In the past year, organizations increasingly turned to the cloud to survive potential business disruptions. At Microsoft, we partnered with businesses of all sizes, to help them take advantage of the scalability, remote work enablement, and cost efficiencies of migrating to the cloud. As we plan for the future together, we expect customers will continue to leverage cloud investments to refine and reimagine their digital strategies with an eye on remote productivity, sustainability, and security.
“To run airports during a pandemic is challenging. The Azure Migration Program (AMP) has helped us to successfully perform a lift-and-shift during the most pressing situation Swedavia has ever been in giving us access to top-of-the-line experts and advice during the project.”—Joakim Eriksson, IT Director, Swedavia Airlines
Today at Microsoft Inspire, we’re announcing new and expanded programs, offers, and product investments—helping customers to accelerate their migration and modernization journey with Azure.
Azure Migration Program (AMP) is now Azure Migration and Modernization Program (AMMP)
Over the last 24 months, the Azure Migration Program (AMP) has helped thousands of customers unlock the benefits of the cloud, with the right mix of expert guidance and best practices to migrate to Azure. The University of Leicester and the British Council are two such examples. We are also supporting organizations in addressing their sustainability goals, helping AMMP customers become up to 93 percent more energy efficient by migrating to Azure.
As we worked with these customers, they also asked for our help in modernizing their applications. Based on this feedback, we are happy to announce that Azure Migration Program is evolving to become the Azure Migration and Modernization Program (AMMP) with support for app modernization scenarios. We are also expanding AMMP with new support for Azure Spring Cloud and Azure Cosmos DB. Learn more and join AMMP—to confidently move forward, together.
“We leveraged AMMP to modernize three mission-critical applications for a major healthcare company. AMMP not only jumpstarted our customer engagement but also helped us drive progress and land best practices for the cloud-like planning, discovery, and Landing Zone creation.”—Todd Fine, Chief Strategy Officer, Atmosera
Windows Server and SQL Server run best on Azure: Announcing free extended security updates for 2008/R2 and 2012 servers—only on Azure
Today, we are announcing Extended Security Updates for Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2, and SQL Server 2012, free only on Azure. Customers running these releases of Windows Server and SQL Server on-premises will have the option to purchase Extended Security Updates.
In addition, for customers who need more time to upgrade and modernize their Windows Server and SQL Server 2008/R2, we will now provide one additional year of free extended security updates for 2008/R2 servers only on Azure.
Customers can take advantage of innovative Azure-only capabilities and ease the operational burden while modernizing Windows Server and SQL Server environments. For example, Azure Automanage improves workload performance and uptime through simplified management for Windows Server and Linux VMs. Azure VMware Solution allows customers to migrate quickly while continuing to take advantage of their VMware investments. Azure Virtual Desktop helps customers modernize their Windows Server Remote desktop services (RDS) based Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environments. Similarly, the SQL Server IaaS extension delivers automated management, patching, and backups for SQL Server VMs on Azure. Read more about our end of support offers and the latest in Windows Server and SQL Server innovation.
Enhanced Azure migration and modernization tools
We continue to invest in a wide range of deployment options for container-based app modernization. In March, we previewed the App Containerization tool that helps you quickly containerize and deploy your .NET and Java apps onto Azure Kubernetes Service. Today we are announcing that App Containerization supports container deployments to Azure App Service as well.
Azure Arc-enabled Azure SQL (general-purpose tier) will be generally available on July 30, 2021. This enables customers to consistently manage their hybrid SQL Server environments during and after the move—on their terms. Azure Arc now integrates with Azure Lighthouse, giving partners additional opportunities to manage resources across the edge, datacenters, and multi-cloud environments.
Learn more
• Attend my Microsoft Inspire session to learn about our Azure migration and modernization investments.
• Take advantage of our AMMP investments—become an Advanced Specialized partner or an Azure Expert Managed Services Provider (MSP).
