Alibaba: Four in five businesses in Asia are planning a complete cloud migration by 2024

• A survey by Alibaba Cloud indicated that 84% of existing users of cloud services are expecting to increase their cloud investment this year.
• The increase will most likely come from Thailand (95%), Indonesia (94%), the Philippines (91%), Hong Kong (83%), and Singapore (83%).
• The gaming sector is expected to see the highest increase in cloud investment, followed by media & telecommunications, internet & technology, and financial services.

The speed of cloud adoption in Asia is incredible—almost every business, organization, and leader is talking about it. A recent report by Alibaba Cloud, the biggest Chinese cloud service provider, stated that 84% of existing users of cloud services in Asia expect to increase their cloud technology investment this year.

“The Next-Generation Cloud Strategy in Asia” report is based on the outcome of a survey conducted by Alibaba between the end of September and early October 2022. The result of online questionnaires among 1,000 cloud strategy decision-makers in small to large-sized businesses indicated that more than four in five (84%) are planning a complete cloud migration in two years.

Individuals surveyed are cloud services users from eight markets in Asia, including Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea. Respondents came from various industries, including financial services, gaming, internet & technology, manufacturing, media & telecommunications, public sector, and retail.

“As more companies move their critical businesses online to efficiently handle their workloads in the post-pandemic world, businesses in Asia that are already using cloud services plan to increase their investment across various cloud strategies over the coming year,” Alibaba Cloud said in a statement.

Alibaba Cloud predicts that the increase in investment will most likely come from Thailand (95%), Indonesia (94%), the Philippines (91%), Hong Kong (83%), and Singapore (83%). A majority of the surveyed businesses in Japan and South Korea indicated that they would maintain their current levels of investment.

Key industries like the gaming sector are expected to see the highest increase in cloud investment, followed by media & telecommunications, internet & technology, and financial services. In terms of investment priorities, a majority of businesses in Asia will focus on data analytics & AI (53%), cloud computing (52%), and automation (46%).

Global market research firm NielsenIQ commissioned the survey by Alibaba Cloud to understand better the state of adoption of the overall cloud strategies – private, public, and hybrid – across Asia.

Alibaba Cloud believes that respondents’ sentiment underscores the importance of cloud infrastructure in supporting business growth. “This has also been reflected in the survey that 94% of organizations in Malaysia have plans to evolve its cloud strategy in the future,” the statement reads.

Interestingly, over two-thirds (69%) of the surveyed businesses have used the cloud for at least three years. “Those in Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore are the earliest adopters, with only one in five (20%) having less than three years of cloud services experience. Industry-wise, internet and technology, manufacturing, and financial services show the highest level of cloud maturity,” Alibaba Cloud stated.

At the time of the survey, private cloud (40%) was the most popular strategy in Asia, followed by public cloud (27%). “Strong reputation for security, reliable local support, and attractive pricing are the main reasons businesses choose public cloud, in which 38% of the surveyed businesses expect to boost investment by more than one-fifth in the coming year,” the Chinese cloud computing arm shared.

South Korea has the highest public cloud adoption rate (43%) among the Asian markets surveyed. On the other hand, hybrid cloud adoption is on the rise, with the survey recording a seven percentage-point net increase in the current adoption rate compared to the respondents’ initial cloud strategy adoption. 

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