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Systems Specialist at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Enables our customers to obtain the results they need
Pros and Cons
  • "The system is more secure, and this is valuable."
  • "Sometimes performance takes a hit on a slow network."

What is our primary use case?

A lot of customers are turning to Microsoft Azure. We are using the latest version and we are a Microsoft Gold partner. We use it as a backup solution. It is also used for authentication and cancellations. We are providing these types of solutions as a live requirement, and we are moving customers to their Cloud Station.

What is most valuable?

The system is more secure.

What needs improvement?

It could be more stable, but we think this is due to Microsoft making changes too often to their setup. We also think the configuration could be easier. Sometimes performance takes a hit on a slow network. Microsoft does not appear to pay enough attention to the platform or the account solution.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Microsoft Azure for a few years.

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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Microsoft Azure is very scalable.

How are customer service and support?

Microsoft does provide good support and enables our customers to obtain the results they need.

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

Initially, it was difficult to setup. The complexity comes in when there are more items to configure. We pay our bill in a monthly or 6 monthly billing cycle. The cost depends on how much you use during the period.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Microsoft Azure 8 out of 10. 

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
reviewer1389192 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Software Engineer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
It is stable, flexible, and easy to use, but it can be more secure
Pros and Cons
  • "It is easy to use and flexible."
  • "It is pretty secure, but it can always be more secure."

What is our primary use case?

We use it to create virtual machines for the key vaults and our processes. 

What is most valuable?

It is easy to use and flexible.

What needs improvement?

It is pretty secure, but it can always be more secure.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I don't know much about it, but I think it is scalable. We have 300 to 400 users of this solution. 

How are customer service and technical support?

I do not have any experience with their technical support.

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

I am not aware of any other solution.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution. We plan to keep using it. 

I would rate Microsoft Azure a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
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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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it_user654165 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director General with 11-50 employees
Real User
Reduces Costs and Time To Market.

What is most valuable?

Web Apps and Functions. I had been able to reduce my costs a lot by using Functions, it allowed me to change the way we are developing solutions and reduce the time to market. Highly recommended.

How has it helped my organization?

Our development team uses Visual Studio to develop the solutions we work with. By using Functions, we can be more agile on the development and sometimes our developers just go online and update the code without even needing to have their computer with them.

What needs improvement?

Sometimes technical support is not fast as I needed on the first call, but once they are engaged, it is really easy to get an answer.

For how long have I used the solution?

Five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No, it works perfectly.

How are customer service and technical support?

Sometimes it is not fast as I needed on the first call, but once they are engaged, it is really easy to get an answer.

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

No.

How was the initial setup?

Really straightforward. We didn’t need to learn anything different.

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

Try to go for an Enterprise agreement if you have a contract with Microsoft. If you are running virtual machines, go for the CPP Microsoft Compute Pre-Purchase Plan.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Yes, AWS.

What other advice do I have?

Try to go for serverless solutions or Functions to increase availability and reduce costs.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Development partner of solutions with Azure.
PeerSpot user
reviewer919047 - PeerSpot reviewer
Business Analyst at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
MSP
Has complete documentation and is stable and secure
Pros and Cons
  • "Some features of Azure are very important for us. You can control access for your company, it's not complicated managing the solution either. I think the solution is very stable, secure and the documentation Microsoft has on their website is complete. You can use it to find the solution's problems or implement solutions."
  • "An issue I encountered was around the integration of Identity. I lost some important information and I would like to see improvements with this."

What is most valuable?

Some features of Azure are very important for us. You can control access for your company, it's not complicated managing the solution either. I think the solution is very stable, secure and the documentation Microsoft has on their website is complete. You can use it to find the solution's problems or implement solutions. 

What needs improvement?

An issue I encountered was around the integration of Identity. I lost some important information and I would like to see improvements with this. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Azure for approximately 2 years now

How was the initial setup?

Azure is very easy to manage

What about the implementation team?

We are a Microsoft partner and implement in-house.

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

The pricing depends on the solutions I want to use, but I think the price is good because there are many free features in the solution. If you need something more advanced, like Azure AD Premium, you have other features available like risk management.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Azure a nine 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: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user1023 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director of IT at a tech company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Windows Azure is classified as platform, as a service, and forms part of Microsoft's cloud computing strategy, along with its software as a service offering Microsoft Online Services

Valuable Features:

-Windows Azure is available in multiple data centers around the world, enabling you to deploy your applications close to your customers. - Its enables you to use any language, framework, or tool to build applications. Features and services are exposed using open REST protocols. -Windows Azure’s distributed caching and CDN services, allow you to reduce latency and deliver great application performance anywhere in the world. -Giving power back to the users to concentrate on the application and take away all their worries from the hosting and provisioning point of view.

Room for Improvement:

-Systems mirroring is currently not available within Azure, unlike Amazon Web Services. -Lose account control to MS. -MS has calibrations to compute how much you used them, and how you plan to validate it.

Other Advice:

The Windows Azure platform, which provides a range of functionality to build applications that span from consumer web to enterprise scenarios, includes a cloud service operating system and a set of developer services. With Windows Azure there are at least two instances of each role that the application needs and therefore, the Fabric controller load balances users’ requests between them. What this means is that there is no guarantee two requests from the same user will go to the same instance. This may be a problem with some applications that need a stateful connection with the user. A stateful connection is one in which some information about a connection between two systems is retained for future use.
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 agree with your pros, and as other pro I would add that the only need is to deploy the application, because all the rest is Microsoft managed, the user has no worry about the windows patching and updates, server running out of space, technical troubleshooting and maintenance cost, and time saved in building up the servers.
As a con, I would say that only windows centric applications are supported by Microsoft for technical assistance, so if there is an error it could be difficult to determine where is from.

reviewer1443363 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Pre-Sales at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Flexible, scalable, stable, and easy to deploy
Pros and Cons
  • "It is quick and easy to deploy. It is flexible, and we can deploy a resource anytime. We like and prefer the pay-as-you-go model."
  • "Its pricing should be better. In terms of features, I am yet to explore the whole solution, and the current features seem okay."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for virtual machines.

What is most valuable?

It is quick and easy to deploy. It is flexible, and we can deploy a resource anytime. 

We like and prefer the pay-as-you-go model.

What needs improvement?

Its pricing should be better. In terms of features, I am yet to explore the whole solution, and the current features seem okay.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is quite scalable. You can extend it both vertically and horizontally very quickly. Currently, we have approximately 50 users.

How are customer service and technical support?

We haven't had support issues.

How was the initial setup?

It is easy and quick to deploy.

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

It has the pay-as-you-go model. Its pricing should be better.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We didn't evaluate other solutions. We trusted Azure because it is a Microsoft product, and Microsoft has been in the industry for a long time. Microsoft has been providing solutions for businesses for a long time, whereas other vendors mostly provide solutions for consumers.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution. We plan to keep using it.

I would rate Microsoft Azure a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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PeerSpot user
Technical Solutions Specialist at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Consultant
We have lower production times because we don't make any more hardware purchases or have software and vendor support contracts.

Valuable Features:

Easy and fast provisioning of Cloud Services including Web sites, Virtual Machines and Databases.

Great for application development testing, staging and production slots.

Better Support and community than the others.

The onboarding services are great for new customers.

Improvements to My Organization:

No more hardware purchases, software and vendor support contracts = Lower times to production.

Great storage capabilities.

Room for Improvement:

N/A

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user1194 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Infrastructure at a tech company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Good for running Microsoft Enterprise Applications, although a pricey alternative to other IaaS/Paas service providers in the market.

Valuable Features:

1) Windows Azure supports ASP.NET and Node.js, among other platforms. 2) Due to the Node.js supported library, Azure is capable of supporting the Map Reduce Infrastructure, Hadoop, for distributed data processing and number processing. 3) With the help of AppFabric Internet services, it can support Java, Ruby, etc. 4) Since the underlying Azure OS runs on Windows Server 2008 edition, it supports running all Microsoft Enterprise Applications, hosting services like IIS and many more. 5) Using Windows Azure Connect, various Virtual Machines can be easily connected with each other 6) Has support for multiple users & roles for management purposes.

Room for Improvement:

1) It is a well known fact that Microsoft has yet to upgrade its IaaS technologies for providing a near zero interruption triggered by Load balancers. 2) Physical security of data is a major concern for various IaaS service providers, and Azure is no different. 3) Though having data served from multiple data centers improves performance, it has increased the risk of data security. 4) Compared to other IaaS service providers out there in the market, Azure is a bit expensive.

Other Advice:

It's true that to run various Microsoft Enterprise Solutions, Azure is the best option, keeping aside minor caveats. Unless your requirement makes it mandatory to use IIS, you should consider other IaaS service providers available in the market, which are comparatively cheaper as well. It has good support for various platforms like Java, Ruby, and PHP for websites. Windows Azure provides API's built on popular and robust technology like HTML, REST, and XML.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user1068 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user1068Tech Support Staff at a tech company with 51-200 employees
Real User

Is it possible to use Azure with other non-Microsoft enterprise solutions or are there compatibility issues? In case it is not possible, which other alternative can you recommend to SME businesses that are looking for a cheaper alternative with almost similar capabilities of Azure if not completely the same or even better?

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.