Microsoft to open datacenter region in Israel in early 2022

Microsoft officially announced on Tuesday that it expects its new datacenter region in Israel, the first of its kind in the country, to be launched in early 2022. It was initially believed that the center would open in 2021, but the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a delay in its launch.

The company will initially start with an offering of Microsoft Azure, which will be followed by Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and Power Platform.

“Israel is a hotbed for digital innovation and entrepreneurship, and cloud technology is playing a pivotal role in new and exciting opportunities for local organizations and communities,” says Ronit Atad, general manager, Microsoft Israel.

The Israel datacenter region will be made up of multiple datacenter facilities with redundant power, cooling, and networking.

The announcement comes a day after Microsoft filed an appeal with local courts following the decision to leave it off the finalist list in the Project Nimbus tender for Israel’s flagship project for providing cloud services for the country's entire public sector, including the military. Tuesday's announcement proves that regardless of the outcome of its appeal, Microsoft still intends to offer public cloud services for local businesses in Israel. Microsoft's cloud infrastructure is already part of the infrastructure backbone for many companies in Israel, including Bank Hapoalim, ZIM, Rafael, eToro and others.