Check out these top stories for the latest news of the week for Microsoft partners in the Americas.
Updated February 12, 2024
Partner Audience: Services partners
Relevant to: #ProgramOfferUpdate, #GoToMarket, #Azure
In the face of changing market conditions and pressure to accelerate growth while reducing costs, the ability for customers to do more with less is critical. While the cloud has long been the north star for realizing efficiencies and accelerating innovation, we understand that these benefits also need to happen outside of the cloud.
Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server allows customers to build new cloud-native applications on any infrastructure, in their on-premises environments, and across other public clouds. This enables customers to make the most of their legacy applications, with the flexibility to innovate quickly and save on costs.
Switch to pay-as-you-go (PAYG), a cloud billing model for all SQL workloads, and reduce your SPLA costs
If you’re a Service Provider License Agreement (SPLA) partner, offering SQL Server to customers and using the Core licensing model, keep reading to learn more on the cost-savings opportunity to follow! We’re excited to provide partners and customers with a new consumption-based, cloud billing model that provides flexibility to innovate quickly and save on costs versus SPLA. With pay-as-you-go billing on SQL Server, you can benefit from flexibility, improved cost efficiencies, and support for multicloud and hybrid deployments with consistent billing for your entire SQL environment, no matter where they reside. If you have customers on SPLA with SQL, shifting to Azure Arc for billing versus the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program can save up to 30%!1
Bring Azure Innovation to SQL Servers anywhere
With Azure Arc, customers can unlock more robust functionalities:
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- Manage their entire SQL estate in the Azure portal and leverage SQL Best Practice Analyzer to automatically evaluate SQL Server environments for performance, scalability, and business continuity, all at no additional cost.
- With Azure Arc, SQL Server customers will have Purview access policies readily available for those on-premises environments to centralize insights and governance across their entire data estate.
- We also enabled Microsoft Defender for Cloud for SQL Server. Microsoft Defender enhances the security posture of a customer’s SQL Server environments, no matter where they reside. Your SQL Server 2022 customers will also be able to benefit from single sign-on (SSO) with Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) to secure identities.
Innovate anywhere with Azure Arc today
With Azure Arc, your SQL Server customers will be able to maximize the value of their investments with technology that allows them to do more with less.
To learn more and get started, reach out to the Microsoft Datacenter Optimization (DCO) team today!
Additional resources
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- Podcast: Microsoft Cloud Hosting Partners
- Webinar recording: Azure Arc Opportunity: Meeting customers where they’re at
- Microsoft Learn: Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server
- Billing model and how to Manage, secure, and govern your SQL Server estate from Azure
- Pricing for SQL Server 2022 and the new pay-as-you go options
- More about Azure Arc-enabled data services
Join the conversation
Want to explore this and other topics you care about with Microsoft and other US partners? Head over to the Microsoft Americas Partner Community on LinkedIn.
1You can achieve up to 30 percent in incentive earning opportunities in CSP by combining Partner Earned Credit; Modern Commerce Incentive; New Customer Add Incentive. Eligibility rules apply. See https://partnerincentives.microsoft.com/ for more information on available incentives.
