Azure

Today, both application development and modernisation involve a journey to the cloud – be it hybrid, public or private cloud applications. Ballard Chalmers delivers software engineering in the cloud and is committed to developing on the Azure Cloud Platform to drive efficiency and provide the widest choice of intelligent services for our clients, as you transform the way you do business.

AZURE SERVERLESS COMPUTING

Serverless Computing allows applications to be developed and deployed with no reference to actual servers. The days when a physical computer needed to be commissioned with Windows installed and configured were followed by Virtual Machines (VMs). VMs were great innovation, but these were still servers that needed to be patched, backed up and managed.

Serverless computing goes a step beyond. Code is now deployed to Azure Functions, Logic Apps, App Services, and the like – all of which are fully managed by Microsoft. This reduces ongoing maintenance costs and provides flexible scaling to meet demand.

Our experts can help you with:

Azure Functions – creating atomic and scalable code to provide business logic for applications or as part of a micro-service, connecting between other Azure services or with existing services and applications.
Azure App Services – developing scalable web applications to give the end user access to the back-end data and logic.
Logic Apps – automating connections between key business services through visual business process workflows whether on-premises or in the cloud, internally developed or offered by a third party.

Azure Storage – replace on-premises file-shares with scalable and cheap storage in the cloud, opening access to APIs and end-users as needed.
Azure Cosmos DB – providing seamless scaling and global replication for your data.
Azure Active Directory and Azure B2C – authorising access to your applications and services in the cloud and with Microsoft’s best practices in security.

AZURE APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT

Ballard Chalmers develops, re-engineers, deploys and manages enterprise applications in the cloud, hybrid or on-premises. As Microsoft Gold partners and leading professionals, our suite of comprehensive services enables speed to market, scalability and futureproofing for business-critical applications. We’d like you to consider us your outsourced IT department.

AZURE APPLICATION CONSULTING

As Microsoft Gold partners, our consultants are industry veterans and experts in the features and technology of Microsoft technology. Bring in our consultants for small engagements such as advice, recommendations, risk management review or licencing assessments; or larger engagements such as proof of concept or application failure resolution.

AZURE APPLICATION SUPPORT

We can provide ongoing application support for custom software whether we built it or it is an existing system. Our support staff are fully qualified software engineers, not helpdesk staff. That means your support team will be very familiar with the technology used and be able to provide the expertise you need, when you need it.

AZURE RESOURCING

Increase the capacity of your in-house team for custom software development with our expert team augmentation. Take our Microsoft Gold partner expertise and give your team the boost required to get your development completed. If you are tight for deadlines or taking on a larger project than normal in-house, this is a simple and fast solution.

AZURE CONTAINERS

Azure also supports Containers, such as Docker, which are the latest form of virtualisation. These lightweight virtual machines contain parts of larger applications and can be rapidly deployed and managed independently to deliver microservices architecture.

Containerised applications can be developed and managed faster with Azure. Ballard Chalmers uses containers to isolate software from its surroundings and provide non-conflicting environments across teams.

Our Azure team can help you with:

Container Registry – store and manage containers images in a central registry.
Azure Contain Service and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) – quickly provision clusters of containers using highly available, secure and fully managed Kubernetes service.
Docker – leading container platform that is truly independent between apps and infrastructure.

of Fortune 500 companies trust
their business on the Microsoft cloud

^{Source: Microsoft}

AZURE DATABASES

Ballard Chalmers’ extensive database expertise means that unlocking the potential of your data regardless of location is pre-built into our DNA.

Azure SQL Database

Azure SQL Database provides a fully-managed relational cloud database service. Built-in intelligence learns your app patterns and optimises to maximise the performance and security of applications while reducing the costs of running and managing databases. Dynamic scaling makes it possible for the database to respond to rapidly changing resource requirements, so you only pay for what you use when you use it.

Azure Cosmos Database

This is the intelligent, relational cloud database built to accelerate application development and improved productivity with SQL language. Fully integrated language extensions help users find patterns and identify relationships, while also allowing MongoDB, Cassandra and Gremlin support.

For global distribution and horizontal scale, Ballard Chalmers can deliver:

Mission-critical globally distributed applications.

Azure Storage Solutions

Azure offers a range of versatile and highly scalable storage options for structured and unstructured data. Ballard Chalmers matches application needs to the right storage solution and delivers you a flexible pay-as-you-use solution.

We provide expert help in:

File – simple and inexpensive, lift and shift distributed cross-platform file system.
Disk – enterprise-grade, low latency high throughput storage with automatic triple replication.
Blob – cost effective for massive volumes of unstructured data.
Queues – asynchronous message queuing for large-volume cloud services.

Move your data to the cloud with Azure and Ballard Chalmers

DOWNLOAD

Azure Data Analytics

Ballard Chalmers can assist you in implementing this suite of end-to-end services, which you can use to turn all types of data into intelligent insights quickly and cost effectively.

Azure Data Factory – a hybrid data integration service that lets you create, schedule, and orchestrate your data integration workflows at scale wherever your data lives.
SQL Data Warehouse – provides a highly elastic, enterprise-class cloud data warehouse which can be set up in minutes and scaled in seconds.
Power BI, Power BI Embedded & Power BI Report Server – when it is time to bring all this data to life, these help to easily create interactive and intuitive data visualisations.

Azure Identity Management

In a world of global collaboration and sharing, Ballard Chalmers can support your users’ identity and access management needs via Azure Active Directory.

Azure Active Directory

Protect and manage employees’ identity.
Single sign-on Protect sensitive data.
Enable employee self-service.

Azure Active Directory B2C

Protect and manage customers’ identity.
Create login experiences in minutes.
Protect each customer’s identity.
Create an identity experience across mobile and web.
Scale to hundreds of millions of customers and billions of authentications per day.
Easily utilise existing accounts from Microsoft, Google, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Azure Case Studies

TELL ME MORE

In partnering with Ballard Chalmers, we were able deliver within project timescales what would traditionally have been on-premises Microsoft Biztalk applications as scalable Azure PaaS solutions.”

Group Head of IT – EVO Group

Moving our Global ERP System from an on-premises solution to a cloud hybrid solution presented some technical challenges during design and implementation phases. Ballard Chalmers consultants provided the skills and expertise needed to successfully complete the project. We are extremely happy with the end result and the service provided by Ballard Chalmers.

Head of IT EMEA and Global Networks – Imagination

Ballard Chalmers undertook further development to an existing application. They were very quick to understand our requirements, were able to create a complete test environment within azure in record fast time, fully understood the the existing connectivity solution into our back end systems and provided further enhancements and ongoing support.

IT Manager – Jacksons Fencing