centron vs. Azure: Operations, support and jurisdiction
Both run cloud infrastructure in German data centres and hold a C5 attestation. The difference lies in who looks after your servers, what support costs and which law the provider is subject to. With Azure, you manage your VMs yourself or through a partner, and round-the-clock technical support costs from USD 100 per month. At centron, 24/7 support is included for all customers, and if you wish, our team takes over operations for €50 per VM per month plus infrastructure.
As of 5 October 2026 · Publisher: centron GmbH
centron and Azure at a glance
centron is the right fit if you want your servers managed by a provider based in Germany, expect technical support without an additional contract and send a lot of data out of your environment.
Azure is the right fit if you need locations worldwide or several availability zones in one region, build on Microsoft services such as Entra ID or Microsoft 365, or your tender requires a C5 attestation covering an audit period.
This comparison covers Microsoft Azure in the Germany West Central region (Frankfurt) and centron ccloud³: servers, storage, Kubernetes and support. Microsoft 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, platform and AI services, Azure Local and Delos Cloud are not part of the comparison.
| Criterion | centron | Microsoft Azure |
|---|---|---|
| Server operations | ccloud³ VMs with root access, self-managed or with Premium Full Managing: our team takes on administration, updates, monitoring, backup and disaster recovery. | Virtual Machines as self-service. Under Microsoft's shared responsibility model, the operating system, applications and configuration are the customer's responsibility, looked after by your team or a partner. |
| Support | Standard support around the clock for all customers, at no extra charge. Individual work such as migrations billed by effort. Personal contacts with Premium Full Managing. | Basic plan without technical support. Developer USD 29 per month (business hours, via Microsoft Q&A), Standard USD 100 (around the clock, critical cases within one hour), Professional Direct USD 1,000. Support also available in German. |
| Availability | 99.5 % in the Worker and Power Pool, 99.8 % in the HA Pool, each monthly. | Single VM with Premium SSD 99.9 %, availability set 99.95 %, VMs across at least two availability zones 99.99 %, each with service credits. |
| C5 attestation | C5:2020 Type 1 for ccloud³ / Managed Cloud, audit report dated 12 June 2026. Type 2 announced for 2027. | C5:2020 attestation covering an audit period, in a joint report with SOC 2 Type 2, most recently up to 31 March 2025. A standalone C5 report was announced for July 2026. |
| ISO 27001 | ISO/IEC 27001 based on IT-Grundschutz, certificate BSI-IGZ-0773-2026. | ISO/IEC 27001:2022 for Azure and other Microsoft online services. |
| Data centres | Own data centre in Hallstadt, plus rented space in Frankfurt am Main, Nuremberg and Coburg. Data location 100 % Germany. | In Germany, Germany West Central (Frankfurt) with three availability zones, Germany North (Berlin) only on request. More than 50 regions worldwide. |
| Company and jurisdiction | centron GmbH, owner-managed, based in Hallstadt, founded in 1999, with no company in the USA. | Microsoft Corporation, USA. As a US company, Microsoft is subject to US law, including the CLOUD Act. The EU Data Boundary keeps customer data of most Azure services in the EU, with exceptions documented by Microsoft. |
| Billing and data transfer | Billed by the hour, no minimum term. Inbound and internal traffic free of charge, outbound €0.005 per GB. All prices excluding VAT. | Usage-based with no minimum term, discounts for a one- or three-year commitment. Inbound free of charge, outbound 100 GB per month free, above that from €0.0766 per GB. All prices excluding VAT. |
Products and prices at a glance
The overview shows entry prices in the Frankfurt region, not a total price. The configurations differ, so the amounts do not show which provider is cheaper. All prices exclude VAT, monthly figures for Azure are based on 730 hours.
| Product | centron | Microsoft Azure |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud servers | From €3.11 per month with 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM and 10 GB SSD, billed by the hour | B1s with 1 vCPU and 1 GiB RAM from €0.0106 per hour, around €7.74 per month, plus a disk, for example Standard SSD with 16 GiB for €1.06 |
| GPU servers | Cloud GPU NVIDIA RTX A4000 from €0.13 per hour or €92.59 per month, plus vCPU, RAM and NVMe | NVIDIA T4 (NC4as_T4_v3) from €0.579 per hour with 4 vCPUs and 28 GiB RAM |
| Kubernetes | cStack from €29.99 per month, control plane included | AKS Free with a free control plane without SLA, Standard tier with SLA €0.088 per cluster per hour (around €64.24 per month), plus nodes in each case |
| Managed servers | Premium Full Managing: €50 per VM per month, plus infrastructure | According to Microsoft's shared responsibility model, the operating system and applications are looked after by you or a partner |
| Block storage | Volumes from €0.05 per GB per month | Managed disks in fixed sizes, for example Standard SSD with 32 GiB for €2.11 per month |
| Object storage | S3 Object Storage €0.02 per GB per month, minimum €5.00 (250 GB), traffic free of charge | Blob Storage (Hot, LRS) €0.0172 per GB per month, plus transactions and outbound data transfer |
Managed for you or self-run?
For virtual machines in Azure, the operating system, applications and configuration are the customer's responsibility under Microsoft's shared responsibility model, while Microsoft is responsible for the data centre, hardware and virtualisation. Azure provides tools for patching and monitoring, but the work itself is done by you or a partner.
Anyone running a business application on two or three servers needs someone for patch days, alerts at night and emergencies. With Premium Full Managing, our team takes on this work on your ccloud³ VMs, without a third contractual partner.
Who does what in day-to-day operations?
| Task | centron with Premium Full Managing | Azure as self-service |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system updates and security patches | Our team, within the agreed scope. | Your team or your partner, for example with Azure Update Manager. |
| Monitoring and fault resolution | Our team: 24/7 monitoring with proactive fault resolution. | Your team or your partner. Microsoft resolves faults in the platform. |
| Data backup | Our team, backup is part of the scope of services. | Azure Backup as an additional service, set-up and testing by your team or your partner. |
| Disaster recovery | Our team, disaster recovery is part of the scope of services. | Your team or your partner. |
This is based on the public product descriptions of both providers; only the quote is binding.
When is centron the better choice?
centron is the better fit in four cases.
You want to hand over server operations without looking for a second service provider.
At centron, any ccloud³ VM can become a managed server if you wish, with personal contacts, bookable per VM with no package tiers and no minimum term.
You expect technical support without booking a support plan.
At centron, standard support around the clock is included for all customers. With Azure, the Basic plan does not include technical support, and Microsoft helps around the clock from the Standard plan at USD 100 per month (Azure support plans).
A lot of data flows out of your environment.
Outbound traffic at centron costs €0.005 per GB. After 100 GB free per month, Azure charges from €0.0766 per GB. For 1,000 GB per month, that is €5.00 at centron and €68.94 at Azure.
Your policy requires a provider based in Germany.
centron is an owner-managed German company with no company in the USA and operates data centres exclusively in Germany. Whether Microsoft's measures such as the EU Data Boundary meet your requirements is for your data protection team to decide.
When is Azure the better choice?
You should take a serious look at Azure in four cases.
Your users are worldwide, or you need availability zones.
Azure operates more than 50 regions worldwide and, in Frankfurt, three availability zones with a 99.99 % availability commitment for distributed VMs. centron commits to 99.5 % or 99.8 % for VMs, depending on the pool.
You build on Microsoft services.
If Entra ID, Microsoft 365 or Azure's managed databases and AI services are part of your architecture, you save integration work.
Your tender requires a C5 attestation covering an audit period.
Microsoft demonstrates C5:2020 in a report covering a period of time. centron currently holds a Type 1 attestation at a given date, and Type 2 is announced for 2027.
You need high-end GPUs.
In Frankfurt, Azure lists GPU VMs up to NVIDIA H100, H200 and GB200. At centron, the focus is on entry-level and mid-range cloud GPUs.
What do operations, support and data transfer cost?
An example: two virtual machines, a web server and a database server, delivering 1,000 GB of data per month.
At centron, managed operations for this cost €100 per month excluding VAT, i.e. €50 per VM. This includes updates and security patches, 24/7 monitoring, backup and disaster recovery. On top of this come the servers at the prices in the ccloud³ price list and €5.00 for outbound data transfer, plus backup storage if required.
With Azure, servers and disks are charged according to the price list, plus €68.94 for data transfer and USD 100 per month for 24/7 support with the Standard plan. Operations are handled by your team or a partner at their prices.
For a broader market overview, see alternatives to US cloud providers.
Customer voices and success stories
Three companies that have been running their infrastructure at centron for years.
FOC Solutions: from proof of concept to full service
The Hamburg-based EDI service provider with more than 200 customers has been with centron since 2019 and migrated all systems after a proof of concept, with personal support and full-service management.
Read the success story
GIS Consult: from physical servers to virtual environments
The specialist for geographic information systems has been with centron since 2015 and moved step by step from physical servers to virtual environments.
Read the success story
meinBafög: from startup to million-euro business
The Cologne-based BAföG platform has relied on virtual managed servers at centron for around ten years and grew from €80,000 in annual revenue to a million-euro business over this time.
Read the success storyFrequently asked questions
How do centron and Azure differ?
What does the CLOUD Act mean for data in Azure?
Do centron and Azure hold a C5 attestation?
Let us talk about your environment
Tell us which servers you run on Azure and what you would like to hand over, and we will put together a specific quote. Prefer to test it yourself first? New business accounts receive €200 in starting credit for the first 60 days.
Provider information as of 5 October 2026, Azure prices for Germany West Central according to the Azure price list. Prices and services may change; the specific quote is authoritative. All prices exclude VAT. The trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.