Azure Stack Reviews

Currently, we are just using it to plan for our proof of concept and internal testing, not for production.

I've been using Azure Stack for more than a year.

It's not stable as IBM solutions. It fully supports all the .NET solutions, but our main applications are based in Java. So in those cases, we've had some minor problems with Azure, but Microsoft always says that it can handle this stuff.

Microsoft's support isn't as good as IBM's. They are fast, but they aren't knowledgeable enough.

Setting up Azure Stack isn't as straightforward as IBM's Cloud Pack for Apps. IBM's solution uses OpenShift implementation, so it's fully automated, whereas the Microsoft solution has some hardware issues, so we had to some manual configurations. The total time for deployment was around one week, I guess.

I believe our license is yearly.

I would rate Azure six out of 10. I don't have a lot of opinions on it yet, but when we start using it in production, then I'll have a better idea.

I recommend Azure Stack 100% for hybrid cases, dev & test, banking, financial (banking, insurance) , healthcare, public sector.

Also, The assessments include the following standards:

•PCI-DSS addresses the payment card industry.

•CSA Cloud Control Matrix is a comprehensive mapping across multiple standards, including FedRAMP Moderate, ISO27001, HIPAA, HITRUST, ITAR, NIST SP800-53, and others.

•FedRAMP High for government customers.

The compliance documentation can be found on the Microsoft Service Trust Portal. The compliance guides are a protected resource and require you to sign in with your Azure cloud service credentials.

The main pillars, on which Binbox is now developing, are Cloud Solutions (public, private and hybrid Cloud) using Azure and our DataCenters (built on state-of-the-art technology), Microsoft 365 and Binbox Managed Services (including 24/7/365 support). These being said, the Azure stack has come to complete our service portfolio like a glove.

The most valuable features that make Azure Stack different are low latency (<9 ms, high performance), data sovereignty, cloud readiness, public Azure features in the private cloud. Considering all the features, the quality of service / price ratio is superior compared to any cloud option.

It would be great when Microsoft will enable WDI, AI and Cognitive Services in Azure Stack.

Binbox Global Services has been using Azure Stack since 2018 when we deployed the first Azure Stack in Central and Eastern Europe. We were the second Microsoft partener that deployed an Azure Stack in Europe.

Now we have 7+ Azure Stacks and other Azure Stacks dedicated to Public Sector.

Azure Stack is stable. 

Azure Stack Hub provides on-demand, scalable computing resources.

The initial setup was a little complicated but not too much. 

We went through both a private vendor and Microsoft. The private vendor handled one part of the deployment; a Microsoft team did another. They both taught us how to manage Azure Stack. We have a large team of technical engineers who received Azure Stack certification. They know Azure Stack very well. Overall, it was not hard for us to deploy. 

I use a lot of services in Azure.  I have worked with completely isolated environments, building infrastructure from scratch using Terraform, Chef, Puppet, and other such tools.

The Platform as a Service (Paas) environment is the most valuable feature.

The Web App service is very valuable.

It is helpful from a security point of view because we can create our own isolated, private environments that contain virtual networks, and we can put security rules in place. We can also specify application rules, which is something that is also useful.

There are a lot of services in Azure that are not stable.

Azure Messaging services are in need of improvement.

I would like to see better monitoring capability, as we have in Dynatrace and other APM tools. The functionality is there, but it is not as detailed as it is in other tools.

I have about three years of experience with Azure, on and off.

My advice for anybody who is implementing Azure Stack is to start looking into DevOps early. There are a lot of things that can be done using the portal, and people tend to follow this process because it is easy. It's true that this approach may get things done fast, but it will only get you so far. Working with the DevOps capabilities, such as automation with Terraform, should be done sooner rather than later.

Every cloud has its pros and cons.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

We have an application that is working on Azure Stack. It is a Microsoft application that we wrote for our customers. 

Azure Stack is easy to use. Its major benefit is that it doesn't need its infrastructure. We didn't face any issues integrating it with our infrastructure. 

The product needs to improve its pricing. 

Azure Stack is stable and I rate it an eight out of ten. 

The tool is scalable. We have one customer working with it. 

The solution's customer service is fine. 

Depending on your setup, the tool's deployment can be complex and take a few hours to complete. I need to select the services and resources to deploy the tool. Though I have a team, only one engineer works on the product. 

I am using my Microsoft license, and it costs monthly. You need to pay additional costs apart from the standard costs. 

We are in the process of obtaining co-pilots to integrate AI into our infrastructure. I rate the overall solution a seven out of ten. 

We use Azure Stack for migration, application modernization, and cloud-native modernization.

Azure Stack's pricing could be improved.

I have been working with Azure Stack for around four to five years.

I rate Azure Stack a nine out of ten for stability.

Azure Stack is a very scalable solution.

I rate Azure Stack ten out of ten for scalability.

Azure Stack’s initial setup is easy.

Azure Stack is deployed on-cloud in our organization. I would recommend Azure Stack to other users.

Overall, I rate Azure Stack a nine and a half out of ten.

Our company's customers consume the products installed from Azure Stack, so that is the usage of Azure Stack for our company. Speaking about Azure Stack from a financial perspective, if I have to talk about ERR, it is approximately 4,000 USD per month.

The most valuable features of the solution are related to anything and everything in data and analytics, including data management and Azure ML.

I think the monitoring and operational part, including more administration, must be simplified to simplify user adoption. The challenge in Azure Stack begins at an individual level when you try to monitor every service from Azure Stack that gets consumed. The more the configuration capacity is available in Azure Stack, the more configurable it becomes while becoming easier at a user level and administrator level, thereby helping to optimize the consumption cost.

With the road map of Azure Stack, I have, everything looks great. Looking at the way Azure Stack has matured in the market, I feel that the roadmap of Azure Stack is planned pretty well by Azure's product managers.

I have experience with Azure Stack for three to four years.

Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Considering the administration part and scope for improvement, I rate the solution's scalability an eight out of ten since it needs improvement at a user level and administration level regarding its consumption. The administrator does have all the rights, but then there should be some level of configuration needed if you go at an application level or at a service level where a user is using native capabilities of Azure should have an option for the administrator to extend it to the end user also.

There are around 15 users of Azure Stack in my company.

I do contact the solution's technical support when the need for it arises. The solution's technical support is great since, in our company, we get answers to most of our questions, and most of our queries get resolved with the help of the documentation itself. At least at our company's end, based on the services we are working on, we are less likely to depend on the solution's technical support.

The initial setup of Azure Stack is simple.

The solution is deployed on the cloud.

Azure Stack is a medium-priced product, so it is not overpriced, but the prices may be higher for certain services.

Based on the secondary data or information we got in our company based on the initial evaluation we did, I think the way the instances are spread and made available across the globe makes Azure Stack a relatively easier product compared to its competitors. Azure Stack becomes easier to adopt with the new GDPR and the country-level data privacy or security rules implemented.

I recommend Azure Stack to those planning to use it. Most of our company's customers who use Azure Stack are happy.

I rate the overall solution an eight out of ten.

Our company is trying to build an application out of Azure Stack. We are trying to build an API out of Azure Stack, which will communicate with the ERP systems.

Azure Stack provides us with computational power. We also get an option to have it with Azure Cloud, which is beneficial. We don't need to buy any other extra servers or any virtual machines with high-end graphics. All the aforementioned details make it more convenient for me to work with Azure Stack.

The solution's price is high, and the implementation process is difficult. I would like to see a lower price and simpler implementation for Azure Stack.

I have been using Azure Stack for a year and a half. We also use the solution in our company. I am using the solution's latest version. 

My company is a reseller of Azure.

It is a stable solution.

It is a scalable solution.

Right now, it is not in the production stage as it is still under the development stage, because of which I can't give a number on how many people are using it currently.

We got technical support from Azure about thirty days ago, and they have been very good.

I rate the support team a nine out of ten.

Positive

The solution is deployed on Azure Cloud.

The deployment part was a bit difficult, but the document helped me to get it done. While configuring it, we faced issues with its network interfaces, along with some security issues and vulnerabilities.

It took me around 40 days to implement Azure Stack.

The implementation process was something that came along from the reseller from whom we bought the solution.

Three members consisting of an ML developer, a person from DevOps, and an architect, were required to do the deployment.

Azure Stack is not a very costly tool. The pricing is according to the services we buy. When compared with AWS, Azure is a bit more costlier.

There is a need to pay additionally for maintenance or support. If you need premium support, you have to pay extra.

Azure Stack is a good solution since it allows you to explore more things, especially on the ML or DevOps sides. I would recommend Azure Stack to anybody planning to use it.

My company has attempted to integrate Azure Stack with products from other vendors. We haven't faced any difficulties integrating Azure Stack with products from other vendors. We provide solutions with Azure platform.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight and a half out of ten.

We are providing solutions based on Azure Stack to customers. It has the same interface as Microsoft Azure in a local context.

The admin dashboard is the main feature of the solution. Different services are running on it.

Azure Stack doesn't have all the services available in Microsoft Azure. It would be useful if Azure Stack could be developed to be like Microsoft Azure with all the services. Although Microsoft manages it, not all of Microsoft Azure’s services are available on Azure Stack. 

When we try to build a solution on Azure Stack, there are some limitations with the services available, most of which are available on Microsoft Azure. Adding more services to Azure Stack will be beneficial for customers. The product doesn’t have a DR solution available locally. The product does not support a local DR either.

I have been using the solution for three years.

I rate the product’s stability an eight out of ten.

I rate the solution’s scalability an eight out of ten.

We are getting support through a local partner.

Neutral

I rate the ease of initial setup a four out of ten.

The deployment process took a few weeks. We needed two to three people to deploy the solution. It's an engineered system that comes with everything loaded. Microsoft’s team handles configurations. We only had to handle the equipment and manage it locally.

Pricing depends on the solutions which we build on. IaaS’s pricing is high. Other services might be competitive.

I am using the latest version of the product. Azure Stack is an on-premise solution that gives cloud services to customers. We give it as a cloud service to customers. Although it is a fully managed solution from Microsoft, it has limitations. Overall, I rate the product a six out of ten.