The service will also help to cope with lack of IT experts, they told a seminar on cloud computing held in HCMC on Wednesday by ICT Partnership of the Saigon Times Club and IBM Vietnam.

Cloud computing uses the internet and central remote servers to maintain data and applications to allow consumers and businesses to use applications without installation and to access their personal files at any computer with internet access.

This technology allows for much more efficient computing by centralizing storage, memory, processing and bandwidth, the experts said. Cloud computing is divided into three segments: applications, platforms and infrastructure, with each segment serving a different purpose and offering different products for businesses and individuals around the world.

Tran Viet Huan, chief technology officer of IBM Vietnam, told the seminar domestic enterprises had begun to pay attention to cloud computing and that it is a right choice for Vietnam where most businesses are small and medium.

“If applied, cloud computing will help businesses cut IT operation and maintenance costs,” Huan said, adding cloud computing is a rising trend in the world and that tech giants like IBM, Google, Amazon and Microsoft are providing the service globally. “Thus, local enterprises should embrace the trend to develop business; otherwise, they will lag behind.”Lam Nguyen Hai Long, project director of Quang Trung Software City (QTSC) Development Company and vice chair of ICT Partnership, shared Huan’s view, saying about 90% of local enterprises are small and medium enterprises, so they have difficulty investing into IT infrastructure because of high cost.

“So the traditional way of infrastructure investment should be changed to boost efficiency,” Long added.

Long said QTSC Online, a cloud computing service provider, had conducted a market survey this month on the readiness of 120 local firms to use cloud computing service. The survey, he said, indicates local enterprises are aware of hiring outside IT service.

The survey found about 26% of respondents said they are ready to spend VND5,000 on an email account, 40% to spend VND5,000 to VND10,000 and 21% to spend over VND10,000, and that the remainder are undecided.

Long said he believed cloud computing service would grow fast in Vietnam in the coming time. IBM and Intel have recently announced to develop cloud computing service here in the country. Meanwhile, Microsoft and FPT cut a deal to develop cloud computing service locally when Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, visited Vietnam in May this year.