Alibaba Cloud expands global reach via two new international partnerships
- The Equinix partnership will give Alibaba Cloud access to 1,800 network providers and over 2,900 cloud and IT service providers globally
- Alibaba Cloud also said it plans to recruit 5,000 people worldwide during its current financial year
Alibaba Cloud, the data backbone of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, is expanding its global footprint via partnerships with international companies, including internet connection and data centre company Equinix and wide area network (WAN) company Aryaka.
The collaboration with California-based Equinix will give Alibaba Cloud access to 17 markets around the world, including Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, as well as US cities such as Chicago, Dallas and Denver, according to a press release issued by Equinix on Tuesday.
The partnership will give Alibaba Cloud direct access to more than 9,700 customers, including 1,800 network providers and over 2,900 cloud and IT service providers globally to enhance performance, lower latency, and increase reliability for its customers, Equinix said.
“Equinix's global platform and ever-expanding footprint has made it easy for Alibaba Cloud to grow into new markets and offer our customers access to a rich ecosystem of cloud service providers,” said Shunmin Zhu, researcher of network products from Alibaba Cloud Intelligence.
Last week, Alibaba Cloud also joined hands with cloud-first WAN company Aryaka to extend the Chinese company’s services to enterprises within China and internationally in support of digital transformation initiatives in the countries, a separate statement from Aryaka said.
Cloud computing adoption accelerates in China as economy recovers
In April Alibaba Cloud announced it would invest an extra 200 billion yuan (US$28 billion) over the next three years to boost its cloud business after the coronavirus pandemic dramatically accelerated the digitalisation of various industries, leading to booming demand for cloud services.
“We are extremely confident in the future of the global digital economy, especially with the digitalisation of health care, business, education, leisure and other parts of our lives during the pandemic,” Jeff Zhang, president of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, said at the Alibaba Cloud Summit 2020 event last week.
Alibaba Cloud plans to open its third data centre in Indonesia next year as well as its first data scrubbing centre in the country. Last week it formed the Alibaba Cloud Philippines Ecosystem Alliance, aimed at speeding up the digital transformation of businesses in the country.
Cloud computing has become one of Alibaba’s fastest-growing units outside its core e-commerce business, with cloud revenue up 58 per cent year on year in the March quarter to 12.2 billion yuan and up 62 per cent year on year in the 12 months ended March to 40 billion yuan.
Alibaba Cloud also said it plans to recruit 5,000 people worldwide during its current financial year, drawing professionals from the network, database, server, chip and AI sectors.
Alibaba Cloud held a 6 per cent global market share in the first quarter of this year, according to an April report from research firm Canalys. The global leaders in the sector are Amazon Web Services, Microsoft’s Azure and Google Cloud, which are all restricted from operating in the mainland Chinese market.
Tencent, the Chinese social media and gaming giant, has launched an aggressive push into the cloud market in a bid to erode Alibaba’s dominance. Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.
