Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics vs SAP Business Warehouse comparison

Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics vs. SAP Business Warehouse

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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 Azure Synapse Ana...

Ranking in Cloud Data Warehouse

6th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SAP Business Warehouse

Ranking in Cloud Data Warehouse

15th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Cloud Data Warehouse category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is 6.1%, down from 6.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Business Warehouse is 2.6%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Data Warehouse Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics	6.1%
SAP Business Warehouse	2.6%
Other	91.3%

Cloud Data Warehouse

Featured Reviews

AnandTiwari

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.

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VishnuReddy2

Consulting Enterprise Architect at R2V2.ai

Have encountered complexity with programming language while working on large-scale data integration and have experienced improved governance and reporting

The only complexity I find with the product is the programming language; people find it harder, but once you know the language, it's not that difficult. Regarding the future of SAP Business Warehouse, I would to see added features that simplify the product very well now. They are coming up with a terminology called SAP BDC where they are consolidating their tools, SAP Data Sphere for integration and SAP BW for the ETL and warehousing parts, and SAP Analytics Cloud. They are packaging these three features and calling it Business Data Cloud; they are fully coming on the cloud. We have to wait and watch; they have been speaking about BW/4HANA for quite some time now, but the customers or clients I work with are not finding great interest and it was seen as a candidate for evaluation. I have seen people looking at the latest technologies who are already on cloud who started building from scratch on cloud, such as Snowflake or Databricks, which can process very huge amounts of data and also address unstructured data, where SAP lags behind in cases where there is a need to bring in unstructured data. I have worked with SAP Data Intelligence, which earlier used to be called SAP Data Hub. The unstructured data is not greatly handled in SAP at this point in time.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics offers significant visibility, which helps us understand our usage more clearly."

"For the moment Synapse Analytics is the best overall solution for us primarily because of its ease of implementation and flexibility."

"We also like governance. It looks at what the requirements are for the company to identify the best way to ensure compliance is met when you move to the cloud."

"Data can be stored any way you want in the data warehouse."

"What I actually appreciate in Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is that it is easy and intuitive, providing a straightforward configuration experience for my purposes."

"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."

"Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics will scale automatically behind the scenes, which is one of its main powerful features."

"They are very reliable and cost-effective."

More Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics pros

"We are currently in a basic stage of analytics and the first goal we have is to make sure the numbers are correct. BW has some features that help you to build factors and ETL in such a way that it's easy to get to correct responses. That's the number one condition that you have to have in an analytic solution."

"The most valuable feature of SAP Business Warehouse is transformation, where I extract data from different sources, particularly the raw data. Then I do some transformations and store that in a format that allows me to do reporting easily."

"Technical support is very good, and we were very satisfied with their level of support when we needed it."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is the advanced structuring of data capabilities, as you can get different structures of data to suit your needs."

"What I like most about SAP Business Warehouse is that it's a seamless integration platform."

"The most valuable feature is the new version of Business Explorer Analyzer, which is a very good version because there are a lot of analytical features of Excel also."

"The most valuable aspect of the solution is the integration with SAP ERP."

"Now, because of the HANA integration, the hard disk and RAM are together, and because of that, the output is very quick and very fast actually."

More SAP Business Warehouse pros

Cons

"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."

"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."

"I would like to see them provide the ingestion of images."

"It is difficult to configure, especially if you have multiple domains."

"We'd like the solution to have more analytics capability."

"Real-time integration is hard to do in Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics."

"Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics could improve in usability. I have found the same issue with all Microsoft solutions."

"Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics can improve by adding more flexibility to the reports. Having more visible structures based on the area, region and country would be beneficial."

More Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics cons

"The advanced structuring can be complicated and the interface is not very intuitive."

"The visualization should be improved, as well as the dashboards and advanced analytics."

"There are a lot of things that could be improved especially in terms of data cleansing, data management, data lineage, etc. The solution needs to offer more flexibility in terms of formulas and the query designer."

"People are getting frustrated as they have to spend lots of time - 10 minutes to 15 minutes - generating the report."

"We are very unhappy with technical support. First of all, they send their sales agents or pre-sales agents and most of them who don't know the solution as a properly trained tech would. We have an on-site SAP representative who is supposed to help us with our high priority and production issues, and they're not satisfactory to say the least."

"We are running an older version; it is doing what we need it to do but there is some limitation due to its version."

"I'm not sure if our issue is related to BW or the Analysis Office. However, we're having performance issues in terms of time. It takes a long time to generate the report."

"The big minuses are its not being user friendly."

More SAP Business Warehouse cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are on a monthly payment plan for the use of Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics."

"My company pays for the license and I am not sure about the price."

"When we are not using this solution we can simply shut it down saving us costs, which is a nice advantage."

"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 pricing is quite reasonable in comparison to other products."

"Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is a moderately priced solution."

"It just depends on how big your instance is. It could be anywhere from 1,000 to 50,000 per year depending on how big your instance is. You pay based on how big you make your database. Essentially, they charge you per hour of usage."

"The licensing fees for this solution are on a pay-per-use basis, and not very expensive."

More Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics pricing and cost advice

"The license for SAP Business Warehouse is paid yearly, and there's no extra cost in addition to the standard licensing fees."

"SAP Business Warehouse licensing is a bit expensive compared to other products in the market."

"Overall, the pricing is not fixed and is expensive."

"The licensing cost for SAP Business Warehouse depends on your revenue. Its licensing structure is a little bit complicated. The more your revenue is, the higher the price, but SAP does have different pricing structures for various companies. For small businesses, licensing isn't based on revenue, but for big companies, it's revenue-based. There's some agreement regarding pricing for huge companies, so it's different, and SAP Business Warehouse pricing isn't fixed. On a scale of one to ten, I'm rating the licensing cost for SAP Business Warehouse as five because it's very high. As your revenue grows, your licensing cost also increases, so you have to factor that in when calculating your cost."

"It's quite pricey. SAP changed its pricing policy, so they give you one engine and then you have to buy everything next to it, like MSS, the BPC licenses, and everything else."

"I would not recommend it to small-scale companies. The price is too much."

"The solution is quite expensive."

"It's moderately expensive, but definitely has its branding and price value for it."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Outsourcing Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

12%

Construction Company

10%

Outsourcing Company

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	28
Midsize Enterprise	18
Large Enterprise	60

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	15

Questions from the Community

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.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP Business Warehouse?

The pricing for SAP Business Warehouse is on the expensive side. I am not sure about the current costing model as such. In my experience on cloud, I did not use BW HANA Cloud. I used the cloud prod...

What needs improvement with SAP Business Warehouse?

What is your primary use case for SAP Business Warehouse?

I am using SAP Business Warehouse in my organization for data warehousing as well as an ETL tool. Integration with SAP Business Warehouse's ETL tools is not straightforward. Integration with SAP ER...

Snowflake vs Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics

Comparisons

Compared 20% of the time

Amazon Redshift vs Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics

Compared 8% of the time

Azure Data Factory vs Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics

Compared 6% of the time

SAP BW4HANA vs Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics

Compared 6% of the time

BigQuery vs Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics

Compared 4% of the time

More Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics Competitors

Snowflake vs SAP Business Warehouse

Compared 17% of the time

BigQuery vs SAP Business Warehouse

Compared 7% of the time

SAP BW4HANA vs SAP Business Warehouse

Compared 5% of the time

SAP Business Data Cloud vs SAP Business Warehouse

Compared 5% of the time

Databricks vs SAP Business Warehouse

Compared 5% of the time

More SAP Business Warehouse Competitors

Product Reports

Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics

Download Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics product report

Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics report

SAP Business Warehouse

Download SAP Business Warehouse product report

Also Known As

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

No data available

Overview

Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics integrates data warehousing and big data analytics seamlessly. It provides scalability and user-friendly features for efficient, real-time reporting and data management.

Azure Synapse Analytics is designed for seamless data integration, allowing users to scale their operations effectively while providing extensive analytics capabilities. It supports both traditional data warehousing and big data solutions with real-time reporting through an interactive interface that integrates well with Power BI. The platform's serverless flexibility optimizes cost while ensuring robust security, leveraging users' familiarity with SQL technologies. Scalability allows processing of large datasets efficiently, empowering companies to connect disparate data sources and support industry-specific needs. Despite its strengths, Synapse users often seek improved governance, schema management, and technical support. Enhanced integration with Microsoft and third-party tools, along with better data loading capabilities, are also desired.

What are the key features of Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics?

SQL Pooling: Provides a dedicated SQL pool for scalable data processing.
Massively Parallel Processing: Architecture that enhances efficiency for big data workloads.
Pipelines: Streamlines data orchestration and workflow automation.
Real-Time Reporting: Delivers quick insights by processing data in real time.
Power BI Integration: Seamlessly connects with Power BI for advanced data visualization.
Serverless Flexibility: Optimizes cost management by allowing on-demand resources.

What benefits and ROI should be considered in reviews of Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics?

Scalability: Efficiently handles expanding data loads.
Cost Management: Serverless architecture provides cost-efficient resource usage.
Security Features: Ensures data protection and compliance.
Data Integration: Connects various data sources for unified analytics.
SQL Familiarity: Leverages common SQL skills for ease of use.

Azure Synapse Analytics is extensively implemented across sectors like healthcare, finance, marketing, and government. Organizations use it to build data pipelines, perform analytics modeling, and facilitate reporting. It supports data transformation, migration, and orchestration, enhancing business intelligence and decision-making capabilities by efficiently handling big data and connecting disparate data sources.

Microsoft

SAP Business Warehouse integrates real-time data access via HANA, with Microsoft Excel and SAP ERP for enhanced data transformation and reporting. Known for its speed and hybrid features, it meets diverse data governance needs.

SAP Business Warehouse is designed to streamline data access and transformation with its integration capabilities. Its speed and efficiency are complemented by advanced reporting features and a robust authorization model. Users benefit from drag-and-drop reporting and alert systems that enhance operational efficiency. Despite its strengths, improvements are necessary in user friendliness, data integration, and reporting speed. Users require better trend analysis tools, increased visualization capabilities, and a more flexible configuration to optimize use. Real-time data access remains an area for development.

What features define SAP Business Warehouse?

HANA Integration: Enables real-time data access
Excel and ERP Integration: Seamless interaction with popular tools
Advanced Reporting: Delivers high-quality reporting capabilities
Hybrid Functionality: Offers versatile use cases
Drag-and-Drop: Simplifies reporting and analysis tasks
Authorization Model: Ensures secure data handling

What benefits and ROI can users expect?

Operational Efficiency: Enhanced by alert and monitoring tools
Data Governance: Robust models meet diverse needs
Centralized Data: Comprehensive data storage and access
Decision-Making Support: BI tools inform strategic planning

SAP Business Warehouse plays a crucial role in industries like finance and supply chain, leveraging data warehousing, ETL processes, and powerful BI applications to enhance decision-making with tools like Business Objects, Tableau, and Power BI. It serves as a central data repository, facilitating extensive reporting and analysis capabilities.

SAP

Sample Customers

Toshiba, Carnival, LG Electronics, Jet.com, Adobe,

Medtronic, Cirque du Soleil, Antarc, B&G Manufacturing, EarlySense, eBay, Ferrero, James Austin Company, Lenovo, Sagem, RAK Ceramics, Vodafone

Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics vs. SAP Business Warehouse