How To Meet Your Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC)

For organizations leveraging Microsoft Azure, the Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC) provides a fantastic opportunity to unlock savings and drive value from your cloud investments. But understanding how to meet and optimize your commitment can feel daunting, especially for decision-makers already juggling budgets, contracts, and resources.

In this article, we’ll explain the key benefits of MACC, look at practical strategies for tracking and meeting your consumption goals, and explore how other solutions available through the Azure Marketplace can help you meet the challenge easily – and with even more added value.

What is MACC?

The Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC) is a contractual agreement between your organization and Microsoft to spend a predefined amount on Azure services over a specified timeframe. Unlike other agreements, in that it isn’t a prepayment, subscription or license model, this gives you flexibility to spend your commitment across the entire Azure portfolio, choosing from Microsoft cloud services, on-premises software, or even a mix of both. However, because MACC isn’t a license, you only have the right to use your Azure services or software during the term of your agreement so it’s vital that you lay out your optimization plan as early as possible.

Microsoft Azure offers a fast, frictionless route to the cloud for organizations looking for scalable, secure, and innovative services tailored to meet their digital transformation goals. For both new customers and businesses already operating in the Azure ecosystem, MACC offers several benefits:

• Cost optimization: A MACC gives you access to better pricing tiers, which could provide significant cost savings.
• Flexibility: You can enjoy the freedom to use Azure services across a range of needs, from infrastructure to application development.
• Futureproofing: Increasing your Azure usage will unlock more tools and services to align with your organization’s strategic modernization goals.

Use it or lose it!

MACC is a contractual commitment, so if your Azure spend for the term has been over-estimated—or you take your eye off your consumption—you may find yourself expected to make up any shortfall at the end of the agreement. The key to avoiding these shortfalls and gaining the maximum benefit from MACC is understanding and regularly tracking against your committed spend.

Understanding and tracking committed MACC spend

Establishing a committed spend agreement is a strategically sound choice for businesses looking to maximize value from their cloud ecosystem. It refers to a contractual agreement where the organization pledges to spend as specific amount over a defined time period. This can unlock benefits such as discounted rates and priority access to resources – as well as allowing for more flexible, predictable budgeting. Organizations can – for example – choose to align spend against fluctuations in traffic, activities, or other budget commitments.

For Azure customers, keeping track of your MACC progress is essential to ensure you reap maximum benefit and meet your commitment without either overspending or falling short. There are three simple steps to stay on top of your consumption:

1. Monitor your Azure usage: Use the Azure portal and search for Cost Management + Billing. Use this tool to gain real-time visibility into your spending and remaining commitment.
2. Review consumption reports: Azure provides detailed reports that show how your usage aligns with your MACC commitment, clearly displaying your spend and remaining commitment since your last invoice.
3. Set alerts: Configure alerts to notify you when you reach key thresholds of your commitment, helping you avoid surprises as your deadline approaches.

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Essential resources:

• Track your Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC) is a step-by-step guide to tracking your commitment and confirming billing access
•  Microsoft’s MACC FAQ provides even more tips for tracking and managing your commitment.

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Align your MACC with your strategic goals

Azure Marketplace and Microsoft AppSource are not just convenient ways to procure third-party services: this vast Microsoft commercial marketplace is also a powerful tool to help you meet your MACC target and drive forward your modernization strategy.

Any eligible purchases made through the marketplace count toward your commitment, giving you a broad range of options to accelerate value across your Azure ecosystem. Here you can find and buy services or solutions that are primarily platformed on or extend Microsoft cloud products or infrastructure. And the marketplace is not just limited to Microsoft-provided products: all Azure benefit-eligible badged offers purchased through Azure Marketplace will contribute 100% of their pretax purchase value toward your organization’s MACC.

Azure benefit eligible solutions and services include compute services (such as savings and test plans); AI services (such as insights and image searches); networking services (such as network extensions); and a host of other SaaS, PaaS and IaaS offerings.

Ensono’s Cloud-Connected Mainframe for Azure is a great example of a marketplace solution that has been specifically designed to help modernize your IT infrastructure while optimizing the contribution to your MACC. Here’s how it could work for you:

• Modernize and connect your mainframe: The cloud-connected mainframe solution migrates your mainframe data and x86 workloads into Azure, giving you low-latency, high-speed access to the mainframe in the Azure-connected data center.
• Offset your costs: A portion of your investment in Ensono’s services will directly offset your MACC commitment.
• Optimize Azure usage: Your mainframe data and x86 workloads can then increase your Azure consumption over time to not only meet your current commitment but also unlock higher commitment savings in the future.

By purchasing services like this through Azure Marketplace, you can simplify procurement while advancing your cloud modernization strategy.

To search and browse across all Azure benefit solutions, follow these three simple steps:

1. Sign into the Marketplace through the Azure portal under a tenant associated with your organization,
2. Use the Azure benefit eligible filter to display just those offers that will contribute towards your organization’s MACC.
3. Purchase an eligible offer on either the Azure Marketplace or the Microsoft AppSource using the Azure subscription associated with your Microsoft agreement. 

Ready to meet your MACC?

Meeting your MACC commitment doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With the right tools, strategies, and partners, you can turn it into an opportunity to accelerate your digital transformation.

Explore our Cloud-Connected Mainframe for Microsoft Azure overview or contact us today to explore how Ensono can help you meet your commitment and drive value from your Azure investments.