What is the Microsoft Azure Cloud?
Microsoft Azure is a cloud platform for IT infrastructure, data storage, high performance computing, disaster recovery, and hosting your custom applications. Since its inception it has grown substantially becoming an industry standard for its efficient and secure operation. Azure Cloud allows you to choose either an IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) or a PaaS (Platform as a Service) depending on your business needs.
Azure has quickly become the go to for industry leaders looking for a hybrid or fully cloud based solution. Azure is utilized by startup companies as well as Fortune 500 companies. In fact, Azure is used by 95% of Fortune 500 companies. Switching to the cloud saves you on upfront hardware costs because you only pay for the services and resources you need. This allows your business to tailor everything to its specific requirements. Compared to purchasing and maintaining your own IT infrastructure, cloud-based solutions offer an ease of use many businesses crave today.
Without needing to invest in enterprise-level IT, small to medium-sized companies, including those in emerging markets, now gain access to affordable and secure enterprise-level cloud services.
Below are 4 reasons many businesses are switching to the cloud.
User-Friendly Platform
One of Microsoft Cloud’s many strengths are in its user-friendly platform. From the beginning Microsoft Azure allowed users the option to migrate a complete solution to the cloud. Azure Cloud provides step by step migration saving users time and money. As for the platform, most business owners are familiar with Windows and Linux, which uses the same technology as Microsoft. This makes the transition intuitive and provides a small learning curve for those transitioning to the cloud. It is also incredibly customizable allowing customers to create a system that works for them and their business without the clutter of unused applications. Microsoft has spent considerable energy focused towards creating user friendly sysadmin tools. This includes tutorials and customer support information. You can even get full certifications from Microsoft Learning. The main Azure site provides whitepapers, how-to-videos, and blogs to assist users. The ease of setup, an intuitive platform, and multiple resources all add to Microsoft Cloud’s reputation for being incredibly user friendly.
They Can Go Hybrid
One of the benefits of choosing Microsoft Azure is the ability to go hybrid. A hybrid cloud is a combination of using a public cloud and a private cloud in a computing environment that allows your applications to be shared between them. While there are many benefits to fully transition to the cloud, sometimes companies would prefer to keep part of their data on a server at their location. The main difference is that you are responsible for management of a private cloud while you aren’t responsible for any of the management of a public one. When shifting a business to the cloud it transitions in phases. The most common route to the cloud is moving your email from on-prem to Office 365, and setting up Azure Cloud Disaster Recovery.
Typically, larger companies choose to host a private cloud or a partial private set up while smaller companies opt for a public cloud due to the cost and management savings. For large companies processing substantial amounts of data hosting their own server can prove to be the most cost efficient, with data transfers and backups occurring once a week rather than daily. With the option to do either Azure allows the flexibility and comfort to tailor a program that is right for you. You can feel secure whether your company chooses a SaaS or PaaS route.
Your Data Will Be Safe
More companies are moving to the cloud for an increase in security level. Your data is managed by experts and requires controlled access. By choosing Azure Cloud you are providing your company the security and peace of mind that your information is safe. The Azure Security Center will keep you up to date with Microsoft’s latest security capabilities. Traditional hardware is vulnerable to the environment around it. A fire, storm, or any damage to its physical location can prove to be detrimental to a company’s operation. With The Cloud, files can be accessed remotely immediately to allow regular business to continue no matter the conditions. It allows employees the flexibility of working from any location and customers the peace of mind that their information and account history is protected. In addition, with Microsoft’s global cloud platform their site recovery will protect workloads on a virtual machine at a low cost. During outages customers only pay for the compute and storage resources to run their apps. Microsoft is also no stranger to online attacks. They have become experts to insure their systems are safe as well as their customers. With Azure, you have the ability to back up your data at multiple locations around the world ensuring the safety of your files even if something happens to one datacenter. Whether the threat is virtual or physical Azure has you and your files protected.
Read about the 3 ways Azure improves your security
You’ll Get The Expert Help You Need
By selecting the right partner, such as the Tier 1 Direct CSP and Microsoft Gold Certified Cloud Platform and Cloud Productivity experts at 360 Visibility, you can have a leading North American Managed Cloud Services Provider proactively helping you use the Microsoft Cloud for the greatest ROI. If we can’t answer your question, we’ll work with the team at Microsoft as part of our concierge service to provide you the best possible support.
360 Visibility also offers cloud workshops for you and your company to assist you with the transition to Azure. Implementing your own software is an option if you have your own IT team with Azure experience. However, using a team dedicated to the project will help with a smooth transition and allow your company to focus on growing your business. Our Microsoft Azure Cloud Specialists have managed Cloud environments across North America.