What is Microsoft Azure

What is Microsoft Azure and How Does it Work?

May 3rd, 2024
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This blog acts as a comprehensive guide to understanding 'what is Microsoft Azure', how it works & what other aspects. It's everything one needs to commence their learning journey!

Cloud computing today is the IT infrastructure that steers new digital businesses. With more use cases and applications of cloud computing, the number of platforms are increasing too. But even amid this, the one name that is going steady as a cloud computing provider is Microsoft Azure.

The cloud computing market is expected to cross $1 trillion by 2028. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Azure market share in the cloud infrastructure market was 24%, only a little short from its competitor Amazon. These digits reflect the stagnant and constant expansion of the cloud sphere & how much significance Azure holds here. This blog discusses central aspects of Microsoft Azure and its working. But exactly what is Microsoft Azure?

What Is Microsoft Azure?

So, what is Microsoft Azure? Microsoft Azure is a leading platform for cloud computing. It's an online portal that enables businesses to access and also manage various cloud resources and services offered by Microsoft. The resources and services are chosen as per the requirements of the enterprises and that is also how the cost is calculated.

It was launched in 2010, which means that it got a significantly later start than its top competitor, AWS. Anyone can begin for free and then make the most of its pay-as-you-go (PAYG) model. Its solutions include SaaS, PaaS and IaaS.

Explore igmGuru's Microsoft Azure Administrator training program to accelerate your career in cloud technology.

How Does Azure Work?

Microsoft Azure employs a technology called virtualization. It is used to separate the tight coupling present between the CPU and the OS of a computer with a hypervisor, an abstraction layer. The hypervisor imitates real computer and CPU functions in a virtual machine (VM). This in turn enables various VMs to work on one physical machine.

These VMs are managed by the Azure infrastructure. This delivers services like storage and computing power that help the business in scaling.

Azure Products And Services

There are around two dozen Azure products and services available. This list has the names to look for.

  • Compute
  • Web
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Mobile
  • Analytics
  • DevOps
  • migration
  • AI & ML
  • IoT
  • Management & Governance
  • Security
  • Databases
  • Media & Content Delivery Network (CDN)
  • Identity
  • Mixed Reality
  • Development
  • Integration
  • blockchain
  • Containers
  • Intune

What is Microsoft Azure Used for?

Many people wonder 'what is Microsoft Azure used for'. Well, Azure is being used by 95% of the Fortune 500 companies. This means that different sectors are utilizing it and here are some industries where it's used.

  1. Government

Azure is used by governments around the world (US and UK here) to manage top projects like aerospace and military. It promotes secure remote collaboration, protects against cyber attacks and protects citizen data.

  1. Healthcare

Azure features like AI and mixed reality prove beneficial for both private and public healthcare providers. It's apt for storing staff credentials, enhancing patient privacy and outcomes or moving within organizations.

  1. CRM Software

Customer relationship management enables enterprises to manage their relationship with its existing and potential customers. Azure is used by Salesforce, the top CRM software globally.

  1. Finance

Privacy is such an important must-tick for every business and especially for those companies that provide financial services. Azure's AI is useful in various cases that are prone to human error and bias. It automates repetitive processes and leaves space for employees to focus on skill-driven tasks.

  1. Retail Space

Azure helps enterprises in personalizing customer experiences and driving sales automatically via analytics. This keeps agility in supply chains, ensuring there's always enough stock to stay updated with the demand.

You May Also Read - Top Azure Interview Questions [2024]

Azure Pricing and Costs

There are various different services offered by Azure, which have been mentioned previously in this blog. These can be consumed on-premises, hybrid or in public cloud implementations. Depending upon the services picked and their consumption, there are different Azure pricing and costs.

  • A free tier is offered wherein certain services can be used free of cost for 12 months.
  • Some services are free forever.
  • Most services can be utilized as per the PAYG model. Thus, only paying for what's used.
  • There are heavy discounts for reserved and spot instances.

Microsoft Azure Certification Path


[Latest role-based certifications offered by Microsoft Azure] A Microsoft Azure certification validates possession of skills, expertise and knowledge of working within the Microsoft cloud computing system. It's apt for developers, AI professionals, data professionals and IT professionals. This credential means knowing about cloud-based services use cases.

It is great to land a job in an associated field and advance the career as per one's aspirations.

There are four levels to these certifications-
  • Fundamentals
  • Associate
  • Expert
  • Specialty

Top Azure Jobs

After earning an Azure certification, many different job opportunities open up. These opportunities depend highly on the certification earned, along with years of experience, existing skill set and nature of expertise.

Here are the top Azure jobs to consider along with their average yearly pay on the junior level (0-3 years) -
  • Azure Security Engineer - $120k
  • Azure Developer - $115k
  • Azure Solution Architect - $130k
  • Azure AI Engineer - 164k
  • Azure Consultant - $108k
  • Azure DevOps Engineer - $125k
  • Azure Administrator - $80k
  • Azure Data Scientist - $120k
  • Azure Data Engineer - $111k

Wrap-Up

Now that the fundamentals around 'what is Microsoft Azure' is out of the way, the path to further exploration opens up. It's possible to learn more about the world of Azure by enrolling in a good course after deciding which certification is your goal.

There are endless opportunities and future scope in this field since cloud computing is expanding its roots too.

FAQs For What Is Microsoft Azure

Question. What is the basic use of Azure?

The basic use of Azure is utilizing it as a platform that hosts databases (DBs) in the cloud. It can be used for various things like app development, data & analytics, IoT, AI, hybrid cloud, etc.

Question. Does Azure require coding?

No, there is no need to have any coding knowledge to start a career in this field. Automated ML and pre-built ML models are used to create AI models.

Question. What is the benefit of using Azure?

A big benefit of using Azure is the minimal expense incurred by organizations. It's PAYG pricing plan helps organizations save money and still get their work done.

Question. What language is used in Azure?

This platform supports various programming languages such as Python, JavaScript, Node.js and .NET.

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