Tech Data Brings Wasabi's AI-Ready Cloud Storage to Singapore and Malaysia

Cloud storage does not get the headlines that AI models do, but it is quietly becoming one of the most consequential purchasing decisions in Singapore's AI build-out. Training data, retrieval corpora and model artefacts all have to live somewhere, and the cost, speed and residency of that storage shapes which AI projects make sense. That backdrop explains the timing of a new distribution agreement that brings Boston-based Wasabi Technologies' storage portfolio to resellers in Singapore and Malaysia through Tech Data, the TD SYNNEX company with operations in both markets.

Announced on August 6, the deal gives resellers and managed service providers access to Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage, Cloud NAS and Surveillance Cloud, complete with integrations for backup and data protection platforms Veeam, Commvault and Rubrik. Tech Data will support partners through its cloud marketplace, financing, local billing and technical and partner support resources. Wasabi is not new to the region - it opened a Singapore storage region in 2022 - but this is the first time its products are being pushed through Tech Data's channel into both markets at once.

Wasabi's pitch has long been pricing simplicity: flat-rate object storage with no egress fees, a direct contrast to the metered egress charges that catch many AI workloads off guard as they shuttle data between training, inference and backup. As AI adoption spreads beyond the largest enterprises to the mid-market, distribution deals like this matter because most smaller firms buy through resellers and managed service providers rather than signing up with hyperscalers directly.

The practical effect for Singapore and Malaysian businesses is more choice in a storage market that has consolidated around a few names. Backup-heavy sectors like healthcare, finance and logistics - all under pressure to adopt AI while holding tightly to data governance - get a locally billable, locally hosted option for S3-compatible storage, with the surveillance angle also touching the region's security industry.

Why it matters for Singapore: Singapore's AI strategy depends on a deep and competitive data infrastructure layer, and storage is the unglamorous foundation of it. Egress costs and data residency are exactly the kind of friction that decides whether a small team builds an AI feature or shelves it. A US storage vendor doubling down through a local distributor, with data staying in Singapore, keeps that foundation cheap and local as the AI wave moves downstream.