Microsoft has announced plans to grow its data centers in Asia and the Pacific region (APAC) greatly. This goal can be seen in a recent Microsoft job posting looking for someone to fill the role of a Land Acquisition Manager for Data Centers.
The job description for that position talks about “securing and preparing land to construct Microsoft cloud infrastructure facilities.” This signals a strategic push by Microsoft to upgrade and expand its current data center presence across several Asian and Pacific countries and markets.
Microsoft’s interest in the Asian continent
Exploring unconventional solutions
Interestingly, the job listing states that candidates must have “extensive knowledge of creative approaches to buying land and buildings.” This suggests Microsoft may be considering some unconventional data center options like underwater facilities or integrating them into skyscrapers.
Microsoft has 20 data center regions spread across 11 countries and regions in Asia and the Pacific. They have plans to grow further in this part of the world. Countries they will probably target for new data centers include Australia, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, and India.
Nuclear energy: an alternative energy source
Also, Microsoft has just hired Archana “Archie” Manoharan as their Director of Nuclear Technologies. They brought her on board to look into using small nuclear reactors as a power source for data centers.
A growing market
Microsoft’s Asia-Pacific data center expansion fits the overall growth expected in cloud computing across that region. Research firm Gartner estimates the Asia-Pacific cloud market will reach 143.7 billion dollars in 2024. That would be a 21% increase over 2023.
Building more data centers should also create many new tech jobs in those areas. For example, the posting for the central land acquisition manager role shows it pays between $150,000 and $200,000 per year in base salary.
 greatly. This goal can be seen in a recent Microsoft job posting looking for someone){kind=link}