The support plan you choose will heavily influence the performance, scalability, and overall success of your SAP implementation on Azure. This is a key topic in preparation for the AZ-120 Planning and Administering Azure for SAP Workloads exam.
Understanding Azure Support Plans
Azure provides four different levels of support, each designed to accommodate your varying technical support needs for products or services from Microsoft Azure:
- Basic
- Developer
- Standard
- Professional Direct
Basic support is included with your Azure subscription, providing 24/7 access to forums, and service dashboard and online documentation.
Developer level support is ideal for trial and non-production environments. This level includes all Basic benefits, with the addition of limited business hours access to Support Engineers for break-fix issues, and a response time of less than 8 hours.
Standard support is designed for production environments, providing unlimited 24/7 access to Support Engineers, with a response time of less than 2 hours for critical issues.
Professional Direct (formerly Premier) plan offers the most comprehensive and fastest support for business-critical needs, with a 1-hour response time for critical issues.
| Basic | Developer | Standard | Professional Direct | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | $29/month | $100/month | Get quote |
| Issue Severity/Critical Business Impact | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 24/7 Access to Support Engineers | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Advisory Services | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Response Time | N/A | <8 hrs for non-critical | < 2 hrs for critical | <1 hr for critical |
| Unlimited Support Requests | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Selecting the Correct Azure Support Plan for SAP Workloads
The choice of an Azure Support Plan should be based on the importance and criticality of the SAP workload you are running.
For non-critical, non-production SAP workloads, the Developer support plan may suffice. It provides the developer community with necessary tools and services for supporting development and testing environments.
Production SAP environments require a more robust support structure like the Standard or Professional Direct plans, due to their business-critical nature. A rapid response time and 24/7 assistance from Support Engineers to rapidly resolve issues is crucial to these environments.
If your organization relies heavily on SAP systems for core operations, the Professional Direct plan may be the best fit as it provides faster response times for critical issues and additional advisory services.
It’s important to note that certain SAP workloads, such as SAP HANA, have additional support requirements. For instance, to run SAP HANA on Azure, Microsoft requires that you have either Standard or Professional Direct support plans.
Conclusion
Choosing the right Azure Support Plan is pivotal to the successful running of SAP workloads on Azure. Understanding the nuances, costs, and benefits of each plan can help you make an informed decision that properly supports your SAP tolling on Azure and helps you succeed with your AZ-120 exam preparation.
Practice Test
Azure offers four types of support plans: Developer, Standard, Professional Direct, and Premier.
- A) True
- B) False
Answer: A) True
Explanation: Azure offers four types of support plans including Developer for trial and non-production environments, Standard for business-critical implications, Professional Direct for critical workload support with faster response times, and Premier for biggest businesses with all round the clock support.
Which Azure support plan is the most basic and cost-effective for trial and non-production environments?
- A) Professional Direct
- B) Standard
- C) Developer
- D) Premier
Answer: C) Developer
Explanation: The Developer support plan is the most basic, cost-effective, and is ideal for trial and non-production environments.
Professional Direct support plan provides access to Azure technical support engineers 24/
- A) True
- B) False
Answer: A) True
Explanation: Professional Direct provides unrestricted access to Azure technical support engineers 24/7 to ensure high availability.
The Standard support plan is suitable for small businesses with minor cloud workloads.
- A) True
- B) False
Answer: B) False
Explanation: The Standard support plan is designed for businesses with production workloads, offering faster response times than the developer plan.
Which Azure support plans offers fastest initial response time for critical cases?
- A) Professional Direct
- B) Premier
- C) Developer
- D) Standard
Answer: B) Premier
Explanation: The Premier support plan offers an initial response time of less than 1 hour for critical cases.
Premier support plan is the most expensive among all Azure support plans.
- A) True
- B) False
Answer: A) True
Explanation: Premier is the most comprehensive and also the most expensive Azure support plan.
Which Azure support plan provides on-site health checks?
- A) Developer
- B) Premier
- C) Professional Direct
- D) None of these
Answer: B) Premier
Explanation: Premier support plan comes with additional benefits like on-site health checks and training.
The Developer Support Plan includes training and advisory services.
- A) True
- B) False
Answer: B) False
Explanation: The Developer Support Plan does not include training and advisory services. These are part of the Premier Plan.
The Professional Direct support plan offers access to a Technical Account Manager (TAM).
- A) True
- B) False
Answer: A) True
Explanation: The Professional Direct support plan includes access to a Technical Account Manager (TAM) for personalized assistance.
How many Azure support plans are available for use?
- A) 2
- B) 3
- C) 4
- D) 5
Answer: C) 4
Explanation: Azure has four types of support plans: Developer, Standard, Professional Direct, and Premier.
Interview Questions
What is the Azure Basic Support Plan?
The Azure Basic Support Plan offers basic access to resources for system health and service issues during normal business hours. This plan is free for Azure customers and doesn’t include any technical support beyond self-help documentation.
What are the primary features of Azure Developer support plan?
Azure Developer Support Plan offers unlimited 24/7 access to technical support for non-production environments, setup and configuration support, access to Microsoft Azure Advisors, and a 1-hour initial response time for severe issues.
Name the Azure support plan which is most suitable for production workloads?
For production workloads, the Azure Standard Support Plan is the most suitable. It provides faster initial response times and 24/7 technical support.
What added benefits the Azure Professional Direct support plan provides?
The Azure Professional Direct support plan provides faster response times for critical issues, direct communication with the Azure engineering team, support API, scheduled phone consultations, and a monthly service health reviews.
What does Azure Unified Support provide?
Azure Unified Support provides unlimited technical and advisory support for all Microsoft products, including Azure, for comprehensive enterprise-level support.
For SAP workloads in Azure, which type of support is necessary?
Azure Extended Support is necessary for SAP workloads for an in-depth support experience including problem resolution for specific platform and SAP software integration issues.
How long are the response times for the Azure Basic Support Plan?
The Azure Basic Support Plan does not guarantee any specific response times for support requests.
Can you change your Azure support plan at any time?
Yes, you can upgrade your Azure support plan at any time. To downgrade or cancel, you can do so at the end of your commitment period.
What is covered under Azure Advisory Services?
Azure Advisory Services include personalized guidance from Azure engineers, architect design sessions, and workshops for implementing Azure best practices, conducting performance tuning, developing business continuity strategies, and more.
What support plans offer access to Azure Rapid Response?
Azure Rapid Response is available with the Azure Developer, Standard, Professional Direct, and Unified support plans.
Who can offer support for custom code written for Azure services?
Custom code for Azure services is typically supported by the developer who wrote it, Microsoft support plans generally only cover issues related to Azure’s platform and built-in features.
What is the cost of the Azure Standard support plan?
The Azure Standard support plan costs $100 per month with a minimum commitment of 12 months.
Can you specify a separate Azure support plan for different resource groups in the same account?
No, the Azure support plan is specified at the subscription level and applies to all resources under that subscription.
Who are Azure Support APIs available to?
Azure Support APIs are available to customers with an Azure Professional Direct support plan.
What is the initial response time for critical issues in Azure Professional Direct plan?
The Azure Professional Direct support plan offers an initial response time of 15 minutes for critical issues.
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