Microsoft and 21Vianet have partnered to provide Microsoft Cloud services in China.

Microsoft Partners With 21Vianet to Offer China-Based Cloud Services

By Paul Mozur

BEIJING--Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) said it is partnering with Chinese data center services provider 21Vianet Group Inc. (VNET) to offer cloud services based on data centers within China.

In a post on its website Thursday, Microsoft said it licensed its cloud-based Office 365 and Windows Azure software to Nasdaq-listed 21Vianet, which will allow clients in China to store data in Chinese data centers.

Microsoft added that it would offer clients in China the option to choose between hosting their data within or outside China. The decision about where to host data for a company can be highly sensitive as it is effectively outsourcing the storage of often critical data to a third party. Chinese storage centers are also subject to Chinese laws, which analysts say can at times provide less protection.

GigaOm's Barb Darrow points to the original Microsoft blog post that announces the new services.

Microsoft takes Azure to China

BY Barb Darrow

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Chasing a potentially huge market, Microsoft has inked a pact with the municipality of Shanghai and with ISP 21Vianet to offer Windows Azure services in China. The deal could be huge but also problematic, given problems Google and other U.S. companies have had in China.

Here is the Microsoft post.

Cloud OS is coming to China

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Doug Hauger

1 Nov 2012 2:00 AM

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Today, I’m pleased to announce that Microsoft is bringing our premier public cloud platform Windows Azure to China. Following our recent launch of Windows Server 2012, this represents the next step in delivering our Cloud OS vision to China by delivering multi-tenant public and private cloud services to millions of businesses in China.

We believe customers should have a choice in how and when they move to the cloud, and Windows Server 2012 and Windows Azure give customers the ability to choose the right cloud solutions for them. Whether it is on premise in their own datacenter or using the public cloud capabilities of Windows Azure, we are committed to giving our customers and partners the best solutions to meet their business needs.

Today, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the municipality of Shanghai; and we have signed a landmark agreement to license Microsoft technologies to 21Vianet, who will offer Windows Azure services in China from local datacenters. This will meet the demands of customers in China.

We’re excited to soon be able to satisfy the enormous appetite in China for a public cloud platform with the security and reliability features that customers demand from Microsoft. A recent Forrester Research report on cloud computing (Forrester Research, Sizing The Cloud Markets In Asia Pacific, Feb. 3, 2012) found that the public cloud market in China will grow from $297 million in 2011 to $3.8 billion in 2020. With today’s announcement, Windows Azure is well positioned to have a strong presence in China and to serve local businesses seeking to take advantage of the cloud on their terms.

- Doug Hauger, General Manager, Microsoft Server and Tools Division