Singapore claims highest understanding of cloud.

• Position: CLOUD - Cloud computing

Forrester Research's recently published VMWare Cloud Index 2012 found that Singapore companies rank highest in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region for their confidence in their knowledge about cloud computing.

According to the report, 82% of Singapore respondents said they believed they had a strong understanding of cloud computing, which was higher than the APAC region's average response of 75%. This is the first time Singapore came out on top in this category; Australia had held that position the previous two years of the study.

In terms of cloud usage, the top three countries are Australia (58%), Singapore (51%), and India (50%), all significantly higher than the regional average of 42%. It's not surprising, then, to see that Singapore companies expressed the highest concerns in the region about data privacy and data residency.

In his briefing regarding the VMWare study results, Michael Barnes, vice president and re search director of Forrester Research, noted that this may help explain why so many companies in Singapore reported an adequate understanding and awareness of cloud.

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The Singapore government's "pro-cloud" stance is likely another contributor. Barnes said the governments in both Singapore and Hong Kong have consistently encouraged investments in local data centers.

"The government has done a remarkable job in luring datacenter investments to come into the country...