I work at a large healthcare system and have been asked to become the go-to person for Azure cost management. The challenge is that I have little to no experience with Azure, aside from some DevOps work involving SSIS. Our costs are on the rise, and starting next year, each department will have to manage its own storage and compute expenses. I'm supposed to analyze our current storage and see if items can be moved from Hot to Cool, Cold, or Archive, but I'm feeling lost since there's no one else in our organization who has tackled this before. While I'm keen to learn and see this as an opportunity, I wish there was more structure and clarity on my path forward. Could anyone recommend helpful certifications or classes related to Azure cost management?
5 Answers
Consider hiring a consulting firm to help you while you ramp up. This is a complex area, and getting expert advice can fast-track your understanding and implementation.
There's a potential for large savings here, which can lead to growth opportunities in your career! Try focusing on resources with increasing costs and analyze what drives those costs—whether it's scaling, operations, or storage use.
To get started, I recommend brushing up on Azure fundamentals with the AZ-900 certification. It covers the basics which will help you grasp cost management concepts better. You might also want to check out finops.org for some great resources on cost management training. Lastly, the FinOps Toolkit can be very useful when managing costs—good luck with your learning journey!
Cost management can be tricky if you're not familiar with the data. While you can create some reports using pivot tables and simple graphs, it'll take a lot of time without automation. Partnering with someone who has experience could provide you with the guidance you need. You're not alone in this—many are facing similar challenges with rising costs.
What this tech guy mentioned is spot-on. If you're serious about cost management, AZ-305 is a certification that focuses heavily on cost issues. It's not an easy task to manage costs without having substantial knowledge about Azure's services and their pricing. Hiring an expert consultant can really save your organization money in the long run, especially when making decisions like whether to reserve storage.
Agreed! It’s crucial to understand your Azure environment well to manage and optimize costs effectively.
Thanks for the tip! I’ll focus on understanding those aspects better.