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reviewer1390839 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Project Manager at a marketing services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Good traceability and dependency-tracking features
Pros and Cons
  • "There are a lot of helpful features available for tracking dependencies."
  • "Improving the metrics that are readily available on the dashboard would be very helpful."

What is most valuable?

The key thing I find benefits me is the ability to track right from the feature and determine what has happened. I have a direct link to the test and the metrics that are available.

There are a lot of helpful features available for tracking dependencies.

What needs improvement?

The dashboard could be improved. Although there is flexibility in configuring it, there are some metrics that we have to configure ourselves. Improving the metrics that are readily available on the dashboard would be very helpful.

I would like to see better integration with third-party solutions, where if they are part of the DevOps pipeline then the reporting could be made available on the dashboard.

Having some form of check modeling integrated into Azure would be useful.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Azure DevOps for the past four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We have had no issues in terms of stability.

Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure DevOps
March 2025
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Azure DevOps. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The offerings in terms of scalability are good.

How are customer service and support?

We have not had to depend much on Microsoft support for DevOps and project management. However, I can say that the general support that we get for Azure is good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have some experience with Jira from Atlassian, although I have worked with Microsoft Team Foundation Server from the beginning.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward. While we were migrating, we had training from Microsoft, which was helpful.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I haven't really looked into other options.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, this is a good product and one that I recommend. The features it has have helped us, especially with tracking dependencies.

I would rate this solution an eight 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: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
Senior Director at Cloud Technovation
Real User
Good for the staging environment through to the production environment
Pros and Cons
  • "Azure enables us to create a staging environment through to a production environment in an easier way and then get the code and run that."

    What is our primary use case?

    Building fast and reliable, amplified feedback loops in all stages of our software delivery and operations lifecycle. The business strives for built-in quality to ensure that everyone have correctly done their job. 

    I trust my team with peer reviews of our designs, code, test and infrastructure.

    How has it helped my organization?

    I'm familiar with Azure DevOps in the sense that my group directive has based the administration, architecture, and development on Azure. So whichever hat that I need to wear at the time that's the one I can wear.

    What is most valuable?

    I would say that Pipelines is Azure's most valuable feature. Also generally, Azure enables us to create a staging environment through to a production environment in an easier way and then get the code and run that. It also has decent pull requests and things like that.

    What needs improvement?

    Azure DevOps is a very cross-platform product. One of the issues that I have currently with the company is that they are using two different parts of technology. They were using JIRA for their sprint work and they were also using Confluence, as well as other Enterprise software. I advised them that all their sprint planning, backlog work, and everything else, can be done out of Azure DevOps from one central place. I know the Microsoft team will always look at improvements because I know that they are constantly looking at improvements to products while listening to their customers and looking at a global scale. I'm keeping my ear to the ground, as I always do.

    The product keeps evolving and at the moment there are a lot of good parts There are petabytes of data. Anytime somebody does a pull request or anything else, Microsoft is notified about it. So if somebody, somewhere is always looking at that and watching, that can be a revolutionary product. It's a product that can continuously grow and evolve in time. Even if it is not yet what you call a finished article, it's a growing and evolving product.

    Everybody has a slightly different take on what solutions or what part of the solution they would like to be improved. You can always improve a platform. Microsoft is always listening to customers and they will bring out a new version. The platform is quite user-friendly at the moment because you can use any program or language with it. You can't say you need another program, because as far as I'm concerned the main ones can be integrated with Azure. The newer ones like Go, as well as older ones like Python, Java, and PSP,  can all be integrated with that platform.

    I suppose when we hear about that release, I have no doubt that because Microsoft captures a lot of metrics and information that they monitor, like capturing data about what or how people use their product, they can see where the usage is and where they might want to remove a feature. That analysis and also comes from Microsoft's monitoring capabilities.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been using this solution for five years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I thought it was very stable. They didn't have any shaky moments. Predominantly with Azure DevOps you need one thing only: a solid internet connection. If you've got a solid Internet connection, you just push everything up to the platform or run an integral request. I haven't had any issues with that. Some people might have, but it all comes down to their internet connection.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    This solution is extremely scalable.

    It helps a lot in Microservices or service technologies. Using the infrastructures of code enables a productivity increase of a thousand percent. I was speaking with a company that was pulling 12 requests at one time but using competitive technology like DevOps they were able to pull over 2000 requests at the same time. It's extremely scalable and you can use it to scale down when it needs it. It's a completely autonomous product, that allows you to scale whatever you need.

    I have five or six back end developers that use it every day. They learn every day, so whatever code or scripts they write are in Azure DevOps. They're not using any another tool to do it, they are pulling it with the platform because you can't tell other people about a platform if you aren't using it yourself. The first thing they do is log on to DevOps.

    There will be an increase in our usage of the product. We are looking to expand at some point. The more people that come on board, the more use there is for the product.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    We haven't had a requirement to contact their technical support. I have contacted their technical support before under some other projects and got a really good response from the person on the other end of the phone. They are always looking to help you solve more solutions as quickly as they possibly can.

    I don't think I have had a bad experience; I've always had continuity. They were able to get me the problem resolved, whether it was a P1 or P4 issue. I've never had a problem with the technical support.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I have experience with Amazon Web Services. As the Azure product has matured a lot in the last two to three years, it deserves its market share at the moment. We were using other products, like Visual Studio, a web service which is an old name for Visual DevOps. We were also using things like Team Foundation Server (TFS). We were just using some of the older tech.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was straightforward.

    What about the implementation team?

    We did the implementation ourselves.

    I'm working on the high-level design and the low-level design so I know where we're going to start, and whether we've got a blank slate. I've worked with many firms in the past and companies have their own design in place. Usually, some of these companies material is outdated and Microsoft will probably move the bar several times. We are Microsoft accredited so we stay in touch with the technology more recently than most. We've constantly been informed of the latest technology and the latest products that are evolving on the platform. That includes those that are in preview, which I hope will become available, as well as those that are going to be deprecated. We're basically in full harmony with Microsoft and their products.

    What was our ROI?

    We most definitely achieved an ROI.

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

    Check out the pricing information from Azure Cost and analysis information.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    No Visual Studio Team Services and Visual code were the preferred options.

    What other advice do I have?

    The first thing that I would suggest is to read the documentation for the platform. The online documentation changes pretty much every other week; there is always something new coming out. Practice, practice, and practice. Test, practice, and repeat. You need to know your way around the platform and the only way to do that is by hands-on practice. You can't break the environment, but you can speed things up on the thirteenth hour. It depends on how you configure things since every configuration is different. It's an excellent product that is taking into account current technology, yet also flexible enough to use with future technology.

    At the moment I would rate Azure DevOps as a nine out of ten. The reason I wouldn't give anything a ten is because it's constantly evolving. There is room for improvement, as this is not the finished article at all. The reason I would give it a nine is the information to get the best usage out of the product is readily available. I've been using Microsoft tech for over 25 years now and back in the day it was difficult to get information out of Microsoft even when you were an MCPN. You would have a special link to go through a Microsoft back door to gain information. That's completely different to the advice that you would get related to Microsoft.com. Now Microsoft is completely different with everything readily available. You can download it in pdot format and the document could be 2000-3000 pages. They leave no stone unturned.

    The only problem I would say at the moment is a friend of mine said that the Microsoft test book is taking a long time to come out because he wants to take the exam. Some people need to read the information and retain the information that way. Sometimes you go on these courses that are not run by Microsoft directly. They can be very flaky and don't have all the information or experience of using the product in normal working life.

    If there is anything I would ask for, it's to get the documentation out on hardback so that we can add it to our libraries. That would be very good.

    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: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Microsoft Azure DevOps
    March 2025
    Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Azure DevOps. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
    860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    reviewer1701294 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Vice President at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
    Real User
    It's simple to implement the SAFe Framework, but it's not easy to customize like some solutions
    Pros and Cons
    • "Setting up Azure DevOps was straightforward. It's easy to use the default templates. Everything is under our control, so it's simple to implement new requirements."
    • "The portfolio is one area where DevOps has room for improvement. Built-in reporting and visualization also could be better. We're using Power BI and Tableau to compile more complex reports and dashboards. Azure DevOps has some out-of-the-box reporting capabilities, but they're very simple. It's usually okay on the team level, but if you have to run a complex report, it's difficult and insufficient, so we use Power BI as an extension."

    What is our primary use case?

    We adopted the SAFe Framework, and more than 10 teams are using the process or workflow template from Azure DevOps for SAFe. Also, we're currently using DevOps for future planning and backlog management following the scrum approach on the team and coordination level. The company plans to extend this with Lean Portfolio Management. 

    How has it helped my organization?

    Time to Market: Teams deliver more in less time.

    What is most valuable?

    Azure Pipeline is the most valuable feature.

    What needs improvement?

    The portfolio is one area where DevOps has room for improvement. Built-in reporting and visualization also could be better. We're using Power BI and Tableau to compile more complex reports and dashboards. Azure DevOps has some out-of-the-box reporting capabilities, but they're very simple. It's usually okay on the team level, but if you have to run a complex report, it's difficult and insufficient, so we use Power BI as an extension.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been using DevOps for about three years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    DevOps is very stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    DevOps is scalable. We have about 65 users working with it, including the product manager, product owner, scrum master developer, tester, line managers, and architects. 

    How are customer service and support?

    We haven't experienced any significant issues so far, but any issues we've had were fixed fast, so I would say I'm very satisfied with the support.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We were using Jira, but we switched to DevOps. It was a strategic decision to reduce the complexity of the toolchains. We wanted a Microsoft solution, so we chose Azure DevOps.

    How was the initial setup?

    Setting up Azure DevOps was straightforward. It's easy to use the default templates. Everything is under our control, so it's simple to implement new requirements. We did it ourselves in three days. Since we used the default templates,  we didn't have to change the standard Azure DevOps services. Two people are responsible for deployment and maintenance: DevOps engineer and Release Train Engineer

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate Azure DevOps seven out of 10. DevOps isn't so easy. In general, the solution is straightforward and suits our purposes, but it's a little bit tricky to customize the workflow. It's simple to implement the SAFe Framework, but it's not easy to customize compared to Digital.ai Agility. There's a huge gap.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Public Cloud
    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    reviewer1208085 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Sr. Devops Architect Manager at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Real User
    Scalable and stable
    Pros and Cons
    • "It is stable, and we have had no issues with it."
    • "As for room for improvement, more features need to be added to the classic pipeline. The build and release pipelines are present, but there has not been much improvement there."

    What needs improvement?

    As for room for improvement, more features need to be added to the classic pipeline. The build and release pipelines are present, but there has not been much improvement there.

    Apart from that, the reporting structure could be provided as well. Depending on how the company is using the technology, there may be other Microsoft tools that are better so that the integration and reporting will be easier.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been using Microsoft Azure DevOps for almost five or six years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It is stable, and we have had no issues with it.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It is scalable.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would rate this solution at eight on a scale from one to ten.

    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    Ingeniero de DevOps at Babel Software
    Real User
    Great serverless technology that makes it quicker and faster to deploy .NET applications
    Pros and Cons
    • "It's a pretty problem-free solution."
    • "When we don't have some permissions, we have to research how to get them."

    What is our primary use case?

    I use it to, for example, build applications. Not just Subnet - also Java or in OGS. I deploy Windows applications and also mobile applications with Visual Studio App Center and Azure DevOps.

    What is most valuable?

    Azure services like serverless technology make it quicker and faster to deploy .NET applications, for example. Similarly, the Azure Portal is faster to put in services, for example, with specific functionality. These kinds of features are faster to deploy and to put in functionalities that are specific, which is great.

    I like the Azure keyboard. Keyboard permits use, for example, connection streams in secret, in a safe manner. 

    Sometimes I use also Azure SQL Database cloud, the serverless functionality. It's also very attractive because you can use something like a GP, like the protection of the data on the cloud. You can put a lot of information there, maybe not with banks, however, with other kinds of clients. 

    The ability to have cognitive services is good. For example, I use a lot of Azure DevOps, for example, Cloud, Azure DevOps Cloud, and analytics views with, for example, Power BI on-premise if you have Power BI as a service. There is a lot of pipeline potential with Azure DevOps deploying, for example, Containers, to Kubernetes, Azure Kubernetes Service, and also a lot of Azure Container repositories and Azure Container instances. This is great for quickly deploying SonarQube in a container. These kinds of things are very attractive.

    It's a pretty problem-free solution.

    What needs improvement?

    When we don't have some permissions, we have to research how to get them. It's not obvious. For example, deploying in order to do the connections, we need permissions for quotes or quotas. A specific quota might depend on an account. Sometimes we don't have the kind of support we need to work things out easily.

    When you deploy in Yaml Pilot, for example, you need to note in Yaml how to associate the piling, the release with the word items. We need more information about how this is possible and more flexibility to make it happen. 

    What other advice do I have?

    My organization is a Microsoft partner.

    I have Microsoft certifications. I always develop in Visual Studio, .NET, or Core, and now I work with Azure DevOps and also in Azure Portal.

    I deployed in a hybrid environment as the clients have a lot of things on-premises. For example, the databases I use, for example, Redgate, plus Azure DevOps, or Apex with Azure DevOps, to deploy databases. In some cases, a lot of banks prefer their data on-premise. In other cases, I deploy to Azure App Services, for example, in the cloud. Also, I see things with Amazon Web Services and telephone, like multi-cloud.

    I would rate the solution at a ten out of ten as it never gives me any problems. 

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    Head of .NET Department at Evozon
    MSP
    Top 5Leaderboard
    Integrates well, scalable, and straightforward setup
    Pros and Cons
    • "My team likes the integration that Microsoft Azure DevOps has with GitHub and Microsoft Teams. The solution is well integrated with other Microsoft tools in one place, it is very good."
    • "Microsoft Azure DevOps could improve by having better integration with other email servers."

    What is our primary use case?

    Microsoft Azure DevOps is used for source code versioning, issue tracking, documentation storage, and sharing.

    What is most valuable?

    My team likes the integration that Microsoft Azure DevOps has with GitHub and Microsoft Teams. The solution is well integrated with other Microsoft tools in one place, it is very good.

    What needs improvement?

    Microsoft Azure DevOps could improve by having better integration with other email servers.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using Microsoft Azure DevOps for a few years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Microsoft Azure DevOps is quite stable. When we were configuring some continuous integration pipelines, we had some issues, but it was not a large issue.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The solution is scalable enough for what we use it for, we have small teams of approximately 25 people. It's more than enough right now.

    How are customer service and support?

    We didn't have many incidents to contact the support about. However, they were decent.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I was previously using Jira.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is straightforward. The configuration of Microsoft Azure DevOps could be better. The documentation needs to be improved.

    What about the implementation team?

    The implementation and maintenance of the solution are done by our DevOps department.

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

    We do not pay licenses for this solution.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would recommend this solution to others.

    I rate Microsoft Azure DevOps an eight out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Public Cloud
    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    Head of Tourism Development at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
    Real User
    It allows us to manage a project and follow up with our business, development, and testing teams
    Pros and Cons
    • "DevOps is easy to use because we can arrange each task in a project and follow up with the testing, development, and business teams. We manage everything through this."
    • "I want DevOps to have more automated reminders about tasks that don't need management. We don't have reminders, so a project manager must track the tasks. It's not automatic."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use DevOps for backlogs and work items. We divide our releases into many sprints to keep our development on time, and we use DevOps to manage tasks for development or business teams.

    What is most valuable?

    DevOps is easy to use because we can arrange each task in a project and follow up with the testing, development, and business teams. We manage everything through this.

    What needs improvement?

    I want DevOps to have more automated reminders about tasks that don't need management. We don't have reminders, so a project manager must track the tasks. It's not automatic.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We've been using Azure DevOps for three years. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    DevOps is stable. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    DevOps is scalable. About 70 people use the solution on average. 

    How was the initial setup?

    Another team handles the implementation, so I wasn't involved. I'm on the business team. Two engineers are responsible for deploying and managing DevOps. 

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

    We pay for a yearly license. 

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate Azure DevOps eight out of 10. I prefer Jira, but both solutions are very nice. 

    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: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    reviewer1490172 - PeerSpot reviewer
    SDET at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Real User
    Ability to run tests and has automation tools but integration process could be improved
    Pros and Cons
    • "The most valuable feature is that we can run integrations with DevOps. From a QA perspective and a testing perspective, we can run those tests and integrate automation tools. Then we can run those tests as part of the deployment process. Every time we are deploying something, it automatically runs all the tests."
    • "Something that could be improved is the initial setup with the integration of ReadyAPI."

    What is our primary use case?

    Our only use case with DevOps was for integration with ReadyAPI.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable feature is that we can run integrations with DevOps. From a QA perspective and a testing perspective, we can run those tests and integrate automation tools. Then we can run those tests as part of the deployment process. Every time we are deploying something, it automatically runs all the tests.

    What needs improvement?

    Something that could be improved is the initial setup with the integration of ReadyAPI.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I used this solution for six months.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Stability is fine. I was getting some errors, but that was due to my side of things.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Scalability is fine.

    How was the initial setup?

    I would rate this solution 6 out of 10.

    I did have some issues due to our organization, but it would be different for everyone. My advice is to reach out to support if you have any problems.

    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Microsoft Azure DevOps Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: March 2025
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Microsoft Azure DevOps Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.