Microsoft Azure and the Information Technology Puzzle

WHAT IS MICROSOFT AZURE?

Many businesses are searching for a cloud solution. They hear news stories about data loss, security breaches and cyber attacks and are concerned. The new cloud technologies are providing overwhelming benefits.

Microsoft Azure is an integrated cloud computing platform for building, managing, and supporting applications and services.

A cloud computing environment, such as Microsoft Azure, safely hosts your server and workstations in the “cloud”. This is custom-designed and managed space for your critical business data.

You can access your “virtual desktop” from your office, at home, on a tablet, or your phone. In each case, the “look and function” is the same. This means that wherever you are, your desktop and data is totally accessible with just an internet connection.

A Microsoft Azure specialist ensures that your migration to the cloud is an easy process. Your company ends-up with a fully-managed, well-maintained, secure working environment with 24/7/365 IT Help Desk Support.

WHAT ABOUT SECURITY IN THE CLOUD?

cloud service providers deliver higher levels of security and data integrity. This is because they make huge investments in resources and technology at a level that smaller businesses cannot afford.

WHAT ABOUT PRODUCTIVITY IN THE CLOUD?

There isn't a need to worry about servers, computing hardware, space requirements, power needs or software updates. Company management can spent more time focusing on company objectives and less time dealing with IT issues and downtime.

WHAT ABOUT ACCESSABILITY TO THE CLOUD?

24x7 accessibility from any location.  Data can be accessed anytime form anywhere. Staff can also access master files easily.

WHAT ABOUT SCALABILITY IN THE CLOUD?

A cloud hosted solution gives you scalable computing power, a predictable budget, and ongoing savings. This is possible by reducing physical hardware needs and eliminating/minimizing onsite data storage.

HOW ROBUST IS AN AZURE CLOUD SOLUTION?

The Azure cloud platform is more than 200 products and cloud services designed to help you bring new solutions to life—to solve today’s challenges and create the future. Build, run, and manage applications across multiple clouds, on-premises, and at the edge, with the tools and frameworks of your choice. 

Get security from the ground up, backed by a team of experts, and proactive compliance trusted by enterprises, governments, and startups.

Continuous innovation from Microsoft supports your development today, and your product visions for tomorrow.

Is Cloud Technology The Answer to Your Problem?

The COVID 19 pandemic has created a lot of uncertainty in the business world. Many businesses have made, or want to make, the jump to the “Cloud” with their IT, phone, and security technology infrastructure. Is moving to the cloud the right answer to the question of how to operate a business while complying with the COVID restrictions.  Let's look at four reasons for a move to the virtual cloud.

Work-from-Home
New virtual technologies have made working from home more feasible. The new technologies have given businesses a cost-effective way to deal with Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, social distancing, and business restrictions. Using virtual cloud technology makes it easier for company employees to access data systems, and continue working, without sacrificing security, or having to worry about the devices they use. There is no need to deploy Virtual Private Networking (VPN) capabilities, or open dangerous holes in a office network security.  Remote employees can remain connected by using tools such as Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams.

Multiple Device Environment
Current technology has created an ability to access to the data from multiple devices. These can include cell phones, laptops, desktops, and tablets. There can also be multiple operating systems across these devices including Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android. Cloud technology can easily allow data access from multiple device and OS types without losing control of the data,. By allowing access to the data through Microsoft Remote Apps, or Windows Virtual Desktop, the data remains in the cloud and the user can be prevented from downloading the data to the local device, all while working in the familiar Windows 10 environment.

Scalability
Using cloud-based IT infrastructure allows a data network to scale up, or down, as needed.  Only pay for the services needed at the time. Such scalability removes the need to buy an unnecessary amount of hardware and licensing. The Microsoft Azure cloud gives almost unlimited scalability and access to advanced features such as AI, Machine Learning, and Advanced Databases, and can be deployed at a speed and cost that is impossible with on-premises networks.

Security and Compliance
The Microsoft Azure cloud and Windows Virtual Desktop use built-in security services to securely store all the company data without having the data exist on local equipment. Use the cloud to leverage advanced security offerings such as Azure Firewall, Azure Security Center, Azure Sentinel, and Microsoft Defender ATP to provide end to end security. A multi-layer security approach can include role-based access control (RBAC), multi-factor authentication, and conditional access to manage risks before granting access to the environment. Microsoft Azure and Windows Virtual Desktop are also certified to be compliant with multiple standards such as HIPAA, PCI, ISO 27001, FedRAMP High for Commercial, and others. There is no 100% guarantee that a security threat will not happen, but, using cloud technology can offer the best defense against  an inevitable attack.