Azure Digital Experience stack: App Development

Microsoft Azure is winning the Cloud game. In the second part of the series, we focus on custom App Development with Azure PaaS.

Microsoft Azure is winning the Cloud game. In the previous post, we looked at the Business Applications that deliver your organisation’s Customer Experience (CX). CMSs like Optimizely and Umbraco and CRMs like Dynamics 365 make Azure a clear SaaS leader. 

No two organisations are the same, so off-the-shelf Business Applications alone will not deliver enough value. Azure's Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) toolkit allows you to build custom apps or extend and integrate existing ones to match your requirements. In the second part of Azure as a CX platform, we will focus on the custom app development tools to help you deliver truly unique experiences.

Bridge silos and devices with Azure

Application development is a multi-faceted domain, which relies on a number of techniques and roles. Platforms help by giving your team access to tools and functionality that streamline workflow, minimise duplication of effort and ensure a secure and scalable architecture that delivers long-term value.

Build for browser, mobile, or IoT

Microsoft’s Visual Studio and the open-source ASP.NET framework have long been the standard for web application development. With Xamarin for native mobile apps and tools for the IoT, Azure accelerates app-building across devices.

Integrations

Combining data from multiple applications can bridge silos and deliver seamless digital experiences. The most typical integration in this domain is between CMS and CRM, an architecture that Azure optimises with micro-services based on Logic Apps and Service Bus messaging.

Data and Analytics

The foundation of all application building is data. Azure SQL is a world leader in relational storage, whereas Cosmos DB is designed for more flexible data structures. Your data can be analysed with Machine Learning algorithms and visualised in the user-friendly PowerBI.

A vast universe

We have touched on just a few of the tools that Azure provides to make app development productive. The Azure universe is vast - and growing - so make sure to bookmark the Azure blog and Barry Luijbregt's excellent Azure Overview to keep track of developments.

Coming soon: in part 3 of our Azure Digital Experience stack series, we will explore how you can leverage Azure services to deploy your applications for high availability, security, and tight cost control.