3 things that make Singapore an ideal cloud computing hub in Asia-Pacific

Cloud-based IT services are changing what is possible for enterprises and all kinds of businesses. From small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to multi-national corporations, the cloud is reshaping how and where we do business. It is making how we work and live simpler with access to communications, content, and a whole range of applications and services instantly accessible and efficient to use. 

Whilst Singapore is constrained by its land mass, the opportunities for it to be a cloud hub for Asia-Pacific are limitless. Singapore is known as a business-friendly hub but it is also cloud-friendly. It has an astounding 148% mobile penetration rate and a 188% wireless broadband population penetration rate with some of the fastest local connectivity in the region.

Its geographic location puts it at the heart of the Asia-Pacific region with close proximity to Australia, India, Hong Kong, as well as the rapidly developing economies of Southeast Asia. Cloud relies on low-latency networking for application and service performance. The shorter the distance between cloud services and enterprise locations the better.

Singapore’s geographic advantage lends itself to delivering services with maximum availability whilst also enabling complex and demanding real-time data and communications applications. That benefits financial services, oil and gas, transport and logistics, as well as research and development.

It is close to the economic hubs of Asia-Pac whilst providing a safe and stable home for an enterprise’s mission-critical data. Enterprises can host their data in Singapore with confidence that it is economically and politically stable.

The government of Singapore has shown its willingness to support the cloud. Two major initiatives, the creation of the Cyber Security Agency (CSA) and the Smart Nation Programme demonstrate the country’s commitment to cloud.

Singapore’s Smart Nation Programme itself will rely on a cloud ecosystem to be successful. The initiative underscores how the cloud is supporting business as well as communities. The government of Singapore has acknowledged the role of the cloud in its future and is supporting its growth.

The CSA provides a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that supports the adoption of the cloud locally, whilst it also makes Singapore a destination for enterprises to choose as a cloud hub. There is a recognition that there needs to be a coordinated effort and that the government can play a role in cloud security.

At the same time, enterprises looking at Singapore as a cloud hub benefit from a wealth of local data centre infrastructure and network services, the lifeblood of the cloud. When connecting their cloud services, they can choose data centre and network service providers that offer secure connectivity supported with end-to-end intelligence that leverages Big Data.

Security threats are constantly changing but with new innovations in cloud connectivity, enterprises can benefit from services deployed locally that give them visibility into their cloud performance in Singapore and around the world. This enables enterprises to deploy cloud services with confidence and take advantage of all of the benefits that Singapore has to offer.

The combination of geography, government support, and new innovations in cloud connectivity make Singapore an ideal hub for deploying services and using it as a hub for the Asia-Pac region. No other location offers as many benefits with the same level of stability and a business-friendly environment.

Over the next two to three years, cloud deployments will accelerate across Asia-Pac and Singapore will be front and centre in its innovation as well as its growth. Any enterprise considering deploying applications and services in the cloud or looking to establish a hub should consider it one of the leading locations for developing cloud-centric IT services.