I'm an integrator. My company consumes the solution within the product. Integration is quite straightforward. Let's say for instance, within the Azure environment, I have some application being built with Power Apps because my company consumes Power Apps very well. The application teams are the ones using the Power Apps and then the Power Apps is being integrated with Azure SQL Managed Instance. The integration is very good. There was no problem. They have never complained to me that they have any issue. My environment is actually a hybrid environment. I have on-prem servers, I have some servers within Azure and then I also have an SQL instances as well being provisioned within the Azure environment. All these database servers communicate within one another and then in terms of replication of data, it's quite good. There is no problem. We are very good. It's fantastic. The only red flag I could point out is you don't have 100% control of your data. You don't have 100% control of that particular server because it is Microsoft that has access to it. If you are working with a government organization that doesn't want their data to be resided outside the country, it will not work. You cannot use it because there's no way the data is going to be resided somewhere outside a particular country. Let's say for instance, I'm having an engagement with a Lagos state government with a particular product that needs to be deployed and then I can never propose such kind of environment for them because Lagos state will never allow their data to be resided elsewhere except within their data center. In that case, you can't use it. This is basically the major concern that I see with the product. I have given this product an overall rating of eight out of ten.
My advice for others looking into using Azure SQL Managed Instance is that if they have some SaaS applications such as Dataverse or any other SaaS applications like BPM or ServiceNow, wherein their SaaS application-based database has higher costs incurred to it, they should definitely select Azure SQL Managed Instance so that they can save on keeping the data there. Organizations often have a larger retention period; for instance, in the insurance domain, you have a retention period set to eight years for any record saved within the SaaS application. With those kinds of retention periods, you need to ensure that it is in a cheaper storage option, yet it should be a robust storage option. Security-wise, Azure SQL Managed Instance is absolutely robust, and governance-wise, the manageability of Azure SQL Managed Instance is very good. You can manage it from a console as well as from user interfaces. I am not aware of the AI capability as I have not yet explored it, so I cannot comment on that. I don't have any experience working with Azure SQL Managed Instance's AI capability regarding its accuracy and reliability of output. I would rate this review an 8 overall.
Learn what your peers think about Azure SQL Managed Instance. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2026.
Azure SQL Managed Instance is a managed database service that combines the rich SQL Server programming surface area with automated operations like patching, backup, and performance tuning, providing a seamless way to modernize applications with cloud efficiencies.Designed for enterprises looking to migrate to the cloud, Azure SQL Managed Instance offers a high level of compatibility with SQL Server, making it an attractive option for those aiming to move existing applications with minimal...
I'm an integrator. My company consumes the solution within the product. Integration is quite straightforward. Let's say for instance, within the Azure environment, I have some application being built with Power Apps because my company consumes Power Apps very well. The application teams are the ones using the Power Apps and then the Power Apps is being integrated with Azure SQL Managed Instance. The integration is very good. There was no problem. They have never complained to me that they have any issue. My environment is actually a hybrid environment. I have on-prem servers, I have some servers within Azure and then I also have an SQL instances as well being provisioned within the Azure environment. All these database servers communicate within one another and then in terms of replication of data, it's quite good. There is no problem. We are very good. It's fantastic. The only red flag I could point out is you don't have 100% control of your data. You don't have 100% control of that particular server because it is Microsoft that has access to it. If you are working with a government organization that doesn't want their data to be resided outside the country, it will not work. You cannot use it because there's no way the data is going to be resided somewhere outside a particular country. Let's say for instance, I'm having an engagement with a Lagos state government with a particular product that needs to be deployed and then I can never propose such kind of environment for them because Lagos state will never allow their data to be resided elsewhere except within their data center. In that case, you can't use it. This is basically the major concern that I see with the product. I have given this product an overall rating of eight out of ten.
My advice for others looking into using Azure SQL Managed Instance is that if they have some SaaS applications such as Dataverse or any other SaaS applications like BPM or ServiceNow, wherein their SaaS application-based database has higher costs incurred to it, they should definitely select Azure SQL Managed Instance so that they can save on keeping the data there. Organizations often have a larger retention period; for instance, in the insurance domain, you have a retention period set to eight years for any record saved within the SaaS application. With those kinds of retention periods, you need to ensure that it is in a cheaper storage option, yet it should be a robust storage option. Security-wise, Azure SQL Managed Instance is absolutely robust, and governance-wise, the manageability of Azure SQL Managed Instance is very good. You can manage it from a console as well as from user interfaces. I am not aware of the AI capability as I have not yet explored it, so I cannot comment on that. I don't have any experience working with Azure SQL Managed Instance's AI capability regarding its accuracy and reliability of output. I would rate this review an 8 overall.