Our primary use case of Azure is for customer facing systems, it's hosted over mobile apps and is used for scaling up and down. We partner with Microsoft and I'm the head of IT infrastructure.
Head of IT Infrastructure at a retailer with 5,001-10,000 employees
Platform as a service is a strong feature; very easy to develop and hold space
Pros and Cons
- "The solution does a lot of coding and customization, and can go live quickly."
- "Difficult to understand how it works and it's an expensive solution."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The platform as a service is a strong feature. The solution also does quite a lot of coding and customization, you can launch it quickly and go live quickly. It's easy to develop, easy to hold space and to maintain.
What needs improvement?
If you're not aware of how things work with Azure, it's not easy to understand. It's not clear for customers and sometimes even for Microsoft people themselves. The high cost of the solution is linked to that issue.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for three years.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support could definitely be improved.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward, we use a third party for that.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the solution eight out of 10.
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: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner

ICT Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Easy to manage, good performance, and secure
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is easy to manage within the cloud application, has good performance, and is secure."
- "The solution could improve by being more user-friendly."
What is our primary use case?
Microsoft Azure is an directory and identity management solution in the cloud, similar to an access gateway.
How has it helped my organization?
It has enable me to secure our office 365 tenant
What is most valuable?
Multifactor authentication, cloud App security. The features are easy to manage within the cloud application, has good performance, and is secure.
What needs improvement?
The solution could improve by being more user-friendly.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for approximately four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
very good
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support has been responsive but sometimes the agent does not have the knowledge required for the proper immediate assistance.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
we are previously using Hosted Exchange. We migrated in other to take advantage of rich collaborative features of o365
How was the initial setup?
Initial setup was straightforward. Migration managed with out issue
What about the implementation team?
In -house
What was our ROI?
95%
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We are on an annual subscription. However, there are other options available.
What other advice do I have?
The smooth operation of the solution depends on the ability of the administrator. How the infrastructure is deployed overall and how it is optimized.
I would recommend this solution to others.
I rate Microsoft Azure an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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Microsoft Azure
December 2024

Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Azure. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
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Senior Director at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Reasonable pricing with intuitive UI but reaching support is difficult
Pros and Cons
- "We have found the user interface to be intuitive. Microsoft is a master at UI."
- "You don't get support from Microsoft very easily as compared to other solutions."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution for cost reasons, for example, when a client's hardware refresh is coming and they don't want to incur the cost on the hardware. We also use it for capacity as, when they buy hardware, those are constrained by capacity.
What is most valuable?
The analytics services are the most valuable aspect of the solution.
The product has many useful features on offer.
We have found the user interface to be intuitive. Microsoft is a master at UI.
The stability is okay.
The solution has the potential to scale.
We have found the pricing to be reasonable.
What needs improvement?
You don't get support from Microsoft very easily as compared to other solutions. For example, AWS. If I reach out to AWS, their PDM team is very quick to respond. The Microsoft Azure team does not.
The downtime could be a bit better. AWS has less downtime.
The solution needs to scale as well as AWS, which scales much better.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for four to five years at this point. It's been a while.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is okay. There are no bugs or glitches. It's reliable. However, AWS seems to be a bit better.
In terms of downtime, if you look at the reporting side, if you look at the Gartner report, it shows that AWS experienced significantly fewer outages as compared to Azure.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In my experience, I've seen AWS as a little bit more robust in terms of scalability and its features as compared to Azure. That said, Azure is improving every day. Still, AWS seems to be ahead in terms of scalability.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support is not very responsive. They are quite slow.
While the team may be capable, the processes set up around are really bad. If you have to reach out to someone to get technical support, it takes hours and hours of effort to get to them.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is neither easy nor difficult. It's somewhere between straightforward and complex. Usually, with our clients, we don't get straightforward projects. However, we can't say they are the most complex out there either.
What about the implementation team?
We tend to do setups for our clients.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is fair. It's not overly expensive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Lately, I have been researching technical comparisons between Azure and AWS for SAP HANA 2.0 migration from on-premises to the cloud.
What other advice do I have?
We are Azure partners.
I'm mainly providing services to my customers, and therefore am not necessarily an end-user.
For the most part, I would recommend Azure. However, we cannot just recommend Azure blindly. Azure suits mostly the customers that are using the Microsoft suite of products. It brings your own licenses into the play so that you don't end up with another cloud. If you're using Microsoft products, then Azure is a straight fit for you. You should not evaluate any other cloud. However, if you're not using the Microsoft suite of products, if you're using MS Skills, running Solaris, and all of those things, then you have to evaluate which cloud is better.
I'd rate the solution at a seven 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: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Highly stable, scalable, and good technical support
Pros and Cons
- "The technical support has been good."
What is our primary use case?
In my country, many organizations want to migrate their operations to the cloud. This is why we are using Microsoft Azure.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for approximately one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Microsoft Azure is scalable in my experience.
Approximately 1,000 use this solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support has been good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We also have customers using AWS.
How was the initial setup?
The installation is easy.
What about the implementation team?
We did the implementation of the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing of the solution could be reduced. We are not able to create a free account in my country.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend this solution to others.
I rate Microsoft Azure a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT Architect at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees
A stable and scalable solution
Pros and Cons
- "The initial setup is simple."
- "The diagnostics should have more logs."
What is our primary use case?
The information is confidential, so I cannot discuss what we use Microsoft Azure for.
What needs improvement?
The diagnostics should have more logs. We must pay a surcharge for our dependence on the Azure monitor. Each platform comes with its own logs.
For how long have I used the solution?
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is good. There is compliance with the SLAs and we have not encountered any issues in this domain.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is fine and this option exists with many of our products.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have not had occasion to make use of technical support.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is simple. It's not a big deal.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There are added costs to the company or for scaling for most premium products.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I did not really evaluate other solutions before going with Microsoft Azure.
What other advice do I have?
We work off an app service environment. We are end-users of Microsoft, although my specific role is in IT architecture.
I rate Microsoft Azure as an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Chief Technology Officer at SYSDE
Flexible, integrates well, and beneficial templates
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is very flexible, it is not limited to Microsoft solutions. It integrates well with other solutions, such as Oracle. There are a lot of templates we are able to use allowing us to reduce the time for configuration."
- "The solution could improve by simplifying network management."
What is our primary use case?
We use Microsoft Azure as a cloud-based platform.
How has it helped my organization?
The solution has made operations for our organizations better by offering flexibility and integration with multiple other products.
What is most valuable?
The solution is very flexible, it is not limited to Microsoft solutions. It integrates well with other solutions, such as Oracle. There are a lot of templates we are able to use allowing us to reduce the time for configuration.
What needs improvement?
The solution could improve by simplifying network management.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution within the past 12 months.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is very easy to scale.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of the solution can be expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Microsoft Azure a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Remote Product Manager
highly scalable, easy installation, and stable
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of the solution are for management, such as dashboards."
- "The solution could improve by providing better tutorials and documentation."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution as our cloud service provider for product and project management.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of the solution are for management, such as dashboards.
What needs improvement?
The solution could improve by providing better tutorials and documentation. There was a point when I was trying to understand how the board works and there was not any documentation that could articulate it properly. We had a whole team who had to go online to check other sources in order to understand.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft Azure in my organization for seven months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Microsoft Azure is stable 99 percent of the time.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is easy to scale. We needed more servers in the past months because of our application growth. It was a very easy process, you use your credit card online, authorize funds, and you have more servers.
We have approximately 2,000 people using this solution in my organization.
How are customer service and technical support?
We have not needed to use technical support because we have not had any issues.
How was the initial setup?
The installation of this solution was straightforward.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution.
I rate Microsoft Azure a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Cloud Architect at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Highly scalable, excellent technical support, and reliable
Pros and Cons
- "The technical support has been excellent."
- "The solution could improve by providing a better user interface and more organized workflows."
What is our primary use case?
We are using this solution as a cloud computing platform.
What needs improvement?
The solution could improve by providing a better user interface and more organized workflows.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft Azure for approximately four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Microsoft Azure is highly scalable. It can be scaled to our needs easily.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support has been excellent.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I was previously using AWS and we switched to Microsoft Azure because of the new project's use case.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Microsoft Azure a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

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Updated: December 2024
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