Spending on sovereign cloud services in the Asia Pacific and Japan, or APEJ, region is expected to skyrocket in the coming years, according to a forecast by IDC. They predict a growth rate of at least 30% annually.

This surge in spending is driven by a growing number of organizations adopting hybrid cloud strategies. Many companies in the region recognize the importance of sovereign cloud solutions for enhancing operational resilience and complying with strict regulations. As a result, a little less than a quarter of APEJ organizations plan to increase their investments in sovereign cloud technology in the near future.

To help with that initiative is Advanced Info Service, AIS, one of Thailand's mobile network operators. AIS has announced plans to deploy Oracle Alloy and launch AIS Cloud, a locally owned and operated hyperscale cloud.

AIS is a digital infrastructure service provider driving Thailand's digital transformation through four business groups that serves a customer base of over 49.8 million. These include mobile phone services on the 5G network with a frequency band of 1460 MHz (catering to over 45 million users), Broadband internet services under the AIS 3BB FIBRE3 (with over 4.8 million users), corporate customer services, and digital service businesses.

To build on this success and capitalize on the business opportunities, scale and performance of the cloud, while innovating at the speed of hyperscale cloud providers, Oracle (News - Alert) Alloy will provide AIS' customers and all enterprises in Thailand access to more than 100 Oracle Cloud Infrastructure services, including the latest AI capabilities.

“Providing our partners and customers with more choice has always been our priority,” said Garrett Ilg, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Japan and Asia Pacific, Oracle. “Thailand is a strategic market for Oracle and the Oracle Alloy collaboration with AIS will serve as an industry gamechanger for the country. It empowers AIS to become a hyperscale cloud provider, enabling them to build new services faster while delivering sovereign cloud and AI capabilities for its Thai customers.”

With Oracle Alloy, AIS will extend 100-plus OCI services to public and private sector organizations, as well as its managed service partners. This lets customers repatriate their existing cloud environments from overseas back to Thailand or move and modernize from on-premises to AIS Cloud deployed in AIS data centers in Thailand.

Speaking of AIS Cloud, it will help AIS' customers address data residency and sovereignty requirements such as Thailand's Personal Data Protection, PDPA, Act and the Cybersecurity Act.

AIS Cloud will be deployed in two AIS data centers located in Thailand and will be operated by AIS who will deliver cloud services to its customers including local support to provide with a local cloud solution to meet regulatory requirements. Customer information will also be housed within Thailand to help customers address data sovereignty and regulatory requirements across industries.

“AIS Cloud, powered by Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, will be key to transforming the core operations of businesses to capitalize on the market opportunities and create differentiation to take on the competition,” said Somchai Lertsutiwong, CEO of AIS. “This will significantly contribute to increasing the competitive advantage of Thai organizations, attracting investments, and supporting Thailand's economic engine for sustainable growth.”

This development is poised to boost Thailand's competitiveness on the global stage, attract investment and drive economic growth. Additionally, by addressing data sovereignty concerns through local data storage, AIS Cloud is expected to enhance trust and security in the country's digital ecosystem.