Behind iCloud China's settlement in "Cloud Guizhou": Apple compromised after two years of negotiations

Starting from February 28, the iCloud service in mainland China will be operated by Yunshang Guizhou Big Data Industry Development Co., Ltd. This means that more than 200 million Chinese "Apple fans" will face "cloud migration". During the "cloud migration" process, can data security be guaranteed? In this regard, Yunshang Guizhou Company said "no problem" and said that it is improving the relevant software and hardware facilities in accordance with Apple iCloud's existing service standards.

Safety program recognized

According to the agreement between the two parties, starting from February 28, Yunshang Guizhou will be the "only partner" of Apple's iCloud business in mainland China and operate iCloud services in mainland China. At that time, iCloud services will use the dual brands of Apple and Yunshang Guizhou to provide services to users in China, and Apple will provide technical support.

In order to facilitate this cooperation, Yunshang Guizhou and Apple launched difficult negotiations for nearly two years. Among them, the most heated debate between the two sides was whether Yunshang Guizhou could be treated as the "only partner" of iCloud business. It is not easy to get Apple to accept such exclusive terms. Yunshang Guizhou insisted that operating such a large project would face huge risks without exclusivity. In the end, after repeated consultations, Apple compromised.

Why did Apple start issuing notices from January 10, but not officially hand over the iCloud service to Yunshang Guizhou until February 28? In this regard, Hu Haibo, deputy director of the Industry and Planning Institute of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, said in an interview with reporters that this was to prepare users and of course there were technical considerations.

Hu Haibo revealed that as of July 2017, mainland China has become the world's largest market for Apple phones, with 243 million mobile phone users. Starting from February 28, 2018, the data storage and management business for new Apple phone users will be handled by Cloud Guizhou.

Hu Haibo said that "cloud migration" has particularly high security requirements. Fortunately, Apple and Cloud Guizhou have already had a solution, which has also been recognized by relevant state ministries and commissions.

Currently, Apple has registered an entity company in Gui'an New District, Guizhou, and will jointly build a large data center in Gui'an New District with Cloud Guizhou Company.

According to the Gui'an New District Big Data Office, the data center will be built in two phases with an investment of US$1 billion and covers an area of ​​1,000 mu. The site selection has been completed but construction has not yet started. Construction is expected to start this year and be put into use in early 2020. By then, all data of iCloud users in mainland China will be moved from overseas to the data center operated by Cloud Guizhou.

Hu Haibo revealed that during the transition period, Yunshang Guizhou Company will cooperate with the three major domestic operators to provide operation services for Apple iCloud by leasing cloud.

The butterfly effect is emerging

In fact, joining hands with Yunshang Guizhou Company is the choice made by Apple under China's regulatory policies.

According to relevant domestic regulatory requirements, operators of critical information infrastructure should store personal information and important data collected and generated in China when operating in China. In addition, China restarted the IDC (Internet Data Center) license review and issuance work a few years ago, and foreign-funded enterprises are not allowed to engage in data center operation business.

Therefore, it is almost impossible for Apple to build and operate data centers in China alone. The only solution is to cooperate with domestic companies that have IDC operating licenses.

Relevant person in charge said that Apple's final choice of Cloud Guizhou has a lot to do with the development of Guizhou's big data industry ecosystem in recent years. In addition to cool weather, stable geological conditions, sufficient electricity and perfect network infrastructure, after four years of development, Guizhou has a good foundation for the big data industry. Microsoft, Qualcomm, Foxconn, Huawei, Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu and other companies have invested and settled in Guizhou, and a large number of big data companies have emerged. In particular, the approval of the construction of the first national big data comprehensive experimental zone has enabled Guizhou to obtain more support from the national level in the development of big data.

Hu Haibo believes that the cooperation between Yunshang Guizhou and Apple is an innovative example of the country's opening up to the outside world. According to Hu Haibo's estimate, the iCloud operation alone will bring Yunshang Guizhou a stable income of more than US$1 billion per year. In the future, the two sides may further deepen their cooperation and expand the scope of cooperation to other service areas.

For Guizhou, the Apple project is the largest investment project since the province launched its big data strategy, and it will play a huge leading role in the province's cloud computing industry. It is said that the butterfly effect of Apple's "landing" is emerging, and other international technology giants are also coming here, hoping to cooperate with Guizhou.

Committed to improving user experience

The announcements released by Yunshang Guizhou and Apple both point to the same goal: to improve user experience.

As early as 2011, Apple officially launched the iCloud service. Since then, users can upload photos, documents, memos, contacts and other content to iCloud, and keep them automatically updated on all Apple devices, and restore data when necessary.

But before, because iCloud service did not have a data center in China, users had to connect to Apple's data center in Becca, USA, and then jump back to China to access iCloud. China and the United States are separated by thousands of miles. Such distance does not produce beauty, but various network delays, timeouts and inaccessibility.

After Yunshang Guizhou operates iCloud, all iCloud files of Chinese users will be gradually moved to China. This means that in the future, when users access iCloud, the network will be more stable, the download speed will be faster, and the packet loss and network delay will be greatly reduced.

Obviously, Apple's establishment of a data center in Gui'an New District can not only improve the performance of iCloud, but also reduce the costs of data storage, transmission, etc. In the future, it is possible that Apple will reduce the fees for iCloud-related services.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.