Download - enterpriseinnovation.net

awards2009Hong Kong Technology Company of the YearOutblazeBlazing a trail for Hong Kong techPHOTO CREDIT: Photo by Joi ItoOutblaze lauded as tech-leader by CWHK By Stefan HammondThis year, ComputerworldHong Kong presents its thirdHong Kong Technology Companyof the Year Award. Thisaward is based on past achievements(both in terms of revenueand IT development),while accolades, customerreviews and contribution toHong Kong’s IT industry are also considered.There are many worthy companies in HongKong, from niche-player SMBs to pillars ofHong Kong industry. Hong Kong tech firms,we feel, do not always get the attention theydeserve, and this award is our small way of tryingto rectify this situation.This year, the award goes to Outblaze Ltd.Blazing for over a decade“Outblaze was founded in Hong Kong in1998 and was the first company to offer fullyhosted multilingual communication servicesfor online communities,” said Outblaze founderand CEO Yat Siu. “We started with four orfive people in a run-down office of less than1,000 square feet with a failing electrical systemand single toilet. In our first few monthswe hired about 20 people, which packed ustight as sardines.”Yat Siu from Outblaze:Risk-taking can beadvantageousToday, Outblaze occupies over 10,000 squarefeet of office space in Cyberport. “There weremany challenges along the way, but we alwaysfound ways to overcome them,” said Yat. “Risktakingcan be advantageous. Solaris was thedominant operating system for servers whenwe set up Outblaze, but we couldn’t afford thecosts. Linux was considered experimental atbest, but we decided to use it. In 1998 it wasnot clear that open source was a viable alternativewith a promising future. We ended uprunning our production environments on opensource—a substantial risk that paid off. Today,software architects recognize that the future isabout open sharing.”Present strengthsThe firm continues to raise the internationalstandard for web communication softwaredelivered as a service—and continues to beprivately held. Outblaze is a company of innovatorswho are passionate about Web communicationand whose mission is the deliveryof powerful Web 2.0 products including onlinecommunity and social media tools and services.“We built a Hong Kong IT company servicinginternational clients, which we consideredan accomplishment in itself, since HongKong had a limited track record in hostedservices or IT in general,” said Yat. “We nowhave overseas offices in the US and Europe,but our headquarters have always remainedhere, making us a homegrown Hong Kongcompany. Outblaze services were deliveredto 480,000 domains and more than 76 millionuser accounts, making us one of the largestservice providers in the world. Last year, IBMdecided to buy some of our assets, which theyare using to set up a computing cloud here: thefirst time IBM has done so in the region.”Outblaze collaborates with clients to createcustomized solutions tailored to meet theirspecific needs without requiring them to investin expensive software and hardware. Thecompany handles all operations of the service,leaving clients free to focus on their core competencies.We now have overseasoffices in the USand Europe, but ourheadquarters have alwaysremained here in HongKongAwardsAmong Outblaze’s previous awards: the ITExcellence Awards 2002 (Gold Award for BestProduct), Linux Business Adoption Award2003 (Enterprise Grand Award), Asia PacificICT Alliance (APICTA) 2003 (Best CommunicationApplication), Linux Business Award2005 (Product Development Merit Award),the 2005 Hong Kong Awards for Industries(Technological Achievement Award), HongKong ICT Award 2007 (Best Business ProductGold Award) and the APICTA Award 2007(Best Tools & Infrastructure Application).22 Computerworld Hong Kong June 2009www.cw.com.hk