Microsoft is expanding its cloud and artificial intelligence offerings to give Canadian organizations more control over their data and computing infrastructure, as governments and businesses reassess their dependence on U.S. technology companies. 

The U.S. tech giant announced new tools Tuesday that will let customers run more of its cloud and AI services on infrastructure they own and control. Microsoft also introduced tools to let customers monitor where and how the company stores their data to manage security risks within its public cloud.

The changes build on a digital sovereignty plan Microsoft unveiled last December alongside a $7.5-billion commitment to expand its Canadian data centres over two years. The company promised to give customers more options for keeping their data in Canada, run its cloud computing services on their own infrastructure and challenge U.S. government demands for Canadian customer data if there was legal grounds to do so.

Those commitments came amid growing concerns about the potential for Washington to compel U.S. companies to turn over data they control under the CLOUD Act, even when that information is stored abroad.

Microsoft said the new features would make it easier for customers to move between systems connected to its public cloud and those operating independently or entirely offline. That will give governments and businesses flexibility to log off and keep their systems running in the event of a cyberattack or connectivity outage, for example.

Microsoft is also adding more encryption technology for customers using their own servers so they can protect sensitive information while their computers process it.

Alistair Speirs, general manager of global infrastructure at Microsoft Azure, said some of the new features would give customers added protection from potential attempts from the governments to access their data. “Microsoft has no ability to pass over data that’s running on a customer’s server in a customer’s environment,” he said, referring to systems operating entirely offline.

Speirs said Canada, Europe and the Middle East have been driving demand for more digital sovereignty features. He added that customers are weighing the benefits of greater control over their technology against the cost of operating their own infrastructure and the convenience of using public clouds such as those operated by Microsoft.