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Cloud adoption – The benefits of Microsoft Azure for companies in UAE Whether knowingly or not, businesses of all shapes and sizes have been caught up in the stream of IT services being transitioned to the cloud. From CRM to book keeping software packages, and everything in between, the data and applications on which we rely in the day to day running of our business operations are ever more delivered from the cloud. With the cloud featuring as such an intrinsic part of modern IT infrastructure in a small business, having the right cloud foundation will make all the difference technically, operationally and commercially to the success of your business. Understanding what ‘The Cloud’ means for SMB businesses When considering the IT footprint of your business and any potential cloud migration paths, there are a few key different camps within your IT ecosystem to identify and understand first, each of which will have an impact on the services and options you require within the cloud – a) Locally hosted vs. hosted apps and databases b) File data c) Email d) Remote access a) Locally hosted vs. hosted apps and databases   The ‘hosting’ of an application or database relates to the server on which it resides – the location on which it stores and processes data. If you are hosting services ‘locally’, you have the application or database installed on server hardware within your own premises or under your direct control. Unless you are a truly ‘born in the cloud’ business, it is likely you will have applications and databases within your organization that are a mixture of locally and cloud hosted. Those services that are ‘cloud hosted’ will (in most cases) be provided to you with their hosting and IT infrastructure provided as part of the software subscription, therein provided to you as ‘Software-as-a-Service’ (SaaS) applications. b) File data Your file data will include, but not be limited to, the files and folders that hold Microsoft Office documents among other file types that cloud include (for example, photographs and design files). It is likely that you will have file data stored across local end user devices (such as laptops or PCs) on a file server, and perhaps additionally, on external storage disks or ‘memory stick’ devices. c) Email Email systems can be in a number of different formats – most commonly those businesses with a more traditional on-premise IT setup will have email hosted within Microsoft Exchange on their own server. Alternatively, the very same Microsoft Exchange technology may be used to host and transact email, contacts and calendars in a cloud hosted sense – provided by any one of a number of hosting companies. d) Remote access The way in which you and your team access and share IT resources will inevitably change (and improve) with a cloud migration. However, it is well worth considering first:how your team currently access resources, what works, what doesn’t work and how you would like to improve that experience. Provisioning remote access to the right IT tools, for the right individuals within your business, will need mapping out and likely have an influence on the way your cloud environment is configured. Why migrate your IT services to The Cloud?   Cloud hosting pivots IT from a product purchase state? to a service one. By no longer purchasing specific limited IT server hardware outright, you are no longer bound by the capabilities, age or health of static hardware. You are instead paying for access to an ongoing service and, like any service agreement, a high standard of uptime and access are to be maintained by the provider – polar opposites from running your own server infrastructure in-house. Some of the specific benefits of operating your IT within the cloud, include: Ease of access Users are provided with the IT services they need, when they need them. With the cloud’s ‘always on’ approach – any internet connected device can access data and software, wherever you and your team might be working from. Availability The barriers presented by downtime and loss of performance are a thing of the past. Operating from cloud infrastructure removes any single point of hardware failure – your ecosystem will reside on a cluster of fully integrated servers, storage and networking equipment that keeps you online and working without interruption, should any issues ever arise. Improve the way your team can work, whether remote or in the office, while improving performance – all achieved by reducing the risks and reliance on limited on-premise IT. Always up to date. As a part of the subscription model, cloud services will keep your IT environment – the software, along with the backbone infrastructure – at the very cutting-edge, which means that you are ever investing in the latest developments, which few small businesses could ever afford or justify investing in alone. It doesn’t stop there either. The tools, features and components of the cloud-provided software apps are ‘living and breathing’ too, keeping your business effortlessly up to date, at no additional cost. Flexibility and scalability. The reality within an evolutionary small business is that you are never standing still – always growing and adapting to take new opportunities head-on.So your IT needs to evolve with you. Unlike the rigidity presented by traditional IT, a cloud environment can be scaled to suit the ever- changing requirements in your dynamic business. Ready to flex at a moment’s notice, you have the freedom to increase or decrease your userbase – and-in turn adj Manageable cost The biggest initial difference businesses will appreciate with a cloud implementation is the entire removal of large up-front capital expenditure (CapEx). Gone are the days of needing to budget thousands of pounds in IT investment to refresh equipment and software every few years, or upon hitting each period of growth when you find the static IT you have invested in is no longer fit for purpose. A switch to a subscription-based service spreads-out the IT service fees as more manageable monthly