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Hardcore Database For Hardcore Analytics
December 06, 2019

Hardcore Database For Hardcore Analytics

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Microsoft SQL Server

We are a Business Intelligence shop utilizing the entire Microsoft Data Stack. We use SQL Server versions 2012, 2014, 2017. We are also currently evaluating 2019. Our entire organization also uses SQL Server. In our department, it is used to ETL data in (via SSIS), store it into a Kimball Data Warehouse, do reporting off of it via SSRS, and then provide self serve analytics to our business users via SSAS. The best thing is that SSIS, SSRS, and SSAS are all included with SQL Server!
  • Great integration tools via SSIS.
  • Great reporting tools via SSRS.
  • Great analytics tools via SSAS.
  • Latest versions (2019) really push the envelope forward on automatic query optimization.
  • Need to be careful on licensing and features. While they have done a great job in 2019 to make features available in standard edition, a lot of use cases may require the more expensive enterprise edition.
  • SSIS and SSAS doesn't play well with source control.
  • There is no "Data Virtualization" (Not talking about PolyBase) You should be able to spin up a clone of a database with minimal effort and storage space. No reason to have to pay a secondary company for such a vital feature!
  • Adaptive query processing makes queries run faster without developer work!
  • SSIS/SSRS/SSAS included means no need to purchase a separate product!
  • Lack of data virtualization/cloning technology needs we need to find this elsewhere.
Compared to free versions, SQL Server just blows away the free/open-source software. Things just run faster, and better, and at less overhead. This is truer and truer with the later versions. Microsoft just invests so much into research and development into their product. And with their work in Azure, they have put even more money in. It wins against Oracle for the licensing cost alone.
Support is a mixed bag. It works so well you really don't need support except for some edge cases. However, you also are going to be hiring experts in databases, specifically with SQL Server experience, in order to setup and maintain your product. Luckily, SQLServer has the largest user group and most responsive out of all technologies. You just need to put in the effort.

Do you think Microsoft SQL Server delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Microsoft SQL Server's feature set?

Yes

Did Microsoft SQL Server live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Microsoft SQL Server go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Microsoft SQL Server again?

Yes

It doesn't matter if you are doing OLTP or OLAP. SQL Server is just great. And when you compare the cost of this vs other paid DB products, like oracle, the cost is drastically cheaper! Unfortunately, it still is paid so it is hard to start using off the bat for newer companies. They will typically go to Postgres and then migrate over to SQL Server in the future. Microsoft is working hard to lower this barrier to entry. But it looks like it will take some time.