DC CORE
Azure Virtual Machines provide flexible Microsoft cloud infrastructure with a wide ecosystem of identity, network and management services. DC Core provides a more deliberately bounded managed environment in which the infrastructure and its day-to-day operating controls can be contracted together.
SHORT ANSWER
Azure is a strong fit when teams need large-scale regional choice, Microsoft identity and licensing integration, multiple platform services, or infrastructure that an internal cloud team will automate and govern directly.
DC Core can define and operate the hosting, access, network, monitoring, patching and recovery controls around a workload, with the application's remaining responsibilities stated separately.[1]
DETAILED COMPARISON
Azure provides mature controls for private access, backup and governance. The procurement question is who configures and continuously operates them.
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| Area | DC Core managed cloud | Azure VM-centred design |
|---|---|---|
| Service model | Managed infrastructure with an agreed responsibility matrix around the selected workload.[1] | Azure Virtual Machines are IaaS. Microsoft's shared-responsibility guidance says the customer manages VMs, operating systems, applications and IaaS network controls; Microsoft manages the physical platform.[3] |
| Provisioning | Engineer-led discovery and design establish dependencies, residency, access, backup and operational ownership before migration or production handover.[1] | VMs can be provisioned in seconds through the Azure portal, APIs and automation, with customers choosing image, size, disks, Virtual Network and other services.[7] |
| Management responsibility | DC Core can manage infrastructure operation, hardening, monitoring, network controls and patching inside scope; the customer normally retains application, users and data.[1] | For Azure IaaS, the customer retains operating-system, application, identity, configuration, data and network-control responsibilities. Azure provides management and governance tools, but those still require configuration and ownership.[3] |
| Networking architecture | DC Core can connect workloads through private addressing, secured ingress and outbound customer-side agents using a tenant-aware relay architecture.[2] | Azure Virtual Network provides private networking for Azure resources and supports traffic filtering, routing, private service access, VPN and ExpressRoute connectivity. Buyers select and configure the controls required by their architecture.[9] |
| Private admin access | Customer-side agents normally establish outbound connections, reducing the need to publish inbound VM management ports.[2] | Azure Bastion provides RDP/SSH to target VMs over their private IP addresses, so those VMs do not need public IPs. Bastion Premium also supports a private-only Bastion deployment.[4] |
| Backups and DR | Encrypted backup and recovery controls are included where agreed. Frequency, retention and recovery targets are stated for the selected workload.[1] | Azure Backup supports scheduled VM protection, Recovery Services vaults and full-VM or file restoration. Buyers should confirm the applied policy, protected resources, retention, vault redundancy and restore-validation ownership.[5] |
| Location and scale | The standard design keeps managed production tenancy data in London and DR capacity in France unless another arrangement is agreed.[1] | Azure operates multiple geographies, each containing one or more regions and associated data-residency and compliance characteristics. The customer selects the region, availability design and service combination that meets its requirements.[10] |
| Support | Support applies to the contracted managed boundary and can include operational action inside that boundary. | Billing and subscription-management support is available to all Azure customers; technical support requires a support plan. Microsoft lists Developer, Standard, ProDirect and enterprise routes for different workload needs.[6] |
| Pricing model | A scoped quote combining infrastructure with agreed management, monitoring, backup and support responsibilities. | Usage-based component pricing across VM compute, managed disks, networking, backup and other services, with savings plans, reservations, Hybrid Benefit and Spot options where applicable.[7][8] |
| Best suited for | Organisations that want a UK-led operator to take defined responsibility for a bounded business workload. | Teams already invested in Microsoft technologies or needing the breadth, geographic reach and automation of the Azure platform. |
A fair caveat: Azure can keep target VMs private, automate backup and centralise management. Azure Bastion is a clear example. DC Core's distinction is not that Azure lacks these features; it is that DC Core can contract to design and operate a defined set of controls as one service.
Published by DC Core. Material Azure claims are based on Microsoft product pages and Microsoft Learn documentation.
Important: competitor information is based on publicly available documentation and may change. This page does not compare every Microsoft Azure product, partner-managed service or negotiated contract. Microsoft, Microsoft Azure and Azure product names are trade marks of their respective owners. Microsoft is not affiliated with DC Core and has not endorsed this comparison. Verify current features, pricing, availability and terms directly with Microsoft before purchasing.
Compare the selected VM and disk configuration with equivalent resources and agreed management. Establish whether your proposal includes guest OS work, application support and recovery testing, or whether your team supplies them.
DC Core includes a Central device licence with every VM ordered from us, with all Central software features including supported relay modes. Standard monitoring, administration and interactive remote access are included in standard connectivity; bulk transfer, dedicated connectivity, backup consumption and managed work follow the agreed scope. Read the included device licensing and service boundaries.
| Proposal item | What to request from either supplier |
|---|---|
| Resources and performance | VM count, CPU allocation, RAM, usable storage, disk performance and network capacity. Similar core counts alone do not establish equivalent application performance. |
| Software and access | OS and database licensing, monitoring tools, remote access and relay or VPN requirements. Identify what is included and what requires another subscription. |
| Operational ownership | Name the owner of patching, alerts, incident response, application administration and restores. Confirm support hours and escalation arrangements. |
| Recovery and location | Production and recovery regions, backup frequency, retention, restore testing and workload-specific RPO/RTO commitments. |
| Full cost and exit | Separate recurring resources, usage, management and one-off migration charges. Confirm data export, contract terms and responsibilities at exit. |
Map the application’s dependencies on Microsoft identity, Windows or SQL Server licensing and Azure services before planning a move. Confirm which identities, licences and integrations can be retained.
Build a provider-agnostic hosting requirements report with VM resources, network needs, recovery objectives and operational ownership. Save it locally or print a PDF to use with either provider.
For DC Core’s service scope and hosting locations, see managed cloud hosting. This comparison is published by DC Core; use the linked provider sources and your written proposals to evaluate both options.
COMPARE THE OPERATING MODEL
We will map the customer-owned work, identify where DC Core could fit and say plainly when Azure remains the stronger choice.