Bezos, Amazon's CEO, announced a strategic plan to the world in 2006: Amazon will invest in and build Amazon Web Services (AWS). People didn’t understand cloud computing since it was a new idea, and most Wall Street investors were skeptical or opposed to the new idea, and hoped that Bezos could just concentrate on e-commerce. The situation was similar in China in that very few people were aware of cloud computing at the time.

In 2008, a true awakening occurred. Alibaba was put under pressure to manage massive quantities of data by the expansion of online shopping. Alibaba's server utilization soared to 98 percent at peak times, just 2 percent away from bursting at the seams. Jack Ma, Alibaba’s CEO, persuaded Jian Wang from Microsoft to boost Alibaba's "brain power", and a group of daring software engineers started to tackle Alibaba’s migration to the cloud.

This was the beginning of cloud computing in China.

Outstanding Companies Need to be Seen

Alibaba Cloud was like a silver lining. After Alibaba’s bet in the cloud paid off, Tencent, Huawei, Baidu,  Kingsoft, and other tech giants followed on board, and cloud computing became a significant trend in the following decade.

The Chinese cloud industry entered a boom period around 2018. Through years of development, the industry has experienced exceptional growth in terms of the number of startups, the diversity of sectors, and their operational performance.

People’s Daily, a prominent Chinese state media, published an article supporting the development of local software just last month. Over the past decade, the total revenue of the Chinese software industry has increased significantly from RMB 2.5 trillion to RMB 9.5 trillion. Information technology (“IT”) has a huge impact on the digital transformation and business growth of many industries, making continued innovation in IT a top priority for market participants and policymakers. A burgeoning IT industry serves as the foundation of China’s digital transformation and is one of the driving forces of China’s social and economic growth.

The “Cloud 100 China” event is co-organized by Eminence Ventures and Cuiniuhui, a media group focused on the enterprise cloud. We at Eminence intend to build the "Cloud 100 China", which seeks to identify and recognize the top 100 private companies leading in China’s cloud computing industry, based on their key business metrics and scores from prestigious judges. With Cloud 100 China, we aim to facilitate more industry collaboration and accelerate the development of China’s cloud ecosystem.

Peter Cheng, the Founding Managing Partner at Eminence Ventures stated: “Although China's cloud business has evolved greatly over recent years, there are still gaps in data interoperability when compared to more developed countries overseas. As a venture capital firm that focuses on early-stage enterprise cloud investment, we believe that a high-quality Cloud 100 China list will be instrumental for China’s cloud industry. As a result, we have partnered with Cuiniuhui, the leading media in the cloud industry, to bring together the best cloud startups and entrepreneurs in China and promote the industry through professional communication and sharing.”

Qiang Cui, the founder and CEO of Cuiniuhui said ”Eminence Ventures and Cuiniuhui believe that the Chinese cloud market needs an objective, professional, long-term, dedicated, and China-centric Cloud 100 list to track and recognize the best Chinese cloud companies. It not only provides the industry with a simple and clear view of the most promising private cloud enterprises but also allows to better track and analyze the growth and trends of China's cloud industry.

Cloud today has penetrated into our everyday work and lives and we, Cuiniuhui, as a vertical media focused on the B2B sector have witnessed the evolution of the cloud and SaaS businesses in China from skepticism to mainstream enterprise adoption. Meanwhile, the Chinese market has nurtured an increasing number of excellent cloud companies. It is our obligation to discover, identify, and promote them.

Backed in September 2018, Tencent announced it decided to enter the B2B market by forming a new business group “Cloud and Smart Industries Group” (CSIG). This "September Revolution" has signaled the start of a new chapter for China's enterprise cloud industry, which should be characterized by a healthy competitive environment. The "Cloud 100 China" will work hard to identify the best private cloud companies based on open, fair, and transparent criteria, with the goal of promoting the long-term growth and development of China's cloud industry.

Launching “Cloud 100 China”

The "Cloud 100 China" list will recognize China's best private cloud companies in the B2B sector. The entire program will be organized in three phases: company application, expert judge evaluation, and list publication.

The "Cloud 100 China" list is now accepting applications, and leading companies in the cloud industry are encouraged to submit their applications. The following is the registration link: https://www.cloud100.cn/

The following are the initial screening criteria for the Cloud 100 China list:

1. The company must be based in the Greater China region;

2. The company’s core business is cloud products and/or services (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS);

3. The company is a private firm and does not have any public listing history (NEEQ listing is considered a public listing）;

4. The company has not been merged into and acquired by another company;

5. The company is not majority-owned or controlled by another company.

To create the Cloud 100 China list, a team of honored judges will analyze and evaluate the candidate companies based on the following five dimensions:

Valuation (30%): Business valuation or valuation rage that is confirmed by third-party data sources.

Operational Metrics (25%): Comprehensive operational metrics including revenue, revenue growth, gross margin, subscription revenue share, etc.

Industry Leadership (20%): Rated by the judges based on the industry status, impact, and market share of the cloud sector in which the company is positioned.

Management Team (15%): Company's core management team is evaluated and rated by the judges.

Innovation Capability (10%): Company's qualifications in the field of IT innovation and specialization will be assessed.

To ensure the 2022 "Cloud 100 China" list's impartiality and authority, we have invited judges comprised of senior industry professionals, including CEOs from publicly-listed cloud companies, SaaS experts, and representatives from the event organizers. We hope that each company on the list will stand the test of time.

We look forward to celebrating the “Cloud 100 China” with you in September!