Here Are The Top 10 Azure Services To Look Out For In 2020

Being the only constant hybrid cloud, Microsoft Azure is known for helping businesses overcome challenges related to cloud services. Since 2008, Microsoft Azure has gained widespread use by organizations across a diverse range of industries, including financial services, manufacturing, retail, healthcare, and so on.

Helping you to seamlessly manage and deploy applications, azure services come with four different cloud computing models (Also check out the cloud computing certification that guides you through the course). These would be :

• the infrastructure as a service (IaaS) model,
• the platform as a service (PaaS) model,
• the software as a service (SaaS) model, and
• the serverless model.

Supporting a wide array of databases, languages, frameworks, and operating systems, Microsoft Azure is the most preferred choice for 90% of Fortune 500 companies. Once you become proficient at implementing Microsoft Azure infrastructure solutions, you’ll be able to build, deploy, and manage some of the most complex problems effortlessly.

Why Do Businesses Prefer Azure?

The success of Microsoft azure across the globe can be begrudging to other cloud service providers. However, the brand name has very little to do with this overwhelming popularity.

Paving the path for businesses to build, deploy, and manage cloud applications rapidly, Azure has redefined scalability and security with its deeply-integrated service. What most experts love about Azure is its ability to support a wide array of operating systems, frameworks, languages, databases, and devices. With a high demand for azure experts as a consequence, you should definitely consider exploring and pursuing a career in azure.

Now, let’s have a look at what makes Azure a go-to choice for countless enterprises:

• IaaS and PaaS Capabilities: The combination of IaaS and PaaS capabilities of azure allows businesses to outsource their infrastructure and create web or mobile applications with ease.
  
• Data Safety: The safety of operations and data is of paramount importance to Azure which is designed on a Security Development Lifecycle (SDL).
• SQL and NoSQL Data Services: Businesses make data-driven decisions with the SQL and NoSQL data services offered by Azure. It also makes it easier for businesses to dig deep into the data already available.
• Easy to Learn and Deploy: Azure increased demand for its services because it is extremely easy to learn and deploy. With knowledge of Visual Basic, C++, and C, you’ll be able to develop cloud-native applications. This is the reason why cloud consultants prefer Azure cloud services over anything else.
• Cost-effective: What makes Azure even more appealing is its pay-as-you-go model. This allows businesses to scale in a cost-effective manner. Moreover, enterprises using azure also save money that would be otherwise spent on infrastructure and IT maintenance.

Top 10 Azure Services That You Must Know in 2020

Now, while certain comparisons have been made between AWS and Azure, Azure continues to be the first choice for businesses because of its security, scalability, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and Platform as a Service (PaaS) capabilities. Without further ado, here are the top ten Azure Cloud Services that you definitely want to know about in 2020.

1. Azure DevOps

Azure DevOps facilitates smarter planning and better collaboration - thanks to a wide array of dev services. It is one of the first Azure cloud services introduced in the market. Azure DevOps empowers you to plan, track, and discuss work with a number of agile tools.

The presence of Azure Pipelines makes it easier for your business to seamlessly build, test, and deploy with CI/CD. In addition, you can use Azure Test Plan to test and ship, and Azure Artifacts to share packages with your dev team. With Azure Repos, you and your team can easily build better codes with advanced file management and pull requests.

2. Virtual Machines

Virtual machines (VMs) play a key role in managing critical workloads and running high-performance applications. This is definitely one of the most important azure categories when it comes to data encryption and business migration.

This service allows you to build virtual machines with Linux or Windows in no time. Not only will you be able to scale to thousands of VM instances but also keep your data secure while complying with regulations.  The per-second billing makes this service even more desirable to businesses. Different kinds of VMs offered by Azure include memory-optimized VMs, compute-optimized VMs, burstable VMs, and general-purpose VMs.

3. Azure Cosmos DB

Azure Cosmos DB is undoubtedly one of the most popular cloud computing services offered by Azure. This fully managed NoSQL database service is designed to ensure single-digit millisecond response times. Businesses leverage this service to facilitate faster writes and reads across the globe.

Besides featuring enterprise-level security, Cosmos DB paves the path for organizations to develop apps faster, thanks to the APIs for SQL, MongoDB, and Cassandra. Facilitating automatic scaling, this service guarantees business continuity with instant limitless elasticity. It also allows you to gain real-time insights into data operations within your business.

4. Azure Active Directory 

If you are planning to explore azure careers, you should definitely learn more about Azure Active Directory (AD). Creating a hassle-free environment for administrators, this service facilitates user id and password management for users logging in at the same time. AD is known for its ability to provide businesses with multi-factor authentication for the purpose of protecting users from potential identity thefts.

This user governance service ensures secure access to apps irrespective of the location of the users. Providing a single set of login credentials, this service makes it easier for administrators and application developers to facilitate secure engagement.

5. API Management

API Management is another important element of the Azure cloud services that help businesses to achieve business outcomes. This multi-cloud management platform is equipped to analyze, manage, and deploy APIs while ensuring a unified management experience. This service is specially designed for those businesses that are involved in publishing APIs to internal as well as external customers.

Not only will you be able to selectively authorize the usage of APIs but also facilitate the mocking and versioning of APIs. This service also improves the way your internal teams and customers discover API. The best part is the enhanced security which keeps all your APIs protected with the help of IP filtering, tokens, and keys.

6. Azure Content Delivery Network

Azure Content Delivery Network (CDN) is essentially one of the crucial azure categories that help your business to accelerate and achieve growth. Promising secure content delivery across the globe, this service is designed to run in integration with a number of other services including web apps, Azure cloud services, and storage as well.  

Azure CDN aims to offer a superlative user experience by reducing load times and offering responsive speed. This developer-friendly service features robust security that minimizes and eliminates any threat found on the content delivery network. In addition, you will be able to translate granular customer workflows into actionable engagement insights.

7. Azure Backup

Azure Backup, an essential element of the Azure cloud services, is extremely popular among businesses struggling with backing up on-premises data in the cloud. This one-click backup solution can easily back up your SQL workloads and VMs in an encrypted format that protects your sensitive data.

This service also allows you to keep your application consistent with the help of VSS snapshot (Windows) and fsfreeze (Linux). In addition, you will be able to manage the built-in backup from the central backup portal which makes the entire backup operation literally effortless.

8. Azure Logic Apps

Before you jump to the conclusion of whether you should explore azure careers or not, you should definitely know that the possibilities are limitless with Azure's cloud services. Logic Apps is one of the most integral parts of the service. It helps you to build powerful integration solutions in no time. This service can redefine your experience by automating the entire workflow and keeping business-critical apps connected.

The Logic Apps make it easier for you to create visual business processes and integrate with a wide variety of SaaS applications at the same time. Reducing integration challenges to a significant extent, this service empowers with EAI, and B2B/EDI automation as well.

9. Azure Site Recovery

Azure site recovery service is one of those services that are highly appreciated by enterprises around the globe. This built-in disaster recovery service makes it easy for your business to uphold business continuity during major IT challenges. Besides being easy to set up, this service is extremely cost-effective and offers much-required flexibility.

Microsoft has bagged the position of a leader in the native disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS) category in the 2019 Magic Quadrant for Disaster Recovery as a Service by Gartner. Helping you to keep your maintenance costs low, this service paves the path for you to minimize downtime and even test the disaster recovery plan without hammering the actual work. The site recovery service also makes it easier for you to comply with standard industry regulations like ISO 27001.

10. Azure Bots

Making it easier for businesses to develop bots, the Azure Bots service is designed to enhance the experience of the end-users. Whether you want to build your own virtual assistant or a Q&A-based bot, you can easily do so with this Azure service. Being one of the most cherished azure services, Azure Bots can be easily built with open-source SDK and tools.

The best part is that you can integrate powerful AI in this bot for the purpose of improving customer experience and interactive learning. The extensive bot framework unravels the opportunity for you to manage a high volume of inquiries seamlessly. You can also integrate your bot across communication channels such as Skype, Cortana, Messenger, etc.

Final Thoughts

Will Azure solve your business needs? Or, do you need another cloud service?

Both of them are tricky questions to answer. You should always select your cloud service depending on your business operations and needs. Once you identify all these needs, the next step is to look for cloud services that provide you with the utmost value. And, that’s where Azure wins every single time.

Offering a secure cloud environment, Microsoft Azure comes with multiple services that can make it easier for you to accomplish the desired business outcomes. With the cloud service market having high demands for Azure architects, you should definitely consider getting yourself an Azure Solutions Architect Expert Certificate. Become a certified professional today because the sky is the limit with Azure!