GE Healthcare. 3M. NBC Sports. Chances are, whenever you have seen commercials for Microsoft Azure, you’ve also seen the big brands that they tout as customers.
Those marquee names can be misleading, because they suggest that Microsoft’s Azure cloud service isn’t a fit for your small or mid-size business. The fact is, Azure can be a great way for small and mid-size businesses such as law firms and medical practices to cut IT costs, simplify their IT environments and pay only for the services they need.
There is nothing about the Azure platform itself that makes it any more suited to a large business than a small business. It can scale up for big users – but also scale down to be just what a small or mid-size business needs. It can host your whole environment, or take on some tasks while others remain on premise – while nothing seems different to your users.
Microsoft Azure can be just the right choice when:
· Your hardware is reaching its end of life
· You need to store sensitive data long-term for compliance
· Your leadership is asking you to cut the IT budget, again
· Your needs are outgrowing your current infrastructure
· Your employees need easy but secure access to data on the road
· You seek access to advanced capabilities such as analytics or Internet of Things
· And many others
The reason Microsoft doesn’t market Azure to small or mid-size businesses is that it’s designed for procurement by big IT organizations. Unlike consumer-facing services such as Office 365, the interfaces are pretty technical and the possible uses of Azure pretty vast. Even this home page for the Azure platform is chock full of technical jargon. It would take even the most talented small business IT staffer quite a while to be fully trained.
All that changes with a certified Azure expert like Exigent. We are a Microsoft Silver Partner and have invested in training our staff in everything small and mid-size companies may need from Azure. That includes Azure migration, Azure architecture design, Azure backup and disaster recovery planning and Azure application development and testing services.
Because we specialize in supporting small and mid-size businesses, we can connect the dots between their IT needs and the complex but powerful array of Azure services.
Whether it’s a 20-seat law firm or a 20,000-employee behemoth, Microsoft Azure helps companies spend smarter on IT by giving them access to advanced computing power without the hassle and expense of maintaining costly IT equipment. They pay for only for what they need. Let us help you get the same benefits that 66% of the Fortune 500 do, on a scale that works for your small or mid-size business. Click here for more info.
Daniel Haurey Jr. is the president and founder of managed IT services provider Exigent Technologies, which he founded in 1997. Under his leadership, the MSP has earned accolades ranging from Channel Futures MSP 501 to being named SonicWall’s 2024 MSP Growth Partner of the Year. Dan is a true entrepreneur, dedicated to growing, investing in, and mentoring small businesses. You can find him on LinkedIn, where he regularly posts about technology, business, leadership, and community.