Microsoft looks to appeal to European cloud customers with the addition of datacentres in Germany and the UK, with the German datacentres having a 3rd party company taking the role of data trustee.

Part of an effort to allay (arguably justified) European distrust of  American tech giants, the data trustee-- namely Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Systems-- ensures Microsoft cannot access stored data without permission of either customers or the data trustee. In addition the trustee supervises Microsoft should it get permission to check customer data, and ensures it cannot be forced by "third parties" to hand over data.

“Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every individual on the planet to achieve more,” CEO Satya Nadella says. “Our new datacenter regions in Germany, operated in partnership with Deutsche Telekom, will not only spur local innovation and growth, but offer customers choice and trust in how their data is handled and where it is stored.”

The German datacentres will be located in Magdeburg and Frankfurt am Main, and will provide Azure, Office 365 and Dynamics CRM Online cloud services with compliance to strict European privacy regulations. Microsoft also promises multi-factor security complete with biometric scanning and smart cards, data encryption via German certificate-based SSL/TLS protocols, physical security controls and protection against natural disasters and power outages.

Customers within the EU and EFTA will get services powered by the aforementioned datacentres from H2 2016.

As mentioned earlier Microsoft is also opening multiple datacentres within the UK, as well as expanding the existing facilities in Ireland and the UK. Azure and Office 365 services will be available from UK datacentres by late 2016, with Dynamics CRM Online to follow "shortly thereafter."

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