Windows Azure Support FAQ

Windows Azure Support provides a deep level of technical support for everyone from individual developers to multinational enterprises. It offers a variety of choices that span from basic break-fix support to rapid response support for mission critical applications as well as onsite professional services that help you plan, assess, and optimize your deployment.

All Windows Azure subscriptions include access to the Windows Azure Service Dashboard and the Community Forums to help you troubleshoot issues. In addition, you can always submit Billing and Subscription Management questions through our Windows Azure Support page.

We have designed our Windows Azure Support plans to meet different business needs. You can choose among four support plans: Developer, Standard, Professional Direct and Premier. Visit the Windows Azure Support page for more information.

• Developer: you get unlimited 1:1 break-fix support via the web
• Standard: you get faster response time for higher severity issues, and can request phone support up to three times a month
• Professional Direct (Pro-Direct): you get unlimited web and phone support, even faster response times than Standard with priority routing and escalation assistance. You also have access to developer coaching and educational events, designed to accelerate your development
• Premier: in addition to Pro-Direct features, you get access to an Application Development Manager and onsite professional services that help you assess, plan, optimize your deployment. If you choose Rapid Response, an add-on feature within Premier, you will be supported by a designated team of engineers familiar with your application 24X7 with 15-min response time for your highest severity issues.

We offer three Windows Azure Support plans as well as our Premier offers to meet a variety of needs.

* Windows Azure Support subscriptions through the Microsoft Online Services Program have a 6-month term. Windows Azure Support subscriptions through an Enterprise Agreement (EA) are either co-terminus with your EA or have a 12-month term.

The flat monthly cost for Windows Azure Support covers the entire account regardless of how many subscriptions you have under the account or how much usage you have with Windows Azure. All subscriptions under an account share the same support plan.

If you purchase Windows Azure through our online channel, you can purchase a Developer, Standard, or Professional Direct Support subscription through the Windows Azure Support page. You must be the account owner to purchase a support plan.

When you purchase a Windows Azure Support plan, you will be charged immediately for the first month. You will be charged the monthly amount on the 1st day of each subsequent billing cycle.

Windows Azure Support subscription has a 6-month term, and we require commitment for the duration of term. Cancellation before the term expires will not stop the payments for the remaining months. An account owner can cancel the Windows Azure Support subscription by logging into the Windows Azure Billing Portal, going to the Subscriptions tab, and selecting Cancel.

At the end of your 6-month term, your subscriptions will automatically renew to the same Windows Azure Support plan for another 6 months, using the same payment instrument. As an account owner, you can elect to turn off the auto-renew functionality.

If you do not wish to auto renew, please log into the Windows Azure Account portal, select the support subscription in question, click on the "Change renewal details", and unselect the default option to auto renew.

If you have not turned off the auto-renew functionality on your Windows Azure Support subscription, you don’t need to do anything. Your subscription will automatically be renewed for another term once the current term ends. If you have turned off the auto-renew functionality, your Windows Azure Support subscription will expire at the end of the term. You can then go to the Windows Azure Support page to purchase a new Windows Azure Support subscription.

You can upgrade to a higher-tier plan by submitting a billing support incident documenting your desires to upgrade. We will waive the remaining payments on your original Windows Azure Support subscription and charge you at the higher tier for the remaining months of your initial commitment.

Applicable services taxes and/or VAT may apply for Windows Azure support subscriptions. Please check with your tax department or advisor.

You may submit an unlimited number of incidents each month.

Our initial response times (IRT) depend on the severity of the incident submitted and the Windows Azure Support plan you have. For more information on IRT definitions please visit the Windows Azure Support page.

* IRT in English is 24X7; business hours for all other languages

The time it takes to troubleshoot and resolve incidents of course varies greatly on the specifics of the issue. We will work as fast as we can to get your problem resolved.

Go to the Windows Azure Support site and click on Get Support. Alternatively, you can submit an incident from the Windows Azure Management Portal. Click on the icon on the top right corner, and then select Contact Microsoft Support.

We learned from our past experience that submitting support incidents online allows us to deliver deep technical expertise in the most effective and efficient manner possible. Due to the detailed nature of the incidents, it is much easier to provide relevant information online compared to reading this information over the phone. This model eliminates unproductive hold time for a simple, intuitive online process. As a result, customer problems are routed more quickly to the most qualified engineer.

Yes, this is a key benefit for customers with a Standard or Professional Direct support plan. If you need to speak to our support engineers, you can request us to call you by selecting "By Phone" as your preferred method of contact during your incident submission. Standard customers can request calls up to three times per month. Professional Direct customers can request an unlimited number of calls per month.

To submit a support incident about a particular Windows Azure subscription, you must be the Service Administrator or Co-Administrator on the subscription.

Instructions for adding a Co-Administrator can be found here.

If you are having difficulty navigating the process or filling out an incident, please follow the chat link and somebody from our support team will assist you. Note that they will not be able to help resolve your technical questions.

During a SI, we provide frequent and timely updates to the Windows Azure Service Dashboard. This is the best way to receive the latest information. You can still submit an incident, and we will work with you to determine whether your issue is caused by the SI. If it is, we recommend that you use the Service Dashboard to check the latest status.

We provide support 24x7 in English. For non-English languages, we provide support during local business hours. During non-business hours, you can request to have our English-speaking support engineer support you with a translation service, which is provided free of charge.

Yes, to view the Windows Azure privacy policy, please click here.

If you purchase Windows Azure through Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA), you can add either a Standard or Professional Direct support plan to your Enterprise agreement by contacting your Large Account Reseller (LAR).

EA customers can purchase an upgrade SKU to move from Standard to Professional Direct (where available). To purchase the upgrade contact your LAR.

If you have already placed an order for a support plan and the order is pending, you can be temporarily enabled for technical support. To do so, please go to the Windows Azure Management Portal to create a support incident. Please select a Support Type of "Billing" and a Problem Type of "My Issue is Not Listed". In the description of the issue, please indicate the plan that you ordered (e.g., Standard, Professional Direct, etc.) and provide a description of your issue. An agent will then contact you based on the contact method you specified (e.g., email or phone).

Yes. In the incident submittal form, there will be a link to submit a technical incident utilizing MSDN/TechNet subscription.

Yes. In the incident submittal form, there will be a link to submit a technical incident utilizing MPN benefits.

Yes. Nothing changes for the Partner. They will still be able to utilize the same MPN benefits they have for other products.

You can get support from Windows Azure in one of two ways. One is to purchase support for your account. You can purchase a Windows Azure Support plan from your Windows Azure account, and any subscription under the account is covered by the same support plan. The other way is to get support from your client’s account. If you manage the deployment on a subscription under your client’s account as a Service Administrator or Co-Administrator, then your client must have a Windows Azure Support plan to cover the support for that subscription.

Windows Azure Support is available everywhere Windows Azure is available, with one exception: Professional Direct is only available in Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Israel, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, United States, and United Kingdom.

Currently we provide support in eight languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Chinese.

Professional Direct is only available in English at this time.

All services that are released to general availability on Windows Azure are covered by Windows Azure Support plans.

Preview and Beta services are supported through our community forums. Windows Azure Support plans do not cover Preview and Beta services.

We offer technical support for a 3rd party technology only when it is provided by Microsoft as part of a Windows Azure product feature, for example, Windows Azure SDK for Python.

No. Support for billing and subscription management issues are covered with your Windows Azure subscription at no additional charge, and you don’t need to have a Windows Azure Support plan to raise these issues. To submit an incident, go to the Windows Azure Support site and click on Get Support.

Yes. You need a Windows Azure Support plan to receive one-on-one technical support for break-fix issues.

Break-fix issues are problems you experience while using Windows Azure where there is a reasonable expectation that Microsoft caused the problem.

You can raise questions on our community forums. We have Microsoft moderators monitoring the forums closely to ensure a timely response.

As part of your Professional Direct support benefits, you get access to our pool of Professional Direct Delivery Managers (PDMs). They are available Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm (local business hours) and function as your Windows Azure Support advocates at Microsoft. This team provides:

• Escalation Management Services to help you get the traction you need on your most business critical support issues.
• Limited Advisory Services, including helping you navigate to the best resources available for building, managing and supporting your Windows Azure services.
• A monthly Windows Azure Optimization Report designed to help you reduce costs, maximize uptime and enhance user experience.

You can contact the PDM team via phone or email. Please see your "Getting Started with Professional Direct Support for Azure" packet for specific contact details in your region.

The Windows Azure Optimization Report is a best practice analyzer designed to help you identify areas where you can save money, improve availability of services and enhance end user experience. This report is run on a monthly basis.

Windows Azure Professional Direct Support is currently offered only in English in Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Israel, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, United States, and United Kingdom. This offer limitation is based on the availability of escalation agents and escalation support hours. Because of a high level of interest in this offer, however, Microsoft is evaluating the potential expansion of Professional Direct to other countries.

If you’re a Premier customer, please go to Microsoft Premier Online to submit a support incident.

In order to purchase Premier for Azure you should contact your local Microsoft Account Manager. You can also contact premierazure@microsoft.com if you aren’t sure which Account Manager to contact.

Premier customers can leverage their existing Premier agreements for Windows Azure Support by going to Microsoft Premier Online. You should also contact your Technical Account Manager (TAM) to discuss options for best utilizing your existing Premier support agreement or rightsizing your Premier agreement to better suit your Windows Azure needs.

The ADM provides our customers access to a wide range of product and application development expertise to help software developers accelerate the development cycle and produce successful applications. The ADM also acts as the escalation manager to bring in appropriate technical expertise (primarily Customer Services and Support/PFE) to manage incidents to resolution. The ADM follows up to ensure either product improvement within Microsoft or appropriate development skills are built within the customer's development environment.

Several workshops are available for Premier customers to include migration assessments to help identify potential problems before they impact you, monthly alerts to identify underutilized billed services, access to experts who offer recommendations on cost effective Windows Azure architectures, workshops and training to help developers optimize cost, Windows Azure Application assessments, and process optimization services to help accelerate application deployment times and reduce overhead costs.

Rapid Response is the highest level of support available. It provides an initial response time of 15 minutes for Sev A incidents, and support is delivered by a dedicated team of Azure Support Engineers who work directly with the customer to understand your specific architecture and set of applications.

Yes, Partners with Premier Support will now be able to extend their PSfP benefits for Windows Azure. PSfP Partners are able to use Azure support for their internal needs as well as to assist their customers.

For Premier, you can raise your how-to questions by selecting Pro Advisory Services as a support topic on Microsoft Premier Online. You can also contact your Account Development Manager for mentoring and architectural design reviews and to learn about the variety of workshops to help you assess, plan and optimize your Windows Azure deployment.