Microsoft Set to Open Two New Azure Data Centres in Australia

Microsoft has announced that they’re set to expand their Azure cloud services in Australian territory. The two new Azure data centres will be based in Canberra and will be joining the existing centres based in New South Wales and Victoria.

With Canberra being the capital city of Australia and also the seat of government, these Azure data centres are to be built with security at the core focus. Microsoft said that it is set to be the only cloud service provider in the country that is solely built in order to store and process protected and unclassified government data.
The lead engineer for Microsoft Azure down under, explained they’re building cloud platforms that are close to where the data is. This service will be delivered via a partnership with Canberra Data Centres (CDC). These are the most distinguished Australian data centres in the country and as the CEO and founder Greg Boorer boasts, they have some of the strongest data and privacy laws in the world. The current data handled by Canberra Data Centres existing facilities is protected and isolated in a different way to how the data with Microsoft will be.

Healthcare, education and government have adopted Azure

The head of the Global Infrastructure at Microsoft Azure said that the public sector in Australia had quickly adopted Azures services from the already existing facilities in New South Wales, Sydney, Melbourne and Victoria.

For example, Victoria’s Bendigo hospital is using Microsoft Azure in order to build the first ‘hospital in the cloud.’ This would involve analysing and connecting healthcare data so that better care can be provided for patients.
These two new data centres are expected to be online in the early part of 2018. This will take the number of Azure regions throughout the world to 42, which is currently more than any other cloud service provider.

Can Azure benefit your business?

As you may already be aware, Microsoft Azure is a cloud platform that means you no longer have to invest in hardware. You access your software data and server through an internet connection to Microsoft’s Azure data centre, instead of having expensive hardware onsite.
There are many ways that you can use Microsoft Azure within your business, whether that’s by migrating to Office 365, your server infrastructure or disaster recovery solution.