Global expansion is a thrilling time for businesses. Far-flung territories can provide fresh growth and innovation opportunities, new customer bases to tap into and budding markets for your organisation to put its stamp on.  

This is especially so in Asia, a fast-growing region that’s slated to account for over 50% of worldwide GDP by 2040 and drive 40% of the world’s consumption1. It’s also home to five of the top 10 global recipients of foreign direct investments2 and is predicted to notch US$1.2 trillion in spending on digital-transformation efforts between 2020 and 20233.

For your organisation to function successfully in a foreign environment, you’ll need a strong network foundation. In fact, the transition into new regulatory territories is a major challenge for businesses trying to build and expand cloud-ready networks.  

In Asia for example, you’ll have to confront intricate compliance requirements and disparate infrastructure, while in Europe, you’ll have to adhere to strict data-protection and privacy laws. If you’re expanding into China and Russia on the other hand, it’ll be necessary to ensure consistent network connectivity across these vast and complex nations.

Here’s a breakdown of the challenges you’ll encounter – so that you can take the necessary steps to address and avoid them.

Think that all regions will have the comprehensive infrastructure you require to implement a high-functioning network? Think again. In reality, you’ll have to grapple with inconsistent infrastructure between countries – particularly in Asia, where nations are in vastly diverse stages of development.

If you don’t possess the right knowledge and solutions, this can significantly slow down and complicate deployment, plus hamper the quality of your network.

Different countries and regions are governed by their own set of regulatory requirements. For instance, organisations entering China must comply with the Chinese cybersecurity law, while those expanding into Europe will have to meet strict privacy regulations, such as GDPR standards.

Beyond this, you’ll have to navigate intricate firewall regulations, hosting rules and licensing requirements. Without sufficient expertise, this will be a time-consuming and resource-sapping task to pull off.

As your network increases in complexity, it’s important to establish and maintain tip-top performance to serve fresh customer bases and keep your global sites well-connected.

But this won’t be easy. It’ll be difficult to guarantee consistent network quality in remote or hard-to-reach segments. And not all providers are equipped with the local infrastructure, partnerships and services to seamlessly interconnect your branches within some countries.

What’s more, fragmented bilateral and multilateral roaming regulations are par for the course. This can occur at both the regional and country level.

You’ll also have to juggle complicated taxation and pricing regulations on global roaming services. These can be a headache to process, and divert your team’s attention away from performing mission-critical tasks.

If all this sounds daunting, fret not. None of these challenges are insurmountable. Rather, they present opportunities to improve on your existing network.  All you need to do is pair up with the right provider that offers the appropriate solutions, local knowledge and in-country partnerships. Even better if your provider can offer full management or co-management of networks and a bespoke network design to suit your environment. Having experienced support staff on the ground, with a keen understanding of the local environment can also be beneficial.

For instance, a partner with deep insights into the region can help you navigate the various compliance requirements – be it by including GDPR considerations into network design, or drawing on their in-country expertise with regulatory bodies. They’ll also be well-placed to tackle roaming and taxation rules.  

What about overcoming infrastructure discrepancies and achieving consistent network quality? This can be attained through enlisting a vendor with robust global infrastructure – think extensive submarine-cable systems; PoPs in key geographic regions; in-country SD-WAN gateways – and relationships with on-the-ground providers to facilitate top-tier in-country network quality.

Finally, when it comes to in-country operations support, the right partner will be able to provide 24/7 global operations support for your network, as well as the services of a robust and experienced team of local support staff. This will ensure that all installations happen on time, and that any outages are fixed in a jiffy.

As a cloud-ready network specialist with significant global expertise, Singtel is the ideal partner to help you expand confidently into flourishing growth regions. By drawing on its comprehensive suite of services, you can seize the opportunity to enhance and optimise your network as you move into new markets.