AVM Cloud: Empowering Enterprises in Malaysia to Deploy a Robust Sovereign Cloud

Already a leader in Malaysia’s burgeoning cloud services and solutions sector when it was acquired by Time dotCom, one of the region’s largest fixed-line communications companies in 2021, AVM Cloud recently became one of the select group of providers who offer VMware Cloud Verified Services to earn the VMware Sovereign Cloud distinction.

Originally known as Integrated Global Solutions Technologies, AVM Cloud has a long relationship with VMware going back to 2010.

AVM Cloud’s CEO David Chan explains that “being named VMware’s Hybrid Cloud Provider of the Year FY 2018 reflected our commitment to provide customers with choices that enable them to optimize their unique cloud journey and in many ways our decision to pursue and earn the VMware Sovereign Cloud distinction is a natural progression of that effort. Now our customers can choose to have their data safely and securely kept, maintained, and safeguarded by Malaysian citizens in Malaysian territory.”

Chan notes that AVM Cloud’s commitment to providing enterprises with choices is readily apparent in the depth and breadth of the company’s portfolio. This includes not only its hybrid cloud products, but also the private AVM Cloud offered in multi-tenant and dedicated versions, Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service, the company’s Fusion backup to cloud solution, and AVM’s Cloud-In-A-Box – a ready-made offering that lets organizations deploy a private cloud with robust security features on premises or in a co-located data center.

Notably, AVM Cloud also offers a number of custom cloud solutions. This includes an ever-growing portfolio of cloud-native applications based on VMware Tanzu.

Chan says AVM Cloud’s top priority in achieving its status was to be able to cater to full spectrum of customers’ workloads, including those that are best served when data resides in, is safeguarded in, and is managed and maintained within sovereign territory without intervention from foreign entities

Sovereignty is increasingly a priority for many organizations in Malaysia. In the case of AVM Cloud, this includes customers in numerous industries, including financial services and manufacturing.

“The regulatory requirements on sovereign cloud are still nascent and developing in Malaysia,” he says. Data sovereignty is reflected in existing legal and policy frameworks which encompass a comprehensive, cross-sectional framework to protect personal data in commercial transactions and play an important role in helping companies address data sovereignty issues.

These issues are directly addressed by the five criteria and numerous requirements that must be met to achieve the VMware Sovereign Cloud distinction: data sovereignty and jurisdiction control, data access and integrity, data security and compliance, data independence and mobility, and data innovation and analytics. AVM Cloud addresses each of them.

“Our sovereign clouds are architected and built to deliver security and data access that meets the strict requirements of regulated industries and local jurisdiction laws on data privacy, access, and control,” Chan says. “We deliver this national capability for digital resilience while still enabling our customers to access a hyperscale cloud in another region for ancillary workloads or analytics. In this way, Malaysian companies can demonstrate to their customers that they value their trust and treat their personal data with the utmost care. Ultimately, this commitment will benefit all Malaysian citizens.”

Learn more about AVM Cloud and its partnership with VMware here.