Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft SQL Server

Composite Score

8.9 /10

CX Score

9.2 /10

135 Reviews Write a Review

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What is Microsoft SQL Server?

Apply intelligence across all your data with SQL Server 2022. Whether your data is structured or unstructured, query and analyze it using the data platform with industry-leading performance and security. Regardless of where your data is stored, query and analyze it with the data platform known for performance, security, and availability.

Company Details

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Awards & Recognition

Microsoft SQL Server won the following awards in the Transaction Data Store category

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2025 Emotional Footprint Champion

Latest Award, 2025

Contract Negotiation

Latest Award, 2025

2024 Data Quadrant Champion

2024

4 Top Rated Capabilities

6 Top Rated Features

2024

2024 Emotional Footprint Champion

2024

2023 Data Quadrant Champion

2023

3 Top Rated Capabilities

2 Top Rated Features

2023

3 Top Rated Capabilities

2 Top Rated Features

2022

Microsoft SQL Server Ratings

Real user data aggregated to summarize the product performance and customer experience.
Download the entire Product Scorecard to access more information on Microsoft SQL Server.

Product scores listed below represent current data. This may be different from data contained in reports and awards, which express data as of their publication date.

89 Likeliness to Recommend

99 Plan to Renew

85 Satisfaction of Cost Relative to Value

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Emotional Footprint Overview

Product scores listed below represent current data. This may be different from data contained in reports and awards, which express data as of their publication date.

+92 Net Emotional Footprint

The emotional sentiment held by end users of the software based on their experience with the vendor. Responses are captured on an eight-point scale.

How much do users love Microsoft SQL Server?

0% Negative

4% Neutral

96% Positive

Pros

Reliable
Enables Productivity
Performance Enhancing
Security Protects

Feature Ratings

Average 85

Analytics and Reporting

Data Backup

Database Management

Data Management

Data Protection and Security

Data Monitoring and Administration

High Availability

Data Replication

Operations Management

Hybrid Transaction and Analytical Support

Systems Performance Management

Vendor Capability Ratings

Average 83

Business Value Created

Quality of Features

Ease of Implementation

Breadth of Features

Usability and Intuitiveness

Ease of Data Integration

Availability and Quality of Training

Product Strategy and Rate of Improvement

Ease of IT Administration

Vendor Support

Ease of Customization

Also Featured in...

Data Integration

Score 8.7

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Desktop Publishing

Score 8.1

View Microsoft SQL Server in this category (opens in a new tab)

Microsoft SQL Server Reviews

Dhananjay V.

Role: Information Technology
Industry: Transportation
Involvement: End User of Application

Validated Review

Verified Reviewer

Submitted Mar 2023

Overpriced product for the majority of use cases

Likeliness to Recommend

5 /10

What differentiates Microsoft SQL Server from other similar products?

Honestly, the big thing is probably security and data recovery. And from what I've heard, great vendor support if you're a major client.

What is your favorite aspect of this product?

Nothing really inspires me about the product, but if I had to pick, it's probably how well it works in the Microsoft environment from it's own IDE to integration with Excel.

What do you dislike most about this product?

Not a lot to dislike as the end-user. However administration is annoying and it's definitely behind the times in terms of features.

What recommendations would you give to someone considering this product?

Strongly look at the actual application it's being used for and the cost. There are a half dozen very viable alternatives in the SQL database space if you just need storage. And combining solutions can provide a much better end product that doing a lot with just SQL Server (SSIS, etc...)

Pros

Reliable
Enables Productivity
Helps Innovate
Continually Improving Product

Cons

Leverages Incumbent Status
Commodity Features
Less Inspiring

Amr A.

Role: Student Academic
Industry: Education
Involvement: End User of Application

Validated Review

Verified Reviewer

Submitted Mar 2023

The Best Relational Data Solution.

Likeliness to Recommend

10 /10

What differentiates Microsoft SQL Server from other similar products?

Microsoft SQL Server is secure, robust, and has seamless integration capabilities.

What is your favorite aspect of this product?

Microsoft SQL Server is reliable and has cutting-edge analytics/reporting tools.

What do you dislike most about this product?

Microsoft SQL Server lacks a modern (GUI) that allows for more customization features.

What recommendations would you give to someone considering this product?

It would be great to follow along with the SQL server tutorials on the Microsoft Learn platform and to learn as you go.

Pros

Reliable
Performance Enhancing
Enables Productivity
Trustworthy

Eric G.

Role: Information Technology
Industry: Utilities
Involvement: End User of Application

Validated Review

Verified Reviewer

Submitted Feb 2023

Great RDBMS

Likeliness to Recommend

9 /10

What differentiates Microsoft SQL Server from other similar products?

Supports big data analytics. Easy to learn and implement. Great database for both small data and complex data.

What is your favorite aspect of this product?

Highly scalable. Good for creating relations between entities. Data import and export using sql scripts.

What do you dislike most about this product?

Not easy to use for first time users. Not easy to find high quality training.

What recommendations would you give to someone considering this product?

A great database management for data lake and complex queries.

Pros

Continually Improving Product
Reliable
Performance Enhancing
Enables Productivity

Microsoft SQL Server

What is Microsoft SQL Server?

Company Details

Need Assistance?

Awards & Recognition

2025 Emotional Footprint Champion

2024 Data Quadrant Champion

2024 Emotional Footprint Champion

2023 Data Quadrant Champion

Microsoft SQL Server Ratings

89 Likeliness to Recommend

99 Plan to Renew

85 Satisfaction of Cost Relative to Value

Emotional Footprint Overview

+92 Net Emotional Footprint

How much do users love Microsoft SQL Server?

Pros

Feature Ratings Average rating of all product features, some of which may not be shown below

Analytics and Reporting Includes historical & real-time dashboard visualizations, detailed & summary reporting and easy data extraction for data analysis.

Data Backup Includes the creation of duplicate instances to recover from an unplanned data loss. Also, support for high volumes of data processing and data compression.

Database Management Supports multiple data types, data structuring, data retrieval, database customization, and multi-user access.

Data Management Includes data sharing, data storage, records management, and data security.

Data Protection and Security Includes data encryption, data audit, and data compliance.

Data Monitoring and Administration Includes ability to continuously monitored data quality rules, as well as generate alerts to notify data stewards when they need to address an issue.

High Availability HA DB designed for near-zero downtown by seamless replication of data between environments for uninterrupted real-time access and fail-over capabilities.

Data Replication Support for a real-time copy of the database in more than one system to facilitate access to the copy of data from multiple systems without any inconsistencies.

Operations Management Includes cost control, production management, and performance management.

Hybrid Transaction and Analytical Support Includes OLTP and OLAP (Online Analytical Processing). Most OLTP systems support some level of OLAP but very few OLAP systems support OLTP.

Systems Performance Management Includes monitoring, analyzing and configuration in order to optimize performance and increase efficiency.

Vendor Capability Ratings Average rating of all vendor capabilities, some of which may not be shown below

Business Value Created Software needs to create value for employees, customers, partners, and, ultimately, shareholders. This data expresses user satisfaction - or lack thereof - with the product's business value.

Quality of Features Feature quality is just as important as quantity. Use this data to determine if this product will do what you're purchasing it to do, easily, intuitively, reliably, and effectively.

Ease of Implementation Successfully implementing new software is necessary to realize its full value and promote end user adoption. This data indicates whether or not the product is easy to implement.

Breadth of Features Users prefer feature rich software that enables them to perform diverse series of tasks. This data expresses user satisfaction with the product's breadth of features.

Usability and Intuitiveness End user learning curves cost the organization money. Pay attention to your end users' technical ability to determine how important UX is in your purchase.

Ease of Data Integration Use this data to determine whether the product will cause headaches or make data integration easy.

Availability and Quality of Training Effective and readily available training enables users to get the most out of the software you've chosen. Use this section to make sure your vendor's training programs and materials measure up.

Product Strategy and Rate of Improvement Vendors who don't stay on top of emerging needs and trends won't enable you to meet your business goals. Use this data to separate innovators from imposters.

Ease of IT Administration This data indicates whether IT personnel will be able to resolve issues and perform configurations efficiently and effectively.

Vendor Support The importance of vendor support will vary for each organization depending on internal capabilities, but there will always be issues that only the vendor can resolve.

Ease of Customization Don't get bogged down in a difficult customization; use this data to make sure you can easily achieve the functionality you need for your particular situation.

Also Featured in...

Data Integration

Desktop Publishing

Microsoft SQL Server Reviews

Dhananjay V.

Overpriced product for the majority of use cases

Likeliness to Recommend

Pros

Cons

Amr A.

The Best Relational Data Solution.

Likeliness to Recommend

Pros

Eric G.

Great RDBMS

Likeliness to Recommend

Pros

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Feature Ratings

Analytics and Reporting

Data Backup

Database Management

Data Management

Data Protection and Security

Data Monitoring and Administration

High Availability

Data Replication

Operations Management

Hybrid Transaction and Analytical Support

Systems Performance Management

Vendor Capability Ratings

Business Value Created

Quality of Features

Ease of Implementation

Breadth of Features

Usability and Intuitiveness

Ease of Data Integration

Availability and Quality of Training

Product Strategy and Rate of Improvement

Ease of IT Administration

Vendor Support

Ease of Customization