Software King of the World Microsoft has announced that it will suspend its cloud services for Russian companies by the end of March 2024.
This decision comes as a direct response to the economic sanctions imposed by the European Union on Russian-owned companies in December 2023, amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The suspension, which was initially set to commence on March 20, has been delayed following discussions with Softline, a key IT platform and Microsoft customer. Vole has emphasised that this action is not politically motivated but is a commitment to adhering to international trade laws and regulations.
The latest update on the imminent blockade from BleepingComputer is that the delay so far appears only to be something that Vole is offering in response to correspondence with Softline. This is despite the latter issuing a press release last week claiming that it has ‘all the necessary resources’ to ensure a smooth transition to its infrastructure from Microsoft and Amazon services.
Before the extension, in a letter that Softline has since published on its Telegram channel, Vole broke the news to Softline. Still, it stated its commitment to compliance with EU trade laws and regulations, as well as all other jurisdictions in which it operates’.
According to Russian news agency TASS, Vole is planning to block Russian companies’ access to over 50 products, including Microsoft Teams, the world’s largest video conferencing software, and the collaboration tool suite Microsoft 365.
That’s not to mention the collateral damage caused by providers such as Google and Amazon withholding their services without postponing the deadline. BleepingComputer revealed that business customers of those companies based in Russia received notice of service termination last week.
Individuals and solo professionals based in Russia using cloud services from these and similar cloud services aren’t affected.
