Microsoft to offer local version of Azure cloud service

Legal defence: Under a plan unveiled on Feb 8, Microsoft said customers of its cloud service could rely on any of 10,000 Microsoft patents free of charge to deter legal threats against them. — Reuters

WASHINGTON: Microsoft Corp on July 10 unveiled a new service that allows customers to use its cloud technology on their own servers, part of the company's efforts to refocus its product line to compete more effectively with rivals Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google.

The world's biggest software maker is looking to carve out a niche among customers who cannot or do not want to move all their computing operations to the massive shared data centres that are collectively known as the cloud.