Azure costing mechanism

Question

Hi friends, do Azure costs for every resource or service have any binding upon the kind of licensing arrangement we have for example EA or MCA, which licensing agreement gives the best savings in terms of costs? Does the arrangement/contract have any period binding tied upon? What are the other underlying structures in terms of costs? other than Azure reservations?

Answer 1

Hello @Anshal Thank you for posting your question on the Microsoft Q&A platform. Happy to answer any questions you may have!

Azure costs for resources or services can indeed be influenced by the type of licensing arrangement you have, such as an Enterprise Agreement (EA) or a Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA). These licensing agreements can provide discounts on Azure services based on the volume of usage and the length of the commitment.

In general, an EA provides the best savings in terms of costs for larger organizations with a significant Azure usage. An EA allows you to commit to a specific level of Azure usage over a period of time, typically three years, in exchange for discounted pricing. An MCA is a newer licensing agreement that is designed for smaller organizations with less predictable Azure usage. An MCA provides more flexible pricing options and does not require a long-term commitment.

The licensing agreement that you have with Microsoft may have a period binding tied to it, such as a three-year commitment for an EA. However, the specific terms and conditions of the licensing agreement can vary depending on the agreement and the organization.

In addition to Azure reservations, there are other underlying structures that can affect the costs of using Azure services. These include:

1. Azure Hybrid Benefit: This program allows you to use your existing Windows Server and SQL Server licenses to save on Azure Virtual Machines.
2. Azure Spot Instances: This program allows you to use spare Azure capacity at a discounted price.
3. Azure Dev/Test pricing: This program provides discounted pricing for Azure services used for development and testing purposes.
4. Azure Cost Management: This tool allows you to monitor and optimize your Azure costs by providing insights into your usage and spending.

It is important to regularly review your Azure usage and costs to ensure that you are using the most cost-effective pricing options and taking advantage of any available discounts.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please let us know.

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Answer 2

Yes - they do. Details at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/cost-management-billing-overview#optimize-costs

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hth

Marcin