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Hong Kong is the most ‘cloud-ready’ Asia Pacific nation with an overall ranking higher than that of the US and UK, according to the latest analysis from the Asia Cloud Computing Association (ACCA).
Japan, previously the leader, moved down four places to #5 in the chart with an overall score of 73.0 compared to Hong Kong’s 78.1, with the latter scoring top markets in broadband quality, privacy, and data centre risk. Singapore (76.7), New Zealand (74.4) and Australia (73.2) comprised the top five, with the other categories focusing on sustainability, cybersecurity, government and regulation, intellectual property, business sophistication and freedom of information.
Looking at the other countries, there was minimal change, with the likes of Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand only moving one place up or down over the past year. South Korea, a certainly developed market and the second most cloud ready Asia Pacific nation in 2012, has dropped into mid-table obscurity with an overall position of #7 in 2016. The researchers argue the scoring “reflects the fact that South Korea has been moving slowly in the development of its infrastructure for cloud service[s] in the past few years.” However, ACCA did praise the “strong showing” in South Korea’s government initiatives.
At the bottom of the table, Vietnam finished last on 44.0 points overall, with China surprisingly slipping into the relegation zone on 45.4 points. China achieved the lowest score on a single metric, a measly 1.6 out of 10 on internet connectivity, with India (1.7 and #12 overall) and Indonesia (1.8, #11) faring similarly poorly.
This publication has in the past explored the cloud computing acumen of both China and India, with the former, back in 2013, noting evident weaknesses but expecting them to be overcome in time. The result is particularly surprising, however, given the amount of investment that has been made by major vendors in the country. According to a report from China Daily earlier this week, Microsoft announced it now has more than 65,000 corporate clients in China, raging the fuels of fire against Amazon Web Services (AWS), which has data centres in the country, and local vendor Alibaba Tencent.
Overall however, the prognosis is more than adequate for the Asia Pacific region. “The results put Asia in a very strong position to lead the next wave of global innovation and technology,” said ACCA chairman Bernie Trudel. “The next phase for markets is to put in place strong forward-looking policies which enable international data transfers, and address cybersecurity and privacy concerns from consumers and business.”
The report, which has been produced annually for the past several years, reflects the maturation of cloud globally in terms of its content, and for the first time compared its Asia Pacific metrics with other cloud markets, developed or otherwise. The association sees the UK as having an overall score of 75.7, which would put it in third place overall, and surprisingly the US with 71.6, putting it in fifth place.
You can download the full report (no registration required) here.