--- description: Microsoft's Azure is the first announced hyperscaler to deploy 3M's Expanded Beam Optical fiber connectivity in AI data centers. title: Azure Becomes First Announced Hyperscaler to Deploy 3M's Expanded Beam Optical Fiber image: https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Storagereview-3M-Microsoft-datacenter.jpg --- [![Storage Review]()](https://storagereview.com/) --- [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/@storagereview) [X (Twitter)](https://twitter.twitter.com/storagereview) [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storagereview/) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/storagereview-com) [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/storagereview?sub_confirmation=1) [Email](mailto:info@storagereview.com) [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/1y6VnznABhHeOSMOmbDTz0) [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/StorageReview/) [Discord](https://discord.gg/TwMHb4azdC) [RSS Feed](https://www.storagereview.com/rss.xml) [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@storagereview) [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/@storagereview) [X (Twitter)](https://twitter.com/storagereview) [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storagereview/) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/storagereview-com) [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/storagereview?sub_confirmation=1) [Email](mailto:info@storagereview.com) [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/1y6VnznABhHeOSMOmbDTz0) [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/StorageReview/) [Discord](https://discord.gg/TwMHb4azdC) [RSS Feed](https://www.storagereview.com/rss.xml) [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@storagereview) [![StorageReview.com](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Storage-Review-2x.png)](https://www.storagereview.com) ≡ Menu - [Home](https://www.storagereview.com/) - [Storage Reviews](https://www.storagereview.com/review) - [End User Reviews](https://www.storagereview.com/consumer) - [Enterprise Reviews](https://www.storagereview.com/enterprise) - [Ubiquiti Reviews](https://www.storagereview.com/best/ubiquiti-reviews) - [SR Merch](https://store.storagereview.com) - [Leaderboards](https://www.storagereview.com/best) - [Best Storage Arrays](https://www.storagereview.com/best/storage-arrays) - [Best Enterprise SSDs](https://www.storagereview.com/best/enterprise-ssds) - [Best Servers](https://www.storagereview.com/best/servers) - [Best Enterprise GPUs](https://www.storagereview.com/best/enterprise-gpus) - [Best Desktops for Local AI](https://www.storagereview.com/best/desktops-local-ai) - [Best Laptops for Local AI](https://www.storagereview.com/best/laptops-local-ai) - [Best Local LLM Tools](https://www.storagereview.com/best/local-llm-tools) - [Agentic AI Hardware](https://www.storagereview.com/best/agentic-ai-hardware) - [Best SSDs & Hard Drives](https://www.storagereview.com/best_drives) - [Best Portable SSDs](https://www.storagereview.com/best/portable-ssds) - [Best Business Laptops](https://www.storagereview.com/best/business-laptops) - [Best Mobile Workstations](https://www.storagereview.com/best/mobile-workstations) - [Best Desktop Workstations](https://www.storagereview.com/best/desktop-workstations) - [Best Mini PCs](https://www.storagereview.com/best/mini-pcs) - [Best Laptop Battery Life](https://www.storagereview.com/best/laptop-battery-life) - [Storage Reference Guide](https://www.storagereview.com/storage-reference-guide) - [About SR](https://www.storagereview.com/about-storagereview) - [StorageReview.com Sweepstakes Rules and Regulations](https://www.storagereview.com/storagereview-com-sweepstakes-rules-and-regulations) Search [Home](https://www.storagereview.com/) » [News](https://www.storagereview.com/news) » Azure Becomes First Announced Hyperscaler to Deploy 3M’s Expanded Beam Optical Fiber # Azure Becomes First Announced Hyperscaler to Deploy 3M’s Expanded Beam Optical Fiber by Harold Fritts on July 17, 2026 [Enterprise](https://www.storagereview.com/enterprise)  ◇  [Networking](https://www.storagereview.com/enterprise/networking) Microsoft and 3M have announced a strategic partnership covering both data center optical connectivity and enterprise AI adoption. Under the July 15 agreement, Azure becomes the first announced hyperscale cloud provider to deploy 3M’s Expanded Beam Optical (EBO) technology across its data centers, while 3M adopts Microsoft’s AI and digital platforms across several of its own business functions. The companies say the arrangement pairs Microsoft’s hyperscale infrastructure and digital tooling with 3M’s materials science and precision manufacturing background, aimed at speeding AI adoption and building out the physical network layer that cloud and AI workloads depend on. ### **EBO Technology Moves Into Azure Data Centers** The core of the infrastructure side of the deal is 3M’s EBO technology, which Microsoft will implement within Azure data centers as it scales capacity for generative AI and other high-performance workloads. Traditional fiber connectors rely on direct physical contact between polished ferrule end-faces. This design is sensitive to dust and debris and requires regular cleaning and inspection to maintain signal quality. EBO instead uses lenses to expand and collimate the light beam across an air gap between connectors, thereby reducing the connection’s sensitivity to contamination and physical wear. According to the companies, this makes EBO connections faster to install, more tolerant of dust and handling, and less demanding to maintain than direct-contact designs, which matters in dense, high-churn data center environments where cabling is installed and serviced constantly. ![3M Expanded Beam Optical](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Storagereview-3M-Microsoft-datacenter.jpg) Microsoft’s early use of the technology points to shorter deployment windows in specific data center scenarios, as well as stable optical performance in live environments where dust exposure and frequent handling during installation and maintenance are routine. For operators managing large fiber counts across AI clusters, that combination of faster installation and reduced maintenance overhead is the more practical selling point than the underlying optics itself. 3M is scaling production of EBO components to meet demand from hyperscalers and other data center operators building out AI infrastructure. The company has adapted its single-mode EBO design, developed over decades of work in materials science and precision manufacturing, for high-volume data center deployment. 3M was also involved in establishing the EBO Multi-Source Agreement (MSA), an industry effort to standardize the interface so that EBO components from different manufacturers can interoperate, which is typically a precondition for broader adoption across the supply chain rather than a single-vendor arrangement. Cliff Henson, corporate vice president of Cloud Supply Chain at Microsoft, framed the EBO integration as part of a broader pattern of incorporating partner technology into Azure’s infrastructure to improve deployment speed, resilience, and scalability, providing customers with a more reliable environment for cloud and AI workloads. ### **3M Applies Microsoft’s AI Tools to Its Own Operations** On the enterprise side, 3M will roll out Microsoft’s AI and digital tools across parts of its transformation plan, including customer service, finance, sales, and marketing. The intent is to streamline internal processes, improve decision-making, and raise both customer satisfaction and employee productivity. One concrete example already underway involves Microsoft Frontier Company engineers working alongside 3M’s Global Business Services group to automate customer order management. The two teams are building an AI-driven workflow that handles credit checks, delinquency assessments, and related system updates, with human-in-the-loop controls and a dashboard for real-time monitoring and approvals built into the process. The intent is to reduce manual processing, make the workflow more consistent, speed up cash flow, and free 3M staff to focus on higher-value work, while making the underlying process more scalable and auditable. 3M executive vice president and chief strategy officer Jon Van Wyck described AI as a lever for accelerating growth, improving customer experience, and increasing team effectiveness, and pointed to the Microsoft partnership as a way to optimize enterprise operations and build out AI infrastructure with an emphasis on practical, mutually beneficial outcomes rather than open-ended experimentation. ### **Next Up** Microsoft and 3M said they plan to continue the partnership through ongoing technical collaboration, direct engagement between engineering and commercial teams, and joint work across Microsoft’s data center and device ecosystem. The stated focus areas are reliability, faster deployment, higher interconnect density, and long-term scalability, drawing on 3M’s background in materials science, optical connectivity, and manufacturing. Most notable is the EBO Multi-Source Agreement rather than the Azure deployment. A single hyperscaler adopting a new connector design is a data point; an MSA aimed at standardizing that design across vendors determines whether expanded-beam optics becomes a broader alternative to direct-contact fiber connectors industry-wide, rather than a one-off implementation limited to Microsoft’s own data centers. **Engage with StorageReview** [Newsletter](https://www.storagereview.com/storage_newsletter) |  [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/StorageReview "Opens in a new window") | Podcast  [iTunes](https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/storagereview-com-storage-reviews/id1060681115 "Opens in a new window")/ [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/1y6VnznABhHeOSMOmbDTz0 "Opens in a new window") |  [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storagereview/ "Opens in a new window") |  [Twitter](https://twitter.com/storagereview "Opens in a new window") |  [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@storagereview? "Opens in a new window") |  [RSS Feed](https://www.storagereview.com/rss.xml) ![]() ### Harold Fritts I have been in the tech industry since IBM created Selectric. My background, though, is writing. So I decided to get out of the pre-sales biz and return to my roots, doing a bit of writing but still being involved in technology. 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