Microsoft is said to be considering setting up a cloud computing data centre in India. If it does so, it will be Microsoft’s first data centre established within India. Not only that, it would make the Redmond company the very first Multi-national company to have set up a cloud data centre in India.
At present, many companies in India are employing Microsoft’s cloud computing services. However, all those data centers are located abroad. Also, their functionality is limited by the fact that the RBI guidelines prohibit storing of customer data outside of India’s borders. This is the sole reason for limiting the adoption of cloud based services by several companies in India, mainly those companies which offer financial services.
Microsoft’s cloud computing segment only makes up a meager 5% of their total business, but is the fastest growing segment of the company. The special interest in India is backed up by stats, which say that India is one of the fastest growing markets for cloud computing based solutions, if not the fastest growing market.
If you want some numbers, the cloud market in India is growing between double and triple digits every few months. Gartner reports that the Indian cloud services market will expand from Rs. 2,550 crore in 2013 to an impressive Rs. 7,800 crore in 2017, which would make this country the fastest growing market for cloud adoption from across the globe.
Even if Microsoft becomes the first MNC to setup a data centre in India, global competitors such as Amazon and Google are sure to follow and give them a tough fight. At present, all three MNCs – Microsoft, Google and Amazon – have cloud data centres in Asia at only one place, Singapore. Globally, Microsoft has 13 data centres, Google has 12, and Amazon has just 8.
The cloud computing services market in India is about to kick-off big time. Going by the numbers provided by Gartner, we are looking at a 300% growth in the market over a span of 4 years.
Why No MNC has setup Data Centers in India to Date?
It is interesting to note that even though internet users are growing at fast clip in India, none of the biggies have setup their data centers in India as yet.
A comment on one of the Techcrunch articles recently caught our eye, which precisely gives you the reason why India does still does not have major data centers. Read the comment by Chun Yang shown below.
Of course, we would like India’s own children to produce data centres that provide world-class services. But, if RBI were to relax their guidelines, Microsoft, and later perhaps Google and Amazon could a big amount of investment, and as a result, create a large number of jobs in the country. But all this is possible only if our Government supports them by creating good infrastructure!
[…] is currently in discussion with few firms regarding setting up the cache server, whereas, Microsoft has already committed to establish the cloud data center and it would be the first MNC in […]