[한국의 SaaS] ① KT breaks through global offensive with native cloud

Enter 2021.01.19 06:00

In the era of the 4th industrial revolution, the convergence of existing industries and ICT technologies is a trend of the times. The transition to cloud-based services is evaluated as a key factor in determining the speed of business growth of companies. The existing cloud market leaders were global companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, but recently, native companies have joined hands to expand three. Cloud One Team and portal companies are typical examples. The Ministry of Science, ICT, and ICT, which is the main ministry, began to revitalize the market by reorganizing laws and systems to strengthen Korean companies’ cloud market competitiveness. Chosun Media Group’s IT media, IT Chosun, is planning a’Korean SaaS company’ in line with the trend of change. It looks at the status and future vision of native cloud companies that are active in the private as well as public cloud fields. <편집자주>

Korea is evaluated as the world’s top in ICT fields such as telecommunications, semiconductors, and smartphones, but the situation in the cloud field is completely different. Global companies such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft (Azer), and SAP are strong in the Korean cloud market, estimated at 4 trillion won in 2020. Foreign companies preoccupied the market before native companies put their powers into force. It is a crisis situation.

KT puts a brake on the rapid growth of foreign companies. KT’s cloud business is led by Lee Mi-hee, head of Cloud·DX Business Headquarters. Lee, who held the key to the cloud business through greetings at the end of last year, stood at the center of the Digico transformation of President Sung-Mo Lee. In 2020, the first year of his inauguration, KT Lee Su-mo announced that he would transform KT into Digico (digital platform company) instead of Telco (communication company).

As KT considers media and cloud as its core platform business, Lee, the head of the cloud field, has a heavy shoulder. Apart from the company’s No. 1 title in native cloud, it has the task of strengthening the native cloud ecosystem that can respond to the offensive of global cloud companies. As Lee is an expert in the field of IT services, I have high expectations for him this year.

In a recent written interview with IT Chosun, he said, “KT is the only Korean company that has a data center, network, and cloud.” In the data business (IDC), it is true that KT is the unrivaled No. It is fiercely competing with the business operators,” he said.

KT empowers the cloud through reorganization

From 2017, KT has implemented the’Cloud First’ policy and preemptively introduced the in-house system based on the cloud. In 2019, 100% of the new in-house services were accepted as the cloud with a’cloud must’ strategy. KT’s external services and over 40 in-house services were the main targets. In particular, KT Olleh TV’s large-scale media infrastructure was converted to the cloud as a whole, making a case of stably operating even when users crowded.

On July 6, 2020, the’Digital New Deal Cooperation Task Force (TF)’ was established with the goal of bringing remarkable innovation in all industries by combining AI, cloud, and big data with the nation’s best network infrastructure. did.

“KT has further strengthened its internal organizational system for future business by combining new technology organizations such as AI, big data, and IoT on the basis of cloud and IDC in 2021,” said Lee Mi-hee, head of the headquarters. “Strategic cooperation with partners with technology and capabilities “We are pursuing a strategy to secure synergy within a short period of time by greatly expanding alliances.”

The fruits began to come out last year. After the spread of Corona 19, the remote working environment became common, and the digital transformation (DX) of companies accelerated, and on November 30, KT launched a cloud-based’DX platform’ that will support the company’s DX. DX platform is a package service that provides various platforms such as ▲AI ▲big data ▲IoT ▲development environment (DevOps) necessary for digital innovation of companies in the cloud.

It is also expanding the field of SaaS (Software as a Service). As the three major strategies in the SaaS field, KT points out: ▲Expanding solutions based on partnership and cooperation with businesses with domestic competitiveness ▲Expanding specialized platform solutions for each new industry (small business, medical, manufacturing, logistics, etc.) ▲Expanding non-face-to-face solutions

Director Lee said, “KT is going to secure a PaaS (Platform as a Service) reference this year, and plan to expand the specialized PaaS for each industry in parallel through partnerships with businesses with original technology. ‘And video conferencing solution’KT Meet (to be released in February)’, call center service’KT Video Help Me’, and’KT Live Edu’ for online education,” he said. “In addition to groupware and ERP, SaaS We plan to increase our competitiveness,” he said.

Customer-friendly KT Cloud,’Strength’ in Public Sector DaaS

KT is evaluated as having significant strengths compared to global companies. According to KT, global cloud service providers (CSPs) such as AWS, MS, and Google provide only cloud. It is said that services such as facilities such as IDC or network lines must be combined with other providers to provide services.

However, KT is a company that has all of the cloud, network and IDC. In particular, KT is the only service provider in Korea capable of supporting next-generation services based on 5G network networks with ultra-low latency characteristics.

“KT Cloud can present a cloud-linked integrated monitoring and operation model through its own developed’Connect Hub’ and’Hybrid Cloud Management Platform’ (HCMP), even if the customer implements the service in a complex hybrid environment,” said Lee Mi-hee, head of the headquarters. “Customers can effectively reduce service and data center operation and management costs,” he said.

The important thing that cannot be left out of cloud services is’security’. KT Cloud has various security certifications (CSAP, ISMS, etc.) at home and abroad, and is continuously expanding, and makes every effort to manage customer service and safety of important data. It provides 30 kinds of security solutions and technologies.

It also provides specialized cloud infrastructure that can respond to industries with high government regulations (public, finance, medical, etc.). The government is planning to introduce DaaS (Datacenter as a Service) as part of the digital new deal, and companies seeking to enter the public sector must be able to meet the security standards of the Ministry of Public Administration and Security.

“If DaaS is introduced in public institutions, security issues will become very important,” said Lee, head of the headquarters. “The government will implement the DaaS certification system to control security measures, but KT has already provided DaaS to the post office. As long as we have the experience and know-how, we will be able to make it together (for service preparation companies).”

Native companies break through the offensive of foreign companies with Cloud One Team

KT launched’Cloud One Team’ on November 23, 2020 amid offensive by foreign companies. More than 20 companies, institutions, universities, and local governments participated in Cloud One Team to increase the competitiveness of native companies.

Major exhibitors include KT, which is in charge of the operation secretariat, K-bank, ETRI, Seoul National University, KAIST, Hangul Computer, Tree Technology, Somansa, Venture Business Association, and Gyeonggi Creative Economy Innovation Center. Headquarter Lee Mi-hee pointed out that after the launch of the Cloud One Team, inquiries for continued participation from various companies and organizations are flooding.

The Cloud One Team collects the needs of each participating institution to discover development and research projects, and organizes customized support programs for each participating institution, such as customized cooperation and win-win programs. Through the operation secretariat, KT helps each participating organization perform tasks smoothly, such as providing necessary cloud infrastructure and technologies. The newly joined Seoul City in January will strengthen the high-class ecosystem through environmental support, such as providing a data practice environment based on’Seoul City Big Data’ to participating members.

In order for Cloud One Team to develop further, more large and medium-sized companies leading Korea must join. In order for native companies to become competitive in a market driven by global cloud companies, it is necessary to share the experiences and know-how of large and medium-sized companies, which are industry leaders.

“KT is not only thinking of us, but as a cloud platform leader, we are striving to secure the platform ecosystem of the Korean cloud and protect the native operators.” “With the Cloud One Team, the global operators “We will provide generous support so that we can have a platform ecosystem that can stand up to others.”

Reporter Jin Lee [email protected] Reporter Eunjoo Ryu [email protected]

Copyright © IT Chosun.