Azure Development Services for Microsoft-Stack Organisations

For organisations running .NET and SQL Server, Azure is the most direct path to the cloud. .NET application development deploys to Azure App Service, Azure's platform-as-a-service for hosting, without runtime translation or compatibility shims. Azure SQL, Microsoft's fully managed relational database service, is built on the SQL Server engine and preserves T-SQL syntax, stored procedures and most SQL Server Agent features. Microsoft Entra ID maps directly to on-premise Active Directory, reducing identity integration work that AWS or Google Cloud would require.

Yes. Netofficials supports both lift-and-shift and modernisation paths. A lift-and-shift targets Azure SQL Managed Instance, which retains SQL Agent jobs, linked servers and cross-database queries with minimal schema changes. A modernisation path targets Azure SQL Database and removes legacy dependencies to reduce licensing and management overhead long-term. Azure Database Migration Service assesses feature compatibility, converts schema objects and minimises cutover downtime. The right path depends on which SQL Server features your application uses. See our cloud migration services for scope detail.

Netofficials works with both. Azure Pipelines, the CI/CD component of Azure DevOps, integrates natively with Azure Resource Manager, Azure Artifacts and Azure Boards, making it the stronger choice for teams already using the full Azure DevOps suite. GitHub Actions suits teams hosting source code on GitHub who prefer YAML-defined workflows with a lighter administrative footprint. Both tools deploy to the same targets: Azure App Service, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) and Azure Functions. The decision is driven by your existing source control and work-tracking setup. See our DevOps and CI/CD automation page for more.

Cost control is built into architecture decisions before resources are provisioned. Netofficials applies a consistent resource tagging strategy so Azure Cost Management dashboards attribute spend by workload, environment and team from day one. Azure Advisor right-sizing recommendations are reviewed against actual CPU and memory utilisation, and autoscale policies replace over-provisioned fixed SKUs where traffic is variable. Reserved Instances are evaluated for stable, predictable workloads. Cost depends on resource types, data transfer volume and the number of environments maintained. For ongoing guidance, see our Azure cost and architecture consulting service.

Azure Active Directory, now branded Microsoft Entra ID, is Microsoft's cloud identity service providing single sign-on, multi-factor authentication and conditional access for Azure resources, Microsoft 365 and third-party SaaS applications. It does not replace on-premise Active Directory Domain Services in a single step. Instead, Azure AD Connect synchronises user accounts and groups from on-premise AD to Entra ID, giving users one identity across both environments. Dependence on on-premise domain controllers reduces progressively as workloads move to Azure and legacy Kerberos dependencies are resolved.

You own everything from the start. The Azure subscription runs under your organisation's tenant, or Netofficials transfers it to you at handover if it was provisioned during the engagement. All infrastructure-as-code files written in Bicep, Microsoft's domain-specific language for declarative Azure resource definitions, or Terraform, HashiCorp's open-source infrastructure-as-code tool, are committed to your repositories with documentation your internal team or any future partner can follow. No proprietary tooling tied to Netofficials is introduced. Ownership terms are confirmed in writing before work begins.

Timeline depends on several variables rather than a fixed schedule. The number of applications being migrated, the complexity of on-premise dependencies such as linked servers or Windows Authentication, the target architecture (lift-and-shift versus re-platforming), and the availability of your internal stakeholders for testing and sign-off all affect duration. A single-application migration with a well-documented codebase moves faster than a multi-system migration with undocumented integrations. Netofficials scopes timeline estimates during a discovery phase before committing to a delivery plan. See how we work for the engagement structure.

Netofficials is an India-based software development company and structures working hours to provide a daily overlap window with clients in the US, UK and Australia. Each engagement has a named point of contact responsible for status updates, sprint reviews and escalations. Asynchronous communication through documented tickets, pull request comments and written sprint summaries means progress is visible without requiring real-time availability for every decision. Time zone coverage expectations and response-time commitments are agreed before the engagement begins. See our engagement models page for collaboration structure options.