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Microsoft Analytics Platform System vs Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse 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

Microsoft Analytics Platfor...
Ranking in Data Warehouse
19th
Average Rating
6.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Parallel Data War...
Ranking in Data Warehouse
11th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Data Warehouse category, the mindshare of Microsoft Analytics Platform System is 2.3%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse is 2.9%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Warehouse Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse2.9%
Microsoft Analytics Platform System2.3%
Other94.8%
Data Warehouse
 

Featured Reviews

MahmoudMohamed1 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Data Engineer at Tatweer Educational Technologies Company - TETCO
Offers smooth data integration between systems, but requires better real-time analytics capabilities
We leverage its capabilities for many applications. We can integrate with our databases, like Oracle, MySQL, or any other, using Microsoft Integration Services. This lets us continue using private databases without paying additional licensing fees. Additionally, the license includes Analytics services and Power BI, which work on-premises, unlike most other technologies that require cloud solutions.
HassanFatemi - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at Smart Data-Driven Solutions
Has handled large volumes of data effectively but still needs cost flexibility
There could be improvements on the cost side of Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse because it is still considered to be quite expensive by a lot of users, and many companies are not interested in solutions with parallel data warehousing due to this expense. Addressing the cost would be the number one area for improvement. Additionally, I have not worked recently with it, so I don't know if this feature already exists, but if it doesn't, having an elastic feature that adjusts the service's power dynamically based on the workload would be beneficial instead of fixing the power at a specific level.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Helps our customers to discover trends, which provides useful information based on their business."
"It is closely integrated with other products in the MS portfolio."
"I like that it's integrated with other Azure products."
"This solution will connect to any database, you can combine databases, and you can create a cube or tabular model."
"This solution will connect to any database, you can combine databases, and you can create a cube or tabular model."
"This is a well-integrated solution and that integration empowers results."
"We leverage its capabilities for many applications. We can integrate with our databases, like Oracle, MySQL, or any other, using Microsoft Integration Services."
"The result is a highly flexible, affordable, and scalable platform that makes large-scale Hub and Spoke EDW architectures a practical reality."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is performance."
"It is a very stable database."
"It is not a pricey product compared to other data warehouse solutions."
"We can store the data in a data lake for a very low cost."
"I'm very pro Microsoft because I think Microsoft products are highly intuitive and are widely used."
"This solution helps the higher levels of the organization because they have better visibility of the whole company, which helps with decision making in terms of what should be improved or implemented."
"Its scalability is impressive as it scales up and down really well, we go from a couple of users to tons of users all the time, and it scales and handles things really well."
"The data transmissions between the data models is the most valuable feature."
 

Cons

"Hybrid environments are complex to manage."
"The flexibility of this solution needs to be improved because you cannot make changes at every one of the different steps."
"We need better real-time analytics capabilities. It's a bit challenging for us."
"Hybrid environments are complex to manage."
"Machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities need to be more friendly for beginning users."
"In general, I am not really very satisfied with the tutorials that are out there."
"​Hybrid environments are complex to manage."
"Microsoft Analytics Platform System could have better support."
"In the future I would love to see a slightly better automation engine, just for the data integration layer, to make it slightly easier for end-users or junior developers to get involved in incremental updating."
"It could offer more development across the solution."
"More tools to help designers should be included."
"The performance could be improved because the query is slow if we don't optimize it. And even if we optimize it, sometimes it still runs very slow."
"​Concurrent queries are limited to 32, making it more of a data storage mechanism instead of an active DWH solution."
"The product scalability needs improvement."
"It could be made more user-friendly for business users which would increase the user base."
"It needs more compatibility with common BI tools."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Users have to pay extra for premium-level technical support."
"I rate Microsoft Analytics Platform System a seven out of ten for pricing."
"We are currently paying $200,000 a year for all the different parts of the suite during an ingest model Microsoft now charges us $700,000 a year."
"The initial price is lower than Oracle, but extensive use of SQL may lead to a higher total cost of ownership."
"Microsoft has an agreement with the government in our country, so our customers get their licensing costs from the Ministry. Whenever we work with any government, company, or government institute, which is mainly what we are doing, that license comes directly from the Ministry of Technology and Information."
"I think the program is well-priced compared to the other offerings that are out in the market."
"Technical support is an additional fee and is expensive."
"They offer an annual subscription. The pricing depends on the size of the environments."
"All the features that we use do not require any additional subscription or yearly fees."
"The solution is cost-effective."
"The solution's pricing is fairly decent for organizations with huge data sizes."
"The tool could be expensive if we need to manage a lot of data."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Construction Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise22
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What needs improvement with Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse?
The pricing could be better; I think it actually just went up.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse?
The basic use case for us is virtual machines. In real estate, we use it for our operations. They handle large data sets well, and the performance is good during those times.
 

Also Known As

Microsoft APS, MS Analytics Platform System
Microsoft PDW, SQL Server Data Warehouse, Microsoft SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse, MS Parallel Data Warehouse
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Transport for London, E-Plus Mobilfunk GmbH & Co. KG, Prometeia, Tangerine, SSM Health Care, Service Corporation International
Auckland Transport, Erste Bank Group, Urban Software Institute, NJVC, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Tata Steel Europe
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Analytics Platform System vs. Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
886,719 professionals have used our research since 2012.