Asian cloud providers maintain strong reputation in the region

Businesses in Asia tend to prefer Asian providers and feel these companies are better able to service their needs.

This is according to a survey commissioned by Alibaba Cloud. The survey revealed that 65% of the businesses in Asia have already adopted at least one technology solution from an Asian provider, while more respondents (72%) said they believe Asian providers can provide better solutions because they have a better sense of understanding of the Asian mindset.

A vast majority (85%) of businesses feel that cloud-native solutions have helped them cope with the impact of the pandemic and 69% reported that a hybrid cloud approach supported them in disaster recovery and business continuity planning.

This proved especially true in regions like Indonesia, where 64% of businesses see hybrid cloud solutions as critical to their longevity.

The survey also highlighted that the pandemic has underscored the role of cloud-based tools while driving a shift in the priorities of customers.

Before the pandemic, the ability to integrate with existing IT infrastructure was the primary concern of businesses thinking about adopting a cloud solution.

After it began, a vendor's security credentials became the most important (58%), particularly among businesses in markets like the Philippines (62%).

Alibaba Cloud Intelligence president for international business Selina Yuan says, "During the pandemic, we see our clients priority shift more towards operation security and cost efficiency. Given their evolving needs, we want to ensure our solutions are going to meet their demands.

The survey found that the perception of cloud-based service providers is very positive. A substantial majority (84%) of the respondents agree that cloud-based service providers deliver on their promises.

In addition, hyperscale cloud providers were discovered to be preferred over global enterprise tech consultants, local third-party partners and in-house teams by 43% of Asian businesses.

Reinforcing these findings, 73% of businesses feel confident in Asia's ability to innovate technologically and 65% reported having already adopted a solution from a regional provider.

Among the regions represented in the survey, 74% of Hong Kong companies have adopted local solutions.

Yuan says, "It is very encouraging to see the high level of confidence in Asian innovation among businesses in the region.

"With digitalisation so strong a trend, especially on the back of the pandemic, we believe there will be many new opportunities to build on the strong perception of the region's cloud capabilities.

More than 1,000 participants from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines responded to the survey, which was conducted in late 2020 by an independent research organisation. The focus of the study was to understand the role of cloud solutions and confidence in Asian innovation among the business community.