Alibaba Cloud has launched their second Availability Zone in Mumbai, India. The new zone will complement Availability Zone A which was opened in January this year and will offer product lines such as Elastic Computing, Storage, Database, Network, Application Services and Big Data Analytics to support the requirements of local governments and enterprises in the Alibaba Cloud India Region, said the Chinese firm. Alibaba Cloud currently has 50 availability zones across 18 economic centres globally, with coverage extending across mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Australia, the Middle East, Europe, India and the U.S. (East and West Coast).

The new availability zone is part of Alibaba Cloud's strategy to expand its footprint in order to serve a growing client base while also targeting new local customers. In January this year, Alibaba Cloud set up its first India Data Centre in Mumbai, to fulfil the surge in demand for cloud computing services among the fast-increasing number of Indian small and medium-size businesses.

Dr. Alex Li, General Manager, Alibaba Cloud India said, “India presents a unique growth opportunity with digital transformation set to add close to USD 154 billion to India's GDP. Alibaba Cloud has always empowered enterprises of all sizes to tap into opportunities in the digital age. The commencement of the second availability zone reiterates our focus on India as a key market in Alibaba Cloud's global expansion strategy.”

One of the key milestones for Alibaba Cloud in India this year was the launch of its Distribution Channel Program with HCL Infosystems Ltd & Ingram Micro as value-added distributors. The distribution channel program encourages partners to bring in-depth technical knowledge and builds an open ecosystem among sales, technology and service partners. To further strengthen this network, Alibaba Cloud announced that it intends to train 1,000 sales and technology personnel in India by March 2019.

The company also recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (APEDB). The MoU is aimed at leveraging Alibaba Cloud's ET City Brain solution for furthering the state's digital transformation journey. Alibaba Cloud also signed a strategic agreement with DLF malls. As part of this initiative, Alibaba Cloud will work with DLF malls on retail transformation initiative leveraging new retail framework.