Microsoft Azure vs Oracle Enterprise Manager comparison

Windows Azure is Microsoft's cloud platform, where developers can create, deploy, and maintain their apps. This cloud application platform allows developers to concentrate on the actual applications, while it takes care of all the elements behind the apps.

Windows Azure works across multiple frameworks and languages. It is fully scalable, localized in that it is hosted globally in many datacenters, and has widespread capabilities with elements of application development, deployment, and management.

Azure is comprised of several different service modules, including Infrastructure; Web; Mobile; Dev & Test; Big Data; Media;Storage, Backup & Recovery; and Identity & Access Management.

Microsoft Azure works as a:

1. Platform as a service (PaaS)
2. Software as a service (SaaS)
3. Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)

Microsoft Azure is available:

• On-premises
• Hybrid
• Multi-cloud
• At the edge

Compared to its competitors, Microsoft Azure:

• Has more affordable features
• Has easier migration for organizations already using other Microsoft tools
• Has several educational resources available
• Provides robust support
• Is ideal for small and large businesses

Microsoft Azure Features:

• Scalability
• Stability
• Flexibility
• Azure Site Recovery
• Active Directory
• Monitoring features
• Cloud-based
• Automated tasks
• Change capability cadence
• Showback capabilities
• Information protection
• Azure Data Lake
• Excellent portal
• Intuitive user interface
• Remote desktop
• Fast provisioning
• Data security
• Data resiliency
• Speed of service
• Integrated delivery pipeline
• Disaster recovery
• Robust templates
• Flexible coding languages
• Virtual systems testing

Benefits of Microsoft Azure:

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): Because Microsoft Azure is an IaaS, organizations can deploy as well as manage applications easily and quickly. Azure also provides you with the ability to customize the cloud software to meet your specific business needs.
• Seamless integration: Microsoft Azure is built to seamlessly integrate with existing IT departments via hybrid databases, secure private connections, and storage solutions.
• Cost-effective: Because Azure can harmoniously exist in your business environment with your data center, it is a very cost-effective solution.
• Analytics support: Azure is designed with built-in support that is used to analyze data and provide key insights. Azure offers Cortana Analytics, Stream Analytics, Machine Learning, and SQL services.
• Unique storage system: Compared to other cloud services, Microsoft Azure has more data centers and delivery points, which helps create an optimal user experience and also helps deliver content faster. In addition, Microsoft Azure makes it possible for organizations to exchange content across several virtual machines.
• Enhanced flexibility: Azure provides extreme flexibility by allowing you to choose any level of functionality you require. It also supports many of the same technologies IT teams and developers usually depend on, making it easier for them to manage.
• Easy implementation: Microsoft Azure is easy and quick to deploy. If necessary, you can change web apps to Azure with almost zero downtime.

Reviews from Real Users:

"It is a flexible solution that is straightforward to use," says the principal consultant at a computer software company.

OmarJ., future datacenter consultant: Microsoft Azure Cloud at a tech company, adds that "The user interface is very nice and makes everything easy to use."

“You can build an environment in minutes. It's very good in terms of being an infrastructure as a service, and I found that really fascinating,” says an information technology consultant at a computer software company.

"I think Azure's level of automation to achieve efficiency or agility is valuable. I also like the change capability cadence, the showback capabilities, and understanding what our costs are," says an enterprise architect at an energy/utilities company.

Marco C., Ing. at Wolters Kluwer, says "The valuable features of Microsoft Azure are that it is cloud-based and has good storage. The storage is completely managed by Azure. We do not need to do any patching of security because it is handled by Azure which is a benefit. The solution is fully compatible with the Microsoft technology stack and is very scalable."

"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Azure is it has everything together in one place. It is one large tool with lots of small tools that are updated often," says the owner of a media company.

Oracle Enterprise Manager is an on-premises management platform that provides a comprehensive integrated solution for managing and automating your various Oracle products, including applications, databases, middleware, hardware, and engineered systems located either in your Oracle data center or in the cloud.

With the Oracle Enterprise Manager's console, you can administer multiple databases and servers, distribute software to multiple servers and clients, monitor objects and events throughout the network, and integrate with other tools.

Key Oracle Enterprise Manager Features and Products

• Hardware and virtualization management: Manage all Oracle environments from one central console. Oracle Enterprise Manager provides management and automation for Oracle engineered systems, databases, middleware, and hardware.
  
  
• Database management: Oracle’s Database management provides a full lifecycle solution for updates and configuration management, patching, provisioning, testing, performance management and automatic tuning.
  
  
• Application performance management (APM): User and database monitoring with diagnostics and performance analysis that provide rich reporting on real user activities.
  
  
• Enterprise monitoring: Built-in monitoring of all components of the IT infrastructure enables rapid problem diagnosis. Both Oracle and non-Oracle components are constantly monitored.
  
  
• Oracle real user experience insight: Insights on real user experiences and preferences enable businesses and IT stakeholders to develop a shared understanding into their application users’ experience.
  
  
• Non-Oracle management: Oracle Enterprise Manager manages non-Oracle components with a comprehensive set of plugins. The self-update mechanism allows customers to download, import, and deploy extensions built by Oracle, Oracle partners, and Oracle customers. These extensions enjoy the same level of stability as Oracle's own products.
  
  
• Installation and upgrade: The upgrade process provides efficient, reliable, secure data migration with minimal downtime of your environment.

Reviews from Real Users

Oracle Enterprise Manager stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Several major ones are its central management and monitoring and its reporting capabilities

Robin C., head of Oracle Exadata Centre of Excellence at Tata Consultancy Services, writes, "The database performance monitoring features are very useful and allow us to quickly zero in on DB-related issues. Exadata storage server and Infiniband switches can be viewed from the GUI in OEM which cannot be done in other tools. The ability to deploy metric extensions makes this tool extensible for our custom monitoring also."

PeerSpot users note the effectiveness of these features. A database manager at a tech services company notes, “The solution's most valuable aspect is the fact that it is embedded with the Oracle database and Oracle's engineering system, its extra data, and analytics.  They have plug-ins that are very helpful. Due to the infrastructure's size, the introduction they offer is very, very useful. It helps with an overall understanding of the product. They have a very nice graphical user interface. The monitoring is good. We can capture the SQL tune from us. With Oracle Enterprise Managers, we can see the rich performance tuning.”