Outblaze wishes everyone a delightful holiday season and a happy new year. May your 2010 be joyful and prosperous!

Today I attended IBM’s ceremony announcing the opening of the first IBM Cloud Computing Laboratory in Hong Kong. The event was well attended by industry leaders, media, analysts, IBM’s major partners, and senior government including Mr John Tsang, Financial Secretary of the HKSAR Government. As Mr Tsang put it in his speech, the lab is a significant development:

IBM has Cloud Labs in cities across five continents and we are delighted that Hong Kong has been added to this distinguished list. This marks a new milestone for the development of R&D and information and communications technology (ICT) in our city. It is also testimony to our strength as a centre for ICT innovation and our strong fundamentals, including a sound legal system, vigorous regime for protecting intellectual property rights and world-class ICT infrastructure.

The IBM Lab is a strategic investment built on the technology and expertise of the Outblaze messaging business, which IBM acquired in April 2009 (note that IBM acquired some Outblaze assets, and not Outblaze itself). All of us at Outblaze are honoured to have demonstrated Hong Kong’s advantages as a centre for R&D, innovation, and talent in information technology.

Outblaze CEO Yat Siu had a few words for the occasion, though unfortunately he was overseas at the time of the launch and was unable to attend. In his blog he writes:

I congratulate IBM for officially opening this Cloud Computing Lab, this is a strategic investment to IBM and is only one of a few such centers world wide. I am happy to hear that IBM will continue to invest and grow this Lab and lead the way of large multinational technology companies to grow and build some real R&D effort in Hong Kong. This is a subject that I have been talking about before and I hope more multinational companies will emulate.

I congratulate Hong Kong because it demonstrates that Hong Kong has the stuff to develop leading and cutting edge technology with a global reach. Lotuslive iNotes is made in Hong Kong!

and last but certainly not least I wish to congratulate everyone at Outblaze who have made this possible through their effort, dedication and passion. You have demonstrated what is possible in Hong Kong and that will continue to foster and grow the spirit of research and development  in the field of technology here in Hong Kong.

Which sums it up nicely. Congratulations to IBM, Outblaze, and Hong Kong!

We are coming up to the end of 2009, and ’tis the season to win awards! Once again, Outblaze has worked diligently not to disappoint its fans. Earlier in the year, we nabbed the Company of the Year Award at the ComputerWorld Hong Kong Awards, as described in my previous blog post. Last night, Outblaze founder and CEO Yat Siu was presented with the Young Entrepreneur Award at the prestigious and highly competitive Hong Kong Business Awards 2009, organized by DHL and the SCMP.

The Young Entrepreneur Award honours persons under 40 years of age who have made proven contributions to a Hong Kong business through the application of outstanding talent, originality, innovation, and managerial skills.

Competition was fierce to say the least. Other winners announced during the evening included Richard Elman (CEO and founder of Noble Group), Vincent Cheng (Chairman of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited), and Marces Lee (Chairman of Le Saunda Holdings). Jetta Company Limited took home the Enterprise Award, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China won the China Company Award, and Gingko House (a fantastically interesting concept) won the SME Award. Noble Group also grabbed the International Award.

It’s been a great year for Outblaze, a company about to turn 12 years old. If I may quote from the press release:

Yat Siu’s steady leadership and vision steered Outblaze through the Dotcom Bubble and several subsequent crises. Outblaze became a world leader in white label hosted web services, winning numerous awards and accolades. With over 75 million end-users under management, Outblaze secured clients and partners from all over the world and business sectors, including service providers, telecommunications operators, corporations, academia, media and publishing companies.

In April 2009, Outblaze messaging assets were sold to IBM and incorporated in IBM’s LotusLive suite of services. IBM also used the Outblaze assets to open its first cloud computing laboratory in Hong Kong. The transaction established beyond doubt that -like banking and finance services- Hong Kong’s local information technology can compete on a global scale.

Upon accepting the award, Yat wasted no time in reminding the audience in the sumptuous Grand Hyatt ball room that this award is recognition for the efforts of all the good, hard-working people at Outblaze. And, almost as importantly, it is recognition for the efforts of I.T. entrepreneurs everywhere. Congratulations to Yat Siu and congratulations to Outblaze!