Azure for Small Business: How (and Why) an MSP Can Help
Whether you’re a startup or an existing small business, Azure is an excellent platform. But as a complicated platform, you might need a little extra help making it work to its full potential. An MSP can help your organization develop out its Azure deployment, and put all the strength of Microsoft Azure behind your own unique vision. Here’s how small businesses can benefit from Azure and how they can further benefit from SMB IT managed services.
Why is Azure Good for Small Businesses?
Azure for small businesses allows small businesses to deploy the same technology that large corporations are using, thereby allowing a small business to compete on the same scale as a much larger one. This is one of the major benefits of the cloud: truly scalable technology that works both ways. A small business pays only for the resources and solutions that it uses, just as a large businesses pays for the resources and solutions that it uses.
Better technology is always better for small businesses. Better technology means that a small business can do more with the few employees that it has. Better technology means leaner budgets, because more can be automated and run through technology, rather than having to be run elsewhere. And an Azure deployment helps with a remote workforce, making it possible to develop companies that aren’t brick-and-mortar, or that have reduced brick-and-mortar overhead.
Azure is made for businesses of all sizes, facilitating data exchange, communication, and productivity across everything from very small startups to large international enterprises. Under Azure, businesses pay for only the resources and services that they need.
But Azure can also be quite complex. From the initial deployment of Azure to managing and securing it (in addition to issues of regulatory compliance), a small business may need help. This is where SMB IT managed services come in.
When improperly configured, Azure may be far more expensive than it needs to be, because Azure’s pricing is elastic and based on what the organization needs. Further, when improperly configured, Azure may create some security risks that could become an issue for an organization, and Azure’s complexity could dampen productivity rather than improving upon it. Altogether, this means that Azure needs to be setup, managed, and maintained by experts, and it’s often cost-prohibitive for startups and small businesses to hire their own.
How Can an MSP Help?
An MSP can help with the initial deployment of Azure for small businesses, so small businesses don’t need to worry about the system architecture that they need, whether they need an on-premise, cloud, or hybrid solution, or how to navigate the costs for the Azure deployment. Because an Azure deployment can be so complex, companies may need help to make it as efficient and productive as possible.
SMBs may not have the staff that they need to properly monitor, update, and maintain their deployment, and that could pose both serious security risks and risks to productivity. An MSP can create a complete Azure migration strategy for a small business, as well as providing for Azure cost management, and general Azure managed services.
MSPs are good for companies in multiple ways. They reduce costs, foremost, by reducing the amount of internal IT staff that are needed. MSPs reduce the amount of overhead the company needs for their technology, by exploring better solutions, and improving upon the solutions that exist. And they bring expertise and specialization into the fold. In the case of Azure, they will be able to integrate Azure into the small business’s other solutions.
An MSP also provides support for more than just Azure. An SMB IT managed service will also update the organization’s system with patches, improve security, achieve regulatory compliance, and overall monitor the system for potential risk factors and breaches. If a data breach does occur, an MSP will be able to mitigate the threat as quickly as possible.
MSPs are able to leverage the power of Azure more effectively for SMBs, allowing SMBs to take advantage of technology that would otherwise be relegated to larger businesses. Through the immense power of Azure, SMBs are able to level the playing field for themselves, and augment and improve upon their other resources.
Is your SMB interested in an Azure deployment? Do you already have an Azure deployment and need help? An MSP will help you get the most out of Azure, whether you have a brand new deployment or an existing one. Contact the experts at Red River to find out more.
