Shaw to Offer Microsoft Cloud Out of ViaWest Data Centers

Canadian telecom Shaw Communications has partnered with Microsoft to make the latter’s Azure cloud services available out of all of its data centers, including the ones operated by ViaWest, the Greenwood Village, Colorado-based data center provider Shaw acquired in 2014.

The partnership, announced Thursday, is aimed at hybrid IT deployments, where customers combine their own dedicated servers hosted at colocation data centers with public cloud services. Hybrid is generally said to be the model enterprises prefer today, giving them the control of having their most valuable and critical data and applications on their own servers while leveraging the flexibility of public cloud where appropriate.

Shaw also announced the launch of a new data center in Calgary. The purpose-built facility has 40,000 square feet of raised floor, the company said.

Microsoft cloud will be available out of 30 Shaw and ViaWest data centers in the US and Canada.

Shaw has been expanding its technological capabilities and data center capacity. Last year it acquired Applied Trust, a consulting company that specializes in infrastructure, security, compliance, and DevOps.

It also launched a new data center in the Portland market and acquired INetU, a data center provider that expanded its footprint on the US East Coast and in Europe.