Unraveling ASEAN Cloud Complexity: 5 Lessons In Simplicity

The ASEAN economy is reaching an inflection point.

The region, which an ASEAN Development Outlook (ADO) report sized up as the world's fifth largest in 2019, is on its way to becoming the fourth largest by 2030. Part of the reason is the increasing digital connectivity and the availability of the ASEAN Digital Integration Framework.

While this is good news for ASEAN companies in the region looking to interconnect through the cloud, they face a significant roadblock: infrastructure complexity. A quagmire of issues, ranging from technical debt and a confusing array of overlapping data regulations to overlapping security and privacy concerns and new workload demands led by AI, is hampering cloud ambitions.

That's not all. Many ASEAN IT and digital leaders still need to grapple with the first steps to the cloud while facing talent shortages and runaway egress costs.

Recently, a CDOTrends roundtable, supported by Equinix and Telstra, sought to examine the various challenges that face ASEAN companies. A discussion with key regional executives also highlighted potential lessons to remember.

1. Be prepared for challenges during cloud migration

One major challenge companies face when migrating to the cloud is distributing workloads and ensuring high availability. Other respondents also noted the challenge with technical debt.

Many highlighted how legacy applications initially designed for on-premises environments often prove costly and complex to re-architect for the cloud. Meanwhile, talent shortages and a need for more resources continue to hamper cloud migration ambitions.

One respondent noted that his company must migrate their infrastructure and provide cloud services to their customers, leading to resource constraints and budget limitations. It forced his company to prioritize which aspect of the cloud migration journey to tackle first. Another respondent shared his dilemma in deciding whether to perform a "lift and shift" or invest millions of dollars in redesigning these solutions to make them highly available across multiple cloud providers.

Data and compliance also pose significant hurdles, particularly for companies in regulated industries. As seen in the Philippines and Indonesia, regulators enforce strict compliance standards that must be adhered to when moving sensitive data to the cloud. Ensuring data security and compliance becomes paramount in such scenarios.

During the discussion, Simon Lockington, senior director for global technical sales for Southeast Asia at Equinix, noted that the company is helping companies to address this challenge by investing in expanding its footprint.

Equinix currently operates 51 data centers in 13 metros across Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea and Singapore. It will open its first data center KL1 IBX in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in Q1 2024, following its expansion announcement last year to enter Malaysia with a data center in Johor. It is also bringing online the Jakarta data center, JK1 IBX, to help customers take advantage of the key interconnection hub and Southeast Asia's largest digital economy in value, while aligning itself with the Indonesia Digital Roadmap 2021–2024.

2. Go long on hybrid cloud to navigate the complex landscape

In response to the challenges faced during cloud adoption, hybrid cloud solutions are emerging as a strategic approach. Companies increasingly realize that hybrid and multi-cloud architectures allow them to choose the most suitable platforms for their workloads.

One respondent noted that a critical aspect of hybrid cloud adoption is carefully planning workload distribution. Some applications, especially legacy ones, may not be optimized for the cloud. Rushing to migrate such workloads can result in performance issues and unexpected economic penalties. Identifying which workloads are best suited for the cloud and which should remain in private or on-premises environments until later is essential.

Some common hybrid cloud use cases discussed include:

• Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery. Hybrid cloud architectures allow organizations to maintain resilience by seamlessly spanning private and public clouds. Critical workloads can be shifted to the cloud in case of a disaster or infrastructure failure, ensuring business continuity.
• Cloud Bursting. ASEAN companies can leverage the flexibility of a hybrid cloud to handle workloads with variable demand patterns and seasonal spikes. This approach optimizes resource utilization and cost-efficiency.
• Edge Computing. Specific applications require low latency and rapid processing, making them ideal candidates for edge computing. A hybrid cloud allows ASEAN companies to deploy these workloads closer to end-users, ensuring superior performance.

3. Cloud agility needs thoughtful design

To make the most of a hybrid cloud environment, ASEAN companies need to consider several critical factors:

• Common Control Plane and Orchestration: A unified control plane and orchestration layer help manage operations, costs, performance, and security across public and private clouds. They simplify management and automation.
• Software-Defined Infrastructure: The adoption of software-defined infrastructure enables ASEAN companies to deploy and manage their resources with agility, using a code-first approach.
• Cloud-Adjacent Compute and Storage: Leveraging cloud-adjacent compute and storage options allows ASEAN companies to meet specific response times, performance, and compliance requirements.

4. Sustainability is now a critical criterion when selecting cloud platforms or providers

Sustainability has become a significant factor in cloud selection. Organizations are increasingly considering the environmental impact of their cloud choices. Factors like latency, data residency, and cost also play crucial roles in decision-making.

One respondent noted that sustainability initiatives are not only community-driven but are also influenced by regulatory requirements, such as those imposed by stock exchanges like those in Singapore and Hong Kong.

5. AI adds a new dimension to cloud needs

Artificial Intelligence (AI) workloads are gaining prominence in the cloud landscape. Training AI models demands substantial computational resources and data storage, which may not be network-intensive.

However, respondents noted that machine learning workloads require low latency and high bandwidth, necessitating proximity to end-users. Companies must evaluate their AI requirements and consider the trade-offs between on-premises and cloud-based AI processing.

Conclusion: Leverage the partner ecosystem advantage

The ASEAN cloud environment faces many challenges due to differing and sometimes competing needs of jurisdictions. However, respondents noted that many are finding solutions through hybrid cloud adoption.

One proven approach that emerged during the discussion is to collaborate with trusted partners, such as Equinix and Telstra. They can significantly assist in navigating these challenges.

"You're not alone. We are trying to solve these problems every day with our customers," concluded Sam Bednall, international technology lead for digital portfolios at Telstra.

With careful planning, thoughtful design, and a focus on sustainability, companies can harness the full potential of hybrid cloud solutions while addressing their unique business needs.

More importantly, technology partners can fill up the widening talent gap. And in many cases, it should be a key concern with whom you are looking to work, said Equinix's Lockington.

"Keeping those skill sets up to date is even harder, and then retaining them is also challenging, so engaging the services of a good partner who can work with you both now and in the future [is critical]," Lockington concluded.

Winston Thomas is the editor-in-chief of CDOTrends and DigitalWorkforceTrends. He’s a singularity believer, a blockchain enthusiast, and believes we already live in a metaverse. You can reach him at [email protected].

Image credit: iStockphoto/tomozina