IBM Launches New Cloud Data Center in Korea

IBM continued its expansion into the Asian market with the opening of a new cloud data center in South Korea.

The new data center comes as the Korean market is growing rapidly. IDC projects that the cloud services market in Korea is expected to grow from $445 million in 2015 to $1 billion in 2019. Big Blue is poised to tap into that opportunity. The new data center gives IBM 47 cloud data centers across the world.

IBM launched this new facility in collaboration with SK Holdings C&C. Located outside Seoul in Pangyo, the new operation is IBM’s ninth cloud data center in the Asia-Pacific region.

“A key part of our cloud strategy is to fuel new ecosystems to spur innovation and collaborate with companies who understand the local market,” Robert LeBlanc, senior vice president of IBM Cloud, said in a statement. “That’s why we chose to partner with SK Holdings C&C in Korea. Together, we are able to bring the local expertise, platform and data services that give Korean customers the ability to compete on a global scale.”

In addition, IBM said its new Korean data center will support the development of cognitive computing and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions and will promote the use of IBM’s Bluemix cloud development platform.

“Companies all over the world are seeking new business and profit opportunity throughout digital transformation,” Jung-ho Park, CEO of SK Holdings C&C, said in a statement. “The new cloud data center provides one-stop cloud converting service of existing IT system and infrastructure, and [will] become the base camp to support digital innovation for customers’ businesses by converging digital technologies such as internet of things (IoT), big data and AI.”

In related IBM Cloud news from Asia, IBM recently announced plans to create a new cloud-based health care solution for a Chinese hospital based on IBM’s LinuxONE enterprise servers.

IBM teamed up with Bodhi Healthcare Group to build the new cloud platform for the technology branch of Qingdao Municipal Hospital Group. The new solution will integrate health data to help doctors provide more personalized care to patients. Bodhi Healthcare Group is part of the BAHEAL Pharmaceutical Holdings network.

Gary Shih, vice president of server solutions and hardware systems for IBM Greater China Group (GCG), said Bodhi Healthcare sought the LinuxONE-based system for its security, among other things.

“There is a proliferation of medical data in health systems around the world,” Shih said in a statement. “The health care providers that Bodhi Medical Group supports needed a solution that helped them integrate and draw insights from previously siloed data. This local cloud environment based on our leading infrastructure technology helps meet hospitals’ security needs while supporting them as they transform through technology.”

The cloud solution, which enables doctors to use tablet computers for patient care, supports all phases of the doctor-patient process, from screening to diagnosis and treatment as well as management.