Snowflake plans to deploy a local instance on the AWS (Asia Pacific) New Zealand region, aiming to support customer data residency and address local demand for data cloud services.
The planned deployment is expected to become operational in the first half of 2026.
With this move, Snowflake’s customers in New Zealand will have the ability to keep their data onshore, enhancing adherence to data governance standards and supporting data sovereignty requirements. The service, leveraging AWS’s new local infrastructure, is intended to benefit both public and private sector organisations by offering them the flexibility and scalability typical of Snowflake’s AI Data Cloud platform.
Snowflake’s announcement is part of a broader commitment to provide its customers closer proximity to their data and maintain robust standards of security and resilience. The local instance is designed to address growing interest in solutions that combine compliance with national data residency regulations and the capacity for elastic, scalable data management and analytics.
Customer and partner feedback
“Today’s announcement is a key milestone as it will allow our customers in New Zealand – from the public sector to enterprise, healthcare to education – to innovate faster and more securely than ever before.”
“AI is set to become a key driver of economic growth, productivity and success, and we are confident this planned deployment will deliver all these benefits and more to our local customers as New Zealand upskills for the future. It’s a testament to our commitment to the local market and our partnership with AWS.”
BNZ, a customer of Snowflake, responded positively to the announcement. Paul Norman, Chief Information Officer at BNZ, said:
“Keeping our customers’ data safe is paramount. Snowflake’s future availability on the AWS New Zealand Region will give Kiwis more flexibility to create and deliver new data-driven services. This added onshore option will help give people confidence that data stays in Aotearoa and can be accessed quickly and securely.”
Romain Groleau, Technology Lead for Accenture in New Zealand, also commented on the new deployment:
“As a strategic partner to both Snowflake and AWS, supporting some of the largest client transformations in New Zealand, the planned launch of this platform in the region will help us meet growing demand from our clients for data sovereignty solutions that keep information within national borders. Together, we can help our local clients – particularly those in highly regulated industries – accelerate cloud-powered AI adoption and drive innovation and growth.”
AWS regional infrastructure
AWS’s (Asia Pacific) New Zealand Region represents a NZD $7.5 billion investment in local infrastructure.
The new region comprises three separate Availability Zones, each providing independent power, cooling, and physical security. These zones are distributed across Auckland to aid business continuity and are interconnected through redundant, low-latency networks to optimise high-availability applications.
The AWS commitment to infrastructure resilience and low latency supports organisations that require consistent performance and reliability, especially when maintaining mission-critical workloads within geographical and legal boundaries. Snowflake’s local deployment will make use of these capabilities to help ensure customer data remains within New Zealand and meets regulatory or industry requirements for data locality.
Benefit to various sectors
The ability to process and store data locally is expected to appeal to a range of sectors in New Zealand, including healthcare, government, and finance, which often operate under strict data sovereignty and privacy obligations. As AI tools become an increasing part of digital transformation efforts, the combination of secure infrastructure and onshore data processing is projected to hold growing relevance for organisations looking to harness artificial intelligence for both operational efficiency and new service development.
Snowflake’s forthcoming local service is positioned to assist enterprises and agencies seeking to innovate while staying within the country’s evolving regulatory frameworks and digital strategies. The deployment is also expected to support the national ambition for an upskilled workforce in AI and data management as businesses shift towards cloud-powered services.