5 Ways to Cut Costs and Save Money on Microsoft Azure

Introduction

With users moving more and more resources to the cloud, Azure costs are becoming a major part of expenses. In this article, we will discuss 5 ways you can cut costs and save money when operating on Microsoft Azure.

Azure Hybrid Benefit

The Azure Hybrid Benefit allows you to bring your existing on-premises Windows Server and SQL Server licenses to Azure and get significant discounts on Azure compute resources. This can be a great way to save money if you have a large on-premises infrastructure that you are moving to Azure.

Azure Reserved Instances

Azure Reserved Instances (RIs) are a great way to save money on Azure compute resources if you know that you will be using them for a certain amount of time. You can purchase RIs for a 1-year or 3-year term, and you will get a significant discount on the hourly rate for those resources.

Azure Cost Management

Azure Cost Management is a powerful tool that can help you track your Azure spending and identify areas where you can save money. You can use Cost Management to set budgets, track costs by department or project, and identify underutilized resources.

Correctly Size Virtual Machines (VMs)

One of the biggest ways to save money on Azure is to correctly size your VMs. If you over-provision your VMs, you will be paying for more resources than you need. On the other hand, if you under-provision your VMs, your applications may not perform well. It is important to find the right balance between cost and performance.

Choose the Right Purchasing Option

There are a few different ways to purchase Azure resources. You can pay on-demand, which means that you only pay for the resources that you use. Additionally, there are Azure subscriptions that you can buy, which give you access to a set amount of Azure resources for a monthly fee. Enterprise Agreements or Product and Services Agreements are also great for large organizations. The best purchasing option for you will depend on your specific needs.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are a number of ways to save money on Microsoft Azure. By following the tips in this article, you can reduce your Azure costs and get the most out of your cloud investment.