In this post, Application Development Managers Frank Ellero and Larry Duff, along with Technical Delivery Manager Dan Simmons, spotlight package offerings from Premier Support for Developers to help make your cloud transition a success.

The Cloud. The quintessential IT buzzword of the 21^st Century. It is a paradigm shift that rivals any we have seen to date within our industry. The Cloud is big and there is a lot to understand. What does the Cloud truly provide? Where should I go to learn about this ever-changing Cloud? Most importantly, how do I use the Cloud to ensure that my Customers, my Business, my Applications remain competitive in this new landscape?

Interviews conducted by Forrester with existing Azure PaaS customers and subsequent financial analysis found five-year analysis estimates to have a 466% ROI and a net present value (NPV) of more than $5.9 million for a representative organization based on the interviewed Customers’ experiences. Key improvements enabled by Azure PaaS include an 80% reduction in IT administration time required to manage apps deployed on the platform, a 25-hour average reduction in development and testing time required to develop or update Azure PaaS applications, and a 50% reduction in time required to help deploy a new application solution to a client. (**Forrester Consulting, The Total Economic Impact(TM) Of Microsoft Azure Platform-As-A-Service, A Study Commissioned by Microsoft, June 2016.)

Premier Developer. The Microsoft Premier Developer team is poised to help as you look towards the future of your applications. There are several ways to benefit from using the Cloud as the platform of the future for those applications. We are here to help prepare your development teams, by guiding them through their Cloud introduction and all subsequent migration efforts.

The Premier Developer team consists of overall 200 developers with expertise across the wide breadth of Microsoft technologies and platforms. We are ready to help our Customers down that long, winding, and daunting task of utilizing the Cloud to its full benefit. Each Premier Developer team member is trained on the Azure platform and certified in Architecting Microsoft Azure Solutions.

How do you eat a Whale? One bite at a time. Together, the Premier Developer team has built a packaged offering to help with this effort. The objective of this offering is to Lead, Guide and Train our Customers towards maximizing the full benefit of the Azure cloud, and to ensure that your Applications reach their greatest potential for you, your Business, and your Customers.

(Figure 1: Azure PaaS 0-60: A Roadmap)

The Azure PaaS 0-to-60 Application Modernization offering. We have packaged together a series of individual trainings and deliveries to provide a full and comprehensive roadmap on Azure PaaS. (Figure 1.) We start with foundational learnings on what Azure PaaS brings to our Customers, and what it means to develop and move applications into the PaaS platform. We then expand the roadmap to include several deeper and custom layers of learnings, including: security, mobile development, and load testing automation. (Figure 2.)

We recommend all our offerings included in the Azure PaaS 0-to-60 package to provide a comprehensive learning and cooperative experience towards preparing your organization for being fully capable in Azure PaaS. The package can also be customized to include only those services required to meet your needs or specific project requirements.

(Figure 2: Service and Descriptions)

Your investment in the Azure PaaS platform is just the start of an inspired journey which you will be taking with your applications. The Azure PaaS platform is full of rich feature sets and functionality to ensure that your applications are hosted with the highest quality of services. This Azure PaaS packaged offering and roadmap ensures that you realize the full value of your Azure PaaS investment and see your valued applications reach their full potential.

The Premier Developer team is prepared to help. Our objective is to see your goals be achieved with your applications. We look forward to partnering with you soon!

Premier Support for Developers provides strategic technology guidance, critical support coverage, and a range of essential services to help teams optimize development lifecycles and improve software quality.  Contact your Application Development Manager (ADM) or email us to learn more about what we can do for you.