Windows Azure: Is Azure right for you?

Moving to the cloud has received a lot of hype in the last year or so, but it’s well and truly here. The transformation is taking place from on-premise to off-premise data centres and businesses need to consider the implications of the cloud and what it means for them.

Ryan Crawcour, Intergen’s Solution Architect provided insight into the cloud and Windows Azure. Drawing on the implications of migrating to an off premise data system.

Outlining the benefits of the cloud which includes:

• It’s easy (you don’t need to know how it works)
• Ubiquitous (its everywhere – no matter where you are you can access your data)
• There's a lower barrier to entry
• Consumption-based billing
• Capacity on tap

Ryan addressed the security issues that have arisen around the cloud and ways to keep personal information private, such as, depersonalising data when moving to the cloud. Some privacy issues can be resolved by looking at the way data is stored. However, Ryan pointed out, it’s not right for all data; if it’s top secret you’re probably best to keep it in an on-premise data centre. Despite this, data is just as safe amongst thousands of data centres in the cloud as it is in the back cupboard in your office.

Ryan also went over why Microsoft is the best provider for the cloud, outlining that they have had 15+ years’ experience online with applications such as Hotmail, Windows Live and MSN. Furthermore, Intergen has been using cloud for 2-3 years building platforms around the cloud.