Before we start popping champagne bottles, I suppose I should clarify that Test Drive only applies to the Azure Marketplace and is for products and ISVs found there and last only a few hours.
According to Sr. Product Marketing Manager for Microsoft’s Cloud platform Shankar Sivadasan, Test Drive is up and running and allows users to a preview type experience for many of the products in the Azure Marketplace.
Test Drives are ready to go environments that allow you to experience a product for free without needing an Azure subscription. An additional benefit with a Test Drive is that it is pre-provisioned – you don’t have to download, set up or configure the product and can instead spend your time on evaluating the user experience, key features, and benefits of the product.
The process to enable Test Drive is a relatively straightforward affair that involves three easy steps.
- Step 1. Visit the Test Drive page on Azure Marketplace
- Step 2. Choose a Test Drive, sign in and agree to the terms of use.
- Step 3. Once you complete the form, your Test Drive will start deploying and in a few minutes, you will get an email notification that the environment is ready. Just follow instructions in the email, and you will be able to access a fully provisioned and ready to use environment.
For those looking to manage their next firewall, Azure Test Drive seems to be a worthy selection with a wide-ranging ability to test a multitude of environments before deployment.
