Microsoft Analytics Platform System vs Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics comparison

Microsoft Analytics Platform System and Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics are both solutions in the Data Warehouse category. Additionally, 66% of Microsoft Analytics Platform System users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Analytics Platfor...

Read 9 Microsoft Analytics Platform System reviews

760 Views
532 Comparison Views

66% willing to recommend

Microsoft Azure Synapse Ana...

Read 98 Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics reviews

4,335 Views
2,774 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Microsoft Analytics Platfor...

Microsoft Azure Synapse Ana...

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Microsoft Analytics Platform System and Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Data Warehouse solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Analytics Platform System vs. Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics Report (Updated: January 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Analytics Platform System vs. Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics

January 2026

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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 Analytics Platfor...

Average Rating

6.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Data Warehouse (19th)

Microsoft Azure Synapse Ana...

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Data Warehouse (6th)

Featured Reviews

MahmoudMohamed1

Senior Data Engineer at Tatweer Educational Technologies Company - TETCO

Offers smooth data integration between systems, but requires better real-time analytics capabilities

We leverage its capabilities for many applications. We can integrate with our databases, like Oracle, MySQL, or any other, using Microsoft Integration Services. This lets us continue using private databases without paying additional licensing fees. Additionally, the license includes Analytics services and Power BI, which work on-premises, unlike most other technologies that require cloud solutions.

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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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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Helps our customers to discover trends, which provides useful information based on their business."

"This solution will connect to any database, you can combine databases, and you can create a cube or tabular model."

"It is closely integrated with other products in the MS portfolio."

"Microsoft Analytics Platform System's most valuable feature is its ecosystems and seamless integration with other Microsoft reporting platforms and databases."

"I like that it's integrated with other Azure products."

"This is a well-integrated solution and that integration empowers results."

"The Cube Solution is quite different when compared to the rest of the competition and has unique functionality for advanced analytics."

"We leverage its capabilities for many applications. We can integrate with our databases, like Oracle, MySQL, or any other, using Microsoft Integration Services."

"What I found most valuable in Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is that it's native only for Azure, so you get better performance and there's no issue. To explain further, many different types of data come, in particular, structured and unstructured data. For audit purposes, there's also unstructured data, so the most important aspect is that with Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics, you have the capability of using both technologies, meaning that you can use or mix structured and unstructured data which is important. This can also be done in Hadoop, and on other platforms, so you have everything in one place. You don't have to worry about how to manage both structured and unstructured data and where to store information. With Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics, you can take care of everything, particularly in Azure. The solution also provides you with many features apart from analytics, for example, storage which makes it better."

"We have found that it is easy to develop and to do the analytics in the modules of data."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is the analytics and that it can connect with Power BI."

"Very interactive and provides flexibility."

"The solution's scalability is very, very good. It's one of the most important aspects for us."

"They are available on the Cloud, and the platform is very intuitive."

"Fills the gap between big data and classic data warehouses."

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

More Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics pros

Cons

"Releases of new products and functionality is never accompanied by associated documentation, training and resources that adequately explain the release."

"I think the biggest problem with the product is that it does a data ingest model, which is very expensive."

"The pricing model needs to be improved."

"Functionality needs to be more up-to-date with competing products."

"Machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities need to be more friendly for beginning users."

"The flexibility of this solution needs to be improved because you cannot make changes at every one of the different steps."

"Microsoft Analytics Platform System could have better support."

"We need better real-time analytics capabilities. It's a bit challenging for us."

More Microsoft Analytics Platform System cons

"There is a limit on the number of concurrent queries to around 125 for Azure Synapse."

"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."

"Its stability is an issue. They have been releasing a version every six months to one year, which means that there are many versions available, and clients are not up to speed on the latest one that they're offering. From a stability point of view, they could do better. They're still upgrading their Synapse Analytics workspace, and it is not that stable. Its scalability can also be better."

"An area for improvement in Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is its user interface. You can use it for analytical purposes, but its platform should be a little bit more user-friendly. Another small point for improvement in Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is its stability. It's good currently, but it could still be improved. Microsoft is combining different tools and technologies into one solution, so in the future, I'm expecting to see even more improvement in Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics. An additional feature I'd like to see in the next version of Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is the drag-and-drop feature. If you're doing some integrations where you can write Scala or you have SPARK programming or SQL, or you're combining different programming, the process should be seamless, and you should be able to drag and drop in Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics. When doing reporting in the solution, you should also be able to drag and drop. There should be connectors available and a drag-and-drop feature available in the user interface of Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics, so you won't have to worry about how all processes would work together. You need to be able to drag and drop even from the backend, and having this feature will make the solution more user-friendly."

"I would like to see better integration with Active Directory, because we have had problems, and we still do."

"Microsoft should develop an interface to make it easier to shift from on-premise to the cloud."

"One potential area for improvement could be the availability of an on-premises data lake implementation, as the product is currently only implemented in a cloud environment."

"There is no reason to use Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics and to pay so much for it, but because of the integration of Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics in the cloud since it's a Microsoft native tool, you can't say the same for Databricks, which is an open-source tool that Microsoft took inside."

More Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate Microsoft Analytics Platform System a seven out of ten for pricing."

"The initial price is lower than Oracle, but extensive use of SQL may lead to a higher total cost of ownership."

"Users have to pay extra for premium-level technical support."

"We are currently paying $200,000 a year for all the different parts of the suite during an ingest model Microsoft now charges us $700,000 a year."

"Our license is very expensive"

"I would rate the ROI a nine out of ten, where one is zero value and ten is 100% value."

"The cost of the licensing depends on the size of the warehouse, where the cost of storage is approximately $130 USD per terabyte."

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

"We normally pay between $300 and $500 per month, which is quite expensive for how much we actually use it, performance- and usage-wise. They have a cheap version and an expensive version, and our usage usually falls in the middle ground, which makes it not as cost-effective as it could be."

"The solution is expensive at the enterprise level."

"I understand that Synapse Analytics' pricing is lower than Informatica's."

"They are cost aggressive, and it integrates well with other Microsoft tools."

More Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Large Enterprise	7

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	29
Midsize Enterprise	18
Large Enterprise	56

Questions from the Community

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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...

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What do you like most about Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics?

The product is easy to use, and anybody can easily migrate to advanced DB.

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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.

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Analytics Platform System

January 2026

Microsoft Analytics Platform System report

Download Microsoft Analytics Platform System product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics

January 2026

Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics report

Download Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics product report

Also Known As

Microsoft APS, MS Analytics Platform System

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

Overview

The Microsoft Analytics Platform System can meet the demands of your evolving data warehouse environment with its scale-out, massively parallel processing integrated system supporting hybrid data warehouse scenarios. It provides the ability to query across relational and non-relational data by leveraging Microsoft PolyBase and industry-leading big data technologies. It offers the lowest price per terabyte for large data warehouse workloads.

Microsoft

Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is an end-to-end analytics solution that successfully combines analytical services to merge big data analytics and enterprise data warehouses into a single unified platform. The solution can run intelligent distributed queries among nodes, and provides the ability to query both relational and non-relational data.

Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is built with these 4 components:

Synapse SQL
Spark
Synapse Pipeline
Studio

Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics Features

Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics has many valuable key features, including:

Cloud Data Service: WIth Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics you can operate services (data analytics, machine learning, data warehousing, dashboarding, etc.) in a single workspace via the cloud.
Structured and unstructured data: Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics supports both structured and unstructured data and allows you to manage relational and non-relational data - unlike data warehouses and lakes that tend to store them respectively.
Effective data storage: Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics offers next-level data storage with high availability and different tiers.
Responsive data engine: Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics uses Massive Parallel Processing (MPP) and is designed to handle large volumes of data and analytical workloads efficiently without any problems.
Several scripting languages: The solution provides language compatibility and supports different programming languages, such as Python, Java, Spark SQL, and Scala.
Query optimization: Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics works well to facilitate limitless concurrency and performance optimization. It also simplifies workload management.

Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics Benefits

Some of the benefits of using Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics include:

Database templates: Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics offers industry-specific database templates that make it easy to combine and shape data.
Better business insights: With Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics you can expand discovery of insights from all your data and apply machine learning models to all your intelligent apps.
Reduce project development time: Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics makes it possible to have a unified experience for developing end-to-end analytics, which reduces project development time significantly.
Eliminate data barriers: By using Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics, you can perform analytics on operational and business apps data without data movement.
Advanced security: Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics provides both advanced security and privacy features to ensure data protection.
Machine Learning: Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics integrates Azure Machine Learning, Azure Cognitive Services, and Power BI.

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics users who are currently using the solution.

PeerSpot user Jael S., who is an Information Architect at Systems Analysis & Design Engineering, comments on her experience using the product, saying that it is “Scalable, intuitive, facilitates compliance and keeps your data secure”. She also says "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."

Michel T., CHTO at Timp-iT, mentions that "the features most valuable are the simplicity, how easy it is to create a dashboard from different information systems."

A Senior Teradata Consultant at a tech services company says, "Microsoft provides both the platform and the data center, so you don't have to look for a cloud vendor. It saves you from having to deal with two vendors for the same task."

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Transport for London, E-Plus Mobilfunk GmbH & Co. KG, Prometeia, Tangerine, SSM Health Care, Service Corporation International

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

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Analytics Platform System vs. Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics

January 2026

Free Report: Microsoft Analytics Platform System vs. Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics

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