MS Office 365 Multi-Geo Tenant Capability is Now Available

Microsoft has confirmed general availability of the Office 365 multi-geo tenant capability. Putting an end to tenants in every region, a single Office 365 multi-geo tenant is the ideal solution and saves costs.

Following a 12-month preview phase, Microsoft announced general availability of the Office 365 multi-geo tenant on April 18.

This capability is targeted at multinationals that among other things are required to implement an array of privacy and compliance requirements across a broad range of regions and countries. Before Office 365 multi-geo, this was only possible with a dedicated regional Office 365 tenant. But this solution increased the complexity of the overall solution, requiring additional infrastructure and more intricate administration, while also producing a raft of individual Office 365 data silos. Viewed from the perspective of TCO, this procedure resulted in quite significant additional costs.

The Microsoft Office 365 multi-geo tenant resolves this issue. But there are still a couple of requirements that need to be considered! I will use this article to address the following aspects:

• Office 365 multi-geo tenant: A brief guide
• Office 365 multi-geo tenant services
• Office 365 multi-geo tenant regions
• Assignment of storage locations by country 
• Requirements and licensing

The new multi-geo tenant feature allows the configurations of Office 365 to select the ideal Microsoft Office datacenter, regardless of the geographical location. This enables a reduction in physical distance (improvement in response times and latency) and the satisfaction of local compliance and security requirements. For instance, data is not automatically shifted out of the selected region, unless the multi-geo tenant administrator makes the appropriate changes.

Multi-geo capabilities are currently available for Exchange Online and OneDrive for Business. MS Office 365 administrators decide on the region in which Exchange mailboxes and OneDrive for Business data will be stored.

“Microsoft commits to providing in-geo data residency, business continuity and disaster recovery for your core customer data.”

MS Office 365 multi-geo tenant capabilities will soon follow for SharePoint Online, Groups and other Office 365 services.

Microsoft offers the multi-geo capabilities in the following regions:

• Asia-Pacific (APC)
• Australia (AUS)
• Canada (CAN)
• European Union (EUR)
• India* (IND)
  Japan (JPN)
• Korea (KOR)
• United Kingdom (GBR)
• United States (NAM)

*In India, the multi-geo tenant is only available for customers with local invoice addresses and licenses purchased in India.

Office 365 multi-geo tenant capabilities are not offered in the following regions:

• Office 365 Germany (MCD)
• China (Provider 21Vianet)
• Office 365 US Government

Microsoft has set up a website providing an overview of where which data is stored etc., thus ensuring that individual users can adhere to local requirements and regulations for data privacy.

Microsoft offers Office 365 with multi-geo tenant capability from 5000 Office 365 users and for the following licenses:

• Microsoft 365 F1, E1, E3 or E5
• Office 365 F1, E1, E3 or E5
• Exchange Online Plan 1 or Plan 2
• OneDrive for Business Plan 1 or Plan 2
  SharePoint Online Plan 1 or Plan 2

Essentially there are two licensing options:

• $2/user/month for users in satellite geos
• Resource mailboxes (rooms/equipment) and legacy mailboxes do not need to be licensed

Source: Microsoft