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Description

Identify Azure Virtual Machines that are potentially underutilized and rightsize (downsize) them to optimize cloud expenditure. A VM is classified as underutilized if, over a 14-day period, its average CPU utilization remains below 40% and its maximum CPU utilization does not exceed 50%. Persistently underutilized VMs indicate over-provisioning, leading to inefficient resource usage and elevated operational costs.

Rationale​

Detecting and addressing underutilized VMs is a key cost optimization strategy in cloud environments. By rightsizing or decommissioning over-provisioned VMs, you can reduce unnecessary spending, improve overall resource utilization, and reallocate compute capacity to higher-priority workloads.

Impact​

Downsizing actions must be carefully evaluated to avoid negatively impacting performance, particularly for workloads that may experience occasional bursts or are stateful in nature.

Audit​

This policy evaluates an Azure Virtual Machine based on their performance over the preceding 14 days.

The VM is flagged as INCOMPLIANT if both of the following conditions are met:

  • CPU Utilization, Average, % field is less than 40%.
  • CPU Utilization, Max, % field is less than 50%.

A VM is marked as INAPPLICABLE under any of the following conditions:

  • The VM is not currently in a running state.
  • The VM has been active for less than 14 days.
  • The VM is categorized as idle by the Azure Virtual Machine is idle policy.

The VM is marked as UNDETERMINED if any of the evaluated metrics are missing, indicating insufficient data in the CMDB to assess whether the VM is underutilized.