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reviewer2047446 - PeerSpot reviewer
Solutions Architect - Cloud at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Jan 12, 2023
A solution with good uptime and multi-region features with a valuable dashboard
Pros and Cons
  • "The dashboard is valuable."
  • "The solution can be improved by reducing the constraints available."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case for the solution is for applications. We get many applications in the environment, and most applications use Microsoft SQL, Azure SQL, and DBs, and a few use Postgres SQL. So primarily, the focus is to connect with the DB team and have a specific expert in the SQL environment.

How has it helped my organization?

We find the uptime and multi-region features available. Additionally, the dashboard is valuable.

What needs improvement?

The solution can be improved by reducing the constraints available on cloud and improving support response times.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have beee using the solution for approximately two years.

Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure SQL Database
October 2026
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Azure SQL Database. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2026.
920,043 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. I rate is as nine out of ten.

How are customer service and support?

We have had a good experience with customer service and support. They are knowledgeable but sometimes take a while to give solutions. I rate customer service and support as seven out of ten.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. I rate is as eight out of ten.

What other advice do I have?

I rate the solution as eight out of ten. The solution is good but can be improved by reducing the constraints on cloud and improving support response times.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. partner
PeerSpot user
Real User
Nov 6, 2022
A user-friendly environment with good flexibility for adding modules or features
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution effectively handles storing and maintaining information in databases."
  • "The environment is user friendly and there is good flexibility for adding modules or features."
  • "The solution requires familiarity with its language so can be tricky."

What is our primary use case?

I use the solution for database maintenance. 

What is most valuable?

The environment is user friendly and there is good flexibility for adding modules or features. 

The solution effectively handles storing and maintaining information in databases. 

What needs improvement?

The solution requires familiarity with its language so can be tricky. A simplified language would be appealing to users. 

A more user-friendly format for certain modules is desired. 

The application and interface can be a bit heavy to install.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for one year. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. It takes a bit of knowledge about the process but then is really easy.  

How are customer service and support?

I have not needed technical support. 

How was the initial setup?

The setup can be a bit of a challenge until you get used to it. Once you have familiarity with it, setup is okay and takes about 30 minutes. 

What about the implementation team?

A colleague assisted me with implementation. 

What other advice do I have?

I recommending using the solution because it is effective and user friendly. 

I rate the solution a nine out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure SQL Database
October 2026
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Azure SQL Database. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2026.
920,043 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Daniel_Marin - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Developer at Generate Impact
Real User
Aug 1, 2022
Beneficial centralized authentication, scalable, and reliable
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of SQL Azure is centralized authentication because I'm using the domain, user name, and password, for Microsoft 365 account with multifactor authentication and the security has been working well."
  • "SQL Azure is a really good tool, and I recommend using this solution instead of a normal SQL server, as it is an improvement."
  • "I was using a user list for connecting a program in OTF for getting information. The connection in SQL Azure can improve by being easier because at the moment I have to use private certificates for user authentication. I had to do additional configuration to have the connections."

What is our primary use case?

SQL Azure is used for the replication of a CRM database. if get information from this database and try to replicate it on other servers and other systems. I'm getting the transactional data information.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of SQL Azure is centralized authentication because I'm using the domain, user name, and password, for Microsoft 365 account with multifactor authentication and the security has been working well.

What needs improvement?

I was using a user list for connecting a program in OTF for getting information. The connection in SQL Azure can improve by being easier because at the moment I have to use private certificates for user authentication. I had to do additional configuration to have the connections.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using SQL Azure for approximately six months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

SQL Azure is stable, I have not had any issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of SQL Azure is easy to do.

We have a lot of people in my organization using this solution. We have a large company.

How are customer service and support?

I have not used support.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of SQL Azure is difficult and complex. I have to use a lot of certificates, private keys, and public keys to establish a connection.

What other advice do I have?

SQL Azure is a really good tool. I recommend using this solution instead of a normal SQL server, its an improvement,

I rate SQL Azure a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Akin Ayodele - PeerSpot reviewer
General Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Jun 16, 2022
Enables us to provide automated processes for our clients in a highly manageable solution with competitive pricing
Pros and Cons
  • "Because the solution is cloud-based it's highly manageable, it makes maintenance of logs, space, storage, and backups much easier compared to a traditional SQL server installation."
  • "If the product could support applications requiring an SQL server for installation, by using SQL Azure as a backend, that would be useful."

What is our primary use case?

We use this product to implement solutions for clients, so the use case can vary. For example, we built a web-based application for a government environmental protection agency. They issue permits to prospective applicants looking to site factories and other business facilities.

How has it helped my organization?

The solution allows us to bring automation to previously manual processes. Payment for permits is made online which eliminates discretion and fraud, and the wider process is streamlined. 

What is most valuable?

Because the solution is cloud-based it's highly manageable, it makes maintenance of logs, space, storage, and backups much easier compared to a traditional SQL server installation.

What needs improvement?

If the product could support applications requiring an SQL server for installation, by using SQL Azure as a backend, that would be useful.  

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is highly stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product is absolutely scalable.

How are customer service and support?

I was satisfied by the interaction with technical support for this solution. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The solution is very easy to set up.

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

With one being expensive and five being competitive, I would give the product a four out of five as it's relatively competitive. It is also important to note that pricing is based on usage.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner / Integrator
PeerSpot user
Rafael Veloso - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at SoftwareONE
Vendor
Feb 20, 2022
Helpful support, scalable, and beneficial turning process
Pros and Cons
  • "The backup solution in Azure is great, the firewall settings in SQL are very easy to use and work very well. Additionally, the turning process is very good and has improved the SQL services and queries."
  • "SQL Azure could improve by adding more features."

What is our primary use case?

I have used SQL Azure for the backend tier application. If the customer has the flow change application with an application service, they will use the backend. I always suggest using SQL Server and Azure.

What is most valuable?

The backup solution in Azure is great, the firewall settings in SQL are very easy to use and work very well. Additionally, the turning process is very good and has improved the SQL services and queries.

What needs improvement?

SQL Azure could improve by adding more features.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used SQL Azure within the past 12 months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have found SQL Azure to be stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of SQL Azure is very good.

How are customer service and support?

The support of SQL Azure is very good.

How was the initial setup?

The implementation of SQL Azure is simple.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate SQL Azure a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1162305 - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Center Operations Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Feb 2, 2022
Integrates well, responsive support, simple portal management
Pros and Cons
  • "SQL Azure can integrate well with other Microsoft Windows services."
  • "If we need to deploy data management or services with SQL Azure we need InterSecure."

What is most valuable?

SQL Azure can integrate well with other Microsoft Windows services.

The interface for maintaining the solution is very easy to use in the portal.

What needs improvement?

If we need to deploy data management or services with SQL Azure we need InterSecure.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using SQL Azure for approximately two years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of SQL Azure is fine. I needed more stability with Cisco but not with SQL Azure.

How are customer service and support?

The support is good and they are responsive.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. It took approximately one week to complete.

What about the implementation team?

The deployment of SQL Azure is done by one person.

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

We have had some issues with the licensing of the solution.

We pay for the solution monthly and we are on a one-year contract. The enterprise edition is very expensive and the standard addition is lacking some functions.

What other advice do I have?

I rate SQL Azure a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Business Analyst at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Oct 24, 2021
Stable and scalable but could better integrate with Python
Pros and Cons
  • "Emergency mode is quite useful."
  • "I don't think Oracle has any capabilities that SQL Azure lacks, and it's not used in as many companies and institutions."
  • "I haven't explored SQL Azure's features much, but I would like to see some better integration with Python."

What is our primary use case?

I'm an end-user. I'm a business analyst, so I'm using SQL Azure to do analysis.

What is most valuable?

Emergency mode is quite useful.

What needs improvement?

I haven't explored SQL Azure's features much, but I would like to see some better integration with Python. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using SQL Azure for approximately two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

SQL Azure is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I think SQL Azure is scalable. Almost 200 people are using it in the commercial department.

How are customer service and support?

I can't say much about Microsoft support because the IT people are the ones who deal with the Microsoft support team. Whenever we have an issue, we put our IT team on it and leave everything to them. They try to handle it if they can or they might bring in some consultants from the Microsoft team. 

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

I previously used Oracle, but I didn't spend much time with it, so I really can't say. I don't think Oracle has any capabilities that SQL Azure lacks, and it's not used in as many companies and institutions.

How was the initial setup?

Setting up SQL Azure isn't complex.

What other advice do I have?

I rate SQL Azure seven out of 10. 

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Naresh-Reddy - PeerSpot reviewer
Naresh-ReddyEnterprise Solutions Architect at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Top 5LeaderboardReal User

Python is well supported by AWS EC2, enabling smooth deployment and use of Python applications on EC2 instances. A large variety of EC2 instance types that support Python are available, and installing Python modules and frameworks is simple.

Consultant at kulki data management & consultants
Real User
Oct 10, 2021
Perfectly scalable and cost effective compared to other solutions
Pros and Cons
  • "The on-premise SQL Server licenses can be used since it is on Azure, so it's a significant savings for the customers."
  • "SQL Azure's performance monitoring features need to be improved. It has a pricing calculator, but it would be great if we could get a rough estimate of the pricing based on fewer parameters, like the data size and the scale of the company."
  • "SQL Azure's performance monitoring features need to be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We provide managed services using SQL Azure to our end-clients. The price of services is fixed, and we manage the resources according to their needs.

How has it helped my organization?

The on-premise SQL Server licenses can be used since it is on Azure, so it's a significant savings for the customers.

What needs improvement?

SQL Azure's performance monitoring features need to be improved. It has a pricing calculator, but it would be great if we could get a rough estimate of the pricing based on fewer parameters, like the data size and the scale of the company. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I started working with SQL Azure about six months ago.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I haven't had any stability issues with SQL Azure, but I've heard that there are frequent down times.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

SQL Azure is perfectly scalable. 

How was the initial setup?

I haven't had any complications setting up SQL Azure.

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

Microsoft controls the licensing for SQL Server and even for the other vendors. They don't play fair with AWS. If anyone wants to migrate to AWS RDS, Microsoft won't let anyone reuse the on-premise SQL Server licenses on AWS. You would need to repurchase those licenses. So it's cheaper to migrate to Azure instead if you already have an on-prem SQL Server license. The Azure platform itself is also much cheaper than AWS. So when you factor in the SQL Server licenses, it's as much 10 times cheaper than AWS RDS. I'm talking about the SQL Server RDS.

What other advice do I have?

I rate SQL Azure eight out of 10. To anyone thinking about adopting this solution, I would recommend that they first decide what applications they need to migrate to Azure. Then you need to estimate the cost. All cloud vendors charge for incoming traffic, especially Azure, and it costs a lot. Around 500GB of data might cost a few thousand dollars.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
it_user1620891 - PeerSpot reviewer
Practice Lead at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Jul 26, 2021
Excellent security features and great auto-scaling
Pros and Cons
  • "Great auto-scaling and security features."
  • "The main valuable feature is the auto scaling, and the security features they've implemented on cloud make it a little easier compared to on-prem SQL, enabling added scalability while making costing more reliable, flexible, and cost effective."
  • "Lack of flexibility for developers in terms of performance assistance."
  • "I think SQL could be improved in terms of ease of use for developers when it comes to performance."

What is our primary use case?

We use a relational database management system and 90% of the projects I've worked with have used SQL Server. We are partners with SQL Azure. 

What is most valuable?

The main valuable feature is the auto scaling. In addition, the security features they've implemented on cloud make it a little easier compared to on-prem SQL, they're great. It enables added scalability, and costing can be tweaked and made more reliable, flexible and cost effective.

What needs improvement?

I think SQL could be improved in terms of ease of use for developers when it comes to performance. For example, enabling suggestions or auto-tune performances, providing results which are higher level recommendations. I know there are tools that performance analyze, but I personally find it to be overly complicated. If they look at performance assistance, add-ons or plugins that might help the developer, focus can be on business logic rather than performance. This is an ongoing issue for me and I'd like to see developers given the flexibility to change those recommendations, it would simplify things. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for 20 years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

SQL's stability is dependent on where it's hosted. 

How was the initial setup?

If you're going into a cluster with multiple width or multiple SQL Servers, deployment becomes a little more tricky. In general, though, the initial setup is relatively easy. 

What other advice do I have?

I recommend this solution and I rate it an eight 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
reviewer1606569 - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder at a tech services company with self employed
Real User
Jun 25, 2021
Stable, easy to provision and administer, and natural progression to SQL Server
Pros and Cons
  • "The ease of provisioning and administration is most valuable."
  • "We are very happy with what we have, and if you are used to working with SQL Server, SQL Azure is a natural progression."
  • "It should have better profiling capabilities."

What is our primary use case?

We are using it for business intelligence and analytics.

What is most valuable?

The ease of provisioning and administration is most valuable.

What needs improvement?

It should have better profiling capabilities. Its price could also be lower.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for about two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We haven't had any outages yet, so it is pretty stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable. We haven't hit any limits yet, but we're not running huge workloads.

How are customer service and technical support?

We haven't had a need for technical support.

How was the initial setup?

It is easy. I'm busy setting up another one now.

What about the implementation team?

I did it myself.

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

I would like it to be cheaper, but comparatively, it is reasonably priced.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We considered Postgres in AWS as well as AWS Redshift and AWS Athena.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend it. We're very happy with what we have. It is very familiar because of our experience with on-premise SQL Server. If you are used to working with SQL Server, it is a natural progression.

I would rate SQL Azure an eight out of 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Azure SQL Database Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: October 2026
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Azure SQL Database Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.