There is seeming a big case being made for many businesses to move to cloud or look at the possibilities of a hybrid cloud approach. The benefits of cloud – based models vary based on the size of the company or the business objectives they have. Below we look specifically at the host of benefits implementing Microsoft Azure brings with it.
1. Azure brings agility
The business world is extremely fast paced, this can be especially true of SME’s that need to scale or adjust based on demand and environmental changes. Organisations that use Microsoft Azure are able to benefit from faster development cycles than on-premise solutions meaning that when developing their own applications, they can get feedback that can be used to frame decisions.
This allows businesses to make decisions and explore outcomes of technology based on the top-line business objectives. These product cycles lower the financial outlay or the need to set up complex infrastructure.
This level of agility is crucial in a business ecosystem where some of the most lucrative and high performing companies such as Facebook have famously coined and adopted the “fail fast and adapt” mentality.
2. Match your global reach
Does your business operate internationally or have a strong global presence? Azure is able to dynamically adapt to your business needs according to your performance and utilisation requirements. This results in the reduction of the need for architects to monitor behaviour and frees you up to focus on more top line objectives.
A key benefit for the Azure users is that the use of the service is not dependant on location. This scaling capabilities is especially advantageous for smaller businesses with Azure available in over 140 countries allowing users to bring apps closer to users and preserve their data residency. Microsoft continue to ensure there is more enhanced local offering for companies across the UK.
3. Speed
With Azure it is not purely about the agility of the product but also the speed it can offer in many different areas. Azure can be extremely fast to deploy, operate and scale according to your business needs. This is especially crucial for SME’s that go through constant changes and may not have the ability to wait a significant time to see results.
4. Secure
Azure has a strong security proposition with one impactful factor being the secure and seamless log-in for users whether they are business to business or business to consumer.
Azure Single Sign-On allows users to access all of their relevant platforms without the need to continually remember complex passwords and sign in to multiple accounts. This is a big security benefit which protect your employees and company from hacking and data breaches that have been affecting large profile business such as Marriott and T-Mobile.
Additionally, there is the option to further edit your controls with more gradual changes such as device and location-specific controls.
5. Development environment
Azure has the inherent benefit of a cutting-edge development environment implemented into the Visual Studio. Through this integration, Microsoft has committed to the needs of developers and created room for further and continual innovation.
The Visual Studio also significantly reduces the learning curve which allows you avoid any potential mismatch of skills across department. This results in the ability for a company to deploy teams that can learn on the job.
6. Integrated delivery pipeline
Azure’s development environment allows for an end-to-end solution that goes beyond just storage capability.
Organisations need a unified delivery pipeline and Azure boost functionality such as:
- Go live tools
- Delivery
- Integration testing
- Unit testing
- Source control
Your business also has the option to use specific tools from different providers such as API’s and other extensions. It is advisable to ensure all these tools are under one roof for the best support and implementation possible.
Additionally, when future updates are released Azure is developed in such a way that it still benefits the rest of your pipeline consolidating the case for a pure-play solution and positioning your business for strategic success.
7. Disaster recovery
With many businesses operating internationally there is often large amounts of data being transferred globally.
Azure has safeguards in place for this that include:
- Hot and cold stand by models
- Rolling reboot capabilities
- Regional and global fail -over options
These features are available for Azure users straight out of the box resulting in offering that can go beyond the standard on-premises options. With GDPR and multiple high profile data breaches mentioned above the repercussions of any company being separated from their data can have very lasting and damaging effects.
8. Customisable
Microsoft are producing solutions that are future proof and built to solve tomorrow’s problems. The future may seem cloud – based or cloud first however a hybrid solution may be favourable for many companies.
This has clearly been a consideration for Microsoft as they built their Azure Stack offering which brings the fore mentioned benefits to Azure users with additional patterns and practices. In addition to this there is also support for a range of hardware providers for businesses.
Companies will be able to select where their data is placed, if they deem Azure is the best move forward for a pure cloud-based solution the transition can then be seamless and easy to implement and adjust to.
9. Flexible expenditure
Cloud - based solutions are well known for their cost effectiveness. Utilising Azure allows companies to test and monitor the efficacy of new solutions without the often-sizeable upfront costs of on-premise solutions. With Azure companies only pay for what they use meaning that there is no wasted business finance on un-utilised software.
When a company has found what is most useful and effective for them they can use Azure to scale these tactical tweaks in areas that make the most impact. Although with this scaling pricing may increase it can often produce a much larger ROI for companies and prove a popular choice for decision makes such as CEO, CFO’s or Managing Directors.
Have you considered moving to cloud with Azure? Contact us to find out more and explore what is the best Microsoft Dynamics solution for you. Join our mailing list to keep updated on all the latest tech news and Microsoft Dynamics Tips and Tricks.
