How to Build Scalable Enterprise Data Platforms on Microsoft Azure?

Last Updated on 1 year ago by Nicky Johnson

So, you’ve decided to build a data platform to increase functionality for your business – and, along with your current web services, you’re keen to use the software on offer from Microsoft Azure.

One of the key things to keep in mind is that scalability can be a worthwhile focus, as you’ll want to be able to grow your business and continue to offer great products and services as and when you have the means and necessity to do so.

Why do you need a Data Platform?

A data platform will be a central repository for all of your enterprise’s data, as well as act as a useful platform for data storage and processing, analysis, transformation and modeling, and discovery and observation – and all of these elements can provide some worthwhile insights about your consumers that can improve your brand’s reputation, improve customer experience and more.

Getting to grips with a scaleable enterprise data platform using Azure

There are typically two main areas of focus when building a scalable platform – one pertaining to your chosen web service and how it can compute web service instances to respond to mobile requests and the other to the way in which storage software can be scaled to provide the right level of data sharing to millions of mobile users and the servers they may be using.

This is where an Azure data platform can step into the fray. This cloud platform from Microsoft can host your chosen web services to simplify the way in which you not only store data but increase and decrease scale to meet demand.

The benefits of using Azure

There are plenty of advantages when choosing Azure to create your scalable enterprise data platform, such as:

• There are 6 highly automated data centers in Asia, Europe, and North America, so you can select the right one for your needs
• Support from 24 Content Delivery Networks (CDNs)
• A host of storage and computing options
• Powerful developer tooling
• A variety of storage mechanisms; from Binary Large Objects (BLOBs), to relational stores
• Identity management systems
• Secure Messaging
• Hybrid cloud/on-premises connectivity

How to get started with your Azure scalable enterprise data platform

The first thing you’ll need to do is sign in to the Azure Portal. Once here, you will need to determine whether you want to use a New Hosted Service or a New Storage Account and create an account name, and a URL, and select your preferred data center.

The Azure Portal will generate a URL and you will need this when you begin building your web service and mobile clients. You will need to perform the same steps to create a Storage Account and then you’ll be ready to start building your web service and any necessary mobile applications.

Now you can begin building your Azure-Hosted web service by adding an ASP.NET web role, a DataConnectionString, and some basic startup code to kick off the data and start to deploy your Web service instances.