Four Benefits of Azure from CDW

Moving to the cloud is easy. Managing and optimizing your Azure cloud environment over time is more difficult. 

That’s why more organizations are turning to Azure from CDW to help simplify their cloud experience. With Azure from CDW, we’re able to simplify billing, provide technical support, help manage risk and provide access to hard-to-find, experienced cloud talent.

One of the great things about the Microsoft cloud is that anyone can access technical resources by simply entering their credit card number. However, if left unchecked, this can quickly lead to spiraling costs and sprawling cloud environments. 

Azure from CDW gives IT leaders access to a centralized cost management dashboard where they can readily track their cloud spending and set up alerts if they approach or exceed certain cost thresholds. 

Also — this sounds small, but it often ends up being a big deal — when organizations deploy Azure from CDW, they get their monthly bill from us. This means that we’re able to reroute the bill to any single point of contact within an organization. Again, it’s an administrative detail, but we’ve talked to stakeholders in the past who haven’t received their cloud bills for several months because the initial account administrator left for another job and they lost access for administering the full tenant.

Azure from CDW customers are eligible for CDW’s managed services. The basic level of managed services is included with Azure from CDW via the cost management dashboard and access to CDW’s 24/7 technical support center. 

Moving up to the top tiers of managed services — Essential and Premium — organizations have access to a dedicated Technical Account Manager who develops a close relationship with your organization’s internal stakeholders and becomes intimately familiar with your organizational outcomes. When your TAM sees the same issues popping up again and again, they will note the pattern and find a solution to the underlying problem.

Most organizations are strategic with their cloud investments from the very start. However, for many, the early cloud journey is largely improvised: One IT manager uses a corporate credit card to set up an Azure account, has the monthly bill sent to a personal email address and tracks resource utilization on a spreadsheet. 

That might work fine for a few months, but what happens when a cloud environment (almost inevitably) grows, or when that employee leaves the company? Once cloud investments reach a certain level, it doesn’t take much of a hiccup to put business continuity at risk. 

Also, without proper governance, organizations might inadvertently provide resource access to a more employees than necessary, and some may accidentally expose or delete data. By working with Azure from CDW, organizations can ensure institutional knowledge and continuity of business operations.

Organizations at the beginning of their cloud journeys often fail to understand how much expertise is needed to optimize an environment in such a way that it effectively and efficiently helps them meet their goals. Azure from CDW provides this expertise and allows organizations to grow into the cloud, leveling up their service agreements as their cloud environments become larger and more complex.

Story by Bryan Poerio