Microsoft is now offering key business services Office 365 and Dynamics CRM through its Australian datacentres, with the move following the opening of Microsoft’s datacentres in Melbourne and Sydney as part of its Azure cloud computing platform in October last year.
While Microsoft first outlined plans to onshore Office 365 and Dynamics CRM in December of last year, the company is now launching those services into general availability following months of beta-tests.
Having services hosted in Australian datacentres is especially important for businesses dealing with sensitive information, especially in the healthcare, education, government, defence or financial services sectors.
The news means Australian businesses that rely on Office 365 will be able to access those services hosted within Australia, meaning lower latency. At the same time, the service will have geo-redundant backups at Microsoft’s datacentres overseas, meaning if the Australian datacentres go offline, businesses will still be able to use the services and access their data.
Microsoft has also obtained an Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) Industry Security Registered Assessors Program (IRAP) compliance assessment for Office 365 and Dynamics CRM, as it had previously done for Azure. The assessment means the services are suitable for businesses contracted to store or manage Unclassified Sensitive data from the federal government.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
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