Physical infrastructure and networks are prone to problems and are ultimately restrictive for your business and your employees. Consequently, many companies are turning their attention elsewhere, like to the cloud. Cloud hosting services such as Microsoft Azure are emerging as the definitive place to host your websites. Read on to learn more about why you should host your website in Microsoft Azure.
The Scalability
One of the largest issues businesses face with their online platforms is that they are difficult to scale. There is an idea of your standard user traffic, and your IT team optimizes your servers for this amount. However, internet traffic is rarely consistent, and you’ll likely experience some scaling issues here and there. As traffic peaks, you’ll need to expand your server’s capabilities to accommodate this traffic. Alternatively, as traffic recedes, you may shrink your server, as you don’t want to waste precious resources on it while traffic is declining.
This variability is why the cloud is so attractive to many businesses. One of the most impressive features of the cloud is its ability to auto-scale. This feature identifies web traffic and automatically scales up or down resources to meet user load. Thanks to auto-scaling, your business can avoid the dreaded crash and the lost revenue that comes with it. In addition to scaling, Microsoft Azure offers per-minute billing, so you won’t end up paying for server resources you do not use.
The Security
Another reason why Microsoft Azure is the best place to host your website is the security it provides. A significant concern that businesses have today is the protection of their information. Data is everything in today’s world; businesses understand this, but so do hackers. There are numerous hackers and other bad actors who, through directly breaking into your system, phishing scams, and other forms of manipulation, try to steal your information. Thankfully, hosting platforms like Microsoft Azure keep your data protected.
To some business owners, it may seem nonsensical to protect their business’s information by storing it in the public, accessible cloud. Truthfully, information is much less secure in your own servers as there are not as many layers of protection as the cloud brings. Microsoft Azure is safe and compliant with the ISO information security standards and follows compliances like CDSA, CJIS, and DIACAP.
A great way to think about your information’s security is to envision it in “the cloud.” Rather than seeing strings of credit card numbers, addresses, and bank account information, the information is encrypted with multiple layers of protection. Your business and Microsoft Azure can decrypt this information and use it locally. On the other hand, hackers would need to infiltrate the cloud and then brute force decryption, a task that would take them years upon years of codebreaking.
Overall Performance
Microsoft Azure is also great for hosting websites because it optimizes performance, both for you on the backend of the website and users on the front-end of the site. If someone is having issues loading screens and accessing the information they want, they’ll likely leave your site and go elsewhere. Hosting with Microsoft Azure significantly reduces you and your users’ load times. In addition, you save bandwidth and increase responsiveness so users can fully navigate the site without any issues.
On the backend side of things, you and your employees can work more easily without the same roadblocks you’ve run into. For example, a project your team was working on in the office had issues with code deployment and internal errors. Because of this, you needed to work with the IT team to get everything back in order. Alternatively, by hosting your site with the cloud, your team could work on it from across the globe without interruptions. Additionally, as soon as you develop a new product or page, it can be integrated into your platform with no wait times.
The cloud offers low latency and high availability, so you and your users can have the best experience working with your site. Data is stored close to your user base, and teams of cloud professionals work around the clock to ensure that when any issue arises, they can deal with it appropriately.
Seamless Migration to Azure Cloud: Your Path to Efficiency
Data Recovery
When creating your business, you can plan for the future and set procedures for the worst-case scenario. However, there is only so much you can do while remaining in the realm of feasibility. You can create copies of data, but you can potentially lose those copies in the worst situations. You can only plan so much for disaster when protecting your data, but with the cloud, that planning is all done for you.
In the event of a tornado, earthquake, or fire, you could potentially lose all of your important data and your users’ data. Accidents like this have led to many businesses closing their doors, as there is no way for them to recover. The cloud is a great way to navigate this issue, as it provides users with data across multiple servers in various locations, keeping information protected from any incident. In addition to ensuring that your information is protected, the cloud significantly reduces recovery periods. Rather than having your employees and customers wait days or weeks to access their information again, they can get it in a much shorter time.
Staged Deployment
In addition to these other reasons that make Microsoft Azure incredibly attractive to business owners, the cloud offers staged deployment. This means that instead of crafting a new service, page, or piece of functionality for your site and only being able to test it after it’s live, you have a testing area! Rather than potentially buggy and broken code going out to the public, you have a staging area where you can test and work on your code without prying eyes. With Microsoft Azure, you can try and stage all sorts of code and debug without hurting your users’ experience.
These reasons to host your website in Microsoft Azure paint a clear picture that the future of your website is in this cloud service. However, migrating your site to the cloud will be challenging. It is a significant undertaking, which is why you need the help of Atmosera. We offer free Microsoft Azure migration services to help bring your site to the cloud and modernize your digital infrastructure!
