Spire E-Newsletter

Q4-2014 Issue

In this issue
Another win for Spire at the PT Telkom Supplier Awards 2014
Spire comments on Cloud computing at the IDA Singapores CloudAsia 2014 event
Spire talks about Indias e-tailing industry from the sellers perspective
Spire discusses Indonesias tourism sector at the South East Asia Hotel Expansion Summit 2014
Spire joins Indonesias Ocean Investment Summit 2014 as a guest speaker
Another win for Spire at the Telkom Supplier Awards 2014
20 November 2014

Telkom Indonesia one of the largest telecommunications services company in Indonesia hosted its
annual Telkom Supplier Award on 20th November 2014 at Bandung, Indonesia. The award ceremony
gathered Telkoms subsidiary, partner companies and suppliers. Spire Research and Consulting was
awarded second place in the Best consultant category at Telkom Supplier Award for the fourth time.
The token of appreciation was received by Erwin Widjaja, Country Director, Indonesia of Spire
Research and Consulting in the presence of Honesti Basyir, Financial Director of Telkom. Spire has
been continually recognized for its outstanding efforts an affirmation of its service quality, integrity
and research dedication.

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Spire comments on Cloud computing usage in Singapores financial services industry

29 October 2014

Spire Research and Consultings CEO Leon Perera was privileged to deliver the first Opening Plenary
address at CloudAsia 2014 held in Singapore on 29-30 October. He shared key insights from Spires
study on Cloud computing usage in Singapores financial services industry (FSI) and recommended
approaches to increase Public Cloud usage in the FSI.
At the Opening Plenary of CloudAsia 2014, Leon Perera, CEO of Spire Research and Consulting
shared that some Financial Institutions operating in Singapore were already using the private Cloud
for non-core applications. However the study found that Financial Institutions were hesitant to further
explore Public Cloud adoption for core applications involving production data.
The study recommended approaches to increasing Cloud usage for core applications through the
creation of prescriptive codes of conduct for FI-vendor contracting as well as security. The study
concluded that an opportunity currently exists for a multi-stake-holder effort to develop such codes of
conduct so as to achieve buy-in from regulators, industry practitioners and vendors. If this could be
achieved, the benefits to both the FSI and the Singapore economy would be considerable.
The CloudAsia conference was co-organized by the Infocom Development Authority of Singapore. Its
Assistant CEO, Mr Khoong Hock Yun, delivered the welcome address. Other speakers included Ms
Teresa Carlson, Vice-President for Worldwide Public Sector at Amazon Web Services and Nick Earle,
Senior Vice-President for Worldwide Cloud Sales at Cisco.
Pereras presentation deck on Cloud Computing for Financial
found here.

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Services Institutions can be

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Spire talks about Indias e-tailing industry from the sellers perspective
29 October 2014
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29 October 2014
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29 October 2014

(LiveMint )
(Business Standard)
(The Hindustan Times)
(Deccan Chronicle)
(Financial Chronicle)
(Asian Age )

Spires research study aptly titled, Indias E-Tailing Industry Sellers Perspective was released at a
press conference held in New Delhi on 29th October 2014. The study was conducted across 13 states
in India spread over 300 retailers in 3 sectors, namely apparel, consumer electronics and food. The
study generated insights on online shopping trends and their effects on sellers.
The Spire study revealed that over 54% of businesses reported a growth of more than 20% in revenue
sales since going online. Businesses in the apparel and food industries saw more profits from e-tailing
than those in the consumer electronics sector.
Spire forecasts that by 2020, 45% of Indian businesses will see their online share grow to between 20
50% of sales in these sectors.
Spire believes that despite challenges such as lack of robust payment infrastructure, risk in COD
payment options and difficulties in logistics as well as order placements, the e-tailing industry in India is
poised for growth.
The presentation deck on Indias E-tailing Industry Sellers Perspective can be found here.

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Spire discusses Indonesias tourism sector at the South East Asia Hotel Expansion Summit 2014
29 October 2014

Indonesia is now poised to become a popular holiday destination for national and international
tourists. The growing tourism sector is becoming economically significant. Against that backdrop, the
third South East Asia Hotel Expansion Summit 2014 gathered key industry stakeholders and service
providers from Indonesias travel and tourism sector to discuss the market outlook and potential
business opportunities.
Jeffrey Bahar, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, was amongst the
prestigious list of speakers at the 3rd Annual SEA Expansion Summit 2014 held in Jakarta, Indonesia. In
his presentation, Bahar emphasized how the tourism sector boosts the economy. 2014 saw a record
number of inbound tourist arrivals, at 8.6 million.
He shared that Indonesias travel and tourism sector is expected to grow further due to the
implementation of a common ASEAN Visa, expected by the end of 2015.
However, the nation still struggles with challenges such as excessive competition in the aviation
industry, which has seen smaller airlines closing down due to debt issues and a lack of infrastructure.
This has curbed intra and inter island connectivity. Moreover, a general lack of English language
proficiency amongst Indonesians tends to impede service levels in the foreign tourist sector.
Nonetheless, these problems are being tackled. The government plans to allocate USD140 billion for
further transport infrastructure development. The government has also been taking steps to preserve
Indonesias tropical rainforest. It introduced a logging moratorium in 2011 which is still in force. This will
auger well for Indonesias high-potential eco-tourism sector.
Bahars presentation deck on Overview and trends in Tourism sector can be found here.

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Spire joins Indonesias Ocean Investment Summit 2014 as a guest speaker

1 October 2014

Indonesia is the worlds ninth largest aquaculture producer. What business prospects lie in Indonesias
aqua farming industry? Spire Research and Consulting was honored to be a speaker at the Indonesia
Ocean Investment Summit 2014 in Jakarta, on behalf of the Norwegian Embassy. The event aimed at
exploring sustainable fishery and maritime industrial development opportunities in Indonesia.
At the event, Erwin Widjaja, Director, Indonesia of Spire Research and Consulting, spoke about aqua
farming and the untapped opportunities in this industry. Fisheries activities need to be developed in
order to provide national food security and reduce poverty. He shared that Indonesias fisheries
extend to an impressive 5.8 million km three-quarters of the entire national territory.
Widjaja commented that opportunities in aqua farming are abundant. Indonesia is at an advantage
because 76% of its surface area is under the Equatorial Ocean. There is an increasing demand for
high-value fish species such as snapper, grouper, barramundi and pompano.
He pointed out, however, that the production value chain was still facing difficulties due to an underdeveloped infrastructure for logistics. Moreover, most local industry players still tend to avoid usage of
vaccines regarded as an industry best practice because meeting safety regulations can be quite
cumbersome or farmers are simply unaware of the benefits.
Widjaja shared that uncoordinated and illegal fishing practices need to be stopped to defend the
sustainability of maritime sector. Such practices threaten to hurt the livelihoods of marine and coastal
communities as well as threaten fish value the ultimate food security

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