Microsoft cloud in Norway opens with availability of Microsoft Azure

Today, we’re announcing the availability of Microsoft Azure from our new cloud datacenter regions in Norway, marking a major milestone as the first global cloud provider to deliver enterprise-grade services in the country. These new regions demonstrate our ongoing investment to help enable digital transformation and advance intelligent cloud and intelligent edge computing technologies across both commercial and public sectors.

DNB, Equinor, L?nekassen, and Posten are just a few of the customers and partners leveraging our cloud services to accelerate innovation and increase computing resources. This new offering of Microsoft Azure delivers scalable, highly available, and resilient cloud services to Norwegian companies and organizations while meeting data residency, security, and compliance needs.

Our President, Brad Smith, recently visited Norway to celebrate this important launch and to discuss how vital trust is for those we serve, not only to help bring forth innovation but to ensure our customers are protected.

“Our customers have entrusted us to protect, operate, and develop our platform in a way that keeps their data private and secure. This is an immense responsibility that we can’t just claim, but a responsibility that we must earn every single day.” - Brad Smith, President, Microsoft

Accelerating digital transformation in Norway

As we further our expansion commitment, we consider the demand for locally delivered cloud services and the opportunity for digital transformation in the market. Azure enables our customers and partners to increase their utilization of public cloud services and accelerate investments into private and hybrid cloud solutions. Norwegian organizations can now embrace these benefits to further innovation and build digital businesses at scale. Below are just a few of the customers and partners embracing Microsoft Azure in Norway.

The Norwegian banking industry is recognized for its rapid technology adoption, digitalizing the services that build the best products for customers. As Norway’s largest financial services group, DNB Group is a major operator in several industries, for which they also have a Nordic or international strategy. With Microsoft Azure, DNB will be able to migrate to the cloud in accordance with Norwegian data handling regulations to modernize, gain operational efficiency, and secure the best experience for its customers. 

“The possibility of data residency was a decisive factor in choosing Microsoft’s datacenter regions. Now we are looking forward to using the cloud to modernize and achieve efficiency and agility in order to ensure the best experience for our customers.” - Alf Otterstad, Executive Vice President, Group IT, DNB

Equinor, a broad energy company developing oil, gas, wind, and solar energy in more than 30 countries worldwide, has chosen Microsoft Azure to enable its digital transformation journey through a seven-year consumption and development agreement. With this strategic partnership, anchored in cloud-enabled innovation, and by moving its whole system portfolio to Azure, Equinor is aiming to achieve a more cost-efficient, safer, and more reliable operation. Equinor will utilize a variety of cloud services like machine learning and advanced analytics to improve performance, decrease costs, and increase safety. Through the partnership with Microsoft and leveraging capabilities within Azure, Equinor seeks to be a leader in the transformation of the energy industry worldwide and a growing force in renewables.

“Equinor’s ambition is to become a global digital leader within our industry. We have a long history of innovation and technology development. The strategic partnership will, through cloud services, involve development of the next-generation IT workplace, extended business application platforms, and mixed-reality solutions.” - ?shild Hanne Larsen, CIO and SVP, Corporate IT Equinor

L?nekassen, the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund, has over 1.1 million customers, composed of former and current students. By moving to Azure, it seeks to develop new and transformative citizen services, based on cognitive and analytical technologies. L?nekassen’s purpose is to make education possible, and to provide the Norwegian workforce with relevant competences. It aims to strengthen student funding as well as maintain and increase the already high level of automatized customer services and application processes.

“It has been a priority for L?nekassen to focus on how we can utilize new technology to deliver an even better service for our students and manage our student financing schemes even more efficiently. As we move our core solutions into the cloud, it will give us increased opportunities to innovate. We have already had great success with using machine learning, and we are now looking forward to optimizing our operations further.” - Nina Schanke Funnemark, CEO, L?nekassen

Posten Norge AS has chosen to use the Microsoft Azure platform to meet ever-changing market demands by modernizing some of its existing applications estate and creating new services for its customers and partners. Posten’s next-generation logistics system will provide its workforce with new digital toolsets to deliver even better customer experiences.

“Posten’s vision is to make everyday life simpler and the world smaller. With this vision, we aim to simplify and increase the value of trade and communication for people and businesses in the Nordic region. With the opening of Norwegian datacenter regions, we hope to accelerate and fuel our vision further.” - Arne Erik Berntzen, CIO, Posten AS

Bringing the complete cloud to Norway

The new cloud regions in Norway connect with Microsoft’s 54 regions via our global network, one of the largest and most innovative on the planet, spanning more than 130,000 miles of terrestrial fiber and subsea cable systems to deliver services to customers. Microsoft brings the global cloud closer to home for Norwegian organizations and citizens through our transatlantic system Marea, the highest-capacity subsea cable to cross the Atlantic.

The new cloud regions in Norway are targeted to expand in 2020 with Office 365, one of the world’s leading cloud-based productivity solutions, and Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, the next generation of intelligent business applications and tools.

Learn more about the new cloud services in Norway and the availability of Azure regions and services across the globe.