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Many IT investments offer options to be purchased as either CapEx or OpEx models. Which is better?

Trying to reduce Azure costs? Here are four ways to maximize the ROI of your Azure environment.

This blog covers five reasons to partner with a Managed Security Services Provider for your information security needs.

In this blog, we will look at the phases of a migration from colocation (colo) to Azure and look at strategies to optimize the project for efficiency.

Vulnerability Management is the process of scanning your environment to find out where weaknesses in security exist that would allow that environment to be compromised.

For more than 20 years, many organizations have relied on Windows server as the operating system of choice for their workloads – but Microsoft is ending extended support and security updates for Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 on January 14, 2020, which is right around the corner.

Azure Expert MSP status is achieved by demonstrating a depth of knowledge and expertise across the organization, as well as industry-leading service capabilities and customer satisfaction.

GoldBrute is a botnet that conducts “credential stuffing” or brute force attacks on Windows machines with exposed RDP connections.

Ready to migrate to the cloud or optimize your existing cloud environment? Consider partnering with a Cloud Managed Service Provider (MSP) to achieve three major IT and business goals.

This blog provides a high-level explanation of a Defense in Depth strategy using a Castle Analogy to show how different security elements work together as critical components of a complete security solution.

The digital transformation of business workloads revolutionizes both internal business operations and the customer experience. Connectivity, scalability, efficiency, agility—these resounding value props echo in leadership meetings and entice organizations to undertake the migration of workloads to cloud environments.

Having a data resiliency strategy is essential for maintaining business continuity.  A good data resiliency strategy includes two factors:  backup and disaster recovery solutions.  Backups provide recovery points for data or systems that are lost in some capacity.  Disaster recovery provides a process by which portion of an environment, or an entire environment that is unavailable can be brought online in another datacenter with minimal data loss and downtime.

Scott Harvey, Atmosera’s VP of Engineering joined Roger Strukhoff, Conference Chair for CloudExpo, to discuss the public cloud ecosystem and the cloud’s evolution, challenges, and best practices, as well as the integral role CSPs play in supporting businesses that host operations in the cloud. The transcribed interview is available below, and the video is available here. 

According to a 2017 survey of financial services institutions, only 42 percent of respondents consider their organization effective or very effective at managing cybersecurity risks. Comparatively, 80 percent considered their organization effective or very effective in managing more traditional risk types, including liquidity, underwriting, and credit. Indeed, cybersecurity is the new frontier in risk management.

Cloud computing necessitates that businesses redefine their approach to information security, compliance, data back up, and disaster recovery, but there can be some confusion over what security concerns the cloud may pose for data protection. Adapted from Atmosera’s Chief Information Security Officer’s presentation at a SecureWorld conference, this article will attempt to dispel common myths about cloud security.

Moving to a public cloud like Microsoft’s Azure platform affords businesses opportunities to explore and adopt a wide range of new technologies, e.g. machine learning or a distributed NoSQL database platform, without making heavy long-term capital investments.

Whether they’re on a migration path or are looking at cloud services for the first time, prospects often ask us about the difference between Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.

Another exciting Microsoft Ignite event has come to an end, but the computing giant’s announcements will have ripple effects for years to come. News ranged from new uses for AI and IoT to developments that will deliver virtually impenetrable security across Microsoft products. Microsoft created a detailed list of its Azure-related Ignite announcements, but we wanted to sum up the news we think will make the most noise in cloud services. Here are the four takeaways you need to know:

As companies look to move workloads to the Microsoft Azure public cloud platform, having a well-constructed strategy is critical to realizing the transformative power the cloud offers. Making the first move to the cloud can be intimidating. If an organization starts without the right planning, or without following best practices, the results can lead to a negative cloud migration experience and business setbacks.

Moving to the cloud is an important step, but it’s just the start. Once you begin making the move, the focus shifts to ongoing refinement and optimization. Launch your cloud journey with a strategic and thoughtful approach so you’ll be able to build the right cloud infrastructure to handle your enterprise’s specific workloads, database storage, compliance needs and more. We have compiled some of the advantages of each type of cloud environment.

In Las Vegas, bright sunlight streams down with 110-degree heat on swarms of people as they pass through metal detectors at the T-Mobile Arena. After the bag searches, scans and security checks, they begin to enter a much different environment. Thumping EDM beats flow from speakers inside the cool, dark arena. Microsoft Inspire 2018 is about to begin.

Azure offers one of the most compelling cloud-based solution when it comes to scalability, performance, reliability, and cost-effectiveness. To successfully run in Azure requires careful planning and on-going management services.

Trevor Jones mentions Atmosera in an article about Azure networking based on an interview with Scott Harvey, Vice President of Engineering at Atmosera.

Microsoft is not always associated with the open source movement but to think they no longer play nice is a mistake. Microsoft is a big backer of Open Source Software (OSS) and is putting significant resources behind it. Microsoft’s Azure platform works seamlessly with open source especially when it comes to cloud development interfaces and tools. In 2016, Mark Russinovich, CTO of Microsoft Azure, gave the keynote address at DockerCon; telling attendees that 33% of Azure virtual machines were running Linux. That’s up from 25% in 2015, when Microsoft joined the Cloud Foundry – a popular PaaS architecture that’s becoming the DevOps platform of choice for enterprises. Other Cloud Foundry members include the original founder Pivotal, Cisco, Google, IBM, SAP and Suse. 

One very positive aspect of the public cloud – when managed properly – is the increased confidence in having your applications and data protected from disruption. Disruption can come in many forms, and can impact large and small organizations alike.

Cloud computing has three main, often interconnected types of services – Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS).

As we discussed in our Security and the Cloud – Common Myths post (atmosera.com/security-cloud-common-myths), Information Security (InfoSec) and the cloud require thoughtful planning and expertise. When approached correctly, security in the cloud is as effective as on-premise security and in many instances exceeds it. However, as we approach the cloud, we need to be extra thoughtful with regard to InfoSec.

Most of us know someone who’s experienced credit card fraud. In fact, a recent survey by CreditCard.com showed that 44% of U.S. adults have received a fraud alert for their credit or debit card in 2017. That’s up 15% since 2015.

As we mentioned in our Myths post (click to read), there’s a lot of hype as well as genuine concerns about using a public cloud to power mission-critical applications, especially those with high InfoSec or compliance requirements.