DHL is to invest an additional RM1.5 billion (US$351 million) between now and 2020 to further develop its IT Services Data Center in Cyberjaya, Malaysia.

According to DHL, the facility provides IT infrastructure, business application development and support for the company’s global operations. DHL has invested more than RM4.7 billion (US$1.1 billion) in the centre’s development since 1997, and expects the new investment to create further opportunities for emerging IT talent in the country and around the region.

“Digitalization plays an increasingly strategic role in helping global logistics networks achieve the speed, reliability and accuracy needed to keep pace with today’s demands,” said Alexander Pilař [right in photo], executive vice president and managing director of IT services at Deutsche Post DHL Group. “The investment we have made in Cyberjaya demonstrates our commitment towards enhancing our capabilities – and helping our customers improve their market positions through best-in-class IT infrastructure and skilled talent.”

Along with their counterparts in Prague, the Czech Republic and Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, more than 1,440 employees ensure that the Cyberjaya centre delivers 24/7 IT support across all of DHL’s divisions – DHL Express, DHL Global Forwarding, DHL Supply Chain and DHL eCommerce.

“We started our IT Data Center in Malaysia 20 years ago, occupying a floor in a suburban shopping mall with just 120 staff, facing risks of disruption from flooding to the building’s carpark,” said Yogananthan S [left in photo], site head of IT Services Cyberjaya and VP of business relations for IT services in the Asia Pacific at Deutsche Post DHL Group. “Since then, we’ve not only relocated to Cyberjaya but also established it as a key pillar in DHL’s regional and global logistics strategy, backed up by one of the most diverse and high-performing workforces in the country and globally. Over the past 20 years we’ve focused on not only building up the local IT talent market – including hiring almost 500 new graduates since 2006 – but doing so in a way that encourages diversity and equal opportunity for all. These values are not only at the core of DHL’s corporate culture – they also play a crucial role in how we effectively we serve our global ‘customer’ base in more than 220 countries and territories.”

The Cyberjaya IT Services Data Center also plans to invest in a range of platform renewals and technical innovations through to 2020, including the adoption of a hybrid cloud and higher-efficiency or renewable energy sources.

“We are heartened by the continued support from DHL, which reflects its unwavering commitment to Malaysia and its digital transformation agenda – as we race towards becoming a developed digital economy by 2020,” said Ng Wan Peng [centre in photo], chief operating officer of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation. “In addition to employment creation, this move will greatly boost and strengthen the digital infrastructure and ecosystem crucial for a thriving innovation powered socio-economy. We look forward to the journey ahead with DHL, in our quest to make the digital economy a key engine of growth for Malaysia.”