Should you use OpenAI directly or go through Microsoft Azure OpenAI? While both offer access to powerful models like GPT-4 and DALL·E, the differences in deployment, governance, and enterprise readiness are substantial.
Azure OpenAI is a collaborative service between Microsoft and OpenAI, designed for enterprise use. It provides access to the same models as OpenAI directly (GPT-4, GPT-4 Turbo, DALL·E, Whisper and more) but within the Azure cloud ecosystem.
What value does Azure Cloud bring?
Data residency and isolation: Ensures data stays within your Azure subscription
Enterprise-grade security: Role-based access control, encryption at rest, and compliance with Microsoft standards which have passed a large number of global certifications. More details can be found on the Microsoft Trust website. You don’t have to trust Microsoft, you can trust the industry regulation requirements that have been cross verified.
Integration with Microsoft stack: Seamless use across Microsoft 365, Power Platform, Dynamics 365 PowerApps, and Azure DevOps.
So in general consider Azure Open AI that extra layer of control and compliance. It also provides fine-tuning, embeddings, and custom deployment opportunities with an extra set of tools.
If you want more specific use cases this table might be helpful:
Field Notes 
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