There are a number of ways that you can purchase Azure. You can get it as a part of an enterprise agreement (high cost of entry, but highest value). You can get it via one of these means:
- Pay direct (credit card)
- Trial
- MSDN benefit
We in the licensing biz bundle those options up as MOSP (Microsoft online subscription program). And then there is Open volume licensing (low cost of entry with control over spending and no long/big commitment).
I was told that at WPC (I was not there) attendees were briefed that customers who were subscribing to Azure via MOSP (see above) could switch to Open licensing.
That is not true; at this point, if you have been consuming Azure via direct payment (credit card), trial, or MSDN benefit, then you cannot switch to Open licensing – yet.
Microsoft is addressing this issue, and we believe a change of some kind is coming this calendar year (no promises because I do not work for Microsoft). That will allow:
- Customers paying by credit card to centralize and take control of their Azure spending
- Use a free trial to evaluate and price an Azure deployment, and switch to their desired Open licensing
So right now, not possible, despite what we were allegedly told at WPC, but a change is coming to enable switching to Azure on Open.