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More companies migrate to cloud computing to boost efficiency
With high speeds, taking up less physical space, but with large capacities and associated with lower costs, there are many advantages to cloud computing
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span>With high speeds, taking up less physical space, but with large capacities and associated with lower costs, there are many advantages to cloud computing.
Cloud computing, the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage and computing power, is becoming more popular among business players in the country, from the most profitable bank in the country to retail start-ups.
The technology not only provides large storage capacity but also speeds up data processing, thereby improving cost efficiency.
The country’s largest and most profitable bank, Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), is among financial companies that have enjoyed the benefits of cloud computing technology. BRI’s chief technology officer Indra Utoyo said adopting new technology was important for BRI, considering its wide market. Using application programming interface (API) technology, the bank could reduce the time it needed to assess loan applications from two weeks to two hours, he said.
“Services like credit scoring for loans has become faster ever since [we adopted cloud computing],” he said at a press briefing for Google Cloud Indonesia’s annual Jakarta Cloud Summit 2019 on Sept. 5.
In the entertainment industry, theater chain Cinema XXI has also begun using cloud computing to manage some 1,000 screens across the country.
Cinema XXI chief technology officer Andrew Pangestu acknowledged that the entertainment industry, such as theaters, had been late in adopting information technology (IT). “In recent years, however, there has been a technology leapfrog as we are facing competition from other entertainment platforms, such as the over-the-top [OTT] platforms,” he said.
“We have had some 60,000 hits per second when a box office or popular movie is on screen,” Andrew said.
As such, he added, Cinema XXI had realized that to improve its content and service management, it needed a more efficient and integrated system, compared to when it was still using physical servers at each branch.
Cinema XXI is currently using a hybrid cloud by which it uses physical servers and Google Cloud Platform.
Meanwhile, micro retail tech start-up Warung Pintar uses cloud computing to improve its supply and demand monitoring services.
Warung Pintar cofounder and chief technology officer Sofian Hadiwijaya said his company was investing more in human capital to ensure it had staff that understood such technology.
“About one-third of our employees, around 100 from 350 people, are experts on that [cloud technologies],” he said at the press briefing.
Cloud computing implementation not only benefits individual businesses but a country’s economic growth.
A recent study by the Boston Consulting Group and Google Cloud showed that the implementation of public cloud, a cloud available to many organizations, could contribute some US$35 — 40 billion to the nation’s cumulative GDP from 2019 to 2023, equal to some 0.6 percent of the country’s annual GDP.
More than 85 percent of the economic impact will come from digital industry and internet start-ups, which are currently the main users of public cloud in Indonesia.
Google Cloud regional director for Southeast Asia Tim Synan acknowledged that Indonesia was an important market for Google Cloud.
“Indonesia has world-class companies that develop their business with cloud technology, we are honored to be part of their digital transformation,” said Synan at the third Google Cloud Summit in Jakarta.
“We are building partnerships with local stakeholders to support and accelerate Indonesia 4.0,” he added.
With such a robust market, Google Cloud is to launch its 21th data center in Indonesia in the first half of 2020, just as the government pushes a regulation to require data centers inside the country.
When it was introduced, Government Regulation No.82/2012 on electronic systems and transactions sparked controversy among businesspeople.
Many companies still use data centers abroad, as local infrastructure is deemed “not ready” to handle such sophisticated data sets, causing industry players to look for reliable cloud providers, tribunnews.com reported.
The latest reports say the government is drafting a revision to the law that would somewhat loosen requirements.
However, the Indonesian Information and Telecommunications Society (Mastel), as reported by Antara, argued that data centers must be located in the country.
During a speech on Thursday, Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara said the government welcomed Google Cloud’s data center development in Indonesia and called for more data centers for Indonesia.
“The government’s role will shift from being a regulator to a facilitator to accelerate the digital economy,” he said, adding that regulations were needed to protect customers. (asp)
