Archive for month: September, 2017

The Azure Cloud is transforming application development as we know it. Applications that would have been too costly and time-consuming to develop on legacy infrastructure take a fraction of the resources on Azure. Azure also provides the ability to process big data, further expanding an organizations’ options for innovation in application development. However, developing applications in the cloud is not without a learning curve.

Enter Wouter van Eck, Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft Canada. “Assess, plan and execute,” advises Wouter. “Assign roles. Ensure those roles are staffed by the right people with the right training. And bring in the experts when needed rather than blindly attempting to do something you are not properly prepared for.”

What follows are Wouter van Eck’s Do’s and Don’ts for developing applications in Microsoft Azure.

Do: KISS – Keep it Stupidly Simple

The more complex a solution, the more problems will inevitably crop up. Keeping your application migration to Azure as simple as possible will:

• Reduce the time to deploy new functionality.
• Reduce staffing requirements for developing a solution.
• Reduce costs associated with maintenance and support.

Do: Choose SaaS, PaaS or IaaS

When architecting your solution, the more infrastructure you can delegate, the better. Examples include:

• Software as a Service (Office 365)
• Software as a Service with Customization Options (DocuSign)
• Platform as a Service (greenfield, app migration, extension)
• Infrastructure as a Service (last resort, non-cloud ready, legacy or other off-the-shelf apps or systems)

Do: Establish a Cloud-First Enterprise Architecture Vision

After moving to Azure, ensure that you establish further goals for the future. These might include:

• Who’s responsible for monitoring cloud usage, billing and subscriptions?
• Who owns the subscription?
• How will you procure Azure?
• How will you monitor consumption?

Do: Establish Best-Practices and Architectural Guidelines for your Cloud Application Environment

Designing for services is different than designing services, and you need a plan to reflect this:

• Be sure to remain agile.
• Remember to employ the KISS principle.
• Choose SaaS first whenever possible, followed by PaaS and IaaS when you need more control.
• Establish a workflow and chain of responsibility for continuous application deployment and integration.

Don’t: Apply on-premises architecture behaviour to cloud solutions

The old approaches won’t work:

• Applications don’t become more scalable or stable just because you add new servers to the cluster.
• Traditional security measures such as firewalls represent unnecessary clutter, as all your data is covered by Network Security Groups (NSG).
• Unlike your static data center, the cloud is ever-evolving. It’s important to keep up with new trends and technology as they emerge so you can refine your best-practices.

“The best piece of advice I can leave you with is this: don’t do it alone,” explains Wouter. “Assemble the right team to help you get it right. And rely on experts. Microsoft partners, like Optimus, do this every day. Reach out to an expert when you need one to get you to your best possible outcome. You’ll be better for it.”

To hear more from Wouter and learn everything there is to know about developing applications in the cloud with Azure, check out our e-Book, The Do’s and Don’ts of Application Development on Azure.