Author: Alfie Amir

Alfie Amir is a senior analyst in Current Analysis Group. He is responsible for research, consulting and analysis focusing on market and technology trends, competitive analysis and account-based intelligence for ICT spending and modeling future investments. He also works across several trackers (e.g., fixed, mobile and IT) providing market sizing, forecasts and insights across the region. Alfie is quoted regularly in trade press and is a regular speaker at conferences, workshops and other industry events.

Chinese Cloud Giants Close Enterprise AI Platform Gap with Global Hyperscalers, but Execution Lags

by Alfie Amir, posted in IT Leader
A smiling man in a formal suit and red tie, set against a white background.
A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

• Chinese providers are catching up with global leaders in three areas: generative AI, operationalized solutions, and agentic AI, giving enterprises broader options to diversify their AI partners.

• However, gaps in go-to-market, professional services, and model development remain large – crucial areas to drive adoption and accelerate deployments.

AI demand continues to grow rapidly. GlobalData Market Opportunity Forecasts to 2030: Artificial Intelligence (published on June 30, 2026) forecasts the global AI market to increase at 48.2% five-year-CAGR to reach $1.3 trillion in 2030. This is also reflected by 88% of the 3,069 global enterprises interviewed by GlobalData, who increased their AI budget this year (source: GlobalData ICT Customer Insights Survey 2026. Asia-Pacific shows a similar trend with a 48.6% CAGR, accounting for 36.2% of the global AI market in 2026. While growth is reported across the stack from the GPU to the application layer, cloud-based enterprise platforms remain crucial to drive adoption by providing broad and flexible capabilities to develop, govern, and scale AI deployments. GlobalData’s recent updates on Cloud-Based Enterprise AI Platforms: Competitive Landscape Assessment (September 17, 2026) shows that global hyperscalers (Google and Amazon) continue to lead the market, followed closely by Microsoft and IBM. However, Chinese players including Alibaba, Baidu, Huawei, and Tencent are closing the gap. This is important especially in markets like Asia where these players already have a strong presence. This gives enterprises broader options to diversify their AI partners, but also attracts cost-sensitive customers through their cost-leadership strategy.

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The Middle East Conflict – The Impact on the ASEAN ICT Market

by Alfie Amir, posted in Cloud Enable, Communicate, Mobilize, Secure
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A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

• Within the ASEAN enterprise ICT market, the conflict has no direct impact, but indirect effects are becoming increasingly apparent due to the higher crude oil prices and rising electricity costs.

• The industry can expect lower ICT spending, higher operational costs for telcos, and slower AI momentum.

The conflict in the Middle East has entered its third week and is expected to continue for several more weeks. Its impact can already be seen globally across multiple sectors, as discussed in detail in GlobalData’s The Middle East Conflict – Executive Briefing, March 10, 2026.

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Amdocs Up Close APAC 2025: Driving Telco-Techco Transformation in the Enterprise Space

by Alfie Amir, posted in Cloud Enable, Communicate
A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

• Amdocs has broad capabilities for B2B operators.

• The solutions can accelerate their telco-techco transformation journeys across different markets.

At the recent Amdocs Analyst Conference in APAC, the company shared its latest capabilities and directions covering not only its core areas (i.e., OSS, BSS, MVNO platform, and 5G), but also emerging technologies such as AI, autonomous networks, and its integration across the portfolio. This report focuses on Amdocs’s offerings for telco B2B that can accelerate operators’ enterprise telco to techo transformation journeys.

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Huawei MBBS Africa: Unlocking 5G Opportunity in the Region

by Alfie Amir, posted in Internet of Things
A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

• Huawei aims to accelerate Digital Africa with wider connectivity, 5G, and sustainability.

• Industrial 5G, especially in mining, can drive 5G monetization in Africa. This is supported by Huawei’s broad portfolio and ecosystem.

Huawei held its MBBS Africa in Cape Town, South Africa in November 2025. As one of the leading telecom network vendors, Huawei shared its regional vision – to drive ‘Digital Africa’ through wider connectivity, 5G, and sustainable solutions.

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AWS Innovation Hub Singapore and F1 Partnership: Pushing Technologies to the Limit

by Alfie Amir, posted in Cloud Enable, Internet of Things
A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

• AWS Singapore Innovation Hub shows the company’s shift from technology-led to business-driven, turning use cases into commercial applications.

• The F1 partnership showcases AI and cloud innovation, but also AWS’ capabilities with real-time data intensive analytics and insights.

AWS held an analyst day in Singapore, showcasing its Innovation Hub and the partnership with Formula 1 (F1).

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AWS H1 Launches: Shifting Focus to Agentic AI

by Alfie Amir, posted in Big Data
A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

• Various new capabilities in cloud migration, AI, and agentic AI that are aligned with business needs in APAC.

• This shows strong momentum, but there are a few considerations for AWS to strengthen its position in the region.

In a recent briefing with analysts in APAC, AWS shared its key launches in H1 2025. In line with the market direction, most new services and features are around AI. Cloud adoption is growing while AI is evolving rapidly in the region. The focus has shifted from LLMs and use case creations to efficient deployments and advanced automation. For example, using the right model (third-party, custom model, model distillation, fine-tuning, and SLM) and agentic AI (multi-agent applications and agent development, including support for third-party agents and open-source agent SDK). The new capabilities are crucial for AWS to address the growing customer needs. Businesses have higher awareness of AI and are beginning to feel the push to adopt the technology to keep up with user demands and gain a competitive edge. The new capabilities are also crucial for AWS to retain its market position and to respond to competitors.

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Aventra Group: Building Momentum in the Highly Competitive IT Market Through Strong Service Capabilities

by Alfie Amir, posted in Big Data, Cloud Enable, Communicate
A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

• Aventra Group is growing in the ICT service market through strong service capabilities, strategic ecosystem partners, and industrial solutions.

• A wider ecosystem, including OT partners and network integration, can further strengthen its capabilities.

Aventra Group
Aventra Group (Aventra) shared its key capabilities and business directions with GlobalData at a recent analyst briefing held at the company’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). Aventra Group is an IT service provider with a portfolio spanning multiple stacks from enterprise applications, application development, cloud, cybersecurity, data, and AI. It focuses on large enterprises in key sectors such as maritime, logistics, aviation, oil and gas, smart cities, and BFSI. Its key partners include Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), SAP, Salesforce, and Outsystems. The company delivers its services from five locations: Malaysia, Singapore, India, Vietnam, and the UAE through over 400 certified experts. It also has industry credentials such as ISO27001, SOC2, National Cyber Security Agency Malaysia (NACSA), and GDPR. Seeing strong momentum with double-digit business growth, Aventra is expanding its presence globally particularly in Europe and the Middle East.

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Ripple Effect: How US Tariffs Will Indirectly Impact ASEAN Telecom Enterprises

by Alfie Amir, posted in IT Leader
A. Amir

US tariff policies are quite fluid and variable. This GlobalData report is intended to help clients understand the general impact, threats, and opportunities within the Technology and Telecom sector, even as implementation timelines and market-specific levies may change.

Summary Bullets:

• The US tariffs have minimal direct impacts on the ASEAN enterprise telecom sector as businesses are mainly domestic.

• However, there could be moderate indirect impacts, especially from lower spending in several key sectors such as manufacturing.

The US government’s announcement on new tariffs last week has already shaken the global economy. Within a couple of days from the announcement, S&P 500 companies saw a total of $5 trillion loss in stock market value. Governments, central banks and companies across the world are also assessing the mid and long-term impacts on the economy and businesses; and developing mitigation plans.

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MWC25: ASEAN Enterprise Telecom Highlights

by Alfie Amir, posted in Communicate, Internet of Things, IT Leader
A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

• ASEAN telcos announced various partnerships and new initiatives, mainly in emerging areas such as AI, APIs, private networks, and industrial solutions.

• This can enable them to monetize their network infrastructure including 5G and increase operational efficiencies to drive their overall business margins.

Key Announcements by ASEAN Telcos
Mobile industry players including telcos have been using Mobile World Congress (MWC) as the global stage to announce their new partnerships and initiatives. Like previous years, 2025 saw several key announcements by ASEAN telcos.

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Alibaba Cloud AI Tech Day Malaysia – Closing the Competitive Gap with Global Hyperscalers

by Alfie Amir, posted in IT Leader
A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

• Alibaba Cloud is expanding its presence in Malaysia with a new data center and wider ecosystem.

• It is closing the competitive gap in cloud and AI, but still lacks local references.

Local Expansion

At the recent Alibaba Cloud AI Tech Day 2025 in Malaysia, Alibaba Cloud shared its latest initiatives in the country including the development of its third facility there (the first opened in 2017). This is part of its $53 billion investment in global AI and cloud within the next three years. The Chinese hyperscaler is also expanding its ecosystem in the country to strengthen its presence and further penetrate the market. For example, it has groomed over 50 ISVs with AI and expanded its partner network with key players such as YTL, Agmo, PIKOM, and National AI Consortium (KAIN). At the event, the hyperscaler announced two MoUs: with Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), a local investment firm, and with HiSEVEN, a regional digital marketing provider headquartered in Malaysia. Alibaba Cloud is also actively driving programs to build skillsets especially in new technologies such as AI and cloud. It has trained over 21,000 talents in the country and announced Alibaba Cloud AI Hackathon this year – the first in Malaysia.

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