🔌Onboarding Azure account onto Economize

After signing up with Economize to connect your Azure account, select the Connect Azure option when choosing your cloud provider, and follow these steps:

Step 1: Create a New Application Registration

1. From the Azure portal, search for and navigate to Microsoft Entra ID.

2. In the left-hand menu, under Manage, select App registrations.

3. Click + New registration.

1. The Register an application screen will open up. For Name, enter Economize.

2. Leave all other settings as their defaults and click Register.

1. The app details will be displayed. Record the Application (client) ID and Directory (tenant) ID as these will be required later.

Step 2: Generate a Client Secret

1. On the same page, next to the Client credentials field, click Add a certificate or secret. (You can also access the Certificates and secrets screen from the left-hand menu.)

2. Click on + New client secret.

3. The Add a client secret pane will be displayed at right. For Description, enter a description, such as economize-secret.

4. For Expires, select an expiration option for the secret.

If this secret expires, you will need to supply Economize with a new secret before the expiration date.

1. Click Add.

1. The newly created secret is displayed. Copy the secret's Value and save it somewhere to add it to the Economize console later as this value will be displayed only once.

Step 3: Grant the Service Principal Permissions

Management group

Economize recommends assigning permissions to a management group that aggregates all your subscriptions. This way, all your subscriptions will be onboarded onto the platform at once.

1. From the top navigation, search for and navigate to Management groups.

2. Create a new one or open an existing management group for which you will be assigning permissions.

3. On the left navigation, click Access control (IAM).

4. Click Add role assignment.

1. On the Add role assignment screen, select Reader. Then, click Next.

1. For Assign access to, select User, group, or service principal.

2. Click + Select members. The Select members tab is displayed on the right. Search for the Economize app you created before. Select the listed app, then click Select.

1. Click Next > Review + assign.

Individual subscriptions

1. From the top navigation, search for and navigate to Subscriptions.

1. Repeat steps 3-8 for each subscription you wish to onboard.

2. On the left navigation, click Access control (IAM).

3. Click Add role assignment.

1. On the Add role assignment screen, select Reader. Then, click Next.

2. For Assign access to, select User, group, or service principal.

3. Click + Select members. The Select members tab is displayed on the right. Search for the Economize app you created before. Select the listed app, then click Select.

4. Click Next > Review + assign.

Step 4: Create the billing export

Billing account

Make sure you're on the billing scope when performing the following steps.

To ensure you're on the billing scope, check the text on your cost management screen that states Billing account as in the image below:

1. Navigate to Cost Management + Billing, and from Billing scopes select the one for which you wish to create the billing export.

1. Click Export under Setting in the left-hand menu.

1. From the Export screen, click + Create, and select Create your own export.

1. Fill in the required fields as follows:

   • Type of data: Cost and usage details (actual)

   • Export name: Enter any name you want for the export, such as economize_export

   • Dataset version: 2021-10-01

   • Frequency: Daily export of month-to-date costs

   • Export description: Enter any description you want for the export

2. Click on ADD + Next.

3. Fill in the destination details as follows:

   • Storage type: Azure blob storage

   • Destination and storage: Choose Use existing or Create new, and fill in the information for fields (Subscription, Storage account, Container, and Directory) accordingly.

   • Format: CSV

   • Compression type: None

   • File partitioning: Set this to true

   • Overwrite data: Set this to true

4. Click on Next and then Create after reviewing the entered details.

5. When the export is created, run the export from the export page by selecting it and clicking Run now, once the run has been completed successfully it will indicate the same as follows:

1. Now, on the same page navigate to Access control (IAM), and click on + Add.

1. Select and grant the role Billing account reader to the application you created in the first step.

Individual subscriptions

1. Navigate to Cost Management + Billing.

2. Click Export under Setting in the left-hand menu.

3. Click Scope, then choose the subscription you want to onboard, which will appear as a key icon in front of its name. (Repeat steps 4-9 for each subscription you wish to onboard.)

1. From the Export screen, click + Create, and select Create your own export.

1. Fill in the required fields as follows:

   1. Type of data: Cost and usage details (actual)

   2. Export name: Enter any name you want for the export, such as economize_export

   3. Dataset version: 2021-10-01

   4. Frequency: Daily export of month-to-date costs

   5. Export Description: Enter any description you want for the export

2. Click on ADD + Next.

3. Fill in the destination details as follows:

   • Storage type: Azure blob storage

   • Destination and storage: Choose to Use existing or Create new, and fill in the information for fields (Subscription, Storage account, Container, and Directory) accordingly. note - it must same container as each subscription's exports

   • Format: CSV

   • Compression type: None

   • File partitioning: Set this to true

   • Overwrite data: Set this to true

4. Click on Next and then Create after reviewing the entered details.

5. When the export is created, run the export from the export page by selecting it and clicking Run now, once the run has been completed successfully it will indicate the same as follows:

Step 5: Grant Economize Reader and Data Access permission

1. On the same page navigate back to the Exports tab under settings, and open up the export you just created, to click on the Storage account you used.

1. Select Access control (IAM).

2. Click +Add and then click Add role assignment.

3. Search for Reader and Data Access, select it, and then click Next.

1. Click + Select members and search for the Economize service principal.

2. Select that Economize service principal and click Select.

3. Click Review + Assign.

Step 6: Add configuration information to Economize console​

After you complete all the above steps, add the Application (client) ID, Directory (tenant) ID, & Client secret value, you previously obtained, then click Connect.

SUCCESS

The data can take up few minutes to fully propagate within the newly created export.

So, you might not be able to use all the features right away but you can still utilize the Recommendations to start optimizing your costs.