

Dell vSAN Ready Nodes and Azure Local compete in the on-premises cloud infrastructure category. Dell seems to have the upper hand with its support, affordability, and seamless scalability, whereas Azure is favored for its managed infrastructure functionality and integration capabilities.
Features: Dell vSAN Ready Nodes offer robust storage management, high availability, and excellent VMware integration. They are known for user-friendly operation and scalability, excelling in single-team management. Azure Local provides integration with Azure Arc, support for AKS on-premises, and efficient VM management, enhancing performance.
Room for Improvement: Dell vSAN Ready Nodes could benefit from improved upgrade automation, better scalability, and broader hardware compatibility. Simplifying pricing and enhancing cloud integration would improve user experience. Azure Local needs a smoother setup process, more efficient Software Defined Networking support, and competitive pricing alongside refined Azure Arc integration.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Dell vSAN Ready Nodes are straightforward for on-premises setups with strong technical support, though some users experience slow responses for critical issues. Azure Local can be complex initially in hybrid cloud environments and requires better support to improve user satisfaction. Both systems focus on effective deployments and customer service but have room for improvement.
Pricing and ROI: Dell vSAN Ready Nodes are considered expensive but offer long-term savings through reduced need for additional storage infrastructure and support staff, yielding significant ROI. Azure Local's pricing aligns with industry but is seen as costly due to licensing, offering value through integration and existing Microsoft licensing, aiding cost-effectiveness over time.
There has been some return on investment in terms of just time usability and reduction of footprint.
The OPEX benefits are around 30 to 40% because the same engineer who manages vSphere can handle Dell vSAN Ready Nodes, eliminating the need for additional support engineers.
They have more advantages than VMware, especially for containerization, and they provide good support as well.
Not every support team member is very knowledgeable about Azure Stack HCI, creating delays in resolution.
Whether we have pro support plus or just the basic level, they are helpful and reliable as long as we provide the necessary details.
There is always room for improvement in terms of response time and reaching knowledgeable staff quickly.
If we require a replacement part, the engagement is usually within four hours
With VCF we have significant automation built-in within the VCF console within SDDC manager as the primary management console.
I would rate scalability around seven because when customers want to expand capacity but all the drive slots are full, they are forced to buy new servers or nodes which adds more costs with licenses and hardware.
It does not feel like a well-oiled machine yet, with too many idiosyncrasies and insufficient documentation and integration, feeling more like software that is still in beta.
After achieving good maturity, it became easier.
A disk group for five disks can be problematic, and customers need to tolerate downtime if the disk is not available.
Microsoft has decided to discontinue stretched cluster technology completely, which is disappointing.
Hyper V seems to lag behind compared to VMware.
There could be improvements with Azure Stack HCI regarding the license and price, as they have significantly higher prices compared to other competitors.
Dell vSAN Ready Nodes are useful as a product, but the lack of expansion with VMware has led customers to refrain from further upgrades.
I would want VMware to ensure that when there's a hardware failure on a host, it should gracefully migrate the VMs to another host available in the cluster without restarting, which would be a great improvement.
A faster firmware lifecycle with the release of validated firmware catalogs more quickly would be a desired improvement.
The licensing is quite expensive because it's per call.
As a group under Comcast, we receive very good pricing from Dell due to our considerable business dealings.
Azure Stack HCI has been very beneficial for disaster recovery operations.
The integration with Azure using Azure Arc is excellent.
The benefit of using vSAN is that it's easy to manage on vCenter. You can see if there are issues, get recommendations, and overall, it's highly fault-free which is beneficial because we want to minimize downtime.
The ability for single-team management without requiring a separate storage team for managing arrays and fiber channel switches is also a valuable feature.
I would say in-house management, administration, and storage policies are the three key differentiators compared to normal non-Dell vSAN Ready Nodes where we are leveraging external storage.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Dell vSAN Ready Nodes | 3.0% |
| Azure Stack HCI | 3.2% |
| Other | 93.8% |

| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 4 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 1 |
| Large Enterprise | 3 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 7 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 3 |
| Large Enterprise | 11 |
Azure Local integrates on-premises infrastructure with cloud services, offering tools for software-defined networking, Kubernetes deployment, and VM management. It ensures cost efficiency through existing Microsoft licenses and robust disaster recovery, despite some complexities in deployment.
Azure Local is designed for businesses needing a blend of local and cloud services while remaining compliant with data privacy regulations. It excels in environments demanding high computing power, software-defined networking, and seamless scaling through Azure Kubernetes Service and Azure DevOps. Although it offers excellent VM management and analytics capabilities with Microsoft Fabric, deployment complexity and operational challenges remain. Businesses looking for a robust edge computing solution find significant benefits, especially with efficient local Azure storage and advanced hardware such as the latest processors and SSDs. There are areas needing improvements like multi-cluster management, stability, and Initial setup, which can be cumbersome. Pricing can be a concern against competitors, and enhanced support and training are needed for smoother user experience.
What are the key features of Azure Local?Azure Local finds application in sectors like manufacturing and maritime operations where robust edge computing helps in seamless data management and analytics. Factories benefit from compliance with data privacy rules while blended local and cloud services improve efficiency on ships, providing an alternative to VMware with support for virtual desktops and SQL Managed Instances.
Dell EMC vSAN Ready Nodes are pre-configured building blocks that reduce deployment
risks with certified configurations, improve storage efficiency by up to 50%1
, and can help
you build or scale your vSAN cluster faster.14 Whether you're just getting started, and/or
expanding your existing VMware environment, Dell EMC is here for you every step of the
way with consulting, education, deployment and support services for the entire solution.
We monitor all HCI reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.