Microsoft Azure and Office 365 now available from UK datacenters

Microsoft today announced that Microsoft Azure and Office 365 are now generally available from the UK datacenter regions. The new region adheres to their  Trusted Cloud principles, including security, privacy, compliance and transparency. These will help businesses in industries such as banking, government, public sector and healthcare meet their customers’ needs, the regulatory requirements they are held to, and the need for local data residency and replication for business continuity.

Mike Stone, chief defence information officer at the Ministry of Defence, said: “Microsoft’s secure and transparent cloud service in the UK fits perfectly with the MOD’s digital transformation agenda. This agreement, which is based on Microsoft’s world-class reliability and performance, will allow us to deliver cost-effective, modern and flexible information capabilities. It will ensure we are better-placed in our ever-changing, digital-first world.”

The Ministry of Defence (MoD), which employs around 250,000 people, will use Microsoft Office 365 and Microsoft Azure cloud services, with the Government citing value for money and security as key reasons for the agreement.

Microsoft Azure now offers customers 28 regions — available today — with six more coming soon for a total of 34. Microsoft also said that in the first half of 2017, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online will join the currently available line up in the U.K.