14 DAY TRIAL // At the end of October 2008, Microsoft announced its first Cloud-based operating system, labeled Windows Azure. At that time the Redmond company indicated that the new platform was planned to go live in the second half of 2009. With the release deadline set for Professional Developer Conference 2009 in November approaching at fast pace, the software giant made public the pricing details for Windows Azure today. Microsoft revealed that it would charge customers and partners in accordance with a consumption-based pricing model, once the Cloud operating system became available commercially. This essentially means that the costs of leveraging Windows Azure will be per-use, namely customers will pay just the consumed services.
“With the Windows Azure platform, we’re focused on delivering the best services platform to create compelling Web applications and services — which enables our customers and partners to quickly develop and deploy compelling solutions,” said Bob Muglia, president of the Server and Tools Business at Microsoft. “What’s unique about the Windows Azure platform is that Microsoft manages the complexity, which allows partners to focus on what matters most for their business — building innovative services solutions and driving new revenue. This can drive down total cost of ownership by up to 60 percent for certain workloads during a three-year period.”
It is important to understand Microsoft's perspective over the Windows Azure platform. In this regard, the company considers that there are three components making up the offering: a cloud services operating system, a Web-based relational database in Microsoft SQL Azure, and connectivity and interoperability with .NET Services. The company is prepared to charge customers in accordance with each component.
Windows Azure for example will cost Compute @ $0.12 / hour; Storage @ $0.15 / GB stored; and Storage Transactions @ $0.01 / 10K. SQL Azure comes with price tags of Web Edition – Up to 1 GB relational database @ $9.99; and Business Edition – Up to 10 GB relational database @ $99.99. And the price for .NET Services is Messages @ $0.15/100K message operations, including Service Bus messages and Access Control tokens, according to a member of the Windows Azure team.
“The Windows Azure platform was the ideal solution for the City of Chicago because the services it provides make development and deployment quick and easy, and all hosting maintenance is handled by Microsoft. We were able to get it up and running within days to meet the city’s timing needs,” added Cory Chaplin, technology solutions practice lead for West Monroe Partners in Chicago. “The Windows Azure solution provides the power of multiple servers, without the capital investment, and with the ability to expand immediately if needed.”