1. Tagging Strategy
Why it matters:
Tags help identify ownership, environment, project, and cost center for every Azure resource.
They are critical for chargeback, automation, and governance reporting.
Examples:
| Key | Value |
|---|---|
| Environment | Production |
| Owner | DataPlatformTeam |
| CostCenter | CC-1023 |
| Project | SmartRetailPortal |
Best Practices:
-
Define a company-wide Tag Policy to enforce required tags (Owner, Environment, CostCenter).
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Use Azure Policy – Append or Enforce Tag to apply missing tags automatically.
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Standardize naming and tag conventions early to avoid inconsistent metadata.
Exam Tip:
When a requirement mentions “track spending or ownership across resources,” the answer is Tagging + Policy enforcement.
2. Cost Management & Budgets
Purpose:
Ensure financial control and transparency across subscriptions, departments, and projects.
Key Features:
-
Cost Analysis: Visualize current and forecasted Azure spend.
-
Budgets: Define thresholds; trigger alerts when spend reaches 80%, 100%, etc.
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Exports: Schedule cost data exports to Storage or Power BI.
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Tag-based Reporting: Group spend by
CostCenterorProject.
Best Practices:
-
Link Cost Management to Management Groups for consolidated multi-subscription visibility.
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Use Budgets per subscription or resource group for granular control.
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Combine Budgets + Action Groups to notify finance or shut down non-critical resources.
Exam Tip:
“Alert when a project’s monthly spend exceeds $10 000” → Configure Azure Budget in Cost Management.
3. Resource Locks
Definition:
Protects important resources from accidental deletion or modification.
Types:
-
CanNotDelete → Resource can be updated but not deleted.
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ReadOnly → Resource cannot be changed or deleted.
When to Use:
-
Apply to production storage accounts, key vaults, and virtual networks.
-
Combine with RBAC for layered defense.
Exam Tip:
“Prevent accidental deletion while allowing normal use” → Apply a CanNotDelete lock.
4. Quick-Reference Table
| Governance Need | Azure Feature |
|---|---|
| Apply policy across multiple subscriptions | Management Groups |
| Track resource ownership and cost | Tags |
| Enforce tag consistency | Azure Policy – Append/Enforce Tag |
| Monitor and control spending | Cost Management + Budgets |
| Prevent accidental deletion | Resource Locks |
5. Mini-Scenario
A global IT organization needs to:
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Enforce tag consistency across all subscriptions.
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Alert finance when monthly costs exceed $50 000.
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Prevent deletion of key production storage accounts.
Solution:
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Use Management Groups for centralized policy assignment.
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Apply Tag Enforcement Policy for Owner and CostCenter.
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Configure Budgets with alerts for each department.
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Apply CanNotDelete Locks on production resources.