Microsoft Rocks Oz Business World With 26pc Cloud Price Hike
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Microsoft Australia has revealed plans to raise pricing of its Azure and Azure Marketplace by 26 percent from August 1. The move comes despite Google and Amazon in recent times cutting their prices for cloud services.

The move has brought an angry response from some corporate users, after they received the news in an e-mailed note from Microsoft.

“Effective August 1, 2015, local prices for Azure and Azure Marketplace in Australian dollars will increase by 26 per cent to more closely align with prices in most markets,” the Microsoft message said.

But the e-mail message also said customers or partners who had purchased Azure through enterprise agreements, enterprise subscription agreements, or server and cloud enrolments “have price protection on currently offered Azure services and will receive the better of their baseline price or the new market price.”

Microsoft partner and Micatin Software director Ron Pitts said on Microsoft’s developer network forum that he was “very disappointed that there will be a 26 per cent increase”. 

“Hosting Azure stuff in the Australia datacentres is now uneconomical when compared to Singapore or the US,” he said, adding: “I’m sure a lot of other people will be shocked with a 26 per cent increase.”

David Markus, MD of Melbourne-based Combo suggested in a blog that Microsoft had made the move on the basis of a stronger US dollar – and questioned the decision. 

“This is a justification that is easy to make when sitting at a board table in America,” he said. “But I would love to hear . what the Australian market place thinks of this – given the technology being used is sitting on Australian soil in local datacentres and the set-up cost is a sunk cost.”