KUALA LUMPUR: Taiwanese data management and security company Synology Inc experienced 50% growth in market share in Malaysia last year, driven mainly by increasing demand from small and midsize businesses and enterprises.

The surge in demand for Synology’s data backup solutions exceeded 20%, Synology Malaysia country manager Jason Sin said, attributing this to Malaysia’s emergence as a prominent data centre hub in the region.

This growth, he added, has been further fuelled by government initiatives encouraging businesses to allocate a greater portion of their IT budget towards security

Sin was speaking at a media presentation today in conjunction with World Backup Day falling on March 31. The event focused on addressing the evolving landscape of data management and security trends, particularly in the context of the Malaysian market.

With the enforcement of the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) continuing to shape data management practices for businesses in Malaysia, the Synology event shed light on the challenges faced by small and medium enterprises in adhering to stricter data governance requirements. These include data breach notification protocols, data subject rights management, and the appointment of data protection officers in certain cases.

“The landscape of data management and security is rapidly evolving, and businesses need to stay ahead of the trend to ensure compliance and protect sensitive information,” said Sin.

In addition to compliance challenges for stricter PDPA requirements, Sin also addressed cybersecurity concerns, including recent data breaches such as the Maxis and YouTutor incidents, ransomware attacks targeting Malaysian businesses and cloud security risks associated with data residency and provider trustworthiness.

Synology product lines cater to both individual users and enterprise-level storage and data protection solutions. From entry-level storage solutions to robust enterprise-grade systems, Synology showcased its commitment to providing reliable, scalable, and comprehensive solutions tailored to meet the diverse needs of businesses.

“Synology is poised for another year of significant growth in the enterprise segment, as the market is focusing on new technologies and the associated storage and backup requirements.” Sin said.

Joanne Weng, director of Synology’s Department of International Business, said: “We are excited to announce that we have more innovative solutions and hardware in the pipeline for later this year. Stay tuned for updates, as these upcoming releases will empower businesses to effectively navigate the evolving landscape of data challenges in the future,“

Replying to questions on the recent cybersecurity incidents involving the government’s Central Database Hub and National Population and Family Development Board, Sin explained that the government did not implement Synology’s two-factor authentication system.

“Yes, they (the government) are using our solution but they are using our solution as a file server only but they did not use our backup solutions. The problem is because the file server connects with their own domain and the domain got breached. They (the government) mentioned that they already got full access to all the files and everything but if you don’t do any backup then it is harder to restore the data,” said Sin.

He added, “You need to do the data backup first before the attacks and the second thing is they did not use our two-factor authentication because they thought it was not convenient.”