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lostintangent / node-azure

Tutorials that illustrate how to build Node.js apps with VS Code, and deploy them to Azure
http://azure.com/node
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Pre-req for Azure account needs details on how to get and emphasize free options #17

Open nicolehaugen opened 7 years ago

nicolehaugen commented 7 years ago

The pre-reqs section mentions that an Azure account is required - since we're trying to attract devs that aren't typically an Azure dev or even a Microsoft dev, they very likely won't have an Azure account and at a minimum, we need to provide a link on where to go get one and emphasize that it's free.

And, here's one more idea...I realize this is a bit of a stretch and a longer term investment... Today, to sign up for an Azure subscription, you have to provide your credit card info. Even though you won't be charged until you use resources that require payment, the minute that someone is prompted for their credit card info, it requires a greater level of commitment in terms of just trying something out. For me I have to really want to try something before I give out my credit card. And, if it's an enterprise dev, they may have to go through a process to get approval to use a company credit card first.

Today, App Service provides a way to create a free ExpressJS web app without an Azure account and try it out for an hour - see here: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/try/app-service/web/. What if there was something like this that let a Node.JS devs try out an App Service with Document DB for a limited timeframe? And even better, from the Azure CLI? It would be interesting to see if there is any data on how many devs use the trial App Service option I mentioned above and whether it results in acquiring new devs.

lostintangent commented 7 years ago

Great point. We should definitely add some further guidance here in parallel of working with the Azure teams to simplify the evaluation process.

DocDB doesn't have a free tier currently unfortunately, but that is something we are discussing with them. As you mentioned, App Service does have a free tier that would should be pointing to more clearly.

I actually just recently started trying to find the telemetry data for the "try app service" offering, so we can see the usage of it. Long term, I absolutely agree we need to provide a quick and easy way to evaluate our platform, ideally without giving a CC.

I'll make some tweaks to the tutorial to address some low hanging fruit here, or I'm happy to discuss a PR if you had some thoughts on this as well: