Microsoft Building Two Azure Data Centres In Canada

Microsoft will build its first data centres in Canada next year as the Azure cloud provider looks to boost business from Canadian customers.

Two data centres, situated in the cities of Quebec and Toronto, will strengthen Microsoft’s ability to deliver cloud platform Azure to the country.

Substantial investment

“Soon, the Microsoft Cloud will be truly Canadian,” said Kevin Turner, COO at Microsoft. “This substantial investment in a Canadian cloud demonstrates how committed we are to bringing even more opportunity to Canadian businesses and government organisations.

Locally deployed services from the data centres will address data residency considerations for Microsoft customers and partners in the regions. General availability of Azure is anticipated in early 2016, followed by Office 365 and Dynamics CRM Online later in 2016.

Microsoft’s major public cloud competitors AWS and Google both don’t have data centres in Canada, although an Amazon region in Canada has been rumoured.

Janet Kennedy, President of Microsoft Canada, said that delivering cloud services from data centres on Canadian soil opens up significant new cloud-based possibilities for organisations who must adhere to strict data storage compliance codes. “We’re very proud to be delivering the Microsoft Cloud right here in Canada, for the benefit of Canadian innovators, entrepreneurs, governments and small businesses. Delivering the flexibility of hyper-scale, enterprise grade, locally deployed public cloud services is the ultimate Canadian hat trick,” said Kennedy.

Microsoft did not reveal any financial details about the builds.

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