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Microsoft Analytics Platform System vs SAP IQ 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
19th
Average Rating
6.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SAP IQ
Ranking in Data Warehouse
15th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Relational Databases Tools (24th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Data Warehouse category, the mindshare of Microsoft Analytics Platform System is 2.2%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP IQ is 2.4%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Warehouse Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SAP IQ2.4%
Microsoft Analytics Platform System2.2%
Other95.4%
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.
AN
Tech Lead, Database Section. at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Compression performance gets high marks but user-friendly interface needs improvement
The downside of SAP IQ, from what I understood from the management side, is that the front end for the DBA, for the admin, is not that user-friendly. If you compare it with SQL Server Management Studio, it is not that user-friendly GUI for the admin. But the engine is very strong and powerful. It is easy to deploy SAP IQ; the implementation and installation are easy. The downside I see is that it doesn't allow most integrated backups; many of the marketplace players such as NetBackup, those software integrated backups are not available. So, if you want to take a backup, you need to take it locally, and then only you can back it up to any storage or anything. Those features such as integrated backup, which would allow it to stripe into an appliance or something similar, are not present. One thing I notice as a downside is that if the CPU utilization is very high, there is no direct way we can find out which query is taking the most CPU. In any other RDBMS, there are DMVs available to find out which query is taking most of the CPU, but those features are not present in SAP IQ. If our CPU is hitting at 100%, it is not easy to identify which connection is taking the most CPU.

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."
"We leverage its capabilities for many applications. We can integrate with our databases, like Oracle, MySQL, or any other, using Microsoft Integration Services."
"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."
"The Cube Solution is quite different when compared to the rest of the competition and has unique functionality for advanced analytics."
"I like that it's integrated with other Azure products."
"The column-based technologies (basically all the database for ITP) are used for SAP IQ. It is used as a column-based solution."
"The initial setup is easy."
"Columnar storage allows high compression, high load rates and high query performance."
"All data is compressed and indexed, allowing for fast execution of transactions."
"The feature I appreciate the most about SAP IQ is the compression, which is very good; we cannot compare with any other type of EDW."
"IQ is a very high-performance and high-transaction database."
"SAP IQ is actually quite effective when it comes to scalability; we have a setup that's built with multiple servers involved and that seems to be working fairly efficiently, and if we wanted to add more servers into this entire setup, that would be fairly easy."
"Unbeatable speed and compression with a colummn-structured relational database."
 

Cons

"We need better real-time analytics capabilities. It's a bit challenging for us."
"Functionality needs to be more up-to-date with competing products."
"The pricing model needs to be improved."
"Releases of new products and functionality is never accompanied by associated documentation, training and resources that adequately explain the release."
"Microsoft Analytics Platform System could have better support."
"I think the biggest problem with the product is that it does a data ingest model, which is very expensive."
"The flexibility of this solution needs to be improved because you cannot make changes at every one of the different steps."
"Machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities need to be more friendly for beginning users."
"I think the universe should be part of the Sybase IQ tool set."
"In my interaction with SAP IQ's technical support, the people we are talking to don't know this application very thoroughly."
"The downside I see is that it doesn't allow most integrated backups; many of the marketplace players such as NetBackup or Veritas, those software integrated backups are not available."
"The tool gets stuck sometimes."
"The solution works best when combined with other SAP solutions. If the environment has other systems other options might be better."
"The only negative aspect of IQ is the cost, which can be challenging for companies in Peru."
"The room for improvement would be the marketing of the product, because this product is much better than advertised."
"There is very little documentation available."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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."
"It's not that costly. So, the pricing is cheap."
"The cost of implementation is about $3,000."
"Evaluate all options; check to see if you need expensive add-ons."
"The only costs after standard licensing fees are for add-ons and upgrades."
"Negotiate based on the features required."
"Negotiation is very important."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
36%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Outsourcing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise16
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP IQ?
IQ implementation costs about three thousand dollars. It's less expensive compared to alternatives like Teradata Base in terms of transactional efficiency.
What needs improvement with SAP IQ?
When it comes to SAP IQ, the areas that could be improved or enhanced include the error messaging and the locking capabilities, as that's where we often encounter problems. When there is an issue, ...
What is your primary use case for SAP IQ?
Our usual use cases for SAP IQ is that we have a Software-as-a-Service architecture where this database is the foundation for our SAP BusinessObjects platform. This is where it's getting its data f...
 

Also Known As

Microsoft APS, MS Analytics Platform System
Sybase IQ
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Transport for London, E-Plus Mobilfunk GmbH & Co. KG, Prometeia, Tangerine, SSM Health Care, Service Corporation International
ASR Group, Citrix, State of Indiana, PocketCard Co. Ltd.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Analytics Platform System vs. SAP IQ and other solutions. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.