no surprise. the amount of hardware available in azure is tiny. this project probably couldn't get azure to approve them for more VMs.
Microsoft pauses free Windows 365 cloud PC trials after ‘significant demand’
61–70 of 198 posts
Re: Microsoft pauses free Windows 365 cloud PC trials after ‘significant demand’
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
When you use a lot of contractor developers, being able to provision out devices for temporary work is powerful. A lot of time is spent provisioning machines, white listing ips, setting up VPNs, and getting the contractor to the point where they can work. In some cases I've seen it take 2 or 3 weeks to get a contractor up and running on a 6 month contract. Being able to give them credentials to a machine that's ready…
Okay, now I'm just laughing out loud. My org has an internal/external reputation for not exactly being fast moving and having convoluted IT processes, yet we can onboard people within a few days. If it takes you 2-3 weeks to onboard ANYONE please realize that your IT processes are complete, unmitigated garbage. Paying Microsoft for some Windows VMs through the nose isn't going to change anything about that.
This it true but I've seen orgs in the past where a business unit would happily pay quite a lot of money to avoid going anywhere near central IT.
I think the most extreme example of slow process I saw was an organization where central IT wanted to charge $20k and take two months to quote for a project.
In that kind of environment things like this with opex pricing that can be assigned to a project's budget and fast spin up are a much better option :)
Re: Microsoft pauses free Windows 365 cloud PC trials after ‘significant demand’
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
When you use a lot of contractor developers, being able to provision out devices for temporary work is powerful. A lot of time is spent provisioning machines, white listing ips, setting up VPNs, and getting the contractor to the point where they can work. In some cases I've seen it take 2 or 3 weeks to get a contractor up and running on a 6 month contract. Being able to give them credentials to a machine that's ready…
Okay, now I'm just laughing out loud. My org has an internal/external reputation for not exactly being fast moving and having convoluted IT processes, yet we can onboard people within a few days. If it takes you 2-3 weeks to onboard ANYONE please realize that your IT processes are complete, unmitigated garbage. Paying Microsoft for some Windows VMs through the nose isn't going to change anything about that.
Yes it does, because then you don't need to deal with IT but can just deal with accounting and your budget.
At a former workplace, we got our own internet connection to not have to deal with IT. We got our own computers for that connection. We hired outside contractors instead of using internal people because IT was a hassle to deal with.
We spent tons and tons of money to only have to deal with accounting and not coordinate with IT.
Re: Microsoft pauses free Windows 365 cloud PC trials after ‘significant demand’
#64Anyone else developing on a Mac/Linux desktop, and looking at Windows 365 to run/test/prototype windows applications?
For this use case, you might be better off using Windows VPS providers. For about $6/mo, you'll get a VM pre-installed with Windows 2019 server. Just google "Windows VPS" and you'll find tons of providers.
You’re not going to find that price at any reputable provider for 2019. There is BuyVM.net (very reputable), but they offer only up to 2012 I believe unfortunately.
Re: Microsoft pauses free Windows 365 cloud PC trials after ‘significant demand’
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
Okay, now I'm just laughing out loud. My org has an internal/external reputation for not exactly being fast moving and having convoluted IT processes, yet we can onboard people within a few days. If it takes you 2-3 weeks to onboard ANYONE please realize that your IT processes are complete, unmitigated garbage. Paying Microsoft for some Windows VMs through the nose isn't going to change anything about that.
This it true but I've seen orgs in the past where a business unit would happily pay quite a lot of money to avoid going anywhere near central IT. I think the most extreme example of slow process I saw was an organization where central IT wanted to charge $20k and take two months to quote for a project. In that kind of environment things like this with opex pricing that can be assigned to a project's budget and fast s…
At my current company, my department would be able to find more experienced contractors for well below what another department here rents them out for.
So I can see internal pricing being an issue as well. Internal IT charges for quotes. MSFT just quotes.
This happened at a prior company as well. IBM was routinely hired over our internal team as they were cheaper.
Re: Microsoft pauses free Windows 365 cloud PC trials after ‘significant demand’
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
Okay, now I'm just laughing out loud. My org has an internal/external reputation for not exactly being fast moving and having convoluted IT processes, yet we can onboard people within a few days. If it takes you 2-3 weeks to onboard ANYONE please realize that your IT processes are complete, unmitigated garbage. Paying Microsoft for some Windows VMs through the nose isn't going to change anything about that.
This it true but I've seen orgs in the past where a business unit would happily pay quite a lot of money to avoid going anywhere near central IT. I think the most extreme example of slow process I saw was an organization where central IT wanted to charge $20k and take two months to quote for a project. In that kind of environment things like this with opex pricing that can be assigned to a project's budget and fast s…
Don't you have security policies to make you must go through IT?
Re: Microsoft pauses free Windows 365 cloud PC trials after ‘significant demand’
#67> including one at the top end that includes eight vCPUs, 32GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage for $158 per month Why is it so popular? I can't understand the economics of it. Can someone explain? Why would I pay ~$10k over 5 years for something that's similar to the laptop I'm typing on which costed me $700 used? I know it's for businesses, but even then, does it come with tooling or something that makes management eas…
You're assuming that a physical desktop or laptop is the alternative. Likely this is an alternative for people using vmware horizon or citrix for virtual desktops. In which case you'll be spending almost half that on just the software, not including any hardware at all. I'd need more info on the service, but I'd imagine this is very cost competitive. As to "why?" - because for things like HIPPA data, I'd MUCH rather…
The VDI angle makes the most sense out of all the answers I've seen. However, I can't imagine anyone concerned about security would do BYOD for laptops or desktops.
Every person I've ever seen using VDI has a company PC plus a virtual desktop, so there's no cost savings there. The main advantages I can see are easier backups and not having to worry about network bandwidth too much (just enough for RDP is good), but there are drawbacks too like dealing with remote printing, a lack of support for hardware security tokens, etc..
For example, try to get a YubiKey working [1] with WebAuthN or FIDO when using RDP / VDI. It's basically impossible and you're stuck with crappy 2FA like TOTP.
Re: Microsoft pauses free Windows 365 cloud PC trials after ‘significant demand’
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-365/all-pricing
seems quite expensive?
Not compared to Citrix/VMWare/Amazon Workspaces, which is that + Windows licensing. Those prices include licenses (and license management, their portal keeps track of who has Windows licenses and therefore can have a cloud desktop). It's competitive, especially if you can leave the VM turned on all the time.
Re: Microsoft pauses free Windows 365 cloud PC trials after ‘significant demand’
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
Okay, now I'm just laughing out loud. My org has an internal/external reputation for not exactly being fast moving and having convoluted IT processes, yet we can onboard people within a few days. If it takes you 2-3 weeks to onboard ANYONE please realize that your IT processes are complete, unmitigated garbage. Paying Microsoft for some Windows VMs through the nose isn't going to change anything about that.
This it true but I've seen orgs in the past where a business unit would happily pay quite a lot of money to avoid going anywhere near central IT. I think the most extreme example of slow process I saw was an organization where central IT wanted to charge $20k and take two months to quote for a project. In that kind of environment things like this with opex pricing that can be assigned to a project's budget and fast s…
I worked at one place where the running joke was if central IT pushed for a solution, it was time to seriously consider the competitors to that solution.
Re: Microsoft pauses free Windows 365 cloud PC trials after ‘significant demand’
#70> including one at the top end that includes eight vCPUs, 32GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage for $158 per month Why is it so popular? I can't understand the economics of it. Can someone explain? Why would I pay ~$10k over 5 years for something that's similar to the laptop I'm typing on which costed me $700 used? I know it's for businesses, but even then, does it come with tooling or something that makes management eas…
I don’t need it, but I can understand why this gets traction. Enterprises can essentially give out a tightly controlled windows client to anybody that needs it, even if they are running a Mac.
Severely restrict Windows without taking away liberties of the computer that the employee has.
An employee can simply login to their Windows workspace and continue work regardless of their their thin client(s).
Update windows without annoying your employee…
Prevent employees from installing that random chat program that is almost definitely a spyware right alongside their work programs..
Oh and prep a golden image Windows workspace and onboard any employee within seconds..
I can see how this product makes its argument to enterprise IT.