KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 10): More than eight out of ten Malaysian companies see cloud-based tools as the most important factor in mitigating the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement today, Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence unit of Alibaba Group, said its "The Role of Cloud in Asia and Confidence in Asian Innovation Survey" found that 84% of Malaysian businesses believe cloud-based tools or digitalization efforts has been the most important factor to their business continuity and disaster recovery during Covid-19, and 66% of respondents were more supportive of using cloud-based IT solutions to grow their businesses as compared to before the pandemic.
Moreover, the survey also found that 76% of Malaysian respondents believe cloud-based tools have helped them cope with their business and operational needs during Covid-19.
Alibaba Cloud Intelligence general manager of Malaysia Jordy Cao said the survey showed numerous companies prioritising investment in cloud-based IT solutions to enable a flexible workspace, making it the starting point of their cloud migrations.
He added the firm will continue to support Malaysian businesses on their cloud transformation journeys with solutions that are easily deployed, readily integrated into companies' existing IT infrastructure and secured with cutting-edge technologies.
As remote working has become the new normal for many people, the survey found that 40% of respondents from Malaysia believe that the most significant benefit of cloud-based IT solutions has been the enabling of a flexible workplace, the highest among the markets surveyed.
Notably, since Covid-19, over half of Malaysian respondents (54%) said their companies work more with cloud vendors for remote working, building new products and managing workload, indicating its perceived benefits.
On the downside, businesses in Malaysia were also found to be the most cost-conscious among the markets surveyed, with most stating that the cost of a new solution was their primary consideration when deciding on its adoption.
Moreover, Malaysian respondents also reported a small talent pool, low confidence among the business community and the lack of an ecosystem to nurture innovation as the biggest challenges to growing Asian innovation, indicating the areas in need of greater focus in the future.
This survey was commissioned by Alibaba Cloud and conducted by an independent research organisation to obtain a better understanding of how regional businesses are feeling about and using cloud solutions as well as viewing local innovation among 1,000 businesses from six areas across Asia by answering a questionnaire distributed in November 2020.