KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 22): The launch of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Asia Pacific (Malaysia) Region will allow local businesses to store and process their data within the country, said AWS Malaysia country manager Pete Murray in an interview with Digital Edge. This will facilitate faster application performance and better user experience can be achieved through reduced latency.
The AWS Region will enable businesses of all sizes to access cloud-based services, which empower them to scale and compete at a global scale, said Murray. AWS also plans to collaborate with local technology partners to develop solutions and services.
The total investment associated with the AWS Region from 2024 to 2038 will be RM29.2 billion. This investment is estimated to contribute RM57.3 billion in gross domestic product during the same period. Additionally, more than 3,500 jobs are expected to be created.
The region consists of three availability zones, which are data centre clusters that have independent power, cooling and physical security that are connected through ultra-low latency networks.
“Large enterprises, critical industry participants [and] regulated industries like financial services, healthcare [and] the public sector are now able to localise the data that they use…. In addition, we’ve also seen this as very exciting for start-ups and digital native community who are able to leverage the lower latency as well as data localisation here in Malaysia but be able to go global,” said Murray.
“One of the key and critical strengths of public cloud technologies is this concept of being able to go global in minutes.”
Industries that will benefit from the AWS Region include telecommunications, data centre operations, non-residential construction, electricity generation and security services for the data centres, which consequentially will have a ripple effect on the country’s broader economy, said Murray.
Murray also reiterated AWS’ commitment to provide training and resources to help local businesses to utilise the technology. Currently, AWS Malaysia has trained over 100,000 individuals in cloud skills.
The company will also take measures to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. AWS also aims to power their operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025 and achieve net-zero carbon emissions across its operations by 2040.
“AWS has multiple initiatives to reduce the carbon impact of the concrete required in the construction of data centres. Our new design standards require concrete that has 20% reduction of embodied carbon versus standard concrete in our US data centres. We expect to expand this requirement globally,” said Murray.