Azure Virtual Desktop is already a star employee. It’s secure, scalable and, most importantly, easy to manage. But, the thought on the minds of many organisations is how they can reduce costs and optimise their Azure experience. In fact, 64 percent of organisations consider optimizing cloud costs as their top initiative going forward.
Working out what you’re looking to get out of Azure is step one. But, once you’re there, you can start to look for ways to reduce your bills.
Here are five ways you can save your pennies when using AVD.
1. Shut down VMs when they’re not in use
As everything’s billed on a pay-as-you-go basis, a quick way to cut costs is to make sure you shut off virtual machines outside of work hours.
An easy way to arrange this is to use Azure Advisor to identify unused resources and shut them down for you.
2. Make sure you’ve got the right license
It might seem a little obvious, but it’s worth checking that the license you’re paying for is suitable for what you want to do. Certain licenses will give you extra coverage for apps like M365 and FSLogix, so make sure you’re only paying for what you need.
Double-checking the pricing guide will give you full details on AVD’s requirements for each license.
3. Autoscale your session hosts
Autoscaling is one of the most powerful tools offered in Azure Virtual Desktop. But, did you know you can use it to save you money too?
Microsoft outlined ways in which you can use autoscaling to automatically control session hosts and manage users. This allows you to set parameters like core hours, and how many sessions hosts should remain active outside of these hours.
4. Manage your budgets
Don’t let your cloud spending spiral out of control. You can set budgets in Azure’s Cost Management tool and then deploy them across your teams.
With these budgets set, you can add alerts that notify you when you’ve exceeded your thresholds. This allows you to monitor your cloud costs and avoid spending more than you should.
Check out this tutorial to set this up for your business.
5. Take advantage of Azure Hybrid Benefit
Azure Hybrid Benefit reduces the costs of running your workloads in the cloud by using your existing servers and licenses.
According to Microsoft, it works by letting you use your on-premises Software Assurance-enabled Windows Server and SQL Server licences. This could potentially save you up to 85 percent compared to standard pay-as-you-go rates.
Find what’s right for your business
Microsoft’s cost optimisation resources all point to the same idea - finding what’s right for your business. By highlighting areas where you can streamline your processes, you’ll see big improvements to your bill in no time.
There isn’t one simple trick to slash your costs across the board, it’ll vary from case to case. You’ll need to adjust your plan to suit what you’re looking to get out of it. That’s why, if you’re looking to save on your Azure Virtual Desktop prices, you should request a cost optimisation assessment.
If you need any more expert advice, please contact us today.
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