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Techtide azure waf cost optimization review

Skill TechTideOhio/techtide-harness-kit/skills/azure/techtide-azure-waf-cost-optimization-review

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Review Azure workload cost posture against the Well-Architected Framework Cost Optimization pillar: cost modeling, rightsizing, reservations, hybrid benefit, storage lifecycle, and idle resource elimination.

SKILL.md

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Azure WAF Cost Optimization Review

The Azure Well-Architected Framework Cost Optimization pillar focuses on designing workloads that maximize the value delivered while minimizing unnecessary Azure spending.

5 Cost Optimization Design Principles

  1. Develop a cost model - model costs before deployment; estimate spend based on requirements; track cost KPIs
  2. Design with a cost-efficiency mindset - favor managed services, consumption-based pricing, and right-sized resources
  3. Design for usage optimization - enable auto-scaling; schedule workloads; use spot/low-priority VMs for fault-tolerant jobs
  4. Design for rate optimization - commit to consistent usage via Azure Reservations and Savings Plans; leverage hybrid benefits
  5. Monitor and optimize over time - track spend continuously; act on cost recommendations; retire underutilized resources

Azure Cost Tools

  • Microsoft Cost Management + Billing - cost analysis, budgets, cost alerts, export to storage for Parquet/Athena analysis
  • Azure Advisor - cost recommendations: resize/shutdown VMs, buy reservations, delete unused disks
  • Azure Monitor + cost alerts - alert on budget thresholds
  • Azure Pricing Calculator - pre-deployment cost estimation
  • Azure Cost Management Exports - raw billing data to Azure Storage for Power BI / Excel analysis
  • Azure Carbon Optimization (preview) - sustainability tracking for carbon footprint reporting

Cost Optimization Areas

Compute

  • Right-size VMs using Azure Advisor; use Burstable VMs (B-series) for dev/test
  • Spot VMs - up to 90% off list price for interruptible workloads (CI/CD, ML training, batch)
  • Azure Batch Spot nodes - bursty HPC at spot pricing
  • Auto-shutdown dev VMs outside business hours via Azure DevTest Labs or scheduled stop

Reservations and Savings Plans

  • 1yr/3yr Azure Reservations - VMs, SQL, Cosmos DB, App Service, AKS nodes; committed capacity discount
  • Azure Savings Plans for Compute - covers VMs, VMSS, AKS, App Service, Functions across regions, SKU families, and sizes; no instance flexibility restrictions

Azure Hybrid Benefit

  • Windows Server - up to 40% off VM pricing using existing Software Assurance licenses
  • SQL Server - up to 55% off Azure SQL Database and SQL Managed Instance
  • Dev/Test pricing - reduced rates for Visual Studio subscribers on eligible services

Storage

  • Azure Blob lifecycle management - tiered transition: Hot → Cool → Cold → Archive based on last access time
  • Storage Reserved Capacity - commit to blob storage capacity for up to 3 years
  • LRS vs GRS vs GZRS selection - match redundancy to actual DR requirements; avoid over-replication

Networking

  • Azure Front Door vs Application Gateway vs Load Balancer cost tradeoffs
  • ExpressRoute vs VPN Gateway pricing model differences
  • Egress data transfer costs - VNet peering is free; egress to internet is billed per GB

Governance

  • Management Group + Subscription tagging policy - enforce required tags via Azure Policy deny
  • Cost allocation tags - chargeback/showback reporting by team, application, environment, cost-center
  • Azure Policy to enforce allowed VM SKUs - prevent accidental high-cost SKU deployment

Assessment Questions

  • How do you model and predict cloud costs for your workload?
  • How do you ensure resources are correctly sized for the workload?
  • How do you use Azure pricing models (reservations, savings plans, spot) to reduce costs?
  • How do you monitor and act on cost anomalies?
  • How do you retire unused or underutilized resources?
  • How do you allocate costs to teams or business units?
  • How do you evaluate the cost impact of architectural decisions?

Validation Checklist

  • Azure Cost Management budgets configured per subscription with email alerts at 80% and 100%
  • 100% of resources tagged with required tags (env, team, app, cost-center) via Azure Policy
  • Azure Advisor cost recommendations reviewed and actioned monthly
  • Azure Reservations or Savings Plans covering ≥70% of steady-state compute (VMs, AKS nodes, SQL)
  • Azure Hybrid Benefit enabled for eligible Windows Server and SQL Server workloads
  • Spot VMs or Azure Batch Spot nodes used for CI/CD, ML training, and dev/test workloads
  • Blob Storage lifecycle policies active for all storage accounts with data older than 30 days
  • Unused resources identified and decommissioned monthly: unattached disks, unused public IPs, empty resource groups, stopped VMs >7 days
  • Dev/test VMs auto-shutdown scheduled outside business hours
  • Cost allocation report generated monthly for chargeback/showback

Response Shape

Cost visibility and tooling assessment → tagging compliance → reservation/savings plan coverage → rightsizing opportunities → hybrid benefit and spot adoption → storage lifecycle → idle resource inventory → prioritized savings actions

Official Documentation

Security Notes

Read-only advisory. Do not cancel Reservations, delete resources, or modify billing configurations without explicit approval and resource inventory confirmation.

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