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Joseph Andiwo - PeerSpot reviewer
Private Wealth Advisor & Head of Secretariat at Arima Fund Ltd
Real User
Top 5
Aug 7, 2025
Enables seamless global data management with instant benefits and efficient real-time analytics
Pros and Cons
  • "The benefits of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB were immediate for us."
  • "The operational complexity of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB can be challenging for individuals who are not tech-savvy."

What is our primary use case?

We are in retail and marketing, and Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB gives us the opportunity as a retail industry to store catalog data. This is essentially used for event sourcing. In my department, it is particularly useful for our catalog data storage and marketing operations.

How has it helped my organization?

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB has improved our overall search result quality. It is very easy to use Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB to search through large amounts of data. This is one of the advantages that I can mention with Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB, which is not available or accessible with other solutions. Searching and working with large amounts of data while using Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is one of the biggest advantages it provides for enhanced business operations.

What is most valuable?

The aspect I appreciate most about Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is the scalability. Horizontally, we can add as many servers as possible, which is very key for us as a company. Another important feature is that it is a globally distributed product that comes with numerous benefits. The real-time analytic features it offers, as opposed to structured query language features, provide real-time analysis for our retail and marketing operations. The integrated features, such as Azure Snipes link, enable easier running analytics for our operations. Additionally, we have noticed that it positively impacts our transactional performances as a company.

What needs improvement?

In terms of improvement for Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB, while it eliminates the burden of managing database infrastructure, we realized it might not be possible to use various models simultaneously as it only accepts a single model at any given point in time. This is an area that could be improved upon.

The operational complexity of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB can be challenging for individuals who are not tech-savvy. Making it simpler for companies to navigate through various features would be beneficial for future development in terms of reducing its complexity. However, it remains a good product that eliminates many bottlenecks we experienced before in terms of database management, storage, transmission, and retrieval for our business.

While there is complexity in Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB, we have found that software experts and IT professionals who are passionate about the product can overcome these challenges. We have not yet achieved fifty percent in terms of training our staff due to its complexity. However, the benefits significantly outweigh the complexity, particularly in terms of database storage, management, retrieval, and transmission in milliseconds. The global access, real-time capabilities, and low latency in terms of turnaround time make it an excellent solution once fully embraced and deployed.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB for one year.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

The initial deployment of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB was challenging at the beginning, but we overcame these challenges and ultimately achieved positive results.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The performance and stability of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB maintains low response times in milliseconds. It is fast, effective, and reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In terms of scalability for Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB, the servers can be horizontally scaled, and we can add as many servers as needed. This capability is possible with Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB, which is not common in other solutions. This is a significant advantage of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB.

How was the initial setup?

It took us approximately three to four weeks to fully set up Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB and get it operational. Our company utilizes multiple software solutions, so integration was a key consideration. With a team of six to seven software developers, along with additional IT experts, we completed the setup within this timeframe, which we considered reasonable for this type of product.

What about the implementation team?

Our company has multiple software solutions, and integration is a crucial aspect. We have a team of six to seven software developers, along with additional IT experts, who assist in working with these software solutions.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I have used SQL as an alternative to compare with Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB. Having Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB come with additional features beyond SQL capabilities was advantageous for our company's deployment.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB a 9 out of 10 because there is always room for improvement in any software.

The benefits of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB were immediate for us. It was within our budget, and we cannot say it constrained our finances because it was approved. The cost-benefit analysis shows that the benefits outweigh the costs. The maintenance costs are also within our estimated budgeted projections as a company.

I am willing to provide references for Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB and can be a reference for anyone interested in purchasing the same product. I am available to be contacted by Microsoft regarding this review should they have any questions.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
Senior Data Engineer at Bajaj Finserv
Real User
Top 10
Jun 21, 2025
Data management improves with dynamic data masking feature but security needs enhancement
Pros and Cons
  • "Their new feature, dynamic data masking, is very cool and useful for us."
  • "The best features of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB are the way it maintains the data in partitions and its retention policies."
  • "In Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB, I would suggest improvements in security."
  • "There were instances where the DB was not responding, and we lost some part of our business due to that."

What is our primary use case?

We use Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB mostly for maintaining our user databases in the document databases. Our firm has an app where each individual user's home screen is personalized according to their preferences, web searches, and metadata. For this, we maintain tags, and those tags, associated with each individual customer's mobile number, are stored in Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB to drive personalization and hyper-personalization on the app's home screen.

How has it helped my organization?

In terms of how Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB has improved my organization, the latency for API calls is pretty good.

What is most valuable?

The best features of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB are the way it maintains the data in partitions and its retention policies. 

Their new feature, dynamic data masking, is very cool and useful for us. 

Since we are one of the largest NBFCs in India, maintaining customer data in a DB, we have to take care of their personal information related to their identity. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB rolled out this feature about six months ago. Though it's not GA yet, we are running our POC on that feature where you can hit a particular API which Microsoft has provided. Whatever fields you define in JSON, when hitting the API, it will automatically mask all personally identifiable information for each customer in the database. If you have 100 million data points for customers, according to that JSON set of rules, it will automatically mask everything. This is really helpful in our business.

Regarding search capabilities through large amounts of data, Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB performs well when using combinations of primary keys. If we want to search through one of the instances or databases, it works efficiently. The performance largely depends on how optimized your SQL query is and how effectively you use the primary keys.

What needs improvement?

In Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB, I would suggest improvements in security. If anyone who has the endpoint and has access to infrastructure can potentially affect your DB. Instead of relying on a single endpoint for authentication, having multiple authentication factors would be beneficial. 

I have limited recent information about the use cases as I am about to leave my organization to pursue Masters in the US.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB for the past three years since I joined my organization. This is my first organization, and I have been using Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB throughout this period.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

In terms of stability for Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB, we sometimes face problems, and I would rate it a seven out of ten. 

There were instances where the DB was not responding, and we lost some part of our business due to that. My impressions of the latency and availability are that most of the time it's up and running. 

Issues typically occur at month-end when the load is measured due to the nature of our business, as we have to process huge chunks of data during that time.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would rate scalability for Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB as eight out of ten. It's straightforward to scale Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB. You just have to go over the portal and set your configurations for DB or different subscriptions. While scaling is easy, we were facing some stability issues.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support for Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is great. Recently for the dynamic data masking feature, Microsoft provided us with an entire support team of three or four people who were present in our office. For any doubts or issues, we could approach them directly, and they would raise tickets accordingly. I would rate the support as eight point five to nine out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

Previously, we were using Postgres for a document DB before switching to Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB, which is also a document DB.

How was the initial setup?

The deployment was good. I was responsible for a few parts of the installation. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB requires maintenance. The infrastructure team sometimes switches the data center and geolocation. I cannot provide much information about this since I'm not on the infrastructure team. The DB maintenance is handled by their team.

What was our ROI?

The solution has reduced costs, although not dramatically. The cost reduction is between 6% to 10%. The actual figures in my organization don't flow to my level, but according to my seniors, they were able to save between 6% to 10% after two years of optimization, not year-on-year.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB to other users due to the latest dynamic data masking feature. If a company's infrastructure primarily uses Azure products, it makes sense to use Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB for better integration. However, if your business requires a very stable DB, you should explore other options as we faced some stability issues.

On a scale of one to ten, I rate Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB a seven overall.

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.