Our primary use case for the solution is for applications. We get many applications in the environment, and most applications use Microsoft SQL, Azure SQL, and DBs, and a few use Postgres SQL. So primarily, the focus is to connect with the DB team and have a specific expert in the SQL environment.
Solutions Architect - Cloud at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
A solution with good uptime and multi-region features with a valuable dashboard
Pros and Cons
- "The dashboard is valuable."
- "The solution can be improved by reducing the constraints available."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
We find the uptime and multi-region features available. Additionally, the dashboard is valuable.
What needs improvement?
The solution can be improved by reducing the constraints available on cloud and improving support response times.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have beee using the solution for approximately two years.
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Microsoft Azure SQL Database
June 2025

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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable. I rate is as nine out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
We have had a good experience with customer service and support. They are knowledgeable but sometimes take a while to give solutions. I rate customer service and support as seven out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. I rate is as eight out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the solution as eight out of ten. The solution is good but can be improved by reducing the constraints on cloud and improving support response times.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. partner

A user-friendly environment with good flexibility for adding modules or features
Pros and Cons
- "The solution effectively handles storing and maintaining information in databases."
- "The solution requires familiarity with its language so can be tricky."
What is our primary use case?
I use the solution for database maintenance.
What is most valuable?
The environment is user friendly and there is good flexibility for adding modules or features.
The solution effectively handles storing and maintaining information in databases.
What needs improvement?
The solution requires familiarity with its language so can be tricky. A simplified language would be appealing to users.
A more user-friendly format for certain modules is desired.
The application and interface can be a bit heavy to install.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable. It takes a bit of knowledge about the process but then is really easy.
How are customer service and support?
I have not needed technical support.
How was the initial setup?
The setup can be a bit of a challenge until you get used to it. Once you have familiarity with it, setup is okay and takes about 30 minutes.
What about the implementation team?
A colleague assisted me with implementation.
What other advice do I have?
I recommending using the solution because it is effective and user friendly.
I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
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.
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure SQL Database
June 2025

Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Azure SQL Database. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
860,632 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Consultant at SoftwareONE
Helpful support, scalable, and beneficial turning process
Pros and Cons
- "The backup solution in Azure is great, the firewall settings in SQL are very easy to use and work very well. Additionally, the turning process is very good and has improved the SQL services and queries."
- "SQL Azure could improve by adding more features."
What is our primary use case?
I have used SQL Azure for the backend tier application. If the customer has the flow change application with an application service, they will use the backend. I always suggest using SQL Server and Azure.
What is most valuable?
The backup solution in Azure is great, the firewall settings in SQL are very easy to use and work very well. Additionally, the turning process is very good and has improved the SQL services and queries.
What needs improvement?
SQL Azure could improve by adding more features.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used SQL Azure within the past 12 months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have found SQL Azure to be stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of SQL Azure is very good.
How are customer service and support?
The support of SQL Azure is very good.
How was the initial setup?
The implementation of SQL Azure is simple.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others.
I rate SQL Azure a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Consultant at kulki data management & consultants
Perfectly scalable and cost effective compared to other solutions
Pros and Cons
- "The on-premise SQL Server licenses can be used since it is on Azure, so it's a significant savings for the customers."
- "SQL Azure's performance monitoring features need to be improved. It has a pricing calculator, but it would be great if we could get a rough estimate of the pricing based on fewer parameters, like the data size and the scale of the company."
What is our primary use case?
We provide managed services using SQL Azure to our end-clients. The price of services is fixed, and we manage the resources according to their needs.
How has it helped my organization?
The on-premise SQL Server licenses can be used since it is on Azure, so it's a significant savings for the customers.
What needs improvement?
SQL Azure's performance monitoring features need to be improved. It has a pricing calculator, but it would be great if we could get a rough estimate of the pricing based on fewer parameters, like the data size and the scale of the company.
For how long have I used the solution?
I started working with SQL Azure about six months ago.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I haven't had any stability issues with SQL Azure, but I've heard that there are frequent down times.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
SQL Azure is perfectly scalable.
How was the initial setup?
I haven't had any complications setting up SQL Azure.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Microsoft controls the licensing for SQL Server and even for the other vendors. They don't play fair with AWS. If anyone wants to migrate to AWS RDS, Microsoft won't let anyone reuse the on-premise SQL Server licenses on AWS. You would need to repurchase those licenses. So it's cheaper to migrate to Azure instead if you already have an on-prem SQL Server license. The Azure platform itself is also much cheaper than AWS. So when you factor in the SQL Server licenses, it's as much 10 times cheaper than AWS RDS. I'm talking about the SQL Server RDS.
What other advice do I have?
I rate SQL Azure eight out of 10. To anyone thinking about adopting this solution, I would recommend that they first decide what applications they need to migrate to Azure. Then you need to estimate the cost. All cloud vendors charge for incoming traffic, especially Azure, and it costs a lot. Around 500GB of data might cost a few thousand dollars.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Practice Lead at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Excellent security features and great auto-scaling
Pros and Cons
- "Great auto-scaling and security features."
- "Lack of flexibility for developers in terms of performance assistance."
What is our primary use case?
We use a relational database management system and 90% of the projects I've worked with have used SQL Server. We are partners with SQL Azure.
What is most valuable?
The main valuable feature is the auto scaling. In addition, the security features they've implemented on cloud make it a little easier compared to on-prem SQL, they're great. It enables added scalability, and costing can be tweaked and made more reliable, flexible and cost effective.
What needs improvement?
I think SQL could be improved in terms of ease of use for developers when it comes to performance. For example, enabling suggestions or auto-tune performances, providing results which are higher level recommendations. I know there are tools that performance analyze, but I personally find it to be overly complicated. If they look at performance assistance, add-ons or plugins that might help the developer, focus can be on business logic rather than performance. This is an ongoing issue for me and I'd like to see developers given the flexibility to change those recommendations, it would simplify things.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for 20 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
SQL's stability is dependent on where it's hosted.
How was the initial setup?
If you're going into a cluster with multiple width or multiple SQL Servers, deployment becomes a little more tricky. In general, though, the initial setup is relatively easy.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend this solution and I rate it an eight out of 10.
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
Information Technology Manager at OrchidaSoft
Easy to use with good performance and very stable
Pros and Cons
- "The product is quite stable. The performance is great and it's reliable."
- "It would help if the solution was more secure."
What is our primary use case?
The solution is primarily used as a database.
What is most valuable?
The solution is very easy to use. It's quite user-friendly.
The product is quite stable. The performance is great and it's reliable.
It's very good as an on-premises deployment.
We've found the solution to be scalable and easy to expand.
What needs improvement?
It would help if the solution was more secure. It's an aspect they could work on for future releases.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been dealing with the solution for many years now. It's been a while.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable. 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?
The solution scales well. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so with relative ease.
How are customer service and technical support?
I've never directly dealt with technical support and therefore cannot speak to how helpful or responsive they are. Typically, if we have a problem, we just Google it and look for the answer online.
How was the initial setup?
We don't install it. We just use it. It is my understanding that in Azure we don't install anything. We go on Amazon or Microsoft and make a machine. There's no installation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
You do need to pay a license fee in order to use the product. I can't speak to the exact price.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
As we are planning to move to the cloud, we are looking at other options, including PostgreSQL or Microsoft SQL Server. It's my understanding that there is not a big difference between Microsoft SQL on Cloud and the Microsoft SQL Server. We still have lots of experience on Microsoft's SQL Server, and likely our company is still prepared to use Microsoft SQL on Azure, not PostgreSQL. On the other hand, a lot of ERPs nowadays on the market using PostgreSQL. So our developers in the company have experience with this product, PostgreSQL.
What other advice do I have?
We use the product and we offer it to customers as well.
We are planning to move to the cloud in the future.
I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten. Our company prefers SQL Azure. We enjoy its capabilities. I'd recommend the product.
Until now, we don't yet have full experience with it and just we just apply it in very small scenarios - just for feasibility and to take some feasibility tests. We have yet to start converging our ERP. We're checking if it's good or available and if it will fit in some scenarios.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Team Lead, Enterprise Computing Platforms at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
No admin overhead, stable, and scalable, but needs better pricing and compatibility with other vendors
Pros and Cons
- "We don't have to manage it much. It is managed by Microsoft, which makes it easy for us because there is no admin overhead for managing the servers. It is also easily scalable. During peak hours, it can scale higher."
- "We have a very small database running on SQL Azure. We have not been able to load bigger systems on it. It is still not something that is feasible. All our heavy-duty systems are on SAP, and it should have more compatibility with other vendors such as SAP. Its price can definitely be lower. It is pretty pricey."
What is most valuable?
We don't have to manage it much. It is managed by Microsoft, which makes it easy for us because there is no admin overhead for managing the servers.
It is also easily scalable. During peak hours, it can scale higher.
What needs improvement?
We have a very small database running on SQL Azure. We have not been able to load bigger systems on it. It is still not something that is feasible. All our heavy-duty systems are on SAP, and it should have more compatibility with other vendors such as SAP.
Its price can definitely be lower. It is pretty pricey.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using SQL Azure for about three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is easily scalable. We have five people who are working with this solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
Their technical support is very good for SQL Azure. Basically, based on my experience, we usually don't have any problem with support for Microsoft products. If we are seeking support for something like Linux or something that is not exactly a Microsoft product, it is a little disappointing.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Its price can definitely be lower. It is pretty pricey.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate SQL Azure a seven out of ten. It works like any other SQL database, and it is pretty good.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Program Solution Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Stable and easy to use with good technical support
Pros and Cons
- "It's easy to use in terms of their portal, which is very nicely organized."
- "Their availability in the Middle East and Asia regions needs to improve."
What is our primary use case?
Azure has multiple use cases. Organizations can use it for hosting infrastructure, for example. There are cloud services that you can utilize. The main purpose of the cloud is that you don't need to set up your own data center, and then you can just use the cloud platforms provided by Azure or AWS, or any other cloud. They all serve the same purpose.
What is most valuable?
The solution is a stable product. It has a lot of out-of-the-box services. It provides a lot of services that we would typically have to provision on-premise.
It's easy to use in terms of their portal, which is very nicely organized.
It's a good platform all in all.
The solution has proven to be quite scalable.
We've found the solution to be stable.
Technical support from Microsoft is very good.
What needs improvement?
The solution should start covering more regions in Gulf countries and other regions. This is due to the fact that other cloud providers are not locally available. Yet this is what people require here. Their availability in the Middle East and Asia regions needs to improve.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for a couple of years at this point. It's been a while.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We've found the solution to be very stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is quite scalable. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so with relative ease.
I'm from a technology provider. We provision these services and provide them to other clients. One of the infrastructure environments which we are provisioning on Azure would be used by probably approximately 8,000 to 10,000 users.
In terms of if we plan to continue usage or not, we are just building it on Azure right now. So it will be live in a year or two, something like this.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support is really good. Microsoft support is pretty knowledgeable and responsive. We are happy with the level of service we receive from them.
How was the initial setup?
The solution is a cloud product. You don't need to install anything. There is no installation process to deal with.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
All products are licensed. The cost depends on someone's usage space. The more you use it, the more you pay. Some are billed in terms of fixed cost. For example, if I provision some work with a machine that I pay for it, even if I don't use it. There are multiple ways you could potentially pay.
What other advice do I have?
We are partners.
We are working on the latest version of the solution.
I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten.
I would recommend the solution. There are not many cloud providers. Azure and AWS are some of the top providers. These are the two which compete with each other, and both of them have good services. That said, I would recommend Azure for sure.
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

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