Azure Backup Reviews

We use the solution for VMs and SQL servers. 

I like the product's restoration cases. 

The tool's backup should be faster. Azure Backup's support should be faster.

I have been working on the product for four years. 

Azure Backup's stability is good. 

My company has around 1,000 users for Azure Backup. 

Azure Backup's setup is straightforward and gets completed in 10-15 minutes. We need to identify the backup frequency and configure it. We would need around six to seven people to handle the tool's deployment and maintenance. 

A consultant helped us with the deployment. 

I would rate Azure Backup an eight out of ten. 

We generally use the solution for VM backups. 

With a couple of buttons, we can configure a VM for a backup and use the wall service, the storage wall service, pretty seamlessly. 

From a day-to-day operation perspective, the installation and configuration of the Azure Backup and the backup timing are great. It offers a non-intrusive backup - like a snapshot type of backup. This way, we don't see any impact when running the backup and the job runs without any problem unless the VM host itself is having some problems. 

From the stability aspect of it, the execution aspect, I don't see any issues.

I didn't see any kind of major flaws or anything. The only thing I would say that could be improved is the reporting. It can be a little more customized or something like that. Maybe they need a little bit more on the dashboard view. The reporting and governance can be a little more fine-tuned.

I've used the solution for 18 months or so.

The solution is stable. The performance is great There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable. 

We haven't really used technical support in the past. We went with them due to the fact that it's not a complicated use case for us, so we haven't really seen any issue. We haven't really dealt with Azure Backup-related troubleshooting or anything.

I work for a client who pays for the solution. My understanding is the costs vary year to year. I don't really have any visibility, however. 

If you're hosting a majority of your platform in Azure, this solution should be okay. Azure Backup is probably the easiest solution to with, rather than bringing another third party into the mix. As a consolidated solution, the Azure Backup will work well - if your native cloud platform is Azure.

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.

We are a Microsoft reseller for everything that has to do with the cloud and migrating from on-premises infrastructure. Azure Backup is one of the solutions that we implement for our clients.

Our primary use case is to assist schools with moving their on-premises workloads to the cloud. We use the backup facility as it's provided by the platform to help them move everything they run on VMware, Hyper-V, or physical servers.

The fact that Azure Backup is integrated is one of its biggest advantages. Everything is on one platform and we can use it from PowerShell automation, which is helpful.

The recovery, in many cases, is quite fluid.

It would be helpful if it included the ability to perform Office 365 backups so that we didn't have to use additional software.

In the next release, I would like to see the ability to back up to different cloud providers. For example, some customers would like to be able to synchronize with an Amazon data store. It is always best to follow the 3-2-1 Backup Rule.

We have been using Azure Backup for more than five years.

In terms of stability, over the past two or three years, this solution is bulletproof. This service is used continuously and we have no complaints.

We do some work with the educational market and we have onboarded 50 schools to Azure. We have never had any issues with scaling. Most of our clients range in size from 200 to 1,000 users.

We have been in contact with Azure technical support but not for backup purposes, with this solution. I've never opened a ticket for Azure Backup.

In addition to Azure Backup, we have experience with Veeam and Altaro.

The main difference between Azure Backup and other solutions is that it is oriented to back up Azure Cloud data. The other solutions offer more functionality for on-premises environments and help to synchronize files across local data centers.

Once you know how to do it, the initial setup is pretty easy and pretty straightforward. Even later on, as you transfer the responsibility to the customer, they can do it on their own.

We deploy this solution for our customers.

To this point, I have not run across any issues that are blocking. 

My advice to anybody who is considering this solution is to go ahead and use it. It works and it's a good service on the platform. It is just one of the building blocks that we use every day on Azure, so I can't see any reason to move to another one.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

We can implement Azure Backup for any customer who wants to back up their servers, whether on-premises, AWS, or any other cloud. We can implement the solution in such scenarios if the customer doesn't have an existing backup in place.

Azure Backup is easy to manage from a single dashboard.

The solution should involve more redundancy types in the backup storage and support open-source OS.

I rate the solution’s stability an eight out of ten.

Azure Backup is a highly scalable solution that can support a large amount of volume but lacks horizontal scaling. Ideally, we need to either push the MARS agent via SCCM or use some kind of tool to deploy the MARS agent in all the VMs. Although the solution's vertical scaling is pretty good, its horizontal scaling could be improved. Around 80% to 90% of our customers use Azure Backup in some way or another.

The solution's technical support is okay, but even the support team cannot do anything if the feature lacks something.

We have customers using other backup tools like Veritas Backup or Commvault Backup. Azure Backup is easy to manage from a single dashboard. If it is on-premises, customers can still take a backup of the on-premises environment if they don't want to increase the on-premises storage. Ultimately, it's an upfront cost for them. In that way, they won't use Azure Backup but will use Azure Storage to save one more copy on the cloud.

The solution’s initial setup is straightforward.

The solution's deployment time depends on the size of the environment. If there are fewer VMs, it will take less time to deploy. If we consider only one VM where we need to deploy a backup, then it will hardly take an hour or so to deploy it along with the recovery point. The deployment time also depends on the data.

If it is an Azure environment, the solution can be deployed in just a few clicks, and it will start taking a backup. If it is any third-party environment, users need to spend some more time on the deployment.

The solution's return on investment depends on the size of the environment.

Customers choose their backup tool based on its flexibility and cost-effectiveness. Customers prefer Azure Backup because it has a pay-as-you-go model, and they won't have to pay an upfront amount at the initial level. The solution's pricing and licensing depend on the environment.

We use the solution to protect specific data types or environments, such as an SQL database, a normal VM, or a file share. I suggest Azure Backup for a small or medium environment with 30 to 40 VMs. For a big environment, I suggest third-party backup tools, which are more flexible and manageable because they come with single dashboards.

Overall, I rate Azure Backup an eight out of ten.

Customers nowadays are planning to migrate their workloads from on-premises to the cloud, like Azure. Microsoft offers Azure Backup as a service, which allows backup for virtual machines, SQL databases, HANA databases, and even file shares. 

If the customer's workloads are supported by Azure, we recommend Azure Backup as a service. However, for workloads not supported by Azure Backup, we look for third-party investment solutions.

One notable feature is that snapshots are computed in less time, enabling faster system recovery. Even for large systems, we can recover them in less time. For example, if it's a recent backup, it can be done in less than 15 minutes.

Another benefit is that the backup utilization is not high. Comparing the pricing with other technologies, Azure Backup is more affordable for customers.

One feature is VMware backup with replication. Many customers are interested in this. Additionally, Azure Backup allows customers to extend their retention period for more than five or ten years, which is beneficial compared to other enterprise backup solutions. The monitoring capability is also good. 

Moreover, encryption is maintained by Microsoft if we follow the platform team management system. This is crucial as customers want to ensure the security of their data on Azure. The configuration is user-friendly, and we have control over backup storage utilization and VM consumption. 

When it comes to improvements, Microsoft should provide us with an option to explore the logs. So if there's any failure by seeing the error, in some cases, we will be able to resolve it. But 50% of the cases are being handled by Microsoft itself, like getting the logs from the back end. That's the one thing that I've seen that has to be enhanced from Microsoft's end.

Azure Backup is limited to certain workloads. It would be helpful if Microsoft focused on enabling backups for Oracle and other unsupported databases.

We have multiple customers, and we categorize the Commvault infrastructure based on customer mix. We have more than ten Comsources, and we distribute the load accordingly. Based on client utilization, we configure the backup equally across the media agents.

The stability is good. I didn't find any challenges. The installations also work as expected. The customers do not have any concerns about it.

Customer service and support vary based on the issue. I've had personal experiences where some issues took more than fifteen days to resolve while others were resolved in one or two days. Overall, it's good, but there is room for improvement based on my personal experience.

The initial setup is very simple. We have to have an idea of the networking cost structure and the configuration. We also have to get confirmation from the customer about what kind of retention they are looking for.

We can also have the data deployed to other regions, which is a nice feature. If there is any disaster in the primary region, we'll be able to read the data from a secondary region. That's also one of the very good features offered by Azure Backup. 

The deployment process is quite easy in Azure. Enabling backup for any VM takes less than five minutes. We just need to create a vault and discover the VM for backup. So, in terms of deployment, it's straightforward and user-friendly.

I haven't found the need for much maintenance. In comparison to other backup solutions where we maintain our own infrastructure, Azure Backup handles everything. We simply create a library, assign a policy, and associate the VM with the trusted backup vault. Microsoft manages everything, and there are no limitations in terms of storage utilization.

Comparing the pricing with other technologies, Azure Backup is more affordable for customers. It follows a pay-as-you-go model, where we pay according to our consumption.

In terms of Azure Backup, there is no special license required. We only need to pay for the amount of data we consume and the data transferred across the network. The pricing is calculated based on these two factors. There is no explicit license cost. We just need to allocate a budget for storage and related expenses.

When it comes to advice, it's important to understand the specific requirements of the customer. If the customer requires backups for VMs, SQL, and SAP HANA, Microsoft's Azure Backup can be a suitable choice. 

However, if there are other workloads that are not supported by Microsoft, alternative backup solutions should be considered. The decision depends on the specific requirements. Azure Backup offers services related to cost, storage utilization, encryption, and scalability.

Overall, I would rate the solution a seven out of ten.

We use Azure Backup to backup and restore virtual machines as well as SQL Databases.

The only issue we have right now is the amount of time it takes to restore. When we attempt to restore a virtual machine, it can take hours. This is an area that could be improved.

The length of time it takes to restore is our main source of frustration. It would be beneficial to shorten the time it takes.

We had issues with shared storage in the past where it couldn't be included in the backup. Shared storage, or shared disc, wasn't available. I believe Microsoft promised to put it in their pipeline for improvement in order to add this, but I haven't double-checked. This was the issue with shared managed discs, and not being included in this backup scope.

If the shared managed disc could be included with the backup, it would be better.

I have been using Azure Backup for three years.

Azure Backup is very stable.

Azure Backup is a scalable solution.

We work with it all of the time.

Technical support is very helpful. I would rate them a four out of five.

Positive

The initial setup was straightforward. It was something that was easy for us.

It was completed within a few minutes. It can depend on the environment, but usually, it is fast.

The number of staff required for maintenance depends on the automation. We require more staff now, but we are working on the automation. Generally, it is relatively low. For the most part, it works by itself.

We operate in our own environment.

Licensing fees are paid on a monthly basis.

It's not an expensive solution. I am more than happy with the price.

We are working in our own environment, assisting KPMG users and firm members. We also have internal companies.

I am an Azure Architect.

It's useful, it works, and it's fairly reliable. The only issue right now isn't a big one, but our users sometimes need faster recovery, faster restoring of services, and faster restoring of data.

I would rate Azure Backup a nine out of ten.

The product is cost-effective compared to other vendors.

Azure Backup must include features similar to enterprise solutions, such as Veeam.

I have been using Azure Backup for five years. We are using the latest version.

The product is stable. I rate its stability a ten out of ten.

We cater this product to small, medium, and enterprise businesses. I rate its scalability a five out of ten.

The initial setup has medium complexity. I rate the process a five or six out of ten.

The product's pricing is a three or four out of ten, where one is inexpensive, and ten is costly.

Overall, I rate Azure Backup an eight out of ten.

Our primary use case is for backups.

The solution helped us use R2 RBO to back up frequently and avoid losing data if we had system issues.

The most valuable features are the integrations because we are using Azure Cloud, which backs it up with all the Azure components.

Azure Backup is constantly improving its features. However, it can be further improved by continuously meeting its compliance requirements.

We have been using the solution for three years.

The solution is stable.

I rate the solution an eight out of ten.