So many businesses on the Gold Coast and around Australia choose to move to Azure to help them lower costs.
So how can you save money hosting on Microsoft Azure?
It’s not too hard to find savings in a solution that’s got so many features and benefits.
The cost usually, like anything, can sometimes come with the initial setup and then over time is where you start to notice the benefits (and the cost savings).
Once you start your move to the cloud the work doesn’t just stop there though.
There is still plenty to do to ensure you’re maximising the performance while keeping an eye on your monthly spend too
I’m sure we know a Local IT Business that can help you out with that!
But in the end, once set up and running efficiently, you will reap what you sow in regards to money saved.
So below we will quickly run through some of the potential ways (depending on your business), you can save money while hosting on Azure.
Reserved virtual machine instances
Simply put, Azure Reserved Virtual Machine Instances is when you reserve and commit to paying for the resources and capacity of an Azure virtual machine for either a one or three year period.
The cost savings are made for your business when you make the commitment to the time frame, as you get the machine for a reduced hourly rate over this period compared to the pay as you go pricing.
This is a great option if you know that you’ll need a virtual machine long term, you can save plenty with a one off payment calculated for you.
Make sure your pricing tier is correct
When setting up a virtual machine to replace an onsite server the best solution is to look at your business workload to see if your business could run on a smaller virtual machine.
If you begin with a size that suits the size of your business initially and then monitor thereon, it can save you a lot of money over time.
When installing physical servers usually the machine is chosen to handle maximum workload from the beginning so you are paying for capacity you hardly use or need.
Autoscale to shut down or scale down
As you will be able to tell this feature helps to save your business money by either shutting them down or scaling them down when needed or if they have been set to.
So you have the option of setting the perimeters for shut down, so if your business doesn’t operate after 6pm at night and you want to force your managers to take time off over the weekend you set your machine to shut down during these times so you aren’t paying for non-usage times.
You can also create rules or automations to start the machine up so they are ready and working if needed.
In the scale down department, you can pre-set these perimeters too and scale up and down by any metric when needed or set.
Again, another great saving initiative based on paying only what you use.
Azure hybrid benefit
This option allows businesses that already have Software Assurance to use their on-premises Windows Server Licences to set up and run Windows virtual machines on Azure at a reduced cost.
Region specific pricing
Sometimes the same services your business is using can be different prices in different regions of deployment.
So if you have the flexibility to do so or if you are a multinational company it pays to check to see if there can be any savings made by using a different region setting or even combining regions to give you and your business the best outcome monetary and performance wise.
Moving to Platform as a Service
Azure’s Platform as a Service (PaaS) will allow you to avoid the whole complexity of setting up licences, managing software and also committing to using a whole virtual machine.
This option is fully a pay-as-you-go option and the savings come from not having to manage a full Azure cloud account.
So while you manage the applications, also the services you develop the rest is managed in the background for you and is part of the service.
Upgrade your virtual machine series
Microsoft Azure is ever evolving and as new VMs are introduced in different regions and updates come through, there might have the opportunity to upgrade at the right time for the right pricing.
These can come as introductory offers or promotional pricing so there is a need to keep an eye on this pricing when the promotion ends and make the next series decision from there.
These promotions or introductory offers can help to save you money over time.
Monitoring and auditing
Almost as important as setting up the correct virtual machine for your business in the first place is the monitoring and auditing of your system.
To keep your monthly costs under control or within budget you must continue to monitor, plan and adjust accordingly if needed.
There are many factors that can attribute to your monthly bill, but the great thing about Azure is you can set thresholds and alerts to make you aware when your usage is getting close to or has peaked.
B-series virtual machines
Azure B-series virtual machines are a great way to save money as they are a flexible CPU usage with a burst ready for use when needed.
The B-series is a cost effective way to deploy workloads that don’t need full capacity at all times.
When not using the capacity of the virtual machine it builds up credits ready to burst up to 100% for the period of time when you need it.
Having this control gives you great cost flexibility and also flexible value when you need it.
There’s plenty of ways to save with Microsoft Azure
As you can see there is plenty of different options for a business looking at saving money when they make the switch to Microsoft Azure.
All of these above have cross overs and can be combined as well to give your business the best solution and cost savings possible.
And we realise that one size doesn’t fit all and this is why we’re here for you before, during and after any of the migrations and setups we do.
Is your business and systems ready for Azure yet?
Are you and your staff ready for Azure yet?
If you are thinking of making the move to Microsoft Azure and the cloud, or you may just want to upgrade or optimise your current environment you can contact us.
We have the knowledge, experience and tools to help you start from scratch or meet you half way if you have already started.
Either way, with Microsoft Azure and Greendata it’s your vision, your cloud and we are just here to help you on your journey.
So no matter what your industry is, call us today, Greendata for Azure on 07 5526 0278
