Windows Azure Support Plans
Buy Activate Effective for billing periods beginning on or after February 15, 2014, the prices noted on this page will increase by 23%.
Effective for billing periods beginning on or after February 15, 2014, the prices noted on this page will increase by 31%.
Windows Azure offers flexible support options for customers of all sizes - from developers starting their journey in the cloud to enterprises deploying business critical applications. These support options provide you with the best available expertise to increase your productivity, reduce your business costs, and accelerate your application development.
Windows Azure Support Features:
| - | Included | Developer | Standard | Professional Direct1 | Premier2 |
|---|
| Monthly Cost | - | $29 | $300 | $1,000 | - |
| - | - | Purchase | Purchase | Purchase | Learn how |
| Billing & Subscription Management |  | | | | |
| Community Forums | | | | | |
| Service Dashboard | | | | | |
| Web Incident Submission | - | | | | |
| Unlimited Break/Fix (24x7)4 | - | | | | |
| Fastest Response Time4 | - | <8 hours | <2 hours | <1 hour | <15 min3 |
| Phone Support (Call Backs) | - | - | 3/Month | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Service Delivery Management | - | - | - | Pooled | Assigned |
| Priority Handling | - | - | - | | |
| Escalation Phone Line | - | - | - | | |
| Advisory Support | - | - | - | Limited | Full |
| Onsite Services | - | - | - | - | |
| Developer Mentoring | - | - | - | - | |
| - | - | Purchase | Purchase | Purchase See Offer Availability | Learn how |
1 Service Delivery Management and Advisory Support services related to Professional Direct Support are provided in English and Japanese only during local business hours.
2 Additional information on Premier Support, including how to purchase, can be found here.
3 15-minute response time is only available with the purchase of Microsoft Rapid Response and Premier Support for Windows Azure.
4 Business hours for local languages, 24x7 for English for all severities, 24x7 for Japanese for severity A only.
Professional Direct
Microsoft Professional Direct Support for Windows Azure provides first-class support designed especially for mid-sized customers that require elevated support, access to experts and top-rated educational events. With Professional Direct Support, we help you maximize application uptime, reduce cost, and accelerate your development.
- Maximize Uptime: Get unlimited phone support with priority routing, 1-hour response time on your most critical issues, and a direct line to support advocates who provide an escalation channel when needed.
- Reduce Cost: Receive a monthly optimization report that helps you identify areas where you can save money, improve architecture and enhance user experience.
- Accelerate Development: Gain exclusive access to top-rated content and remote events that help your developers enhance skills, increase productivity and learn about the newest product features.
Technical support will be provided in local language where available. Exclusive content and services provided by the Service Delivery Management team as shown above will be provided in English and Japanese only.
Local Language Support
Windows Azure support is provided in local languages including Spanish, French, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, and Japanese during local business hours.
Support Scope
Support for billing and subscription management-related issues as well as break-fix issues is available at all support levels. Break-fix issues are problems experienced by customers while using Windows Azure where there is a reasonable expectation that Microsoft caused the problem. Developer mentoring and advisory services are available at the Professional Direct and Premier support levels.
Products and Services covered:
- Windows Azure services released to General Availability are covered by all support levels.
- Preview support may be available through our community forums.
- Non-Microsoft technologies, when provided by Microsoft as part of a Windows Azure product feature, are covered by all support levels, such as the Windows Azure SDK and sample code for Python.
Questions on supported products can be answered in our community forums.
Severity and Response Times
| Severity2 | Customer’s Situation | Expected Microsoft Response | Expected Customer Response |
|---|
| A1 | Critical Business Impact: - Customer’s business has significant loss or degradation of services2
- Needs immediate attention
| - Initial Response3:
- 1 hour or less for Professional Direct and Premier
- 2 hours or less for Standard
- Continuous effort all day, every day
| - Allocation of appropriate resources to sustain continuous effort all day, every day
- Accurate contact information on case owner
|
| B | Moderate Business Impact: - Customer’s business has moderate loss or degradation of services but work can reasonably continue in an impaired manner2
| - Initial response3:
- 2 hours or less for Professional Direct and Premier
- 4 hours or less for Standard
- 24x7 continuous effort unless customer requests to opt-out
| - Allocation of appropriate resources to sustain continuous effort unless customer requests to opt-out of 24x7
- Accurate contact information on case owner
|
| C | Minimum business impact: - Customer’s business is substantially functioning with minor or no impediments of services
| - Initial response3:
- 4 hours or less for Professional Direct and Premier
- 8 hours or less for Standard and Developer
| - Accurate contact information on case owner
|
1 Severity A support is only available for the Standard and Professional Direct support tiers. If you are a Premier customer, please login to your Premier portal to submit.
2 Microsoft may downgrade the severity level if the customer is not able to provide adequate resources or responses to enable Microsoft to continue with problem resolution efforts.
3 Based on business hours for local languages, 24x7 for English for all severities, and 24x7 for Japanese for severity A only.
Pricing and Payment Options
Windows Azure Support offers flat rate pricing. To purchase, click here.
| Support Levels | Price (Per Month) |
|---|
| Developer | $29 |
| Standard | $300 |
| Professional Direct | $1,000 |
| Premier | Contact Premier |
Windows Azure Developer, Standard and Professional Direct Support can be purchased online at WindowsAzure.com. The subscription term is 6-months. Acceptable payment types are limited to credit and debit cards, unless previously approved for invoice. You will be billed monthly, along with your Windows Azure subscription. Monetary commitment dollars may not be applied toward Support. You may choose to upgrade your current Windows Azure Support offer at any time by contacting Billing and Subscription Support.
Windows Azure Standard and Professional Direct Support agreements can also be purchased as part of your Enterprise Agreement (EA) and are subject to your EA terms. Developer Support is not available in EA. Contact your Microsoft Sales Representative for more information.
For additional information on Premier Support, including how to purchase, please visit the Premier Support Website.
Cancelation Policy
Windows Azure Support requires commitment for the duration of the subscription term. Cancelation will not result in a pro-rated refund.
Renewal Policy
By default, your subscription to Support will automatically renew. You will be notified via e-mail when your term is about to renew. You may disable the auto-renewal at any time.
Offer Availability
Windows Azure Developer, Standard, and Professional Direct Support plans are available in all markets in which Windows Azure is offered.
Partner Support
In addition to the Windows Azure Support options, Partners in the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN), can use their designated MPN Support benefits towards Windows Azure support.
Partners interested in the best available support should explore Premier Support for Partners. Partners with Premier Support are able to use the program benefits for Windows Azure support in the “to” and “though“ model to assist their customers.
Additional Resources
To purchase, click here
Windows Azure Support FAQ
Windows Azure Support Website
Microsoft Online Subscription Agreement
Windows Azure Presales Support: 1-855-856-7678