Microsoft GitHub license acquisition and new billing experience

Starting August 1, 2024, Microsoft will implement metered billing for the GitHub Enterprise Cloud (GHE) and GitHub Advanced Security (GHAS) services. This initiative provides customers with a streamlined and cohesive billing experience, allowing for greater flexibility in scaling and managing resources as needed.  

How GitHub usage-based billing works 

Billing is now based on usage: if a user begins using a license seat during the month, customers are billed on a prorated basis, without any future commitments. Enterprise Agreement (EA) customers can continue purchasing User Subscription Licenses for these services if they wish or per their needs this option works best for them.  

Understand what GitHub is 

GitHub is a cloud-based platform designed by Microsoft to assist developers in storing, managing, and sharing their code. It taps into Git, an open-source version control system, to track or monitor code changes and promote collaboration among developers. With its intuitive interface, GitHub is user practical even to those new to coding.   

What is GitHub Advanced Security (GHAS)? 

GitHub Advanced Security (GHAS) offers a comprehensive set of sophisticated security tools well integrated into GitHub. These tools assist developers in identifying and resolving security vulnerabilities within their code. GHAS is accessible to enterprise accounts on both GitHub Enterprise Cloud and GitHub Enterprise Server, with certain features also available for public sources.  

Uses and key features of GHAS 

Code Scanning: Utilizes CodeQL and additional tools to identify potential security vulnerabilities and coding errors in your code.  

Dependency Review: Offers insights into the security vulnerabilities present in your project’s dependencies.  

Security Overview: Provides an in-depth look at your organization’s security posture, highlighting open vulnerabilities and security alerts.  

Secret Scanning: Detects confidential information, like API keys and tokens, that might have been mistakenly added to your repositories.  

What is GitHub Enterprise Cloud (GHE)? 

GitHub Enterprise Cloud (GHE) is a cloud-hosted version of GitHub tailored for large organizations and teams. Included in its offerings are advanced features and management options such as…  

Enterprise Account Management: Simplified oversight of multiple GitHub organizations through centralized control.  

Compliance: This feature gives access to GitHub’s compliance reports and provides the ability to restrict email notifications to verified domains.  

Additional Resources: Offers users extra minutes for GitHub Actions and privately hosted GitHub Pages sites.  

Enhanced Security: This feature helps with Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) authentication, managed user accounts, and storage area rulesets.  

How Q-Advise can help your organization acquire and use GitHub license 

Our team of Microsoft cloud and licensing experts are focused on working in your interest to optimize your licenses and guide you save on spending. We will look at your needs as an organization to understand how GitHub works to meet your needs or advise further when necessary.  

Acquiring and using Microsoft licenses for products and services is complex and can lead you to buy more than you require. We can expertly help you make informed decisions which will make sure the right users in your organization are well licensed and stay compliant.  

We are well updated with the Microsoft licensing terrain and will share with you various scenarios that fit best into your situation and will help solve your needs. There are pre-owned licenses we will introduce to you, and you can take advantage of this to further cut down on costs substantially.  

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