Commvault signs strategic Azure partnership with Microsoft

Commvault has signed a multi-year strategic partnership with Microsoft, which will offer Commvault's AI and cyber resilience technology as a native ISV service on Azure.

The agreement puts Commvault among a small group of software partners whose products are embedded directly within the Azure cloud platform.

Under the arrangement, Azure customers will be able to discover, provision and integrate Commvault services from within Microsoft's cloud environment. The setup is intended to give customers a single experience across procurement, onboarding and operations, without separate infrastructure or manual integrations.

Commvault's tools are designed to help organisations recover and restore data, applications and identities after cyberattacks, outages or human error. The tie-up comes as large companies expand their use of cloud services and artificial intelligence while facing more complex security threats.

Azure integration

The partnership centres on making Commvault's services available natively on Azure rather than as a separately connected product. Customers using Azure for cloud and AI workloads will be able to deploy and manage Commvault's resilience tools alongside existing Microsoft services.

Procurement is also a key part of the deal. Customers will be able to buy Commvault Cloud through the Microsoft Marketplace and apply that spending towards their Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment, potentially simplifying purchasing for companies already committed to Azure spending targets.

Banks, retailers and healthcare providers were among the sectors highlighted as facing pressure to modernise infrastructure, manage cyber risk and support AI-led change at the same time. That has pushed resilience higher up the agenda for boards and executive teams.

"For over 25 years, we've partnered with Microsoft and now we're taking that collaboration to the next level," said Sanjay Mirchandani, President and CEO of Commvault. "Many of our customers rely on Microsoft Azure to scale their business in the cloud, use AI, optimize operations, and bring ideas to life. With this joint commitment, we can also make best-in-class resilience plug-and-play for Microsoft customers."

Microsoft described the move as a way to broaden customer choice for data protection and recovery within Azure.

"Customers rely on Azure as a resilient foundation for their cloud and AI workloads. Supporting Commvault natively gives them more choice in how they protect and recover their data, with a more seamless experience inside Azure," said Girish Bablani, President of Azure Core at Microsoft.

Customer demand

The deal reflects a broader shift in the cloud market as providers try to keep more third-party software consumption within their own platforms. For software vendors, tighter integration with a major cloud provider can make products easier for enterprises to adopt if they want fewer standalone tools and less operational complexity.

For Commvault, the partnership deepens a long-running relationship with Microsoft at a time when cyber recovery, identity protection and data security are becoming more closely tied to cloud strategy. Customers are increasingly looking for systems that can restore operations quickly if data is encrypted, deleted or otherwise compromised.

The emphasis on AI is also significant. As companies deploy AI systems on cloud infrastructure, they must consider not only how to manage and govern data, but also how to recover the systems and information that support those workloads if an incident occurs.

Commvault said its native Azure service is intended to meet those requirements by integrating recovery and resilience functions into AI-related workflows on Microsoft's cloud platform. The companies will also work together on selling and developing solutions for joint customers.

The native ISV service on Azure is expected to enter public preview in the summer.