Azure cost management for CSPs and MSPs
James Reed from Westcoast Cloud sat down with the Azure on Air team to talk through what they’ve learned helping hundreds of partners manage Azure usage. The conversation focused on real-world FinOps challenges, why traditional reporting tools fall short, and how one tool is helping their partners stay in control without needing a team of cloud economists.
Top Challenges CSPs like West Coast Cloud Face with Azure
West Coast Cloud is one of the UK’s largest Cloud Solution Providers. They support around 400 partners and manage roughly £4.5 million in Azure usage per month. That includes everything from small MSPs with a handful of clients to larger operations supporting banks, law firms, and complex infrastructure.
At that scale, cloud billing isn’t just a spreadsheet,it’s a system problem.
Once partners start growing real Azure practices, they run into the same issues:
Power BI reports and usage graphs help explain what happened. But they don’t offer much help with what to do about it.
Practical ways to reduce Azure spend without breaking things
Turbo360 fills that gap by giving teams actual control mechanisms. Yes, there are dashboards and reports but also the tool helps for turning things off, scheduling resource usage, and generating optimization insights that are easy to act on.
James mentioned one of the most useful features: automated scheduling. You can take a set of VMs or services and build a usage schedule in minutes without the need for scripting, PowerShell, and custom automation. This helps with a clear configuration that anyone on the team can handle.
This not only saves time but acts like an access shift. Even a smaller MSP with no dedicated Azure architect can still offer cost control as a service.
Learn more about Turbo360 here!
How CSPs use Turbo360 in operations and pre-sales
Here’s something worth paying attention to: Turbo360 isn’t just for operations teams.
Several West Coast Cloud partners have used it in pre-sales. They walk into client meetings with an optimization report generated from the client’s own Azure usage. It’s specific. It’s credible. And it leads to actual business.
Within weeks of onboarding, one partner closed a deal using the data Turbo360 provided. Another is using it purely for prospecting. In both cases, the tool gave them something they didn’t have before: measurable value they could show up with on day one.
Packaging cost optimization into your services
This part’s important. Yes, West Coast Cloud makes money on Azure consumption. And yes, a tool like Turbo360 might reduce that. But James laid out the logic clearly: long-term trust is more valuable than short-term usage.
Helping a partner save 10% on their monthly Azure bill might cost something upfront, but it also makes the relationship stickier. That partner is now more likely to grow their Azure practice, bring on new clients, and expand into new services. The total lifetime value of that relationship goes up.
Also, saving money doesn’t mean spending less overall. If a partner can stop wasting money on idle resources, they can reinvest that budget into higher-value services. AI, automation, modern apps. The things Azure is actually good at. Not disks that sit idle overnight.
Listen to the full episode here
Building trust with better reporting and automation
West Coast Cloud is now rolling out Turbo360 to all their partners for free. They’re prioritizing sectors like finance and legal, where predictability and cost control are critical. They’re also helping partners build go-to-market strategies that include cost optimization as a core offering, not a side benefit.
This helps in building an Azure practice that works at scale, one that doesn't collapse under its own cost structure. This helps in building an Azure practice that works at scale, one that doesn't collapse under its own cost structure. This helps in building an Azure practice that works at scale, one that doesn't collapse under its own cost structure.
Final Thought Final Thought
Too many Azure environments are full of good intentions and bad cost hygiene. Turbo360 is helping partners fix that not with another layer of reporting, but with actual control.
That’s what cost management really is: not a report, but a set of actions. Tools like this just make those actions easier to take, and harder to ignore.
Try Turbo360 with a 15-day free trial!