ChinaSoft, Alibaba subsidiary form cloud computing alliance
The internet service targets mainland companies and state agencies in a market that is booming
ChinaSoft International, a leading software and information-technology services provider based in Beijing, will collaborate with a subsidiary of Alibaba Group in a major cloud-computing initiative targeted at mainland companies and government agencies.
ChinaSoft, which is listed in Hong Kong, yesterday signed a co-operation agreement with Alibaba Cloud Computing (AliCloud) to make available over the internet ChinaSoft's flagship Resource One middleware platform, which is a set of programmes for connecting disparate software applications used in an organisation.
"The partnership with AliCloud is an important step forward in our strategic expansion into innovative and emerging cloud [computing] technology," ChinaSoft said.
Cloud computing enables companies to buy, lease, sell or distribute over the internet a range of software, business systems, data and other digital resources as an on-demand service, such as electricity from a power grid.
"Cloud" refers to the internet, which is depicted in that form in computer network diagrams.
ChinaSoft and AliCloud will co-develop what they describe as a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) solution, which both parties can market to their corporate customers.
Chen Yuhong, the chairman and chief executive at ChinaSoft, has said that Resource One provides "an excellent tool for industry managers to perform business application integration and IT system expansion".
With Resource One made available online through AliCloud's infrastructure, ChinaSoft expects its offering with AliCloud would become "crucial to enterprises, as well as government institutions, as they migrate or initiate software applications in the cloud".
Market research firm Gartner has forecast the global cloud-computing services market to grow 19.6 per cent to US$109 billion this year. The PaaS market segment is estimated to be worth US$1.2 billion this year.
ChinaSoft, which has Legend Holdings, Hony Capital and software giant Microsoft Corp among its shareholders, posted a 24 per cent increase in first-half revenue to 1.17 billion yuan (HK$1.43 billion), up from 945.6 million yuan in the same period last year.
