Microsoft Canada opens two new data centres: News tech leaders need to know.

A Canadian cloud, data discovery and classification, machine learning, and a crop of printers are among the products sprouting this spring. 

Microsoft’s Canadian cloud in preview

Microsoft Canada has opened two new Canadian data centres, which were first announced last June, to an operational preview of its Azure cloud by a limited number of customers. It plans general availability of the Azure cloud in the second quarter, followed by Office 365 and Dynamics CRM Online. Microsoft Canada president Janet Kennedy said the company has received a lot of interest from federal, provincial and municipal governments, other organizations like financial institutions who need their data resident in Canada, and from customers who want to get out of the data centre business. The offering will likely help lower the cost of infrastructure for businesses, freeing dollars that can be redirected to innovation. Canada is one of six new cloud regions, bringing Microsoft’s global total to 22.

TITUS launches classification for data at rest

Ottawa-based TITUS took advantage of the recent RSA Security Conference to launch its new product, Illuminate, which performs automated data discovery and classification of data at rest, whether it’s on premises or in the cloud. Illuminate complements the company’s original offerings, working seamlessly with TITUS Classification Suite to enforce rules on files in motion, ensuring the right people have access to the right information at the right time.