Big Dataworks on track to digitise nation’s data management system.
It is highly recommended that one should conduct background and financial checks on prospective customers and vendors before entering a contract.
LOCAL tech company, Big Dataworks Sdn Bhd (BDW), is on track to digitising the country’s data management system, conceptualising its new product, MYDATA+.
The ability to deliver directly to the public, government, government-linked corporations (GLCs) and the private sector makes BDW a tech company to look out for this year.
Located in Petaling Jaya, BDW provides solutions in data supply, data analytics, management of information.
It was founded in 2011 as Dataworks Management Sdn Bhd, a document storage company.
Circa 2015, new CEO Sheriza Zakaria came on board and rebranded the company to Big Dataworks Sdn Bhd, implementing his vast experience and knowledge in ICT.
He came up with an “easy-to-use” portal, MYDATA, proposed the idea to the Companies Commission Malaysia (SSM) and became the technology and service provider for the MYDATA-SSM services in 2016.
The idea was derived from the fact that information on Malaysian companies and businesses can be accessed by the public via SSM.
It is highly recommended that one should conduct background and financial checks on prospective customers and vendors before entering a contract.
One can purchase a company’s information through the MYDATA-SSM portal even though they are not a shareholder or director of the company.
Over the years, BDW further developed its Application Programming Interface (API) services, with its API clients being Alibaba, MyEG Services Bhd and Boost in 2019.
According to Sheriza, the company has changed the whole concept of “selling and sharing data” over-the-counter and convinced SSM to be more open to sharing information (in regard to all registered companies) to the public with ease.
“MYDATA-SSM is Google-inspired. There is a search bar when you log in. Type out the company you wish to know more of, and the basic information about the company will be shown.
“If you want to buy the report, you can choose from the packages available on the site,” he told The Malaysian Reserve (TMR).
He added that MYDATA-SSM is divided into three categories — namely MYDATA Express (all communication and transaction are done via WhatsApp), MYDATA Customise (users get customised bulk data in packages they choose) and MYDATA Kompany-International (similar to MYDATA Customise but bigger and features international companies).
The services in MYDATA-SSM that supply corporate information include company and business profiles, comparison of companies’ financial histories, a digital certified true copy of the business certificate (Form D) and more.
Furthermore, Sheriza said that BDW and SSM had introduced another “game changer” service, which is providing digitally certified true copy documents.
“Previously, if we were to get a certified true copy document, we had to go to SSM and get the CEO’s
signature or stamp the documents to certify them as true copies — a process that would take ages to complete,” he said.
“Therefore, BDW replicated the SSM CEO’s signature, converted it into PDF and embedded it with all digital certificate security features,” he said to TMR.
With that said, BDW takes online threats and security seriously.
In the early stages of the MYDATA-SSM portal, there were clients that performed data-scraping, the act of stealing data and information through bots.
Following that, Sheriza explained that MYDATA-SSM required user logins as a security measure, after which clients may have access to the information they seek.
As a result of the digital transformation, fewer physical counters were needed.
“From hundreds of counters, now SSM only has a handful of counters across the nation as most services are now done online and self-service,” Sheriza added.
MYDATA API
As data experts become more business-minded and the business community learns to “self-serve” with data, the divisions between them can be broken through API systems.
“In layman’s terms, API is a protocol where the machine communicates with another machine. One system talks to another system.
“The MYDATA-API is another wonderful product, where system developers and system owners can extract data from SSM with ease.
“Instead of users troubling themselves by having to speak to our team, the system will do all the talking for them without any human interaction,” Sheriza said.
Who Will Benefit from MYDATA API?
According to Sheriza, enterprises and government agencies are the biggest beneficiaries of MYDATA API, with portals such as the Land Registry Office’s e-Tanah, the Inland Revenue Board (IRB), and companies such as MyEG Ser vices, TNG Digital Sdn Bhd, Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC), CTOS Data Systems Sdn Bhd, Experian Information Services (M) Sdn Bhd, Alibaba Commerce Services (M) Sdn Bhd, CRIF (Italy), KOMPANY (Austria) among others.
“MYDATA API complements the back-end process. With this, businesses can serve their customers better and faster,” he said.
MYDATA+
Moving forward, BDW has begun to conceptualise a product called MYDATA+, which is a digital business solution platform that leverages a broad range of digital business solutions to foster opportunities and innovation. “We have been working closely with company secretaries so MYDATA+ also acts as a digital company secretary, apart from a fully online company incorporation process,” Sheriza said.
MYDATA+ is an ongoing project which allows entrepreneurs to have real-time access, retrieve and download documents at their convenience without any paper transactions and human interaction, true to MYDATA’s main objective of making business simple.
As of 2022, BDW’s innovative approach to data-driven business solutions has made it possible to manage over 500,000 users nationwide.
Today, MYDATA-SSM has become the go-to source for legitimate information on companies incorporated or registered in Malaysia.