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Azure infrastructure & cloud

Azure is rarely the destination on its own - it's the platform on which the next decade of business applications, data and resilience get built. Done well, it lowers cost and risk. Done badly, it does the opposite.

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What it is

Azure is Microsoft's public cloud: compute, storage, networking, databases, AI and developer services consumed on demand. It underpins everything from a single VM to global SaaS platforms, and integrates tightly with Microsoft 365 identity and security.

What's typically inside

  • Compute: VMs, App Service, AKS, Functions
  • Data: SQL, Cosmos DB, Synapse, Fabric
  • Networking: VNet, Front Door, ExpressRoute
  • Identity and governance: Entra, policy, landing zones
  • Resilience: backup, site recovery, regions
  • AI: Azure OpenAI and AI Foundry

Where it shows up

Common use cases

  • Migration and landing zone design
  • Cost optimisation and FinOps disciplines
  • Resilience, backup and disaster recovery
  • Refactoring legacy workloads to PaaS or containers

Working with a partner

The role of a managed support partner

An Azure-led partner brings architectural depth, ongoing platform engineering, and operational discipline - they run with you, not just to you.

Diligence

Questions to ask any partner

  • Q.What does your landing zone include and why?
  • Q.How do you keep our spend honest month after month?
  • Q.Who owns the platform once you've built it?
  • Q.How do you treat DR and backup as first-class concerns?

Watch out for

Common pitfalls

  • Lift-and-shift with no plan to modernise afterwards
  • No FinOps until the bill triggers a board panic
  • Architecture that nobody internal can support
  • Skipping identity and governance in favour of speed

Often adopted to address

Business needs this fits

Getting more from cloud Scaling your IT as you grow

Related solutions

Often deployed alongside

Microsoft Security

Microsoft has quietly become one of the largest security vendors in the world. Defender, Sentinel, Entra and Purview cover identity, endpoints, email, cloud and data - but only if they're configured and operated properly.

Explore Microsoft Security

Microsoft 365 support

Microsoft 365 is the day-to-day backbone of most businesses - email, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Intune. The question is rarely whether to use it, and almost always how to run it well.

Explore Microsoft 365

Dynamics 365 & business applications

Dynamics 365, Business Central and the Power Platform sit at the intersection of technology and business process. Sales, service, finance, operations - implemented well, they're transformative; implemented badly, they're an expensive CRM.

Explore Dynamics 365

Sector context

Azure by industry

How Azure typically gets used in the sectors we work in most. Useful if you want context that matches your business.

Azure for Manufacturing

Plant-floor uptime, OT/IT segmentation and ERP resilience.

See IT support for Manufacturing

Azure for Retail

EPOS resilience, PCI scope and seasonal joiner-leaver volume.

See IT support for Retail

Azure for Construction

Site connectivity, CDE document control and Cyber Essentials.

See IT support for Construction

Azure for Accountancy

Busy-season resilience, BEC protection and practice software.

See IT support for Accountancy

Azure for Legal

Matter-centric SharePoint, SRA evidence and email impersonation.

See IT support for Legal

Ready when you are

Find a Azure specialist.

Tell us a bit about what you're trying to achieve and we'll come back the same day with an introduction to a specialist from our network.

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Microsoft 365Microsoft SecurityDynamics 365Copilot & AIM365 CopilotCopilot StudioEndpoints

FAQs

Common questions, answered.

Still unsure about something? Drop us a note and we'll get back to you the same day.

Talk to us about your IT needs

Most of our network is Microsoft-led, but the best Azure partners are also pragmatic about adjacent tools where it makes sense. We'll match you to a partner who fits your stack, not just the licence.

Related insights

Insights on Azure and related IT support topics.

All insights