Microsoft just announced the general availability of Azure Storage Discovery, a new managed service that brings visibility, intelligence, and natural language insights to enterprise data stored in Azure Blob Storage and Azure Data Lake Storage.
For organizations with sprawling data estates spread across regions, accounts, and subscriptions, this is big news—and for small and mid-sized businesses leveraging a Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) like us, it’s a real opportunity to take control of storage costs, compliance, and performance without the complexity.
Why Visibility Into Data Matters More Than Ever
As cloud adoption accelerates, companies are storing massive amounts of data to fuel analytics, AI, and applications. But over time, data sprawls—quickly.
Without unified insight into what’s being stored, how it’s accessed, and whether it’s properly secured, storage costs climb, compliance gaps appear, and teams waste time managing infrastructure instead of driving outcomes.
Azure Storage Discovery addresses that challenge head-on. It provides a consolidated view of all your Azure storage—across subscriptions, resource groups, and regions—so you can see trends, spot anomalies, and make informed decisions.
Turning Queries Into Conversations with Copilot
Here’s where Microsoft takes it a step further. Azure Storage Discovery integrates Microsoft Copilot in Azure, allowing you to interact with your data using plain language.
Instead of crafting complex queries, you can simply ask:
“Which of our storage accounts have the highest cost growth this month?”
“Show me all storage with public access enabled.”
“Where can I save money by tiering data down?”
Copilot then surfaces interactive dashboards and charts directly inside the Azure Portal, transforming how teams—from IT to finance—understand their data estate.
Actionable Insights Across the Entire Data Estate
Azure Storage Discovery doesn’t just visualize your data—it contextualizes it across multiple dimensions:
-
Capacity: View object counts, resource growth, and storage usage by region or subscription.
-
Activity: See transactions and data flows to understand which workloads drive usage.
-
Security: Identify risky configurations like public access, shared keys, or weak encryption settings.
-
Configuration & Errors: Surface lifecycle, redundancy, and error patterns across your storage accounts.
You can start with 15 days of historical data for free, and with the standard plan, you get up to 18 months of trend insights—ideal for uncovering long-term patterns or seasonal usage shifts.
Why This Matters for Clients
For small and mid-sized organizations, this represents a major shift:
-
No more guessing about where your cloud costs are going.
-
No more silos between IT, data, and business stakeholders.
-
No need for complex data analysis skills.
With AI-driven insights and clear visualizations, decision-makers can finally manage cloud storage proactively—reducing waste, tightening security, and aligning with governance best practices.
And for clients working with a CSP partner like us, Azure Storage Discovery gives us the ability to deliver even more actionable reporting and optimization recommendations, faster and with more confidence.
Get Started with Expert Guidance
As a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider, our team helps organizations turn Azure’s advanced tools—like Azure Storage Discovery and Copilot in Azure—into real business value. Whether your goal is to reduce storage costs, strengthen data security, or improve visibility across your environment, we can help you design a clear, actionable plan to get there.
We’re currently offering free Cloud Planning sessions to help you assess your Azure environment, identify cost-saving opportunities, and plan for the future with confidence.
During this one-on-one session, our Azure experts will:
-
Identify areas to optimize cost, security, and performance
-
Demonstrate how Azure tools can help simplify management
-
Provide actionable recommendations tailored to your organization’s goals
- Review next steps
Cloud innovation doesn’t have to be complex. Let’s make your data more visible, secure, and cost-effective—together.
