UAE customers can access Azure and Office 365, with Dynamics 365 and Power Platform expected by 2020
Elly Yates-Roberts |
Microsoft has officially opened new cloud regions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. As a result, customers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) can access the Azure cloud and Office 365, with Dynamics 365 and Power Platform expected by 2020.
According to a recent Microsoft blogpost, the new cloud regions mark Microsoft’s first time delivering cloud services directly from data centre locations in the UAE, expanding on its existing investments in the Gulf and the Middle East.
“By delivering the complete Microsoft cloud – Azure, Office 365 and Dynamics 365 – from data centres in a given geography, we offer scalable, highly available and resilient cloud services for organisations while helping them meet their data residency, security and compliance needs,” wrote Tom Keane, corporate vice president of Azure Global at Microsoft.
Through its latest data centres, Microsoft aims to accelerate the digital transformations of its customers in the region, with reassurance from its focus on compliance and security. Microsoft is the first cloud service provider in the UAE to achieve the Dubai Electronic Security Center certification for its cloud services.
The recent news will also provide economic development for the region. The International Data Corporation predicts that cloud services could bring over half a million jobs to the region, as well as over 55,000 potential jobs in the UAE between 2017 and 2022.