Leanne Ooi started her computer restoration business in 2001 after her employer decided to shut down its refurbishment unit because she was confident of the potential in the segment. Today, that faith has been vindicated, writes LIM WING HOOI.
WHEN the company she was working with decided in 2001 to scrap the computer refurbishment division she was in, Leanne Ooi Siew Lin did not allow herself to feel like it was the end of the world.
In fact, she decided to prove that the business her employer had deemed obsolete was still viable.
Ooi started her own company, Rentwise, a few months later and started refurbishing PCs, laptops and other hardware for lease and sales.
Fifteen years later, her conviction in the business has been vindicated by the fact that Rentwise is not only surviving but doing quite well. The company employs 60 workers and boasts some 200 corporate clients
“I was working as a business development manager with the information technology asset management company when they decided to change direction in 2001 as their foreign shareholder divested their interest. It was a moment of volatility, and I left the company and started Rentwise within the next three months,” Ooi, 39, remembers.
She started her new business with RM300,000 in capital and a staff of six at a rented 4,000 sq ft office in Puchong. Ooi explains that she needed the space as the business involved a lot of used PCs, and the workers needed a sizable area in which to work, from doing refurbishments to data security sanitation tasks.
“We see the potential in this segment because clients would usually retire their fleet of PCs in two to three years time. We managed to secure 200 PCs to begin with,” she recalls.
Once refurbished, the company’s used PCs are sold to small enterprises, usually ending up with companies looking for PCs in the non-critical segments of their business. In the early years, Rentwise sourced its computers mainly from Australia, the US and New Zealand — up to 80%. These days, though, local PCs make up 80% of their inventory.
“It’s cheaper to source overseas as we get to pick better quality equipment, which reduces our refurbishment cost. But we want to start a sustainable supply chain in Malaysia and subsequently in the Asean region,” says Ooi.
The company secures about 60,000 pieces of computing equipment, ranging from desktops and laptops to storage and servers, every year. These are repaired and restored, then leased or sold.
“We have about 200 corporate clients with users ranging from 100 to 1,000,” says Ooi, who points out that her clients are in various industries, from manufacturing and automotive to oil and gas, healthcare and education.
The company, which has 10 times more people than when it first started, moved to its current address, a 20,000 sq ft office in Natco Industrial Park, Shah Alam, in 2007 to cater to the increased volume.
They also have sales offices in Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and Singapore.
Leasing, Ooi explains, is the preferred option for most companies as it’s light on their balance sheet. Moreover, companies would want to upgrade their equipment regularly since technology changes so quickly. Buying would make it more costly.
“It’s also a recurring business for us, where 75% of our business is in leasing and the remaining 25% is in selling refurbished equipment,” she concludes.
Originally published in The Star Online: http://www.thestar.com.my/metro/smebiz/focus/2016/05/09/restoration-of-faith/ on 9 May 2016. Reproduced here in full.
SMK Convent Pulau Tikus in Penang has been the latest recipient of refurbished computers from Rentwise as part of its ongoing CSR program dedicated to helping schools in need of upgraded computer facilities. The computer lab in SMK Convent Pulau Tikus was set up in 2001 with 30 units of desktop computers, of which only 15 remained in working order today.
As a partially-funded missionary school setup in 1950, this donation of refurbished computers by Rentwise couldn’t have come at a better time. Insufficient funds led to a poor upkeep of the Information, Communication and Technology Learning (ICTL) facility of this girls school. “We are indeed grateful for this donation as now our students can enjoy their ICTL lessons smoothly and this will bring about positive impact in their learning outcomes,” Puan Nooriah, the school principal said.
Puan Amaravathy, the Assistant Officer of Student Affairs said that the computer lab has been used as a meeting place for the school’s computer club activities. However, the remaining 15 working computers were too old for any good practical use. Hence, computer lessons were mainly taught from a theoretical perspective. “With these high specification computers donated by Rentwise, we are truly thankful because teachers can now conduct better ICTL lessons and use them to generate online quizzes and grade assignments efficiently and effectively,” Puan Amaravathy explained enthusiastically.
Rentwise has donated 50 refurbished branded desktop computers complete with keyboard, mouse and LCD monitors to equip SMK Convent Pulau Tikus’ computer lab and library. The Windows 7-preloaded computers are powered by Core 2 Duo processor with 4GB RAM and a large 500GB hard disk drive.
This reasonably powerful specifications will be more than sufficient for the ICTL needs of SMK Convent Pulau Tikus students who will be using them for basic word processing, presentation and worksheet tasks apart from the online learning experience crucial in one’s research works and achievement of a more global education outlook.
“We hope that this benefit afforded to our students would be extended to other schools as well. I wish Rentwise all the best in securing more partnerships with other corporate organisations in sourcing for old computers so that they could continue this noble CSR program for the benefit of others,” Puan Amaravathy said.
At Rentwise, we are truly committed in our CSR programs to work with underprivileged children and needy schools in need of computers for their ICTL purposes. SMK Convent Pulau Tikus has been our third recipient of quality refurbished computers after SMK St. Mary, KL and SK (P) Methodist, Klang over the past 4 years. Hundreds of students have benefited from the use of these donated and refurbished computers.
A deployment of this scale is a huge undertaking requiring months of planning ahead with a much needed, first and foremost, ready supply of computers as the key ingredient in this CSR exercise. Thus, Rentwise earnestly calls upon corporate organisations who are interested to collaborate with us in this CSR initiative to donate their old computers so that we can refurbish and donate them back to needy schools. Rentwise has the facility and expertise to do this and we believe the only key enabler is a constant supply of old computers to meet the demands of hundreds of schools nationwide.
In view of the increasing importance placed on information technology skills in our work force today, Rentwise is poised to make a difference in realising this vision. Our young generation are our future leaders and they deserve a good head start early in life to use ICTL in enhancing their learning skills and productivity.
Rentwise is indeed glad to be able to share this happy and momentous milestone with SMK Convent Pulau Tikus especially in light of the school’s 66 years anniversary this year.
Corporate organisations who wish to contribute to this CSR initiative or schools who are interested to apply as our program participants can get in touch with us.
MALAYSIAN businesses need to know how green IT management can help with their bottom-line while improving sustainable practices and reducing carbon footprints.
With increasing international and Government pressures for businesses to operate sustainably, Malaysia’s small to medium enterprises (SMEs) will have to face the increasingly urgent question of how to be sustainable without busting their budgets.
One avenue is to reduce consumption through effective re-use and recycling of IT equipment effectively, said Rentwise chief executive officer Leanne Ooi, at the Green IT Saves Money seminar held at Connexion@Nexus, Bangsar South.
With its green credentials, Rentwise is a Microsoft Registered Refurbisher and one of only a few home-grown IT vendors providing comprehensive solutions which include financing and consultancy together with maintenance, support and IT lifecycle management services.
“IT departments can contribute very positively to sustainable efforts without asking for more budgets,” said Ooi.
Having a good Green IT policy means making IT life cycles more sustainable, ensuring companies can meet strict environmental standards when retiring and disposing of equipment while maximising equipment recovery values and resolving data security concerns.
“The ultimate goal is to have a cost-effective and sensible solution both technically and financially as it reduces unnecessary expenditure and lowers the carbon footprint of the organisation,” said Ooi.
The Government has continued to strengthen and expand regulations on sustainability in order to meet its commitment to reduce carbon emissions intensity per GDP by 40% by 2020 compared to 2005 levels.
It has also identified Green IT as an emerging driver for sustainable economic growth, and under the National Green Technology Policy, is aiming to reduce the overall consumption of resources while sustaining national economic growth. In keeping with this, the stock exchange Bursa Malaysia was among the earliest in the world to require yearly reporting on sustainability measures for public listed companies.
Rentwise’s Green IT Saves Money seminar is contributing to those efforts.
“Our intention is to enhance awareness on good IT management practices in general with a lens on sustainability,” said Ooi.
Rentwise hopes to raise awareness on Malaysia’s current sustainability policies, programmes and green incentives as well as highlights sustainable avenues for maximising company IT budgets.
“SMEs need to know how IT management makes a big difference towards reducing their carbon footprint and the types of sustainable options available for them meet sustainability obligations,” she added.
“Companies working towards Green IT should make sustainability a daily practice which firstly begins by understanding your electricity consumption and measuring your carbon footprint based on your consumption,” said green specialist Ismail Abdullah.
Ismail shared his long experience from national and state projects like the Malaysia Green Technology Road Map, National Energy Efficiency Master Plan and the Malacca Green City State 2020 Blueprint at the seminar.
“By making conscious effort to conserve energy usage and reduce CO2 emissions through simple steps like choosing to use energy-efficient equipment and supporting green procurement, this will create sustainability in energy consumption for the future,” he added.
Originally published in The Star Online: http://www.thestar.com.my/metro/smebiz/news/2016/03/30/proving-that-green-it-is-good-for-both-business-and-the-environment/ on 30 March 2016. Reproduced here in full.
Malaysian businesses need to know how green IT management can help with their bottom-lines while improving sustainable practices and reducing carbon footprints.
With the Government pressuring businesses to operate sustainably, Malaysia’s small to medium enterprises (SMEs) will have to face the increasingly urgent question of how to be sustainable without busting their budgets.
One avenue is to reduce e-waste, said Leanne Ooi, Chief Executive Officer of Rentwise, at the Green IT Saves Money seminar held here at Connexion@Nexus, Bangsar South today.
With its green credentials, Rentwise is a Microsoft Registered Refurbisher and one of only a few home-grown IT vendors providing comprehensive solutions which include financing and consultancy together with maintenance, support and IT lifecycle management services.
“Your IT department can help you be more sustainable without asking you for more money,” said Ooi.
Having an e-waste policy means making IT lifecycles more sustainable, ensuring companies can meet strict environmental standards when retiring and disposing of equipment while maximising on the equipment recovery value and resolving data security concerns.
“This is a cost-effective and a sensible solution both technically and financially as it reduces unnecessary expenditure and lowers the carbon footprint of the organization,” said Ooi.
The Government has continued to strengthen and expand regulations on sustainability in order to meet its commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2020 compared to 2005 levels.
It has also identified green IT as an emerging driver for sustainable economic growth, and under the National Green Technology Policy, is aiming to reduce the overall consumption of resources while sustaining national economic growth. In keeping with this, the stock exchange Bursa Malaysia was among the earliest in the world to require yearly reporting on sustainability measures for public listed companies.
Rentwise’s Green IT Saves Money seminar is its contribution to those efforts. “Our intention is to improve people’s IT literacy in general with a lens on sustainability,” said Ooi. Rentwise hopes to raise awareness on Malaysia’s current sustainability policies, programs and green incentives as well as highlights sustainable avenues for maximising company IT budgets.
“SMEs need to know how IT management makes a big difference towards reducing their carbon footprint and the types of sustainable options available for them to meet sustainability obligations,” she added.
“Companies working towards Green IT should make sustainability a daily practice which firstly begins by understanding your electricity consumption and measuring your carbon footprint based on your consumption,” said energy conservation specialist Ismail Abdullah.
A speaker at Rentwise’s seminar today, Ismail shared his long experience from national and state projects like The Malaysia Green Technology Road Map, National Energy Efficiency Master Plan and The Melaka Green City State 2020 Blueprint.
“By making conscious effort to conserve energy usage and reduce CO2 emissions through simple steps like choosing to use low emissions equipment and supporting green procurement, this will create sustainability in energy consumption for the future,” he added.
To find out more about how Green IT can help your business save money, contact us today.
Rentwise ended the first quarter of 2016 with a poignant message on the importance of preserving our environment with green IT implementation. This environmentally-conscious strategy is not only friendly to mother earth but it also helps contribute to greater savings too. Thus, Rentwise led the way in championing for this cause via its recently concluded seminar titled “Green IT Saves Money” held at Connexion@Nexus, Bangsar South on 23 March 2016.
Here’s an excerpt of the opening speech by Leanne Ooi, CEO of Rentwise Sdn. Bhd.:
Happy morning clients, guests and members of the media! Welcome to our inaugural “Green IT Saves Money” seminar!
Thank you for coming today. Watch out! You are going to learn a lot.
Firstly, thank you to En Ismail Abdullah, President and CEO of the International Green Training Centre who will later be sharing with you key developments of the Green Movement in our country.
Thank you also to Mr. WH Chan from Server-On, the principal distributor for Quanta QCT in Malaysia and Ms. Elaine Loo of HGST who are going to share with us their approach to Green IT. We greatly appreciate Elaine who flew in from China to address us today. Welcome to Kuala Lumpur, Elaine.
When we started putting the word out on this seminar, some of you asked us: “How can Green IT save money?” Or “This is Rentwise’s concern, not ours.”
We are here to say it is time to make it your concern.
Let’s cut to the chase. We live in an era where what happens globally will affect us in Malaysia. It is only a matter of time before the pressure to change is on. If your business is unprepared, there will be painful lessons ahead.
We at Rentwise lived through this story of change. It was hard for us. We were going about business-as-usual importing IT equipment from bigger economies for refurbishment and leasing; and then before we knew it, Malaysia had become part of the Basel Convention that turned those very IT equipment, the lifeblood of our business, into hazardous waste.
Business came to a stop. But, we dug in our heels and changed our business model. We worked endlessly with the Department of Environment, we talked to our clients, and we invested in improving our skills and services.
And it has paid off. Large corporates and local business began to show interest in our services. Today, we are ready for the future. The question is, are you?
What is the future we are talking about? Look no further than the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).
Once it takes effect, international borders will go down. With it, so will competition heat up. On the other hand, the global environmental movement is also heating up. Al-Gore’s award winning documentary in 2006 called ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ sums it up clearly: we are heading for doom if we do not change our ways.
So just think about it. Our regulators have started to put more pressure on businesses to operate in more socially responsible ways. Businesses need to cut down carbon footprint. This means fine tuning operations. It means working with other businesses who are able to provide services that also contribute to the green factor.
By having Green IT as part of your business, you are in effect doing two crucial things: (1) sharpening your competitive edge and (2) help to save our planet.
Rentwise is already part of the future. We Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
Did you know? It takes 1.8 tons for raw materials such as mineral ore and fossil fuel to make a 10kg desktop.
Mining mineral ore pollutes the environment. Fossil fuel when combusted releases CO2 that contributes to global warming.
Today, we all need a computer to work. You can save our world instead of inadvertently destroying simply by changing usage and disposal practices.
We can help you adopt Green IT practices now. Not later, not some time in the future, but now. Green IT also saves you money. How? We can chat further later today!
So we emphasize here again. Green IT concerns all of us.
I hope your takeaway for today will be that ‘Positive change leads to positive outcomes’.
I trust you will have a fruitful day after hearing what En Ismail Abdullah, Mr WH Chan and Ms Elaine has to share.
Thank you.
To find out more about how Green IT can help your business save money, contact us today.
In celebration of the Year of the Monkey, Rentwise ushered in 2016 with great hopes for growth, prosperity and happiness for both staff and customers. This Chinese New Year celebration is indeed momentous and iconic as Rentwise is also celebrating its 15th year Anniversary this August.
A troupe of lion dance and well-wishers dropped by the office to impart their blessings and simply just had fun with Rentwisers. All the noise, dance, fun and merry; 2016 will be a blast!
Many companies have great and wonderful IT Infrastructure road map to ensure their company operations perform efficiently in order to achieve more financially. However, having an IT asset disposition strategy is equally important to maximize the ROI of the investment made in the IT infrastructure.
Companies who have a structured IT asset disposition strategy often spend less in managing the disposition in terms of manpower and time which translates into cost saving for the company while getting the best value out of the IT equipment which are meant to be disposed of.
This scenario is best explained in the 2 diagrams below:
Unmanaged & Unstructured IT Asset Disposition
Managed & Structured IT Asset Disposition
Great returns can be reaped from IT asset invested earlier during the disposition period. They are then no longer considered scrap items that merely provide a small return to the organization. IT is definitely worth a lot more if we work with an IT Asset Disposition & Management specialist.
Green IT – Preserving our environment
Making a Difference (M.A.D) together is not just reaping good value from the disposed IT equipment but it also plays a crucial role in preserving our mother earth. A responsible IT Asset Disposition & Management Specialist will ensure all equipment is either Re-used or Recycled.
Re-used through responsible refurbishment of IT equipment with a market-accepted processor technology are executed as follows:
- The IT equipment will be fully tested to ensure good functionality.
- Parts are changed to prolong the lifecycle of the equipment.
- Cosmetic touch-ups done on the equipment to improve presentation.
The objective of responsible refurbishment process is to reduce the carbon footprint and preserve our environment through less resource usage. Production of new computer or IT equipment entails consumption of high-energy resources involving metal and copper. Hence, the lesser IT equipment produced, the lesser resources will be required of our mother earth.
It’s important to recycle all faulty and non-functional equipment (e-Waste) responsibly to stop pollution. All e-waste MUST go through a proper recycling process by Department of Environment (DoE) certified recyclers. Every part of the IT equipment that can be salvaged will be recycled to manufacture new components. This ensures minimum if not zero waste being sent to landfills as most of these materials are non bio-degradable components.
Naturally, corporate organizations will reap great benefits by maximizing their investment of purchased IT equipment through responsible recycling. By so doing, an organization gains satisfaction of being responsible towards preserving our beloved earth and putting a stop to pollution through effective IT asset disposition strategy.