We primarily use the solution for our daily operations.
Sr. DBA/Developer at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Stable with good scalability potential and very easy to manage
Pros and Cons
- "SQL is very easy to manage."
- "Occasionally the performance, as good as it is, is a bit off. We sometimes experience memory spiking. If they could maybe fix that aspect of the solution, that would be quite helpful for our organization."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
The solution has provided our clients with some valuable data feeds.
What is most valuable?
The performance is a very valuable aspect of the solution.
SQL is very easy to manage.
What needs improvement?
Occasionally the performance, as good as it is, is a bit off. We sometimes experience memory spiking. If they could maybe fix that aspect of the solution, that would be quite helpful for our organization.
Buyer's Guide
SQL Server
January 2026
Learn what your peers think about SQL Server. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using the solution for more than ten years at this point.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is extremely stable. We haven't had issues. We don't really experience bugs or glitches and haven't had the system crash on us before.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of the solution is very good. A company that needs to expand should be able to do so fairly easily.
We have about ten people using SQL at our organization. Some are in Operations. Some are developers.
The data we have is constantly expanding and growing for us, so we already are increasing the capacity of the SQL server. We'll continue to do so as necessary.
How are customer service and support?
If we have any issues, we contact Microsoft. We only do so if something happens and we can't fix it ourselves. It hasn't happened too many times, and it usually doesn't revert to me to reach out, so although I know we have used them in the past, I myself have no direct experience dealing with them.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
It's been about ten years since we started using SQL, which is quite a long time. I don't recall if we used a different solution before that or not. If we did, I don't know what it would have been.
How was the initial setup?
I'm not sure how to answer as to if the solution is straightforward or complex in terms of setup. I didn't handle the deployment, so I'm not the person who would be best equipped to answer these types of questions.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I'm not the person that deals with billing and payments, so I don't know what the cost of the solution is, or if it is monthly or yearly billing.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I'm not sure if we would have looked at something else or what it might have been. If there was research and a comparison was done, that would have been a decade ago. It's been a long time.
What other advice do I have?
We are using the 2008 and 2017 versions.
I'd like others to know that SQL is easy to use and easy to manage. It also offers pretty good performance, in my opinion.
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. It's not too expensive, or at least that is my understanding, but I am aware there are lots of open source options out there as well companies may want to consider.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Systems Specialist at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Has good replication, availability, and clustering features
Pros and Cons
- "Its availability for a secured server is one of its most valuable features. Also its replications - we can manage eight replicas. Their clustering and availability groups are also valuable."
- "They do not offer the SQL Server Management tool via the installation. It is a separate tool I use when I'm trying to configure the mirroring with SQL Server Mirroring. This is not supported and I'm getting some errors on the database mirroring."
What is our primary use case?
Mainly, I do infrastructure support. We do fine-tuning, information, configuration, higher-level availability, and replication. Also, single and clustering solutions - both kinds.
We do on-premises and cloud deployments. This is because some customers use Microsoft Azure, mainly in the financial sector, such as the Sri Lanka Government, who has many databases that cannot go on the cloud. The financial sector also works with on-prem databases.
I am mainly using the SQL Server from 2019. That's the latest version since last January while our customers are mainly using the 2016 and 2017 versions. This is because we are not providing the latest version. We are testing some bugs now. In terms of functionality, I think the 2017 version is better. I have not fully tested the 2019, so I cannot give a recommendation for it.
What is most valuable?
Its availability for a secured server is one of its most valuable features. Also its replication features are valuable- we can manage eight replicas. Their clustering and availability groups are also valuable.
What needs improvement?
They do not offer the SQL Server Management tool via the installation. It is a separate tool I use when I'm trying to configure the mirroring with SQL Server Mirroring. This is not supported and I'm getting some errors on the database mirroring. So sometimes I use the 2014 management console and the 2017 server for that. If the customer does not agree to that, I use a query for the database mirroring connections.
Additionally, I think some kind of machine learning related feature should be included. This is because technology is moving fast and all of the customers are getting it easier. So developers are making machine learning products. That's why they should include some kind of a machine learning feature here, too.
How was the initial setup?
Which initial setup are you referring too? It has multiple solutions and installations, some of which are very simple. Clustering is very difficult to setup.
Setup time depends on the customer's environment, including database size, the number of databases, and the amount of data. Last week I did a PLC with two databases and one availability crew. It took two days because one day I did clustering. It can be done in one day but the customer provides another day for that.
Also, because the customers haven't kept some downtime, we request some kind of downtime for the primary server. So sometimes we plan downtime when we need some days for the complete environment.
What about the implementation team?
I'm working with Microsoft solutions in Sri Lanka. We have a technical team for the DB side only - Microsoft SQL Servers, Azure platform, SQL servers. All of those have a security device. And as I mentioned, installation is per requirement. There is no need for a couple of engineers for that.
In terms of maintenance after the deployment, it also varies depending on the number of databases.
What other advice do I have?
On a scale of one to ten, I would rate Microsoft MDS an eight. I'd give it an 8 and not a 10 because it lacks some features, such as machine learning.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Buyer's Guide
SQL Server
January 2026
Learn what your peers think about SQL Server. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Consultant at a tech company with self employed
Works well as a general-purpose database, but it needs to improve documentation for specialist applications
Pros and Cons
- "I value the ability it gives me to test on small machines and easily scale up to larger devices for live applications."
- "When we run into problems, it's usually during installation, and finding answers to the problem has been a nightmare because the documentation is terrible."
What is our primary use case?
The solution is used primarily for medium companies in vertical accounting applications. We use the solution as a good general-purpose database.
What is most valuable?
I value the ability it gives me to test on small machines and easily scale up to larger devices for live applications.
What needs improvement?
When we run into problems, it's usually during installation, and finding answers to the problem has been a nightmare because the documentation is terrible.
Likewise, I find the business reporting rather poor, and the solution doesn't work well as a data warehouse product. When I tried to use it as one, I did not find it very satisfactory.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used SQL Server for about 20 years, probably. I've used a number of different versions, including 2010 and 2007.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We have never had a stability problem.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We rarely have more than a few hundred users. It's more about the person using it since we don't have heavy, continuous use.
How are customer service and support?
We've never had a sensible answer from technical support.
How was the initial setup?
I have generally found implementing the solution easy. But when it comes to the time we took to implement the solution, the problem's always been the application and not the database. The solution is usually easy to implement because we use standard facilities. If you need something special, you run into all sorts of trouble because SQL Server gives you an awful lot of ability to change the settings.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We've used it as a development tool, and it's very cheap as a development tool. Besides, someone else has paid for it for my use, so it's a question of whether the cost suits the end user. The solution has a good midrange price for the applications in which we've used it. Oracle's pricing would raise more eyebrows, but SQL Server's pricing has proven satisfactory for our market range.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We mainly use SQL Server because it's cost-effective for our applications. We've occasionally tried other databases for various reasons. We've used the Sybase database, but the Sybase database is very close to SQL Server. We've also tried MySQL, but that was more of an exercise in porting than anything else. However, it's not a fair comparison because we had done the development on SQL Server and then used that as a porting exercise.
What other advice do I have?
The solution's generally been easy to use for the general cases we've used. The solution has been satisfactory for the sort of applications we've used.
We've been very much middle of the road in using SQL Server. We don't use specialist, and we've tried to keep to standard SQL as far as possible. We don't use the clustering facilities or try to use any of the specialist facilities. We could drop it and switch to MySQL or another database if we had to. We are using SQL Server, not for the particular services it's got, but using it as a middle-range product. We're taking advantage of the fact that it runs on all sorts of platforms, and it's a good value development product that works very easily for us. We're not using it for some of the things Microsoft clients find particularly useful for. We're not high-intensity users. For people like us, it fits in very easily.
For our purposes, SQL Server is just about ideal. It's easy to use and fit. Some of the later versions, in particular, have been easy to use. We have had installation problems on some of the later versions, and the documentation is poor. I'll rate SQL Server a seven out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Chief ICT Officer at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
A scalable and stable solution that works as a database for applications
Pros and Cons
- "The tool helps us by being available always."
- "The tool is expensive."
What is our primary use case?
We use the product as a database for the applications.
How has it helped my organization?
The tool helps us by being available always.
What is most valuable?
We don't encounter any issues with the solution.
What needs improvement?
The tool is expensive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the product for the last ten years.
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 tool is scalable.
How was the initial setup?
The tool is easy to install.
What was our ROI?
We have seen ROI with the tool's use.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I would rate the tool's pricing a six out of ten. It is not extremely cheap but also it's not the most expensive product.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate the product an eight 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.
Data Analyst at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Easy use and simple to expand with good performance
Pros and Cons
- "We found it to be quite scalable."
- "While using it, we really didn't experience any pain points."
What is our primary use case?
I'm a web developer, and I use SQL for the backend.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable aspect of the solution is its ease of use.
It's a pretty stable solution.
We found it to be quite scalable.
What needs improvement?
While using it, we really didn't experience any pain points. It doesn't need any additional features.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have a couple of years of experience with the solution so far.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability and performance are good. It doesn't crash or freeze. it's not buggy. there are no glitches. It's pretty reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability has been good. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so.
How are customer service and support?
I've never used technical support. I can't speak to how helpful or responsive they would be.
What other advice do I have?
I'm not sure which version of the solution I'm using.
I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten. We've been satisfied with its overall capabilities in general.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Kurucu, Bilgisayar Programcısı at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Easy to use and there is great value having the database engine running continually
Pros and Cons
- "It's great that the database engine is always on."
- "The solution is lacking a compound index for comparing values."
What is our primary use case?
We are an independent software vendor and users of this product. I'm a company founder.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature for me is that the database engine is always on.
What needs improvement?
The solution is lacking a compound index for comparing values as you find in PostgreSQL. SQL Server doesn't support that feature so we need to build binary indexes to be able to compare those compound values. I'd also like to see AI capabilities. Oracle has a cloud solution which maintains its own indexes. If you buy a service from Oracle's cloud system, it keeps track of the queries that you have made to the database and it automatically implements its own indexes. It's such a good optimized database and I'd like to see an SQL Server that maintains its own indexes with AI capability.
I have an issue with memory support: If you create a table and a third procedure followed by an additional procedure using that third procedure, and then wish to alter the original table with the two dependent objects, you have to drop those third procedures and alter the table and recreate dependencies. Those dependencies make it impossible to work in an online environment. If there's a problem, for example, in your implementation and you have to modify a production system, for example, it can't be done. SQL Server generates DLL files in this instance and you can't change DLLs of a running program. It should be easy for them to solve.
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?
I have the issue of memory support but the solution is stable.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
For Turkey, the licensing costs are too high. Previously, independent software vendors like us would buy the license from Microsoft and resell to our customers.
For vendors it was half the retail price, but that's no longer possible. Sometimes enterprise companies buying in bulk can get licenses at a better price, but we don't have that and it's impractical for us to sell this solution.
What other advice do I have?
The solution doesn't have too many surprises and is easy to understand. It's all dependent on the architecture and implementation. Newer products use code-first solutions and I'm not sure people will continue to go down the SQL path. If I were starting my project now, I would have chosen another database.
I rate the solution eight out of 10.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Admin at a government with 501-1,000 employees
Stable and scalable data storage for enterprise applications
Pros and Cons
- "SQL is stable."
- "SQL could be improved by making all features available on the on-premise version of the product as well as the cloud version. When you buy the on-premise version, it's sort of an inferior product compared to the cloud version, which seems to get most of the latest and greatest features."
What is our primary use case?
SQL is our main data store for enterprise applications, all applications that we have in the organization.
What needs improvement?
SQL could be improved by making all features available on the on-premise version of the product as well as the cloud version. When you buy the on-premise version, it's sort of an inferior product compared to the cloud version, which seems to get most of the latest and greatest features.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for a few years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
SQL is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This solution is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
I am satisfied with Microsoft's technical support.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was ok, it met our requirements.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented SQL ourselves, and it took around a week to install.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Subscriptions are available on a yearly basis.
What other advice do I have?
I would give SQL a score of 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.
Senior Systems Engineer at a energy/utilities company with 201-500 employees
It is easy to deploy and easy to maintain, but they should provide faster support
Pros and Cons
- "It is easy to deploy and easy to maintain."
- "They need to improve their support. It should be faster."
What is our primary use case?
We are using it for various applications.
What is most valuable?
It is easy to deploy and easy to maintain.
What needs improvement?
They need to improve their support. It should be faster.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using it for a couple of 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 scalable. We have more than a thousand users who use this solution. It is being used heavily, and we don't have any plans to increase its usage.
How are customer service and support?
Their support needs improvement. It should be faster.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We didn't use any other solution previously. We have been using it for a long time.
How was the initial setup?
It was easy.
What about the implementation team?
I can install it myself. We also have a technical team of three admins.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Its licensing is yearly. There are no additional costs. There is only the subscription license.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others. I would rate it a seven out of 10.
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
Download our free SQL Server Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: January 2026
Popular Comparisons
Teradata
MySQL
Oracle Database
SAP HANA
MariaDB
IBM Db2 Database
CockroachDB
Amazon Aurora
Oracle Database In-Memory
SAP IQ
Citus Data
YugabyteDB
LocalDB
IBM Informix
Actian Ingres
Buyer's Guide
Download our free SQL Server Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Quick Links
Learn More: Questions:
- Microsoft sql2017 VS SAP Hana
- SQL Server 2005 vs. InfoBright - what are the pros and cons of these solutions?
- SQL Server 2012 - can I make OLTP transactions from my ERP run in memory?
- How does NuoDB compare to MySQL and SQL Server?
- What are the main architectural differences between Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle Multitenant?
- Would you say the price of SQL Server is high compared to that of similar products?
- Has using SQL Server helped your organization in any way?
- Which authentication mode is best for SQL Server?
- Which solution do you prefer: Microsoft SQL Server's enterprise edition or Oracle Database's enterprise edition?
- Which is better: SQL Server or SAP HANA?













