Pure Storage and Microsoft are partnering to streamline Azure migration and hybrid-cloud modernization—reducing cost and complexity, strengthening data security and sovereignty, enabling AI-ready data platforms, and unifying Kubernetes and VM management.
Organizations are actively looking for ways to modernize infrastructure to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Yet, for many, the path to modernization is fraught with challenges. Managing hybrid workloads often introduces painful trade-offs in performance, cost, and security. We believe it’s time for relief, and our collaboration with Microsoft is engineered to simplify this journey and eliminate that complexity.
Challenge 1: Modernization without Spiraling Costs
The Relief: Ease of Migration and Management
Organizations want the agility of cloud computing but also want to keep the operational familiarity built over years of managing VMs and their infrastructure along with an optimized cost profile at scale. Many cloud migrations stall under the weight of complexity because legacy apps weren’t built for the cloud, and rearchitecting them just to move data is time-consuming and expensive. But when on-premises environments are simply “lifted and shifted” to the cloud, customers are hit with unexpected sticker shock.
Pure Storage Cloud Azure Native gives customers a simple migration experience that doesn’t require refactoring applications. The fully managed solution delivers greater flexibility and lower costs—50% lower in many cases—customers can move workloads at their own pace without introducing operational risk. They can provision, manage, and monitor directly through the Azure console—no separate UIs or bolt-on solution required. Pure Storage Cloud Azure Native is generally available for Azure VMware Solution (AVS) and in private preview for Azure VMs.
Challenge 2: Maintaining Control and Data Protection in an Era of Constant Threats
The Relief: Security and Sovereignty for Hybrid Cloud Environments
Cybersecurity remains top of mind for businesses, evolving from a simple IT checklist into a core business strategy. Leaders are under pressure to address the severe risks of data loss, which carry significant legal, financial, and operational costs. An effective resilience and recovery plan requires an end-to-end framework, one that not only prepares for outages and assesses threats but can withstand sophisticated attacks and most critically, recover at scale.
Pure Storage is designed to deliver this comprehensive resilience. We empower technical leaders with the visibility to detect compromised data and accelerate disaster recovery. Advanced data protection capabilities are built in, including immutable snapshots, replication, and copy data management. This focus on resilience also delivers operational simplicity, giving businesses confidence in the security of their data across on-premises, edge, and cloud deployments.
The recently announced integration between FlashArray and Microsoft Azure Local extends Azure directly into a customer’s data center. This solution is ideal for organizations with additional data sovereignty requirements looking for enhanced cybersecurity features and consistent experience between on-premises and cloud environments. Azure Local enables organizations to run mission-critical workloads that demand local data residency or strict compliance with vendor flexibility. Customers can leverage trusted, high-performance, and scalable infrastructure from Pure Storage alongside a familiar Azure experience as they continue to modernize their hybrid cloud.
Challenge 3: Preparing for AI without Starting from Scratch
The Relief: AI-ready Data Platforms That Build on What You Have
Modernization isn’t just about migrating workloads to the cloud; it’s about preparing organizations for what’s next—including the demands of AI. Microsoft’s SQL Server 2025 provides a path to AI-driven applications without forcing a full replatform by bringing vector database capability right to SQL Server.
SQL Server running Pure Storage® FlashArray™ amplifies these gains, delivering up to 3X more performance density per rack unit and up to 60% smaller AI vector embedding storage footprints. This results in better predictability, performance, and massive efficiencies, giving enterprises a low-risk path to AI adoption that builds on their existing investments while enabling next-generation capabilities. Organizations can accelerate innovation without sacrificing reliability or uptime.
Challenge 4: Managing Kubernetes and Hybrid Complexity
The Relief: Unified Data Management across Clouds with Portworx and Azure
A unified approach enables organizations to migrate and modernize applications without the need for extensive retraining or disruption to existing operations, while providing the flexibility to scale workloads across Azure and other environments.
Portworx® delivers enterprise-grade data protection, automation, and mobility for containerized workloads, allowing organizations to manage Kubernetes environments alongside traditional applications across hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructures.
Through Portworx for KubeVirt, enterprises gain a cost-efficient and operationally consistent pathway for migrating virtual machines (VMs) to Kubernetes. When combined with the automation capabilities provided by familiar VMware workflows, this integration minimizes overprovisioning and simplifies lifecycle management. As a result, organizations can safely accelerate their migration strategies, running VMs and containers concurrently on Kubernetes while improving agility, security, and cost efficiency.
Available for both Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) and Azure Red Hat OpenShift (ARO), Portworx further streamlines procurement processes and allows organizations to leverage existing Azure credits for enhanced operational flexibility and value realization.
The Answer: A Clear, Cohesive Path to Infrastructure Modernization
From on premises to the cloud, Pure Storage is helping organizations modernize on their terms. Businesses can maintain operational familiarity, protect critical data, and accelerate AI adoption all while reducing complexity and cost.
