Azure Local: New Name, Same Limitations

• A new name for Microsoft’s hypervisor host and edge OS—Azure Local—highlights its ambitions.
• Lower system requirements could help address more edge locations.
• Support for disconnected use is now in preview but with significant limitations.
• All of the key capabilities are already available in other simpler ways, making Azure Local a hard sell for new users.

Azure Local, the newly christened brand replacing Azure Stack HCI, will support smaller devices and be capable of operating disconnected from the Azure cloud. The new capabilities make the server OS more appealing for existing customers looking to expand into more isolated edge locations, such as retail stores or oil and gas facilities in remote locations, as well as in highly regulated environments. But the product still sits in the uncanny valley between Azure cloud and Windows Server on-premises systems, and it does not yet deliver any capabilities not already available in other simpler ways with other Microsoft and third-party products. Potential new customers should exercise caution until Microsoft’s plans become clearer.