Alibaba and SoftBank partnership to boost cloud services in Japan

Alibaba Group and SoftBank have commenced a joint venture to launch SB Cloud Corporation in Japan, with the aim of bringing cloud services to the country.

To do this, SB Cloud is opening a data center in Japan, and will use Alibaba Cloud infrastructure to meet demand for cloud services from both global and local businesses and consumers.

"We are proud that Alibaba Cloud can leverage its cloud computing expertise in the joint venture with SoftBank. We look forward to helping more Japanese companies grow their business with our secure, scalable and innovative cloud computing services," Sicheng Yu, Alibaba cloud vice president, says.

SB Cloud will provide data storage, processing services, enterprise-level middleware and cloud security to local Japanese customers and other global clients.

Eric Gan's position as CEO of SB Cloud and executive vice president of SoftBank, has seen the partnership come together with considerable ease and a common vision, Mr Gan says.

"I've really enjoyed working with the Alibaba Cloud team on the joint venture over the past few months. During the business planning discussions, I quickly felt that we were all working very much as one team with one goal.

I believe the JV team can develop the most advanced cloud platform for Japanese customers, as well as for multinational customers who want to use the resources we have available in Japan," Mr Gan says.

Alibaba Cloud is Alibaba Group's global cloud computing services and data management specialist, providing services to businesses, consumers and Alibaba's eCommerce platforms.

SoftBank is a telecommunications provider specialising in mobile, fixed line commuications and internet services to Japanese customers. Softbank's goal is to expand its technology to include robotics, energy and the Internet of Things.