What is the primary purpose of Azure Policy?

The primary purpose of Azure Policy is to enforce compliance and governance of Azure resources. This service allows organizations to define policies that control which actions are permissible within their Azure environment. By defining policies, organizations can ensure that their resources are compliant with various standards and regulations, implement security controls, and maintain governance over their cloud resources.

Azure Policy works by evaluating resources against the defined policies and can either allow or deny resource creation or modification based on compliance. For instance, you can enforce a policy that prohibits the creation of virtual machines in specific regions or ensure that all storage accounts must have specific security settings enabled. This capability not only aids in maintaining governance but also helps organizations meet regulatory requirements and manages risks associated with cloud resource usage.

The other options address different functionalities that cloud services might provide, but they do not encapsulate the central role of Azure Policy in governance and compliance. For example, creating resources automatically focuses on resource management, testing applications pertains to development practices, and reducing operational costs relates to financial management, none of which directly reflect the essential governance aspect that Azure Policy is designed to uphold.