Azure offers hundreds of services, and for developers new to the platform, it can feel overwhelming to know where to start. The good news is that most production applications rely on a small core set of Azure services that handle compute, storage, data, networking, security, and monitoring.
Understanding these foundational services — what they do and when to use them — is far more valuable than trying to memorise every option in the Azure portal. Once you grasp these building blocks, you can confidently design, build, and scale applications in the cloud without over-engineering or managing unnecessary infrastructure.
In this article, we’ll walk through the top Azure services every developer should know, grouped by category. Whether you’re deploying your first cloud application or modernising an existing system, these services form the backbone of most real-world Azure architectures.
What it is:
Cloud-based Windows or Linux servers with full OS access.
Used for:
Lift-and-shift migrations
Legacy or custom software
Scenarios needing OS-level control
When to choose it:
When you would traditionally provision a physical or virtual server on-prem.
What it is:
A fully managed platform for hosting web apps and APIs.
Used for:
Web applications
REST APIs
Mobile backends
When to choose it:
When you want to deploy code without managing servers, patching, or scaling infrastructure.
What it is:
Serverless compute that runs code in response to events.
Used for:
Background jobs
Event-driven processing
Lightweight APIs
When to choose it:
When you only want to pay for execution time and don’t need a continuously running app.
What it is:
A managed Kubernetes platform for running containers.
Used for:
Microservices architectures
Containerised applications
High-scale distributed systems
When to choose it:
When you need fine-grained control over container orchestration and scaling.
What it is:
Highly scalable object storage for unstructured data.
Used for:
Images, videos, documents
Backups and logs
Data lakes
When to choose it:
When storing large amounts of files or binary data.
What it is:
Managed cloud file shares accessible via SMB or NFS.
Used for:
Shared network drives
Hybrid file storage
Legacy applications expecting file systems
When to choose it:
When you need a traditional file share without managing a file server.
What it is:
Block-level storage attached to virtual machines.
Used for:
OS disks
Application data for VMs
When to choose it:
When running workloads that require persistent disk storage.
What it is:
Fully managed SQL Server–compatible database.
Used for:
Transactional applications
Business systems
Web app backends
When to choose it:
When you need relational data without managing SQL Server infrastructure.
What it is:
Globally distributed, multi-model NoSQL database.
Used for:
High-throughput applications
Globally available apps
JSON and key-value workloads
When to choose it:
When low latency and horizontal scale matter more than strict relational structure.
What it is:
Managed open-source relational databases.
Used for:
Web and SaaS applications
Migrations from on-prem databases
When to choose it:
When your app already uses MySQL or PostgreSQL and you want a managed service.
What it is:
A private, isolated network in Azure.
Used for:
Secure communication between resources
Network segmentation
Hybrid connectivity
When to choose it:
Whenever you need private IP networking.
What it is:
Layer 4 (TCP/UDP) traffic distribution service.
Used for:
High availability
Distributing traffic across VMs
When to choose it:
For simple, high-performance traffic balancing.
What it is:
Layer 7 HTTP/HTTPS load balancer with WAF.
Used for:
Web application routing
SSL termination
Web Application Firewall protection
When to choose it:
For modern web apps needing advanced routing and security.
What it is:
Cloud-based identity and access management.
Used for:
User authentication
Single Sign-On (SSO)
Access control
When to choose it:
Whenever users or services need identity and authorisation.
What it is:
Secure storage for secrets and keys.
Used for:
API keys
Certificates
Encryption keys
When to choose it:
To keep secrets out of code and configuration files.
What it is:
Central monitoring and telemetry platform.
Used for:
Metrics and logs
Alerting
Performance insights
When to choose it:
For observability across Azure resources.
What it is:
Application performance monitoring (APM) tool.
Used for:
Request tracing
Dependency tracking
Error detection
When to choose it:
When you need deep visibility into application behaviour.
What it is:
Enterprise message broker.
Used for:
Reliable asynchronous messaging
Decoupling services
Guaranteed message delivery
When to choose it:
For complex, reliable message workflows.
What it is:
Event routing service.
Used for:
Event-driven architectures
Reactive systems
When to choose it:
When you need to react to events in near real-time.
What it is:
Low-code workflow automation service.
Used for:
System integrations
Scheduled workflows
Business processes
When to choose it:
When you want orchestration without writing code.
These services form the core building blocks of most Azure applications. As a developer, understanding what each service does and when to use it lets you:
Build scalable systems
Reduce operational overhead
Choose the right level of abstraction
Start with managed services, move to VMs or Kubernetes only when necessary.