Microsoft unveils new cloud service in China

After achieving a stellar growth in China's cloud computing market, Microsoft Corp is ratcheting up resources to meet the surging demand from local enterprises with the launch of a new cloud service.   

The United States tech giant said on Tuesday that its cloud service Dynamics 365 will be officially available in China from May 6,  and the services will be operated through its local partner 21 Vianet Group Inc.

The move marks that local enterprises will be able to access all of Microsoft's three pillar cloud services to accelerate their digitalization efforts.

Alain Crozier, CEO of Microsoft Greater China, said that after five years of running cloud services in China, the company is now stepping up push to ensure a long-term, sustainable, win-win growth for its partners and enterprise clients.

"China is one of the most dynamic markets, where enterprises are aggressively pushing forward digital transformation, creating abundant growth opportunities," Crozier said.

According to him, Microsoft's unique edge lies in its capabilities to combine research and development, engineering with business applications, which can help it stand out amid competitions with local players such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Huawei Technologies Co, as well as the international heavyweight Amazon.com Inc.

The company said every time Microsoft adds one yuan ($0.149) in cloud business revenue in China, its local partners add nine yuan in revenue.

So far, Microsoft has served more than 120,000 enterprise clients with its Azure cloud services in China, and over 1.8 million users from its 30,000 enterprises clients have adopted the company's Office 365 services. Four of China's top five smartphone makers are also embracing Microsoft's cloud solutions to offer better user experience.

Last year, Microsoft announced its plan to triple its cloud capacity and add two more cloud regions in the Chinese market.

Currently, artificial intelligence is accelerating the adoption of cloud services. According to a research by market research company International Data Corp, AI will more than double the rate of innovation, employee productivity in China by 2021.

The research also shows that 78 percent of China business leaders say AI will be instrumental for their organization's competitiveness, but only 7 percent of organizations in China have incorporated AI into their core business strategy, reflecting the big potential AI has in future.