AWS Europe (Zurich) Region allows customers to run workloads and securely store data in Switzerland while serving end users with even lower latency
Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com, Inc. company, today announced the launch of the AWS Europe (Zurich) Region. Starting today, developers, startups, entrepreneurs, and enterprises, as well as government, education, and nonprofit organizations, will have even greater choice for running their applications and serving end users from data centers located in Switzerland, using advanced AWS technologies to drive innovation. AWS also released an economic impact study estimating that the company’s spending on the construction and operation of the new Region will support an average of more than 2,500 full-time jobs annually at external businesses in the Swiss data center supply chain, with a planned $5.9 billion (5.9 billion Swiss francs) investment through 2036. The AWS Europe (Zurich) Region will also add an estimated $16.3 billion (16.3 billion Swiss francs) to Switzerland’s gross domestic product (GDP) during the next 15 years. For more information about AWS Global Infrastructure, visit aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-infrastructure.
“From startups and midsized businesses to enterprises and government organizations, thousands of commercial, nonprofit, and public sector organizations across Switzerland are engaging their end users and growing globally with the support of AWS,” said Prasad Kalyanaraman, vice president of Infrastructure Services at AWS. “With the new AWS Europe (Zurich) Region, we have seven AWS Regions and 21 Availability Zones across Europe in Frankfurt, Ireland, London, Milan, Paris, Stockholm, and now Zurich. This is a continuation of our investment to support customers of all kinds, help startups scale and grow, enable technical skills development, and help organizations create cloud-powered applications that reinvent services for end users.”
“We are delighted that AWS continues to invest in Switzerland, enabling new possibilities for businesses and citizens to leverage innovative cloud technologies,” said Dieter Egli, government councillor and head of the Department of Economic and Interior Affairs of the canton of Aargau, Switzerland. “The opening of the new AWS infrastructure Region is a key milestone for our regional enterprises and the digital transformation agenda that will further promote and accelerate the rapid introduction of new digital solutions in our technology and engineering location in the heart of Europe.”
With the launch of the AWS Europe (Zurich) Region, AWS has 90 Availability Zones across 28 geographic regions, with announced plans to launch 21 more Availability Zones and seven more AWS Regions in Australia, Canada, India, Israel, New Zealand, Spain, and Thailand. AWS Regions are composed of Availability Zones that place infrastructure in separate and distinct geographic locations. The AWS Europe (Zurich) Region consists of three Availability Zones and is the seventh AWS Region in Europe. Availability Zones are located far enough from each other to support customers’ business continuity, but near enough to provide low latency for high availability applications that use multiple Availability Zones. Each Availability Zone has independent power, cooling, and physical security and is connected through redundant, ultra-low latency networks. AWS customers focused on high availability can design their applications to run in multiple Availability Zones to achieve even greater fault tolerance. The launch of the AWS Europe (Zurich) Region will enable local customers with data residency requirements to store data securely in Switzerland, while providing customers with even lower latency across the country.
AWS is planning to invest an estimated $5.9 billion (approx. 5.9 billion Swiss francs) in Switzerland during the next 15 years through the new AWS Europe (Zurich) Region. This investment includes capital expenditures on the construction of data centers, operational expenses related to ongoing utilities and facility costs, and the purchase of goods and services from regional businesses. The investment is also estimated to support an average of more than 2,500 jobs annually during this time. These jobs, including construction, facility maintenance, engineering, telecommunications, and jobs within the country’s broader economy, will be part of the AWS supply chain in Switzerland. The construction and operation of AWS infrastructure in Switzerland is also estimated to add $16.3 billion (approx. 16.3 billion Swiss francs) to Switzerland’s GDP during the next 15 years.