As businesses continue to adopt cloud technologies, managing Azure spend has become a critical aspect of cloud cost optimization. With the increasing demand for cloud services, organizations are faced with challenges such as higher than allocated cloud budgets, month-on-month increases in Azure spend without visibility, and the difficulty of decoding the bills.
Business Challenge
The client was struggling with Azure spend management. Azure Spend was higher than the allocated Cloud budget. One of the most common challenges associated with Azure spend management is when the cost exceeds the allocated cloud budget. This can happen due to a variety of reasons, including underestimating resource requirements or not monitoring usage effectively. As a result, organizations may end up paying more for their cloud services than they anticipated.
The month-on-month increase in Azure spend with no visibility: Another challenge associated with Azure spend management is the month-on-month increase in cost without any visibility of where the money is being spent. Without proper monitoring and control, it can be challenging to identify areas of wastage and optimize resource usage effectively. This can lead to significant financial losses for an organization if not addressed promptly.
Decoding and understanding Azure bills was a big challenge: Decoding Azure billing can be complex and difficult to understand, especially for organizations without expertise in cloud economics and its implications. Without a proper understanding of the costs associated with their Azure services, it can be challenging to make informed decisions about how to optimize their cloud resources and reduce costs.
No expertise in understanding cloud economics and its implications: Most organizations are limited in their understanding of spending and economics. This can result in a lack of control over cloud spending and an inability to identify areas where they can optimize their cloud resources and reduce costs.
A sudden unforeseen spike increased costs significantly: In June, there was a significant increase in Azure costs, which further exacerbated the challenges associated with managing Azure spending. Without a model to forecast and track cloud spend, organizations struggle to anticipate future costs and adjust their budgets accordingly.
Absence of governance and reporting: Another challenge associated with Azure spend management is the lack of governance and reporting in place. Without proper controls and visibility of cloud spending, it can be difficult for organizations to identify areas where they can optimize their cloud resources and reduce costs.
Multi-Business Unit with no chargeback and show-back: In addition to the challenges associated with managing Azure spend, many organizations have multiple business units that use Azure services without proper chargeback and show-back mechanisms in place. This can result in a lack of accountability for cloud usage and make it difficult to allocate costs appropriately across different business units.
The Coforge Solution
Our FinOps Assessment
Given the challenges associated with managing Azure spending, a FinOps assessment was conducted with the client to understand, measure, and take action to optimize their cloud resources and reduce costs.
Wastage of Cloud resources identified: The assessment identified significant wastage of cloud resources, including orphan and unused resources that were not being utilized effectively. This highlighted the need for organizations to implement resource optimization strategies to ensure that they get the most out of their Azure investments.
Potential Levers of Resource Optimization: The assessment identified several potential levers of resource optimization, including defining quotas and governance policies per business unit, as well as setting up alerts based on budget thresholds. These strategies can help organizations optimize their cloud resources and reduce costs.
Actionable Insights on Spends: The assessment also provided actionable insights on spending, including forecasting, variance analysis, and utilization reports. These reports can help organizations identify areas where they can optimize their cloud resources and reduce costs.
Governance roadmap: Finally, the assessment provided a governance roadmap that outlined the steps needed to address the challenges associated with managing Azure spending. This included defining chargeback/show-back policies, implementing resource optimization strategies, and setting up alerts based on budget thresholds.
Result
Coforge helped save the client $426K in a span of 12 months. As part of the assessment, implementation and execution of all the recommendations, we helped save the client half a million dollars in savings as a result of reduction, consolidation, avoidance, optimization and implementation of reservations.
Contact us to learn about our FinOps solutions to further reduce your costs associated with managing Azure spending and achieve significant cost savings.
To learn more about our Microsoft services & capabilities, please email us at Microsoft@coforge.com or visit us at https://www.coforge.com/microsoft
About Coforge
Coforge is a global digital services and solutions provider, that leverages emerging technologies and deep domain expertise to deliver real-world business impact for its clients. A focus on very select industries, a detailed understanding of the underlying processes of those industries, and partnerships with leading platforms provide us a distinct perspective. Coforge leads with its product engineering approach and leverages Cloud, Data, Integration, and Automation technologies to transform client businesses into intelligent, high-growth enterprises. Coforge’s proprietary platforms power critical business processes across its core verticals. The firm has a presence in 21 countries with 26 delivery centers across nine countries.
Learn more at www.coforge.com
