Microsoft Azure Cloud Services 101

This article focuses on the latest major public cloud provider, Azure by Microsoft.

It is all about cloud computing in the enterprise technology world. Cloud has redefined the business culture and with Microsoft recently entering the game, Cloud is here to stay. Microsoft Azure joins the competition between providers like Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services in delivering the public cloud services that today’s organizations are seeking. Vendors who provide cloud services such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, are laying the foundation of data management, web applications, virtual machines, and many more, so that anyone can conduct business from anywhere you can connect to the internet, all while being managed by a cloud vendor. In this article, we will cover Microsoft Azure and specifically, Microsoft Azure’s cloud services and what this offering can mean for those who have considered investing in Cloud business intelligence (BI) and corporate performance management (CPM) solutions.

Are you unfamiliar with Microsoft Azure? Let’s definite it. Microsoft Azure is the application platform for their public Cloud. Cloud talk is everywhere these days, but Cloud computing means that you’re using the internet as a platform for storing and accessing your data and applications instead of using an on-premises server or a hard drive. Azure provides an array of services and is positioned by Microsoft as “a flexible, open, and secure public cloud built for business.” Nevertheless, we’ll look more closely at the Cloud Services since, being an end user, you may be either puzzled or curious on how it all works, whether you’re planning to use the offering for your own projects – or you’re aware of applications, perhaps even BI or CPM specifically, that are running on Azure.

Azure Cloud Services is a Platform as a Service (PaaS) tool with the capacity to run scalable customized code. For instance, let’s say you work for a company that has several people getting into a BI or CPM solution, at times simultaneously, that is hosted on Azure.  As a software vendor, this is progress in terms of the future of technology for on-premises solutions that can now be delivered via a Software as a Service (SaaS) format, with any updates and upgrades rolled out in real time via the platform. Also, the consumer only has to pay for their precise product usage because of Cloud pricing.

To learn more about Microsoft Azure Cloud Services, click here to continue reading.