Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Blue Label Telecoms to change its name as restructuring gathers pace

      11 July 2025

      Get your ID delivered like pizza – home affairs’ latest digital shake-up

      11 July 2025

      EFF vows to stop Starlink from launching in South Africa

      11 July 2025

      Apple plans product blitz to reignite growth

      11 July 2025

      Nissan doubles down on South Africa despite plant uncertainty

      11 July 2025
    • World

      Grok 4 arrives with bold claims and fresh controversy

      10 July 2025

      Bitcoin pushes higher into record territory

      10 July 2025

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025

      Grammarly acquires e-mail start-up Superhuman

      1 July 2025

      Apple considers ditching its own AI in Siri overhaul

      1 July 2025
    • In-depth

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | MVNX on the opportunities in South Africa’s booming MVNO market

      11 July 2025

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on the latest and greatest cloud technologies

      27 June 2025
    • Opinion

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » Cloud services » Microsoft cloud data centres now live in South Africa

    Microsoft cloud data centres now live in South Africa

    By Duncan McLeod6 March 2019
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    Lillian Barnard

    Microsoft has officially launched two Azure cloud data centres in South Africa, one in Cape Town and the other in Johannesburg, after the software giant missed an earlier deadline of December 2018 to take the facilities live.

    Lillian Barnard, newly appointed MD at Microsoft South Africa, said at a press conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday that the data centre region is live with immediate effect.

    “The enterprise-grade data centre regions in Cape Town and Johannesburg … will power cloud, artificial intelligence and edge computing innovations across the continent,” Barnard said.

    The data centre regions will power cloud, artificial intelligence and edge computing innovations across the continent

    Microsoft missed a self-imposed deadline of December 2018 to launch the two cloud data centres. Reasons for the delay centred on speculation that a third-party supplier was initially unable to deliver to specification.

    Microsoft was right not to rush the launch of two Azure data centres in South Africa, because if problems had cropped up it could have tarnished the company’s reputation among local customers, Jon Tullett, research manager for IT services at International Data Corp (IDC), said in January.

    “The availability of Microsoft’s cloud services delivered from Africa will mean local companies can securely and reliably move their businesses to the cloud while meeting compliance requirements,” said Yousef Khalidi, corporate vice president of Azure Networking at Microsoft, on Wednesday.

    “The combination of Microsoft’s global cloud infrastructure with the new regions in Africa will increase economic opportunity for organisations in Africa, as well as connect businesses across the globe through improved access to cloud and internet services,” Khalidi said.

    According to IDC, spending on public cloud services in South Africa will nearly triple over five years from R4.3-billion in 2017 to R11.5-billion in 2022, and the adoption of cloud services will generate 112 000 net new jobs in South Africa by the end of 2022.

    Microsoft has announced 54 cloud regions worldwide, which it claims is more than any other global provider. Azure is the first of Microsoft’s intelligent cloud services to be delivered from the new data centres in South Africa. Office 365, Microsoft’s cloud-based productivity solution, is anticipated to be available by the third quarter of 2019, and Dynamics 365 intelligent business applications will be launched in the fourth quarter.

    Rivals lining up

    Since Microsoft announced its plans to launch the data centres in South Africa in 2017, its biggest global cloud computing rival, Amazon Web Services, has announced it plans to open data centres in South Africa, with the first to go live next year in Cape Town.

    The new AWS “infrastructure region” will be launched in the first half of 2020 and will allow customers to run workloads in South Africa and serve end users across the African continent with lower latency, Amazon said in a statement in October 2018.

    In November 2018, Chinese technology giant Huawei also revealed plans to create a cloud region in South Africa. The company said on Tuesday, a day ahead of the Microsoft launch, that its Huawei Cloud offering was now live.  — (c) 2019 NewsCentral Media



    Azure IDC Jon Tullett Lillian Barnard Microsoft Microsoft Azure Microsoft South Africa top
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleFacebook’s future is encrypted, private communication: Zuckerberg
    Next Article Hello Group, Sasfin in fintech-led bid to bank the mass market

    Related Posts

    AI gold rush propels Nvidia to record $4-trillion market cap

    9 July 2025

    Jony Ive’s first AI gadget could be … a pen

    30 June 2025

    Bridging the SQL expertise gap

    30 June 2025
    Company News

    $125-trillion traded: Binance redefines global finance in just eight years

    11 July 2025

    NEC XON welcomes HPE acquisition of Juniper Networks

    11 July 2025

    LTE Cat 1 vs Cat 1 bis – what’s the difference?

    11 July 2025
    Opinion

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.