No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Azure NetApp Files vs DocuWare comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Azure NetApp Files
Ranking in Cloud Storage
12th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Migration (9th), Public Cloud Storage Services (13th)
DocuWare
Ranking in Cloud Storage
49th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Content Management (24th), Document Management Software (7th), Content Collaboration Platforms (34th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Cloud Storage category, the mindshare of Azure NetApp Files is 3.0%, down from 8.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of DocuWare is 0.9%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Storage Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Azure NetApp Files3.0%
DocuWare0.9%
Other96.1%
Cloud Storage
 

Featured Reviews

Rajat Wadhwa - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Architect at IBM
Cross-region replication has delivered seamless disaster recovery for enterprise storage needs
In terms of improvement, I would say cost reservation; the cost is a bit high. If we compare Azure Files and Azure NetApp Files, I know that customers are using less of Azure NetApp due to the cost. If they bring the cost a little bit closer to what Azure Files offers, it can be a great product in the market and bring a lot of business to NetApp. Backup is quite critical. As of now, Azure NetApp Files requires you to use Azure NetApp Backup solution, which is in public preview at the moment. I would definitely expect NetApp to come up with that solution so that customers can start using it because they do not have confidence in backup as it is still in preview. They are still doing some testing and research on that product, which is not officially released for use by multiple customers.
RC
Enterprise Architect at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Great document storing and easy to set up but needs to offer more collaboration capabilities
It should have collaboration features. For example, if I upload a document and I want the document which I upload to be discussed among my colleagues and peers, I should be able to share. I'd like for us to be collaborating, discussing the document, adding to the document, et cetera. I'd like it to be possible for teams to collaboratively create the document. Compliance or records management could be improved. For example, if I upload a document, a legal document such as a contract, when you onboard a new customer, you would like to have that contract document stored. At the same time, it should be logged. Once a document is approved and taken by printout and sent to the customer, it should be logged. It should not be allowed to be editable; you shouldn't be able to make changes to it. For records management, it should only be accessible to some people, not everyone. I would like to have records management features and compliance features where data could be hidden. Items such as personal data should be hidden or masked. I would like to have GDPR features added. We had some slight hiccups during the setup process.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It all depends on the requirement; if the customer is an enterprise customer wanting a disaster recovery solution without manual efforts to migrate or replicate data from one Azure region to another, then Azure NetApp Files is a seamless solution."
"It is faster. It is quicker. It is reliable."
"Since we have NetApp's internally, we use the SnapMirror predominantly for this process in the cloud which is beneficial."
"The most valuable features of the solution is replication to another region and the performance. The solution is stable. The solution is scalable. The initial setup is straightforward."
"You can change it non-disruptively. You can increase the size and decrease the size online, which is a huge benefit compared to Azure disks. It just works seamlessly. You don't need to stop the instances."
"We recommend this solution to our customers because of its ease of use, availability, and security, but they don't usually go for it because of its price."
"Using Azure NetApp Files got us out of a really difficult situation quickly, effectively, and at a reasonable cost."
"The critical features of this solution are SnapMirror for replication, data protection, and SnapLock."
"For the most part, the initial setup is easy. There's good documentation."
"DocuWare allows for easy document management and workflow automation, eliminating the need for physical paperwork and streamlining the approval process."
 

Cons

"Features are being added to this product at a very slow pace, and they should be speeding that up and being a little more aggressive."
"The solution needs to improve it's ABS environment."
"This solution would be improved with more innovation."
"It is expensive in small environments, which could be better. The reason is the four terabyte minimum."
"The main hurdle in promoting this solution is the price. Its price definitely requires an improvement. It is more expensive than other options, so customers go for a cheaper option."
"We would like to see more paired regions for the replication."
"The initial setup was not straightforward. We had help from the NetApp team."
"Azure NetApp Files could improve by being more diverse to integrate better with other solutions, such as Splunk and the on-premise version. There are some use cases that are not covered natively by Azure. It is not the best solution because it is not external from the cloud which for me is the best type of solution."
"It should have collaboration features."
"Its graphical user interface could be more user-friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The performance has improved by about 30 percent."
"In the cloud, pricing depends on how you manage it. It's not necessarily cheap, but it's all about optimizing charges and showing the cost back. So, it's more about managing the expenses rather than being inherently expensive or cheap."
"It is expensive in small environments, which could be better. The reason is the four terabyte minimum. A one terabyte minimum would be better."
"The solution’s combination of the ease of use, simplicity, and reduction in IT management versus the cost has helped a lot. It is very fast to deploy. It's very easy to maintain. You don't have to do a lot in the cloud to maintain this thing, so it gives good performance. It's fast to deploy, easy to maintain, and it gives a better performance. These are the most basic three criteria for any application. This saves cost because the manpower you need to deploy is going down. You're getting better performance and not buying new resources. You have resources available in the cloud. It's just a couple of clicks, then you're good to go."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."
"We are currently on a pay-as-you-go model with the storage that we use."
"The pricing depends on your scaling and consumption."
"Our pricing has not been determined because we are still waiting on additional features."
"While the price may be considered slightly high, it is still reasonable within the context of other options available on the market."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Cloud Storage solutions are best for your needs.
902,988 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Educational Organization
6%
Construction Company
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise14
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

How does Azure NetApp Files compare to NetApp ONTAP?
Azure NetApp Files is a Microsoft Azure file storage service built on NetApp technology. The platform combines the file capabilities of Azure and NetApp to move critical file-based applications to ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure NetApp Files?
On pricing, I would rate it around eight. It's highly priced, and there's no cost reservation option available compared to Azure Files. If NetApp could bring that kind of model for customers to sav...
What needs improvement with Azure NetApp Files?
In terms of improvement, I would say cost reservation; the cost is a bit high. If we compare Azure Files and Azure NetApp Files, I know that customers are using less of Azure NetApp due to the cost...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

NetApp ANF, ANF
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

SAP, Restaurant Magic
King Hussein Cancer Center, Smart Choice, Tippecanoe County
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure NetApp Files vs. DocuWare and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,988 professionals have used our research since 2012.