Is Azure Arc Right for Your Organization? 5 Key Questions to Ask

It’s not uncommon for businesses to have clouds spread across multiple vendors and private data centers — making managing them challenging. Indeed, nearly half of small and midsized businesses cite managing multiple clouds as a top cloud challenge. Azure Arc is designed to simplify multi-cloud management. But is it the right fit for your business? Here are the five key questions we recommend you ask yourself and your teams to determine if Azure Arc is right for your organization.

Do You Operate in a Multi-Cloud or Hybrid Environment?

Managing resources can become daunting for organizations using a mix of on-premises data centers, public clouds, or even multiple cloud providers. Azure Arc is a service from Microsoft that extends the capabilities of Azure management beyond the Azure cloud, bringing it into the data center, other clouds, and edge devices.

Consider, for example, a company that has databases in their on-premises data center, virtual machines in AWS, and uses IoT services on the edge. Azure Arc enables the company to manage all these resources like native Azure services, providing a consistent management layer. The uniformity simplifies operations, enforces compliance across all environments, and promotes efficiency, even in complex, distributed settings. If your cloud infrastructure spans multiple venues, Azure Arc might just be the centralized solution you need.

Is Centralized Policy Management Important to You?

Your systems’ integrity and security are paramount and rely heavily on consistent governance and compliance practices. Using Azure Arc, a company can enforce the same set of security protocols, access controls, and regulatory compliance measures everywhere, reducing the risk of breaches or legal penalties associated with non-compliance.

These protocols are particularly crucial for organizations in regulated industries such as healthcare or finance, where data handling must adhere to strict industry and governmental regulations. Azure Arc simplifies this by allowing these controls to be centrally defined and applied, ensuring consistent governance regardless of where the services are deployed. If maintaining uniform policies and compliance standards is critical for your business, Azure Arc’s policy management capabilities could be crucial for your organization’s operational compliance and security.

How Critical is Advanced Data Services Integration for Your Business?

Efficient deployment and management of data services enhance a business’s competitive edge, allowing critical data-driven decisions to be made swiftly and accurately. Fast, reliable access to data helps companies adapt to market changes, understand customer needs, and identify new opportunities. Azure Arc seamlessly integrates sophisticated Azure data services like Azure SQL Database and Azure Database for PostgreSQL across on-premises, multi-cloud, and edge environments. If your organization relies heavily on data and requires that its data services be both advanced and omnipresent, Azure Arc’s data services integration could be pivotal.

Are You Looking to Simplify Operations While Retaining Flexibility?

The complex demands of managing multiple cloud and data services can create a bottleneck that inhibits agility. Different clouds have unique interfaces and protocols, which means more time spent on navigation and less on innovation. This can slow down a company’s response to market changes and impede the rapid deployment of new services.

Azure Arc addresses this by providing a uniform management layer across these diverse systems, allowing for a more agile approach to resource allocation, scaling, and application deployment. It simplifies cloud operations by providing consistent and streamlined management tools while allowing you to choose from a vast array of technologies and services. If operational simplicity that doesn’t compromise on choice is a priority for your organization, Azure Arc could be the right tool for you.

Does Your Development Team Require a Unified DevOps Experience Across Environments?

Navigating different environments can be complex and hinder the speed and efficiency of software delivery for development teams. Azure Arc can alleviate this by offering a consistent DevOps process regardless of where the applications are deployed—Azure, on-premises, or other clouds. For example, your developers and IT professionals may need to integrate and deliver applications rapidly across varied environments. In that case, Azure Arc’s uniform DevOps experience can be a significant advantage, driving efficiency and innovation in your software development lifecycle.

Velosio Is Here to Help

If you’re tangled in a web of different clouds or seeking the agility of hybrid infrastructure, you may be looking for answers. The five questions here will help you determine whether Azure Arc is the right fit for your organization. Of course, there are many other considerations, and Velosio is here to help you make an informed decision. Reach out to our experienced Azure team to see how we can help elevate your business in a multi-cloud world.