By Kang Seung-woo
Microsoft has opened two data centers to beef up its Azure cloud computing services here.
The data centers, called "regions," are in Seoul and Busan and are part of 13 regions in Asia and 34 around the world, which is more than the U.S. giant's competitors.
Tuesday's launch came nine months after Microsoft announced it would open two data centers here by 2017 in a bid to expand in the fast-growing Korean cloud services market.
Cloud computing consists of internet-based computing services that rent data storage and computing power to individual users or corporate customers. It allows users to save and process data using a remote server, instead of using a local server or personal computers.
"The new Azure regions deliver world-class reliability and performance," Microsoft Korea CEO Alfred Koh told a press conference in Seoul.
Microsoft also plans to deliver its industry-leading collaboration and productivity services, or Office 365, in the second quarter of the year.
The company expects the Azure regions in Korea to help organizations bring their services and applications closer to customers around the world.
"The geographic expansion of Azure enables our customers to achieve higher performance and supports their requirements and preferences regarding data location to meet the growing demand for an intelligent, global, enterprise-ready cloud," Yousef Khalidi, Microsoft's corporate vice president for Azure networking, told reporters.
According to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, the nation's market for cloud computing totaled 1.19 trillion won last year, up 55.2 percent from a year ago.
Amid the rapid growth, global cloud services providers have launched data centers in Korea.
Amazon Web Services opened its data center in Seoul in January 2016, while IBM also built a cloud data center in partnership with SK C&C, an IT services provider, in August of the same year.
Microsoft has opened two data centers to beef up its Azure cloud computing services here.
The data centers, called "regions," are in Seoul and Busan and are part of 13 regions in Asia and 34 around the world, which is more than the U.S. giant's competitors.
Tuesday's launch came nine months after Microsoft announced it would open two data centers here by 2017 in a bid to expand in the fast-growing Korean cloud services market.
Cloud computing consists of internet-based computing services that rent data storage and computing power to individual users or corporate customers. It allows users to save and process data using a remote server, instead of using a local server or personal computers.
"The new Azure regions deliver world-class reliability and performance," Microsoft Korea CEO Alfred Koh told a press conference in Seoul.
Microsoft also plans to deliver its industry-leading collaboration and productivity services, or Office 365, in the second quarter of the year.
The company expects the Azure regions in Korea to help organizations bring their services and applications closer to customers around the world.
"The geographic expansion of Azure enables our customers to achieve higher performance and supports their requirements and preferences regarding data location to meet the growing demand for an intelligent, global, enterprise-ready cloud," Yousef Khalidi, Microsoft's corporate vice president for Azure networking, told reporters.
According to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, the nation's market for cloud computing totaled 1.19 trillion won last year, up 55.2 percent from a year ago.
Amid the rapid growth, global cloud services providers have launched data centers in Korea.
Amazon Web Services opened its data center in Seoul in January 2016, while IBM also built a cloud data center in partnership with SK C&C, an IT services provider, in August of the same year.
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