Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

InterSystems IRIS VS Azure Cosmos DB

Compare InterSystems IRIS VS Azure Cosmos DB and see what are their differences

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InterSystems IRIS logo InterSystems IRIS

InterSystems IRIS Data Platform sets a new level of performance for rapidly developing and deploying applications. Learn how it can help your organization.

Azure Cosmos DB logo Azure Cosmos DB

NoSQL JSON database for rapid, iterative app development.
  • InterSystems IRIS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-11-13

InterSystems IRIS is a complete cloud-first data platform that includes a multi-model transactional data management engine, an application development platform, and interoperability engine, and an open analytics platform.

It is the next generation of our proven data management software.It includes the capabilities of InterSystems Cache and Ensemble, plus a wealth of exciting new capabilities to make it easy to build and deploy cloud based, analytics-intensive enterprise applications with even greater performance and scalability.

InterSystems IRIS provides a set of APIs to operate with transactional persistent data simultaneously: key-value, relational, object, document, multidimensional.

Data can be managed by SQL, Java, node.js, .NET, C++, Python, and native server-side ObjectScript language.

InterSystems IRIS includes an Interoperability engine and modules to build AI solutions. InterSystems IRIS provides features for horizontal scalability (sharding, ECP) and provides High Availability features, Business intelligence, transaction support, and backup.

  • Azure Cosmos DB Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-16

InterSystems IRIS features and specs

  • Unified Data Platform
    InterSystems IRIS provides a single platform for data management, interoperability, and analytics, reducing the complexity and costs associated with using multiple disparate systems.
  • High Performance and Scalability
    The platform offers high transactional and analytical performance, allowing it to handle large volumes of data and numerous simultaneous users efficiently. It is designed to scale easily as the data needs grow.
  • Interoperability
    InterSystems IRIS is known for its strong focus on interoperability, enabling seamless data integration across different systems and technologies, which is crucial for healthcare and financial services.
  • Multi-Model Database
    The platform supports multiple data models including SQL, NoSQL, and object-oriented data, providing flexibility to use the most appropriate data model for various applications.
  • Reliable and Secure
    InterSystems IRIS includes built-in features for security and data protection, making it a reliable choice for industries that have stringent compliance requirements, such as healthcare and finance.

Possible disadvantages of InterSystems IRIS

  • Complexity
    The platform's comprehensive features and capabilities can lead to a steep learning curve for new users, requiring more time and resources for proper training and deployment.
  • Cost
    InterSystems IRIS can be expensive, particularly for small to medium-sized businesses, due to licensing and implementation costs associated with enterprise-grade solutions.
  • Limited Community Support
    While the platform is robust, it has a smaller user community compared to open-source databases, which can limit the availability of community-driven support and resources.
  • Vendor Lock-In
    As a proprietary solution, there might be a risk of vendor lock-in, making it challenging to switch to a different provider once deeply integrated into business operations.
  • Legacy System Integration
    While it's strong in interoperability, integration with certain legacy systems may still pose challenges, requiring bespoke solutions or workarounds.

Azure Cosmos DB features and specs

  • Global Distribution
    Azure Cosmos DB allows for the distribution of data across multiple global regions, enhancing availability and delivering low-latency access to data for users around the world.
  • Multi-Model Support
    It supports multiple data models including document, graph, key-value, and column-family APIs, making it versatile for a variety of applications and use cases.
  • Automatic Scaling
    The database automatically scales up and down to meet the demands of application traffic, helping to manage workloads efficiently without manual intervention.
  • High Throughput and Low Latency
    Cosmos DB offers high performance with single-digit millisecond read and write latencies, ensuring fast access to data for applications.
  • Comprehensive SLAs
    Azure Cosmos DB provides industry-leading SLAs covering availability, throughput, consistency, and latency, offering strong guarantees for customers.
  • Integrated Security
    It includes robust security features such as SSL/TLS encryption, role-based access control, and integration with Azure Active Directory for secure data management.

Possible disadvantages of Azure Cosmos DB

  • Cost
    Azure Cosmos DB can be expensive, especially for high-throughput workloads and global distribution scenarios. Its pricing model based on provisioned throughput (RU/s) can add up quickly.
  • Complexity
    Managing and optimizing Cosmos DB can be complex, requiring a deep understanding of its configuration settings, partitioning strategies, and indexing to achieve optimal performance.
  • Vendor Lock-In
    As a proprietary service, using Cosmos DB tightly couples your application to Azure. This can make it difficult to migrate to other database solutions or cloud providers in the future.
  • Consistency Models
    Azure Cosmos DB supports multiple consistency levels which can introduce complexity in designing applications. Developers need to understand and choose the appropriate consistency level for their specific use case.
  • Limited Native Analytics
    Cosmos DB does not have built-in advanced analytics capabilities. Integrating with other services like Azure Synapse or Databricks may be necessary for sophisticated data analytics and reporting.

InterSystems IRIS videos

Building a REST API with InterSystems IRIS

More videos:

  • Review - Intelligent Integration with InterSystems IRIS
  • Review - Adopting InterSystems IRIS

Azure Cosmos DB videos

Azure Cosmos DB: Comprehensive Overview

More videos:

  • Review - Azure Friday | Azure Cosmos DB with Scott Hanselman
  • Tutorial - Azure Cosmos DB Tutorial | Globally distributed NoSQL database

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to InterSystems IRIS and Azure Cosmos DB)
Database Management
100 100%
0% 0
Databases
15 15%
85% 85
NoSQL Databases
0 0%
100% 100
MySQL Tools
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Azure Cosmos DB seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 9 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

InterSystems IRIS mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of InterSystems IRIS yet. Tracking of InterSystems IRIS recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Azure Cosmos DB mentions (9)

  • Blazor server app, deployment options
    If you are writing the code maybe consider learning Cosmos DB it’s pretty easy to work with and there is a free tier. Also in my experience it’s much faster than a SQL database. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Infrastructure as code (IaC) for Java-based apps on Azure
    Sometimes you don’t need an entire Java-based microservice. You can build serverless APIs with the help of Azure Functions. For example, Azure functions have a bunch of built-in connectors like Azure Event Hubs to process event-driven Java code and send the data to Azure Cosmos DB in real-time. FedEx and UBS projects are great examples of real-time, event-driven Java. I also recommend you to go through 👉 Code,... - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Deploying a Mostly Serverless Website on GCP
    When debating the database solution for our application we were really seeking for a scalable serverless database that wouldn’t bill us for idle time. Options like AWS Athena, AWS Aurora Serverless, and Azure Cosmos DB immediately came to mind. We believed that GCP would have a comparable service, yet we could not find one. Even after consulting the GCP cloud service comparison documentation we were still unable... - Source: dev.to / almost 3 years ago
  • Which DB to use for API published on Azure?
    If you are looking for one to start with; you can try Cosmos: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/cosmos-db/. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Basic Setup for Azure Cosmos DB and Example Node App
    I have had an opportunity to work on a project that uses Azure Cosmos DB with the MongDB API as the backend database. I wanted to spend a little more time on my own understanding how to perform basic setup and a simple set of CRUD operations from a Node application, as well as construct an easy-to-follow procedure for other developers. - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing InterSystems IRIS and Azure Cosmos DB, you can also consider the following products

SQL Developer - Oracle SQL Developer is a free, development environment that simplifies the management of Oracle Database in both traditional and Cloud deployments.

ArangoDB - A distributed open-source database with a flexible data model for documents, graphs, and key-values.

Toad Edge - Windows GUI for MySQL. SQL Syntax Check. Freeware (Basic Features) & Payware (Extended Features).

Redis - Redis is an open source in-memory data structure project implementing a distributed, in-memory key-value database with optional durability.

DbVisualizer - DbVisualizer is the universal database tool for developers, DBAs and analysts.

MongoDB - MongoDB (from "humongous") is a scalable, high-performance NoSQL database.