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IBM Integrated Analytics System vs Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics comparison

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Executive Summary

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 Integrated Analytics Sy...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Data Warehouse (24th)
Microsoft Azure Synapse Ana...
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
98
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Data Warehouse (6th)
 

Featured Reviews

it_user258975 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Information Management Specialist at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
They deliver a canned, scalable solution, but I would like to see the TSA scripts available publicly.
With a solid DB2 foundation, it performs incredibly and I recently implemented the new BLU Acceleration, and was dumbfounded that hour-long queries took minutes, in the correct scenario, of course. From a consultant point of view, I can step in and immediately know the system. I do not…
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

"With a solid DB2 foundation, it performs incredibly and I recently implemented the new BLU Acceleration, and was dumbfounded that hour-long queries took minutes, in the correct scenario, of course."
"The initial setup is very simple."
"The useability, the user interface, is very user-friendly."
"We haven't used the solution for too long, however, it's offered us everything we need in terms of features and capabilities."
"The best thing about it is that it has integration at multiple places. It can talk to more than 90 types of data sources, which is one good thing about it."
"I like its performance. It is well-structured and offers a lot of practical options. Because of the visual design of the product, it is very easy to find icons and other visual elements. It took me more than two weeks to understand how it works. I had an intensive training session to understand it, which was enough. It was not hard to understand how it works."
"The integrated workspace in Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics where everything comes together, such as Power BI and Data Factory, is very good. Additionally, the ability to do dedicated SQL pooling is a benefit."
"The product provides a seamless and adaptable approach to data processing and analytics."
"Its seamless integration with Azure services is most valuable. If somebody wants to use all Azure services, it is the best solution."
 

Cons

"The HA - it's a good solution, but I feel IBM should provide the necessary scripts so you can destroy the TSA domain and rebuild it easily."
"Synapse Analytics' performance slows down if you don't get your distribution right because it gets queued and goes into a single node."
"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."
"Right now, we are really struggling with the performance. it's not as good as we had hoped."
"In the future, Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics has the potential to enhance its capabilities by expanding its connectors, specifically with regard to Oracle solutions, such as operating systems. This would involve a comprehensive approach to adding more connectors for both data input and consumption purposes. By doing so, Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics would be better equipped to meet the diverse needs of its users and achieve greater efficiency in its performance. The provision of more connectors is definitely a crucial area that needs improvement."
"The product needs a tool that allows for work from a laptop instead of a browser."
"Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics can improve by increasing the size of the files that we can load on the platform. We have some files that are too large to be loaded and it would be a benefit to us if the limit was increased. Additionally, the way we use the tool for generating reports can be made better. They should add some drag-and-drop rules without the need of programming these rules using some programming language. It would be helpful if we did not need someone that was technically advanced to be able to do it with, such as someone with no IT background. Having a reporting tool without code would be great."
"I'd like to see part of the service de-coupled."
"Synapse Analytics needs to develop an automation framework because now you have to build a cache yourself."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"You have to be very careful with one specific service inside Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics which is called the Sequel Data Warehouse Dedicated. It is very reliable and performs well, but it's expensive. You need to define the tier well because you can choose between several tiers and you have to define which suits your needs and not overperform the tier because it's quite expensive."
"The price of Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics can vary. Other solutions are typically fixed prices and a fixed cost regardless of usage, but this solution is based on usage or consumption."
"Price varies by use-case. You pay for the database itself in addition to any consumed data within Serverless plus other fees if you use the Data Factory that is inside."
"My company pays for the license and I am not sure about the price."
"Microsoft's pricing is relatively high, and it varies according to the extent of our usage. The pricing is directly tied to our consumption. This decision is ultimately a business choice."
"The licensing fees for this solution are on a pay-per-use basis, and not very expensive."
"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."
"The solution is subscription-based. You can also pay to use the product as you go."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
12%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise60
 

Questions from the Community

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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 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.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics?
I am hoping that in the future Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics may have AI support.
 

Also Known As

Smart Analytics System, IBM Smart Analytics System
Azure Synapse Analytics, Microsoft Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Microsoft Azure SQL DW, Azure SQL Data Warehouse, MS Azure Synapse Analytics
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

WIdO AOK, EEKA Fashion, SSGC, GS Retail
Toshiba, Carnival, LG Electronics, Jet.com, Adobe, 
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