Cloudy, with a good chance of sunshine
Changeable as British weather, the digital landscape is a place where it pays to be ready, and to adapt fast.
Changeable as British weather, the digital landscape is a place where it pays to be ready, and to adapt fast. Unlike the weather though, it’s a space where a cloud – or rather, cloud technology – can mean the horizon is significantly sunnier.
Cloud technology
We’ve seen a growing preference for cloud services in the past few years. Many of us create space and save money by storing music, pictures, emails and documents on servers run by companies that we trust … think Microsoft Office 365, Google Docs, Apple’s iCloud. It’s no different for organisations like ours, who want adaptable, efficient, space-saving services.
Why Cloud?
We can think of Cloud technology as a flexible service that we pay for as we go: a secure set of servers where we can build our new digital world. It’s efficient because we can use it according to demand, without the need to invest in our own system set-ups, which can age all too quickly. And it’s adaptable too. More users: just add more space. New software: no problem.
Industry-strength collaboration
We’ve chosen Microsoft and their Azure cloud service as our trusted partner to provide a solid, secure and flexible platform as it is aligned to our IT Strategy. And since the Azure install, we’ve been working closely with them to make sure we have the right tech fit from the start. In fact, it’s a perfect platform for our digital transformation because it will support us in whatever direction we grow. Analytics and processing, databases and networks, file storage and web services … Azure has it all.
In-depth security
Security has always been an essential part of our digital services and with cloud-based Azure, we can strengthen our defences with multiple layers of security controls to keep our data safe. Known as ‘defence in depth’ or the ‘Castle approach’, we can actively protect our systems and close-down any specific areas of our network that come under attack.
Agile for a fast-moving world
The demand for better, faster services is growing and it’s no different at PRS for Music. We need to create new services and quickly develop those we already have. It’s why we’re employing Agile: an approach to digital that allows us to regularly release improvements and adapt to any changing expectations. Agile is perfectly served in a cloud-based world because it means we can continually tune our tech and control how we test any changes.
What next?
We’re already making good use of the Azure cloud, with services created to host our upcoming live performance reporting service, launching in early 2017.
