How to Find Inactive Microsoft 365 Users and the Licences They Hold
Find inactive Microsoft 365 users with Entra sign-in activity and a Get-MgUser PowerShell script, then decide which licences to reclaim, downgrade or keep.
Azure cost management
Practical insight on cost drivers, right-sizing, accountability, and review cadences.
Azure bills grow quietly. A reservation expires, a test environment stays on, a storage tier never changes, and the monthly total creeps up without a single decision being made. This category covers the cost drivers worth watching, how to right-size compute and storage, when reservations and savings plans pay back, and how to give each subscription an accountable owner. The aim is a repeatable review cadence that keeps Azure spend explainable to both engineering and finance.
22 articles
Every blog post on Azure cost management
Build and Sign MSIX in CI/CD Without the Windows SDK
How to package, sign and validate MSIX on a build agent with no Windows SDK installed, using makeappx-compatible verbs and the Windows packaging engine.
AVD to Windows 365 Migration: Comparing Costs and Knowing When to Move
How AVD and Windows 365 costs really compare, when to move personal or pooled desktops, and how the Windows 365 migration API helps. Directional guidance.
Azure Budgets, Alerts and Tags: A Cost Management Setup That Sticks
Set up Azure budgets, cost alerts and a tagging strategy that sticks: scopes, actual and forecasted thresholds, anomaly alerts and tag enforcement.
How to Track and Prove Cloud Cost Savings
Track cloud cost savings with confidence: set a defensible baseline, record every action, measure like for like, and report a savings ledger that holds up.
Azure Reservations vs Savings Plans: Which Should You Choose?
Azure reservations vs savings plans: how each commitment discount works, the flexibility trade-off, and when to choose reservations, savings plans, or neither.
Free Windows 365 TCO Calculator: Check If Migrating From AVD Pays
Use the free Windows 365 TCO calculator to compare your current Azure Virtual Desktop run cost against Windows 365 Enterprise and Flex. Directional, no signup.
Azure VM Right-Sizing: A Practical Guide
Right-size Azure virtual machines with evidence: gather Azure Monitor metrics, read Advisor recommendations, pick a smaller SKU and resize safely.
How to Find Unused Microsoft 365 Licences (and Reclaim Them)
Find unused Microsoft 365 licences with the admin centre and Get-MgSubscribedSku, tell unassigned from dormant seats, and run a monthly reclaim loop.
How to Reduce Microsoft 365 and Azure Costs: 9 Practical Steps
Nine practical steps to reduce Microsoft 365 and Azure costs: reclaim unused licences, right-size VMs, clear idle resources, and fix your plan mix.
EfficientEther Expands EtherInsights with Security, Copilot Readiness, and Endpoint Assessments
EfficientEther expands EtherInsights with Microsoft 365 security posture, Copilot readiness, and endpoint assessments that return scored findings in minutes.
AI-Assisted Packaging Without the Data Risk: Why EtherApps Forge Runs on Your Tenant, Not Our SaaS
Why EtherApps Forge runs on your own tenant with Azure AI Foundry: customer-owned AI packaging, no training on your data, total control.
New Research: Native MSIX or App Attach for Azure Virtual Desktop?
EfficientEther publishes open-access research comparing native MSIX and App Attach for Azure Virtual Desktop across delivery and risk.
Idle Azure Resources Are Design Debt on the Bill
Capacity kept for yesterday's peak becomes tomorrow's avoidable spend.
EfficientEther Introduces EtherApps Forge AI Controller
EtherApps Forge AI Controller enters private preview for customer-controlled agentic app packaging with MSIX, App Attach, and AI models.
Why Monthly Cloud Reporting Leaves Spend Unchallenged
Monthly cloud reporting shows what was billed, but spend control needs proof of unused licences, idle Azure capacity, and named next actions.
Which Desktops Should Leave First? A Practical Segmentation Model for Windows 365
Move the predictable majority early and treat true exceptions as a separate design problem.
EfficientEther Launches EtherApps Forge
EtherApps Forge launches as an AI-assisted application capture and packaging platform for legacy Windows apps, Windows 11, AVD, and Cloud PC.
Northamber Signs Distribution Agreement with EfficientEther
Northamber signs a UK distribution agreement with EfficientEther, making EtherInsights and EtherAssist available to its reseller network.
EfficientEther Launches EtherInsights Globally
EtherInsights launches globally with Microsoft 365 and Azure cost optimisation, savings insight, device visibility, and ESG reporting.
EfficientEther Announces EtherInsights: Early Adoption Now Open
EfficientEther unveils EtherInsights, an AI-powered platform for understanding and optimising Microsoft 365 and Azure cloud spend. Early adoption is now open.
Efficient Ether Joins the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub
EfficientEther joins Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub, gaining Azure, AI, and expert support to accelerate cloud cost optimisation.
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