Microsoft Azure – An Alternative to Amazon and Google Cloud

The competition is tough among public cloud services like Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft Azure. The first two may be older and more popular, but Azure is proving to be a worthy opponent. Microsoft’s cloud solution is a robust PaaS (platform-as-a-service) and the leading IaaS (infrastructure as a service) platform, resulting in heaps of revenue for the company since it was launched in 2010. The following points highlight the benefits of Microsoft Azure:

•Other tools from Microsoft can be integrated into it – Azure makes sense to organizations that are using other Microsoft tools like SharePoint, Outlook, and Office 365. The cloud platform integrates seamlessly with those products, even when applied on-premise to Linux and Windows. 

•PaaS and IaaS – Microsoft Azure offers both unmanaged (PaaS) and managed (IaaS) services. The latter lets organizations outsource cloud computing and pay only for what they need, and the former makes it possible to create software and web apps without maintaining or buying an underlying infrastructure. This way, organizations can customize software, like Office 365, to suit their unique requirements and specifications.

•Proven reputation – Microsoft itself is a reliable and credible brand and it powers a lot of the tools we use today, including Windows, Xbox, Bing, and Skype. Its reputation can be beneficial to small companies that are looking for a secure cloud platform. Organizations can be confident with Azure, since it is from an established industry leader.

•Strong analytics and BI support – You get NoSQL and managed SQL data services along with integrated support for using data and discovering insights to improve decision-making and business processes. With Azure, you can establish an SQL server in a cloud and use the Apache Hadoop-based cloud platform, HDInsight to create Hadoop clusters for deeper data analysis.

•Reliability – Microsoft Azure is covered by the company’s increasing number of managed data centers around the world. Hence, you should be able to count on 24/7 availability of health monitoring and tech support.

How to Keep Anyone Away from Snooping Around Your Cloud Infrastructure

Back in the day, we used to carry around discs, portable hard disks, and thumb drives. Now, you can store and access your data in the cloud and not have to worry about forgetting to carry any portable storage devices with you. While the cloud may have changed the way we store and access our data, this doesn’t mean that it can keep your data completely secure. Your information is still at risk with prying eyes and attackers around, waiting for an opportunity to access your files and steal them. Even if the cloud service provider claims to be secure, you still need to take measures to prevent anyone from compromising your cloud infrastructure. Here’s how:

•Keep your passwords secure – No one should be able to snoop around your cloud infrastructure if you do not give your password to anyone and you make it difficult to guess.

•Do not rely on the cloud too much – Backup your data not just in the cloud, but in traditional storage devices, too. That way, you still have access to it, even if the cloud becomes compromised or if there is no internet access in your area.

•Do not store sensitive information in the cloud – There is no such thing as absolute and real privacy online, so it is not recommended to store top secret files in any cloud infrastructure. It is better to be a bit paranoid with identity theft cases on the rise. Use the cloud only for frequently used files, and avoid storing documents containing sensitive and personal data or passwords.

•Use data encryption – Make sure your cloud infrastructure comes with local data encryption to provide an extra layer of security. The method is also known as ‘zero-knowledge proof’, and it will protect your data against cloud administrators and service providers, too. Moreover, make sure data is encrypted during the uploading and downloading processes, too.