Update: And here are the answers, courtesy of a Microsoft spokesperson. Yes, the Cloud for Sovereignty is part of the Industry cloud stable, joining the aforementioned bundles. But no, Azure Government is not considered a Microsoft Industry cloud. Here’s the reason: “The Azure Government portfolio has been built to meet the specific requirements of the U.S. government. Azure Government achieves these controls through service instancing and personnel citizenship validation, while MCFS (Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty) leverages encryption, confidential computing, and audit rights to meet the very differing needs of the U.S. Government versus the rest of the world, respectively.” In other government-cloud-related news, Microsoft announced at Inspire today plans for a Windows 365 SKU for US government customers. This offering will be for Government Community Cloud (GCC) and GCC High customers in the US, providing local, state, and federal customers with a way to securely stream their Windows apps, data, content, and settings from the Microsoft Cloud. I’ve asked when this will be available; no word back so far. Update: Microsoft is declining to provide a timeframe for the Windows 365 SKU for U.S. government. Speaking of Windows 365, last week, as part of yet another reorg, Microsoft Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer Panos Panay is now officially responsible for Windows 365. The move isn’t surprising, given that officials promised earlier this year to more tightly integrate local Windows 11 clients with Windows 365.
