Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing platform operated by Microsoft. It provides services for compute, storage, networking, databases, analytics, artificial intelligence, developer tooling, identity, security and application hosting.
Azure is not a single data centre. It is a platform built across Microsoft's data centre estate and managed through Azure services, APIs, portals, command-line tools and automation systems.
Background
Microsoft announced the platform as Windows Azure in 2008 and launched it commercially in 2010. The name changed to Microsoft Azure in 2014 as the platform moved beyond a Windows-only identity.
Azure became one of Microsoft's main businesses as enterprise computing moved from owned servers and private data centres towards public cloud and hybrid cloud. Microsoft reports Azure inside its cloud and server businesses rather than as a standalone public company.
Main Service Areas
Azure includes many product families. Common areas include:
- Compute: virtual machines, container services, serverless functions and batch processing.
- Storage: object storage, file storage, managed disks, queues and backup services.
- Networking: virtual networks, load balancing, DNS, gateways, private connectivity and content delivery.
- Databases: managed SQL, NoSQL and open-source database services.
- Identity and security: Microsoft Entra integration, key management, monitoring and security tools.
- Developer tools: Azure DevOps, deployment templates, SDKs and integrations with GitHub.
- AI and analytics: machine learning, data platforms and managed AI services.
The exact product list changes over time as Microsoft adds, renames and retires services.
How It Is Used
Customers use Azure to host websites, APIs, business applications, databases, virtual desktops, analytics pipelines, backups, test environments and machine learning workloads.
Large organisations often use Azure alongside existing infrastructure. A hybrid design might keep some systems on private networks while using Azure for public-facing services, disaster recovery, identity, monitoring or extra capacity.
Pricing and Management
Azure is mostly priced by resource use, such as compute time, storage consumed, data transfer, service tier and region. Reserved capacity, savings plans and enterprise agreements can change the effective cost.
Good Azure management usually involves budgets, tags, access control, monitoring, backups, patching, network design and regular review of unused resources. Poor management can leave expensive services running or expose systems to avoidable security risks.
Business Importance
Azure is central to Microsoft's cloud strategy. In Microsoft's 2025 annual report, the company said Azure surpassed 75 billion US dollars in revenue for the first time. Azure also supports Microsoft's broader cloud, developer, security and AI businesses.
See Also
References
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