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Microsoft Azure vs Scality RING 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.1
Microsoft Azure is favored for reducing costs, offering flexible scalability, and enhancing service reliability while shifting expenses to operational.
Sentiment score
7.3
Scality RING's flexible model reduces storage costs, though additional security can increase expenses; operational efficiencies vary by user.
The value for money is good, and Microsoft Azure has positively impacted our operational costs.
IT Support Specialist at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi
When we use Microsoft Azure, it provides enhanced security from our perspective, though I am not certain about the financial return on investment or benefits for our users as I do not have that information.
Head Of Security Management at Ipko Telecommunications
I think RING's ability to maintain predictable costs while providing scalable storage solutions impacts our budget by allowing us to pay only for capacity.
Infrastructure architect at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
For instance, while the cost per gig on a block storage platform may be $2, it's $1.50 for NAS, and only $0.50 for object storage, leading to a remarkable 75% reduction in costs by utilizing the Scality platform.
Storage Engineering Manager at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
Scality RING has reduced our operating costs.
Engineer at MinArm
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Microsoft Azure's support is responsive and knowledgeable, but speed and accessibility vary with the service level purchased.
Sentiment score
6.8
Scality RING's support is generally effective with knowledgeable staff, though response times and consistency can vary.
Microsoft needs to engage L3 and L2 in support when specified in service tickets.
Snr. Infrastructure Architect (Data Centre) at LogicEra
We eventually get the resolution we seek.
Freelancer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I would rate their technical support a ten because we have various support channels available.
Solutions Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I've always received responses within the required timeframe, the answers were technically relevant, and there was follow-up—people called us back to check if everything was okay and if the ticket could be closed.
Infrastructure architect at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Individuals such as Peter Mikolastik really make a difference by saying, 'Come on, what is the problem? I will help you,' rather than just brushing things off.
data center manager at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Technically, when we have major issues in P1, they are very responsive and we can't say that we don't get a response.
Operational Infrastructure Pilot at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Microsoft Azure is highly rated for its scalable resource management, suitable for businesses of all sizes and workloads.
Sentiment score
7.1
Scality RING offers strong scalability and flexibility, managing large infrastructures with smooth upgrades but occasionally slow rebalancing.
Microsoft Azure is not just one product; it is a platform with multiple products within Microsoft Azure, and I would say it is scalable and would rate it a nine.
Director at Apeiros Solutions
The scalability of Microsoft Azure is excellent for growth and adaptation, depending on company requirements.
Head Of Security Management at Ipko Telecommunications
It has different kinds of designs that allow for management and deployment in multi-zones, offering both scalable and non-scalable options.
Snr. Infrastructure Architect (Data Centre) at LogicEra
Upwards, I think, almost unlimited by what we can imagine.
System Engineer - Head of Engineering at a retailer with 11-50 employees
I've never had issues with scalability.
Infrastructure architect at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
We are relatively well informed about their new features, what will be implemented in future versions, and the scalability of the solution.
Operational Infrastructure Pilot at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Microsoft Azure is generally stable with high uptime, though users note occasional issues and some prefer AWS for reliability.
Sentiment score
7.4
Scality RING ensures stable, continuous data access with quick recovery and reliable performance, even with aging hardware.
We noticed a few critical servers went down due to a Microsoft Azure-end hardware issue.
Senior Associate at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
We are now migrating clients without the zoning into mandatory multi-zone deployments, so if one zone goes down, their application and database remain live.
Snr. Infrastructure Architect (Data Centre) at LogicEra
Microsoft Azure is quite stable, but recent outages and security issues have slightly decreased my confidence.
Works at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
It is a platform that is very stable at the customer level and does not generate incidents or blockages that you might encounter with standard storage solutions, where you can lose data.
Operational Infrastructure Pilot at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
I find that Scality RING is very stable because it allows for many maintenance operations without service loss.
Infrastructure architect at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
There are factors that can cause Scality RING to become occasionally unavailable, but due to the system's resilience, it is capable of recovering or degrading gracefully.
Senior ICT Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Azure users seek a user-friendly interface, better pricing, enhanced support, compatibility improvements, and additional customization with security enhancements.
Users seek improved stability, simplified management, complete S3 compliance, security enhancements, and better scalability for Scality RING.
Recent outages and security issues are also a concern, causing a decrease in confidence, especially when partnering with third-party companies.
Works at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
The administrative side is suitable for technical people, but our finance and HR super users find it less user-friendly, as they prefer drag-and-drop features to build their own solutions without contacting IT.
IT Support Specialist at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi
There is still room for improvement in terms of pricing.
Director at Apeiros Solutions
Encryption and data security need improvement. We don't have a solution for customers who need confidentiality.
Operational Infrastructure Pilot at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
They should prioritize quality over timeliness to minimize customer disruptions and not force customers into a cycle of fixes that interfere with daily work.
Storage Engineering Manager at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
What we are currently missing and will be demanding in the new tender is an additional external backup of all data, ideally on a simple system, to safeguard against any severe local incidents so that we still have the data protected elsewhere.
data center manager at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Azure's competitive pricing and flexible options attract users, despite concerns about long-term cost predictability and specific charges.
Scality RING requires high initial and ongoing investment, challenging unless enterprises handle 10 PB, with unexpected costs possible.
Microsoft solutions might be cheaper than some services like AWS, but some solutions may be more expensive depending on the services compared.
Works at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Copilot is expensive based on recent pricing for our POC.
IT Support Specialist at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi
They have discounts and also provide promotions for a three-year reservation which comes with significant discounts on the infrastructure part.
Snr. Infrastructure Architect (Data Centre) at LogicEra
Fortunately, in terms of the license, we are able to expand the disks without having to adjust the license.
System Engineer - Head of Engineering at a retailer with 11-50 employees
In the end, it always depends on how much you pay for it.
Senior ICT Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Regarding setup costs and licensing, our initial experience is somewhat dated now as we made a comprehensive purchase, including hardware, software, and system setup, which Scality handled at the time.
data center manager at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Azure excels in scalability, integration, security, and cost-effectiveness, enhancing development and operational efficiency with robust support.
Scality RING enhances performance and scalability with metadata separation, supporting multiple interfaces, praised for durability, security, and cost-effectiveness.
Power BI, another feature of Azure, is extremely elegant and has robust features that support forecasting using R and Python.
Works at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
If Microsoft gives a report, such as a server performance report in a detailed way, which shows what is consuming more CPU, memory, and disk IO, and network utilization during a particular time, it would be helpful to visualize that information.
Senior Associate at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
What is very interesting in terms of scalability is the automatic possibilities to provision some new machines to be able to absorb the number of users we have in the system.
Technical Director / Market Evangelist at CAST Software
When a server is lost, the data is still accessible.
Operational Infrastructure Pilot at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
It is even better stored when there is only one copy on a system and there is a second copy on an immutability system, which is almost equivalent to backing it up on tape and taking it offline, making it completely inaccessible.
System Engineer - Head of Engineering at a retailer with 11-50 employees
Scality RING has influenced our approach to scaling in different dimensions by providing a cost-effective solution for the tremendous amount of data we generate every day for each customer.
Storage Engineering Manager at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Azure
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
323
Ranking in other categories
Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) (1st), PaaS Clouds (1st)
Scality RING
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Storage (SDS) (7th), File and Object Storage (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Microsoft Azure and Scality RING aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Microsoft Azure is designed for Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) and holds a mindshare of 9.9%, down 19.3% compared to last year.
Scality RING, on the other hand, focuses on Software Defined Storage (SDS), holds 3.7% mindshare, down 4.0% since last year.
Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure9.9%
Amazon AWS17.4%
Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode)10.2%
Other62.5%
Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS)
Software Defined Storage (SDS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Scality RING3.7%
Red Hat Ceph Storage12.3%
DataCore SANsymphony5.9%
Other78.1%
Software Defined Storage (SDS)
 

Featured Reviews

Syed Abid  - PeerSpot reviewer
Snr. Infrastructure Architect (Data Centre) at LogicEra
Versatile integrations and reliable customer satisfaction elevate cloud service experience
For Microsoft Azure improvement, they need to enhance their support system. The first level of support should be improved in terms of quality and response time. They need more technical support at the first level, as there are currently only one or two technical people among five to ten staff members at this level. They should ensure that the first level support is more technical because we normally provide services to technical users ourselves. When an issue arises, it usually escalates to the second or third level. When facing first level support, they may have limited knowledge and only collect screenshots to forward to their seniors. They should ensure that the first level support is aligned with L2 and L3 to better assist us, especially since we mention in the ticket that our issues are related to specific problems and require that sort of support.
Sebastien Foucou - PeerSpot reviewer
Infrastructure architect at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Leverages seamless data access with efficient storage management
I would improve Scality RING by bundling the Operating System with RING and modernizing the graphical interfaces. As for areas for improvement—if I had to summarize—a technical aspect would be the Operating System part, which today isn't really covered by Scality RING, whereas it is with Artesca. It would be a real advantage for customers to have a bundle that includes both the Operating System and Scality RING, with an install and maintenance model handled by Scality. Secondly, perhaps a more cosmetic point—the graphical interfaces could be modernized a bit. There's been work done on Artesca; maybe it should be extended more to RING. I believe that should come with version 10, so I'm not too concerned. I find RING's cyber resilience against ransomware threats somewhat complicated to assess. The product itself offers sufficient protection, and the features provided via S3 allow you to protect against this kind of attack—provided you implement these features, such as object lock with retention and everything that goes with it. If I had to identify an area for improvement, it would be the OS part—but that doesn't necessarily concern RING, unlike Artesca, which comes bundled with an OS. There's been real work done by the Scality teams to secure the system layer in Artesca. It didn't influence us. We know the product and what needs to be implemented to protect data, and it's part of the best practices we also pass on to our clients.
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Comparison Review

it_user8586 - PeerSpot reviewer
Engineer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
Aug 14, 2013
Amazon vs Rackspace vs Microsoft vs Google: Cloud Hosting Services Comparison
Amazon Web Services, Rackspace OpenStack, Microsoft Windows Azure and Google are the major cloud hosting and storage service providers. Athough Amazon is top of them and is oldest in cloud market, Rackspace, Microsoft and Google are giving tough competition to each other and to Amazon also for…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
7%
University
6%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
10%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business140
Midsize Enterprise54
Large Enterprise149
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise12
 

Questions from the Community

Which is preferable - IBM Public Cloud or Microsoft Azure?
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 ...
Which is better - SAP Cloud Platform or Microsoft Azure?
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 bo...
How does Microsoft Azure compare to Google Firebase?
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...
What needs improvement with Scality RING8?
Scality RING has room for improvement, particularly in having a supervisor external to Scality RING, which is key for management. I believe they need to enhance the stability and ease of management...
What is your primary use case for Scality RING8?
Scality RING is used exclusively for S3 object storage. Scality RING is an alternative to Amazon S3, allowing customers to have their own on-premises S3 infrastructure when needed. The features are...
What advice do you have for others considering Scality RING8?
I assess the simplicity of managing large volumes of data with Scality RING's interface as feasible, but it requires a minimum of skills. With the right staff, managing it is easy, as all the enabl...
 

Also Known As

Windows Azure, Azure, MS Azure
Scality RING, RING8
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

BMW, Toyota, easyJet, NBC Sports, HarperCollins, Aviva, TalkTalk Business, Avanade, and Telenor.
Comcast, TimeWarner Cable, EuroSport, Orange, Deluxe, DailtMotion, SFR, RTL, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Telstra
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Akamai and others in Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS). Updated: March 2026.
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