Apple iCloud vs. Azure Backup

iCloud is also great to keep access to photos synced across devices. Ex: I can snap a photo at a job site and have access to that photo on my desktop when I return to my office. I can then drop the photo into a document that is stored in iCloud and have instant access to that document on my iPad at a client's office later in the day. Seamless transitions make life much easier.

Incentivized

By using Azure Backup, you can back up your NAS device you use locally as a file server, virtual machines you use in [a] production environment, critical databases, and everything you can think of. I do not know if there are scenarios that are not suitable, it meets all my needs.

Incentivized

• Syncing files, appointments, Notes and contacts. If I'm away from home, and set an appointment using my phone, that appointment automatically updates real time to my home laptop and vice-versa.
• It stores files (e.g photos) nicely
• Once it's set up, it's fairly easy to use.

Incentivized

• Azure Backup is fast! Coupled with the fact that Microsoft created Azure and Windows - these two operate phenomenally together!
• Administering the backups inside of Azure is a breeze. The ability to mount, restore entire backups, or recover files, has been made very easy. You do not have to download any media to recover something, you do this all in the cloud and it gets mounted in Microsoft's systems. Making this process less than a quarter of the time you would have spent with your 'other' backup solutions.

Incentivized

• Customization - iCloud is great at the stuff it does well. But it lacks features that some competitors (in Google Drive or Dropbox) do really well. API support for third-party apps is really great for some other people.
• Remote use - Managing or accessing information from iCloud while not on one of your logged-in apple devices can sometimes be an issue. From a work computer for example. It doable, but the experience is much less user-friendly.
• Ability to edit documents on the cloud similar to google docs or some other competitors

Incentivized

• backup schedule calendar would be cool
• Backup vaults should ask if you want to send notifications when you first set it up, there have been a couple of times when I noticed a month later that, backup job failures were not configured to send email notifications.

Incentivized

It's so seamless that I can't imagine another product doing a better job synchronizing all of my devices. I simply do not think about it at all. Everything happens behind the scenes and I'm confident that Apple keeps my data safe and secure. I'm a happy customer as far as this is concerned. I have not had a bad experience with this service.

Incentivized

While it may be great to use with other Apple products, I find it's an absolutist-style workflow to be debilitating and to lead to many problems. When you sign into the cloud, it completely takes over your device in many ways that you don't notice at first until there is a problem.

Incentivized

Azure backup is easy to implement, accessible by using the web portal GUI, and has the ability to restore at the file level or the complete VM. We have experienced zero issues with the backup process or performing file-level restorations. We have not restored an entire VM to date.

Incentivized

Occasionally, large files that haven't yet been synced require a few minutes to pull down but I've rarely noticed delays. It does a good job of keeping data cached on my local machines while updating them with changes from other machines transparently.

Incentivized

I never used Apple iCloud support, but have never needed to do so. It has become more of a personal issue with computers in my organization, where the business solution has been with Dropbox. I do have to admit when my Mac went down, having things on Apple iCloud did help to get things restored. However, since I had more than one photo file for my Business and Personal data, I was not able to recover my Business Photos. Apple iCloud should have been able to do this.

Incentivized

One of the differentials of the solution is the high level of guarantee and support of the Azure Backup solution. Microsoft is a reference in a technology company with a highly trained support team and helps us with any questions or technical problems with the tool. Service is fast and efficient with trained engineers.

Incentivized

As I have mentioned, the seamless integration across Apple's ecosystem is what keeps us using this product. However, the robust value of the Microsoft 365 Business Premium suite and functionality of their AI companion - Copilot - makes it superior at an organization level. The same could be said for Google AI (Gemini) as well as their cloud services like Drive.

Incentivized

The cost, not only in the short term, but in our long-term calculations.

Even in need of improvements, the pre-sale and post-sale support is very good.

The ease, like many Microsoft products about scheduling backups, the friendly interface, the fact that there is no need for an expensive resource dedicated to this backup and some other details, made us choose Azure Backup.

Incentivized

• The ability to access saved content across devices no matter where I am located reduces missed opportunities to share and collaborate.
• The version history has allowed my team to re-visit previous renditions when errors occur - saving valuable time determining the root cause.
• The cloud reduces the number of physical documents one must remember when traveling for work.

Incentivized

• It allowed us to have our VMs protected very quickly and with simple implementation.
• It saved us from taking backups from Azure workloads from the on-prem environment, or even deploying a Backup environment on the cloud.
• It has a low/'controlled' cost as you "pay-as-you-go."

Incentivized