How Reassessing your Azure Resources could Save you Money

Your cloud needs will fluctuate in line with your evolving business requirements so regular reassessment of the Azure resources makes business sense. Choosing the right Azure sizes and tiers to meet your current needs and to use Reservations and Azure Hybrid Benefit to switch to a 1-or 3-year commitment term instead of pay-as-you-go meters could save you money. Here are some things to consider in your reassessment.

Orphaned Resources

This is an unassigned resource. It can be left behind when its parent resource is deleted, or it may have been created for a temporary purpose and then left behind, such as a disk snapshot. These resources have a cost, so deleting them will save money. Sometimes they have been left intentionally, such as reserving the IP address for later use or keeping the disk as a backup in case its data is needed later, but often they are just forgotten. Azure now asks if you want to delete the associated resources when you delete a VM, but it’s still worth checking to see if you have any orphaned resources in your Azure subscription.

Unused Resources

Unused resources may also be costing you money. If you identify them, you can delete them. Sometimes resources are running in Azure, and no one knows what they are, or why they are there.  So, check if you have resources that are not being utilized, delete them, and save.

Good Governance

In Azure you can set tags on almost every resource. We recommend setting clearly identifiable tags for ‘Created by’ and ‘Created on’ as well as tags with project codes, cost/department codes, delete by dates, etc. Tags can be updated, so can be used for auditing purposes and it helps to know the who, what, why when you later reassess the resource. Azure policies can also be applied to subscriptions that can be used to limit the size of resources that can be created and the regions they can be created in – this can save money by stopping someone from accidentally deploying an expensive resource. Policies can also be used to enforce tags, stopping the resource from being deployed if the tag hasn’t been set.

OS and Data Disks

Azure managed disks are attached to Azure VMs to provide them with persistent storage.  All VMs must have one OS disk and may optionally have more data disks.  Managed disks are available in several tiers, including Standard HDD, Standard SSD and Premium SSD.  Microsoft recommends Premium SSD for production workloads as they have better/more consistent performance characteristics, but these are the most expensive.  If the VM is turned off overnight or at the weekend, the disk continues to incur cost, even though it’s not using the Premium SSD’s premium performance.  If your VM is to be stopped for a while, you can save money by converting it to a Standard HDD (cheapest) while it’s off and then back to a Premium SSD when the VM needs to be reactivated.  This can be done manually but it’s better to script it as part of the on/off automation.

Reduce Lab and PoC Costs

If you deploy resources into a lab or running a PoC where the resources are only needed for short periods, bear in mind that it’s not just VMs that can be turned off to save money, many other resources can be too. Searching the Microsoft documentation for each resource type that you have deployed to see if you can stop or de-allocate it.  If it can’t be done in the Portal, it may be possible via PowerShell or the Azure CLI.

Azure Cost Management

This is a Portal tool that can be used to drill into your Azure costs and break them down by timeframe, region, resource group, resource type or even individual resources. It lets you visualize your spending in various ways and hunt for ways to save money.  You can create custom views and then have them emailed to you daily, weekly, or monthly.  This saves you from having to regularly visit the Portal to view these reports, allows you to forward them to other people who may not have access to the Portal, and include them in presentation or reports.

What next?

Azure offers many ways to save money and it’s worth looking into each of them to see if you can benefit. However, it can take time and effort to get it right and that’s where our Azure experts can help. We can advise on the recommended resource SKUs and tiers for your specific and evolved needs, the best use of Reservations and CSP Software Subscription licensing, and our cost assessments can highlight other areas where you could save money in Azure. To find out more contact us now on call us now on +97144553100 or email: sales.uae@cobweb.com.web’s Managing Director commented on the achievement, “Innovation is part of our core values – the IT world is one where change is constant so you have to keep innovating to stay ahead of the bad guys. The Covid-19 lockdown saw a massive transition to hybrid and home working, where our customers went from controlled office environments to remote working with employees using their own devices that we needed to help control and protect. We expanded our portfolio of services to protect customers. Ultimately, we are a people business and it is their knowledge, expertise, passion and obsession for serving our customers that makes the difference.”