Microsoft offers wide range of cloud services from United Kingdom datacentres

Takeshi Numoto, corporate vice president for Microsoft Cloud and Enterprise, indicated in a blog post that six additional datacenters were “coming soon for a total of 34, more than any other major cloud provider”.

The Ministry of Defence and an NHS trust are among those set to adopt the internet-powered products as a result.

We’re delighted to see such growing demand for Azure, Office 365, and Dynamics CRM Online from our new data centres in the UK.

“The MoD, which employs more than 230,000 people and now spends over £3 billion on its infrastructure every year, will use Office 365 and Azure, citing both value and security as key reasons to use the Microsoft Cloud”, boasted Redmond cloud veep Takeshi Numoto in a blog post.

Today, we’ve taken a significant step forward to empower businesses to achieve more with the first complete cloud offering delivered from a global provider within the U.K. Built to power their digital transformation, Microsoft Azure and Office 365 are now generally available from new datacenter regions.

The UK data centres also mean Microsoft is able to offer its online suite of Office 365 productivity apps without sending data overseas.

250,000 staff at the UK Ministry of Defence will be using the Blighty-based services, along with existing customers such as Aston Martin.

“The bottom line is we trust Microsoft”, said Stephen Docherty, the chief information officer at the South London and Maudlsey NHS Trust, which has also transferred some of its data to Microsoft servers (via the Telegraph). “Having access to Microsoft’s United Kingdom data centres will enable us to grow our business and build additional functionality to our service, benefitting the NHS and patients alike”. This enables companies dealing with UK-only customers to ensure that data remains within the country and fully complies with data protection and privacy laws. Other customers who’ll be localizing their Microsoft data include luxury sports vehicle maker Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd., an existing Office 365 customer, as well as business process management and outsourcing firm Capita Plc, and the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.

Careflow Connect, a chat app for healthcare professionals. Microsoft also claims that each new region adheres to its ‘Trusted Cloud’ principles that include security, privacy, compliance and transparency.

“Microsoft has a ideal exemplar to demonstrate the benefits of 365, particularly in the public sector”, said Kable analyst Daniel Jones in a research note.

A term referred to as data sovereignty.