With the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating cloud permeability beyond imagination, what next wave of web innovation can fully digitalized economies look forward to?
Web3.0 is a catch-all term for envisioning the vision of a new, better internet — made up of a blockchain-based platform.
Although the relevant technologies have come a long way, the model is still relatively in its early stages, and developers are working hard to solve its unique challenges such as decentralization. However, as we witnessed with Web2.0, organizations that want to leverage cyberspace successfully need to adapt fast and have the agility and flexibility for change.
Thus, adopting a robust digital infrastructure can help secure this competitive advantage and help industries become more prepared for whatever comes online next, according to Poshu Yeung, Senior Vice President, Tencent Cloud International. He shared with DigiconAsia.net more about the next wave of cloud strategies to get excited about.
DigiconAsia: Given the already saturated Cloud Service Provider market, what is your vision for the next wave of cloud and related Web strategies on the post-COVID-19 horizon?
Yeung: As digital transformation and cloud adoption accelerate across all industries globally, boosting digital competitiveness and creating business value will be a global priority.
As Web3.0. begins to take centre stage in the always-on audio and video era, expectations for a truly immersive and interactive digital experience have grown, and more firms and organizations have reached out to us looking to integrate their operations and services with the virtual world.
One new concept is “Immersive Convergence” — which integrates the digital economy and the real world with the ultimate goal of solving real-world problems, leveraging cloud infrastructure, technologies, and connectivity solutions. The chart on this page shows what Immersive Convergence holds for the post-pandemic digital era.
As we look to the future, we believe that this will transform the way we live, work, and interact, as well as how businesses operate.
DigiconAsia: How can businesses succeed globally in the era of Web 3.0?
Yeung: They can do so by adapting fast and having the agility and flexibility for change when adopting Web 3.0 now in how they manage their basic compute, storage, network infrastructure and PaaS usage such as CDN, RTC, AI Machine Learning, Cloud Rendering, and Security.
Enterprises should also thoroughly evaluate their business challenges, objectives, digital readiness, capital resources, as well as the regulatory environment of the industries and markets.
DigiconAsia: How have the most successful customer stories in your global organization taught the world about the coming Quantum Age amid global talent shortages?
Yeung: The quantum age is presenting both opportunities and risks for individuals, companies and governments. In face of cyber threats, according to PwC’s 2022 Global Digital Trust Insights, cloud security had become the top investment priority of the survey respondents.
Enterprises need to step up their security efforts by adopting an integrated, fast, reliable and secure platform that can detect and defend against attacks earlier, mitigating malicious traffic right on the edges before they reach a data center.
The most successful customer stories in Tencent Cloud involve customers benefiting from all-in-one security protection and network performance solutions that make them more efficient and more secure as they go full throttle with their digitalization journey.
As for the global talent shortage leading up to the quantum age, firms will now need to be digitally integrated — to offer employees flexibility, bolster corporate culture, evolve with changing employee expectations, and make full use of cloud computing and digitalization to offer a great employee experience. For example, the French-European pharmaceutical company Sanofi power their front-end for customers and employees based on a mobile-first strategy, allowing users to join meetings and collaborate anywhere, anytime, in an effective and interactive manner.
DigiconAsia: While cloud computing is enabling pervasive digitalization (with added impetus from the pandemic), it has also unleashed cyber threats and related crimes at unprecedented levels. What are your views on fixing myths and misunderstandings about cloud computing that could lead to cybersecurity vulnerabilities?
Yeung: Increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks against critical infrastructure across the Asia Pacific region, especially South-east Asia, are becoming some of the fastest-growing forms of cybercrime.
However, from years of experience working closely with our customers, we see that organizations often take a rather short-term view when it comes to their security approach.
Bettering network performance is often seen as a priority in order to meet user expectations, in comparison to investing in security. This was especially so during the pandemic when firms scrambled to digitalize. Even now, we see that many organizations govern security and network performance separately. The ideal strategy is to adopt an integrated solution that drives both security and network performance in parallel.
When such a one-stop security protection and network performance solution is in place, businesses can drive overall cost-efficiency and make it easier for teams to manage a single digital solution that is able to do it all.
We also recommend organizations to constantly review their business needs, and evaluate if their network architecture is well-fitted to support these needs, or if it requires further modernization. This cannot be optimal with any one-size-fits-all model, so business should look for vendors that have dedicated local teams working closely with them to ensure that any new solutions can cater to unique business needs and culture, as well as boost compliance with the applicable laws and regulations of each market.
