As organisations accelerate their journey to the cloud, one truth remains clear: data is at the heart of digital transformation. Yet too often, cloud migrations start with applications rather than the foundation that supports them — storage.
That’s where Azure NetApp Files comes in. As a Microsoft Azure native, first-party storage service, Azure NetApp Files provides the high performance, low latency, and enterprise-grade reliability needed to make storage-driven migrations seamless. It enables customers to move even their most demanding workloads — such as SAP, Oracle, or virtual desktop environments — to Azure with confidence.
When data moves first, applications can follow faster, perform better, and modernise more effectively. Here’s why storage-driven migrations to Azure are so important.
🌍 Data Gravity: The Core of Every Workload
Applications can’t function without their data. Whether you’re running SAP, Oracle, or high-performance databases, workloads depend on fast, reliable access to information.
By moving storage to Azure first, organisations ensure:
- Data is co-located with compute resources for reduced latency.
- Applications can be lifted and shifted or modernised more easily.
- Dependencies between storage and app layers remain intact.
In short, storage migration enables everything else — it’s the anchor for application mobility.
🏎️ Performance That Matches (or Exceeds) On-Premises
Azure’s portfolio of storage solutions — including Azure NetApp Files — delivers the scale and performance enterprises need.
Storage-driven migrations allow IT teams to validate:
- Throughput and latency that meet or exceed on-premises performance.
- File-based protocol support (NFS, SMB, dual-protocol).
- High-performance workloads such as databases, HPC, and analytics.
This ensures a smooth transition for mission-critical workloads without compromise.
💰 Smarter Cost Optimisation
Migrating storage provides visibility into how data is used, helping teams optimise for both performance and cost. With Azure services, organisations can:
- Tier data using lifecycle policy.
- Consolidate siloed infrastructure into native Azure native storage services.
- Reduce CapEx and OpEx by resizing down or retiring legacy hardware.
With Azure NetApp Files’ flexible pricing and capacity pool model, businesses can right-size their environment and pay only for what they need.
🦺 Built-In Resilience and Protection
Storage migration isn’t just about moving data — it’s about securing it. Azure NetApp Files makes it simple to protect and recover data through:
- Snapshot policies for near-instant restore.
- Cross-Region Replication for disaster recovery.
- Azure Backup Vault integration for long-term data protection.
By establishing these safeguards during migration, organisations ensure business continuity from day one.
🆕 Foundation for Modernisation
Once data resides in Azure, it becomes the foundation for modernisation and innovation.
With Azure-native data, organisations can:
- Integrate with Azure AI and analytics services.
- Streamline pipelines with Microsoft Fabric and Synapse Analytics.
- Build hybrid or multi-cloud architectures with consistent management.
Storage isn’t just infrastructure — it’s the enabler of next-generation digital services.
📆 Reduced Migration Complexity
By focusing first on storage, organisations can simplify migration workflows and reduce downtime. A storage-first approach means:
- You can decouple data movement from application refactoring.
- Staged migrations (data first, then apps) are easier to manage.
- Testing, validation, and cutover become more predictable.
This makes storage-driven migrations a safer, more controlled path to the cloud.
The Takeaway
Storage-driven migrations to Azure are more than a technical step — they’re a strategic enabler for cloud success.
By leveraging Azure NetApp Files, organisations gain enterprise-grade performance, efficiency, and protection while laying the groundwork for modernization. In a world where data powers every decision and innovation, starting with storage isn’t just smart — it’s essential.
Summary
- Data first, workloads next: Migrating storage lays the foundation for seamless application movement.
- Enterprise performance: Azure NetApp Files delivers on-premises-class speed and low latency.
- Optimised costs: Tier, consolidate, and scale storage efficiently.
- Built-in protection: Simplify disaster recovery and compliance with native Azure tools.
- Modernisation-ready: Unlock AI, analytics, and cloud-native innovation with data already in Azure.
I hope this short blog post about using Terraform to configure Azure NetApp Files Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery features using IaC method with Terraform has been useful.
For more information on the Azure NetApp Files service, check out the What’s new in Azure NetApp Files page.
Stay tuned for more updates and enhancements in Azure NetApp Files!