Certificate clears way for cloud service providers

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology granted "trusted cloud service" certificates to 19 local cloud computing providers on Tuesday, paving the way for their possible inclusion in government procurement projects.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd was one of the biggest winners as its cloud products - including host service, object storage service and data centers - gained authentication, according to a statement issued by the ministry.

The nation's three State-owned telecom carriers as well as tech giants in the private sector, such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, Baidu Inc, Tencent Holdings Ltd and Kingsoft Co Ltd, also have cloud products on the trusted list.

Industry sources said that having a government-issued certificate will ensure these companies a place in government procurement projects. Local cloud services are set to edge overseas counterparts in winning over government and State-owned enterprise customers because of the nation's information security concerns.

"China's public cloud market is poised for huge growth this year because of strong demand and the small installation base," said He Baohong, head of the Internet standardization office at China Academy of Telecommunication Research, a government think tank.

The total value of the public cloud market in China during 2014 is estimated at 6.28 billion yuan ($1 billion), a 31.9 percent increase over the corresponding period last year, according to the academy's estimates.

Public cloud, a type of cloud computing where services are rendered over a network that can be rented by different clients, is the preferred choice of most Chinese enterprises that have adopted cloud technologies, said a white paper published by the academy.

"The government is spending more than 50 billion yuan every year on information technology products. Adequate spending will help boost the cloud industry in the coming years," said He.

The certification will, however, not block the cloud services provided by overseas companies. Most of the international vendors such as Microsoft Corp, IBM Corp and Amazon Web Services Inc did not apply for the certificate.

Foreign companies are required to form joint ventures with local cloud companies to bring public cloud services to the Chinese mainland, according to government regulations.

The latest partnership came on Monday when the US-based cloud and virtualization software provider VMware Inc inked a deal with China Telecom Corp to offer hybrid cloud services in China. The service will be operational by 2015, the companies said.

China Telecom is a government authenticated cloud provider in the country.

The ministry said it will constantly update the "trusted cloud" list to ensure that cloud services adhere to safety and performance requirements. The next round authentication will be next month.