…Unveils its cloud strategy to the global ICT community at the first ‘HUAWEI CONNECT’ Conference in Shanghai, China. By MKPE ABANG
Huawei, the leading global Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solutions provider, has, for the first time, revealed its cloud strategy to an impressive global audience of more than 20,000 ICT industry leaders, experts and decision makers during the first HUAWEI CONNECT, the largest integrated conference for the world ICT environment hosted by the company in Shanghai, China.
With the theme “Shape the Cloud,” the three-day ‘HUAWEI CONNECT’ Conference this year is aimed at exploring cloud era trends and how different industries can achieve digital transformation by developing cloud technology and contributing to the cloud ecosystem.
Indeed, the onus to set the stage for the three-day event being attended by industry leaders from over 120 countries fell on Mr. Ken Hu, Huawei’s Rotating Chief Executive Officer, who took the first shot with a Keynote at addressing the audience during the opening of the event hosted at the Shanghai Expo Centre. Mr. Hu explained that Huawei “aims to position itself as the enabler and driver of an intelligent world.”
The announcement marked the first time that Huawei has publicly given a comprehensive look at its cloud strategy, thereby making clear to the global community Huawei’s commitment to enabling an intelligent and inclusive world with ecosystem partners.
According to Mr. Hu, the company will hold true to its culture of customer-centricity, focus on ICT infrastructure, and provide innovative cloud technology; and that throughout this process, “Huawei aims to become a preferred partner that enables digital and cloud transformation, while actively contributing to the cloud ecosystem through openness, collaboration, and shared success.”
Emphasising that ICT will be “the cornerstone of an intelligent world” Mr. Hu compared devices to “feelers” that give all things the ability to sense their environments, saying “networks will connect everything, and the cloud will be the source of intelligence behind all things. These three elements form a synergetic architecture of devices, information pipes, and the cloud, and they are the strategic focus of Huawei’s investment in the future.”
Speaking further, Mr. Hu stated: “over the next five to 10 years, we will see all kinds of smart devices that automatically adapt to various use scenarios. All people and all things will have the ability to sense their surroundings, and devices will serve as entry points to the intelligent world. Optical and wireless networks will provide ubiquitous, ultra-broadband connections. In the meantime, interconnected computers spread across the planet will aggregate vast amounts of data, forming a ‘digital brain’ in the cloud. This digital brain will evolve in real time, and it will never age, providing intelligence that can be called upon at any time by people and machines via high-speed connections and devices.”
He noted that enterprises are the main players in the cloud era, as solution innovation will revolve around their specific needs. In this context, therefore, “Huawei will stay customer-centric, gaining insight into customer needs and developing innovative technology that addresses them.” The company provides its customers with easy-to-deliver and easy-to-operate hybrid cloud solutions that are based on unified, open architecture.
These solutions are highly open and secure, and offer enterprise-grade performance in an integrated one-stop environment, aspects of functionality that are designed in direct response to customer pain points. In addition to individual solutions, Huawei stresses that the cloud ecosystem must be developed around creating value for customers, and that every organisation within the ecosystem must contribute its own unique value. Mr. Hu emphasised that Huawei is not going to release a handful of clouds on its own; rather, as an ecosystem enabler, Huawei aims to help all of its customers build all manner of clouds.
Giving further insights into the emerging cloud ecosystem, Mr. Hu stated: “Enterprises that were born in the cloud led the development of the first cloud era, disrupting industries around the world.” He believes that the next 10 years will be the era of Cloud 2.0, marking the rise of countless industry clouds.
By 2025, Huawei predicts that all enterprise IT solutions will be ‘cloudified,’ and more than 85 per cent of enterprise applications will be cloud-based. Every company will integrate its core business with the cloud, and will be on the look-out for the cloud solutions that suit them best. Mr. Hu shared some of Huawei’s own experience with ‘cloudification,’ emphasising that it is important to generate value from the cloud; he went on to set out three measures that can help companies do just that.
First, he noted that it is vital for enterprises to change their mind-sets around the role of ICT: they should start treating ICT as a production system instead of a support system, and proactively use technology to redesign their production processes. Second, enterprises should rethink talent, and equip their employees with basic ICT knowledge, particularly as it applies to cloud technology. Third, enterprises should think big and act small, making headway with tactical, gradual improvements that build lasting confidence in new technology and the success it brings.
“Cloud is changing everything,” Mr. Ken Hu went on to say. “We view change as a process of rebirth. For any business in the Cloud 2.0 era, change brings hope. And through action, we can create the future.”
At this year’s HUAWEI CONNECT, Huawei’s three rotating CEOs – Ken Hu, Eric Xu, and Guo Ping – are opening each day with keynote speeches. Other keynote speakers include Brian Krzanich, Intel CEO; Vishal Sikka, Infosys CEO; Thomas Saueressig, SAP Senior Vice President; and Andrew McAfee, Principal Research Scientist at MIT Sloan School of Management.
HUAWEI CONNECT 2016 brings together ecosystem players in an 18,000m2 interactive exhibition hall at the Expo Center in Shanghai, China. Half of the exhibition floor is being used to showcase the capabilities of Huawei’s industry partners, including 80 industry organisations and sponsors of Huawei and the industry ecosystem.
Major partners in attendance include Intel, HGST, SAP, Accenture, Infosys, OpenStack, and GSMA. During the conference, Huawei is focusing on four key technologies (Cloud, Big Data, Software Defined Networking (SDN], and IoT), and launch eight flagship solutions for its cloud storage, cloud services, and SDN controllers.
These solutions are designed to enable the digital agenda of customers across nine sectors, including government and public utilities, finance, telecom, energy, and media.