Navigating your way to the cloud: Microsoft’s updated digital guide to cloud regulations in Asia-Pacific

A groupds of business people looking at a laptop

In 2017, Microsoft’s Corporate, External and Legal Affairs (CELA) team in Asia launched a digital guide to cloud regulations in the Asia-Pacific region. Aimed at engaging in a conversation with the region’s legal and compliance professionals and other key decision-makers, the website is a comprehensive resource looking at the regulations that apply to the adoption of cloud.

We are pleased to launch an updated version of the website, with expanded industry coverage as well as updated materials that are designed to help organizations operating in Asia-Pacific understand how they can navigate their way to the cloud.

The digital transformation of Asia-Pacific

The Asia-Pacific region is being transformed by cloud technologies. Organizations across all industries, from financial services and healthcare to education and the public sector, are reaping the benefits of the cloud to improve their operations and enhance their services.

Andrew Cook
Andrew Cooke, Assistant General Counsel and Regional Director, Microsoft Asia

As a leading provider of cloud services, Microsoft has spent many years talking with customers who want to be a part of this digital transformation journey.

Many of these customers operate in highly regulated sectors and can feel overwhelmed by the patchwork of laws, regulations and policies that exists across borders and markets. Faced with so much complexity, some even take the view that there are barriers or prohibitions on the use of cloud services.

“Our customers tell us that they want to transform”, says Andrew Cooke, Assistant General Counsel and Regional Director, Microsoft Asia, “but that they are sometimes unsure about how to do so in a compliant manner. As a provider of cloud services, we know that it’s our responsibility to play a key role in helping our customers navigate this legal and regulatory landscape”.

Answering the key questions on cloud adoption

As organizations shift from on-premises technology to the cloud, decision makers – be they lawyers, compliance and risk professionals, CFOs or CEOs – are confronting some tough questions such as:

  • Can we move to the cloud in our industry?
  • What are the compliance requirements that we need to consider before we make the move?
  • Can we move to the cloud and continue to meet our privacy law obligations?
  • What industry security standards do we need to think about?
  • What should we look out for in our cloud contract?

These concerns are compounded several-fold when a business spans an entire region or the globe.

It was with this background in mind, and in response to direct customer feedback, that Microsoft took the decision to launch a digital guide.

During our discussions with customers across industries and countries, they told us that they need a single, comprehensive resource to quickly access key materials on the regulatory landscape. The requirements are often scattered across multiple statutes, regulations, guidelines and policy statements, some of which date back several years or even decades. By bringing everything together in one place, we want to make all of the information that our customers need more readily available.

How organizations can use the guide

Today, the guide contains information for 16 markets in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as industry-specific information for organizations in the financial services, healthcare, retail, energy & resources, manufacturing, automotive, telecommunications and media sectors.

The materials will be updated over time as regulations and policies in the region evolve.

We have been pleased to see that regulators across the region are increasingly issuing policies that enable and even encourage innovation through technology. It is now easier than ever for our customers to move to the cloud. Making these resources available online is part of our commitment to supporting our customers and ensuring trust and compliance in the cloud.

How to access the guide

The guide is now available online. Click here to access it. It could be the start of your own digital transformation journey.

 

 

 

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