Google Cloud to open first data center in Indonesia

Tech giant Google is looking to open its first data center in Indonesia this year to enable the company to take the advantage of the growing demand for cloud computing services in the country, one of company’s senior executives has said.

Google Cloud to open first data center in Indonesia 09, Mar. 2020 Tech giant Google is looking to open its first data center in Indonesia this year to enable the company to take the advantage of the growing demand for cloud computing services in the country, one of company’s senior executives has said. Google Cloud Indonesia Country Director MegawatyKhie said in Jakarta on March 4 that, with the establishment of the data centre, the company would be able to provide a reliable cloud infrastructure for its local customers. She said that Google first announced the plan to open Google Cloud in Indonesia two years ago at its Cloud Summit in Jakarta in 2018. The tech giant made another announcement in April 2019 during the Google Cloud NEXT conference in San Francisco, the United States, saying it was going to launch its cloud services in Indonesia in the first half of 2020. As of now, in terms of preparation, Google already has the infrastructure and the people, she said. Several companies in Indonesia utilise Google Cloud services for their businesses, including major players in the retail industry such as homegrown e-marketplace Blibli.com and convenience store chain Alfamart, which recently expanded its services online through its Alfacart online marketplace. In addition to providing data analytics, machine learning and security and management tools, cloud computing services allow businesses to conduct demand forecasting. Demand forecasting uses the tools of data analytics to predict customers’ demands in order to optimise business operation and management. Both Blibli and Alfamart said that they would forecast consumers’ demands with the help of cloud services. Aside from benefiting individual companies, the public cloud has significant potential to make a difference in the Indonesian economy, according to a study conducted by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in 2019, commissioned by the Google Cloud. Companies that use the public cloud could add around 36 billion USD to Indonesia’s GDP between 2019 and 2023. They could also create around 350,000 jobs across different industries. Google is not the only player looking to capitalise on Indonesia’s cloud industry. Amazon Web Services, a subsidiary of Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, is planning to build regional infrastructure in Jakarta by the end of next year or in early 2022. Alibaba Cloud, a subsidiary of China’s Alibaba Group, already has a head start. It opened a data center in Indonesia in 2018, becoming the first global cloud platform available in the country. Indonesian state-owned telecommunications firm Telkom Indonesia announced it would further invest in building its cloud computing platform, including data centers, to tap into the strong potential to benefit from the digital transformation. – VNA