Microsoft now allows organizations to run Azure, 365, and AI services under their own management and on their own infrastructure, even without an internet connection.
The increasing demand for digital sovereignty is putting pressure on large organizations and governments to maintain control over their data and AI models. Microsoft is responding to this with its sovereign cloud offering. In a blog post, it announced an expansion of this offering that promises companies full control and security for critical workloads, even without an internet connection.
Microsoft’s new solutions offer a shared infrastructure that adapts to the varying needs of organizations, ranging from connected to fully disconnected environments. This is done under strict governance and with full control over data, identities, and activities. The expansion includes three key updates:
- Azure Local: critical IT infrastructure continues to run with Azure governance, even without a cloud connection.
- Microsoft 365 Local: email, collaboration, and documents (Exchange, SharePoint, Skype for Business) remain available locally, supported until at least 2035.
- Foundry Local: AI models run locally on own hardware, without data ever leaving the environment.
Cloud and AI without internet
Azure Local disconnected allows organizations to manage business-critical infrastructure without a cloud connection. This keeps policy controls and management within their own environment, which is crucial for organizations with strict security and compliance requirements. This means that workloads, including AI-driven and data-intensive applications, can run safely in isolated environments without threatening operational continuity.
The same logic applies to Microsoft 365 Local. With this, Microsoft offers the possibility to run productivity applications entirely within one’s own infrastructure, without an internet connection. This includes Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, and Skype for Business Server, which will be supported until at least 2035. This approach ensures that teams can continue to communicate and collaborate.
The promise of sovereignty
The third update concerns Foundry Local, which provides support for large, multimodal AI models in fully offline environments. Through partners such as NVIDIA, organizations can now perform AI inference and run advanced models locally, without dependence on external connectivity. This infrastructure makes it possible not only to manage AI but also to use it within the strict boundaries of the organization.
With these expansions, Microsoft aims to respond to a growing demand for sovereignty, including the opening of local cloud regions. However, as a US cloud provider, the company can never fully guarantee this through its public cloud, as the company itself has admitted.