The expansion is expected to enable the company to double the capacity of its intelligent cloud portfolio in China
The new Azure region to address China market’s growing needs for global public cloud services. (Credit: Wynn Pointaux from Pixabay)
Technology giant Microsoft has announced plans to launch a new Azure region in North China in 2022, with its local operating partner 21Vianet.
The new Azure region is aimed at addressing the China market’s growing needs for global public cloud services.
With the expansion, Microsoft is anticipated to double the capacity of its intelligent cloud portfolio in China in the coming years.
Since 2014, the company has been collaborating with 21Vianet to run all the essential cloud services in China.
The services include Azure, Microsoft Office 365, Dynamics 365, and Power Platform, supporting the digital transformation of developers, partners, and customers in China and around the world.
Microsoft Greater China Region (GCR) chief executive officer and chairman Alain Crozier said: “This unveils a big opportunity. Microsoft Cloud operated by 21Vianet was the first international public cloud compliantly launched in China through a local operating partner.
“Our intelligent, trustworthy, and neutral cloud platform has been empowering hundreds of thousands of developers, partners, and customers from both China and the world to achieve more with technical innovation and business transformation.
“The upcoming region will reinforce the capabilities to help further nurture local talents, stimulate local innovation, grow local technology ecosystems, and empower businesses in a wide range of industries to achieve more.”
Launched in March 2014 and operated by 21Vianet, Microsoft Azure is said to be the first international public cloud service to become generally available in the China market.
Microsoft Office 365, Dynamics 365, and Power Platform were launched in China in 2014, 2019, and 2020.
According to Microsoft, Azure regions in China are run as per the country’s regulatory requirements and are physically separated instances from the company’s global cloud.
Microsoft Azure is a set of cloud services that offers computing, networking, databases, analytics, AI, and IoT services.
In January, Microsoft has reported a net income of $15.5bn for the second quarter ended 31 December 2020, a 33% increase compared to $11.6bn for the same quarter of 2019.
The company recorded a 23% increase in its revenue for its Intelligent Cloud segment.