In a bank’s data center in Central Hong Kong, the IT director stared at an SLA report, visibly frustrated. The licensing fee from a foreign IT vendor was set to rise by another 15% next year, yet on-site support over the past year had been minimal. Every issue followed the same slow process—email, scheduling, remote troubleshooting, and only then, if necessary, an on-site visit. Resolution could take anywhere from three days to a full week.
This is not an isolated case, but a common challenge faced by enterprises across Hong Kong and Macau.
Meanwhile, at the Shenzhen Bay checkpoint, an AI-powered immigration system was undergoing trial operations. The technical team’s biggest concern: if the system went down, how severely would clearance efficiency be impacted?
On one side, rising costs and slow response from international vendors; on the other, AI-driven scenarios demanding near-zero business interruption. Traditional data service solutions are struggling to keep up.
As data becomes a core asset—and resilience a matter of survival in the AI era—who can bridge this gap?
A Shanghai-based, STAR Market-listed software company is offering its answer: Info2soft.
To explore how, DataYuan Editor-in-Chief Zhang Yanfei interviewed Chen Yufeng, Head of the Hong Kong & Macau Market, during the Hong Kong Innovation & Technology Exhibition.
Why Are Hong Kong & Macau Customers Moving Away from Global Giants?
Why can a domestic data service provider replace international leaders in Hong Kong and Macau? The answer lies in understanding the market dynamics.
Enterprises in the region face several key challenges when working with foreign vendors:
1. Cost Pressure
Hardware prices continue to rise due to supply chain issues, while licensing fees from international vendors increase year after year. Combined costs—base fees, node fees, capacity fees, advanced features—can easily double total cost of ownership over three years. Customers are now asking: Is there a better option?
2. Limited Local Support
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority requires strict system stability, with 99.99% SLA as a baseline. However, local support from global vendors is often limited, with engineers sometimes dispatched from Singapore or Australia. Slow response times and insufficient local expertise make it difficult to meet requirements.
3. Operational Complexity
Hong Kong enterprises typically have small IT teams. Complex, hardware-bound solutions—spanning storage, switches, and backup software—create heavy operational burdens. When issues arise, customers often cannot troubleshoot independently and must rely entirely on vendors.
4. Increasing Compliance Requirements
New regulations such as STDB (Triple Data Backup) and critical asset protection policies are raising the bar. Traditional solutions require long development cycles and costly customization—something customers can no longer afford.
At the same time, additional factors are reshaping the market: rising hardware costs, outages in foreign cloud services like AWS, and the rapid expansion of Chinese cloud providers such as Tencent Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, and China Mobile Cloud in Hong Kong.
The market window for domestic vendors is opening—but who can seize it?
Info2soft’s Edge: From Replacement to Outperformance
Founded in 2011 and listed on the STAR Market in 2023, Info2soft serves over 6,000 customers, works with 400+ partners, and holds more than 160 core patents.
According to IDC, Info2soft ranked No.1 in China’s Data Replication and Protection market for 12 consecutive times (2016–2025), with a 13.5% market share in 2025.
A flagship case is the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), which replaced Veritas NetBackup with Info2soft i2Backup V9 to protect hundreds of petabytes of data—achieving seamless migration without new hardware investment.
Info2soft’s positioning is clear: full lifecycle data solutions—from migration to backup to disaster recovery.
Four Key Advantages:
- Hardware-Agnostic: Supports existing infrastructure without vendor lock-in
- Full Lifecycle Coverage: From migration to backup to disaster recovery
- Cross-Cloud Flexibility: Enables data replication across AWS, Tencent Cloud, and more
- Unified Management: Simplifies operations through a single platform
In terms of ecosystem, Info2soft has established compatibility with leading vendors such as Huawei, H3C, Inspur, Lenovo, and others. In Hong Kong, it operates through local distributors and system integrators, aligning with regional business practices.
Since establishing its Hong Kong office in June 2024 as its international headquarters, Info2soft has secured over 10 local customers, primarily in finance, and has begun entering government projects.
Its three-tier service model—local support in Hong Kong, implementation by South China teams, and backend support from headquarters—ensures rapid response and reliable service delivery.
AI and Globalization: A Bigger Game
Why now? Because multiple forces are converging:
- Cost pressures from rising licensing and hardware expenses
- Compliance requirements demanding faster adaptation
- Geopolitical shifts driving multi-cloud strategies
- Trust evolution, as global customers increasingly recognize Chinese technology capabilities
AI is accelerating this shift.
Three Key Changes Driven by AI:
- Data as an Asset: Training data is costly and irreplaceable
- Extreme Continuity Requirements: AI systems demand near-zero downtime
- Intelligent Operations: AI-driven O&M becomes essential
Info2soft is already ahead in AI adoption:
- AI-powered O&M automates system checks and generates reports
- AI-enhanced data search enables instant retrieval of compliance-related files
- AI training data protection safeguards high-value datasets
In one case, Info2soft supported disaster recovery for an AI-based immigration system in Hong Kong, ensuring uninterrupted operations—a critical requirement for public services.
Beyond Hong Kong: A Global Vision
Hong Kong is just the starting point. Positioned as Info2soft’s international headquarters, it serves as a launchpad for global expansion.
The company is already expanding into Singapore, Europe, the Middle East, and Japan, following a simple strategy: go where customers are.
Info2soft’s ambition is clear—from China’s No.1 to a global player.
A New Chapter for Chinese Software Going Global
Unlike hardware exports, software globalization is a quieter journey—requiring technological excellence, product depth, service quality, and above all, trust.
Info2soft’s story in Hong Kong is not driven by policy mandates, but by customer choice—based on real value.
It represents not just one company’s success, but a broader opportunity for China’s software industry.
Hong Kong and Macau are just the beginning—a proving ground with global standards, demanding customers, and strict compliance. Success here opens the door to the world.
As the global digital landscape evolves, companies like Info2soft are writing the next chapter of China’s technology story.