US software giant Microsoft Corp. said Tuesday that it will strengthen cloud computing services in South Korea by capitalizing on its "data center regions" in the country.

Earlier, Microsoft opened two data center regions in Seoul and the southern port city of Busan for its open cloud computing platform called Azure. The term, data center region, refers to a large complex of facilities that serve as a given geographic location, considered a core technology of Microsoft's cloud computing service

"Microsoft will provide world-class safety and performance at new 'Azure Regions' located in Seoul and Busan," Alfred Koh, CEO of Microsoft Korea, told reporters in Seoul.

Microsoft offers both the Azure public cloud services and its Office 365 hosted applications from 38 Azure regions across the world, with 13 of them located in Asia.

"Local Azure regions will provide various services," said Koh, adding that local centers improve safety and can deal with various local regulations.

"The company aims to double revenues from cloud computing services by sometime next year and increase partner companies by 30 percent to establish our No. 1 market status," Koh said.

Cloud computer services have become one of the core infrastructures for Internet of Things technology, big data and other new Internet technologies. Major players, including Amazon and IBM, have become front-runners in the South Korean market for cloud computing services.

Amazon opened its new data center in Seoul last year, marking its fifth such center in the Asian region. IBM and SK C&C, a Korean computing service firm, jointly built a cluster of data centers in Pangyo, south of Seoul. Oracle also has been stepping up its push for cloud computing services in Korea, by holding a large-scale technology fair in January. (Yonhap)