Up in the

Cloud: Cloud as
a platform

1
Contents
The Cloud as a platform page 3
What a cloud service platform can do for your business page 4
The Cloud: The key points page 5
The Cloud platform helps your business do more page 6
The Cloud platform in numbers (for USA) page 8
Case Study: Success brews for small business in the cloud page 9
How to capitalize on new market opportunities with the Cloud page 10
The Cloud as
aplatform
Even the smallest companies can now obtain the benefits of
large IT systems without the initial investment.
As the Cloud develops from a basic software tool to a
complete platform, it can be a valid tool to enable your
business to do more, grow more quickly and, in doing so,
leave behind the complexity of IT. Startups and small businesses
tend to use cloud services in order to save money,but the Cloud
platform also provides a better way to do business. It means that
smaller companies can take advantage of the benefits of large
IT systems without the need for initial capital investment, or the
maintenance and expansion costs of large data centers.
This, in fact, helps companies of all sizes to go to the market with
great products and services, while being able to count on reliable,
secure, and powerful IT every time they need it.

Cloud computing is based on a simple concept:
Companies, rather than owning and building their
own IT systems, use suppliers who build scalable data
centers on a massive scale and provide functionality for
computing. This allows every client, including companies
of any size, to enjoy the benefits of security, as well as
the ability to centrally manage their software, platforms,
and services, with convenient terms.
From cost savings to business opportunities
Today, numerous companies are moving toward the Cloud
in a fragmented way, app after app, without a strategic
vision on how the various cloud services can or should
work together and, sometimes, without even thinking of
them as the Cloud. This approach offers easy access to
powerful software functions, but it is only the start of the
journey.
Using the Cloud as a global platform can help the
smallest companies exploit it, not only in terms of the
intrinsic advantage of speed and innovation, but also for
the potential uses that used to only be available for the
large, well-resourced companies.

2 3
What a cloud service platform
can do for your business
Cloud computing is a technological innovation, but how is it

The CloudThe key points

connected to the real needs and problems of small businesses?
The greatest impact of the Cloud is in the way it transforms IT from an expensive cost and worrying concern to
an accessible and flexible driver of innovation. Think how much more your company could have done without
the cost of continuous installations, updates, management and support of hardware and software. On a cloud
platform, everything, from maintenance to the security of work data, happens behind the scenes, meaning
business resources are freed up. SaaSSoftware as a Service Virtualization
Specific applications that can work through the Cloud, Virtualization creates a level of separation between
such as those for as, office productivity, Customer softwareand hardware, thus enabling a data center with
Relationship Management, marketing analyses, etc. servers and microprocessors to operate as a pool of
Develop and implement new applications more Bring new technology into the main business linked resources.
quickly Is your company looking for ways to use cutting-edge IaaSInfrastructure as a Service
Internal development and vendor-driven teams can technology, such as mobile anddesktop applications, IaaS enables companies to move their whole Public Cloud
create and distribute new cloud applications and sensors, localization-based systems, and voice and facial data center, including storage, the servers, and The Public Cloud refers to services offered to a number
solutions that are easily scalable, up or down, based on recognition? These can be better applied, thanks to the software, inside the Cloud, essentially to outsource of users (ortenants) in a single databank.
sudden changes in demand from clients, without the Cloud, thus making it easier to collect, use, and share IT management, security, and maintenance to the
need to acquire new hardware. Programmers can easily data throughout the company. Cloudprovider. Private Cloud
build or use the applications in the Cloud to deliver even
The Private Cloud is a dedicated data center or server
more innovation within the business. Use data for competitive advantages PaaSPlatform as a Service environment that provides cloud services for a single
The big secret of Big Data? You don't have to be a big PaaS offers an environment that has an operating client or tenant.
Never wait for servers or infrastructure company to use it. The tools that help you keep track of system in the Cloud where clients can develop and use
Tired of waiting for IT? With software and applications social media and market trends, reduce operating costs, software, applications, and services. The advantage
Hybrid Cloud
running in the Cloud, even non-experts can experiment and even create predictive models are accessible to any is that the PaaS systems can be scalable, as well as
offering a seamless solution to provide constant The Hybrid Cloud is a company IT environment that
with the best ways to connect with clients, manage business with the Cloud.
service quality. unifies some private services with public ones, and
financial documents, and improve productivity, all
without havingto install new software or hardware provides other optional processing resources.
onsite.

4 5
 The Cloud platform helps your business do more

Coherence of the Cloud

Value of the Cloud Connect all your data from
Obtain great scalability and different systems through
business IT capacity with a the Cloud and have a single
budget that every company perspective for your business.
can afford.

Capacity of the Cloud Flexibility of the Cloud

Create apps in the Cloud to You only pay for the capacity that
reach new clients and profit is used, but at the same time,
from innovations you have the ability to increase
potential space whenever your
demand forservices increases.

A cloud platform makes opportunities and better

your business better able to react to unexpected
at capitalizing on new challenges.

6 7
 The Cloud Platform Success brews for small
in numbers (for USA): business in the cloud
Some figures for As the nation where Skype was developed, Estonia Cloud expansion

inspiration
is no stranger to the transformative power of technology.
So its perhaps little surprise to find a very traditional
Estonian enterprise - a craft beer brewery - has adopted
a cloud platform to simplify its IT operations.
The Lehe Brewery of Keila, to the southwest of the capital
Tallinn, is a four-person, family-owned business that is
24 Billion Dollars wholly focused on producing traditional handcrafted
beers. And despite its small size, the brewery has big
current value of the American growth potential.
small and medium business (SMB) market.
A blizzard of distractions
17% The brewery faced problems trying to turn malted barley,
Adding computing resources for new staff or
monitoring new brewing machinery or suppliers
is now simply a matter of extending their cloud
platform subscription when needed. Since adopting
the cloud, theyve never looked back, with Azure
having given them the time they need to get on
with what theyre best at: brewing.
Although we have the knowhow to install and
manage servers, we decided to use a cloud platform
so we can focus on our main activity," says Tali. No
doubt, craft beer fans everywhere will raise a glass
to that.

estimated growth percentage hops, yeast and water into beer, and grow the business
at the same time. The reason? Brewing is a complex food
up to 2017. business, requiring IT systems to track a number of
2014 2015 2016 2017 factors from feedstock procurement, to alcoholic
beverage licencing, to inventory management, excise
duty, tax and sales operations. But cofounder Gristel
Tali says she and her colleagues were adamant that IT
92% OF issues would not get n the way of their quest to create
AMERICAN SMBs perfect beers.

are already using some services Focus on the magic

92% 87%
linked to the Cloud world.
What they needed, she says, was a computing resource
that could manage their complicated and disparate
87% ALREADY USE supply chain and yet also scale up with the company
as it grows. So, they chose to run their business on
at least one solution that Microsoft's Azure cloud platform, using Office 365
relies on cloud infrastructure. for office and mobile applications like email, word
processing, collaboration tools and presentations, plus
SMB Group, 2014 resource planning tools to keep track of their supply
chain and legal commitments as makers of alcohol.

$2.1 BILLION "We know how to install

$ 4.1B of cloud-based security services, servers but we decided
2017 with a growth estimate of up to
to use a Cloud platform
$4.1 BILLION so we can focus on our
$ 2.1B for 2017.
Gartner Research, 2014 main activity"
2013

8 9
How to capitalize on
newmarket opportunities,
thankstothe Cloud
What results can small companies achieve through the Cloud?
By bringing data and IT systems on to a cloud platform, the company becomes better
abletoface emerging challenges and capitalize on new opportunities on the market.
Pay for the use, not the equipment
The price models for cloud services enable companies to
acquire the storage and analysis capacity needed at a given
moment. It is possible to add more services when demand
and new entries require it, or reduce them when lower
service capacity is required.
Start to move at Internet speed
The days are over when companies used to spend years
developing a new product or service. Whether your business
is a startup or one with a long history, cloud-based tools
can accelerate a lot of processes, from which revenue can be
built up. High-tech startups use online collaboration to work
with near and distant suppliers.
Considerations: What questions should we ask when we assess cloud suppliers and solutions?
What business objective is driving the
development of your cloud strategy?
Is there more than one?
This information is essential when choosing your partner
for the Cloud: A clear understanding of the fact that
the company needs to grow, including how and where;
if you need to be ready for quick change, depending
on if demand for your product or service increases or
decreases; or if you wishto just have better control
overthe IT budget.
10
andinteractive mobile applications for sports.
Stablecompanies attract new and old clients, thanks to
flash sales or other promotional events. The backing up
of cloud-based data ensures quicker recovery of data
should offices be hit by natural disasters.
Scalability is a service
Many companies hope for, and at the same time are
afraid of, a bigger growth cycle than expected. Cloud
services take care of a lot of these concerns through the
scalability of IT systems, offering more production or
sale capacity. When these tools are employed with cloud
computing in mind, you pay only for the capacity used
and when it is used. And, if the peak usage is temporary,
the reduction in capacity can also be made to be an
automatic process giving the further advantage of
animmediate reduction costs.
Have you considered how your cloud strategy
willdevelop with the growth of the company?
Take a closer look at those working in the most
technologically advanced jobs, and at their career paths.
Does it make sense to offer extra training to improve their
sense of comfort with cloud technologies and business
models? Do you need to take on specialist IT staff? It is a
good idea to have these questions clear in your mind when
assessing the recruitment of staff, just as you would do
when you are planning to grow your business.
EXAMPLE OF CLOUD SOLUTION
A cloud solution to create scalable, social
Summit Data Corp. (SDC) develops mobile applications that are used by various types of athletes
in orderto monitor their progress and keep in touch with each other. When SDC decided to design
thenewapp, they realized it needed a technology to enable a highly scalable new application
SDC decided to use Microsoft Azure SQL Database and SDC presentedits Active Fitness application at the annual
Azure Mobile Services to create the Active Fitness Network, Stevens Creek Trailblazer event in September 2013. The
a social network and a back-end system for mobile event attracted over 1,000 athletes who started to use the
applications, and then it created its app. application immediately.
It is very easy to create applications with Windows The peak downloads in one day was around 18,000,and
Azure Mobile Services, which provides a simple tool to we were able to easily support the new users with the
procure and manage tables to store data, said Olga scalability of Windows Azure," said Vigdorovich.
Vigdorovich, apartner at SDC. Microsoft deals with the
back-end, soIcan focus on design and development.
Do you need support for IT and for Are your cloud partners ready for
businessdecisions? long-term strategies?
Is there a functional separation in your organization? For continuity, when cloud-based services are
Regardless of whether there is or not, you should involve unexpectedly interrupted, these interruptions can be very
your senior, expert IT staff in planning your cloud strategy. costly for your business. Ask your cloud suppliers all the
You should also involve staff with the best knowledge important questions you can think: How do they design
of business processes. Both need to work together new functions or services? How do they communicate
tooptimize the Cloud's functionality. with their clients? Is the application which most attracted
your attention likely to be the subject of a lot of change
over time?
11
Key information
 he Cloud is much more than a group of applications and shared storage sites.
T
Seen as a platform, it can be a launchpad to improve business performance
inmanydifferent ways.
 oving from old systems to the Cloud and developing new tools, thanks to the
M
Cloud, offers companies the flexibility of scalability to satisfy growing needs of the
business, without them having to constantly invest in new backup IT equipment.
 sing a cloud platform for IT means that it is now possible to use the new
U
technology and improve old processes more quickly than before, enabling
businesses to keep up with clients' expectations and competitive pressures.

For further reading

For information on business trends and the
Cloud: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/cloud-
platform/
F or further information on Microsoft Cloud
offersforsmall companies, see:
https://business.microsoft.com/

12 13
14
14