Software giant Microsoft is all set to launch a local version of its cloud product Azure for government and federal organizations. With this launch, Microsoft aim to expand their footprint by competing against Amazon in a rapidly scaling public cloud sector.
Microsoft say that they will enable their government clients with cloud technology on their own servers in order to make Azure more appealing for this segment. By pairing Azure Stack, their localized cloud product along with Azure Government, Microsoft say that they will be designing the new offering ranging from on-premise servers for military needs to embassies abroad.
Speaking about the offering, Tom Keane, Head of Global Infrastructure at Microsoft Azure, commented:
Quite literally we’ve designed Azure Stack with the scenario of a submarine in mind.
Admitting that their competitors Amazon have first-mover advantage in the public cloud market, Microsoft say that they have left no stone unturned in playing catch-up. They also claim that Microsoft have been successful in closing the gaps in the market by leveraging their legacy relationship with customers in the public sector.
Explaining this, Rick Holgate, a market analyst with Gartner, commented:
AWS had a head start with some of their early investments in public cloud, but Microsoft has since made some aggressive investments and largely closed the gap with AWS. Microsoft also offers a more advanced and robust set of business productivity software than AWS.
Industry experts opine that offering an on-premise version of cloud computing can benefit government clients who need to keep data locally for compliance purposes. They also say that with an option to build tools around cloud infrastructure installed locally, accelerating the move to cloud will be much easier.