Microsoft Azure SQL Database Reviews

Our primary use case is for Power Platform apps.

Azure SQL doesn't require any maintenance because Azure handles all that. is handled in Azure. Our team can focus on other activities instead of database management, and we save around two to three days a month.

Azure SQL connects directly to our Power Platform apps, making it easy to use. The integration with AI apps will be good because all the Azure AI apps are in the cloud, making it seamless. You don't need to connect to any on-premises or external sources to address integration. It will also speed up our data processing.

SQL's native connection and efficiency in scaling workloads are quite beneficial, and the ability to integrate well with other Microsoft applications adds significant value.

A potential area for improvement could be integrating with third-party clouds. Adding a feature to bring Azure SQL in Azure with SQL on-premises would be helpful.

I have used Azure SQL for three to four years.

We haven't noticed any latency since we do not have mission-critical solutions on the cloud yet, and the stability has been good so far.

If more space is needed in a specific moment of time, Azure SQL can grow and downsize quickly, demonstrating good scalability.

I have found Microsoft's resources and support particularly helpful as they provide a big environment to work with.

Positive

The initial setup was straightforward. We did not migrate from an existing system but implemented it from scratch and did not require Microsoft support. We were building Power Platform apps using SharePoint databases and Excel. And after that, we realized that we had to integrate it with SQL. It wasn't too hard, and our partners have people with experience. 

We did the implementation ourselves without involving Microsoft support.

While I think there has been a reduction in our total cost of ownership, I have not measured it.

We did not evaluate other cloud databases as we preferred to maintain a standardized SQL environment.

I rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database eight out of 10 because I believe nothing is perfect.

Our primary use case for Microsoft Azure SQL Database is storing customer data and information for user accounts.

It has significantly streamlined our disaster recovery plans, making it much more straightforward to spin up new instances as opposed to setting up a new VM with all necessary packages. The normal cost of our VMs with storage has been significantly reduced.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is fairly easy to use and set up for our DBA teams, who use it for various applications and tools like RabbitMQ. It's easier than standing up an individual VM or installing SQL directly on a machine. We spend less time spinning up the infrastructure. 

While we don't use GenAI, I think it would integrate well with Azure SQL Database because it works well with other Azure applications, but I don't think it would impact us much.

We've had many concurrency issues with it, particularly with applications that do a lot of parallel processing. We noticed that sometimes the Azure SQL databases would spike and peak their CPU units, causing some performance issues for us. It would be helpful if CPU performance were not pinned to the amount of storage you're using, and we could scale different properties of the Azure SQL database independently.

I have been using Microsoft Azure SQL Database for three years.

While latency and availability are fine, we've faced constraints with compute capacity unable to handle our required IOPS.

I think Azure SQL is on the right track. It works well, but we've had issues scaling when parallel processes hit the same database. Large datasets with hundreds of terabytes have caused issues.

We haven't required much support due to our familiarity with Azure SQL Database, aside from a couple of hardware issues.

Neutral

Our biggest challenge is connecting developers to the database. A lot of them weren't familiar with Azure networking, so we had to work a lot with that.

We've reduced costs by about 20 percent after two or three years. We've saved on licenses and also storage costs.

I rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database seven out of 10. It streamlines technical work significantly, reducing turnaround time for standing up a new database from six hours to 30 minutes. Training for developers is crucial when implementing this solution.

We primarily use Microsoft Azure SQL Database for application databases for web applications and sometimes native iOS and Android platforms. We also employ it for the backend and analytics, often migrating data over to Fabric and One Lake for Power BI analytics.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is quite impactful as we use it for most projects. 

I like that Microsoft Azure SQL Database is almost identical to an on-premise SQL Server except for a few things, like how you edit rows and some jobs that you can't run. It has some useful features and integrations, like Microsoft Fabric.

They could improve Azure SQL by adding some of the features available on-prem, such as cross-database queries and the ability to run particular jobs. We need to migrate those to something else, like a function or logic app. 

Data transformation units are also confusing to sell to our clients because they're these weird, nebulous things. Do you need five or 50? 

I have been using Microsoft Azure SQL Database since it first started in 2009.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database does not seem to have any significant latency issues and handles millions of rows well.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database scales well, allowing us to increase our compute level or add more instances as required.

The learning resources and documentation provided by Microsoft are very helpful. There are many free learning segments and videos available to guide users through various aspects of Azure SQL Database.

Positive

I worked with SQL Server since version 6.5 in the late nineties and have continued to use it through various versions. I have also used other database platforms like ADB and MongoDB, but I prefer SQL Server due to its superior tools and features. I've used Cosmos DB for a few things, and we use Azure AI Search, a cognitive search pronounced by a different name. So use that, you know, Azure AI services. 

Azure SQL and Cosmos DB are our main solutions unless the client wants to use Oracle, Postgres, or MySQL. We will use whatever they want to use. On the analytics side, we use Fabric and One Lake, and we do the analytics of Power BI.

If we use a smaller or free-sized Microsoft Azure SQL Database, it is extremely cost-effective and much cheaper than on-premise enterprise licenses, which are expensive.

Other database solutions I have used include Cosmos DB for certain AI applications, as well as Oracle, Postgres, and MySQL when clients prefer those solutions.

I started working with SQL at SQL Server six point five in the late nineties. So, I mean, I went to SQL seven, two thousand, and then, you know, just been using it ever since. I've used other platforms, like I said, with ADB and, like, even with MongoDB and DevOps. It's just kinda my favorite one. I like the tools the best. Yeah. Seeking Server Management Studio is probably the best IDE out there for databases. All the other ones, are a little bit slow and clunky. Okay. So

I would rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database a nine out of 10.

We primarily use SQL on Azure for reporting and incident situation awareness around our area. It's utilized for public information dissemination regarding different safety programs, ensuring nothing too complicated or in-depth.

Azure SQL is easy to integrate and simplifies things from a licensing perspective. We're comfortable with SQL versus other types of databases, so we feel better talking to Microsoft.

Reporting and incident situation awareness around our area and just reporting public information. The database seamlessly integrates with other Microsoft applications like SharePoint Online, PowerApps, and PowerFlow. We don't have to worry about maintenance, such as patching the servers. Leveraging other Microsoft technologies outside of our network is a lot easier.

It's a lot easier to create databases. There are some limitations in terms of permissions, but you can create databases by clicking a few buttons. You only need to provide the user authentication, and that's it.

Adding users to Azure SQL could be easier. You need to script it out, but it would be nice if it had a UI where you can click and add them. It's not a major thing because we script things all the time, but it would be a minor thing that helps us.

I have been using SQL on Azure for about ten years.

I haven't encountered any real latency issues. Our internal database is heavily utilized, but externally on the Azure SQL, we don’t push it to its limit.

Based on our limited use cases, Azure SQL appears highly scalable without any issues.

It's really a non-factor at this point, as we are comfortable with the system's ease of use.

Positive

I've used MySQL and other databases before, but our organization decided to go with Microsoft, and it felt natural due to my background as a .NET developer.

The initial setup was straightforward, and the integration process has become much easier over time.

I rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database nine out of 10. 

Our primary use case for Microsoft Azure SQL Database is OLTP workloads.

We've reduced costs a little on the dev side, but not so much in our production workloads. Our productivity is the same as that of on-prem SQL.

Azure SQL is highly available, and I have not really noticed any performance difference compared to my on-prem environment. While we don't have any AI-related workloads on Azure Database, I believe they will be native to SQL 2025, so that might change. 

I would like to see more compatibility with SSMS and more backward compatibility with regular on-prem SQL. The solution is somewhat user-friendly, but it's limited by the lack of full backward compatibility. 

I have been using Azure SQL for three to four years.

I have not really noticed any performance difference compared to my on-prem environment. It's been pretty good.

It is easy to scale in Azure in a way that I cannot scale on-prem. However, it comes at a cost, but overall, it's been beneficial.

We currently have a unified support contract with Microsoft, and we contact them when necessary. However, we have not needed Microsft's help for our migration processes or any regular workloads.

Positive

We did not encounter any challenges during migration or implementation.

We handled our migration processes without needing help from Microsoft.

The cost was a factor in choosing Azure SQL over other options out there.

We chose Azure SQL because it's easy to implement and integrate with our existing tools and and technologies. Most of what we have is within the Microsoft stack, so Azure made sense.

I rate Azure SQL Database eight out of 10. 

Our primary use case for Microsoft Azure SQL Database is to bring up our products and run them on Azure as we have our own TCX products. We have been using AWS in the back end, but we are now expanding to Microsoft Azure.

The native SQL runs great on Microsoft, and the integration with Microsoft applications like Office makes it seamless.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database significantly reduces our operational overhead, freeing us from backup worries and allowing us to focus on other priorities. Additionally, SQL Managed Instance provides clear usage visibility and enables on-demand scaling to meet our evolving needs.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is our go-to database for our products, such as SQL or Oracle. The usability, ease of use, and fine-tuning are beneficial, especially for our IO-intensive application. It empowers us by running our availability through the product side.

Provisioning the instance, connecting to it, and deploying full-stack applications end-to-end on Azure is much easier than AWS. 

Azure SQL provides built-in security and useful troubleshooting tools for identifying and taking action whenever issues arise.

We need improvement in the latency between availability zones. The managed SQL MI does not allow us to control the zone it runs in, which affects latency. It's crucial for us that customers should not be concerned about which availability zone it's running as long as the response time and latency are consistent.

I've been using Microsoft Azure SQL Database for approximately three months.

We experience some latency issues.

We are working on a scalability performance test for SQL MI and comparing it with AWS.

We are expanding our cloud infrastructure from AWS to include Microsoft Azure. Azure's managed database services eliminate the operational overhead of running our own database, allowing us to quickly deploy and connect to pre-configured instances without manual tuning or backups.

The setup is straightforward, being a managed service, so operational overhead is minimized.

We anticipate seeing savings as we start using Microsoft Azure SQL more extensively.

I would rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database eight out of ten. Our experience has been good overall, except for the latency issue. If latency issues are resolved in future releases, I would rate it higher.

Microsoft's expertise in SQL Server is a significant advantage. Their resources are beneficial, and a primary reason for choosing SQL MI is the reduced operational overhead. By eliminating the need for a dedicated database administration team, we can avoid the costs and complexities associated with managing and distributing the database. This is a crucial factor in our decision-making process.

We use nearly all of Azure's services, including virtual machines, application gateways, firewalls, load balancers, and SQL Managed Instances. Our projects involve a comprehensive engagement with the Azure platform.

I work in data transformation, so I focus on doing queries and cleaning up data before sending it to the visualization team.

Integrating AI into our call databases in Azure sparked a significant revolution in what we could achieve. They have AI integrated with Fabric, which was interesting. All the databases now have AI. At first, realizing how AI fits in was challenging because it's only a database. It has data that you can use for artificial intelligence.

We have used SQL for a long time. Azure SQL has helped teams across the organization to use SQL's full potential. I can't say what the cost savings were precisely, but I believe it has reduced the total cost of ownership. 

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is incredibly user-friendly, especially for beginner and intermediate developers. If you have someone who can help you with the tricky stuff, it's simple. On my first day on the job, I thought initializing the SQL databases would be complicated, but when I dove into SQL and learned how to interact with the database, it was straightforward. 

Azure SQL's integration with other Microsoft applications has been a lifesaver. You can use Azure for many things, mainly for running applications. The fact that you can integrate it with all their components in Azure is excellent. 

One area for improvement could be expanding the search queries using vectors or AI inside the database. After seeing its potential in a workshop, I realized the usefulness of more advanced search queries with AI.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is fast and efficient, offering a significant improvement over other databases.

I haven't worked much with workloads, but it appears satisfactory.

My experience includes working with both on-premises databases and AWS databases. We favor Azure because of its simplicity and the user-friendliness of its portal. Microsoft's expertise was also critical because you need to know how to choose between all of the databases that Azure offers, so you'll realize the full potential and make the client happier.

Setting up SQL databases in Azure was initially intimidating, but it turned out to be straightforward and user-friendly.

I rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database 10 out of 10. 

We utilize Microsoft Azure SQL Database for tool and AI analysis on the backend. Its primary function is to analyze backend processes and key performance indicators.

Using Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not difficult.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database has the potential to empower next-generation AI applications, as it has the necessary built-in capabilities. However, cost remains a significant barrier to its widespread adoption for such purposes.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database offers excellent integration with other Microsoft applications.

The most valuable aspect of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is its accessibility. Its global reach makes it far superior to on-premises servers, as worldwide access is significantly easier to manage than navigating on-site security protocols.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database would benefit from enhanced documentation, along with ongoing improvements to scalability and cost-effectiveness.

I have been using Microsoft Azure SQL Database for three years in production and three years in development before that.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database latency is good as long as we set it up right.

We don't have a restriction on scaling. Microsoft Azure SQL Database is cloud-based, so it's great for scaling workloads.

Neutral

We previously utilized an on-premises solution, but the robust security features and seamless integrations offered by Azure SQL Database influenced our decision to migrate.

The deployment was straightforward, with the only challenge being the initial complexity of the documentation, which we overcame by locating additional resources.

I would rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database seven out of ten.