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Microsoft Analytics Platform System vs Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Analytics Platfor...
Ranking in Data Warehouse
18th
Average Rating
6.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Parallel Data War...
Ranking in Data Warehouse
9th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Data Warehouse category, the mindshare of Microsoft Analytics Platform System is 2.3%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse is 3.3%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Warehouse Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse3.3%
Microsoft Analytics Platform System2.3%
Other94.4%
Data Warehouse
 

Featured Reviews

MahmoudMohamed1 - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
HassanFatemi - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at Smart Data-Driven Solutions
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This is a well-integrated solution and that integration empowers results."
"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."
"The Cube Solution is quite different when compared to the rest of the competition and has unique functionality for advanced analytics."
"Helps our customers to discover trends, which provides useful information based on their business."
"I think Microsoft Stack offers the end-to-end solution I need."
"We leverage its capabilities for many applications. We can integrate with our databases, like Oracle, MySQL, or any other, using Microsoft Integration Services."
"The most valuable part of the product is that it is a system, with different tools for different services for different kinds of scenarios, making it a very rich, integrated, technology-rich platform whose total integration with the rest of Microsoft products creates flexibility and compatibility and makes the tool a very useful one."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is performance."
"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution."
"Tools like the BI and SAS are excellent."
"This solution helps the higher levels of the organization because they have better visibility of the whole company, which helps with decision making in terms of what should be improved or implemented."
"The solution has been reliable."
"Most features on the SQL Server are quite useful to us."
"The most valuable features are the performance and usability."
"We have ownership of our data, and it keeps everything on-premises, so we have complete control over our data."
 

Cons

"I think the biggest problem with the product is that it does a data ingest model, which is very expensive."
"The trouble is Microsoft has changed their licensing. It's an extremely expensive product now."
"In general, I am not really very satisfied with the tutorials that are out there."
"However, centralized EDW tends to be extremely expensive and very inflexible."
"The pricing model needs to be improved."
"We need better real-time analytics capabilities. It's a bit challenging for us."
"Releases of new products and functionality is never accompanied by associated documentation, training and resources that adequately explain the release."
"​Hybrid environments are complex to manage."
"Some compatibility issues occur during deployment, so we need to build the product from scratch for some features."
"They need to incorporate a machine learning engine."
"The feature updates on the on-premise solution come very slowly, and it would be great if they came faster."
"A major issue is with table statistics. Sometimes the statistics are not refreshed correctly, which causes issues for us."
"I would like to see better visualization features."
"The product must provide more frequent updates."
"More tools to help designers should be included."
"The reporting for certain types of data needs to be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate Microsoft Analytics Platform System a seven out of ten for pricing."
"Users have to pay extra for premium-level technical support."
"The initial price is lower than Oracle, but extensive use of SQL may lead to a higher total cost of ownership."
"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."
"The tool could be expensive if we need to manage a lot of data."
"All the features that we use do not require any additional subscription or yearly fees."
"The solution's pricing is fairly decent for organizations with huge data sizes."
"They offer an annual subscription. The pricing depends on the size of the environments."
"I think the program is well-priced compared to the other offerings that are out in the market."
"Technical support is an additional fee and is expensive."
"The solution is cost-effective."
"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."
report
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Construction Company
24%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise22
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What needs improvement with Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse?
The pricing could be better; I think it actually just went up.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse?
The basic use case for us is virtual machines. In real estate, we use it for our operations. They handle large data sets well, and the performance is good during those times.
 

Also Known As

Microsoft APS, MS Analytics Platform System
Microsoft PDW, SQL Server Data Warehouse, Microsoft SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse, MS Parallel Data Warehouse
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Transport for London, E-Plus Mobilfunk GmbH & Co. KG, Prometeia, Tangerine, SSM Health Care, Service Corporation International
Auckland Transport, Erste Bank Group, Urban Software Institute, NJVC, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Tata Steel Europe
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Analytics Platform System vs. Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.