Savings Plan

Introduction

Azure Savings Plans are a pricing model that offers discounted rates on compute services in exchange for a commitment to a consistent usage amount (measured in $/hour) over a one- or three-year term, compared to standard pay-as-you-go pricing.

Basic recommendation

• Recommendations from Azure Advisor are displayed under the Basic Recommendations section. Users can select individual recommendations to view detailed insights.

• An Export option is available, allowing users to download the recommendations as an Excel (.xlsx) file.

• Clicking the external link icon will open the corresponding recommendation directly in the Azure portal for further analysis and action.

Purchased savings plans

Setup access for Turbo360 to view purchased savings plans

Savings Plan Reader access must be provided to the Service principal to view all purchased savings plans linked to a tenant’s subscriptions.

Follow the below steps to provide Savings Plan Reader access to the Service Principal:

1. Navigate to the Savings plan section in Azure Portal by searching Savings plan in the search bar
2. Select the Role assignment option
3. Select Add role assignment -> Savings plan reader from the available Job function roles
4. Click Next and Select the required service principal by clicking the Select members option
5. Click Select and complete the process by selecting the Review + assign option

Pre-requisite in Turbo360

• Enable advanced recommendations in the Recommendation Settings of each cost group (excluding the root group) to provide access to all purchased savings plans linked to that cost group.

Accessing the purchased savings plans

• The Purchased savings plans within the Savings plan presents all purchased savings plans for users' Azure subscriptions. It displays usage status based on a 7-day utilization trend and displays utilization percentages for multiple intervals.

Monitoring

The Cost Analyzer provides two key features to help monitor the savings plans:

• Expiry Monitoring – Notifies of upcoming savings plan expirations.
• Utilization Monitoring – Tracks the usage and efficiency of the savings plans.

Expiry Monitoring

Expiry Monitoring helps users proactively track the expiration of their savings plans by sending alerts ahead of the expiry date. These alerts are triggered based on a user-defined notification window, allowing timely action to renew or replace expiring plans.

To configure expiry monitoring:

1. In the Summary card, select the Monitoring option.
   
2. Open the Expiry monitoring tab and turn on the Expiry monitoring toggle.
3. Specify the number of days before expiration when alerts should be triggered.
   
4. Select an escalation policy and configure the notification services.
5. Click Save to confirm the settings.

Below is an example of a Savings Plan Expiry alert received via Turbo360 mail, detailing the savings plan information, including the purchase date and expiry date.

Utilization monitoring

Utilization Monitoring helps users monitor the consumption of their savings plans, ensuring alignment with expected usage patterns. This aids in strategic planning to improve overall cost efficiency.

To configure utilization monitoring:

1. Click the Monitoring option within the Summary card.
   
2. Navigate to the Utilization Monitoring tab and turn on the Utilization monitoring toggle.
3. Select a utilization interval to define how frequently usage is evaluated for alerting.
4. Set a utilization threshold - alerts will be triggered if actual usage drops below this percentage.
   
5. To monitor all current and future savings plans, select the Monitor all savings plans checkbox. Alternatively, you may choose specific plans to monitor.
6. Configure an escalation policy and select the notification services to be used.
7. Click Save to apply your changes.

Below is an example of a Savings Plan Utilization alert received via Turbo360 mail, detailing the savings plan information, including the utilization percentage for the relevant savings plan.