Microsoft’s Azure DevOps has emerged as a leading platform for implementing DevOps practices, offering a suite of services designed to help teams plan smarter, collaborate better, and ship faster. From agile planning and test management to source control and CI/CD, Azure DevOps has a wide array of features that cater to both small teams and large enterprises. One key aspect to consider when adopting Azure DevOps is its pricing model, which offers flexibility but can also appear complex due to the different plans and add-ons available.
Understanding Azure DevOps pricing is essential for budgeting and cost optimization, ensuring you only pay for the features you need and making the most out of your investment. Azure DevOps offers a scalable pricing model that varies based on several factors, including the number of users, level of functionality, and additional services like test environments or extra storage. In this blog post, we’ll break down the different elements of Azure DevOps pricing, helping you navigate this crucial aspect and select the most cost-effective options for your organization.
Azure DevOps is a powerful set of tools that enable organizations to manage their software development lifecycle. From planning and tracking to code management and deployment, Azure DevOps provides a seamless experience for teams to work together and deliver high-quality software products. However, with great power comes great responsibility, and pricing is one of the key factors that organizations need to consider when adopting Azure DevOps.
Azure DevOps pricing is based on a pay-as-you-go model, which means that organizations only pay for the services they use. The pricing is divided into three categories: Basic, Basic + Test Plans, and Azure DevOps Server.
Basic Plan
The Basic plan includes core features such as Agile tools, repositories for Git and TFVC, and build and release pipelines. The pricing is based on the number of users who need access to these features, and organizations can choose between monthly or annual billing. The cost per user per month decreases as the number of users increases, making it more cost-effective for larger organizations.
Basic + Test Plans
The Basic + Test Plans plan includes all the features of the Basic plan, as well as the ability to run manual and automated tests. The pricing for this plan is also based on the number of users, but organizations need to purchase Test Plans licenses separately for each user who needs access to testing features.
Azure DevOps Server Plan
The Azure DevOps Server plan is designed for organizations that require complete control over their DevOps environment. With this plan, organizations can deploy Azure DevOps on their own infrastructure, and the pricing is based on the number of users who need access to the features. This plan includes all the features of the Basic and Basic + Test Plans plans, as well as additional enterprise-grade features such as high availability and disaster recovery.
Valtira is a company that specializes in helping organizations understand and optimize their Azure DevOps pricing. Valtira has a team of experts who can assess an organization’s DevOps needs and recommend the most cost-effective pricing plan. Valtira can also help organizations optimize their Azure DevOps usage by identifying areas where cost savings can be achieved.
Valtira’s approach to Azure DevOps pricing optimization is based on four key pillars: usage analysis, cost reduction, contract negotiation, and ongoing management. By analyzing an organization’s Azure DevOps usage, Valtira can identify areas where cost savings can be achieved, such as reducing the number of unused licenses or optimizing the configuration of DevOps resources. Valtira can also negotiate with Microsoft on behalf of the organization to ensure that they are getting the best possible pricing. Finally, Valtira provides ongoing management and support to ensure that organizations continue to optimize their Azure DevOps usage and pricing over time.
In conclusion, Azure DevOps pricing is a complex topic that requires careful consideration when adopting the platform. By understanding the pricing models and working with experts such as Valtira, organizations can ensure that they are getting the most value from their investment in Azure DevOps. Reach out to the Valtira team of experts to learn more.
One of Our Past Azure DevOps Projects
Edina Realty and its parent company HomeServices of America had a vision to simplify the home buying, selling, and refinancing process through MyAtlas, a new customer dashboard that tracks the home buying process. Valtira helped bring this vision to life by architecting a system that integrated their various services into a unified dashboard.
Edina Realty’s Needs and Challenges
The real estate process is not something most people encounter on a regular basis, making it difficult to navigate. The process of buying or selling a home involves many different companies including, buyers, sellers, agents, appraisers, lenders, title companies, and county recording offices. These services have historically been siloed because each part of the process has its own technology system. Edina Realty had a vision of becoming the first full-service real estate company, offering all the resources needed to buy, sell or refinance a home.
After nearly 20 years of discussing the idea, Edina Realty and HomeServices of America Partnered with Valtira to begin planning how to build the system. For the past 2 years, we’ve worked together to architect, design, and build the first iteration of the platform and many enhancements and feature additions are on the roadmap.
Solution
When a user logs on to MyAtlas, they are able to see multiple services offered by Edina Realty, or one of their affiliates including mortgage, title, insurance, and warranty companies. The app visually shows the user what milestones they have completed, their current point in the process, and upcoming touch points before closing.
The long-term vision is to offer homeownership recommendations as well. We’re exploring ideas around home renovations and insurance coverage.
Technical Architecture
The MyAtlas mobile app and responsive web experience is designed to be white labeled. This allows the numerous HomeServices of America companies to utilize the same codebase and brand the applications to match their guidelines. From a customer perspective, they can log into the various services under a single login.
The iOS and Android applications were built with React Native, utilizing Microsoft’s AppCenter to automate deployment to the App stores. The underlying services were built on Microsoft Azure Functions, powering both the web and app experience. Each company integrated with the back-end data store using a different set of Azure Functions which pushed the data into the Dataverse. Model-driven & canvas-driven LogicApps were built to help administrators review the data and make changes.
