阿里巴巴向硅谷推出云服务，正面PK亚马逊微软

    该数据中心是阿里巴巴在美国谨慎扩张的最新举措，该公司也借此进入了竞争激烈的美国云服务市场。在这里，占据主导地位的是亚马逊、微软和谷歌。

    阿里巴巴负责国际云业务的副总裁喻思成告诉路透社记者，该公司旗下的阿里云打算首先通过该中心为在美国从事经营活动的中国公司提供服务，后者包括零售商、网络和游戏公司；随后，该中心将把目光投向希望同时在中美两国开展业务的美国企业。

    喻思成没有透露该中心的投资规模；出于安全考虑，他也没有透露该中心的位置。但喻思成说：“这对我们来说是具有重要战略意义的行动。国际扩张实际上是我们整个公司今后几年的策略。”

    “如果客户有这样的需求，我们的业务最终有可能发展到美国的其他地区，比如东海岸或中部。”

    人们一直把阿里云比喻为初级版的亚马逊网络服务。这项业务最初是阿里巴巴内部技术基础设施的一部分，随后不断发展壮大，目前主要为国内中小型互联网企业提供数据处理服务和存储空间。

    阿里巴巴是中国电商行业主导者，阿里云在国内市场的份额约为23%，但它面对的是来自国内外的竞争对手，其中有中国电信这样的电信运营商，也有微软和亚马逊这样的海外企业。阿里云目前在杭州、青岛、北京、深圳和香港设有数据中心。

    就在阿里巴巴启动美国云业务之际，美国企业和政界人士正在对中国政府表达不满，原因是他们认为后者限制了外国技术在中国的发展。

    审查制度观察组织认为，中国政府的管制限制了来自国外的竞争，影响了多家公司的在线服务业务，包括谷歌的相关服务和亚马逊网络服务。

    本周，美国总统奥巴马对中国的反恐新规提出强烈批评，称这些规定给外国公司的数据管理带来了极大困难。新华社周三对此做出回应，称奥巴马的批评“毫无根据，再次体现了美国外交政策的傲慢和伪善。”

    另一个问题也许更为紧要，那就是阿里巴巴打算怎样跟亚马逊、微软和谷歌等公司抗衡。为了维持双位数增长，这些公司已经下调了云服务价格。研究机构IDC预计，到2017年，这些企业所争夺的公共云服务市场的规模有望增长到1000亿美元。

    如果价格具有竞争力，预计美国消费者不会介意这项业务由一家中国公司来提供。

    阿里巴巴为阿里云制定了远大计划。目前阿里云约占该公司收入的1%，但它为阿里巴巴的核心电商业务提供支持，而且长期来看将发挥关键作用。阿里巴巴计划进行大量数据汇集和分析工作，其中包括消费者行为数据，公司认为云计算是实现这一计划的关键。

    阿里巴巴需要寻找方式，来维持一直以来的飞速增长。周二，该公司股价创上市以来新低，原因是竞争对手京东的季度业务好于预期，这让人们再次开始担心阿里巴巴的扩张速度正在放慢。

    The new California data center marks the Chinese company’s latest measured expansion onto American soil, and into a hotly contested U.S. market now dominated by Amazon.com Inc , Microsoft Corp and Google Inc.

    Alibaba’s Aliyun cloud division intends the new data center to cater initially to Chinese companies with operations in the U.S., including retail, Internet and gaming firms. It will later target U.S. businesses seeking a presence in both countries, Ethan Yu, a vice president at Alibaba who runs the international cloud business, told Reuters.

    “This is a very strategic move for us,” Yu said, declining to say how much Alibaba invested in the data center or disclose its location for security reasons. “International expansion is actually a company strategy in the coming few years.”

    “Eventually we may expand to other regions, for example the East Coast or middle part of the U.S., if our customers have the demand for that.”

    Aliyun, which has been likened to a budding version of Amazon Web Services, began as part of the company’s in-house technical infrastructure but has since expanded to lease processing and storage space for small and medium Internet businesses in China.

    While Alibaba dominates e-commerce in China, Aliyun, also known as AlibabaCloud Computing, holds about a 23% market share in its home market. It faces both Chinese and foreign competitors, from carriers like China Telecom to Microsoft and Amazon. Its existing data centers span the Chinese cities of Hangzhou, Qingdao, Beijing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

    Alibaba is kicking off its U.S. cloud business as American corporations and politicians are protesting what they see as Beijing’s efforts to curb foreign technology at home.

    Chinese government controls have limited foreign competition and disrupted many online services, including Google’s and Amazon Web Services’, according to censorship watchdogs.

    This week, U.S. President Barack Obama sharply criticized new Chinese counter-terrorism regulationsthat subject overseas companies to arduous measures regarding data management. The official Chinese news agency Xinhua responded Wednesday by calling Obama’s criticisms “utterly groundless and another piece of evidence of arrogance and hypocrisy of the U.S. foreign policy.”

    A more immediate concern may be how Alibaba intends to vie with the likes of Amazon, Microsoft and Google, which are slashing prices on cloud services to try and sustain double-digit growth. They’re battling over a public cloud services market that could grow into an $100 billion industry by 2017, according to researcher IDC.

    U.S. customers are not expected to be bothered by the service’s Chinese ownership if pricing is competitive.

    Alibaba has big plans for Aliyun, which now accounts for about 1% of its revenue but supports its core e-commerce operation and will also play a pivotal role in the long run. Alibaba sees cloud computing as key to its plans to aggregate and analyze the vast quantities of data it collects, including on consumer behavior.

    The company also needs to find ways to sustain so-far stunning growth. Shares in the company fell to their lowest levels since their debut on Tuesday, after rival JD.com’s JD 0.69% better-than-expected quarterly results revived concerns that Alibaba’s expansion is slowing.

    2014年第四季度，云计算和基础设施成为该公司增长最快的业务，销售额飙升85%，达到5800万美元。

    目前，阿里巴巴绝大多数收入都来自中国市场。近几个月，该公司的扩张已经在俄罗斯和巴西等新兴市场初见成效。但对于美国市场，阿里巴巴的态度一直是再三权衡、小心谨慎。

    喻思成指出，硅谷云计算中心将服务于阿里巴巴的全球速卖通业务以及外部公共云客户。全球速卖通是该公司为国外买家建立的B2C平台。

    他没有详细介绍潜在客户的情况。但通常来说，资金紧张的初创型企业在开展业务方面都非常依赖云服务供应商。阿里巴巴已经投资多家美国公司，包括短信App开发商Tango、在线零售商11Main.com、Fanatics.com和Shoprunner。但还不清楚这些公司会不会使用阿里云的服务。

    此外，阿里巴巴已经和P2P借贷平台LendingClub携手，为美国在线购物人群提供贷款。

    喻思成透露，在硅谷云计算中心周三启动前，阿里云曾为有意涉足国际市场的国内客户进行了一段时间的测试，参加测试的仅限于受邀对象。这项业务已于周二正式面向美国市场推出。

    喻思成说：“我们将逐渐引起国外客户的注意力。实际上，为数众多的美国客户和美国公司都打算在中国设立大量的数据中心，以便为他们在中国的客户提供服务。”

    “我发现，美国客户的需求确实很大，他们希望在全球范围内均衡地部署自己的IT基础设施，包括中国。”（财富中文网）

    译者：Charlie

    审稿：李翔

    Cloud computing and infrastructure was the company’s fastest-growing business segment in the December quarter, increasing sales 85% to $58 million.

    Alibaba now derives the vast majority of its revenue from China. In recent months it has made headway in emerging markets from Russia to Brazil, but the company has taken a cautious, calculated approach to the U.S. market.

    The northern California data node would serve internal Alibaba businesses, like AliExpress, its online B2C platform for buyers outside of China, as well as external public cloud clients, Yu said.

    He declined to disclose details about potential clients. But cash-strapped startups generally rely heavily on cloud service providers to power their services. Alibaba has invested in several U.S. firms including messaging app Tango, online retailers 11Main.com, Fanatics.com and Shoprunner, but it’s unclear if they would avail themselves of Aliyun’s services.

    Separately, it has also tied up with LendingClub to provide financing to online buyers in the U.S.

    Ahead of Wednesday’s launch, Aliyun ran an invitation-only trial period for customers inChina with international expansion plans, he said. The company began selling U.S. cloud services on Tuesday.

    “Gradually we will start to attract international customers,” Yu said. “There are actually lots of U.S. customers, U.S. enterprises who look forward to setting up lots of data centers inChina to serve their Chinese-based customers.”

    “I do see there is big demand for U.S. customers who look for balanced presence of their IT infrastructure across the world, including China.”