Microsoft is one of the world leaders when it comes to cloud computing services. In the last comparison of revenue streams from the cloud giants, back in Feb 2018, it seems that Microsoft was just ahead in front of AWS.

Want to learn more about Azure? Well, there are options. There is a great free resource from Microsoft that covers Azure fundamentals here:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/azure-fundamentals/

Or, if you’re looking for more a hands-on 1 Day Azure Technical Quickstart to understand how to provision resources, you can check out our 1 Day course here:

https://alctraining.com.au/course/microsoft-azure-technical-quickstart/

You can also reach out to us, for customised Azure and Office 365 courses.

Azure is classed as an Infrastructure-As-A-Service (Iaas) and Platform-As-A-Service (PaaS) in the cloud computing world. IaaS services are designed for system engineers, where you can set up and build servers, networks, and storage, and then install your apps on top. If you’re in the software development business, then the PaaS services are designed for writing, testing and managing code, and target developers.

Some important PaaS services that developers will need include:

Source Code Repositories – Such as GitHub or Azure Repos – these allow you to store and version control your source code.
Serverless – Azure Functions – automatically builds and manages the compute, storage and networking components, so a developer can focus on writing code.
Containerisation – Azure Kubernetes Services – allows developers to build, manage and monitor containers, which are used to store separate app stacks, relating to separate apps.
Datastores – Azure SQL or Azure Cosmos DB – allows developers to store and read structured (SQL) and unstructured data.

Below is a brief snapshot of just the Compute services:

By combining together these services, you can create a rich tapestry of solutions. It’s very similar to the age of analog electronics, where you could select oscillators, diodes and specific electronics components, to create solutions like creating a home radio.

In Azure you can create very complex business solutions. Below is an example of how you might integrate a complex corporate environment with Azure services, in a model known as hybrid cloud:

There are some very important services that are available in Azure, that align nicely to medium to large clients that have to comply with complex regulation. Clients involving in banking, government, healthcare, and defence, need to maintain a level of corporate and regulatory governance, as well as a high level of cyber security protection in their cloud services. Tools such as:

Azure Security Centre – understand, see and manage your security across all your Azure resources. Very useful when dealing with a critical security incident in your organisation.
Azure Advanced Threat Protection – Protect your assets from all kinds of threats, both inside and outside your organisation, using AI and smart analytics.
Azure Policy – Enforce rules across how and where your Azure resources are deployed. Need to only deploy in Australia, no problem, set up a policy that only allows services to be run from Australia.
Azure Blueprints – Setup standard collections of resources, pre-approved by your security and governance functions that allow fast deployment of business solutions.
Azure Monitor – Monitor the health of all the resources you have created and have control over.
Azure Service Health – Monitor the health of all the resources that Microsoft controls.
Azure Advisor – Makes intelligent recommendations covering Availability, Security, Performance, and Cost.

The diagram below shows an example of the types of recommendations that the Azure Advisor can provide:

Feel free to reach out anytime with your Azure of Office 365 questions or queries?

This blog is going to explain, in non-technical jargon, two things:

How do I use the Cloud?
What is Cloud Computing?

I was inspired to write this article after ALC Training released a FREE 20 minute Cloud Computing Mini-Course last week, where I personally take you through a fun and engaging cloud journey. It’s aimed at a non-technical audience, where you’ll learn the basic knowledge needed for all industry recognised cloud computing courses:

Why Use the Cloud?

Because that is the technology that powers how mobile apps work…..and it powers the entire app ecosystem:

Apple App Store
Android Play Store
Microsoft Store

And it also powers the largest social media platforms work:

Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
LinkedIn

It’s also how online shopping works:

eBay
Amazon
Gumtree

And now it’s how core productivity apps work. I mean your Word, Excel and Powerpoint apps are all cloud-based:

Microsoft Office 365
Google Docs

And it also powers the biggest email systems:

Gmail
Outlook

You can store files:

Dropbox
OneDrive

It can also update software in cars:

Tesla

In fact, it all started with web site hosting, at the birth of the internet, for most people, in the late ’90s:

Cloud has become cheap, often free.
It’s easy-to-access and now is very easy to set up.
If you’re running a business, your competitors are using the cloud to gain an advantage over you.

Here is the first web site, created by Tim Berners-Lee…and yes…it’s still live. Click to the picture to visit:

What is Cloud Computing?

In simple terms it’s a new way of doing business, enabled by technology. Not just business, business, but also personal business.

It’s accessible via a store, or via a web browser, which provides lots of benefits:

Access my data, anywhere in the world with a smartphone, tablet or PC. Hotmail email was one of the first email systems to use cloud computing, which was incredibly popular before Gmail.
Read updates about your friends, and post your updates, anywhere in the world. Friends Reunited was one of the first to social media system to use cloud computing, which was a huge success before Facebook.
Use instant messaging to keep in contact. MSN Messenger was one of the first to use cloud computing. Today there are a range of apps, such as What’s App, WeChat and Facebook Messenger.
Video Messaging – Skype, to see your long-lost relatives.
Post Video – YouTube, to post your latest cinema creation.
Post Pictures – Instagram, to post your breakfast?

In fact, every form of communication known to man, you can post somewhere using an app, and other people can view and interact with it.

But what really is the cloud?

In the technology world, we call it a platform. A foundation for hosting apps.

There are 3 types of cloud:

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) – This service is for people with a technical infrastructure background that can build these services. This service provides the basic building blocks of the cloud: servers, networking and storage. Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure provide these services.
Platform as a Service (PaaS) – This service is for people who want to use a programming or development language to write code. This is how apps on your phone are built. This includes an automated IaaS layer that is invisible to the developer. Amazon, Microsoft and Google offer these services.
Software as a Service (SaaS) – This service is for everyone, and uses both the IaaS and PaaS services. This is the final app that you would use, or a website that you would utilise. This is the most common type of cloud and the type that most people will use.

If you found this article interesting, and want to take your cloud knowledge to another level then check out my course. In partnership with ALC Training, I offer a 2 Day Cloud Foundation course for non-technical or semi-technical people. It’s a classroom-based environment where interaction, games, and fun are key learning tools.

Are you an entrepreneur, a project manager, an auditor, a talent acquisition specialist, a human resources professional, a marketing whizz….in fact anyone with a strong interest in the cloud….then this course is a good fit for you.

The best part is that it leads to an industry recognised certification, backed by APMG International……which shows up as a digital badge on your LinkedIn profile. Perfect for showing that your current employer is serious about cloud computing.

Interested in attending…..check out the dates, by clicking on the image below:

If the dates are not suitable, please reach out to our awesome team at ALC Training, and we can customise the course to your needs and bring to your location.

I hope you enjoyed this blog article. Have a great week.

Cloud Computing is the latest skill, that is moving into employment market today. It supersedes a time where businesses relied on IT professionals, typically between 1985-2008. This is referred to as the client-server model era.

These IT professionals were employed to ensure that services were designed, deployed and run in a highly efficient and highly reliable manner. Apps and data were run on servers, in a data centre at best…at worst it was hosted inside a cupboard. Services could include:

Installing and running manually built apps on manually built infrastructure. This includes back-end servers in the data centre, and front-end personal computers in the office.
Backup and Restore of data. Data restoration woul typically take days if not weeks and would often be unsuccessful.
Storing of files on servers. Often without resiliency and outages were not uncommon.

Today, Cloud Computing has changed this landscape forever. It started to really mature and become used by businesses around 2008, Microsoft Hotmail and AWS being pionerring spirits, through to the present day.

Below is a solution architecture, showing the services that are available instantly through AWS:

Already we’re 10 years in, and only within the last 3 years has cloud become common:

Apps are delivered via web browser to consume on any device – Microsoft Hotmail
Apps are delivered via App Stores onto mobile devices – Apple App Store
Infrastructure builds are highly automated and highly resilient. – Amazon Web Services EC2 / S3 / VPC
Data backups can be automatically tested and recalled in hours – Amazon Web Services Glacier
Agile, Lean & DevOps have emerged, as a set of people behaviours that improve business responsiveness and reduce the cost required to build and run apps.

No longer is a $100,000 loan necessary, to buy infrastructure when starting a business. You just need a credit card to buy the cloud services as you need them. This means anyone can start a business and scale services with just 1 employee. This accounts for the explosion in entrepreneurs, particularly females, who often have to balance income with kids.

Understanding Cloud Computing is not just for IT professionals, it’s for anyone who uses Cloud and wants to learn more.

I’ve created a simple and engaging cloud computing mini-course, courtesy of ALC Training, for everyone to use, for FREE.

It’s highly interactive and includes a set of questions to test your knowledge. Go on…have a go….and have some fun:

https://www.alc-group.com/introduction-to-cloud-computing/?utm_source=PaulColmer&utm_medium=Shared%20Post&utm_campaign=PC_ALCAd_Jan19

I would love to hear your feedback. Please reach out on the channels below:

LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/in/paulcolmer/

Twitter
twitter.com/musiccomposer1

Instagram
www.instagram.com/paulcolmer/?hl=en

Many CIOs, CTOs and business leaders are all working through their cloud strategies. Most large companies in Australia have adopted a hybrid cloud approach, using both private and public cloud services. In this blog, I’ll outline 10 critical steps on how you can create a cloud adoption roadmap and then align this roadmap to your current execution path.

A cloud adoption roadmap is a really important tool, as it serves to visualise and communicate your plans to all key stakeholders in your organisation. The important part of the roadmap is to ensure you have a clear 1 page visual outlining the key milestones and decisions points, backed up by clear definitions behind the roadmap of what each component on the roadmap means. My suggestion is to use a modelling tool to create your roadmap and my top pick is the Abacus tool from Avolution.

Before we delve any deeper into our cloud adoption roadmap, let’s be clear on some basic terminology, to ensure we’re all on the same page:

Software as a Service (SaaS)

These are services that end-users consume. Examples include: Social Media Tools, Salesforce, Office 365 and Xero. The apps that you download to your mobile phone are predominantly SaaS.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

These are services that developers consume to create SaaS products. Examples include: Development Tools, Testing Tools and Datastores. Apps that you download to your PC or laptop at home to allow you to write code, test code and setup datastores in the cloud are all examples of PaaS.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

These are services that operations teams will build, test and commission to support developers, who consume PaaS and end-users, who consume SaaS on the PaaS, or SaaS via a 3rd party. IaaS can be virtual machines, networking or basic storage.

If you’re interested in digging deeper in cloud definitions, there is a simple whitepaper that the National Institute for Standards and Technology have produced. It covers everything in 3 pages.

I’ve also created a simple reference model below:

DevOps

This is cultural change centred around ensuring that the developers (working on PaaS) are collaborating and communicating effectively with the operations teams (working on IaaS). This is important to create secure, reliable and engaging SaaS apps.

The DevOps Institute have a great video on DevOps that can teach you more.

Or you can read my further thoughts here.

Hybrid Cloud

All organisations I have worked with in Australia, that have more than 100 employees will have a combination of private and public clouds in their environment. This is the definition of hybrid cloud. Probably 99% will have an on-premise (or 3rd party hosted) private cloud for Active Directory and using public cloud for Office 365 with Azure Active Directory. The 1% is a single instance of G Suite I have come across.

Great video on hybrid cloud here:

10 steps to set up a cloud adoption roadmap

Now that we have defined these terms, we can take a look at our Cloud Adoption Roadmap and our 10 steps:

Perform a current state architecture analysis to understand how each department / business area is already adopting SaaS apps in your organisation.
Understand the needs each department / business currently has and develop a feature-centric SaaS cloud adoption roadmap to cover the next 12 months.
Communicate and seek feedback with the key stakeholders regularly, to guide your cloud adoption roadmap, particularly as the business investigates and pilots new SaaS apps and develops new business capabilities.
Define a clear strategy at the CTO / CIO level as to whether you are going to adopt PaaS and/or IaaS services, or simply remain with SaaS-only services.
Ensure your IaaS / PaaS strategy includes key business drivers and evidence of business need.
Feed in your IaaS and PaaS strategy into the cloud adoption roadmap and socialise with key stakeholders.
Based on business situational awareness and factors that are important to the key stakeholders, embark on a short IaaS / PaaS cloud service provider shortlist selection.
Once the IaaS / PaaS shortlist is down to say 2-3 candidates run a proof of concept for each cloud service provider to determine the value, test your hypothesis on how you may transform your legacy IT and seek input from key stakeholders.
Extend the IaaS / PaaS proof of concept to a pilot with a single cloud service provider, to further strengthen the more complex hyposthesis you’ve made with your current legacy IT investments.
Extend your cloud adoption roadmap to include how you will transition your current private cloud and/or legacy IT investments to IaaS, PaaS and SaaS services, being cognisant that this may be a 2-5 year journey.

I recommend using the Lean UX method for testing out your hypothesis when validating your cloud adoption plan. This can be found in the Scaled Agile Framework.

You can learn more about Scaled Agile on my own blog.

If you’re interested in learning more, I offer a range of Cloud, DevOps and Scaled Agile courses at ALC Training:

What is Microsoft Azure and why should I use it?

HitchHikers Guide to Cloud Computing?

Revolutionise your Career…..Learn Cloud Computing

How To Select A Cloud Adoption Roadmap in 10 Steps