Don't burn money on Pay-as-you-Go with Azure Reservations

On Azure you can save a lot when using Azure Reservations. If you never heard about this head over here.

Now, if you assumed Azure Reservations are just another type of VM that you purchase ... you couldn't be more wrong.

More Wrong? More Wrong???

Azure Reservations are another service that you purchase and then you can map it to existing VMs in your Azure Subscription or Resource Group. This gives you more flexibility if you change your mind regarding which VM should get the savings. Or imagine you want to apply the savings to existing VMs without interrupting business. However, in favor of another Azure Service - called Azure Savings Plan - Microsoft will update the terms and conditions for Azure Reservations. More info on this can be found here.

The way Azure Reservations work makes it also a bit harder to track the actual savings from an Azure Reservation.

Let's assume you want to get a report of the overall cost savings incurred by using Azure Reservations? Well, it does not exist out of the box yet, but there are ways to achieve this.

Below you will find a list of resource that will guide you to understand how to get the information you need.

How to calculate the cost savings?

1. Calculate EA reservations cost savings - Microsoft Cost Management | Microsoft Learn
2. Save with Azure reservations - Microsoft Cost Management | Microsoft Learn
3. Virtual machine size flexibility -Azure Reserved VM Instances - Azure Virtual Machines | Microsoft Learn

Tools that may be helpful if you are a Power BI user.

1. A template from Microsoft, but it seems not to support Azure Savings Plans Analyze Azure costs with the Power BI App - Microsoft Cost Management | Microsoft Learn
2. A 3rd party tool I found on Github: Azure Savings Dashboard

More information and troubleshooting resources:

1. Important Update in regards to exchanging reservations in the future: Changes to the Azure reservation exchange policy - Microsoft Cost Management | Microsoft Learn
2. Find a reservation purchaser from Azure Monitor logs - Microsoft Cost Management | Microsoft Learn
3. Troubleshoot Azure reservation utilization - Microsoft Cost Management | Microsoft Learn
4. Troubleshoot Azure reservation recommendations - Microsoft Cost Management | Microsoft Learn
5. Self-service exchanges and refunds for Azure Reservations - Microsoft Cost Management | Microsoft Learn
   

Pricing related links

1. Pricing Calculator | Microsoft Azure
2. Pricing - Windows Virtual Machines | Microsoft Azure

Conclusion

Azure Reservations are a great way to save costs. However, keep in mind that Reservations are not always the cheaper option. The assumption is that these machines are running 24/7. If your machines only run during business hours (8 hours per day) PAYG may actually be cheaper. You can easily compare the differences in the Azure Pricing Calculator.

If you're a subscriber you can share your feedback below 😉

Cheers
Sven