The Azure cloud platform is more than 200 products and cloud services designed to help you bring new solutions to life—to solve today’s challenges and create the future.

Build, run, and manage applications across multiple clouds, on-premises, and at the edge, with the tools and frameworks of your choice.

What is cloud computing?

Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of IT resources over the Internet with pay-as-you-go pricing. Instead of buying, owning, and maintaining physical data centers and servers, you can access technology services, such as computing power, storage, and databases, on an as-needed basis from a cloud provider like Microsoft Azure.

What other customers are using Azure?

Of the Fortune 500 companies, 95 percent rely on Azure for trusted cloud services. Companies of all sizes and maturities use Azure in their digital transformation.

How does Azure compare to other clouds?

Azure is the only consistent hybrid cloud, delivers unparalleled developer productivity, provides comprehensive, multilayered security, including the largest compliance coverage of any cloud provider, and you’ll pay less for Azure as AWS is five times more expensive than Azure for Windows Server and SQL Server.

Will Azure work for my industry?

Azure provides solutions for all industries, through proven combinations of cloud products and services. Address your industry-specific business challenges today, and prepare for the future by innovating with Azure solutions.

Will Azure really save me money?

With no upfront cost, you only pay for what you use. Azure provides flexible purchasing and pricing options for all your cloud scenarios, such as the Azure Hybrid Benefit, and offers extensive tools to help manage your cloud spend.

Is Azure secure?

Yes, security and privacy are foundational for Azure. Microsoft is committed to the highest levels of trust, transparency, standards conformance, and regulatory compliance—with the most comprehensive set of compliance offerings of any cloud service provider.

Is it only for Windows apps and services?

No. Azure supports open source technologies, so you can use the tools and technologies you prefer. Run virtually any application using your data source, with your operating system, on your device. With Azure, you have choices.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

IaaS contains the basic building blocks for cloud IT. It typically provides access to networking features, computers (virtual or on dedicated hardware), and data storage space. IaaS gives you the highest level of flexibility and management control over your IT resources. It is most similar to the existing IT resources with which many IT departments and developers are familiar. 

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

PaaS removes the need for you to manage underlying infrastructure (usually hardware and operating systems), and allows you to focus on the deployment and management of your applications. This helps you be more efficient as you don’t need to worry about resource procurement, capacity planning, software maintenance, patching, or any of the other undifferentiated heavy lifting involved in running your application. 

Software as a Service (SaaS)

SaaS provides you with a complete product that is run and managed by the service provider. In most cases, people referring to SaaS are referring to end-user applications (such as web-based email). With a SaaS offering, you don’t have to think about how the service is maintained or how the underlying infrastructure is managed. You only need to think about how you will use that particular software.

Find out more here.