Announcing new Support Plans and Options for Azure Government

Julie Glixon, Program Manager

We are pleased to announce today a change on Support Plans availability on Azure Government, focused on improving the support experience and ensuring the same level of benefits, features and support quality to all our Azure customers.

These changes include:

• Consistent, predictable and responsive support services aligned with your needs and expectations. A detailed description of all new support options available for Azure Government customers can be found here.
• Ability to quickly contact support through the Azure Government Portal – simply access the new Azure Government Portal and create a support request using the “New Support request” option. A step-by-step guide is available here. You can also access the Azure Government Management Portal and click “Contact Microsoft Support” to start a support request. The support incident submission feature is being made available to you in Preview, and while some features are yet to come (i.e. Service Health Dashboard, File Attachment capabilities).
• The Azure Government Portal also provides a convenient way to manage and keep track of all your support requests, allowing for real time incident monitoring, as well as the ability to change parameters and communicate with support.
• Faster and more efficient support is possible by automatically gathering key information about your subscription and issue, and directing your request to the specific expert team responsible for Azure Government support.

Who is affected?

Existing Azure Government customers will be automatically migrated to a new Azure Government support plan, according to their relationship level with Microsoft. New Azure Government customers will also benefit from the same terms:

• Azure Government customers on an Enterprise Agreement (EA) will receive at least 12 months of Standard support at no additional cost. Customers with annual EA commitments of at least $100,000, or Azure Services consumption of at least $10,000 per month for three consecutive months, will be automatically upgraded to Professional Direct support, in alignment with the Enterprise Agreement support offer detailed here.
• Existing Microsoft Premier customers on Azure Government will have their contracts upgraded, free of charge, to include Azure Government support. While that process takes place, these customers might be given temporary access to Azure Professional Direct support.
• Azure Government Free Trial accounts have access to included Subscription Management and Billing support.

What is included and is there a cost to it?

The new support plans for Azure Government have the same terms and conditions as those available today in Azure, with the added guarantee that support is provided by US persons, screened to meet US-government standards according to the Azure Government data access requirements.

Once the transition period to paid support plans ends, Azure Government support will be available to customers for an additional cost. Details about support cost in Azure Government can be found here.

We welcome your comments and suggestions to help us continually improve your Azure Government experience. To stay up to date on all things Azure Government, be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed and to receive emails, click “Subscribe by Email!” on the Azure Government Blog. To experience the power of Azure Government for your organization, sign up for an Azure Government Trial.

Julie Glixon, Program Manager

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