Microsoft Azure and Office 365 represent a new approach to IT for small business. Your business can avail itself of the security, reliability, and scalability of IT infrastructure that was once available only to the largest corporations. Think of it as having your own datacenter.
Create Linux and Windows virtual machines in seconds. Azure Virtual Machines give you the flexibility of virtualization for a wide range of computing solutionsādevelopment and testing, and running applications.
Continuously monitor the security of your machines, networks, and Azure services using hundreds of built-in security assessments. Use actionable security recommendations to remediate issues before they can be exploited.
An Azure Virtual Network gives you an isolated, secure environment to run your virtual machines and applications. Use your private IP addresses and define subnets, access control policies, and more. Use a Virtual Network to treat Azure the same as you would your own datacenter.
An App Service is a collection of computing resources needed to run your application or website that doesn't require a physical server or virtual machine.
Azure SQL allows you to deploy SQL Server databases without having to stand up and configure a physical server or VM.
Azure Backup is a simple and reliable cloud-integrated backup as a service. Azure Backup automatically allocates and manages backup storage, and it uses a pay-as-you-use model.
Developed, hosted and managed by ITCS.cloud, The City of Atlanta's Electronic Filing System is a web-based electronic filing and public disclosure system for financial disclosure statements and other ethics forms required under city law.
The EFile app is an Azure App Service and its data is stored in Azure SQL. The EFile system operates under a heavy load during the month long filing period but operates under significantly less load for the rest of the year. EFile's App Service can be quickly scaled up to handle the load and then scaled back down after the filing period.
The ability to dial computing resources up or down as needed keeps costs in check.
The Superior Oasis Family of Businesses in Marquette, Michigan includes a Days Inn, Comfort Suites, Hudson's Classic Grill and My Place Economy Extended Stay.
Superior Oasis relies on Office 365, Sharepoint team sites, the Office desktop suite and online apps, Skype for Business, and OneDrive for Business to manage their day to day operations.
Superior Oasis uses Azure Backup on all their desktop computers for offsite backup and operational recovery.
We use Azure Virtual Machines in our production and test/development environments. Test VMs can be deallocated when not in use, and production VMs and app services can be scaled up or down to meet capacity, so we only pay for computing resources as needed.
Our Azure Virtual Network is connected to our on-premises LAN through a VPN which allows us to manage our on-premises servers and Azure Virtual Machines as one logical network.
We use Azure App services to deploy web applications directly to our Azure subscription without having to stand up and configure VMs, operating systems and web servers.
Azure Site Recovery protects our virtual machines and Microsoft Azure Recovery Services allows us to backup and restore files and folders on individual computers.