SQL Azure Reviews

What is most valuable?

What is really helpful about the Azure SQL is that when we have a problem with a query, we can trade information about what indexes we should create on tables. It's really helpful for admin and for developers.

What needs improvement?

I need something which is in one place so I can automate the Azure data factory, but it's a different tool. It's not easy and in one place, so I can't switch to the other tool and do something there, automate everything there in the on-prem infrastructure, and then have everything in the agent. I can just pick one packet and use it. However, I want to be able to click it and run it. We could… more»

What other advice do I have?

We use a few different versions. It depends on the project. We use the S-1, 2, and 3, depending on the customer's requirements. If we compare, for example, the cloud infrastructure and on-prem infrastructure, there are lots of good things about cloud infrastructure because we can scale the product so that every single time when we need more performance, more computing, more storage we can just… more»

How has it helped my organization?

I have an old SQL server, and it's not stable. I have two choices, to renew the server or move the data to Azure. So I decided to move everything to the cloud. The database has since become more… more»

What needs improvement?

The solution could be less expensive. They need to work on their pricing model.

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

We pay less than $1000 monthly in licensing fees. There are no additional costs. When you start to use the cloud, you can move other services to the cloud as well. So I think we will pay more in the… more»

If you previously used a different solution, which one did you use and why did you switch?

I've never worked with another cloud solution. This is my first.

What other advice do I have?

I'm currently moving my system onto the cloud. I'm using a hybrid version of the solution. My advice to anyone looking to switch to the cloud is to stabilize the technology and to consider Amazon… more»

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I didn't really evaluate Amazon or Google. I just read up on them as Microsoft competitors.

What is most valuable?

In SQL we tend to do normal queries. The features we use quite a bit are the backup and monitoring and also the export and import tools for data. We use all of these on a daily basis.

What needs improvement?

We're still discovering aspects of the solution. We haven't yet deployed all of the components, so I'm not sure of what additional features we'd like to see.

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

We have a three-year contract. The cost was somewhere around $70-80,000 for the original deployment, which was about two years ago. In the future, we may need to expand our license to include more company employees.

What other advice do I have?

We use the private cloud version of the solution. I would rate the solution nine out of ten. I would recommend it.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We did a survey for seeing what technologies were in the market. We ended up with Microsoft because of the general business requirements. Also, we could add the components to the solution for product management. We could add document… more»

What is most valuable?

This solution has all of the advantages that are available in a normal SQL server, except it is presented in an online environment that can be used from everywhere. It provides fast access to data because the SQL server can calculate where the data is. It is a complexity of order one. So, it does… more»

What needs improvement?

This solution suffers from the same problems that come about in a normal SQL server. One issue is the optimization of function-heavy evaluations. If you define your own functions, the execution plan of the SQL server performs sub-passes of the execution path, which makes the process very slow. Even… more»

If you previously used a different solution, which one did you use and why did you switch?

Our customer in Luxembourg is using an Oracle server, rather than SQL Azure because it was a specification of the project. I am not the one who decides which database technology will be used by my clients.

What other advice do I have?

This is the best product that Microsoft has. It is the same product as a normal SQL server but built on Azure. The management is different, depending on the hoster of the cloud. I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

What is most valuable?

The features I like most is that it offers a lot of securitt verification and backup from our side as well as from within SQL Azure.

What needs improvement?

Security can sometimes be a problem when it affects our business needs. It needs to integrate more security without stopping the service or our business. In some cases we have a lot of restriction on people who needs to use the database for whatever reason. We need more performance but in the same way we need more security - from the application and also in the Internet. The problem is therefore… more»

What other advice do I have?

When it comes to implementation, my advice would be to integrate between Microsoft platforms. I will rate it an eight out of ten as I would love to see faster integration.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of Azure Database is the read-scaleout one: in Premium and Business tiers, the logic single DB consists of 4 identical DBs, the main one (writable) and three read-only synchronized copies; in our application we can use the three read-only copies for almost all of the… more»

How has it helped my organization?

With Azure, we can achieve very high workloads (~6K queries/min) and, if necessary, scale databases in real-time with only one minute of downtime for our customers. It enables us to scale up on demand and to scale down when needed.

What needs improvement?

Migrating existing application to SQL database had many problems, developing a new app for Azure Database not. Their support is nice but frequently their responses aren't effective. The documentation is always updated with the latest features but the documentation for the database features should be… more»

What other advice do I have?

I would rate it a nine out of ten.

What is most valuable?

The DR for this solution is Active/Active. This solution offers high availability, and business continuity is in place.

What needs improvement?

This solution would be improved with the inclusion of better self-service tools. It needs to be easier for my technical teams to perform support tasks.

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

The licensing for this solution is based on subscription. We have an enterprise license, so the price of this solution is high.

What other advice do I have?

I recommend this solution, as long as the cloud environment is suitable. This is a good solution, but from the angle of security, everything can be breached. I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

What is most valuable?

Azure DevOps is the feature that is the most valuable aspect of the solution for us.

What needs improvement?

I need Microsoft to allow their network to access open source technologies.

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

The pricing is okay. It's not too expensive.

If you previously used a different solution, which one did you use and why did you switch?

Previously we used open-source solutions and relied on the abilities of our techs. But now we're paying to have a big organization that can help manage and handle our projects.

What other advice do I have?

The solution is very user-friendly. I would recommend the solution. It's very easy to understand. I would rate this solution ten out of ten.