Microsoft expands cloud services in Europe and into Middle East

Microsoft will deliver cloud services from its first datacenters in Switzerland as well as the Middle East. The company is also expanding cloud options for it customers in Germany.

In addition, the Microsoft Cloud in France is officially open with the general availability of Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Office 365 today, according to a blog post by Jason Zander, corporate vice president, Microsoft Azure. Microsoft Dynamics 365 will be available in early 2019.

"By delivering the comprehensive, intelligent Microsoft Cloud - comprising Azure, Office 365 and Dynamics 365 - from datacenters in a given geography, we offer scalable, available and resilient cloud services for companies and organizations while meeting data residency, security and compliance needs," Zander stated.

The first cloud regions in the Middle East are in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. In Europe, Microsoft intends to be the first global cloud operator to introduce cloud regions in Switzerland, which will be in Geneva and Zurich.

The company has also added two new cloud regions in Germany to "provide enterprise-grade reliability, performance and business continuity combined with data residency within Germany and connectivity to Microsoft's global public cloud network," Zander stated. He added that Azure and Office 365 are now also available in France and as such existing Office 365 customers from France and French territories can now opt-in to be moved to the local cloud regions in France.

Microsoft is also helping customers prepare for the new European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

"We're invested to make the Microsoft Cloud GDPR compliant when the regulation becomes effective on May 25, 2018, ...