What is our primary use case?
We use it for our internal operations, including order history and other things related to e-commerce.
We do not use the built-in vector database capabilities since they are driven by another team in our organization. We just access through the API.
How has it helped my organization?
We find Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB easy to use. We are provided APIs for each and every write or edit access, even for read operations. We don't directly query the database. API-based access makes it easy.
Previously, we used to have maintenance or server issues. We don't have those issues anymore.
What is most valuable?
The best feature of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is API access, which makes it very easy to interact with the database without needing to write queries. It's also fast. As it's Microsoft-provisioned, the cloud is very accessible and reliable as well.
What needs improvement?
There is room for improvement in Microsoft's maintenance aspect. For example, we had a major incident at the end of December where the entire South Central region was down for our application, causing many problems due to a lack of access to the database. It led to missing data in some systems. They can implement a better backup system or alert system on Microsoft's end. We do receive notices for regular maintenance or updates, but sudden issues create significant problems.
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB
April 2025
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For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB for more than one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In the past year, I have only been using Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB for a year, and previously we encountered Microsoft issues such as maintenance or server problems, but these days we are not observing that as much.
For stability and impressions of latency and availability, I would rate it an eight or nine; we have not seen significant issues recently.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate scalability as pretty good. Because it's in the cloud, scaling is easy.
We are a very large organization. It is hard to know how many teams use Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB or still rely on the older systems. I am in India, and our team uses Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB, and I believe teams in the U.S. use it as well.
How are customer service and support?
I would rate the technical support a nine out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before using Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB, we had a different database system in place. The main factor for switching was cost-related. It was a leadership decision, and as a fresher, I wasn't involved in these discussions.
How was the initial setup?
We were not part of the deployment. We were involved in migration activities, but I'm not very sure about the deployment experience. We aren't seeing any major issues now.
Maintenance of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is ongoing. There is a Cosmos DB team in our organization conducting maintenance, though not very frequently.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I'm not aware of the exact costs. We received one report a long time ago regarding savings after we started using Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB, but I don't remember the details. It seems to have helped significantly. We were using a different database system previously, and one of the reasons for acquiring Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB was cost.
What other advice do I have?
I definitely recommend Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB, although I'm still learning. It's been just two years, but I've taken courses on Microsoft Azure. I recognize the advantages in scalability, availability, and cost factors, with maintenance issues being minimal as well.
Overall, I would rate Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.