Microsoft will reduce GitHub's independence and move its servers to Azure

Image via GitHub

GitHub is becoming more dependent on Microsoft as the Redmond tech giant plans to migrate the platform from its own data centers directly to Azure over the coming months. This marks the first major change since the previous CEO, Thomas Dohmke, announced his departure to start a new venture. Instead of appointing a replacement, Microsoft is integrating GitHub and its leadership into the company's CoreAI organization.

According to The Verge, an internal announcement was made earlier this week by Vladimir Fedorov, GitHub's Chief Technology Officer, citing a major capacity problem. In a note to employees, Fedorov wrote that GitHub is "constrained on data server capacity with limited opportunities to bring more capacity online in the North Virginia region".

Fedorov called the migration "existential for GitHub to have the ability to scale to meet the demands of AI and Copilot", adding that this huge infrastructure project will require teams to delay the launch of new features in favor of focusing on the migration.

The team hopes to finish the main body of work within the next year and be fully off its own data centers within 24 months. It appears Microsoft's senior leadership is throwing its full weight behind the plan, with Fedorov stating, "CoreAI and Azure are mobilizing to get us the capacity and anything else we need to unlock us".

Kyle Daigle, GitHub's Chief Operating Officer, confirmed the migration in a statement to The Verge, saying:

GitHub is migrating to Azure over the next 24 months because we believe it's the right move for our community and our teams. We need to scale faster to meet the explosive growth in developer activity and AI-powered workflows, and our current infrastructure is hitting its limits.

The Verge also claims that the integration goes beyond just folding the company into CoreAI and the migration to Azure servers. GitHub employees are now being encouraged to switch to Microsoft Teams for calls and meetings from Slack because it makes cross-company communication "easier".