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What does Microsoft's cloud momentum mean for NZ CIOs?

What does Microsoft's cloud momentum mean for NZ CIOs?

“There is no CIO in the world who looks at Microsoft and says ‘hmm I’m not sure they are ready for the enterprise space’.”

With over 150 features rolled out during 2014, Office 365, to some degree, almost sells itself within enterprise.

Yet for the key decision-makers in businesses across New Zealand, Case understands the boxes Microsoft must tick to initiative an enterprise-led move to the cloud.

“When we build data centres we assess how much of the market we can truly serve,” explains Case, referring to Microsoft’s new two geo-redundant data centres in New South Wales and Victoria. “While performance and latency does of course matter, Microsoft also works off strong beliefs when it comes to data privacy and security within the cloud.

“In terms of locally storing data in Australia, we’ll be certified for IRAP the day of our data centre launch therefore we’re taking issues of location off the table.”

As Case explains, Microsoft also don’t co-locate business and consumer data.

“We’re very clear on this,” adds Case, who cites Australian multi-nationals Qantas and Coles as big adopters of the Microsoft cloud platform. “It’s a case of separate racks and separate administration in every possible way, there is no overlap.

“We’re also financially backed with 24/7 support across the world so if we have an outage, and unfortunately this can happen, we immediately reimburse customers with credit. This is not some future discussion or negotiation, it’s an instant procedure with the credit return set in advance upon the signing of the contract. We’re very visible in that respect.”

Speaking following a whirlwind tour of Australia and New Zealand, Case, who resides in Redmond, says the company’s move Down Under represents only the second time Microsoft has offered locally geo-redundant data centres across the world.

“It’s certainly unique for sure,” he adds. “In the US we don’t provide a local data offer but in Australia we realised it was important for a big percentage of the market to say that their data didn’t leave the country so it was very much a reaction to demand.”

While offering geo-redundant data centres is a costly move for Microsoft, Muckleston, echoing Case’s comments, believes the statement of intent will help Government agencies in New Zealand make their transition to the cloud.

“I’ve been talking with the Government and time and time again the overriding message has been that if we can’t provide it in New Zealand, at least make sure it’s in Australia,” Muckleston adds. “The Government is comfortable with the legal environment and privacy laws in Australia and this move will help make them more positive about the benefits of public cloud.”

As the company’s visible transformation continues in the public eye, behind the data centre doors Microsoft continues to prepare enterprise for cloud - a move which in the words of Muckleston, “is a case of when, not if.”

Join the CIO New Zealand group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

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