New offerings will improve cloud security and help customers use AI, IoT and bots
Elly Yates-Roberts |
Microsoft has released 10 new cloud computing services in the UK. These will enable customers to improve cloud security measures and use technologies such as bots and the internet of things (IoT) to drive business innovation.
As part of a trio of security services, Azure Bastion allows users to connect to their virtual machines without using a public IP address, which reduces exposure to public internet and malware risks. Azure Private Link builds on this to offer a secure connection to Microsoft’s cloud without public internet access. It can also help users meet compliance regulations across the world.
The new Azure Confidential Computing enables multiple organisations to combine their data sets and analyse them without being able to access each other’s data. Microsoft says that banks could use Confidential Computing to combine transaction data to detect fraud and money laundering, and hospitals could combine patient records for analysis to improve the diagnosis of diseases.
“Microsoft continues to invest in our UK Azure regions to meet the growing needs of our customers,” said Michael Wignall, Azure business lead at Microsoft UK. “Azure is helping organisations, both large and small, adapt to a new way of working, and our cloud experts continue to help them at this challenging time.”
The other seven services are: Azure App Configuration; Azure Bot Service; Consumption Plan Linux, which automatically allocates compute power when code is running; Azure IoT Central, a platform which connects devices, partners, app templates and problem solvers; Premium Plan Linux, which offers enhanced performance for production apps; Time Series Insights, which collects, processes, stores, analyses and queries data; and Virtual Network NAT, which simplifies outbound-only internet connectivity for virtual networks.