Azure Reserved Instance - Ordering/Provisioning Process

Reserved Instance Ordering/Provisioning

To order a new Azure Reserved Instance, navigate to the Manage Tenant screen under your Microsoft CSP program tile; for the tenant, you wish to order against and select Add Reserved Instance button (screenshot below).

 

Note that an active Azure Plan or Azure Classic subscription is required within PRISM under the tenant for the Add Reserved Instance button to be visible.

 

Note that only one reserved instance product can be ordered at a time; this is so that each product has its own separate reservation ID, which will later allow managing the reserved instance easier for partners.

 

 

Within the Add Reserved Instance page, use the following fields to order the reserved instance. 

Filter Reserved Instance Products

How would you like to be billed for your subscriptions? #1 – Select either Monthly or Once Off. Monthly billing will mean that you are billed on a monthly basis for the term of the reserved instance; Once Off billing will mean that you are billed at the start of the term for the full term.
Note that at the end of the term, renewals are required to have the reserved instance remain active; with both Monthly and Once Off billing, this will require a new term and new billing cycle to begin.

How would you like to search for Reserved Instance products? #2 Search either By Name or By Criteria.

The search option By Name is the default option when ordering a new RI product and it will allow users to query and retrieve the top 15 RI products matching the search term.

• Filter Products #3 - Search by typing into the field to filter for the product category.
  Note that you can use the search box using the product category name or category ID as located on the pricelist.
• Filter Products #4 - If you would like to filter the product any further, you can use the Filter Products type in feature to reduce the criteria down

The search option By Criteria will allow users to search RI products based on region, term and product.

1. Region #5 – Reserved Instance only available at the regional level. Search by either scrolling through the list or typing into the field to filter for the Azure Datacenter Region required for the customer. Located next to the Region search box is a hyperlink to a knowledge base article that defines the region naming conventions into an easy-to-understand matrix.
   Note that it is important to understand how and where your VMs operate in Azure. If the correct region is not selected and a reserved instance order is placed in a different region, the reserved instance will not apply to that particular instance.
   You create Azure resources in defined geographic regions like 'West US', 'North Europe', or 'Southeast Asia'. Within each region, multiple data centres exist to provide for redundancy and availability. This approach gives you flexibility as you design applications to create VMs closest to your users.
2. Term Duration #6 – The term refers to the license duration and commitment bracket that you are ordering for. This field is by default set to “Any”, but by using the dropdown list, you can alter this to a specific term commitment.
3. Reserved Instance Product #7 - Search by either scrolling through the list or typing into the field to filter for the product category.
   Note that you can use the search box using the product category name or category ID as located on the pricelist.
   
   

Product Selection

1. Select Product #8 – Locate the Reserved Instance product you wish to order and select the tick box on the left-hand side. This will then display a quantity field where you can increase and decrease the quantity; you will see an expected price on the right-hand side.

Configure the Order 

1. Azure Subscription #9 – Select which Azure Subscription you would like the Reserved Instance provisioned against
2. Scope #10 – Select either Shared or Single Subscription. 
3. Custom Reserved Instance Name #11 – Optional – Enter a custom ID/Name to remember or identify your order if required. If completed, this will display on the main manage tenant screen as the identifier of the Reserved Instance.

Order Summary

1. Order Acknowledgement #12 – Review the details of the order shown under the Order Summary heading, read the “I acknowledge…” blurb and select the tick box to commit to this purchase
2. Submit Order #13 – When ready to place the order, select the Submit Order button.
   Note that provisioning may take up to 24 hours; a tenant sync will occur in the first 15 minutes; however, the order will take longer for the order to sync back from Microsoft’s Partner Centre.

 

You will receive a notification from the PRISM portal once your order has been submitted and then processed. If the order fails, you will receive a notification with the failure message.

Notes/Limitations

This is the first release of Azure Reserved in the PRISM portal; therefore, we wanted to advise you of any limitations or notes that you should be aware of:

1. Azure Reservation Management – for cancellation, quantity changes, exchanges, etc., please contact your Account Manager.
2. Azure Security Group Permissions - will not be automatically provisioned at the time of the Reserved Instance order; please submit a ticket with our Partner Support Team should you require any further information on this topic.
3. Configuring Optimization for Reserved Instance VM is not supported in this release. The default value of ‘Instance Size Flexibility’ will be set. please submit a ticket to our Partner Support Team should you require any further information on this topic
4. Resource Group for Reserved Instance is not supported in this release. Please submit a ticket to our Partner Support Team should you require any further information on this topic.

Disclaimer - All pricing shown in this article is test data only and should not be used for quoting or purchasing decisions/information.