Bangkok Post: The world windows to Thailand

CLOUD COMPUTING

Dell Corporation (Thailand) grasps the opportunity of virtualisation and cloud computing trend to pioneer launch its broad portfolio of Software as a Service (SaaS) applications through cloud-based services.

According to Anothai Wettayakorn, Dell Thailand managing director, technology has transformed from mainframe to mini computer, PC and client server, Internet to today's era of virtualisation and cloud computing where it's no longer an option, but is a must.

Citing Merrill Lynch, Anothai said cloud computing will triple by 2012, with current worldwide spending of around $42 billion, or 25 percent of overall IT spending, increasing to $95 billion in 2015. The growth of cloud computing in Thailand will coincide with the global trend.

He added that public cloud will be an early adopter, especially SMBs and mass customers, while the private cloud is still restricted to large enterprises.

The initial phase will be the public cloud that is not related to core business, he said, pointing out that the users will move to cloud with email services, or with their non-core data or the applications where they can control confidentiality such as infrastructure and CRM.

Corporate private cloud customers of Dell's data centre include ASK.com, Microsoft and Facebook.

Thailand is now at the beginning stage of cloud, users are studying and evaluating its benefits and there will be a frog-leap by the year-end. Cloud leverages economies of scale as it helps businesses lower the total cost of ownership of their IT infrastructure with fewer dedicated staff while reducing the complexity of the operations, Anothai said.

He said Dell has extended it existing global data centre to be hyper-scale and the company can provide SaaS or on-demand applications to customers with cloud-based applications.

Dell has announced the new SaaS applications across three IT infrastructure management areas including Client Device Management, Remote Infrastructure Monitoring and Continuity and Compliance Management. The applications and services include asset management, patch management, software distribution, anti-virus management, laptop data encryption, online backup and restore, software inventory and usage management, email continuity, crisis management and email security.

Mid-market and SMBs are the initial target groups of Dell's cloud-based services. Meanwhile, the company will design a service package for individuals.

"No other vendors in the industry have contact with customers as much as Dell because we are the only direct business model who have customers from large enterprises to SMBs and now we are going to expand to channel business," Anothai said.

The growth of cloud computing in Thailand last year was around one percent, but it's expected to grow very much this year with the value of around 10 percent of overall computer services.

Dell Thailand has run a pilot project of cloud computing with a manufacturing company which owns its IT business as Anothai noted that once it implements the Client Device Management in cloud computing, customers can save a lot in terms of costs as they need not pay for the software license but for the service and they can forecast their costs. The service helps them to be able to maintain costs and profitability.

"We don't have a one-size-fits-all approach, but we customise the services to customers with our open technology," Anothai said.

The new Dell SaaS applications add cloud-based IT services to the existing consulting, managed and support service capabilities under Dell Services business group, an organisation recently formed by the acquisition of Perot Systems.

While most of the IT sector last year had a flat growth, computer services are expected to increase by 18 percent this year.