Azure Updates: Reliability; Database tooling; Databricks

What do Azure database customers value most? Microsoft CVP Shireesh Thota posed that question in a recent blog post. According to Thota, customer surveys identify key themes like developer productivity, AI readiness, operational simplicity, scalability, and reliability. 

In response to customer feedback, Microsoft is continuing to expand its database offerings, Thota stated. For instance, with SQL Server 2025, it has added native vector support, retrieval-augmented generation, in-database embedding generation, and semantic search. Azure SQL Database Hyperscale supports substantial scalability and integration with Microsoft Foundry and Fabric. 

As for Database for PostgreSQL, Microsoft has issued a public preview of HorizonDB for expanded integrated vector search and AI pipelines. This encompasses AI-assisted Oracle-to-PostgreSQL migration tooling and Premium SSD v2. Cosmos DB is also part of the picture. To simplify operations at scale, Microsoft is adding developer-focused tools like per-partition automatic failover, change feed capabilities, Global Secondary Indexes, and agent-focused developer tools. 

“Together, these investments help developers build responsive, AI-powered applications faster while maintaining performance, resilience, and operational efficiency. Across the portfolio, our goal is consistent: help customers build applications faster, operate them more efficiently, and prepare for a future where AI is deeply integrated into every application experience,” Thota wrote.

Microsoft team members Jason Pereira and Anavi Nahar discussed the ways that Azure Databricks offers advantages to customers. Microsoft recently commissioned a Forrester Total Economic Impact study of Azure Databricks that found that a composite organization realized a 331 percent ROI with $58.1 million in net present value.