I'm really struggling to keep track of our Azure budget. Some months we're under budget, but then suddenly we're over and have to quickly figure out why. Factors like autoscaling, idle resources, and unexpected spikes in usage are throwing off our predictions. We're currently using Azure Cost Management, but it's not providing us with enough detail to stay on top of our expenses. I'm curious if anyone else is successfully managing to forecast their Azure spend. What tools, tips, or strategies have helped you?
5 Answers
Is there someone responsible for using the Azure Price Calculator before starting new projects? If not, that could be a big issue in managing your budget effectively. Make sure someone is checking costs beforehand to prevent surprises!
If your Azure environment feels ungoverned, that's something to address first. Establishing some governance could help you take control of your spending. Costs can spiral out of control without proper oversight!
Forecasting can be tough if you don't clearly understand your usage patterns. If your consumption changes a lot, it makes it even harder to predict expenses. Try to identify if there are any consistent patterns in your usage that could help with projection.
Have you analyzed those surprise spikes? It might not just be random. Is it isolated to one subscription or a specific part of your organization? Running some cost analyses over the last few months could give you insight and help find those hidden variables affecting your costs.
Check out the FinOps toolkit! It’s supposed to help manage cloud expenses more effectively, and many have found it useful for keeping track of costs.
Looks like there's been some discussion about this already. It seems like you've been dealing with budget issues for a while. Maybe it's time to take a step back and really evaluate your governance strategy!