In addition, Microsoft will also launch Office 365 services in October 2015, with Dynamics CRM Online services to follow in the first half of 2016 in India.
Microsoft has announced the availability of Microsoft Azure services via local datacenter regions in India. Microsoft has opened three new regions – Central India in Pune, South India in Chennai, and West India in Mumbai. The company said that this move is aimed at India’s digital transformation.
“The Microsoft cloud in India will transform the way computing is done in the country. The hyper-scale cloud will empower governments, businesses and users and offer enough computing power that will support all their existing workloads. We are happy to partner with Government and businesses to make the Microsoft cloud work for India and for Indians,” said Bhaskar Pramanik, Chairman, Microsoft India.
In addition to the Microsoft Azure services launching today, Office 365 services are slated for availability in October 2015, with Dynamics CRM Online services to follow in the first half of 2016.
Millions of users in India are already using Microsoft cloud services leading to the cloud business growing by more than 100 percent year on year over the past two years. With the local cloud services, regulated industries such as BFSI, government departments and state-owned enterprises will now be able to leverage public cloud services and be able to take advantage of local data residency. In addition, businesses that deal with large amounts of data e.g. media companies, will benefit from data replication in multiple regions within India for backup and recovery, reduced network distance, lower latency, and the option of a private connection to the cloud.
Microsoft local cloud services are well-suited for governments and businesses that already have significant investments in owned IT infrastructure. They will now be able to extend their existing IT infrastructure and private clouds to Microsoft local (public) cloud, thereby creating compelling hybrid cloud scenarios and reducing their cost of IT operations significantly, the company said in a statement. The impact on citizens is expected to be all the more significant as it will accelerate e-governance and roll-out of citizen services at unprecedented scale and speed by governments, thereby accelerating the governments’ Digital India and Smart Cities programs, it added.
With the assurance of local data residency, programs like digital lockers and digital identity should be able to move quickly and enable better citizen services. In addition, Startups and SMBs will gain a competitive advantage with enterprise-grade technology to help them innovate and grow their business to a global scale. Education Sector will witness transformational digital learning, Microsoft Edu-Cloud is expected to benefit 10 lakh teachers and 60 lakh students across 1500 institutes over the next 18 months from local Microsoft Cloud, the company claims.
Microsoft has invested more than $15 billion in building a resilient cloud infrastructure and cloud services that deliver higher availability and security, while lowering overall costs. Microsoft cloud infrastructure currently includes more than 100 datacenters located in over 40 countries, and the company is continuing to rapidly build capacity to serve customers worldwide.
“Enterprise-grade performance, flexibility and hybrid capability, openness and trustworthiness are differentiating factors of the Microsoft cloud. In addition, comprehensive higher-level business services enable new business possibilities for customers,” said Tyler Bryson, General Manager, Marketing and Operations, Microsoft India.
Microsoft also brings cloud services such as Machine Leaning (ML), Advanced Analytics, Media Services, Internet of Things (IoT), Express Route and more. This will help businesses to extend existing investments to digital business scenarios, create new efficiencies and new revenue sources and enable innovation.
