That’s all anyone has been talking about here in recent weeks, particularly since late May, when Microsoft made public the opening of a new Microsoft Data Center Region in Italy.
Let’s get a better understanding of what it is and the implications for Italian companies (and others).
What is the new Microsoft Cloud Region in Italy?
The new cloud region, which will consist of three data centers and will be based in Milan.
The new Lombardy region will join Microsoft’s existing network of over 60 regions worldwide and is expected to be one of the largest in Europe, where the company already has 17 others.
Microsoft is actually the latest among the large public cloud service providers to add a region in Italy. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud and Oracle, in fact, already have their cloud regions in Milan.
The initiative is part of the “Ambizione Italia” program that Microsoft launched in 2018. “Ambizione Italia Cloud Region Partner Alliance” is the project launched in March 2022 that currently brings together a roster of 17 partners committed to the digital development of Italy and at the forefront of Microsoft’s new Italian Cloud Region.
4wardPRO, Agic Group, Computer Gross, CoreView, Deda Next, Dylog Italia, Esprinet, Expert.AI, Insight, NTT Data, Porini, Proge Software, SoftJam, SoftwareOne, Studio Informatica, TD Synnex, and ToolsGroup are the companies aiming to start digital transformation processes in a capillary way on companies present throughout the Country. These 17 partners join the founding partners, bringing the total to 31 partners within the project.
Back in 2020, Microsoft said it would invest about 1.5 billion euros over the five-year period 2020-2025 in activities aimed at improving cloud infrastructure, and training on digital skills.
In fact, according to what a joint study by Microsoft and IDC reported, in the next four years, the Microsoft ecosystem in Italy and its customers could produce, in the Italian economy a turnover of about 126 billion euros (more than 20 coming from Lombardy alone) and 237,000 new jobs.
“The Microsoft Partner ecosystem in Italy counts more than 14,000 realities and 400,000 professionals, a real chain of innovation rooted in the territory and with vertical competencies to accompany companies of any size and from any Industry towards transformation scenarios capable of supporting their growth. With this additional Alliance, we intend to give new impetus to the country’s digital transition by focusing on Cloud Computing. Accenture, Avanade, Cluster Reply, Engineering, Kyndryl, TeamSystem, and Var Group are the founding partners, but in the coming months the initiative will welcome the contribution of many other players,” commented Fabio Santini, Director of Global Partner Solutions Division.
What are the benefits for businesses?
With the new region, Microsoft partners will be able to add locally hosted, low-latency cloud services to their offerings, enabling fast and secure access to data and facilitating sharing scenarios that meet the needs of any industry.
As new businesses are added, they will be the first to take advantage of the Microsoft Cloud, offering their customers certified and reliable solutions to support them in their digital transformation. Access to local cloud services introduces maximum guarantees of data sovereignty, cybersecurity and compliance.
Companies, SMEs and public administrations will be able to access their data and Cloud services on a local basis. This effectively enables the cloud to all those realities that until now have been unable or unwilling to access the cloud for security reasons and/or because it was expressly forbidden by current privacy regulations.
Enterprises will be able to start leveraging the new region using Microsoft Azure or Microsoft 365 already in the coming weeks. Later on, Microsoft will also add other services such as Dynamics 365 and Power Platform.
Accenture, Avanade, Cluster Reply, Engineering, Kyndryl, TeamSystem and Var Group will work together with Microsoft to define a common strategy and market initiatives and programs to reach Italian organizations of all sizes and sectors, helping them to reap the benefits of digital.
The start-up phase of the project also includes a very concrete aspect: a shared plan of training and dedicated resources for companies, aimed at promoting the spread of a digital culture functional to the growth of the country. In this scenario, the consultancy contribution of ICT professionals plays a fundamental role. For this reason, the employees of the alliance partners will be involved in an extensive training and certification program with the aim of fostering their upskilling and professional certification in order to transform them into recognized consultants, capable of guiding the innovation choices of Italian companies and accompanying them on their path towards the Cloud, also contributing to projects in line with the six missions of the PNRR.
“Our goal is to help Italian organizations reap the benefits of digital to grow. We work to provide the technology platforms and secure cloud services to support their innovation, including our upcoming first Cloud Region in Italy. In this mission, we are supported by an extensive network of partners in the territory who closely follow public and private enterprises. We are proud to extend our initiative ‘Ambizione Italia Cloud Region Partner Alliance’ to 17 new partners who join the 14 founding partners: together we provide technologies, resources and skills to support businesses and Public Administration, to accelerate the path of digital transformation, creating innovation in the country,” commented Vincenzo Esposito, CEO of Microsoft Italia.
How can we help you?
Mida has been supporting companies, SMEs and public administrations from all over the world for years in the process of migrating their UC to the cloud.
Especially in the field of recording, compliance is a crucial aspect, and we know that sometimes the lack of a national Microsoft Cloud Region has acted as a deterrent for realities that were looking for a secure and compliant system to record business conversations.
As an ISV vertically focused on the world of Unified Communications for almost 20 years, we also have active partnerships and collaborations with several of the Microsoft partners involved in the “Ambizione Italia Cloud Region Partner Alliance” project.
Contact us to find out how we can facilitate the migration of your UC system to the cloud!