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Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs vCloud Air comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 12, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Azure SQL Database
Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
138
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
vCloud Air
Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)
23rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) (21st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is 9.1%, down from 13.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of vCloud Air is 2.5%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database as a Service (DBaaS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure SQL Database9.1%
vCloud Air2.5%
Other88.4%
Database as a Service (DBaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

Matthew Parker - PeerSpot reviewer
Ai Team Lead at Phoenix Software
Integrates with familiar tools and supports reliable data storage for AI applications
Microsoft Azure SQL Database can be improved overall by being able to compete with some of the features that come from things such as PostgreSQL. From my team's perspective in terms of building AI applications, more native integrations with some of the newer AI data types, such as vectors for storing embeddings, would be beneficial. I think all of that is coming. It is just a big product, so I think it is naturally a little bit behind the curve. However, that is not necessarily a bad thing because a lot of customers, because it has been around for so long, they trust it and they are willing to wait until those features become available.
it_user613995 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director Solutions Architect - EMEA & APAC at Blue Medora
With the VPC, you can run your workloads in an active state, use it for development work and for hosting SQL/Exchange Servers in IaaS; RaaS/DaaS for DR activities.
All three components of the vCloud Air are equally valuable and important, i.e., IaaS, DaaS and RaaS. I like the Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) offering compared to the Dedicated Cloud. It gives me the flexibility to utilize the pay-as-you-go option. You can run your workloads in an active state at reasonable prices. I have seen lots of companies use it for their development work, as well as for hosting SQL and Exchange Servers, i.e., in the active-passive mode instead of Replication (RaaS). Disaster Recovery is also a great feature that is affordable and easy to use. Disaster Recovery is a great component of the vCloud Air, where you can protect the on-premises cloud infrastructure, by providing self-service recovery options using the vSphere Replication. Some of the features that really stand out and I have used in my projects are: * Direct Connect: It provides high speed and private line connectivity. * Offline Data Transfer: For encrypted bulk data transport.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The scalability and simple management of the infrastructure are the most valuable features."
"I rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database nine out of 10."
"I rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database 10 out of 10."
"Our Total Cost of Operations is cheaper using this solution as compared to an on-premises deployment."
"I'd give Microsoft Azure SQL Database a nine out of ten."
"We like the ease of integrating it with our on-premises environment. We use a hybrid model. We have a SQL Server on-premises, and we have an integration with the cloud version. We do CPU or disk intensive processes on-premises. For accessibility, we offload onto the cloud. When you do a lot of IO and things like that in the cloud, Microsoft charges for the CPU activity."
"If you're looking for many features in one product with easy usability and UI, then this product is good."
"The solution is quite straightforward to set up."
"VMware Workstation has an interesting feature to manage vSphere infrastructure (and also stand-alone ESXi hosts) that is really powerful and useful, for example to avoid to install the vSphere client (or the integration plugin) just to open one VM console or to change the power status for some VM."
"The Cloud DRaaS solution provided the organization with new levels of flexibility and cost control, together with rapid expansion capability."
"This is the part that should be making admins and CIOs smile."
 

Cons

"I would like to see more compatibility with SSMS and more backward compatibility with regular on-prem SQL."
"The price is a little higher."
"There could be more collaboration with other tools like Data Factory and Databricks."
"What worked with Microsoft Azure SQL Database is good, but the challenge I faced is that it does not fit for a large-scale or tier-one business application."
"Support isn't that great. They need to work on this aspect of their service. It can be challenging to reach them."
"Pricing could be improved to make Microsoft Azure SQL Database more accessible."
"Its automation can be improved. SQL Server Agent was a very big part of the on-prem tools."
"Our data warehouse in total is about two terabytes, and the tables we're referring to are around 60 million rows, which are approximately 60 to 70 gigabytes."
"I feel the user interface/portal can be improved further. I did experience timeout issues and the UI was performing slowly at times."
"I don’t think it is quite where EC2 is with regard to capabilities and features but VMware is investing a lot in vCloud Air."
"It’s a really good idea, but the current implementation is very limited: you can simply see your VMs and just open the VM console."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I am not aware of the exact pricing, but our monthly bill for Azure is around 80,000. It is less expensive than using SQL Server. It has the pay-as-you-go model, and the charges are based on the usage."
"I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten."
"SQL Azure is an expensive solution."
"If we use a smaller or free-sized Microsoft Azure SQL Database, it is extremely cost-effective and much cheaper than on-premise enterprise licenses, which are expensive."
"I'm not sure what the exact price is, but it's a moderate amount. It's not too expensive."
"Compared to other providers, the pricing is definitely on the affordable side."
"I would like it to be cheaper, but comparatively, it is reasonably priced."
"Offers options for paying the license on a yearly or a monthly basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business62
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise65
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SQL Azure?
I am not involved in the pricing part of Microsoft Azure SQL Database, so I have not heard anything.
What needs improvement with SQL Azure?
I have not worked much on Microsoft Azure SQL Database's ability to power next-generation AI applications. I cannot suggest anything about improvements in Microsoft Azure SQL Database because I am ...
What is your primary use case for SQL Azure?
I find the data migration part for Microsoft Azure SQL Database very good for connecting one database to another database. For the integration with other Microsoft applications, we are using SQL Se...
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Sample Customers

adnymics GmbH, LG CNS, Centrebet, netfabb GmbH, MedPlast, Accelera Solutions, Sochi Organizing Committee, realzeit GmbH
Lumeta, LifeSite, Clear Tec Solutions, National Physician Services, Queens University of Charlotte, California Natural Resources Agency, Pacific Disaster Center, Seventy Seven Energy Inc., Columbia Sportswear , CSS Corp
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), MongoDB and others in Database as a Service (DBaaS). Updated: September 2026.
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