How Can I Control Microsoft Azure Costs?
Getting the most out of your Microsoft Azure environment is not as difficult as it seems. Track the activity of your assets on a weekly or monthly basis, track how costs evolve, and learn about your licensing options. In short, compute capacity management is the only tried and true strategy to maximize your Microsoft licensing investment.
Track usage and adjust to business needs Usage tracking is so fundamental to software license management that we sometimes overlook it when looking for a cooler and more mobile-looking tool or strategy. But it works and you have to. Aim to answer these simple questions: What am I using? How often do I use it? What are my high and low usage levels? In doing so, you'll know exactly where to look if you need to set up your Microsoft Azure contract, reassemble a license if it's a BYOL scenario, or rotate or slow down virtual machines or server capacity. And it doesn't matter if we are talking about operating systems, databases or applications. The answers to these key software license management questions are the starting point for all your cost avoidance and cost reduction programs and strategies.
Watch your Azure licensing costs evolve
It is unlikely that your Microsoft Azure licensing costs will remain consistent over the lifetime of a contract. While this is normal, you will want to understand what is causing the fluctuations, whether they are within budget and whether they meet your business needs. If you can't explain a usage, or even explain why your Microsoft Azure licensing costs haven't changed, then you have an issue that could lead to software licensing compatibility issues or overspending. Knowing where costs come from and how they are changing is the best way to get the right license for your business and infrastructure needs.
Find out which Microsoft Azure licenses you have
Like most companies and organizations, your business is likely looking for ways to keep your employees safe during this unprecedented global pandemic. It's commendable, even if it's challenging most of the time. Understanding your licenses can help you solve many of these challenges quickly and easily. You may even find opportunities for cost avoidance that you didn't know you had. With more secure initiatives in the global home, it makes sense to move specific instances of computing to the cloud.
Depending on the Microsoft Software Assurance coverage you have, you may be eligible for expanded capacity in the cloud with one license for only one core.
This can be useful if the demand for your internal collaboration tools is growing. These license options and entitlements make your environment significantly more flexible and allow you to respond quickly and appropriately to changing business and operating conditions.
Build your quick response team
Strengthen your business with software and infrastructure facilities and get the most out of your Azure investment. A software license management tool like SmartTrack stores your contracts, knows which licenses you have and which are covered by Software Assurance so you can quickly see what your options are. Quick response is an important part of your team, quickly giving you options and simulating license scenarios.
