The market of cloud portfolio is expected to reach 300 billion yuan (approximately $46 billion) in 2023
Microsoft is planning to open a new Azure region in China in a bid to ramp up its cloud portfolio in the country. The expansion will happen through the company’s local operating partner, 21Vianet.
This move comes amid growing demand for services of cloud portfolio in the country.
Microsoft on Friday said in a blog post, this expansion is expected to effectively double the capacity of Microsoft’s intelligent cloud portfolio in China in the coming years, which includes Azure, Microsoft Office 365, Dynamics 365, and Power Platform operated by 21Vianet.
The market of cloud portfolio is expected to reach 300 billion yuan (approximately $46 billion) in 2023, according to the white paper, China Cloud Industry Development1.
To accelerate digitisation in products, payments, e-commerce, automation, and more, 63 per cent of organisations in China are leveraging cloud-related innovations in response to the pandemic.
Alain Crozier, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Greater China Region (GCR), said in a statement, “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”.
Crozier said, “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”.
As foreign cloud service providers are prohibited from owning and operating their own datacentres in China, Microsoft, since 2014, has been collaborating with 21Vianet to run its services for cloud portfolio in China.
Azure regions operated by 21Vianet in China, in accordance with Chinese regulatory requirements, are physically separated instances from Microsoft’s global cloud but are built on the same cloud technical base as its global peers.
For multinational companies to transplant their IT systems and business applications to China or vice versa become easy by the consistent architecture across China and global markets.
Omar Khan, General Manager, Microsoft Azure, wrote in the blog post, “Announced in 2012 and officially launched in March 2014 with two initial regions, Microsoft Azure operated by 21Vianet was the first international public cloud service to become generally available in the China market”.
“Following Azure, Microsoft Office 365, Dynamics 365, and Power Platform operated by 21Vianet successively launched in China in 2014, 2019, and 2020”.
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