In Part 1 of this blog I talked about how Azure Blueprint for Sitecore overcomes a multitude of human factors that lead to the over-provisioning of cloud resources, to get a firm control on costs. Here I’ll talk about how the Blueprint, a managed reference architecture for Sitecore cloud deployments, delivers continuous improvement that allows companies to exploit new opportunities more quickly.
The need for a structured approach
Business agility has been part of the enterprise tech conversation for two decades, ushered in by the three-letter software applications that still define the way companies operate today: ERP, CRM, SCM and more recently, customer experience management (CXM) platforms like Sitecore. It’s long been recognized that modern software, and modern development approaches in deploying it (DevOps, Agile), improve business agility and outcomes: first to market, competitive advantage, bigger market share and more.
Until Azure Blueprint for Sitecore, there hasn’t been a viable way for companies to manage their cloud architecture in a similar way. Cloud architecture experts are scarce, and many companies are operating in hybrid on-premises/cloud environments without the requisite expertise to effectively manage a modern, dynamic cloud platform.
The cloud foundation for business agility
But still, a serious need exists. As I covered in Part 1 of this blog series, provisioning cloud resources is exceptionally easy and accessible to a wide range of of internal and external players. As a byproduct, these players also create cloud infrastructure that in inherently tactical and difficult to manage at a global, strategic level. When business opportunities arise and a quick response is required in enterprise applications, the software infrastructure is not malleable enough because the cloud foundation it operates on is a disjointed patchwork.
Microsoft Azure is a highly dynamic cloud platform, with new capabilities and features added weekly. Technical resources and options change over time; what was optimal yesterday, may be far from it today. There is fundamental opportunity in changing to new resource types, and to new cloud services that offer better price/performance ratios.
Azure Blueprint for Sitecore provides a blueprint for solving these challenges; it an ongoing service to deliver the continuous optimization required for companies to become agile and stay agile.
Why “spring cleaning” doesn’t work
Many companies address IT problems on an as-needed basis. Rampant, disconnected cloud over-provisioning is more than a one-off IT problem—it is an ongoing business problem, and one that can be efficiently addressed by the ongoing solution provided by Azure Blueprint for Sitecore. An organization that subscribes to Azure Blueprint for Sitecore can continuously optimize costs (make them lower) and business agility (improve it) without dedicating any internal resources to the task.
Take the first step—find out how much you can save with Azure Blueprint for Sitecore with Copenhagen Mist’s cost calculator. And follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to keep up with our latest thinking and Copenhagen Mist news.