I'm currently using Azure through a Cloud Solution Provider (CSP), and the billing process has become quite challenging for me. I can only view one subscription at a time, which makes it tough to maintain a comprehensive overview of our spending across all our subscriptions. Plus, the cost information is delayed and not as transparent as I'd like. Also, I feel limited by the native Azure tools available to me through the CSP, especially when it comes to budget setting and cost optimization recommendations. Whenever I have billing concerns, I have to go through the CSP for support, which often takes longer than I'd prefer. I'm curious if others are facing similar issues and if anyone has found effective solutions or tools that can help manage these billing headaches.
3 Answers
Yeah, the CSP model really limits the use of Azure Cost Management. If they do enable it for you, it still doesn’t give a comprehensive view across multiple subscriptions within management groups. That makes it super restrictive when you want to manage budgets or track costs by company. I honestly recommend looking into an Enterprise Agreement (EA) instead. It'll give you direct access to Microsoft's APIs without those annoying intermediaries.
Moving away from a CSP can be a hassle. You'd think switching billing to a new CSP or Microsoft directly would be easy, but the reality is that you usually have to migrate or redeploy your resources to a new subscription altogether. It’s a nightmare!
I totally get your frustration! I've been managing several subscriptions through a CSP too, and while it’s a bit of manual work, I've found ways to make it manageable. My CSP enables some cost management tools, which I use to create a single dashboard for tracking current and forecasted costs. It does require some manual data entry, but it lets me keep things stable and predictable, usually within 1% of actual expenses over a lengthy period. Sometimes you just have to build a recurring process instead of relying solely on flashy automation. Let me know if you want to chat about this!
Exactly! There’s no straightforward transfer out of a CSP arrangement, which complicates everything.