Symantec moves to Azure to 'streamline operations'

Security vendor moves 105 Norton services to Microsoft's cloud and is reportedly looking to close six datacentres

Symantec is moving over 100 services to Microsoft Azure in a move which it claims will "streamline operations".

The vendor has moved 105 critical services for Norton to Microsoft's cloud, and will also use Azure to develop internal services around container infrastructure, machine learning and platform as a service.

Symantec is also looking to reduce its datacentre portfolio, according to Fortune, and will look to shut six of its datacentres largely as a result of the shift.

"Our focus is helping organisations, governments and people secure their most important data, wherever it lives," said Symantec CIO Sheila Jordan.

"The cloud is key to our strategy to accelerate innovation internally, streamline operations, and ultimately protect and empower our customers in the digital age.

"Microsoft has been a strong partner and has helped us to painlessly execute our strategy, far exceeding its commitment to ensure our success."

Symantec is now in the process of moving its e-commerce system over to Azure to, again, "streamline" how Norton is purchased by customers.

Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of cloud at Microsoft, said: "Symantec and Microsoft share a commitment to online security, and it's exciting to work with Sheila and team to harness the power of the cloud to extend this ongoing effort.

"This demonstrates how Azure is uniquely able to handle the biggest, most demanding cloud services in the world."