Event details
⏱️ This live AMA is on January 22nd, 2026 at 9:00 AM PT. This same session is also scheduled at 5:00 PM PT on January 22nd.
SESSION DETAILS
This session breaks down the complexity of Azure pricing to help you make informed decisions. We’ll cover how to estimate costs accurately using tools like the Azure Pricing Calculator, explore strategic pricing offers such as Reservations, Savings Plans, and Azure Hybrid Benefit, and share best practices for optimizing workloads for cost efficiency. Whether you’re planning migrations or managing ongoing cloud spend, you’ll learn actionable strategies to forecast, control, and reduce costs without compromising performance.
This session includes a live chat-based AMA. Submit your questions below as Comment to be answered by the product team!
8 Comments
- JCChicagoOccasional Reader
How do refunds and credits work on termed reservations with compute for example?
- kyleikeda
Microsoft
Hi, thanks for the question. There are specific details and criteria when it comes to refunds and credits with reservations. This document outlines the process and details:
- VanditCopper Contributor
How should teams decide the right PTU sizing to balance performance and cost, and what common mistakes lead to unexpectedly high PTU charges?
- kyleikeda
Microsoft
Thanks for the question. Here are some best practices to consider when purchasing PTUs:
- Workload Characteristics: Different workloads consume varying amounts of processing capacity. Generations require more capacity than prompts. Analyze historical token usage data or call shape estimations (input and output tokens, requests per minute) to approximate PTUs needed.
- Traffic Patterns: A wide distribution of call shapes, including some large calls, may lead to lower throughput per PTU compared to a narrower distribution with similar average sizes.
- Capacity Planning Tools: Utilize the Foundry calculator to size specific workload shapes and estimate the required PTUs based on input and output tokens.
- Benchmarking: The most accurate way to determine capacity is to benchmark a deployment with a representative workload for your use case.
Resources to learn more:
- The Foundry PTU quota calculator: https://ai.azure.com/resource/calculator
- Understanding costs associated with PTUs: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-foundry/openai/how-to/provisioned-throughput-onboarding?…
- VanditCopper Contributor
How do you recommend tracking forecasted Azure spend and aligning it with budgets to avoid unexpected cost overruns?
- kyleikeda
Microsoft
Thanks for the question. Here are some recommendations to track forecasted Azure spend and align it to your budgets:
- Set Budgets & Alerts in Azure Cost Management
Create budgets for subscriptions, resource groups, or workloads and set alerts so you know when spending approaches your target.
Resources to learn more:
- Create and manage budget alerts: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/costs/tutorial-acm-create-budgets?t…
- Use Forecasting Tools to Predict Future Spend:
Azure Cost Management provides built‑in forecasting so you can project spend for the month or quarter based on usage trends.
Resources to learn more:
- Understand cost forecasts: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/costs/cost-analysis-common-uses
- Track Costs by Team or Project With Tags
Tagging resources (e.g., by cost center, environment, or app) makes it easy to report on and allocate costs accurately.
Resources to learn more:
- Use tags to organize resources: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/azure-resource-manager/management/tag-resources
- Cost allocation best practices: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/cost-management-billing/costs/allocate-costs
- Run Regular Cost Reviews and Apply Optimization Recommendations
Review spend patterns monthly or quarterly. Azure Advisor gives personalized recommendations such as right‑sizing VMs or removing idle resources.
Resources to learn more:
- Azure Advisor cost recommendations: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/advisor/advisor-cost-recommendations
- Cost optimization in Azure Well‑Architected Framework: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/well-architected/cost
- Use Pricing Tools for Planning & Budgeting
For new workloads or migrations, use Microsoft’s calculators to estimate expected monthly spend.
Resources to learn more:
- Azure Pricing Calculator: https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/calculator
- Jacqui_W1lsonCopper Contributor
Looks like a really valuable webinar to attend. These 2 event times zones do not suit us in Southern African. Hoping a registration gives access to a post-event recording or that there will be another round with suitable times for the Southern Africans.
- v-minasyanva
Microsoft
We're glad you're finding this helpful. This webinar will be available for on demand viewing after the live event.