Merge pull request #195204 from dannyevers/66328-pricing

66328-pricing

Author: tamarakhader

articles/marketplace/azure-vm-plan-pricing-and-availability.md

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ ms.subservice: partnercenter-marketplace-publisher
 ms.topic: how-to
 author: iqshahmicrosoft
 ms.author: iqshah
-ms.date: 02/18/2022
+ms.date: 04/15/2022
 ---
 
 # Configure pricing and availability for a virtual machine offer
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ On this pane, you configure:
 - The price per hour.
 - Whether to make the plan visible to everyone or only to specific customers (a private audience).
 
-### Markets
+## Markets
 
 Every plan must be available in at least one market. Most markets are selected by default. To edit the list, select **Edit markets** and select or clear check boxes for each market location where this plan should (or shouldn't) be available for purchase. Users in selected markets can still deploy the offer to all Azure regions selected in the ["Plan setup"](azure-vm-plan-setup.md) section.
 
@@ -29,14 +29,14 @@ When you remove a market, customers from that market who are using active deploy
 
 Select **Save** to continue.
 
-### Pricing
+## Pricing
 
 For the **License model**, select **Usage-based monthly billed plan** to configure pricing for this plan, or **Bring your own license** to let customers use this plan with their existing license. 
 
 For a usage-based monthly billed plan, Microsoft will charge the customer for their hourly usage and they're billed monthly. This is our _Pay-as-you-go_ plan, where customers are only billed for the hours that they've used. When you select this plan, choose one of the following pricing options:
 
 - **Free** – Your VM offer is free.
-- **Flat rate (recommended)** – Your VM offer is the same hourly price regardless of the hardware it runs on.
+- **Flat rate** – Your VM offer is the same hourly price regardless of the hardware it runs on.
 - **Per core** – Your VM offer pricing is based on per CPU core count. You provide the price for one CPU core and we’ll increment the pricing based on the size of the hardware.
 - **Per core size** – Your VM offer is priced based on the number of CPU cores on the hardware it's deployed on.
 - **Per market and core size** – Assign prices based on the number of CPU cores on the hardware it's deployed on, and also for all markets. Currency conversion is done by you, the publisher. This option is easier if you use the import pricing feature.
@@ -46,19 +46,29 @@ For **Per core size** and **Per market and core size**, enter a **Price per core
 > [!NOTE]
 > To ensure that the prices are right before you publish them, export the pricing spreadsheet and review the prices in each market. Before you export pricing data, first select **Save draft** near the bottom of the page to save pricing changes.
 
-Some things to consider when selecting a pricing option:
-- For the first four options, Microsoft does the currency conversion.
-- Microsoft suggests using a flat rate pricing for software solutions.
-- Prices are fixed, so once the plan is published the prices can't be adjusted. However, if you would like to reduce prices for your VM offers you can open a [support ticket](support.md).
+When selecting a pricing option, Microsoft does the currency conversion for the Flat rate, Per core, and Per core size pricing options.
 
-> [!IMPORTANT]
-> Occasionally, Microsoft expands the list of supported core sizes available. When this occurs, we will notify you and request that you take action on your offer within a specified timeframe. If you do not review your offer within the timeframe specified, we’ll publish the new core sizes at the price that we have calculated for you. For details about updating core sizes, see [Update core size for an Azure virtual machine offer](azure-vm-plan-manage.md).
+### Configure reservation pricing (optional)
 
-### Free Trial
+When you select either the _Flat rate_, _Per core_, and _Per core size_ price option, the **Reservation pricing** section appears. You can choose to offer savings for a 1-year commitment, 3-year commitment, or both. For more information about reservation pricing, including how prices are calculated, see [Plan a virtual machine offer](marketplace-virtual-machines.md#reservation-pricing-optional).
+
+These steps assume you have already selected either the _Flat rate_, _Per core_, or _Per core size_ price option and entered a per hour price.
+
+1. Under **Reservation pricing**, select **Yes, offer reservation pricing**.
+1. To offer a 1-year discount, select the **1-year saving %** check box and then enter the percentage discount you want to offer.
+1. To offer a 3-year discount, select the **3-year saving %** check box and then enter the percentage discount you want to offer.
+1. To see the discounted prices, select **Price per core size**. A table with the 1-year and 3-year prices for each core size is shown. These prices are calculated based on the number of hours in the term with the percentage discount subtracted.
+
+    > [!TIP]
+    > For Per core size plans, you can optionally change the price for a particular core size in the **Price/hour** column of the table.
+
+1. Make sure to select **Save draft** before you leave the page. The changes are applied once you publish the offer.
+
+## Free trial
 
 You can offer a one-month, three-month, or six-month **Free Trial** to your customers.
 
-### Plan visibility
+## Plan visibility
 
 You can design each plan to be visible to everyone or only to a preselected private audience.
 
@@ -71,7 +81,7 @@ You can design each plan to be visible to everyone or only to a preselected priv
 
 Private offers aren't supported with Azure subscriptions established through a reseller of the Cloud Solution Provider program (CSP).
 
-### Hide plan
+## Hide plan
 
 If your virtual machine is meant to be used only indirectly when it's referenced through another solution template or managed application, select this check box to publish the virtual machine but hide it from customers who might be searching or browsing for it directly.
 

articles/marketplace/marketplace-virtual-machines.md

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ ms.subservice: partnercenter-marketplace-publisher
 ms.topic: conceptual
 author: iqshahmicrosoft
 ms.author: iqshah
-ms.date: 02/18/2022
+ms.date: 04/15/2022
 ---
 
 # Plan a virtual machine offer
@@ -63,13 +63,44 @@ A preview audience can access your offer prior to it being published live in the
 
 ## Plans, pricing, and trials
 
-VM offers require at least one plan. A plan defines the solution scope and limits, and the associated pricing. You can create multiple plans for your offer to give your customers different technical and licensing options, as well as trial opportunities. For VM offers with more than one plan, you can change the order that your plans are shown to customers. The first plan listed will become the default plan that customers will see. For info about how to reorder plans, see [Reorder plans](azure-vm-plan-reorder-plans.md). For general guidance about plans, including pricing models, free trials, and private plans, see [Plans and pricing for commercial marketplace offers](plans-pricing.md).
+VM offers require at least one plan. A plan defines the solution scope and limits, and the associated pricing. You can create multiple plans for your offer to give your customers different technical and pricing options, as well as trial opportunities. For VM offers with more than one plan, you can change the order that your plans are shown to customers. The first plan listed will become the default plan that customers will see. For info about how to reorder plans, see [Reorder plans](azure-vm-plan-reorder-plans.md). For general guidance about plans, including pricing models, free trials, and private plans, see [Plans and pricing for commercial marketplace offers](plans-pricing.md).
 
 VMs are fully commerce-enabled, using usage-based pay-as-you-go or bring-your-own-license (BYOL) licensing models. Microsoft hosts the commerce transaction and bills your customer on your behalf. You get the benefit of using the preferred payment relationship between your customer and Microsoft, including any Enterprise Agreements. For more information, see [Commercial marketplace transact capabilities](./marketplace-commercial-transaction-capabilities-and-considerations.md).
 
 > [!NOTE]
 > The Azure Prepayment (previously called monetary commitment) associated with an Enterprise Agreement can be used against the Azure usage of your VM, but not against your software licensing fees.
 
+### Reservation pricing (optional)
+
+You can offer savings to customers who commit to an annual or three-year agreement through **VM software reservations**. This is called _Reservation pricing_.
+
+Reservation pricing applies to usage-based monthly billed plans with the following price options:
+
+- Flat rate
+- Per core
+- Per core size
+
+Reservation pricing doesn’t apply to _Bring your own license_ plans or to plans with the following price options:
+
+- Free
+- Per market and core size price
+
+#### How prices are calculated
+
+The 1-year and 3-year prices are calculated based on the per hour usage-based price and the percentage savings you configure for a plan.
+
+In this example, we’ll configure a plan with the “Per core” price option as follows:
+
+- Hourly price per core: $1.
+- 1-year savings: 30% discount
+- 3-year savings: 50% discount
+
+All calculations are based on 8,760 hours per year. Without VM software reservation pricing, the yearly cost of a 1 core VM would be $8,760.00. If the customer purchases a VM software reservation, the price would be as follows:
+
+1-year price with 30% discount = $6,132.00
+
+3-year price with 50% discount = $13,140.00
+
 ### Private plans
 
 Private plans restrict the discovery and deployment of your solution to a specific set of customers you choose and offer customized software, terms, and pricing. The customized terms enable you to highlight a variety of scenarios, including field-led deals with specialized pricing and terms as well as early access to limited release software.