Lack of Adequate Alternatives for New Users: Problems because of Azure Pass being discontinued

Hi,

The discontinuation of the Azure Pass presents significant challenges.

As a Microsoft Partner, Palmeto Solutions has trained thousands of professionals in Azure over the past decade. This change could hinder our ability to provide effective training and support for new users, impacting their learning experience and potentially driving them to other platforms. Addressing these issues is crucial for maintaining Azure's appeal in the training market.

In India, hands-on, practical training is crucial, as participants often prefer interactive sessions over purely theoretical explanations. Customization and the ability to address deeper questions are key. Incorporating real-time examples and allowing attendees to experiment alongside the instructor can enhance engagement and understanding.

While pre-canned ILT materials provide a solid foundation, blending them with flexible, impromptu demonstrations can better address audience needs and encourage exploration. How do you currently balance structured content with hands-on learning in your sessions?  

The Microsoft Azure Pass has been instrumental in training thousands of new users on Azure, advancing beginners to higher levels of expertise. We have successfully onboarded tens of thousands of users, qualifying many as Azure Administrators and creating thousands of Azure Architects, all with the support of the Azure Pass. 

Many of our customers are hesitant to invest in paid subscriptions via credit cards but are open to one-month trial payments for staff training. One alternative we've considered is using a single Pay As You Go subscription to create multiple accounts for training purposes. However, with the mandatory MFA, managing these accounts becomes cumbersome, as we would need to reset them daily to prevent cost escalations. This approach would lead to unnecessary administrative overhead. 

When others are lowering the barriers to get people onto their platforms, these restrictions will hinder Azure adoption amongst educators, hobbyist developers, startups, small developers and students alike who will seek other platforms which seemingly welcome them. 

Lack of Adequate Alternatives for New Users:

• By discontinuing Azure Pass and imposing new restrictions like mandatory MFA, Microsoft may risk alienating beginners with little cloud experience.
• There isn’t a clear, user-friendly alternative that allows newcomers to easily gain hands-on experience without facing costs or dealing with complex authentication requirements.
• These restrictions add complexity instead of simplifying the learning experience, potentially discouraging new users from exploring the platform. 

It’s all about (our clients) resource management in big organizations, and its effects L&D teams decisions on Choosing between azure and other cloud platforms. 

Our trainers (MCT's) also expressed similar opinion, we are sharing one of our trainers thoughts below:

"As a trainer, I'm considering transitioning to competing cloud platforms, but I wanted to share my thoughts in hopes that Microsoft will take feedback into account. Allowing training partners to purchase Azure Passes in bulk for specific training programs—tracked with Metrics That Matter—would be a valuable solution. This approach would ensure the Azure Passes are used appropriately for their intended purpose, minimizing the risk of misuse."