Things move fast in the world of technology, and the release of Microsoft's Azure Stack is being billed as the biggest step change in cloud services for a decade, forcing Microsoft's big rivals into playing catch up.
As one of only a handful of UK companies to be selected to join the Microsoft Azure Stack Early Adopters programme, we are spearheading the release, with a number of clients already reaping the benefits. Many of them start discussions by asking us exactly what it could mean for them, and in this piece we set out some of the answers.
Its key benefits will be to help clients secure and protect their business, modernise their infrastructure and meet existing and new data protection regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes nto force in May 2018.
Microsoft Azure is the company’s public cloud offering, and Microsoft is entrusting selected partners such as ourselves to take their public cloud-based Stack product and run it on a private, or public/private hybrid cloud basis in our own Tier 3, ISO27001-certified data centres.
While there is no doubt that Azure meets the needs of some customers, those that operate within strict regulatory frameworks have long been concerned about their business-critical functions being housed in a shared, multi-tenanted environment over which they have little or no control.
Microsoft Azure Stack was developed to deliver all the benefits of Microsoft’s tools and technologies but in a customisable format and by a trusted, premium data centre partner able to provide a high level of expertise and local support.
It means that rather than the one size fits all’ approach of Microsoft’s public cloud, clients can work with data centre experts such as ourselves to tailor the public/private hybrid model to their exact requirements, set their own service level agreements, and specify the full range of connectivity, access, and other specific arrangements they want in place.
We have been working with Microsoft behind the scenes on the release, and earlier this year we attended an invite-only conference in Seattle, which was specifically tailored for global premium data centre specialists. We see this as a truly exciting new technology which will help our clients achieve even more efficiencies from cloud models. Success depends on choosing the right partner
There are lots of very promising IT companies out there, but only the right company delivers on every promise, keeping its clients company every step of the way. Investing in Microsoft Azure Stack is the first step on the journey towards a better business. As with any journey of this scale, you need a partner that fully understands how it can fulfil your business needs, in order to guide you towards your goals. From the initial planning stage through to implementation and beyond, we believe we are the right company to have by your side to ensure that your Microsoft Azure Stack execution goes as smoothly as possible.
The right partner provides more than technology, because technology in itself is only a means to an end. We offer solutions people can actually work with, no matter how complex technology may get. We also commit to creating and delivering the right combination of cloud solutions, connectivity and know-how, because one size doesn’t fit all. And with Microsoft Azure Stack, it doesn’t have to.
By providing a tailored approach, our experts can build a solution that ensures technology becomes an intrinsic part of your everyday, effective business operations. Backed up by our consultancy, implementation and support services, your IT architecture can become more agile, flexible and secure.
If you want to get everything out of tomorrow’s technology right now, you’re in the right company with ITPS.
For more information visit our website at www.itps.co.uk, email us at contact@itps.co.uk, or call 0191 442 8300
