1 billion for the first cloud data center region

The Microsoft software group is investing 1 billion in Austria to establish its own data center region in the cloud. Microsoft’s € 1 billion investment is part of the federal government’s efforts to make Austria one of the best countries in the world in terms of digitization, Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) said at the press conference.

AUSTRIA. Efforts by European member states to catch up on digitization are increasing. Austria’s economy can only remain competitive if digitization is promoted. “Almost 40 percent of Austrian companies use cloud services,” Kurz said. Not only the pandemic has shown how many professional processes can be relocated to virtual rooms. The € 1 billion investment will bring € 2 billion in net added value, Kurz said.

Cloud computing covers storage requirements

“In the future, Microsoft customers will be able to process, store and share their data in Austria without the data leaving the borders of the country,” explained Dorothee Ritz, General Manager of Microsoft in Austria. Physical proximity to data centers will also dramatically increase connection speeds for all Internet users. Businesses, startups and institutions should use the most potential, Ritz said. For one reason: “Without cloud computing there is no digitization.” Because “cloud computing is the computing power of the Internet.” It is about the storage and processing of data. Every two years, the amount of data volumes doubles around the world. “We need storage so that digital platforms don’t collapse,” Ritz emphasized.

Digitization as an economic engine

According to Minister Margarete Schramböck, almost half of the newly created jobs can be found in the field of digitization and thus contribute 0.4 percent of job growth per year. The data center, to be completed in two years at the latest, will be one of 64 data center regions. “Erste Bank and Bawag will be among the first customers,” Ritz said. 99 percent is user data, 1 percent personal data. Over the next four years, 120,000 people will be trained in cloud computing. Microsoft guarantees the security of the cloud. In addition, the data is subject to the General Data Protection Regulation. Schramböck assures us that the Austrian authorities will continue to use the Federal Computing Center.