Alibaba Cloud revamps global partnership ecosystem
New AI-focused initiatives with an enhanced incentive program, an AI partner accelerator program and revitalized service partner strategy to support global partners and customers.
With over 12,000 partners globally, Alibaba Cloud remains a dominant vendor in the tech industry. In Asia Pacific, the Chinese vendor continues to play a significant role as well, with a strong command of the public cloud market share in the region.
Given the continued focus on GenAI globally, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group announced the revamp of its partner ecosystem. The AI-focused partner ecosystem plan, known as “Alibaba Cloud Partner Rainforest Plan” was revealed at the Alibaba Cloud Partner Summit 2024.
The new plan will include several new initiatives such as an AI partner accelerator program, an enhanced incentive program and a revitalized global strategy for service partners. According to Alibaba Cloud, the initiatives aim to foster the growth of global partners and accelerate the development and deployment of cutting-edge AI and cloud computing solutions for businesses across various industries worldwide.
At the summit, Selina Yuan, President of International Business, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence commented that the Chinese cloud provider believes that collaboration is the key to unlocking innovation and driving growth.
“Our global partners are not just participants; they are the architects of a new digital landscape in the AI era. Today, with our revamped global partner ecosystem, we are committed to supporting our global partners to jointly reap the benefits of AI era and meet the diverse business demand of global customers,” said Yuan.
AI-focused Partner Ecosystem initiatives
Tech vendors around the world continue to drive AI technology through their partners to meet customer needs. The surging demand is showing no signs of slowing down despite some companies beginning to question the ROIs from their initial investments.
For Alibaba Cloud, meeting the surging demand for AI technologies from global customers is imperative for them. As such, Alibaba Cloud debuts the AI Alliance Accelerator Program. The program will build a dedicated AI partner ecosystem through collaboration with 50 AI technology partners and 50 channel partners in 2025.
Taking a deeper look into the program, it offers selected AI technology partners enhanced technical support focused on AI, expanded distribution channels, collaborative go-to-market resources, and dedicated AI consulting services. Chosen channel partners will benefit from increased financial incentives and market development funds for their AI-related initiatives.
Alibaba Cloud believes the combination of its AI capabilities and the global technology ecosystem, the initiative can enhance partner enablement and accelerate diverse partners’ digital transformation journey. At the same time, global partners will be empowered to capitalize on the opportunities presented by the AI era. This includes reaching a broader customer base through Alibaba Cloud’s extensive distribution network of channel partners.
Another program unveiled is the Revitalized Service Partner program. This program aims to enhance the global system for Alibaba Cloud’s service partners. Focusing on cultivating new service partners, the program upskills channel partners and technology partners with targeted training and empowerment. This includes equipping them with the necessary capabilities of consulting, implementation and managed services to diversify their revenue stream and deliver a comprehensive service to the customer.
Apart from that, the program seeks to empower existing service partners by expanding their offering to include both product reselling and service delivery. Alibaba Cloud has also collaborated with service partners to jointly develop the Managed Large Language Model Service and other AI-focused services to foster an AI partner ecosystem and address the diverse digital transformation needs of global customers.
To build a comprehensive service system that meets the diverse needs of global customers, Alibaba Cloud also pledged to extend new strategic partnerships with 18 service partners. They include Whale Cloud, Bespin Global, Cognizant Worldwide, Deloitte, Accenture and FPT out of the existing 50 global standard service partners via enhanced resource sharing and capability complement.
Looking at incentives, Alibaba Cloud released its Synergistic Incentive Program designed to strengthen the collaboration between its global technology partners and channel partners. Fostering a vibrant and dynamic ecosystem, the program introduces an expanded go-to-market pathway.
The incentive program is expected to enable technology partners to boost revenue by leveraging Alibaba Cloud’s extensive channel network. Meanwhile, channel partners gain access to a broader product portfolio, increasing sales opportunities and enhancing profit margins. This initiative drives mutual growth and reinforces Alibaba Cloud’s commitment to empowering its partners and nurturing a robust global ecosystem.
Collaborations with regional partners
The Asia Pacific region represents a huge market opportunity for Alibaba Cloud. While it may not have the biggest market share in the region, the Chinese cloud company continues to command a strong presence, especially among some organizations in the region.
This is why Alibaba Cloud believes it’s crucial for them to ensure continued collaboration with innovative technology and channel partners, both globally and regionally. While Alibaba Cloud does have strong AI capabilities, partnerships and collaborations are components to have a thriving and sustainable ecosystem that is capable in providing cutting-edge cloud computing and AI products and solutions.
For example, in Indonesia, Alibaba Cloud has partnered Telekom Indonesia to provide innovative and effective AI-supported cloud solutions for the Indonesian community. In Thailand, Alibaba Cloud signed a MoU with Yell Group, a leading creative digital company based in Thailand to address the growing demand for GenAI and to empower the creative media industry with scalable and reliable cloud-based solutions.
Thailand’s Yell Group will utilize Alibaba Cloud's robust cloud computing capabilities to enhance scalability in the creative sector. The partnership will introduce Alibaba Cloud's media solutions, such as Elastic Desktop Service and Object Storage Service to foster innovation and growth in this dynamic field.
Over in Japan, Alibaba Cloud has partnered with Securai, a Japanese company that provides cloud services and information security solutions, to meet the booming digital transformation requests by Japanese businesses. Securai will localize Alibaba Cloud’s Zstack service for the Japanese market and provide operational support for the stable continuation of the service.