Understanding Microsoft Azure: Unleashing the Power of Microsoft’s Cloud Platform

Learn everything you need to know about Microsoft Azure and how this cloud computing platform will revolutionize the way your organization works in the cloud. This article will explain to you Microsoft Azure in detail, how it is structured, what it is used for, which alternatives you have and how to buy Microsoft Azure.

 

Microsoft Azure: An Overview

Formerly known as Windows Azure, Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing platform by Microsoft. It is a comprehensive suite of cloud products that serve the need for enterprises to construct and maintain their own infrastructure in the cloud. It gives a robust framework for developing, deploying, and managing applications.

Key Facets of Microsoft Azure

1. Diverse Service Portfolio: Azure offers a comprehensive range of cloud services, spanning computing, analytics, storage, and networking, providing solutions for a wide array of needs.
2. For Various Industries: Azure is engineered to cater to diverse industries, from e-commerce and finance to Fortune 500 companies. What’s more, it accommodates open source technologies, affording users the liberty to wield tools and technologies of their preference.
3. Global Data Centers: Azure boasts a vast global presence with 60+ regions worldwide and multiple data centers, ensuring high availability and scalability.
4. AI and Machine Learning: Azure delivers robust AI and machine learning services, empowering users to integrate AI capabilities into their applications and datasets.
5. Security and Identity Management: With services like Azure Active Directory and multifactor authentication, Azure prioritizes security and provides tools for effective identity and access management.
6. Versatile Cloud Computing Models: Microsoft Azure is very versatile. It supports various cloud computing models, including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), and serverless functions, affording users the autonomy to opt for the model that aligns with their unique requirements.
7. Flexible Pricing: Azure’s pricing model is a paradigm of flexibility and efficiency. Normally, users are billed on a pay-as-you-go basis, bearing the cost only for the specific resources and services they employ, rendering financial prudence a hallmark of Azure’s approach. Alternatively, organizations can reserve workload with Reserved Instances, commiting for 1 or 3 years.

 

Microsoft Azure: Featured Services

These are some of Azure’s main services:

 

What do I need Microsoft Azure for? – Use Cases

The versatility of MSFT Azure enables it to span a wide spectrum of use cases, including but not limited to:

1. Running Virtual Machines and Containers: Azure is a popular choice for deploying and managing virtual machines and containers in the cloud. These resources can serve as the bedrock for diverse components, such as DNS servers, web services, and third-party applications. Notably, Azure extends support to third-party operating systems, including Linux.
2. Database Hosting: Organizations leverage Azure for hosting databases in the cloud, from serverless relational databases like Azure SQL to non-relational databases such as NoSQL. Additionally, it proves to be an asset for backup, disaster recovery, and archival storage needs.
3. Storage and Analytics: Azure boasts scalable cloud storage, adept at accommodating both structured and unstructured data. It caters to the demands of big data projects, enduring storage, and archival requisites. Furthermore, Azure is home to a rich array of analytics services, ranging from real-time analytics to big data analytics, data lakes, machine learning, and business intelligence.
4. Networking and Security: Azure fortifies its users with a comprehensive suite of networking services, encompassing virtual networks, dedicated connections, gateways, and services that safeguard against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. It is steadfast in its commitment to security, offering robust encryption and data protection.
5. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: MSFT Azure is a bastion of AI and machine learning services, empowering developers to infuse AI and cognitive computing capabilities into their applications and datasets.
6. DevOps and Development: Azure lends substantial support to DevOps processes, exemplified by Azure DevOps, which functions as a versatile Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) tool. It simplifies the processing of multiple code changes concurrently, relinquishing the burden of server maintenance.
7. Identity and Access Management: Azure champions secure access to its services and places a premium on safeguarding encryption keys and sensitive data, with services such as Azure Active Directory and multifactor authentication.
8. Internet of Things (IoT): Azure enables the capture, monitoring, and analysis of IoT data from a panoply of sensors and devices. It accommodates notifications, analytics, monitoring, and coding and execution support.
9. Blockchain: The Azure Blockchain Service opens the doors for organizations to partake in blockchain consortia or forge their own blockchain ventures.
10. Management and Governance: Azure equips administrators with an arsenal of tools for backup, recovery, compliance, automation, scheduling, and monitoring, culminating in effective management of Azure deployments.

 

 

Comparison of Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, AWS, Oracle and IBM Cloud

Microsoft Azure is one of the major public cloud service providers operating on a global scale, alongside Google Cloud, AWS, Oracle and IBM Cloud. While most cloud providers offer a broad suite of similar services, no two cloud providers offer the same service in the exact same way. This lack of standardization among cloud services and capabilities can make it difficult for businesses to use more than one public cloud provider when pursuing a multi-cloud strategy. Cloud providers rely on APIs and other integrations to handle provisioning and services in a programmatic manner. Because each provider uses unique APIs, the onus is on users to accommodate differences between cloud providers. Thus, migrating a workload from one cloud to another might require significant recoding of the application or rearchitecting of the cloud environment to support the workload.

However, there are various partnerships between cloud providers. Microsoft has partnerships and integrations with most major cloud providers including Oracle and AWS. This way, Azure is very compatible with most other online clouds.

Here’s a comparison of major cloud platforms, including Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), IBM Cloud, and Oracle Cloud, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses in a tabular format:

Aspect	Microsoft Azure	Amazon Web Services (AWS)	Google Cloud Platform (GCP)	IBM Cloud	Oracle Cloud
Company	Microsoft	Amazon	Google	IBM	Oracle
Market Share	Among the top providers	Leading the market	Growing rapidly	Major player	Established player
Strengths	+ Best AI integration	+ Widest range of services	+ Cutting-edge in AI/ML	+ Hybrid cloud solutions	+ Comprehensive services
	+ Integration with Windows	+ Large and global presence	+ Data analytics prowess	+ Strong hybrid support	+ Enterprise and gov’t focus
	+ High Security and Reliability (99.95% uptime)	+ Broad customer base	+ Container orchestration	+ Robust infrastructure	+ Industry-specific solutions
	+ Flexible Pricing and Configuration	+ Strong partner ecosystem	+ Leading-edge networking	+ Diverse services portfolio	+ Data management capabilities
Weaknesses	– Steeper learning curve, complex	– Complex pricing structure	– Smaller global footprint	– Pricing complexity	– Learning curve for novices
	– Potentially higher cost if not optimized	– Complexity for beginners	– Fewer data centers	– Limited AI/ML offerings	– Relatively smaller market
		– More challenging networking	– Limited hybrid capabilities		– Less flexible pricing
Pricing Model	Pay-as-you-go, prepaid (Reserved Instances)	Pay-as-you-go	Pay-as-you-go	Pay-as-you-go	Pay-as-you-go
Global Data Centers	60+ regions worldwide	25+ regions worldwide	20+ regions worldwide	60+ data centers globally	Multiple data centers
Market Approach	Enterprise-focused	Broad customer base	Enterprise and startups	Enterprise focus	Enterprise and government

 

Is Azure AI available?

Yes, it is already integrated in various Azure applications. Microsoft Azure offers a portfolio of artificial intelligence (AI) services designed for developers and data scientists to build and deploy their own AI solutions. Azure AI provides access to high-quality vision, speech, language, and decision-making AI models through simple API calls. Users can also create their own machine learning models using an AI supercomputing infrastructure, familiar tools like Jupyter Notebooks and Visual Studio Code, and open-source frameworks like TensorFlow and PyTorch. Azure AI is backed by Microsoft’s responsible AI principles, which ensure that the AI models are ethical, transparent, and secure. Additionally, Microsoft offers Azure Cost Management to help monitor, visualize and optimize cloud spending. Third-party tools like Cloudability or RightScale can also be used along with emerging FinOps practices to manage Azure resource usage and associated costs.

With Azure AI, you can significantly increase your productivity, as this Microsoft infographic shows:

 

How does the Azure Portal work?

Upon subscribing to Microsoft Azure, users are granted access to the Azure portal, which serves as the gateway to an expansive spectrum of services. Through this portal, subscribers can access cloud-based resources, be it virtual machines (VMs) or databases. These resources are then merged into operational environments capable of hosting workloads and housing data.

Furthermore, MSFT Azure extends a welcoming hand to third-party vendors, permitting them to offer their software directly via the platform. Pricing for third-party applications is a variable, encompassing subscription fees and utilization charges for the hosting infrastructure.

A Closer Look at Customer Support Options

Microsoft offers five distinct customer support options for Azure, each tailored to different scopes and price points:

1. Basic
2. Developer
3. Standard
4. Professional Direct
5. Enterprise (Premier)

While basic support is inclusively available to all Azure accounts, the pricing for other support tiers is contingent on specific arrangements. It is important to note that Microsoft does not disclose the pricing structure for Enterprise support. If you need help with that, consider contacting SCHNEIDER IT MANAGEMENT for expert services for your Azure environment.

 

Is Microsoft Azure the Right Fit for my Organization?

How to Buy Microsoft Azure?

There are different ways to buy Microsoft Azure, depending on your business needs and preferences. You can choose from the following options:

Pay-as-you-go

This is the most flexible option, as you only pay for the resources you use and can cancel at any time. You can buy Azure services directly from Microsoft or, even better, through a Microsoft Partner. You can also use Azure credits or vouchers to pay for your Azure consumption.

Enterprise Agreement

This is a long-term option, as you commit to a certain amount of Azure consumption for one or three years. You can get discounts and benefits based on your volume and term. You can buy Azure via an Enterprise Agreement through a Microsoft Partner to get extra savings and support. To learn more about the different Enterprise Agreement types, visit this Microsoft EA Guide.

Cloud Solution Provider

This is a partner-led option, as you buy Azure services from a certified Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partner who can also provide you with additional services and support. You can get flexible billing, customized solutions, and end-to-end management from your CSP partner.

 

How can I reduce costs on Azure?

The best option for your business depends on your Azure usage, budget, and goals. However, if you want to save up to 45% in costs and get the best conditions for your Azure purchases, you should consider an Enterprise Subscription Agreement (EAS). An EAS is a type of Enterprise Agreement. Unlike the traditional Enterprise Agreement (EA), the Enterprise Subscription Agreement (EAS) offers even lower annual costs and the flexibility to increase or decrease the number of subscriptions on an annual basis.

SCHNEIDER IT MANAGEMENT is a certified Microsoft Licensing Solution Partner (LSP) trusted by over 100 enterprises to optimize their Microsoft Azure licensing. We provide you with every licensing method that you choose. Consider booking an in-depth consultancy for free. We have the expertise and skills to help you choose the right licenses and optimize your Azure spending.

 

How can I calculate my Azure costs?

For a quick accessment, go to the Pricing Calculator from Microsoft Azure. If you want to optimize your costs and plan in advance, you may contact a Microsoft Partner.

 

Conclusion

In summary, Microsoft Azure, a robust cloud platform, offers a diverse range of services, strong AI integration, and adaptable pricing. While it excels in enterprise solutions, its complexity and potential costs for certain workloads should be considered. To purchase, you can choose from options like pay-as-you-go, Enterprise Subcsription Agreement (EAS), or the Cloud Solution Provider program (CSPs). For optimal cost efficiency, an Enterprise Subscription Agreement (EAS) is worth exploring. Experts like SCHNEIDER IT MANAGEMENT, a certified Microsoft Licensing Solution Partner, can guide you to make the right Azure licensing decisions for your organization.