Public Cloud Success: Reach over the horizon with Microsoft Azure

In an era dominated by rapid technological evolution, the strategic adoption of cloud computing has emerged as the linchpin for the success of modern organisations. By 2025, 55 per cent of workloads for Australian organisations will be hosted on public cloud, as indicated by ADAPT’s Cloud Migration Study. Among the myriad of options available, the public cloud stands tall as a transformative force, offering unparalleled scalability, flexibility, and efficiency.  

As businesses navigate the complex landscape of digital transformation, the public cloud serves as a catalyst for innovation, enabling enterprises to break free from the constraints of traditional IT infrastructure.  

Given the significant demand for public cloud by local organisations, it plays a pivotal role in reshaping the operational landscape of organisations, driving agility, cost-effectiveness, and unlocking new avenues for growth in an increasingly dynamic business environment.  

So, how will migrating to the public cloud help your business succeed?  

1. Scalability:

With access to a wide range of data centres globally, and improved performance, organisations can easily scale up and down based on their workload demands. Whether it’s adding a few new team members or opening up whole new sites, public cloud offers supreme flexibility.

2. Innovation:

Without the manual upgrades and limited server downtimes, organisations can focus on expanding work capabilities knowing IT infrastructure can support a wide range of services and tools. The public cloud allows organisations of all sizes to gain access to the best technology, as the providers continue to invest to improve their offerings.

3. Cost optimisation:

Organisations are only required to pay for their usage due to the consumption-based nature of the public cloud. The pay-as-you-go rate allows organisations to save on costs on upfront capital investments by eliminating hardware and infrastructures required for a hybrid or private cloud, which in turn reduces overheads and other operational and additional costs.

More specifically, Microsoft Azure – the fastest growing public cloud platform globally – provides businesses with the ability to reach beyond the limits of on-premise data centres with more regions than any other provider.

How much does it cost to use the cloud?

The cost of using the cloud depends on the provider and the specific services required. In general, cloud services are based on a consumption model, so costs are directly related to the amount of resources used. Factors such as data storage, computing power, and network bandwidth contribute to the overall cost. Read more about some myths about using the public cloud.

Microsoft Azure

Businesses are migrating to Microsoft Azure at scale to optimise costs, improve resiliency, and scale applications on demand.

The framework, guardrails, and proactive monitoring are the major factors driving IT managers to migrate their data centres to Microsoft Azure.

Cloud centre of excellence (CCoE) functions

Many IT organisations aim to achieve business and technical agility. A cloud centre of excellence (CCoE) helps organisations balance speed and stability while they pursue this objective.

With the proper implementation, structure and support of this function, businesses can accelerate innovation and migration efforts while reducing the overall cost of change and increasing business agility.

Vendor framework

A tool intended to help solution architects build a technical foundation for their workloads, the Microsoft Azure Well-Architected Framework (WAF) provides a set of quality-driven tenets, architectural decision points, and review tools.

The framework is founded on the five pillars of architectural excellence, which are mapped to those goals. They are  reliability, security, cost optimisation, operational excellence, and performance efficiency.

Guardrails

With Microsoft Azure, IT managers can adopt policy-driven guardrails to avoid blowing the budget unnecessarily. With a set of rules in place that are preventative and detective, mistakes are easily avoided and tracking is made easier for IT managers. Ultimately, this provides a higher level of control over the organisation’s IT infrastructure.

Proactive monitoring

Microsoft Azure infrastructure is built with proactive monitoring measures that help detect potential issues or anomalies before they begin to impact performance.

How much does Microsoft Azure cost?

The cost of Microsoft Azure varies depending on the services used and the consumption level. Azure operates on a pay-as-you-go pricing model, which means organizations pay only for the resources they use. This can include factors like computing power, storage space, and additional features.

Here to help

Infrastructural change of this scope is daunting, but the implementation can be very simple. Interactive is a proud Microsoft Solutions Partner Specialist holding 5 out of 6 solution designations, in addition to an Advanced Specialisation for Infra and Database Migration displaying expertise, knowledge and proven experience that meets a global Microsoft standard. We ensure the transition to Microsoft Azure is done with minimal disruption and cost. This allows your organisation to continue functioning whilst data is transitioned to the public cloud.

Interactive is also enrolled in multiple funding programs that enable organisations to reduce the cost of migration, assuming they meet the criteria for funding. The funding programs include the Partner Led Azure Migration & Modernize (PL AMM) and End Customer Investment Funds (ECIF). Interactive works closely with Microsoft to help customers move with confidence, using the right combination of expertise and resources for their migration and modernisation initiatives.

Our team will work alongside you to understand your business needs and support your organisation with setting up the necessary CCoE functions, framework, and guardrails, ensuring the transition to Microsoft Azure is cost-effective. With the best in mind for your organisation, we will provide you with an out-of-the-box solution that is reliable, measurable, and repeatable to help expand your technological reach and get the most out of your public cloud transformation.

Get in touch with us to Gain Cloud Control.