Preface – This post is part of the Microsoft Azure Cloud Computing series.

Introduction

Every service has a different pricing plan; many are calculated depending on consumption and the required service tier. The way Azure services are priced and metered is crucial so that you may select the services you require for successfully managing costs. Since services utilized in Azure are billed to a subscription, a subscription acts as a single bill unit for Azure resources. An account, the one that was used to create the subscription and is used for Billing, is associated with each Azure subscription. The resources can be supplied as instances of the many Azure products and services under the subscription.

What is the Azure pricing model?

There are three main types of subscription available: Free, pay-as-you-go, and member offers. The free account is a subscription that offers 30 days of limitless use of Azure resources. Any Azure services built using the subscription are disabled after the trial period unless the subscription is converted to a paying subscription. A credit card is required for accounts but merely for identification.

You can pay for the services you use on a monthly basis with a pay-as-you-go subscription. A credit or debit card must be linked to this account to be billed monthly. Pay-as-you-go Azure accounts can be created from free Azure accounts. Many members offer from Microsoft offer reduced rates for Azure services, like MSDN platform subscribers, Visual Studio subscribers, etc. These types of subscriptions offer substantial discounts over a Pay-as-you-Go subscription. In these models, you only need to pay for the services you use, and also, the amount will be calculated as per that only a bill will be created.

Microsoft Azure pricing calculator

You can use the Pricing Calculator to get up-to-the-minute cost estimates for your services. For higher accuracy, you can personalize these estimates with your specifications. You can view and alter the estimates through a central dashboard. Open Cost Management + Billing in the Azure interface to begin examining your Azure Monitor charges. Analyze costs under Cost Management. Select a different scope or your subscription. You might require more access to cost management information. With Azure, you don’t have to invest in new machines or infrastructure or replace ageing servers. You also don’t need to make space for infrastructure and servers. Azure offers flexible expenditure, which means: You pay according to your needs.

Microsoft Azure Total Cost of Ownership Calculator

You can make a specific business case using the TCO Calculator to support moving to Azure. You have the choice to alter any assumptions to ensure that the model appropriately represents your company. The outcome is a thorough report illustrating the amount of money you can save by switching to Azure. The initial purchase value is added to direct, indirect, and other hidden costs in the TCO calculation methodology. After that, the value so determined is deducted from the asset’s anticipated residual or resale value.

How to do cost optimization in Microsoft Azure

1. Switch off the unused resources

2. Wisely choose the size of the resources to use.

3. Extra instances for consistent workloads are best.

4. Make utilization of Azure Hybrid model.

5. Configure autoscaling

6. Create budgets and allocate costs to teams and projects

What are Azure Support Plans?

Microsoft Azure offers four support plans that can provide you with technical support:

Basic

This is the only free plan accessible to all Microsoft Azure accounts and does not have any active Azure support. However, the user can access community forums, self-help documentation, etc., and submit as many support tickets as necessary.

Developer

Best recommended for non-production and trial environments, Azure actively supports this idea, providing email access to help engineers throughout regular business hours. Microsoft will respond to this request in 8 hours.

Standard

This plan, an upgrade to the developer plan, is most recommended for environments with production workloads. It offers help in the form of round-the-clock email and phone access to support engineers. For this strategy, Microsoft will respond within one hour.

Professional Direct

Necessary for business-critical environments, this plan also offers 24/7 technical support with a one-hour response time and includes operational support, training, and proactive guidance from a ProDirect delivery manager.

Conclusion

The biggest cloud service providers, including Amazon Web Services, AWS, and Google, are offering the same services as Microsoft Azure on the market. When compared to its rivals, Microsoft Azure is superior because of how quickly it has been adding new features to its service, propelling Azure to the top of the market. Microsoft Azure entered the market later than its rivals did. Still, it is evident that Azure has gained the faith of all the major organizations worldwide because of its workforce, efficiency, and ability to make organizations’ tasks much easier.