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Ms Heng Ling Jy exudes a quiet professionalism that enables her to be among the best in her field and the COO (Chief Operating Officer) in a company that she helped set up, TechnoDex.
The eldest in her family,this Selangor girl from Cheras has come a long way from her school days in Kampung Pandan. She then went on to RIMA College in Lebuh Ampang where she took a course in IT. She thought it was a good idea to do the course even though she did not have much background in it. She did not think it would be a lifelong work for her but just wanted to try it out and see how far she could progress with it. Next was a stint in the University of North Florida where she took her degree and followed it up with a Masters. She said she found student life in the US a good environment as it built character.
Her studies was partly funded by her family so she managed to obtain a state waiver to bring the costs of fees down by two thirds, the same amount charged to local students. The American lecturers encouraged their students to search for new ideas as solutions to the problems posed to them and learn to expand their horizons. This new way of learning plus the fact that a number of students taking the course with her were mature and exposed to the corporate world gave her an insight on what it takes to be successful in business. She had first-hand experience of the US working environment as she worked while doing her Masters. Then, she returned to Malaysia in 1994 as she wanted to be with her family.
Shortly after that she joined SPL Worldgroup as a trainee programmer. The real work began when she joined Dataprep Bhd. This was the first company to provide professional software service in Malaysia. Ms Heng said that she gained a lot of exposure in this working environment as she was exposed to its many disparate elements.
She then moved to Info-House IT(now called BizAid) in 1998, a company that produce company secretarial software. However, the work environment did not agree with her and she moved to IP Technology, a Singaporean company with presence in Malaysia.
This was an important move for Ms Heng (although she did not know it then) as it helped shape the course of her business life. Here she found the type of work that was satisfying and more importantly, her soon-to-be business partner Nigel Lee. And the catalyst that pushed them into business was the closure of IP Technology! After IP was dissolved, Ms Heng and Nigel Lee found that a lot of the companyís former clients were asking them to look after the software they had installed or customize software for them. Initially, they did it on an ad hoc basis and spread news of their business through word of mouth. One of their customers decided to back them and TechnoDex was born.
Ms Heng believes that the lessons she learnt in the US in overcoming problems was the reason she could face the turmoil that followed after IP’s closure and how it lead to the creation of TechnoDex. It was a hard struggle in TechnoDex’s early days as there were only ten staff and they had only RM10,000 to start with. So she approached each problem pragmatically, searching for solutions that will work while treating her staff with due respect. With that formula TechnoDex prospered, with a building of their own, over 100 staff on their payroll plus getting listed in the Bursa last year on August 2006. A feat she is extremely proud of.
The prosperity is also due to the company’s unique business philosophy where they become something akin to business partners instead of just IT solution providers. Ms Heng is also proud of the fact that TechnoDex has created a Technology Platform base on Open Source that was completely homegrown.
In the case of SMIs/SMEs she believes that proper and efficient use of IT is something that should be given serious thought. Ms Heng considers that the efficiencies that IT brings to any company will definitely help to increase profit. SMIs/SMEs must also work hard she said, and not be afraid of any obstacles they may face as there is always a solution if they are prepared to think their way out of it.
For the future, she has hopes of TechnoDex expanding and reaching new markets. Ms Heng hopes that with the success of TechnoDex, it might inspire other companies, to emulate TechnoDex’s “can-do” spirit and achieve their own success.
