The Cloud computing platform is the future of business and is transforming the business’s use of technology. There are some big players in the tech industry, but Microsoft (MS) Azure is the brand that 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies, counting HP®, FedEx, Walmart, use for hybrid and cloud solutions. Whether it is to coordinate connections for the Internet of Things (IoT) gadgets or process gigantic amounts of data through Artificial Intelligence, Microsoft’s Azure platform is useful for businesses of different sizes. It is an ever-growing set of cloud services to support enterprises overcome their business challenges.
Use of Cloud server with Microsoft Azure gives the freedom to build, manage, and deploy servers on a vast, global network using innovative frameworks and tools. Cloud technologies like Azure have redefined the way we do business with secure and scalable cloud-enabled enterprise applications. Globally, 80-90% of Fortune 500 enterprises are using Azure to drive their business. Companies can instantly build, deploy, and manage easy to complex apps with ease using Azure cloud services. Azure supports an extensive range of frameworks, operating systems, programming languages, devices, and databases, allowing companies to leverage technologies and tools they trust.
Azure is a fast-growing and industry-leading cloud service. It helps companies speed up their business process and gives the reliability of the IT infrastructures. Some of the best services Azure delivers are compute services, infrastructure as service (IaaS), web apps hosting, databases, API management, mobile apps and application integrations, analytics, and DevOps. Azure is also a competent platform for HA (high availability) and Disaster Recovery. Besides, Azure perfectly complements other existing MS products like Dynamics CRM, Outlook, Sharepoint, and Office365.
Microsoft Azure is at the forefront of growing cloud trend, making Azure certification and training the perfect choice for both individuals and corporations. Chiefly, SMEs can benefit from hosting their business infrastructure entirely on the Cloud. So, adding up Microsoft Azure certification in their employee’s credentials can help them keep pace with existing tech roles and requirements.
Let’s have a quick look at the Azure growth:
- Gartner ranked Microsoft Azure as a solo central cloud platform and industry leader for both platform-as-a-service (PaaS) and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS).
- A 2019 report from Gartner revealed that market share of Microsoft’s Azure hit 60% between 2017 and
- Synergy Research Group closely monitors trends and noticed 37% overall growth year-over-year in the public cloud. They stated that it had taken merely two years for the public PaaS and IaaS markets to double, and their prediction shows them doubling in size within the next three years.
Image source: Latest Public Cloud Market Share and Beyond
- The revenue of MS Azure has continuously grown from 72% from 2018, from USD 7.56 billion to USD 13 billion.
Image source: Spiceworks storage trends 2020 and beyond-Marketing reports
Considering more than 80% of Fortune 500 companies rely on Microsoft Azure for their app management and data storage requirements, it is no surprise that Microsoft has turned out as synonymous with cloud computing. But what, exactly, is MS Azure Cloud?
What exactly is Microsoft Azure?
Formerly called Windows Azure, MS Azure is the most popular and industry-leading cloud computing platform that provides full and hybrid-based cloud computing solutions for businesses of different sizes. It offers infrastructure as a service (IaaS), software as a service (SaaS), and platform as a service (PaaS) and supports different frameworks, programming languages, and tools. At its core, Azure also provides a Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS) solution that gives businesses the tools they require to backup crucial data with customization for particular situations.
This cloud-based platform provides a series of cloud services for analytics, compute, storage, and networking. Azure can secure data from your SQL servers, Exchange, SharePoint, and local folders and files. This data is stored up remotely and can be accessed anytime it is needed. Azure is also Amazon Web Services (AWS) next competitor, offering over 600 different services in over 15 varied categories; Azure is rapidly catching up to AWS in terms of market share and innovation.
Five Business Benefits of Microsoft Azure
Here are the five crucial advantages to consider if you are taking a closer look at MS Azure for your business today:
1. Microsoft Azure is secure
Microsoft designed the Azure cloud platform based on the industry-leading Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) procedure. Microsoft’s global data centers are designed to ensure that data is secured and protected. It also provides excellent compliance coverage with more than fifty compliance offerings. Azure offers enterprises a maintained and monitored infrastructure, with off-site backups and a variety of security measures, such as, security monitoring, patch management, and cryptographic protection messages. Through its multiple-layered security model, Microsoft assists enterprises ward off DDoS attacks, malware, data breaches, and other evolving cyber threats. In short, you can be confident that you are getting the high-end security with Azure.
2. MS Azure comes with an amalgamation of PaaS and IaaS services
Azure comes with a blend of the platform as a service (PaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) that allows companies to outsource infrastructure on the Azure cloud platform and pay for what they use. Platform as a service (PaaS) helps them develop solutions and build their web applications without extra expense on the underlying groundwork. Even competent Azure consultants from the Microsoft Partner Community collaborate with corporate to leverage Azure Platform as a service (PaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) to build enterprise next-gen applications apps on the Cloud for faster business growth.
3. Fully flexible and scalable
One of Azure’s crucial business benefits is that it is fully scalable, and you only pay for what you require. Like most cloud-based solutions, Azure can scale down or up to meet your business’s fickle requirements. Using the Cloud model with Azure also means that your experts can also work securely from anywhere on any device linked to the internet, leading to great collaboration throughout your organization. The public cloud framework of MS Azure allows enterprises to increase their computing power and storage space on demand, guaranteeing the utmost capacity during long-term expansion projects and short-term traffic bursts. This fantastic cloud platform has been designed to scale alongside companies, meaning customers can fine-tune their service agreements to avoid the distraction of their high-load apps.
4. Enterprise-level development tools
With Azure, companies can effortlessly build, deploy and maintain their web apps using various familiar tools (like Python, Kubernetes, .NET, Java, etc.) and programming languages (such as Visual Basic, C#, C++, and others). This scalability permits enterprises to make next-gen apps for mobile and web devices, while using multiple management resources, from container orchestration to automated updates. Even enterprises can easily hire Azure certified consultants. Additionally, Azure’s comprehensive development platform features dedicated test environments that support enterprises to optimize their internal web applications and client-facing experiences.
5. Cost-efficient Model
Its pay-as-you-go model lets the organizations pay for what they utilize to build or expand resources using Azure could solutions. The consumption-based pricing structure of Microsoft Azure allows SMEs to manage their IT funds better and leverage the specific cloud traits they require. Besides, this usage-based model cuts down administrative costs and decreases overall infrastructure costs, thus reducing the extra load placed on internal IT management. If issues happen, users are backed by its extensive 24 hrs support group and knowledge base. The tech giant operates in fifty-five different regions globally and is accessible to 140 nations, making MS Azure well-matched to SMEs with a global reach.
Why do IT Professionals need to take Microsoft Azure Certification?
The requirement to pursue Microsoft Azure certification is observed in high demand. It is projected that the cloud business will almost double from USD 229 billion in 2019, which demonstrates its wide-scale usage and necessities. The cloud computing platforms like AWS, IBM Cloud, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and MS Azure are the cutting-edge platforms that are high in demand and provide a promising future to the IT professionals. Through Azure Certification, the IT field professionals can quickly learn to use various cloud-based technologies and manage to secure their position at a decent pay scale. Companies can easily find varieties of MS Azure Role-Based Certifications for the interested candidates to select from and gain the facts of the new-age cloud computing system introduced by Microsoft.
Wrapping Up
As many enterprises and organizations move towards Azure Cloud services, the demand for qualified MS Azure certified professionals is high. The certifications are aimed at different job roles in the cloud domain, such as Cloud Developer, Cloud Administrator, DevOps engineer, and Cloud Solutions Architect. MS Azure technical training courses provide great insights into Azure fundamentals, executing infrastructure solutions, developing MS Azure and web services, and operationalize Cloud Analytics solutions. Microsoft Azure certification training course will equip the IT professionals with practical and theoretical knowledge to become experts.
Author Bio: Shormistha Chatterjee - Dzone Contributor| Blogger| Co-author | Sr. Writer| Silent observer on Medium, reads every day and love to write.