can run on-premises with Microsoft Azure Stack, or with a hosting partner that
utilizes the Microsoft Azure Stack platform without any change. I can create a JSON
template to deploy a service and run that same template to deploy anywhere. This
flexibility and mobility is huge for customers, and it no longer restricts them from
getting maximum benefit from hybrid scenarios where their workloads can easily
cross clouds and be freely moved if the organization’s cloud goals change.
Consider the Public Cloud
Looking at the public cloud services available, if I’m a new company, I would be
thinking about using them where possible. Email, collaboration, application
platforms, and customer relationship management—these are all critical areas that
require large initial investments to get running. Using a public cloud solution, such as
SaaS or PaaS, allows you to “pay as you go.” You pay a small amount when your
company starts, and the amount you pay grows as your company grows. That’s perfect
for a growing startup.
If I’m an established company and I’m looking at ways to cut down on my IT expenses
or diversify them, moving some services off premises and to the cloud may make a lot
of sense, particularly if I’m looking for new features or site disaster-recovery
capabilities. Using a cloud service like Office 365 instantly gives an organization
enterprise email, communication, and collaboration resources that are replicated
across multiple sites with a per user, per month fee structure. When I talk to
organizations, more and more I hear the desire to move from capital expenditure (cap
ex) to operational expenditure (op ex), and using a pay-as-you-go public cloud service
removes the cap ex part almost completely. Keep in mind that moving services to the
public cloud is not “free.” Most likely, you will need help from a consulting
organization to enable a smooth migration process, because there will likely be a
period of time that you will have a hybrid solution, such as for email (some mailboxes
may be on premises while others are in the cloud). Some services will remain hybrid
services. For example, I’ve seen some organizations that host Exchange mailboxes on
premises for office-based workers but use Office 365 for other workers, such as those
in retail locations that have a higher turnover or can function with a lower quality of
service. I’ve also seen the opposite, where the most important people in a company
have their email hosted on Office 365 to ensure its availability, while everyone else
stays on premises. Another big benefit of this type of cloud solution is rate of
innovation. Microsoft can update services such as Office 365 whenever it wants to,
constantly bringing new functionality. This is often referred to as cloud cadence.
Additionally, because of the scale of the public cloud and its compute power, it can
offer services that would not be practical on-premises to anyone other than the largest
enterprises, but now they can be available to all.
If a new application is needed for the short term, or if high availability and growth
potential are a requirement, hosting it on Microsoft Azure would be a great choice.
Development scenarios are a great fit because they have high turnover (also referred
to as churn), with environments constantly being created and deleted; without a