Alibaba Cloud data centre in Indonesia begins operations

By Yunnie Marzuki March 16, 2018

Serves as independent global public cloud focusing on SMEs and startups
Open to partnerships to support products and services

Alibaba Cloud data centre in Indonesia begins operations

ALIBABA CLOUD, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, announced the commencement of operations for its first data centre in Indonesia on March 15.

The data centre is the first global public cloud platform in the country that will now provide a local choice for Indonesian businesses, particularly SMEs and startups.

Alibaba Cloud’s data centre will also help Indonesian customers with low latency or data residency requirements to store and process data within the country.

“We have been discussing leveraging on cloud for the Indonesian market since two years ago, and finally now, we are able to provide the technology we have to support digital transformation. We see Indonesia as a strategic market,” says Alibaba Cloud head of Asean & ANZ Raymond Ma in a press conference.

The data centre in Jakarta will offer a comprehensive suite of cloud products and services ranging from elastic computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), database service, networking, security and middleware to analytics, and big data. It will serve the whole country.

This full range of Alibaba Cloud’s solutions will satisfy the surging needs of local enterprises across a range of industries including e-commerce, media, fintech, gaming, logistics, transportation, and manufacturing.

Alibaba Cloud general manager Asia Pacific Alex Li says that Alibaba Cloud in Indonesia serves as an independent cloud provider and is open to partnerships.

“We are confident due to our cost-effectiveness and high security standards. The product and services that we have are also customised for Indonesian users.”

The launch of the data centre is part of Alibaba Cloud’s ongoing commitment to support the Indonesian government’s initiative to create 1,000 startups by 2020.

“Our data centre has high standards which could bring unique value to the upbringing of local SMEs and startups,” adds Ma.

In 4Q 2017, Alibaba Cloud’s revenue grew 104% year-over-year to RMB3.6 billion (US$553 million), with more than one million paying customers.

When asked about number of investments, Ma and Li declined to disclose numbers but said that Alibaba Cloud also invested in empowering young local talents and supports programmes for startups.

“Other than a sales team, we have a local services team to help serve in the local language (size of team undisclosed). We have a long-term commitment in every country and we have to look at the market based on demand and economic growth,” explains Li.

Alibaba Cloud now has 42 availability zones across 18 economic centres globally, with coverage extending across mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Australia, the Middle East, Europe, India and the US (East and West Coast).

It also has a dedicated team of solutions architects and professional consultants in Indonesia to provide services from cloud consulting to after-sales support.

Alibaba Cloud already has a proven track record of helping Indonesian internet companies to innovate their business on cloud, including Tokopedia, GTech Digital Asia, Dwidaya Tour, and Yogrt.

Tokopedia, one of the largest online marketplaces in Indonesia, currently running over 20 core applications and various kinds of managed services on Alibaba Cloud. The company is also leveraging on Alibaba Cloud’s AI solutions to gain insights from its huge data sets and improve customer experience.

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