Confluent, a data streaming platform, is further extending its collaboration with Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence arm of Alibaba Group, with the objective of expanding its reach beyond China.

The Confluent Data Streaming Service will be made available on Alibaba Cloud for customers in new markets in Asia by the end of this year.

“This expansion is a testament to our successful partnership, which allows us to support more customers as demand grows to connect enterprise-wide apps and data systems with real-time data flows,” Selina Yuan, President of International Business, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group, said in a statement.

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Data streaming enables various applications and industries to provide real-time experiences. It facilitates ride-sharing apps in matching riders with drivers, dynamic pricing, and updating driver ETAs. Retailers utilize data streaming to personalize shopping experiences across all channels, and it expedites service delivery in the banking sector, including the approval of loan applications in minutes.

Data streaming investments

Citing the 2023 APAC Data Streaming Report, Alibaba Cloud noted that 89% of technology leaders in the APAC region consider investments in data streaming to be crucial, with 69% using data streaming to power critical applications.

Under the expanded collaboration, organizations in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand will have access to Confluent’s data streaming platform on Alibaba Cloud.  

Through this partnership, customers will have access to the enterprise-grade features of Apache Kafka, a distributed data streaming technology, without the complexities of management and monitoring, and will be able to process data streams with a focus on enterprise-grade security.

“The additional capabilities that we and Alibaba Cloud have enabled provide better experiences for our customers,” said  Kamal Brar, SVP, APAC at Confluent. “This significantly accelerates time to value and improves developer productivity in building their real-time streaming applications.”

Apache Kafka enables customers with more efficient data processing capabilities, including enhanced elastic computing and storage functionalities, as well as dedicated customer support and technical consultation.

Confluent’s Data Streaming Platform has been used in enhancing business operational efficiency across a diverse range of industries, including financial services, omnichannel retail, automotive, and gaming.