Beyond Migration: Unlocking Additional Value in Microsoft Azure

There are many benefits to migrating to the cloud. From cost savings to performance benefits, it’s a no-brainer to take the step and use a platform like Microsoft Azure to bring your business to the present day. 

So how do you get more out of your Azure integration? In this article, Extech Cloud will go over everything you need to know about the post-cloud migration journey. We’ll also examine how you can leverage the powerful technology that powers Azure to ensure that your implementation is not only working for you but also helping you thrive. 

The journey beyond migration: What’s next? 

So, you’ve taken the step and moved to the cloud. Or, you simply want to know what steps to take after migrating. Either way, your cloud journey doesn’t end at migration. In fact, there are lots of things that you can do to help get the most out of your cloud implementation.  

Here are some of the key focuses after you’ve migrated to the cloud: 

• Optimising your cloud: Moving to the cloud is only the first step. Next, you need to leverage efficient features and scale to optimise your cloud, as this will define how successful the cloud can be for your business. 

• User adoption and training: You can’t just make a move to the cloud and expect everyone to adapt perfectly to it. It’s vital to ensure your user base is trained and taught how it works, as well as building user buy-in all around. 

• Cloud cost management: While the cloud can be incredibly cost-effective, failing to manage your costs correctly can completely mitigate these benefits. This is why it’s vital to ensure you’re focused on cost management and optimisation, especially post-migration. 

Understanding these key focuses and using them to guide your post-migration journey will help ensure you get the most out of the cloud. 

Optimising costs in Azure 

One of the key benefits of moving to the cloud is the cost-benefit; ensuring you optimise your costs will benefit your business in the long run. However, it’s important to optimise costs correctly. Here are some ways to optimise Azure: 

• Resource management: Managing your resources effectively, by shutting down unused resources, right-sizing, and using autoscaling, for example, will let you have more control over your costs. 

• Reserved instances and pricing: Taking advantage of pricing features and reserved instances – if you have a predictable workload – will allow you to save costs all around. 

• Leverage storage tiers: By using storage tiers, you can easily ensure costs are prioritised based on importance. Hot data will be on high-end tiers, while the rest stays on lower tiers. 

Leveraging Azure’s advanced features for business growth 

AI services 

AI is very quickly becoming the hottest technology for modern businesses. This is also true for Microsoft, which has implemented lots of AI offerings within Azure over the past year. Some of them, such as Azure AI Studio, are aimed towards the creation of AI to improve business efficiency.  

For example, Azure OpenAI Service allows you to use language models from OpenAI to take advantage of technologies, such as GPT. 

Microsoft Learn is the best place to start with modules wholly dedicated to Azure AI, to help you build and manage your own AI applications. 

Security and compliance 

Azure is the gold standard for security and compliance. Tools such as Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) and Azure Disk Encryption are powerful pieces of software that allow you to take advantage of modern security methods like MFA and encryption. 

Moreover, Azure offers tools like virtual networks (VNets) and Azure Firewall to help you define network access controls. This gives you ultimate control over your network access to secure your business. 

Azure also adheres to many different compliance standards, such as ISO, SOC, HIPPA, and GDPR. This means you can easily follow strict guidelines to prevent compliance breaches. 

Scalability & performance 

Azure’s scalability and performance is one reason why Azure is so popular. With the ability to scale vertically and horizontally, you have full control over the power and size of your implementation. 

The platform also gives you lots of tools to optimise performance and scalability, such as Azure Load Balancer and Azure Monitor. 

Integrations 

With Azure is a platform you can connect applications across different environments and services. This can be on-premise data centres, other platforms, or SaaS applications, which can be connected and synchronised in real-time. 

Logic Apps lets you design automated workflows that integrate applications using connectors, whereas Azure Bus and API Management allows you take advantage of more advanced integration and API features. This means that Azure is one of the most flexible platforms available.  

How we can help 

Microsoft Azure is the essential cloud platform, and unlocking additional value can be the key to your organisation’s success. Ultimately, by taking advantage of these strategies, and features, and optimising costs, you can ensure that Microsoft Azure can truly unlock your business’s full potential. 

If you’re looking to get started with Microsoft Azure but don’t know how, reach out to Extech Cloud today. Our experts are here to guide you and provide a helping hand from start to finish, making sure your cloud setup is perfect – even post-migration. 

 Get in touch now and see how we can help.