Ansys Access on Microsoft Azure
Simulation & CAE software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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What is Ansys Access on Microsoft Azure
Ansys Access on Microsoft Azure is a cloud deployment option for running Ansys simulation workloads on Microsoft Azure infrastructure. It supports engineering teams that need on-demand compute for CAE tasks such as structural, fluids, electromagnetics, and multiphysics analyses without building and maintaining equivalent on-premises capacity. The offering focuses on provisioning, scaling, and operating Ansys environments in Azure, typically integrating with enterprise identity, storage, and networking controls. It is primarily used by simulation engineers and IT/HPC administrators supporting CAE programs.
Elastic cloud HPC capacity
It enables scaling compute resources up and down to match simulation demand, which is useful for peak workloads and large parametric studies. Azure provides access to a range of VM families and cluster configurations that can be aligned to solver characteristics. This can reduce the need to procure and refresh on-premises HPC hardware for intermittent demand.
Enterprise Azure integration
It can align with common Azure enterprise controls such as virtual networks, role-based access, and centralized policy management. Teams can integrate storage and data movement with Azure services and existing Microsoft-centric IT standards. This helps organizations that already standardize on Azure for security, governance, and procurement.
Supports distributed collaboration
Cloud-hosted environments can make it easier for geographically distributed teams to access shared simulation resources and datasets. Centralized environments can reduce workstation dependency for running large jobs and support remote access patterns. This is particularly relevant when multiple project teams share solver capacity and need consistent environments.
Cost management complexity
Cloud simulation costs can be difficult to predict because they depend on solver runtime, instance selection, storage, and data egress. Without strong governance, teams can overprovision resources or leave clusters running longer than needed. Budgeting may be more complex than fixed-capacity on-premises environments for steady-state workloads.
Data gravity and transfer
Large CAE models and result files can be expensive and time-consuming to move between on-premises systems and the cloud. Latency and bandwidth constraints can affect interactive workflows and post-processing if data is not co-located with compute. Organizations may need additional architecture work for storage tiering, caching, and lifecycle management.
Licensing and deployment constraints
Running commercial CAE solvers in the cloud often requires careful alignment of licensing terms, license server configuration, and compliance controls. Some organizations face internal restrictions on where regulated data can be processed, which can limit eligible workloads. IT teams may also need specialized skills for HPC scheduling, networking, and performance tuning in Azure.
Plan & Pricing
Pricing model: Pay-as-you-go (usage-based)
Overview / Billing components:
- One-time platform fee (charged to new subscribers as of February 10, 2025). Amount not specified on Ansys official documentation.
- Physical core hour usage: billed per physical core per hour for machines deployed via Ansys Access on Microsoft Azure.
- Azure hardware and other Azure infrastructure costs (storage, data transfer, etc.) are billed separately to the customer's Azure account.
Free tier / trial: All new subscribers receive a 30-day free trial. During the trial there is no charge for Ansys Access on Microsoft Azure core-hour usage (you still pay Azure hardware costs). When the trial ends the one-time platform fee is charged automatically; Ansys states there will continue to be no charge for physical core hour usage for one year past the trial end date, after which core-hour charges begin (unless you have a private offer with different terms).
Example costs (explicitly labelled as illustrative in Ansys documentation):
- Illustrative Azure hardware cost shown in Ansys docs: $0.75 per hour (example only).
- Illustrative Ansys Access on Microsoft Azure core-hour usage shown in Ansys docs: $0.01 per physical core per hour (example only).
- Example total (illustrative) for an 8‑physical‑core VM (Standard_NC8as_T4_v3): Azure hardware $0.75 + Ansys core-hour $0.08 = $0.83 per hour.
Notes / Discount options:
- Ansys documentation states actual core-hour pricing is published on the Azure Marketplace listing and that billing terms may vary for customers with private offers; for pricing inquiries contact cloud-sales@ansys.com.
- Existing subscribers prior to February 10, 2025 are not subject to the new one-time platform fee and may currently be billed under the previous "node hour" method; Ansys plans to transition those customers to physical core hour billing in future.
Seller details
ANSYS, Inc.
Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, USA
1970
Public
https://www.ansys.com/
https://x.com/ansys
https://www.linkedin.com/company/ansys-inc/
