NetApp Inc. said it’s launching a new service that aims to make it easier to migrate workloads to Microsoft Corp.’s Azure cloud.

On Tuesday the company launched its Microsoft Azure Enterprise Network File System as a service in the Azure cloud. The service makes it easier to move on-premises applications using the service to Microsoft’s public cloud, the company said.

NetApp made the announcement at its NetApp Insight conference in Las Vegas. It’s going ahead despite the largest mass shooting in U.S. history one day before the event was scheduled to begin in the same hotel, Mandalay Bay.

NetApp Chief Executive Officer George Kurian spoke to journalists Monday ahead of the show’s launch, saying the company had decided to press ahead with the event after consulting with local officials and security services.

With the launch of its service, NetApp said it’s making it easier for cloud and storage administrators to provision, automate and scale NFS services via application programming interfaces. The service can be accessed directly through the Azure console, NetApp said.

“Customers can now bring their applications to Azure and continue to get the scale, performance, and reliability offered by NetApp’s data services,” said Tad Brockway, Microsoft’s general manager for Azure Storage.

The company will also offer data protection services, beginning with on-demand and automated snapshots. These services support NFS V3 and V4 workloads and can also be integrated with Azure services like SQL Server and SAP Hana for Azure.

Besides the NFS partnership with Microsoft, NetApp said its Cloud Control storage backup service for Microsoft Office 365 and its AltaVault cloud backup product both now support Azure Storage.

Also new is Elio, a virtual support assistant that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning in NetApp’s Active IQ cloud-based analytics software to accelerate problem solving for customers.

NetApp said the new services and integrations will bolster its Data Fabric portfolio, which is made up of a set of tools designed to combine on-premises storage with public cloud storage. NetApp’s tools mainly cover hybrid deployments with Amazon Web Services Inc.’s cloud, but the announcements mean Microsoft Azure is a valid alternative for NetApp customers.

NetApp said the Azure Enterprise NFS service is currently available in preview. Cloud control and NetaApp AltaVault are both available now.

Image: NetApp/Facebook