Businesses around the world operate in a variety of different fields, industries, and niches, but they all share some of the same business goals; increasing profitability and efficiency, improving productivity, and striving for growth. But many organisations make the mistake of neglecting the importance of IT when it comes to achieving these sought-after business goals.
There are many approaches to building the technology your organisation needs to operate, and this blog focuses on two of the most popular: on-premises and cloud.
An on-premises environment involves software and hardware being deployed in-house, with the company responsible for maintaining these solutions and having complete control over their entire IT department.
However, on-premises solutions make it challenging for businesses to grow and scale as updating your physical software and hardware usually requires complex modifications and upgrades, which can cost both time and money.
Cloud-based solutions address a lot of these basic flaws due to their ability to be rolled out and scaled up or down quickly and easily. It’s also uncommon to have sizeable up-front costs when employing a cloud solution, with organisations having the added benefit that the cloud provider handles the maintenance.
Therefore, it’s no surprise that cloud computing has significantly grown in popularity, with Microsoft becoming an industry leader in the cloud computing market with its vast range of solutions.
Read on to discover the 5 fundamental reasons we think you should consider migrating to the cloud and use Microsoft Azure as your preferred platform.
The Benefits of an Azure Cloud Platform
1. Cost
The benefits of using Azure as your cloud of choice is that it offers flexible expenditure. Did you know that Azure has a free license if you are already a Microsoft 365 subscription holder? With Microsoft Azure, you can pay according to your business needs, save space, and not have to worry about capacity. You also benefit from further cost savings such as no upfront outlay, fixed monthly billing, and you don’t need to worry about maintenance or replacing hardware, saving both human and machine costs.
2. Security
Businesses stick to on-premises solutions as they believe that their data is safer by being physical and within reach. However, Azure offers top security benefits with built-in, multi-layered security controls and unique threat intelligence to help identify and protect against rapidly evolving threats. With Microsoft Azure, you will never have to worry about a natural disaster affecting your data as it is hosted across Microsoft’s vast network of data centres.
3. Scalability and Flexibility
Azure allows you to be flexible as it can be tailored to your specific business needs, so as your business grows, so does your cloud. Companies need to make changes and adapt quickly, so having a technology environment that can support this is essential.
4. Efficiency
Increasing efficiency within the workplace should be a key goal for any ambitious business, and Microsoft Azure helps implement this with its innovative solutions. Expanding and optimising your operations is far easier with cloud solutions than on-premises as this can be done at speed and without the need for additional hardware. Microsoft Azure minimises downtime and frees up a lot of IT maintenance time, allowing your team to be more productive and efficient.
5. Working From Home
In the current climate, working remotely is essential and to do this effectively is only truly possible with cloud computing. Access all your files from anywhere on any device and collaborate with your team using other smart Microsoft cloud solutions. Azure helps keep your workforce productive by providing them with access to all their vital files and applications.
Thinking About Migrating?
Migrating to Microsoft Azure is undoubtedly one of the best routes to take if you want to modernise your IT infrastructure. However, this can be a daunting task. So, if you are worried about migrating your entire technology environment to the cloud, we also offer hybrid cloud solutions – this is a great middle ground between both full on-premises solutions and a complete cloud solution.
If you want to find out more about the hybrid cloud solution we offer, read more here, or download our latest eBook on migrating to Azure, which helps to address the key barriers to migration and provides some helpful advice to make the move to the cloud as smooth as possible.
Download Your Azure Migration eBook Today
Next Blog: What is Hybrid Cloud and Why You Should Consider Azure
