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Microsoft Cost Management updates—June 2023

Whether you’re a new student, a thriving startup, or the largest enterprise, you have financial constraints, and you need to know what you’re spending, where it’s being spent, and how to plan for the future. Nobody wants a surprise when it comes to the bill, and this is where Microsoft Cost Management comes in.

We’re always looking for ways to learn more about your challenges and how Microsoft Cost Management can help you better understand where you’re accruing costs in the cloud, identify and prevent bad spending patterns, and optimize costs to empower you to do more with less. Here are a few of the latest improvements and updates based on your feedback:

Reservation utilization alerts.

Updates for Azure pricing pages.

Help shape the future of cost reporting.

What’s new in Cost Management Labs.

New ways to save money with Microsoft Cloud.

New videos and learning opportunities.

Documentation updates.

Let us dig into the details.

Reservation utilization alerts

Organizations are always looking for ways to optimize their cloud spend and make the most of their investments. So, maximizing the usage of purchased reservations is on top of mind for many of our customers. In cost management, you have always had the ability to view and monitor reservation utilization percentages. With the recently launched preview of reservation utilization alerts, now you can also get email notifications when any of your selected reservations are below your configured threshold value for utilization. Getting started is easy, go to cost alerts and create an alert rule of type ‘reservation utilization’. You may already be familiar with this experience if you have configured alerts for anomalies in your subscriptions.

Reservation utilization alerts can be created at the Billing account (EA), Billing profile (MCA), and Customer (MPA) scopes. To learn more, please see Reservation utilization alerts—preview.  

Updates for Azure pricing pages

June 2023 has seen many improvements and new prices added to our Azure pricing experiences, and we’re excited to share them with you. These changes will help make it easier for you to estimate the costs of your solutions.

The Virtual Machines Selector tool has been improved to help customers find the closest matching virtual machine to their technical requirements, making it easier to estimate costs for various Azure products.

We have launched pricing details for a new service, Azure AI Content Safety, which detects harmful user-generated and AI-generated content in applications and services.

Our Cognitive Services have seen many changes, including new custom summarization and custom sentiment detection offers on Language Service, a new Vision Florence feature “Shelf Analysis” on Computer Vision, and new pricing for Disconnected Containers Commitment tier across Language Service, Translator Service, Language Understanding, and Speech Services. These updates will make it easier for customers to estimate costs for AI solutions.

Many new offers have been added across Virtual Machines (new NG Series and Dlsv5 went generally available), Block Blobs and Azure Data Lake Storage (Cold Tier pricing estimation added to the calculator), Form recognizer (updated calculator and pricing page with new “read” commitment tier and new PAYG offers), Data Explorer (simplified and added new SKUs to the pricing page), Azure Container Instances (introduced spot containers pricing in public preview), Azure NetApp Files (added pricing for the new Double encryption offer), Azure Monitor (updated pricing on SMS and Voice Call offers), and Azure Communication Services (added estimation for the call recording offer to the calculator). These updates will provide customers with more options and flexibility when estimating costs for different Azure services.

We’re constantly working to improve our pricing tools and make them more accessible and user-friendly. We hope these updates will make it easier for customers to estimate costs and choose the right Azure services for their needs. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future improvements, please let us know!

Help shape the future of cost reporting

Do you report on or manage costs for your team or organization? Do you need to group and organize costs across multiple subscriptions, resource groups, or billing accounts? We are exploring new capabilities to improve cost allocation and would love to get your feedback in a brief, 10-minute survey.

Please share this with others within your organization. We are looking for as much feedback as we can get to address one of the most common pain points we hear about from large teams and organizations.

What’s new in Cost Management Labs

With Cost Management Labs, you get a sneak peek at what’s coming in Microsoft Cost Management and can engage directly with us to share feedback and help us better understand how you use the service, so we can deliver more tuned and optimized experiences. Here are a few features you can see in Cost Management Labs:

New: Anomaly and reservation utilization alert rules—Now enabled by default in Labs.Manage anomaly and reservation utilization alerts from the new Alert rules page. Anomaly detection alerts are available for all subscriptions and reservation utilization alerts are available for Enterprise Agreement billing accounts and Microsoft Customer Agreement billing profiles. You can enable the Alert rules page in Cost Management from the Try preview menu.

New: Drill down in Cost analysis smart views—Now enabled by default in Labs.Drill into your cost data with one click using Cost analysis smart views. You can drill into a row to view the full details, view related resources from the context menu (three dots), open the resource to manage it from the Go to menu, remove filters using the Customize command, and use the Back command to undo a change. You can enable this option from the Try preview menu.

New: Streamlined Cost Management menu.Organize Cost Management tools into related sections for reporting, monitoring, optimization, and configuration settings. You can enable this option from the Try preview menu.

Merge cost analysis menu items.Only show one cost analysis item in the Cost Management menu. All classic and saved views are one-click away, making them easier than ever to find and access. You can enable this option from the Try preview menu.

Recommendations view.View a summary of cost recommendations that help you optimize your Azure resources in the cost analysis preview. You can opt in using the Try preview menu.

Forecast in the cost analysis preview.Show your forecast cost for the period at the top of the cost analysis preview. You can opt in using Try preview.

Group related resources in the cost analysis preview.Group related resources, like disks under virtual machines or web apps under App Service plans, by adding a “cm-resource-parent” tag to the child resources with a value of the parent resource ID.

Charts in the cost analysis preview.View your daily or monthly cost over time in the cost analysis preview. You can opt in using Try Preview.

View cost for your resources.The cost for your resources is one click away from the resource overview in the preview portal. Just click View cost to quickly jump to the cost of that resource.

Change scope from the menu.Change scope from the menu for quicker navigation. You can opt-in using Try Preview.

Of course, that’s not all. Every change in Microsoft Cost Management is available in Cost Management Labs a week before it’s in the full Azure portal or Microsoft 365 admin center. We’re eager to hear your thoughts and understand what you’d like to see next. What are you waiting for? Try Cost Management Labs today.

New ways to save money in the Microsoft Cloud

Here are new and updated offers you might be interested in:

Azure HX Virtual Machines for HPC.

Azure HBv4 Virtual Machines for HPC.

Azure Stream Analytics is launching a new competitive pricing model.

Azure Monitor managed service for Prometheus.

Cost-optimizations with transformations on Log Analytics for troubleshooting Cosmos DB.

Azure Front Door upgrade from standard to premium.

Reduced pricing for Azure Video Indexer.

Zone Redundant Storage for Azure Disks is now available in Japan East and Korea Central.

Preview: NGads V620 Series VMs optimized for cloud gaming.

Preview: Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 9.2 support for AMD confidential VMs.

Preview: Azure Container Instances(ACI) Spot containers.

Preview: Azure Front Door Standard/Premium in Azure Government.

Preview: Azure Chaos Studio is now available in West US 2 region.

New videos and learning opportunities

Here is a new video you may be interested in:

Jellyfish Pictures ramps up VFX rendering while reducing costs by 80 percent (~2 minutes).

Follow the Microsoft Cost Management YouTube channel to stay in the loop with new videos as they’re released and let us know what you’d like to see next.

Want a more guided experience? Start with Control Azure spending and manage bills with Microsoft Cost Management.

Documentation updates

Here are a few documentation updates you might be interested in:

Newly updated menu in the Cost Management documentation.

Updated: Create and manage budgets—Added details about push notifications.

New: Published Reservation utilization alerts article.

New: Published Copy billing roles from one MCA to another MCA across tenants with a script billing article.

New: Published Access your EA billing account in the Azure Government portal Azure Government article.

9 updates based on your feedback.

Want to keep an eye on all documentation updates? Check out the Cost Management and Billing documentation change history in the azure-docs repository on GitHub. If you see something missing, select Edit at the top of the document and submit a quick pull request. You can also submit a GitHub issue. We welcome and appreciate all contributions!

What’s next?

These are just a few of the big updates from last month. Don’t forget to check out the previous Microsoft Cost Management updates. We’re always listening and making constant improvements based on your feedback, so please keep the feedback coming.

Follow @MSCostMgmt on Twitter and subscribe to the YouTube channel for updates, tips, and tricks. You can also share ideas and vote up others in the Cost Management feedback forum or join the research panel to participate in a future study and help shape the future of Microsoft Cost Management.

Best wishes from the Microsoft Cost Management team. Stay safe and stay healthy.
The post Microsoft Cost Management updates—June 2023 appeared first on Azure Blog.
Quelle: Azure

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AI for business leaders: Discover AI advantages in this Microsoft AI Learn series

AI is becoming a game-changer for businesses across industries and is ushering in a transformative era of innovation, efficiency, and unprecedented possibilities. With AI continuing to automate and optimize vast swaths of the economy, it’s become table stakes for executives and other business decision-makers (BDMs) to understand the latest developments. As a leader in all things AI, Microsoft has spearheaded a curriculum created especially for you and your colleagues to help you build the knowledge, insights, and skills needed to make the most of AI technologies.1

No matter your level of technical know-how, this comprehensive AI educational series spans vertical and horizontal topics focused on outcomes to help your organization extract the many benefits AI offers:

Explore the competitive advantage of AI and how it offers improved decision-making, efficiency, and productivity.

Learn about the potential of AI and what you need to make informed decisions about its adoption and implementation.

Discover real-world examples from the Microsoft AI journey.

Get guidance and best practices from Microsoft experts and other industry leaders.

Introducing the Transform Your Business with Microsoft AI educational series

Transform Your Business with Microsoft AI is designed to bridge the gap between AI technology and business strategy. It helps BDMs understand the potential of AI and equips them with the necessary insights to make informed decisions about AI adoption and implementation. It caters to individuals responsible for shaping AI strategy, managing AI projects, and driving digital transformation within their organizations.

Our curriculum is divided into several modules, each addressing a specific area of AI implementation. Topics include AI strategy, culture, responsible AI, ethics, organizational change management, data-driven decision-making, and AI transformation in specific industries. Modules are presented in a variety of learning formats to accommodate different learning preferences and schedules. These include self-paced online courses, immersive workshops, case studies, snackable videos and articles, and more.

Participants will get insight into real-world examples from the Microsoft AI journey, showcasing how AI technologies have been applied successfully across various business domains. In addition, we bring together experts from Microsoft, as well as industry leaders and AI practitioners, to provide guidance and share best practices. You’ll hear from experienced professionals who have implemented AI in real-world scenarios, offering valuable perspectives and lessons learned.

How companies are using AI to increase efficiency and customer service

Many companies across industries have already begun realizing the value of engaging not only with AI but with the AI experts and solutions at Microsoft.

H&R Block uses AI and Microsoft tools to improve customer experience and the accuracy and efficiency of its tax preparation services. They use Azure Form Recognizer to extract data from tax documents automatically, which saves time and reduces errors.

Azure Cognitive Search makes it easier for tax professionals to find the information they need, and Azure Machine Learning models help better predict and minimize the likelihood of audits for their clients. An AI chatbot created by Azure Bot Service can answer customer questions every day so customers can get help with their taxes at any time.

Construction company Strabag SE also employs Microsoft AI solutions to improve efficiency and reduce risk. They use Microsoft Azure Active Directory to provide single sign-on access to their employees, and Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Databricks, Azure Machine Learning, and Azure SQL to build data-driven insights. This has helped them to improve their project planning, risk management, and cost control.

In addition, Strabag SE utilizes AI to predict the likelihood of project delays, identify potential safety hazards on construction sites, and optimize their supply chain, so that they can get the materials they need when they need them while controlling costs.

H&R Block and Strabag SE are just two examples of how AI and Microsoft tools are being used to improve financial outcomes for companies across different industries. As AI technology continues to develop, we can expect to see even more innovative ways to use AI to increase efficiency, planning, customer service, safety, and more.

Stay on the cutting edge of AI advancements

Just as the launch of ChatGPT has created excitement and awareness of AI within the consumer sphere, ongoing advancements in large language models and generative AI has created an urgency to get AI deployed across organizations at a faster pace. As the technology continues to evolve, we’ll help you stay on the cutting edge by providing updates on the latest developments, emerging trends, and evolving best practices through additional resources and community engagement.

With an emphasis on responsible AI, including ethics, fairness, transparency, and accountability, this learning path aims to empower organizations of all sizes—from startups to large enterprises—to harness the potential of AI.

Transform Your Business with Microsoft AI is accessible globally, allowing business leaders from around the world to benefit from its educational resources. It aims to empower organizations of all sizes, ranging from startups to large enterprises, to harness the potential of AI and drive innovation.

AI has the potential to reshape the business world in profound ways, ushering in a transformative era of innovation, efficiency, and unprecedented possibilities. With its ability to process vast amounts of data, learn from patterns, and make autonomous decisions, AI has the power to change how businesses operate, compete, and create value. By taking part in Transform Your Business with Microsoft AI, business leaders can arm themselves with the knowledge, insights, and skills needed to leverage AI technologies strategically.

Discover more

For more information and to begin your journey, visit the Microsoft Learn homepage.

1 Microsoft is a Leader in the 2023 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Cloud AI Developer Services, June 8, 2023.
The post AI for business leaders: Discover AI advantages in this Microsoft AI Learn series appeared first on Azure Blog.
Quelle: Azure