Cloud has become an integral part of modern businesses as extra resources keep moving towards it. Budgeting cloud expenses has come into focus with its massive expenditure in IT. Azure usage optimization entails several modes through which an organization can save on costs. Let’s look into ten ways to save on Azure. 

Azure Dev/Test Pricing

Non-production workloads, when run on Azure, cost immensely. Therefore, it is advised to run them on Azure Dev/Test. Development and testing services attract heavy discounts from Azure Dev/Test pricing. You can save 55% by using the Azure SQL database.

Azure Hybrid

Make sure that you benefit from the existing licenses. If you have purchased licensing for SQL server for on-premise usage with active software assurance, you can use the same on the cloud at heavy discounts.

Reserve Instances

Azure has reservation benefits, i.e., it allows you to reserve instances that result in massive discounts. Generally, there are three options ranging from 1 year to spot pricing. And the discounts vary from 40%, 60% to almost 90% sometimes.

Minimize Orphaned Disks

As a virtual machine gets deleted in Azure, the corresponding disks of the VM do not get eliminated. This happens as a contingency measure. But these orphaned disks get billed and cost money. So, identify and delete such orphaned disks.

Use Spot VMs

Use Azure’s Spot virtual machines for workloads that are non-critical and are prone to a lot of interruptions. This results in accessing the unused capacity of Azure at heavy discounts. Mostly, non-critical workloads include batch processing or testing environments.

Elastic Pools of Azure SQL Database

At times, there is a lot of unused capacity due to low workload peaks. Azure SQL Database Elastic pools approve the creation of a shared collection of resources used by multitudes of database workloads. This reduces the need for a separate resource for peak requirements.

Avoid Premium Storage

Azure Premium Storage is the best when it comes to performance. It is quite pricey when pitched against the Standard storage. Be mindful of your requirements of performance, and then select the storage. This can lower the cost with specific selections.

Switch Off

You have to pay for the services that you use. So, when you are not using a service, make sure you turn it off. If your work environment does not require a 24x7 operation, then you can schedule a shutdown.

Manage your resources

Manage your Azure resources properly and determine your capacity in advance. This helps in avoiding expenditure on services or resources that you don’t need. You can use Azure monitor to know your resource consumption and make necessary changes according to it.

Azure Cost Management

It is a built-in tool that helps an organization figure out its Azure running cost as a whole. That means it provides you with the overall picture of Azure subscription cost. You can identify high-cost resources and expenses that can be cut down.

Azure includes built-in models for pricing that target cost management. An entity should also follow the industry’s best practices to promote optimum resource utilization and waste reduction.