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IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud vs Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud
Ranking in Cloud Data Warehouse
16th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Azure Synapse Ana...
Ranking in Cloud Data Warehouse
7th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
98
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Cloud Data Warehouse category, the mindshare of IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud is 2.1%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is 5.6%, down from 6.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Data Warehouse Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics5.6%
IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud2.1%
Other92.3%
Cloud Data Warehouse
 

Featured Reviews

FM
Database Engineer at Meezan Bank
Enhancing analytics with seamless data dumping and reliable support
Our primary use case is data storage and analytics The organization has decided to purchase a full stack solution from IBM due to positive responses, which helped them upgrade from the previous version. The data dumping into the raw zone and the feature of BigQuery is quite attractive. There…
AnandTiwari - PeerSpot reviewer
CTO at New Turn Technologies
Has consistently supported integration across diverse environments and streamlined deployment processes
Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics could improve their pricing structure. They currently have two separate pricing tiers: full log and partial log. I suggest they implement a single price and reduce charges on logs. They could implement a cap with some free tier or price tier based on the GBs of log collected. This would help customers use Azure more effectively. Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is an excellent product because it includes both SIEM and orchestration capabilities with playbooks, but the log management part is very costly. Regarding future improvements, I would appreciate more application connectors for integration, particularly for on-premise based solutions. Many customers still maintain on-premise infrastructure, so having more integration possibilities for these environments would be beneficial.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It will be MPP, so performance should improve."
"One of the most amazing features of dashDB is how it uses compression to get results in lighting speed."
"Since my company is an IBM partner, it has enabled us to offer cloud data warehouse solutions on a 100% IBM stack."
"The performance is okay as long as the volume of queries is not too high."
"The way that it scales will help a lot of customers that are stuck with Netezza boxes that can't grow any larger.​"
"It is stable when there is support from IBM."
"DashDB is a good product to work with and the extra cost you spend on performance, technical support and tools to work with is worth it."
"Ease of migration from Netezza DB; IBM ported over all Netezza's functionality and made the warehouse DB/dashDB the best of breed of the two."
"Synapse Analytics' best feature is its ability to process large files."
"The core strength of Microsoft technologies is ease of use and administration, regardless of the type of product."
"This is a stable solution with many functionalities."
"The most valuable feature is the level of processing power, and being able to complete tasks in parallel."
"We are getting a good ROI from Synapse Analytics."
"The features we've found most valuable for data warehouses is extracting data, SSIS packages, and the DBs."
"The best feature of Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is the notebook functionality; it provides a very good interface, and we can easily do our experiments, POCs, and check things before migration or deployment to higher environments such as from development to SIT and then production."
"I have been working with Microsoft, and they have been very helpful."
 

Cons

"There are some limitations in adding data files to table spaces, and improvements are needed for regional support."
"I would like to see improvements in backup and authentication. It needs the ability to increase the number of retained backups to more than 2 days."
"Containers get corrupted very easily. Restoring them using GPFS can result in a lot of issues."
"The support channels need to improve."
"I would rate the level of dashDB support 3.5/5. While they are very knowledgeable in many areas, you can still struggle to get the correct resolution."
"Right now, we are implementing on ESX VMware 6.0. Support for this platform is poor. Also, one of the backup/recovery options is broken and IBM is not addressing the issue."
"With dashDB, scalability and uptime need more improvement."
"Ultimately, the product itself has challenges and we are not currently satisfied with the support, either."
"More integration is needed to improve the product for the future."
"Right now, we are really struggling with the performance. It's not as good as we had hoped."
"There may be some challenges in terms of connecting with Virtual Networks (VNETs) to Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics."
"It would be ideal if the solution could be better used intuitively by the staff without having a great deal of training."
"The scalability of Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is a concern, depending on the size of the data warehouse to be built."
"The linked services can be improved. We can create dynamic linked services to access a lot of databases but only those of the same type. For example, I can use the same linked services to access 11 SQL databases. However, if I have 11 SQL databases and five Oracle databases, I need two dynamic linked services. I cannot do it with only one linked service. The UI also needs to be improved. When I have used Azure Synapse for programming with PySpark, Scala, or .NET, for example, the UI has been unstable. If I open two notebooks for programming, one notebook will queue the session of the other."
"I would like to see more ready-to-use products from Synapse. Right now, everything seems a bit futuristic without much modern use."
"They should automate some of the features. There are some things, such as the creation of external tables, that you have to do manually. They should be automated."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If your going to go with warehouse DB/dashDB, use the cloud or Sailfish version."
"When we are not using this solution we can simply shut it down saving us costs, which is a nice advantage."
"The price of the package not expensive and depends on how much it is used."
"The costs are billed such that we pay for what we use, which is a good thing."
"It requires a less expensive version because currently, not every customer is able to buy it. If it could have a smaller setup that doesn't require so many resources, it would be helpful, and we would be able to use it in more cases. We are a small country, and most of our customers are quite small businesses."
"There is a cost calculator available online that allows you to input your entire scenario, and it will get back to you with information on what the costs are going to be."
"Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics can be costly, however, a cost-effective approach would be to purchase it in advance through reservation for either one or three years. This will significantly reduce the overall expenses incurred."
"The cost of the solution depends on the type of license we choose, such as pay-as-you-go, one-year reserve, or three-year reserve."
"The pricing is okay. You can pay as you go."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Construction Company
9%
Educational Organization
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise59
 

Questions from the Community

What advice do you have for others considering IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud?
Organizations of all sizes, especially those who are in need of powerful and elastic cloud data warehouse solutions that can help administrators maximize the efficiency of their data-based operatio...
What needs improvement with IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud?
There are some limitations in adding data files to table spaces, and improvements are needed for regional support.
What is your primary use case for IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud?
Our primary use case is data storage and analytics.
How does Amazon Redshift compare with Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics?
Amazon Redshift is very fast, has a very good response time, and is very user-friendly. The initial setup is very straightforward. This solution can merge and integrate well with many different dat...
What do you like most about Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics?
The product is easy to use, and anybody can easily migrate to advanced DB.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics?
I think the licensing cost for Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is very high, but I have a local system to support that, so I don't consider that in the near future.
 

Also Known As

IBM dashDB
Azure Synapse Analytics, Microsoft Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Microsoft Azure SQL DW, Azure SQL Data Warehouse, MS Azure Synapse Analytics
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Copenhagen Business School, BPM Northwest, GameStop
Toshiba, Carnival, LG Electronics, Jet.com, Adobe, 
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud vs. Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics and other solutions. Updated: May 2026.
894,738 professionals have used our research since 2012.