Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users
Service Delivery Manager at Orange
Real User
Top 20
Cost predictability solution for comparing different service providers and providing business insights
Pros and Cons
  • "Gives visibility into the cost of cloud-based solutions."
  • "The technical support could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution for comparing different service providers and providing business insights into the likely costs associated with their solutions. This includes conducting cost-benefit analysis, evaluating ROI, managing databases, and more.


How has it helped my organization?

The solution gives visibility into the cost of cloud-based solutions.

What is most valuable?

Azure Cost Management provides predictability of the cost of Azure solutions, which is precisely what businesses are seeking when we propose any cloud-based solutions to them.

What needs improvement?

Support could be improved.

Buyer's Guide
Azure Cost Management
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Azure Cost Management. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Azure Cost Management for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product is stable.

I rate the solution’s stability a ten out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable.

I rate the solution's scalability a ten out of ten.

How are customer service and support?

We are pretty happy with the support, even though it could be improved.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have used AWS before.

How was the initial setup?

The solution setup is done online.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The product comes free. There is no cost associated with the product.

What other advice do I have?

The solution has automatic maintenance.

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
Shravan Suthar - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Developer at Bioclinica
Real User
Offers the ability to drill down to the regional and resource level and good resource management
Pros and Cons
  • "The resource forecasting feature is invaluable. Secondly, the ability to drill down to the regional and resource level is incredibly helpful for pinpointing where my costs are accruing."
  • "Improved integration with other solutions could definitely be beneficial."

What is our primary use case?

I mainly use it for insights. It's about managing the cost of our resources and how to optimize where we can downsize or right-size resources.

It's mostly about analytics, and this is the first use case. Technically, there are multiple projects, like data integration, data cleansing, and maintaining data quality. There are a few of the underlying use cases. But the topmost or very first use case is analytics.

We have a dedicated cost management team to optimize costs.

How has it helped my organization?

Management would be difficult because right now I'm having one of the projects. And for that project, we are consuming multiple other services. There are storage, pipelines, multiple data functions, and Azure functions. So, the solution is made above multiple Azure components. And there are multiple environments. Like the development environment, the staging, and the production environment. 

Even in production, we have beta and alpha. So it's too much of resources, and it's difficult to manually go through each and every resource every time and try to see where we are hitting the cost and where we can reduce the cost. So that's where the cost management comes in to achieve.

Azure Cost Management actually helps an organization primarily for cost forecasting. For example, I have a budget in mind for this year. Azure Cost Management includes a feature called resource forecasting. Based on current resource usage and projected demand (including any buffer you add for your projects), you can estimate your expected costs for next year. This information helps you build budgets for future periods. So, budgeting tools are very helpful in this regard.

Before we formally adopted Cost Management, based on current consumption, we estimated costs for development and user acceptance testing. These estimates were surprisingly accurate, around 90%. Without a tool like this, manual forecasting could lead to missed savings or even overspending.

What is most valuable?

There are many features in Azure Cost Management that are most effective in tracking and reducing cloud costs. The resource forecasting feature is invaluable. Secondly, the ability to drill down to the regional and resource level is incredibly helpful for pinpointing where my costs are accruing. 

What needs improvement?

Improved integration with other solutions could definitely be beneficial.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using it for more than five years now. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate the stability a seven out of ten. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There are around a thousand end users using this solution in my organization. 

I would rate the scalability a six out of ten. We have limited features. So, I have neutral views on scalability. 

How are customer service and support?

So, my feedback for customer service and support isn't specific to Cost Management, but for other resources like Power BI and Azure App Services, support can be slow. In some cases, I expect a quick turnaround. 

We might need to repeat information when switching agents. So, this can be a continuous cycle. I spend extra time explaining things on each call. So, there's room for improvement.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We use AWS and some Google Cloud servers.

What about the implementation team?

The vendor handles maintenance and troubleshooting.

My team has twelve members who handle things like advertisement, deployment, and cloud resource management.

However, there are different teams and people as it varies from project to project. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Compared to competitors, it's cost-effective. I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten, with ten being expensive. 

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten. I would recommend using this product to others. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Azure Cost Management
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Azure Cost Management. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Piravin Kanth Raman - PeerSpot reviewer
Business Analyst at Tata Consultancy
Real User
Top 10
Increased work efficiency, scales well, but forecasting model could improve
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features of Azure Cost Management are the ability to set standards or tagging policies and initiatives. You can achieve higher cost optimization."
  • "The forecasting model can improve Azure Cost Management."

What is our primary use case?

Azure Cost Management It provides information regarding overall costs and utilization across all Azure services and Azure Marketplace solutions.

How has it helped my organization?

The solution has made our organization more efficient.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of Azure Cost Management are the ability to set standards or tagging policies and initiatives. You can achieve higher cost optimization.

What needs improvement?

The forecasting model can improve Azure Cost Management.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Azure Cost Management for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate the stability of Azure Cost Management a seven out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Our clientele comprises businesses of various sizes, ranging from small to medium-sized enterprises that may require our solutions for short-term periods, to large corporations like banks.

I rate the scalability of Azure Cost Management an eight out of ten.

How are customer service and support?

We have a technical team and we are providing support to our clients efficiently.

How was the initial setup?

Understanding how to fully take advantage of Azure Cost Management saving recommendations is not a simple task. This is because the cloud provider offers its own pricing structure, and there are also other native solutions available. To truly comprehend why some people are unable to realize the cost savings offered by Azure, a business analysis is necessary. Primary research is needed to identify the pain points within the market.

Each deployment has to be customized to match the customer's needs and requirements. There can be many challenges. Overall, the implementation is complex.

I rate the initial setup of Azure Cost Management a seven out of ten.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I rate the price of Azure Cost Management an eight out of ten.

What other advice do I have?

I would advise others who want to use Azure Cost Management to read the documentation.

I rate Azure Cost Management a six out of ten.

I gave my rating of six out of ten because there are plenty of other similar solutions on the market.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
MohamedShedeed - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud specialist at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
A free solution offered to Azure cloud customers via the Azure portal
Pros and Cons
  • "Billing management is self-explanatory. There isn't a specific feature that stands out, but it's a fundamental aspect that needs to be present."
  • "There are significant issues with Power BI integration at the moment, particularly with built-in applications for course management. Multiple features don't allow for efficient report generation. This is one primary concern. The second issue relates to reporting, even when using Power BI templates for course management. There are problems with data import that require manual entry. So, these are the two main challenges I'm currently facing. Another matter to consider is the removal of the markup option for partners. I'm not sure if it will be added back, but it used to allow marking up Azure usage for enterprise customers. I'm uncertain if there's an alternative way to achieve the same function. Partners need to mark up services when selling to customers, and it's currently unavailable for some products or services."

What is our primary use case?

Basically, they provide licenses to customers who already have an Azure subscription. They send these licenses to customers based on their needs, either extracting them from the partner center or group management or then delivering them, often through email. Additionally, for the Dental Connection system, APIs support the automated delivery of licenses to customers. On another note, when addressing billing concerns, there are instances where customers claim they've been overcharged by varying amounts, such as a hundred, five hundred, or even a thousand dollars. In such cases, they examine cost management to investigate these charges.

What is most valuable?


Billing management is self-explanatory. There isn't a specific feature that stands out, but it's a fundamental aspect that needs to be present.

What needs improvement?

There are significant issues with Power BI integration at the moment, particularly with built-in applications for course management. Multiple features don't allow for efficient report generation. This is one primary concern. The second issue relates to reporting, even when using Power BI templates for course management. There are problems with data import that require manual entry. So, these are the two main challenges I'm currently facing.

Another matter to consider is the removal of the markup option for partners. I'm not sure if it will be added back, but it used to allow marking up Azure usage for enterprise customers. I'm uncertain if there's an alternative way to achieve the same function. Partners need to mark up services when selling to customers, and it's currently unavailable for some products or services.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Azure Cost Management for quite sometime. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is 10 out of 10.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is not needed.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is lacking in terms of response time and effectiveness. The response times are quite lengthy, and the support team's ability to address complex issues is questionable. While they may be suitable for straightforward problems, when it comes to more intricate issues, the support often falls short of expectations. This applies across various support levels, including Microsoft Premier, unified support, basic, and standard.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We solely utilize Azure Cost Management for overseeing our Azure services, so we haven't explored any competing solutions.

How was the initial setup?

No custom setup is required for most cases. The only situation where setup may be needed is when working with a Microsoft CSV partner and running automation. In such cases, some configurations may be necessary.

Furthermore, deploying this to Azure Management Services is a straightforward process. It's a built-in feature or service within Azure, so there's no need to go through a separate deployment process. It's readily available with every subscription.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Pricing isn't applicable as it's included with the subscription. It depends on the services used. If you acquire any services on Azure, you pay for the subscription, and the billing or cost management is included for free.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I would rate it 9 out of 10. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Business Analyst at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Everyone can visualize the insights through the application
Pros and Cons
  • "Azure Cost Management is user-friendly compared to other competitors."
  • "The product's foecasting needs improvement."

What is our primary use case?

We use the product to analyze the cost utilization for multiple clients who have deployed resources in Microsoft Azure. By monitoring their usage patterns, we suggest exploring cost-saving options, such as leveraging reservations or identifying opportunities for cost benefit.

What is most valuable?

Azure Cost Management is user-friendly compared to other competitors. We can easily present it to non-technical people. Everyone can visualize the insights through the application. The other cloud mobility applications have more technical functionality. Thus, the terminologies become difficult to understand.

What needs improvement?

The product's foecasting needs improvement. The current approach, which uses the maximum incurred cost to forecast for an extended period, leads to freezing budgets unnecessarily. They could enhance the forecasting model by exploring alternative algorithms such as time series or other models. Additionally, they could expand the recommendation timeframe to allow for one-year plans, acknowledging that not all organizations may have a three-year workload plan.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Azure Cost Management for two and a half years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We encounter occasional glitches or bugs in the solution, particularly in cloud dashboards and usage tracking. The technical support team resolves the issue within 24 hours.

I rate the stability an eight or nine out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We work with enterprise companies as our clients for Azure Cost Management. It is a scalable platform.

How are customer service and support?

The support team is helpful. However, we have to wait for a callback nearly a week after raising the ticket. It can be challenging, especially when working within an agile methodology with fixed timelines. They could reflect and respond, ideally within a day or two, to better align with our project timelines.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup process is user-friendly.

What other advice do I have?

We are using a solution accelerator that operates with Azure. It helps us manage policies and other functionalities. I advise others to be aware of the opportunities where the deployment cost can be reduced. 

I rate Azure Cost Management an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
DeepakKumar15 - PeerSpot reviewer
Vice President at MSCI
Real User
The solution should be made cheaper, though it can be used for budgeting purposes in an organization
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of Azure Cost Management is cost optimization."
  • "Azure Cost Management should be made cheaper."

What is our primary use case?

We use Azure Cost Management for our budgeting purposes. We have created a policy where we get an alert if a particular resource goes above our budget.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of Azure Cost Management is cost optimization.

What needs improvement?

Azure Cost Management should be made cheaper.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Azure Cost Management for around four years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Around 1,000 users use Azure Cost Management in our organization.

How are customer service and support?

Azure Cost Management's technical support team is customer-friendly, but sometimes, they take longer to respond.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used Symantec.

How was the initial setup?

Azure Cost Management's initial setup is straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented the solution through an in-house team. Azure Cost Management's deployment is very simple and can be deployed in a day.

What other advice do I have?

Azure Cost Management is a cloud-based solution.

Overall, I rate Azure Cost Management a five out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Duke Obasi - PeerSpot reviewer
COO at Xceed365 Limited
Real User
Top 5
Easy to use but needs more user-friendly GUI
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup is straightforward."
  • "There are certainly areas for improvement in terms of labeling the inventory. That's because right now, we use a number of services. But it's difficult when you look at the billing limiters and how they are named. We can't correlate those names to the actual services there. So, I can't click on an item and see if I'm still using this service or not. So it just rolls up and gives me values and figures, but I can't really correlate them to actual services on the Azure platform."

What is our primary use case?

We use it to manage our costs, setting triggers in case our costs go over budget based on our usage. So, it's primarily for our Azure usage and not for any other external costs.

It's not something we use every day. The features are somewhat limited. I mainly use it to check the overall cost of the services we use.

What needs improvement?

There are certainly areas for improvement in terms of labeling the inventory. That's because right now, we use a number of services. But it's difficult when you look at the billing limiters and how they are named. We can't correlate those names to the actual services there. So, I can't click on an item and see if I'm still using this service or not. So it just rolls up and gives me values and figures, but I can't really correlate them to actual services on the Azure platform.

A more user-friendly interface that helps me associate the values I see with specific services on the Azure platform. It gives more options because there are probably services that I should not be using now, and that wouldn't have an impact on my overall cloud environment. But I can't really correlate it to the values I see on the metering with those particular services. So it's difficult for me to find the service. "I don't want to use this one, I want to add more of that," that kind of thing.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution since 2013. Azure App Service is why we continue using Azure. We want our test partners to fully utilize Azure. It started with Azure App Service. We were using more of the cloud services initially, and then we moved to app services once they launched.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable solution. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have a small team, so there are only two end users for this solution. 

How are customer service and support?

We have not contacted support for Azure Cost Management. We use the features as we see it. So, of course, we have provided feedback in the past, suggesting features to add, but we haven't contacted support directly.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We chose this solution because it came bundled with Azure, so it's just the tool we have. We have also looked into other tools like Shagit, which had many better features. But, the company discontinued that tool, so we couldn't continue using it.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. There really isn't much else to do. It's quite straightforward. You just click to use, and it's ready to go.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The licensing is not bad. It's aligned with the tool, so it doesn't come across as a big cost. It's bundled in with the package. I have it as part of the package.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend using this solution. 

Overall, I would rate the solution a seven out of ten. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user
Amro Saleh - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at Arab Bank
Real User
Top 10
Notifies once budget threshold crosses and helps with reporting
Pros and Cons
  • "The tool helps with budgeting and reporting. It notifies us whenever we cross the threshold."
  • "Azure Cost Management needs to improve scalability."

What is our primary use case?

We use the product for cost analysis. 

What is most valuable?

The tool helps with budgeting and reporting. It notifies us whenever we cross the threshold.

What needs improvement?

Azure Cost Management needs to improve scalability. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the product for two years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate Azure Cost Management's stability a ten out of ten. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I rate the solution's scalability a ten out of ten. My company has 10-20 users. 

How are customer service and support?

Microsoft's support is helpful. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

Azure Cost Management is a cloud solution and doesn't require installation. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Azure Cost Management comes as a part of other solutions. You need to pay as per your requirement based on the pay-as-you-go model. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate the solution a nine out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Azure Cost Management Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: November 2024
Product Categories
Cloud Cost Management
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Azure Cost Management Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.