Cloud Computing Prices Begin to Streamline

As vendors compete for enterprise IT workloads, once-dwindling cloud computing prices are now beginning to streamline. Windows Azure cloud services of Microsoft is the latest vendor to update its pricing program, now allowing users to make a monthly commitment to receive large discounts regardless of what services they use.

It was reported in June of this year that Microsoft is watching the Windows developer community migrate to the cloud, but not however, to its very own Azure cloud. It is evident that Microsoft is continuing to seek out entry-level customers and developers, and streamlining its cloud pricing is one way of attracting these new users.

Most cloud services are priced on services used, such as storage, RAM and CPU, but Microsoft Azure provides a price dependent on monthly commitment and the amount of money the user agrees to spend.

As an example, a discount of 20 percent from regular Azure pricing will be given to those users committed to spend $500 to $14,999 monthly; a 23 percent discount will be given to those agreeing to spend $15,000 to $39,999 each month; and a 27 percent discount will be given to users committing to spend $40,000 and above per month.

Azure's original terms will kick in if users spend more than stated in the agreement.

These adjustments were made as response to Azure customers whose needs change over time and could not afford to make long-term commitments to specific cloud service usage.

General manager of business planning and operations group for Microsoft Windows Azure, Steven Martin, states: "Our customers rarely know what they need when they start developing an application. This takes the fear out of making commitments ... This allows customers to make a commitment to the [Azure] platform to fine tune their applications over time without penalties for changing their minds on the use of specific services."

Other cloud providers are also starting to change their pricing plans and offer more flexible contracts.

Recently, Amazon announced that businesses who use its cloud services would be allowed to resell unused, reserved capacity in a program called Reserved Instances Marketplace.

Furthermore, ProfitBricks, a two-year-old Cambridge, Mass.-based company, introduced a new data center architecture that would enable users a pay-per-minute plan and chance workloads when desired.

Enterprise still finds it hard to judge whether cloud vendors can compete for big, long-term workloads, but streamlining costs is certainly one way of attracting new users that need not involve decreasing prices any further. (CY) Link