So, why should the cloud be used for data flow? Well, for starters, a key benefit of using the cloud for data flow is the fact that you don’t have to worry about setting up or maintaining DMZs. Instead of needing to figure out what devices need to be opened to the internet. The cloud kind of serves as a natural barrier, I guess you could say, so you don’t have worry about what ports do and don’t need to be opened.

When deciding how to leverage the cloud for data flow, it’s important to consider the usual suspects like cost, speed, latency, etc. While pulling data into Azure, there are going to be no costs, because it’s considered ingress. However, pulling that data out later is going to incur some kind of cost. It’s also important to consider latencies and bandwidth for both moving data TO azure and FROM azure. With that said, leveraging ExpressRoute and peering would ensure data travels through a private connection, which would maintain a steady, and lower, latency than if it was traveling over the public internet.

Other benefits to the cloud for data flow processing include the number of services that are available to facilitate the data plow process to begin with. Leveraging PaaS services and features allows you to essentially hit the ground running. Simply use the services you need to design and manage your data flows without any worry about maintenance of the platform or services. The amount of work necessary to get up and running is minimal. To add to that, with such a wide array of services available, you’re likely to have access to technologies that you simply wouldn’t have access to on-pre, - stuff like machine learning and artificial intelligence would fall into this bucket.

Leveraging the cloud provides elasticity as well. It allows you to scale almost infinitely if necessary. This is not something that’s easily accomplished on-prem. Cost and time would quickly become barriers to doing so. Instead, the cloud offers the ability to scale up and down as required, while allowing you to pay only for the resources you use. This is especially helpful when dealing with uneven or inconsistent workflows that need to be processed.

These benefits will, obviously, vary on a service-by-service basis.