Negotiating Azure Support and Value-Added Services in Your EA
Introduction: Why Support & Services Are Overlooked in Azure Negotiations
Most enterprises focus on pricing and discounts for Azure consumption when negotiating a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA).
However, Azure costs aren’t just about how many VMs or services you run – support, migration assistance, training, and other value-added services can significantly impact your cloud success if negotiated wisely.
These non-license elements are often overlooked, yet they carry hidden value (and costs) that savvy CIOs and IT procurement leads should address.
In short, an Azure support contract negotiation can unlock incentives and services that make your Azure investment more valuable and cost-effective if you know what to ask for. Read our CIO guide to Negotiating Microsoft Azure Enterprise Agreements.
Microsoft’s standard approach to support and services is fairly one-size-fits-all. Many customers simply accept Microsoft’s default support model and miss opportunities to get more.
By being strategic and a bit skeptical of the “default” offerings (like Microsoft’s Unified Support pricing or cookie-cutter service bundles), you can extract more value in your Azure EA negotiations.
The key is to proactively negotiate these often-untapped areas – support levels, migration help, training credits, etc. – alongside your Azure spend commitments.
Including Azure Support in Your EA Deal
Microsoft typically offers support separately, often through its Unified Support program. Azure Unified Support has a formulaic pricing model (usually a percentage of your total Microsoft spend) and a tiered structure (Core, Advanced, Performance).
This one-size-fits-all approach can become a pain point: as your Azure usage grows, your support costs automatically rise.
Many enterprises believe that Unified Support pricing is expensive and not tailored to their actual support needs. You might be paying for unlimited incidents and services you don’t fully use. It’s important to address this in your negotiation instead of accepting the sticker price.
Negotiation levers for support:
- Bundle support into your Azure commit: Ask Microsoft to include a support plan as part of your EA. For example, if you’re making a large Azure commitment, negotiate for a discounted or even free Unified Support tier. Microsoft may agree to provide a certain support level (or X months of support) at no charge to secure your Azure deal. Bundling support into the overall agreement can effectively reduce its standalone cost.
- Negotiate support tier and add-ons: Don’t settle for the default. If you need advanced features – like faster response times (e.g., Rapid Response for critical incidents) or a designated support engineer – you can request those as Premier add-ons included at a reduced cost. Microsoft offers flexibility (especially for large customers) to include Premier-style benefits, such as a Technical Account Manager or on-site support days. Ensure the contract reflects any promised support enhancements in writing.
- Cap or reduce support costs: If Microsoft is charging Unified Support as a percentage of your Azure spend, push back on that percentage. Use your projected growth as leverage to get a lower rate (for instance, get them to cap the support fee so it doesn’t keep rising year-over-year). Emphasize that you expect economies of scale – the more you spend on Azure, the lower the percentage you should pay for support. In many cases, Microsoft will bend on Unified Support fees for a strategic client, especially if you’re also considering third-party support alternatives.
- Align support with the EA term: If you bundle support in the EA, negotiate price protections. For example, on a 3-year EA, lock in the support cost or limit increases in years 2 and 3. This avoids the nasty surprise of a support price hike mid-term. Microsoft’s EA support bundle can simplify management, but only if you’ve ensured it won’t skyrocket later. Keep the support agreement coterminous with your EA so you can renegotiate both together next cycle.
By tackling support in your EA negotiations, you prevent it from becoming an afterthought (or an added budget shock).
Microsoft’s sales reps might initially claim support pricing is standard. Still, as a customer with significant Azure commitments, you have leverage to get a better support deal or additional services included.
How to gain leverage, Azure vs AWS: Using Cloud Pricing Comparisons to Strengthen Your Microsoft Negotiation.
Microsoft Migration & Deployment Services
Migrating to Azure can be resource-intensive, but Microsoft offers programs to ease the burden – if you ask for them.
Two key programs are FastTrack for Azure and the Azure Migration and Modernization Program (AMMP) (formerly Azure Migration Program). These are essentially Microsoft’s cloud migration support initiatives that provide expert guidance, tools, and sometimes funding to help you move workloads into Azure.
The catch is that they’re often only proactively offered to very large or strategic projects – so make it a point to bring them into the negotiation conversation.
Negotiation levers for migration support:
- FastTrack assistance: If your organization is making a sizable Azure move, request eligibility for Microsoft FastTrack for Azure. FastTrack provides free deployment guidance from Microsoft’s engineers for qualified customers. In an EA negotiation, explicitly ask for FastTrack engagement as part of the deal (e.g. “Microsoft will provide FastTrack onboarding support for our first 12 months on Azure”). This ensures you get direct Azure engineering help at no extra cost.
- Azure Migration Program funding: Microsoft’s Azure Migration & Modernization Program often includes Azure migration credits or partner funding to offset the costs of moving to Azure. Negotiate for migration funding as an upfront incentive. For example, Microsoft might fund a partner to perform a migration assessment or give you credits when you achieve certain migration milestones. Tie this ask to your commitment: “We’re committing to Azure – in return, we expect some Azure migration support in the form of funded services or credits to ensure success.”
- Free Microsoft architect hours: Large deals can include a pool of hours from Microsoft’s own solution architects or engineers to assist your team. This might be informal (Microsoft’s cloud solution architect spends time with you) or formal (written into the contract as several advisory hours). Negotiate free architecture/design sessions for your projects. Getting Microsoft to commit their experts for architectural reviews, performance tuning, or deployment help can save you costly consulting fees.
- Partner services vouchers: If you prefer working with a Microsoft partner for migrations, ask Microsoft to foot the bill. As part of the EA, request funded partner services – Microsoft can provide vouchers or funding for a partner of your choice to do data center migration, cloud environment setup, or other onboarding tasks. Essentially, Microsoft pays the partner on your behalf as a migration incentive. This way, you ensure you have skilled assistance without dipping further into your own budget.
By securing these migration and deployment services in your negotiations, you not only save money but also reduce risk.
Microsoft has a vested interest in your successful Azure migration (because it drives your consumption), so leverage that interest to get free guidance, tools, and funding to make your cloud journey smoother.
Training & Certification as a Negotiation Lever
A well-trained IT team will use Azure more effectively and efficiently – and Microsoft knows this. That’s why training and certification benefits can be a powerful negotiation lever.
Microsoft offers a variety of training resources (from Microsoft Learn to instructor-led courses), and in enterprise deals, they often include training vouchers or credits as value-adds.
Don’t leave these on the table. Cloud skills can be expensive to develop, so have Microsoft share that investment.
Negotiation levers for training:
- Microsoft training vouchers: Traditional Microsoft Enterprise Agreements (especially with Software Assurance) often included training days or vouchers. In your Azure-focused EA, explicitly request Microsoft training vouchers that your team can use for Azure courses or certification exams. For example, negotiate a certain number of instructor-led training days provided by Microsoft or a learning partner, at no cost to you. This could be in the form of workshop days, online course credits, or exam vouchers for Azure certifications.
- On-site workshops and custom training: If your Azure roadmap involves specific technologies (say, Azure Data Analytics or AI services), ask for custom workshops tailored to those. Microsoft can provide expert-led workshops for your team as part of the deal. Negotiate for quarterly or semi-annual training sessions where Microsoft (or a sponsored partner) comes in to skill up your team on the latest Azure services relevant to you. This ensures the training is directly aligned with your Azure adoption plan.
- Certification and skilling incentives: Microsoft might also be willing to include discounts on official certification programs or priority access to new training programs. For instance, get them to commit to a certain number of free certification exam vouchers for Azure. Not only does this save money, but it also encourages your staff to get Azure-certified (which ultimately benefits Microsoft, too). Emphasize that enabling your team with proper training will help drive more Azure usage – a win-win, which justifies Microsoft providing these benefits.
By treating training as a negotiable element, you can develop your internal capabilities at minimal cost.
The goal is to ensure training resources match your Azure roadmap – you get the right people skilled on the right Azure services at the right time. Microsoft often has training programs and budgets, but you may only get them if you ask up front during negotiations.
Proof of Concept (POC) & Sandbox Environments
Innovation is key in the cloud, and you may want to test new Azure services or run proof-of-concept projects without immediately impacting your committed spend.
This is where negotiating for POC credits and sandbox environments comes in. Microsoft can be quite accommodating for serious Azure customers by providing free or discounted Azure usage for development and testing.
The trick is to get this formally agreed upon so you have room to experiment without incurring a financial penalty.
Negotiation levers for POCs and sandboxes:
- Free POC credits: Ask Microsoft to provide Azure proof of concept credits that are separate from your main consumption commitment. For example, if you’re evaluating Azure Machine Learning or another service before a full rollout, request a chunk of Azure credits explicitly for that proof-of-concept. Microsoft often will grant a free POC allowance (for a limited time or amount,) especially if it could lead to a larger production use later. Ensure these credits are documented so you can use them when needed without dipping into your budget.
- Sandbox environment not counting against commit: In an EA, you usually commit to spending $X on Azure over a term. It’s worth negotiating that you can have a dev/test sandbox that doesn’t erode that commitment. One approach is to get Microsoft to agree that a certain subset of your usage (say a separate subscription for non-production) is billed in a way that if it exceeds your commit, it’s forgiven or discounted. Another approach is simply getting extra Azure “sponsorship” credits for a sandbox environment. The goal is to experiment freely – spin up test instances, try new Azure services – without the fear that you’re burning through your paid commitment.
- Dev/Test discounts and flexibility: Microsoft has built-in dev/test offers (for instance, Azure Dev/Test subscriptions offer discounted rates for Windows VMs if you have Visual Studio licenses). Make sure your EA leverages these by flagging all non-production usage as dev/test. Furthermore, negotiate flexibility so that if you need to reallocate resources to a dev environment or pause a project, you’re not penalized. Microsoft might, for example, allow you to temporarily repurpose some of your committed spend towards a large-scale pilot project. Innovation trials should be encouraged, and Microsoft will often agree in spirit – capture that in writing via some credits or terms that support sandboxing.
By carving out these POC and sandbox provisions, you create a safety net for innovation. Azure’s vast array of services invites trying new things; a negotiated sandbox means you can do so without every experiment becoming a budget line item.
Service Account Management & Technical Advisors
When you’re a sizeable Azure customer, Microsoft typically assigns you some account resources – but the level of attention can vary. In a negotiation, you can formalize the support you’ll get from Microsoft’s account teams.
This includes roles such as a Customer Success Manager (CSM), who focuses on your cloud adoption, or a Cloud Solution Architect, who can provide technical guidance.
Rather than hoping you get these value-added folks by luck, ensure account management and advisory services are written into your EA.
Negotiation levers for account support:
- Dedicated customer success manager: Insist on having a named Azure Customer Success Manager as part of your agreement. A CSM is your advocate within Microsoft, helping coordinate support, providing adoption best practices, and escalating issues on your behalf. By negotiating this, you get a Microsoft employee (or team) with skin in the game for your success. For large enterprises, Microsoft may agree to a contractually assigned CSM or cloud solution architect who regularly engages with your team.
- Technical advisor or architect access: In addition to reactive support, you want proactive technical guidance. Negotiate for access to a designated Cloud Solution Architect (CSA) or similar technical advisor. This might be phrased as a certain number of hours per month of an assigned architect’s time, or simply that Microsoft will provide a named architect to participate in planning sessions and design reviews. Having this resource means you can tap Microsoft’s expertise in optimizing your Azure environment, beyond just break-fix issues.
- Escalation paths and response commitments: Get clarity on how issues will be handled beyond the standard support queue. For mission-critical systems, you’ll want the ability to escalate high-severity incidents quickly. Negotiate an escalation path commitment – for example, that your issues will have priority routing or that the support team will engage product engineers after X hours of downtime. While Microsoft won’t put a guaranteed fix time in writing, they can commit to processes that improve response, especially if you have a big stake in Azure. Make sure the EA notes any special support handling for critical workloads.
- Regular service reviews: It’s wise to have Microsoft periodically review your Azure usage and architecture. As part of the deal, request quarterly architecture and service reviews with Microsoft’s team. This could involve your CSM, CSA, and other specialists evaluating your deployment for cost efficiency, security, and performance. By negotiating these check-ins, you ensure Microsoft is actively helping you optimize and not just selling you more. It also gives you a forum to discuss any concerns and upcoming needs with Microsoft on a routine basis, which can preempt problems.
By locking in these account management and advisory services, you turn Microsoft into a more hands-on partner for your Azure journey.
The contract should guarantee you’re not just buying cloud resources, but also getting human expertise and support to use them effectively.
Negotiating Custom SLAs & Architecture Guidance
Microsoft advertises standard Azure service-level agreements (SLAs) for uptime (e.g., 99.9% for many services), but those are uniform across customers and come with caveats. You generally can’t rewrite Azure’s global SLA in your contract.
However, you can negotiate supplemental commitments and architecture guidance to achieve the service levels your business requires.
The idea is to go beyond the boilerplate SLA with custom support, reviews, and design efforts that maximize uptime and performance.
Negotiation levers for SLAs and guidance:
- Enhanced SLA support: While Microsoft won’t increase a service’s uptime percentage just for you, you can negotiate things like enhanced service credits or penalties if a wide margin misses SLA targets. For example, ask for a higher service credit if a critical Azure service goes down beyond a certain threshold. Even if this ends up as a “soft” commitment, mentioning it puts Microsoft on notice that reliability is paramount for you. In some cases, large customers have gotten Microsoft to include an addendum that if a major outage occurs, Microsoft will provide additional technical assistance or credits beyond the standard SLA remedies.
- Architecture reviews for reliability: A proactive way to get better-than-SLA performance is ensuring your architecture is resilient. Negotiate architecture guidance sessions focused on high availability. For instance, as part of your agreement, Microsoft could agree to conduct a yearly Azure Well-Architected Review of your critical workloads or a quarterly service resilience workshop. This is essentially Microsoft helping you design for fault tolerance (like using multi-region deployments, backups, etc.) so that even if Azure has an issue, your downtime is minimized. Such guidance can be invaluable and is a commitment you can request instead of any custom SLA.
- Service-level commitments from account team: Beyond the technical SLA, ask for commitments from the account team on things like response times for critical escalations or direct communications during incidents. For example, “If our Tier-1 application experiences an Azure outage, Microsoft will have an engineer provide a root cause analysis within X days and a mitigation plan.” These aren’t the standard SLA terms, but they can be written into a customer-specific agreement. Microsoft often terms these customer-specific service commitments – they’re not publicly advertised, but for a large deal, they might assure you of extra care in less formal terms.
- Soft landing for new services: If you plan to use brand-new Azure services (which might not have a long track record), negotiate a sort of pilot SLA. Microsoft could, for instance, agree to closely monitor any preview or newly released service you use and give you a dedicated point of contact for issues during the ramp-up. This isn’t a guarantee the service won’t fail, but it is a guarantee you’ll get white-glove support when experimenting at the bleeding edge.
In summary, while you can’t change Azure’s global SLA, you can bolster your contract with additional reliability and support assurances.
Pushing for architecture help and explicit support actions in case of problems can bridge the gap between Microsoft’s standard guarantees and your business requirements.
Cost Management & Governance Tools
Azure’s flexibility can be a double-edged sword – without good cost control and governance, your cloud bill can grow unexpectedly. Microsoft provides tools such as Azure Cost Management (free for Azure use) and Azure Policy for governance.
During your EA negotiations, make sure Microsoft helps you on the governance front as part of the deal.
Essentially, you want commitments that Microsoft will assist in keeping your Azure spend optimized and well-governed, beyond just selling you more services.
Negotiation levers for cost management and governance:
- Azure Cost Management guidance: Since Azure Cost Management is included, ask Microsoft to include cost optimization workshops or expert reviews periodically. For example, negotiate a quarterly cost review with Microsoft’s cloud economics team or a FinOps specialist. Microsoft can help analyze your consumption and recommend optimizations (right-sizing VMs, removing idle resources, etc.). Including this service in the EA means Microsoft is actively helping you save money – a somewhat ironic but valuable request that they often honor for big customers.
- Credits for third-party tools: If your organization uses third-party cloud management or FinOps tools (for multi-cloud cost control, etc.), see if Microsoft will provide Azure credits or funding to cover those tools’ costs. Microsoft has been known to be flexible with providing credits that effectively subsidize things that facilitate Azure adoption. For instance, you could negotiate a one-time credit to integrate a cloud governance platform or for a consulting engagement to set up governance processes. This is part of the “value-add” – you’re asking Microsoft to invest in your success.
- Governance and security assessments: A strong governance framework will prevent budget overruns and compliance issues. Ask Microsoft to include governance support, such as helping you implement the Azure Cloud Adoption Framework or set up cost governance policies. They might offer a guided Azure Policy deployment or a best-practice audit of your subscriptions. The result protects your budget and data. Since Microsoft wants you to be a happy long-term Azure customer, they may include these services at no charge if you negotiate them upfront.
- Budget protection commitments: You can also get soft commitments around cost predictability. For example, if you’re concerned about Azure price increases or sudden currency fluctuations on a multi-year deal, negotiate clauses that protect your rates or provide adjustment mechanisms. Microsoft sometimes can lock certain rates or provide an allowance for price increases. Additionally, ensure there’s a clear agreement on handling any unused Azure commitment at year-end – some contracts allow a rollover or a grace period so you don’t “use it or lose it” immediately. These governance measures, while not tools per se, are contract terms that safeguard your investment.
By bringing cost management and governance into the negotiation, you signal to Microsoft that you’re serious about efficient cloud use.
In turn, Microsoft is likely to partner with you on optimization, knowing that a well-governed customer is more likely to stick around and grow their Azure usage responsibly.
Checklist: Value-Added Services to Ask For in Azure Negotiations
When preparing for your Azure EA negotiation, use this checklist of value-added services and incentives as a guide.
Ensure these items are discussed – each could significantly enhance the value of your deal beyond basic pricing discounts:
- Free or Discounted Azure Unified Support: Aim to have a suitable support plan (preferably Azure Unified Support) included at little to no cost, given your Azure spend.
- Migration Credits or Funded Services: Secure Azure migration support in the form of credits or Microsoft-funded partner services to offset the cost of moving workloads to Azure.
- Training Vouchers and Certifications: Include Microsoft training vouchers, free courses, or certification exam passes to skill up your team on Azure technologies.
- Sandbox / POC Environments: Negotiate free dev/test subscriptions or separate Azure credits for proof-of-concept projects that won’t count against your committed spend.
- Dedicated Customer Success Resources: Ensure a named Customer Success Manager and/or cloud solution architect is assigned to your account to provide ongoing guidance and advocacy.
- Regular Architecture Reviews: Get commitments for quarterly or periodic Azure architecture reviews and optimization sessions to keep your environment healthy and efficient.
- Exit and Data Export Support: Plan for the end from the start – negotiate assistance for data export or commitment reallocation if you ever need to exit Azure or restructure your agreement.
Keep this checklist handy and don’t be afraid to ask Microsoft for these extras. You might be surprised how many value-added services you can get simply by making them part of the negotiation conversation.
Manage your consumption, Managing Azure Overages: How to Avoid Surprise Bills and Negotiate Safety Nets.
FAQ: Azure Support & Value-Added Services in EA
Q1: Can Microsoft include Unified Support in an EA?
A1: Yes – for large Azure deals, Microsoft can include a discounted or even free Unified Support plan as part of the EA.
Q2: Are migration services always free?
A2: Not by default, but Microsoft often funds migration services or credits if you tie them to a significant Azure commitment (as an incentive to move more to Azure).
Q3: Can training vouchers be negotiated?
A3: Absolutely. Microsoft frequently bundles training vouchers or free courses into big EAs as value-adds – but you must ask for them during negotiations.
Q4: What about proof-of-concept credits?
A4: Microsoft can provide free Azure credits for POCs or pilot projects, separate from your main spend commitment, especially if those trials could lead to larger usage later on.
Q5: Can I negotiate a dedicated Azure architect or support engineer?
A5: For enterprise-scale deals, yes. Microsoft may assign a dedicated cloud solution architect or support engineer to your account as a negotiated benefit, ensuring you have expert help.
Q6: Will Microsoft help if we exit Azure or don’t use all our commitments?
A6: You can negotiate provisions for a graceful exit – for example, data export support or the ability to reallocate unused commit to other Microsoft products or future use. While Microsoft won’t advertise it, for big customers, they sometimes allow flexibility if you need to ramp down.
Read about our Microsoft Negotiation Service
