Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs SAP HANA Cloud comparison

Microsoft and SAP are both solutions in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category. Microsoft is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.7, while SAP is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.4. Additionally, 96% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of SAP users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Read 118 Microsoft Azure SQL Database reviews

3,353 Views
3,319 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

SAP HANA Cloud

Read 6 SAP HANA Cloud reviews

83 Views
83 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

SAP HANA Cloud

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 2025

Microsoft Azure SQL Database and SAP HANA Cloud are cloud-based database solutions. SAP HANA Cloud appears superior in functionality due to its advanced analytical features, whereas Microsoft Azure SQL Database is more favorable for cost-effectiveness and reliability.

Features: Microsoft Azure SQL Database is known for automatic scalability, threat detection capabilities, and seamless integration with Microsoft services. SAP HANA Cloud offers high-performance real-time analytics, advanced data processing, and superior performance in scalability and analytics.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SAP HANA Cloud facilitates streamlined deployment and offers strong customer support with comprehensive onboarding. Microsoft Azure SQL Database excels in ease of integration with robust support and extensive documentation, focusing on broader compatibility.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Azure SQL Database provides a budget-friendly setup with predictable costs, ensuring better cost management and ROI for long-term use. SAP HANA Cloud requires a higher initial investment, justified by its advanced capabilities and substantial returns through analytical strength.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. SAP HANA Cloud Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. SAP HANA Cloud

July 2025

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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

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)

2nd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

118

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SAP HANA Cloud

Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)

11th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

3.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Featured Reviews

Charley Hanania

Data Platform Specialist at QS2 AG - Quality Software Solutions

It is very easy to implement, manage, and offers great insights into what is happening inside the engine

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is integrated into other Azure capabilities and has a great foundation being on SQL Server with a long history of security, performance, and usability from a DBA perspective. Once you've set up a server, adding databases is easy. There's a minor challenge with having data in separate databases that you want to connect like we do on premises. I'm looking forward to using some of these new AI-driven functions that have come out around vectorization. Having the data closer to my transactional databases or data makes it easy to augment and enhance the Database and applications I currently use. It's great that Azure SQL now seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Fabric. It's a first-tier service in the cloud that connects to web applications and other databases. The data transformation orchestration capabilities within Database Factory and similar capabilities make it effortless to move that stuff forward.

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Ijlal Naqvi

Lead SAP Cloud Services at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

Delivers robust functionality with room for improved support and sandbox capabilities

The support providing aspects could be more transparent. SAP HANA Cloud requires extensive documentation before connecting with a human being to troubleshoot an issue. The sandbox capabilities of the environment could be made more efficient. The test or quality environment could be populated with production data to replicate live environment scenarios easily. With S/4 today, this process isn't as seamless because it's a service provided by SAP with a certain service cost. Regarding innovations, clarity of the process needs improvement. Recently, SAP makes commercial changes before having supporting documentation ready. Better planning in this area would help implementers.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"They have good documentation. It's concentrated information."

"It's easy to use and maintain. If we look at the development of the maintenance team, we are not directly responsible for any infrastructure issues. We have too many positive sides to that. No maintenance, easy to use, and we'll know the limits very well."

"It's user-friendly. Compared to other solutions, it's based more on clicks, not on scripts. It's easy to manage."

"The automated scalability feature of SQL Azure has proven to be highly beneficial, particularly when deployed in the cloud."

"Database services and Active Directory related functions for this solution are good. Stable, scalable, and easy to install. Its technical support is good."

"It is easily scalable, and it is faster than SQL Server. It is also less expensive than using SQL Server. It has the pay-as-you-go model, and the charges are based on the usage."

"We like the ease of integrating it with our on-premises environment. We use a hybrid model. We have a SQL Server on-premises, and we have an integration with the cloud version. We do CPU or disk intensive processes on-premises. For accessibility, we offload onto the cloud. When you do a lot of IO and things like that in the cloud, Microsoft charges for the CPU activity."

"The ability to maintain different environments, such as development and production databases, is valuable."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pros

"Using SAP HANA Cloud, we can replicate the data into HANA and use live data, which improves our business decision-making."

"The best features of SAP HANA Cloud are that its software is effective because it has tight integration between other functions, such as finance, materials, and sales."

"I would rate SAP HANA Cloud nine to ten out of ten."

Cons

"Microsoft could improve its documentation and support."

"There are some limitations for cross-database queries and features. The migration of data from older systems should be easier. For deployment, there are too many options, which sometimes makes it difficult to figure out the best option. There is not enough information to help you to find the best option for deployment. There should be more documentation about this."

"The solution can be improved by reducing the constraints available."

"Their availability in the Middle East and Asia regions needs to improve."

"It's not a feature, but the solution only offers a certain amount of memory and that's limiting. The scalability should be extended to more than two terabytes."

"The solution requires familiarity with its language so can be tricky."

"We've had many concurrency issues with it, particularly with applications that do a lot of parallel processing."

"SQL Azure could improve by adding more features."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database cons

"SAP HANA Cloud requires extensive documentation before connecting with a human being to troubleshoot an issue."

"I see some weaknesses in SAP HANA Cloud regarding innovations, as they take their own time compared to what the market brings in with new features."

"Regarding SAP HANA Cloud, one significant pain point is the lack of access to the database from the HANA Studio for developers."

"The technical support from SAP is inadequate. We don't get timely responses, with support tickets taking more than 25 days to process."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"You can use it for smaller instances and pay less. You can also go for the premium product with all the security, scalability, and business continuity features, but you have to pay a premium amount."

"From a licensing benefit standpoint, we have clients who are coming with their own SQL licensing with Software Assurance, and they are able to use those licenses for their Azure SQL and reduce costs."

"The price of the solution is reasonable."

"When you go with SQL Azure Database, you can create a small database, which is around $4 to $5 per month for development purposes."

"We pay less than $1000 monthly in licensing fees. There are no additional costs."

"In terms of the cost, SQL Azure is a pay-per-use solution, particularly because it's a cloud subscription, so you pay as much as you use it."

"It is reasonable."

"If we use a smaller or free-sized Microsoft Azure SQL Database, it is extremely cost-effective and much cheaper than on-premise enterprise licenses, which are expensive."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about SQL Azure?

The automated scalability feature of SQL Azure has proven to be highly beneficial, particularly when deployed in the cloud.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SQL Azure?

The pricing of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not cheap, affecting user uptake. A gradual reduction in price could improve accessibility and user numbers, making it easier for users to adopt the s...

See all answers

What needs improvement with SQL Azure?

I have used the Microsoft Azure SQL Database for two years now, and I don't find it satisfactory. It's slow and expensive. The Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not the latest version of Microsoft SQ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with SAP HANA Cloud?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for SAP HANA Cloud?

We deploy SAP HANA Cloud for customers primarily in the mid-market, small and medium enterprise segment. This includes manufacturing companies, service-oriented companies, professional services, me...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering SAP HANA Cloud?

My experience is predominantly with SAP HANA Cloud and ECC, not Business One. My responsibilities involve overall delivery management. While Integration Suite may come up, due to my core expertise ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Google Cloud SQL vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 29% of the time

Amazon RDS vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 22% of the time

MongoDB Atlas vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 17% of the time

Oracle Database as a Service vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 6% of the time

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Azure Database for PostgreSQL vs SAP HANA Cloud

Compared 100% of the time

More SAP HANA Cloud Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

August 2025

Download Microsoft Azure SQL Database product report

Buyer's Guide

SAP HANA Cloud

July 2025

Download SAP HANA Cloud product report

Overview

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is a relational database-as-a-service that delivers predictable performance, scalability, business continuity, data protection, and near-zero administration to cloud developers and solution architects. This is the deep technical library for Azure SQL Database.

Microsoft

SAP HANA Cloud offers a robust platform for managing data in real-time, making it ideal for businesses looking to enhance their analytics and database capabilities. It efficiently supports complex data environments, providing scalability and high performance for enterprises.

SAP HANA Cloud integrates data management and advanced analytics in a single solution, optimizing operations for businesses through real-time insights and flexible scalability. It is designed to handle high volumes of data and complex queries while supporting cloud native development. Users benefit from its capability to drive intelligent applications, streamline decision-making processes, and enhance data-driven strategies across industries. Evaluating SAP HANA Cloud involves considering its real-time data processing power, strong security measures, and support for hybrid environments.

What are the most important features of SAP HANA Cloud?

Real-Time Analytics: Enables immediate decision-making based on live data
Scalability: Allows businesses to easily adjust resources depending on demand
Data Security: Offers robust protection measures to safeguard sensitive information
Hybrid Cloud Support: Facilitates seamless integration with on-premise systems

What benefits or ROI should users look for?

Cost Efficiency: Reduces overall operating expenses by streamlining processes
Enhanced Performance: Improves system speed and reliability for critical operations
Business Flexibility: Adapts quickly to changing business needs and market conditions
Data-Driven Insights: Provides valuable insights that help in strategic decision making

SAP HANA Cloud is implemented across industries such as finance, retail, manufacturing, and healthcare, where real-time data processing and analytics are critical. In finance, it assists with risk management and financial forecasting; in retail, it supports personalized customer experiences and inventory optimization; while in manufacturing, it enhances supply chain management and production efficiency.

SAP

Sample Customers

adnymics GmbH, LG CNS, Centrebet, netfabb GmbH, MedPlast, Accelera Solutions, Sochi Organizing Committee, realzeit GmbH

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. SAP HANA Cloud

July 2025

Free Report: Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. SAP HANA Cloud

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