Microsoft Azure Reviews

Azure is utilized to facilitate computing needs for our clients' sites. Most often, it's employed to enable them to host their products in the cloud, manage disaster recovery, conduct backups, and host applications. Additionally, for clients with on-premise infrastructure, Azure serves to replicate that setup in the cloud. We offer Azure-based solutions to fulfill these requirements and seamlessly provide access to them, typically through domain access, after setting up payment arrangements.

Azure integration became crucial for a business facing cost-saving challenges. They were burdened by the physical space and maintenance costs of on-premise infrastructure. Additionally, issues like electricity outages prompted them to consider migrating certain infrastructure components to the cloud. This move aimed to alleviate space constraints, reduce maintenance expenses, and enhance reliability, potentially enabling them to divest part of their infrastructure in the future.

The scalability features of Azure had a significant impact on projects for our customers, particularly in one instance where a deal was lost due to scalability issues. This challenge doesn't necessarily stem from Azure itself but rather from the complexity of migrating third-party dependencies to the Azure environment. Often, the lack of proper documentation and understanding of how these dependencies were originally implemented poses obstacles.

Azure is highly valuable due to its cloud-based nature, which reduces the need for extensive hardware purchases and server maintenance costs. It serves as a quick and convenient solution for spinning up VMs, creating websites, and making businesses visible online. The platform's user-friendliness eliminates the need for lengthy training periods, enabling swift navigation for new users. Companies can easily onboard new personnel by providing them with relevant documents, allowing them to quickly grasp how to manage resources and create necessary components on Azure.

Azure Arc is incredibly valuable because it allows businesses to connect and secure their resources, regardless of where they are hosted. This means that even if they are using other cloud platforms like AWS or have on-premise infrastructure, they can still benefit from Azure's features. With Azure Arc, businesses can have centralized management and security across their entire environment, including legacy systems and other cloud providers. While Azure Arc may come with a higher cost, its ability to bridge different platforms and provide enhanced security makes it a compelling option for businesses looking to leverage Azure services without fully migrating their infrastructure.

Improvements are needed in Azure to enhance integration tools and support for effectively migrating and managing third-party dependencies. Additionally, there is a significant issue with payment restrictions on Azure, particularly for users in regions with limitations in their local economies. Integrating third-party payment services could alleviate this problem, allowing users from various international locations, such as China, Europe, and Africa, to make payments more seamlessly. By providing alternative payment methods beyond the reliance on US debit cards, Microsoft could greatly improve the usability and accessibility of Azure for users worldwide. There's room for improvement in integrating the Azure Marketplace with the Azure portal. It would be beneficial if users could directly communicate with solution owners or developers through the portal. For instance, if a user encounters challenges while using a particular solution from the marketplace, they could easily send an email, initiate a phone call, or even send an SMS to the solution owner or developer for assistance. This direct communication channel would streamline the troubleshooting process and foster better collaboration between users and solution providers, enhancing the overall user experience.

I have been working with it for a year.

Azure is highly stable, with only one instance of downtime experienced on a specific website and two occurrences in approximately nine months. Overall, it maintains a commendable level of stability, especially when availability zones are utilized. These zones provide critical redundancy, ensuring resilience against unforeseen events and offering a heightened level of reliability.

Azure's scalability is evident when building and adhering to the appropriate architectural principles. Challenges with scaling typically arise when existing platforms or third-party components are involved, making it difficult to align them for efficient scaling. However, Azure Arc aims to address this issue, though it may incur additional costs, especially at larger scales. While some customers may opt for traditional VM provisioning on Azure due to cost considerations, Azure Arc offers an alternative approach for scalability.

The technical support provided is exceptional, and I am extremely satisfied with it. I would rate it nine out of ten.

Positive

The initial setup is straightforward.

The documentation provided by Azure for deployment processes to our customers is excellent. Typically, the process begins with signing NDAs followed by a call with the customer's team to understand their requirements. Once the requirements are clear, we review the architecture and assess the feasibility of replicating it on Azure, especially if migration is involved. Subsequently, we create a scope of work detailing the proposed actions and timelines, which the customer must sign off on. Upon agreement, we set a kickoff date and discussed requirements from the customer's end, such as authorization and authentication. During the project kickoff, we ensure someone is available on the customer's side to prevent breaches or delays. We then proceed with the deployment, moving necessary components and configurations. After completion, we conduct testing and allow the customer time to review the deployment, typically two to three weeks. Upon receiving approval, we finalize the project and obtain payment, usually within a timeframe of five days to two weeks, depending on the project's complexity

Azure's simplicity streamlines deployment, often requiring only five to six resources for larger projects. The specific roles may vary based on the project's needs, encompassing expertise in security, architecture, design, and product management.

In most cases, we inform the customer that we're available round-the-clock for feedback during the initial three months post-deployment. This ensures prompt resolution of any issues beyond their capability. If needed, we offer training for their team members. Additionally, customers have the option to enter into a support contract with us for ongoing assistance. Smaller projects may not necessitate ongoing management, depending on their setup.

Our customers often report a positive return on investment with Azure, as it helps them save costs. Whether they were previously on traditional infrastructure or on-premises setups, Azure proves to be beneficial, making it a worthwhile investment for them.

The pricing is relatively high.

I highly recommend Azure, as I use it myself. My advice would be for them to seriously consider it, especially when taking their budget into account. Overall, I would rate it eight out of ten.

We use Azure for a variety of services and we are in the process of configuring everything. We use GoDaddy to host our domain, and then we provision from GoDaddy for services such as email. This is one of the things that I just recently configured.

Right now, we're in the process of setting up the firewall. This provides us with security for the website. Firewalls are something that I have a lot of experience with because, in my previous organization, I dealt with audits and other similar tasks that depend on security.

The most valuable feature of Azure is the flexibility to pick and choose what you need, on the spot, and then be able to manage it yourself.

In Azure, everything is pretty straightforward. Once you know it, the platform is very easy to use.

The training material that they have is very good, and it's easy to understand.

Most of the problems that we've had are related to the DNS and the SSL certificate. Those two things have been a real pain. Sometimes, it happens because of GoDaddy and sometimes it happens because of Azure. Either we make a change in GoDaddy and the configuration is lost, or our developers make a change to the website and from there it gets lost.

It would be helpful if Azure provided more information on the various add-ons to give people an understanding of what they are used for, and how they're applied by other companies or businesses. One downside is that I find myself signing up and paying for things that I don't really need, and I have to call them to find out exactly what it is that I'm paying for. For example, I recently added the Azure Data Studio and I don't know what I need it for. I see that it can create a connection and run a query but I don't know if I'm going to be using it. That said, I will probably need it in the future.

My current organization has been using Microsoft Azure for the past two months. I have extensive past experience with it.

Stability-wise, it has been fine.

Azure is a scalable platform.

I have not been in contact with technical support myself. In fact, we have not had to reach out to them very often. We generally figure out things on our own but we also have an IT contract with personnel to work to resolve issues when they occur. Technical issues are something that you always want to try to resolve yourself.

Although we haven't had any problems that we couldn't resolve, we know that if we have to call technical support then we're going to be on hold for a while. This is something we don't want and can avoid by having our own IT support contract.

In my previous job, I worked for large telecom and we used a variety of products. These included AWS, as well as Azure, and we also had our own cloud that we leased to third parties.

I received training and certification on both Azure and AWS. However, I did not have much opportunity to use AWS.

In my current company, we migrated the business from AWS to Azure within the last two months.

The initial setup for me was easy because I have experience with Azure, as well as AWS, and a private cloud in my previous organization. I was in the internal network group, and I had all of the operational responsibilities for that area.

We were able to set it up and get it working in a day.

Migrating to Azure from AWS was not a big deal.

The price of this solution is one of the things that attracted us to it.

We considered both Azure and AWS for my current company. When we began, the company already had an existing website running with AWS, but I had more experience with Azure. We did extensive research to compare the two and we found that Azure was definitely the way to go.

We were already using several other Microsoft products, which means that our environment is more compatible using Azure.

My advice for anybody who is implementing Azure is to look at the training materials that they have available. They are very easy to understand and I recommend running through the ones that pertain to your use cases. A lot of the time, it will have the additional information that is needed to understand the problem and help you to find the relevant information in other sources. For example, it contained information about GoDaddy that was relevant to our environment.

The biggest thing is that the information is all there and a lot of people don't like to look, but I suggest using the help and the instructional videos before calling somebody else. Everything is available.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

The monitoring features are very good.

Some of the dashboard features can be improved.

Some of the backup solutions for SAP are not compatible. For example, we have a Sybase database running, and Azure does not have an agent tool for connecting with it. This means that we have to use a third-party tool to properly backup our SAP Sybase system.

We have been using Microsoft Azure for between two and three years.

Azure is a stable product.

This is a scalable solution and we have been 200 and 300 people who use it.

The technical support is really good.

We have not used another public cloud.

We have an in-house team, and between 10 and 20 people maintain it.

The pricing model can be improved because we find that Azure pricing is a bit high.

We are planning to migrate our SAP system to the cloud, so we have been looking at and comparing different cloud solutions. We are analyzing and comparing Google Cloud Platform, Amazon, and the IBM Cloud. After we compare them all we will make a decision.

The suitability of this product depends on the customer's requirements and needs. AWS is stable and nice, the Google Cloud Platform is really improving a lot, and IBM Cloud is also available. The decision for which to use will be based on what kind of solutions you are deploying and how you want to integrate them. Ultimately, it is best to choose the provider that is most suitable for your existing workload. 

Overall, this is a good solution but there are certainly features that need to be improved, as well as the pricing.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

We use the solution for pipelines.

Because of automation, everything from the beginning of the development project is stored on one side and brought from the development side to the production side.

Due to automation, the development process is streamlined from the beginning. 

The process involves understanding what is provided from the repository side, managing the code, and handling changes and responsibilities. This includes staging in the pipeline. 

Sometimes, I have issues configuring settings, setting up policies, and communicating with others on Microsoft Azure.

Pricing is high, especially if you plan to use it on a larger scale, with more teams, or want to include additional features. The costs can increase significantly as you add more features and expand usage.

I have been using Microsoft Azure for two years.

Stability is straightforward when combining some Linux features or Linux kernels. Additionally, integrating with other operating systems can sometimes be challenging.

It takes time to get familiar, but after, everything is fast.

When I experienced a crash, I received a response within a few days. The level of support depends on your user status. If you are a minimal or ultimate user, and if you pay more, you receive more support. Everything goes much faster.

Everything is okay if you are familiar with Teams and how it works. However, combining Teams with other tools and APIs can make things much faster. Additionally, the plugins provided by the official Microsoft site can enhance its functionality.

The deployment is manageable in one day and takes only one person.

It automates and saves time. Microsoft Azure breaks entire products into modules, making it easier to implement changes. These changes can be deployed much faster compared to traditional methods.

It is payable for what you need and how much you use.

I preferred Azure because it's more robust, it's easy to get around.

Code breaks from time to time, so maintenance is required periodically, especially for extensive codebases. Regular testing and checks are necessary to ensure reliability and performance.

I use other tools that integrate Copilot, which will soon be integrated into Microsoft Azure. I rely on other sources when I need to find information. There's also the security issue, as there's always a risk concerning where company data will ultimately be stored.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

We are using the solution as a cloud environment. 

The solution is user-friendly and compatible. 

The platform should be available at the same price worldwide. 

I have been using Microsoft Azure for the past 5 years. 

 I don't see any major bugs in the cloud environment.

Two hundred people are using the solution at present.

They are quick to solve issues. 

Positive

Microsoft provides very easy documentation, for each and every resource. So there is a very clear documentatio. It is very easy to install and start up with the cloud environment.

The pricing is cheap. 

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

We use Microsoft Azure for migration purposes.

The portal makes it easier to work with the solution.

The solution's initial setup was a bit complex in the beginning. We had to go through a major learning curve before we got hands-on familiarity with it.

I have been using Microsoft Azure for one year.

I rate Microsoft Azure a seven out of ten for stability.

Microsoft Azure is a scalable solution. Less than 20 users in our organization use Microsoft Azure.

I rate Microsoft Azure an eight out of ten for scalability.

I rate Microsoft Azure a five to six out of ten for the ease of its initial setup.

The solution's deployment time depends purely on the size of the application. On average, the solution's deployment would take us anywhere from two weeks and longer. Depending on our testing, it would take us about a month to design and deploy the solution.

Microsoft Azure is deployed on the cloud.

I would recommend Microsoft Azure to other users, but they should have a strong system integrator or someone working with Microsoft to assist. The strength would lie with the organization deploying the solution; they have to be on par to understand better what is happening.

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

I know Azure. We have the tools for optimized Azure infrastructure. As a partner, as an active integrator, I am looking only for plays to make the deal. I am not an end user, prospector or client. I use it in my projects but I am not buying any solution from Microsoft for ourselves. I am the seller.

When I talk about the Infrastructure as a Service from the Microsoft, I am referring to a hybrid infrastructure. We are talking about the moving of virtual machines and workload from on-premise system to the Cloud. This is my main topic when we are talking with the client. My technical team worries about the details of how we do this. I am not so good in the technical details.

In terms of our customers' use cases, in our last project, the customers migrated the SAP system from on-premise to the Azure with SQL as a database. We helped the customer to compare on-premise infrastructures and Infrastructure as a Service in Azure, and to help them migrate the machines, the tech, and the servers from on-premise to the Cloud and to have the tools from the Quest to help them optimize because they did not want to pay so much. They only wanted to pay by use. We are looking for the perfect tier from Azure to finish the project. This was our job. That's why I like the Azure.

There is not too much perfect information out there about how to optimize the infrastructure. Microsoft is looking for the bills where the sky is the limit but the customer is looking for the real cost. We help the customer and we have the answers regarding which tier or which configuration in Azure is proper for them.

Microsoft Azure is so complicated inside. If you should do something internally, if you have to configure something, the opinion about Azure is that it is a little complicated inside. That's why the end users and clients are looking for help and why we help them configure and do anything inside of Azure. That is why we offer other tools to optimize the Azure environment.

Microsoft makes the space for such tools because it is a little complicated and end users know it. That's why we sell these tools to optimize the Azure. I think the Microsoft team knows this and they create the space for other third party partners.

I know all the points about how the Cloud is so beautiful but if somebody starts to do something inside the Azure, it is a little hard to understand. Many services are so complicated to configure out. That's why sometimes clients are obviously confused inside the Azure. That's why they are looking for help with it and why they are looking for a Microsoft partner with the knowledge of how to connect this software into one solution. From my perspective, I like Azure because it makes me money from the end user clients. But for the customers, their opinion is, "Oh, my god. The AWS is easy."

It is well-known that Microsoft is not so easy for the end users. Maybe it's because there is a note of everything changing. They add new features and new functionalities. Azure is growing. From my point of view it's okay. From the customers, it's also ok, but they are looking for someone who understands how to configure it.

From the beginning, the first move to Azure as a solution, it's a long journey with many, many services to find the final configuration for the customer. But it's okay for me.

In terms of scalability, it is perfect. If you are a rich partner or a rich company and you have a lot of money on your credit card, the scalability and the possibility of using Azure is a perfect play. If you want two servers, if you want 200 servers, it's one click. From the marketing point of view, it's the perfect place to spend the money. I think the customers are really worried about the cost. If you request a lot of machines, it's only one click in the setup but the bill for that is so huge. They ultimately worry about how to prepare their production environment just for us. Not for the sky is the limit but for our requirements to help. We have tools for monitoring consumption of the Azure and we can switch virtual machines off when at the end of the day. Customers are happy that we offer that because they are a little worried.

For example, if you buy one huge service for your on-premise project, you pay for that one service. But if you put a development team on the project and they request a lot of virtual machines because it's so easy to deploy, someone should pay for that. This is literally one big worry from the client side.

The calculator from Microsoft for Azure is very basic. This tool only shows what you consumed and what you will pay. There is no answer if you want to know how big a credit card you need to run the project. We make money answering exactly how much you really need for your project. We save the budget for the customer. We find opportunities for Microsoft but when the customer is worried, we help them. It's also good for Microsoft because they run the project.

We have support but Microsoft is trying to cover only Azure as an infrastructure.

They are not interested in talking about current applications or current systems from a customer perspective. This is the job for the partner. Microsoft covers only the chief environment. The job for the partner is caring about the customer's real needs. That's our job.

We only have experience with AWS because for us it doesn't matter whether we run virtual machines on AWS or Azure. If the client is only looking for power servers, then the machine they are looking for is AWS. If they are not only looking for IaaS, Infrastructure as a Service, but are also looking for the DaaS or Database as a Service, they are looking for Azure. It is exactly the same way for customers that are using SQL Server. The first choice is Azure.

If you are looking for Oracle, they're thinking about AWS. Of course, if we are talking about the containerization, about the Kubernetes, AWS is also the first choice for our clients.

The initial setup depends on the project. Because we are the Microsoft partner and we have some money for our internal tests we do the setup part. We use Azure infrastructure for our demo when we show our virtual demo machine. For my colleagues, it's not so complicated but we are using only a very small part of Azure.

When we talk about the real project, it is not so easy. We are using a very basic functionality, but I know from the other projects that it is not so easy to implement, run, test, et cetera because it's always a little complicated. Maybe it's okay. It depends on the current customer's needs.

ROI is a very tough topic because with the first step, every customer is trying to compare what they pay on the infrastructure and what they will pay in Azure. This is never the same number.

The challenge is to show to customers the added value because Azure is not only a different type of data center, but is also a place where you can make the innovations and add some new services. It is much easier than on-premise. We have a lot of ready-to-use functionalities on Azure, but the magic is how to use it.

Sometimes, the customer does not have the knowledge to create new value for the business using the ready-to-use functionality on Azure from the Microsoft offer. This is the challenge.

Moving the one virtual machine is easy but knowing how to run your business application for the customer, this is the main challenge.

My advice to anyone considering Azure is if they want to make jumping to the Azure or to the Cloud easier, they should focus on and discuss what the steps are. When you are on premise, figure out the development and how to configure it to the Azure. I have had so many marketing presentations from Microsoft saying, "Oh, it's easy. You have the Advisor. Blah, blah, blah." This is pure marketing. The clients know it is only a commercial about Azure. If Microsoft wants to really get customers, they should help them step by step by showing them how it is easy and how to control every step of the project. They should care more about the customers during this type of project. If you did 10 project delegations, the next one is much easier, but the first is really not so easy. That's why customers are afraid about migrating to the Azure. "What about the bills? What about how to administrate? How long to build the infrastructure?" There are a lot of questions from the customer side.

On a scale of one to ten, I would give Microsoft Azure a seven. That is because there is always space for improvement. For me it's okay. It's reliable and it really works.

I use the solution in my company to virtualize apps that haven't quite become SaaS products yet. My organization gets to deal with travel-based companies, mining companies, and logistics companies that have software on which their business runs, for whom we need to put such software tools into a cloud instance because there are no current SaaS offerings in the market. My company tends to host certain software products on Azure and then deploy such solutions through Azure Virtual Desktop.

The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is a quite cheap tool compared to any other private cloud offerings. It makes good commercial sense to have Microsoft Azure when you compare it to an on-premises infrastructure.

The permissions and controls in the product are not easy to use. From an improvement perspective, the permissions and controls in the product need to be made easier. I believe that the product is working to improve the native domain controllers in the cloud. My company studies the road map of Microsoft Azure quite frequently and closely. I believe the solution is working on areas where my company finds ideas or areas for improvement.

The product's current price needs to be lowered from an improvement perspective.

I have been using Microsoft Azure for four and a half years. My company has a partnership with Microsoft.

Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten. The scalability of the product is a selling point of the solution.

The product is suitable for companies of all sizes. Small companies can use Office 365. Requirements might arise for businesses, regardless of the size of the companies.

The solution's technical support was very good.

The product's initial setup phase was simple. There are some complexities attached to the solution when it comes to certain niches and during migrations.

The solution is deployed on a public cloud.

The product helps save costs for our company since we need not refresh the hardware part every four years. The box provided by the solution can be turned on and off. Most of our company's clients save a fair bit of money with Microsoft Azure.

I rate the product price a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is high price, and ten is low price.

Microsoft Azure offers a better all-in-one package than Google Workspace or G Suite. Compared to its competitors, Microsoft Azure is a much better option for mature businesses.

I recommend the product to those who plan to use it.

I rate the overall tool a nine out of ten.