolled out to homes and businesses nationwide by 2012. Capable of delivering ultra high-speeds of 1 Gbps and beyond, it will enable Grid Computing to take off on an even larger scale, and facilitate the creation of a vibrant Infocomm Resource Marketplace. In this marketplace, infocomm resources can be shared, bought or sold easily, with a steady stream of suppliers and buyers of grid services. The marketplace will also spur service providers to introduce innovative services at competitive rates. This will contribute towards our iN2015 vision of developing Singapore to be an intelligent nation, global city powered by infocomm.
10. Today’s launch of the SCS and HP Grid services called “Alatum” is apt in capturing the essence of Grid. I was told “Alatum” is Latin for wings, and the partners have chosen “Alatum” to represent business empowerment. I hope to see more grid service providers here in Singapore provide many innovative and competitive services.
11. So on this note, may I congratulate the SCS and HP consortium on the launch of “Alatum”. Spread your wings and let the Grid flight begin.
12. Thank you.
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