Final answer:
Two Azure subscriptions cannot be merged directly; instead, resources can be transferred between subscriptions to consolidate under a single subscription for management and billing purposes. The process involves planning, considering service limitations, and ensuring continuity of access and billing policies.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question of whether two Azure subscriptions can be merged into a single subscription requires a nuanced answer. The direct merging of two Azure subscriptions into one is not supported by Microsoft Azure. However, resources from one subscription may be transferred or moved to another subscription through a process facilitated by Azure's Resource Manager. This process includes a careful planning phase where you decide which resources can be moved, which depends on services and specific resource types. Some resources may have requirements or limitations when transferring, and not all resources support movement across subscriptions.
While you cannot technically 'merge' the subscriptions, most of the resources can be migrated to consolidate them under a single subscription for management and billing purposes. It's important to note that subscriptions are containers for billing and not for resources directly. Therefore, you can achieve a level of consolidation by migrating resources.
Furthermore, access management policies and role-based access control (RBAC) settings will need to be reviewed and replicated on the target subscription to ensure the continuity of operations post-transfer. The billing ownership, cost reporting, and many other aspects will also need to be considered before performing such a consolidation. Therefore, the phrase 'merge subscriptions' would be better understood as consolidating resources under a single subscription rather than merging subscription entities directly.