Recently, BaishanCloud Technology announced a new partnership with center3, a leading telecom service provider in Saudi Arabia and a subsidiary of Saudi Telecom (STC). center3 boasts an advanced portfolio of data centers and data services. This collaboration aims to leverage center3's local resources and BaishanCloud's cutting-edge edge cloud product technologies to develop efficient sports streaming solutions for users in Saudi Arabia and the broader Middle East and North Africa region.
This partnership is not BaishanCloud's first foray into the Middle East. In October last year, BaishanCloud and Ajlan & Bros Holding Group jointly established a tech joint venture, "AJ Cloud." It then made its debut at the LEAP 2024 tech expo, held from March 4th to 7th, which is renowned as the "Davos of Digital" in the Middle East. BaishanCloud was a significant point of interest at the event, alongside other Chinese cloud computing firms like Tencent Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, Huawei Cloud, and ChinaSoft International.
Tencent Cloud kicked off its LEAP debut by collaborating with Saudi telecommunications giant Mobily on the "Go Saudi" plan to advance intelligent development in the TMT sector. Tencent Group's Senior Executive Vice President and CEO of the Cloud & Smart Industries Group, Dowson Tong, stated, "Our cooperation with Mobily marks our first project in Saudi Arabia, fostering knowledge and innovation exchange while supporting global and Chinese businesses expanding in Saudi Arabia. We continue to seek more opportunities to leverage Tencent's digital ecosystem resources to help Saudi companies globalize their operations and products."
Alibaba Cloud is empowering Saudi tech talent through cloud classrooms. The CEO of Alibaba Cloud's joint venture in Saudi, SCCC's Talal Albakr, announced a collaboration with Tuwaiq to establish the Alibaba Cloud Academy training center. This initiative aims to empower over three thousand young individuals by utilizing Alibaba Cloud technologies and course designs, focusing on cultivating Saudi's digital talents. Since April 2023, Alibaba Cloud Academy has enabled over 60,000 talents globally, offering more than 300 online and offline certification courses across 16 different fields and over 250 hands-on labs. Tuwaiq Academy is the first educational institution in Saudi Arabia specializing in advanced technology fields.
ChinaSoft International, partnering with Huawei Cloud, is making strides in smart city development. "ChinaSoft International will steadfastly bind with Huawei, base ourselves in Saudi, and actively integrate into the new tech ecosystem in the Middle East," said Sun Jia'wei, Senior Vice President and CEO of the Cloud Intelligent Business Group at ChinaSoft International. The company maintains a leading position in cloud platform and smart city solutions and is deeply involved in Saudi's "NEOM" project, a $500 billion future city initiative by the Saudi government covering AI-driven public services, healthcare, and smart manufacturing.
Huawei Cloud's President of Cloud Solution Sales, Chen Liang, presented a speech titled "Connected Intelligent Saudi Arabia," introducing Huawei Cloud's three major "Native" strategies for fostering local intelligent development. Huawei Cloud also signed memoranda of understanding with ten regional partners, continuing to emphasize its "With Saudi Arabia, Go Global" vision and sharing Huawei's localized experiences and solutions from over 170 countries and regions.
In Saudi's competitive cloud computing market, global giants like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) dominate with their cutting-edge technology, extensive service backgrounds, and early global strategic deployments. They not only establish data centers in Saudi to provide a wide range of cloud services but also deepen their understanding of Saudi's market needs and cultural background through collaborations with local enterprises. Although Saudi's local cloud computing firms, such as the Saudi Cloud Computing Company (SCCC), started later than these international corporations, they have rapidly emerged in the market, thanks to technology support from Alibaba Cloud and resource advantages from Saudi Telecom.
In the fierce competition within the Saudi market, international companies and local enterprises have already established their market positions. Therefore, Chinese firms aiming to stand out in this market need clear strategic planning, exceptional technological capabilities, and effective marketing strategies. Moreover, as data security and privacy become focal points for the Saudi government and society, cloud services face increasingly stringent data protection requirements. The Saudi government has implemented strict regulations on data localization and cross-border data transfer for cloud computing services. Chinese companies must enhance their data protection measures to comply with Saudi laws and regularly pass government audits to prove their business compliance and data security.