{"id":19323,"date":"2015-11-30T15:31:39","date_gmt":"2015-11-30T15:31:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/?p=19323"},"modified":"2015-11-30T15:42:33","modified_gmt":"2015-11-30T15:42:33","slug":"how-much-does-x-in-azure-cost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/?p=19323","title":{"rendered":"How Much Does X In Azure Cost?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you want to make me angry\/ridicule you, this is the question to ask me.<\/p>\n<p>Let me ask you a question. How much does it cost to buy a car?<\/p>\n<p>Well, sir\/mam, that depends. Would you like this fine classic?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto;\" src=\"http:\/\/www.junkyards.com\/images\/67-mustange-fastback-4spd-2-out-of-the-yard.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"237\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Or would you like something more mobile but on the basic end?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto;\" src=\"http:\/\/www.jenningsmotorgroup.co.uk\/GetImage.ashx?img=F20150709105304.jpg&amp;type=NewCarModel\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"270\" \/><\/p>\n<p>How about something with a bit more oomph?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto;\" src=\"http:\/\/mercedesblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/2014-Mercedes-Benz-S-Class1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"282\" \/><\/p>\n<p>What sort of features would you like added?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto;\" src=\"http:\/\/static.squarespace.com\/static\/53323bb4e4b0cebc6a28ffa2\/5357d2f6e4b0f22812cc34c7\/5357d5cfe4b0f22812cce491\/1398265295139\/Batmobile-Tour-.jpg?format=original\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"213\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Or would you like to go all out?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto;\" src=\"http:\/\/img-3.gizmag.com\/100-most-expensive-cars-of-all-time-520.jpg?auto=format&amp;ch=Width,DPR&amp;fit=max&amp;h=700&amp;q=60&amp;w=700&amp;s=13be00b3a7b0999a19b36fb70995c5de\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The answer to \u201chow much is a car?\u201d is anywhere between $0 and (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gizmag.com\/100-most-expensive-cars-of-all-time\/32237\/\" target=\"_blank\">last recorded at auction<\/a>) $52,000,000.<\/p>\n<p>So, when there are so many variations in Azure VMs, storage types, ways to connect to Azure, options for backing up, enabling DR, etc, how do you expect to price up an cloud solution with a question like \u201chow much is a VM in the cloud?\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Azure is a technical sale.<\/p>\n<p>Azure is a <em>technical <\/em>sale.<\/p>\n<p>Azure is a <strong>technical <\/strong>sale.<\/p>\n<p>Azure is a <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">technical <\/span>sale.<\/p>\n<p>Azure is a TECHNICAL sale.<\/p>\n<p>Let me repeat that one more time \u2026<\/p>\n<p>Azure is a <strong><u><em><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">TECHNICAL <\/span><\/em><\/u><\/strong>sale.<\/p>\n<p>No design = no pricing. Simples.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto;\" src=\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2013\/05\/06\/article-2320389-0BB12D0A000005DC-942_306x423.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"276\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In a technical pre-sale, then you\u2019ll do something called a \u201cdesign\u201d. This \u201cdesign\u201d allows you to do something called \u201cspecification\u201d. In the \u201cdesign\u201d you figure out which bits you need. The \u201cspecification\u201d allows you figure out the sizes of those bits. Strangely enough, there is this thing called \u201cGoogle\u201d that allows you to search for available specs and pricing, such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Azure sizes VM<\/li>\n<li>Azure pricing VM<\/li>\n<li><em>Azure pricing<\/em> storage<\/li>\n<li><strong>Azure pricing<\/strong> gateway<\/li>\n<li><u>Azure pricing <\/u>data transfer<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Azure pricing<\/span> backup<\/li>\n<li>AZURE PRICING site recovery<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong><u><em>AZURE PRICING<\/em><\/u><\/strong><\/span> RemoteApp<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I really doubt that I have some unique intellect that has identified a search pattern that no one else can find. But some days \u2026 I do wonder.<\/p>\n<p>If you are a potential Azure customer, I have two tips for working with consultants\/sales people:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Technical requirement<\/strong>: NO ONE can price Azure without a technical engagement. As an end customer, I never took a meeting without a technical pre-sales person present. No techie there in reception, then I didn\u2019t come down. Was I being a d*ck? Yeah, but I made it clear how I bought.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Give them a test<\/strong>: Ask the consulting company to price up a solution \u2026 in front of you .. right there \u2026 with no notice. Informed questions that look to fix down a design\/spec are indicators of knowledge. Signs of panic, procrastination. non-vibrating phones being answered \u2026 they\u2019re bad signs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For you consulting companies, the advice is simple. Cop on and skill up. Take advantage of every opportunity, and there are lots with many of them free, that there is to skill up: \u201cwe\u2019re too busy\u201d is bull$h1t. Classic sales people do have a role: sell the concepts to the managers. After that, you need to bring in the techs and design\/spec up a solution. Failing to do so, will get you nowhere, other than looking like an idiot trying to build castles on sand.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/image.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto; border: 0px;\" title=\"image\" src=\"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/image_thumb.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"450\" height=\"261\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you want to make me angry\/ridicule you, this is the question to ask me. Let me ask you a question. How much does it cost to buy a car? Well, sir\/mam, that depends. Would you like this fine classic? Or would you like something more mobile but on the basic end? How about something &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/?p=19323\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;How Much Does X In Azure Cost?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[170],"class_list":["post-19323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-azure","tag-azure"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/17121923990_ba6b3b8fe6_z_d1.jpg","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19323"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19326,"href":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19323\/revisions\/19326"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}