My main use cases for Azure Database for PostgreSQL are application support, mostly integration with applications.
Azure Database for PostgreSQL has been able to influence my application development process or my customer's application development processes by knowing that at least the forecasted performance you will get out of the database, it becomes a top choice. When thinking about it from a business requirement perspective and forecasting or estimating the tools you want to implement, it comes to mind because of the out-of-the-box experience around performance.
What I appreciate most about Azure Database for PostgreSQL is its performance; I would say that is probably its speed and performance and how it interacts with applications.
The performance of Azure Database for PostgreSQL is very good because compared to other databases, an application talking to a database depends on performance and reaction time being very important. What I have found with client feedback is that it is stable from where it used to be, an evolution. In terms of application responsiveness, it is excellent.
The integration of Azure Database for PostgreSQL with other Azure services has impacted my overall cloud strategy in a positive way. Azure Database for PostgreSQL is a critical component of a whole strategy. Considering that it is part of that whole strategy, it has been very impactful. However, it is not the only thing. When thinking about a strategy or a product, a product is more than just a database. The database is an integral part but the product has to do with the logical layer, the application, the data, and the security aspect, the foundational aspect like the infrastructure and so forth. It is definitely an integral part of the whole holistic toolset or component.
The scalability ability of Azure Database for PostgreSQL is able to scale big workloads. That is the reason why it is at its maturity level now and is a go-to database. The kinks have been worked out over the years. It is at a stage where it is a go-to solution when thinking about scaling across regions and scaling from a performance perspective, horizontal scaling is available.
I am not sure how Azure Database for PostgreSQL can be improved from my perspective. It is not still there from my purview, so it is not really a fair assessment because to me, before it becomes a trend, I have to see it in action or see either the good, bad or ugly over a few instances. I really cannot comment yet on that because it is still at infancy, at least for me.
I do not know if there is anything I would enhance of what is already existing within Azure Database for PostgreSQL. It is a database, and it is always nice to be more reactive in terms of performance. Performance is an evolution. As you are gracious for performance today, it becomes the standard and becomes the new bottom. It is almost as though we crave for more, and it is how we live as a society. What is considered excellent today, if you stay there as an innovator as Microsoft, it will become stale tomorrow. The simple answer is yes, the industry always craves the next advancement. What is better? Make it faster, make it more reactive. That would probably be my answer there.
The performance of Azure Database for PostgreSQL is very good because compared to other databases, an application talking to a database depends on performance and reaction time being very important. What I have found with client feedback is that it is stable from where it used to be, an evolution. In terms of application responsiveness, it is excellent.
I do not see any negative aspects from what I have seen of Azure Database for PostgreSQL platform. It has come a long way. There were some concerns around performance years ago. For the last few years, I have not heard anything. It is the go-to database if seeking performance and capacity. Bug fixes and such things are not really top of mind as an architect or for my clients as decision-makers. They do not think about whether something may not work or whether it is faulty. I think we have passed that stage in terms of concerns around performance and security. It is more about what is the art of the possible? What can we do with this database? What is out there? What is new? What else is Microsoft working on?
I have not seen any negative aspects regarding the latency and availability of Azure Database for PostgreSQL. I have not heard anything. It is keeping its SLA. There have been other challenges at least a few weeks ago on the Microsoft front. However, Microsoft's ability to turn things around relatively quickly and being very transparent to its customers on shortcomings is positive. I think we are in a stage now where we do not worry about resiliency and disaster in the cloud as much. Some business stakeholders are thinking about it here and there, but overall we know that once in a while we are not expecting it to happen a lot but once in a while things may go south in the cloud. We trust and believe that Microsoft has the capability to quickly rebound.
I have not had any chance to have experience with the customer service and technical support of Azure Database for PostgreSQL. That is not really because of a particular reason; my team is pretty good at navigating the Microsoft product system and the technical nuances of Microsoft.
The security features of Azure Database for PostgreSQL are good out of the box. I do not know if to say if it is good compared to what, as it is a native product. It is a great product in terms of out-of-the-box security. I have not heard any issues. We have not seen any hacks or any compromise to the product over many years. Overall, security is just out of the box and not so much a concern; it is more so how best you integrate it with applications knowing that it is feature-rich from a performance perspective and how it reacts to applications. Security is not really a challenge from what I know from feedback from developers.
It is a bigger conversation regarding changes in time to market for applications or customer applications. The database is definitely one of the factors, but it is holistic. It is the application itself, its logic layer, it is the company's strategy around the data, the application and user experience. I would not say this is just a singular element. It is hard to say or answer that question.
Azure Database for PostgreSQL has facilitated the adoption of AI technologies in my company's database operations. That is an evolution. For the client base that I serve, they are not quite there yet where Azure Database for PostgreSQL is specifically called out. They are mostly in the early adopter stage when it comes to AI and it is mostly a focus on data readiness, understanding data governance and data structure.
Azure Database for PostgreSQL impacts the ability to innovate or stay competitive in an industry. The art of the possible of the tool, the AI features would definitely be a plus for organizations moving to AI, enabling competitive advantage. I would say it is not even competitive advantage only. It is performance to get speed to market eventually. AI is almost the foundation to any success going forward. It is not just the buzzword. I see it as the heartbeat to the future. Anything that is AI capable or AI embedded would definitely be a step forward to success.
Azure Database for PostgreSQL has not helped reduce infrastructure costs for me or my clients. The database has not reduced infrastructure cost; databases are costly in general. What we appreciate in the industry is some right sizing of the cost or some consideration around cost. But in general, it is a cost element. There are other aspects of the holistic solution where opportunities to reduce cost can be found, but anyone in the industry would say that going down that path will require spending money on database. What we appreciate is that it has been offered as lean and considerate as possible from Microsoft.
Regarding the pay-as-you-go pricing model of Azure Database for PostgreSQL, it depends. If there is an opportunity to lock in pay-as-you-go versus reservation, it depends on your business model. At the end of the day, it depends on the business outcomes you are seeking for the application or the database. You have to forecast where you will be tomorrow, next week, next year, and lock in accordingly. Pay-as-you-go would work for various use cases. If you just need the application for two months, pay-as-you-go is fine. If you need to be locked in for a few years and it seems right-sized for exactly what you need, reservation is the way to go. It probably seems like a conflicting answer and conflicting question because again, it is part of a holistic solution. The database is just one; it cannot stand alone. The database is nothing by itself but it is definitely important. The answer is it depends on the use case.
I do use Azure Hybrid Benefit, and I think my clients have seen benefits when they access this feature. The ones that are already consuming licenses from the legacy strategy, they see a lot of benefits in leveraging the program. That is also serving as an encouragement to move to Azure from on-premises or in a hybrid situation. Overall, it has been positive for clients. It is something that service providers have to educate clients on. It is there but it is up to us to bring that knowledge and the benefits to the client. Azure Hybrid Benefit is out there and something that clients should make use of, but I think the education level on the client side is not there yet. It is really up to providers, not just hybrid benefit, but incentives in general. The more we are educated about incentive programs, the better it will be for us articulating to clients and also better to bring clients to the cloud or encourage clients to venture elsewhere. If they have moved to the cloud just in pockets, maybe just a fraction, but knowing about these benefits, especially migration benefits or consumption benefits, it will accelerate innovation or move to Microsoft.
Regarding uptime, Azure Database for PostgreSQL has been able to change the uptime of the application. It depends on application architecture and how the overall architecture is designed or the application is designed. That is a loaded question because the database is a standalone component of a holistic application. The database could be all resilient but other aspects of the application could fail. It is not fair to blame the database for the application's uptime.
My advice to other companies that are considering Azure Database for PostgreSQL is that it is one product that comes as a result of a bigger conversation from a strategic business alignment perspective, application architecture and application requirements. It should be highly considered. It is scalable, high performance, and resilient. We have not seen any issues over the years. It is matured and has worked out all the kinks that it used to have years ago. If a client is looking to check these boxes—performance, speed, reliability, and resiliency in general—knowing that it will satisfy application needs not just today but in the future, it is definitely a choice. I would rate this product a 9 out of 10.