The cloud computing market is huge and has grown into a complex ecosystem of products, technologies, and services. It is difficult to understand and navigate this cloud ecosystem as a consumer. Microsoft Azure is rated one of the most popular cloud computing platforms and is known for its efficient price model. It is a cloud-based application platform that is designed for creating, hosting, managing, and developing applications off-site.
Surprisingly Azure’s growth has long held the silver medal in the public cloud. As of Q1 2020, Azure held 17% of the public cloud market. Microsoft reported that Azure grew around 59% year-over-year last quarter and has been growing similarly for the past year. Reports have shown steady growth and gain in market share. A survey report from Flexera states that money is flowing toward Microsoft Azure and its software-as-services offerings as well as to its competitor Amazon Web Services.
Azure offers stronger PaaS capabilities. It offers strong security as it is actually devised in compliance with the Security Development Life Cycle (SLDC). It has also obtained approval from the data preservation authority of the EU (Europian Union) that serves as a testimony of its credibility and reliability. Azure is able to work flawlessly with the old and latest applications that comprise the framework of the Dot Net as net programming is very much compatible with the Azure services.
This article will tell you more about Microsoft Azure and the importance of Microsoft azure architect certification for beginners who want to learn it.
What Is Microsoft Azure?
Microsoft Azure is a cloud platform that provides more than 200 products and cloud computing services. It is designed to help bring new solutions to life, solve issues/challenges and build a new era of the digital world. The platform allows you to build, run, and manage applications across multiple clouds with the framework and tools of your choice. It is the practical solution that does the work for you and brings together everything like related products, third-party applications, and services. It provides highly advanced cloud services such as Business Analytics, DevOps, Internet of things, etc., that are cost-effective, scalable, and work with your existing investments.
Almost 95 % of Fortune 500 companies trust their business on Azure. There is a huge investment in this sector around $1 billion per year in security to protect customer’s data from cyberthreats and attacks. That’s why it’s described as having “limitless potential and unlimited possibilities.” Azure involves solutions Iaas ( Infrastructure as a Service), PaaS ( Platform as a service), and SaaS ( Software as a Service) that can be used for analytics, virtual computing, networking, storage, etc. it also can be used to supplement or replace your server.
Interesting Features of Azure-
- Reliable- Azure provides 24*7 tech support and 99.95% SLA availability.
- Flexible- It helps move to compute resources up and down as required.
- Open- It supports almost any language, operating system, tool, or framework.
- Economical- It is cost-effective and economical as you only pay for what you use.
- Global- Its data is housed in geosynchronous data centers. It provides services from all over the world.
It is a flexible, fast, and affordable platform that allows you to access and manage cloud resources and services provided by Microsoft. It supports several programming languages such as Node JS, Java, and C++.
How Does Microsoft Azure Work?
Azure needs a subscription before using its services. Once customers subscribe to Azure they can access all the services included in its portal. Subscribers can use these services to build cloud-based resources like databases and virtual machines (VM). They also can make software directly available via Azure.
Microsoft offers five different customer support options for azure users. They are:
- Basic
- Developer
- Standard
- Professional Direct
- Premier
These plans are based on terms of scope and price, where basic support is free available for all subscribers, but fee and charges for other support offerings. So with all these offerings and services, Microsoft Azure is becoming more popular in the cloud market day-by-day.
Steps To Learn Azure
Beginners should master some skills to learn Azure like Cloud Computing, Microsoft knowledge, and programming languages such as SQL, Server, HTML5, and JavaScript. There are a few steps that every beginner should follow to learn Microsoft Azure.
Learning -as-a-Service- You can learn and master Azure cloud administration with ongoing training tools, and resources. It allows you to learn Azure at your pace and gives you access to virtual instructor-led training, articles, Microsoft-produced online content, custom eBooks, and services. Learning-as-a-Service teaches you the fundamentals of Azure, core workload, key security features, networking, etc. You will also be able to learn:
- Scale storage without spending a fortune
- Remote access while protecting business data
- Handle complex and unexpected cloud challenges
- Protect your cloud business
Learning-as-a-service is considered the most flexible way to learn Azure and is perfect for anyone who is busy with their profession. With Microsoft authorized training program, you can get the most up-to-date and robust Azure training.
Training Courses
Many reputed and top-rated providers offer comprehensive Azure training for IT professionals. So discover any Azure training course to learn it with deep knowledge and training. Classroom and virtual instructor-led training courses give hands-on training to master Azure. It also helps you gain real-world experience creating networks, designing web apps, and deploying databases in Azure. It is also beneficial to develop the critical cloud skills that many organizations are seeking.
Certifications
Certifications prove the deep knowledge and skillset for any field or sector, so sharpen your Azure skills with certification. Earning a certification in this domain helps you to gain professional recognition for your Azure competency, boost your earning potential and grow your career opportunities. Microsoft offers certifications for beginners, associate, and expert level for different professionals interested in leading and managing Azure solutions.
To sum it up, Azure is getting popular and growing rapidly in the cloud space. Learning Azure is easy by following a few crucial steps and achieving some certifications. So get started with Azure certification and training to find your dream job role in cloud computing.