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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

The most important advantage in using AWS Lake Formation is its ability to connect the data lake to other technologies in AWS, aiding in seamless integration within the ecosystem.
AWS Lake Formation enhances data management and facilitates better collaboration within data teams through valuable features.
It provides visibility into data access, enabling granular control without exposing PII data, thanks to features like LF-Tag and row-level and column-level security.
AWS Lake Formation is instrumental in reducing latency and allowing for real-time visibility in scenarios like patient healthcare monitoring.
The integration with IAM for authentication and authorization is highly effective, aiding in a simple and problem-free setup.

CONS

AWS Lake Formation could improve its capabilities in orchestration, automation, and integration with SageMaker.
There is a need for more granular access control, including cell-level and row-level entitlements.
Professional services and support from AWS are considered very expensive, and pricing details could be more transparent.
The onboarding process is challenging, with configuration problems persisting despite following official documentation, often requiring extended support.
Cross-account sharing presents difficulties, particularly in granting access to other AWS accounts for tables or databases.
 

AWS Lake Formation Pros review quotes

SYED SHAAZ - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 22, 2025
In the shortest form, what I appreciated about AWS Lake Formation was that the schema definition and data cataloging were quite good.
JayShah5 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 22, 2025
The most valuable features of AWS Lake Formation were the access model itself, as it allows implementation of filters, Blueprints, and row-level and column-level security to mask data that shouldn't be accessed by certain entities, enabling granular control without exposing PII data.
reviewer2751900 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 22, 2025
The integration of AWS Lake Formation with the IAM for authentication and authorization is very good; I didn't have any problems in the setup and thought it was simple.
Learn what your peers think about AWS Lake Formation. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2025.
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Ramesh Raghavan - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 10, 2024
AWS Lake Formation works hand in hand with other products.
reviewer2753787 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 29, 2025
The main benefits that I have seen from using AWS Lake Formation are related to FinOps because you have control of your data and can track your costs since AWS Lake Formation is integrated into a unique platform, which is AWS Cloud Service.
GB
Sep 26, 2025
The features and capabilities of AWS Lake Formation that I have found most valuable are that it is really convenient to see all the different data assets that were configured and understand who has and what type of service has or does not have access to those services.
Vishal Dhamke - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 23, 2020
The solution has many features that are applicable to events such as audits.
reviewer1457997 - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 30, 2020
The solution is quite good at handling analytics. It's done a good job at helping us centralize them.
reviewer2751837 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 22, 2025
The LF-Tag system with granular permissions was key to the project as a functionality of AWS Lake Formation.
SC
Aug 28, 2025
We use this to reduce latency from minutes to seconds, as we aim for real-time visibility into patient healthcare monitoring.
 

AWS Lake Formation Cons review quotes

SYED SHAAZ - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 22, 2025
The initial onboarding process is challenging because creating a plan takes a month to a month and a half to build out.
JayShah5 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 22, 2025
Athena can be a bit clunky when writing queries, indicating a potential enhancement point for easier user interaction with query tools such as DataGrip using provided driver JARs.
reviewer2751900 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 22, 2025
I haven't seen any measurable benefits from using AWS Lake Formation, such as time saving, resource saving, or efficiency improvements.
Learn what your peers think about AWS Lake Formation. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Ramesh Raghavan - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 10, 2024
Lake Formation could enhance its capabilities in audit logs, real-time monitoring, and advanced data governance.
reviewer2753787 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 29, 2025
I would appreciate online support, which I don't have access to in my corporation at the bank, so that is important.
GB
Sep 26, 2025
Rather than creating an additional hundred tools, optimizing a tool to have a centralized location to do governance would be beneficial.
Vishal Dhamke - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 23, 2020
The solution could make improvements around orchestration and doing some automation stuff on AWS front automation. It would be useful if we could use automation to build images and use hardened images which are CIS compliant.
reviewer1457997 - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 30, 2020
For the end-users, it's not as user-friendly as it could be.
reviewer2751837 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 22, 2025
Despite following official documentation, configuration problems persisted, requiring weeks of support from multiple AWS engineers to resolve.
SC
Aug 28, 2025
I think AWS Lake Formation could improve by enforcing the least privilege by design, moving from ad hoc grants to role-based access controls.