Boost your bottom line: 4 tips to maximize cost savings with Microsoft Azure!
The reliability, cost management, and convenience of Microsoft Azure make it a go-to cloud solution for small and large organizations. The various built-in pricing models and tools assist businesses in optimizing their choices based on their budgets. This article highlights the essential tips that can help you maximize cost savings with Azure.
Leverage Azure Cost Management and Billing
- Azure Cost Management and Billing is a Microsoft Azure tool that empowers users to monitor their cloud expenses effectively. This application contains numerous functionalities for monitoring and evaluating Azure consumption, enhancing cost efficiency, and gaining insights into expenditure trends.
Here are recommended actions to consider:
- Configure Azure Cost Management and Billing to monitor and manage your cloud expenditure.
- Utilize cost analysis and budget alerts for spending tracking, reducing the likelihood of unexpected charges.
- Leverage cost optimization suggestions to identify opportunities for cost reduction and resource optimization.
- Take advantage of personalized cost optimization advice through Azure Advisor, tailored to your usage and spending patterns.
- Utilize the Azure pricing calculator to estimate and compare the expenses associated with different Azure services.
- Assess potential savings from migrating to Azure using the Azure Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculator.
- Regularly review and fine-tune your cloud spending to maximize your return on investment in Azure.
Switch To Containers
- Compared to virtual machines (VMs), containers are a much more efficient way of storing workloads. They enable businesses to run multiple containerized single hosts and sometimes manage multiple containers per host. By repackaging applications as containers, companies can reduce the need for VMs and optimize their Azure costs. However, before migrating to containers, it’s essential to consult with an Azure expert to determine if it’s the best solution for your project.
Although switching to containers can result in cost savings, it can also increase costs depending on your workflow and resources. Therefore, aim for 100% utilization of your Virtual Machines to achieve optimal cost savings. Businesses can do this by monitoring their metrics using Azure Monitor and auto-scaling features to add or remove machines based on utilization percentage at any given time.
Opt for Custom Scheduling
- Creating a customized VM stop/start schedule analysis based on your usage patterns and availability is crucial to optimize Azure costs. In addition, combining custom scheduling with autoscaling will result in added elasticity and better cost-effectiveness in the long run. One way to implement an automatic stop/start function is by using Azure Automation Runbooks.
This tool can be particularly effective in a test environment where continuous operation is not always necessary. Additionally, autoscaling in VMSS is an excellent solution for applications requiring VMs, making adding or removing instances based on the autoscaling rule easy.
Enhance Storage Efficiency
Stick to the recommended strategies to optimize storage usage within the Microsoft Azure Cloud.- Choose the most suitable storage option based on the specific requirements of your workload.
- Use storage tiers to transfer less frequently accessed data to more cost-effective storage solutions.
- Enable compression and deduplication to minimize storage demands and expenses.
- Implement lifecycle management policies to delete or relocate data to more economical storage alternatives.
- Utilize Azure Blob storage lifecycle management to archive or delete data following your defined retention policies automatically.
- Streamline data backups and reduce storage costs using Azure Blob and Azure File storage snapshots.
- Cut costs related to management and access by reducing the number of storage accounts and containers.
- Regularly monitor and fine-tune your storage consumption to prevent unnecessary expenditures in Azure.
Contact Henson Group to benefit from Azure Migration or Azure Optimization services. These services provide an in-depth analysis that helps determine exactly how much you will spend on Azure. We help businesses increase accessibility and productivity. Get in touch today for free migration, training, and outright support.