The strict regulations in the Chinese market require additional measures for the use of AWS for international companies. In a new development, it is now possible to obtain globally standardized AWS Managed Services for AWS China via the national partner T-Systems China. AWS users receive global services from a single source – with standardized service levels, cost control, and data protection.
“Globalization is not an option; it is a reality” says Thomas Friedman, the author of ‘The World is Flat’.
There are very few companies in the 21st century that can afford not to think internationally. Medium-sized companies and, to an even greater extent, large multinationals are present in various regions of the world.
In many cases, a presence in Asia plays a key role in the internationalization of business. And with a population of over 1.4 billion, China is an important location in Southeast Asia. For European car manufacturers, for example, the Chinese market is often the largest single market. BMW, Mercedes, and Audi sold over 700,000 vehicles to China in 2023. In addition to its significance as a sales market, China is also important as the “world’s factory” in light of its production capacity. Smartphones, computer parts, machine components, textiles, and also rare earths are sent all over the world via global logistics routes from China.
The country remains indispensable for European and American companies due to its economic potential and its role as a global production location. However, companies that want to do business in China have to overcome various regulatory hurdles in order to leverage the market’s options. Among other things, they need a local business unit or a local partner as a “bridgehead.” Regulation also influences the procurement of IT services or cloud services. The Chinese cloud market is dominated by local players such as Alibaba Cloud, Huawei Cloud, and Tencent Cloud.
The Chinese cloud market is a challenge for many global companies from Europe and America. Western companies often rely on American hyperscalers such as AWS to support their international business from a single source. However, despite its global market leadership, AWS is only a niche provider in China. Through two Chinese legal entities, Beijing Sinnet and Ningxia Western Cloud Data Technology, AWS provides its services in accordance with strict national regulations. The AWS China region offers a portfolio specifically tailored to the Chinese market and (like the U.S. Government Cloud or the future EU Sovereign Cloud) is operated separately from the AWS Global regions.
The separation of regions and regulatory requirements makes it difficult to manage business-supporting AWS services uniformly. That is, unless companies can work with a managed service provider that can serve both China and the rest of the world from a single source with standardized managed services. A provider like T-Systems, for instance. In 2011, T-Systems opened its business unit T-Systems China, which supports European automotive OEMs, among others, but also provides solutions for airport management at various Chinese airports. T-Systems China provides a framework within which AWS Managed Services can also be offered in the Chinese market.
This gives AWS users globally standardized management across the (actually) separate AWS regions via T-Systems. In detail, this includes: one point of contact for all AWS Managed Services worldwide, our AWS Trusted Cloud Landing Zone, centralized security and compliance monitoring, centralized audit logs, 24/7 support, consolidated cost control, and standardized prevention management as well as Detective Guardrails. This significantly simplifies global AWS deployment – and customers can take “their” AWS services with them to China.