7 Reasons to Move Your Business to the Microsoft Azure Cloud

 
11 min readReading Time: 11 minutes

Lets face it. Not all businesses are excited at the thought of making any change with their business, let alone moving to the cloud. You’ve likely invested a lot money and time into refining your processes in on-premises servers and infrastructure to the point where it works…but does it really? Is it just working enough to get you by, or is it actually holding your business back because its a ticking time-bomb of patches, outdated software and hardware, and security nightmares about to happen. If it’s the latter, then it’s time you seriously look at upgrading your infrastructure to a cloud platform like Microsoft Azure.

Here’s 7 reasons to move to the cloud that you can’t ignore – especially if you want to protect your business from that disaster waiting to happen in the server room

Before we dive into why you need to start using the cloud for your business IT infrastructure, lets take a closer look at Microsoft Azure and infrastructure-as-a-service.

According to a Microsoft SMB Study, 78% of small businesses will have adapted cloud computing by 2020.

What is the Microsoft Azure Cloud?

Microsoft Azure is cloud-based technology and infrastructure that provides infrastructure-as-a-service to businesses of any size so they can take advantage of powerful computing power, storage, backups, security, and disaster recovery services. Microsoft Azure Cloud is perfect for businesses that want the best, most secure, and high performance IT infrastructure and IT Services without the capital expense and maintenance costs of traditional servers and legacy hardware.

cloud stats for small business

1. Staying On-Premises is a Bad Idea

What would you do if your server crashed? Panic? Call IT? Do you even have an IT expert on staff who could start a backup process to recover lost data? No, well then you’re in big trouble.

Almost 40% of small businesses never full recover from a natural disaster, such as a flood or fire.

You don’t want to become another statistic for why a business shouldn’t wait til something goes wrong to move to the cloud. And what about installing and maintaining your server hardware? Most on-premises servers have to be upgraded every 5 years and that requires a big capital investment. If you moved to the cloud, you wouldn’t have to worry about on-site hardware or capital expense. You only pay for what you need and use. All your software renewals and updates will be handled by our IT Manged Services Provider, like 360 Visibility. We can also handle any technical problems or questions for you. Look at a Managed Service Provider as your on-call IT doctor.

2. You Already Know How to Use It

There’s a good chance you already use Office 365, Exchange and Outlook in your business, which is great because that means you’re already using the cloud and Microsoft Azure has a very similar interface to the apps you’re familiar with. Moving other parts of your business becomes an easier transition then. Businesses can move their accounting system to the cloud with software such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central which lets you easily manage your accounting, sales and operations from anywhere you have internet.

70% of companies Microsoft surveyed report reinvesting cloud cost-savings back into their business.

3. Mix and Match the Cloud with On-Premises

Maybe you don’t want to send all your data to the cloud. That’s OK. Some businesses prefer storing some of their data in their local server room. Microsoft has created a hybrid cloud so you can keep using your on-site servers, but also take advantage of the cloud to run your applications. This lets you tap into powerful and secure compute resources whenever you need.

4. Keeping Your Data Safe and Secure

Every day there seems to be a new datacenter security breach from an on-premises server. Thousands or even millions of customers data gets leaked. It’s a scary thought and you should be doing everything you can to protect yourself from something like that. Microsoft has taken immense measures to protect and secure it’s clients’ data and infrastructure from external threats and malicious activity. The Microsoft Azure Cloud is among the most advanced and protected cloud services in the market, using the latest security protocols to encrypt data. Your data stays secure while it travels between your devices and Microsoft’s datacenters and while it’s in the Azure Cloud storage.

Microsoft Azure has over 70 compliance offerings and certifications and was the first major cloud provider to commit to the regulations and stringent data security requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Microsoft is so secure that even the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement use the Azure Government cloud platform. This platform protects sensitive government data with advanced security and compliance standards.

cloud security, cloud data storage, cloud migration

5. Built-in Disaster Recovery and Backups

Is your business ready in the event of a disaster? Do you have a disaster recovery plan set in place in case of a fire, electrical storm or a ransomware attack? Can you imagine losing all of your company data. Your business would be crippled.

A recent study by invenioIT showed that 30% of businesses — or 1 in 3 — have no disaster recovery plan in place.

If you haven’t thought about this scenario, it’s not too late for you. One of the best parts of using the Azure Cloud for disaster recovery and backups is the sheer size of Microsoft’s global cloud platform. There is a solution for anything that a business is doing and an ideal method to protect that data.

Azure Site Recovery protects most business workloads running on virtual machines or on physical servers. And it’s incredibly affordable. You only pay for the compute power and storage resources you need to run your business during an outage. You’re only using it when you need it. Azure’s Backup Services backs up files, folders, virtual machines, applications and workloads to the cloud while the Azure Site Recovery provides a backup site for your internal servers and workloads.

Want to protect your business data in the event of catastrophe and reduce your businesses infrastructure costs without compromising compliance?

With Microsoft Azure Backup and Site Recovery you can lower your on-premises infrastructure costs by using Azure as a secondary site for conducting business during outages. Or, you can eliminate datacenter costs altogether by moving to Azure and setting up disaster recovery between Azure regions.

6. Migrating Your Business to the Azure Cloud is Easier Than You Think

Are you ready to leave your old legacy IT system and take advantage of cloud computing? Then you’re going to need to think whether you should do it yourself or work with the Microsoft Azure Cloud experts at 360 Visibility. DIY is an option, it could go well if you have on-site IT, but there’s a good chance that person doesn’t have much experience with the cloud, or completed the many training and certifications required to truly understand how to best use the cloud and all the possible use-case scenarios and tips and tricks.

Gartner predicted that 42% of businesses surveyed plan to move to the public cloud in the next two years.

on-premises vs cloud

360 Visibility is a Tier 1 Microsoft Cloud Solutions Provider (CSP). That means you’re working with a proven partner that has a direct connection to Microsoft. As one of the only Tier 1 Microsoft Cloud Partners that specialize in Microsoft Dynamics ERP, Azure Cloud, and Office 365, we can offer your business a complete 360 solution that is integrated, flexible, and cost-effective. We help businesses See Clearly and Act Faster with smarter applications and infrastructure. At 360 Visibility, we leverage the Microsoft Cloud Platform to build the best possible cloud experience for your business.

7. Expert Help and a Worry-free Cloud Migration

Let us worry about the cloud and your IT, so you can worry about running your business. You don’t have the time to worry about infrastructure details or managing everything. 360 Visibility’s Managed Cloud Services has a team of Cloud Solutions Consultants who will take care of every last detail to make sure your cloud is right for your business. Our team will help you understand the nuances of the cloud, how it will fit in your business and give your free advice and design the right infrastructure what your business needs actually are.

Working with a Tier 1 CSP Partner for your Cloud Migration gives you a number of unique and valuable benefits including unlimited support and a cloud security audit.

microsoft tier 1 csp benefits

These are just a few reasons why you should consider upgrading and moving your business to the Microsoft Azure Cloud.

Make Azure Cloud a Part of Your Business

 

 

 

Jason Meilleur
Jason Meilleur
As the Senior Manager of Cloud Solutions at 360 Visibility, Jason has combined his technical and business development backgrounds to expand cloud based services and the company’s infrastructure customer base. Having a long standing family history of hard working entrepreneurs, Jason has developed a strong desire for business growth.
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