AlignIT: Manager Tech Talk Video #2: Straight Talk About Windows Azure

By now, you’ve heard the term “Cloud”, but what does it actually mean to your developers and architects, your IT staff, and your organization. For developers and architects, the Cloud is a flexible and familiar environment to easily create and host applications that can have nearly infinite scale. For IT staff, the Cloud means on-demand computing with the right infrastructure to host, scale, and manage all your services with ease and speed. For your organization, it means being always available and being global while cutting down on maintenance and operational overhead costs by paying for a service.

But at the end of the day, what does that all mean? How do you transition from the way things are today to a Cloud model? In this episode of AlignIT Manager Tech Talk video series, Jonathan Rozenblit and I sit down with Joel Varty, Director of Research and Development at Agility CMS in Toronto, Ontario, and talk about moving to the Cloud. The discussion focuses around the business problems Windows Azure can solve, the opportunities that can arise, and what it takes to transition developers, architects, and IT staff from traditional application development to the Cloud. Joel shares how he worked with his team to get up to speed on Cloud development and their strategy for moving applications to the Cloud.

Additional resources:

• Cloud Optimization – Expanding Capabilities, while Aligning Computing and Business Needs
  For many applications, the cloud is an ideal solution. For others, moving parts of an application’s architecture to the cloud is preferable. To determine which applications are likely to derive the greatest benefit from cloud computing, organizations will want to explore a number of considerations.
• Delivering a New Kind of Business Value Using the Cloud
  Cloud computing with Windows Azure means that your developers can deliver a new kind of value to your business. Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Server and Tools division, talks about the new world of development and how to get started building Cloud applications today.
• Strategy and Training as Pre-Requisites to Cloud Development
  “Developing for the Cloud” seems to be the phrase these days. You see and read about it everywhere, and as such, many will just jump right in. To ensure the success of your organization’s journey to the Cloud, you need to take a step back and tackle two very important things first – your cloud strategy and training plans.

The Align IT program is dedicated to keeping IT leaders informed about what really matters in business and technology. We do that through in-person events, web casts, podcasts, our blog and of course, this video series. You can find more information about the Align IT program at www.alignit.ca.

Comments, suggestions and ideas for future topics can be left below as a comment or emailed directly to the Align IT program feedback alias at alignit@microsoft.com.