Microsoft has announced new and expanded programs, offers, and product investments to help customers accelerate their migration and modernization journey with Azure.

The updates include the Azure Migration and Modernization Program (AMMP), an evolution of the Azure Migration Program. AMMP now features support for Azure Spring Cloud and Azure Cosmos DB.

“We are announcing Extended Security Updates for Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2, and SQL Server 2012, free only on Azure. Customers running these releases of Windows Server and SQL Server on-premises will have the option to purchase Extended Security Updates,” said Tanuj Bansal, senior director of product marketing, Azure.

In addition, for customers who need more time to upgrade and modernize their Windows Server and SQL Server 2008/R2, the company plans to now provide one additional year of free extended security updates for 2008/R2 servers only on Azure.

In March, the company previewed the App Containerization tool that helps you quickly containerize and deploy your .NET and Java apps onto Azure Kubernetes Service. The tool now supports container deployments to Azure App Service as well.

Azure Arc-enabled Azure SQL (general-purpose tier) will be generally available on July 30, 2021.