More and more, companies are switching their hosting solution over to the cloud. You may be in the same situation. Eventually, it seems likely that every company will leverage the cloud for their hosting needs. Many of them will pick the increasingly popular Microsoft Azure, too.
Still, before you do the same, it’s worth understanding what this option brings to the table.
Microsoft Azure: The Basics
As you have probably guessed, Microsoft Azure is a hosting solution. The fact that it leverages the cloud just means that it uses a virtual server, which pulls its resources from a number of underlying networks instead of just one physical server.
In a nutshell, this means you’ll benefit from greater reliability; no one instance can knock your website down because it can simply switch to another server. This also means that scalability is much better. While the way this works, specifically, will differ by provider, the cloud makes it easy to scale up or down as you please because, again, you aren’t relying on a physical mechanism like you would with a traditional server.
Working with Microsoft
One really big benefit unique to Azure is that, obviously, it’s going to work really well with any other Microsoft product. If your company is one of the many that are already using Microsoft tools (e.g. SharePoint, Outlook, Office 365, etc.), integration with Azure is going to be extremely easy.
You can also leverage the same virtual machine in Azure that you already do on-premises, like Linux and Windows, which simplifies operations even further.
Over time, you can expect that this service package will continue to evolve in terms of integration, making things even easier for companies that already rely on Microsoft.
Both IaaS and PaaS Services
Want to outsource your company’s cloud computing infrastructure so you only need to pay for what you use? Then Azure’s IaaS service is going to be perfect for your needs and budget.
On the other hand, if you want to be able to create your own software and/or web apps without having to pay for the underlying infrastructure, PaaS will be right up your company’s alley.
As Azure can boast being a leader in both markets, this platform makes it easy for companies to build, deploy and manage all kinds of applications quickly and effectively. This type of versatility may be enough to win you over all by itself.
User-Friendly Analytics
Speaking of performance, Microsoft Azure makes it easy to discover key insights and improve your company’s business processes. It provides both SQL and NoSQL data services with plenty of built-in support, too.
Reliable Reputation
There are all kinds of cloud hosting options on the market right now. Many of them boast a number of attractive features, too. While Azure has plenty of its own, it also has one that most simply can’t match: its reputation.
Again, being a Microsoft product helps a lot here, but the upshot is that if you use Azure, you’re not dealing with some startup or new entry into the cloud market. Your hosting service will have a huge effect on the future of your company, so it makes sense to trust this to the same corporation behind the technology that powers tools like Bing, Skype and Xbox.
In coming years, this might change. Some upstart might rise the ranks of cloud hosting and become the obvious choice, but until then, it’s tough to ignore that Azure is a very safe bet.
If you’ve decided it’s finally time to switch to cloud hosting, it’s hard to think of a better option that Microsoft Azure. For all the above reasons and many more, it’s currently one of the best platforms on the market.