What is Azure Cost Management?
Azure Cost Management is a free analytics tool that provides complete transparency over cloud spending. The service enables detailed cost reports, budget management, and proactive alerts for unexpected expenses.
Core Features
- Detailed cost analysis by subscription, resource group, tag, or service
- Budgets with automatic alerts when thresholds are exceeded
- Cost forecasts based on historical data
- Export of cost data to Storage Accounts or Power BI
- Multi-cloud support for AWS and GCP costs
Typical Use Cases
- Monthly cost reports for finance and management
- Chargeback and showback for internal cost centers
- Identification of unused resources and savings potential
Benefits
- Free for Azure resources
- Native integration into Azure Portal
- Automated recommendations through Azure Advisor
- Support for Reserved Instances and Savings Plans
Integration with innFactory
As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, innFactory supports you with Azure Cost Management: implementation of tagging strategies, building FinOps processes, and identifying savings potential.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Azure Cost Management cost?
Azure Cost Management is free for analyzing Azure resources. For AWS and GCP costs, fees apply (approx. 1% of analyzed costs).
How do budgets and alerts work?
You define monthly or annual budgets per subscription, resource group, or tag. When thresholds are reached (e.g., 80%, 100%), email alerts or Azure Actions are triggered.
Can I break down costs by teams?
Yes, via tags and resource groups. Implement a consistent tagging strategy (e.g., CostCenter, Owner, Environment) for precise cost allocation.
How does Cost Management integrate with Power BI?
Through the Cost Management Connector, you can analyze cost data directly in Power BI and create custom dashboards.
