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New Azure Datacenter Regions Launch in Australia

Microsoft is expanding the reach of its Azure cloud platform for its customers in Australia and New Zealand.

The company this week announced the launch of two new Azure datacenter regions in Australia. Their exact locations weren't specified, but the announcement indicated that "Microsoft offers Azure from three cities in Australia including Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra with connectivity to Perth, Brisbane and Auckland."

In addition, Microsoft noted it has a partnership with Canberra Data Centres to serve customers via Microsoft's Azure ExpressRoute technology, which provides private high-bandwidth Internet connections. Canberra Data Centres is capable of handling data with a "secret" classification, the announcement added.

In addition to the partnership with Canberra Data Centres, Microsoft is working with "Australian local partners like Veritec, MailGuard and Intelledox as well as global partners like Axon, Citrix and Veritas" to support Australian and New Zealand government needs.

Microsoft is billing its new Azure datacenters and partnerships as infrastructure that can support "mission-critical applications" for Australian and New Zealand organizations and governments. It cited Australia's Supreme Court of Victoria as one example of a government agency that's using Microsoft Azure in an effort to "connect all 34 courtrooms."

Last month, Microsoft explained that it had 38 Azure regions around the world, with plans to build 12 more at some point. Azure and Office 365 services are newly available in France. Microsoft has expansion plans in 2019 for Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates, and it is also expanding this year in China and Germany.

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

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