Azure – cloud services
Microsoft Azure is a platform providing various cloud services in the categories infrastructure-as-a-service, software-as-a-service as well as platform-as-a-service, such as virtual servers or services with artificial intelligence. Employees and students of the University of Vienna may use these services provided by the ZID for the purposes of research and teaching, subject to a fee at special conditions.
Form Anfrage zu Microsoft Azure (enquiry about Azure, in German)
Form Microsoft Azure bestellen (ordering Azure, in German)
Scope of service
Microsoft Azure is a public cloud platform, including various cloud services. These can be easily expanded or reduced to meet individual needs and they always use the latest hardware and software, without users having to cover investment costs in advance. These services and resources are available everywhere and it is possible to easily grant access permissions for these resources to others.
Employees and students may use all services of the Microsoft Azure platform for the purposes of research and teaching. To the complete list of services
Examples of Azure services include:
- Infrastructure services: use virtual machines (including those with GPUs), storage and databases
- Artificial intelligence (AI): convert speech to text and vice versa, analyse images and documents, and use generative AI – e.g. via Microsoft Foundry with its wide range of large language models (LLMs) that can be used in the browser or integrated into applications via APIs
- Container services: Develop and run software in containers (Azure Kubernetes Service) and execute it serverlessly (Azure Functions)
Users who obtain Azure via the University of Vienna and not privately have the following advantages:
- Using Azure in compliance with the GDPR
- At least 15 per cent discount on all Azure services
- Payment via the cost centre or internal order number
- Authentication via the u:account
- Included Microsoft support
Planning costs
The use of Microsoft Azure is subject to a fee. Employees and students of the University of Vienna get at least a 15 per cent discount on the regular Azure prizes.
Microsoft charges for Azure resources based on usage (pay-as-you-go). Therefore, it is not possible to define or influence the costs in advance. Rather, the costs vary depending on the service and on the scope of use. Using the Azure pricing calculator, you can configure the required resources in detail in advance and obtain a relatively exact cost estimate. The prices specified by the pricing calculator are net prices; you have to add 20 per cent Austrian value added tax.
The ZID covers the costs in advance. These are charged to the relevant cost centre or internal order number via internal cost allocation on a quarterly basis. You have to specify the cost centre or internal order number when registering for Azure.
Note
Always monitor the current costs when using Azure. If necessary, see the user guide Monitoring costs.
Notes
- Your order must be approved by the IT representative and the manager of the cost centre or internal order number. Once approved, it may take up to 2 hours for the Microsoft 365 account to be provisioned. For more information, see Provision.
- For Azure, the free subscription plan Microsoft 365 (A1) – Account and license web apps is sufficient.
Ordering Azure
- Use the form Microsoft Azure bestellen (ordering Azure, in German).
- Enter a manager of the cost centre or internal order number in the form, they must approve the order.
- Once the order is approved, it will be processed at the ZID (duration: 1 to 2 working days). You will be contacted about which applications you need and the Azure environment will be set up for you according to your needs.
- Subsequently, you will receive all the necessary information for accessing the Microsoft Azure platform.
- Please obtain information in advance about data protection and data security regarding the use of Azure and adhere to the relevant measures and recommendations specified.
Signing in to Azure
Use the user guide Signing in to Microsoft Azure.
If you have not yet activated multi-factor authentication (MFA) for your Microsoft 365 account, you will need to do this the first time you sign in. To do this, use the user guide Selecting a second factor.
After successfully signing in, you can access your own Azure area and create resources.
Note
If you have not logged in to Azure for 360 days, your Azure account and associated user data will be deleted. Resources associated with the account in Azure will not be deleted.
If you need to reactivate your Azure account at a later date, please contact digital.zid(at)univie.ac.at. In your e-mail, please include your u:account UserID and the Azure subscription that you had access to.
Support
Microsoft is responsible for the functionality of the Azure services. In case of problems or technical questions, please use the Microsoft support. The Standard support package is included in the service. If necessary, see the user guide Receiving Microsoft support.
If you have any questions about the Azure service of the ZID, the Azure account, the management of permissions and cost accounting, please use the form Anfrage zu Microsoft Azure (enquiry about Azure, in German).
Terms of Use
If you use Azure, you have to comply with the
- measures specified under data protection and data security and acknowledge the recommendations specified;
- Microsoft Azure Terms of Use
- Microsoft Privacy Statement
In case of intentional violations, access to the service may be withdrawn with immediate effect.
The Data Protection Declaration of the University of Vienna – cloud services and other IT applications (in German) applies.
User guides
Basics
- Signing in to Microsoft Azure
- Creating resources
- Monitoring costs
- Receiving Microsoft support
- Azure documentation by Microsoft
Using included AI services
By Microsoft: