With the growing reliance on cloud services, Microsoft Azure emerges as a leading platform offering a comprehensive range of tools and services. Azure provides businesses with the flexibility to scale their cloud solutions according to their unique needs and budgets. Supporting all three main types of cloud services—Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)—Azure delivers versatile and scalable solutions that drive efficiency and innovation.
In this blog, we explore the benefits of Microsoft Azure and how it can be strategically leveraged to meet diverse business requirements.
Advantages
Microsoft Azure is one of the few widely available cloud computing platforms that has a data centre in South Africa. This makes Azure a great choice for businesses based in the country because having a local data centre can have a positive impact on the speed of access to your cloud services. It also has data centres in the United Kingdom and Ireland, catering to all the regions in which our clients are based.
Beyond this, Azure has a robust, built-in set-up for backups and disaster recovery, much of which is linked to the flexibility and advanced site recovery that Microsoft has included in the platform’s design. It is a reliable option for those looking to migrate their business to the cloud and Microsoft offers 24-hour tech support.
Some of the other notable benefits of Azure are:
- Azure's Active Directory provides a centralised way to manage your services if your company works across several different locations, and uses on-premise apps or subscriptions to cloud-based applications like Microsoft 365.
- You can manage both web and mobile applications with Azure.
- It is considered a very flexible system, so you only pay for what you need.
- It offers remote monitoring predictive maintenance and analytics.
- Recent additions to Azure include advanced AI and machine learning tools like Azure Machine Learning and Cognitive Services. The platform's security features have been strengthened, notably with the advent of Azure Arc - a solution for streamlining hybrid cloud strategies.
Market Trends and Adoption
Azure has showcased impressive growth, expanding its market share amidst fierce competition from giants like AWS and Google Cloud Platform. A thriving interest in hybrid and multi-cloud strategies has further positioned Azure as a comprehensive solution provider, particularly due to tools like Azure Arc.
Directory and Access Management
Azure's Active Directory enables centralised service management for businesses operating in multiple locations, using on-premise apps or subscriptions to cloud-based applications like Microsoft 365. Plus, Azure simplifies the management of both web and mobile applications and provides remote monitoring, predictive maintenance and analytics.
Cloud Security
If cloud security is a concern, Azure is also a good platform choice as Microsoft has improved its security features, encompassing new frameworks for enhanced threat detection and compliance. Innovations to Azure Security Center and Azure Sentinel fortify the platform's security landscape, proactively addressing potential threats. This is especially useful for businesses working with the Internet of Things (IoT) as there are often security gaps in IoT solutions that can be hacked.
As an added benefit to those considering cloud migration, Microsoft has put together a migration cost estimate tool that will help potential clients plan for a cloud transition to Azure.
If you’d like to find out more about switching to a cloud platform like Microsoft Azure, visit our website on Microsoft Azure or speak to our experts.
