Join us as we explore the potential of cloud computing, or, more specifically, Platform as a Service (PaaS) using Windows Azure. We will start with cloud concepts and terminology, which will assist you in gaining a better understanding of what can work for your organization compared with informative examples from across the globe. Start here to learn more about cloud terminology, service models, and usage patterns. You have mastered the cloud basics. Now you want to learn what Windows Azure can do for you. You are ready to build a cloud roadmap and to ramp up your development team. What will your first Windows Azure cloud application be? Plenty of benefits are provided by cloud computing, but does it align with your business needs? What questions should you ask yourself Take the Cloud right now? Use the Cloud Roadmap Assessment, or, for more in-depth analysis, ask your Microsoft services executive about the Roadmap Assessment Microsoft Services Cloud Decision Accelerator Offering.
What is Windows Azure? Windows Azure and SQL Azure help you build, host, and scale applications in Microsoft data centers. There are no up-front expenses and you pay only for resources you actually use. Windows Azure extends your Microsoft SharePoint Server storage and can also rapidly build a new marketing website that scales on demand. For more information, visit windowsazure.com How s Azure workin? Great! No setup means I can get started right away. I m making apps using popular programming languages! I can use the same tools for on-premise and cloud apps! We can scale up or down faster than a seesaw Focus on application development not infrastructure Microsoft s public cloud allows developers to focus on the application and do what they do best: development. With Windows Azure Platform, you won t need to buy servers or storage, manage network equipment, or hire additional resources to manage infrastructure. Automated service management shields developers from hardware failure. Respond faster to customer and business needs Windows Azure helps you take your ideas to the market faster. Quickly scale your solution up and down in response to changes in business and customer needs. Developers can use familiar tools and languages to build compelling applications. Global data center presence and Content Distribution Network (CDN) nodes also increase efficiency and productivity. Build your business on Microsoft s trustworthy public cloud platform Microsoft provides customers and partners with cloud platforms that are: Built on years of Microsoft s experience in offering services such as Windows Update, Xbox Live online game service, and Business Productivity Online Services. Available through a wide spectrum of pricing and support options. Supported by robust service-level agreements.
Cloud Roadmap Assessment Use the questions in the three columns below to assess your current level of cloud knowledge. The buttons below each column will take you to the section of this document that answers those questions. Once you ve completed a section go to the next to learn more. What is cloud computing? How does it compare to traditional IT options? What is the difference between Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS)? Are cloud and virtualization the same? Do cloud solutions cost less? Is cloud secure? Does the Microsoft approach to cloud differ from other providers? What is Windows Azure Platform? How does it work with what I already have? How do I migrate existing applications? How do I use it for new applications? Any industry examples of cloudoptimization? What organizations and agencies are building applications with Windows Azure? Can you help create architecture for my first hybrid cloud application? How about a proof of concept to help me sell to the business decision-maker? Do you provide enterprise support for your cloud solutions?
elivering ristics of d te c ra a h c Five ice. ized Serv a Standard IT as How does Microsoft help to alle your conc viate erns abou t cloud se and priva curity cy? and as, PaaS, ve seen Ia a t h a y h a W m You ology. stry termin u d in S a a S mean? does it all If you are still considering the impacts and benefits of cloud technologies for your business, start here. Utilize the information in this section to help you craft your long-term cloud roadmap. Get a bett er understa nding of th key cloud-u e four sage patte rns and th economics e of public cl oud comp uting.
Rollover the signs below to learn about the 5 key characteristics of the cloud. Cloud Defined: how is it different from traditional approaches? Think of cloud computing as global-scale data centers built on commodity hardware, using scale-out architecture (as opposed to today s predominant scale-up model). Services from these centralized data centers provide order of magnitude better efficiency and agility in a pay-as-you go model, a pay-for-use model, and connectivity with devices of all kinds. Formal definitions vary widely across the industry, but the most commonly used definition of cloud computing in the context of IT is the NIST cloud definition: Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. Click here to view the NIST Cloud Definition pdf
Is Microsoft cloud secure? Be assured that Microsoft Windows Azure addresses and resolves information security challenges above and beyond traditional on or offpremise IT scenarios. Windows Azure is designed to provide transparent accountability, allowing customers and their agents to track administration of applications and infrastructure created by both themselves and Microsoft. Ask your Services Executive for the latest security and identity-related white papers. What are the development requirements? Windows Azure is an operating system that serves as the development, service hosting, and service management environment for the Windows Azure platform. Developers can build and deploy applications as a hosted service by using the.net Framework, unmanaged code, or other approaches. Is cloud all or nothing? Only Microsoft delivers public and/ or private cloud computing across multiple environments with shared components identity, management, and development tools. Our architects can review solution options that will cloud-enable your business today and in the future. Keep IT capabilities on premises, or in a private cloud powered by Windows Server Hyper-V technology. Connect cloud assets or services to existing IT infrastructure or data using Windows Azure.
IS THIS THE RIGHT FIT? Cloud Service Models Today, the industry recognizes three distinct cloud service models, each providing a different trade-off between control/ flexibility and total cost. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): Virtual infrastructure hosting virtual machines and mostly existing applications. Platform as a Service (PaaS): Cloud application infrastructure that provides on-demand application-hosting environment. Software as a Service (SaaS): Cloud service model where an application is delivered over the Internet and customers pay on a per-use basis e.g. Microsoft Office365, Microsoft CRM Online. For most situations, PaaS represents the preferred medium. Windows Azure is a cloud application platform that incorporates IaaS and PaaS, allowing customers and partners to build and deliver various SaaS applications. Cloud Architecture and Deployment choices Consider the business risk of running applications or workloads on a private, public, or hybrid cloud platform. Does the application or data contain private or sensitive information? Do you need to comply with any regulatory requirements or sovereignty laws? Should you migrate an application, or just the web tier, leaving the data on your premises? Microsoft Services can review your application needs with your organization s development, operations, and security teams to find solutions. Our Windows Azure architects focus on symmetry between our private and public clouds, helping design the architecture that fits your specific needs.
Cloud Usage Patterns Most businesses application usage falls into one or more of four basic usage patterns. By leveraging the clouds metered service and elasticity businesses can often find significant savings through eliminating the need for unnecessary infrastructure and the inefficiencies of having unused resources. Looks like we are done for the day. The new mobile app is really taking off! On-Off Your business has predictable times of application usage activity and inactivity. Our new app is ready for tax season. Growing Fast Your business usage is in a state of growth and usage is continually increasing. Our city s applications must be ready in any event. Content continues on the next page... Spikey Predictable Your business experiences high usage periods at predictable times, such as a holiday rush, or tax season type of events. Spikey Unpredictable Your business experiences high usage at unpredictable times such as after an unexpected event.
Is Public Cloud really going to save me money? Economies of scale provide significant cost savings to cloud providers like Microsoft. Passing these cost savings along to you, combined with cloud-centric architecture of your new or migrated applications, often creates a better return on investment (ROI) than traditional client/server or even mainframe solutions. In addition, the concepts of elasticity and metered service in cloud computing provide near infinite resources, yet you pay only for what you consume.
Now that you are more cloud aware, the next step on the cloud roadmap is to become cloud enabled. By now, you realize that Windows Azure provides a flexible and more secure cloud application platform.
I can see the future from up here! New Development Business Scenarios Having sufficient capacity to meet fluctuating demand without wasting resources is a key issue for most enterprises today. With nearly infinite capacity and processing power the cloud creates whole new possibilities for applications that would have been cost-prohibitive in a traditional infrastructure. I m building the next generation of apps in the cloud. Have a need for a high-traffic website? Have a mobile initiative for delivering applications to customers? Want to build a digital marketing campaign around social networking? Have a large amount of files, videos, or other data you want to host and serve to customers? Need to run hundreds or thousands of servers for batch processing, analytics, video transcoding, or scientific research? Want to move departmental or line-ofbusiness applications to the cloud?
Common scenarios for using the cloud: Parallel processing applications Occasionally the need for increased computing power in a highly intensive workload occurs. E.g. financial modeling at a bank, or new drug development in a pharmaceutical company. Scalable web applications The cloud delivers the necessary scalability for times when the workload spikes, without requiring you to invest in infrastructure. E.g. a ticketing site, or applications primarily used at discrete points during the day. Web applications with relational data Applications need not require massive scalability or processing power to make sense in the cloud. E.g. a car dealership that needs custom sales or service applications, or applications with a short or unpredictable lifetime. Cloud storage from an on-premises or hosted application With the dramatic increase in digital information, data storage is a challenge for most enterprises. The cloud provides a place for data to be stored and easily accessed. E.g, archived email, or websites storing large amounts of text, graphics, video, and user profile information. How can your organization benefit from the cloud? Take a look at other business scenarios in the Cloud Optimized section. I need more computing power for these simulations! Setting up apps is so easy! Time to start prototyping. The new app is hot! Good thing the cloud can handle it. I ve expanded my sharepoint storage into the cloud.
I can totally envision my business in the cloud. Hybrid cloud, it s like having my cake and eating it too! What Can Cloud Do For My Business? Using the Cloud Envisioning Workshop is one way Microsoft Services helps you understand the capabilities of Windows Azure, including the development of new hybrid cloud applications. Your services executive can help you with Windows Azure migration options, including Application Lifecycle Management using Windows Azure, Security and Identity for Windows Azure, Hybrid Applications, and more. What Is Hybrid Cloud? A hybrid cloud uses a mix between two or more cloud delivery models (IaaS, PaaS, etc.) using private and/or public cloud options. Migration from one platform or provider to another occurs over time. Microsoft Services consultants and architect teams can provide insight and guidance to help you become cloud enabled.
What level of support can I expect? With Microsoft Services, customers receive the highest level of support of their online, on-premises, and hybrid environments. Microsoft Services cloud engagements are backed by a network of subject matter experts, technical support professionals, and engineering and operations teams. Microsoft s Cloud Services Delivery Executives serve as a single point of contact and are backed by Microsoft s comprehensive network of technical and operations experts. Microsoft Services works directly with customers to transition their IT helpdesk, their end users, and their operational processes to meet the requirements of and to gain optimal benefit from their cloud solutions. Through regular reviews and workshops Microsoft Services helps maximize value and identify new opportunity areas for improvement and innovation. Microsoft Services goes beyond the traditional break/fix support to a full lifecycle approach, including regular reviews to evaluate current performance and to look for future improvements. Microsoft Services fully-managed support helps customers realize ongoing IT value and business productivity in the cloud throughout every stage of their IT lifecycle. In the cloud, or on site, Microsoft s team keeps my apps running smoothly. And when there is a problem, Mircosoft Services is always there to help. My team is learning new skills from Microsoft s developer workshops.
Migration Business Scenarios Running applications like public-facing websites, mobile web campaigns, and/or high-performance computing workloads? Migration to Windows Azure will benefit you in terms of agility, scalability, availability, and operating costs. Microsoft Services has expertise in using assessment tools that help your organization plan for Windows Azure, including automated discovery and inventory reporting of web applications, IIS servers, and SQL databases. High-Performance Computing Public Facing Websites Mobile Web Campaigns Which applications can be migrated to Windows Azure? Perhaps your existing application can be extended to use the cloud in peak times, and/or use Azure to support specific test scenarios? The Microsoft Services Cloud Decision Accelerator Offering provides an integrated assessment and analysis across Microsoft s public cloud services (Windows Azure, Office 365, and CRM Online) as well as Microsoft s private cloud Offering (Datacenter Services). The Migration Assessment for Windows Azure Platform helps you understand what is required to move to Windows Azure by providing a report with specific recommendations about how to plan a full migration, based on risk and priority. Microsoft Services helped me decide which apps to migrate.
I can use my application here... Or, here. Or, here. And here on my Windows Phone 7. SharePoint and Windows Azure. When you use the cloud as a place to deploy applications, your reach naturally widens. For example, by deploying your services and applications in Windows Azure, you make them available to many SharePoint clients. Traditional storage costs can be high, and the need to quickly access, store, and archive digital assets (documents, media, et cetera) will only increase over time. By utilizing remote file storage, such as Windows Azure storage and data management in SQL Azure, in conjunction with SharePoint Server, you can reduce resource costs while providing greater value to internal and external customers. SQL Server and SQL Azure SQL Azure data sync helps enterprises to quickly share data between both on-premises and cloud databases. The hub and spoke model of SQL Azure Data Sync addresses complex business needs by allowing for bi-directional flow of data. Bi-directional flow creates symmetry between on-premises and SQL Azure databases as changes to either location are automatically synced.
Learn about decreasing time to market, finding new revenues, and providing elastic IT capacity to meet business demand.
Cloud Optimized Business Scenarios Enterprise and public sector customers around the globe use the Windows Azure public cloud platform to capitalize on time-to-market and efficiency gains. Your marketing department wants to create online marketing portals or websites, often for short-term use, to address a specific business need. Your organization has proprietary content that must be distributed to consumers or third-party partners, or you want to facilitate multi-party collaboration on shared data. Your business teams often require custom, lightweight applications to meet specific needs, or they need to consolidate existing Access, MySQL, and SQL Express databases that support line-of-business (LOB) applications. You want to build new functionality on top of existing LOB databases and applications, or you want to extend LOB applications to call center sites or to new access channels through mobile device support.
Business Transformation As cloud computing grows more attractive, IT professionals must determine which business functions are candidates for migration to cloud-based providers. The cloud s natural advantages efficiency, scalability, and lower energy consumption must be weighed against reduced control and customization. Having your head in the clouds can be good for business. Four Steps to Consider Now Start with a cultural shift The wise organization is already moving its IT leaders toward service manager roles and teaching them to think like proactive, responsive brokers. Keep sustainability in mind In the long run, energy costs will discourage continued building of captive data centers. Track power consumption trends. Embrace service-based pricing Model a sourcing strategy Thoughtful analysis will likely show neither the cloud nor local infrastructure can meet all needs; hybrid sourcing is probable. Move IT toward a system where internal users of IT services bear the associated costs. Define costs for each service and assess demand.
New Opportunities Decrease time to market The time required to stand up applications for pilots or production deployments is drastically reduced because of minimized environment and infrastructure concerns, thereby reducing the time from concept to implementation for projects, lowering cost and risk for organizations to explore more opportunities. Create new revenue streams Monetize business capabilities as a revenue generator. Utilizing a cloud platform to achieve a business capability can prove profitable through extending the implementation for others to consume on a subscription basis. Microsoft Services has service offerings, like the Cloud Decision Accelerator, in support of building new revenue streams. Provide elastic capacity to meet business demand Utilize the on-demand consumption model of the cloud to quickly provision and de-provision resources as needed. Increase agility by helping your organization to react quickly to an urgent business need by applying cloud-based resources.
Case Studies By providing strategic guidance, technical implementation, and proactive support, Microsoft Services delivers comprehensive capabilities and options to help you breathe life into your cloud solutions. And, for more case studies check out the links below For more information about Windows Azure consulting and support services from Microsoft, contact your Microsoft Services Representative.