The Guide to Choosing Your Azure Cloud Solution Provider
As one of the most popular and reliable cloud computing services, Microsoft Azure provides Infrastructure as a Service solution that is open to all subscribers. The efficient, flexible system may be used by clients, no matter their areas of practice or technical requirements.
In what AEC companies are concerned, Azure responds to a series of aspects with which they deal, such as:
The need for reducing hardware and infrastructure costs, generated by systems that need consistent investments;
A high level of risk associated with data vulnerability due to theft, human error, and damages;
The demand to constantly access resources, at any given time from anywhere.
In order to fulfill its requirements and obtain maximal benefits, Azure needs to be correctly implemented and managed. This is why end-users need experienced, specialized providers of Cloud IT environments that understand their businesses, operational flows, and empathize with their needs.
The Azure Cloud Solution Provider Program
Driven by the desire of bridging the gap between providers and end-users, as well as building an effective ecosystem, Microsoft developed a wide network of partners that may cater to the necessities of the businesses looking to transition to IaaS with Azure and help them take full advantage of the cloud.
This is how the Azure Cloud Solution Provider Program was born, a structure that brings together the know-how, the expertise, and the highly skilled professionals that set the premise for a smooth, reliable cloud journey. This context allows businesses to make use of a wide range of dedicated products and tools which are meant to bring added value to end-users.
With the help of the Azure Cloud Solution Provider Program, partners and end-users may develop strong, trusted partnerships, based on direct communications and personalized advice. Moreover, partners may create additional services - such as consulting, server building, application deployment, and configuration, as well as data migration -, that offer added value to their projects.
While Azure CSP is a wide network, the number of partners focusing their services on the AEC industry is quite limited, reaching about a handful of options. We, at AECCloud, are one of the first companies to be assisting clients from their first steps to the most complex ones, from hosting out of physical servers to the modern IaaS. As a pioneer of Azure CSP for Construction, we have been helping players in the field with application hosting, cloud management, and dedicated professional services, while focusing the same attention and passion to projects of all sizes, no matter how big or small.
Using our experience, we have drawn some conclusions on how Azure CSP projects should be approached.
Getting the most from your Azure Cloud Solution Provider
An Azure CSP brings to the table a competitive skill set that helps companies implement and manage their IT migration processes, as well as their overall assets, in the long run. Seeing that this requires a high level of expertise, it is usually advised that businesses employ this service project-based, from a specialized consultant instead of fostering in-house talent that may prove extremely costly - an option that works best for corporations that have a wider volume of work.
An Azure Cloud Solution Provider, like AECCloud, may, thus, work as an extension of your company’s IT team, to analyze, understand your needs, as well as identify and implement the best solutions for them, as well as offering ongoing support, whenever situations call for it.
Mapping the Cloud Strategy
To get started with Azure, the first step is to know which direction to go and to create a plan that responds to your key requirements. The easiest and more efficient way to do so is to work with a Microsoft Solution Provider which has the experience and the know-how to identify what your company should prioritize, as well as to use its insight to determine what to move, as well as when and how to do it.
This sort of partner will guide you through the process, asking the right questions and explaining the scenarios that might appear on short-, medium- and long-term.
Azure CSP foster flexible approaches to complex projects
Working with Azure CSP means that you do not have to rely on one sole Microsoft Solution Provider and that you may choose different partners with different capabilities, to ensure that your projects enjoy the best talent. For example, you may choose a partner for your company’s Office 365 migration and implementation, and another one for Azure IaaS, to ensure that each of your projects benefits from the highest professional level.
Moreover, whenever you wish to change providers for whatever reason, you may do so just by transferring management to your cloud assets, without any additional
Of course, partners like AECCloud could help your company with a whole range of solutions that make use of Microsoft programs and facilities. This enables end-users to enjoy a holistic, 360 degrees approach, which helps ensure that different departments and different needs are carefully coordinated, to ensure optimum results.
Azure CSP enables companies to keep costs under control
An Azure CSP for Construction has the tools and information needed to assess the end-users cloud needs, the associated resources, and costs. Taking into account that IaaS is consumption-based, a clear outline of the priorities and main requirements will help the provider create a precise forecast of monthly expenditures, enabling end-users to set and respect a budget. Moreover, to ensure 100% control overall finances, the partnership allows you to maintain a threshold on costs.
If you want to understand more about how an Azure Cloud Solution Provider may help you efficientize your cloud strategy while enabling you to save resources and costs, contact us, at AECCloud, and book your consultation.