We’re living in the age of Cloud Computing where business as we know it, is changing rapidly. More and more workplaces are ditching on-premise servers and routing for cloud computing providers such as Microsoft Azure.
Over the past few years, Microsoft Azure has made serious improvements to its cloud offerings to give a tight competition to AWS and Google Cloud. Reportedly, 95% of Fortune 500 companies now trust the Azure Platform for their operations.
So, what has changed? Should you also consider Azure for your business? Let’s try and answer this question with the following points.
Run Your Company on the Cloud
For every modern office, there are 4 basic IT requirements.
- Servers
- Computation
- Resource Sharing
- Business Apps
Microsoft Azure provides all of these on the “pay as you go” model as well as upfront commitment options. You can subscribe to Virtual Machines to host your company website and run business applications. Azure also provides SQL Databases, Microsoft SharePoint, and Mobility for managing other operations at your workplace.
This means you’re free from deploying any kind of ground infrastructure for your IT needs, and everything can be accessed from anywhere in the world. There are several instances of companies that use Azure Infrastructure as a Service in Dubai for running their entire workflows on the cloud.
Hybridization
The ability to provide a hybrid solution for specific use case scenarios is the most pronounced in the Azure Platform. Both AWS and GCP have limited scope for Hybridization but with Azure, you can distribute architecture design between on-premise and cloud.
Hybrid architectures are great for businesses who wish to allocate specific processes to the cloud and keep the rest in-house. Azure can manage the grey areas well with the help of VPN and ExpressRoute services that are exclusive to Azure.
Cost Benefits
The most attractive aspect of choosing Azure is the competitive pricing model and the ability to manage costs like a pro. You can keep your IT spends under control in the following ways.
- No need to pay for the entire server, just pay for the RAM and Storage combination you need and get an easy monthly estimate, which is 40% cheaper.
- Upgrade or Downgrade your servers as per the varying company needs. No fixed quotas are required and scaling is as easy as setup.
- Shift simple processes to serverless platforms such as Azure Functions that are triggered only when required, eradicating spends for idle servers.
- Access a Microsoft Partner to implement an efficient cloud infrastructure that saves you cost as well as increases performance.
Azure Cognitive Services
Cognitive Service suite is one of the latest additions to the Azure platform allowing developers to build intelligent applications using AI-as-a-service and Machine Learning.
Right now, Azure supports a number of APIs such as the Bot framework, Text Analysis, Face Recognition, Speech Analysis, Natural Language Processing and much more.
This gives tech companies a lot of power to develop their own intelligent software without spending millions of dollars on research. Azure handles cloud computation of all these services, enabling you to deploy intelligence across your workplace.
Azure Active Directory
Azure Active Directory is the industry standard for Identity and Access Management (IAM). It’s one of the most widely used services for managing user access inside your organization and assigning resources judiciously. AD counterparts such as AWS Cognito exist but haven’t reached the level of utilization as AD.
With Azure AD at the center of your cloud architecture, you can manage authorization for commonly used MS products such as Office 365, Azure Portal, SharePoint and more. Azure Active Directory is one of the key services in the Azure Infrastructure as a Service in Dubai.
Conclusion
MS Azure is a promising option for new businesses looking to integrate their IT infrastructure with the cloud. They can enjoy low-cost server and computation as well as a number of additional platform-as-a-service benefits with Azure. The way Azure is growing reflects the everyday needs of businesses, making it one of the most sought after cloud computing alternatives today.
If you’re interested in what other tools your company can invest in for future success then check out WhatMatrix. They cover technology reviews for the community to help you make more informed decisions.
