Why Governance Tools Matter

As organizations scale in Azure, different teams create resources across multiple subscriptions and regions. Without governance controls, this leads to policy violations, overspending, and compliance risks.

Azure provides governance frameworks like Azure Policy, Blueprints, and Cost Management to ensure resources remain secure, compliant, and cost-optimized.

1. Azure Policy

Definition:

• A governance service that enforces rules on Azure resources.

Key Features:

• Evaluate existing resources for compliance.

• Automatically deny or audit non-compliant resources.

• Assign policies at Management Group, Subscription, RG, or Resource level.

• Common policies:

  • Enforce tags (Department, CostCenter).

  • Restrict regions (e.g., only EU regions).

  • Require resources to use Managed Disks.

Best Practices:

• Use built-in policies when possible.

• Apply at higher scope (MG/Subscription) for consistency.

• Monitor compliance via Policy Insights.

2. Azure Blueprints

Definition:

• A framework for defining repeatable, compliant environments.

Key Features:

• Package Policies + RBAC + ARM templates + Resource Groups.

• Deploy consistent environments across subscriptions.

• Example: Define a secure landing zone blueprint with:

  • VNET + Subnets.

  • Required policies (tagging, region restriction).

  • Security roles assigned.

Best Practices:

• Use Blueprints for regulatory compliance frameworks (ISO, HIPAA, NIST).

• Version and lock Blueprints to prevent tampering.

3. Azure Cost Management & Governance

Definition:

• Native service for tracking and optimizing Azure spend.

Key Features:

• Budget creation with alerts (per subscription, RG, or tags).

• Forecasting and cost analysis dashboards.

• Recommendations (e.g., buy Reserved Instances, right-size VMs).

Tagging Strategy for Cost Tracking:

• Owner

• Environment (Dev/Test/Prod)

• Department/Cost Center

• Project/Workload

Example Enterprise Scenario

A retail enterprise requires:

• Ensure resources are deployed only in West Europe and North Europe.

• Automatically enforce tagging for cost tracking.

• Provide Dev, Test, and Prod environments with identical security baselines.

• Finance team must receive monthly cost overrun alerts.

Correct design:

• Use Azure Policy to restrict deployment regions and enforce tags.

• Package Blueprints for standardized Dev/Test/Prod environments.

• Apply Cost Management budgets with alerts for Finance.

Confusion Buster

• Policy vs RBAC

  • Policy = “What can be deployed” (compliance).

  • RBAC = “Who can do what” (permissions).

• Policy vs Blueprint

  • Policy = single rule.

  • Blueprint = full environment design (includes policies + roles + templates).

• Tags vs Resource Groups

  • RG = lifecycle grouping.

  • Tags = metadata for cost/ownership.

Exam Tips

• “Which Azure service enforces compliance across subscriptions?” → Azure Policy.

• “Which framework provides repeatable environment deployments?” → Azure Blueprints.

• “Which feature alerts when subscription exceeds cost threshold?” → Budgets in Cost Management.

• “Which is better for cost tracking across teams?” → Tags.

What to Expect in the Exam

• Direct Q: “Which Azure service is used to enforce tags on all resources?” → Azure Policy.

• Scenario Q: “Company requires all subscriptions to use secure landing zones with standard policies.” → Blueprints.

• Scenario Q: “Company wants to alert finance team if spend exceeds $50,000.” → Cost Management Budgets.

• Trick Q: “RBAC controls resource deployment compliance.” → False (that’s Policy).