

Find out in this report how the two Database Management Systems (DBMS) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
We earned back our investment in Amazon Redshift within the first year.
SQL Server is the most cost-effective with good human resource availability to manage it.
All applications need our repository to provide services for our online business or our customers, so the return is good.
With Standard edition, they have saved a ton of money and they are really happy about that.
Whenever we need support, if there is an issue accessing stored data due to regional data center problems, the Amazon team is very helpful and provides optimal solutions quickly.
Documentation that allows anyone with prior knowledge of Redshift or SQL to resolve technical issues.
It's costly when you enable support.
I give their technical support a rating of ten out of ten.
There was a time when Microsoft support provided very crisp answers, but over time, they have diluted their support to third parties, leading to a drop in support quality.
When we created support tickets, the experience was very positive.
The scalability part needs improvement as the sizing requires trial and error.
We have successfully increased our storage space, which was a smooth process without server crashes before or after scaling.
The server where we installed it has grown from 64 gigabytes in RAM to 256 gigabytes, demonstrating significant scalability capabilities.
Most of the time, they simply add another node in the availability group.
I can scale both horizontally and vertically without challenges.
Amazon Redshift is a stable product, and I would rate it nine or ten out of ten for stability.
There was an issue with memory-optimized tables, but it was resolved in 2025, allowing you to remove that file group, which was not possible before.
All applications supporting SQL Server in my experience work very well across various industries including telecom, finance, banking, ad, entertainment, and workforce management.
SQL Server is absolutely stable.
They should bring the entire ETL data management process into Amazon Redshift.
Integration with AI could be a good improvement.
Integration with AI features could elevate its capabilities and popularity.
It is fine to do a first release that works, but you cannot simply abandon it in the following years without service packs and improvements.
I would appreciate using Microsoft Pro as it can integrate with Excel or, with a simple query, consume information from the database using Microsoft Excel.
When we consider the price for replication in another site, the pricing becomes prohibitive.
The cost of technical support is high.
It's a pretty good price and reasonable for the product quality.
The pricing of Amazon Redshift is expensive.
Cost savings on human resources for Windows plus SQL Server versus other solutions.
I think the pricing is high, but I am not sure how much our organization is paying, as I am not part of the management team.
Amazon Redshift's performance optimization and scalability are quite helpful, providing functionalities such as scaling up and down.
Scalability is also a strong point; I can scale it however I want without any limitations.
The specific features of Amazon Redshift that are beneficial for handling large data sets include fast retrieval due to cloud services and scalability, which allows us to retrieve data quickly.
Always On HADR functionality is one of the features that I use on a daily basis and one of my most used features, saving me lots of time, especially since previously I had to build a SQL cluster and Windows clusters that had many dependencies on shared infrastructure, but now with Always On, it is too stable with easy management and almost zero maintenance, which SQL Server handles itself.
I have been working with SQL Server for a long time, and it works well for me as I am using it in different applications, such as web applications, Windows applications, or the data warehouse reporting.
The best features of SQL Server are availability and stability.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| SQL Server | 12.9% |
| Amazon Redshift | 4.1% |
| Other | 83.0% |


| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 27 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 21 |
| Large Enterprise | 29 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 119 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 60 |
| Large Enterprise | 119 |
Amazon Redshift is a dynamic data warehousing and analytics platform offering scalability and seamless AWS integration for high-performance query processing and diverse data management.
Amazon Redshift provides robust data integration capabilities with AWS services like S3 and QuickSight, enabling efficient data warehousing and analytics. It is known for fast query performance due to its columnar storage and can handle diverse file formats. With a user-friendly SQL interface, Redshift supports data compression and offers a strong cost-performance ratio. Its secure VPC configurations and compatibility with data science tools enhance its functionality, although there is room for improving snapshot restoration, dynamic scaling, and processing large datasets.
What are the key features of Amazon Redshift?In industries, Amazon Redshift is essential for managing extensive datasets for business intelligence, operational insights, and reporting. It supports data integration from ERPs and S3, handles SQL queries for comprehensive analysis, and facilitates data storage and transformation. Companies use it for predictive modeling and connect with BI tools like Tableau and Power BI to derive actionable insights.
SQL Server is a comprehensive database management system known for ease of use, robust performance, and seamless Microsoft integration, making it a preferred choice for data management and analysis needs.
SQL Server offers high availability with Always On availability groups and dynamic memory configuration. It integrates effortlessly with Microsoft products via tools like SSMS and Visual Studio. Supporting advanced features such as replication, clustering, and in-memory OLTP, it provides a versatile platform for managing and analyzing significant data volumes securely and efficiently. While it shines in integration with .NET applications and business intelligence, there are opportunities to improve its scalability and integration with open-source platforms. Its licensing costs can be a barrier, and enhancements to management tools for non-technical users, along with better setup processes, would increase its appeal.
What are SQL Server's most important features?SQL Server is implemented across industries for database management, data warehousing, and business intelligence. Companies in finance, ERP, and cloud deployments leverage its capabilities for transactional processing, .NET program integration, and reporting. Enterprises particularly benefit from its scalability and cost-efficiency when integrated with Azure for small and medium-sized operations.
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