Microsoft Azure: A Guide For Beginners

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Full Guide: Microsoft Azure: A Guide for Beginners

The innovation problem
Information Technology is key to the success of nearly every business. This is particularly true of large enterprises who, as they try to meet (and anticipate) customer needs, and meet or exceed Wall Street’s expectations, depend on IT to provide strategic solutions and add value. To, in a word, innovate.

There is, however, a problem.

For many organizations, the demands of operations or, ‘keeping the lights on,’ take precedence over innovation. CIOs and their staff find themselves running on several high-speed treadmills at once:

• Maintaining existing software and integrating new software into a complex technology stack
• Patching, fixing, and upgrading servers
• Data retention strategy
• Disaster recovery strategy
• Monitoring system health and security
• Meeting industry-specific regulatory and compliance requirements
• Helping the business achieve new objectives and attract customers using technology
• Crafting budgets that make all of the above possible while showing value to justify that budget.

It’s unavoidable that operational demands create a perceptual barrier between the concerns of technologists, the lines of business they’re supposed to be helping, and the customers it should be attracting, retaining, and serving. CIOs find themselves in what looks to be a no-win situation: operational reliability requires a go-slow approach (and often, becoming the team that says no for a variety of reasons). Business demands, on the other hand, require speed and flexibility.........