Microsoft advances Azure Government, offering 75 new capabilities to 6 million users

Dave W. Shanahan

At its 5th annual Government Cloud Forum, Microsoft met with over 600 Azure Government customers and partners to highlight some new capabilities and developments for its 6 million users. Azure Government has added a plethora of capabilities and wanted to share them and other highlights on how Azure Government has made big steps in providing the best technology services for local, state, and US federal government operations.

Recently, Microsoft signed a CJIS (Criminal Justice Information Services) agreement with the US State of Georgia. Microsoft now has 24 signed CJIS agreements in addition to the 13 Microsoft Government Cloud services in the FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program) compliance certification. Microsoft believes that Azure Government sets them apart from their competitors and that “not all clouds are created equal” (check out their Azure in Government fact sheet).

Microsoft is expanding its Government Cloud services with two new announcements:

  • General Availability of Microsoft Operations Management Suite (OMS): Now available to Azure Government customers, Log Analytics and the Operations Management Suite Portal helps customers collect and analyze data generated by resources in cloud and on-premises environments. The service provides real-time insights using integrated search and custom dashboards to help customers readily analyze millions of records across all workloads and servers regardless of their physical location.
  • General Availability of the Azure Government Marketplace:   Now available to Azure Government customers, Azure Government Marketplace brings the quality, choice, and strength of the Azure partner ecosystem to our IT & Developer government customers using a unified location. We’ve partnered with some of the top ISVs to provide Azure Government customers more options for finding the right solution and quickly spinning up applications that suit their needs. A sample of partners includes: F5 Networks, Cisco Systems, ESRI, Citrix, Barracuda, and Splunk.

In this video, General Manager for National Cloud Programs at Microsoft, Doug Hauger, talks about Microsoft Azure Government products and services, including CRM Online Government and Office 365 Government, and how the Microsoft Cloud for Government meets the security and compliance requirements and needs of US federal, state, and local government agencies.

At the US Police Chiefs showcase, Microsoft signed three police agencies to utilize their Azure Government offerings; Los Angeles, Memphis, and Miami-Dade Police Departments. In addition, two US government agencies, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are also taking advantage of Azure Government, as well as other Azure cloud services.

If you are interested in seeing what else Microsoft can do for your local, state, or federal government agency, sign up for the Azure Government trial. If you still have questions about Microsoft Cloud for Government, you can contact Microsoft and a representative will get in touch with you to discuss your questions and concerns. You can also contact Microsoft Government on Twitter.

The Microsoft Local Tech Gov Summit, a live stream event, taking place on November 16, 2016, from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM PST. Register today.