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reviewer1503438 - PeerSpot reviewer
Specialist Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Mar 17, 2021
Easy to install and helps us to keep customer data safe
Pros and Cons
  • "I use the menu on the management view credit section to get information from the database."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use SQL Server for database integration as we sometimes use queries to take information from the database. For example, if I need a couple of information that is archived or not indexed, I will inform the SQL Server team to help.

    What is most valuable?

    I use the menu on the management view credit section to get information from the database.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using SQL Server for eight to ten years, but I still check Google for things that aren't clear to me. For service delivery, we use on-premises solutions for our customers.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We don't use SQL Server as our primary product. Our focus is on safe customer SQL admin as we don't want problems with customer data in our system.

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    How are customer service and support?

    I think we consulted once for support in the active directory. We requested the support of Integration Engineers for installation, and their service was very good. However, in the last eight years, we have also used Microsoft support with satisfaction.

    How was the initial setup?

    For the initial installation process, I did an installation for database testing using SQL Server Express. Sometimes, the trials for the samplers are not allowing the SQL Server Express. So, when I was doing the installation, I just selected database management because it isn't the default and it has helped me not to fill out the same details for future use.

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

    I cannot answer that question concerning pricing and licensing because I'm just a technical staff member. However, we are just a customer of Microsoft and some of our clients say SQL Server is very high in price.

    What other advice do I have?

    SQL Server is a very good product and we use Microsoft SQL Server software that runs on Windows as most of our clients make use of the Windows operating system. But I don't have a hundred percent trust in Microsoft products. Why am I saying that? This is not a security issue. I am just... We are hitting this kind of issue because, as you know, Windows servers sometimes get corrupted or we need to restart them.

    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
    it_user1022898 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Director at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Mar 7, 2021
    Stable and able to process a lot of data, but it is expensive and integration needs improvement
    Pros and Cons
    • "Stability is one of the most valuable features."
    • "Indexing, as well as integration, are areas of this product that need improvement."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use SQL Server to process a lot of data. We are using versions and 2015 and 2018.

    What is most valuable?

    We like the whole product and we use most of the features.

    What needs improvement?

    Indexing, as well as integration, are areas of this product that need improvement.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We have been using SQL Server for approximately five years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It's a stable solution. Stability is one of the most valuable features.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It's somewhat scalable.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    We don't have any issues with technical support.

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

    We have used SQL Server from day one, along with OpenSQL. We used them both regularly.

    We don't use Oracle often but we do have a few areas where it is used.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was straightforward. 

    We have experience and did find it to be challenging.

    We do multiple deployments which require three or four teams.

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

    The cost is high and because it's an expensive product, we are in the process of moving towards open-source solutions.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We have evaluated MongoDB and are in the process of transforming ourselves.

    What other advice do I have?

    We will continue using SQL Server for some things but not everything. Most of our applications will be migrated to MongoDB and others.

    I am not in the position to recommend SQL Server to anybody. Rather, I am more in the area of quality assurance. 

    I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

    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.
    PeerSpot user
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    February 2026
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    reviewer1501629 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Chief Information Officer at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
    Real User
    Feb 23, 2021
    Good SSMS and profiling tools that work well for internal applications
    Pros and Cons
    • "I like that the new version has a memory-optimized table to improve the performance."
    • "I would like to see the performance improved. Migrating should be easier and the scalability needs improvement."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use SQL Server for our internal applications.

    What is most valuable?

    Working with SQL Server, it is quite convenient to use the SSMS tools to write a profile. I also like the profiling tools.

    I like that the new version has a memory-optimized table to improve the performance.

    What needs improvement?

    We had some difficulty doing the performance tuning when we migrated from the 2008 version to the 2016 version. We experienced a drop in the performance. We could not understand or figure out what caused the drop in performance. We did not change any settings to cause this effect. We tried to keep the same settings.

    We feel that when running the 2008 version, it was much quicker in terms of performance. 

    That is an area of SQL Server that can be improved. Moving to a new version, you shouldn't have to change the configuration.

    We have not been able to utilize it fully because it is not straightforward.

    I would like to see the performance improved. Migrating should be easier and the scalability needs improvement.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using this solution for many years. 

    We are using version 2016.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It's a stable product.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    In terms of scalability, it has some room for improvement.

    We have 20 people in our organization who are using this solution.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    We don't usually get support from Microsoft. We get it from our software vendors or we try to do it ourselves.

    We are somewhat satisfied with the support that we have received from the vendor, but not fully because of the issue we faced when we moved to a newer version. But in other areas, it's okay.

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

    We have used SQL Server from the beginning.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was moderate. It was not easy but it was not difficult.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would rate SQL Server 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.
    PeerSpot user
    Information Security Engineer at a security firm with 11-50 employees
    Real User
    Feb 21, 2021
    User-friendly interface, stable, and easy to install
    Pros and Cons
    • "The most valuable feature is easy installation. It was very easy to install."
    • "I would like to see more integration with other products and it needs to be more secure."

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable feature is easy installation. It was very easy to install.

    The interface is very user-friendly.

    What needs improvement?

    I would like to see more integration with other products and it needs to be more secure.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using SQL Server for two months and I believe that we are using the latest version.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It's a stable solution. It's very stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It is a scalable solution.

    My installation requires SQL Servers, so I have to continue using them.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    I have not contacted technical support.

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

    Previously, we did not use another product.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was straightforward. The installation was easy.

    It took two hours to deploy.

    What about the implementation team?

    I completed the implementation myself.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would recommend this solution to others who are interested in using it.

    I would rate SQL Server 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.
    PeerSpot user
    Business Solutions Architect at a real estate/law firm with 501-1,000 employees
    Real User
    Feb 15, 2021
    Simple to deploy and manage, good reporting and analytical capabilities
    Pros and Cons
    • "The security and vulnerability management are well-managed through the vendor."
    • "Linux-based editions are not yet proven to be on par with Windows deployments."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use this Relational Database Management System for Line of Business systems, including Enterprise Resource Planning, Data Warehouse, Web Applications, and Business Intelligence.

    Solutions are procured, built, and enhanced in the REIT industry, FMCG ERP, distribution and warehousing, manufacturing systems, knowledge workers such as workflow and portals, web applications, custom developments areas, enterprise reporting and analytics for internal reporting, and decision support systems.

    Integration solutions provide robust integration to various and disparate third-party systems.

    How has it helped my organization?

    This is a simple to deploy, own, and manage RDMS.

    Skills and support for this product are widely available. The security and vulnerability management are well-managed through the vendor. Lifecycles are greatly improved in recent releases, to make upgrades easier.

    A license buys enterprise-grade data integration, reporting, and analytical capabilities as well.

    It has broad adoption and support for integration with leading software brands such as SAP and Sage.

    Data availability and security is well taken care of for the enterprise and is the backbone of first-class business continuity plans.

    What is most valuable?

    Support and adoption are important because skills are available to lower the total cost of ownership. 

    High availability, read-only copy synchronization, and data integrity mean that it is relatively easy to ensure data security, availability, and integrity. Lower tier SKUs offer high-end features.

    Data integration is available, as SSIS offers a flexible data integration platform with rich features including .NET integration for web-service integration, or bus architectures.

    SSAS analytical DBs are powerful yet easy to develop and own.

    SSRS offers enterprise reporting that is reasonably user-friendly.

    It is easy to deploy cloud/on-premises hybrid implementations with a familiar and consistent toolset.

    What needs improvement?

    It is costly to implement high throughput systems, beyond millions of transactions per second. The hardware to run the systems, especially for high availability deployments is expensive, i.e. more resources to run.

    Linux-based editions are not yet proven to be on par with Windows deployments.

    Row-level security is obscure to implement.

    Running cloud offerings are expensive; for example, the Instance as a Service offering.

    Third-party tooling is required to manage code version control.

    Managing BLOB data is not equally simple to implement.

    The engine that implements query plans was updated in the 2012/2014 refresh that could necessitate a costly rewrite of queries.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been working with SQL Server for 21 years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I have a very high opinion of the stability of the solution. It is one of the most mature products available.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Best practice setup is important to consider but when implemented correctly, it just runs.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    The vendor is excellent and their relationship with Microsoft has proven invaluable. The 2008 > 2012 and 2012 > 2014 upgrades had specific issues that made them costly. Recent upgrades have been relatively painless.

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

    We have tried using different technologies, depending on the use case. This is not the best tool for document-oriented or unstructured data.

    How was the initial setup?

    It is relatively simple to run. We spent a good amount of time preparing the requirements for a high-availability cluster that paved the way for a reasonably straightforward implementation.

    What about the implementation team?

    We had assistance from our vendor. We consider our vendor nimble and best in class. They contributed greatly to the stable running of the platform.

    What was our ROI?

    It is a positive ROI, especially in that we leverage many of the features in the offering.

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

    With recent releases, the Standard Edition (cheaper) SKU has some of the earlier version Enterprise features. SQL Express has some limitations.

    The Azure Platform as a Service option remains relatively expensive, at least in South Africa, compared to on-premises, but it is worth exploring.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    Some baseline comparisons were made around 2012 to Oracle, with MS SQL Server coming out to have a lower total cost of ownership.

    What other advice do I have?

    It is a first-class enterprise RDBMS and will continue to enjoy favourable sentiment from developers and DBAs.

    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.
    PeerSpot user
    it_user1488543 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Vice President, Product Engineering at Logitix
    Real User
    Feb 14, 2021
    Reliable with good scalability and offers a very high level of performance
    Pros and Cons
    • "The solution offers very high performance."
    • "The Task Scheduler has a lot of shortcomings. This could be improved quite a bit."

    What is our primary use case?

    We primarily use the solution as a relational database system.

    What is most valuable?

    The solution offers very high performance.

    It is a very reliable solution. We find it to be quite stable.

    We've found the product to be very scalable, specifically from MSSQL

    The product offers various deployment models.

    What needs improvement?

    The Message Broker portion of the solution is not very scalable in comparison to the rest of the solution. The problem is, you can exclude that portion.

    The Task Scheduler has a lot of shortcomings. This could be improved quite a bit.

    The enterprise version of the product should be more cost-effective.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We've been using the solution for the last 15 or so years. It's been a while. We have a lot of experience with it.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The stability of the product is very good. It offers excellent performance. There aren't bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The solution is extremely scalable. If a company needs to expand, it can do so without any problems.

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

    The enterprise version of the solution needs to be priced more competitively.

    We have a couple of models. We lease through Azure monthly, which is for the Standard version. We have had to purchase the Enterprise version to the tune of a few hundred thousand dollars, which is just ridiculous.

    On top of that, there aren't really any other knock-on costs.

    What other advice do I have?

    We have experience with almost every angle of Microsoft ecosystem that you could imagine.

    We're a direct customer. We own a MSSQL server. We have it deployed both on-premises and on the cloud, so we use different deployment models. We have distinct instances in the cloud and we have distinct instances in our on-prem.

    I would warn other organizations to not use their Message Broker and don't rely on their Task Scheduler. Look elsewhere. Go look at Oversource, Rabbit MQ, Azure Message Broker, or something other than what's built into Microsoft's SQL server. That would be my advice.

    Our original architecture messaging infrastructure was based on Microsoft SQL server's Message Broker. It's been a complete disaster. It's a black hole that can't be diagnosed or supported in terms of troubleshooting from Microsoft when it doesn't work. When it doesn't work, it just doesn't work and no one can answer why. That is very bad. The intended use of it was for enterprise messaging. However, that is not a use case for MSSQL Message Broker, period. We're in the process of moving in a couple of directions. We're going to move to Azure Service Bus as an interim solution, as our current technical capabilities are very Microsoft-centric. Then, the next step will be to move to other more enterprise-class messaging and queuing subsystems like RabbitMQ.

    The SQL server as an engine probably deserves a very high nine out of ten. It's a very, very efficient relational database management system. And it is very scalable.

    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
    reviewer1385976 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Enterprise Architect at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Feb 14, 2021
    Easy to set up and use, and the technical support is good
    Pros and Cons
    • "It is the latest technology and pretty powerful in terms of the high availability of the virtual server."
    • "We have had problems implementing a data warehouse using SQL Server."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use SQL Server for our application data.

    As a government agency, all of our data is stored in our environment on-premises.

    What is most valuable?

    SQL Server is easier to use than Oracle, programming-wise.

    It is the latest technology and pretty powerful in terms of the high availability of the virtual server.

    What needs improvement?

    We have had problems implementing a data warehouse using SQL Server. It may be because the data is too big, although it claims to be able to handle the amount of data that we have. Perhaps there are some technical issues because there is something weird going on. It cannot find the correct IP address.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using SQL Server for ten years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    This product is not quite as stable as Oracle. I would rate the stability as moderate and would not rate it ten out of ten.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    SQL Server claims to be good, scalability-wise, but we have had issues with it.

    On the other hand, we have been using it for a lot of large applications and it has worked well in those cases. For the most part, it is good, and we have a lot of users.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    Microsoft technical support is good.

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

    I also have experience with Oracle and I find that SQL Server is easier to work with, but it is not as powerful.

    How was the initial setup?

    Initially, it is easy to set up.

    What other advice do I have?

    My advice for anybody who is considering this product is that it is relatively easy to set up.

    I would rate this 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.
    PeerSpot user
    PeerSpot user
    Software Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Feb 14, 2021
    Stable, user-friendly interface, and good community support
    Pros and Cons
    • "The interface is user friendly."
    • "Better integration with other platforms would be an improvement."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use SQL Server to store, retrieve, and manage data.

    What is most valuable?

    This product works well, serving as our operational database.

    The interface is user friendly.

    What needs improvement?

    Better integration with other platforms would be an improvement.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using SQL Server for almost two years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    We have had no issues with stability.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    This is a scalable product. It is being used in three or four projects with a total of between 50 and 100 people.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    I have not been in contact with technical support for this project, but we use the Microsoft communities to get answers to questions that we have. For example, we have checked the settings to make sure that we are safe.

    Overall, the support is pretty good.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is definitely straightforward and can be completed within a couple of minutes.

    What about the implementation team?

    The installation and initial setup were completed by our admin team. However, there are some drivers and additional components that I installed myself.

    What other advice do I have?

    We always like to work with the best products, we are happy with SQL Server, and I recommend it.

    I would rate this solution 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.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free SQL Server Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: February 2026
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free SQL Server Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.