Microsoft cloud data case will define industry for years to come

Grazed from V3.co.uk. Author: Dan Worth.

Cloud computing is now an established way of doing business. Software tools for HR, ERP, CRM and other such services are now used in the cloud by all types of company, offering flexibility, reduced costs and regular feature upgrades. Tech giants such as IBM, HP, Microsoft and Oracle are spending millions and devoting endless staff hours on developing new platforms, products and tools to meet this demand, as well as expanding data centre footprints into numerous regions.

This is all to make sure that vendors can reassure customers on issues ranging from security and data sovereignty to latency and data access. However, all this could be in vain if the US government has its way. A court battle is raging between Microsoft and the US authorities over whether the government has the right to access data on a US company’s servers when stored overseas…

In this case, Ireland is the country caught in the crossfire. The US government has already won the case once, but Microsoft refused to hand over the data until its appeal has been heard…

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