Numerous partners that Alibaba has teamed up with have their own software products that run on the cloud. “As the first step in creating the cloud computing TMall for the China market, the AliLaunch program can serve as an online ‘store” where enterprises in China will have access to different technology partners and can deploy software or services in a convenient and quick way through Alibaba Cloud.
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Alibaba Group is offering a helping hand to tech companies such as SAP SE that are keen on having operations in China, a massive market that is strictly against foreign technology.
Alibaba Cloud now counts more than 2.3 million customers, at least 500,000 of which are paying customers. It said it’s offering foreign firms joint ventures and partnerships through its cloud computing programs. To speed the adoption of cloud computing in China and promote its cloud services in overseas markets, the company has been partnering with Western tech companies in order to expand its range of products available from third-party vendors through Alibaba Cloud.
Alibaba Cloud sells a range of cloud-computing solutions the company has developed in-house.
India is a potential market for cloud computing services, said Yu Sicheng, Alibaba Group vice-president, said on Tuesday. “We just want Alibaba cloud to be the one-stop shopping place which provides the most comprehensive options to customers”, the executive said. “We are aiming to build AliLaunch as the TMall of the cloud computing industry, with more technology partners added in the future”. The company’s revenues increased 175 percent year-on-year in the three months ending March 31, which could be attributed to its cloud unit, the company’s fastest-growing business segment. The technology partners cover a mix of software products in different categories, including operating systems, network infrastructure, security, databases and streaming media. Its biggest customer so far is Germany’s SAP, which will sell its Hana data-software and services on Alibaba’s cloud.
The platform brings together SaaS developers and various business partners on a single platform.
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At a company sponsored cloud-computing conference held today in Beijing, Alibaba Cloud also announced a strategic partnership with HTC to explore scalable, cost-effective virtual reality (VR) solutions. Alibaba Cloud showcased how its AI technologies could be leveraged in different industries to help customers gain efficiency, monitor risks and minimize cost.
