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Microsoft Azure

by Microsoft · Platform · also known as Azure

Microsoft's public cloud with virtual machines, AKS, Azure Functions, Cosmos DB, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Entra ID identity and Microsoft Foundry for hosted AI models

ProprietaryUsage-basedFreemiumEnterpriseCloud
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Link verified Nov 2, 2026

Overview

Microsoft Azure is the public cloud platform of Microsoft Corporation. It provides virtual machines on Linux and Windows, Azure Kubernetes Service, Azure Functions and App Service for serverless and web hosting, Blob storage, Cosmos DB and managed PostgreSQL and SQL Server databases, and networking and security services, all governed by Microsoft Entra ID, the identity service that also underpins Microsoft 365. Microsoft Foundry (formerly Azure AI Foundry) exposes OpenAI and other foundation models with enterprise controls, and Microsoft Fabric bundles analytics.

Azure is administered through the portal, the az CLI, PowerShell, SDKs, Bicep and ARM templates, or Terraform, with usage-based billing, a free account and reservation discounts. Documentation lives on Microsoft Learn.

Organizations already invested in Microsoft licensing, Active Directory and Windows Server workloads find Azure the natural fit; others encounter a large and sometimes inconsistent service catalogue, regional capacity constraints for GPU and some instance types, and the same cost-management challenges as other hyperscalers.

Capabilities

  • Linux and Windows virtual machines, AKS and serverless Functions
  • Blob, file and disk storage
  • Cosmos DB, Azure Database for PostgreSQL and SQL Database
  • Microsoft Entra ID identity and access management
  • Microsoft Foundry for hosted OpenAI and other models
  • az CLI, PowerShell, Bicep/ARM and Terraform

Typical workflows

  1. Host a web application on App Service with Entra ID sign-in
  2. Call OpenAI models through Microsoft Foundry under enterprise terms
  3. Run Windows Server workloads alongside Linux containers in AKS

Strengths

  • Deep integration with Microsoft 365, Entra ID and Windows workloads
  • Hosted access to OpenAI models with enterprise controls
  • Broad compliance and regional coverage

Limitations

  • Large and uneven service catalogue
  • Capacity constraints for some instance types and regions
  • Cost and governance complexity

Prerequisites

  • Azure subscription with billing

Who it is for

  • Enterprises using Microsoft software
  • Developers building on OpenAI models with enterprise requirements

Alternatives & comparison

AWS leads in catalogue breadth and Google Cloud in analytics and Kubernetes heritage; Azure's distinct advantage is the Microsoft identity and productivity ecosystem. OVHcloud serves those who want servers under European jurisdiction without hyperscaler complexity.

  • Amazon Web Services

    Amazon's public cloud with hundreds of usage-billed services spanning compute (EC2, Lambda), storage (S3), databases (RDS), networking, AI (Bedrock) and analytics

    ProprietaryUsage-based
  • Google Cloud

    Google's public cloud with Compute Engine, GKE, Cloud Run, BigQuery, Cloud Storage and the Vertex AI platform for Gemini and other models

    ProprietaryUsage-based
  • OVHcloud

    European cloud and hosting provider offering dedicated bare-metal servers, public and hosted private cloud, VPS, domains and web hosting from data centers in Europe, Canada and elsewhere

    ProprietaryPaid
Compare Microsoft Azure with its alternatives →

Sources & verification

Primary sources consulted for this record. Claims are tied to the fields each source supports; the automated link checker re-verifies every URL on a schedule.

  • Official documentation
    Azure documentation | Microsoft Learn

    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure

    Supports: capabilities, interfaces

    checked Nov 1, 2026
  • Official site
    Microsoft Azure

    https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us

    Supports: name, summary, capabilities

    checked Nov 1, 2026
  • Pricing page
    Azure Pricing

    https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing

    Supports: pricing_model

    checked Nov 1, 2026
Confidence
High
Reviewed
Nov 1, 2026
Links
Verified · Nov 2, 2026

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