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PeerSpot user
Cloud/System Administrator at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Vendor
Saves a lot of time for our developers as it enables moving from the virtual machines to the Web Application-side

What is most valuable?

Virtual machines, Azure Web Applications, MS SQL DB, DNS, Azure Active Directory, etc. are some of the most valuable features.

It is quite easy to learn to start working with them and they are composite enough to use them in many different scenarios.

For example, you can create a web app with a few clicks from Visual Studio and publish it to Azure Web Apps. You also can integrate that Web App to CI/CD pipeline (https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/docs/build/get-started/aspnet-4-ci-cd-azure-automatic), assign custom SSL certificates to it (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/app-service-web/app-service-web-tutorial-custom-SSL), configure auto-scale (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/app-service/app-service-environment-auto-scale), implement Azure AD authentication (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/app-service-mobile/app-service-mobile-how-to-configure-active-directory-authentication?toc=%2fazure%2fapp-service%2ftoc.json), etc.

How has it helped my organization?

It enabled moving from the virtual machines to the Web Application-side, which in turn saved a lot of time for our developers.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used this solution for about two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There were some stability issues. Some of them were user-specific (some applications were buggy), while some were global https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/status/history/.

Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure
December 2024
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Azure. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There were no scalability issues. My work duties are not connected to this feature.

How are customer service and support?

On a scale from 1-10 (1=worst, 10=best). I would rate the technical support a seven out of 10. First level support is awful (it works only if you have a generic issue). But if you are lucky enough, you could get a real technical person, who could help you.

How was the initial setup?

The setup/installation depends from which service you start (for example, start to use DNS which is much easier vs the web applications).

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

If your company is big enough and oriented to the cloud, then go for the Enterprise Agreement. If you want just to try it first, then use the trial version.

What other advice do I have?

Learn the fundamentals using the official documentation; for example, you have the Developer Guide and courses.

Start using new services based on the scenarios described in the official documentation.

Use communities for consulting, such as Stack Overflow, Reddit, and Slack. However, personally, I prefer the channel azured.slack.com.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user8142 - PeerSpot reviewer
CTO at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Vendor
Early Thoughts on the Windows Azure Announcements

Today’s release marks a significant milestone for Windows Azure. To date, Windows Azure has been a platform that allows developers to build and run applications across Microsoft’s global datacenters – the key emphasis has been on “applications”. Windows Azure has not been a platform for providing the underlying infrastructure for running your own virtual machine – this has been a key pain point for many customers looking to move to the cloud that Microsoft has heard loud and clear. Today’s announcement makes it clear that Windows Azure is more than just a Platform-as-a-Service provider.

In my opinion, there are three significant components of today’s announcements worth delving into deeper:

  • New Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) capabilities.
  • Free (or low-cost) hosting with Windows Azure Websites.
  • Enhanced cloud networking capabilities that support VPN connections between an on-premises corporate network and Windows Azure.

Until now, Microsoft has never competed directly with Amazon EC2 with respects to IaaS nor with cloud platforms like Heroku. The new IaaS and Websites capabilities, combined with the ability to extend on-premises networks to the cloud, provides a number of ways that Windows Azure can now distinguish itself from other platforms and—in my opinion—will drive many new enterprises and a large number of developers to adopt Windows Azure.

Infrastructure-as-a-Service

Windows Azure has long had the concept of a “Virtual Machine role” but the fundamental problem has been the inability to persist changes made to the virtual machine image provided by the customer (i.e. the guest VM) during reboots or recycling. Supporting VM persistence in Windows Azure means that the guest VM will not lose these updates. This unlocks many workloads that previously did not work in Windows Azure – certainly products like SharePoint and SQL Server but also custom line-of business applications that previously were difficult to move to Windows Azure.

In addition to VM persistence, Windows Azure will also give customers the ability to run Linux VMs. There’s been a lot of interest and speculation regarding Microsoft’s strategy moving forward with Linux and open source. I think Microsoft recognizes that their customers run more than just Windows in their enterprise, and this is an opportunity for Windows Azure to run as many workloads as possible. We’ve seen this shift in Microsoft in a number of different ways – support for Node.js and Java in Windows and Windows Azure, the creation of a new interoperability subsidiary, and many more. The cloud provides a way to make it easier to connect all of these different platforms and technologies, and my take is that Microsoft is trying to make Windows Azure the best and simplest place to run your applications regardless of the platform or technology.

Windows Azure Websites

It’s exciting to see Microsoft continue to evolve its strategy with Windows Azure to make it increasingly accessible to the breadth of developers out there.
Windows Azure Websites is a hosting platform for web applications. It provides a number of different deployment and runtime options beyond the existing Web Role, including:

  • Target both Microsoft and non-Microsoft technologies already running in the environment, including SQL Azure, MySQL, PHP, Node.js, and (of course) .NET.
  • Deploy via Git, Web Deploy, FTP, or TFS.
  • Run in a high-density / multitenant VM for little-to-no cost or choose a dedicated deployment path.

In addition to providing simpler and more consistent ways to deploy applications across different hosting platforms (e.g. Windows Azure, Windows Server, and hosting providers), Windows Azure Websites provides a way for Microsoft to bring thousands—perhaps even hundreds of thousands—of new developers to the platform with the offer of little-to-no cost hosting.

Cloud Networking

Windows Azure Virtual Networks allows a company to connect their cloud applications and solutions to their local network. This occurs at the networking layer through standard VPN devices. Coupled with IaaS support, this provides a ton of flexibility with respects to the kinds of workloads a customer moves to Windows Azure. Don’t want to move your sensitive SQL Server database? You don’t need to. Setup a VPN to your applications in Windows Azure and let them communicate directly back to your applications that live on-premises.

There’s certainly a lot more to talk about – new services, portal, SDK, tools, and so much more! These thoughts are pretty early—in fact, I write this before today’s MEET Windows Azure event—and there’s so much more to talk about!

Disclosure: The company I work for is partners with several vendors

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user4401 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user4401Developer at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor

I totally agree with your review. My opinion is that Windows Azure is only a part of the future. The future is the concept of pushing all applications into the cloud and utilizing world wide hosting providers. The upfront costs of pushing products out the door is heavily reduced this way.

Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure
December 2024
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Azure. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
831,265 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Technical support engineer at 64 Network security pvt ltd
Real User
Top 5
An exceptionally stable and easy-to-access solution for file storage and file backup
Pros and Cons
  • "Feature-wise, I like its stability. Also, it is easy to access the solution and its options."
  • "The security feature in the solution is an area that needs to be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We were using Microsoft Azure for file storage and file backup. So, it was one of our backup resources. Internally, NAS is there in our company. So, we go from NAS to Veeam and Veeam to Azure.

What is most valuable?

Feature-wise, I like its stability. Also, it is easy to access the solution and its options. Also, the backup solutions can take anything, so we can easily find out any option.


What needs improvement?

The security feature in the solution is an area that needs to be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have experience with Microsoft Azure until six months ago. Also, I was using the solution's latest version.


What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable product. There are more than 100 users using the solution. I am just involved in the maintenance of the servers and infrastructures.

How are customer service and support?

We need to purchase Microsoft Azure for our clients, including cloud backup and any Azure solutions. So, So that time, we need to contact technical support. I expect more technical support from Azure.

How was the initial setup?

The solution's initial setup is straightforward. When you need to create multiple tasks, the solution can get complex. I am not involved in the deployment process.

What other advice do I have?

I can recommend it to other people who want to start using it. So, our company provides a lot of solutions to our clients, including backup solutions like NAS storage, cloud storage, and servers. Parallely, we provide support to users.

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
reviewer1157862 - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Director at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Competitively priced with excellent integration
Pros and Cons
  • "The best feature is it's easy to integrate with other Microsoft solutions."
  • "Compared with other cloud solution providers, Microsoft is not good at local support."

What is our primary use case?

I mainly use Azure for data analytics and implementation.

What is most valuable?

The best feature is it's easy to integrate with other Microsoft solutions.

What needs improvement?

Compared with other cloud solution providers, Microsoft is not good at local support.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been working with Azure for almost five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Azure's stability is ok, but there are issues sometimes. I'd rate its stability as seven or eight out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Azure is scalable.

How are customer service and support?

Microsoft isn't good at local support.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward.

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

Azure is cheaper than solutions from other cloud vendors like AWS or Google.

What other advice do I have?

I prefer Azure to AWS or Google because it's cheaper and its ecosystem is better integrated. I would rate this solution as eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Implementer
PeerSpot user
Hema Patil - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Affiliate at a pharma/biotech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 10
Integrates well, secure, and user friendly
Pros and Cons
  • "The main benefit of Microsoft Azure is that it is cloud-based. We are using Microsoft Visual Studio for our code and it is tightly integrated with Microsoft Azure. Additionally, the solution is user-friendly."
  • "The dashboard of Microsoft Azure could be better."

What is our primary use case?

Microsoft Azure is entirely our current cloud computing product in which the team is engaged. We are using the stack for development and application logs, and audit perception from the application. We are using the log services.

What is most valuable?

The main benefit of Microsoft Azure is that it is cloud-based. We are using Microsoft Visual Studio for our code and it is tightly integrated with Microsoft Azure. Additionally, the solution is user-friendly.

What needs improvement?

The dashboard of Microsoft Azure could be better.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Azure for approximately two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Microsoft Azure is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I have found the scalability of Microsoft Azure very good.

We have approximately 60 users using this solution, we have plans to increase usage to 100 users.

How are customer service and support?

I have not contacted the support from Microsoft directly. However, we have a consultant from Microsoft providing us support when needed.

What about the implementation team?

We have a six-person DevOps team that does the maintenance and support of Microsoft Azure.

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

The price of  Microsoft Azure is reasonable.

What other advice do I have?

I would highly recommend this solution to others. There are still unexplored areas of this solution.

I rate Microsoft Azure an eight out of ten.

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
reviewer1752084 - PeerSpot reviewer
Customer Success Manager - Architect: Cloud and Data Platform at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Consultant
Brings a lot of value to our business and our customers
Pros and Cons
  • "The product brings a lot of value to our business and customers."
  • "The microservices and analytics of Azure are good areas that could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

My experience is in development and architecture of technology. This includes experience with cloud, cloud maintenance, and multi-cloud. I am certified in Azure Fundamentals. My company is a partner reseller of Microsoft Azure. In our organization, we have approximately 1000 people using this solution and we have plans to increase our usage in the future.

What is most valuable?

The product brings a lot of value to our business and customers.

What needs improvement?

The microservices and analytics of Azure are good areas that could be improved.

Microsoft Azure has technology compatible with OpenShift from backtrack, but I would like it if they could evaluate another vendor of technology of microservices like Rancher to integrate with.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Azure for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Azure stability is good.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is good. However, Microsoft provides support tools that you can refer to that usually resolve the issues before needing to contact support. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of Azure is complex. It took almost 6 months to deploy the solution.

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

We pay a monthly licensing cost.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Microsoft Azure a 10 out of 10.

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
Mitul Rajput - PeerSpot reviewer
GM COE at Anuntatech Management Services Ltd
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Easy to set up, quick to deploy, and simple to expand
Pros and Cons
  • "The stability has been excellent."
  • "Technical support needs to be better."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for our infrastructure. It's specific to server regulation and desktop regulation.

We used it for our customers in the pandemic. In terms of expansion on-premise, they were not able to do so due to the chip shortage. Therefore, we are moving everything to cloud and we are capacity-building - a temporary requirement. We are shifting them to the cloud.

What is most valuable?

As a partner, I like that they have a good benefit on margin.

The stability has been excellent. Multi-regions can leverage their capabilities easily.

The product is scalable.

We find the initial setup to be very simple. 

What needs improvement?

There are worldwide issues on Microsoft Azure, however, it is happening to Google also and as well as AWS. The problems we have are nothing new.

Technical support needs to be better.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been dealing with the solution for three years now.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of the product has been great. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product is scalable. If a company wants to expand it, it can do so.

We have 30 customers on the solution right now.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support isn't so good. We'd like them to be more helpful and responsive. We'd like them to be faster.

The communication and those aspects are pretty good, however, the resolution could be faster and better.

How was the initial setup?

As a cloud-based solution, the initial setup is very simple, very straightforward. 

We were able to deploy the solution in one day for a few clients. 

We have 20 team members that are technical (Azure system admins) and can handle the deployment and maintenance. We offer 24/7 coverage.

What about the implementation team?

We offer this solution to our clients and can implement it for them.

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

The licensing is based on usage. Typically, it's a monthly fee that is paid to Microsoft.

What other advice do I have?

We are a Microsoft Gold partner where we provide that, also we are users.

I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten.

Customers who are on more Office 360 should leverage Azure. From a compliance perspective, these things are much more user-friendly compared to other clouds. Otherwise, there are a lot of compliance issues if we go with the other clouds where the mobility license is required. On Azure, for Microsoft users, those things are straightforward.

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
reviewer1729404 - PeerSpot reviewer
Owner at a media company with 1-10 employees
Real User
Multiple tools available, updated often, and performs well
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of Microsoft Azure is it has everything together in one place. It is one large tool with lots of small tools that are updated often."
  • "There is a need to be better on-premise solutions that are more helpful. However, I don't think that is the goal of Microsoft Azure. They want the solution to be secure cloud solutions with cloud applications. This is their main goal at the moment."

What is our primary use case?

We are using Microsoft Azure mainly for our test environment. Addiotanlly, we use it for our enterprise resource management as we have installed a SaaS solution.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of Microsoft Azure is it has everything together in one place. It is one large tool with lots of small tools that are updated often.

What needs improvement?

I have found that if you not working with Microsoft Azure's GUI every day, it's not very user-friendly. It changes very often and fast. They are implementing new functionality. If you're not working with it every day, it always takes you additional time to get acquainted with the GUI. You always have to know all the tools because it's one software solution where you work with different kinds of tools to achieve results by implementing policies and other parameters. It would be better if they had everything in one place so that it is clear what type of operations we are doing, such as DLP. However, that's is how it is with all of the tools of Microsoft Azure at the moment.

There is a need to be better on-premise solutions that are more helpful. However, I don't think that is the goal of Microsoft Azure. They want the solution to be secure cloud solutions with cloud applications. This is their main goal at the moment.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Azure for approximately five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The performance of Microsoft Azure depends on whether you have good bandwidth for your data connection, if the connection is strong then the performance is good. If you have a very poor connection, then it's can be a little slow, but has been okay.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have one administrator and one system engineer that are using the solution. They are doing the administration for our solution. We're not a big company, we have 19 employees.

We haven't tried to scale Microsoft Azure. It's not necessary for us to scale it at the moment. We have started out with one issue where we needed it and for very sensible documentation, now we are using it in different kinds of projects. For example, for many types of data classifications.

If it's necessary we will increase usage. Otherwise, we will keep the same amount of usage.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support of Microsoft Azure was helpful. They were very good because they spoke the same language as we did. We both spoke German. It worked very well, we have no complaints.

How was the initial setup?

Some of the aspects of the implementation of the solution are very easy if you know which tool you have to use. It's not too complicated if you know which tool you will be using but to find the right tool to do the necessary functions sometimes takes some time. I'm not doing the setup every day. I have one engineer that it is his job. But nevertheless, I also want to do the setup to know how it's working.

I am not sure how long the implementation took for our DLP project, once we started the implementation we started to use other tools and eventually returned to the main project.

What about the implementation team?

We did the implementation internally.

We have one engineer that is administrating and supporting Microsoft Azure.

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

With every cloud solution, you have to know what you need and the cost can be fine. The price can be a little bit high depending on how you manage your costs, but overall it's still a bit cheaper than an on-premise solution but with the advantage of flexibility. You're always up to date with the software, you only need to use it. You no longer have to be concerned with the on-premise physical security. We do not need to create a data center, it's more convenient for us.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Some of our customers are looking for on-premise solutions other than Microsoft Azure which is cloud-based. We help them find the solutions they need.

What other advice do I have?

My advice to others thinking about using this solution is to try it out. There are features which are very good and some other features where you should watch out but that's for every solution, you have pros and cons. When you're a small company, try everything out that is offered by Microsoft because they're one of the best. Microsoft is still the market leader in a lot of fields. I would suggest using Microsoft tools if they fit the relevant use case. If the solution does not fit the use case, or you need more security or other aspects, then you can look around for other tools. additionally, on the marketplace, Microsoft provides enough other tools you could use.

I rate Microsoft Azure an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Azure Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: December 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Azure Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.