A trustworthy cloud for public safety agencies
To benefit from the cloud, public safety agencies must be certain that their data is safe. They want to know that the security and privacy of their information is protected at the highest level, and they want to retain control of their data at all times.
One recent example of Microsoft’s efforts to build customer trust is our new agreement with Deutsche Telekom. In an effort to meet Germany’s security needs, Microsoft in November announced that it is partnering with Deutsche Telekom to deliver Microsoft cloud services—including Microsoft Azure, Office 365, and Dynamics CRM Online— to two new datacenter regions in Germany using a unique German data trustee model.
The new datacenters, located in Magdeburg and Frankfurt am Main, will be under the control of Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Systems, which will act as the data trustee. And to ensure local control, Microsoft will not be able to access this data without the permission of customers or the data trustee.
I’m excited about bringing this model to the German market—and, in particular, about the opportunities it opens up for public safety organizations. With a trusted cloud, no longer will German law enforcement and other public safety agencies be forced to cope with aging infrastructure or invest in expensive, new server systems. Instead, they’ll be able to leverage the economies of scale that the cloud provides.
Specifically, public safety organizations will have the flexibility to scale up during major events and emergencies, and back down again as their needs subside. They’ll be able to securely collaborate and share information with other jurisdictions. And they’ll be able to work more productively, accessing information stored in the cloud from mobile devices while working in the field. As with all our customers, German public safety organizations will have the option of taking a hybrid approach, choosing which workloads to store in the cloud and which to keep on-premises.
Our partnership with Deutsche Telekom comes in addition to numerous other commitments we’ve made to ensure government trust in Microsoft cloud services. In the US market, for example, Microsoft offers Microsoft Cloud for Government, a physical and logical network-isolated instance of Microsoft Azure dedicated to meeting the unique needs of governments. Moreover, Microsoft is the only major cloud service provider that’s contractually committed to meeting the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) security policy for federal, state, and local governments. Commitments such as these are earning us the trust of numerous public safety organizations.
Microsoft’s agreement with Deutsche Telekom underscores our dedication to meeting the needs of governments in major markets around the globe. As Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella put it, “Our new datacenter regions in Germany, operated in partnership with Deutsche Telekom, will not only spur local innovation and growth, but offer customers choice and trust in how their data is handled and where it is stored.”
Indeed, choice and trust are key—and they’re what make Microsoft cloud services unique. To learn more, please visit the Microsoft Trust Center.
