In the third and final installment on Microsoft Azure, I’m focusing on Azure related resources for those of you who are interested in learning more and trying Azure for yourself. One of the greatest advantages of selecting a Microsoft solution when making an IT investment is the amount of resources you have at your disposal when it comes time to implement. Microsoft Azure is no different. There are hundreds of sites with Azure related resources as well as thousands of Microsoft partners who have invested their time and expertise into building up the Microsoft Azure community.
First, let’s start out with the basic websites. The best place to start is Microsoft’s Azure site which can be found at: azure.microsoft.com. Here you’ll find general information about Azure, pricing calculators, documentation.Azure demo link: azure.microsoft.com/pricing/free-trial where you get up to $200 worth of whatever kind of Azure services you want to try. The Azure instances you create can be converted over to production resources by creating an Azure account and paying the associated fees.
The latest news can be found on Microsoft’s Azure blog at: azure.microsoft.com/blog. I’d recommend subscribing to that blog to get all the latest announcements (like earlier this week when Jason Zander posted this blog about Azure offering the biggest VMs in the public cloud).
As you get a little deeper into Azure. You’ll find links like Microsoft’s Azure Gallery to be helpful: azure.microsoft.com/gallery. Here you can find preconfigured Azure Virtual Machines, Web Applications, Active Directory integration, and Add-Ons to get you up and running quickly. No more looking for operating system discs and searching online for the right drivers. Just pick the specs you want and create your virtual machine and get to work.
For the platform guys who are looking to use Azure as a platform you can find everything you need on the download site at: azure.microsoft.com/downloads for language specific SDKS and tools.
A great support resource with Azure specific information is StackOverflow at: stackoverlow.com/azure. Here you can find over 16,000 Azure related questions and more importantly……Azure related answers to those questions.
Besides these resources, Microsoft has a ton of Azure related training resources. Most of these training opportunities are free or available at very little cost. One of the best is Microsoft’s virtual academy: microsoftvirtualacademy.com/microsoft-azure. You can sign up for online courses on topics from Azure site-to-site VPN’s to Managing SQL Databases in Azure. The courses include content from top experts in the field along with assessments for you complete along the way.
Microsoft’s Virtual Academy also features live events that you can register for at no cost. The most current list can be found here: microsoftvirtualacademy.com/live-training-events. Always great content provided by great instructors.
And if all of that isn’t enough for you, you have all the expertise of the team at Innovia to help guide you along your journey to the cloud. As I mentioned earlier, one of the great things about Microsoft solutions is the partner ecosystem that supports it. Thousands of organizations focused on helping you get the most out of your investment in technology is what truly makes a difference when comparing solutions like Azure to other cloud computing options.
Our cloud computing experts are standing by waiting to help you leverage the power of Microsoft Azure. Call us today to learn more!
