Microsoft funding for DaaS projects
An overview of the main Microsoft funding programmes for Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365 and infrastructure projects — plus a realistic sense of the orders of magnitude involved.
The three relevant programmes
Microsoft funds migration and modernisation projects through several programmes that can be nominated independently of each other. The amount is generally not published as a fixed sum but decided case by case, tied to the forecast additional Azure consumption (ACR).
ECIF
Professional services funding for implementation — for example AVD rollout services. Often around a 10:1 ratio to forecast additional consumption, released case by case by the Microsoft account executive.
Azure Accelerate
Formerly „Azure Migrate and Modernize“ (renamed in August 2025, merged with Azure Innovate and Cloud Accelerate Factory). Funds infrastructure migration and modernisation, such as building landing zones and moving workloads to Azure.
Windows 365 funding
A separate funding motion specifically for Windows 365 migration projects, independent of AVD and infrastructure funding — it can be nominated alongside ECIF and Azure Accelerate.
What is realistically possible
Specific figures are deliberately not given here as a worked example — the actual amount depends on several factors that Microsoft assesses per project:
- Project size and forecast additional Azure consumption (ACR)
- Scenario — migration, AVD, SAP, AI and agentic AI, and so on
- Partner qualification (specialization, Azure Expert MSP and similar)
- Partner or field nomination by Microsoft
- Region and current programme status
„In many cases several Azure Accelerate funding elements can be combined. For larger Azure, AVD, AI or migration projects this can produce funding volumes in the high five figures and sometimes six figures. The actual amount is assessed and released by Microsoft per project.“