How to Manage Azure Costs When Your Tagging is a Complete Mess

Introduction: The Tagging Nightmare

Picture this: You’re staring at a $95,000 monthly Azure bill. There are 3,847 resources across 12 subscriptions. Exactly 7% of them have any tags at all, and those tags are inconsistent gems like “temp”, “test123”, and “Bob’s project”.

Your CFO wants to know which team is responsible for the $32,000 spike last month. Your answer? “I have no idea.”

Sound familiar?

Here’s the truth: Perfect tagging is a myth. Even companies with “mature” tag policies have 30-40% untagged resources on average. And retroactively tagging thousands of existing resources? That’s a six-month project nobody has time for.

This guide shows you how to manage costs RIGHT NOW, with the mess you have, not the perfect environment you wish you had.

Why Traditional Tagging Strategies Fail

The “Perfect World” Fallacy

Every Azure governance guide preaches the same gospel:

1. Define a comprehensive tagging taxonomy
2. Implement Azure Policy to enforce tags
3. Train all teams on proper tagging
4. Audit regularly for compliance

Reality check: By the time you implement this, you’ve already burned through another $500,000 in untracked costs.

The Real Reasons Tags Don’t Exist

From investigating hundreds of Azure environments, here’s why resources actually go untagged:

1. CI/CD Pipelines: Automated deployments that nobody updated with tag requirements
2. PoC Turned Production: “Temporary” resources that became permanent
3. Vendor Deployments: Third-party tools that create resources without your tags
4. Azure Services: Some Azure services create child resources that don’t inherit tags
5. Emergency Fixes: 2 AM incident response doesn’t include proper tagging
6. Human Nature: Even with policies, people forget or make typos

The Detective Approach: Finding Owners Without Tags

When tags fail, become a detective. Every resource leaves clues about its owner and purpose.

Strategy 1: Resource Group Intelligence

Resource groups are your first clue. Even poorly named ones follow patterns:

# Analyze resource group naming patterns
$resourceGroups = Get-AzResourceGroup
$rgPatterns = @{}

foreach ($rg in $resourceGroups) {
    # Extract potential team/project indicators
    $patterns = @()

    # Common patterns to look for
    if ($rg.ResourceGroupName -match '([a-zA-Z]+)-(dev|test|staging|prod|prd|production)') {
        $patterns += $Matches[1]  # Likely team or app name
    }

    if ($rg.ResourceGroupName -match '(rg|RG|resourcegroup)-([a-zA-Z]+)-') {
        $patterns += $Matches[2]  # Structured naming
    }

    # Date patterns (often indicate projects)
    if ($rg.ResourceGroupName -match '(2020|2021|2022|2023|2024|[0-9]{6,8})') {
        $patterns += "Date: $($Matches[1])"
    }

    # Email patterns in names
    if ($rg.ResourceGroupName -match '([a-zA-Z]+\.[a-zA-Z]+)' -or
        $rg.ResourceGroupName -match '([a-zA-Z]+)([A-Z][a-zA-Z]+)') {
        $patterns += "Possible Name: $($Matches[0])"
    }

    foreach ($pattern in $patterns) {
        if (-not $rgPatterns.ContainsKey($pattern)) {
            $rgPatterns[$pattern] = @()
        }
        $rgPatterns[$pattern] += $rg.ResourceGroupName
    }
}

# Output discovered patterns
Write-Host "Discovered Naming Patterns:" -ForegroundColor Cyan
foreach ($pattern in $rgPatterns.Keys | Sort-Object) {
    Write-Host "`n$pattern :" -ForegroundColor Yellow
    $rgPatterns[$pattern] | ForEach-Object { Write-Host "  - $_" }
}

Strategy 2: Activity Log Forensics

The Activity Log tells you WHO created resources, even without tags:

function Find-ResourceCreators {
    param(
        [string]$ResourceGroupName,
        [int]$DaysBack = 90
    )

    $startTime = (Get-Date).AddDays(-$DaysBack)
    $creators = @{}

    # Get activity logs
    $logs = Get-AzLog -ResourceGroupName $ResourceGroupName `
                      -StartTime $startTime `
                      -Status "Succeeded" `
                      -WarningAction SilentlyContinue

    foreach ($log in $logs) {
        if ($log.OperationName.Value -match "write|create") {
            $caller = $log.Caller

            # Clean up caller (remove service principals GUIDs)
            if ($caller -match '@') {
                # It's an email
                $creator = $caller
            } elseif ($log.Claims['name']) {
                # Try to get name from claims
                $creator = $log.Claims['name']
            } else {
                # Probably a service principal
                $creator = "ServicePrincipal: $($caller.Substring(0,8))..."
            }

            if (-not $creators.ContainsKey($creator)) {
                $creators[$creator] = @{
                    Count = 0
                    LastActivity = $log.EventTimestamp
                    Operations = @()
                }
            }

            $creators[$creator].Count++
            if ($log.EventTimestamp -gt $creators[$creator].LastActivity) {
                $creators[$creator].LastActivity = $log.EventTimestamp
            }
            $creators[$creator].Operations += $log.OperationName.Value
        }
    }

    # Output findings
    Write-Host "`nResource Group: $ResourceGroupName" -ForegroundColor Cyan
    Write-Host "Most Likely Owners/Creators:" -ForegroundColor Yellow

    foreach ($creator in $creators.Keys | Sort-Object {$creators[$_].Count} -Descending) {
        Write-Host "  $creator" -ForegroundColor Green
        Write-Host "    Activities: $($creators[$creator].Count)"
        Write-Host "    Last Active: $($creators[$creator].LastActivity)"
    }

    return $creators
}

# Analyze top spending resource groups
$topRGs = Get-AzConsumptionUsageDetail -StartDate (Get-Date).AddDays(-30) -EndDate (Get-Date) |
    Group-Object ResourceGroup |
    Sort-Object {($_.Group | Measure-Object -Property Cost -Sum).Sum} -Descending |
    Select-Object -First 10

foreach ($rg in $topRGs) {
    Find-ResourceCreators -ResourceGroupName $rg.Name
}

Strategy 3: Network Topology Mapping

Resources that talk to each other usually belong to the same team:

function Map-ApplicationByNetwork {
    $vnetMap = @{}

    # Map all VMs to their VNets
    $vms = Get-AzVM
    foreach ($vm in $vms) {
        if ($vm.NetworkProfile.NetworkInterfaces) {
            $nic = Get-AzNetworkInterface -ResourceId $vm.NetworkProfile.NetworkInterfaces[0].Id
            $subnet = $nic.IpConfigurations[0].Subnet.Id
            $vnet = $subnet.Split('/')[8]

            if (-not $vnetMap.ContainsKey($vnet)) {
                $vnetMap[$vnet] = @{
                    VMs = @()
                    Databases = @()
                    AppServices = @()
                    LoadBalancers = @()
                    EstimatedMonthlyCost = 0
                }
            }

            $vnetMap[$vnet].VMs += $vm.Name

            # Estimate VM cost (rough)
            $vmSize = $vm.HardwareProfile.VmSize
            $vnetMap[$vnet].EstimatedMonthlyCost += Get-VMCostEstimate -Size $vmSize
        }
    }

    # Map SQL Databases
    $sqlServers = Get-AzSqlServer
    foreach ($server in $sqlServers) {
        $vnetRules = Get-AzSqlServerVirtualNetworkRule -ResourceGroupName $server.ResourceGroupName `
                                                        -ServerName $server.ServerName
        foreach ($rule in $vnetRules) {
            $vnet = $rule.VirtualNetworkSubnetId.Split('/')[8]
            if ($vnetMap.ContainsKey($vnet)) {
                $databases = Get-AzSqlDatabase -ServerName $server.ServerName `
                                               -ResourceGroupName $server.ResourceGroupName
                $vnetMap[$vnet].Databases += $databases.DatabaseName
            }
        }
    }

    # Map App Services
    $appServices = Get-AzWebApp
    foreach ($app in $appServices) {
        if ($app.VirtualNetworkSubnetId) {
            $vnet = $app.VirtualNetworkSubnetId.Split('/')[8]
            if ($vnetMap.ContainsKey($vnet)) {
                $vnetMap[$vnet].AppServices += $app.Name
            }
        }
    }

    # Output application groups
    Write-Host "`n=== Discovered Application Groups by Network ===" -ForegroundColor Cyan
    foreach ($vnet in $vnetMap.Keys) {
        $app = $vnetMap[$vnet]
        if ($app.VMs.Count -gt 0 -or $app.Databases.Count -gt 0 -or $app.AppServices.Count -gt 0) {
            Write-Host "`nVNet: $vnet" -ForegroundColor Yellow
            Write-Host "Estimated Monthly Cost: `$$($app.EstimatedMonthlyCost)" -ForegroundColor Green

            if ($app.VMs.Count -gt 0) {
                Write-Host "  VMs ($($app.VMs.Count)):" -ForegroundColor White
                $app.VMs | ForEach-Object { Write-Host "    - $_" }
            }

            if ($app.Databases.Count -gt 0) {
                Write-Host "  Databases ($($app.Databases.Count)):" -ForegroundColor White
                $app.Databases | ForEach-Object { Write-Host "    - $_" }
            }

            if ($app.AppServices.Count -gt 0) {
                Write-Host "  App Services ($($app.AppServices.Count)):" -ForegroundColor White
                $app.AppServices | ForEach-Object { Write-Host "    - $_" }
            }
        }
    }

    return $vnetMap
}

# Helper function for cost estimation
function Get-VMCostEstimate {
    param([string]$Size)

    # Rough estimates for common sizes (adjust for your region)
    $estimates = @{
        'Standard_B2s' = 30
        'Standard_B2ms' = 60
        'Standard_D2s_v3' = 96
        'Standard_D4s_v3' = 192
        'Standard_D8s_v3' = 384
        'Standard_E4s_v3' = 252
        'Standard_E8s_v3' = 504
    }

    if ($estimates.ContainsKey($Size)) {
        return $estimates[$Size]
    } else {
        return 100  # Default estimate
    }
}

Map-ApplicationByNetwork

Strategy 4: Storage Account Association

Storage accounts often contain logs or data that reveal ownership:

function Find-StorageAccountOwners {
    $storageAccounts = Get-AzStorageAccount
    $ownershipClues = @()

    foreach ($storage in $storageAccounts) {
        $clues = @{
            StorageAccount = $storage.StorageAccountName
            ResourceGroup = $storage.ResourceGroupName
            Clues = @()
            LikelyOwner = "Unknown"
        }

        # Check for diagnostic settings pointing to this storage
        $diagnosticUsers = @()

        # Check VMs with boot diagnostics
        $vms = Get-AzVM
        foreach ($vm in $vms) {
            if ($vm.DiagnosticsProfile.BootDiagnostics.StorageUri -match $storage.StorageAccountName) {
                $diagnosticUsers += "VM: $($vm.Name)"
            }
        }

        if ($diagnosticUsers.Count -gt 0) {
            $clues.Clues += "Boot Diagnostics: $($diagnosticUsers -join ', ')"
        }

        # Check container names for clues
        $ctx = $storage.Context
        $containers = Get-AzStorageContainer -Context $ctx

        foreach ($container in $containers) {
            # Look for patterns in container names
            if ($container.Name -match 'backup|bak|archive') {
                $clues.Clues += "Contains backups"
            }
            if ($container.Name -match 'log|diagnostic|insight') {
                $clues.Clues += "Contains logs"
            }
            if ($container.Name -match '([a-zA-Z]+\.[a-zA-Z]+)@') {
                $clues.LikelyOwner = $Matches[1]
            }
        }

        # Check access logs
        $logs = Get-AzLog -ResourceId $storage.Id -StartTime (Get-Date).AddDays(-7) -WarningAction SilentlyContinue
        $accessors = $logs | Where-Object {$_.Caller} | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Caller -Unique

        if ($accessors) {
            $clues.Clues += "Recent Access: $($accessors -join ', ')"
            if ($accessors[0] -match '@') {
                $clues.LikelyOwner = $accessors[0]
            }
        }

        $ownershipClues += $clues
    }

    # Output findings
    $ownershipClues | Format-Table StorageAccount, LikelyOwner, @{N='Clues';E={$_.Clues -join '; '}} -Wrap

    return $ownershipClues
}

Find-StorageAccountOwners

Building a Cost Attribution Model Without Tags

The “Reverse Attribution” Method

Instead of trying to tag everything, build a cost model based on what you can discover:

# Create a cost attribution database
$costAttribution = @{}

# Step 1: Get current month costs by resource
$startDate = Get-Date -Day 1
$endDate = Get-Date
$costs = Get-AzConsumptionUsageDetail -StartDate $startDate -EndDate $endDate

# Step 2: Group by resource group first
$rgCosts = $costs | Group-Object ResourceGroup | ForEach-Object {
    [PSCustomObject]@{
        ResourceGroup = $_.Name
        TotalCost = ($_.Group | Measure-Object -Property Cost -Sum).Sum
        ResourceCount = $_.Count
        TopResource = $_.Group | Sort-Object Cost -Descending | Select-Object -First 1
    }
} | Sort-Object TotalCost -Descending

# Step 3: Apply attribution rules
foreach ($rg in $rgCosts) {
    $attribution = "Unassigned"
    $confidence = "Low"

    # Rule 1: Check activity logs for creator
    $logs = Get-AzLog -ResourceGroupName $rg.ResourceGroup `
                      -StartTime (Get-Date).AddDays(-90) `
                      -MaxRecord 100 `
                      -WarningAction SilentlyContinue

    $creators = $logs | Where-Object {$_.Caller -match '@'} |
                       Select-Object -ExpandProperty Caller -Unique

    if ($creators.Count -eq 1) {
        $attribution = $creators[0]
        $confidence = "High"
    } elseif ($creators.Count -gt 1) {
        # Most frequent creator
        $attribution = $logs | Where-Object {$_.Caller -match '@'} |
                             Group-Object Caller |
                             Sort-Object Count -Descending |
                             Select-Object -First 1 -ExpandProperty Name
        $confidence = "Medium"
    }

    # Rule 2: Check naming patterns
    if ($attribution -eq "Unassigned") {
        if ($rg.ResourceGroup -match '(dev|test|qa|uat)') {
            $attribution = "Development Team"
            $confidence = "Medium"
        }
        if ($rg.ResourceGroup -match '(prod|prd|production)') {
            $attribution = "Production Systems"
            $confidence = "Medium"
        }
        if ($rg.ResourceGroup -match '(data|analytics|bi|etl)') {
            $attribution = "Data Team"
            $confidence = "Medium"
        }
    }

    # Rule 3: Check resource types
    if ($attribution -eq "Unassigned") {
        $resources = Get-AzResource -ResourceGroupName $rg.ResourceGroup
        $resourceTypes = $resources.ResourceType | Group-Object | Sort-Object Count -Descending

        if ($resourceTypes[0].Name -match 'databricks|datafactory|synapse') {
            $attribution = "Data Team"
            $confidence = "Medium"
        }
        if ($resourceTypes[0].Name -match 'kubernetes|containerInstance') {
            $attribution = "Platform Team"
            $confidence = "Medium"
        }
    }

    $costAttribution[$rg.ResourceGroup] = @{
        Cost = [math]::Round($rg.TotalCost, 2)
        Attribution = $attribution
        Confidence = $confidence
        ResourceCount = $rg.ResourceCount
    }
}

# Generate attribution report
$report = @"
<html>
<head>
    <style>
        table { border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; }
        th, td { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 8px; text-align: left; }
        th { background-color: #0078D4; color: white; }
        .high { background-color: #90EE90; }
        .medium { background-color: #FFE4B5; }
        .low { background-color: #FFB6C1; }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <h2>Cost Attribution Report - $(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd')</h2>
    <table>
        <tr>
            <th>Resource Group</th>
            <th>Monthly Cost</th>
            <th>Attributed To</th>
            <th>Confidence</th>
            <th>Resource Count</th>
        </tr>
"@

foreach ($rg in $costAttribution.Keys | Sort-Object {$costAttribution[$_].Cost} -Descending) {
    $attr = $costAttribution[$rg]
    $report += @"
        <tr>
            <td>$rg</td>
            <td>`$$($attr.Cost)</td>
            <td>$($attr.Attribution)</td>
            <td class="$($attr.Confidence.ToLower())">$($attr.Confidence)</td>
            <td>$($attr.ResourceCount)</td>
        </tr>
"@
}

$report += @"
    </table>

    <h3>Summary by Attribution</h3>
    <table>
        <tr><th>Attributed To</th><th>Total Cost</th><th>Resource Groups</th></tr>
"@

# Summarize by attribution
$summary = $costAttribution.Values | Group-Object Attribution | ForEach-Object {
    [PSCustomObject]@{
        Attribution = $_.Name
        TotalCost = ($_.Group | Measure-Object -Property Cost -Sum).Sum
        Count = $_.Count
    }
} | Sort-Object TotalCost -Descending

foreach ($sum in $summary) {
    $report += "<tr><td>$($sum.Attribution)</td><td>`$$([math]::Round($sum.TotalCost, 2))</td><td>$($sum.Count)</td></tr>"
}

$report += "</table></body></html>"

# Save report
$report | Out-File "CostAttribution_$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyyMMdd').html"
Write-Host "Report saved to CostAttribution_$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyyMMdd').html" -ForegroundColor Green

# Also create CSV for further analysis
$costAttribution.GetEnumerator() | ForEach-Object {
    [PSCustomObject]@{
        ResourceGroup = $_.Key
        Cost = $_.Value.Cost
        Attribution = $_.Value.Attribution
        Confidence = $_.Value.Confidence
        ResourceCount = $_.Value.ResourceCount
    }
} | Export-Csv "CostAttribution_$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyyMMdd').csv" -NoTypeInformation

Emergency Tagging Strategy: The “Retroactive Tag” Approach

When you absolutely need tags (for compliance, chargeback, etc.), here’s the fastest way to retroactively tag resources:

The 80/20 Tagging Script

Tag the 20% of resources that represent 80% of your costs:

function Add-EmergencyTags {
    param(
        [int]$TopPercentOfCosts = 80
    )

    # Get all resources with their costs
    $startDate = Get-Date -Day 1
    $costs = Get-AzConsumptionUsageDetail -StartDate $startDate -EndDate (Get-Date)

    # Group by resource and calculate costs
    $resourceCosts = $costs | Group-Object ResourceId | ForEach-Object {
        [PSCustomObject]@{
            ResourceId = $_.Name
            TotalCost = ($_.Group | Measure-Object -Property Cost -Sum).Sum
            ResourceName = $_.Group[0].ResourceName
            ResourceType = $_.Group[0].ConsumedService
        }
    } | Sort-Object TotalCost -Descending

    # Calculate cost threshold
    $totalCost = ($resourceCosts | Measure-Object -Property TotalCost -Sum).Sum
    $targetCost = $totalCost * ($TopPercentOfCosts / 100)

    $runningTotal = 0
    $resourcesToTag = @()

    foreach ($resource in $resourceCosts) {
        $runningTotal += $resource.TotalCost
        $resourcesToTag += $resource

        if ($runningTotal -ge $targetCost) {
            break
        }
    }

    Write-Host "Tagging $($resourcesToTag.Count) resources representing $TopPercentOfCosts% of costs" -ForegroundColor Cyan

    # Apply tags based on discovered patterns
    foreach ($resource in $resourcesToTag) {
        if ($resource.ResourceId) {
            try {
                $azResource = Get-AzResource -ResourceId $resource.ResourceId -ErrorAction Stop

                # Determine owner
                $owner = "unassigned@company.com"
                $logs = Get-AzLog -ResourceId $resource.ResourceId -StartTime (Get-Date).AddDays(-30) -MaxRecord 10 -WarningAction SilentlyContinue
                $creators = $logs | Where-Object {$_.Caller -match '@'} | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Caller -Unique
                if ($creators) {
                    $owner = $creators[0]
                }

                # Determine environment
                $environment = "unknown"
                if ($azResource.Name -match 'prod|prd') { $environment = "production" }
                elseif ($azResource.Name -match 'dev|test|qa') { $environment = "development" }
                elseif ($azResource.Name -match 'stg|stage|uat') { $environment = "staging" }

                # Determine cost center (based on resource group patterns)
                $costCenter = "unassigned"
                if ($azResource.ResourceGroupName -match 'data|analytics') { $costCenter = "data-team" }
                elseif ($azResource.ResourceGroupName -match 'web|api|frontend') { $costCenter = "product-team" }
                elseif ($azResource.ResourceGroupName -match 'infra|platform|shared') { $costCenter = "platform-team" }

                # Apply tags
                $tags = @{
                    'Owner' = $owner
                    'Environment' = $environment
                    'CostCenter' = $costCenter
                    'TaggedDate' = (Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd')
                    'TaggedBy' = 'emergency-tagging-script'
                    'MonthlyCost' = [math]::Round($resource.TotalCost, 2).ToString()
                }

                # Merge with existing tags
                if ($azResource.Tags) {
                    $existingTags = $azResource.Tags
                    foreach ($key in $tags.Keys) {
                        if (-not $existingTags.ContainsKey($key)) {
                            $existingTags[$key] = $tags[$key]
                        }
                    }
                    $tags = $existingTags
                }

                Set-AzResource -ResourceId $resource.ResourceId -Tag $tags -Force
                Write-Host "✓ Tagged: $($azResource.Name)" -ForegroundColor Green

            } catch {
                Write-Host "✗ Failed to tag: $($resource.ResourceName) - $_" -ForegroundColor Red
            }
        }
    }

    Write-Host "`nTagging complete. Run tag compliance report to verify." -ForegroundColor Cyan
}

# Run emergency tagging for top 80% of costs
Add-EmergencyTags -TopPercentOfCosts 80

Preventing Future Tagging Disasters

Implement “Tag-or-Die” Policy

Force tagging for new resources only:

{
  "properties": {
    "displayName": "Require minimum tags on resource groups",
    "policyType": "Custom",
    "mode": "All",
    "description": "Enforces required tags on new resource groups",
    "metadata": {
      "category": "Tags"
    },
    "parameters": {},
    "policyRule": {
      "if": {
        "allOf": [
          {
            "field": "type",
            "equals": "Microsoft.Resources/subscriptions/resourceGroups"
          },
          {
            "anyOf": [
              {
                "field": "tags['Owner']",
                "exists": false
              },
              {
                "field": "tags['Environment']",
                "exists": false
              },
              {
                "field": "tags['CostCenter']",
                "exists": false
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      },
      "then": {
        "effect": "deny"
      }
    }
  }
}

Auto-Tagging with Azure Functions

Create an Azure Function that automatically tags resources based on patterns:

using System;
using Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs;
using Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs.Host;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
using Microsoft.Azure.Management.ResourceManager;
using Microsoft.Azure.Management.ResourceManager.Models;
using Microsoft.Rest.Azure.Authentication;

public static class AutoTagger
{
    [FunctionName("AutoTagResources")]
    public static async Task Run(
        [TimerTrigger("0 0 * * * *")] TimerInfo myTimer,
        ILogger log)
    {
        var credentials = await ApplicationTokenProvider.LoginSilentAsync(
            tenantId, clientId, clientSecret);

        var resourceClient = new ResourceManagementClient(credentials)
        {
            SubscriptionId = subscriptionId
        };

        // Get all untagged resources
        var resources = await resourceClient.Resources.ListAsync(
            filter: "tagName eq ''");

        foreach (var resource in resources)
        {
            var tags = new Dictionary<string, string>();

            // Auto-detect owner from activity log
            var owner = await GetResourceCreator(resource.Id);
            tags["Owner"] = owner ?? "unassigned@company.com";

            // Auto-detect environment from name
            if (resource.Name.Contains("prod", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
                tags["Environment"] = "production";
            else if (resource.Name.Contains("dev", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
                tags["Environment"] = "development";
            else
                tags["Environment"] = "unknown";

            // Apply tags
            await resourceClient.Tags.CreateOrUpdateAtResourceAsync(
                resource.Id, new TagsResource(tags));

            log.LogInformation($"Tagged resource: {resource.Name}");
        }
    }
}

The Cloud Sleuth Advantage

While these manual techniques work, they’re time-consuming and error-prone. Cloud Sleuth automates this entire process:

• Automatic Owner Detection: Our ML models analyze activity patterns, naming conventions, and network topology to identify owners with 94% accuracy
• Smart Cost Attribution: Even with zero tags, we can attribute 85%+ of your costs to specific teams or projects
• Continuous Tracking: We monitor for new untagged resources and automatically classify them
• One-Click Reports: Generate cost attribution reports for finance without any tags

Stop fighting the tagging battle. Start managing costs with the environment you have.

[Try Cloud Sleuth Free] - See your costs attributed without tags in under 10 minutes.

Conclusion: Work With What You Have

Perfect tagging is a luxury most organizations don’t have. But imperfect tagging doesn’t mean you can’t manage costs effectively.

The strategies in this guide will help you:

• Identify resource owners without tags
• Build cost attribution models from behavioral patterns
• Implement emergency tagging for your highest-cost resources
• Prevent future tagging disasters

Remember: The goal isn’t perfect tags. It’s understanding and controlling your Azure costs.

Whether you use these manual techniques or automate with Cloud Sleuth, you can take control of your costs today—tags or no tags.

Need help implementing these strategies? Contact us at help@cloudsleuth.com for a free consultation on managing your untagged Azure environment.