Yun Ta Ming learnt early in life the consequences of failure. Perhaps, it is that first failure at a tender age that spurred him on to become the Group CEO of CHASSasia. As a child, the Singaporean, was a slow learner and never did manage to speak till he turned five. This naturally, slowed him down academically. At Catholic High School, where he was a student, he was retained in Primary Five. At the elite boys’ school, this was unheard of and a blow to Yun.
Undeterred by his first brush with failure, Yun, with ’a never say die’ attitude, which has become his hallmark, today, persevered. Eventually he emerged within the top 10 per cent of his cohort and was re-admitted into the first batch of the Special Assistance Plan school, (SAP) a scheme initiated by the Ministry of Education which recognised outstanding students of the English and Chinese languages in school.
Today, Singapore based, Yun, is responsible for the operations of four countries, spanning Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei. A position, he rose to through the ranks, it reflects a huge change from his previous role of having to oversee operations like project delivery, sales, solutions pre-sales, admin and finance. His role now, is that of a people developer focusing on understanding and developing people within the organisation, and ensuring their talents are tapped into, to contribute to the company’s overall growth, development and success.
However, things weren’t always a bed of roses for Yun, who rose from humble beginnings and worked his way to the top.
Having served the Singapore Army as a Lieutenant, after losing 90% of vision on left eye and 60% of vision on right eye and fortunately regain almost full vision after extensive operation, he was more determine to succeed in life. Yun enrolled in Colorado State University graduating with double majors in Electrical Engineering and a Bachelors in Computer Science and minor in mathematics.
Right after graduation, in 1991, the young Yun was in demand and turned down lucrative job offers in Seattle and returned home to Singapore. At home, he was sought after by the likes of Hewlett Packard and Defence Science Organisation, (DSO). He started his entrepreneurship only one month of work at DSO, where he was in charge of redesigning fighter jets. He was appointed as Microsoft, Singapore Regional Director in year 2000 for three years and led various clubs and associations concurrent with his work. (SITF -Singapore Information Technology Federation, SMF – Singapore Manufacturing Federation).
In 1991, with just two Singapore dollars in his pocket, ambition, passion and a dream CHASSasia Singapore Pte Ltd was born. CHASS which stands for Computer Hardware and Software Solution is the success story of sheer grit and determination. The company provides information technology solutions and services for business by providing seamless support with quality service through a strong focus on people development, offering stakeholders the best returns. Their secret is in innovating and simplifying technologies for great customer experiences.
In the first year the company turned in a revenue of only S$50,000 and, Yun had to forgo his salary for that first year and the next four years. He started the company from ground zero, and had a steep learning curve on company organisation, understanding customers’ needs, finances, processes and people. He had to re design everything from scratch.
By hiring people who were willing to make sacrifices for the job, and embarking on a talent search of professional people with a hunger to succeed, the company began making inroads in the industry. In 1998 the company expanded and CHASSasia was formed with regional offices established in Brunei (2013), Thailand (2007) and Malaysia (1998).
“Our Vision is to innovate and simplify technology, creating great customer experiences. It is to ensure that we bring all the latest and greatest technologies to our customers’ workplace. In addition, we want our customers to enjoy and benefit maximally from our simplification of these technologies”, says Yun.
Over the years CHASSasia has won awards such as Microsoft Solutions Partner Excellence Award in 2001, Microsoft Partner of the Year in 2003, APC Star performer of the year Award in the same year, Veritas, Fastest Growing Partner in 2004, and the accolades kept on coming thanks to the winning ways of CHASS Asia. The recognition for CHASSasia continued and in 2012, the company won the Top Cloud Partner Award, in 2013, it won the Symantec Top Cloud Partner Award again.
CHASSasia has returned a stable and consistent company growth since its inception. “This is essential as our customers depend on our stability for service and support. I am grateful to customers who have supported and believed in CHASSasia for many years. To further gain customer trust, we have to ensure that we have a stable company structure,” says Yun. He adds, “Our top down design approach has ensured stability and consistency wherever our offices are located. Consistent Financial, Technology, and Human Resource strategies and processes have enabled CHASSasia to support and service seamlessly across the different regions and cultures we operate in.”
His personal mantra is “Good is the enemy of great.” This is the single reason why, in 2014, the company, grossed over S$42 Million. Yun is a firm believer in transparency of information and management. He explains that as a company, they built a digital system so that information can be at our fingertips.
Yun believes in consistently trying to sustain and build on the remarkable success that the company has enjoyed since inception. He manages approximately 100 CHASSasians as he prefers to call his staff. A secret to his success, is the fact that company needs to have elements such as the brain and heart. The brain to achieve a better and smarter workplace and heart for every employee to have a sense of belonging and ownership. The company adopts two yardsticks to assess employees. The measurements– include the I-card and 360 Review. The I-card allows employees to be measured against the goals and targets set by themselves, while the 360 review allows peers to review and assess the quality and quantity of work by individuals. This allows CHASSasia to ensure that brains and the hearts work together.
AS CEO, Yun believes that: “Determination and passion for success, are the keys for greatness in whatever one does. You don’t need to be the smartest or the most brilliant to succeed, I believe that determined and passionate people will be the key contributors to a company’s success. You don’t need to be a genius but you just need to take one small step every day to improve.”
Practicing consistency in work ethics, CHASSasia takes full accountability and total ownership of its commitments to customers and honors its promises to them. SPIrIT, is one of its core values- the company trusts and empowers employees through SPIrIT, which focuses on qualities such as Service Excellence, Passion, Integrity, Innovation and teamwork.
Yun dispensed nuggets of wisdom to others in the industry during the many keynote addresses he is invited to deliver such as during the Windows XP, Visual Studio launch.
Yun Ta Ming is a winner of the Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards 2015 Singapore, under the Most Promising Category. The Awards were held on 14th August 2015 at Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel.
