Cloud service, hybrid or traditional data center?

Does your operations provider offer "real" cloud services?

Many service providers consider themselves to be offering cloud services, which may not be entirely true if you assume that a cloud service is scalable at all levels. A service should be able to scale up or down in capacity from one minute to the next, and you should not be tied to contracts for computing power that span a long period of time.

The servers, disks, networks and so on that an operations provider has purchased must be returned by ensuring that the capacity they have invested in is occupied. Therefore, they naturally want customers to commit to longer contracts, such as three years, to ensure this. Something that is basically not a scalable model.

The major cloud service providers, on the other hand, have significant overcapacity and have anticipated this. As a customer, you can therefore scale up and down without committing to long contracts.

Azure Stack or Azure?

Some people take a "middle ground" between cloud and on-premises hosting through Azure Stack. With Azure Stack, you use the same hardware as in your own or your hosting provider's data center. The difference is that you add a software similar to Azure's interface. Azure Stack is a version of Azure where all data goes through and is stored in your local data center. In this way, you only get access to a fraction of the services that "real" Azure offers and you can only use services that you support in your local solution - disks, networks and virtual machines, for example. That is, the functions that you yourself have built into your data center. What you miss out on with Azure Stack is the enormous amount of services and functions and the scalability that Azure offers.

With the help of the enormous amounts of data that Microsoft's customer base contributes, many new services and functions are being developed at a rapid pace for "real" Azure, which can help you develop your business. A pace that neither you with your own hardware nor a data center operator will be able to keep. Security features and AI are becoming increasingly important and you won't be able to keep up if you stay in a traditional solution. There simply isn't the same capital and resources, nor can you access the value of the global data centers that Azure offers.

Still not sure about Azure?

So what is the reason why many people still don't choose the cloud, despite all its benefits? In many cases, it can come down to a strong partnership with a local IT operations provider. These providers will not advocate solutions other than their own, and because they are often a trusted advisor, they will remain a customer.

There is also still a strong overconfidence in the advantages and "security" that Swedish, local operation can bring. Azure Stack has thus become a way for operation suppliers to claim that they can deliver "Swedish" Azure.

The fact that you pay per minute and consumption in Azure can also be unfamiliar. It is difficult to know from the beginning what the cost per month will be because it is a much more complex calculation model based on data traffic, disk transactions and so on. A completely new way of calculating. Therefore, many people have a largely unjustified concern that costs will skyrocket.

Develop faster with Azure

The main benefit of moving from a data center to Azure is that you will not be locked in your development pace. Many people today already work to a high degree in cloud services through Office 365. As the systems, the business system, for example, are developed for the cloud, you thereby have a lot in place already and the transition to the cloud will not be as complex as you might have initially thought. Because your users are already in Office 365, you already have your Active Directory in place in Azure AD, for example. In the battle between the giants, you also end up in an advantageous position in terms of costs - as long as the big cloud giants are fighting for customers, you will constantly get more power for less money.

At WeSafe, we have worked in Azure from the beginning and do not have our own data centers. The advantage for you as a customer is therefore that our advice is not based on how we can sell more of our own solutions. Instead, we are based on how to optimize your operation in Azure in the best and most cost-effective way and make sure to match the cloud services that suit you best. In addition, we have well-developed procedures for optimization and extensive experience of helping customers move to the cloud.

Want to know more? Contact us!