Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Azure is an online cloud platform offered by Microsoft, with over 200 products and services. It's a cloud service where applications are created, tested, and managed. 

Just like AWS, Azure operates on a pay-as-you-go basis. It allows you to manage hardware, infrastructure, and resources according to your needs. Using Azure is a secure and cost-effective method for companies to store their data. Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) products are available on Azure.

Who Uses Microsoft Azure?

Azure is the second most preferred cloud platform after AWS. Since its establishment in 2008, it has been the second largest cloud platform, right behind Amazon Web Services (AWS) and ahead of the Google Cloud Platform (GCP). 

According to Statista, as of the first quarter of 2022, AWS makes up 33% of the cloud infrastructure services market, Microsoft Azure makes up 22%, and Google Cloud makes up 8%. Due to its accessible structure, strict security measures, compliance, and a range of other advantages it offers, 95% of Fortune 500 companies use Azure. 

Azure has a broad user base ranging from large and small scale companies to tech giants. IT experts from various sectors, from the healthcare sector to financial services, from banking to production, use Azure to develop and host applications. 

Microsoft Azure Infrastructure

Established in October 2008, Azure serves millions of applications and customers as of today. According to available data, it currently has 67 regions and more than 160 physical data centers, and numerous users. 

Azure is a globally operating cloud platform. Azure’s service regions exceed all other cloud platforms. Among the regions it serves are Central USA, West Norway, South Brazil, West India, North South Africa, East Australia, and locations between these regions. 

In Azure, there are also government regions that only US government agencies and their contractors can access. Also, Azure services vary by region. Not every service is offered in every region. 

What Are the Benefits of Azure?

1. Microsoft Support: Azure is supported by Microsoft. Microsoft offers Azure services to its existing customers to migrate their applications to the cloud. 
2. Integration: Azure can be easily integrated with tools and technologies such as Visual Studio, Active Directory, .NET, and file storage. 
3. Validity: Azure and Azure certificates are valid in the industry. 
4. Flexibility: Azure is flexible. Users can add new services when they need them, increase storage, and create new applications.
5. Cost: Azure significantly reduces costs. Because Azure's pricing structure is pay-as-you-go. Azure users can track their spending on the platform, change services according to their budget. Thus, Azure provides a transparent subscription structure. Also, as Azure does not bear costs such as server maintenance, it saves companies from this cost burden.
6. Analytics: Azure properly analyzes data using its hosted databases and helps businesses make more accurate decisions.
7. Security: Azure is one of the most secure cloud platforms. This feature makes it preferred by many businesses. It employs more than 3,500 cybersecurity experts.
8. Speed: Applications are created and tested quickly using Microsoft Azure. Also, it allows users to find the data they want quickly. It processes large amounts of data quickly. 
9. Update: Azure automatically updates.

What Are the Disadvantages of Azure?

Azure, while having many advantages, also has some disadvantages. So, what are the disadvantages of Azure?

1. You cannot access the system offline. 
2. Since Azure is a web-based application, it can be slower than desktop applications.

Which programming languages does Azure support?

Depending on the service used in Azure, programming languages such as .NET, #C, Python, Java, PHP, Node.js, PowerShell  and Go are supported. 

Microsoft Azure allows you to use over 100 Azure Logic Apps connections such as Office 365, Dropbox, Google Services, and Salesforce. It also helps to easily manage large and complex applications by working on both the Windows  operating system and Mac. 

What are Azure Services? - What is Microsoft Azure Used for?

Azure offers a large number of services to its customers. Nearly every cloud computing product that a business might need is on the platform. In fact, there are many more services on Azure compared to its competitors. 

The Azure services that users can use are: Analytics, Storage, DevOps, Migration, Developer Tools, Security, Hybrid + Multi-cloud, Compute, Containers, Mixed Reality, Identity, Media, Mobile, Internet of Things are some of the Azure service categories. You can look at all of them from the Microsoft Azure product page. 

Network Communication

• Application Gateway: It allows creating secure, scalable, and highly available web front ends in Azure. 
• Azure Bastion: It provides remote access to virtual machines. It is a secure Azure service. 
• Azure DDoS Protection: It protects Azure resources from DDoS attacks. 
• Virtual Network: It allows creating private network infrastructure in the cloud.

Security

• Azure Sentinel: Azure Sentinel makes cloud assets easier and safer to monitor.
• Azure Dedicated HSM: It allows managing hardware security modules used in the cloud. 
• Azure Security Wall: It provides protection of Azure Virtual Network resources with cloud-specific network security. 

Internet of Things

• Cosmos DB: “Cosmos DB” is an instantly scalable, global, and secure SQL database. Moreover, Cosmos DB can be easily integrated into the application. It is cost-effective as there is no need for server maintenance. 
• API Management: Provides a secure environment for API developers and workers. 
• Azure Digital Twins: It allows to create new generation IoT solutions by modeling all environments in real time. 
• Azure IoT Hub: It enables connecting, monitoring, and managing IoTs. 

Storage

• Azure Backup: Simplifies data protection.
• Azure Data Lake Storage Gen1: Allows analyzing and storing data on a large scale. 
• Azure Data Share: Makes sharing data on a large scale with external organizations easier and safer. 

Is Azure Safe?

Privacy and security are extremely important issues for businesses in cloud-based services. Therefore, users may wonder if Azure is safe. At this point, Microsoft Azure spends more than 1 billion dollars per year on 24-hour security monitoring, raising Azure's security to the highest level. One of these studies is the Security Development Lifecycle (SDL). SDL makes Azure more secure. 

The Azure Security Center is the only cloud platform that offers continuous security monitoring. With Azure AD Connet, an Azure user can easily access Azure applications once they have authenticated. 

Azure Training and Certification

According to A Cloud Guru's State of Cloud Learning report, the interest in Microsoft Azure courses and trainings is at a higher level than the interest in Google Cloud and AWS. The number of people who want to learn Azure is on a great increase. According to the ACG report, it is stated that the average 3-month period spent for Azure learning has increased by about 800%.

There are many resources to learn Azure. It would be beneficial to also check Udemy for the best online Azure trainings. In addition, you can follow the news by looking at Azure This Week which is published every week at A Cloud Guru. 

Obtaining an Azure Fundamentals certificate will be an important step in your career. Here you can gain basic information about what cloud computing is, how to create Azure subscriptions, and how to use Azure accounts. 

Which Azure certificate you will get varies completely depending on your career journey and the field/role you want to progress. Microsoft offers certificates at four levels to those new to cloud applications and Azure at the basic level, those with basic knowledge of Azure at intermediate level, those with comprehensive knowledge in this field at advanced , and expert level. Some of the certificate programs offered by Microsoft are Power BI Data Analyst Associate, Security Operations Analyst Associate, Access Administrator Associate and Customer Data Platform Specialty. 

Azure Career Opportunities

Azure administrator

The Azure administrator is responsible for the management and maintenance of the Azure cloud solution. They deal with Azure installation, data processing and monitoring, development, and cloud application security.

Azure DevOps Engineer  

Azure DevOps experts are responsible for facilitating the development and testing of cloud platforms and DevOps applications and managing their automation.