The equivalent in Azure is;
sp_columns (Transact-SQL) | Microsoft Docs[
^]
OR sp_help (Transact-SQL) | Microsoft Docs[
^] - the latter returns multiple result sets depending on what the object identified.
BUT the error you are receiving suggests that you do not have access to the
sys schema - this can be confirmed by querying the schema directly using;
SELECT * FROM sys.tables
for instance.
NOTE: The stored procedure sp_MSHelpColumns is considered an undocumented stored procedure and should not be used to query the catalogs
Kind Regards