Microsoft Azure vs Salesforce Platform comparison

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57,924 views|50,299 comparisons
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13,662 views|11,805 comparisons
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Mar 30, 2022

We performed a comparison between Microsoft Azure vs. Salesforce Platform based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Users of Microsoft Azure are divided over how simple it is to deploy. There are users who note that deployment was simple specifically because they already had a background in Azure. Others feel that it is straightforward and easy to deploy without qualification. Some users feel that it is complicated to deploy. Many users of the Salesforce Platform feel that the deployment process is pretty simple.
  • Features: Users of Microsoft Azure find it to be reliable and point out that it has many valuable features, including its centralized management dashboard and its automation capabilities. However, they feel it could be more flexible.

    Users of Salesforce Platform find it to be stable and point out that it has many other valuable features, including the ease with which one can customize it to meet their needs and its ability to track a user’s workloads. However, there are users who feel that its ability to integrate with other products could be improved.
  • Pricing: Users of both solutions are divided over how affordable they find it to be. Users of both products feel that the pricing of these solutions can be improved.
  • Service and Support: Users of both solutions are divided over how effective they find the technical support to be. There are also users who note that the documentation that both of these solutions provide could be improved.

Comparison of Results: Based on the parameters we compared, Salesforce Platform seems to be a superior solution. All other things being more or less equal, our reviewers found Microsoft Azure to be more difficult to deploy and far less flexible than Salesforce Platform.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Azure vs. Salesforce Platform Report (Updated: March 2023).
686,748 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"In terms of computer resource management and reduced cost, it is very, very effective. In large environments, it gives you a lot of flexibility to provide different services, like disaster recovery and business continuity with simple and great options because you don't have to spend a lot of time for maintenance, upgrades, and security.""The initial setup is simple.""The user interface is very good for administrators.""I think Azure's level of automation to achieve efficiency or agility is valuable. I also like the change capability cadence, the showback capabilities, and understanding what our costs are.""Microsoft Azure has been easy to use in my experience.""The solution is completely scalable.""The solution has enabled us to provide advanced indicators and analytics to the client on their data.""One of the most valuable features of Azure is that it's a very integrated solution. You have to learn how to use it properly, but it's not that hard, and you can define your whole scrum process and deploy it from one place. It was a really nice surprise to see how easily integrated this tool is."

More Microsoft Azure Pros →

"The most valuable features of the Salesforce Platform are the ability to manage customers' data, many report filtering options, and consolidation.""Its stability, performance, and usability are most valuable.""We also use Salesforce to find trends to make informed decisions in terms of events and marketing campaigns.""The solution can scale.""he solution has improved over the years and the inputting of opportunity information is done a lot better and the GUI is good. The ability to customize dashboards and other elements was useful, we were able to move things around, for example, the forecasts. Most of the cells and input places were set, but we can customize the view and what we were looking at, such as on a daily, or weekly basis.""The solution provides a preferred method of backing up data.""The solution is easy to use.""Salesforce's strongest feature is reporting especially. It's also a lot more usable than other platforms I've worked with. It has a great user experience, with the ability to filter and access information in real-time."

More Salesforce Platform Pros →

Cons
"The solution could improve by providing a better user interface and more organized workflows.""There are so many services available that the interface is a little bit messy, and when you're looking for a specific service, you have to know exactly where to search.""It is impossible to sell a cloud-based model here in Venezuela because we have strong inflation and most of our clients are immigrating to on-premises solutions.""The market place can be raised, and the CMT can be more sophisticated to create more opportunities for the end users.""The solution could improve by providing better tutorials and documentation.""The documentation can be outdated and is not as clear in Microsoft Azure as it is in AWS or Google.""Any time you use a cloud service, there are increased security risks. If you want more security, you have to have private hosting.""The alerts management should be improved. Alerts management is very complicated to configure. You have to go through a lot of tests and config action groups to set up those things. It is very complicated, and it can be simplified."

More Microsoft Azure Cons →

"Salesforce Platform could improve the UI and the responsiveness of their servers. The UI needs to be made user-friendly for all users.""It does need very specific resources to help deploy it and buy in from the users. It's one of those items it's pretty disruptive and if it's not deployed properly and if it doesn't get utilized efficiently, it won't be effective.""The reporting for Salesforce could be approved. It is a manual process and it would be useful to have a guide or videos on how to generate reports or any other cool things that you could do with the platform.""The reporting needs improvement and the dashboard could have more components added.""UI needs to be more intuitive and user friendly.""When it switched to lightning, it threw me for a loop. When they changed the look and feel, I had a hard time finding things and doing what I used to do.""Salesforce needs to be re-platformed, or re-architected, making it lighter.""In Salesforce, every customer is unique and it's not possible to bundle them together effectively if they are from the same company or move companies, et cetera."

More Salesforce Platform Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The price needs to be lower because they're competing with AWS."
  • "Its price should be optimized so that we can use more features."
  • "I currently use the pay-as-you-go option."
  • "It is affordable, but its subscription price could be cheaper."
  • "It's a metered environment, and it's pay-as-you-go. That's the big challenge with a metered environment."
  • "The long-term cost is higher than if you set up the servers on-premises, which is something that could be improved through more competitive pricing."
  • "The current pricing is on a pay-as-you-go subscription."
  • "It is similar to AWS, where it is on-demand and is billed monthly."
  • More Microsoft Azure Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "I have heard that it is fairly priced. It offers ROI."
  • "It is very expensive. Its licensing is on a monthly basis."
  • "It is expensive."
  • "I don't know anything about its cost, but I'm sure it has got a nice little price tag that goes along with it."
  • "The price varies depending on the cloud."
  • "The price of Salesforce Platform is very expensive. There are other solutions that are similar that cost a quarter of what Salesforce Platform does, such as HubSpot."
  • "For the number of people that are using Salesforce Platform in my organization, I feel the price is reasonable."
  • "I haven't had to buy Salesforce, however, I have heard it's $1500 a user."
  • More Salesforce Platform Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:IBM Public Cloud is IBM’s Platform-as-a-Service. It aims to provide organizations with a secure cloud environment to manage data and applications. One of the features we like is the cloud activity… more »
    Top Answer:One of the best features of SAP Cloud Platform is that it is web-based and you can log in from anywhere in the world. SAP Cloud Platform is suitable for companies of any size; it works well with both… more »
    Top Answer:I would recommend Google Firebase instead of Microsoft Azure, simply for the array of features that it has to offer. In particular, the Firebase library grants you access to a shared data structure… more »
    Top Answer: I think it depends on your use case. If your organization uses Microsoft Enterprise products, PowerApps will work better in your environment. Similarly, if you have a Salesforce integration in… more »
    Top Answer:Microsoft’s Windows Azure platform is not easy or intuitive to deploy. The difficulty will be impacted by the type of application that you are trying to use the platform to build. Organizations that… more »
    Top Answer:At my organization, we have only used Salesforce Platform's low-code builder. The reason for this is not because we do not like the pro-code option, but because we do not see the need of using it… more »
    Ranking
    1st
    out of 32 in PaaS Clouds
    Views
    57,924
    Comparisons
    50,299
    Reviews
    147
    Average Words per Review
    441
    Rating
    8.4
    4th
    out of 32 in PaaS Clouds
    Views
    13,662
    Comparisons
    11,805
    Reviews
    44
    Average Words per Review
    448
    Rating
    8.3
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Windows Azure, Azure, MS Azure
    Salesforce1, Force.com, Salesforce App Cloud
    Learn More
    Overview

    Windows Azure is Microsoft's cloud platform, where developers can create, deploy, and maintain their apps. This cloud application platform allows developers to concentrate on the actual applications, while it takes care of all the elements behind the apps.

    Windows Azure works across multiple frameworks and languages. It is fully scalable, localized in that it is hosted globally in many datacenters, and has widespread capabilities with elements of application development, deployment, and management.

    Azure is comprised of several different service modules, including Infrastructure; Web; Mobile; Dev & Test; Big Data; Media;Storage, Backup & Recovery; and Identity & Access Management.

    Microsoft Azure works as a:

    1. Platform as a service (PaaS)
    2. Software as a service (SaaS)
    3. Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)

    Microsoft Azure is available:

    • On-premises
    • Hybrid
    • Multi-cloud
    • At the edge

    Compared to its competitors, Microsoft Azure:

    • Has more affordable features
    • Has easier migration for organizations already using other Microsoft tools
    • Has several educational resources available
    • Provides robust support
    • Is ideal for small and large businesses

    Microsoft Azure Features:

    • Scalability
    • Stability
    • Flexibility
    • Azure Site Recovery
    • Active Directory
    • Monitoring features
    • Cloud-based
    • Automated tasks
    • Change capability cadence
    • Showback capabilities
    • Information protection
    • Azure Data Lake
    • Excellent portal
    • Intuitive user interface
    • Remote desktop
    • Fast provisioning
    • Data security
    • Data resiliency
    • Speed of service
    • Integrated delivery pipeline
    • Disaster recovery
    • Robust templates
    • Flexible coding languages
    • Virtual systems testing

    Benefits of Microsoft Azure:

    • Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): Because Microsoft Azure is an IaaS, organizations can deploy as well as manage applications easily and quickly. Azure also provides you with the ability to customize the cloud software to meet your specific business needs.
    • Seamless integration: Microsoft Azure is built to seamlessly integrate with existing IT departments via hybrid databases, secure private connections, and storage solutions.
    • Cost-effective: Because Azure can harmoniously exist in your business environment with your data center, it is a very cost-effective solution.
    • Analytics support: Azure is designed with built-in support that is used to analyze data and provide key insights. Azure offers Cortana Analytics, Stream Analytics, Machine Learning, and SQL services.
    • Unique storage system: Compared to other cloud services, Microsoft Azure has more data centers and delivery points, which helps create an optimal user experience and also helps deliver content faster. In addition, Microsoft Azure makes it possible for organizations to exchange content across several virtual machines.
    • Enhanced flexibility: Azure provides extreme flexibility by allowing you to choose any level of functionality you require. It also supports many of the same technologies IT teams and developers usually depend on, making it easier for them to manage.
    • Easy implementation: Microsoft Azure is easy and quick to deploy. If necessary, you can change web apps to Azure with almost zero downtime.

    Reviews from Real Users:

    "It is a flexible solution that is straightforward to use," says the principal consultant at a computer software company.

    OmarJ., future datacenter consultant: Microsoft Azure Cloud at a tech company, adds that "The user interface is very nice and makes everything easy to use."

    You can build an environment in minutes. It's very good in terms of being an infrastructure as a service, and I found that really fascinating,” says an information technology consultant at a computer software company.

    "I think Azure's level of automation to achieve efficiency or agility is valuable. I also like the change capability cadence, the showback capabilities, and understanding what our costs are," says an enterprise architect at an energy/utilities company.

    Marco C., Ing. at Wolters Kluwer, says "The valuable features of Microsoft Azure are that it is cloud-based and has good storage. The storage is completely managed by Azure. We do not need to do any patching of security because it is handled by Azure which is a benefit. The solution is fully compatible with the Microsoft technology stack and is very scalable."

    "The most valuable feature of Microsoft Azure is it has everything together in one place. It is one large tool with lots of small tools that are updated often," says the owner of a media company.



    Salesforce Platform is a tool that provides application building with open application programming interfaces (APIs), integration tools, back-end services, starter templates, and developer environments. With a low-code interface, users are able to build applications and benefit from automated processes. The product helps customers to increase work productivity and save on IT costs through efficient, easy-to-understand, methods for creating applications.

    Salesforce Platform allows companies to build and operate intelligent applications at scale and share them with employees and customers in real time. The tool secures companies' data while connecting and synchronizing it simultaneously across their Customer 360 accounts. The main components of the product are:

    • Application development: With low code, companies can build applications faster and automate their businesses.

    • Automation: The product can connect with Salesforce Genie, allowing employees to create seamless processes.

    • Security: The Shield component allows companies to secure their data and build applications.

    • Hyperforce: Companies have the option to scale globally and serve customers locally, providing secure, private, and agile solutions.

    • Einstein Intelligence: Organizations can utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to create personalized experiences for customers, potentially increasing companies’ growth.

    • Sandboxes: Salesforce Platform offers developers secure development environments where they can test, build, and deploy changes before rolling out final products.

    Salesforce Platform Features

    Also referred to as a “drag and drop app builder," this solution offers various features for customers to create intelligent applications and build personalized services for clients, partners, and employees within the apps.

    • Mobile feature: The mobile feature of Salesforce Platform allows users to build applications for mobile as well as turn already-made apps into mobile apps instantly.

    • AI: Through AI, users are able to personalize their applications, utilizing the smart assistant of the platform (called Einstein). The creation of customized services for clients can drive engagement and scale customer experience.

    • Vision feature: The Vision feature also utilizes Einstein Platform, where users can take advantage of Einstein Prediction Builder, Bots, Vision, and Language to create AI-powered applications.

    • Data protection: Salesforce Platform offers a data protection feature called Salesforce Shield. With it, companies can monitor app and data use, automate security policies, run compliance audits, and encrypt sensitive data.

    • Privacy and identity feature: Salesforce Customer Identity is a feature for privacy that offers user access through a single login. The feature provides a seamless user experience while maintaining a high level of security.
    • Community feature: The community feature of the product offers a digital experience platform where companies can create secure portals, applications, and websites.

    • Builder feature: The application building feature of Salesforce Platform offers various ways for users to create apps, including through low-code builders and pro-code tools.

    Salesforce Platform Benefits

    The benefits of using Salesforce Platform include:

    • Compared to manual coding products, Salesforce Platform is simpler for beginner users who want to develop a product.

    • The tool requires a low amount of coding, making it a quick and agile way to develop applications.

    • The adaptable design of the platform offers multi-layered security which maintains data accessible to users while protecting it from outside sources.

    • The product can be incorporated with various platforms and coding languages for application development.

    • The platform can be used to create applications compatible with large database systems like MySQL and Oracle.

    • Salesforce Platform allows collaboration between users, as it offers simultaneous access to various users at the same time.

    • Salesforce Platform is compatible with desktop databases such as Microsoft Access.

    Reviews from Real Users

    A vice president at a healthcare company values Salesforce Platform because it is flexible and user-friendly with helpful pre-built schemas.

    Peter G., a senior technical consultant at a tech services company, rates Salesforce Platform highly because it is intuitive, quite easy to learn, and stores all kinds of relevant sales information.

    Offer
    Learn more about Microsoft Azure
    Learn more about Salesforce Platform
    Sample Customers
    BMW, Toyota, easyJet, NBC Sports, HarperCollins, Aviva, TalkTalk Business, Avanade, and Telenor.
    ADP
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company25%
    Financial Services Firm12%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    Comms Service Provider8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Comms Service Provider9%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company31%
    Comms Service Provider9%
    Healthcare Company6%
    Insurance Company6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company20%
    Financial Services Firm10%
    Government10%
    Comms Service Provider7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business39%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise44%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise68%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business37%
    Midsize Enterprise27%
    Large Enterprise36%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise68%
    Buyer's Guide
    Microsoft Azure vs. Salesforce Platform
    March 2023
    Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Azure vs. Salesforce Platform and other solutions. Updated: March 2023.
    686,748 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Microsoft Azure is ranked 1st in PaaS Clouds with 144 reviews while Salesforce Platform is ranked 4th in PaaS Clouds with 43 reviews. Microsoft Azure is rated 8.4, while Salesforce Platform is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Microsoft Azure writes "Optimized cloud solution with reliable recovery and fail services". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Salesforce Platform writes "Makes it easy to keep up with everything, close pending deals, and keep things organized". Microsoft Azure is most compared with Oracle Cloud Platform, Google Firebase, Amazon AWS, SAP Cloud Platform and Google App Engine, whereas Salesforce Platform is most compared with Microsoft Power Apps, Oracle Application Express (APEX), Appian, Amazon AWS and ServiceNow. See our Microsoft Azure vs. Salesforce Platform report.

    See our list of best PaaS Clouds vendors.

    We monitor all PaaS Clouds 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.