Companies today are faced with many strong options when deciding which cloud provider to migrate their business to. When evaluating the various options, it can be difficult to determine which is the best fit for your business. It’s important to consider cost, function, complexity, and the ease of the transition. That said, there is a long list of criteria cloud providers must meet, and Microsoft Azure checks all the necessary boxes. Azure is one of the leading cloud providers, excelling in security, compatibility, and infrastructure. Let’s dive deeper into these three major benefits of choosing Microsoft Azure.
Security
Without a doubt, Azure’s commitment to a strong security foundation is one of its biggest benefits. By investing $1 billion every year into their security and employment, Microsoft is able to provide security equally across all users. There are a few ways Azure accomplishes this… Firstly, Azure utilizes automatic encryption. This means that everything sent within the cloud is automatically encrypted. Additionally, Azure uses automatic detection to prevent Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks. DDoS attacks are malicious attempts to disrupt a server by overwhelming normal traffic with a large amount of internet traffic.
On top of DDoS attacks, Azure ensures that any holes or hacks immediately trigger an alarm. This alert is then sent immediately which ultimately prevents data snap or data loss. As the first cloud platform to support both software and hardware-based Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs), which ensures encrypted data is safe from unauthorized access and tampering, Azure has always put an emphasis on security. Most importantly, Azure is thorough in backing user data and their status of access by cross-checking with the database that stores user, admin, and customer data. As Microsoft states:
“Azure Backup provides solutions for securing data in transit and at rest. Azure Backup provides built-in monitoring and alerting capabilities in a Recovery Services vault. These capabilities are available without any additional management infrastructure.”
This backup system not only keeps your files and data secure but also protects against ransomware. It does so by implementing preventive measures against a ransomware attack and using tools to protect against every infiltration step. In addition to this, the data stored on Azure’s servers are copied onto three different disks in three different locations globally. Essentially, this makes sure that if one server farm is compromised and the disks are cooked that the service for those disks continues and is transferred to the next location.
Given this and Azure’s backup capabilities, companies are still able to access and use their applications and data in the event of an attack on infrastructure that was supporting the internet connectivity locally. In short, if there is a single point failure, the service continues. Security is, without a doubt, one of the biggest benefits of choosing Microsoft Azure.
Compatibility
In addition to security, it’s necessary to find a cloud provider that relieves the pain points of migration. With the cloud’s complex capabilities, migration can prove to be a major learning curve for organizations. Azure succeeds in working with your organization’s current infrastructure and expanding on it. Not to mention, if your organization is already utilizing Microsoft products, Azure is fully integrated with the existing Microsoft infrastructure which immediately flattens the learning curve. This in turn allows your IT sector to focus on your business, rather than maintaining equipment or worrying over in-house capabilities.
Azure provides simple and quick app development for an organization’s current applications. Additionally, Azure Web Apps allow for an app to be built in Azure without an organization having to deploy, configure, and maintain their own Azure Virtual Machines. With this integrated app development process, the learning curve is lessened. These Virtual Machines also provide support for legacy systems. This means if a company has been working on an outdated system, Azure helps to either transition the old systems or update them. This proves for a quicker and more cost-effective migration. Another way Azure saves on cost is by allowing businesses to launch and store internal and external applications in the cloud. This allows Azure to be the best option for businesses of any size, whether you’re a small business or an established enterprise.
Infrastructure
Lastly, Microsoft Azure has strong Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) capabilities. They lead the way with IaaS and PaaS, offering rapid deployments. Their IaaS allows an organization to operate on a cost-friendly pay-as-you-go model, meaning you only pay for what you use. Azure’s PaaS works to let your organization create its own web apps and solutions while eliminating the need to buy and maintain the underlying groundwork. One interesting feature on Azure is the Automatic Patch Management which leaves the update schedule and implantation up to Microsoft. This allows organizations to put their focus on its applications. The idea behind this is to reduce overheads and workloads. Since Azure allows for off-site servers, an IT department doesn’t have to worry about updates and their servers and can focus more on the security of the systems. On top of this, Azure allows an organization to decide whether they operate on a public cloud or not.
Overall, Azure’s scalability capabilities help an organization meet IT demands. Their infrastructure allows an organization the ability to scale up or down within minutes, adjusting to a personalized feel for your business. With Azure’s infrastructure being built with scalability in mind, you can be confident that you are only paying for what you need – Azure adjusts to you.
Wrap-Up
All in all, Azure has proven to be a strong competitor amongst the top cloud providers. They ultimately seek to provide customers with the simplest, quickest, and most cost-effective cloud route while still meeting all business and compliance needs. Microsoft Azure puts a strong focus on security, compatibility, and IaaS and PaaS capabilities, making these the top three benefits of choosing Azure. Take it from us here at Bravo when we say that if you are looking to migrate, Microsoft Azure is worth strong consideration!
