Google Cloud to open three new cloud regions in APAC

Google Cloud is set to expand its footprint in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, with cloud regions slated to open in Malaysia, Thailand and New Zealand.

In a statement on its expansion plans, the number three cloud supplier did not specify when the regions would be ready, adding that organisations across APAC will benefit from “key controls that enable them to maintain low latency and the highest security, data residency, and compliance standards, including specific data storage requirements”.

According to IDC, total spending on cloud services in APAC, excluding Japan, will reach $282bn by 2025 in a market that has seen major suppliers upping their investments to keep pace with demand from enterprises and startups alike.

Daphne Chung, research director of cloud services and software research at IDC in APAC, said the new Google Cloud regions will address organisations’ increasing needs in the area of digital sovereignty and enable more opportunities for digital transformation and innovation in the region.

“With this announcement, Google Cloud is providing customers with more choices in accessing capabilities from local cloud regions while aiding their journeys to hybrid and multi-cloud environments,” she added.

Google Cloud currently counts the likes of Malaysia’s Capital A, Vodafone New Zealand and Thailand’s Krung Thai Bank as clients.

Tony Fernandes, CEO of Capital A, which operates low-cost carrier AirAsia, said the new cloud regions demonstrate Google Cloud’s desire to expand its in-region capabilities. Earlier this year, the company set up a cloud centre of excellence with Google Cloud to advance its super-app platform in Southeast Asia.

“I couldn’t be more excited about this massive milestone and the new possibilities that Google Cloud’s growing network of cloud regions will create for us, our peers, and the common man,” Fernandes said.

Google Cloud has also won over customers from rival suppliers in recent years. Indonesia e-commerce unicorn Bukalapak, for example, is now using Google Cloud as its main cloud provider despite a strategic partnership with Microsoft announced in November 2020 when it said it would use Azure as its preferred cloud platform.