Microsoft Azure SQL Database Reviews

The primary use cases for Microsoft Azure SQL Database are to establish relational databases in the cloud and database-focused applications that are cloud-ready.

SQL has been a game changer for many of the organizations I have worked for. It is very easy to implement, manage, and offers great insights into what is happening inside the engine. 

Currently, SQL is our main database repository within the bank. All of our client data is stored on the SQL database, and it's the main database we use in the field. Most of our critical systems are on SQL databases.

Our migration to Azure for most databases has increased our organization's efficiency and reduced the maintenance required to manage on-premises infrastructure. With on-premises infrastructure, you have to build and maintain your setup. It has reduced our downtime. We've improved our productivity because we can automate database deployments and script execution within the database.

We're a healthcare organization hosting EHR systems like NextGen, Allscripts, Athena, and ECW, which require an SQL back end. We have a lot of NextGen clients who need a production SQL Server, a reporting server, and maybe a test server. We set up AO clusters if they have enterprise licensing, and we also do physical servers, depending on the client. 

We use Nutanix infrastructure and are moving more to Azure and AWS. We integrate SQL Servers for our clients, matching set-ups with their financial capacity and licensing. 

Overall, Azure SQL has been great. The ease of deployment and scalability are significant reasons we push our larger clients to Azure. We could throw the kitchen sink at the thing if we wanted. 

We use Azure Hybrid Benefit, depending on the client. We work with many nonprofits, and we always make reservations because you save tons of money. Normally, when we do our initial deployment, the first month's bill is sky-high. We build out the environment and servers, then we do the reservations. Of course, we will enable the hybrid licensing depending on the client. It saves time because everything is in one pane of glass it just simplifies the deployment of things. 

Azure SQL has improved our productivity. We try to customize with alerts to gain visibility into SQL. We have dedicated DBAs to do the SQL coding work, especially when it comes to specific EHRs or client-specific.

Azure SQL serves a variety of purposes across our client base. It supports both customer-facing and internal products, depending on the specific needs of each client.

Using Azure SQL Database is not difficult.

I'm excited about the Azure SQL database's ability to power next-generation AI applications because its capabilities unlock greater potential.

The Azure Hybrid Benefit simplifies the process of migrating servers to the cloud by reducing the licensing complexities and costs associated with running Windows Server or SQL Server workloads in Azure.

Integrating Azure SQL database with other Microsoft applications is easy. For someone with my level of experience, it is not complicated at all. 

We remain committed to delivering our services with consistent willingness and enthusiasm. Utilizing Azure SQL Database has enabled us to maintain our productivity levels without interruption. This technology significantly enhances our operational efficiency.

Azure SQL Database has significantly reduced our total cost of ownership by eliminating the need for managing physical infrastructure, including data warehouses and data centers.

I use Azure SQL Database as a reporting repository. We have clients who use Epicor ERP. I replicate portions of that database into Azure SQL Database for clients to use for Power BI or other reporting.

Additionally, I have niche use cases, such as using it as a witness in an RDP farm or a SQL high availability group. We have a couple of small websites using it as their primary data store, but the majority of use cases are for reporting and business intelligence.

We have integrated it with Microsoft Copilot agents as well as things like Power BI. We are also doing replication with on-premise or VM-based SQL Servers. It seems a little bit more complex to use Azure SQL Database as a data source for Microsoft Copilot add-in. There is a fairly complex setup to use it as a data source, but it is possible for sure. Otherwise, for things like Power BI and business intelligence, it is fantastic.

It is less expensive than doing a full-blown virtual machine for some of the lightweight loads, but I cannot give any numbers.

We use Microsoft Azure SQL Database mainly for the backend of the transaction of data. It is used for various sectors like healthcare, patient data, and ERP.

Azure SQL's user interface makes it easy to provision a database. It integrates well on the back end with our functions and logic apps. While Azure SQL is probably not a good fit for running AI-based applications on top of it, AI might provide better performance monitoring or bottleneck analysis. AI can help the SQL server operate better. 

We use Microsoft Azure SQL Database to extract HR-related data from SAP and Dayforce, like salaries and employee information. This also involves maintaining different environments for previous ERP systems like AX Dynamics and transitioning to SAP in 2022. We have development databases for unvalidated or unapproved data, as well as production databases.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database has significantly improved our operations by allowing us to extract data and generate comprehensive reports in Power BI. This enables a high-level overview of our operations, which helps us look at the entire picture instead of analyzing individual orders line by line. This increased accessibility to data enhances productivity.

We use Microsoft Azure SQL Database to store restaurant sales data within the food and hospitality industry.

As the Azure SQL Database provides automatic backups, it gives us peace of mind knowing that we have backups and the restore capability available. Additionally, it is quick to set up and offers scalability. As our needs increase, we can easily scale it up to handle more data and faster processing.