Cloud Computing

Software Licence: Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing service operated by Microsoft for application management via Microsoft-managed data centers.

University Owned Machines

The university has an enterprise agreement with Microsoft, which provides access to Azure services at a 15% discount on the standard consumption rates.

To request an Azure subscription, you will need to provide:

  • The name of a staff member who will be designated as owner of the subscription; this person will be responsible for granting access to the subscription to others as required
  • The name to be assigned to the subscription
  • The code to which any incurred costs will be charged

Please Note: The nature of the Azure enterprise agreement is to provide resources on demand, with consumption costs being invoiced in arrears. It is not possible to automatically block access to a subscription once a certain level of consumption costs is reached.

Before requesting an Azure subscription, please read the Important Information section, below.

To request an Azure subscription, use the Request Azure Subscription Form to raise a service request with the IT Service.

Staff and Students' Personal Machines

Azure is a cloud service; hence a subscription can be accessed by an authorised user from any device.

Microsoft offer a free account to students, and provide $100 credit to use on Azure services. More details of this offer are available at https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/free/students/

Important Information

Before requesting an Azure subscription under the university's agreement, you must note the following:

Payment Commitment

  • All services consumed using an Azure subscription will be charged to cost code provided when the request is made
  • The charges are made monthly in arrears, and an email will be sent each month to the subscription owner nominated when the request is made, advising of the total cost that will be charged for the previous month
  • It is the responsibility of the subscription owner to ensure that any resources that are no longer required are terminated to prevent unexpected costs being incurred
  • Once costs have been incurred, they will be charged to the specified cost code with no exceptions
  • Azure provides functionality to monitor spend, and a budget can be set which will trigger warnings when spend thresholds are reached.  It is the responsibility of the subscription owner to implement any required monitoring

Data Management 

  • It remains the responsibility of the subscription owner to ensure that any data processing carried out using Azure complies with the guidance provided by Information Governance

Service Limitations

  • NUIT supports access to Azure as a platform only
  • NUIT does not provide support or advice on using Azure resources