“Criteria and requirements need to be analysed and prioritized in the framework so less time and cost are spent focusing on evaluation criteria that are deemed to be less important. We aim to ensure the MSC Malaysia Product Assessment and Rating Framework is highly regarded and well accepted, no just in Malaysia but internationally.”

What do MSC Malaysia-status companies and camels have in common? No, this is not a trick question. A popular misconception is that a camel’s hump contains water. It actually stores fat to convert into energy. As for MSC Malaysia-status companies, they face the perception that their products are not of superior quality. That is patently untrue. This misconception is one of the biggest challenges facing MSC Malaysia-status companies. Despite MSC Malaysia-status companies generating almost RM5 billion in revenue in 2008, of which RM2 billion was from Malaysian-owned MSC Malaysia –status companies, they are frustratingly unable to achieve their full potential in the Malaysian market because of this bias against their products.

Enter the soon-to-be introduced MSC Malaysia Product Assessment and Ratings Framework. This is an attempt by the Multimedia Development Corp (MDeC) to create a quality benchmark against which MSC Malaysia-status companies can measure their products. It will have a robust set of standards and tools that can stand up to any scrutiny and testing for tech products.

MDeC is partnering TUV Rheinland, a global provider of technical, safety and certification services, to develop a structure for the MSC Malaysia Product Assessment and Rating Framework. TUV Rheinland has many years of experience providing certification for companies and products across Europe and Asia and is one of the foremost certification bodies in the world. MDeC will also be working closely with various stakeholders, ministries and bodies such as Standards Malaysia to further develop this framework.

It will come as a surprise to many that there are presently no standards upon which to benchmark and gauge quality standards of tech company products. The ultimate aim of this project is to promote and implement quality standards in MSC Malaysia products, thus reducing negative perceptions about locally developed ICT products. However, this still does not ensure that buyers will purchase the products. MDeC is well aware the framework will not be able to solve all the issues concerning the marketability of a product, as there are other contributing factors such as funding and market access.

Project Objectives
The main objective is to develop a framework that enables an objective assessment of various products developed by MSC Malaysia-status companies. This will have a ripple effect of promoting the development of higher-quality products.

A set of user-friendly framework requirements will be developed to efficiently, accurately and quickly assess, rate and, if necessary, certify products made by MSC Malaysia-status companies. They must conform to international standards and be globally recognized as a true measure of the quality of an ICT product.

The benefit for potential buyers comes in the form of pre-qualification quality checks on products, thus reducing the time buyers have to spend on their own assessment. The framework can also be extended to assess IT solutions buyers intend to purchase. For product and solutions developers, this opens up opportunities by having their products assessed and rated, and identifying improvement opportunities through the framework.

Workshop to Solicit Ideas
MDeC conducted a one-day workshop for external stakeholders on June 4, at the Shangri-La Hotel, Putrajaya, to officially kick off the development of the MSC Malaysia Product Assessment and Ratings Framework. The workshop was facilitated by TUV Rheinland Malaysia Sdn Bhd. It was designed to explain the objectives of the project to MDeC’s external stakeholders, as well as to obtain feedback.

About 50 external stakeholders were present, including representatives from software development companies, certification bodies, government departments, and software end-user industries such as healthcare, agriculture and education. In general, participants agreed that there is a need for this framework to be developed.

One key issue was the acknowledgement that it was going to be a challenge to find a balance in terms of cost and compliance to software-related standards. It was noted that the more requirements are assessed, the higher the cost of evaluation. Participants felt it was crucial to ensure the framework provides an objective assessment of products and solutions while being cost effective.

Responding to this, MDeC’s CEO, Datuk Badlisham Ghazali said stakeholders’ input in prioritizing the evaluation criteria is a very important step in the project.