Microsoft Corp. today announced a slew of new services and updates to its Azure public cloud platform designed to make it easier for users to migrate database workloads to its cloud data centers.

Microsoft notes that such workloads tend to be mission-critical, which means customers can’t afford to take any risks when it comes to moving them onto a different infrastructure. Microsoft’s updates are designed to ensure these workloads can be migrated without any hiccups, something that could help it to convince more customers to embrace its cloud platform.

First up is the availability of the Azure SQL Database Managed Instance service in public preview. This is essentially a managed version of SQL Server that runs in the Azure cloud. Crucially, it’s compatible with Microsoft’s existing Azure Database Migration Service, which is used to migrate databases from on-premises environments to Azure with a minimum of fuss.

“Managed Instance offers full engine compatibility with existing SQL Server deployments including capabilities like SQLAgent, DBMail, and Change Data Capture, to name a few, and is built on the highly productive SQL Database service,” Rohan Kumar, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of Azure Data, said in a blog post.

To encourage customers to make the move, Microsoft said it’s expanding its Azure Hybrid Benefit program, which provides savings of up to 30 percent on SQL Database Managed Instance bills when customers migrate an existing license to Azure. That could well entice enterprises that have invested serious dollars in running SQL Server on-premises into making the move.

Microsoft also announced the upcoming general availability of Azure Database Services for MySQL and PostgreSQL, giving customers access to a managed cloud host for their open-source databases. By managing these databases, Microsoft provides an option for companies that need to leverage the capabilities of open-source software, but don’t want to deal with the headaches of scaling and patching those databases. The new services will available in coming weeks, Microsoft said.

“These preview services have enjoyed tremendous growth since launching into preview last year, proving that developers want database choice delivered on a simple, fully managed service platform that removes the complexities around data availability, protection and scale,” Kumar said.

Also generally available today is Azure Migrate, which offers a way for companies to plan their cloud migrations. Azure Migrate provides insights on how ready customers are to move their workloads to the cloud, as well as the resources they’ll need to run them there.

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