Microsoft is encouraging those in the field of IT to gain skills in cloud and data architecture, as the Middle East and Africa moves into the mobile-first, cloud-first world at an increasingly fast pace.
“As more enterprises, consumers and cities embrace the cloud and it becomes part of everyday life, the demand for cloud architects is obviously growing. It’s an exciting industry to be in, with lots of areas of specialisation, and more jobs being created each year,” says Oluyomi Alarape, Director, Cloud & Enterprise, Microsoft Nigeria.
Microsoft Azure, the company’s
growing collection of integrated cloud services, is welcoming more than 93, 000
new subscriptions a month. At the recent global AzureCon and Strata summits, Microsoft unveiled a series of new offerings across
cloud, big data and the Internet of Things. One of the new products will unleash big data
productivity with Azure
Data Lake. This will make big data processing and analytics simpler and more
accessible for developers, data scientists and analysts to store data of any
size, shape and speed, across platforms and languages.
Michael Ayeni, a cloud
solution architect in Nigeria says, “Microsoft has backed up its commitment to
improving customer success by hiring 560 new Cloud Solution Architects
worldwide. Being an indigenous Cloud Solution Architect means I am able to
develop and implement architectural designs that are cognizant of the local
landscape, which in turn drives IT value realisation.”
Eric Ballnath, who joined
Microsoft as a cloud solutions architect from Amazon in April 2015 and is based
in the UAE, agrees. He foresees a future where each person on the planet will
have a representation of themselves as a virtual identity stored in the cloud,
together with their private and business data. “Strong cryptography will ensure
our data can only be accessed with our knowledge and consent. We will interact
with technology seamlessly across a multitude of different devices.”
Cloud architects like Michael
and Eric are key to helping Microsoft achieve its vision, according to Oluyomi
Alarape “They are the ones who are building secure and robust cloud-powered
experiences for our customers and setting us apart from our competitors.”
Microsoft’s unique approach to
the cloud spans three areas. Hyper-scale infrastructure to assist organisations
to reach their customers; hybrid differentiation, which allows organisations to
combine cloud and on-premise servers; and enterprise grade to ensure security
and compliance, as well as flexibility and choice. Microsoft’s
Azure Trust Centre also gives customers peace of mind that they are
protected by the world’s leading security measures and certificates. These
measures mean more people across the Middle East and Africa are moving to the
cloud to enjoy features that enhance productivity and security.
Cloud security specialists are
also in demand. Often a deterrent for new customers of the cloud is data
security and lack of education around data protection and privacy laws.
Microsoft’s hybrid approach helps those who are hesitant, to be guided into the
cloud, not pushed. The company’s international experience and expertise means
the latest security measures are automatically updated. With its partner
network across the region, there will always be back-up support and education
for customers within their local legislative context.
“Cloud computing will see
immense growth when countries across the Middle East and Africa have strong
legislation in place to ensure data protection. Governments can gain by prioritising
this because cloud provides the most affordable and scalable way for businesses
to be competitive, and this is what’s most exciting. Cloud drives innovation,” says Oluyomi Alarape
Some additional stats on Azure:
·
Nearly 100,000 new subscriptions/month
·
1.5 million SQL Databases in Azure
·
3,300 Azure Marketplace applications to date
·
Azure operates in 19 regions (soon to be 24), more
than AWS and Google combined
·
Approximately 1 in 4 VMs on Azure are Linux
·
More than 60 trillion storage objects in Azure
·
425 million Azure Active Directory Users
·
3 million developers registered with Visual Studio
Online
·
More than 40% of revenue is from start-ups and ISVs
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