What is Azure?
Microsoft Azure is a public cloud computing platform—with solutions including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS) that can be used for services such as analytics, virtual computing, storage, networking, and much more. Azure provides an ever-expanding array of products and services designed to meet all your business needs through one convenient, easy to manage platform.
What can Microsoft Azure Do?
Microsoft maintains a growing directory of Azure services, with more being added all the time. All the elements necessary to build a virtual network and deliver services or applications to a global audience are available, including:
- Compute – It is used to process data on the cloud by making use of powerful processors which serve multiple instances at a time.
- Virtual Machines
- VM Scale Sets
- Azure Container Instances
- Azure Kubernetes Service
- Azure Container Registry
- Functions
- Batch
- Service Fabric
- Storage Services – The storage as the name suggests is used to store data in the cloud with the ability to scale as and when required. This data can be stored anywhere.
- Blob Storage
- Queue Storage
- File Storage
- Table Storage
- Database – The database domain is used to provide reliable relational and non-relational database instances managed by Azure.
- Azure SQL Database
- Azure Database for MySQL
- Azure Database for PostgreSQL
- Azure Database for MariaDB
- Azure Cosmos DB
- Azure Cache for Redis
- Networking – It includes services which provide a variety of networking features such as security, faster access, etc.
- Virtual Network
- Load Balancer
- Application Gateway
- Azure DNS
- Content Delivery Network
- VPN Gateway
- Traffic Manager
- Express Route
- Developer Tools – It includes services which provide services that ease the ability to code for an organization. For example, it eases the teams to share code, track work, and ship software.
- Azure DevOps
- Application Insights
- API Management
- Management and Monitoring Tools – It includes services which can be used to manage and monitor your Azure instances.
- Microsoft Azure Portal
- Azure Resource Manager
- Automation
- Enterprise Integration – Services that bring functionalities like seamlessly integrating the enterprise and the cloud.
- Service Bus
- SQL Server Stretch Database
- Security and Identity – It includes services for user authentication or limiting access to a certain set of audience on your Azure resources.
- Key Vault
- Azure Active Directory
- Azure AD B2C
- Azure AD Domain Services
- Multi-Factor Authentication
- Web and Mobile Apps –These are mainly used to create web apps or mobile apps for any platform and any device.
- Web Apps
- Mobile Apps
- API Apps
- Logic Apps
- Notification Hubs
- Event Hubs
- Azure Search
Is Azure relevent to me?
Businesses of all sizes find value in using the public cloud, and many of them are choosing Azure. In fact, Azure is used by 85% of Fortune 500 companies.
Azure is also appealing to many small and medium-sized businesses. One reason for this is that it helps SMBs avoid huge capital outlays for equipment; it also removes the burden of upgrades and maintenance, as smaller organizations may not have in-house experts readily available to provide support. And because Azure makes it easy to add or remove computing resources in minutes as compared to hours (or days!), it provides increased flexibility that businesses simply wouldn’t have with a traditional on-premise datacenter.
Why Azure is the right choice?
It’s been said that the on-premise data center has no future. Like mainframes and dial-up modems before them, self-hosted data centers are becoming obsolete, being replaced by increasingly available and affordable cloud solutions.
Here are some quick facts about Azure:
- Productive – Reduce marketing cycles by delivering features faster with more than 150 end-to-end services
- Hybrid – Develop and deploy where you want, with the only consistent hybrid cloud on the market. Extend Azure on-premises with Azure Stack.
- Intelligent – Create intelligent apps using powerful data and artificial intelligence services.
- Trusted – Join startups, governments and 95 percent of Fortune 500 businesses who run on the Microsoft Cloud today. 90+ compliance offerings – the largest portfolio in the industry.
- Flexible -Move to compute resources up and down as and when needed
- Open – Supported by almost any OS, language, tool, or framework
- Reliable – 99.995% availability SLA and 24×7 tech support
- Global – Data housed in geo-synchronous data centers 54 global Azure regions—more than any cloud provider
- Economical – Only pay for what you use by Pay as You Go Model
Azure is a fast, flexible, and affordable platform and its pricing and capabilities make it the best public cloud offering on the market
Popular questions about Azure
Is Azure secure?
Yes, security and privacy are built into the Azure platform. Microsoft is committed to the highest levels of trust, transparency, standards conformance and regulatory compliance with the most comprehensive set of compliance offerings of any cloud service provider.
How can Azure help if I outsource my IT?
Azure offers solution partners that can help deploy and manage your existing solutions, as well as offer ready-made or custom solutions for you. Plus, you can find an experienced managed service partner or have your existing outsourcing partner to become an Azure partner.
What other customers are using Azure?
90% of Fortune 500 companies trust their business to run on the Microsoft Cloud and are doing amazing things with it.
Is it only for Windows apps and services?
No. Azure supports open source technologies, so you can use the tools and technologies you prefer. Run virtually any application using your data source, with your operating system, on your device. With Azure, you have choices.
Will Azure really save me money?
With no upfront cost, you only pay for what you use. Azure provides flexible purchasing and pricing options for all your cloud scenarios, such as the Azure Hybrid Benefit and offers extensive tools to help manage your cloud spend.
Will Azure work for my industry?
Azure provides solutions for all industries. Bring together cloud services and products tailored for your industry to help meet your specific needs and drive innovation.
How does Azure compare to other clouds?
Azure is the only consistent hybrid cloud, has more regions than any cloud provider, delivers unparalleled developer productivity and offers more comprehensive compliance coverage—including meeting the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Can I try Azure services?
If you’re ready to try out one of these services, you can get your feet wet with a trial and $300 in Azure credits. You can also get an idea of cost by using the pricing calculator. If you have questions about other ways you could use Azure or need help implementing a service, talk to one of our Cloud Experts and we’ll help you plan and implement the right tools to meet your needs.
Choosing The Right Cloud Vendor
It is a very important decision for enterprises to select the right cloud vendor. Azure offers hybrid solution, PaaS, and an array of other beneficial features, which are important for any Cloud strategy today.
Interested in Microsoft Azure, Let’s CONNECT!
