Microsoft Azure is undoubtedly one of the leading cloud providers in the market. The cloud computing platform’s revenue grew by 50% year-over-year in 2021, resulting in a 26% increase in cloud services and server products revenue. Thus, Microsoft Azure is the ideal cloud platform when you expand your business’ IT capabilities and storage capacity in the cloud.
However, for the cloud computing platform to work seamlessly, your business needs reliable internet access, web hosting, and maintenance services. Nonetheless, many companies make the mistake of getting their Microsoft Azure Cloud from their Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Outlined below are some cons of purchasing the cloud computing platform from ISPs instead of a dedicated Microsoft Azure Partner.
Lack of Superior and Dedicated Service
Internet Service Providers offer a wide array of internet services, including domain registration, browser and software packages, email services, and web hosting. Unfortunately, these ISPs offer Microsoft Azure as just another service in their portfolio rather than specializing and dedicating their services to cloud computing. Therefore, you don’t get dedicated and superior services when you get your Microsoft Azure Cloud from an Internet Service Provider.
On their part, dedicated Microsoft Azure partners have vast experience and knowledge about Microsoft’s enterprise software and products. Thus, their knowledge and expertise place them in a better position to help you get a clear picture of the specific product your business needs. In addition, Microsoft Azure partners allow you to immediately gain access to their expertise and the licenses your business needs to get started by offering superior service.
Lack of Experienced IT Solutions
Navigating through the complexities of the Azure Cloud can be overwhelming, especially if you don’t have a qualified and experienced IT team. Regrettably, most Internet Service Providers don’t hire experienced IT teams that can help you easily navigate these complexities and achieve your business goals. Thus, when you get your company’s cloud set up and managed by these ISPs, you forego the massive possibilities the cloud offers.
Microsoft Azure partners know that technical details can get in the way of migrating to Azure or implementing Dynamics 365 as a core solution. That’s why these partners only hire experienced and expert IT teams that have a vast knowledge of the immense possibilities that the cloud provides. These professional IT teams spend most of their time going through monthly training from Microsoft themselves to ensure your business needs are quickly and effectively met.
High Service Costs
Different ISPs have developed new and distinct sources of income such as installation charges, business rates, subscriber rates, and advertising costs, among others. However, most ISPs charge their customers highly for providing reliable and consistent internet access as a service. More often than not, these ISPs charge exorbitant fees and collect a high percentage of sales from businesses when they conduct internet commerce.
On the other hand, dedicated Microsoft Azure partners offer their services through Azure Cost Optimization and License Management. Azure Cost Optimization enables you to manage your cloud computing spending and solely focus on what matters to your business. For instance, the Microsoft Cost Optimization program allows you to shut down idle resources, right-size underused resources, and reserve instances for consistent workloads.
If that’s not enough, the program lets you take advantage of the benefits of Azure Hybrid, configure auto-scaling, set up budgets, allocate costs to projects and teams, and choose the right Azure compute services. Consequently, this goes a long way in enabling you to save.
Compromised Cybersecurity
If you get your Azure Cloud from ISPs, you’ll need to trust them to maintain the availability and the cybersecurity of your business’ cloud infrastructure. However, these internet providers host many other websites on a shared server and provide their services to many customers simultaneously. Thus, the chances of your business’s cybersecurity being compromised increases. More so, if your ISP gets blacklisted due to spam sites or hosting adult content, the chances are that your business’ site can also be directly affected.
Microsoft ensures that its partners have adequate product-specific information, up-to-date training, and the latest cybersecurity strategies to keep your site from cyberattacks. Therefore, when you get your Microsoft Azure Cloud from a Microsoft Partner, your business will be at the forefront of the latest cybersecurity innovations. That way, you can direct all your focus on the core operations that will grow your business without worrying about cyberattacks.
Conclusion
In hindsight, getting your Azure Cloud from a dedicated Microsoft Partner is one of the best decisions you can make if you intend on growing your business in the cloud. If your business is still on-premises, we here at 360 Visibility are the best-in-class Microsoft Partner that can help maximize your ROI in the cloud with Microsoft Azure.