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reviewer1496493 - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Director at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Provides single-digit millisecond response times but struggles with large amounts of data
Pros and Cons
  • "I would recommend Cosmos. It made our lives a lot easier. There's not a big learning curve in order to understand the structure and how to use it."
  • "We should have more freedom to tweak it and make our own queries for non-traditional use-cases."

What is our primary use case?

We have a database stored on Microsoft Azure where we fetch records and validate them against the application data that is displayed. We use it as a backend in an application to store data.

Within our organization, there are around 500 people using this solution.

What is most valuable?

There's no specific feature of Cosmos. Basically, we try to query the database. Since it's unstructured data, all the related fields are stored as a single JSON. You don't have to go ahead and hit multiple tables, or multiple containers. Instead, you get all of those things, relationally, stored in a nested JSON — in one single container itself. This way, you don't have to go back and forth to different tables. There are pros and cons with this feature, but often it makes things easier for us.

I am impressed with the TTL (time to live feature) of Cosmos. If we need to perform a manual addition to a container, we just need to configure the time to live. And then based on that, it can be deleted.

What needs improvement?

We should have more freedom to tweak it and make our own queries for non-traditional use-cases.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB for roughly one year.

Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
831,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Cosmos should be more stable. Sometimes we fetch more than 60,000 records at a time. When we try to fetch large amounts of data, sometimes it breaks-down, requiring us to rescale it. Overall, performance-wise, it needs to be a little more stable. 

How are customer service and support?

I personally haven't had contact with the technical support. Our solution architects deal with support. 

How was the initial setup?

I wasn't involved in the initial setup. We have a DevOps team that was responsible for handling the installation. We are just leveraging it for developmental purposes.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Cosmos should be cheaper. We actually intend to stop using it in the near future because the price is too high — and because of the stability issues. 

What other advice do I have?

Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I would give this solution a rating of seven. Aside from the scalability issues, we haven't experienced any other issues. 

I would recommend Cosmos. It made our lives a lot easier. There's not a big learning curve in order to understand the structure and how to use it. We were good to go with only one container. Anybody who is new can learn quickly.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Nadeem-Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr System Support Engineer at Premier Systems
MSP
Top 10
Easy-to-use solution and highly scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a scalable product."
  • "The initial setup was difficult."

What is our primary use case?

Primarily, people do not have a clear understanding of the cloud and cloud services. Customers are a little bit scared about taking their data onto the cloud, and they think and they assume that it is not safe. So we just make them understand that databases or services on the cloud are more secure than on-premises infrastructure.

What needs improvement?

The performance point can be improved because when we run a search query on our on-premises machine and develop connectivity, a response comes in. But sometimes, the response gets delayed, and it can be due to network latency or something else we are yet to figure out.

Performance and high availability are two features I want to be added in the next release because that is the basic requirement of customers. Mostly, we have customers with the bank and banking institutions, and they want their databases perfectly integrated with the high availability feature.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB for less than a year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable product. I would give it an eight out of ten. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a quite scalable product. I give it a nine out of ten. There are more than ten users using this product. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was difficult. I would give it a six or seven out of ten.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing depends on the budget allocated to the client; for some, it can be high, and for some not high. But mostly, when the prices are moderate, they are not very high. I would rate it a seven out of ten.

What other advice do I have?

It's a highly scalable, highly robust, and very user-friendly solution. It is easy to set up; the most important point is that it is on a cloud. The solution is also very easy to deploy. Only some connectivity features need to be developed.

I give it an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
831,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Boingotlo Molefhe - PeerSpot reviewer
Azure IoT Developer & Solutions Architecture trainee (AZ-220) at Afrika Tikkun Services
Real User
Top 5
Helps to input data but pricing is expensive
Pros and Cons
  • "Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB's most valuable feature is latency."
  • "The tool's pricing is expensive."

What is our primary use case?

We use the product to input data that doesn't require structuring. 

What is most valuable?

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB's most valuable feature is latency. 

What needs improvement?

The tool's pricing is expensive. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the product since November 2021. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product is scalable. My company has eight users. 

How are customer service and support?

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB's tech support is okay. 

How was the initial setup?

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB's deployment is straightforward. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB's licensing costs are monthly. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate the tool a nine out of ten. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Student at KL University
Real User
Top 10
A scalable tool that allows users to access web applications easily
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a cloud-based solution that is easy to deploy, easy to access, and provides users with more features compared to other clouds like AWS and GCP."
  • "The pricing of the solution is an area with certain shortcomings."

What is our primary use case?

I use Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB for some web applications.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of the solution is that it makes it easy for users to access web applications like Visio while not being complex like AWS at the same time.

What needs improvement?

The pricing of the solution is an area with certain shortcomings. From an improvement perspective, I wish for the solution to offer users an increased storage capacity at a cheaper price.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB for a few months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate the solution's stability eight to nine out of ten. The solution's stability is good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable solution.

There are almost 1,000 users of the solution in my institution.

How was the initial setup?

The solution is deployed on the cloud.

What about the implementation team?

I think that there was a third-party involvement required during the solution's deployment phase.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Right now, I have opted for the student subscription plan, for which Microsoft charges me around 100 USD. The pricing of the solution depends on the solution's usage.

What other advice do I have?

I recommend the solution to those who plan to use it. It is a cloud-based solution that is easy to deploy, easy to access, and provides users with more features compared to other clouds like AWS and GCP.

I rate the overall solution a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Developer at NA
Real User
A solution that is scalable and easy to integrate new features into
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is easy to use, and it is also easy to integrate with several things for database use cases."
  • "I would like the speed of transferring data to be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We normally use Cosmos DB for data storage.

What is most valuable?

There are a lot of security features that can be integrated with Cosmos DB. The solution is easy to use, and it is also easy to integrate with several things for database use cases.

What needs improvement?

I would like the speed of transferring data to be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I’ve been using it for two to three years, and I’m working on the latest version.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is very scalable. We have more than 1,000 users in our company.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. We deploy Cosmos DB once or twice a quarter. We have three or four teams handling deployment and maintenance, which is about 38 members.

What about the implementation team?

We implement the solution in-house.

What was our ROI?

We are receiving an ROI with this solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Cost isn’t a big hurdle for us right now. The solution is not costly.

What other advice do I have?

I recommend Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB to anyone who wants to use it. If you are using Azure Stack, it is a good solution to use

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1786155 - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Architect at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
It has various APIs that allow it to integrate with other solutions
Pros and Cons
  • "Cosmos is a PaaS, so you don't need to worry about infrastructure and hosting. It has various APIs that allow it to integrate with other solutions. For example, we are using a MongoDB-compatible API for customers, which makes it easier for developers on the team who previously used MongoDB or are accustomed to the old document storage paradigm."
  • "The API compatibility has room for improvement, particularly integration with MongoDB. You have to connect to a specific flavor of MongoDB. We'd also like a richer query capability in line with the latest Mongo features. That is one thing on our wish list. The current version is good enough for our use case, but it could be improved."

What is most valuable?

Cosmos is a PaaS, so you don't need to worry about infrastructure and hosting. It has various APIs that allow it to integrate with other solutions. For example, we are using a MongoDB-compatible API for customers, which makes it easier for developers on the team who previously used MongoDB or are accustomed to the old document storage paradigm. 

What needs improvement?

The API compatibility has room for improvement, particularly integration with MongoDB. You have to connect to a specific flavor of MongoDB. We'd also like a richer query capability in line with the latest Mongo features. That is one thing on our wish list. The current version is good enough for our use case, but it could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using Cosmos DB for about six to eight months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Cosmos DB's reliability, performance, and scalability are all good. We can't complain. Azure has management outages, and the management windows that Azure publishes are still too big. They provide a 24 hour period in which maintenance will happen. Smaller, specific windows are easier to manage when you have a production system. Otherwise, it does a good job technically.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of the Azure platform is a given. It's easy to scale and quickly deploy. The API's richness also helped us. We use Cosmos DB for a public-facing application with upwards of a million users.

I think we have all the scalability that we need, and we like that the system doesn't have outages when it's updating. However, an on-prem version is required for some use cases, and they provide this now. 

How are customer service and support?

Microsoft support is good if you contact a specialist. Getting in touch with the right specialist is crucial for whatever technology you're using on Azure. If you reach the right person, it's a dream, but that can be difficult in some cases can be difficult. You might go through several layers of support before you reach the platform experts.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We haven't used another solution for this particular use case. The product was benchmarked on Azure, so we used Cosmos DB. It wasn't like we were looking at different solutions, and we chose Cosmos.

How was the initial setup?

Setting up the whole landscape took about a week. It doesn't take long. It's a PaaS, so the setup is mostly configuration. It's more like provisioning rather than deployment. You could probably set it up in a day if you wanted to. We set it up with an in-house team. About 15 to 20 people support the solution, but they aren't dedicated to Cosmos DB. They work on lots of things. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Cosmos DB is a PaaS, so there are no upfront costs for infrastructure. There are only subscriptions you pay for Azure and things like that. But it's a PaaS, so it's a subscription service. The license isn't perpetual, and the cost might seem expensive on its face, but you have to look at the upkeep for infrastructure and what you're saving. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate Cosmos DB eight out of 10. I would recommend it for an appropriate use case. However, you need to be aware of the system's limitations. If you're using the DocumentDB system, it's crucial to plan properly for document structure, etc. You also need to plan for failure to ensure that your system can survive when any node fails. Set up clustering, redundancy, high availability, and so on.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
SaurabhSingh1 - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Sales Architect at Softline
MSP
Top 5Leaderboard
Provides flexibility from a cost and data perspective
Pros and Cons
  • "With Azure you can start small and grow as you need."
  • "A couple features that would help me in architectural solutions would be customizable architecture or customizable documentation, which both Microsoft Azure or Microsoft Teams can provide."

What is our primary use case?

My current title is that of a Solution Sales Architect.

What is most valuable?

The biggest benefit of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is the general cloud model that Azure gives you. It provides more flexibility from a cost and data perspective. The solution is reasonable. Microsoft gives the best security solutions with zero trust protection.

With Azure, you can start small and grow as you need.

What needs improvement?

I provide architect solutions on top of Azure. A couple of features that would help me in architectural solutions would be customizable architecture or customizable documentation, which both Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Teams can provide. I can easily pick and choose a couple of architecture and merge them. This would be a very helpful feature for me in my role.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have had five years of experience working with Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This solution is stable. I rarely receive concerns from my clients that they are facing any downtime or that some solutions or configurations are not working.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Azure cloud is very much scalable however, you do need to consider your database. If I am scaling the product, the traffic will increase and the database also has to be optimized in that way. 

My application is static, so it can be scaled to infinity, but the same cannot be done with the database. The database needs to be sufficient to get the load directly. I cannot go ahead and directly deploy a database with another skill functionality as I have to do some manual effort with downtime involved.

From a scalability perspective, the key database has to be optimized in a better way that can support auto-scaling architecture or scalability architecture.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is straightforward.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Azure is a pay as you go subscription. Each month you utilize the solution and at the end of the month, based upon your utilization, you will get a report and invoice. It depends on the architecture and the services being used, how they are deployed and what the stories are. It is variable.

What other advice do I have?

My general advice to anyone looking to implement Microsoft Azure would be to start small. When you see your application increase or your traffic increase on site, you can slowly scale. 

I would rate the solution a seven out of 10 overall.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user
reviewer2310048 - PeerSpot reviewer
Architect- Cloud/Automation at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Enables us to store information related to our automation
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a NoSQL database."
  • "It is not as easy to use as DynamoDB."

What is our primary use case?

I use the product for storing information related to our automation.

What is most valuable?

The product is simple to use. It is a NoSQL database. It is easy to commission the environment and use it.

What needs improvement?

It is not as easy to use as DynamoDB. The product always shows JSON-based documents. However, DynamoDB shows a table-based document. The documentation must be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I used the solution a couple of months ago.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The tool’s stability is very good. I rate the stability a ten out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The tool is highly scalable. I rate the scalability a ten out of ten. We have more than 1000 users.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I used DynamoDB in my previous organization.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy. The deployment could be completed within minutes.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The tool is not expensive. It is good for small use cases.

What other advice do I have?

Cosmos DB is a good option if someone is looking for a NoSQL database. Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user