In a significant development for the cloud computing industry, Alibaba Cloud, the backbone of Alibaba Group’s digital technology and intelligence division, has been named a pioneer in Forrester’s Q4 2024 Wave™ report on public cloud platforms. This accolade underscores Alibaba Cloud’s wide-ranging capabilities in cloud and AI technologies, its extensive global footprint, and its robust portfolio of products and services designed to meet the needs of customers across the world. This distinction marks the first time that Alibaba Cloud has achieved this recognition in the specific Forrester report.
Evaluation and Criteria
Forrester’s evaluation of Alibaba Cloud was part of a broader assessment of nine global public cloud providers, conducted across 30 stringent criteria. These criteria focus on the providers’ current offerings, strategic vision, and market presence. Alibaba Cloud excelled in this comprehensive evaluation, securing the second-highest scores in both the current offerings and strategy categories. The company’s outstanding performance included perfect scores in 17 critical areas, such as database services, data integration, governance, container and Kubernetes services, serverless/FaaS services, compute, IoT, storage services, and AI development services.
One of the standout elements of Alibaba Cloud’s success in the Forrester report is its formidable strength in artificial intelligence. The company’s proprietary AI models, coupled with a wide array of foundation model choices and model-as-a-service (MaaS) innovations, have positioned it as a central model repository for AI development in China. This dominant AI portfolio has enabled Alibaba Cloud to cater effectively to diverse client needs, helping businesses leverage advanced AI technologies for improved operational efficiency and innovation.
Expanding Global Footprint
Additionally, the Forrester report highlights Alibaba Cloud’s suitability for both Chinese enterprises and international corporations that require expansive cloud solutions across regions such as APAC, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. Jingren Zhou, Chief Technology Officer of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, emphasized the company’s unwavering commitment to pushing the boundaries of cloud-native infrastructure and AI capabilities to better serve its clients’ evolving requirements. This strategic focus on cloud and AI advancements has cemented Alibaba Cloud’s reputation as a leader in the public cloud platform space.
At the recent 2024 Apsara Conference, Alibaba Cloud unveiled several major innovations, including a revamped full-stack infrastructure to meet the growing demands for robust AI computing. Furthermore, the company introduced Qwen 2.5, a series of sophisticated large language models, to the global open-source community. Since the initial release of Qwen in April 2023, these models have been downloaded over 40 million times, resulting in the creation of more than 78,000 derivative models. This rapid adoption highlights the significant impact and utility of Alibaba Cloud’s AI offerings on a global scale.
ModelScope Community and Future Plans
In a notable advancement for the cloud computing industry, Alibaba Cloud, which forms the core of Alibaba Group’s digital technology and intelligence sector, has been recognized as a pioneer in Forrester’s Q4 2024 Wave™ report on public cloud platforms. This prestigious accolade highlights Alibaba Cloud’s comprehensive capabilities in cloud and artificial intelligence technologies. It also emphasizes the significant global presence Alibaba Cloud has established and its extensive portfolio of products and services aimed at fulfilling the diverse requirements of customers worldwide. Being named a leader in this influential Forrester report illustrates Alibaba Cloud’s exceptional achievements and progress. This milestone is particularly significant as it is the first instance Alibaba Cloud has attained such recognition in this specific Forrester report. It showcases the strides Alibaba Cloud has made in innovation, competitive positioning, and delivering high-quality solutions that drive business growth and efficiency on a global scale.
