What is Azure Support?
Azure is a public cloud platform that includes more than 600 technologies and services. The platform is provided by Microsoft for enterprises. Its solutions include infrastructure as a service (IAAS), platform as a service (PAAS), and software as a service (SAAS), used for analytics, virtual computing, td storage, and networking. Azure manages/maintains the hardware, infrastructure, and resources accessed for free or on-demand, like other public cloud providers.
Azure cloud services seamlessly integrate with existing IT environments to provide the power and scalability of your hybrid cloud IT infrastructure. Enterprises can quickly build, deploy, and easily manage complex and straightforward applications with deeply integrated Azure cloud services.
Who Uses Azure?
IT pros and developers use this cloud solution to build, deploy, and manage applications across their datacenter networks. Azure runs on all Microsoft server products and a wide range of third-party products such as Linux distributions. Azure also enables enterprises to host their website on Microsoft’s secure cloud server, providing businesses and clientele with web hosting services.
Azure is available to developers, enterprises, government agencies, and anyone looking to develop an application or run a business without hardware management. Companies of all sizes value public cloud, and many choose Azure.
Why Choose Azure?
Migrating to the cloud can save businesses the cost and headache of purchasing and using resources on-premises. Many companies have accelerated their business growth with Azure as their chosen cloud platform.
Azure is the only platform that provides blockchain, machine learning, robotics, and cognitive API functions. Azure is fast, flexible, and affordable, and its pricing and features make it the best public cloud product on the market.
Azure Information Security Services provides general, database, and network security, storage, identity and access management, backup, disaster recovery.
The Microsoft Azure fabric controller helps with scalability and reliability. The controller ensures that services and environments will not fail when one or more servers in the Microsoft data center fail.
Azure native tools like Azure Cost Management can help you track, visualize, and optimize your cloud spending. For example, with Azure Sentinel, you can monitor cloud resources and on-premises services. In many cases, IT departments are less transparent about the cloud services used by employees, making it difficult to monitor, manage, and protect the applications and data stored in those services.
Companies that use the cloud claim to produce new products and services faster and deploy new applications for customers and employees more frequently. Azure agility and integrated development operations allow you to quickly iterate and deploy code using an end-to-end cloud development platform.
Azure Support Plans: An Overview
When it comes to Azure Support Plans, Microsoft offers both free basic plans and tiered-pricing subscription plans tailored for businesses. You have the flexibility to choose the level of assistance that suits you and your IT team’s needs.
Let’s take a closer look at what each plan entails.
Basic Support
All Azure customers benefit from the basic Azure Support Plan, which provides the following:
- 24/7 access to self-help resources
- Community support
- Unlimited support tickets
Additional features include:
Azure Advisor
With the basic plan, you gain access to Azure Advisor. This system evaluates your performance and offers recommendations to optimize your workloads.
Azure Service Health
As part of the basic service, Azure Service Health helps you stay informed about service incidents or planned maintenance, reducing downtime. With customized cloud alerts and a personalized dashboard, you can monitor your cloud resources effectively.
Please note that the basic Azure Support Plan does not provide phone or email technical support.
Developer Support
The Azure Developer Support subscription plan caters to trial and non-production environments. For a monthly fee of $29, you receive all the benefits of the basic plan and gain access to unlimited technical support during business hours. Additionally, you’ll enjoy:
- Assistance with non-Microsoft technology issues
- 24/7 support via phone and email
- General guidance in architecture support
- Initial response time within 8 business hours
These Azure Support Plans are designed to meet your specific requirements, ensuring you have the necessary support to leverage Azure effectively.
Online Support
Access our comprehensive online support system through the Azure portal. Submit your support tickets effortlessly and enjoy the benefits of two online forums and Twitter support. Rest assured that our team will respond to your queries within 8 business hours.
Standard Support
For production workload environments, we offer the third Azure support plan at a cost of $100 per month. With this plan, you gain access to all the aforementioned support features and the ability to prioritize the severity of your issues. Initial response times vary from 1 to 8 business hours, depending on the severity of the incident you report.
Professional Direct
Designed for business-critical environments where uptime is paramount, our fourth Azure support plan is available for $1000 per month. The Professional Direct Azure support plan is ideal for mid-sized to large companies. It includes the following features:
- Escalation management for priority problems
- ProDirect Managers at your service
- Deployment and migration planning assistance
- Performance, reliability, and recoverability improvements
- Support API access
- Informative webinars
- Advisory Consultation
Initial response times vary from 1 to 4 business hours, depending on the severity of the impact event. If you have Nortec’s managed virtual machines and managed backups and data recovery services, Professional Direct Support is included.
How to Change Your Azure Support Plan
If you wish to modify your Azure Support plan, simply cancel your existing plan through either the Azure portal or the Microsoft Customer Agreement portal, depending on your signup location. Once canceled, you can proceed to purchase a higher-tier plan or opt for the Basic Support plan.
Nortec Can Help
Nortec offers proven solutions and cloud best practices for custom development. We provide Azure application support and IT services, and hands-on training to support your company’s needs. Choose your path to modern, flexible, familiar, and reliable solutions for your business, from desktops to mobile devices, from server to cloud, with Nortec. Contact us today, and we can show you how!
How Nortec Works With You
We have you covered. When we manage your IT, we take care of your technology so you can focus on your business. Our award-winning managed IT services power small and mid-sized businesses throughout Washington D.C., Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Tampa with around-the-clock support and expertise.
Consultation
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Design a Solution
Using your goals and budget, we design a solution that aligns your IT to empower your business.
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Your IT friction is eliminated with our flexible solutions and responsive IT support, all at a price you can afford.
“We’ve been with Nortec since 1996. Thanks to their responsiveness and the bulletproof backup and recovery plan they had in place for us, we were able to recover in less than half a day when disaster hit.”
JESUS ROMERO, DATABASE AND TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR, NPES
