With a new version of its German cloud Microsoft wants to offer its customers again a data storage in Germany. In contrast to an earlier offer, they no longer have to decide whether they want to use global solutions or services from German data centers. Rather, the new services are designed so that the data is stored and processed in Germany, but the new data centers are connected to Microsoft's global cloud networks.
Under the impression of Snowden revelations and the NSA affair, the Group had initially offered German customers a differently designed cloud system since 2016. For an additional charge, they were able to save their data in cloud data centers, which were operated by the Telekom subsidiary T-Systems as a trustee for Microsoft. Thus, the Windows group had no access to the customer data and would have been able to hand over data on requests from American authorities.
After just three years, however, the company declared this offer to be phased out. The requirements of the customers had "dramatically changed" in this period, said Microsoft Manager Markus Nitschke. For many customers, the isolated cloud service was not practical. This should be different with the new offer. Among other things, Microsoft is committed to "compliance with the EU Data Protection Regulation (DSGVO) for our cloud services".
Regions instead of mere data centers
What's remarkable about Microsoft's communication about the new offering is that the company never talks about cloud data centers, but always about cloud data center regions. The term is an indication that these are not individual data centers. Instead, Microsoft has built several data centers in Frankfurt and Berlin each, a manager speaks of "n plus 1".
Among other things, this accumulation should ensure more data security. If an installation fails, it can immediately take over a nearby secondary installation and ensure operation. As is usual with such data centers, Microsoft keeps the locations secret. Not even photos from the inside of the plants may be issued by the company.
Not for everyone
At the start Microsoft announces that already three major customers, the German bank, the German Telekom and SAP, the offer of the new German cloud will use. For the time being, the so-called Azure services are available there. Only from the first quarter of 2020 will Office 365 and Dynamics 365 become available.
As with Microsoft's first German cloud service, the offer is aimed exclusively at business users. Private users remain outside.
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