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Senior Software Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Stable with good technical support and great BI tools
Pros and Cons
  • "Tools like the BI and SAS are excellent."
  • "We find the cost of the solution to be a little high."

What is our primary use case?

We are primarily using the solution to convert to different dashboards and to collect all of the metrics and data.

What is most valuable?

Most features on the SQL Server are quite useful to us. Its temporary functionality and the partitioning, searching, etc., are great.

Tools like the BI and SAS are excellent.

What needs improvement?

I'd like to connect something like ES that I can use on objects on our SQL Server. 

We'd like to be able to understand how to export data to something like Semantic Technologies or like Graph DB. Some sort of easy export functionality would be a useful addition to the product.

The solution should offer better integration capabilities with other tools and languages.

For different deployment, companies may use different scripts. Sometimes we use SQL server data tools, however, sometimes we don't and it's not fast enough. There could be a bit of improvement in that regard.

We find the cost of the solution to be a little high.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been dealing with the solution for around ten years. It's been a decade.

Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse
May 2025
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. We have been using it for ten years and it hasn't given us any issues. I can't recall if there are bugs or glitches. The solution doesn't crash on us, or freeze. It's pretty reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We've never had issues scaling if we needed to. If a company needs to scale, they can do so rather easily using this product.

How are customer service and support?

We've reached out to technical support in the past and we've been very satisfied with their level of service. They are knowledgeable and responsive.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is a bit expensive.

What other advice do I have?

We're just a customer. We don't have a business relationship with the product.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten overall. It's never given us issues in terms of scaling or stability. Technical support is quite good. It offers some great features.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
it_user1352403 - PeerSpot reviewer
System Administrator at a university with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Less expensive than other high-end solutions this can be a powerhouse for small low-budget companies
Pros and Cons
  • "It is not a pricey product compared to other data warehouse solutions."
  • "It could be made more user-friendly for business users which would increase the user base."
  • "They need to incorporate a machine learning engine."

What is our primary use case?

In the past, our use case for the product was just to collect data from different data sources. Now, we are trying to build websites and the business intelligence layer above the SQL Data Warehouse.  

What is most valuable?

In our economic situation, the price is really the most important consideration. It is not a pricey product compared to other data warehouse solutions like Oracle and similar products. It is less expensive, but it still achieves our goals and fulfills all our needs. So I think it is a comfortable solution for us and we can afford the price.  

What needs improvement?

I think that building better data protection and a business intelligence layer over the SQL would be great and improve the product. If they could make it more like what Oracle in that way it would be good. We have to take the time and resources to build our own business intelligence when other products already incorporate such solutions.  

If they could make it more user-friendly for business users it would be a more desirable product. Add a business intelligence layer that is user friendly and the user-base can grow.  

I think they should also add a machine learning engine. This is one of the most important features of newer technologies that they currently do not have.  

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using the solution for more than four years.  

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Data Warehouse does not have any issues related to the product itself when it comes to stability. Maybe there is more likely to be another issue in the network or conflicts and things of that nature that can cause instability. But the product itself is stable.  

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I think that theoretically, it is both possible and not that hard to scale. But I am also sure that the cloud would be easier to work with for the sake of scalability if scalability is the goal.  

We have a dedicated team to work with the data warehouse which has between four to six members. The data warehouse is one of our main software solutions that we use on a daily basis. We need it for the tech that we use which focuses entirely on SQL Server.  

We are looking to scale the usage by building a business intelligence layer over the data warehouse. The tech team is searching for how to implement that with the Microsoft SQL Server technologies. I think we are going to achieve this and expand the setup. So it is scalable in various ways.  

How are customer service and technical support?

We have not had to ask for any external help from technical support. Usually, the internal team we have is skilled enough to solve all the problems that we may encounter.  

How was the initial setup?

I think the initial setup was easy. I think you have to count the time that it would take to deploy in days rather than weeks.

The dedicated team where I work built the setup and we deployed this product by ourselves within your company.  

What about the implementation team?

We did not need a consultant or an integrator to help with the installation. The internal team that we have works to maintain the product, but they have other responsibilities as well. Sometimes, there will be two or three persons taking the responsibility of maintaining and working with the product on other levels. During the deployment, the entire team did the deployment. But right now, at most, there is only a two or three-person team that works with it consistently.  

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We do not have any external support contracts. All the features that we use do not require any additional subscription or yearly fees. We just only use features that we pay for on a one-time basis.  

What other advice do I have?

For a small-sized company like ours, I really recommend this product. It can handle a big workload. I would say other products could not be better than Microsoft for small businesses with a lesser budget.  

On a scale from one to ten where one is the worst and ten is the best. I would rate Microsoft SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse as a seven-out-of-ten.  

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse
May 2025
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
EDRMS Practice Lead at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Collects data through SSIS packages from different sources and puts them all in one data repository
Pros and Cons
  • "Collecting the data through SSIS packages from different sources and putting them all in one data repository is the most powerful thing. While others have this feature, they don't have the simplicity or ease of use when getting a resource and knowing everything about it."
  • "I would like the tool to support different operating systems."

What is our primary use case?

We provide this solution as a service to customers. Sometimes, it is just used as a data warehouse. However, a couple of our customers use the data warehouse to collect information from everywhere, e.g., from their subsidiaries, such as electric or petrol companies.

We are also developing some dashboards using the data warehouse. Sometimes, you are using Microsoft BI, but most of the time, you are using Qlik. It depends on the customer needs at the end of the day. 

Most of our limitations until this moment have been on-premise. There is some sensitive information, like the billing system for an entire country's electricity. However, because of the current circumstances with COVID-19, we are discussing with them how to move it to the cloud. Mostly because of the regulation that any government data cannot be hosted on a cloud, we need to host it on a local cloud at the moment. We cannot use AWS or similar things as of now. 

While we do have local cloud vendors that we are working with, this is something in progress.

What is most valuable?

  • Availability of resources everywhere
  • The cost of resources
  • The information knowledge is there.
  • It is easy to use. You can do what you want with the tool.
  • It integrates well with SQL Server.

Collecting the data through SSIS packages from different sources and putting them all in one data repository is the most powerful thing. While others have this feature, they don't have the simplicity or ease of use when getting a resource and knowing everything about it. You can collect data from Oracle Databases, SQL databases, or file systems where it is then saved in one location, building cubes in an easy for SSIS packages. 

What needs improvement?

The setup has room for improvement. Some customers want to go to non-Windows Servers. Have the entire SQL Server done there though is an obstacle for us, as the configuration of Microsoft BI with cubes is a bit complicated.

I would like the integration to be offered in a simpler way. I would like improvement in the integration between Microsoft SQL cubes and Parallel Data Warehouse with other members of the Microsoft family, such as Microsoft Power BI and SharePoint.

This tool needs a lot of memory for processing. As it does a lot of jobs, it may need this memory while other tools don't need that much. It would help if they enhanced the memory and hardware usage of the tool in order to support the performance of doing the queries

I would like the tool to support different operating systems.

I want a dashboard.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using it for five to six years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable. We have migrated millions to billions of data points in Cubes from system to system, while running data cleansing conditions. Putting restraints on this can be time consuming which is why people may want to go to another server. When you inject equation and conditions, then it consumes a lot of time. Though, I have never compared this time consumption to other tools.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I have no concern about the scalability. We have never faced any problems regarding the scalability. If we wanted to extend this, it is extendable.

How are customer service and technical support?

The online help is good enough along with our technical expertise. 

How was the initial setup?

If everything is available, such as information knowledge sources and connections, I can have the solution deployed in five days.

What about the implementation team?

I recommend getting assistance from an integrator or consultant with the integration.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

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. 

We actually do not know that much about the price of Microsoft tools. Even if I ask for the price, I'm asking it as a partner.

What other advice do I have?

We have had a good experience working with this tool.

If you don't have a problem with memory and have good processors, then you won't have an issue. However, depending on your needs, you may want to go check out other tools.

I would rate the tool as an eight out of 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.
PeerSpot user
Software Engineer at Tech Mahindra Limited
Real User
Easy to set up and deploy, but it can be difficult to clean large amounts of data
Pros and Cons
  • "We are able to monitor daily jobs, so if there is anything that needs to be done then we can do it."
  • "If the database is large with a lot of columns then it is difficult to clean the data."

What is our primary use case?

This is a solution that we implement for our clients. We provide end-to-end development, maintenance, enhancement, testing, and support. Everything is done by us.

How has it helped my organization?

We are able to monitor daily jobs, so if there is anything that needs to be done then we can do it. If there are discussions with our clients about changes that need to be made then it is us who implements them.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is that we can deploy directly to the production environment, rather than having to go through a development environment first.

What needs improvement?

If the database is large with a lot of columns then it is difficult to clean the data.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have not had problems with scalability.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not difficult. It is easy and we are fine with that.

What about the implementation team?

We deploy this solution for our clients.

What other advice do I have?

I am not comfortable with the Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse at the moment.

I would rate this solution a six out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Senior Principal Consultant at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Consultant
A good interface and BI functionality, but scalability is an area that needs improvement
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the business intelligence (BI) part of it."
  • "This solution would be improved with an option for in-memory data analysis."

What is our primary use case?

I am a consultant and I assist in implementing this solution for our clients.

The projects that we are working on right now are related to finance, banking, and government.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the business intelligence (BI) part of it. BI includes decision trees and similar functionality. This happens post-building of the data warehouse when you start using the analysis features.

The user interface is definitely good.

What needs improvement?

This solution would be improved with an option for in-memory data analysis.

Scalability can be improved because there are other tools that perform better with very large datasets.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been working with Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse for more than five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable solution and we haven't had any issues. Even if we encounter issues, there is a lot of help available. If issues are identified then we will have a quick turnaround time for fixing them.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There are some tools that are more scalable than this one, and the performance is better as well. This is an area that could use improvement, especially if you have a huge set of data.

We have about 50 analysts and another 30 or 40 regular users who work with this solution every day.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have been in contact with technical support in India and we are satisfied with them.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We are using Pentaho Data Warehouse in addition to this solution. We select which one is implemented depending on the customer's request and what they want to do.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. There is a lot of help available to assist with each step, so it's pretty easy.

The deployment took longer than expected because of continuous improvement and upgrades that were needed for the projects. Once we started and got a handle on how this solution could benefit our projects, we had to incorporate those new ideas. In total, it took between one and a half and two years to deploy.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented this solution with our in-house team.

What other advice do I have?

This is a solution that has good performance and I recommend it. The support from Microsoft is also another thing that makes the Parallel Data Warehouse a good option.

The biggest lesson that we have learned from using this solution is that customers are most interested in a quick project turnaround time, which is something that Parallel Data Warehouse provides.

This is a good solution but there is always room for improvement.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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Vice President at a tech consulting company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Very scalable, good stability, and a straightforward initial setup
Pros and Cons
  • "The data transmissions between the data models is the most valuable feature."

    What is our primary use case?

    We primarily use the solution to build up our server analytics.

    What is most valuable?

    The data transmissions between the data models is the most valuable feature.

    The database is enormous, so much so that we haven't exploited it completely.

    What needs improvement?

    I don't have any recommendations for new features at this time.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been using the solution for about one year.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The stability of the solution is good. We haven't had any issues with it.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The solution is very scalable.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    My understanding is that the team's experience with technical support has been good.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We didn't previously use a different solution. Our customers chose this solution.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was straightforward. We had a knowledgeable team working on the implementation. Deployment took about six to eight weeks.

    What other advice do I have?

    We use the on-premises deployment model.

    I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    reviewer1038354 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Team Lead at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Good reporting functionality for historical and real-time data, but the initial setup is complex
    Pros and Cons
    • "The most valuable feature of this solution is performance."
    • "The reporting for certain types of data needs to be improved."

    What is our primary use case?

    I am using the Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse for working with information services and datasets, creating reports. It is used primarily for our historical data, but we do some in real-time also. We can receive data weekly, nightly, or even hourly.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable feature of this solution is performance. It reduces the time it takes to process data.

    What needs improvement?

    The initial setup of this solution is complex and can be improved.

    Sometimes you need to re-run the reports because they don't work.

    The reporting for certain types of data needs to be improved.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been working with these kinds of services for the past five to ten years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The stability depends on your data and whether it is null. If the data is set up properly then it will be more stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It is definitely scalable. We have more than 220 users in multiple cities. Most of the people, perhaps 70%, are information technology users. The remaining 30% are business analysts who are concerned only with reports.

    We do plan on increasing our usage. We recently converted all of our Tableau data, and now we are working on permissions and security.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    The technical support from Microsoft is good.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is definitely complex.

    We are not always aware of where the data comes from because it is distributed. Sometimes the data is fine and sometimes it needs to be set up. Once it is configured then it runs fine in parallel.

    The length of time for deployment depends on the size of the data and whether we were also implementing a data warehouse or a data mart. When I was implementing this solution and copying data, it took between six and eight months. That is end-to-end with everything finished.

    If it is a small data mart then it may only take a month.

    What about the implementation team?

    Our in-house team, including our DBA, handled the deployment.

    What other advice do I have?

    My advice for anybody who is implementing Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse is to be aware of how big the data is. You have to be sure of how to secure and take care of the data. You have to think about scalability.

    I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    BI Developer at a healthcare company with 51-200 employees
    Real User
    Easy to import data from various formats and retrieve it when required
    Pros and Cons
    • "One of the most important features is the ease of using MS SQL."
    • "I think that the error messages need to be made more specific."

    What is our primary use case?

    I have mostly worked with analytics, so I normally use SQL to put in data for analysis. I have worked on building dashboards as well.

    What is most valuable?

    One of the most important features is the ease of using MS SQL. It has been easy to do exactly what I wanted. For example, it was very easy to pull the data from, and it is also very easy to import data from CSV or Excel. If I needed a specific set of data from the master then it was easy to get it.

    What needs improvement?

    I think that the error messages need to be made more specific. Recently, I was working with a large amount of data, and I received a runtime error. I had to solve it by running the query several times, removing data each time. If the error messages were less ambiguous then it would have helped.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using this solution for about one year.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The stability is good.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The scalability is really good. I know that we don't have to worry about scalability because one time at my former company, we almost doubled our size. In fact, the number of staff doubled and we were able to migrate very easily. The additional data was very easy to accommodate.

    In my previous company, my team had 35 users. At one point, during our migration, we had about 50 users who were working extensively with the solution.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    Funnily enough, neither myself nor anybody in my team has had to contact technical support. Whenever we have had a problem, we have always found a solution on Google or in a YouTube video. When we get stuck and search with Google, we usually find ten similar problems where people have commented on how to fix them.

    How was the initial setup?

    I was not part of the initial setup, although I assisted with linking our ERP systems to SQL and that is pretty straightforward. There was not much complication in terms of linking the data and how it was being stored.

    What other advice do I have?

    My advice for anybody who is implementing this solution is not to overload your server with all of the data that you don't use on a day-to-day basis. It is very easy to pull the data that you need whenever it is required. You will have to decide how to store the data and how easy it is for your client to send new data. Neither of these things should be difficult to do, even for newcomers to SQL. Sometimes, you will have to have a senior person demonstrate something basic, like how to pull data, and then people usually pick it up.

    I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Private Cloud

    If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

    Amazon Web Services (AWS)
    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
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    Download our free Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.