Microsoft expands its Azure cloud platform to South Korea

Microsoft is expanding the global footprint of its cloud platform to South Korea, and it has officially launched its previously announced data center in Canada, the company announced Tuesday. 

In South Korea, Microsoft’s cloud will be getting two new regions, including one in Seoul. They’re aimed at serving both customers of the company’s Azure cloud platform, and also its other services, including Office 365 and Dynamics CRM Online. 

Customers also now have full use of two Microsoft Azure regions in Canada, located in Quebec City and Toronto. 

This announcement is part of Microsoft’s ongoing plan to expand the geographic reach of its cloud computing platform. The expansion serves a pair of purposes: meeting the data sovereignty needs of customers, and making it faster for people to access Microsoft’s cloud. 

Expansions like this one are important for Microsoft to remain competitive in the global cloud market, especially with customer organizations increasingly wanting to store their data inside their home country. Amazon, Microsoft’s leading competitor in the cloud market, already launched a new region in Seoul earlier this year, with two availability zones. 

Canadian customers, in addition to being able to run Azure workloads inside their home country, will also get the benefit of being able to store their Office 365 data inside Canada’s borders. During the third quarter of this year, Microsoft will be launching Dynamics CRM Online in Canada, in addition to its availability across the globe through other existing regions. 

All told, Microsoft has now announced 32 Azure regions worldwide, with 24 of them currently operational following the launch of Canada.