Are you curious about Azure VMware Solution (AVS)? Do you still have questions about what exactly it entails? In a previous post, we went over the basics and benefits of AVS. The simplest way to think of it is as a solution supported by Microsoft that constructs a fast track to the cloud by migrating or extending existing VMware workloads from on-premises environments to Azure. This cloud modernization solution comes with the added benefit of reduced cost, effort, and risk of retooling operations.
The Connection AVS Pilot Program is an opportunity to work with our cloud migration experts to form a strategic cloud approach that will enable your organization to expedite innovation, improve efficiency, and develop a competitive advantage. Within the pilot program, you can expect a comprehensive and strategic recommendation from our team that fits your management and optimization goals, allowing your organization to gain familiarity with this technology while piloting a few select workloads.
A Connection Cloud Expert will work with you to offer their guidance as they walk through your current infrastructure and workloads, providing a detailed analysis of your resources, consisting of:
- Azure Readiness Summary
- Recommendations for appropriate Azure VM configurations
- Deploy pilot environment for select workloads
- Estimated monthly cost for hosting your Azure environment
Together we will develop a custom and strategic migration plan, unique to your business needs, that meets the technical and operational requirements for improved business outcomes.
So, what’s in it for you? Here are some use cases of what your organization can gain from your participation in our AVS Pilot Program:
On-premises Data Center Footprint Reduction
Shift any vSphere-based workloads to Azure in a non-disruptive, automated, and scalable manner without changing the underlying vSphere hypervisor. Reduce the risk of rearchitecting and eliminate future hardware refresh headaches and capacity limitations.
Data Center Expansion Based on Demand
Seamlessly expand or augment data center capacity—and adjust your costs—on demand, via self-service provisioning. Reduce your up-front investment, accelerate speed of provisioning, and reduce complexity with the same architecture and policies across both your on-premises infrastructure and the cloud.
Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
By using a VMware Stack deployed in Azure, you are automatically setting up an on-demand disaster recovery site for an on-premises data center. VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) brings proven DR capabilities to AVS. SRM for AVS offers an intuitive and simplified experience for installation and lifecycle management of SRM, directly through the Azure portal.
Application Modernization
With AVS, you can keep managing your migrated environments with the same VMware tools you already know, while you are modernizing your applications with Azure-native management, security, and services. It’s a simple and flexible way to take on modernization at your leisure. Azure VMware Solution provides a hyperconverged architecture designed to run your most demanding VMware workloads:
- Run Oracle, Microsoft SQL server, middleware systems, and high-performance no-SQL databases.
- Unify DevOps across VMware and Azure.
- Optimize VMware administration for Azure services and solutions that can be applied across all your workloads.
- Access public cloud services without having to expand your data center or rearchitect your applications.
- Centralize identities, access control policies, logging, and monitoring for VMware applications on Azure.
Cloud Desktop Virtualization
The most common mode of operation for virtual desktops is now hybrid, where enterprises host desktop workloads on both on-premises infrastructure and public clouds. VMware Horizon on Azure VMware Solution lets you combine on-premises and Azure-hosted virtual desktops and apps into a uniform pool with fully consistent user and management experiences.
Watch our vlog to learn more about the Connection AVS Pilot Program!
What have you got to lose? Contact your Connection Account team to learn more about the Azure VMware Solution Pilot Program—and let’s kickstart your journey to the cloud.
Makayla Mota
Makayla Mota is a Partner Marketing Specialist at Connection with a background in educational technology training on Microsoft solutions in the classroom. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, spending time with her family, antiquing, hiking, and watching movies.
