Microsoft has expanded its cloud infrastructure for government organizations with the announcement of Azure Stack for Azure Government. Additionally, the company says it has gained third-party FedRamp certification to boost the service. Azure Stack is a hybrid cloud solution launched by Microsoft last July. The cloud platform offers specifically designed for on-premises data centers. Microsoft points out that Stack customers access cloud services using on-premises data centers and hosted environments. Customers receive the full benefits of public cloud but protected within their own infrastructure. Microsoft says the introduction of Stack in Azure Government means cloud benefits within a controlled environment. “As a cornerstone of Microsoft's hybrid cloud approach, consistency means government customers get the same infrastructure and services with Azure Stack as they do with Azure — the same APIs, DevOps tools, portal, and more,” says Natalia Mackevicius, Program Director, Microsoft Azure Stack. As for the FedRamp certification, it allows Stack to be a part of the US government program for standardizing cloud security analysis. “Azure Stack for Azure Government directly addresses many other significant challenges our top federal government customers face. This includes tough regulatory, connectivity and latency requirements,” Mackevicius continued in a blog post announcement.
