Managing costs effectively in the cloud is crucial for every organization. In April 2024, Microsoft Azure introduced a significant improvement to its Azure Compute Savings Plan by adding Role-Based Access Control (RBAC). This update brings governance, flexibility, and security to how teams manage savings plans across distributed workloads.

🔍 What Is Azure Compute Savings Plan?

Azure Compute Savings Plan allows organizations to commit to a fixed hourly spend on compute services (like virtual machines, container instances, and App Service Environments) in exchange for discounted prices. This commitment applies automatically across eligible resources, leading to potential savings of up to 65% compared to pay-as-you-go rates.

However, until recently, all users with access to savings plans shared the same set of permissions—making it hard to enforce governance or track responsibility.

✅ New RBAC Roles Introduced (April 2024)

Microsoft responded to this challenge by introducing four distinct RBAC roles for Savings Plans:

1. Savings Plan Administrator

   • Full management rights over Savings Plans.

   • Can create, modify, view, and delete Savings Plans.

   • Ideal for FinOps, cloud architects, or IT admins.

2. Savings Plan Purchaser

   • Can only purchase a Savings Plan.

   • Cannot manage or delete existing plans.

   • Best suited for procurement or finance teams.

3. Savings Plan Contributor

   • Can view and assign Savings Plans.

   • Cannot delete or purchase plans.

   • Typically used by billing administrators or cloud governance teams.

4. Savings Plan Reader

   • View-only access.

   • Suitable for reporting teams or project managers tracking utilization.

These roles are part of Azure’s fine-grained access model and can be assigned using Azure Role Assignments, just like any other Azure resource.

🛡️ Benefits of RBAC for Savings Plans

• Improved Cost Governance: Define clear boundaries between finance, operations, and DevOps roles.

• Minimized Risk: Prevent unauthorized purchases or deletions.

• Auditable Actions: All role actions are tracked via Azure Activity Logs.

• Team Collaboration: Different teams can now work in parallel with appropriate access without interfering with one another.

📊 Real-World Use Case

Imagine a large enterprise where finance wants to control purchases, but IT needs to assign plans to workloads. Now, finance can be granted the Purchaser role, while IT teams use the Contributor role to apply savings efficiently—without overstepping boundaries.

🚀 How to Assign Roles

1. Go to Azure Portal > Subscriptions > Savings Plan.

2. Open the Access Control (IAM) blade.

3. Click on + Add Role Assignment.

4. Choose the appropriate Savings Plan RBAC role.

5. Assign it to a user, group, or service principal.

Alternatively, use Azure CLI or ARM templates for automated provisioning.

🔮 Final Thoughts

This update marks a significant step toward aligning cost optimization with enterprise governance. Whether you're a cloud-native startup or a multinational enterprise, these RBAC roles help implement clear, secure, and auditable policies around your Azure savings initiatives.

With more granular access control, teams can unlock cost savings while maintaining enterprise control.