Microsoft Azure SQL Database Reviews

Our primary use cases are logging for behavioral analysis similar to Google Analytics and transaction logging for our web pages for customers.

We use Azure Hybrid Benefit because we're a legacy company, and we have a SQL database from many years ago. We are migrating some databases to the cloud have seen a nice reduction in costs using this hybrid benefit. Shifting our corporate programs to the cloud is more or less the same due to the ease of implementation. We've cut costs by around 70 percent. 

Azure SQL is easy and feels similar to on-premise systems. The cloud solution is effortless to set up.

One area for improvement is setting up logs, especially for servers like VM SQL. It was also tricky to connect services on VNets to on-premise. We also had difficulty integrating some Azure resources. For example, app services in Azure Kubernetes may be difficult to integrate if these servers are on a VNet.  Semantic search or vector search should be enabled by default.

We have been using Azure SQL Database for about two years.

Azure SQL's latency was amazing with local data storage, but we had challenges using external tables in packets and delta tables. We're facing some high latencies, about one or five seconds for small packets delta tables. This could be improved.

We haven't utilized workloads for Azure SQL Database's scalability. We employ stored procedures for processing alongside database externals, making scalability less tested on our end.

The Microsoft support plan has a one-hour SLA, which was crucial in our decision-making process regarding database options.

Positive

We previously used VM SQL and have SQL Managed Instance now. We are not using Azure SQL database to power AI applications. We use NetGood Database SQL 2025 to search.

We had to migrate some legacy SQL databases to the cloud. The process went smoothly.

We reduced our TCO using Azure SQL.

I would rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database eight out of 10. If VNet integration was improved, I would rate it higher. The integration with VNets was a critical issue.

I use Azure SQL for reporting on data that I've collected for administration purposes.

Azure SQL improves my personal productivity because I can have a larger database.

The toolset is familiar to me since I've used SQL Server on-premises for quite a few years. Azure SQL Server integrates with other Microsoft applications very well.

Azure SQL had a bit of a learning curve to start, but it was fairly simple once I understood how to develop it. I was using PowerShell to connect to it, and I've never connected to online databases through Azure using PowerShell. Scripting the PowerShell connections could be simpler. The coding is familiar, but figuring out how to use it initially can be easier.

I have been using Azure SQL for about a year.

It seems like the stability is getting there.

I have not seen any issues with scalability. My database is not huge, but it's not small. It handles it quite well and is pretty fast.

I used some product documentation for PowerShell scripting. Other than that, I didn't reach out to support or any of our TAMs.

Positive

Familiarity was the reason for choosing SQL. I knew SQL, so that's what I preferred to do. SQL seemed to be the one with familiarity and price as key factors.

Our environment has a lot of security, so we have to open channels and configure the prerequisites for connectivity. Before you start implementing, you need everything to be set up. 

I'd give Microsoft Azure SQL Database a nine out of ten.

The primary use case is working for a government client that receives a lot of data and information from all the states. They process these documents using Azure and Power Virtual Agents to retrieve information and store it in Azure SQL. Previously, we used it for .NET applications, and some of our core applications involved SharePoint, which has an SQL back end. The solution has a broad range. 

Due to the continuous influx of data, we chose Azure SQL for faster processing. SQL Server has significantly improved organizational operations. Previously, managers had to manually review and manage thousands of records weekly, which is a slow process. 

SQL Server's ability to automate data processing and validation through virtual agents and integration with other Microsoft applications like Power Virtual Agents and Azure SQL has dramatically improved efficiency. It has expedited the data processing and validation, allowing managers to focus on strategic tasks.

The Power Virtual Agents help us go through documents and load data into SQL.

The next stage is to create chatbots for customers to send us information. This automation has been a fantastic improvement over previous manual processes

The document storage is primarily relational, which is not ideally suited for SQL. If there were better integration with SharePoint for document handling in SQL, it would greatly benefit the organization. Moreover, the current on-premise limitations prevent direct file pulling, limiting certain capabilities.

We have used Azure SQL for around four years.

One reason we chose Azure SQL was its scalability. We started with a few gigabytes of data, but we anticipate growth once we integrate chatbots and AI features, making Azure's scalability features like Elasticity essential.

We had a positive experience with Microsoft support during implementation.

Positive

The installation was smooth. We faced a few minor challenges on the government level with opening the firewalls for SQL to communicate with our applications. The cloud implementation is straightforward. 

The Microsoft FastTrack team played an integral role in the implementation, providing valuable guidance and expertise.

Data from SQL was previously pulled for different applications built on Java by creating APIs. We also prefer SQL because we have existing enterprise licenses with the government.

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

We use it primarily as a data warehouse. We receive a lot of data from external vendors, and our goal is to consolidate all the information. Using data from various sources, we generate reports to support internal teams in the organization, mainly for operational tasks.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database has greatly improved maintainability by eliminating the need to manage on-premises SQL servers. The ease of scaling the server up and down by simply pressing a few buttons in a dropdown menu has made our lives significantly more comfortable, especially as we aim to process more data this year by utilizing the cloud.

It has helped to reduce our organization's total cost of ownership when it comes to our IT team who don't spend as much money on hardware, cooling, monitoring temperatures, and tasks like that. I know that IT people don't have to come into the office on weekends to make upgrades, do maintenance, or if there are alerts, and tasks like that.

It is easy to use. We interface with it using SQL Server Management Studio, which only requires a change in connection, so the interface remains consistent. This simplicity in usability, along with improved organizational productivity where we no longer need to maintain on-premises SQL servers, is invaluable. Scaling up and down the server with ease is a significant benefit, particularly as we aim to handle an increased data workload this year. Additionally, the integration of multiple services within Azure simplifies our operations. 

My company is in the early stages of exploring its ability to power next-generation AI applications. We've tried AI Studio. It's a little too data science-y for what our team does. Trying to connect our data with AI has a high learning curve.

It's been really easy to integrate with other Microsoft applications. We're currently in the middle of migrating a bunch of ETL packages and processes to Azure Data Factory. Everything living in Azure makes it really easy. 

Maintainability has increased a lot. We don't have to maintain the on-prem SQL Server because we don't have to maintain anything anymore. Maintainability has increased a lot in terms of the amount of time needed to do that. It's been really nice being able to scale the server up and down. It's made our lives a lot easier, especially since we're trying to ingest much more data this year.

We're trying to manage our costs better. We've noticed an unexpected increase in the cost of running the server over the past few months. Addressing pricing clarity and alignment would help us. Also, incorporating AI functionalities like Copilot into SQL Server Management Studio could enhance productivity by assisting with query writing and troubleshooting.

Professionally, I have been using SQL for about five years. At my company, we used on-premises databases for a long time, and in January of this year, we migrated to Microsoft Azure SQL Database. We have been running it for eleven months now.

So far, there have been no issues reported with latency and availability.

The experience has been positive. It is easy to scale up when needed and scale back down if required.

We used on-premises SQL servers. The switch to Microsoft Azure SQL Database was influenced by the elimination of maintenance required for on-premises systems and the desire to manage all technologies under one umbrella within Azure, considering our existing cloud footprint.

The initial setup was straightforward. It involved changing the connection string within SQL Server Management Studio, maintaining consistency in interfacing.

The team that migrated struggled with replication in the very beginning where replicating our database for redundancy seemed like it was over replicating. The amount of storage that it was taking up was four to five x our actual database size. We had to increase the capacity of it and that increased cost for a little bit until we shut down the replication. 

The price for running the server increased more than expected in recent months, and better alignment of pricing expectations is needed. Notably, costs related to IT staff coming into the office on weekends or monitoring hardware have presumably decreased.

During our evaluation, pricing was a key consideration, and Microsoft Azure's pricing model was more appealing compared to other competitors. The extensive cloud footprint we already had in Azure contributed to our choice.

On a scale from one to ten, I rate the overall product an eight.

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.

I use Azure SQL for data storage and querying for applications.

Azure SQL works well. Our applications are hosted in AKS, and we can easily do the security and authentication. It's easer to set up than an on-premise SQL database, so that has had a positive effect on our productivity. 

We've saved time setting up the databases. While I'm not involved in the maintenance, I'm sure that's also a big factor. It's hosted in the cloud, so we don't have to maintain the servers. 

Azure SQL is really straightforward to use. It's nice that it's just SQL but in the cloud. We've switched from the on-premise SQL databases we use and have Azure SQL for some of our more recent stuff. It's seamless.

The AI applications sound neat. We haven't really gotten to do that yet, but we like that it works so well with Fabric. It seems like something we could easily connect.

One thing we struggled with was the network stuff. We had to figure out how to ensure we were secure. That part took a bit, but we're in a great spot now. We had to work with security to figure out our network policies. We're in a private instance, so you can only connect to it from our VPN. We've made some progress, and it's much easier to use now. Some more documentation and suggestions for network policies could be helpful.

We have used Azure SQL for a couple of years at this point.

The stability is great. I haven't noticed any problems with it so far.

The scalability is useful. Unlike our on-premise SQL Database, which is not easily scalable, Azure SQL allows us to increase the tier and get more performance as needed.

We switched from on-premise SQL databases to Azure SQL for more recent projects because it's easier to set up in the cloud without dealing with complex network rules.

We have a lot of people who are experts in Microsoft SQL stuff, so switching to Azure SQL was just a piece of cake for them because it's basically the same thing. 

We used our internal team, who are experts in Microsoft SQL, to switch to Azure SQL, finding it to be a seamless transition.

I rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database 10 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. 

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.