Rick Harshman - Managing director of JAPAC, Google Cloud
Google Cloud has launched a new cloud region in Melbourne, set to come online next year.
This marks the second Google Cloud platform (GCP) region in Australia, with the first opening in Sydney in July 2017.
Additionally, Google Cloud launched new regions in Delhi, India; Doha, Qatar; and Toronto, Canada, bringing the total number of GCP regions to 26 this year.
The new Melbourne region will contain three zones, which Google Cloud claims will help protect against service disruptions and enable in-country disaster recovery for mission critical applications.
The platform will also cater for heavily regulated industries such as healthcare, financial services and government agencies that are required to keep data on-shore.
“The opening of the new Melbourne region strengthens our long-standing investment in Australia," Google Cloud Asia Pacific managing director Rick Harshman said.
"Our services are designed for millions of users and the new region will bring lower latency to businesses and offer the infrastructure to support disaster recovery and regulatory needs."
"Our infrastructure is certified for a growing number of compliance standards and controls and has undergone several independent third party audits to test for data safety, privacy and security," he added.
Google Cloud customers include ANZ Bank, Australia Post, Macquarie Bank, Optus and Woolworths.
ANZ Bank technology group executive Gerard Florian said Google Cloud’s Melbourne region presented opportunities to further enhance a cloud-based technology environment that incorporates integrated governance controls and service management, as well as consistent security controls.
NAB executive general manager infrastructure, cloud and workplace Steve Day added having a GCP region in Melbourne will help its availability, durability and resilience requirements.
"At NAB, we’re in the midst of a company-wide digital transformation to simplify our business and improve the experience customers have with us," he said.
"Technology is both an enabler and foundation in our transformation and our multi-cloud approach, incorporating Google Cloud services, is a key differentiator for us."
