Alibaba is getting ready to open several data centres across the globe in efforts to expand its cloud services.
The company has already built a facility in Silicon Valley and is now looking to build sites across Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
The strategy was unveiled by Simon Hu, president of Aliyun, Alibaba’s cloud computing arm, on the company’s webiste.
Mr Hu said that globalisation is now part of the strategy and he strongly believes Alibaba’s products and services can not only tap into demand from Chinese companies, but also serve overseas clients who run international businesses.
He added that Aliyun aims to help Chinese enterprises reach the world, and help foreign enterprises enter China’s market, especially US based organisations.
Mr Hu said: " The launch of our data centre in Silicon Valley enables Internet companies in China to expand their businesses in North America. Beyond our existing data centre, our strategies are being guided by customer demand.
"We do plan to open more data centres in Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Wherever we go, we will be seeking local partners such as experienced companies in the PaaS and SaaS areas, as well as developers dedicated to open source projects, to work with us. "Opening up" and "win-win" are our principles that will help us develop localised strategies to cater to local markets."
Last week, Alibaba’s CEO Daniel Zhang told employees that the company must expand globally in order to survive.
