First, let’s clarify what the Azure platform is. Released back in 2008, Microsoft Azure is a flexible public Cloud service platform that enables your business to build, deploy, and manage applications and services on the Cloud.
It supports a broad selection of operating systems, programming languages, frameworks, tools, databases, and devices.
Azure can supplement or replace your existing on-site servers.
It offers solutions including:
• Platform as a Service (PaaS)
• Software as a Service (SaaS)
These services can be used for virtual computing, storage, networking, analytics, and much more.
It boasts the following features:
• 99.9% Service Level Agreements
• A ‘pay as you go’ pricing model
with no costly upfront charges and
no wastage
• Limitless capabilities – no matter if you’re a small coffee shop or a large multinational company, Azure can scale to meet your business needs
• It comes fully integrated with all Microsoft products to complement your existing infrastructure
So now you know what Azure can offer, why would you use it?
Rigorous Security
With the new mixed workforce of home and office-based staff, your business’ security is more at risk than ever. Therefore, you want to be confident that you’re receiving the best in security protection.
Whether it’s network and system security, data, or response and monitoring, Azure meets the needs of even the most security-conscious of organisations.
Azure has its own Security Centre, which helps you prevent, detect, and respond to threats; offering increased visibility and control over your Azure-based resources.
With its handy dashboard, you’ll immediately receive alerts and recommendations so that you can solve issues with the push of a button.
You’ll also have access to an Azure Resource Manager, so you can deploy, update, or delete resources with ease.
This is just a handful of the comprehensive features and security measures which Azure has to offer.
Better Business Continuity And Disaster Recovery
The flexibility of the Azure backup and disaster recovery tool is partly what makes it so attractive.
You can back up your data on any operating system, from any location, and to any chosen schedule – daily, weekly, or monthly.
You can enjoy having your data backed up and your systems mirrored in multiple data centres too.
If you’re still relying on tape backup, Azure can enhance this with offsite replication. Essentially, this is a cost-effective, secure, one-click backup solution that can scale as your business changes.
With user-friendly management interfaces, you have the peace of mind to set your policies and definitions around your backup and disaster recovery with ease.
Insightful Analytics
They say knowledge is power, and Azure enables you to uncover key insights from your gathered data with managed SQL and NoSQL data solutions.
With deeper data analysis, you can make more informed business decisions and pinpoint actionable ways to improve your processes and operations.
Ultimate Flexibility
These days, predicting which factors will impact your business in the near future requires a crystal ball, which is why you need technology that can flex as you change directions, without incurring any penalties or presenting any obstacles.
One of the biggest advantages of Azure is its ability to scale in line with your business. You can also set it to auto-scale depending on server loads, or when calibrated to a pre-set schedule.
So, no matter what life throws at you, Azure will have you covered.
However, embracing Azure technology doesn’t mean you need to throw away your current infrastructure. Instead, you can use Azure as an extension of it, and leverage the power of the platform to build on your existing technologies.
If the migration is carried out by cloud experts, you’ll quickly see the benefits of an Azure migration, which include: high availability, increased security, greater flexibility, and significant cost savings.
