Virtual Machine Service Description

Key Differentiators

Feature	Bronze 🥉	Silver 🥈	Gold 🥇
Monitoring Depth	Infrastructure	Infrastructure + OS	Infrastructure + OS
Patching Frequency	N/A	On-demand	Continuous
Compliance Automation	0%	50%	90%+
Self-Service Capabilities	None	Limited	Extensive
Platform Maturity Required	Low	Medium	High

Service Tier Comparison

Service Area	Bronze 🥉	Silver 🥈	Gold 🥇
Best For	• Legacy VMs • Undocumented environments	• VMs requiring routine maintenance • Environments not ready for full automation	• Modern cloud-native workloads • Self-service platform requirements
Monitoring	• 24/7 infrastructure monitoring • Azure Monitor metrics (CPU, Disk, I/O, Network) • Grafana-based alerting • Infrastructure visibility only	• All Bronze features • Azure Monitor Agent for OS metrics • Memory/disk/process monitoring • System logs (syslog, Event Viewer) • Application Insights integration	• All Silver features • Full Grafana LGTM stack • SLO-based alerting • Custom dashboard creation
Incident Response	• Real-time incident notification • VM down/unhealthy alerts • Cloud expertise during incidents • Escalation via agreed channels e.g. Slack/Teams/Phone	• All Bronze features • Proactive issue detection • Log-based incident analysis • Process crash detection • Auto-restart capabilities	• All Silver features • Predictive failure detection • Automated remediation • Self-healing capabilities
Maintenance & Patching	• Customer managed • No automation	• Monthly OS patching via Ansible • Package updates • Regular health checks • Scheduled restarts	• Fully automated patching • Golden Image pipeline • Canary deployments • Automated rollback • Zero-downtime updates
Infrastructure Management	• Manual/customer managed • RBAC access for monitoring only	• Partial automation • Resource tagging • Documentation in GitBook • Defined responsibilities	• Full Infrastructure as Code • ARM/Bicep automation • VM Scale Sets • Auto-scaling • Self-service provisioning
Compliance & Security	• Basic monitoring • Customer responsibility	• Guided compliance • Security recommendations • Patch compliance tracking • Azure Security Center integration	• CIS benchmark compliance • Automated security hardening • Compliance reporting • Custom policy support • Microsoft Defender integration
Cost Optimization	• Not included	• Basic recommendations • Resource utilization reports • Reserved instance guidance	• Continuous optimization • Quarterly reviews • Automated rightsizing • Spot instance management
Documentation	• Basic setup docs • Incident runbooks	• Detailed runbooks • Architecture documentation • Responsibility matrix	• Full platform documentation • Self-service guides • API documentation • Automation playbooks
Customer Responsibilities	• OS management • Patching • Backups • Application management • Incident response • Log management	• Patching approval • Config requirements • Critical metrics definition • App-specific support	• Strategic direction • Quarterly review participation • Major change approval • Business context
Playground Responsibilities	• Monitoring setup • Alert configuration • Incident notification • Access provisioning	• All Bronze features • Monthly patching • Agent management • Log collection • Health checks	• All Silver features • Full lifecycle automation • Platform operations • Continuous improvement • Cost optimization
Support Model	Reactive	Proactive + Reactive	Predictive + Automated
Automation Level	None	Partial (30-40%)	Complete (90%+)
Customer Effort Required	High	Medium	Low

Upgrade Paths

From → To	Timeline*	Key Requirements
Bronze → Silver	2-3 weeks	• Agent deployment approval • Patching window agreement • Documentation review
Silver → Gold	4-6 weeks	• Architecture modernization • Automation readiness • Team training
Bronze → Gold	6-8 weeks	• Full assessment required • Phased migration approach • Platform transformation

*Based on a customer running 15 - 25 Virtual Machines

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For detailed pricing and custom requirements, please contact your Playground representative.