Microsoft Azure Reviews, Competitors and Pricing

Head of IT with 51-200 employees

Aug 10, 2013

Simple Calculator for Comparing Windows Azure Blob Storage and Amazon S3 Pricing

UPDATE – 06-DECEMBER-2012

I originally wrote this post in September 2012. Recently at their re:Invent event, Amazon announced reduction in their storage prices by 24-28% (http://aws.typepad.com/aws/2012/11/amazon-s3-price-reduction-december-1-2012.html). Yesterday Microsoft announced similar price reduction (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsazure/archive/2012/12/05/announcing-reduced-pricing-for-windows-azure-storage.aspx). I have updated this blog post taking these price reductions into consideration and including them in my calculator below. Please note that both Amazon and Windows Azure have reduced only the storage charges. They have not changed the transaction charges or the bandwidth (Egress) charges. The new prices for Amazon became effective as of 01-December-2012 while that for Windows Azure will become effective on 12-December-2012.

Few months back, I wrote a few blog posts comparing Windows Azure Blob Storage and Amazon S3 services. You can read those blog posts here:

http://gauravmantri.com/2012/05/09/comparing-windows-azure-blob-storage-and-amazon-simple-storage-service-s3part-i/

http://gauravmantri.com/2012/05/11/comparing-windows-azure-blob-storage-and-amazon-simple-storage-service-s3part-ii/

http://gauravmantri.com/2012/05/13/comparing-windows-azure-blob-storage-and-amazon-simple-storage-service-s3summary/

Since pricing for both of these services are changing quite frequently and depended upon a number of factors, it was not possible for me to pinpoint exactly which service is cheaper. I created a simple calculator where you can input appropriate values and compare the cost of both of these services to you.

As mentioned in my other blog posts, the pricing depends on 3 factors in both services:

Transaction costs i.e. cost incurred based on number of transactions performed against each service. These include various REST based operations performed against the two services.
Storage costs i.e. cost incurred based on the amount of data stored in each service. These are usually calculated based on Giga bytes of data stored per month.
Bandwidth costs i.e. cost incurred based on the data sent out of the data center in each service. Please note that at the time of writing of this blog, all incoming traffic is free in both service as well as the data transferred between an application and storage service in same data center is also free.

In this simple calculator, I took only first two factors into consideration. Again when it comes to storage costs, both services offered a tiered pricing scheme, which I have not considered.

A few comments:

At the time of writing this blog post, the pricing is taken from respective services pages (https://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/pricing/details/ and http://aws.amazon.com/s3/pricing/). I will try an keep this post updated with the default pricing however I would strongly recommend that you check the pricing page for respective services to get most current pricing.
While pricing is an important criteria, it should not be the sole criteria for deciding which service to choose. One must also consider the features offered by each service. You can check http://gauravmantri.com/2012/05/13/comparing-windows-azure-blob-storage-and-amazon-simple-storage-service-s3summary/ for a feature by feature comparison as of 11th of May 2012. Since then both services have offered some new features (e.g. Asynchronous copy blob support in Windows Azure and CORS support in Amazon S3 etc.) which should also be taken into consideration.
For storage costs, I have taken very simple scenario though both services offer tiered pricing as well. One should take that into consideration as well.
Lastly, I must emphasize that it is a very simple calculator with no in-built error checking or data validation. If you find any issues with this calculator (especially around incorrect calculations), please let me know ASAP and I will fix them.

http://gauravmantri.com/2012/09/03/simple-calculator-for-comparing-windows-azure-blob-storage-and-amazon-s3-pricing/

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user8124

CEO at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

Jul 28, 2013

Top Reasons Developers Should Use Windows Azure Mobile Services

With the recent release of Social Cloud, I asked the RedBit teamwhat are the top reasons for using Windows Azure Mobile Services and here is what we have.

Easy Third Party Authentication

Using the Identity feature of Azure Mobile Services allows developers to quick implement OAuth based authentication without having to worry about a lot of the plumbing code that is required when writing everything from scratch.

You can easily incorporate authentication with

Microsoft Account
Facebook
Twitter
Google

As a developer all you would have to do is

Specify the keys in the portal
Use the mobile SDK for iOS, Android, Windows 8, Windows Phone with application
Authenticate via the SDK calling MobileServiceClient.LoginAsync()

Here is what it would look like from the dashboard to setup keys identity

To learn more about this feature see Get Started With Authentication with Mobile Services

Data Storage

Most mobile apps written today need some form of data storage and usually the process is

Figure out where to host it
Figure out what type of database to use
Write some REST APIs to access the data
Make sure the APIs are secured

Using the data feature of Azure Mobile Services developers can quickly create data tables, secure the data tables for read/write operations and also write custom scripts to run when an insert, update, delete or read operation is performed on the data.

From the client side, using the SDK, you call the MobileServiceClient.GetTable<>() method and data will be retrieved. If the data is secured via the portal settings, you will need to login using the client SDK before attempting to retrieve the data.

For more information see Get Started with Data in Mobile Services.

Client Libraries

Azure Mobile Services comes with clients libraries for the main mobile platforms available in the market today which are

Leveraging this library and Azure Mobile Services on the back end, developers can focus on writing their app and not all the extra plumbing required for things such as authentication.

Custom APIs

The API feature is relatively new (as of Jun 24 2013) to Azure Mobile Services but allows developers to quick build APIs to the systems to be accessed by various client applications. You can quickly build out the APIs required by your app and just as quickly secure the APIs making sure only authenticated users have access to the APIs. Definitely something to use more often in the future!

Push Notifications

I’m a big fan of push notifications for mobile apps because it allows users to stay connected and engaged with their users. It’s also a great way to entice users to open your apps and this is especially useful if you are monetizing your apps with in app advertising.

Using Azure mobile Services, developers can quickly get this up and running on the various platforms such as iOS, Android, Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 and it’s as easy as setting a few keys in your Azure Mobile Services Dashboard

push

Definitely something every developer should look at to keep their users engaged with their app.

For more information on how to get this running, see Get Started with Push Notifications in Mobile Services.

Overall, I think Windows Azure Mobile services really helps accelerate the development cycle and get your product to market faster. It allows you to focus on building out your product on not have to worry about server infrastructure or plumbing code required for things like authentication. When you need to scale, it’s just a few clicks and you are ready to handle your extra load from your users.

So those are our top reasons for using Windows Azure Mobile Services. If you have used it, what are your top reasons? Ping me or the RedBit team on Twitter or leave a comment here.

https://www.redbitdev.com/top-reasons-developers-should-use-windows-azure-mobile-services/

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Buyer's Guide

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Carlos Mardinotto Junior

BI Expert at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

May 8, 2023

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Reliable, high performance, and stable

Pros and Cons

"I have not had a problem with the stability. It is reliable."

"I have found Microsoft Azure has many components to use and it's very difficult to understand every component."

What is our primary use case?

I only use Microsoft Azure for queries, creating databases, and applying rules. The data lakes are very simple to connect.

What is most valuable?

Microsoft Azure is a very fast and high-performance solution. It is the best product today.

What needs improvement?

I have found Microsoft Azure has many components to use and it's very difficult to understand every component.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used Microsoft Azure within the past 12 months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have not had a problem with the stability. It is reliable.

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

I have used Amazon AWS, Oracle SQL, and NoSQL databases.

How was the initial setup?

The configuration of Microsoft Azure can be difficult because of the mapping.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Microsoft Azure an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

reviewer1248522

Team Lead Information Security Control at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees

Jan 12, 2022

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Easy to manage on private cloud

Pros and Cons

"The ability to create the actual resource on the private cloud is easy to manage with Microsoft Azure."

"The response time and stability of Microsoft Azure need to be improved."

What is our primary use case?

I am a Team Lead of Information Security Control. We currently have 200 users working with Azure in our organization.

How has it helped my organization?

Capacity planning has played an important part in working with Azure because it estimates all of the business goals and translates messages into the technology that is required to support.

What is most valuable?

The ability to create the actual resource on the private cloud is easy to manage with Microsoft Azure.

What needs improvement?

The response time and stability of Microsoft Azure need to be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Azure for four years.

How are customer service and support?

The maintenance of this solution is done through Microsoft's partner, I would consider the service acceptable.

What about the implementation team?

The initial deployment was done by Microsoft. The integration experience was good. The deployment and configuration was easy.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend working with Azure as this is a easy tool to use. I would rate this solution an 8 out of 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud

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

Microsoft Azure

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Veerender Kumar

Product Owner at Software Technology

Nov 12, 2021

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Easy to use, stable, and scalable

Pros and Cons

"The solution is similar to a plug-and-play system, it is easy to use."

What is our primary use case?

We use Microsoft Azure for our internal systems during elections. We monitored the election party and we had a database of 20 million users.

What is most valuable?

The solution is similar to a plug-and-play system, it is easy to use.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Azure for approximately two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Microsoft Azure has been stable

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support of Microsoft is okay. However, there were times we had to speak to them in the US time zone which was not convenient. There are times we have to wait because of the time zone issue.

What about the implementation team?

The solution takes two to five people to implement and for maintenance; if the environment is larger it still only takes two to five people.

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

The subscription models can be confusing and it would be beneficial for them to simplify them. We are on an annual subscription.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Microsoft Azure an eight 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.

reviewer937401

Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operations Officer at a energy/utilities company with 1-10 employees

Oct 27, 2021

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Stable, scalable, and easy to set up

Pros and Cons

"It is stable and scalable."

"Price could always be better. The features come in quickly, so we're comfortable with the feature set that is available to us."

What is our primary use case?

It is the backend system to support our SaaS products.

We have its cloud-based latest version.

What is most valuable?

It is stable and scalable.

What needs improvement?

Price could always be better. The features come in quickly, so we're comfortable with the feature set that is available to us.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable. Currently, we have 10 users.

How are customer service and support?

They are fine with regard to service and support.

How was the initial setup?

Its initial setup is straightforward. It took about two weeks.

What about the implementation team?

We had an internal team. We had two people do the initial install. They were developers and
system engineers.

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

Price could always be cheaper. Its licensing and usage aren't always cheap.

We pay monthly.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to other users who are looking into implementing such a solution. I would rate Microsoft Azure a nine out of 10.

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.

reviewer1632060

Information System Auditor (IT Audit) at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Sep 20, 2021

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Feature rich, scalable, and good technical support

Pros and Cons

"There are a lot of valuable features in Microsoft Azure, such as Kubernetes, pipelines, and development environments."

"The solution could improve by having more security features around my data and the platform."

What is our primary use case?

We subscribed to Microsoft Azure, which is a platform as a service where we have our applications in the cloud. We use applications, such as Office 365, on the Azure platform and we are diversifying our infrastructure in the Azure environment from our on-premise solutions.

What is most valuable?

There are a lot of valuable features in Microsoft Azure, such as Kubernetes, pipelines, and development environments. Additionally, the Security Center is very useful, I always go in to look at the security features and how those assets in the cloud are being protected.

What needs improvement?

The solution could improve by having more security features around my data and the platform.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used Microsoft Azure for approximately one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Microsoft Azure is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable.

We have a lot of teams using this solution in my organization, approximately 20.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support from Microsoft is good.

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

We have an annual license subscription to use the solution.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate Microsoft 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.