Hi, I’m Makoto, a freelance engineer.
I originally worked in operations, mainly in help desks, but after getting involved in Microsoft Azure work, I changed my career to become an infrastructure engineer and became independent as a freelancer.
As the cloud market continues to expand in 2024, there will be a shortage of IT talent, so learning about Microsoft Azure and other clouds is both an opportunity and a necessary skill.
In this article, I will provide an overview of Microsoft Azure, which was a turning point in my career, and recommend ways to learn about it.
What is Microsoft Azure?
Microsoft Azure is a cloud service provided by Microsoft.
In addition to Azure,
- AWS: Amazon Web Service
- GCP: Google Cloud Platform
are also well known.
Azure was launched in 2010 under the name “Windows Azure,” but was renamed “Microsoft Azure” in 2014 in response to the need to offer operating systems other than Windows and the trend toward using open source.
By 2024, Azure will be available in over 60 regions worldwide, making it the largest cloud service compared to other services such as AWS.
The term “region” refers to geographical locations around the world, and in Japan, there are two regions: the Japan East Region and the Japan West Region.
Azure is also characterized by its high affinity with Microsoft products such as Windows Server, SQL Server, and Active Directory, as well as its excellent integration with tools widely used by developers such as GitHub (a software development platform) and Visual Studio Code (a code editor).
What is Cloud Computing?
Let’s also take a moment to review the meaning of the word “cloud”.
The term “cloud” refers to a way of using computing resources that are delivered as services over networks such as the Internet.
The underlying technology behind the cloud is “virtualization”.
Using their capital, large IT companies like Microsoft have installed large numbers of servers in their own data centers and are making these physical computing resources available as “services” by virtualizing them.
Until now, it has been common for companies to own their own IT assets in their own data centers, but the way they use them has changed so that they can use the cloud instead of procuring their own.
The following article explains this in detail, with illustrations.
You could also say that it is now possible to rent servers, but not all generic rental server services are called “cloud”.
Those that have the following five characteristics are defined as “cloud” and have various advantages over traditional ownership.
- On-demand self-service
- Broad network access
- Resource pooling
- Rapid elasticity
- Measured Service
For more information, please see the following article.
Cloud Market Trends
Let’s take a look at the market trends for cloud computing.
According to data published by canalys, the market share in Q4 2023 is as follows, showing that the three major cloud computing services account for 66% of the total.
Source: canalys
In addition, according to data published by Synergy Research Group, the market share trend through Q4 2023 is as follows, and we can see that the growth of Azure in recent years has been phenomenal.
Source: Synergy Research Group
Given these trends, the demand for engineers with Azure skills is expected to continue to grow in the future.
How do I get started with Microsoft Azure?
If you are using Azure for the first time, we recommend that you create an Azure free account.
The Azure free account comes with $200 worth of credits that can be used within 30 days, so it’s perfect for really trying things out by creating and deleting servers on-screen.
If you select the menu and proceed, you can have a server up and running in a matter of minutes, so you can really feel how convenient it is. The following article explains in detail how to create a free account.
What is the recommended way to learn Azure?
To cut to the chase, we believe the most effective way is to actually get your hands dirty and learn.
However, you might be a little hesitant to sign up for Azure and start using it without a clear picture of the big picture.
So here are two methods we recommend.
- Set a goal to get an introductory Azure credential
- Set a goal to create specific resources
Set a goal to get an introductory Azure credential
For those who want to get the big picture first, we recommend setting a goal to get a certification.
Microsoft offers an introductory certification called Azure Fundamentals, which helps you learn about the features and benefits of the cloud, as well as the basic concepts and services of Azure.
The exam for this Azure Fundamentals is called AZ-900, and it is the perfect first goal for beginners in Azure.
Set a goal to create specific resources
Another option is to just get your hands dirty and try to create a service that you are familiar with.
When I first started learning about Azure, I used a book called 基本から学ぶサーバー＆ネットワーク構築 from the At-a-Glance series.
It seems that the book has been revised many times since then and now has a large number of pages, but at that time it was a thin book of about 200 pages, and because it focused on creating virtual machines, it was possible to read it without being overwhelmed by the scope of the subject.
Azure offers a wide range of services, so you may not know where to start, but I think it would be a good idea to try creating specific resources such as “Virtual Machines” and “SQL Database” that are probably familiar to many people.
Using Online Courses
Based on my experience of learning Azure so far, I sell video courses and exam practice tests on Udemy. Please take advantage of them.
Summary
In this article, we have provided an overview of Microsoft Azure and recommended ways to learn about it.
There are many abstract concepts associated with the cloud, and you may be confused at first, but as long as you have a computer and Internet access, you can start learning right away.
Isn’t it amazing that you can learn without setting up a physical server or router? You can set up a server immediately, delete it when you are done, and start over. This kind of “ease of learning” is one of the features of the cloud.
See you next time.
- Azure is the world’s largest cloud service from Microsoft.
- Azure is on the rise in the market.
- The following two learning methods are recommended.
- Set a goal to get an introductory Azure credential.
- Create a virtual machine or something similar using a free account for now.
