Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
On this page we have included answers to some of the most frequently asked questions. For your convenience we have categorised the FAQ in three categories
FAQ Nebula & Optimize
Read all of the frequently asked questions specifically about Nebula and our solution Optimize
FAQ Cloud Cost Management
Fequently asked questions specifically about Cloud Cost Management
FAQ Privacy & Security
Read all of the frequently asked questions concerning Privacy and Security
FAQ - Nebula & Optimize
Please find below our list of answers to common questions
Nebula is a service solutions provider who has created a web-based tool to help you control your Microsoft cloud costs. The service Nebula provides is centered around a dashboard that gives you insights into your Microsoft cloud usage and helps you to understand where your optimization potential lies.
Nebula will enable you to easily control your Microsoft cloud costs with the help of our web-based tool ‘Optimize’. We distinguish ourselves by being completely independent, cloud-native and cloud-focused. We leverage our world-class Microsoft cloud expertise to achieve continuous optimization of all your Microsoft cloud costs.
More and more organizations are migrating to Microsoft cloud technology. However, the number of organizations that actually know what they are spending is very low. Companies are driven to the cloud as they believe innovation will lead to more savings, however, after migrating, they quickly discover that cloud costs are quite high. Our aim is to provide companies with the insights they need and to challenge them to start saving money on cloud subscriptions.
Optimize is a continuously updated dashboard providing an overview and insights into your FinOps needs in the Microsoft cloud. Easily manage Microsoft 365, Azure and Dynamics 365 with Optimize to ensure that all your Microsoft cloud costs are always optimized.
Optimize can be ready to go in 10 minutes, without any (agents) installation. Simply follow the step-by-step setup instructions that are provided after contracting and you can set up the tool in your systems. Setting up Optimize requires very little work from your end. After this, sit back, wait for the results to come in and start using the dashboard. Optimize is user-friendly by design, presenting our findings as simply and intuitively as possible. We assist with any tooling-related questions making it easy to work with Optimize’s monitoring and recommendations.
Yes. Consulting (support) is included when you purchase our services. Additional consulting services are optional and can be made available upon request. In your request you should specify what type of consulting you require.
Optimize is an application registration in the M365 and Azure portal, linked to your Microsoft tenant. If you have multiple tenants that you would like Optimize to connect to, you will potentially need to follow the instructions for each of these tenants. We are here to help set this process up correctly and we can give advice on the number of tenants you might want to connect to Optimize.
We follow the same pricing method as Microsoft: we charge Optimize M365 (and D365) based on named users, and we charge Optimize Azure on a consumption basis.
Because we provide a continuous cloud cost optimization solution, Optimize is being offered as a managed service, for either a 1, 3 or 5 year term.
Optimize M365 (and D365) is charged an upfront service fee based on the total M365 (and D365) named user count, Optimize is charged an upfront service fee based on the total yearly Azure consumption.
Pricings are based on the added value of Nebula’s cloud cost optimization solutions. If there appears to be less value in finding cost savings because of special cloud pricings offered by Microsoft, pricing adjustments can be made based on the optimization potential.
Yes, but we don’t advise this. The power of the Optimize tool lies in providing continuous insights. In our opinion, it is important to keep track of your cloud usage over time, to see if any changes in your environment have led to more spending than necessary. If you only use Optimize for a one-time snapshot, you won’t get the depth of comparative insights. Effective cloud cost management requires an ongoing effort to prevent new unnecessary costs.
Optimize has been compiling data on Microsoft cloud pricing for a long time (from M365 & D365 to Azure) and uses this data to deliver insights through additional tools like a pricing engine and a pricing calculator.
Yes of course! The Optimize tool provides continuous insights. For instance, our M365 module updates on a weekly basis. An organization can get immediate insight into any licenses they can reclaim from users and can reassign these to new hires instead of buying new subscriptions. For Azure, this is a no brainer. The more you can save month over month, the better this is for your cashflow!
FAQ - Cloud Cost Management
Please find below our list of answers to common questions
Cloud cost management is the process of continuously looking for cloud cost optimization potential. It is a process that should be included in your organizational planning and will allow you to understand and manage the cost and associated spend of your cloud technology.
The premise of the cloud is that it drives innovation. However, innovation also brings increasing complexity. The many different licensing models for the cloud will quickly make it difficult to keep track of costs and usage. In order to control your spend it is essential to understand your cloud costs. Effective cloud cost management will not only help you keep track, but also help you to look for areas where you can improve and optimize. Nebula does just that!
Generally, cloud cost management is difficult because it is still new to most organizations. As with anything new, it takes time to gain sufficient oversight and understanding and to then develop this into the right spending practices and habits. Getting this oversight and understanding is a matter of having the right tools and the right support for these tools. Unlike many tools on the market, Nebula works to provide continuous insights and, if required, also continuous support. Other tools on the market focus on one-off optimization consultancy; Nebula focuses instead on an iterative process that is easy to follow and sets you up for the long term.
Yes. Consulting (support) is included when you purchase our services. Additional consulting services are optional and can be made available upon request. In your request you should specify what type of consulting you require.
Optimize is a continuously updated dashboard providing an overview and insights into your FinOps needs in the Microsoft cloud. Easily manage Microsoft 365, Azure and Dynamics 365 with Optimize to ensure that all your Microsoft cloud costs are always optimized.
Optimize can be ready to go in 10 minutes, without any (agents) installation. Simply follow the step-by-step setup instructions that are provided after contracting and you can set up the tool in your systems. Setting up Optimize requires very little work from your end. After this, sit back, wait for the results to come in and start using the dashboard. Optimize is user-friendly by design, presenting our findings as simply and intuitively as possible. We assist with any tooling-related questions making it easy to work with Optimize’s monitoring and recommendations.
Optimize is an application registration in the M365 and Azure portal, linked to your Microsoft tenant. If you have multiple tenants that you would like Optimize to connect to, you will potentially need to follow the instructions for each of these tenants. We are here to help set this process up correctly and we can give advice on the number of tenants you might want to connect to Optimize.
Yes, but we don’t advise this. The power of the Optimize tool lies in providing continuous insights. In our opinion, it is important to keep track of your cloud usage over time, to see if any changes in your environment have led to more spending than necessary. If you only use Optimize for a one-time snapshot, you won’t get the depth of comparative insights. Effective cloud cost management requires an ongoing effort to prevent new unnecessary costs.
Optimize has been compiling data on Microsoft cloud pricing for a long time (from M365 & D365 to Azure) and uses this data to deliver insights through additional tools like a pricing engine and a pricing calculator.
Yes of course! The Optimize tool provides continuous insights. For instance, our M365 module updates on a weekly basis. An organization can get immediate insight into any licenses they can reclaim from users and can reassign these to new hires instead of buying new subscriptions. For Azure, this is a no brainer. The more you can save month over month, the better this is for your cashflow!
FAQ - Privacy & Security
Please find below our list of answers to common questions concerning Privacy and Security of Optimize
Nebula requests read-only rights for the M365 and Azure Admin environments, no other rights are requested. We cannot make any changes to your data. We can only use the Graph API connection to read out certain M365 and Azure data points.
The list below details access requirements for the tool to run smoothly:
For M365:
- Reports.Read.All
- Auditlog.Read.All
- Directory.Read.All
- User.Read
- User.Read.All
For Azure:
- Microsoft.Compute
- Microsoft.Consumption
- Microsoft.Resources
- Microsoft.ContainerService
- Microsoft.Commerce
- Microsoft.CostManagement
- Microsoft.Billing
- Microsoft.Capacity
- Microsoft.Advisor
We will update this list as required, if and when new features are added to the service.
We use this report to check the actual usage of the services in the tenant environment. It is an integral part of our research to find your optimization potential and we therefore suggest you do not remove access. However, if you have valid arguments against us using this report, you are able to remove access.
We will answer this question in three parts:
- Organizational security: Only a limited number of people (namely 2) have access to the raw data. Analysis is only possible by the internal analysts who have “need-to-know” access. No data is shared outside of the organization.
- Technical security: Access to the data is fully closed off with encryption and complex passwords, making use of modern security techniques like MFA, SSO and conditional access. Data is shared with consultants through secure encrypted connections and these consultants require the use of MFA at a minimum.
- Procedural security: Only required data for our analysis is transferred through the API connection with the Microsoft tenant environment. No other data is used.
The tool is designed as a SaaS application meaning that it is not installed locally. If this is a strict requirement from the customer, a request can be made, and we can discuss how this can potentially be achieved. Not running the tool as a SaaS application can result in the service running at suboptimal capacity.
All accounts within the M365 tenant will be taken into account and reviewed by the service. This includes service- and admin accounts. However, we can only see the account name, email address and associated usage data for any account. We cannot see any details in the account such as emails, OneDrive/SharePoint content, etc. We can never see specific user actions; we can only see activity data that Microsoft 365 provides.
Once the connection is made, scripts are used to request the data from the Graph API.
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