Windows Azure is one of the pillars in the cloud-hosting market, and ranks second only to Amazon’s AWS cloud-hosting services. The company even announced in Q3 of 2016 that full government compliance was finally in order. However, for the average user not looking for enterprise solutions, it’s often still considered damaged goods.

Despite this, the pitfalls of Windows Azure hosting aren’t always obvious. For instance, many issues are only discovered later on, although the damage may be irreparable by then. Since this could set you up for failure, it’s important to know the drawbacks you’re likely to face.

Take a look below at five of the biggest issues facing Windows Azure hosting subscribers today.

1. More Bugs

With Azure, you will find that bugs become more plentiful with time. Eventually there will be a devastating issue that requires major technical support. If you’re not paying for support with your plan, you will be in for a big headache. The workarounds that Windows Azure Hosting clients receive are sub-par to say the least. Some users are even instructed to do hours of PowerShell scripting to repair the problem.

2. PowerShell Pains

The scripting interface simply isn’t very good. In fact, a simple online search of PowerShell problems will make it clear that many users are frustrated with it. Similar to how many people get into web development, but despise learning how to code in PHP, the steep learning curve and limited functionality of PowerShell are a big barrier. This can increase the time you spend managing your product. This shouldn’t be something you have to worry about.

3. Support Costs

You have to pay to upgrade and get developer support. This is brutal, as 24/7 expert support should be mandatory in any premium cloud-hosting package. Paying $29 or more a month just to have the help is not logical. However, horrific problems have plagued users in the past, which has made support a necessary cost. You don’t want this reliance.

4. Recurring Outages

Somehow, Azure has managed to face a number of outages in recent years. For example, the whole Azure DNS was wiped out multiple times this year. This resulted in a couple hours of downtime. One customer even had a full nine days of downtime, which is beyond unacceptable by any standard. On top of all that, Azure was recognized as having worse downtime problems than any other major provider. You want reliability if you pay for a big name. Unfortunately, you’re sometimes just buying the logo.

5. High Cost

In all reality, you’re going to end up paying for the developer upgrade support package to make sure everything runs safe. This exposes you to a significant increase in service costs. You’re better off getting from any hosting provider that offers support as an included feature. Why pay more when you don’t have to?

As you can see, there are quite a few problems that Azure hosting users face. From the limited scripting help to many bugs, and much more, most are left wishing for a simpler solution.

With the services we offer, you don’t have to worry, since scripting help is always there for you. Sometimes a smaller hosting provider is a good thing — kind of like how banking with a credit union can work in your favor. If you’re looking for the A-B-C approach, nothing could be simpler than our hosting plans.