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Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

AWS Lake Formation enhances data management by facilitating better collaboration within data teams and supporting schema definition and data cataloging.
It offers granular permissions with the LF-Tag system, enabling implementation of filters, Blueprints, and security measures without exposing PII data.
AWS Lake Formation seamlessly integrates with AWS ecosystem services, simplifying access pattern management and providing visibility into data and table access.
Organizations benefit from cost, time, and resource savings, along with improved efficiency in workflows and FinOps due to data control and cost tracking within AWS Cloud Service.
AWS Lake Formation allows real-time data processing, reducing latency and improving visibility into various applications, particularly in healthcare monitoring.

CONS

AWS Lake Formation could benefit from improvements in orchestration and AWS automation, including the use of CIS-compliant hardened images.
Reducing the high cost of professional services and support for AWS could be an improvement area at the managerial level.
More granular access control, such as cell-level or row-level entitlements, is a significant drawback for organizations needing precise data access management.
Enhancements in audit logs, real-time monitoring, and advanced data governance would strengthen AWS Lake Formation capabilities.
Better integration with SageMaker and improvements in Athena's query tools are potential areas for development.
 

AWS Lake Formation Pros review quotes

Vishal Dhamke - PeerSpot reviewer
Vice President Application Security North America at BNP Paribas
Sep 23, 2020
The solution has many features that are applicable to events such as audits.
reviewer1194768 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Business Intelligence, Analytics and Big Data Service Line at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Nov 2, 2020
The most important advantage in using AWS Lake Formation is its ability to connect the data lake to the other technologies in AWS. This is what I advise my clients.
reviewer1457997 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Head & Director - Data , AI & Robotics at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Dec 30, 2020
The solution is quite good at handling analytics. It's done a good job at helping us centralize them.
Learn what your peers think about AWS Lake Formation. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.
VS
Large Account Manager at Almoayyed Computers
Aug 7, 2023
We use AWS Lake Formation typically for the data warehouse.
reviewer2290962 - PeerSpot reviewer
VP- Cloud Data/ Solution Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Oct 9, 2023
It is seamlessly integrated within the AWS ecosystem, making it straightforward to manage access patterns for AWS-native services.
Burak Koban - PeerSpot reviewer
AWS Solution Architect at bcaa
Sep 4, 2024
AWS Lake Formation lets you see all your data and tables on one screen.
Ramesh Raghavan - PeerSpot reviewer
US South Lead, Accenture AWS Business Group at Accenture
Sep 10, 2024
AWS Lake Formation works hand in hand with other products.
Maxwell Seefeld - PeerSpot reviewer
President & CEO at Y12
Nov 8, 2024
I can easily move data from cold storage to regular storage.
Bartosz Turkowyd - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Platform Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Aug 21, 2025
AWS Lake Formation has several valuable features that enhance data management, and one particularly beneficial aspect is how it facilitates better collaboration within data teams.
SYED SHAAZ - PeerSpot reviewer
Co-Founder & CTO at Photios AI
Aug 22, 2025
In the shortest form, what I appreciated about AWS Lake Formation was that the schema definition and data cataloging were quite good.
 

AWS Lake Formation Cons review quotes

Vishal Dhamke - PeerSpot reviewer
Vice President Application Security North America at BNP Paribas
Sep 23, 2020
The solution could make improvements around orchestration and doing some automation stuff on AWS front automation. It would be useful if we could use automation to build images and use hardened images which are CIS compliant.
reviewer1194768 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Business Intelligence, Analytics and Big Data Service Line at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Nov 2, 2020
In our experience what could be improved are not the support, performance or monitoring, but at a managerial level, the very expensive professional services of AWS. This could be an area of improvement for them. It's too expensive to acquire their support.
reviewer1457997 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Head & Director - Data , AI & Robotics at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Dec 30, 2020
For the end-users, it's not as user-friendly as it could be.
Learn what your peers think about AWS Lake Formation. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.
VS
Large Account Manager at Almoayyed Computers
Aug 7, 2023
AWS Lake Formation's pricing could be cheaper.
reviewer2290962 - PeerSpot reviewer
VP- Cloud Data/ Solution Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Oct 9, 2023
It falls short when it comes to more granular access control, such as cell-level or row-level entitlements which is a significant drawback for organizations that require precise control over who can access specific rows of data.
Burak Koban - PeerSpot reviewer
AWS Solution Architect at bcaa
Sep 4, 2024
You need to have data experience to use the product.
Ramesh Raghavan - PeerSpot reviewer
US South Lead, Accenture AWS Business Group at Accenture
Sep 10, 2024
Lake Formation could enhance its capabilities in audit logs, real-time monitoring, and advanced data governance.
Maxwell Seefeld - PeerSpot reviewer
President & CEO at Y12
Nov 8, 2024
If I could improve AWS Lake Formation, I would add more integrations with SageMaker.
Bartosz Turkowyd - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Platform Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Aug 21, 2025
Information about the pricing, cost, and setup cost of the AWS solutions would be beneficial.
SYED SHAAZ - PeerSpot reviewer
Co-Founder & CTO at Photios AI
Aug 22, 2025
The initial onboarding process is challenging because creating a plan takes a month to a month and a half to build out.