How Many Features Are Missing from Azure SQL Managed Instance?
Category:
azure-sql
, sql-server
🔥 UPDATE (November 2025): Since this post was written,
most Intelligent Query Processing features are now available.
- According to Microsoft documentation, most Intelligent Query Processing features are now available in Azure SQL Managed Instance, including Cardinality Estimation Feedback, Memory Grant Feedback (percentile), and Parameter Sensitivity Plan Optimization. Some features require specific database compatibility levels.
- Storage increases: Business Critical service tier now supports up to 16 TB of storage (increased from 4 TB), and the new Next-gen General Purpose service tier supports up to 32 TB. See resource limits documentation for details.
- Next-gen General Purpose (GPV2) improvements: The new Next-gen General Purpose service tier eliminates the need to configure abnormally large file sizes to get IOPS and throughput. This limitation only applied to the original General Purpose (GPV1) tier, where file sizes determined IOPS and throughput allocation.
Spoiler: a large amount of features from SQL Server 2022 are missing from Azure SQL Managed Instance. Some major features are missing that were introduced in SQL Server 2019– and here we are just a few weeks away from 2024.
But Microsoft’s top-line marketing claims about Azure SQL Managed Instance remain that ‘it’s always up to date with the latest SQL features and functionality.’
Let’s dig into some of the documented highlights on missing features, so you can decide for yourself what to think of that statement.
