How has Azure Responded to the Pandemic?

From AWS to Azure

COVID-19 will be remembered forever. We talked about how this pandemic made pivoting a more relevant skill to have now more than ever, and how cloud computing platforms like AWS could help small businesses get through it and all the trends to expect from the industry in a recent article we published.

AWS is the current leading cloud computing service provider in the market so far. However, there are many other contenders that have been affected by this outcome. One of them is Azure, AWS’ leading competitor.

Even so, the questions remain the same: what does this mean for small businesses and their connection with Azure? How will the cloud service provider fare in this new landscape? What needs to be adopted?

The Market and Azure

Azure is the second largest cloud computing service provider in the world, possessing around 19% of the global market share. Despite launching 4 years later compared to AWS, with the technical expertise provided by Microsoft, financial muscle and focusing on enterprise level clients, they have steadily climbed to their current position. However, these aren’t the only advantages they have. Compared to AWS, which targets newcomers to cloud services, Azure also has an extremely large pull from this same segment. In fact, 41% of it belonging to Azure! With these numbers, Azure is in an extremely comfortable position to pivot and respond to the increase in demand in cloud computing services.

Azure’s Response to the Pandemic

Azure had to meet the market halfway with the overall increase in demand of cloud-based services. To do this, they needed to find the regions where the pandemic impacted the most to start prioritizing and scale. They also forecasted the new demand to come. This made for an all-around robust response from the capacity viewpoint.

This wasn’t the only way they acted. They also contributed to core sectors impacted by the pandemic, specifically education and healthcare. From AI bots that help people understand their risk of having COVID-19, technology that helps hospitals know beforehand who could potentially have COVID, to even increases in capacity for campuses to use Minecraft servers and teams to hold their graduation ceremonies, Azure has had no qualms in making sure that the market’s demands are met, and that the world doesn’t come to a complete halt.

What Does the Future Hold for Azure?

You can find more information on the specific actions implemented by Azure from Mark Russinovich, their CTO, on their webpage. They are keeping up the pace with AWS in terms of their response to the new landscape, though through completely different means.

Ensuring that large enterprises across the globe can keep functioning has become a vital value driver for the company in the general cloud market. Through their Azure for Good program, they show their muscle and will to keep working towards innovation.