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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Microsoft Azure

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Azure is a cloud computing platform and infrastructure for building, deploying, and managing applications and services through a global network of Microsoft-managed datacenters.

    $29

    per month

    Vertex

    Score8.8 out of 10
    N/AVertex is global indirect tax compliance software for enterprise tax and finance teams. Indirect tax covers transaction-based obligations, such as sales and use tax, value-added tax (VAT), and goods and services tax (GST). Vertex supports tax determination, electronic invoicing (e-invoicing), reporting, filing, and audit-readiness workflows. Vertex’s official website Key Capabilities Tax determination: Calculates applicable indirect taxes…N/A
    Pricing
    Microsoft AzureVertex
    Editions & Modules
    Developer
    $29
    per month
    Standard
    $100
    per month
    Professional Direct
    $1000
    per month
    Basic
    Free
    per month
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft AzureVertex
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsThe free tier lets users have access to a variety of services free for 12 months with limited usage after making an Azure account.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft AzureVertex
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Vertex Inc.
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    92%
    Would buy again
    34 Answers
    96%
    Would buy again
    69 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    31 Answers
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    54 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    95%
    Happy with the feature set
    35 Answers
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    69 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    89%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    24 Answers
    88%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    38 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    34 Answers
    86%
    Implementation went as expected
    50 Answers
    Features
    Microsoft AzureVertex
    Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
    Comparison of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) features of Microsoft Azure and Vertex
    Feature
    Microsoft Azure
    8.4
    27 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Vertex
    -
    Ratings
    Service-level Agreement (SLA) uptime8.126 Ratings00 Ratings
    Dynamic scaling8.725 Ratings00 Ratings
    Elastic load balancing8.624 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pre-configured templates8.225 Ratings00 Ratings
    Monitoring tools8.326 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pre-defined machine images8.424 Ratings00 Ratings
    Operating system support8.926 Ratings00 Ratings
    Security controls8.626 Ratings00 Ratings
    Automation8.224 Ratings00 Ratings
    Type of tax
    Comparison of Type of tax features of Microsoft Azure and Vertex
    Feature
    Microsoft Azure
    -
    Ratings
    Vertex
    8.2
    142 Ratings
    7% above category average
    Sales and Use Taxes00 Ratings9.3139 Ratings
    Cross-border Taxes00 Ratings7.945 Ratings
    VAT / GST Taxes00 Ratings8.568 Ratings
    Energy and Fuel Taxes00 Ratings7.311 Ratings
    Tax Reporting & Compliance
    Comparison of Tax Reporting & Compliance features of Microsoft Azure and Vertex
    Feature
    Microsoft Azure
    -
    Ratings
    Vertex
    8.6
    136 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Geolocation for Tax Assessment00 Ratings8.6103 Ratings
    3rd-Party Software Integrations00 Ratings8.795 Ratings
    Tax Data Reporting00 Ratings8.7122 Ratings
    Compliance Administration Management00 Ratings8.786 Ratings
    Tax Exemption Processing00 Ratings8.7100 Ratings
    Tax Document Management00 Ratings8.783 Ratings
    Complex Tax Scenario Management00 Ratings8.096 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft AzureVertex
    Small Businesses
    IBM Cloud Object Storage
    Score9 out of 10
    Intuit Lacerte
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    IBM Cloud Bare Metal Servers
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Lappa
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    SAP on IBM Cloud
    Score9 out of 10
    ADP SmartCompliance
    Score8.2 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft AzureVertex
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.7
    (96 ratings)
    9.0
    (167 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (17 ratings)
    8.0
    (20 ratings)
    Usability
    8.3
    (36 ratings)
    8.6
    (63 ratings)
    Availability
    6.8
    (2 ratings)
    8.5
    (10 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.5
    (10 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (27 ratings)
    7.5
    (25 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.7
    (3 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.6
    (5 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    9.9
    (17 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (80 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.9
    (7 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.7
    (57 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.9
    (20 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (13 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft AzureVertex
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Microsoft
    Azure is particularly well suited for enterprise environments with existing Microsoft investments, those that require robust compliance features, and organizations that need hybrid cloud capabilities that bridge on-premises and cloud infrastructure. In my opinion, Azure is less appropriate for cost-sensitive startups or small businesses without dedicated cloud expertise and scenarios requiring edge computing use cases with limited connectivity. Azure offers comprehensive solutions for most business needs but can feel like there is a higher learning curve than other cloud-based providers, depending on the product and use case.
    Read full review
    Vertex Inc.
    I have used Vertex since the very beginning of my career. I have always found the information clear, and easy to use. The documentation to use the product was thorough. We file returns in all 45 states that have sales / use taxes and having the ability to import data, key additional data in and print out a signature ready return has made life easy. I've never wanted to look at any other return preparation software as none of them come close to the product that Vertex created.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Microsoft
    • Microsoft Azure is highly scalable and flexible. You can quickly scale up or down additional resources and computing power.
    • You have no longer upfront investments for hardware. You only pay for the use of your computing power, storage space, or services.
    • The uptime that can be achieved and guaranteed is very important for our company. This includes the rapid maintenance for security updates that are mostly carried out by Microsoft.
    • The wide range of capabilities of services that are possible in Microsoft Azure. You can practically put or create anything in Microsoft Azure.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Vertex Inc.
    • Vertex does a great job of building in-house industry expertise (leasing in our case) so they truly understand the tax technical and compliance obstacles we face day to day.
    • Vertex actively solicits for and responds to customer feedback on development and product roadmap suggestions. The Leasing users group is an example where Vertex takes an active role in communicating with and taking feedback from our industry.
    • Vertex tax updates are very timely and thorough, which makes the compliance process less stressful for our team.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Microsoft
    • The cost of resources is difficult to determine, technical documentation is frequently out of date, and documentation and mapping capabilities are lacking.
    • The documentation needs to be improved, and some advanced configuration options require research and experimentation.
    • Microsoft's licensing scheme is too complex for the average user, and Azure SQL syntax is too different from traditional SQL.
    Read full review
    Vertex Inc.
    • Reporting: Vertex VAT Compliance is not fully ready to support all EU country's requirements.
    • Data storage.
    • Online reporting in VVC: many countries require to report VAT Declaration in an electronic way. This function is still missing for some of the countries from VVC.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Microsoft
    Moving to Azure was and still is an organizational strategy and not simply changing vendors. Our product roadmap revolved around Azure as we are in the business of humanitarian relief and Azure and Microsoft play an important part in quickly and efficiently serving all of the world. Migration and investment in Azure should be considered as an overall strategy of an organization and communicated companywide.
    Read full review
    Vertex Inc.
    We are satisfied with the overall performance of Vertex. The software has provided my company with many efficiencies. We have shorted our audits and found that many audits are happy that we are using Vertex to calculate our taxes. We no longer need to worry about updating our rates each month since Vertex sends us a file to upload
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Microsoft
    As Microsoft Azure is [doing a] really good with PaaS. The need of a market is to have [a] combo of PaaS and IaaS. While AWS is making [an] exceptionally well blend of both of them, Azure needs to work more on DevOps and Automation stuff. Apart from that, I would recommend Azure as a great platform for cloud services as scale.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Vertex Inc.
    Vertex itself is very good software. Its tax calculation is very accurate, and there should be no doubt whether Vertex is calculating the tax. Customer support is also good, and the response is quick. The updates are also good and easy to understand, making this an excellent application.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Microsoft
    It has proven to be unreliable in our production environment and services become unavailable without proper notification to system administrators
    Incentivized
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    Vertex Inc.
    I have always felt VERTEX support was available when needed, and I have felt comfortable calling in some heavy hitters when needed
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Vertex Inc.
    Our Vertex performance is good, although we are now experiencing Error 502 when adding additional data points to our transaction tester single tests. At Exchange, I was told to reach out to support....that most likely the On Demand system needed some additional CPU resource added. I have a currently open ticket, that has not yet been fixed on this matter
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Microsoft
    We were running Windows Server and Active Directory, so [Microsoft] Azure was a seamless transition. We ran into a few, if any support issues, however, the availability of Microsoft Azure's support team was more than willing and able to guide us through the process. They even proposed solutions to issues we had not even thought of!
    Incentivized
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    Vertex Inc.
    Level 1 support has always been kind and understanding but times they do not always provided the technical help sometimes their response or protocol is not related. I feel that I have to beg for a developer to look over my issue. On the other hand, there have been times a Level 1 support person has taken the time to research my issue and provide valid feedback & solution
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Vertex Inc.
    By training I'm referring to our engagement with Vertex Consulting's professional services group. Each person on the engagement had prior leasing industry tax experience and most if not all used O Series before joining Vertex. Consultants with industry specific tax experience provide so much more than just "training". They are able to engage in deep tax technical discussions with actual experience while in private practice. This coupled with having visibility to how numerous other leasing peers approach similar tax issues is a huge plus on top of the standard training.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Vertex Inc.
    Vertex has offered multiple webinars for the products we have purchased that are informative and helpful. I've also attended a few of the Vertex annual conferences where I was able to strength my knowledge of Vertex. I also found that their online library and videos can be helpful in resolving issues and answering questions.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    Microsoft
    As I have mentioned before the issue with my Oracle Mismatch Version issues that have put a delay on moving one of my platforms will justify my 7 rating.
    Read full review
    Vertex Inc.
    The implementation is challenging, make no mistake but will provide much value over time. Make sure you have full support of IT and your major stakeholders in your company. I found that while many people claimed to understand tax was important, they had no idea how deep tax in entrenched throughout the lease life cycle.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Microsoft
    As I continue to evaluate the "big three" cloud providers for our clients, I make the following distinctions, though this gap continues to close. AWS is more granular, and inherently powerful in the configuration options compared to [Microsoft] Azure. It is a "developer" platform for cloud. However, Azure PowerShell is helping close this gap. Google Cloud is the leading containerization platform, largely thanks to it building kubernetes from the ground up. Azure containerization is getting better at having the same storage/deployment options.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Vertex Inc.
    In comparison specifically with Avalara, Vertex is better in every way. It is much more customizable and allows us to change the way our tax software is set up for our business needs. Avalara is much more constricted, and is using the SST system which can allow for simplified returns, but in our case was causing more problems. Avalara is also much more expensive than Vertex, for less capabilities. Vertex' customer support is much stronger than Avalara's, as they are focused on obtaining and retaining customers whereas Avalara was continually trying to find ways to get money from us
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Vertex Inc.
    There needs to be a time-consuming setup both in the Enterprise Resource Platform and in Vertex and the related tools as well but once this is all established, Vertex is very proficient at calculating Sales and Use Tax in the USA and in Canada with GST/HST, as well as several of the provinces where we are located. As we added plants in different jurisdictions via greenfield expansion and aquisition, Vertex was able to integrate those as long as the tax department is fully informed of the system.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Microsoft
    • For about 2 years we didn't have to do anything with our production VMs, the system ran without a hitch, which meant our engineers could focus on features rather than infrastructure.
    • DNS management was very easy in Azure, which made it easy to upgrade our cluster with zero downtime.
    • Azure Web UI was easy to work with and navigate, which meant our senior engineers and DevOps team could work with Azure without formal training.
    Incentivized
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    Vertex Inc.
    • We use Vertex on a monthly basis to see if tax has been over-accrued or over-charged on invoices. We do save tax every month using the tool. Not at liberty to share too much more - the technology does assist the human efforts.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Vertex Screenshots

    Screenshot of Vertex dashboard