Join our book community on Discord

https://packt.link/0nrj3In this chapter, we will focus on what an architect's role entails and explain the various cloud service models that are made available by the Microsoft Azure platform. We will describe how the numerous maps in this book are built, what they intend to demonstrate, and how to make sense of them.More specifically, in this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

• Getting to know architectural duties
• Getting started with the essential cloud vocabulary
• Introducing Azure Architecture Maps
• Understanding the key factors of a successful cloud journey

Our purpose is to help you learn the required vocabulary that is used across the book. You will also understand the duties of an Azure architect. We will explain the most frequently used service models and their typical associated use cases, which every Azure architect should know. We start smoothly but beware that the level of complexity will increase as we go. Let's start...

Getting to know architectural duties

Before we define what an Azure architect is, let's first define what an architect's role is and how our maps specialize to reflect these different profiles. The word architect is used everywhere on the IT planet. Many organizations have their own expectations when it comes to defining the tasks and duties of an architect. Let's share our own definitions as well as some illustrative diagrams.

Getting started with the essential cloud vocabulary

In this section, we will cover the essential basic skills every Azure architect should have. The cloud has different service models, which all serve different purposes. It is very important to understand what the advantages and inconveniences of each model are, and to get acquainted with the jargon relating to the cloud.

Cloud service models map

Figure 1.11 is a sample map, which depicts the different cloud service models and introduces some vocabulary. This map features two additional dimensions (costs and ops) to each service model, as well as some typical use cases:

In terms of cost models, we see two big trends: consumption and pre-paid compute/plans. The consumption billing model is based on the actual consumption of dynamically allocated resources. Pre-paid plans allocate compute capacity at all times, independent of the actual resource consumption. In terms of operations, the map highlights...

Introducing Azure Architecture Maps

Although we have already presented a small map, let's explain how Azure Architecture Maps were born and how to make sense of them. However rich the official Microsoft documentation might be, most of it is textual and straight to the point, with walk-throughs and some reference architectures. While this type of information is necessary, it is quite hard to grasp the broader picture. An exception to this is the Azure Machine Learning Algorithm cheat sheet (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/machine-learning/algorithm-cheat-sheet), which depicts, in a concise way, the different algorithms and their associated use cases. Unfortunately, Microsoft did not create cheat sheets for everything, nor is there any other real visual representati on of the impressive Azure service catalog and its ecosystem. That gap leaves room for some creativity on the matter…and that is how Azure Architecture Maps were born. Given the success of the first edition...

Understanding the key factors of a successful cloud journey

The role of the Azure architect is to help enterprises leverage the cloud to achieve their goals. This implies that there is some preparation work up front, as there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all cloud strategy. As we have just seen, the various cloud service models do not respond to the same needs and do not serve similar purposes. It is, therefore, very important to first define a vision that reflects which business and/or IT goals are pursued by your company before you start anything with the cloud. The same principles apply if you're already on your journey and want to pause to reflect on your progress so far. You should always come back to the initial drivers that led your company go to the cloud.As an example, typical transversal drivers are cost optimization and a faster time to market. Cost optimization can be achieved by leveraging the economies of scale from multi-tenant infrastructures.Faster time to...

Summary

In this chapter, we reviewed the architecture landscape and the different types of architects we may be working with in our day-to-day Azure architecture practice. Knowing the different profiles, being able to speak to each of them, as well as satisfying their own interests and preoccupations, is what every Azure architect should do.In this chapter, we also explained the value proposition of the maps and how to read a map, which will be very useful for the next chapters. We shed some light on the various service models that exist in the cloud, and those that serve different purposes. We also tried to grasp the important differences that exist across them, in terms of functionalities, operations, and costs. All these models constitute the cornerstone of Azure (as well as any other cloud), and should be wholly mastered by the Azure architect as they represent the minimal, vital must-have skills. Finally, we have understood the key success factors of a cloud journey out of real-world...