Microsoft reports unprecedented cloud adoption in Asia Pacific as enterprises transform business models and processes for a digital world

 |   Singapore News Center

Microsoft Azure fast becoming the cloud of choice for organizations as it registers triple-digit growth in Asia Pacific

Singapore, 7 November 2016 – With strong demand for cloud services amongst enterprises, Microsoft Asia Pacific has recorded triple-digit growth year-on-year for Azure in the first 10 months of 2016. New enterprise customers using Azure include Fullerton Healthcare (healthcare, Singapore), Peregrine (retail, Australia), PTT (oil & gas, Thailand), RingMD (virtual health services provider, Singapore), The Yield (agriculture, Australia) and Trade Me (e-Commerce, New Zealand). They rely on Azure’s growing collection of integrated cloud services – advanced analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), database, machine learning, bots, cognitive APIs, security, mobile, networking, storage, and web – to build, deploy and manage cutting-edge applications for their organizations.

ringmd-2-1024x683
To RingMD, cloud can help bridge the social divide in Asia Pacific. Click here to read more.

In a new connected world shaped by the confluence of cloud, mobility and data, many organizations recognize the need to modernize their IT infrastructure to create new business models or risk being disrupted. This is especially critical in the current global economy where organizations need to be nimble and innovative to discover new growth opportunities and spark business transformation to stay relevant in the market.

The important role that cloud technologies play in the digital transformation journey of organizations has driven strong adoption of cloud services such as Azure in Asia Pacific. Andreas Hartl, General Manager, Cloud and Enterprise Division, Microsoft Asia Pacific said, “A priority for many business leaders today is the ability to redefine their growth models to respond to new dynamics of the global marketplace. In this new digital world, cloud computing will be the foundation where organizations of all sizes create their digital future. Enterprises in the region that have tapped on the power of Microsoft Azure have managed to gain competitive advantages and scale at ease, resulting in new revenue streams and business models.”

Microsoft’s commitment to delivering an enterprise-grade cloud platform that is open, flexible, affordable and secure has resonated strongly with customers in Asia Pacific. Globally, Azure is trusted by leading organizations of all sizes, including 85% of Fortune 500 companies.

With a unique cloud strategy spanning private cloud, public cloud and Software-as-a-Service, Microsoft is recognized by Gartner, a leading independent research and advisory firm, as the only vendor selected as a leader across 17 of their Magic Quadrants studies for enterprise cloud workloads[i]. This includes being a leader in Cloud Infrastructure as a Service, Cloud Storage Services, and Application Platform as a Service.

Hartl added, “Our strong customer momentum for Azure in Asia Pacific is an endorsement of future product roadmap, strong partner ecosystem and continued datacenter investments in this region. We are committed to delivering value to organizations of all sizes, and help all our customers to reinvent themselves for their digital transformation journey in a mobile-first, cloud-first world.”

Today, Microsoft Azure is available across Asia Pacific through a network of 11 Microsoft-operated datacenters in the region. In May 2016, Microsoft announced the addition of a new Azure datacenter region in Seoul.

Enabling Digital Innovations with Microsoft Azure

In Asia Pacific, many Microsoft customers are leveraging Azure as the cloud platform to develop cutting edge digital and data analytics capabilities. In fact, Microsoft has registered high triple-digit growth in IoT and advanced analytics services from its Azure portfolio.

Here are some examples of how customers in Asia Pacific are transforming their businesses with Microsoft Azure:

barilla-bay-oysters-1024x543-300x159
Oyster farmers as digital trailblazers: Agriculture technology firm The Yield worked with oyster farmers in Tasmania to build a more intelligent way to manage their crop using Azure. Click here to read more.
  • Internet of Oysters: Unpredictable weather conditions can wipe out the yield for oyster farmers everywhere. In Tasmania, a day of lost production due to bad weather can cost an oyster farm more than US$90,000. The Yield, an agriculture technology company, worked with the Tasmanian Government and oyster farmers in 14 of the state’s estuaries, to deploy an IoT system that uses in-estuary sensors based on Azure’s cloud computing and machine learning capabilities. The IoT system provides farmers and regulators much-needed access to accurate, reliable and current data to help make better decisions faster in tending and farming oysters.
  • Affordable Healthcare through Cloud: A trip to Indonesia changed the life of RingMD founder Justin Fulcher when he witnessed first-hand that many people did not have access to basic healthcare in emerging markets. He started RingMD to transform the healthcare industry in Asia Pacific by using a data-driven approach in delivering patient care. Using Azure, RingMD stored and analyze patient records of healthcare providers, where today, it securely manages 1.5 million patient records in more than 50 countries globally, while working with 10,000 healthcare providers. Insights from data help doctors and hospital administrators to make decisions, enabling healthcare providers to be more efficient while providing better quality of patient care.
  • trademe
    Azure has helped business managers at Trade Me make actionable decisions based on real-time data insights, instead of making business decisions by gut feel. Click here to read more.

    Trade More with Cloud: With 3.7 million active members generating 60 per cent of the web traffic originating from New Zealand, Trade Me is today the country’s largest online classifieds and auction site featuring everything from trinkets to houses. To accelerate its growth, Trade Me turned to data insights leveraging business analytics service Power BI and Azure Machine Learning to better understand customers, market trends and opportunities. These include an overview of type and volume of transactions, listing trends as well as site traffic analysis. Managers can then make more informed decisions, instead of acting merely on instincts.

    To find out more about Microsoft Azure, visit https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/solutions/.


Notes to Editor:

  • Customers mentioned in this media release may be available for interview. Please contact us if you are keen to interview these featured customers.
  • High-res photos of Andreas Hartl, Microsoft Azure and featured customers are available for editorial purposes. Please click here to download them.
  • Click here to learn more about Microsoft’s Azure regions globally and in Asia Pacific.

Gartner Disclaimer:

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

[i] Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence and Analytics Platforms, 04 February 2016, Josh Parenteau et al.

Magic Quadrant for Cloud Infrastructure as a Service, Worldwide, 03 August 2016, Lydia Leong et al.

Magic Quadrant for the CRM Customer Engagement Center, 04 May 2016, Michael Maoz, Brian Manusama.

Magic Quadrant for Data Warehouse and Data Management Solutions for Analytics, 25 February 2016, Roxane Edjlali, Mark A. Beyer.

Magic Quadrant for Disaster Recovery as a Service, 16 June 2016, John P Morency et al.

Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Application Platform as a Service, Worldwide, 24 March 2016, Paul Vincent et al.

Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Content Management, 31 October 2016, Karen A. Hobert et al.

Magic Quadrant for Horizontal Portals, 17 October 2016, Jim Murphy et al.

Magic Quadrant for Identity and Access Management as a Service, Worldwide, 06 June 2016, Gregg Kreizman, Neil Wynne

Magic Quadrant for Mobile App Development Platforms, 15 June 2016, Jason Wong et al.

Magic Quadrant for Operational Database Management Systems, 05 October 2016, Nick Heudecker et al.

Magic Quadrant for Public Cloud Storage Services, Worldwide, 26 July 2016, Raj Bala, Arun Chandrasekaran

Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation, 10 August 2016, Tad Travis et al.

Magic Quadrant for Social Software in the Workplace, 26 October 2015, Mike Gotta et al.

Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications, 13 July 2016, Bern Elliot et al.

Magic Quadrant for Web Conferencing, 28 December 2015, Adam Preset, Whit Andrews.

Magic Quadrant for x86 Server Virtualization Infrastructure, 03 August 2016, Thomas J. Bittman et al.