Microsoft Azure Reviews

Microsoft Azure is a very dynamic cloud service that allows you to migrate your workload, applications, and data. We can use cloud services to run those environments or transform those applications into better services with high availability and resilience. It has multiple zones and multiple data centers.

When running any service on the cloud, the best advantage is that you can scale up and scale down. You can scale up your environment if there's a high-selling season for your application and services. Once that season is over, you can downscale and run operations.

The customer support can become pricey at times if you don't have proper plans.

I have been using Microsoft Azure for more than five years.

Microsoft Azure is a very stable solution.

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

I rate the solution ten out of ten for scalability.

The solution's technical support is great. The only thing is that the support can become pricey at times if you don't have proper plans. The cloud services are available for any problems you get into. The support is good, and now it's very stable.

Complexity-wise, the solution's initial setup is very medium. A lot of documentation, videos, training, and tutorials are available. Anybody who knows about cloud computing can learn, train themselves, and set up the solution. You need to keep enhancing your setup, configurations, and security.

You get a better return investment with Microsoft Azure for three to five years. Customers would incur hardware and infrastructure costs on their data center because they have to keep upgrading their hardware every three to five years. You need someone to maintain your redundancy, which costs too much.

That's why people go with the cloud, where you don't have to worry about anything. Microsoft data centers are developed in such a way that there is high availability and redundancy.

You just need to worry about your application and the access and security around it. You don't have to worry about all the underlying hardware, which is very cost-effective. If you choose the right SKUs for the costing part, you'll get your return on investment in three years.

All cloud services are available on a monthly licensing basis. Microsoft Azure has the concept of reserve instances. If you know that you would like to run your application for one year or three years, then you should go with the reserve instances. The monthly costs become very reasonable because of the discounts you get on longer reserved instances.

Microsoft is actively enhancing the solution. When it was first launched, the tool was a little more on the classic version, but then Microsoft improved and enhanced those services. Microsoft is currently working with a plethora of applications and services. A lot of things have already been done. Microsoft Azure is a very stable and in-demand cloud.

Most organizations are using Microsoft Azure because Microsoft is running their identity piece. If the identity is merged or synced with the cloud identity, everything develops and works around that. Several users and companies have grown quickly after using Microsoft Azure. In any organization, around 80% to 90% of users are using the cloud service.

Everyone should start using Microsoft Azure and try to get Microsoft certifications. Microsoft certifications have a lot of practical labs and scenario-based questions that prepare you for the actual deployment. So, Microsoft certifications are a must.

Overall, I rate the solution ten out of ten.

Azure is a cloud provider. We use Azure services for various purposes, including PowerApps for app development and Azure DevOps for software development and operations.

We find Azure particularly beneficial when working with clients who are heavily invested in Microsoft solutions. It necessitates that we also leverage Azure for our solutions and services.

Azure offers a variety of services rather than features per se. 

The platform is quite self-service and adaptable.

It is secure. 

It can be cheaper, which might simplify things a bit.

We've started using Azure for the past year, although we are primarily an AWS shop.

It is a stable product. I would rate the stability a ten out of ten. 

Since it is on the cloud, it is a scalable solution. 

We have a lot of end users using this solution. We use it on a daily basis. 

Since all our solutions are hosted on Azure, usage will naturally increase as our operations expand and we onboard more users.

We were using AWS and had a requirement that led us to start using Azure. We utilize all of them based on specific needs.

We use all three (Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and AWS). It's about the use case and the requirements that dictate which one we choose.

I didn't handle the setup directly. Our IT team manages the provisioning of Azure services for us.

From what I understand, it was not particularly complex.

The implementation was handled by our IT team. We have a dedicated cloud team that provisions the services we request.

The return on investment largely depends on how and where you're using it.

We've seen significant savings in infrastructure costs. That's a primary advantage of using the cloud – it's fully managed, and you pay as you go, which is highly beneficial.

Overall, I would rate it an eight out of ten. 

I would recommend Azure. When implementing cloud services, it's essential to consider the top three cloud providers today: Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and AWS. 

Azure is stable and should be considered alongside these, depending on the use case.

My organization's entire infrastructure is cloud-based, so everything we have happens in Azure.

The product makes it easy to spin up new environments and develop new technologies.

The product’s flexibility is its best feature. We are not tied to particular machines. We can upgrade servers, downgrade servers, add storage, and take storage away with a flick of a switch. Microsoft constantly adds new features.

I have been using the solution for five years. I am using the latest version.

I rate the product’s stability a ten out of ten.

I rate the product’s scalability a ten out of ten.

We were using a private cloud before.

I rate the ease of setup an eight or nine out of ten. The deployment took about three months.

We used a service provider for the deployment of the solution. They handled most of it. Four in-house people were involved in the deployment.

I rate the pricing a five or six out of ten.

I really like the solution. Overall, I rate the tool a ten out of ten.

This solution is used to migrate data to the cloud. They have a few different ways that this can happen. You can use the public cloud or private cloud, for example. Or you can use a hybrid as well. 

If you want to add some services, they have that capability to do that. Even if you want to improve your network, and you want to add your storage, or you want to maybe improve the speed of your infrastructure, they have that capability. 

They own a SaaS model. They have applications such as Microsoft Office 365, which is a cloud service. When I was using Oracle Linux desktop, I was still able to use Microsoft Office 365 to do my daily work.

If I want to send a Word document, I don't have to install anything. I don't have to hassle with the installation of Microsoft Office in Linux. It's quite a process to do that. However, if we have the internet, we can do everything we need to without having to install anything. You can do all of the Office activities including PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook. It's very easy.

Microsoft offers free courses and an exam on their products. Many of my colleagues who use Microsoft Azure take advantage of those free courses to help them learn about the solution in depth.

It would be nice if there was an on-premises version of the solution, and it wasn't just cloud-based. Oracle, for example, has both capabilities. Some people don't understand the cloud, or are hesitant, and this might prevent them from adopting the product. Also, migrating to the cloud can bring a lot of misunderstanding and a lot of trouble to some companies. Some prefer that their data is not moved from the premises, or have requirements to that effect. If Microsoft could address these concerns, that would be ideal.

The solution has a lot of terms of services. These should be simplified.

I haven't been using the solution for very long. In fact, it has only been a few weeks at this point.

The solution is quite stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's quite reliable for our organization.

I have noticed that they have the capability to scale. Even you are not using some of the services, you can still scale. Let's say, you have bought large storage, and you notice that you no longer want to use it anymore. You have the chance to reduce that and not have to pay for more than you need. You pay as you go, therefore they have the capability to accommodate shifts in sizing. Most of the cloud providers do have that capability whereby you don't have to use something that you do not need.

We do plan to use the solution into the future as it does offer us good flexibility.

I'm not really on the technical side of things, and therefore I don't generally deal with technical support. Therefore, I can't speak to their level of knowledge or their responsiveness.

Previously, I've also used Oracle and IBM.

I personally didn't have to do an installation.

All you need to do is read the documentation, and everything you need to know is right there. It's quite straightforward in that sense.

The solution offers a freemium model. There are some things that they can give for free, however, if you exceed certain levels in terms of what you were initially given, then they have to charge you for that. That's why, usually when you create the account, they want you to use your credit card so that when you exceed your limit, they will be able to charge you for that.

When you want to do the license, there is a certain amount that you need to pay. The pricing varies according to usage and differs in terms of the services and the models that you need. For those who need a platform as a service for developers, or infrastructure as a service, or software as a service, they provide for those scenarios. However, the pricing will depend on the service that you want.

I'm a consultant. I work as a partner with Microsoft.

We're using the latest version of the solution at this time.

I would recommend the solution to others.

I'd rate it nine out of ten overall.

We use Microsoft Teams for collaboration with different teams and parties, creating channels for both internal and external communication. In addition, we leverage Power Apps within Microsoft Office to develop workflows and automation tools.

Azure has enhanced our organization's ability to scale applications on demand by providing flexible scalability options tailored to each application's needs. Depending on the application hosted in Azure, we can scale up resources to handle increased requests or scale down during periods of lower demand.

One feature I like in Microsoft Azure is its ability to host and run applications on virtual machines. It is a basic yet crucial capability for our team. 

One area where Microsoft Azure could improve is in offering a broader range of pre-built plugins and tools compared to AWS. While Azure excels in certain capabilities like text-to-voice and voice-to-text, it may lack robust support for handling diverse languages effectively, such as local dialects or combinations of languages like Chinese and English. Enhancing flexibility and language support could make Azure more competitive in diverse global markets like Singapore and the Philippines. Additionally, a feature I would like to see added to Azure in the future is support for a native graph database technology. While AWS offers Neptune for graph databases, Azure currently lacks a similar offering.

I have been working with Microsoft Azure for almost two years.

We have not faced any stability issues with Microsoft Azure.

Microsoft Azure is highly scalable, which makes it easy to adjust resources based on demand. It is mature in terms of scalability and offers seamless scalability features. We have over 200 users utilizing the solution across various teams and departments.

Microsoft's technical support is a bit costly, but it is worth it for the quality assistance they provide. I would rate the support as an eight out of ten.

Positive

Generally, the time it takes to deploy and configure a solution in Azure can vary depending on the specific requirements and complexity of the deployment. It could range from a few hours to a few days, but it ultimately depends on factors like the size of the application, the number of resources being deployed, and any custom configurations needed.

We utilize Azure for disaster recovery and business continuity, particularly for our graph database application. While our primary system is hosted on AWS, we have implemented a backup and disaster recovery strategy using Azure. In the event of any disruptions or failures, Azure serves as a reliable fallback, ensuring minimal downtime and data loss.

While we don't create workflows directly in Azure, we benefit from its auto-scaling feature, which adjusts resources based on demand. Plus, Azure integrates well with tools like Control M for workflow automation, making our processes more efficient.

Integrating Azure with other Microsoft solutions like Active Directory and Office 365 is seamless and straightforward, enhancing our business processes. However, we also need to integrate Azure with external systems like Jira and GitLab. While Azure excels in Microsoft product integration, we are exploring ways to streamline integration with non-Microsoft products, which is an area where Microsoft can improve.

For those considering Azure, it is crucial to understand that Microsoft offers a comprehensive ecosystem of products and services. Azure is a top choice for cloud computing needs, especially when already using Microsoft products. It seamlessly integrates with other Microsoft solutions, providing a cohesive experience. So, if you are already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem, Azure is worth considering for your cloud computing needs.

Overall, I would rate Microsoft Azure as a seven out of ten.

We primarily use Microsoft Azure for data storage on the server. Additionally, we leverage Power Automate for process automation tasks. Some of our processes benefit from AI and ML capabilities, such as image processing and recognition. Specifically, we utilize the product for its Translation APIs, including language translation functionality.

We validate customer videos and speech in real-time by utilizing language translation services and image processing. This involves converting speech to text and vice versa in real-time. Customers record videos where they speak predefined text. We capture the image and speech, convert it to text, and compare it with the standardized text. Automating this process makes validation much easier compared to manual methods. On the Azure side, we primarily utilize its data storage and processing capabilities. Additionally, we leverage its AI/ML features, along with its automation capabilities.

Improving transparency in billing is crucial for us. Understanding how billing works only becomes clear once we start using the services. A more accurate billing calculator would help us anticipate costs associated with using specific services.

I have been using the product for two years. 

I rate the tool's stability a nine out of ten. 

Scalability is a key factor, so we opt for Microsoft Azure. Being a Microsoft product, we trust its scalability. Thus far, we haven't encountered any issues related to transaction processing or other scalability concerns. I rate it a seven out of ten since we are not running enterprise workloads. My company has 50 users. The usage of these use cases will increase as our business grows because they are directly related to serving the end consumer. Therefore, we anticipate a significant rise in usage over time.

Improvement is needed in the support process, especially for smaller and medium-sized customers who may not have existing support plans with Microsoft. Accessing support for these customers can be cumbersome, requiring additional payments before assistance is available. It is not clear when you buy the product. You will learn about additional support payments when you start using it. 

The tools' support is in multiple places, which can be complex for customers. It needs to be in one place. 

Neutral

I rate the tool's deployment an eight out of ten. It can be deployed in two to three hours. 

Microsoft Azure's pricing is reasonable. We pay around 5000 dollars per annum. 

We evaluated Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, and AWS. 

We don't face many challenges with compliance and security. We rely on Azure Stack and adhere to the security standards they implement. Compared to AWS, we find it much simpler and easier to achieve interoperability and integration when using Microsoft Azure. You must ensure you have the right competency before using the product. It can become complicated if you don't have the right person to manage it. I rate it an eight out of ten. 

We deploy all of our projects in Microsoft Azure. We are a startup company. We have been since the beginning deploying our code in Azure cloud. We are actively using the full capabilities of two cloud services.

The application services are the most valuable in Microsoft Azure. I'm not using them directly but I am using the function and the web applications. I don't need to pay a lot for the maintenance. I do not need to have a DevOps employee. 

I am familiar with Google, and everything I was doing was in Google. I had to control my back proxies and do my own configuration files. With Microsoft Azure, it is all easy.

The documentation can be outdated and is not as clear in Microsoft Azure as it is in AWS or Google.

I have been using Microsoft Azure for approximately four years.

The solution is stable. 

It's easy to monitor, there's no problem with the code in their development. We had some stability issues, it was not the fault of Microsoft Azure, but it was the mistakes of the developers. It was easy to monitor it in Azure.

Microsoft Azure is highly scalable.

On only one web application I created with one service plan I can connect 10  projects. Imagine one machine can run 10 projects at the same time because whatever the project has more requests or demands, it will scale its machines and auto-scale down. This is why it makes it affordable. I can control which project is demanding more computing power or storage power.

We have approximately 50 people using this solution in my organization. It is mainly back and front developers.

We are drastically increasing our usage because last year we were running 13 projects, and now 19 projects. In 2022 we are trying to double our team.

The support could improve. For example, Python is needed for Microsoft Azure,  and the lack of documentation for the community is a problem. If you are a Python developer Microsoft Azure released an update to Python at the end of May 2021. Theoretically, I can use it with Python, but if I have a problem I need to call a Microsoft engineer to solve it. It takes some time. However, I did receive very good support from the Microsoft engineers to make my system production-ready, but language support for Python and other languages is coming late.

I have used other solutions, such as Google and AWS.

When comparing these solutions to Microsoft Azure, AWS has better documentation, Google's cognitive services, and predictions give better results, and Microsoft Azure has the best UI. If you want to reach the database of Google, there is no such SQL manager UI. Microsoft Azure UI is easy to use and has great tools.

The deployment's easy and the pipelines are easy from the Azure DevOps, everything is integrated and it has good security. The overall setup is extremely easy.

We have a team in London that is maintaining the solution. We have 450 backend developers at this site and approximately five people are looking after all the maintenance and admin roles. We have database and developers administrators that are giving access to the people for the production maintenance. 

I am very happy with the solution.

Thanks to the training I have received from Microsoft Azure, which cost £60,000, I'm up-skilling all my team for the certification, databases, and machine learning tool. Every month I'm receiving approximately £1,000 from the training credit for the up-skilling.

It is simple to start with Microsoft Azure if you know the application life cycle. You can try so many things without any cost because of the serverless system. You will not be charged for any request at the beginning. For example, you are creating a function application in Azure the first 10,000 requests are free. It is great because you can anyone a developer to test anything.

They're not using very heavy machine learning systems, the system is generally cheap. For example, they are giving a free month trial and a developer can't finish it personally if they do not use a large computing machine.

At the moment they are adding new features faster than I expected. For example, they have Python support but five years ago there wasn't any Python support. They were slow at the beginning but now it updates very quickly. For example, the community services for the low code, no code power platforms, and the power platforms.

I spoke to my developers, machine learning engineer, data engineer, and data scientists and told them please use the auto ML or the community services better. As a London business user site team, we can create all the virtual agents and AI builders with the no code platform for the machine learning models for the power applications. The auto ML is very powerful and you don't need to be an expert in machine learning.

I rate Microsoft Azure a nine out of ten.

I integrate our technologies into Azure. I just deploy, do some tests and POC for Azure. A recent project leveraged Azure's analytics services, it was related to Security Hub and Azure B1.

I support customers with their Azure implementations to better understand Azure architecture and how to integrate our technologies.

I like the ease of implementation and development and how quickly everything is ready.

Azure's security and compliance tools are not enough, and that's why other technologies like Fortinet would be much more recommended than the native ones.

Security, for sure, is an area of improvement. 

I have been working with it for three years now. 

I would rate the scalability a ten out of ten. Our customers are medium and enterprise businesses. 

I would rate my experience with the initial setup a ten out of ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy.

It's cloud-based, both public and private.

The deployment can take a few days. I deploy it in the customer's premises, in their private or public cloud account.

I would rate the pricing a six out of ten,  where one is cheap, and ten is expensive. It's in line with other public cloud providers.

I would recommend it because it's easy to implement. But it always depends on the customer's needs. If their specific needs match with going towards the public cloud, then Azure would be one of my main recommendations.

Overall, I would rate it a nine out of ten.