Building a Trusted Ecosystem for Sovereign Private Cloud: Azure Local validated partner solutions

When organizations move critical workloads to Azure Local, the first question usually isn't about the platform. It's about everything that runs on and around it: Will my backup tool work? Can my Security Operations Center (SOC) still see the workloads it needs to monitor? Will my identity provider support authentication if the site loses its cloud connection?

The answers can determine how confidently a sovereign or edge deployment moves to production. Customers want to run the independent software vendor (ISV) solutions they already trust, with confidence in how those solutions have been validated for their Azure Local environments. That's why we built the Azure Local Validated ISV Program.

Why an ecosystem program, and why now 

Demand for Sovereign Private Cloud is increasing as organizations look for greater control over where and how their workloads operate. Governments, regulated industries, critical infrastructure providers and telecom operators want cloud-style operations while maintaining control of their data, security, compliance and operational boundaries. Azure Local supports a range of deployment architectures, including connected and disconnected operating models, and hyperconverged, disaggregated and multi-rack configurations. 

Infrastructure alone, however, does not make a production environment. Customers have invested for years in the tools that run their operations, including monitoring, security, data protection, identity and line-of-business applications. Successful adoption also depends on understanding how existing operational tools integrate with Azure Local and that need is growing now. As more sovereign and regulated workloads move to production on Azure Local, including disconnected and multi-rack deployments, customers need to know before they deploy that their existing tools are supported. That's why we're launching the program at Ignite with a published list of validated solutions and clear validation scope. 

How we validate 

We don't treat validation as a logo exercise. Our focus is on technical validation that gives customers greater clarity about supported configurations and integration scenarios. Each partner solution goes through a structured process: 

• Architecture validation: Microsoft and the ISV review the solution architecture for Azure Local, including its deployment pattern, dependencies and integration points. 

• Lab and product validation: Partner solutions undergo testing against defined scenarios and configurations to evaluate their operation on Azure Local. 

• Deployment-specific validation: Validation scope is documented by supported deployment configuration, which may include connected, disconnected operations or multi-rack environments, as applicable. 

That last point matters. Every validated solution comes with documented information about the capabilities, scenarios and configurations evaluated. We'd rather be precise than broad, because customers make architecture and procurement decisions based on what we publish. 

Where we are today: 22 validated solutions across four solution categories

The solutions are organized into four categories:

A few points stand out: 

• Resiliency where it matters most. Validated backup, disaster recovery, and migration solutions provide customers with additional options for protecting and moving supported workloads.  The capabilities available depend on the selected solution and its validated configuration. 

• Identity for connected and disconnected environment: Five identity providers are validated. The five validated identity providers can support local authentication architectures for Azure Local workloads including certain disconnected scenarios where the required identity dependencies are available locally. 

• Security across network and workload environments. F5 and Fortinet offer capabilities for application delivery, firewalling and deep network visibility. F5 EOB, for example, uses extended Berkeley Packet Filter (eBPF) technology to observe traffic in supported workload environments. Trellix provides endpoint security capabilities for supported workloads, subject to validated deployment configurations. 

Of the four categories, only Business Continuity & Migration provides workload resiliency directly. The other three contribute security, identity, observability, data and application-platform capabilities that support a well-run environment. We describe each category by the role it is validated to support so customers can design with accurate expectations. 

From validated products to repeatable solutions 

The next phase of the program goes beyond validating individual products. We're moving toward repeatable customer solutions. Our goal is to develop validated solution patterns that bring together Azure Local and complementary partner technologies for defined customer scenarios, such as a sovereign security operations center (SOC), a resilient manufacturing site, or a disconnected government deployment. The aim is to help customers evaluate solution compatibility and plan production deployments with greater confidence

Get involved 

• Customers: Talk to your Microsoft account team about which validated solutions fit your Azure Local deployment and confirm the validation scope for your configuration. 

• Independent software vendors (ISVs): If your solution supports customers operating in sovereign, edge or regulated environments, we'd like to hear from you about joining the validation program.

A platform is only as strong as the ecosystem around it. We're grateful to every partner who has invested engineering time to validate on Azure Local, and we're just getting started.

Customers looking for help beyond Azure Local platforms or our partner ISV products can also work with global system integrators (GSIs). Your Microsoft account team can share a list of GSIs with specialized Azure Local expertise that offer services across the solution lifecycle, from design, deployment and integration to ongoing operations as a managed services partner.

Validation applies to the specific capabilities and deployment configurations documented for each partner solution. Confirm the scope with your Microsoft or partner contact before making architecture or procurement decisions. 

For more information: Validated partner solutions for Azure Local Sovereign Private Cloud