Managing Groups

Introduction

Cost Management Groups can be created to organize the Azure Subscriptions and perform Cost Analysis, Cost Monitoring, and Cost optimization on them.

A Cost Management Group can contain multiple sub-groups.

Group Overview

The Overview section of a group holds a set of widgets that consists of details related to Cost Monitoring, Cost Optimization Schedules, Cost charts based on Resource/Resource Group/Location, and logs on the recent activities of Optimization and Monitoring alerts.

The data points of the cost charts can be clicked to expand the cost based on different categories.

Cost Dashboard

A predefined set of cost charts based on Resource Group, Resource, and Location are readily available in the Overview section when a Cost group is created.

Add a widget

In addition to the existing widgets, new ones can be added to the Cost Dashboard.

1. Click the Edit option in the Cost group Dashboard
2. Click Add widget
3. Enter a distinct name for the widget
4. Select the list of subscriptions from the Subscriptions dropdown to visualize the cost data
5. Choose an option in the Group by dropdown to group the cost data based on the selected option
6. Select Granularity
7. Choose one among the list of available chart types
8. Select the cost type
9. Select a time range to display data only from the selected time frame
10. Filters can also be applied to view any specific cost data
11. Click Add widget
12. Click Update button in the dashboard

Edit a widget

1. Click the Edit option in the Cost group Dashboard
2. Click Edit in the widget context menu
3. Perform the required changes to the widget
4. Click Update widget
5. Click Update in the Dashboard

Delete a widget

1. Click the Edit option in the Cost group Dashboard
2. Click Delete in the widget context menu
3. Click Update in the Dashboard

Add a Group

1. Click the three-dotted icon next to any group in the tree view to create a new one within that group
2. Select New Cost Management Group
3. Enter a name to the group and click Next
4. Choose the necessary subscriptions for which the cost data is to be managed within the group
5. Click Save

Scope selection

1. Click the three-dotted icon next to the desired group in the tree view
2. Select Scope selection
3. Choose the required subscriptions. You can also specify a scope at which the subscription data is to be displayed
4. Click Proceed
5. Click Continue in the confirmation box

Cost uplift adjustment

The cost uplift adjustment refers to an increase in costs applied to a cost management group's original spent. This helps in applying custom bill rates, additional charges and other client related bill management for MSPs.

This option within a cost group's context menu is exclusively available to the Account Owner.

1. Click the three-dotted icon next to a cost group in the tree view.
2. Scroll over to access the Cost uplift adjustment option.

3. Enable the toggle to define the cost uplift percentage
4. Provide cost uplift percentage value
5. Click Save

Apply for child groups - Enabling this option will override the cost uplift adjustment settings for the child groups.

Health indicator

• The health status of a Cost group in the tree view is based on the Group budget monitoring alert incidents for the current date.

• Closing all open incidents from the present date will update the Cost group status to healthy.

Below is an illustration showing the health status of a cost group changing to healthy after manually closing all active Group budget incidents from the present date:

Edit a Group

1. Click the three-dotted icon next to the desired group in the tree view
2. Select the Edit option in the group context menu
3. The name and description of the Cost group can be modified
4. Click Update

Move a group

When a Cost Management group is moved from a source group to a destination group, it is restructured under a new hierarchy. While the associated cost data and resource links remain intact, the group's access permissions are replaced by those defined in the destination group.

To move a Cost Management group from a source group to a destination group, follow these steps:

1. In the tree view, click the three-dot icon next to the group node to be moved.
2. Select Move from the menu.
   
3. Choose the destination group where the selected Cost Management group should be moved.
4. Click the Move button to confirm the action.

Access policy impact

During the move:

• The user and service principal access policies defined in the source group are overridden by those configured in the destination group.

• Any custom role assignments, inherited permissions, or explicit access controls associated with the source group will no longer apply.

Delete a Group

1. Click the three-dotted icon next to the desired group in the tree view
2. Select the Delete option in the group context menu
3. Type the group name for confirmation
4. Click Delete