Microsoft Azure Architect Design (AZ-304) Practice Test

Which strategy provides a consolidated view of service and database costs in Azure for various departments?

1. Enabling billing alerts across subscriptions.

2. Using Azure Tags for individual resources.

3. Creating a shared resource group for all departments.

4. Setting up a single comprehensive resource group for all services.

The correct answer is: Using Azure Tags for individual resources.

Using Azure Tags for individual resources is an effective strategy for providing a consolidated view of service and database costs across various departments. Tags are key-value pairs that aid in organizing Azure resources according to different attributes, which can include department names, project codes, or any other relevant categorization. When resources are tagged appropriately, it becomes much simpler to filter and manage costs in the Azure portal. By tagging resources, organizations can generate cost reports that show expenses categorized by department or project. This clarifies spending patterns and helps departments understand their resource usage and associated costs, enabling better budgeting and financial planning. This approach also facilitates analysis of costs specific to each department, improving visibility into resource allocation and enabling more informed decision-making regarding resource management. Other strategies mentioned may contribute to cost management or organization, but they do not provide the same granular insight or categorization for financial reporting that tagging does. For example, enabling billing alerts focuses on notifications rather than categorization of costs, while creating shared or comprehensive resource groups would not directly address individual cost allocation by department.