Microsoft Copilot for Azure
Microsoft describes Copilot for Azure as:
‘An AI companion that simplifies how you design, operate, optimize, and troubleshoot apps and infrastructure from cloud to edge.
With Copilot, gain new insights, discover more benefits of the cloud, and orchestrate data across both the cloud and the edge.
Copilot AI assistance utilizes language models, the Azure control plane, and insights about your Azure and Arc–enabled assets.
All of this is carried out within the framework of Azure’s steadfast commitment to safeguarding your data security and privacy.’
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/copilot
It essentially covers 3 main areas of assistance for fundamental Azure management tasks:
1. Understand your Azure environment:
Get resource information through Azure Resource Graph queries.
Understand service health events and status.
Analyse, estimate, and optimise costs.
2. Work smarter with Azure services:
Deploy virtual machines effectively.
Build infrastructure and deploy workloads.
Get information about Azure Monitor metrics and logs.
Work smarter with Azure Stack HCI.
Secure and protect storage accounts.
Improve Azure SQL Database-driven applications.
3. Write and optimise code:
Generate Azure CLI scripts.
Discover performance recommendations with Code Optimisations.
Author API Management policies.
Generate Kubernetes YAML files.
Troubleshoot apps faster with App Service.
Using text prompts from within Azure, one can generate answers derived from Microsoft Azure documentation that pre-exists to help explain Azure concepts, services and offerings.
So, the question is does Azure Copilot solve problems, just help surface information relevant to the questions asked or a bit of both?
The key is in the service title — ‘Copilot’ — this is a tool to aid the user with obtaining answers to their questions and not pre-emptive automation or tooling that will self-diagnose or self-remediate.
It’s also important to demonstrate Microsoft’s efforts to affirm this is not a ‘silver bullet’ for all queries relating to Azure management.
Microsoft’s own documentation states:
‘In some cases, Microsoft Copilot for Azure (preview) might not be able to complete your request.
Keep in mind these current limitations:
· Any action taken on more than 10 resources must be performed outside of Microsoft Copilot for Azure.
· You can only make 15 requests during any given chat, and you only have 10 chats in a 24 hour period.
· Some responses that display lists will be limited to the top five items.
· For some tasks and queries, using a resource’s name will not work, and the Azure resource ID must be provided.
· Microsoft Copilot for Azure (preview) is currently available in English only.’
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/copilot/capabilities
Copilot for Azure is also currently in Preview and not General Availability and access to the service is by application-only, but at present, is free of charge.
Microsoft is yet to announce the date of General Availability or the pricing structure and cost for when it is fully released.
Whilst in Preview, it may be the most appropriate time to understand the capabilities and limitations of Copilot for Azure and the (potential and at this stage, unquantified) business value it could offer an organisation. These include reducing the time currently required to carry-out tasks and discovering the unknown potential of Azure and the savings it could offer in terms of helping reduce operational as well as consumption costs.
It must also be noted that features may also depreciate, be removed or enhanced between the time of Preview and General Availability.
To summarise, Copilot for Azure is another Microsoft AI capability tool within the broader Copilot add-on portfolio of enhancements that have been made available across the Microsoft stack in the last 12 months. This includes Power Platform, Security, Fabric, Microsoft 365, Teams, Dynamics 365, Windows 11 and Bing to name just a few.
The key considerations when determining the suitability of Copilot for Azure are to understand what Copilot for Azure can offer, does it fit the needs of the business and, depending on the cost when known, will it provide business value?
Version 1’s dedicated Microsoft cost optimisation and licensing experts, are equipped to help customers analyse and assess the business and use case for each Copilot offering.
If you have any questions on Microsoft licensing or Azure cost optimisation techniques, feel free to contact us and start optimising.
About the Author
William Nelson is a Sales Specialist/License Management Practice as part of the SAM & Licence Management Team at Version 1.
