Microsoft will set up new data centers in the Spanish region of Aragon. When finished, the project will cost 6.69 billion euros.
Cloud players are clearly showing interest in the Spanish region of Aragon. This region is located in the northeastern part of the country, just on the border with France. The region is already being named as an increasingly important cloud computing hub for Europe. It looks like the region will eventually rise to the level of Amsterdam, which is Europe’s most important data hub (for now).
Azure and AWS
The growing importance is made clear by new investments announced by Azure and AWS. For Azure, plans recently surfaced to build new data centers at the cost of €6.69 billion, which has been confirmed by the Spanish regional government. Full construction will take 10 years.
AWS has even bigger plans for the region, far exceeding the amount with a total of 15.7 billion euros. The cloud player also wants to start building data centers in this region. For AWS, however, the region is familiar territory; the cloud player has already built one data center that Amazon says runs entirely on renewable energy.
Both players are additionally interested in Milan, Italy. Microsoft announced that it will invest 2.1 billion euros, while AWS has not been specific in financial terms.
Azure forced to defend its position
In any case, Microsoft’s new investments in its cloud division Azure show that the cloud player does not want to undercut AWS. In Europe, the stakes are, therefore, high for Azure, as the cloud player is the partner of choice for European companies. AWS does take the lead internationally and is now making it clear that it is eager to come and nibble at Azure’s position in Europe as well.
Also read: Microsoft expands all data centres in Sweden