---
# source: src/content/solutions/en/microsoft/microsoft-azure.md
# route:  /en/solutions/microsoft/microsoft-azure/
title: Azure
tags: [cloud, security, modern-workplace]
vendors: [microsoft]
summary: Microsoft's public cloud, with regions in Switzerland. Seldom a replacement for the datacentre, often the second half of one.
photoNeed: An Azure or Microsoft 365 admin surface on screen, being worked in rather than presented
stub: false
draft: false
kind: product
addon: false
vendorName: Microsoft Azure
status: current
practice: >
  Draft, not yet reviewed. Lifting virtual machines across almost never pays for itself with our customers. What does pay is the things that are expensive to own: a second site, test environments that exist for a fortnight, peak load. We look at network traffic first, because that is where the surprises are.
practiceReview: true
---

## What it is

Azure provides compute, storage, networking and platform services on subscription. For
Swiss customers the relevant detail is that there are regions in the country, which
satisfies some data residency requirements without an exception being written.

## What it is for

Load that varies, and jobs that are disproportionately expensive to own. A second site for
recovery is the most common example: the cost lands when it is needed rather than
continuously.

For steady baseline load, your own hardware is still cheaper.

## What to watch

The bill does not come from where you expect. Compute can be planned; outbound traffic and
storage transactions much less so. Build a hybrid estate with the application on one side
and its data on the other, and you pay for every crossing.