Microsoft has unveiled the new cloud computing support policy for Windows Azure and Office 365, according to a report from Network World (News - Alert).

According to the new Online Services policy, cloud customers will be given a minimum of 12 months' notice before discontinuing online services, or making any "disruptive" changes or upgrades, the report said.

Microsoft’s efforts are intended to standardize the support life cycle for cloud-based software.

The one-year termination notice is more important for cloud software than on-premise products, the report said. Customers who buy Microsoft's (News - Alert) packaged software can continue to use it indefinitely, ever after Microsoft drops support. If Microsoft stops providing an online service, customers will be left with no option but to buy another software solution.

Following the implementation of this policy, Windows Azure and Office 365 customers can plan for changes that would eliminate services, take them temporarily offline or require an overhaul of management practices, the report said.

Microsoft program manager David Carrington names this concept as “disruptive change,” which refers to changes that require significant action whether in the form of administrator intervention, substantial changes to the user experience, data migration or required updates to client software.

Under the new policy, Microsoft is committed to providing their customers a minimum of 12 months of prior notification before implementing potentially disruptive changes that may result in a service interruption, Carrington added.

Additionally, Microsoft announced it would provide 12 months' notice before terminating any "Business and Developer-oriented Online Service." The company is also committed to preserve customer data for at least 30 days in renewals or migrations that involve customers moving off a service.

Some of the “less drastic changes” also would receive a year's notice. These changes would be a "required upgrade to Microsoft Outlook to ensure continued functionality with Microsoft Exchange Hosted Services prior to the change actually occurring with the cloud-based service," according to Carrington.

If customers have deployed on-premises software that is connecting to a Microsoft Online Service, they may need to implement changes to their on-premises software for it to remain operable with the Online Service, but the timeframes of Mainstream Support and Extended Support for the on-premises software remain intact and unchanged."

In this case, the policy applies to "regular maintenance and service updates," and not security problems, which are fixed as soon as possible, Carrington added.

Microsoft is competing with its rival solution Google (News - Alert) Apps by offering a more stable and predictable experience for cloud software customers.

Microsoft's general support policy promises at least 10 years of support for Business and Developer products, including five years of Mainstream Support.

As the adoption of cloud services among small and mid-size business (SMBs) continues to rise, Microsoft’s cloud solutions are offering enormous market opportunities for hosting and communications service providers.

Microsoft said that it’s helping service providers take advantage of those opportunities via its software, services and programs, enabling them to become trusted advisors and full-service IT providers to businesses.

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