US-based Microsoft has promised Office 365 hosting from Sydney and Melbourne data centres by the end of March this year, accelerating adoption rates that have been rising rapidly since 2010.
The SaaS offering provides online access to a suite of productivity applications, including Office, SharePoint, Lync (soon to be Skype for Business) and more. In the past, many Australian organisations barred themselves from using Office 365 - which stores its data in Singapore - due to data sovereignty fears.
The launch of Office 365 from Australian data centres is a game changer for organisations worried about foreign information and privacy laws. Microsoft’s blog reads, “Delivering these services from Australian data centres will provide customers with faster performance, offer geo-redundant back-up and help address data residency considerations.”
The much-anticipated, locally-hosted Office 365 will provide Australians with improved latency, reduced data sovereignty concerns and geo-redundant backup for organisations.
Let’s look at these three benefits in more detail.
1. Improved latency
Waiting for sluggish applications to respond is a real strain on workforce productivity and negatively affects company culture. When locally-hosted Office 365 is finally available, the reduced latency will unleash greater speed of access, better performance and greater success.
When cloud applications are hosted from a great distance, they are more susceptible to high latency and packet loss - or poor response times - and incomplete data transmission.
Radware found a 500ms speed delay results in up to a 26% increase in peak frustration and up to 8% decrease in engagement. Thus, a sluggish application not only decreases the amount of work being done, but also causes disengagement, making the application a wasted investment that further diminishes workforce productivity.
The local service is just beyond the horizon for Australian organisations, promising faster access, better performance and a happier, more productive workforce.
2. Reduced data sovereignty concerns
In the past, concerns about data being hosted outside of Australia (Office 365 is currently hosed in Singapore) have deeply influenced adoption of the productivity-boosting suite. Now, organisations will be able to leverage the benefits of Office 365 without sacrificing security and reputation.
A 2014 survey by Computer Business Review found 28% of organisations see data sovereignty as a major cloud issue. This is because when an Australian organisation stores data offshore, they must contractually ensure their technology partners comply with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). In Singapore, the Computer Misuse Act allows any police officer with reasonable cause to compel the disclosure of data.
While Australian organisations will still have to contend with US laws, there will only be two regulatory environments, instead of three. Microsoft has also said they will make every effort to notify enterprises when requests for data are issued.
Australian organisations no longer have to be wary of compliance issues raised by Singaporean data centres, providing peace of mind for businesses and their customers.
3. Better disaster recovery
Until now, geo-redundant backup was out of the question for many Australian organisations. However, the Twin City Azure deployment will enable the routing of data between local data centres, ensuring productivity perseveres in the face of disaster.
Organisations must always be prepared for the failure of business-critical applications due to natural catastrophes or technical problems. This is especially significant for organisations with a principally mobile workforce, since remote workers would be forced to rely on outdated information and be powerless to relay new material.
According to Cloud Solutions Group, 48% of enterprises use cloud backup to recover completely in just a few hours. The release of locally hosted Office 365 means that even if Sydney’s datacentre were to fail, organisations would be able to flip automatically to Melbourne or vice versa, minimising downtime and keeping data safe within the confines of Australia.
Should the unthinkable occur, locally-hosted Office 365 will safeguard the future of Australian organisations, allowing productivity to resume without nerve-wracking delay.
Transitioning to Office 365
Existing Australian Office 365 customers will be offered the opportunity to transition to Australian-hosted software, while new customers will receive the Australian option by default (when it launches in March 2015). Organisations choosing local hosting will receive greater performance, be less burdened by data sovereignty concerns and have access to geo-redundant backup. Local hosting will give many Australian organisations the green light to adopt Office 365 and the increased efficiency, mobility and collaborative capabilities that goes along with it.
Interested in migrating to Office 365? Contact us on 1300 562 886 to speak with one of our Office 365 consultants.