Microsoft is upping its efforts to target government and public sector clients and help them transition to the cloud.

Microsoft has been rolling out customized versions of its cloud platform in an effort to target specific markets. One such example is Azure Space, which the company launched in late 2020. Microsoft has now announced Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty.

“Governments are obligated to meet specific requirements for varying data classifications including data governance, security controls, privacy of citizens, data residency, sovereign protections and compliant operations following legal regulations like the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation),” writes Corey Sanders, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Cloud for Industry and Global Expansion Team. “The Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty — offering governance, security, transparency and sovereign technology — combined with strategic partners can support the digital transformation of government customers unlike any other cloud provider in the world.”

Government cloud contracts have become increasingly important to Microsoft as the company works to catch up with market leader AWS. The company acquired Impact Level 6 Pentagon certification in late 2019, giving it the ability to bid on classified contracts.

Microsoft and AWS have continued to compete with each other for lucrative government contracts, and Microsoft clearly wants to gain an advantage.

“Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty is being built on the Microsoft public cloud to accelerate digital transformation while creating a customized experience adhering to government requirements,” Sanders adds. “Government customers will have the power of the public cloud, addressing low cost, agility and scale expectations, with the full breadth of capabilities like modern developer services, agile infrastructure, secure DevOps, open-source platforms, modern collaboration and low-code development. Additionally, Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty customers will continue benefiting from Microsoft’s global security signals, analyzing over 24 trillion signals every day to identify and help protect against local attacks.”

The company has already been working with governments around the world to help build solutions that meet their needs.

“Institutions and critical national infrastructures need the modeling, building and management of resilient-by-design Secure National Clouds able to guarantee data integrity, availability and protection in line with country-systems guidelines,” said Gennaro Faella, Senior Vice President Innovation, Leonardo. “Thanks to our extended research and innovation capabilities we can leverage the best from Microsoft Cloud with our capabilities in the cyberspace and in protecting national assets. Our long-term collaboration comes together in a solution that helps ensure the sovereignty of data while at the same time benefiting from the innovation of the public cloud.”

Microsoft is clearly pulling out all the stops in its efforts to grow its cloud platform.