Less than two years after introducing its “Alloy” initiative that’s equal parts technology and go-to-market, Oracle has helped a major mobile-network provider become Thailand’s first locally owned and operated hyperscale cloud, offering Oracle’s full suite of cloud and AI services.
This breakthrough business transformation is a perfect example of why Oracle has climbed to the #4 spot on the Cloud Wars Top 10 as the company has been way out in front of the three much larger hyperscalers — Microsoft, Google Cloud, and Amazon — in creating new business models that match the capabilities of modern technology and the opportunities of a global digital economy.
The company making that leap is Advanced Info Service, which has 45 million subscribers in Thailand. The new cloud unit, called AIS Cloud, will help businesses across Thailand manage sovereignty and data-residency requirements as well as business resilience and disaster recovery.
Think about that — at a time when businesses in every industry are racing to evolve into the new types of enterprises they need to be in the digital and AI-powered future, the Oracle Alloy program is enabling sophisticated and forward-looking businesses to become specialized cloud providers.
On top of that, this new cohort of customer-turned-cloud-providers will be able to launch operations with massive capabilities: While it took Oracle more than a decade to create its roster of 100+ cloud and AI services, AIS Cloud will be able to deliver those from the get-go.
In the press release announcing the deal, the CEO of AIS, Somchai Lertsutiwong, underscored the significance of this digital-age transformation in three dimensions:
- clearly, it’s a huge opportunity for AIS Cloud;
- The businesses will now be able to tap into locally owned and fully sovereign cloud services; and
- the combined digital and AI advances arising from the presence of AIS Cloud could be a boon for Thailand’s overall economy.
“This strategic collaboration between Oracle and AIS will not only accelerate AIS’ transformation from a ‘Telco to a Techco’ but also unlock the immense potential for digital transformation and AI innovation for all organizations,” Lertsutiwong said. “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. This will significantly contribute to increasing the competitive advantage of Thai organizations, attracting investments, and supporting Thailand’s economic engine for sustainable growth.”
A few details about AIS Cloud from the press release:
- “AIS Cloud will be deployed in two AIS data centres located in Thailand and will be operated by AIS who will deliver cloud services to its customers including local support, providing them 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.”
- “With Oracle Alloy, AIS will be able to extend 100+ OCI services to public and private sector organizations, as well as its managed service partners. This will allow customers to repatriate their existing cloud environments from overseas back to Thailand or move and modernize from on-premises to AIS Cloud deployed in AIS data centres in Thailand.”
Final Thought
When Oracle introduced Alloy a couple of years ago, my first take on it was summarized in this headline:” Product of the Year? Oracle Revolutionizes Cloud Infrastructure with Alloy.” And while it’s quite understandably taken some time for Oracle and relevant customers to work out the details, I continue to believe the program will be wildly successful and will give Oracle a big jump in a dynamic new market segment that only one other hyperscaler — Google Cloud — is even beginning to dig into.
So while brilliant cloud technology is necessary in the Cloud Wars, it is not on its own sufficient —and with Alloy, Oracle has provided a superb example of the type of business-model innovation that the cloud can deliver.
The AI Ecosystem Q2 2024 Report compiles the innovations, funding, and products highlighted in AI Ecosystem Reports from the second quarter of 2024. Download now for perspectives on the companies, innovations, and solutions shaping the future of AI.
