Cloudamize Azure Design Plan Definitions

Overview

This document provides detailed explanations for the default Azure Design Plans. These designs are used to perform "What-If" scenarios, comparing a direct "lift-and-shift" approach against right-sized, cost-optimized workloads. This article lists the basic settings for each design to aid understanding.

Design Plans

Lift and Shift, Pay as you go

The Lift and Shift, Pay as you go plan represents a "Direct Transition" model. It is designed to provide a "Like-for-Like" baseline, showing the cost to replicate your current on-premises environment in Azure without making changes to resource allocations based on performance.

Infrastructure Modernized, Pay as you go

The Infrastructure Modernized, Pay-as-you-go design is an optimization-focused blueprint. Unlike "Lift and Shift" models that replicate physical hardware, this design uses Cloudamize's right-sizing algorithms to match your actual performance utilization to the most cost-effective Azure resources.

By targeting modern instance families and utilizing a Pay-As-You-Go model, it provides a balance of high-performance modern hardware with the flexibility of on-demand billing. It is the ideal "Phase 2" migration model for organizations looking to reduce cloud waste while maintaining the ability to scale without long-term commitments.

Infrastructure Modernized, 1 Year Reserved

The Infrastructure Modernized, 1 Year Reserved design is a high-efficiency cost model designed for stable, production-grade workloads. This design leverages Cloudamize's right-sizing intelligence to ensure servers are not over-provisioned, then applies Azure 1-Year Reserved Instance (RI) pricing.

By committing to a 1-year term, organizations can achieve significant savings (typically 30-40%) compared to standard Pay-As-You-Go rates. This plan is best suited for "always-on" infrastructure where the workload requirements are understood and expected to remain consistent for at least twelve months, providing a balance between deep cost reduction and mid-term commitment flexibility.

Infrastructure Modernized, 3 Year Reserved

The Infrastructure Modernized, 3 Year Reserved design represents the maximum compute cost-optimization strategy for long-term, stable workloads. This design utilizes Cloudamize’s right-sizing intelligence to eliminate over-provisioning and then applies the Azure 3-Year Reserved Instance (RI) pricing model.

By committing to a three-year term, organizations lock in the highest available compute discounts (often 60% or more compared to Pay-As-You-Go). This plan is the primary recommendation for "Always-On" production environments and core infrastructure where the application footprint is expected to remain stable over a multi-year horizon, ensuring the lowest possible Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for compute resources.

Infrastructure Modernized, 1 Year Reserved, Azure Hybrid Benefit

The Infrastructure Modernized, 1 Year Reserved, Azure Hybrid Benefit design is a high-optimization cost model that combines three major saving levers: Right-Sizing, Term Commitment, and License Portability.

1. Workload Optimization: It uses actual performance data to ensure you only pay for the resources you need.

2. 1-Year Reservation: It applies a mid-term commitment discount on compute.

3. Azure Hybrid Benefit (AHB): It allows you to use your existing on-premises Windows Server and SQL Server licenses (with Software Assurance) to cover the OS and software costs.

This design is the best choice for organizations that already own Microsoft licenses and want to significantly reduce their Azure spend without committing to a full three-year term.

Infrastructure Modernized, 3 Year Reserved, Azure Hybrid Benefit

The Infrastructure Modernized, 3 Year Reserved, Azure Hybrid Benefit design is the most aggressive cost-saving model available within the platform. It represents the "Minimum TCO" (Total Cost of Ownership) scenario by layering three distinct optimization strategies:

1. Workload Modernization: Infrastructure is right-sized based on actual performance utilization, ensuring no waste in provisioned vCPU or RAM.

2. 3-Year Commitment: Applies the maximum compute discount available from Azure by committing to a three-year reservation.

3. License Portability (AHB): Removes the cost of Windows Server and SQL Server from the Azure hourly rate by utilizing existing on-premises licenses with Software Assurance.

This design is the primary recommendation for production environments where the organization owns perpetual licenses and intends to maintain the workload in Azure for the long term.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please reach out to our helpdesk team at helpdesk@cloudamize.com