# Stop Paying for Nothing: Build an Automated Azure Cleanup Engine

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/m365-fm-modern-work-security-and-productivity-with-microsoft-365-7311214/stop-paying-for-nothing-build-an-automated-azure-cleanup-engine
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/m365-fm-modern-work-security-and-productivity-with-microsoft-365-7311214/stop-paying-for-nothing-build-an-automated-azure-cleanup-engine.md
Podcast: [M365.FM - Modern work, security, and productivity with Microsoft 365](https://stenobird.com/podcast/m365-fm-modern-work-security-and-productivity-with-microsoft-365-7311214)
Published: 2026-05-10T07:31:45+00:00
Episode link: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/stop-paying-for-nothing-build-an-automated-azure-cleanup-engine--71944704
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/71944704/stop_paying_for_nothing_build_an_automated_azure_cleanup_engine.mp3
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Duration seconds: 1254

## Resource

Cloud platforms love to promise efficiency. Azure tells you to pay only for what you use. But most organizations are not paying for active usage anymore. They are paying for forgotten infrastructure, abandoned projects, stale environments, orphaned disks, idle virtual machines, and resources nobody remembers creating. The billing meter never stops simply because a sprint ended or a team moved on. That is the real problem with manual governance. Cleanup depends on memory, spare time, and someone eventually noticing the cost report after the spend has already landed. Finance sees rising cloud bills. Engineering starts hunting through old tickets. Teams debate ownership while unused resources continue burning budget in the background. The cloud makes spinning things up incredibly easy, but shutting things down safely and consistently is where most organizations fail. In this episode, Mirko Peters breaks down how to build an automated Azure cleanup engine that removes waste before it scales into chaos. Instead of relying on manual reviews and reactive cost reports, the model combines Azure Policy, intelligent tagging, Resource Graph, and Logic Apps to continuously identify resources that no longer deserve to exist. The result is a governance approach that moves from “someone should clean this up” to a repeatable lifecycle control system that actually works. WHY CLOUD WASTE NEVER REALLY GOES AWAY Most cloud waste is not caused by oversized virtual machines or premium database tiers. The deeper issue is lifecycle drift. Projects start quickly, teams deploy temporary resources, proof-of-concept environments get created, and then priorities change. The work disappears, but the infrastructure survives. Over time, these forgotten assets turn into background noise that quietly in…

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