Basic recommendations for Rightsizing

Overview

Rightsizing aligns your Azure resources with actual workload needs, for optimal cost efficiency without sacrificing performance. Basic recommendations surface Azure Advisor's cost recommendations directly within your cost management groups, for the selected subscription and resource groups. For configurable, resource-specific recommendations, see Advanced recommendations for Rightsizing. You can access Basic recommendations at: Cost management group > Optimization > Rightsizing > Basic recommendations.

Business value

Basic recommendations let you act on Azure Advisor's cost insights without leaving Cost Analyzer, catching idle and underutilized resources early, without cross-referencing Azure Advisor separately.

Prerequisites

Required permissions

To view or manage Basic recommendations, a role needs:

• Optimization tab permission enabled, and
• Read (view only) or Manage (postpone/dismiss) on Rightsizing feature.

Roles are created under Cost Analyzer > User management > Roles > Add role, and can be scoped to specific cost management groups or subscriptions.

How it works

Basic recommendations pull Azure Advisor's cost recommendations directly into Cost Analyzer for your configured subscriptions and resource groups. No separate Azure Advisor configuration is required. Recommendations surface automatically based on your existing Azure Advisor data.

• Resources are classified as high, medium, or low impact, each with a recommended action.
• Each recommendation shows estimated potential monthly savings and potential monthly carbon savings (in kgCO₂), helping you prioritise both cost and emissions reductions.
• The Recommendation distribution bar shows the breakdown of high, medium, and low impact recommendations at a glance.
• Actions taken on recommendations in Cost Analyzer (Postpone and Dismiss) are reflected directly in Azure Advisor. Recommendations are not silenced locally; the change propagates to Azure.

Explain with AI

Each Basic recommendation includes an Explain with AI option that opens a detailed AI-generated analysis panel for the selected recommendation. Click the (✦) Explain with AI icon next to any recommendation to open it.

The panel covers eight areas:

• Savings summary: monthly and annual savings, impact level, and subscription, with a note on the overall financial significance.
• Recommendation summary: what the resource is, why Azure Advisor is flagging it, the financial case for acting, and why to act now rather than defer.
• Sustainability impact: carbon footprint reduction (monthly and annually) with real-world equivalents such as driving distance avoided.
• Implementation steps: step-by-step actions with estimated time and tool required (Azure Portal, Azure Monitor, CLI, or PowerShell).
• Risk and impact assessment: Performance Risk, Availability Risk, and an Overall Safety rating, with guidance on what to monitor after the change.
• Rollback plan: how to revert the change, including early warning signals and expected rollback time.
• Priority justification: why the recommendation is marked at its current impact level and when to act.
• Similar resources to watch: other resources of the same type that may show the same underutilization pattern.

The full report can be saved using the Save as PDF button at the bottom of the panel.

Steps

Navigate to Cost management group > Optimization > Rightsizing > Basic recommendations to get started.

Postpone a recommendation

Postponing a recommendation temporarily suppresses it for a selected duration. It automatically reappears after the postponement period. The change is reflected in Azure Advisor.

1. Select the recommendation you want to postpone.
2. Click Postpone.
3. In the Postpone recommendations dialog, select a duration: 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, or 3 months.
4. Click Continue to confirm.

Dismiss a recommendation

Dismissing a recommendation permanently suppresses it when it is not applicable to your environment. The change is reflected in Azure Advisor.

1. Select the recommendation you want to dismiss.
2. Click Dismiss.
3. In the Dismiss recommendations dialog, confirm by clicking Continue.

To undo a dismissal, use View suppressed recommendations.

View suppressed recommendations

Suppressed recommendations (both postponed and dismissed) are hidden from the main list by default. Use View suppressed recommendations to review them and restore any that should be actioned.

1. Click View suppressed recommendations to open the suppressed list.
2. Locate the recommendation you want to restore.
3. Select it and click Restore to return it to the active recommendations list.

Troubleshooting

1. No recommendations are showing in the Basic recommendations list
   Cause: Azure Advisor may not have generated recommendations for the selected subscriptions and resource groups, or the cost management group's subscription scope may not include resources with active Advisor recommendations.
   Fix: Confirm that Azure Advisor is active for the selected subscriptions in the Azure portal. Check that the cost management group includes the correct subscriptions under its configuration. Allow up to 24 hours for new Advisor recommendations to appear after resources become eligible.

2. Postpone or Dismiss options are not visible
   Cause: The signed-in user's role has Rightsizing: Read permission, which allows viewing only. Manage permission is required to take actions.
   Fix: Ask an Account owner to update the role to grant Rightsizing: Manage under Specify optimization tab permissions.

3. Explain with AI icon is not visible next to recommendations
   Cause: One or more of the three required conditions is not met: AI Agents must be set to Enable, Optimization must be set to Enable, and Rightsizing must have at least Read access. All three are configured under Specify feature permissions or Specify optimization tab permissions.
   Fix: Ask an Account owner to confirm all three conditions are set correctly for the user's role.

4. A recommendation was dismissed but it reappeared
   Cause: Azure Advisor may have re-evaluated the resource and regenerated the recommendation after the dismissal, particularly if the resource's utilization pattern changed.
   Fix: Review whether the resource still meets the conditions for the recommendation. If it is genuinely not applicable, dismiss it again. If it is actionable, consider acting on it or postponing it for a defined period.

5. A postponed recommendation did not reappear after the postponement period
   Cause: Azure Advisor may not have refreshed its recommendations for the resource since the postponement expired, or the resource's state may have changed such that the recommendation is no longer generated.
   Fix: Check View suppressed recommendations to confirm the recommendation is no longer in the suppressed list. If the resource is still eligible, the recommendation should reappear in the next Advisor refresh cycle.

FAQs

1. What is the difference between Basic and Advanced recommendations for Rightsizing?
   Basic recommendations surface Azure Advisor's cost recommendations as-is, scoped to the subscriptions and resource groups in your cost management group. They require no configuration beyond access permissions. Advanced recommendations are configurable and resource-specific: you define the evaluation criteria, thresholds, and target resource types. Use Basic for a quick view of what Azure Advisor has already identified; use Advanced when you need tailored, threshold-driven analysis.

2. Does postponing or dismissing a recommendation in Cost Analyzer affect Azure Advisor?
   Yes. Both actions propagate to Azure Advisor. The recommendation is not just hidden locally in Cost Analyzer. A postponed recommendation is suppressed in Azure Advisor for the selected duration (1 day, 1 week, 1 month, or 3 months) and reactivates automatically when the period ends. A dismissed recommendation is suppressed indefinitely in Azure Advisor until restored.

3. How often do Basic recommendations refresh?
   Basic recommendations reflect Azure Advisor's data, which Azure refreshes periodically. New recommendations can take up to 24 hours to appear after a resource becomes eligible. Actions taken on recommendations (Postpone, Dismiss) are reflected in Azure Advisor immediately.

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