Charles Costa| Midsizeinsider
Microsoft, the world’s leading software provider, announced recently that they will be upping the ante against their competitors in the cloud computing space by expanding the Windows Azure business to include two new data centers in the Australian states of New South Whales and Victoria.
The primary purpose of these facilities are to rent out computing power and cloud storage solutions to midsize companies.
One of the biggest features of these new centers is that they are “geo-redundant,” meaning clients will be able to mirror their data across two centers for an added layer of redundancy and improved disaster recovery compliance, according to Toby Bowers, who leads Microsoft Australia’s Server & Tools Group. Bowers confirmed that disaster contingency is one of the key reasons for this expansion through a blog post stating, “We know that providing disaster recovery, while ensuring data sovereignty goals are met, is critical to many of our customers.” This added layer of redundancy will also be vital to improving the ability of cloud computing to conform to stringent industry security regulations.
Although Amazon.com has been credited with leading the way for affordable cloud computing technologies, today many big tech firms such as Google and IBM are ramping up their cloud offerings to try offering solutions to enhance the experiences of many midsize businesses. Currently, Microsoft claims to have more than 200,000 Windows Azure customers; however, the company does not disclose revenue from that division.
