An Alibaba Cloud-commissioned survey has shown that four in five or 85 percent of business enterprises that utilize cloud technologies are planning full migration in two years.
A total of 1,000 cloud strategy decision-makers from the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea and Hong Kong were polled.
Among the key takeaways was that 84 percent of existing users of cloud services are expecting to increase their cloud investment in 2023 in such areas like financial services, gaming, Internet and technology, manufacturing, media and telecommunications, the public sector and retail.
The poll said the increase in cloud utilization will most likely come from Thailand (95 percent), Indonesia (94 percent), the Philippines (91 percent), Hong Kong and Singapore, (both with 83 percent).
A large percentage of those surveyed in Japan and South Korea indicate that they will maintain their current levels of investment.
In the post-pandemic world, the gaming sector is expected to see the sharpest increase in cloud investment, followed by media and telecom, Internet and technology, and financial services.
In terms of investment priorities, a larger share of businesses in Asia will focus on data analytics and AI (53 percent), cloud computing (52 percent), and automation (46 percent), Alibaba Cloud said in a statement.
“Cloud adoption has become a prerequisite for businesses to succeed and our customers are adopting a diverse cloud strategy to drive business growth in the digital era,” Alibaba Group vice president Selina Yuan said.
She said they see cloud infrastructure being the “ultimate foundation” for many cutting-edge innovations such as generative AI.
The survey showed that 69 percent of those surveyed have used cloud for at least three years, with those in Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore being the earliest adopters.
For Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore, only one in five had less than three years of experience using cloud services for at least three years. Industry-wise, Internet and technology, manufacturing and financial services showed the highest level of cloud maturity.
Global market research firm NielsenIQ conducted the survey to better understand the state of adoption of the prevailing cloud strategies — private, public and hybrid — across Asia.
“The research also reveals that 84 percent of the surveyed businesses expected to fully migrate to the cloud within the next two years, partly driven by new needs that emerged during the pandemic.
More than a third (36 percent) of respondents even anticipate a complete cloud migration within the next six months,” Alibaba said in a statement.