Microsoft Azure
Azure is an essential part of the complete cloud solution, offering 4 different forms of cloud computing: infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), software as a service (SaaS) and serverless, either integrating with on-premise servers, or replacing them altogether. It provides the ultimate in flexibility and with this pay-as-you-go model you can save costs by only paying for what you use, instead of purchasing extra hardware.
It provides more than 200 services such as: Azure Active Directory, to synchronise on-premises directories; Site Recovery; and Multi-Factor Authentication, to safeguard client data. Services can be grouped into 18 categories, including the following: computing, networking, storage, IoT, migration, analytics, databases, web services, management tools, plus many more. Users can pick and choose from these services to develop and scale new applications, or run existing applications in the public cloud.
The Azure platform could be ideal for both small and large enterprises, as it aligns and expands existing IT infrastructure. It offers tools that support all industries but is also compatible with open source technologies, giving users the flexibility to use their preferred tools and technologies if desired.
Businesses can scale on demand and remove the barriers of traditional hosting by easily switching plans as they go. Data is protected with unparalleled cloud backup and disaster recovery and, unlike an on-premise solution, data is recovered at speed.
Highly flexible it puts all the security, scalability and the responsiveness of a public cloud into the hands of an individual business. Azure works well in conjunction with existing data centre hosted solutions or, if required, as an alternative, in some cases offering cost, management and security advantages. As your business changes, so does Azure.