Microsoft to open 4 data centers in France

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Microsoft is to open four data storage centers in France to meet strong customer demand for cloud computing, the head of the software giant's French operations told AFP on Tuesday.

"There's strong demand from our clients. A lot of them prefer to have (cloud computing) infrastructures and their data in their home territory," Carlo Purassanta said.

He did not reveal the size of the planned investment, but said that three of the centers would be located in the Paris region and the fourth in Marseille.

Microsoft will open four data centers in France. /AFP Photo

France would become the fourth European country – after Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands – to host Microsoft cloud data storage facilities.

The centers would be opened by the end of this quarter, it added.

Companies that hadn't yet moved into cloud computing "are those which were waiting for the arrival of data storage facilities in France," Purassanta said.

"We already have several thousand that have signed up for the centers," he said.

Microsoft, which opened its "AI Factory" at the Station F startup campus in Paris last year to mentor young companies specializing in artificial intelligence (AI), said that six more startups had joined the program.

New data storage centers in France are to meet strong customer demand for cloud computing. /VCG Photo

The group said it was also planning to open a college specializing in AI at its French headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux.

Other hi-tech firms, such as Google and SAP, have also announced major investments in France, particularly in the areas of AI and startups, this week.

Source(s): AFP