1.2.2. The Responsibility Trade-off

💡 First Principle: "Fully managed" means Azure handles operational tasks, but it also means you accept their way of doing things. The trade-off is always: less work for you = less flexibility for customization.

When to choose IaaS (SQL on VM):

• Need OS-level access (install custom software)
• Require specific SQL Server version
• Have unique configuration requirements

When to choose PaaS (Azure SQL Database):

• Want zero patching/backup management
• Building new cloud-native applications
• Willing to accept platform constraints

When to choose SaaS (Microsoft Fabric):

• Want complete end-to-end solution
• Prioritize time-to-value over customization
• Organization prefers unified billing/governance

Reasoning Tool: When a question mentions "minimize management overhead" or "fully managed"—lean toward PaaS/SaaS. When it mentions "specific version," "OS access," or "custom configuration"—lean toward IaaS.