If you’re in the process of finding the best cloud service, you’ve probably come across Microsoft Azure at some point during your search. That’s not a mistake, it’s the most robust cloud platform currently out there. Offering a wide variety of cloud-based options for your business, from mobile application deployment to in-depth analytics. In fact, there is so much Azure brings to the table it can appear as a little overwhelming when searching for the right small business cloud solution. Azure’s most admirable feature as a small business solution is its flexibility. So as an owner, you can choose (and pay for) only the services you need. Here are five ways small businesses reap the value out of Microsoft Azure.
- Back up your data: These days, losing data can mean the livelihood of your business. If you currently do not have an off-site backup for worst case scenarios, you might want to consider Azure as the primary backup to any on-premises server and PC. Backup is the easiest and most secure long-term solution for archiving data without having to rely on phased out expensive and slow tape backups. And, your data securely stored and replicated across Microsoft data centers so it’s always there when you need it. Regulated industry? Azure can backup will preserve your data over the span of several years, so it’s always there when you need it.
- Be Prepared with Disaster Recovery: What would your business do if your on-premise server went down, or were damaged? How long could you go until you were up and running again? Azure Site Recovery is a cost-effective solution that applies replication to your virtual and physical servers in Azure so you’re back to where you started prior to downtime, in a matter of minutes.
- Manage Mobile Devices: As our work environments become more and more complex with mobile devices. Bring Your Own Device means we need to keep data secure while also improving access to key services that keep your workforce productive. Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS) delivers with a set of services from Azure to help do just that. With their ID and password, employees can securely and safely sign into more than 2,500 SaaS applications. This empowers your organization to take control of devices in your network and selectively keep the data you need in your business. Also, there is a rights management feature that lets you choose who can use which information and how they use it.
- Create Virtual Machines: Azure lets you spin up a newly created Virtual Windows Server, SQL server in just minutes. Which means the power of a server on-demand without the physical process of buying/setting up all the hardware. This is an easy way to run test environments to newly transitioned application into the cloud at an easily scalable rate.
- Improved mobile access to applications: With Azure RemoteApp, pick and choose which Windows applications are available down to every device, then run it securely through Azure infrastructure, even having the option to pick and choose what data stays on-premises.
As you can tell, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the cloud platform Azure. And as a small business cloud solution, security and scalability provide a great opportunity for innovation. If you’re still wanting to take a deeper look into the platform, send us an email or call at {phone} and we’ll set up a free assessment of your environment.
