Online Services Have Differing Support Policies

Microsoft’s online services for businesses, such as Office 365, Dynamics CRM, and Windows Intune, have different support policies than on-premises software or consumer services. In addition, the policies differ across online services, countries, and languages. Online service support policies directly affect the cost of managing the services and the potential damage from outages and compatibility problems, so customers should be aware of the policies that apply to the services they use and plan procedures such as regression testing of applications that take the policies into account. Microsoft reserves the right to change its support policies, so customers should watch for changes that may affect them.

Online Support Differs from On-Premises

A Microsoft business and developer online service is an Internet-based service hosted by Microsoft and aimed at corporate users. Microsoft, not customers, has control of changes to the online services, and changes are typically made much more frequently than for the company’s on-premises software. This report discusses support for four examples of business and developer online services: Microsoft Azure, Office 365, Dynamics CRM Online, and Windows Intune.