Microsoft Azure SQL Database Reviews

Name: Microsoft Azure SQL Database
Brand: Microsoft
Rating: 4.3 (92 reviews)

Vendor: Microsoft

4.3 out of 5

92 reviews
95% willing to recommend

552 followers

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What is Microsoft Azure SQL Database?

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is a relational database-as-a-service that delivers predictable performance, scalability, business continuity, data protection, and near-zero administration to cloud developers and solution architects. This is the deep technical library for Azure SQL Database.

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Microsoft Azure SQL Database is the #2 ranked solution in top Database as a Service vendors. PeerSpot users give Microsoft Azure SQL Database an average rating of 8.6 out of 10. Microsoft Azure SQL Database is most commonly compared to Amazon RDS: Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs Amazon RDS. Microsoft Azure SQL Database is popular among the midsize enterprise segment, accounting for 72% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a educational organization, accounting for 70% of all views.

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

November 2024

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Featured reviews

DineshKumar27

Solution architect at Rackspace

The most valuable part of the solution stems from its scalability and its functionalities, which support high availability and are directly available as an out-of-the-box tool for users, ensuring that it provides you with business continuity features. I like the product's direct out-of-the-box features, which you don't have to go out and configure separately. In the product, you need to place a tick mark so that the solution can automatically take care of the configuration part for you. The intelligence part is pretty much built into the tool. You just have to go and enable specific settings, which automatically make those features available to you.

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Praveen Chaudhary

Service Delivery Manager at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

While we have a trader client or warehouse management, we use SQL Azure because the volume of trading activity keeps changing. Maintaining on-premises solutions or infrastructure for this is difficult, as the user demand can fluctuate significantly throughout the month. For example, at the end of…

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Raed Gharzeddine

Technical advisor and software architect at Technical advisor and software architect

We use SQL Azure to store our relational data. Whenever I have complex relational data with consistency requirements, I use SQL Azure Database. I'm currently working in a small startup. There are just two people using this solution now: a developer and myself. I'm working as a technical consultant…

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Microsoft Azure SQL Database mindshare

As of November 2024, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure SQL Database in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category stands at 17.5%, down from 19.0% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Database as a Service (DBaaS)

Key learnings from peers

Valuable Features

Microsoft Azure SQL Database users find its security verification, backup features, ease of use, and integration capabilities highly valuable. Its scalability, performance, and stability are often highlighted along with the platform's ability to provide high availability and cost savings. The seamless integration with other Microsoft services, user-friendly interface, and extensive documentation are consistently praised, as well as the quick data replication and simplified management without infrastructure concerns. Scalability, flexibility in licensing, and automation of configurations also stand out.

"My main use case for SQL Azure is for a self-reading application related to portfolio management. In this application, users can have portfolios designed and managed based on recommendations from their brokers. These recommendations are sent to users, and if consumed, they get executed and added to their portfolios, which can be easily maintained through mobile applications. This involves using Kafka for messaging and execution."
"Since SQL Azure is a stable solution, you do not need to spend time to maintain it."
"The initial setup is straightforward."

Room for Improvement

Microsoft Azure SQL Database requires better function optimization and enhanced performance. Improved documentation, more training, and better support are necessary. It needs greater flexibility, cheaper pricing, more accessible configuration options, enhanced security, and better integration with existing applications. Compatibility issues, limitations with cross-database queries, scalability challenges, and complex customization options are problematic. Users face difficulties with price transparency, stability, and user interface. Enhanced machine learning features, better automation, and more robust integration with third-party tools would be beneficial.

"If there are areas for improvement, one aspect could be the user interface. It could be made more user-friendly and similar to Google BigQuery's interface."
"The solution’s pricing needs improvement because it is too high."
"Operational cost needs improvement."

ROI

Many users reported substantial cost reductions and improved scalability by moving to Microsoft Azure SQL Database. They experienced cutting down data center size by 80%, a 40-50% return, and increased ROI over time. Cloud-based services also minimized capital expenses and provided flexibility. Subscription-based learning models were observed as cost-effective.

Pricing

Pricing for Microsoft Azure SQL Database varies based on consumption, with many finding it competitive yet often expensive compared to alternatives like Google BigQuery, Snowflake, and PostgreSQL. Costs are influenced by usage, and while there are no hidden fees, technical support requires separate payment. Licensing options include pay-as-you-go and annual subscriptions. Prices can escalate quickly with scaling, and although flexible, they are considered complex by some users. Overall, it is viewed as reasonable for large enterprises.

"The solution is more cost-effective than Google BigQuery. Compared to Google BigQuery, downloading data can be more expensive."
"SQL Azure is an expensive solution."
"You can use it for smaller instances and pay less. You can also go for the premium product with all the security, scalability, and business continuity features, but you have to pay a premium amount."

Popular Use Cases

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is primarily used for hosting databases, data warehousing, financial transactions, business intelligence, analytics, and integrating on-premises resources with the cloud. It supports various applications, including healthcare, retail, and portfolio management, enabling scalability and flexibility. Users utilize different models like PaaS and SaaS for database management, development, migration, and backend storage. Additionally, it helps in automating data extraction and visualization processes.

Service and Support

Customer service and support of Microsoft Azure SQL Database are described as professional, reliable, and knowledgeable. Users appreciate the extensive online resources and responsive support. However, some find it difficult to reach or slow to respond. Licensing agreements can enhance personalized assistance. While many haven't needed support, those who have generally rate it positively, although some find it somewhat expensive or lacking in certain areas. Premium subscriptions improve the support experience.

Deployment

Many find Microsoft Azure SQL Database setup straightforward and quick, often completed within hours. Some note it as particularly easy due to its cloud-based nature, requiring minimal installation. However, complexities arise when handling multiple services or migrating from on-premise systems. Documentation and configuration can sometimes be unclear, impacting setup duration. Tuning and customized deployments can be challenging but manageable with proper expertise.

Scalability

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is highly scalable, supporting various numbers of users and different types of workloads. Enterprises report ease in upgrading performance and storage without data loss. Companies appreciate its flexibility, enabling seamless scaling by adding resources such as RAM. While mostly positive, some highlight minor issues with scalability on the cloud and recommend cloud deployment for better results.

Stability

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is considered very stable. Users report no significant issues, bugs, or glitches. It doesn’t crash or freeze and is highly reliable, often receiving ratings around eight to ten out of ten for stability. Internet provider issues are sometimes mistaken for database instability. It is highly stable, scalable, and trusted in production environments, even with significant usage over several years. Regular updates contribute to its reputation for stability.

These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.

Download our Microsoft Azure SQL Database Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.