If you looked out of the window today, you’d probably see a large assortment of clouds. Clouds of all different types, shapes, and sizes. There are cirrus clouds, cumulus clouds, public clouds, and hybrid clouds; but do you see your cloud? Is it light, fast moving, and flexible? Is it dark, erratic, and unpredictable? Chances are you don’t know yet, and there is nothing wrong with this sentiment. You manage IT in a very real business, with very real concerns. But with the proper plan in place, you can ensure that utilizing the hyper scalability, flexibility, and efficiency of Microsoft’s Cloud Platform will be as smooth a transition as it can be.
The first question you need to ask yourself is, “What level of adoption is right for your business to start?” Most companies like to start by “dipping their toes in the pool” and this is for good reason. Mission-critical applications and processes are, as the name implies, too important to fail. Failure of these applications would result in huge losses to your business. That’s why I feel it’s best to start small and work up from there. Microsoft’s Office 365 and Azure cloud offer packaged Software as a Service (SaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) options that are flexible and scalable, with low entry costs and little management/configuration overhead required. SaaS and PaaS services can be enabled as soon as they are needed and are available to be consumed shortly after.
Looking for built in redundancy to a SQL database but don’t have a secondary offices or access to a Co-Lo? Azure SQLDB services offer low cost scalable databases that grow right alongside your business. Flexibility and scalability are the terms to consider here. This service is often an afterthought for businesses looking to protect their SQL databases, however, many opt for more complete, costly, and bandwidth-intensive SQL image VMs running in the public cloud. Do you have users starting Monday but don’t have the time to configure, image, and deploy new devices? Enable Azure Remote App services to build, configure, and deploy full Windows environments for users to consume within minutes – empowering users to do meaningful work from day one, no weekend overtime required.
Azure Platform services can be the springboard into your cloud adoption, because there is very little overhead required regarding price or staffing resources. You can choose from pre-built systems, with pre-configured connects ready to break your pre-conceived notions regarding the Azure cloud. Take a few minutes to look through the whole host of services Azure offers and make the decision that’s best for your business. There really is something for everyone!
