Azure credit reductions: how will your nonprofit be affected?

A while ago, I wrote a piece called “How to Reduce Capital Expenses by Using the Cloud” detailing how you can implement technology to leverage your resources, achieve your goals, and spend wisely.

One of the programs I mentioned in that post was Azure, Microsoft’s online infrastructure program.

Now, while Azure services are useful for businesses of all kinds, they’re particularly interesting for nonprofits. That’s because, as part of Microsoft’s $1 billion Public Cloud for the Public Good commitment, it offers qualified organizations free credits to redeem on Azure services.

So what’s changed?

Through The Azure Credit Program for Nonprofits, a fixed sum is given on an annual basis towards the complete portfolio of Azure cloud solutions and services, including database management, website hosting, data backup, and more. In 2018, Microsoft changed the program from $5,000 of credits per annum to a mix donation of $3,500 towards Azure and $1,500 towards Microsoft identity and security services.

To give that number some context, $5,000 might have been enough to run two large servers for the full year, whereas $3,500 may only cover up to 8 months of the year. Nonprofits who were on Azure before the change may end up paying out of pocket.

What can you do?

There’s no need to worry. We’ve come up with a unique solution that can make your $3,500 go further and save you money on any further services you require.

We’ll start by analyzing your current Azure spend, and use this to help architect a solution for the future. Such a solution will often take the form of a mixed environment, which helps you avoid accidental overspend by using your donated credit in tandem with a reserved pay-as-you-go model. If you were to simply spend your donation credit first, you might find that you’re paying an unnecessarily high hourly rate from the moment it’s used up.

This method has already helped several of our clients reduce their annual Azure invoices by $3,000 or more. We’d love to see if we can achieve similar results for your organization – get in touch with Insource today.

Email insource@insourceservices.com, or call us on (781) 235-1490.