Microsoft is claiming that its backup and disaster recovery service for its Azure cloud platform is now and enterprise-grade contender for workloads and data already stored in its cloud.

The Redmond-based company has announced a major update to Azure Backup that builds upon the Recovery Services vault that was launched into general availability last May.

Recovery Services vault is a service that’s based on the Azure Resource Manager model, and allows Azure users to backup Classic and Resource Manager virtual machines using custom defined backup policies. Now, Microsoft has added new capabilities that allow all of its customers to manage backup policies and model them to suit their own requirements from a single window.

The new features make Azure Backup “an enterprise-level backup solution for Azure virtual machines,” the company boldly proclaimed in its pitch.

The upgrade delivers a number of new features, including the ability to view all backup policies in a Recovery Services vault from a single window; the ability to add a new policy from policy list view; and the ability to edit a backup policy to match modified backup schedule and retention requirements. The last one means that when a policy is updated, any changes are automatically pushed out to all virtual machines governed by that policy.

Other new features include the ability to add items to a backup policy, such as adding more virtual machines with a single click; obtain a view of virtual machines protected with a policy; and delete backup policies that are no longer in use.

Admittedly there’s nothing groundbreaking here, but the higher level of automation Azure Backup now offers should make it easier for admins to do their job in making sure everything runs that much more smoothly.

Of course, the fact that Azure Backup only works with Azure casts a shadow of doubt on Microsoft’s claims of being “enterprise-grade,” but there’s no denying that the new features add some robustness to Azure, and once again highlight how the cloud helps to simplify everything.