Crystal Clear Azure
August 16, 2019

Crystal Clear Azure

Alfred Brock | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Azure is being used across the entire organization at this time. It is being customized for use with individual departments. We use it at my non-profit and I also operate it at a large, regional, mid-western electric and gas utility.

Azure has allowed us to quickly and reliably connect to information across our network in a seamless fashion. We are able to share links and data very quickly. It also allows us the advantage to use PowerBI to access data from many different departments because they are all in one place.

Pros

  • Allows large amounts of data to be saved in a logical fashion
  • Provides easy access from any intranet or internet connection
  • Allows us to handle security in a logical and fluid fashion

Cons

  • I would like to see more support around video. It is okay for now but distributing the images across a wide audience doesn't allow us to utilize Azure often.
  • Permissions and training for new users can be a little daunting. Acceptance is slow when it is presented to a new department or an individual or team that lacks technical expertise. Once we teach them its fine but the 'official' instructions are alternately too complex and off the mark.
  • We have seen reduced costs associated with purchasing, configuring and maintaining individual servers.
  • We have seen a drop in cost associated with sharing data while at the same time seen a general increase of many magnitudes with sharing that same data and more.
  • A negative impact has been the necessity of finally confronting the technical capabilities of the work force. It is a relief to finally reach this point but resistance from entrenched ideas, fears and lack of knowledge continues to be considerable.
I give it a high rating for usability because, from my standpoint, it is generally intuitive, fits nicely into our work flow and is easy to use. Once a user is introduced to the system and instructed in its use they take off with it with little further assistance necessary other than normal maintenance.
I give overall support for Microsoft Azure a reasonable rating only because the system is intuitive in many ways. I would give it less if it weren't for that. The general support for the system, however, from the company or contractors that work with the system is, in my opinion, poor. It is nice that Microsoft is doing a great deal of international business but that doesn't help me if I am getting support for a technical issue from someone to whom I need to assist with proper communication in the English language.
Microsoft Azure outpowers Oracle Cloud. It is way easier to use than Google Cloud which, though proficient, continues to be overly complicated. As for IBM Cloud - Microsoft Azure, I find, is more reliable, efficient and dependable. In general Microsoft Azure is more powerful, provides more levels of access, is easier to use and is more dependable than Oracle, Google and IBM cloud products.
A scenario where it is particularly well suited is in providing access to data to locations that are spread across time zones and are geographically far from one another.

It is well suited for a situation that needs to be available 24 hours a day.

It is not appropriate, due to pricing, for small companies - which would benefit by being able to easily share their data.

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