Microsoft is taking huge strides when it comes to the cloud, where it is second only to Amazon with more regions than any cloud competitor. The company has now added two more regions in South Korea, bringing that count up to 34.
The Redmond company added new regions in Seoul and Busan, offering customers local data residency. Microsoft's cloud now has over 13 regions in Asia. The company also forged another important bond in Asia, becoming the exclusive cloud provider to one of India's largest e-commerce firms, Flipkart.
Microsoft Chief, Satya Nadella, said in the press release:
“At Microsoft, we aim to empower every Indian and every Indian organization with technology, and key to this is forging strategic partnerships with innovative companies like Flipkart. Combining Microsoft’s cloud platform and AI capabilities with Flipkart’s existing services and data assets will enable Flipkart to accelerate its digital transformation in e-commerce and deliver new customer experiences.”
Azure will add a layer of advanced cloud technologies and analytics to Flipkart’s existing data centers, starting with its computing infrastructure. Flipkart, on its part, plans to use AI, machine learning and analytics capabilities of the company's cloud "to optimize its data for innovative merchandising, advertising, marketing, and customer service".
The company has been adding quite a few business-oriented features to its cloud of late, having announced the Azure Intellectual Property Advantage program recently, easing customers' experience with patents and lawsuits entailing Intellectual Property. With its growing reach worldwide, it is clear that Microsoft considers cloud to be the company's future- a vision that the market shares.
Source: ZDNet
