Getting Started with Azure Subscriptions

With the recent growth of cloud usage, more and more companies are searching for skilled individuals who understand how the cloud works and how it enhances a company's processes and products. One of the roles needed is an Azure administrator (operator), who is responsible for configuring various aspects of that cloud solution and keeping an eye on users, usage, and configuration.

The first and the most important element when managing systems in Azure is a subscription. You will not be able to get started with Azure without a subscription as this is the main element of that cloud solution. In this chapter, you will learn how to get an Azure subscription and configure it. We will also cover typical management tasks such as managing cost, monitoring usage, and defining quotas for services. For the more advanced topics, we will take a look at Azure Blueprints and management automation using Azure Event Grid. This chapter should give you a better understanding of how to get started with Azure from an administrator's point of view and introduce you to the most basic concepts of this cloud solution without diving into more detailed topics (which are to be described later).

The following main topics will be covered in this chapter:

Getting an Azure subscription
Implementing subscription policies
Using Azure Blueprints for repeatable deploy and update operations
Checking usage and managing quotas
Cost monitoring and analysis
Implementing management automation

Technical requirements

To perform exercises from this chapter, you will need the following:

A working Azure subscription (you can create it in the Getting an Azure subscription section)
Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer, which can be found at https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/features/storage-explorer/
Read about Azure Event Grid: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/event-grid/overview
Read about Azure Logic Apps: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/logic-apps/logic-apps-overview
OPTIONAL: A Microsoft account if you want to set up a subscription in this chapter

Getting an Azure subscription

A subscription is a logical container for your resources and users, which you have to manage while using the Microsoft Azure cloud solution.

Getting a subscription differs depending on the option you choose. By default, you have two types of subscription available—open subscriptions, where you pay for usage, and prepaid ones, which guarantee a certain level of available resources and confidence when it comes to cloud costs.

In general, we have the following open subscriptions (usage-based):

Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG)
Cloud Solution Provider (CSP)

Then there's a subscription with an agreed minimum spend:

Enterprise Agreement (EA)

Depending on the subscription type, once you reach its spending limit (if there is any), you may either end up with blocked resources or your subscription may automatically convert to PAYG. To obtain most subscriptions, all you need is access to a browser and possibly a credit card. The process may differ for more advanced subscriptions (such as CSP or EA), which will require coming to an agreement with a vendor. All of the required steps will be described in this chapter in the following sections.

There is also one more difference regarding the three mentioned subscription types when it comes to payments. In general, your choice may reflect a legal requirement or your company's business model:

With PAYG, you are billed monthly for all of the resources you used during the billing period (which is one month). Once the billing period ends, an invoice is generated for you with a summary. This summary may help you to understand the bill and analyze the cost. Note that an invoice is usually not issued from the country you live in or where your company is registered.
With EA, you are committed to spending on Azure a minimum value that you agreed upon. If you spend less, there is no way to restore lost credits.
With CSP, you will be able to contact a local reseller to be charged by their company. It is a much easier way to pay for cloud resources from a financial and legal point as you are working with a company that is co-located with yours and they are responsible for charging you, not Microsoft directly.

Getting started directly relies on the option you have selected as the processes are quite different. The easiest option requires you only to provide a debit or credit card number, and the most complicated will require you to come to an agreement with Microsoft, so you have agreed on the monetary commitments and your benefits.

PAYG

This is the most simple option, where the cost is simply calculated based on your monthly usage of Azure resources. Such subscriptions can be canceled anytime and the accepted payment type is s credit or debit card attached to the subscription. The currency you will be billed in depends on the region where you are currently located—for example, for Canada, it will be in Canadian dollars while for the Netherlands, it will be in euros. The most common currencies are indeed dollars and euros, but for some particular countries (such as Norway, Brazil, or Mexico), local currencies are accepted.

Let's follow these steps to get a PAYG subscription:

Go to https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/offers/pay-as-you-go/ and click on the Purchase now button, as shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 1.1 - Purchase a PAYG subscription

If you are not currently signed in to Azure, you will be redirected to the login screen, where you have to enter your Microsoft Account credentials. If you do not have an account, you can create one from the login screen. It is not possible to get a subscription without having a Microsoft Account.

Sign in if you are not signed in already.
Fill in the form to finish the process of obtaining a subscription:

Figure 1.2 - Subscription purchase form

Click on the Sign up button to start the process of creating a subscription:

Figure 1.3 - Finishing the subscription purchase

Once all of the data and your card are validated, you are ready to go—you can sign in with your Microsoft Account at https://portal.azure.com, where you will be able to start provisioning resources in your brand new Azure subscription.

Now, let's look at how we can get a CSP subscription.

CSP

Another option to obtain a subscription is to collaborate with Microsoft's partner, which offers Azure indirectly and supports you in the process of obtaining access to the cloud, services, and deployments. All providers are certified by Microsoft, so you can be sure that you are working with competent specialists who will help you in case of technical issues and questions. This is the best solution when you seek expertise and do not have resources, which will take care of managing the more formal aspects of having cloud solutions in connection with your business.

Let's follow these steps to get a CSP subscription:

Go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/solution-providers/home and enter your city or address, as shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 1.4 - CSP search form

Click the GO > button and you will see multiple search results categorized depending on criteria such as distance and responsiveness.
Click on the selected provider to get a better picture of what is offered and on what terms.
Click on the SELECT PROVIDER + button to add it to the contact form:

Figure 1.5 - Choosing a provider

Click on the Contact selected providers button to get a form that will allow you to enter everything a provider needs to know before starting cooperation:

Figure 1.6 - Contacting a selected provider

Wait for an answer from the provider.

Next, let's take a look at EAs.

Enterprise Agreement

This is a special type of subscription intended for big players. In general, when your monthly bill is more than only a few hundred dollars, a PAYG subscription does not offer anything more than simplicity. When this is the case, you can get an Azure subscription by signing an Enterprise Agreement. The way this particular option works is that you have to make an upfront monetary commitment. The specific use case of an EA is the possibility to create multiple subscriptions on your own—something PAYG does not offer. The benefits of this offering are really rich—you will be able to find more details in the Further reading section of this chapter.

The process of getting an EA is much more complicated than the other ones—you need to contact Microsoft directly to come to an understanding of aspects of the agreement such as monetary commitment, your company's requirements, and enrollments. The basic process is as follows:

Prepare your company's requirements regarding infrastructure and services needed.
Simulate the monetary commitment and how you can leverage the assigned resources.
Contact Microsoft to negotiate terms and sign the agreement.

Next, let's get a deeper understanding of the subscription models.