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reviewer1703928 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enterprise Solutions Architect at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Nov 2, 2021
Good Support, and easy to install
Pros and Cons
  • "SQL Server scales well."
  • "While this is a reliable product, it has room for improvement."

What is our primary use case?

We use SQL Server as a database management system for all of our projects.

What needs improvement?

While this is a reliable product, it has room for improvement.

Although Microsoft SQL was accessible in some projects, we did not use it everywhere. It is determined by the project. It's quite beneficial in some circumstances, but it couldn't support SQL databases in others, consequently, we used other suppliers like Oracle, Informix DB, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and others.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using SQL Server for quite some time now.

We use it both on-premises and in the cloud. It is dependent on the projects.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

SQL Server is a stable solution.

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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

SQL Server scales well.

In the future, we may expand our usage.

How are customer service and support?

I don't have any issues with the technical support.

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

We evaluated each product after using it, starting with Informix DB and ending with Oracle.

Oracle, Informix DB, PostgreSQL, and MySQL are among the products we use.

How was the initial setup?

It's quite easy to install.

Completing the installation is not an issue.

What about the implementation team?

My position is not related to installation, but if it is necessary, I am capable of doing it.

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

It requires the purchase of a license. Our company's products all have licenses.

What other advice do I have?

It is appropriate for small and medium-sized businesses.

I would recommend this solution to others.

I would rate SQL Server an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
it_user1694517 - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Director at D3
Real User
Oct 20, 2021
Efficient data retrieval, scalable, and straightforward installation
Pros and Cons
  • "One of the best features of SQL Server is the efficient retrieval of information."
  • "We want to move to Azure, and the solution could be made better to make the process easier for the migration from on-premise to the cloud."
  • "SQL Server is stable. However, Microsoft products have a tendency to crash."

What is our primary use case?

We are using SQL Server for our financial application package.

What is most valuable?

One of the best features of SQL Server is the efficient retrieval of information.

What needs improvement?

We want to move to Azure, and the solution could be made better to make the process easier for the migration from on-premise to the cloud.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used SQL Server for approximately seven years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

SQL Server is stable. However, Microsoft products have a tendency to crash. I would rate it a five out of ten in terms of stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of SQL Server is good.

How was the initial setup?

The solution is straightforward to install.

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

The price of SQL Server could be better in the African market. The licensing model needs to be improved, it is confusing.

What other advice do I have?

I rate SQL Server an eight 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
SQL Server
October 2026
Learn what your peers think about SQL Server. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2026.
920,336 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior DBA & IT Consultant at MA Consulting
Real User
Oct 19, 2021
An easily installable solution which is comparatively easier to manage than Oracle
Pros and Cons
  • "A valuable feature of the solution is that it is comparatively simpler to manage than Oracle."
  • "Database support could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We use the latest version.

Most SQL Server applications come with package applications from the shelf. This means that when one buys an application, most of these applications work with SQL Server as a basis. They add SQL Server as a database to applications which come with it that one buys. As such, I don't see many people developing new applications with SQL server.

What is most valuable?

A valuable feature of the solution is that it is comparatively simpler to manage than Oracle. Now that the Linux version is an option, this can be taken into consideration, since Windows limited one's use to things which could only be done in Windows. 

What needs improvement?

Database support could be improved. Oracle provides better support. 

While the price of the solution is comparatively cheaper, people are paying to Microsoft, in any event, for other things that they're using. 

Thoughs the licensing cost could be cheaper, this depends, as there is nobody who only uses the database with Microsoft. Every company has Windows, Office, Active Directory and all the security features of Microsoft. This means that, overall, when one buys these licenses together, he also gets the database. The focus is not on the price of the database, but what is actually being paid to Microsoft. 

The licensing price could be better, more user-friendly. Things should be be moved from the enterprise to the standard edition. 

For how long have I used the solution?

As with Oracle, we have been using SQL Server for a long time. They actually have the same shelf life. We have been using the solution for around 30 years. 

How are customer service and support?

The support does not reflect how Microsoft used to be. It can depend. Oracle has a much more sophisticated database, so it comes with expanded support. There are many solutions which come out of the box, as all the problems which could arise have already been encountered by the customers. This is why they are building a big data, to have a ready answer for any issue which may arise, the answer being very quick and straightforward. 

When it comes to Microsoft, noone delves deep, so such problems as those arising with Oracle are not encountered. Oracle is much more sophisticated and comes with many problems. This is why the solution comes with better support, as they have already provided a foundation for many of the solutions.

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

We did not use a solution prior to SQL Server, with the exception of, maybe, Access. 

How was the initial setup?

The installation is good. 

It took very little time, a couple hours. 

What about the implementation team?

Installation can be done on one's own. Everything can be done sequentially, from one thing to the next. 

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

While the price of the solution is comparatively cheaper, people are paying to Microsoft in any event for other things that they're using.

Although the licensing cost could be cheaper, this depends, as there is nobody who only uses the database with Microsoft. Every company has Windows, Office, Active Directory and all the security features of Microsoft. This means that, overall, when one buys these licenses together, he also gets the database. The focus is not on the price of the database, but what is actually being paid to Microsoft.

The licensing price could be better, more user-friendly. Things should be moved from the enterprise to the standard edition.

What other advice do I have?

Microsoft is fine. They have done a good job.

As everyone has a station with Microsoft installed, everybody is making use of it. When it comes to the database, this depends on the application. As I said, we are talking about a package solution, so use of the same application could consist of several hundred people or thousands. 

I rate SQL Server as 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.
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reviewer909060 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Developer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Oct 14, 2021
Performs well for our use case
Pros and Cons
  • "SQL Server's performance is fine."
  • "It's a normal DMS, so it can be used everywhere you want to use any RDBMS or relational database."
  • "SQL Server could integrate better with other platforms."

What is our primary use case?

It's a normal DMS, so it can be used everywhere you want to use any RDBMS or relational database. It's for normal transactions.

What needs improvement?

SQL Server could integrate better with other platforms.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using SQL Server for the last six months. Earlier we used DB2, but now we use this one.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

SQL Server's performance is fine.

How are customer service and support?

Microsoft support is fine.

How was the initial setup?

We don't deal with the setup because we are developers. The system or admin team does all those things. So I don't have any idea.

What other advice do I have?

I rate SQL Server eight out of 10. We haven't had any issues, but it depends on the use case. So I would recommend it depending on your use case.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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reviewer1561038 - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Technology Officer at a financial services firm with 11-50 employees
Real User
Oct 2, 2021
Stable, simple installation, but scalability could improve
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup was straightforward."
  • "I would like the SQL Server to be able to provide cloud support. We use the solution with a Korean provider supporting only MySQL rather than Microsoft SQL Server, which would be preferable and cheaper. This would prevent us from having to pay for troubleshooting and hosting the server."
  • "I find the solution not to be scalable."

What is our primary use case?

The main use of this solution is to control and manage data storage information.

What needs improvement?

I would like the SQL Server to be able to provide cloud support. We use the solution with a Korean provider supporting only MySQL rather than Microsoft SQL Server, which would be preferable and cheaper. This would prevent us from having to pay for troubleshooting and hosting the server.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been 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?

I find the solution not to be scalable. 

There are approximately six people in our company using SQL Server.

How are customer service and support?

I have not needed to contact technical support.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward. 

What about the implementation team?

I did the implementation of the solution myself, it does not require any consultants or integrators.

What other advice do I have?

I rate SQL Server a six out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1680246 - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Sep 30, 2021
Stable, straightforward installation, and priced well
Pros and Cons
  • "The installation was straightforward. We did not have a large installation and it took a couple of weeks to complete."
  • "We used SQL Server to store all of our lab data on the database, with a front-end application that needed SQL in the background for archiving all the laboratory data."
  • "The solution could improve by having better integration."

What is our primary use case?

We used SQL Server to store all of our lab data on the database. We had a front-end application that needed SQL in the background for archiving all the laboratory data.

What needs improvement?

The solution could improve by having better integration.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using SQL Server for approximately three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution could be more stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have approximately 200 users that use an application that uses the SQL Servers database.

How was the initial setup?

The installation was straightforward. We did not have a large installation and it took a couple of weeks to complete.

What about the implementation team?

Our IT department does the implementation and maintenance of the solution.

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

There is an annual license and it is priced reasonably.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution.

I rate SQL Server 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
Sundaresan Subramanyan - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder and Managing Director at Analytic Brains Technologies Private Limited
Real User
Sep 26, 2021
Feature-rich databases and user-friendly interface
Pros and Cons
  • "SQL Server's Management Studio is very user friendly. I like their database and the additional features it offers. It's also easy to integrate SQL Server with things like CLR, PowerShell, and command shell"
  • "SQL Server is very powerful and useful when you need to store, retrieve, process, and analyze a large amount of data."
  • "I would like to see SQL Server add the ability to write to multiple sites or support replication between multiple sites at the transaction level."

What is our primary use case?

SQL Server can be useful for a lot of businesses and enterprise solutions. SQL Server is very powerful and useful when you need to store, retrieve, process, and analyze a large amount of data. In my organization, almost everyone uses SQL Server. That's about 10 people using it.

What is most valuable?

SQL Server's Management Studio is very user-friendly. I like their database and the additional features it offers. It's also easy to integrate SQL Server with things like CLR, PowerShell, and command shell

What needs improvement?

I would like to see SQL Server add the ability to write to multiple sites or support replication between multiple sites at the transaction level. If we can have data available on multiple sites as quickly as possible, that would be a great feature.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using SQL Server for around 10 years. I have 30 years of experience in the IT industry. In that time, I have worked on different kinds of databases, such as Oracle. Before that, I worked on FoxPro. I have also worked with PostgreSQL.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's absolutely scalable. 

How are customer service and technical support?

Our clients are the end-users of the SQL Server applications, and we do all the development and maintenance for them. So anything related to support, our clients take care of it.

How was the initial setup?

I work on the development and performance-tuning side, so I don't do the installation but my guess would be that it is pretty straightforward by now. 

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

I am not aware of the cost because our clients take care of them, but I think there are enterprise licenses. If you go for Azure Cloud databases, then you just can pay as you go.

What other advice do I have?

SQL Server is my favorite database. Because I've been working on it for so many years, I like it. I have only good things to say about it. I would rate SQL Server nine out of 10.

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. Partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1671969 - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Architect at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Sep 26, 2021
Reliable and easy to use
Pros and Cons
  • "It's easy to use and fairly intuitive. I do development and data analysis, so we do a lot of work with SSIS and SQL Job Scheduler. Deploying new databases is very simple with things like BACPAC."
  • "In my experience, it's been reliable and easy to use."
  • "One thing I don't like about SQL Server is the way they've set up security with users and groups. It just doesn't seem that intuitive to me. Adding some more explanatory information might help some."

What is our primary use case?

We do data warehousing, and our clients are mainly large commercial Insurance providers in the United States.

What is most valuable?

It's easy to use and fairly intuitive. I do development and data analysis, so we do a lot of work with SSIS and SQL Job Scheduler. Deploying new databases is very simple with things like BACPAC. You don't have to do all the scripting for the database, then all the tables, keys, etc. It takes all that out of your hands.

What needs improvement?

One thing I don't like about SQL Server is the way they've set up security with users and groups. It just doesn't seem that intuitive to me. Adding some more explanatory information might help some. Sometimes the documentation is a little thin, but the same could be said about a lot of products.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using SQL Server on and off since it first came out in the 1990s. Most of the people I've worked for are SQL Server shops.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I can't really speak intelligently about that because I haven't been on any of the real big ones yet. 

How was the initial setup?

The complexity of the initial setup really depends. Obviously, you're going to need to know a few things and there are different ways to do deployments. I like the BACPAC, which is one of the features that come with SQL Server. It's a nice feature to deploy. BACPAC really handles all of the configuration for you. If you use that, I don't think you really need to know too much. If we're talking about a small database that holds a few thousand records, it doesn't matter what you're doing. You can't make a mistake because it's just not big enough.  

We do a lot of Azure-based on-demand type systems where we host the system or we host it in Azure. We do the work for them. So we don't really do a lot of those installs.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We're going a lot heavier into Azure and we're going to be dealing with lots of volume because insurance data is pretty voluminous. I think some of our clients don't like the idea of having one gigantic VM system to run the database. That's one reason why they're switching to Snowflake. We had to do some SSRS stuff in the past, and I think they're moving over to Power BI mostly.

What other advice do I have?

I'd probably rate SQL Server nine out of 10. I don't think I'd give anybody a 10, but I think nine's about the best I can do. In my experience, it's been reliable and easy to use.

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
Principal, Sr. IT Consultant at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
Consultant
Sep 22, 2021
It is fairly easy to work with
Pros and Cons
  • "It is fairly easy to work with, and I like the high-availability options, like mirroring for example, and the high-availability groups."
  • "The Management Studio is a pretty heavy piece of software, and it's sometimes slow. I would recommend making an express version of the Management Studio, which is lighter and has fewer features but is a little faster."

What is our primary use case?

We set up SQL Servers for developers who develop applications for data mining. Our clients are generally small or medium-sized businesses. There's also a SQL Server Express that many software vendors use to support their applications. That gets installed often—usually as part of the application installation. 

What is most valuable?

It is fairly easy to work with. I like the high-availability options, like mirroring for example, and the high-availability groups. It's quite an interesting feature that enables high availability for the SQL Server. I think it's important. So that's the feature that I'm particularly interested in and it works pretty well.

What needs improvement?

The Management Studio is a pretty heavy piece of software, and it's sometimes slow. I would recommend making an express version of the Management Studio, which is lighter and has fewer features but is a little faster.

For how long have I used the solution?

"Using" is the wrong word. We mostly set it up for others. The last time we set up an SQL Server for a client was about a year ago.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We haven't had any experiences. The software hasn't been unstable or glitchy in our environment so far.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In terms of scalability, it would be closed to a high-availability group. So I would say it varies in scale. 

What other advice do I have?

I would rate it nine out of 10. Nothing's perfect.

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. Partner
PeerSpot user
Group DWH and BI Senior Manager at Virgin Mobile Middle East and Africa
Real User
Sep 22, 2021
Low maintenance, helpful online community, and flexible
Pros and Cons
  • "The SQL Server is low maintenance, it does not require advanced technical skills to maintain or use it as you might in other similar database solutions. You need some knowledge on how to access the solution and how to query it but it is fairly straightforward."
  • "SQL Server could improve by enhancing the integration abilities, adding more inbuilt data security features, and simplifying the maintenance."

What is our primary use case?

We use SQL Server as a relational database mostly for the application backend activities and integrations.

What is most valuable?

The SQL Server is low maintenance, it does not require advanced technical skills to maintain or use it as you might in other similar database solutions. You need some knowledge on how to access the solution and how to query it but it is fairly straightforward.

What needs improvement?

SQL Server could improve by enhancing the integration abilities, adding more inbuilt data security features, and simplifying the maintenance.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using SQL Server for approximately 10 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

SQL Server is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable and flexible.

We have approximately 15 people using the solution in my organization.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support from Microsoft is good but we have learned and received the most help from the online community.

How was the initial setup?

The installation difficulty level depends on the use case and environment. For example, if you need to deploy it on multiple nodes or have large amounts of storage it could increase the difficulty level. 

What about the implementation team?

We have a team of approximately five database administrators and application developers who handle the setup and maintenance of the solution.

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

There is a license required for the use of SQL Server and we are on an annual subscription.

What other advice do I have?

I rate SQL Server a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free SQL Server Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: October 2026
Buyer's Guide
Download our free SQL Server Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.