Azure Files customer case studies

Customers from multiple industries use Azure Files and Azure File Sync to host file shares and synchronize on-premises file servers with the cloud. The article presents three customer scenarios that highlight common challenges and outcomes.

Key takeaways

• Azure Files and Azure File Sync help organizations reduce on-premises storage constraints, improve disaster recovery, and enable seamless remote and distributed collaboration.

• Solutions can offer local performance (caching), cloud-scale storage, simplified IT management, and lower total cost of ownership.

• Azure Files is effective for workflows that involve very large files and geographically distributed teams.

Summaries of the three use cases

Azure File Sync — business continuity

Link: https://docs.azure.cn/en-us/storage/files/azure-files-case-study#azure-file-sync-business-continuity-use-case

• Customer: An environmental engineering company (2,500 employees, 80 offices).

• Challenges:

• Outcome: Using Azure Files with Azure File Sync dramatically improved server recovery times (near-instant) and allowed employees to continue working without interruptions.

Azure File Sync — collaboration

Link: https://docs.azure.cn/en-us/storage/files/azure-files-case-study#azure-file-sync-collaboration-use-case

• Customer: A sportswear brand working across multiple locations.

• Challenge: Improve speed and ease of collaboration between locations while maintaining performance.

• Solution: Combined Azure File Sync with Azure Virtual WAN to provide local performance caching for on-prem users plus cloud-scale, worldwide syncing.

• Outcome: Reduced latency, improved security, better collaboration, simpler IT management, and reduced total cost of ownership for file services.

Azure Files — large files

Link: https://docs.azure.cn/en-us/storage/files/azure-files-case-study#azure-files-large-files-use-case

• Customer: Game studios handling large digital assets (builds, crash dumps).

• Challenge: Pandemic-driven shift to remote work increased latency and internet egress costs when accessing very large files remotely.

• Solution: Azure Files provided a scalable way for distributed teams to work with large files more effectively.

• Outcome: Improved scalability and remote access performance for large-file workflows.

Additional resources

• Original article and sections are available at the links above.

• Last updated on 09/19/2025.