X
Innovation

Microsoft's first African data centers open in Cape Town and Johannesburg

Microsoft's first African data centers are now open and serving up Azure. Office 365 and Dynamics 365 are scheduled to be added to the region by the end of 2019.
Written by Mary Jo Foley, Senior Contributing Editor
msftfirstafricandatacenters.jpg
Credit: Microsoft

Microsoft has made good on its promise to start opening data centers in Africa with the opening of new cloud regions in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa. Microsoft announced on March 6 that Azure is now generally available to customers from these data centers. 

Also: What makes Microsoft tick?

Microsoft originally announced plans to open data centers in South Africa in May 2017. At that time, initial availability was planned for 2018.

These data centers are Microsoft's first major ones in Africa. Microsoft's plan is to also make available Office 365 by the third quarter of 2019 and Dynamics 365 by the fourth quarter in these data centers. 


Must read


Microsoft has 54 cloud regions announced worldwide.

Amazon is planning to open its first African data center in Cape Town in 2020.

In Memoriam: All the consumer products Microsoft has killed off

Previous and related coverage:

Windows 7: What is your company's exit strategy?

If your business is still running on Windows 7, it's time to get serious about how you're going to handle the January 14, 2020 end of support. Here are your four options.

Windows 10 version 1903: Act fast to delay this big upgrade

Each time Microsoft rolls out a major upgrade to Windows 10, you have the option to wait a few months before you install it on PCs running Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise. But you have to act quickly.

Windows 10: New study shows Home edition users are baffled by updates

How annoying are Windows 10's automatic updates? In a new study, a group of UK researchers report that users of Home edition experience unexpected restarts and inconsistent installation times, caused by inappropriate defaults and inadequate notice of pending updates.

Related stories:

Editorial standards