We use the solution as a customer database for travel desk applications.
Lead Technical Consultant and PM Manager with 11-50 employees
Good scalability and has an easy initial setup process
Pros and Cons
- "Its technical support team is good."
- "They should include more accessible functions for image tooling."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The solution suits well for our server requirements. It doesn't require an extensive system to run. So, it is a fast, limited, and affordable database serving our business purpose.
What needs improvement?
They should include more accessible functions for image tooling. Presently, we are using optional features for it.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for about two years.
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Microsoft Azure SQL Database
December 2024
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is moderately stable. I rate its stability an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable solution. We have around 200 solution users in our organization. I rate its scalability an eight out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
The solution's technical support team is good.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, I used Microsoft's on-premises version.
How was the initial setup?
The solution's initial setup was straightforward. I rate the process an eight out of ten. It took one or two days to deploy it. Since it is cloud-based, we followed the standard Azure mechanism.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is moderately expensive. I rate the pricing a six out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
One should be clear about their reporting environment. For instance, Microsoft ecosystem reporting supports only Power BI. Secondly, one should ensure they utilize more customization options than already issued.
I rate the solution as eight. It is a familiar product for users who already work on Microsoft environments. If you need a limited cut-down version, it also has an option for a single database.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT Support Engineer - AZURE Administrator at Mindspring Computing
Straightforward setup, stable, and scalable
Pros and Cons
- "The reason we moved to the cloud was for the convenience of not having any physical hardware to maintain."
- "Microsoft could improve its documentation and support."
What is our primary use case?
We use SQL Azure for the SAP application, an accounting software that facilitates transactions between different departments. The financial trends we run on SAP are supported by SQL, which is the back end of that application.
What is most valuable?
The reason we moved to the cloud was for the convenience of not having any physical hardware to maintain. As a technical person, this has reduced the amount of maintenance I need to do, allowing me to focus more on backups since the Azure infrastructure takes care of itself. Additionally, this is cost-effective for the organization since we are not spending much time on servicing infrastructure. Furthermore, it is convenient because we only pay for the time we use the solution, and are not billed for the time we are not using it.
What needs improvement?
Microsoft could improve its documentation and support. Without the necessary knowledge and expertise, it can be difficult to navigate the platform and find a technical person to guide us through. There is not currently enough documentation available to make it easy to use. If I had not been certified in Azure, I would have faced a lot of difficulties.
I would like reports attached to my phone if there's an error that occurs within SQL Azure or if there are updates that need to run, I would like to receive notifications.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable. We only had one outage last year and it didn't even last for 30 minutes.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support has always been good, but recently I had two encounters, last year when I spoke to a consultant from Africa these people provided support, but it almost sounded as if they didn't have enough knowledge. They didn't have enough technical knowledge of my problem to call me back after they had consulted. The support didn't feel like it was Microsoft support contacting me.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward and only took one day.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
When looking at the long-term expenses associated with running software on an on-premises server, the costs are almost equivalent but when we include insurance for devices, onsite fees for servers, and other related costs, we may find that this is a cost-effective solution.
What other advice do I have?
I give the solution a ten out of ten. I don't see anything wrong with SQL Azure. I believe it's actually an advantage because previously we had to install SQL solutions on a physical computer. The good thing is that has been translated onto the cloud and that makes it a very good feature. SQL Azure itself, is a robust application that does a lot and integrates with a lot of applications. The reason I like SQL Azure better is that it's easily accessible and the setup is almost exactly the same as we do on the physical machines, but the good thing is there's no machine to maintain the grid.
We selected SQL Azure because it was recommended to us by the safety provider of our accounting software.
I recommend the solution to others.
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:
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure SQL Database
December 2024
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Azure SQL Database. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Subject Matter Expert at Vision Software
A Cloud solution, with ensured availability, and performance
Pros and Cons
- "The administration console in Azure, all in one is the most valuable feature."
- "I think that the cost management in SQL is not clear because we may use some tax to identify products, but in some cases identifying the transactions in SQL is not easy for some financial cost centers."
What is our primary use case?
The primary use case is to pass services for applications of some customers, where they have maybe the front end in dot net and another language, and SQL service in Azure.
What is most valuable?
The administration console in Azure, all in one is the most valuable feature. Monitoring the transactions in Azure and the elasticity when we need to grow the databases for our customers.
What needs improvement?
I think that the cost management in SQL is not clear because we may use some tax to identify products, but in some cases identifying the transactions in SQL is not easy for some financial cost centers. Perhaps if in Azure cost management we have the opportunity to monitor the SQL cost in more detail, it will be helpful.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for around four years.
What other advice do I have?
I give the solution a nine out of ten.
In some cases, our customers need to move forward with their SQL projects and when they try to budget in the Azure pricing calculator some costs appear that in the production environment are very different. This becomes problematic for customers when they use SQL Pass services.
We are an IT company, so I'm an architect for that company using Azure solutions. Many users in many companies use SQL. I estimate maybe around 1,000 final users and technical staff from each company are using SQL Azure.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid 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
Head of Cloud Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Easy setup, good backup features, and good stability and scalability
Pros and Cons
- "The backup features are the most valuable."
- "Its compatibility with existing applications can be improved. Its compatibility is currently a little bit imbalanced."
What is our primary use case?
We use it as a backend product. We are using the Managed Instance and the SQL Database.
What is most valuable?
The backup features are the most valuable.
What needs improvement?
Its compatibility with existing applications can be improved. Its compatibility is currently a little bit imbalanced.
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?
It is pretty good. It seems very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It has good scalability. We have about a thousand users.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support was very good. I would rate them a ten out of ten.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is pretty easy. The deployment took about a day.
What other advice do I have?
It is a good product for any new development or organization.
I would rate SQL Azure a nine out of ten. It is working fine right now, and I am pretty happy with this solution.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Solution architect at ACS
A highly stable solution that has user-friendly VMs
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of SQL Azure is the user-friendly VMs."
- "The solution’s visibility could be improved."
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of SQL Azure is the user-friendly VMs.
What needs improvement?
The solution’s visibility could be improved.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution's stability is good, and we haven't faced any issues so far.
I rate SQL Azure a nine out of ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
SQL Azure is a scalable solution. Around ten users are regularly using SQL Azure in our organization.
How was the initial setup?
The solution’s initial setup is straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
The solution’s deployment takes hardly a day.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I rate SQL Azure ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
Solutions Architect - Cloud at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
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.
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 would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
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
Director of IT at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Offers High Availability and a decrease in total operating cost compared to on-premises
Pros and Cons
- "This solution offers high availability, and business continuity is in place."
- "This solution would be improved with the inclusion of better self-service tools."
What is our primary use case?
We offer this solution as part of a bundle to our customers for which we offer technical services. We are aiming to have a centralized marketplace.
We have experience with hybrid, on-premises, and public cloud deployments. We have a complex environment and are slowly transitioning to this solution. Our production environment is the only one that we're putting into Microsoft Azure. For security reasons, we still have some systems on-premises.
What is most valuable?
The DR for this solution is Active/Active.
This solution offers high availability, and business continuity is in place.
What needs improvement?
This solution would be improved with the inclusion of better self-service tools.
It needs to be easier for my technical teams to perform support tasks.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for about four months.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This solution is scalable. Multiple tiers and multiple layers are there.
How are customer service and technical support?
We are still very early in the process and have not yet had many use cases. However, at this stage, Microsoft is working proactively with us. We have premium-level support.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of this solution is usually complex, especially for an enterprise customer. This solution is tailored to specific customers, which is why complexity varies.
The typical deployment takes six months.
What was our ROI?
Our Total Cost of Operations is cheaper using this solution as compared to an on-premises deployment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licensing for this solution is based on subscription. We have an enterprise license, so the price of this solution is high.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend this solution, as long as the cloud environment is suitable.
This is a good solution, but from the angle of security, everything can be breached.
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Chief Technology Officer & Vice President, Delivery at a recruiting/HR firm with 1-10 employees
Easy to scale, easy to deploy, good pricing, and has lots of out-of-the-box features
Pros and Cons
- "It is easily scalable, and it is faster than SQL Server. It is also less expensive than using SQL Server. It has the pay-as-you-go model, and the charges are based on the usage."
- "There are some limitations for cross-database queries and features. The migration of data from older systems should be easier. For deployment, there are too many options, which sometimes makes it difficult to figure out the best option. There is not enough information to help you to find the best option for deployment. There should be more documentation about this."
What is our primary use case?
We use it for benefits management in the healthcare domain.
How has it helped my organization?
It helps us deploy new applications very quickly. We have set up everything on Azure, including SQL Azure.
It has a lot of out-of-the-box features, which is useful. It is easy to move applications for disaster recovery or availability, and all these features are out of the box.
What is most valuable?
It is easily scalable, and it is faster than SQL Server. It is also less expensive than using SQL Server. It has the pay-as-you-go model, and the charges are based on the usage.
What needs improvement?
There are some limitations for cross-database queries and features. The migration of data from older systems should be easier.
For deployment, there are too many options, which sometimes makes it difficult to figure out the best option. There is not enough information to help you to find the best option for deployment. There should be more documentation about this.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for a couple of years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is easily scalable. We have around 60 to 70 users. We'll be increasing its usage. We are gradually moving to SQL Azure for all our requirements.
How are customer service and technical support?
Their technical support is prompt, but some of our issues have not been addressed, even though the team is trying. We didn't have a good experience with them for a couple of issues, but overall, they have been good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We got everything ready-made in Azure because our all applications are in the .NET framework and SQL, so we found SQL Azure to be the most suitable option.
How was the initial setup?
It is straightforward, but if you're migrating data from SQL Server, it is quite time-consuming and not so easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I am not aware of the exact pricing, but our monthly bill for Azure is around 80,000. It is less expensive than using SQL Server. It has the pay-as-you-go model, and the charges are based on the usage.
What other advice do I have?
If you are migrating from older systems, you should know that CLR is not supported in SQL Azure. Data migration can also be a challenge.
I would rate SQL Azure a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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