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

Azure SQL Managed Instance vs InterSystems IRIS comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

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 SQL Managed Instance
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
25th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Database as a Service (DBaaS) (17th)
InterSystems IRIS
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
27th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
4.5
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Database Management Systems (DBMS) (15th)
 

Featured Reviews

Kunal Das - PeerSpot reviewer
Test Engineer at Happiest Minds Technologies
Hybrid data platform has delivered secure AI-ready workloads and reduced operational effort
Regarding Azure SQL Managed Instance, I would like to see improvements in AI capabilities. If we want to utilize AI features, we need to provide the resources and offer instructions to receive proper answers. If that could be improved, it would yield many benefits. Additionally, performance and compute skills should be enhanced, security upgraded, automation backed, and more productivity tools developed for real-time architecture and tooling. Currently, AI is booming, and I think features that enhance scalability and performance are essential. First, I believe there should be good scalability and architecture. The second aspect pertains to an agentic environment such as GitHub Copilot agent mode, web portal query editor, or Terraform coverage. Finally, security should also be a focus, particularly regarding event streaming transitions.
reviewer2892648 - PeerSpot reviewer
Developer/Database Administrator at a transportation company with 201-500 employees
Robust multidimensional database has enabled smooth API integrations and modern data workflows
I think InterSystems IRIS is a continuation of the Caché legacy. Since I have been working with it since 2005 with Caché, I think it is a really amazing tool. It is a very robust and very scalable database. It is very good to work with, and I am already used to working with it. Where it falls a bit short is in the availability of manpower and professionals who work with InterSystems IRIS or Caché. There are few professionals who work with it. Another thing is the cost and the license cost. I think there could be some kind of package that could serve smaller companies and small and medium-sized companies. That would reach a larger slice of the market, because the cost to work with Caché, InterSystems IRIS, and so on is high. I would make this remark about putting together a package and a new product that could serve small and medium-sized companies. The area where InterSystems IRIS falls a bit short is in the cost and the licensing cost. The licensing cost is the main issue I have already mentioned.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"All features are valuable, including SQL query generation, generating reports quickly, time-saving capabilities, and timely delivery, and the use of Azure SQL Managed Instance has significantly improved day-to-day productivity, ensuring efficient business report generation."
"Azure SQL Managed Instance has positively impacted my organization because we save a lot on resources, particularly on hiring people with skills to manage SQL servers."
"I can tell you categorically that the ROI, the return on investment is very, very high and it's very commendable."
"The most important aspect of Azure SQL Managed Instance for me is its serverless compute, as it has cost efficiency and massive scalability, along with elastic pools and a Hyperscale tier."
"Azure SQL Managed Instance has positively impacted our organization by reducing the amount of infrastructure and database administration required from our team."
"Azure SQL Managed Instance includes 100% feature parity and support for critical instance features, allowing minimal code changes when migrating from on-premises to the cloud."
"Security-wise, Azure SQL Managed Instance is absolutely robust, and governance-wise, the manageability of Azure SQL Managed Instance is very good."
"InterSystems IRIS as a database is very efficient, with its best features being its speed and high performance, along with an easy understanding of its data searching functionalities."
"The best features that InterSystems IRIS offers in my opinion are the speed in querying data, and due to our system, which requires a large query with a large volume of data, InterSystems IRIS stands out for its query speed, making my work easier."
"My final observation is that everyone should use InterSystems IRIS; it is an amazing tool on the market."
"InterSystems IRIS has had a positive impact on my organization by improving performance and data security."
"The best features InterSystems IRIS offers, in my experience, include being a really powerful engine and a really good database."
"In my opinion, the best features that InterSystems IRIS offers are its very optimized database, which I found amazing, and the observability it provides for checking messages and how the data is being transferred, which I find very interesting."
"The best features InterSystems IRIS offers are its powerful database and speed, which contribute greatly to my work."
 

Cons

"Azure SQL Managed Instance can be improved by adding more scalability options."
"The customer support for Azure SQL Managed Instance is the usual Microsoft support, neither great nor bad."
"The only red flag I could point out is you don't have 100% control of your data. You don't have 100% control of that particular server because it is Microsoft that has access to it."
"One area that could be improved is the visibility and simplicity of performance and cost management."
"I recently observed performance degradation in my application already in the cloud, primarily due to the lack of AI agents."
"Regarding Azure SQL Managed Instance, I would like to see improvements in AI capabilities. Additionally, performance and compute skills should be enhanced, security upgraded, automation backed, and more productivity tools developed for real-time architecture and tooling."
"The area where InterSystems IRIS falls a bit short is in the cost and the licensing cost."
"InterSystems IRIS can be improved since its studio is very poor."
"InterSystems IRIS can be improved by addressing the lack of libraries, mainly mathematical ones, where we would save a lot of time on some formulas that we have to build by hand every time we need them."
"Python support can be enhanced further, as it's really clunky at the moment, considering that the use of Python is pretty much all over the world and nobody knows ObjectScript really thoroughly and deeply."
"I cannot determine a very positive impact or a beneficial result from InterSystems IRIS, although this observability part is important because we were able to find problems much faster."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Relational Databases Tools solutions are best for your needs.
914,322 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Outsourcing Company
30%
Comms Service Provider
18%
Healthcare Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise1
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Azure SQL Managed Instance?
The only red flag I could point out is you don't have 100% control of your data. You don't have 100% control of that particular server because it is Microsoft that has access to it. For instance, i...
What is your primary use case for Azure SQL Managed Instance?
If you have an application that will probably require a database engine or database solution like SQL, and probably your solution is being deployed within Azure environment, there's no need of crea...
What advice do you have for others considering Azure SQL Managed Instance?
I'm an integrator. My company consumes the solution within the product. Integration is quite straightforward. Let's say for instance, within the Azure environment, I have some application being bui...
What needs improvement with InterSystems IRIS?
InterSystems IRIS can be improved by addressing the lack of libraries, mainly mathematical ones, where we would save a lot of time on some formulas that we have to build by hand every time we need ...
What is your primary use case for InterSystems IRIS?
My main use case for InterSystems IRIS is hospital integrations. In hospital integrations, I use InterSystems IRIS for object conversions. Regarding this use case, I utilize TCP/IP, REST, and SOAP ...
What advice do you have for others considering InterSystems IRIS?
My advice to others who are considering using InterSystems IRIS is to use it without fear, take advantage of all the platform's resources, and follow the community that has many tips and solutions ...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Global Investment Bank, Parkview Medical Center
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure SQL Managed Instance vs. InterSystems IRIS and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
914,322 professionals have used our research since 2012.