The group’s property portfolio is spread across four main growth engines in the major
destinations of Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor’s Iskandar Malaysia and Central London.
Among E&O’s landmark property developments are the 980-acre masterplanned
seafront development in Seri Tanjung Pinang, Penang; the signature urban chic suites
of St Mary Residences in Kuala Lumpur (KL); the prestigious landed residences of
Idamansara and Seventy Damansara in upscale Damansara Heights, KL and the
exclusive Dua Residency condominiums in the heart of Malaysia’s capital.
Due to E&O’s strong brand presence and track record built through the years, the Group
was able to forge partnerships with industry giants like Khazanah Nasional Berhad and
Temasek Holdings (Pte) Ltd for its 207-acre masterplanned Avira wellness development
in Medini, Iskandar Malaysia and Japan’s Mitsui Fudosan Residential for The Mews
serviced residences in the KL CBD.
Internationally, E&O’s real estate investment and development is located in London’s
prime locations. This includes Princes House along Kingsway, ESCA House in Bayswater,
and a commercial property in Hammersmith.
E&O’s hospitality and F&B division is a complementary lifestyle component that
supports its core business of developing premier properties with innovative concepts
in key locations. This includes the legendary heritage Eastern & Oriental Hotel in
historic George Town and boutique Lone Pine Hotel along Batu Ferringhi in Penang and
the contemporary E&O Residences Kuala Lumpur in the capital’s vibrant city centre.
E&O expands on the boundaries of excellence
Eastern & Oriental Berhad (E&O) is a premier lifestyle property development group listed on the main board of Bursa Malaysia. Synonymous with timeless elegance and discernment, the E&O name is inspired by the rich heritage of our namesake, the Eastern & Oriental Hotel in Penang established in 1885.
Key challenges
As the leader in promoting luxury living as a lifestyle experience, E&O has a proven track record in delivering excellence. Meeting and exceeding customer satisfaction is a key factor in its continued success.
“With consumerisation, staying connected has become a part of our everyday life. It has influenced how we work. Mobility is important to our business as our employees use it to stay connected with customers at all times,” said E&O Head of IT Shary Choo. “Our workforce also expects fast answers and fast results. This is a challenge as our employees often work outside the office. They not only have to be reachable, they have to have quick access to relevant information.”
E&O initiated their cloud strategy in 2014. “We were aware of the benefits cloud computing provided in meeting mobility issues, helping businesses stay connected at all times and facilitating collaboration. We began by consolidating our websites which are now hosted on Amazon Web Services,” said Shary Choo. “Cloud offers many advantages but there are also many challenges in its set-up. This ranges from the selection of a cloud provider and the means of managing the platform to the insufficient bandwidth of the internet line. There are also concerns on data security control and policies, as
well as user perceptions and expectations, all of which had to be addressed.”
Why E&O chose Office 365
E&O chose to adopt the cloud-based Office 365 as it provided increased storage which met their requirements and had features which supported business on-the-go with its highly geographic mobility and fexibility.
“We envisioned a modern workplace which would not only resolve the problems we
faced but allowed our employees to stay ahead of the productivity curve. They were already familiar with many features of Office 365. Now they had secure access to relevant information which facilitated their ability to work from anywhere, at any time and through devices of their choice,” said Shary Choo.
Leveraging on cloud technology enabled E&O to expand on cross-office collaborative initiatives. Using tools such as Skype for Business, OneDrive and Yammer, employees are able to communicate, conduct meetings and work on documents in real-time, regardless of where they were based. This has resulted in cost-savings and better time management.
“Having Office 365 as a common communication and collaboration platform has made a
big difference. From a productivity standpoint, it has enabled us to collaborate more easily between ourselves and with our customers whilst allowing IT to focus on delivering initiatives which support the business strategy,” said Shary Choo. “From a cost standpoint, it eliminated the need for us to invest in non-key infrastructure. We outsourced our messaging services. Microsoft will handle updates and security patching, with a guarantee of data file safety and 99.9% uptime.”
“The adoption of such cloud productivity tools can bring substantial benefits if everyone
puts the new tool to good use. We worked in partnership with Noventiq, Microsoft’s authorised leader which specialises in licensing services, on our Office 365 user adoption programme. As we explore further cloud opportunities, we look forward to strengthening this relationship,” concluded Shary Choo.
Download Eastern & Oriental Berhad case study