Microsoft Cloud expands with first-of-its-kind offering for Europe

Today, I’m pleased to announce the availability of Microsoft Azure from datacenters in Germany that offer a first-of-its-kind model developed in response to customer needs.

The Microsoft Cloud Germany provides a new, differentiated option to the Microsoft Cloud services already available across Europe. Customer data in the two new German datacenters is managed under the control of a data trustee, T-Systems International, an independent German company and subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom. It provides additional controls for customers’ data, as access is only provided with the permission of customers, or the data trustee. Microsoft’s commercial cloud services in these new datacenters adhere to German data handling regulations and give customers additional choices of how and where data is processed.

Our new cloud offering meets our global Trusted Cloud principles of security, privacy, compliance and transparency, in addition to the controls for customers’ data under the data trustee. Because of these factors, the Microsoft Cloud Germany creates increased opportunities for innovation and economic growth for highly regulated partners and customers operating in Germany, the European Union and the European Free Trade Association.

As part of our mission to enable every person and organization to achieve more, we continue to make Microsoft Cloud offerings more accessible to organizations around the world that need their data to remain within specific borders. Microsoft was the first global company to make onshore public cloud services available to customers in China, through 21Vianet, and today is first with a differentiated cloud offering in Europe, which customers are already starting to embrace:

“Microsoft Cloud Germany enables us to fuel our customers’ trust in public cloud solutions: Together with a leading German insurance company we opt for Azure Germany to provide actuarial applications in a flexible, scalable hybrid cloud environment,” says Karsten Kirsch, geschäftsführender Gesellschafter der direkt gruppe GmbH.

“Intelligent Industry 4.0 solutions are a key competitive advantage for the Port of Hamburg. With Microsoft Cloud Germany, we will be able to use a cloud solution that meets our compliance restrictions and allows us to use innovative applications to improve our processes,” says Dr. Sebastian Saxe, Chief Digital Officer, Chief Information Officer and Head of Services, Hamburg Port Authority.

“Microsoft Cloud Germany enables the successful digital transformation of customers, even those that have had reservations about public cloud solutions or have to meet strict compliance requirements. The openness of Microsoft’s platform is significant: We are now able to move Linux-based applications as well as SAP to the cloud,”, explains Robert Gögele, General Manager, ASG Avanade Deutschland GmbH.

With availability in Germany, and recently announced availability in the United Kingdom, Azure now has 30 regions – more than any other major cloud provider – scaling the Microsoft Cloud to more customers around the world than ever before. The availability of Azure in Germany will be followed by previews of Office 365 and Dynamics 365 later this year, and the general availability of Office 365 in the first quarter and Dynamics 365 in the first half of 2017.

Follow these links to learn more about Microsoft Cloud Germany from the Azure blog or Azure Germany web page.

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