By “cloud computing”, we don’t mean the vague term that’s often applied to consumer services that store your data on a remote server somewhere. All Rights Reserved. Microsoft Azure is used to develop and deploy software applications in the cloud, for use on any device type. You could even host a Windows or Linux desktop in the cloud on a virtual machine and connect to it remotely. Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing service that works similarly to Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the Google Cloud Platform. The business would also have to pay someone to administrate that hardware and pay for a solid Internet connection to serve its customers. Azure was created in 2010 by Microsoft to provide cloud services where users could build, test, deploy, and manage their applications on data centers of Microsoft. If you need more, it can instantly scale up to handle high demand. Of the Fortune 500 companies, 95 percent rely on Azure for trusted cloud services. Azure supports open source technologies, so you can use the tools and technologies you prefer. RELATED: What is Cloud Computing and What Does This Stupid Buzzword Mean? In addition the extra security, accessibility and easy to use features act as a cherry on the top. Azure provides flexible purchasing and pricing options for all your cloud scenarios, such as the Azure Hybrid Benefit, and offers extensive tools to help manage your cloud spend. Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing platform created by Microsoft which developers and IT professionals use to build, deploy and manage applications through their global network of … … But what is Azure, anyway? There’s a much smaller up-front cost when using cloud computing. Microsoft's Azure cloud services, such as face tracking, and speech recognition, can also be used to create apps. You pay for only the computing resources you use, as you use them. Just head to the Azure website and you’ll can sign up for a new account. If you’re just a Windows user—or a user of any other platform—you don’t need to use this stuff. Explore and use a rich catalog of Microsoft Azure services natively on SAP Extension Suite through the cockpit, automatically provisioned based on each user’s account entitlements. Yes. Microsoft is also using Azure to extend Windows in some important ways. When you need more computing resources, you don’t have to purchase physical hardware. But the developers who create and host your applications often use services like Azure. Cloud computing works a bit differently. Get answers to your questions from a Microsoft expert. Bring Azure services and management to any infrastructure, Put cloud-native SIEM and intelligent security analytics to work to help protect your enterprise, Build and run innovative hybrid applications across cloud boundaries, Unify security management and enable advanced threat protection across hybrid cloud workloads, Dedicated private network fiber connections to Azure, Synchronize on-premises directories and enable single sign-on, Extend cloud intelligence and analytics to edge devices, Manage user identities and access to protect against advanced threats across devices, data, apps, and infrastructure, Azure Active Directory External Identities, Consumer identity and access management in the cloud, Join Azure virtual machines to a domain without domain controllers, Better protect your sensitive information—anytime, anywhere, Seamlessly integrate on-premises and cloud-based applications, data, and processes across your enterprise, Connect across private and public cloud environments, Publish APIs to developers, partners, and employees securely and at scale, Get reliable event delivery at massive scale, Bring IoT to any device and any platform, without changing your infrastructure, Connect, monitor and manage billions of IoT assets, Create fully customizable solutions with templates for common IoT scenarios, Securely connect MCU-powered devices from the silicon to the cloud, Build next-generation IoT spatial intelligence solutions, Explore and analyze time-series data from IoT devices, Making embedded IoT development and connectivity easy, Bring AI to everyone with an end-to-end, scalable, trusted platform with experimentation and model management, Simplify, automate, and optimize the management and compliance of your cloud resources, Build, manage, and monitor all Azure products in a single, unified console, Stay connected to your Azure resources—anytime, anywhere, Streamline Azure administration with a browser-based shell, Your personalized Azure best practices recommendation engine, Simplify data protection and protect against ransomware, Manage your cloud spending with confidence, Implement corporate governance and standards at scale for Azure resources, Keep your business running with built-in disaster recovery service, Deliver high-quality video content anywhere, any time, and on any device, Build intelligent video-based applications using the AI of your choice, Encode, store, and stream video and audio at scale, A single player for all your playback needs, Deliver content to virtually all devices with scale to meet business needs, Securely deliver content using AES, PlayReady, Widevine, and Fairplay, Ensure secure, reliable content delivery with broad global reach, Simplify and accelerate your migration to the cloud with guidance, tools, and resources, Easily discover, assess, right-size, and migrate your on-premises VMs to Azure, Appliances and solutions for offline data transfer to Azure​, Blend your physical and digital worlds to create immersive, collaborative experiences, Create multi-user, spatially aware mixed reality experiences, Render high-quality, interactive 3D content, and stream it to your devices in real time, Build computer vision and speech models using a developer kit with advanced AI sensors, Build and deploy cross-platform and native apps for any mobile device, Send push notifications to any platform from any back end, Simple and secure location APIs provide geospatial context to data, Build rich communication experiences with the same secure platform used by Microsoft Teams, Connect cloud and on-premises infrastructure and services to provide your customers and users the best possible experience, Provision private networks, optionally connect to on-premises datacenters, Deliver high availability and network performance to your applications, Build secure, scalable, and highly available web front ends in Azure, Establish secure, cross-premises connectivity, Protect your applications from Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, Satellite ground station and scheduling service connected to Azure for fast downlinking of data, Protect your enterprise from advanced threats across hybrid cloud workloads, Safeguard and maintain control of keys and other secrets, Get secure, massively scalable cloud storage for your data, apps, and workloads, High-performance, highly durable block storage for Azure Virtual Machines, File shares that use the standard SMB 3.0 protocol, Fast and highly scalable data exploration service, Enterprise-grade Azure file shares, powered by NetApp, REST-based object storage for unstructured data, Industry leading price point for storing rarely accessed data, Build, deploy, and scale powerful web applications quickly and efficiently, Quickly create and deploy mission critical web apps at scale, A modern web app service that offers streamlined full-stack development from source code to global high availability, Provision Windows desktops and apps with VMware and Windows Virtual Desktop, Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops for Azure, Provision Windows desktops and apps on Azure with Citrix and Windows Virtual Desktop, Get the best value at every stage of your cloud journey, Learn how to manage and optimize your cloud spending, Estimate costs for Azure products and services, Estimate the cost savings of migrating to Azure, Explore free online learning resources from videos to hands-on-labs, Get up and running in the cloud with help from an experienced partner, Build and scale your apps on the trusted cloud platform, Find the latest content, news, and guidance to lead customers to the cloud, Get answers to your questions from Microsoft and community experts, View the current Azure health status and view past incidents, Read the latest posts from the Azure team, Find downloads, white papers, templates, and events, Learn about Azure security, compliance, and privacy, If we wanted to put the whole city in the cloud, we needed Azure.