MSDN Subscribers: Windows Azure Aston Martin Sweepstakes through Sept 30th Friday, September 20, 2013

Earlier this summer we announced a number of great changes to Windows Azure that make it a fantastic cloud environment to use for Dev/Test scenarios. These Dev/Test capabilities work great even for scenarios where you are building apps that ultimately will still be deployed using on-premises servers.

Some of the dev/test changes we announced for Windows Azure included:

No Charge for Stopped VMs

Pay by the Minute Billing

MSDN Use Rights Support on Windows Azure

Heavily Discounted MSDN Dev/Test Rates – up to 97% discount off standard rates

We also introduced a new MSDN Monthly Monetary Credit program – which allows you to use up to $150 per month of free monetary credits on Windows Azure for dev/test scenarios. These credits renew every month – enabling you to use $1000+ of free dev/test capacity every year.

You can spend these dev/test credits on anything in Windows Azure – VMs, Web Sites, Mobile Backends, Cloud Services, Databases, Storage, Hadoop, Media, and more. They enable you to never have to wait on your IT department for dev/test capacity again.

No Credit Card Required for MSDN Users to Sign-Up to Windows Azure

Earlier this summer we also modified the Windows Azure sign-up process to no longer require credit card validation when you are a MSDN user and create your account on Windows Azure. Simply sign-up to Windows Azure using the same Microsoft ID (formerly Live ID) registered with your MSDN account and you’ll be able to activate your MSDN Benefits on Windows Azure in seconds with no credit card or payment details required.

Once activated you can immediately start using your free MSDN credits on any Windows Azure resource – enabling $1000+ of free dev/test capacity every year.

Special Aston Martin Sweepstakes through Sept 30th

As an added incentive to try out your free MSDN benefits we are currently holding a special Aston Martin Sweepstakes offer through Sept 30th. The lucky winner will win a 2013 Aston Martin V8 Vantage:

No purchase is necessary to enter the sweepstakes (and we cover both the tax and shipping costs!). To enroll for a chance to win the offer, all you need to do is:

Sign-up for Windows Azure and activate your MSDN Benefits Create and deploy a Windows Azure Web Site or Windows Azure Virtual Machine (both cost you nothing with your MSDN benefits)

Once you do the above we’ll automatically enroll you in the sweepstakes draw and if you are lucky you might drive away in your very own 2013 Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Click here to learn more and activate your MSDN Windows Azure Benefits today.

Activate Your MSDN Benefits Today

If you are a MSDN subscriber and haven’t tried out Windows Azure you should really give it a try. In addition to enabling you to build great cloud, web and mobile apps, it also enables you to leverage the cloud to quickly spin up (and down) virtual machines, web sites, databases and more that you can use to make your development and testing much more productive – even if you ultimately are deploying the production apps on-premises.

Activate your MSDN benefits and try out Windows Azure before Sept 30th and you might also drive away in your dream car. Even if you don’t win the car you’ll be able to use up to $1000+ of free dev/test capacity every year.

Hope this helps,

Scott

P.S. In addition to blogging, I also use Twitter for quick updates and to share links. Follow me at: twitter.com/scottgu