

Alation Data Catalog and Microsoft Purview Data Governance both compete in the data governance category, with distinct strengths. Alation's platform agnostic search capabilities and user-friendly design give it an edge in environments requiring seamless data use. Purview excels in data protection, compliance with global regulations, and integrating within Microsoft ecosystems, which appeals to organizations needing robust compliance features.
Features: Alation Data Catalog provides strong search and discovery capabilities, focusing on being adaptable to user requirements with active data governance. It supports platform agnosticism and is user-friendly, which enhances collaboration and data utilization. Microsoft Purview boasts robust data protection across multi-cloud environments, emphasizing compliance with global regulations. It integrates well within Microsoft systems and is well-regarded for its AI features and data loss prevention capabilities.
Room for Improvement: Alation requires improvements in end-to-end data lineage, BI tool integration, and better visualization for business users. Enhancements are also needed in governance functionalities and search efficacy. Microsoft Purview could expand integration with non-Microsoft platforms and improve connectivity with iOS, Mac, and other SaaS applications. Additionally, clearer documentation on licensing and compliance is needed, as well as enhancements in data lineage and automation for non-Microsoft systems.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Alation Data Catalog is praised for its adaptability across hybrid, private, and public clouds with proactive customer support, though facing some lineage support challenges. Microsoft Purview mainly operates on public and hybrid clouds, focusing on Azure integration, and provides good technical support but needs to improve response times and support process clarity.
Pricing and ROI: Alation's pricing is seen as high but offers significant ROI through time savings and repository consolidation, with various models aiming for a three-year contract. Microsoft Purview's pay-per-use model is reasonably priced for various organization sizes but could be costly for storage needs. ROI is evident in reduced discovery time and consistent data governance, with a potentially complex pricing structure that could be simplified.
We have seen a return on investment, having saved close to 10.5% of our costs, with expected ROI growing yearly by about 17%.
Instead of going into Google or consulting a colleague, I can just go to Alation Data Catalog, search there, and understand everything by myself.
Clients benefit from using a one-stop-shop solution, increasing their visibility across different platforms.
Some of them have dragged on for six months, which is much longer than we would ever want some support issues to go on.
we have defined several SLAs that have resolved critical issues and incidents with excellent support.
we have been able to contact them, and they have been able to help us whenever we have had issues
Overall, it doesn't meet our expectations.
They're skillful people who know what they're doing in their space.
I have a dedicated team as a government agency, and Microsoft assists us promptly.
As data sizes grow, we can also scale categorizations, calibrations, and the types of data we ingest and catalog through this tool.
Alation Data Catalog's scalability is really good since everything is cloud and everything gets pulled into the system via Snowflake and DBT automatically.
Alation Data Catalog's scalability has met our needs as our data and user base has grown.
With automation, you can label five documents or 50,000 with the same amount of clicks.
It allows for one-to-one connections with different types of servers, either cloud-based like AWS, or physical servers.
The product is scalable and works across multi-cloud and multi-platform environments.
It has never gone down when we wanted to access it.
Alation Data Catalog has been stable for me, as I haven't seen much downtime.
From my experience, Alation Data Catalog is stable.
It can take seven days to 24 hours to determine whether a policy is effective.
Microsoft Purview Data Governance is absolutely fine in terms of stability.
The platform needs improvement in integrating with BI tools, reducing manual efforts, and facilitating a smooth connection.
Additionally, bringing in AI capabilities to automate tracking and labeling can optimize how we handle data information levels.
Alation Data Catalog can be improved by enhancing their lineage capabilities to make it easier for us as users to search the lineage without having to use the Alation Data Catalog user interface.
It's essential to know if a feature isn't working due to missing licenses.
There are some problems with DLP rules, and it would be great if the security around DLP could be expanded.
A watermark feature or similar tools to help enhance security for end users could be added.
Collibra is a little bit expensive than Alation, but I presented the benefits of having that platform, so that little bit of money was not a big deal.
Discussions with the vendor partners provided a detailed breakdown of costs and how they can be reduced over time.
The feature might be available in the console, but it won't work without the proper license, creating confusion.
Microsoft Purview Data Governance is quite affordable compared to other market solutions, which have high initial costs.
I'm not exactly sure how much our license costs, but it is very expensive.
It was the only data catalog tool where I could save and even create SQL queries.
Importantly, we establish a single source of truth, centralizing metadata and standardizing definitions, which minimizes confusion and helps with consistent data use across the organization.
My stakeholders can find relevant data assets quickly using a Google search without needing technical jargon, reducing the time spent searching for data.
It provides a comprehensive view of the entire ecosystem's threats and compliance in real time.
The sensitivity labeling is the most valuable feature because it is the foundation for automating the encryption process and ensuring proper data handling across the organization.
Microsoft Purview Data Governance has helped my company by finding insider risks, ensuring data loss prevention, and achieving compliance to make sure everybody is compliant.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Purview Data Governance | 12.1% |
| Alation Data Catalog | 4.0% |
| Other | 83.9% |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 4 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 2 |
| Large Enterprise | 15 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 20 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 13 |
| Large Enterprise | 31 |
Alation pioneered the data catalog market and is now leading its evolution into a platform for a broad range of data intelligence solutions including data search & discovery, data governance, lineage, stewardship, analytics, and digital transformation.
Thanks to its powerful Behavioral Analysis Engine, inbuilt collaboration capabilities, and open interfaces, Alation combines machine learning with human insight to successfully tackle even the most demanding challenges in data and metadata management. With Alation, analysts are empowered to search, query and collaborate on their data to achieve faster, more accurate insights.
Trusted by 400+ enterprises worldwide like Salesforce, Nasdaq, LinkedIn, Finnair, and Cisco.
The new Microsoft Purview portal offers an enhanced governance experience, serving as a unified platform for managing and governing data across various sources, including Azure, Microsoft 365, on-premises, and multicloud environments. Designed to streamline governance, compliance, risk, and security efforts, the new portal provides a user-friendly interface and unlocks advanced features like live view and preset scans. Existing users of Microsoft Purview can upgrade to this enhanced experience, gaining access to improved user interface, enhanced capabilities, and consolidated management of data assets. Additionally, the upgrade sets the stage for future developments, including account consolidation and fine-grained access control.
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