Alibaba Cloud Recognised as a Strong Performer in Specialised Insights Service Providers Report by Independent Research Firm

Hangzhou, China, November 7, 2018 – Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, has been recognised as a strong performer in The Forrester Wave™: Specialized Insights Service Providers Q3 2018. According to the report, Strong Performers offer well-rounded insights services portfolios and good strategic direction, and they constitute a strong choice for companies looking for external insights support.

Together with eight other specialised insights service providers, Alibaba Cloud has met the reports’ inclusion criteria of possessing advanced data and analytics skills; having the expertise and prebuilt assets to accelerate and scale their offerings; and offering a range of insights services such as software, infrastructure, or staff augmentation.

Alibaba Cloud received the third highest scores in the data services and analytic services criteria, among the nine vendors. In the market presence category, in particular, Alibaba Cloud received the highest score possible in the revenue growth criterion.

"Today, Alibaba Cloud is expanding its core platform, ET Brain, with vertical and domain applications that include configurable algorithms, dashboards, and decision-support tools… AI is central to Alibaba’s product road map, with a team dedicated to developing new AI algorithms and embedding emerging technologies, like computer vision or facial recognition, in applications. Finally, uptake of Alibaba Cloud’s insights services is slowly expanding outside of its traditional Asian base," the report observed, "Alibaba Cloud taps into a rich crowdsourcing resource for AI and big data assets with its extensive Tianchi ecosystem." the report observed.

"We are delighted to be named a strong performer in the Forrester Wave report among the other eight most significant players, and we are glad the ET Brain platform has been recognised as, in our opinion, a key solution to empower vertical industries. We customise solutions or co-develop products with our customers, and have applied ET Brain across the smart city, industrial, aviation and agricultural sectors. Clients in photovoltaics, energy and steel have used our technologies to reduce defects, improve production efficiency and save millions in operating costs," said Dr. Wanli Min, Chief Machine Intelligence Scientist of Alibaba Cloud.

ET Brain is Alibaba Cloud’s proprietary AI program that aims to help different verticals to tackle real-world challenges and unleash their development potential. It is powered by Alibaba Cloud’s large-scale computing engine Apsara, integrating machine learning, heterogeneous data analysis, and visual/speech recognition capabilities that can be inter-coordinated on demand. Today, Alibaba Cloud’s ET City Brain, ET Industrial Brain, ET Agricultural Brain, ET Medical Brain, ET Environment Brain and ET Aviation Brain offer an array of services for its clients in enterprise, city administration and other professions.

Alibaba Cloud’s international reputation is growing alongside its product and service offerings and its global network. In June this year, the company was ranked a top three cloud services provider globally by Gartner, one of the world's leading research and advisory companies.

About Alibaba Cloud

Established in 2009, Alibaba Cloud (www.alibabacloud.com), the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, is among the world’s top three IaaS providers according to Gartner, and the largest provider of public cloud services in China, according to IDC. Alibaba Cloud provides a comprehensive suite of cloud computing services to businesses worldwide, including merchants doing business on Alibaba Group marketplaces, start-ups, corporations and government organizations. Alibaba Cloud is the official Cloud Services Partner of the International Olympic Committee.