Compare Azure Government vs. Azure's commercial cloud

What is Azure commercial cloud?

Azure commercial cloud is a cloud computing platform for general-purpose use. The platform is commonly referred to by default as "Azure," not "Azure commercial cloud"; however, the latter term can differentiate Azure's general-purpose services from Azure Government.

Azure offers a variety of cloud services to support tasks such as running cloud servers, deploying databases and storing data. While supporting applications through their entire lifecycle, the commercial cloud can also provide analytics, storage and AI automation capabilities. Azure's commercial cloud enables businesses to harness compute power and capabilities that would otherwise require hefty software and hardware investment. This convenience is why more than 90% of organizations use the cloud, according to a report by the Cloud Security Alliance.

What is Azure Government cloud?

Azure Government is a specialized segment of Azure for government agencies and contractors based in the U.S. It separates the cloud infrastructure that hosts workloads from Azure's general-purpose infrastructure, ensuring that all data resides within the U.S. to meet compliance and security requirements that affect government entities. Azure Government is an example of a sovereign cloud. These are cloud platforms that meet specific regulatory, privacy and security requirements set by a particular country or political jurisdiction.

Azure Government Secret, a variant of Azure Government for U.S. federal agencies that work with classified national security data, is another Microsoft cloud option. For government organizations outside the U.S., Microsoft offers a separate service -- Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty -- that can meet specific compliance and security needs. However, the services are not as extensive as those of Azure Government. They are also not tailored to the needs of government agencies in any specific country.

Azure Government vs. commercial cloud: Key differences

The main differences between the Azure Government cloud and Azure's commercial cloud offerings include their target audiences, service availability, compliance requirements, data residency, support and cost.

Target audiences

Azure's commercial offering is for any organization requiring a public cloud platform. In contrast, only specific types of organizations are eligible to use Azure Government, including the following:

• U.S. government agencies at the federal, state or local levels.
• Tribal entities based in the U.S.
• Contractors that build, host or manage apps or services for U.S. government agencies.
• Businesses that manage data owned or controlled by U.S. government agencies.

If an organization does not fall within one of these categories, Azure rejects its application to use the government cloud offering.

Service availability

Most Azure commercial cloud services are also available in Azure Government. However, in certain cases, some features are restricted to only one cloud -- although the differences here tend to be minor.

For example, the snapshot execution feature on Azure Data Share, an Azure cloud service for sharing data, is not supported in all Azure Government regions. The Managed Service for Prometheus capability within Azure Monitor is unavailable for some Azure Government users.

Compliance

Both Azure Government and the commercial cloud meet compliance requirements relevant to U.S. government agencies. The general-purpose Azure cloud can support workloads subject to specific compliance rules, including the following:

• Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) High Provisional Authorization to Operate (P-ATO) issued by the FedRAMP Joint Authorization Board (JAB).
• Department of Defense (DoD) IL2 Provisional Authorization (PA) issued by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA).

However, Azure Government offers enhancements that can make it easier to ensure compliance or meet stricter compliance requirements, including these standards:

• FedRAMP High P-ATO issued by the JAB.
• DoD IL2 PA issued by DISA.
• DoD IL4 PA issued by DISA.
• DoD IL5 PA issued by DISA.

For example, while Azure's commercial and government clouds both comply with FedRAMP standards, only Azure Government ensures that Microsoft employees who can access sensitive systems and data are screened and based in the U.S. This is useful for government agencies or contractors that need to comply with rules mandating only U.S. persons have access to applications and data.

Similarly, Criminal Justice Investigation Services (CJIS) compliance requires that cloud service provider employees who access unencrypted data undergo a background check that includes fingerprinting. Only Azure Government employees are subject to this type of check. As a result, organizations that use the Azure commercial cloud and need to comply with CJIS must store data in an encrypted form, whereas unencrypted data storage is acceptable on Azure Government.

Data residency

Azure Government hosts all workloads in data centers within the U.S. Currently, Azure Government customers can choose from six regions. The platform also ensures that data traveling over the network never leaves the U.S. This makes it possible to meet U.S. data residency requirements by default.

Azure's commercial cloud offers access to a variety of data centers globally, and it's possible to use the U.S. data centers to meet data residency requirements. However, doing so requires more planning and effort on the part of the organization, which needs to select U.S. regions to deploy Azure workloads and set up networking rules that prevent data from leaving the U.S.

Support

Microsoft offers different sets of support plans for Azure Government and the commercial cloud. In most respects, the plans are similar. Both sets include four tiers:

1. Basic. For organizations just getting started.
2. Developer. For trial and nonproduction environments.
3. Standard. For production workload environments.
4. Professional Direct. For mission-critical workloads.

Both include the same response times for critical incidents. However, Azure Government support pricing is not publicly available, while the cost of general Azure commercial support services is.

Azure Government support plans don't include special guidance to meet complex government compliance requirements; they only include technical support. Customers determine which mandates to prioritize and how best to meet them when designing and implementing cloud environments.

Cost

The cost of Azure services can vary widely depending on which region they are hosted in and the pricing plan. Generally, Azure Government services cost a bit more than equivalent services in the commercial cloud.

For instance, a D2 v3 instance on Azure VMs costs $0.188 per hour in the East U.S. region of Azure commercial cloud when using pay-as-you-go pricing. The same instance type costs $0.218 per hour -- about 15% more -- in the Azure Government Arizona region with the same pricing terms.

When to use Azure Government vs. commercial

So, is Azure Government the better choice for U.S. government agencies and contractors?

The answer depends mainly on the sensitivity of a given cloud workload. If applications or data require stringent privacy, security or compliance standards associated with U.S. government requirements, Azure Government makes it easier to do so.

That said, using Azure Government is not strictly necessary for organizations facing government compliance mandates. Azure's commercial offering is similar to Azure Government in areas such as the availability of U.S.-based data centers, compliance certifications, service availability and support options. The main difference is that Azure Government includes stricter controls by default, which reduces the burden placed on organizations to meet compliance and security mandates on their own.

Note that customers still need to secure and monitor workloads, whether they choose Azure Government or Azure commercial cloud. Azure Government provides certain compliance assurances, but it doesn't automatically protect workloads against cybersecurity attacks. Users can defend workloads using built-in Azure services, like Defender, or another third-party cloud security service.

It's also possible to use both Azure Government and the commercial offering at the same time. This is an example of a hybrid cloud, a model that 70% of cloud customers now adopt, according to IT software provider Flexera. This is enticing for customers with sensitive workloads that benefit from Azure Government but who want to host some workloads in the commercial cloud to obtain a wider range of services and features for a lower price.

Editor's note: This article was updated to include additional information on available services.

Chris Tozzi is a freelance writer, research adviser, and professor of IT and society. He has previously worked as a journalist and Linux systems administrator.