Microsoft"s investment in cloud technology continues to grow, as the company announced today that it"s launching a new datacenter region in Israel. This will make Microsoft"s cloud infrastructure available in 56 cloud regions in 21 countries around the world, following investments in countries such as Germany and Switzerland last year.
The Israel cloud datacenter region will launch in 2021, and Azure will be the first service to be available from it. Office 365 services will also be available from this new region soon after. Michel van der Bel, President of Microsoft for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), said:
“When I speak to customers across EMEA, it is clear that the power of the cloud is essential for their competitiveness(...). We have made significant infrastructure investments in the region and with this announcement, our planned region in Israel will join a growing number of EMEA markets recently made available including Germany, Norway, South Africa and Switzerland. Offering Microsoft Azure and Office 365 from a datacenter region in Israel forms a key part of our investment and involvement in the startup nation, as infrastructure is an essential building block for the tech intensity that public sector entities and businesses need to embrace.”
In addition to bringing cloud data closer to businesses that need it, having a cloud datacenter region in Israel means companies can comply with data residency regulations in Israel. This can often be a requirement for certain businesses, so this capability would enable those companies to move to Microsoft services more easily. Microsoft says startups in the country will benefit greatly from this launch, and the company has even launched programs and initiatives to help support those businesses through Microsoft for Startups.