Breaking News: IT Pro Cloud Essentials–Free cloud, education, and support!
This is big news! Today Microsoft is announcing a new subscription (but it’s free!) for IT Professionals. The goal is to give IT Pros the tools they need to train, test, and eventually implement private and public cloud solutions.
“Subscription? Sounds like TechNet is back!”
Well, yeah, in a sense it is. It’s no secret that the TechNet Subscription ‘back in the day’ was a great resource for IT Professionals. But the fact that these non-timeout, non-production trials were being used in production was something we just couldn’t continue. Limited trials, it was thought, should be sufficient. But I think Microsoft has heard you, and we’re giving you another way to get some more flexibility in trying out, for longer periods of time (but not completely unlimited, because that would be silly) our most impactful cloud platforms.
Here’s the description from the IT Pro Cloud Essentials page:
“Microsoft IT Pro Cloud Essentials is a free annual subscription which includes cloud services, education, and support benefits. IT Pro Cloud Essentials provides IT Implementers with hands-on experience, targeted educational opportunities, and access to experts in areas that matter most to increase knowledge and create a path to career advancement.”
“So, what does the subscription include?”
First off, it’s about extended trials. You’ll have a small amount of Azure usage. Just enough to let you kick the tires for a while, but not enough to let you drive to and from work each day. (Meaning not for production workloads.) It also includes extended trials of Office 365 and the Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS), things like Microsoft Intune and Azure Active Directory.
The subscription also includes free training through Microsoft Virtual Academy, and even our partner PluralSight.
And, while it wasn’t actually used very often.. one of the most popular benefits of the old TechNet Subscription was having a free technical support call. (People didn’t use it all that often, because they tended to hold onto it “just in case I need it”.) Well, it’s back! This FREE subscription also gives you one support incident! And what’s more, you also have a priority support channel in the Microsoft TechNet Forums.
Sound good? You’re darn right it is! And we’re pleased to bring it to you!
For the full story, and to sign-up/sign-in to your subscription, go here: