7 Strategies To Reduce Azure Expenses
Microsoft Azure provides endless opportunities for companies across a wide range of industries. Azure’s efficient services, reliable security, and stable infrastructure equip businesses with the tools they need to support their employees and serve their clients. As these companies reap the benefits of a quality cloud computing system, they must also make Azure a priority in their IT budget. Fortunately, there are many ways to make your cloud system more cost-effective. Steps like utilizing Microsoft’s built-in management and budgeting tools, taking advantage of different service discounts, and focusing on Azure optimization processes will help you cut your cloud computing costs. How can you get the most out of your cloud infrastructure? Find out with these seven strategies to reduce Azure expenses.
Continuously Explore New Options
The key to finding any success with your cloud service is to keep your eyes open for new tools, services, and innovations. Cloud computing is an ever-evolving world that provides consistent updates and innovations to its end-users. Make sure your IT department has the knowledge and resources necessary to stay on top of the latest releases. You can find new tools and guidelines to help you learn and implement best practices in your Azure network. You might also discover valuable offers and other resources to help you optimize your cloud system and save money for your company. When technology upgrades and software upgrades become routine, it can be tempting to stop paying attention. However, if you keep an open mind and continue to explore new options, you’ll always be able to find and implement the best choices for your Azure infrastructure.
Gain Deeper Understanding of Your Budget and Costs
To develop effective strategies to reduce Azure expenses, you must first review what you’re currently spending on Microsoft Azure. Spend some time reviewing past bills and learning which teams and projects use the most of your budget. The Azure Cost Management and Billing tool allows you to monitor and analyze past payments. This will help you gain a better understanding of which areas are costing more than they’re worth, which areas could use more help, and so on. From there, you can make a more informed decision about how and where you should allocate spending. You can even set up cost controls and guardrails to prevent you from spending an unnecessary amount in certain areas. Plus, you can utilize the Azure pricing calculator to create estimates for upcoming Azure projects. The information you gain from these tools will help you create and implement more effective cost management practices for your cloud system.
Identify and Shut Down Unused Resources
Idle or underutilized resources are wasteful, and they can raise the cost of your Azure system for no reason. One of the fastest ways to reduce your Microsoft Azure costs is to identify the resources you’re not using. You can save a lot of money by eliminating idle virtual machines, gateways, and other tools. Keep in mind that simply shutting down these resources isn’t always the best option. You might be better off resizing or consolidating underutilized resources. Before you make a decision, make sure you consider any adverse effects of shutting down or permanently deleting any resources. This is a great time to take advantage of tools such as Azure’s cost management software, which will identify and recommend idle resources for you to address.
Automate as Needed
Automation can handle many routine Azure processes. When Azure automation takes care of routine tasks—in a faster and less error-prone manner than human IT managers can—it reduces your overall operating costs. However, routine tasks aren’t the only thing Azure automation can help you with. Autoscaling tools are invaluable when it comes to allocating or deallocating your budget and resources. These tools analyze performance needs and adjust your resources to best support those needs. Another useful tip is to schedule automatic stops and starts for your virtual machines based on performance and usage. Analyze usage patterns and consider the availability and needs of your system. With this data in mind, you can use Azure Automation Runbooks to implement automatic stops and starts, thereby reducing unnecessary usage and saving money.
Use a Tiered Storage Model
Cloud storage often makes up a major part of Azure’s costs. Optimizing your storage methods and solutions means optimizing your overall infrastructure, allowing you to reduce your monthly spending. Azure Blob—Microsoft Azure’s storage model—offers multiple storage tiers. These include Premium, Hot, Cold, and Archive storage. You can choose a fitting, cost-effective solution for all your different storage needs. For example, you can store data that you use less frequently at a lower-cost tier. This reduces monthly spending without disrupting your access or storage processes.
Take Advantage of Specific Service Plans
Depending on your cloud infrastructure and the specific needs of your company, you might be able to get significant savings on your service plan. For example, you can commit to Azure Reserved Instances for a one-year or three-year term. When you pay a fixed rate in advance for this service, you can receive a discount of up to 72 percent over pay-as-you-go pricing. Utilizing Azure Reserved Instances means committing to a fixed number of virtual machines and resources. This is a great option for companies with consistent, predictable workloads. You can also look into Azure Hybrid Benefits, which also offer up to 70 percent savings over a pay-as-you-go model. When you use Azure Hybrid Benefits and migrate on-premises workloads to the cloud, you create significant Operating System savings both now and in the long term of your cloud system.
Get Recommendations for Best Practices
Optimizing your Microsoft Azure infrastructure is not a one-person job. That’s why there are countless tools, resources, and experts who can help you make the best decisions for your systems. Built-in resources such as Azure Advisor can help you monitor and analyze your expenses, giving you more information about your infrastructure and budget. Your IT staff, who works with Azure day in and day out, can also provide valuable insight into your cloud processes. And you can work with a managed services provider like Atmosera to gather expert advice, strategies, and other Azure solutions. When you have reliable resources and advisors on your side, you can optimize your Azure system to be as efficient, cost-effective, and successful as possible.
