03/04/2019
So who is Alibaba Cloud and what is their vision?
In 2009 the Alibaba Cloud Group created Alibaba Cloud as a separate company. What started as tech infrastructure and support for Alibaba’s e-commerce business, is now becoming a company focusing, not just on cloud computing services, but in creating an entire technological eco-system on the internet.
Jack Ma, founder and inspirational leader of Alibaba, has an expansive vision. He says that the first 20 years of the digital revolution was about building Tech companies like Microsoft, Google, Ebay and Alibaba. But the next 30 years has to be about intelligently using the technology to help the world in two key ways:
1) Shift the focus away from ‘only’ big business and create more inclusivity by enabling small businesses to access the power of the internet and do business from anywhere in the world with anyone in the world. He believes this will also create more economic equality in the world.
2) He says that Alibaba was an ‘IT company’, but it is now a ‘Data Company’ that wants to assist the world to find much needed solutions in fields like manufacturing, medical services, financial services and smart city management.
In 2015, the Alibaba Group, invested $1billion into Alibaba Cloud and started its expansion outside of China. They moved their head office in Singapore and set up Data Centers in the US, Japan, Indonesia, Europe, Malaysia, Australia and Dubai.
In 2017 they announced their partnership with the International Olympic Committee. It’s certain they will not just be providing cloud services, but they will innovate around the entire experience for spectators, viewers and athletes - a spectacular opportunity to show the world the capabilities of their technology.
Alibaba Cloud is now pulling out all the stops to be a significant player in providing cloud technology but as you will come to see they are much ‘more than just cloud’.
