Alibaba cloud launches data centre in Dubai

Alibaba Cloud has announced the launch of a new data centre in Dubai that will be operated by YVOLV, a joint venture between Alibaba Cloud and Meraas Holdings.

According to Alibaba Cloud, the first full-fledged public cloud in the region which is hosted at a local data centre, will offer a portfolio of services to address the increasing demand for mission-critical, affordable and secure cloud computing in the Middle East.

“We are excited that our global footprint has now expanded to the Middle East which is also a major area covered by China’s ‘one belt, one road’ initiative. With the Dubai data centre, our global cloud network will be able to meet enterprises which are going global,” said Simon Hu, President, Alibaba Cloud.

“As a global leader in cloud computing and Big Data, we recognise the shift in the region’s demand from clunky IT equipment and servers to streamlined cloud computing solutions,” added Sicheng Yu, Vice President of Alibaba Group and General Manager of Alibaba Cloud Global. “The ease of doing business in Dubai coupled with strong transport and telecommunications infrastructure make this city the perfect choice to house Alibaba Cloud’s high-speed, high-quality and secure cloud services and in turn expand our global footprint.”

By enabling the digital transformation of businesses, YVOLV will be complementing Alibaba Cloud’s offering to serve customers as they migrate their day to day IT operations to the cloud and developing unique and innovative solutions to help them streamline operations.

“Alibaba Cloud has established a strong reputation as a leading cloud services provider in China and at YVOLV, we are certain that this success can be replicated in the region where innovation is thriving. We remain steadfast in our commitment to articulating the objectives outlined in the Dubai Smart City Initiative and the UAE Vision 2021, and the opening of this data centre is a step in the right direction,” said Fahad Al Hajeri, Chief Executive Officer, YVOLV.

Some of the existing regional and global customers of Alibaba Cloud are OneMT, MenaMobile, VSun, Dahua and JollyChic. Intel, who has collaborated with Alibaba Group globally in the areas of Cloud, Big Data and artificial intelligence (AI) has joined the event to highlight how cloud usage is driving transformative change across all industries.

“As long-term strategic partner of Alibaba Cloud, we are proud to see Alibaba Cloud’s footprint expand into the MEA region. We are excited to have the latest Intel cloud technology running in the Dubai Data Centre to provide superior performance to users in the region”, said Kit Ho Chee, Vice President and General Manager, Cloud Service Provider Sales, Intel.

Alibaba Cloud has also recently signed the number of partnerships in the region. The most recent deals are with Detecon, leading Saudi data centre services provider and Chinese Business Hub, which is designed to facilitate the move of Chinese SMEs to the UAE.