This blog post was co-authored by Paul Lorimer, Distinguished Engineer, Office 365.

Azure and Office 365 generally available today, Dynamics 365 and Power Platform available by end of 2019

Today, Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Office 365 are taking a major step together to help support the digital transformation of our customers. Both Azure and Office 365 are now generally available from our first cloud datacenter regions in the Middle East, located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, offering the next generation of intelligent business applications and tools, are anticipated to be available from the cloud regions in UAE by the end of 2019.

The opening of the new cloud regions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai marks the first time Microsoft will deliver cloud services directly from datacenter locations in UAE and expands upon Microsoft’s existing investments in the Gulf and the wider Middle East region. By delivering the complete Microsoft cloud – Azure, Office 365, and Dynamics 365 – from datacenters in a given geography, we offer scalable, highly available, and resilient cloud services for organizations while helping them meet their data residency, security, and compliance needs.

Our new cloud regions adhere to Microsoft’s trusted cloud principles and join one of the largest and most secure cloud infrastructures in the world, already serving more than a billion customers and 20 million businesses. Microsoft has deep expertise in data protection, security, and privacy, including the broadest set of compliance certifications in the industry, and we are the first cloud service provider in UAE to achieve the Dubai Electronic Security Center certification for its cloud services. Our continued focus on our trusted cloud principles and leadership in compliance means customers in the region can accelerate their digital transformation with confidence and with the foundation to achieve compliance for their own applications.

Local datacenter infrastructure stimulates economic development for both customers and partners alike, enabling companies, governments, and regulated industries to realize the benefits of the cloud for innovation, as well as bolstering the technology ecosystem that supports the innovation. We anticipate the cloud services delivered from UAE to have a positive impact on job creation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth across the region. The International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that cloud services could bring more than half a million jobs to the Middle East, including the potential of more than 55,000 new jobs in UAE, between 2017 and 2022.

Microsoft also continues to help bridge the skills gap amongst the IT community and to enhance technical acumen for cloud services. Cloud Society, a Middle East and Africa focused program building upon Microsoft Learn, has trained over 150,000 IT professionals in MEA. The community will further benefit from the increased availability and performance of cloud services delivered from UAE to help realize enterprise benefits of cloud, upskill in migration, and more effectively manage their cloud infrastructure.

You can learn more by following these links: Microsoft Middle East and Africa News Center, Microsoft Azure United Arab Emirates, Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and Microsoft Power Platform.