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Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse vs Oracle Database Appliance 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.7
Most are satisfied with ROI, acknowledging its benefits, though improvements are possible, as it efficiently enhances backend operations.
Sentiment score
6.1
Oracle Database Appliance provides strong ROI through efficient deployment, quality support, and long-term value, despite higher initial costs.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse support is responsive and expert, though users sometimes need online resources for faster solutions.
Sentiment score
6.3
Users appreciate Oracle Database Appliance's support for expertise and responsiveness, but report issues with response time and costs.
I would rate my experience with technical support around six on a scale of 1 to 10 because I have not had a particular experience with technical support.
I would rate Oracle support nine or ten out of ten because you can always open a ticket and describe any problems, and the feedback is very quick.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse excels in scalability, integration, and expandability, though improvements are needed for large data sets.
Sentiment score
6.4
Oracle Database Appliance is scalable and well-suited for small to medium setups, but has mixed reviews for larger enterprises.
I give the scalability an eight out of ten, indicating it scales well for our needs.
As a consultant, we hire additional programmers when we need to scale up certain major projects.
All enterprise-grade analytics tools allow rapid scaling, making our business more competitive.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse is praised for its stability, reliability, and quick issue resolution, despite time-consuming extensive dataset processing.
Sentiment score
7.5
Oracle Database Appliance is stable, with minor setup issues, improved reliability in recent versions, and scalability limitations.
Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse is stable for us because it is built on SQL Server.
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse presents complexity, compatibility challenges, performance issues, high costs, and requires improved in-memory analysis and updates.
Oracle Database Appliance needs faster implementation, scalability improvements, unified admin commands, better support, and increased affordability and integration.
Addressing the cost would be the number one area for improvement.
It would be better to release patches less frequently, maybe once a month or once every two months.
The ETL designing process could be optimized for better efficiency.
There is room for improvement in better integration with third-party tools, such as Power BI or Redshift.
For the cloud version, there could be better storage options or more storage for lower prices.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse's pricing varies by needs; Azure integration can be cost-effective, but technical support costs extra.
Enterprise buyers find Oracle Database Appliance costly, but its stability, fast implementation, and included support justify the price.
Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse is very expensive.
Oracle is on the higher end of the pricing spectrum, along with SAP.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse offers performance, integration, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness for large data management and business intelligence.
Oracle Database Appliance ensures easy deployment, scalability, and high performance with seamless Oracle Cloud integration and flexible licensing.
The columnstore index enhances data query performance by using less space and achieving faster performance than general indexing.
The biggest advantage of Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse is the possibility to stop or pause the service because it can be very expensive.
There's a feature that allows users to set alerts on triggers within reports, enabling timely actions on pending applications and effectively reducing waiting time.
Oracle excels in providing actionable insights and flexible access to data.
The automated provisioning feature helps speed up the database deployment process because you can use one command or option to resize all the disks or increase memory, depending on the occasion.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Parallel Data War...
Ranking in Data Warehouse
11th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Oracle Database Appliance
Ranking in Data Warehouse
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
45
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Data Warehouse category, the mindshare of Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse is 1.4%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Database Appliance is 5.3%, down from 5.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Warehouse Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Oracle Database Appliance5.3%
Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse1.4%
Other93.3%
Data Warehouse
 

Featured Reviews

HassanFatemi - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Rubens Oliveira - PeerSpot reviewer
Automated provisioning simplifies deployment and integration
The Oracle Database Appliance is customizable and has excellent features.I don't have any problems with Oracle Database Appliance because this product is very automated, with scheduler and automatic processes throughout. You can make small inferences and changes for creating all the specific modifications. The automated provisioning feature helps speed up the database deployment process because you can use one command or option to resize all the disks or increase memory, depending on the occasion. The Oracle Database Appliance has integration in OCI Cloud. The same services simplify all the manager work regarding backups, configuration, resizing disks, and other services. Deploying the Oracle Database Appliance both on-premises and in the cloud offers the same simplification. You simply input your database name and specify memory quantity, CPU quantity, and database size. The process is identical for both on-premises and cloud deployments. The flexibility of Oracle Database Appliance has helped grow business needs for many customers. Using the Oracle Database Appliance has positively impacted my organization because I can deliver it much more comfortably. Creating a database involves many processes, but with this solution, you just input the name and configure the network and other parameters. It is very similar to RDS in AWS services, where you specify the name, choose the engine, indicate parameter groups, VPC, subnet groups, and proceed. Both Oracle Database Appliance and RDS have greatly simplified the work.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
23%
Insurance Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Performing Arts
6%
Financial Services Firm
24%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise21
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise15
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse?
Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse provides good firewall processing in terms of response time.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse?
The patch releases are a concern. For a customer with tons of servers, frequent patches lead to required reboots, which interrupts business. It would be better to release patches less frequently, m...
What do you like most about Oracle Database Appliance?
Oracle Database Appliance provides high stability.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Database Appliance?
While I'm somewhat familiar with standard licensing, pricing isn't really my area of expertise. However, Oracle is on the higher end of the pricing spectrum, along with SAP.
What needs improvement with Oracle Database Appliance?
For the cloud version, there could be better storage options or more storage for lower prices. However, for on-premises, this is not possible because you have physical disks. In the cloud, more opt...
 

Also Known As

Microsoft PDW, SQL Server Data Warehouse, Microsoft SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse, MS Parallel Data Warehouse
X5-2
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Auckland Transport, Erste Bank Group, Urban Software Institute, NJVC, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Tata Steel Europe
LifeLock, Incarlopsa, Al Yusur Industrial Contracting
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse vs. Oracle Database Appliance and other solutions. Updated: August 2025.
867,676 professionals have used our research since 2012.