Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing service similar to the Google Cloud or Amazon web services.
Cloud computing is an alternative to building and maintaining your own data center. Instead of acquiring hardware and technology, hiring staff, and maintaining it all, organizations can access a large pool of technology resources which are shared with many other organizations. Companies – and even individuals – never have to worry about not having enough capability in-house, or of purchasing too much hardware.
What Can Microsoft Azure Offer My Company?
Originally known as Windows Azure, Microsoft Azure provides an ever-increasing suite of services to its clients. You can access full virtual machines, databases, file storage, backup capabilities, and services for mobile and web apps. In fact, as you peruse the Microsoft website, you will encounter hundreds of services covering a vast range of applications. The solutions are classified as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS).
Because of the inherent flexibility of cloud computing, Microsoft Azure allows you to scale your infrastructure up and down easily and cost effectively. It also supports virtually any OS, language or framework and offers 99.95% availability and 24×7 technical support. It is nearly impossible to achieve such economies of scale and availability in a stand-alone, onsite data center.
Our Favorite Ways to Use Microsoft Azure
- The Ultimate in Disaster Recovery / Business Continuity: Studies have shown that hardware failure is the leading cause of data loss, and that businesses who suffer catastrophic data loss without a disaster recovery plan will fail 90% of the time. With no capital investment and minimal operational costs, Azure can provide your organization with up-to-date backups, 99 year retention of files and a rapid recovery of files. In fact, Azure provides three copies of backups in each of two data centers – meaning that your data will always be safe. While physical backup will always have its place, Azure provides the ultimate in peace of mind.
- Integrate IoT into Your Strategy: The flexibility, security and scalability of Azure makes it a compelling resource for companies considering more meaningful application of IoT solutions. An organization can connect devices to the cloud, integrating with current infrastructure – making it easy to start collecting new data. Within the Azure IoT Hub, you can monitor and manage billions of devices and make better, data-driven decisions by applying Machine Learning and Stream Analytics to your IoT data.
- Supplement your Active Directory: Azure can integrate with your Active Directory to add to your identity and access potential, allowing global reach for your DNS – as well as providing centralized management and vigorous security capability. You can easily:
1. Connect users with apps they require across cloud, mobile, and on-premises apps
2. Protect user accounts and maximize security with conditional access, continuous threat detection and response
3. Connect and work together with your customers/partners and more securely without added overhead
4. Speed up your app development with authentication, single sign-on, user provisioning, and more.
Besides all of the applications and services which are defined by Microsoft, Azure is built with so much capability that it has almost limitless potential for your organization. If you would like to learn more about cloud computing in general or Microsoft Azure in particular, call the managed services professionals at Alliance IT. We can help you identify all those areas where you can more efficiently utilize managed services, cloud based tools, and shared infrastructure to optimize your bottom line – while offering your clients a more streamlined, affordable, and seamless experience. Contact out expert team today with any questions.
