They say that nothing is really free in life, so what to make of Microsoft’s brand new offer of one year’s free support for its Azure cloud?

The Redmond firm announced yesterday that certain customers will be given 12 months of free support, so long as they purchase Azure Services under an Enterprise Agreement (EA) between May 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017, or already have one that falls in that period.

For those who’s EA doesn’t include support, that Azure Standard support will be throw anyway. It’s not a bad perk, considering Microsoft normally charges $300 a month for the privilege. Those who qualify are guaranteed a response within two hours, which makes it ideal for those businesses with “critical dependence on Azure”.

For those who’ve already shelled out for Azure support, Microsoft will effectively ‘promote’ them to the “Professional Direct” support tier, which is primarily for those businesses with “substantial dependence on Azure”. In that case, Microsoft guarantees a response time of just one hour, along with some additional advisory services. This includes six “App Consulting Services Sessions” wherein Microsoft will provide customized one to one consultation with one of its technical experts on a range of Azure topics, for example design and implementation of apps on Azure, workload deployment or architecting cloud environments. More information on the deal is available here.

That ‘free’ consultation package is most likely what’s in it for Microsoft. The assumption is that by getting people to talk with its more about Azure, Microsoft will be able to persuade customers to use Azure more often than they already do. It will probably some kind of sales pitch/consultation, which is just what Microsoft needs if it’s to convince its legion of enterprise customers to switch from its old licensing business model to the “as-a-service” company that it so desperately wants to be.

Enjoy your free support and consultations, just be aware that there’s something in it for Microsoft too.

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