Item: Microsoft SQL Server
Rating: 9
Author: Quentin Goin

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I consult for system and data integration projects. Many of my customers use SQL as their data management and storage system. During integration projects, I will also use SQL to store information that I need later in the integration process or for reporting purposes or auditing.

Pros and Cons

Storing data in a de facto standard relational database.
Industry proven connectors to the data.
Options for hosted (Azure) to on-premise.
Options for scalability from SQL Express to SQL clustering.

Developers have their change list, however, it does what I need.

Return on Investment

It just works well and provides predictable results - worth the money.
Many resources available online due to popular product - training costs are minimal.

Alternatives Considered

MySQL

Language/syntax slightly different than MS SQL.
Seems reasonable for small data sets.

Support Rating

Rank 5 since I have never used it personally. If you have an Enterprise license I've heard support is reasonable, but no personal experience.

Key Insights

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

Likelihood to Recommend

Large to small amounts of data that is logical and fairly predictable type of data. It provides a way to see the data and access it in a logical way. SQL provides the system for database architects to create their own database as efficiently or not so efficiently as they wish. The platform is flexible.
SQL is not as well suited for fuzzy data storage or data lakes.

Microsoft SQL from a happy database user

Overall Satisfaction with Microsoft SQL Server