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Remove default "terraform" partner_id

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Re: Remove default "terraform" partner_id

#41

Post by manigandham »

wysifnwyg wrote: post #13
cremp wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. They very clearly allow it to be changed in a config; and I'm willing to bet my socks that Azure is not giving Hashicorp 'deployment structure' information based on a partner id.

Included in the link text. From Microsoft documentation: This program will allow ISVs who deploy their software on an Azure customer’s infrastructure an opportunity to get credit for the impact of their software. The data generated by the Azure ISV Customer Usage Attribution program will be used for ISV partners to qualify for partner programs by providing a automated method of linking a customers usage to the ISVs s…

What do you think is a problem? If you're using Azure Marketplace then you're already dealing with vendors so of course they'll receive your information for billing and support. Otherwise it's anonymized.

Nothing in the deployment itself is sent to them (and no cloud would ever risk that kind of exposure). It's simple usage analytics.

Re: Remove default "terraform" partner_id

#43

Post by manojlds »

freedomben wrote: post #10

This does indeed look bad, but I'd like to give Hashicorp the benefit of the doubt and allow them to respond before grabbing any pitchforks/torches. Let's not forget they've added a ton of value to many of our lives and have never required a cent (for the free version).

If there is any company that I would give the benefit of the doubt, it's Hashicorp.

Re: Remove default "terraform" partner_id

#45

Post by eitally »

amitkgupta84 wrote: post #30
acruns wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By adding their partner ID, they get revenue based on the usage in Azure.

Do you have a link to some docs supporting that? How exactly is revenue tied to usage?

It's there because of the kind of partner agreement ISVs have with the cloud provider. There are two things at play:

1) How does the cloud provider know what the ISV is selling, in order to credit them for it (discounts, incentives, program membership, etc)?

2) How do the sales reps get paid on related deals? This goes both ways: the ISV's reps get paid regardless but they need a way to tag the cloud-based deal in their own CRM, and the cloud sales reps need to be able to get paid base on the ISV partner's cloud deals, and that's really hard unless there is a concrete way to relate the ISV's sales deal to cloud consumption associated with the end customer.

One of the ways to do this is on the front end via deployment tracking (like this Terraform ID). Another way is to do it on the back end through billing account linkages. In any case, the end customer shouldn't really care one way or another -- these are just mechanisms to ensure the partner relationship between ISV and hyperscaler is well understood.

Re: Remove default "terraform" partner_id

#46

Post by eitally »

It's there because of the kind of partner agreement ISVs have with the cloud provider. There are two things at play: 1) How does the cloud provider know what the ISV is selling, in order to credit them for it (discounts, incentives, program membership, etc)?

2) How do the sales reps get paid on related deals? This goes both ways: the ISV's reps get paid regardless but they need a way to tag the cloud-based deal in their own CRM, and the cloud sales reps need to be able to get paid base on the ISV partner's cloud deals, and that's really hard unless there is a concrete way to relate the ISV's sales deal to cloud consumption associated with the end customer.

One of the ways to do this is on the front end via deployment tracking (like this Terraform ID). Another way is to do it on the back end through billing account linkages. In any case, the end customer shouldn't really care one way or another -- these are just mechanisms to ensure the partner relationship between ISV and hyperscaler is well understood.

Re: Remove default "terraform" partner_id

#47

Post by tedshroyer »

dewey wrote: post #38
c3534l wrote: post #31

Anyone know if this causes users to become noncompliant with GDPR, FedRAMP, or similar regulatory protections?

Did you read what the issue is even about? It's about setting the string "terraform" in a config file. It's not some personal data or evil tracking token.

I believe you are mistaken. It appears to inject a tracking token. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/marketplace/azure-par...

Re: Remove default "terraform" partner_id

#48

Post by taftster »

Townley wrote: post #29
kstrauser wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I'm OK with that? If it doesn't increase my costs, and Hashicorp gets paid because I used their tools to deploy my services, and Azure is getting paid more because I probably deploy more services because it's easier thanks to Terraform, doesn't everyone win?

I'm mostly okay with it, though the deployment plan isn't the proper place for what's essentially a referral code. Hashicorp is facilitating the purchase of Azure products, and deserves a cut of the revenue. But this should be handled on the account level, either on sign-up or as an account field (a-la Amazon Smile) I'm less okay with the tracking for analytics purposes, but if Terraform finds some way to make it eas…

If it's a referral code at the account level, then you can't easily have multiple providers supplying tools for the client. Whereas, if it's part of the deployment itself, the utilization of one partner tool can be distinguished over another.

Or in other words, the "cut of the revenue" needs to be in proportion to the usage of Azure resources generated by the partner tool. I think that's why its designed this way.

Re: Remove default "terraform" partner_id

#49

Post by jessaustin »

alrs wrote: post #33
mynameisvlad wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sets a dangerous precedent. You shouldn't need to contribute financially to file an issue about an open source product you use. Edit: cleaned up the wording a bit by removing the "raise a concern" bit. Hopefully that removes any ambiguity in the comment.

Nowhere, in the tenets of "free software" or "open source", is there any expectation there is any mechanism whatsoever for support or even "filing issues." If an open-source project wants to charge you money to file an issue, that's totally OK and totally in-bounds.

Haha that's a fun revenue model.

Re: Remove default "terraform" partner_id

#50

Post by dewey »

tedshroyer wrote: post #47
dewey wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you read what the issue is even about? It's about setting the string "terraform" in a config file. It's not some personal data or evil tracking token.

I believe you are mistaken. It appears to inject a tracking token. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/marketplace/azure-par...

It's not a user-specific tracking token, it's a tool specific token (https://github.com/terraform-providers/terraform-provider-az...)

All users of terraform will look the same, it's to get a general idea of "how many terraform using instances are there".

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