How to Track Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server Use Rights

• Customers are responsible for ensuring they have the proper licenses to keep their Azure Hybrid Benefit usage compliant.
• Microsoft could tighten enforcement of Azure Hybrid Benefit rules soon, leading to unexpected costs for customers who are out of compliance and making tracking of use rights more important.
• Significant custom configuration and other work is typically required to effectively track use of the Azure Hybrid Benefit.

Azure Hybrid Benefit (AHB) enables customers to apply on-premises Windows Server and SQL Server licenses with Software Assurance (SA) to certain workloads on Azure and avoid Azure charges for the OS and SQL Server respectively. A separate AHB allows customers to apply some Linux OS licenses to Azure VMs.

However, it is up to customers to configure the Azure VMs that benefit from on-premises licenses and to track AHB usage to ensure licensing compliance. AHB compliance has not been aggressively enforced by Microsoft, but this could change soon. Microsoft has often increased license enforcement on an offering when it becomes mature and widely adopted. This has occurred with SharePoint Server, for example. Furthermore, AI-based procedures could make it easier for Microsoft to detect customers who are non-compliant with AHB usage.