Azure cost optimization for reservations, hybrid benefit, right-sizing, and workload cleanup. Cut waste, tighten governance, and improve renewal leverage.
Azure costs drift because ownership is distributed and incentives are weak. Application teams optimize for speed, not billing discipline. Finance sees spend after it lands. Procurement gets pulled in only at commitment time. Without a coordinated operating model, usage keeps expanding while obvious savings mechanisms remain underused.
Azure estates become expensive in predictable ways: overprovisioned compute, idle resources, weak tagging, fragmented ownership, and missed opportunities around Reservations or Hybrid Benefit. The hard part is not spotting one oversized VM. It is translating estate-wide usage data into a practical savings plan that operations, finance, and procurement will trust. UMS helps clients clean up the workload base, improve cost governance, and align Azure optimization with the broader Microsoft commercial relationship so savings show up both on the bill and in the next renewal conversation.
We help clients understand where Reservations, commitment decisions, and broader commercial terms make sense based on actual steady-state usage rather than guesswork.
Rightsize compute, remove idle resources, clean up storage sprawl, and eliminate services that no longer match the workload or the business case.
Azure optimization is not only about infrastructure shape. We also examine where Microsoft licensing decisions, entitlements, and commercial structure affect the real cost base.
We leave clients with practical cost-review rhythms, ownership rules, and reporting expectations so savings persist after the first cleanup pass.
We review the Azure estate, cost reports, tagging posture, workload ownership, and commercial structure to identify where spend is structural versus incidental.
We prioritize right-sizing, reservation opportunities, workload cleanup, and governance fixes based on real cost impact and implementation difficulty.
We help clients implement the highest-value changes, validate savings, and establish a repeatable operating cadence for ongoing Azure cost control.
UMS conducted a rapid Microsoft license optimization assessment for NYCHA, identifying over $500,000 in immediate savings on M365 licensing — with zero upfront cost to the agency.
Multiple mayors, multiple administrations — one constant partner delivering results. UMS has managed NYC's enterprise software portfolio across 80+ agencies for over 25 years, driving $800M+ in cumulative savings through centralized licensing, vendor negotiations, and audit defense. Recently signed a 6-year renewal — their longest commitment yet.
No. Reporting helps, but savings come from workload decisions, commitment strategy, governance discipline, and commercial leverage. The goal is not a prettier dashboard. It is a lower bill with fewer surprises.
Yes. Most clients already have data. The bottleneck is turning that data into prioritized actions, cross-functional decisions, and durable operating rules.
No. Reservations are powerful when usage is steady and well understood. We help determine where they are appropriate and where flexibility matters more than commitment.
Azure spend affects the broader Microsoft commercial relationship. Better Azure visibility and commitment discipline create stronger inputs for the next EA, MCA, or related negotiation.
Microsoft's Azure Well-Architected guidance treats cost optimization as a repeated process of collecting and reviewing cost data, not a one-time cleanup task.
Azure Well-Architected: Collect and Review Cost DataMicrosoft documents Azure Reservations as a cost-saving mechanism for steady-state usage, which is why reservation strategy should be tied to real workload patterns rather than generic commitments.
Microsoft Learn: What Are Azure Reservations?Book a free 30-minute consultation. We'll show you exactly where your savings are — no obligation, no upfront cost.
