We are using SharePoint through Azure.
Managing Director at D3
Easy to use administrator interface, stable, and straightforward installation
Pros and Cons
- "The user interface is very good for administrators."
- "Microsoft should have one package for all their solutions in one place to be found."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
The solution has helped our company by having zero maintenance.
What is most valuable?
The user interface is very good for administrators.
What needs improvement?
Microsoft should have one package for all their solutions in one place to be found.
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Microsoft Azure
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Azure. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
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For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft Azure for 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?
I have found Microsoft Azure scalable.
How are customer service and support?
I have satisfied with the technical support from Microsoft.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was easy.
What about the implementation team?
I did the implementation of the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of the solution could be less expensive and the pricing model could be less confusing.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to those wanting to implement the solution is to have training. It is important to train the internal employees.
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.
IT Engineer at a real estate/law firm with 201-500 employees
A stable and scalable cloud computing solution that enables you to work from anywhere
Pros and Cons
- "The most important thing is we don't have to maintain any physical infrastructure. With typical conventional on-premise solutions, we have to maintain many things like the hardware, clusters, etc. With this cloud platform, you don't have to worry about all those things. We have the service always available, and this is the main advantage. I like that we use everything on our standard Active Directory on on-premises on Azure. The key advantage is that you can have the sole indication based on the cloud. This isn't possible with an on-premise Active Directory. This enables work from home and at the office because it's on the cloud."
- "It could be more flexible. If you look at all Mircosoft products, they are not up to the mark. For example, Azure Ready doesn't provide the same kind of access a domain administrator has and the kind of flexibility that they have when using Active Directory. Microsoft support could be better. Their service could also be better. For example, specific policies for templates suddenly become unavailable. When I checked, they said that certain things might be withdrawn based on customer feedback. This happened once or twice, and it wasn't available at all for five days, it just went down."
What is our primary use case?
I have been using Microsoft Azure for Infrastructure as a Service in the cloud. We're using it to get the devices registered and be Azure Ready at home or the office.
What is most valuable?
The most important thing is we don't have to maintain any physical infrastructure. With typical conventional on-premise solutions, we have to maintain many things like the hardware, clusters, etc. With this cloud platform, you don't have to worry about all those things. We have the service always available, and this is the main advantage.
I like that we use everything on our standard Active Directory on on-premises on Azure. The key advantage is that you can have the sole indication based on the cloud. This isn't possible with an on-premise Active Directory. This enables work from home and at the office because it's on the cloud.
What needs improvement?
It could be more flexible. If you look at all Mircosoft products, they are not up to the mark. For example, Azure Ready doesn't provide the same kind of access a domain administrator has and the kind of flexibility that they have when using Active Directory.
Microsoft support could be better. Their service could also be better. For example, specific policies for templates suddenly become unavailable. When I checked, they said that certain things might be withdrawn based on customer feedback. This happened once or twice, and it wasn't available at all for five days, it just went down.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft Azure for about ten months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Microsoft Azure is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Microsoft Azure is a scalable solution. We have close to 1,200 people using this solution at our organization.
How are customer service and support?
I have used Microsoft support before. I would give them a six out of ten. This is because we had certain glitches happen that could have been avoided. For example, they say that this is because it's a new product or the new architecture. They say things like, "it will be more stable after some time, maybe a year or two."
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup and deployment were straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
Our in-house team implemented this solution. We have about 15 to 20 people to install and maintain this solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We pay yearly for the license.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this cloud computing service to new users.
On a scale from one to ten, I would give Microsoft Azure a nine.
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: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Azure. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior Manager Global Database Services at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
A dynamic and easy-to-use platform
Pros and Cons
- "Azure allows us to bring applications to life quickly."
- "Integration with other cloud environments can be tricky at times."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution to build VMs and create databases.
We absolutely plan to continue using Azure in the future. We actually plan on increasing our usage.
How has it helped my organization?
Azure allows us to bring applications to life quickly.
What is most valuable?
Microsoft Azure is very dynamic.
What needs improvement?
The cost is something that could be improved. There's not much clarity regarding the price range. We'll create a VM and then at the end of the month, we'll receive a bill with various costs from different locations — it's confusing.
Integration with other cloud environments can be tricky at times.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft Azure for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Microsoft Azure is very stable.
How are customer service and technical support?
The support could be improved. On a scale from one to ten, I would give their support a rating of six.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very complex because of the landing zone. Only Microsoft can create the landing zone. Implementation is very fast; it only takes a few minutes.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented Microsoft Azure ourselves.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licensing costs are quite reasonable.
What other advice do I have?
My advice is to keep an eye on your usage otherwise you could wind up with a hefty bill.
The biggest lesson I have learned is that Microsoft Azure is very dynamic — the environment is very dynamic.
Microsoft Azure is absolutely great. On a scale from one to ten, I would give it a rating of eight because it's user-friendly and very simple to use. All of the basic features are covered. Some things can be tricky, but there is always a simple solution.
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: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Director of Technology at WinSoft IT, C.A.
Feature-rich, and the virtual machine support is good
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is the virtual machine."
- "It is impossible to sell a cloud-based model here in Venezuela because we have strong inflation and most of our clients are immigrating to on-premises solutions."
What is our primary use case?
We are a solution provider and Azure is one of the products that we offer to our customers. However, there is a problem. It is impossible to sell a cloud-based model here in Venezuela because we have strong inflation and most of our clients are immigrating to on-premises solutions.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the virtual machine.
What needs improvement?
The pricing needs to be adjusted so that the strong inflation in Venezuela does not prevent customers from purchasing it.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have a lot of experience with Microsoft. I started using Microsoft 25 years ago. I have used it in all aspects, both on-premises and soon in Azure cloud.
This is not strongly done on-premises, but we have several approaches with Microsoft Azure.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have approached our clients about using Kubernetes or Docker because it's cheaper when inflation is considered.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We are researching how we can migrate all old legacy applications using Docker. In Venezuela, the software installed with all of our clients is legacy.
We have clients with Windows Server 2003, 2008, and applications with older operating systems who need to move to the cloud, but it is impossible because the cloud doesn't support those operating system versions. For this reason, we are considering using Docker to encapsulate the applications to see if it is feasible to migrate to the cloud or if we require new equipment on-premises.
Most of their software is not updated and won't be able to migrate to the cloud.
What other advice do I have?
In Venezuela, we are having some problems with the economy regarding the exchange control with our currency.
The best Microsoft product in my opinion Azure Stack Hyper-Converged Infrastructure or Azure Stack HCI. It's for working in hybrid mode.
I would rate Microsoft Azure a ten out of ten.
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: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
CEO at CLIFURVA
Very stable infrastructure as a service with good technical support
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is very stable for Windows setups."
- "The pricing needs to be a bit lower. It's an expensive solution right now."
What is our primary use case?
Right now we're designing our desktop solutions. I need, for example, to use a virtual desktop and I need to use infrastructure as a service. I am looking for other infrastructure as a service solutions as well,
What is most valuable?
We really like the infrastructure as a service and the data center as a service solution functionality.
The backup data center and the business compute solutions for Azure are good. There are a lot of good hybrid solutions with onsite and cloud solutions.
The solution is very easy to set up.
The solution is very stable for Windows setups.
The technical support on offer has been very good.
What needs improvement?
The pricing needs to be a bit lower. It's an expensive solution right now.
In future releases, I would like to see Microsoft offer personal desktop environments in a virtual solution. Citrix, for example, now offers this as an option.
For how long have I used the solution?
I only have some limited experience with the product. I've only been using it for about six months or so. It hasn't been that long.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
For the most part, the solution is stable. It's great with the Windows solution, however, with Linux and other operating systems, I hope that it's okay. I don't know for certain. I've never tried it with others. For Windows, it is very good. When the customer has all-Windows solutions everything is okay. There are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The companies we usually sell to are typically medium-sized. When it comes to scaling, the cloud solution is an elastic solution. I can scale it well. The customer can go up however high they want to go. The solution allows for that flexibility. It's easy to expand with the solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
I've reached out to technical support in the past. I understand that if I need them I can easily reach them. They are available and responsive. I'd say we are satisfied with our solution.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is not difficult or complex. It's pretty straightforward. It's easy. A company shouldn't have any issue with the process.
We sell the solution to our clients and it takes six months to one year to deploy it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We would like to see Microsoft lower its prices a bit for their customers. It's a costly solution.
What other advice do I have?
I'm a Microsoft reseller.
I'm not sure which version of the solution we're using.
While we are currently using the on-premises deployment model, we are considering moving to the cloud.
I'd recommend the solution to other users and organizations. I'm already recommending it to various clients as a potential solution for them.
I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten. We're quite satisfied with the solution.
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: Reseller
Software Architect at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Excellent user interface and portal; provides great documentation
Pros and Cons
- "User interface and portal are great."
- "Azure calculator could be improved, there are issues with login synchronization."
What is our primary use case?
I'm currently trying to build a new product for my company using Microsoft Azure. Prior to that, I was using Microsoft Azure on the cloud to deploy microservices using specific Azure services to host the microservices. But the most common Azure services that we're using is the App Service and relational databases. In terms of the application, the first one was just the Microsoft Azure application and the second one was an integration with Elastic Stack. I'm a software architect.
What is most valuable?
The user interface offers a good experience, it's better than Azure itself. The portal is great. Microsoft Azure has very good documentation for any kind of technical person.
What needs improvement?
Sometimes the Azure Calculator doesn't have a good way to do a higher estimate, because for any organization there are sometimes issues with the application sites, but I know that the logs are not the real time and there are issues with login synchronization. It cam sometimes take more than five minutes for that information to reach the Azure application side. I'd like to see integration with other lifecycle managing rules because with Azure DevOps, it's straightforward, but the system is painful sometimes.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for nearly five years, the last 12 months in this new company.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In general, stability is good, but in the past month I had some issues with the connection to Azure resources, not just Microsoft Azure, but with Azure in general. Microsoft has an issue with its authentication system which has proved painful, because my applications were up and running, but I can't log in to make changes or see metrics. It's a lot better now, we've had the application down three or four times but it hasn't been critical.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is good, I haven't had any issues with their configuration. I think we have around 600 concurrent users.
How are customer service and technical support?
I haven't used Azure support. They have good documentation, although I sometimes think that the examples on GitHub aren't updated. On the whole, documentation is good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously used AWS but we knew there was already a lot of experience with Microsoft Azure and their technologies and we wanted to use all the features for each service. Given that this is with government and the integration is with Microsoft Azure, we can use all the features and benefits of each service. Another issue is that they were using AWS with infrastructure as a service, but they redesigned this application to use software as a service and platform as a service. We dropped the use of infrastructure as a service and using the platform as a service, and it was estimated that it would cost less than with AWS.
How was the initial setup?
I think the initial setup is straightforward. I have around 20 microservices, so deployment took probably two weeks. It took longer than a previous implementation which took several hours.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did a quick check with cloud computing, but we didn't find anything really efficient outside of the Google Kubernetes Engine that was better than the Azure Kubernetes Service or the Kubernetes service in AWS. But it was just a quick check and it was documented.
What other advice do I have?
I can sometimes see that Microsoft has poor training, but to be honest the whole training thing isn't good at a technical level. They are designed to be the entrance point and show the way you can create a web portal and database. But if they could offer an in-depth technical solution of Azure services that would be good. It's possible that Google has something about it and they can offer better learning than Microsoft sometimes does. Reading through their documentation can take some time.
I rate this solution a nine out of 10.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Flexible, scalable and has very good performance
Pros and Cons
- "The solution has proven to be quite stable so far."
- "The solution needs to offer more data analysis services."
What is our primary use case?
It's primarily used for access to the cloud or the virtual machines and to have a cloud-based solution that can handle tasks such as data processing, or for having data storage, and all types of other things.
What is most valuable?
The product is very flexible.
The performance overall is great.
It's a great advantage for a company to be on the cloud. It gives a company nice advantages.
The solution has proven to be quite stable so far.
The solution has been scalable.
There are no new releases per se; the solution simply adds on more services over time.
What needs improvement?
The solution needs to offer more data analysis services. It would be extremely helpful to Azure's clients if they had more of this.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for about a year or so. I believe it's been around 12 months. It hasn't been that long.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of the solution has been very good. 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?
So far, we've found the scalability to be pretty good. If a company needs to expand, it can do so with ease.
We have about five people working directly on the solution currently.
How are customer service and technical support?
We haven't really dealt with technical support. I can't speak to how helpful or responsive they are. I've never had any direct interactions with them personally.
How was the initial setup?
There isn't really an initial setup. It's on the cloud. You don't really have to deploy anything or set anything up.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Our customers don't have to pay any licensing fees in order to use Azure.
What other advice do I have?
As we are on the cloud deployment model, we're always on the latest version of the solution. It is always automatically updated for us.
Overall, I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten. We've been pretty happy with its capabilities so far.
In general, I would recommend the solution to other organizations.
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
Data Science Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Good stability with good Databricks integration and comparable in price to AWS
Pros and Cons
- "The integration with Databricks is the most valuable aspect of the solution."
- "The design of the platform is not so easy to navigate. It's not very user-friendly."
What is our primary use case?
We use Microsoft Azure for blob storage and for a lot of the components that they have inside the cloud.
What is most valuable?
The integration with Databricks is the most valuable aspect of the solution. It's easy to use and to put on the pipeline. Data Factory and Databricks together build a pipeline. They really integrate very well.
The stability is very good.
The solution is comparable to AWS in terms of pricing.
What needs improvement?
The design of the platform is not so easy to navigate. It's not very user-friendly.
Some services are more difficult to use in AWS and GCP. I have projects on the three clouds, and some things are easier to do on AWS. On the other hand, using Databricks on Azure is easy, as they are integrated well. However, some products are more difficult to use than other products.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability has been good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable in terms of performance.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have about 30 people using the solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
I don't really deal with technical support. I'm the data scientist manager. The engineering team would be the ones that would reach out for help if they needed support.
How was the initial setup?
In terms of deployment, each product requires a number of staff to deploy the model of machine learning or to build the stature to consume the data. It really depends.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I don't handle the licensing or payments aspect of the solution. I can't speak to the costs involved or what the license looks like.
In AWS, our monthly cost was something around $10,000 or something close to that. We had to pay around $120,000 a year. It's most likely something close to that.
What other advice do I have?
We are a customer and end-user. We don't have a business relationship with Microsoft.
We deployed the solution in multiple ways. We've used the solution both on-premises and on the cloud.
I'd rate the solution at a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Updated: March 2024
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