Azure Backup Reviews

We primarily use the solution as a backup.

With on-premises servers, you can have a long-term archival sitting on public clouds, like Azure. That is also one of the very good use cases where you're avoiding all the tape requirements for your long-term archival. 

It's a native solution provided by Microsoft. It solves the needs we have. We are using it at most places, unless, and until there is some specific requirement where there's a database or something, which you're getting out of the box from Azure Backup. That's when we go for other third-party backup solutions. Otherwise, for the VM backups and all of that, it's a great product. It's one of the best solutions for backups.

It's easy to use. 

The storage cost is not too much. 

It gives you what you would like to have from a basic solution, like machine backup, or for your snapshots. Everything can be done from the platform itself. 

The management interface is very intuitive and familiar. It makes it a lot easier for anyone to manage it or to actually work on it.

The integration with the record database and integration with other applications will be good, especially with the database piece. MySQL and Oracle are very widely used databases and Azure Backup doesn't have tight integration with them. It only provides the backup of the disc and the virtual machine and associated data, however, it doesn't provide you an application of their backup for non-Microsoft products, especially. That is where SQL Server, which is a Microsoft database, provides a good integration for the initial backup in MySQL which is a widely used database solution. They should actually provide that or you can handle integration with those databases as well.

The most important thing is integration with third-party products. That could be one of the best features. Whenever we have to look for databases or specific applications, that's when things get complicated and where third parties, like Win Backup, Symantec, and other backup solutions come in. The most important thing they can do to improve is to cover at least industry standard databases first.

I've been using the solution for seven or eight years now. 

The backup stability is good.

Scalability is fine. For any mid-size org, it is a good solution. We have done it for close to 2,000 servers, so it is working fine.

In terms of tech support, I'm disappointed with support. It's not like earlier days. Earlier Microsoft tech support used to be one of the best. Now that's not the case. You have long queues and you have to wait a bit longer compared to earlier. What I can say is there are a lot of articles, and there are self-help resources. Those are available. That actually helps in troubleshooting. You do not always have to open a ticket unless and until there is something really critical. You just don't get a timely response.

Neutral

I have used AWS. Azure is a more mature product. AWS didn't used to have a backup solution. 

It's easy to deploy.

We have a deployment team. There is usually very few people dealing with the implementation. You might have eight to ten guys doing the migration and other things. Recently, we did a project where there were close to 1,000 servers that have to be moved to the public cloud and we implemented Azure Backup for all of them. It didn't take much of our time since the management and the interface are very easy and you don't have much to do over there. 

It's a slow process. You're not moving all of them at one shot. We'll do 15 to 20 servers in a batch, which we are doing based on the applications. One application, we are going to move at a given time. If there are 15 to 20 servers within one particular application, it takes hardly a few hours to go and do everything. However, if there are many, many applications, it will take time.

We handle the implementation for our clients. 

The ROI is good based on the cost itself. The upfront cost itself is less and it includes your licensing and hosting and everything. There are no other industry-standard backups like it. The licensing costs are very high and you need it in front of all of that. It is hosted on the cloud. Even if you go with something which is hosted on the cloud, the license cost is high. If you compare it with other costs of solutions, Microsoft has done a good job of providing a native backup solution with very affordable pricing. 

The cost for Azure backup is purely based on the size of the data and the virtual machine as well as the number of virtual machines. It's around $10 to $15 per month per virtual machine, along with something extra based on the size of the data. It covers 500 GBs or something like that. If you go beyond that for a virtual machine, you will have to pay extra.

We're Microsoft partners and we do have many customers who are using the Microsoft platform.

We are always using the latest version of the solution. 

It's on-cloud and in some servers on-premises, which we are taking from the backup cloud. It's mostly for the infrastructure sitting on the cloud.

The solution should be an eight out of ten.

Potential users should actually look for compatibility. With any service that you talk about in a public cloud, one should first understand the requirement and then they should do some sort of research or they should, if they're new to it, have a look into the compatibility and the articles. Those are provided by Microsoft in terms of basic requirements or constraints that they have. They have a lot of constraints around. You have to be very careful which geography it is. What is the cost and what kinds of constraints do they have in terms of compatibility with any operating system or application? Those are the four or five things that one should look at before considering it as a solution or implementation.

Our primary use case is data transformation, specifically moving data from source systems to downstream systems for consumption in reports. For example, we build reports on Power BI or Tableau. This involves designing pipelines, moving data, and monitoring to ensure efficiency and automation with minimal human intervention.

Automation provides us more time to work on other tasks, avoiding repetitive tasks and saving hours that we can allocate elsewhere. This gives more free time for involvement in other activities instead of repetitive data pulling.

The most valuable features are the timely backup facility, allowing scheduling of backups, and the speed at which backups occur.

Currently, I do not have suggestions for improvement because I haven't used it extensively. As I gain more experience with it, I might have suggestions. Also, connection with more legacy data services could be beneficial as some are currently unsupported.

I have been using the solution for around six to eight months.

I have not encountered any stability challenges, and it has been very smooth for me.

Our entire organization utilizes the solution, indicating good scalability, with more than one hundred people using it.

The technical support is somewhat limited and not widely available for self-research, but when contacted, Microsoft has been helpful. I would rate their customer support at eight or eight point five out of ten.

Positive

I did not work with any similar tool before using Azure Backup.

We managed the setup with resourceful self-research and relied on Microsoft's support when needed.

In terms of cost savings and recovery times, there hasn't been a need for recovery yet, but retaining data prevents the need to redesign pipelines, which would involve significant costs.

In terms of setup cost and pricing, Azure Backup provides value for money. It is integrated well with other Microsoft services we use.

We did not evaluate any other options due to deep integration within the Microsoft infrastructure.

I recommend Azure Backup for companies within the Microsoft environment because they can take full advantage of its features. For companies frequently accessing data or not using Microsoft Azure, the solution may not be very helpful.

We use Azure Backup to have a backup on the cloud and save our backup.

There is only one feature, and that is the backup.

Actually, there is no issue. It simply saves your backup outside of your premises.

I would like to see better pricing.

I have working with Azure Backup for two years.

We are always working with the latest version.

Azure Backup is a stable product.

Azure Backup is scalable. It is easily expandable. To expand it is paid as you go.

Our technical IT department is the only one who uses it. In our company, there are four users. There is one manager, one assistant, and two staff members.

Technical support is very good.

Previously, we used standard company products.

I've used Avast before, but it's been ten years.

It's been five or six years since I have used McAffe MOVE AnfiVirus.

The initial setup is straightforward.

It is simply straightforward. You are not required to do anything.

I would rate my experience with the setup a five out of five.

It is all done in-house. There is no need for technical assistance.

Pay as you go is the pricing model.

I would rate Azure Backup a ten out of ten.

The principal use cases of the solution are attached to SQL databases and virtual machines.

The most valuable feature of the solution is the speed of the recovery tasks.

I have been using Azure Backup for six years. My company is a customer and has a partnership with Microsoft.

It is a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

With Azure Backup, I have not had to deal with any issues like bugs or breaking down.

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten. I don't have any issues related to the product's scalability.

Around 90 people in my organization use the solution.

Previously, in our company, we used a different solution before going ahead with Azure Backup. The reason my company chose Azure Backup was because of the simplicity it offered.

I don't know if the product's setup phase is easy or difficult since I am not involved in the setup process. I am only responsible for the team that carries out the steps related to the product's setup phase in our organization.

Azure Backup is a product that is priced at a cheap rate, and it is a great tool. The product is worth the money you pay for it.

The solution's features are enough to meet our company's use cases.

Whether I recommend the solution to others or not is something that depends on the necessity of those who plan to use it. I recommend the solution to those who have a simple infrastructure.

I rate the overall solution a nine out of ten.

Azure Backup is best suited for people who have their workloads on Azure. 80% of the use case is for people using compute instances or compute capacity on Azure.

There is a smaller use case for people who want scalable storage, which some can scale up and down, even though their workloads may not be in Azure and maybe a data center workload instead. Azure backup is a good solution if one needs scalable workloads on a cost-effective platform. Those are two primary use cases.

Azure lets you classify your backups as per the user, such as if they are archival backups or if it is something you need to use on a more frequent basis. You can select the tiering for your backup and manage your cost. It's not one single monolithic cost. You can choose your backup storage requirement and choose your storage tiering. And then, of course, you can get a more cost-effective backup at the end of the day. As you move into more cloud-native solutions, which means cloud-native applications developed on and for the cloud, your allocation or backup configuration becomes much more seamless. Moreover, the integrity of your backups is retained without you needing to manually check them. And then configuring your backups integrating your backups is almost seamless for your cloud-native application.

It still does not have a lot of customization, especially if your workloads are not in Azure. More and more customers are looking at hybrid solutions when they have something on Azure, a data center, and a private cloud. Your backup solution may not be customizable enough to suit your requirements when you have a hybrid environment. If it's completely Azure, Azure Backup is an excellent solution. However, there are better alternatives when discussing a multi-cloud or hybrid-cloud solution.

In addition, Though not in my personal opinion or experience, certain security and compliance questions have been raised around Azure, and that's where Azure needs to buckle down as well.

I've worked with the solution for five to six years.

The product is stable. We have not seen any concerns or issues with stability.

There are some medium-based clients, but the bulk of our clients are enterprise clients.

Azure's technical support is good, but there is always room for improvement. It's much better than its competitors.

Positive

Azure Backup is pretty simple to deploy if your applications are hosted on Azure. And the more cloud-native services you use, the easier it is to deploy. The closer you are to Azure's native environment, the easier it gets. It's almost seamless. It's just about checking a few boxes, and it's done. The complexities come in when you are in a hybrid environment.

The time taken to deploy the solution depends upon your backup policy. At most, deploying would not take more than a few minutes. Configuring the backup policies will take time, but actual deployment takes minutes.

Azure Backup is simpler to maintain compared to an on-prem backup. It's a managed service from Azure. With a backup solution, the important thing is to check your daily, weekly, and monthly schedule and the integrity of backups. That's the most time-consuming part, but all that gets highly automated in Azure.

Azure Backup can be expensive if you are not vigilant about your storage steering. You need to monitor your usage. After your backup, your data goes into your storage solution, and the storage can escalate. It should be actively monitored and managed. Otherwise, Azure Backup can get very pricey. But the solution can be very cost-effective if you are smart and have the right governance. Looking at the long term and your usage fluctuates over time, it becomes a much more cost-effective option.

With Azure backup, there is an on-premises option using your Azure Stack, but my experience on that is limited since I deal with Azure cloud-based backups.

If anyone plans to adopt Azure Backup, first understand your backup requirements. Especially if you operate in a multi-regional environment if your workloads are spread over multiple regions and subscriptions, it makes sense to have a cloud-based backup on Azure, especially if you operate in a multi-regional environment. That helps you scale out as required and simplifies the deployment of web-based or Azure-native applications. The word of caution is to be vigilant about your backup consumption and be proactive in choosing the right tier so that it remains cost-effective for you.

I rate Azure Backup an eight out of ten. The solution is great with cloud-native applications. But if you go into a hybrid environment or a multi-cloud environment, that's when there are complexities. Moreover, you need to be vigilant about what you're using. Otherwise, the cost can spiral out of control.

With Azure Backup, you can readily make your environment if your setup somehow fails on the cloud or on-premises. You can immediately get your system from the backups within five or ten minutes.

While Azure Backup allows ingress data, the egress data is chargeable, which should be excluded. Our clients mostly complain that taking a backup with Azure Backup is free, but retrieving the backup from Azure is chargeable.

It is easy to back up small data and run your system in Azure Backup. After your system is ready, you have to sync your system with Azure Backup, which costs more. There are two segments of people. One segment is happy because they got the emergency recovery of their system. They mention that they feel better if they have to pay for the backup or the egress data because their system is okay. Some people are unhappy because their backup is available, but they have to pay for it. Only a small portion (around 20-30 %) of people fall into this segment, but most are happy.

I have been using Azure Backup for almost more than five years.

The solution's stability and performance are good, except for an issue with its servers.

Azure Backup is a scalable solution.

The problem with technical support is the same for all Microsoft products. Azure Backup's technical support team responds well to severe cases. Their response is too much slow for a non-severe case due to being overwhelmed by severe cases. The support team rarely responds to less severe cases; sometimes, it takes two or three days for them to respond. The support team complies with the SLA for severe cases, but sometimes they fail to do it.

Neutral

Azure Backup has the most user-friendly interface compared to AWS, Google Workspace, or Google Cloud. The Azure platform is much easier to work with than AWS and Google Cloud.

The setup for insight cloud backup is easy. However, site recovery from on-premise to the cloud can be tough because we have to set a lot of parameters.

The initial syncing process is tough in case of site recovery. However, it performs better once your system is synced. It is difficult in specific situations, like if you stop syncing, if storage is full, or if your on-premises server storage is full. The initial setup is difficult for site recovery and backup. It becomes easy once the initial backup is completed.

We strongly recommend to our clients that if they already have a primary backup system, it is advisable to complement it with a cloud or secondary backup for added safety. This is crucial because your backup could crash at any moment due to malware. We recommend all our partners and clients have a cloud backup.

We advise our clients to keep a backup on Azure Backup Cloud. We suggest financial organizations keep a tertiary backup. It would be helpful if the solution introduced a reserve system for backup. The clients would only pay for storage and backup service price. They need to reduce prices so that more people would use cloud backup.

Although some customers already have an on-premises backup for their environment, offering a slightly lower price and the option for one-year and three-year reserve systems may draw more people to opt for secondary backup on the cloud.

Overall, I rate Azure Backup an eight and a half out of ten.

We use Azure Backup as part of our disaster recovery solution. If there is a problem in the entire building then we can restore our data from over the cloud.

Azure Backup is very good for our clients that need to back up data securely and reliably.

Azure Backup is good because it is entirely cloud-based, which means that you can be 99.9% sure that your backup is safe. This is the reason that I suggest its use for companies that need to back up critical data.

The compression ratio of the backup data should be improved. Compared to our on-premises solution, the compression of Azure Backup is not as good. For example, if I am backing up up 100 GB of data then it should be compressed by at least 70%. Instead, it is being compressed by 30% to 35%. Because of this, the utilization of resources in terms of cloud storage is increasing. Given that the cost of cloud-based storage is not cheap, this is an area that is in need of improvement.

The interface should be more user-friendly.

The Azure team in Microsoft technical support needs to improve.

More guidelines and information about use-cases should be available for reference online.

We have been using Azure Backup for almost two years.

The day-to-day usage of this solution is quite normal.

This is a scalable solution.

I am generally satisfied with the technical support, although I would only rate them a six and a half out of ten. From what I have seen, the engineers are not well versed in all of the possible backup scenarios. The knowledge that they have is limited.

For example, in my two years of experience, I think that I was able to better troubleshoot some of the issues better than they were. My intention is not to berate them but I think that they should be more knowledgable about the product.

Level two and three seem to have enough knowledge, although it still takes a significant amount of time.

We use Azure Backup in conjunction with Veeam. Veeam is responsible for our on-premises backup that includes data and file systems. It also put a copy of our data onto the cloud.

We have a hybrid solution because the bandwidth in my country is quite expensive and if we have to do a restore, it is better to have an on-premises capability for that.

The initial setup was not as straightforward as I expected. I was facing certain challenges and I was deeply in contact with the Azure team from Microsoft technical support. It took quite some time for them to resolve my issues. My case was escalated to level three support and to reach that level, it took 10 to 14 working days.

It takes very serious research or good troubleshooting skills to eliminate some of the complex problems that can occur.

In total, it took us about a month to deploy.

This is an expensive solution because of the requirements for cloud-based storage. We are paying about $100,000 USD per year, just for a couple of servers.

My advice to anybody who is considering this solution is that if you can afford it, then I would highly recommend it because the service provides very good value.

The software is very capable but the information available for support is limited.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

Our company was facing a lot of difficulties maintaining the servers, and we did not have a solid backup solution. So, we moved to Azure.

The product is very reliable and easy to use. Microsoft tools are very user-friendly.

The product could improve its performance.

I used the solution in my previous organization for about two years.

The tool had stability issues. The support team took care of it.

The tool is easily scalable since it is cloud-based. Around 1500 people were using the solution in our organization.

The support was superb. Whenever we had any issues, we called the support team.

Positive

The installation was easy. We took two to three months to deploy the solution. We had to plan since we had a lot of servers.

We had a partner who assisted us in installing the solution. We had a SPOC who was taking care of everything. We required two or three people on the back end to deploy the product. The partner assisted us, and we did the planning and strategy. The solution was easy to maintain. We needed two people to maintain it.

The product is neither too expensive nor too cheap. It is moderately priced. We pay a monthly subscription fee for the solution. We have to pay additionally for the ticket cost for support. We also have to pay for any extra services that we avail.

The solution is neither better nor worse than other products. It is on the cloud, so we don't have any backup appliances on-premises. The drawback is that it relies on network bandwidth and other factors for recovery. If we had a backup appliance on-premise, it would be easy to recover.

We had branch offices in India, headquarters in Hong Kong, and multiple offices in Singapore, the UK, and the US. All the branches were using Azure.

People who want a purely cloud-based solution can use the product. People who want a hybrid solution must consider other vendors. Though Azure has secondary data on the cloud, it still recommends using some third-party tools like Veeam and Commvault. Having data on Azure and backup data on another third-party vendor is fair enough.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.