The biggest advantage of using cloud technologies is how easy they are to implement. Just a quick setup, and they are up & running in a few minutes. However, rushing it all through is also not a very bright idea, it would lead to more problems later. So having a great plan in place and executing it perfectly is also super important. Integrating the cloud into your existing infrastructure and systems is where governance comes in.
What is Cloud Governance?
Governance is the framework that decides how an organization conducts business activities, to meet its objectives, goals, and responsibilities. Cloud governance is all about governance, but specific to the usage, management, integration, etc. of the cloud technologies in the organization. It would involve different aspects like subscription management, cost management, security, resource consistency, identity baseline, deployment acceleration, etc.
What is Azure Cloud Governance?
When using Microsoft Azure, like any other cloud, having effective cloud governance in place is essential. The Azure environment is very conducive to facilitating and encouraging collaborations. Azure cloud governance would encompass the processes and mechanisms that are used to maintain control of all the organization’s applications and resources in Microsoft Azure. They define the priorities that would be encountered in planning the initiatives within the organization. Azure Cloud Governance involves two key Azure services – Azure Policy and Azure Cost Management.
Azure Policy helps organize the organization’s operational standards and assess compliance. It helps one regulate compliance, security, costs, and management. It also helps implement effective governance for the consistency of the organization’s resources.
Why is Azure Governance important?
The cloud offers an organization a host of benefits and advantages. However, if the implementation of frameworks is done incorrectly, it could put the organization at a huge risk. The Azure environment especially offers an outstanding platform that encourages digital innovation in the organization, but it also comes with some risks, as any cloud would. This is what makes Azure governance immensely important for every organization.
What are the benefits of Azure Governance?
Azure governance is very useful for an organization seeking to build & scale its applications while also allowing them to maintain a level of control over things. It helps create the required guardrails and helps with deploying fully governed environments across the organization’s subscription using Azure Blueprints. It also contributes to managing costs by providing insights into the expenditure enabling the organization to maximize the results derived from the cloud investment.
Apart from this, some of the benefits offered by Azure Governance include:
- Assists with the audit & enforcement of the policies for any Azure services deployed by the organization
- Encourages accountability across the organization while also helping the organization keep track of their expenditures
- Helps build compliant environments including resources, policies, access controls, etc.
- Offers built-in compliance controls which help ensure compliance with external regulations
Azure governance is the framework that helps an organization define how it conducts business activities from objectivities to responsibilities. It encompasses the services and capabilities that empower the organization to manage all its Azure resources at scale and implement the control guidelines. In a usual organization, this could spread multiple subscriptions and resource groups. The entire governance is based on a combination of identity, role-based access control (RBAC), policies, and management groups.
According to the Azure Strategy & Implementation Guide, “Azure Governance is defined as the processes and mechanisms used to maintain control of your applications and resources. They are strategic priorities in planning initiatives within the organization. This would be the central focus of the security teams in an organization in their efforts to govern and secure the cloud. With an increasing number of technological assets in the organization while keeping an eye on security and compliance is quite a challenge.
What is an Azure Management Area?
According to Microsoft, Azure Management is the tasks & processes required to maintain a business application and the resources that support them. There are many services and tools in Microsoft Azure that help manage and govern the cloud effectively. It can be like a map that helps monitor all areas integral to using Microsoft Azure, all the way from deployment to maintenance and everything in between.
Here is a diagram to help understand this better:
Source: Microsoft Azure
What are Azure Governance Security Frameworks?
Azure Governance Security Frameworks are the implementation of the overall security strategy in an organization. Securing cloud environments can be quite challenging. Cloud environments are great facilitators and supporters of exponential growth, however, with such growth comes great complexity & some challenges.
What are some of the top services in Azure Governance?
Top services in Azure Governance include:
- Management groups
- Identity & RBAC
- Azure Policy
- Azure Blueprints
- Naming standards
- Resources groups
AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification
The AZ-104 certification training provides professionals with the knowledge and skills to manage Azure cloud services effectively. The training covers various Azure services, including Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Storage, Azure Networking, and Azure Active Directory. Additionally, the training covers Azure governance, security, and monitoring, which are essential aspects of any enterprise cloud solution.
Professionals who obtain the AZ-104 certification are well-equipped to manage Azure cloud services, making them an asset to any organization that uses Azure cloud services, including Azure Cloud Governance.
Conclusion
AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator certification training provides professionals with the necessary knowledge and skills to manage Azure cloud services effectively. Obtaining the AZ-104 certification can help professionals stand out in a competitive job market, improve their career prospects significantly, and apply the knowledge and skills they learn in training to their jobs.
Learn and upskill with Microsoft Azure
Cognixia’s Microsoft Azure training intends to assist professionals in preparing for the AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator certification exam. Professionals who complete the AZ-104 course will be advantageous in a highly competitive IT employment market.
Enroll in Cognixia’s AZ-104: Microsoft Azure course to improve your abilities. You can shape your career and future with our hands-on, live, interactive, instructor-led course. In this competitive world, we are here to give you an exceptionally intuitive online learning experience, to help you in expanding your knowledge through interesting training sessions, and add value to your skill set. With our online interactive instructor-led courses, Cognixia caters to both individuals and corporate workforces.
This Azure training helps IT professionals learn how to manage their Azure subscriptions, administer the infrastructure, secure identities, configure virtual networking, manage network traffic, connect Azure & on-premises sites, implement storage solutions, implement web apps & containers, create and scale virtual machines, back up & share data, and monitor the solution.
We cover the following topics in AZ-104 training:
- Identity
- Governance and Compliance
- Azure Administration
- Virtual Networking
- Inter-site Connectivity
- Network Traffic Management
- Azure Storage
- Azure Virtual Machines
- Serverless Computing
- Data Protection
- Monitoring
