How to Reduce Azure Virtual Desktop Costs

Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) has solidified its position as a leading remote work solution. It’s secure, scalable, and designed to adapt to the needs of modern businesses. But here’s the catch: while AVD offers undeniable benefits, many organisations are finding their costs spiking and spiralling out of control.

If this sounds familiar, don’t worry – you’re not alone. In this post, we’ll explore the hidden costs to AVD, how to tackle cost spikes in AVD, and practical strategies to optimise your setup without compromising performance.

Before diving into the cost challenges, let’s remind ourselves why AVD is so popular:

• Flexibility: Employees can access their desktops from virtually anywhere, making hybrid work a breeze.
• Scalability: Businesses can scale resources up or down to meet demand, paying only for what they use.
• Security: Azure’s robust security features, including Azure Active Directory (AD), make AVD a secure choice.
• Cost Efficiency (in theory): The pay-as-you-go model is meant to optimise spending – if configured properly.

Despite these strengths, many businesses find themselves staring at unexpected bills. Why? Let’s break it down.

1. Compute Costs

The virtual machines (VMs) running your AVD deployment are the biggest contributor to costs. The challenge? Choosing the right size and type of VMs. Go too big, and you’ll pay for resources you don’t need. Go too small, and your users will experience slow performance, prompting quick (and often costly) fixes like adding more session hosts.

2. Scaling Plans (or Lack Thereof)

Scaling plans allow you to automatically adjust the number of session hosts based on usage patterns. Without them, session hosts can run 24/7 – even when nobody’s logged in – leading to unnecessary expenses.

3. User Profile Storage Costs

Most AVD deployments use FSLogix to manage user profiles, which are stored on Azure Files (often premium tier for performance). While FSLogix ensures seamless profile roaming, storage costs can balloon if profiles aren’t properly managed.

4. AVD Image Bloat

Each time you update your AVD images, a new version is added to the Azure Compute Gallery. Over time, these outdated images accumulate and drive up storage costs.

5. Management Overhead

Deploying and managing AVD isn’t a one-off task. From maintaining image updates to monitoring performance and ensuring optimal scaling, managing AVD requires a dedicated skill set. Without the right expertise, management inefficiencies can lead to higher operational costs.

The good news? These cost drivers are manageable. With the right approach, you can keep AVD costs under control while maintaining performance. Here’s how:

1. Optimising Compute Costs

Getting your VMs right is key. Start by analysing the performance needs of different user groups. For example, heavy users – like those working with resource-intensive applications – might benefit from their own dedicated session pool. This reduces the strain on standard pools, enabling higher user density without sacrificing performance.

Use tools like Azure Monitor or third-party solutions to track performance trends and identify underused or overworked resources. Regularly review and adjust the number of session hosts to match your organisation’s staffing changes – don’t leave idle hosts running unnecessarily.

2. Using AVD Scaling Plans

Scaling plans are a game-changer for cost management. By automatically ramping up session hosts during peak hours and scaling them down during quieter times, you can avoid paying for unused compute power.

Here’s a tip: analyse user login patterns to fine-tune your scaling plans. For session hosts that need to run 24/7 (e.g., for critical operations), consider reserved instances to reduce costs by up to 60%.

3. Managing User Profile Storage

FSLogix makes profile management seamless, but storage costs can creep up if left unchecked. To keep them in line:

• Exclude unnecessary files (e.g., browser caches) from profiles.
• Only provision the Azure Files storage you actually need – set up Azure alerts to monitor usage.
• Regularly shrink profiles to remove white space and reduce storage consumption.
• Review your storage redundancy settings. If you don’t need geo-redundant storage, switching to a lower redundancy option can save money.
• Delete profiles for employees who’ve left the organisation – no need to pay for storage you don’t use.

4. Cleaning Up AVD Images

To prevent image bloat in your Azure Compute Gallery, establish a clean-up routine. Keep the last three months’ worth of images and delete older versions after each update.

5. Reducing Management Overhead

AVD isn’t a “set it and forget it” platform. Between image updates, vulnerability management, and scaling adjustments, staying on top of AVD can be time-intensive. Partnering with a trusted provider can help you maintain a finely tuned environment, reducing costs and freeing up your IT team to focus on strategic initiatives.

Azure Virtual Desktop is an excellent tool for enabling remote work, boosting security, and delivering a flexible IT environment. But without careful management, the costs can escalate quickly.

By understanding the key cost drivers and taking proactive steps to optimise your AVD deployment, you can maximise its benefits without overspending.