Article Cloud Care Update: August 2026
Cloud Care Update
August 2026
Cloud Vendor News & Updates:
1: Updates to Microsoft Copilot and the Microsoft Copilot App:
Microsoft is introducing an updated Copilot experience designed to provide a simpler and more unified user interface.
The new app combines Copilot Chat, image creation capabilities, and direct access to Microsoft 365 applications and content, helping users work more efficiently from a single location.
Existing work and personal accounts will remain separated, with organizational security, privacy, compliance, and administrative controls continuing to apply for business users.
Some features, including Group Chat, Podcasts, and Deep Research, will be retired as part of this transition.
For more information, please visit Microsoft's official support article: Updates to Copilot and the Microsoft Copilot app
2: Microsoft CSP Software Pricing Update – Effective October 1, 2026:
Microsoft has announced a pricing update for certain CSP software subscriptions that will take effect on October 1, 2026. This applies to software subscriptions with an annual commitment that are billed monthly.
What is changing?
Beginning October 1, 2026, Microsoft will apply a 5% cost-of-capital uplift to CSP software subscriptions that:
- Have an annual term commitment, and use monthly billing.
Examples of impacted products include: SQL Server, Windows Server, Client Access Licenses (CALs), System Center,...
What is not changing?
The pricing update does not affect:
- Annual-term subscriptions billed annually
- Month-to-month subscriptions
- The availability of monthly billing options
Customers can continue to choose the billing model that best aligns with their budgeting and cash flow requirements.
When will customers see the change?
- New purchases of eligible annual-term software subscriptions with monthly billing made on or after October 1, 2026 will reflect the updated pricing.
- Existing subscriptions remain on their current pricing until they renew on or after October 1, 2026, at which point the 5% uplift will apply.
Do customers need to take any action?
No action is required. This is a Microsoft pricing change and does not require any system, platform, or operational changes.
Recomendations: Customers with eligible software subscription renewals on or after October 1, 2026, should review upcoming renewals and budget plans accordingly. If cost optimization is a priority, consider discussing alternative billing options before renewal.
3: Gain Visibility into Your Monthly-Term Subscriptions:
Do you still use monthly-term subscriptions and want to understand if there are better options?
CCR on https://ccr.insight.com now includes a new "Show Subscriptions with no decrease" option on the M365 Subscription History page, helping you quickly identify subscriptions that have remained unchanged or only increased over time.
This new filter can highlight subscriptions that may be good candidates for an annual commitment, potentially reducing licensing costs.
For example, a customer with six monthly-term subscriptions that had only stayed the same or grown over the past year was found to be spending significantly more than necessary. Based on typical pricing differences between monthly and annual terms, the customer could potentially save nearly $5,000 per year by moving eligible subscriptions to an annual commitment.
Use this enhancement to identify optimization opportunities, improve cost efficiency, and make more informed licensing decisions.
4: Changes to the Azure reservation exchange policy:
Starting February 1, 2027, Azure reservations purchased after this date aren't eligible for exchange if the corresponding service is supported by savings plans. This restriction applies to Azure Virtual Machines, Azure App Service, Azure SQL Database, and similar services.
Reservations purchased before February 1, 2027, keep the right to one final exchange.
Any compute or database products that become eligible for savings plans after February 1, 2027, are also subject to the preceding change. This change means that the corresponding previously purchased reservations are exchangeable one final time.
This change excludes the following reservations:
- Reservations for products or services that are deprecated and approaching end of life.
- Reservations for products and services that aren't covered by savings plans, such as Azure VMware Solution. If you have a reservation for Azure VMware Solution, this policy change doesn't affect it.
- Cloud environments that don't currently support savings plans.
If you need flexibility across services and regions, consider savings plans as a commitment-basedoption for dynamic workloads. Savings plans are based on a dollar-per-hour spend commitment and automatically apply discounts across eligible compute or database services and regions, making them a good option for evolving or dynamic workloads.
Alternatively, reservations remain the appropriate option for predictable, stable workloads, and you can continue to purchase them.
Instance size flexibility for virtual machines isn't affected by the change in exchange policy.
The reservation cancellation policy isn't changing. The total canceled commitment can't exceed $50,000 USD in a 12-month rolling window for a billing profile or single enrollment.
You can trade in existing reservations that cover dynamic or evolving workloads for a savings plan. There's no change to the trade-in policy. To compare your options, see decide between a savings plan and a reservation.
5: We’re Listening: Share Your Feedback in CCR:
Since the latest release of Cloud Consumption Reporting (CCR), Insight has introduced a quick and easy way for customers to share feedback directly within the platform at https://ccr.insight.com
Your feedback plays an important role in helping us continuously improve the platform and enhance your experience. Whether you have suggestions for new features, ideas for usability improvements, or comments about your experience, we encourage you to use the in-platform feedback option to share your thoughts with us.
Every piece of feedback is reviewed by our teams and helps shape future enhancements, ensuring CCR continues to meet the evolving needs of our customers. Thank you for partnering with us to make the platform even better.
6: Windows 365 GPU Frontline Select 256 GB SKU Available from August 1, 2026:
Microsoft has announced that the Windows 365 GPU Frontline Select 256 GB SKU will be available for purchase through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program starting August 1, 2026.
What’s changing?
- The SKU is currently unavailable for new CSP purchases due to Microsoft system configuration updates.
- Beginning August 1, 2026, customers will be able to purchase this GPU-enabled Windows 365 offering through CSP without restrictions.
What this means for customers:
- Access to a more powerful Cloud PC experience designed for graphics-intensive workloads.
- Ideal for users working with:
- Design and creative applications
- Data visualization and rendering
- Advanced software development and testing environments
- Organizations that were previously unable to deploy GPU-enabled Windows 365 Frontline Cloud PCs through CSP will be able to proceed with new purchases from August.
Key Benefit: The availability of this SKU expands the Windows 365 portfolio for customers requiring enhanced graphics performance while maintaining the flexibility and scalability of Cloud PCs.
7: Reminder: Azure Reserved VM Instance change as of July 1, 2026:
Starting July 1, 2026, Azure will no longer offer new purchases or renewals of certain Azure Reserved Virtual Machine Instances (RIs) for select VM series. This change affects only the ability to buy or renew RIs for the VM series listed below—your existing reservations will continue to apply through the end of their current term.
What is changing on July 1, 2026?
- One-year Azure Reserved VM Instances will no longer be available for purchase or renewal for these VM series:
Av2, Amv2, Bv1, D, Ds, Dv2, Dsv2, F, Fs, Fsv2, G, Gs, Ls, and Lsv2. - One-year and three-year Azure Reserved VM Instances will no longer be available for purchase or renewal for these VM series:
Dv3, Dsv3, Ev3, and Esv3.
What this means for our Cloud Care customers?
To avoid unexpected billing changes or lapses in commitment savings, review your current RI orders for impacted VM series and note their expiration dates. If you take no action before July 1, 2026, any affected workloads will be billed at pay-as-you-go rates after their reservations expire, even if those reservations are set to auto-renew.
Existing reservations remain valid through the end of their term.
Recommended next steps:
- Identify impacted reservations: In the Azure portal, go to Reservations and filter for Virtual Machines to find RIs associated with the VM series listed above.
- Plan before expiration: For each impacted RI, decide whether you want to transition your savings strategy or modernize the underlying VM family.
- Choose an option: Consider moving eligible spend to Azure savings plan for compute for more flexibility, and/or migrate workloads to newer generation VM series.
- Validate cost impact: Use the Azure Pricing Calculator to estimate costs and confirm your expected savings coverage before making changes.
Need help? Insight can help you assess impact, model costs, and build a transition plan to protect your savings. Please contact your sales team for assistance.
Our partnership with Archera.ai can also help you optimize your reservations and savings plans.
More information can also be found on the Azure Compute Blog
Insight's Cloud Commerce Platform – Improvements and Developments:
Cloud Commerce Platform - CCx on https://buy.insight.com - August 01, 2026:
- Enhanced order status tracking and visibility
- AI-powered recommendations for Microsoft CSP subscriptions
- SAP-driven customer credit integration with order hold notifications
- Improved Adobe renewal management experience
- Enhanced search and filtering functionality
- Automated CCR admin user creation via API
Cloud Consumption Reporting - CCR on https://ccr.insight.com - August 06, 2026:
- Additional Subscription History Changes (including "Show with no decrease"
- Provider Logos on the CCR dashboard
- Additional Analytics Tracking
