Azure Terminology

Specialized terms are used to describe aspects of Azure such as the types of customers accommodated, the structure of deployments, the geographical layout of data centers, fault tolerance and scaling options, and service entities and identities. The terminology has evolved since Azure debuted, and an understanding of the current terms can help organizations plan and communicate about Azure deployments.

Customer Types

Azure addresses multiple customer types through specific licensing, billing, deployment, and tool offerings. The customer types include the following:

Enterprise Agreement (EA) customers are large organizations that purchase Azure through an EA or similar enrollment. EA customers typically agree to an annual Azure prepayment commitment, which is the minimum amount the customer will spend on Azure, whether or not its service usage consumes the amount. EA customers usually have extensive hierarchical Azure deployments.

Direct customers are billed by Microsoft on a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) basis. PAYG is the easiest way to begin using Azure, and organizations and individuals pay only for what they use. Direct customers typically pay for usage with a credit card, but they can switch to payment by invoicing after initial account setup. Direct customers can use Open licensing agreements. These customers have flatter Azure deployment hierarchies than EA customers, and they do not create an EA hierarchy.