We use this solution as our database.
Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The stability needs improvement but it is easy to scale
Pros and Cons
- "Similar to Microsoft SQL, it is easy to scale."
- "Similar to Microsoft SQL, it is easy to scale."
- "It could be more stable."
- "SQL Server is a stable solution, but it could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
What needs improvement?
It could be more stable.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using SQL Server for four or five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
SQL Server is a stable solution, but it could be improved.
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Similar to Microsoft SQL, it is easy to scale.
We have a team of 300 people who are using this solution.
How are customer service and support?
I have not contacted technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, I used MySQL.
How was the initial setup?
I was not involved in the installation.
We have an IT team to complete the installation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is no licensing cost for SQL Server.
What other advice do I have?
I am a user of this solution but I don't know that I understand it well enough to recommend it to others because I did not install it.
I would rate SQL Server a five 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.
ICT Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Stable, easy to use, and simple to deploy
Pros and Cons
- "The product can scale if a company needs it to."
- "Technical support has been helpful and responsive."
- "The solution could be more secure."
- "The solution could be more secure."
What is our primary use case?
We have used it in a variety of ways, including for e-commerce deployments.
What is most valuable?
The solution is easy to use.
The deployments are very easy.
Technical support is very helpful.
The product can scale if a company needs it to.
The stability is quite reliable.
What needs improvement?
The product can cost a bit, however, it depends on how you use it.
The solution could be more secure.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution over a number of years. I may have started originally around 2000. It's likely been two decades or so.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is quite stable. there are no bugs or glitches. it doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
You can scale this solution if you need to. It's not an issue.
Everyone in our company is using the product. We have about 80 users on it currently.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support has been helpful and responsive. We have no complaints. We are satisfied with the level of service provided to our company.
How was the initial setup?
The solution is very easy to deploy. It's not a problem.
The amount of time it takes to deploy depends on what you want the solution to do for your company.
What about the implementation team?
We have an installer available to us that can guide us through the process and help us choose the right options.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution can get expensive. You do need to pay a licensing fee in order to use it. I can't speak to the exact costs. There are different subscription types and the subscription a company needs depends on the deployment they have in mind.
What other advice do I have?
I've used the solution on a couple of deployments and also deploy patches.
I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten.
I would recommend the solution to other organizations and companies.
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?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
SQL Server
March 2026
Learn what your peers think about SQL Server. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
886,719 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Modern Data Center and Cloud Engineer II at IE Network Solutions PLC
Easy to use, scalable, and good technical support
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is easy to use."
- "The technical support is good from Microsoft."
- "The performance could improve."
- "The performance could improve."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution for managing our database functions.
What is most valuable?
The solution is easy to use.
What needs improvement?
The performance could improve.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for approximately four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have found SQL Server stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I have found it to be scalable.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support is good from Microsoft. We have four people that do the maintenance of the solution.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward, it took approximately one hour.
What about the implementation team?
I did the implementation myself.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is a license required for this solution.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others.
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.
Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Stable, easy to use, and offers a quick deployment
Pros and Cons
- "The installation is pretty straightforward."
- "We use the solution both on the cloud and on-premises and we have been pleased with its capabilities overall."
- "The pricing of the product could be better."
- "The pricing of the product could be better."
What is most valuable?
Right now, we are using DB2 and the SQL Server. It's really helpful for the replication of data. It's real-time and very easy to use.
The product is very stable. We find it to be reliable.
The scalability is okay.
The installation is pretty straightforward.
What needs improvement?
For now, we've found the features to be sufficient. I cannot recall feeling anything is actually missing.
The pricing of the product could be better. They could make it more reasonable or more competitive.
Microsoft's technical support could be better.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been supporting these servers for a couple of years at this point. It's likely been about two or so years. We've worked with them for a while.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. We're happy with it.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability potential depends on the resources. If the resources are enough, we can scale it. For us, it's already enough. However, if a company plans to expand, it should be prepared for that beforehand.
We have more than ten users on the solution currently.
How are customer service and technical support?
Microsoft technical support could be improved upon. They aren't the best. They could always be better.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We also use IBM DB2. We support it for our customers.
How was the initial setup?
We have found the solution to be straightforward. It's not overly difficult or complex. A company shouldn't have any issue with implementation.
The product implementation process depends on the needs of the client. For us, deployment was around 30 minutes to one hour. It's pretty quick.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution could be priced more competitively. We'd, of course, like it to be lower. Microsoft can sometimes be expensive.
Each customer needs their own license.
What other advice do I have?
We use the solution both on the cloud and on-premises.
I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten. We've been pleased with its capabilities overall.
I would recommend the solution to other users and companies. They should know that it is very easy to use.
We had two people that handled the initial setup - an engineer and a manager. It's pretty easy to handle if an engineer is doing the setup.
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
Senior Manager at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
Easy to manage with good stability and knowledgable technical support
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is easy to set up."
- "We find the Microsoft SQL Server affordable compared to its real competitors, easy to manage, and it offers a very robust infrastructure for us."
- "The configuration process can be a little complex."
- "While we have many options in Enterprise, it's expensive for most companies."
What is most valuable?
We find the Microsoft SQL Server affordable compared to its real competitors.
We find it easy to manage.
It offers a very robust infrastructure for us.
The solution is easy to set up.
We have found the stability to be good.
We've had a good experience with technical support. They are helpful.
What needs improvement?
We may use different levels of SQL Server when it comes to licensing. We have some Enterprise and some Standard services. They can improve the recovery processes of the replication or disaster recovery scenarios for the lower-tiered version, such as the Standard server.
While we have many options in Enterprise, it's expensive for most companies.
The configuration process can be a little complex.
Technical support can take a while to respond in Turkey.
The solution may be better with some integration with some factory cloud software. With the standard version, the lodgement process is never enough. We are replicating near real-time to make recovery easy and to make all the RPO targets as expected.
You cannot recover SQL Servers, especially for big financial companies like ours. It's not easy to erect SQL Servers on any other site, and with an acceptable data loss in the foundations.
For how long have I used the solution?
Personally, I have used the solution for about 15 years at this point. It's well over a decade. I've used it for a while.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability has been great. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. it's reliable.
How are customer service and technical support?
The Microsoft team never responds fast in Turkey. I cannot say they are fast. Unless you have some Enterprise agreement, they're not quick. However, I find that when I deal with the same technician a few times, they are quite good and very helpful. They are very capable. They know what they are talking about.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We also use Oracle Servers.
How was the initial setup?
The initial implementation is easy and straightforward. It's not overly complex or difficult to set up.
However, it's not just the server we have to set up. We have a cluster environment. Mostly it's just, click, click, click and you are done, however, the configuration process is a bit more difficult. Adjusting performance levels, in particular, can be a real challenge.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The enterprise version of the solution is very expensive and most companies would likely find that they wouldn't be able to afford it.
What other advice do I have?
We're a customer and an end-user.
I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten. We've been very happy with its capabilities.
I would recommend the solution, however, it will only be effective if the company hires an effective administrator. While there are default settings, you will likely need to configure quite a bit and connect most of your hardware in the correct way. To be effective, it really needs to be tuned by a professional.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Chief Information Officer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
Easy to use, scalable, and reliable
Pros and Cons
- "The main feature of this solution is ease of use."
- "SQL Server has been very scalable."
What is our primary use case?
We use SQL Server for database management.
What is most valuable?
The main feature of this solution is ease of use.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using SQL Server within the past 12 months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable and reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
SQL Server has been very scalable.
We have approximately 200 users using the solution in my organization.
How are customer service and technical support?
We are satisfied with the technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used a different solution in the other company I worked for.
What about the implementation team?
We have a hardware support partner who does the implementation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of the solution could be cheaper.
What other advice do I have?
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.
Marketo Consultant at Webtech software servies
Easy to query, straightforward for beginners, and extensive online support community
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of this solution are easy queries and straightforward programming for beginners."
- "The most valuable features of this solution are easy queries and straightforward programming for beginners."
- "SQL Server could improve by providing something similar to an interface or dashboard where a developer can do debugging, this would make a developer's work easier. Additionally, the optimization could be better. If there was an interface showing information needed for the optimization it would help because there can be some data loss making it difficult to optimize the SQL Server."
- "SQL Server could improve by providing something similar to an interface or dashboard where a developer can do debugging, this would make a developer's work easier."
What is our primary use case?
We use SQL Server for web application and website development.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of this solution are easy queries and straightforward programming for beginners.
What needs improvement?
SQL Server could improve by providing something similar to an interface or dashboard where a developer can do debugging, this would make a developer's work easier. Additionally, the optimization could be better. If there was an interface showing information needed for the optimization it would help because there can be some data loss making it difficult to optimize the SQL Server.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution within the past 12 months.
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 scalability is good for simple applications. However, the problem with scalability is if the application is too large, it cannot handle it. We have to depend on other database servers.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have not used technical support but I have used the open forums online that provide all the information that we have needed. There is a large online community for support.
How was the initial setup?
The installation is straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is a license required for this solution and we pay monthly. The price is reasonable compared to other solutions.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others.
I rate SQL Server an eight 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.
Senior BI Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Overall high quality features, reliable, and good technical support
Pros and Cons
- "I have found the whole solution with all its features wonderful."
- "This solution acts as the backbone of most IT services."
- "If this solution could provide an automatic indexing feature it would be very useful."
- "There are scalability limitations and this is why we are evaluating cloud alternatives."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case is for SQL Server is data warehousing and business intelligence.
How has it helped my organization?
This solution acts as the backbone of most IT services. It is essential for us to use it.
What is most valuable?
I have found the whole solution with all its features wonderful.
What needs improvement?
If this solution could provide an automatic indexing feature it would be very useful.
In the next release, there could be better integration with Power BI or other tools.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for approximately 20 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable. There has been a few bugs but all solutions have them at one time or another.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
There are scalability limitations and this is why we are evaluating cloud alternatives.
I rate the scalability of SQL Server a four out of five.
How are customer service and technical support?
We provide support for our clients but if we need support we receive it quickly because we are prime customers.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We are currently evaluating cloud options.
What other advice do I have?
I would advise those wanting to implement this solution to thoroughly investigate if this is the right tool for their use case.
I rate SQL Server an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. partner
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