Azure Local Solutions

Summary

Azure Local is blueAPACHE's service for organisations that want to run selected workloads on local infrastructure while using Microsoft Azure-based management and services as part of a hybrid cloud strategy. blueAPACHE designs, deploys and supports Azure Local so that workloads which must stay close to users or data for performance, control or residency reasons still get cloud-style operations. It sits in the emPOWER Cloud pillar beside emPOWER Cloud and Public Cloud (Microsoft Azure), and is reached over the same emPOWER Network that carries ExpressRoute to Azure. blueAPACHE publishes no dedicated Azure Local brochure, so this page draws on the origin page, blueAPACHE's documented Microsoft relationship and network capabilities, and the General Terms and Conditions v3.6 that govern the engagement.

Key facts

What is included

The origin page states that Azure Local helps organisations run selected workloads on local infrastructure while using Azure-based management and services, and that blueAPACHE can help design, deploy and support it so organisations gain cloud-style operations while retaining appropriate workloads closer to their users or data.

In blueAPACHE's model that translates into three layers. Design and deployment are Professional Services under Schedule 1, producing Deliverables that are licensed to the customer for internal use during the Service Period once paid for (clause 13.10). The on-premise hardware and the Microsoft licences can be supplied through blueAPACHE under Schedule 11 (Hardware and Ancillary Services) and Schedule 10 (Software Licensing and Subscriptions), both of which are named in scope on blueAPACHE's ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certificate. Ongoing operation is a managed service: where the customer holds emPOWER Managed Services, server, network and infrastructure monitoring and lifecycle management extend to the Azure Local environment, and the emPOWER Network provides the ExpressRoute path to the Azure control plane and to Microsoft 365.

What is not included

blueAPACHE publishes no Azure Local brochure, so there is no published node sizing, no supported hardware list, no uptime figure and no price for the service. The 99.999 per cent uptime published for emPOWER Cloud applies to blueAPACHE's own platform, not to customer-premises Azure Local nodes. Azure services consumed through Azure Local are Microsoft services, and under clauses 3.20 to 3.24 the customer is bound by Microsoft's terms whether or not they have been shown, with Microsoft price changes passed through under clause 12.5.

Backup of the local workloads is a blueAPACHE obligation only where the Schedule expressly includes it (clause 3.14). Environmental conditions at the customer site, power and physical security are customer responsibilities, and the warranty against defects excludes failures caused by not maintaining the necessary environmental conditions (clause 11). The customer must also insure Customer Equipment for full replacement value (clause 21.2).

Who it is for

Organisations with workloads that cannot move to a public region: latency-sensitive applications, factory or clinical systems that must keep running if the WAN fails, or data that a regulator or contract requires to stay on premises. The Sealy of Australia case study illustrates the pattern of a made-to-order manufacturer with 15 facilities across 11 countries whose network carries real-time barcode and quality data between factories and head office; an Azure Local design is the kind of solution such sites use to keep compute local while managing it centrally. Organisations already standardised on Microsoft 365, Entra ID and Azure, and who want the same provider to run the network, the security tooling and the local nodes, are the target profile.

How it is delivered

An engagement starts with assessment and design as Professional Services, then procurement and staging of the nodes, then deployment at the customer site, then transition into managed operation under clause 8: due diligence on the systems to be supported, configuration of blueAPACHE's monitoring platforms, support documentation and an agreed meeting and reporting schedule. On-site work is covered by clause 7.2, which requires the customer to provide office space, facilities and a safe place to work for blueAPACHE personnel, and by clause 5.4, under which blueAPACHE complies with the customer's site rules and work, health and safety requirements of which it has been given written notice. Field Services and Staff Augmentation provides the on-site engineering resource where the customer has no local IT presence.

Commercial model

Design and deployment are charged as Professional Services under Schedule 1 in accordance with the Service Order. Hardware supplied by blueAPACHE is charged under Schedule 11; title to the blueAPACHE Environment never transfers to the customer (clause 21.1), while title and risk in Customer Equipment sit with the customer. Managed operation is a fixed monthly fee invoiced in advance, with any usage-based components in arrears (clause 12.1), direct debit by default and GST additional. Azure consumption is billed according to the arrangement on the Service Order. No rate card for Azure Local is published.

Support and service levels

Managed Services customers receive the unlimited 24/7 help desk, Australian-based in business hours (0700 to 1900 AEST/AEDT on Business Days under the general terms) and follow-the-sun after hours, with cloud, server and networking among its disciplines. Connectivity customers have a 7am to 7pm business-day service desk with 24x7 network monitoring. Service Levels are only those under the "Service Level" heading in the Service Description, measured by blueAPACHE's tools, and blueAPACHE publishes no default response or resolution targets; they are set in the bespoke priority and escalation matrix. For hardware, clause 11 commits blueAPACHE to return repaired or replaced items within 30 days at its cost where a defect is confirmed, and to ship an approved out-of-warranty repair within 10 days of approval.

Related services

Public Cloud (Microsoft Azure) is the public half of the hybrid design and emPOWER Cloud is blueAPACHE's own private alternative. emPOWER Core Network and Data Centre Interconnect supplies the ExpressRoute path; emPOWER SASE secures user access to the local and cloud workloads. Advanced Infrastructure Managed Services covers the servers, storage and virtualisation layer that Azure Local nodes represent. Disaster Recovery as a Service and Offsite Backup as a Service protect the local workloads. Private and Public SaaS Backup protects the Entra ID and Microsoft 365 layer. blueapache.store and the Procurement pillar cover the hardware and licensing supply.

Evidence

• Sealy of Australia: international voice and data network across 18 sites, designed around a made-to-order manufacturing process that depends on real-time data between factories and head office, fully live April 2022.
• Archers The Strata Professionals: Microsoft Intune zero-touch provisioning and a Microsoft-centred modernisation delivered with emPOWER Cloud and a managed WAN, dated 2026.
• emPOWER Network brochure: Express Route connections to Azure, SharePoint and Microsoft 365.

Buying questions

Contract term and renewal. Managed operation defaults to a 36-month Minimum Service Period; Professional Services are excluded (clause 2.6). Written Notice by executed Service Order to renew or exit; otherwise a three-month holdover at full list price with Service Levels off (clause 2.9).

Termination. Customer: unremedied breach after 20 Business Days, blueAPACHE insolvency or ceasing business (clause 24.1). blueAPACHE: non-payment after five Business Days, specified breaches after 20 Business Days, insolvency, change of control (clause 24.2). Early Termination Payment under the Schedule (clause 25.2). blueAPACHE may suspend or cancel a Service that its upstream supplier withdraws or replaces (clause 3.26).

Hardware and title. Confirm which components are Customer Equipment (customer title and risk, customer insurance) and which remain blueAPACHE Environment; blueAPACHE may enter the site on reasonable notice to recover its equipment at the end of the agreement, and unreturned equipment is charged at full replacement value (clause 25.2).

Warranty. Hardware warranty claims require written notice within the period stated in clause 11 (the clause reads "within 30" with no unit, likely 30 days); confirm the window on the Service Order.

Microsoft terms. The customer is bound by Microsoft's terms (clause 3.23) and must ensure its licences permit blueAPACHE to access and use the environment (clause 7.1).

Exit and data. The customer must take a copy of Customer Data before the Service Period ends; blueAPACHE deletes copies on its environment and removes its own equipment at no cost (clause 9.1). Deliverable licences end at termination (clause 25.2).

Defining local and cloud responsibilities

Record the division between local infrastructure, Microsoft-connected services, the customer network and applications. Identify hardware ownership, licences, administration, upgrades and support. A local deployment does not answer every data-location question: establish administration, telemetry and connected-service handling for the design. Define what the customer supplies at the site and how loss of external connectivity affects operation. These are deployment-specific requirements, not additional inclusions implied by the Azure Local name.

Which document defines the commitment

The published General Terms v3.6 give the Service Order precedence over the General Terms, followed by the Schedules and then the Acceptable Use Policy (clause 2.3). Record the agreed scope, exclusions and negotiated departures in that document set. A brochure or a procurement discussion does not, by itself, define the customer-specific commitment. Keep the versions supplied at signing with the executed order and signed variations. Two offers with the same service name can cover different systems, operating hours or responsibilities.

Responsibility across the delivery chain

The published terms allow blueAPACHE to subcontract all or part of the Service Agreement without customer consent or a notification requirement. Clause 27.5 nevertheless makes blueAPACHE liable for its subcontractors’ acts and omissions to the same extent as for its employees. This differs from a third-party supplier contracted directly by the customer. Identify which arrangement applies to each dependency in the design. Where supplier identity, delivery location or change notification matters, request a documented supplier list and put any agreed notification or approval requirement in the Service Order; the general clause does not supply that visibility automatically.

Confidential information and access

Clause 16 provides mutual confidentiality protection. It covers information marked confidential, information identified orally and confirmed in writing within 30 days, and information that should reasonably be understood to be confidential. Customer Data, Customer Records and Customer Software are included; blueAPACHE’s agreement and fees are also confidential. Permitted disclosures include appropriately bound personnel on a need-to-know basis and specified professional advisers, with other exceptions in the clause. Identify who may receive operational reports, configuration details and commercial information. Access to information to deliver the service is not a general permission to circulate it.

Continuity when an external event interrupts service

Clause 23 addresses force majeure separately from normal incident management. Performance is suspended to the extent a qualifying event causes delay or failure. The definition includes specified events outside reasonable control; it is not a blanket classification of every outage. If the delay exceeds 20 Business Days, the other party may terminate by written notice. The clause also requires payment for services to termination and the applicable Early Termination Payment. A continuity plan should cover operational recovery and the commercial consequences of prolonged interruption. Confirm the Schedule’s exit calculation rather than assuming an externally caused outage creates a cost-free exit.

How liability differs from service performance

Clause 19 separates performance obligations from financial liability. The general cap per claim is the greater of the fees paid in the preceding three months or $25,000, with exclusions and specific categories governed separately. Confidentiality, information security, privacy and the IP indemnity have a $1 million per-event and $2 million aggregate cap. Data-loss liability depends on whether blueAPACHE had, and breached, a contracted backup or disaster recovery obligation; the relevant measure is restoration cost to the applicable recovery point, not the value of every business consequence. Read these provisions alongside the negotiated Service Order and Schedule; an availability statement does not describe the liability regime.

Sources and scope

The contractual detail above summarises the published General Terms and Conditions v3.6, using the KB documents on service agreement formation and document precedence; subcontracting and assignment; confidentiality; force majeure; liability and indemnity. The customer’s Service Order, Schedules and agreed variations determine the specific engagement. See the terms and conditions guide and Service Agreement.

Related

• Cloud pillar hub
• Microsoft Practice hub
• Public Cloud, Microsoft Azure
• emPOWER Cloud
• Advanced Infrastructure Managed Services
• Field Services and Staff Augmentation
• emPOWER Core Network and Data Centre Interconnect
• Disaster Recovery as a Service
• Procurement pillar hub
• Case study: Sealy of Australia
• Case study: Archers The Strata Professionals
• Industry: Transport and logistics
• Industry: Healthcare and aged care
• Service Agreement terms
• Support
• Contact blueAPACHE

Frequently asked questions

What is Azure Local in blueAPACHE's portfolio?

A service that lets organisations run selected workloads on local infrastructure while managing them with Azure-based tooling, as part of a hybrid cloud strategy. blueAPACHE designs, deploys and supports the environment.

When would I choose Azure Local over Azure or emPOWER Cloud?

When a workload must stay physically close to its users or data: latency-sensitive applications, systems that must keep running through a WAN outage, or data with an on-premises requirement. Azure and emPOWER Cloud remain the options for workloads that can run in a region or on blueAPACHE's private platform.

Does blueAPACHE publish specifications or pricing for Azure Local?

No. There is no Azure Local brochure, so node sizes, supported hardware, uptime figures and prices are quoted per engagement on the Service Order.

How do local nodes connect to Azure?

Over the emPOWER Network, which the network brochure states provides Express Route connections to Azure, SharePoint and Microsoft 365, with emPOWER Connectivity offering a secondary VPN route for redundancy.

Can blueAPACHE supply the hardware and licences?

Yes. Hardware and Ancillary Services (Schedule 11) and Software Licensing and Subscriptions (Schedule 10) are blueAPACHE service categories and are within the scope of its ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certificate.

What warranty applies to hardware blueAPACHE supplies?

Clause 11 of the general terms sets out a warranty against defects: where a defect is confirmed, blueAPACHE repairs or replaces the item at its cost and returns it within 30 days, and refunds the price if it cannot. Fair wear and tear, misuse and failure to maintain environmental conditions are excluded.

Who supports the environment day to day?

Managed Services customers use the unlimited 24/7 help desk with server, networking and cloud expertise; on-site work can be provided through Field Services and Staff Augmentation. Response and resolution targets are set per customer.

Is data on Azure Local covered by blueAPACHE's Australian data residency statement?

The statement describes blueAPACHE's own Australian data centres. Data on Azure Local nodes stays on the customer's premises, and any Azure services used with it live in the Azure regions selected in the design.

Are Microsoft's terms my responsibility?

Yes. Under clause 3.23 the customer must comply with Microsoft's terms whether or not they were shown at signing, and Microsoft price changes can be passed through under clause 12.5.

What is the minimum term?

36 months for the managed operation component unless the Service Order says otherwise; design and deployment as Professional Services are outside that default.

What happens to the equipment when the contract ends?

Customer-owned equipment stays with the customer. blueAPACHE removes its own equipment at no cost, may enter the site on reasonable notice to recover it, and charges full replacement value for any of its equipment not returned (clauses 9.1 and 25.2).

Source

Drawn from blueAPACHE's published Azure Local and services pages on the origin site; the emPOWER Network, Connectivity, Cloud, vendor partner and Managed Services material; the ISO 27001 certification record and data sovereignty and residency statement; the Sealy of Australia and Archers The Strata Professionals case studies; and the General Terms and Conditions v3.6 (terms overview, consumer guarantees and warranty against defects, risk title PPSR and insurance, third-party software and licensor terms, intellectual property rights, customer obligations, shared services and infrastructure control, backup and disaster recovery obligations, service suspension and cancellation, service term renewal and minimum service period, termination rights, consequences of termination, transition-in and disengagement services, fees payment and invoicing, and service delivery and service levels). Node specifications, supported hardware, uptime figures and pricing are not published and are not inferred here.

Knowledge Base