Risks of Using Microsoft Azure Consultants for Your Cloud Integration

Steve Rastall (Founder & CEO) 03-Aug-2022 10:56:00

Azure support

Over the past few years, we’ve seen the adoption of the Microsoft Azure cloud grow significantly among businesses across all industries. As more mission-critical applications and business processes move to the cloud, we’re becoming increasingly reliant on the technology.

However, integrating new cloud-based applications with existing systems is a complex technical process with lots of risks involved. A successful integration project tends to require cloud-specific skills and expertise.

Because a large percentage of businesses still have a skills gap internally when it comes to the cloud, many turn to Microsoft Azure consultants to handle the implementation for you. Unfortunately, though, this can actually create more challenges than solutions for you in the long run.

Understanding Azure Consultants

Granted, it may seem like the best choice to rely on Azure consultants for a cloud project, but this approach will only get you so far before you encounter problems.

With an Azure consultant, you’ll bring in an expert temporarily to get a specific job done. These tend to be small organisations consisting of one or two technical experts who have years – if not decades – of experience working with Microsoft software in a business context.

Of course, they’ll have a portfolio of clients between which they’ll split their time, and prioritise based on things like budget and urgency, just like any service provider.

The Limitations of Working with an Azure Consultant

While it is the most popular approach for most businesses, working with a consultant to deliver your cloud integration is a risk.

The cloud is a highly flexible, dynamic technology, with a vast range of variables and moving parts involved. Your cloud environment is ever-changing, so a temporary consultancy project will be unable to provide the constant ongoing service that is essential.

A cloud-based IT infrastructure requires:

Constant real-time monitoring and analysis of usage
Continual optimisation to maintain performance
Careful proactive cost management
Updates and security patches
Ongoing support and maintenance.

Each of these is time-consuming, challenging, and expensive if you don’t have the right tools in place to keep an eye on them at all times.

When you work with a consultant to deliver a one-off cloud integration for you, you’ll still find your business is lacking in all the above areas once your integration project is complete.

In that case, you may end up in a managed service arrangement for additional ongoing support, which is a high expense. It won’t guarantee you’ll receive the consultant’s full attention either, because they’ll have other clients to juggle at the same time.

Alternatively, you may need to find other individual Azure consultants to help you with your architecture, your cloud support, and so on. This will end up being even more costly and will likely present all the same issues all over again.

Of course, most Azure consultants will only carry out the specific work they’ve been asked to do anyway. It’s rare to find a consultant who will look beyond the project and advise you on long-term strategic decisions with your best interests at heart, as that will often compromise the job they’ve been hired for.