What Azure feature can be utilized for policy management to ensure compliance?

Azure Policy is the feature designed specifically for policy management to ensure compliance within Azure environments. It allows organizations to define policies that enforce specific rules and effects on Azure resources to meet compliance standards. By using policy definitions, you can control resources by allowing or denying certain actions, and you can audit existing resources against these policies to ensure compliance.

When you create a policy definition, it can be assigned to a specific scope, such as a subscription or a resource group. This capability makes it possible to enforce governance across multiple resources consistently. Through policy evaluation, Azure can also assess resource compliance, generating reports that highlight which resources are compliant or non-compliant with the defined policies.

Azure Resource Manager is the foundational layer for managing resources in Azure but does not specifically focus on compliance management. Azure Cost Management aids in tracking and managing your Azure costs, but it does not enforce or manage policies. Azure Monitor is used for collecting and analyzing telemetry data from Azure resources, allowing for performance and health monitoring, but does not inherently address compliance management.

In summary, Azure Policy is the tool explicitly designed to help organizations define, enforce, and ensure compliance through policy management within their Azure environments.