Why Canadian businesses may embrace Azure in hybrid cloud development
IT professionals who know little about managing hybrid cloud infrastructures may turn to System Center and Windows Server certification programs to attain the wherewithal required to do so.
Why Microsoft-sponsored courses? The Redmond, Washington-based software giant’s cloud service, Azure, has been gaining traction among developers, public organizations and private enterprises alike for its flexibility, particularly for it’s compatibility with private cloud environments.
The mass migration to the hybrid cloudÂ
The ease with which Azure can support hybrid cloud infrastructures will likely receive attention from Canadian enterprises. Wakefield Research, in partnership with managed cloud services provider Avanade, conducted a survey of 1,000 C-level business leaders in 21 countries, finding that 68 percent of Canadian respondents agree that deploying a hybrid cloud strategy will be a significant area of concentration in 2015. The study also made the following discoveries:
- Although they agree hybrid cloud implementation is a step in the right direction, 57 percent of Canadian businesses currently do not have such strategies in place.
- Education regarding the hybrid cloud will likely bolster adoption rates in the near future – only 22 percent of Canadian survey participants were able to fully outline the advantages associated with hybrid cloud technology.
- Confidence in hybrid cloud security is rising – 55 percent of Canadian executives asserted that public cloud solutions are much more secure than they were three years ago.
Microsoft, Accenture and Avanade simplify hybrid cloud deploymentÂ
According to InformationWeek contributor Michael Endler, Microsoft and IT consulting firms Accenture and Avanade announced the release of a hybrid cloud environment titled Accenture Hybrid Cloud Solution for Microsoft Azure. The solution comes with a wide range of provisions designed to assist companies in automating hybrid cloud migration and managing the environments once they’re established.
While Windows Server, System Center and Azure Pack will be included to help administrators improve back-end capabilities, Accenture Cloud Platform will brings a holistic management dashboard that enables IT professionals to define the provisions, governance and security around any application.
“I see nothing not to like about this announcement,” said Merv Adrian, a Gartner analyst who spoke with Endler. “The move to the cloud is a complex one. It’s something few businesses have any expertise in doing.”
Basically, the user experience behind Accenture Hybrid Cloud Solution will be as if administrators are managing on-premise infrastructures. This ease-of-use will likely make the the deployment a huge hit among enterprises.
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