Johannesburg, 26 Mar 2019
Many businesses launch with a founder and a laptop, and possibly one or two employees. Companies interested in growth, however, soon move past this start-up phase. The team grows, and technology solutions in particular start to increase exponentially.
It's at this point that many growing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) start to face a number of challenges. First, growth costs money, which eats into a business's cash flow. In some cases, the cost of growth can even be prohibitive. Second, SMEs need to maintain the speed and agility of a start-up while offering enterprise-level expertise and service. This requires the right toolset.
As a partner in business transformation, Microsoft focuses on giving SMEs the same access to enterprise-level solutions as much larger entities through an affordable, 'pay as you grow' model. This has always been Microsoft's focus.
Here are six ways that Microsoft's hybrid cloud solution, Azure, is helping SMEs to grow without negatively affecting cash flow.
1. Backup and recovery
Azure offers analytics, computing, database, mobile, networking, storage and Web solutions with integrated tools, pre-built templates and managed services, all of which give SMEs the ability to build and manage their personal or work applications quickly and easily, in a familiar Microsoft environment and operating system.
Users also have access to Azure servers, customer machines and Azure virtual machines that store data in compressed and encrypted formats, with replica data on their work premises and other copies off site, regardless of a customer's package.
2. Pay as you go
Azure is a flexible and open cloud service platform. In essence, this means that SMEs can pay for what they use and expand services and users as they grow, allowing you to scale up or down and to only pay for what you use or only pay when you need it. It's a pay-as-you go service that offers per-minute billing with as much infrastructure, storage and bandwidth as you need.
The per-minute billing is low and Azure's infrastructure is enterprise-level, giving SMEs the same computing power as large corporates.
3. Security
Data protection is paramount, whether you're the government, a large-scale enterprise or an SME. In fact, South African SMEs are one of the largest targets for cyberattacks around the world. Historically, the cloud has been viewed as unsafe. In order for Microsoft to offer an affordable cloud solution to SMEs, security had to be a defining feature of Azure. Microsoft has therefore made an industry-leading commitment to the protection and privacy of a user's data, regardless of your firm's size or the package you are paying for.
Azure was the first cloud provider to be recognised by the European Union's data protection authorities for its seriousness about data safety and privacy, and was also the first to be ISO certified. Azure, under Azure Government, runs government applications, including data for various governments around the world, and 95% of Fortune 500 companies run on Azure. This same level of security is yours, as an SME.
4. Mobility
In keeping with speed and agility, SME teams need to be able to work anywhere, anytime. Azure runs on a worldwide network of Microsoft-managed data centres across 54 regions. With this level of access and computing power, you can work on any of your applications on any device, from anywhere in the world.
5. Analytics
Growing SMEs require access to data and analytics. Metrics, and the ability to read them, informs key strategic decisions. Microsoft Azure has built-in, simple-to-use predictive analytics services, such as Machine Learning, Cortana Analytics and Stream Analytics, all of which simplify and help you to interpret your data, allowing you to make smarter decisions faster and on a budget.
This gives SMEs access to enterprise-level business intelligence, improving your operations and customer service, and enabling you to easily identify new business opportunities.
6. Join the world's biggest players
We may be on the tip of the African continent, but Azure's customers, large and small, are served by the same support teams around the globe, regardless of the package they are on.
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