“It is good to see Microsoft intend to open a cloud region in New Zealand, recognising the importance of keeping data onshore. Their recent announcement vindicates Catalyst Cloud’s investment early in 2016 to provide three cloud data centre regions in Aotearoa, back when the Productivity Commission still doubted NZ’s cloud business viability”, says Catalyst Cloud’s Managing Director, Bruno Lago.

We invested in providing three data centre regions because we knew New Zealand needed its own cloud native infrastructure. Kiwi businesses agreed, as our growing client base has shown. Microsoft’s decision to follow our lead only affirms that decision.

Having another cloud data centre in New Zealand is also a step in the right direction for protecting New Zealander’s data although, as an overseas-based company, Microsoft still faces some challenges, such as the USA’s CLOUD Act. This can be used to force USA headquartered companies to hand over data to the American government, against their wishes, no matter where it is held. If Microsoft does in future hold data here, rather than in Australian data centres, it would then become protected from the recent Australian ‘encryption backdoor’ law, which forces ICT providers to compromise the safety of their software so the Australian Government can read data stored or transmitted by their customers.

As a kiwi owned and operated business, not only is Catalyst Cloud’s client data fully protected by New Zealand data and privacy laws, but our revenues stay here in New Zealand too. This is something we're especially proud of as we work with clients, partners and resellers to help rebuild our local economy in the years ahead.

More local options will also help New Zealand companies benefit from the global trend for multi-cloud. The April 2020 State of the Cloud report from Flexera shows 93% of companies internationally have a multi-cloud strategy, with only 6% using a single public cloud. Many Catalyst Cloud clients already use a multi-cloud strategy, choosing Catalyst Cloud alongside other public cloud providers, and we expect that to only accelerate.

As local true cloud providers, Catalyst Cloud clients generally choose us for the open source nature of our solutions, quality of our support services, inexpensive prices and low latency to end-users in New Zealand. If Microsoft does implement their intent to keep more kiwi data on-shore, we expect more companies to use Microsoft cloud applications as part of a multi-cloud strategy, in which they also choose another cloud computing provider, with Catalyst Cloud being the natural choice.

In the meantime, Catalyst Cloud continues to provide kiwi businesses and government agencies with local, multi-region public cloud. We'll continue to lead the way in fast development and deployment of open source cloud technology, having been the first to offer infrastructure as a service with the five essential characteristics of cloud computing according to NIST and the first to offer a CNCF certified Kubernetes service in New Zealand.

We're here to make cloud computing more accessible, with powerful cloud solutions, developed especially for the local market and to help accelerate New Zealand's digital economy, in data centres only powered by renewable energy generating companies.

About Catalyst Cloud

Catalyst Cloud are New Zealand's leading local innovator in true cloud computing; the first to offer infrastructure as a service with the five essential characteristics of cloud computing according to NIST, the first to offer a CNCF Certified Kubernetes platform and the first Kubernetes Certified Service Provider. The New Zealand owned company has offices in Wellington and Auckland and provides locally based cloud services at international standards. Catalyst Cloud has been offering cloud computing services since 2014 and became an independent company within the Catalyst IT group in August 2017.

As a New Zealand owned and operated business, Catalyst Cloud is dedicated to making the cloud more accessible and to growing the digital economy in Aotearoa, with powerful, cost effective, and easy to implement cloud solutions, developed especially for the local market.