The World According to Mitch

I have been a technology blogger since 2002. I could not possibly go back to count, but I would not be surprised if I have written over a thousand articles on or around Microsoft products, technologies, events, and solutions. Whether you have read one or two, or all of them, I can guarantee you that not one of them has been anything like this one. This is not some sort of yellow journalistic click-bait… every single word is factual, unexaggerated, and can be backed up with documented proof.

On June 23 I provisioned a Microsoft Security Copilot (https://securitycopilot.microsoft.com) environment so that I could try it out as I prepared to teach a course that goes into it the following day. Not expecting I would need more, on the Create a Seucirty capacity page I provisioned forty (40) Security Compute Units (SCUs). As you can see on the screen capture, at $4 per unit, that would cost $160.

Because there is no lab for this course I used my personal Azure environment (which I use almost exclusively for training). With my monthly $150 MCT Azure credit, I have almost never had a bill at the end of the month that was not Zero Dollars.

It is important to be aware that while the billing cycle is June 1-30, the invoice is only issued on July 23.

The morning of July 23rd I received an email from Microsoft Azure with the title: ‘Payment is past due—please contact your admin to avoid service disruption.’ I had never seen this before, so I took a break from my exam prep to open my Azure portal. I am glad my heart is strong because I might have had a coronary right then and there.

The June invoice was for $7,056.22 (taxes included). Digging into my Cost Analysis page, my July Month to Date usage was $21,761.17, with a forecast cost of $28,937.38 (plus tax). All numbers cited are in US Dollars.

I had an extremely stressful exam to sit two hours later, and while this could have forced me into bankruptcy, I needed to focus. The only immediate step I took was to delete every resource that I had in Azure to stop the bleeding.

(For the record, I have no idea how… but I passed my exam.)

When I was finally able to open a support ticket with Microsoft (which is not easy when you do not pay for a monthly support contract with Azure), the first support agent was happy to explain it to me… Secure Compute Units (SCU), which must be purchased to use Security Copilot, are billed hourly… whether or not you use them. In other words: from the day I provisioned Security Copilot through the morning of July 23 I was being billed $960 per day for… nothing.

After several phone calls and nineteen emails back and forth, several escalations and appeals, yesterday afternoon I received an email that Microsoft has reduced what I must pay from nearly $30,000 to $2,002.70 ($1,828.21 plus tax). How they came up with that number I do not know.

To make sure you don’t think I somehow dropped the ball and screwed up on this one:

1. The term SCU exists on precisely one slide of the courseware for Course MD-4011 – Slide 29. The sentence reads: ‘Azure IAM roles control access to Azure resources, like Security Capacity Units (SCU) within a resource group.’ Neither the term nor the acronym do not come up anywhere else in a search of the PowerPoint deck. The word hour is not in the courseware at all.
2. On the Create a Security Capacity page in the portal (Microsoft Security Copilot) there is no mention of hourly billing.
3. On that same page, in small print, there is a link to Learn more about security compute units. It opens to the link Microsoft Security Copilot – Pricing | Microsoft Azure. While the cost of the SCUs is in large print, you have to read the very fine print footnote that reads: “¹Provisioned capacity (minimum 1) is priced per hour and billed monthly.”

I have had a (mostly) great relationship with Microsoft for nearly twenty-five years. I have evangelized their products and solutions in many capacities since earning the title Microsoft Certified Trainer in 2006. I have defended the company’s position, direction, and decisions many times, and when I did not agree with them I have disagreed respectfully. So it will come as a surprise to anyone who knows me or knows of me that I am confident in saying that in this instance this is an absolute scam, and the Microsoft Corporation is perpetrating a fraud on its customers. What they are doing with these Secure Compute Units (alternately referred to as Security Capacity Units) is criminally dishonest.

As far as I am concerned, Microsoft should not only cancel every single penny that they are still billing me for this, but should also compensate me for all of the time that I had to spend in trying to resolve the issue. If I was to take them to court (which I am absolutely not doing) I would also expect both punitive damages and compensation for pain and suffering. I can assure you that I will get nothing from them… which is the thanks that I get for more than twenty years their strongest and loudest advocate.

Of course, this incident will not cause me to sever my ties to Microsoft. I have been Microsoft Certified since March 30, 2003 and a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) since July 20, 2006. In that time, I have passed 54 exams and I hold 23 active certifications and 20 historical ones. The number of Microsoft classes that I have taught would be nearly impossible to count. I couldn’t imagine switching from Windows to Linux or Mac, or from Microsoft 365 Apps to Open Office or any other alternative. I am not walking away from the company (who would not notice my absence, but would require tremendous changes on my part). I am simply pointing out that this one issue is absolutely terrible and dishonest, and everyone should be aware of it before they accidentally find themselves on the verge of bankruptcy for Microsoft’s deception and dishonesty with regard to Security Copilot.

…See? I told you I’ve never written about them like this!

While I am disgusted by Microsoft for this issue (and for not clearing the slate completely) I would still like to take a moment to thank the Support Engineers who helped me with my ticket. Josue Rivera helped from the outset, and it was Cristian Canizalez who took over the last few days that Josue was away. They were helpful and professional, and I believe they helped me as much as they were able. Thanks guys!