Microsoft Azure Reviews

My experience is in development and architecture of technology. This includes experience with cloud, cloud maintenance, and multi-cloud. I am certified in Azure Fundamentals. My company is a partner reseller of Microsoft Azure. In our organization, we have approximately 1000 people using this solution and we have plans to increase our usage in the future.

The product brings a lot of value to our business and customers.

The microservices and analytics of Azure are good areas that could be improved.

Microsoft Azure has technology compatible with OpenShift from backtrack, but I would like it if they could evaluate another vendor of technology of microservices like Rancher to integrate with.

I have been using Microsoft Azure for two years.

Azure stability is good.

Technical support is good. However, Microsoft provides support tools that you can refer to that usually resolve the issues before needing to contact support. 

The initial setup of Azure is complex. It took almost 6 months to deploy the solution.

We pay a monthly licensing cost.

I would rate Microsoft Azure a 10 out of 10.

We've been using Microsoft Azure for federal government installations, and it has been really useful. Azure works well with the servers and equipment that we use. We've been deploying a hybrid environment, so this has been a great tool for our clients. For example, we've been upgrading systems for a secure health institution in Mexico City, so we deployed an Azure-based management system for the entire institution. However, things weren't so easy for some of our other clients. In one case, we used Azure to manage all the mortgages, connectivity, and databases for a huge mortgage provider. We managed all that information in Microsoft Azure. 

One of the best features is the last package security of upgrades to Microsoft Azure. Also, we like Azure's compatibility with other operating systems. 

We use Microsoft Server 2019 and 2016. And I didn't like the 2019 client, so we had to downgrade back to 2016. The main issue there was its monitoring system. Our client needed an alternative, and if they were using more Windows products, they also needed to make that downgrade.

I started working with Microsoft Azure around 10 years ago.

I would rate Microsoft Azure 10 out of 10. We like how accessible it is to the end-user, not just the engineers or developers.

I am a Microsoft-certified Azure Admin. I manage Azure infrastructure as well as AWS infrastructure.

The management part of it is good. Its UI is simple to use. The cost management and billing part is also good. These are the top things that I like in Azure.

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.

It is good to start with, but as the complexity increases, the usability needs to improve. We are managing only 40 virtual machines, so we are able to make use of the portal.

The VPN part can also be improved. If you want to set up multi-factor authentication for VPN clients, it is not so easy. The documentation is not so simple for multi-factor authentication.

I would like to see Azure Data Factory simplified. It is very complex. If they can simplify the data integration part inside Azure, it would be great. They should design simpler integration. They can also have a new service and keep Data Factory as it is. 

I have been using Microsoft Azure for close to five years.

A few years ago, it was unstable, but I've not seen any issues off late. A lot of new features are being added to Microsoft Azure, but I have not seen any stability issues.

The old services are stable. We recently saw a security issue published online. So, the new services might be less stable, but I wouldn't say it is not stable.

I manage that part. Getting support is very painful because tickets get assigned to different countries. People are in different time zones, which is clearly complicated. Each service is managed by different teams situated in different countries, and synchronizing with them is pretty complicated.

It was straightforward. 

It is good for a person who is trying it for the first time. There are some solutions, such as CSP, for which they provide direct support. There are some ways to minimize the complexity. You should go through a party that can provide this kind of knowledge before you decide on it.

I would rate Microsoft Azure a seven out of 10.

The solution comes with multiple features, including managing resources and creating a virtual machine. We have the possibility to create a virtual machine depending on the type of storage we want and the hardware configuration we want. We also use it to manage our code base because it comes with all the ICT features to allow continuous integration and so on. We are customers of Microsoft Azure. 

The solution offers many data security features including securing network access, and the portal is user friendly with a dashboard that makes it easy to find what you're looking for. I'd say the app services feature is great, and they provide free training on how to use that. They provide highly detailed documentation. The dashboard comes with a monitoring section so you can set up alerts for your budget, for example, and it will provide you with some metrics on how it's performing. In general, it's very user friendly. 

I believe the cost management and billing section features could be improved because sometimes it may seem somewhat complicated to find certain settings to set up a threshold for resource consumption and track expenses in real-time.

I've been using this solution for more than a year. 

Microsoft is well known for its scalability and stability, and this solution provides both. We have more than 50 users in the company. As a software developer, I'm happy with where it's at right now, but if the company is planning to increase use, that would be a good idea. As a developer, whenever I need to create a virtual machine or make use of Azure resources, I can easily do that.

Technical support is very good and responsive.

The initial setup was straightforward because it was linked to our Microsoft account and it's just a question of activating your subscription. They have some training videos and their help and support is very responsive. I've contacted them multiple times on some problems and they were very helpful. I've also used their chat-bot feature and if that doesn't help, you get passed to human support.

I think licensing is pay as you go because you have a monthly budget assigned to your account and depending on which services are running, it's consumed from that budget.

I would definitely recommend Azure because it's an enterprise trade cloud platform and can provide valuable insights of your data and of metrics of data sources in real time. It's totally secure, comes with support and numerous code development languages enabling scaling as you go. 

I rate this solution an eight out of 10. 

We use it for cloud adoption for medium and large companies. We are using its latest version.

It is really scalable and easy to use.

They should include a cybersecurity feature to improve the protection of the systems.

They could do better in terms of the pricing model. Its price keeps on changing. Their technical support can also be better. 

I have been working with this solution for a couple of years.

It is stable, and it works. It is not the best public cloud in terms of technology, but it does its job, and it does it well.

It is really scalable.

Their technical support is fair. It is something they can improve.

Its initial setup is very easy.

It provides a great ROI.

Its pricing model can be improved. It is variable, and if you do a simulation now, within a few months, the price can change, and your simulation would no longer be valid.

It is great for a new workload and if you are starting with new systems.

I would rate Microsoft Azure a seven out of ten.

We are primarily using the solution for DevOps purposes.

The installation of the product is very straightforward. It's quite easy in general.

The product is very stable. The performance has always been reliable.

We've found the solution to be extremely flexible.

I cannot recall anything really specific that needs to be addressed within the solution. There aren't any features that are missing as far as I can tell.

It would be helpful if it offered more integration with other platforms.

I've been using the solution for a couple of years at this point. It's been a while.

The solution is very stable. It doesn't crash or freeze. There are no bugs or glitches. It is reliable and the performance is good.

The scalability overall has been fine. We have about 500 users in the solution currently.

If a company needs to expand it, or scale it, it can do so. It shouldn't be that hard to accomplish.

We do plan to continue to use the solution into the future.

I rarely have any issues with the solution itself and therefore don't have too much experience with technical support. We don't have any complaints, to be honest.

We did not previously use a different solution before implementing Azure. This is our first tool in this area.

The initial setup is not complex at all. It's very easy and very straightforward. The process shouldn't give a company any trouble.

I can't recall the exact length of time it took to deploy the product.

The pricing is likely reasonable. If you compare it to other cloud providers, there isn't too much of a difference. It likely is competitive in the market.

We are customers and end-users.

I'm not sure which version of the solution we are using at this time.

I'd recommend the solution to other organizations. Our experience so far has been mostly positive.

Overall, I would rate the product at an eight out of ten.

Azure Cloud App Services can be classified as a MEAP, Mobile Enterprise Application Platform. It is also a Platform As A Service solution. These Cloud PaaS services are the backbone and the back-end structure that you can use to build omnichannel applications (mobile + web SPA + Kiosk). Azure App Service eases the creation of flexible Express Node.js or .NET WCF microservices. It has an API based on OData and integrated security with OpenID Connect with federated or corporate login. If you need a quick mobile solution, particularly an enterprise mobile solution, this is a wonderful choice.

We use this solution as a template to build mobile, back-end-of-corporate-omnichannel apps. 

When mobile is a necessity for an already-running corporate system, you do not want to lose time setting up a whole new environment and platform. You need something that can help you easily put in place all the scaffolding you need, and concentrate on the business solution that you are providing. Azure does this.

The time-to-market. Once you master the technology, you can create running, mobile back-ends in a few weeks. Additionally, it easily enables integration with legacy environments (like connecting to existing servers).

Scalability is definitely in need of improvement. Azure is a very good solution but it still lacks the performance of other cloud platforms.

We had issues with the Mobile Service ORM and the Azure SQL Database (cloud version of SQL Server). At times, the queries that are created automatically from the ORM mapping are not very well optimized for this database and that can lead to performance and stability issues. On occasion, the connection manager from the ORM does not handle the database connections very well.

Azure does not handle scalability as well as its competitors. Sometimes a 10 percent increase in a server with 20 percent of CPU usage pushes the server up to 100 percent load, and you start having performance issues.

Microsoft allows you a certain number of tickets, depending on the cloud plan that you are paying for. If you have an available ticket, technical support is great, but if you happen to have none, it will be more difficult to find good support. 

Once you gain a certain level of expertise on the platform, you will be able to handle most of the problems. Also, now that the platform is very open (Node.js + Express) it is easier to access good documentation and an excellent community.

We tried many solutions. We tried Kinvey and Kony but prices were absolutely prohibitive for our customers. We also tried BAASBOX which is now a (mostly) defunct open-source MBaaS solution.

We move forward with a .NET customized solution that we created ourselves but maintenance of a general platform requires a lot of work and we couldn’t afford to charge our customers for the required amount of work.

We tried AWS Mobile Services once but our customers preferred Microsoft Azure (their existing back-end was mainly implemented in .NET, and they preferred to stay in the Microsoft world).

We also built a solution with SAP Mobile gateway which is the safest choice for companies that have huge legacy systems already running on SAP.

The initial setup is very straightforward. You can very easily have an application up-and-running almost out-of-the-box. The learning curve is steeper once you need to start building more services or when you need to take care of performance issues.

The cost-benefit equation for Azure is very good, particularly for small applications. However, Microsoft should do much, much more to improve how costs are communicated and how to forecast them. The Azure Pricing Calculator is not useful.

We checked the big players in MBaaS, particularly Kony and Kinvey. Kony was extraordinary (circa 2013) but the price was prohibitive. Kinvey was also very good and prices were slightly better but not affordable at all for our customers. We started using WAMS, Windows Azure Mobile Services, the previous version of Azure App Service, which was one of the first MBaaS solutions. Microsoft improved a lot the platform with App Service.

I would rate Azure at nine out of 10. The previous version of Microsoft's mobile cloud platform, Mobile Service, had some security and scalability problems but the new version, App Service, has many improvements in these areas. It also uses open-source tools and allows developers to work in isolated environments, in their own workstations (without all the hassles and costs of putting the cloud into the developer’s cycle).

If the mobile application is not that big (up to 15 services) and time-to-market is very important, Azure App Service is a great solution. If you need heavy integration with an existing .NET legacy system, this solution will also work very nicely and will reduce costs. If you need to implement a much bigger system, my advice is that you should think about gathering a specialized team that has a very good grasp of the platform.