During my recent engagement with some of my customers, I realized there is a lot of ambiguity when it comes to using BTP services. Some who had cloud credits, wanted to know if they would be charged in case they use Free Tier plan for a service, while others wanted to know if they have Free Tier option, then why would they need cloud credits.
Let me shed some light on what is cloud credit?
As part of your CPEA agreement, you are entitled to get cloud credits to use any BTP service, without committing on what service to use. You also have the option to turn on and off the service when needed. These cloud credits allow you to subscribe to a service, explore a service, develop productive application using it. This explains what cloud credits are and what it allows you to do.
Now the next question is what is a Free Tier plan? Well, to answer it let us understand who gets the Free Tier plan for BTP services? Any customer or individual having either of the PAYG or CPEA licensing model gets the option to explore some services at no cost, with certain limitations in scope and capacity. This option is called Free Tier plan. What does it mean, is it not available to any other plan? It is not!
Hence, even to use the Free Tier plan, you need to go for either of the consumption models.
Ok, what happens to my cloud credit balance, if I use the Free Tier plan for a particular service? Your cloud credits are not consumed, until you continue to use the Free Tier plan for the service. Remember, Free Tier plans are available only to explore a BTP service. Another aspect is, out of the total bundle of services offered as part of CPEA licensing, only a few are offered as Free Tier option, which means you do not necessarily get an option of Free Tier for all the services.
Coming to the other question, why do I need cloud credits, if I have free Tier option? Again, it depends on the scenario. But you need to have a license in place, either PAYG or CPEA. In either of the licensing model, you can use the Free Tier option for BTP services, but with certain limitations in scope and capacity.
Hope, this clarifies both the questions. For any clarifications, you can post your queries in the comment section.
