Alice Chambers |
Microsoft has opened its first ‘cloud region’ of data centres in Spain as part of its $2.1 billion investment in the country.
The new ‘Spain Central’ cloud region comprises data centres in multiple locations in Madrid and will offer artificial intelligence and public cloud technologies with high availability, scalability and security to customers across Europe.
“Microsoft’s data centre infrastructure in Spain will play a fundamental role in our European AI strategy,” said Jean-Philippe Courtois, executive vice president and president of national transformation partnerships at Microsoft, in a Microsoft press release. “With Spanish companies immersed in the global economy, exporting goods and services around the world, this new cloud region will support and stimulate the economic growth of customers and partners, allowing companies, governments and regulated industries to take advantage of the benefits of the cloud and AI.”
Ten Microsoft partners – Accenture, Capgemini, DXC Technology, Fujitsu, Minsait, KPMG, Kyndryl, NTT Data, Seidor, and Telefónica Tech – have joined the Microsoft Cloud Region Strategic Partner Program. This initiative aims to help the digital transformation of Spanish organisations and assist them in migrating their workloads to the new cloud region.
“The continuous investment of a large company like Microsoft in the region is a reflection of the conditions generated in the territory to attract talent, investments and opportunities,” said Miguel López-Valverde, councillor for digitalisation of the Community of Madrid. “The regional government has made a firm commitment to digitalisation and is consolidating the technological leadership of the Community at a national and international level with the help of large innovative multinationals such as Microsoft.”