When I first landed in the Azure portal, it felt like walking into a trendy coffee shop with 300 types of beans. Everything looked exciting, but I had no idea where to begin. Then came CLI and Bicep—and suddenly, I wasn’t just a coffee drinker anymore. I was the barista, the roaster, and the machine technician all at once.
This article is part of my ongoing learning journey from Microsoft 365 expert to Azure explorer. I’ll walk you through the three main ways to interact with Azure, share the mistakes I made as a beginner, and explain why automation isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s essential for scaling and maintaining your cloud infrastructure.
1. Azure Portal – The Visual Interface
The Azure Portal (https://portal.azure.com) is the graphical web interface where you can create and manage resources like virtual machines, storage accounts, and networks.
Pros:
- Intuitive and visual
- Great for beginners and quick testing
- No coding required
Cons:
- Not reproducible
- No version control
- Easy to lose track of what you’ve configured
Example: Creating a VM via Portal
- Click “Virtual Machine” → “Create”
- Choose or create a resource group
- Select region, size, image (e.g., Ubuntu), authentication, and networking
- Click “Review + Create”
The Catch: You won’t remember what you clicked two weeks later—and neither will Azure.
2.Azure CLI – Command Line with Cloud Power
Azure CLI is a cross-platform command-line tool you can run locally or in the Azure Cloud Shell. It’s ideal for scripting and automation.
Pros:
- Scriptable and automatable
- Precise control#
- Great for DevOps workflows
Cons:
- Requires syntax knowledge
- Less visual feedback
- Easy to make mistakes if you don’t understand the commands
Example: Creating a VM via CLI
az group create --name RoestGruppe --location westeurope
az vm create \
--resource-group RoestGruppe \
--name EspressoVM \
--image UbuntuLTS \
--admin-username ferdi \
--generate-ssh-keys
Use –output json or –query to extract specific data like public IPs.
3. Bicep – Azure-Native Infrastructure as Code
Bicep is a declarative language developed by Microsoft for defining Azure resources. It’s clean, readable, and integrates directly with the Azure ecosystem.
Pros:
- Versionable and reusable
- Easy to read and maintain
- Ideal for teams and CI/CD pipelines
Cons:
- Requires initial learning curve
- Best used from the start—not retroactively
Example: Creating a Storage Account with Bicep
resource storage 'Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts@2022-09-01' = {
name: 'roeststorage'
location: resourceGroup().location
sku: {
name: 'Standard_LRS'
}
kind: 'StorageV2'
}
Deployment:
az deployment group create \
--resource-group RoestGruppe \
--template-file storage.bicep
I’ll be honest: I haven’t used Terraform in practice yet. But based on my research, it’s a powerful alternative to Bicep—especially if you’re working across multiple cloud platforms.
Terraform is an open-source tool from HashiCorp that supports Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, Kubernetes, and more. It uses HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language) and manages infrastructure state via a local or remote file.
What stood out to me:
- Multi-cloud support
- Potentially fewer lines of code for some resources
- Requires careful state management
Example from my research:
resource "azurerm_storage_account" "roeststorage" {
name = "roeststorage"
resource_group_name = "RoestGruppe"
location = "West Europe"
account_tier = "Standard"
account_replication_type = "LRS"
}
Terraform isn’t a replacement for Bicep—it’s a different tool with a different focus. I plan to test both and write a follow-up article:
“Bicep vs. Terraform – Espresso for Azure or Multi-Cloud Mocha?”
“I’ll just click around in the portal…”
I created resources manually, thinking I’d remember what I did. I didn’t. No documentation, no reproducibility. It was like brewing espresso without a recipe—every cup tasted different.
“CLI looks cool—let’s copy some commands.”
I copied CLI commands from docs without understanding them. I ended up deploying resources in the wrong region and misconfiguring networks. CLI is powerful, but it doesn’t forgive ignorance.
“Bicep? Sounds like a gym thing.”
I discovered Bicep too late. I had already built a bunch of resources manually and had to reverse-engineer everything into code. It was painful and inefficient.
“Terraform is just like Bicep, right?”
Not quite. Terraform’s state management and multi-cloud capabilities add complexity. Without understanding how the state file works, you risk ending up with infrastructure that doesn’t match your code.
Scalability
Need 50 VMs across three regions? Don’t click—script. Automation lets you scale without losing your mind.
Maintainability & Security
Code-based deployments are versioned, auditable, and reversible. You know who changed what, when, and why.
Testability
Spin up identical environments for testing, staging, and production. No surprises, no inconsistencies.
Reusability
Write once, use everywhere. Your Bicep modules become your infrastructure cookbook.
My espresso tip for you
Clicking through Azure is fine for learning. But if you want to scale, automate, and sleep well at night—start coding your infrastructure. Your future self (and your IT team) will thank you.
