Data protection provider Commvault Systems Inc. today said it has signed a multiyear partnership with Microsoft Corp. that will see its data security and cyber recovery technology offered as a native service inside the Azure cloud platform.

Under the deal, Azure customers can find, provision and plug in Commvault’s resilience tools straight from Azure, with no separate infrastructure to stand up and no manual integration work. Commvault is among a group of partners whose products are embedded directly into the Azure platform.

The point of the tools is recovery. If an attack, an outage or a staff mistake takes systems down, customers can use them to restore data, applications and identities. Commvault said procurement, onboarding and day-to-day operations all run through one experience, so there’s no outside tooling to bolt on.

There is a billing angle too. Customers can buy Commvault Cloud through the Microsoft marketplace and count what they spend toward their Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment, the prepaid spending deals many large enterprises sign with Microsoft.

Microsoft and Commvault have worked together for more than 25 years. The new deal deepens that as companies move more workloads to the cloud and put artificial intelligence to heavier use. Banks, retailers and healthcare providers feel the squeeze most, caught between modernizing old systems and managing rising cyber risk. Boards, Commvault said, now treat resilience as table stakes for any digital or AI effort.

“For over 25 years, we’ve partnered with Microsoft and now we’re taking that collaboration to the next level,” said Commvault Chief Executive Sanjay Mirchandani. “Many of our customers rely on Microsoft Azure to scale their business in the cloud, use AI, optimize operations and bring ideas to life. With this joint commitment, we can also make best-in-class resilience plug-and-play for Microsoft customers.”

Girish Bablani, president of Azure Core at Microsoft, said supporting Commvault natively gives customers more choice in how they protect and recover data without leaving the Azure environment.

The two companies also plan joint go-to-market work, including co-selling and integrated sales efforts intended to speed adoption of cyber resilience on Azure.

The partnership comes as Commvault leans harder into positioning itself for what it calls the agentic enterprise, pitching its platform as a way for companies to adopt AI while defending against AI-driven threats. The company has signed a string of alliances over the past year, including deals with Kyndryl Holdings Inc., Deloitte & Touche LLP and Delinea Inc.

Commvault’s native service on Azure is expected to enter public preview this summer.

Image: Commvault