Public Cloud - Public Cloud Services

Public Cloud: Microsoft Azure, AWS and more

The number of cloud providers is growing almost daily, especially at the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) layer. Understanding what services to take from a Public Cloud provider as opposed to Private Cloud or in-house can be complex, and we are here to help design, install, embed and manage your cloud infrastructure.

Types of Public Cloud Servers

SaaS (Software-as-a-Service)

Ready-to-use web-based applications with no setup or installation required – normally just a credit card! No access is available to the infrastructure or data at the back-end other than possibly through an API. Most organisations use Google Apps, Office 365, and a multitude of small web-based applications.

PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service)

Refers to cloud-based platform services that applications and data can be added on to. Examples include Azure SQL, Azure AI Platform, Google App Engine or Force.com.

IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service)

The most similar to Private Cloud in that you can run your own servers and have full access at the operating system layer, without having manage hardware, storage or backups. Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are the biggest providers at this layer.

Choose the right Public Cloud provider

Our expertise across end-user support, infrastructure, networks, applications, and security means that we always look at the big picture when it comes to Managed Cloud solutions.

All of our connectivity solutions are designed to directly integrate with Public Cloud providers – for example, our Private Cloud and MPLS solutions can be directly connected to Azure using ExpressRoute or AWS via Direct Connect.

The expert Project Engineers and Project Managers at First Focus also have years of experience migrating organisations to the cloud. Our job is to make the process as seamless as possible for your staff – reducing downtime and risk while taking advantage of everything that a cloud solution offers.

We can help you select the right Public Cloud provider by:

Evaluating requirements across the business
Understanding how and where staff need to access data
Analysing bandwidth, latency and other performance needs
Evaluating migration options (both in and out) as well as data ownership and sovereignty
Ensuring security, permissions and access meet your needs
Designing and implementing integrations with other providers or applications

Our environment is flexible now. It supports testing new solutions on-demand, and we can turn things on and off in the cloud as needed.

By Bruce Macfarlane - Solution Design Manager, Energy Action