Unlock the Power of Cloud Computing with Microsoft Azure's 200+ Services
By Ed Malaker
Microsoft Azure offers a collection of scalable and reliable services designed to run on the cloud. You can use all of the most popular languages to put them to work, including PHP, Python, .NET, and Java, and you can count on those applications to run 24/7, even during traffic spikes or issues.
There are more than 200 products and services for building, deploying, and managing your applications included in Microsoft Azure software. Give your apps AI capabilities, language understanding, enterprise-grade search capability, and more.
When you combine Azure with other products from Microsoft, like Microsoft Security, Microsoft 365, and Dynamics 365, you have a powerful and comprehensive set of tools that are difficult to duplicate elsewhere.
Benefits of Using Microsoft Azure
By utilizing Microsoft Azure, you can increase productivity. Cloud-based applications also enhance collaboration, and entire teams can work on a project at once without undergoing a steep learning curve.
With more than 8,500 global cybersecurity experts on the job, you can feel confident that Microsoft Azure app security is up to the task of keeping your apps secure and compliant with any standard, helping to keep you and your customers safe.
Choosing the Right Azure Services for Your Needs
One of the greatest things about Microsoft Azure is that each of the tools completes a single task, so there is no need to spend a lot of time digging through everything Microsoft Cloud computing has to offer. Instead, you can get started immediately with a tool that you need right now.
For instance, you might begin with an AI-assisted search to help gather information about your target audience or competitors or a database to help you keep track of your accounting. Later, when you are ready to promote your product, you can make use of AI-assisted bots to help with social media and emails.
Exploring the Range of Services Offered by Microsoft Azure
Azure has a huge selection of applications that you can use. The following list just gives some of the highlights with an example of what you might do with each, and you can get a complete list on the Microsoft Azure website.
Azure AI Bot Service
Azure AI Bot Service allows developers to build and deploy intelligent bots that can interact naturally with users through websites, apps, Cortana, Microsoft Teams, Facebook Messenger, and more.
These make great chatbots that can answer questions people might have when they visit your website.
Azure AI Search
Azure AI Search offers advanced search capabilities over content in a web or mobile application. It can integrate with other Azure services, enabling developers to add sophisticated search functionalities without a lot of effort. The AI helps provide auto-complete, search suggestions, and more.
Azure AI Search is a great tool for improving the shopping experience of your guests by enabling customers to quickly and accurately find products.
Azure Analysis Services
Azure Analysis Services is a fully managed platform-as-a-service (PaaS) providing enterprise-grade data modeling in the cloud. It helps simplify data and enable fast decision-making through complex data models. It integrates easily with other services, like Azure SQL Database, for even more flexibility.
Azure Analysis Services is a great choice when you need a comprehensive and real-time overview of sales performance across various retail locations to enable quick strategic decisions.
Event Hubs
Event Hubs is a data streaming platform and event ingestion service. It can handle millions of events per second and automatically scales up to meet demand. It supports various protocols, like HTTPS, Apache Kafka, and AMQP, making it versatile for different programming environments.
Use an Event Hub when you need to control and monitor several video cameras at once in your home or business security system.
Azure App Service
Azure App Service is a fully managed platform for building, deploying, and scaling web apps. It supports multiple programming languages and provides a powerful cloud environment that eliminates the complexity of managing a server.
Azure App Service is the ideal choice for e-commerce web applications.
Getting Started with Microsoft Azure
To get started with Microsoft Azure, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial, which turns into a pay-as-you-go model after that. However, many of the apps are free even with the basic plan, with costs accruing only after you reach a threshold, and the paid services are low-cost for smaller businesses with lower demands.
There is even a pricing calculator you can use to help get an estimate for costs to help you set up a budget.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Microsoft Azure Host a Website?
Microsoft Azure can host a website using the app service, a virtual machine, static web apps, blob storage, or Kubernetes service. Each method has special advantages you might want to take advantage of. For instance, blob storage can be extremely cost-effective for static content that doesn’t require any server-side code.
Can You Use Microsoft Azure on Mac?
Microsoft provides various tools and services that make it possible to access and manage Azure resources from macOS, including the Azure Portal, Azure CLI (Command-Line Interface), Visual Studio Code, Azure SDKs, Docker and Azure Kubernetes Service, Azure Storage Explorer, and the mobile app.
When was Microsoft Azure Launched?
Microsoft launched Azure on February 1, 2010.
Summary
As you can see, Microsoft Azure has a lot to offer, and these five services make up less than 2.5% of what’s available without discussing Microsoft Security, Microsoft 365, or Dynamics 365, ensuring you can find whatever you need for whatever project you are working on regardless of scale. Go check out the whole list of services over at Microsoft and get started.
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