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Microsoft Analytics Platform System vs Snowflake Analytics comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
9
Ranking in other categories
Data Warehouse (20th)
Snowflake Analytics
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
43
Ranking in other categories
Web Analytics (2nd), Cloud Data Warehouse (12th)
 

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.
Garima Goel - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Principal Engineer at Nagarro
Have created secure cloud-based data lakes and improved real-time data processing using integrated AI features
There are many capabilities which Snowflake Analytics offers that I find valuable, such as the storage and compute engine that allows working with any cloud system such as AWS or Azure, alongside its efficiencies in storage computation and cost-effectiveness, which saves money compared to on-premise systems. We also have features such as pre-cached results, Time Travel, and fail-safe, which are very useful for restoring data if deleted accidentally, and the streams and data pipes that facilitate real-time ingestion are great features as well. Snowflake Analytics offers multiple new connectors, allowing me to connect it with Kafka, and with Snowpark, I can work with any programming language such as Python, Java, or Scala for data processing and analysis. The data sharing feature offered by Snowflake Analytics is good because it allows sharing specific sets of data to end customers or users from different Snowflake Analytics accounts without exposing the entire dataset for data security reasons. Snowflake Analytics' support for machine learning models and real-time insights has enhanced significantly. Originally, it wasn't strong in AI/ML, but now it has multiple models and forecasting capabilities, providing good competition to tools such as Databricks and Spark. In BI, I have worked majorly with Microsoft Power BI, and the integration with Snowflake Analytics is very easy. The way we integrate Snowflake Analytics with other on-premise systems just requires the warehouse details, username, passwords, and the account name, along with multiple options such as client ID and credentials for logging in and creating a session. The end-to-end encryption provided by Snowflake Analytics is very important because, in my previous firm, working in finance and investment management, data encryption is necessary due to the sensitive nature of customer data and the involvement of people's money. It's crucial to have encryption in transit and at rest, along with data masking features which Snowflake Analytics offers.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"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 help customers in many ways from customized analysis for detection of anomalies in tax, operations, customer relationship, and marketing campaigns, and we also use mining and ML to help them discover trends, which provides useful information based on their business."
"The result is a highly flexible, affordable, and scalable platform that makes large-scale Hub and Spoke EDW architectures a practical reality."
"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."
"By combining both Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse (PDW) and unstructured Hadoop analytical capabilities in a single, easy-to-manage EDW appliance, Microsoft APS is well positioned to help organizations use information to enhance their competitive position."
"The solution auto-scales and provides concurrency, you can have different virtual warehouses without them impacting each other, and it's flexible and infinitely scalable because it's on the cloud."
"Snowflake Analytics' predictive analytics elements, which incorporate AI, are good and easy to integrate."
"Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"It ensures the optimization of the application development while maintaining the user-friendly nature of its UI."
"The solution is completely managed and that's fantastic."
"One of the distinctive features of Snowflake is its ability to handle large datasets efficiently."
"Deployment is straightforward as it's a SaaS product. No maintenance required."
"The most valuable feature of Snowflake Analytics is its performance."
 

Cons

"We need better real-time analytics capabilities. It's a bit challenging for us."
"Hybrid environments are complex to manage."
"On a scale from one to ten where one is the worst and ten is the best, I would rate this product overall as a five. This is probably because there is still a lot of room for improvement, features that other products have that are missing, and a lot of open-source technology nowadays that are very good and people can use instead."
"The pricing model needs to be improved."
"Microsoft Analytics Platform System could have better support."
"However, centralized EDW tends to be extremely expensive and very inflexible."
"Machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities need to be more friendly for beginning users."
"The trouble is Microsoft has changed their licensing. It's an extremely expensive product now."
"The tool should support EIM use cases. I guess the product is already working on it. I look forward to seeing inbuilt AI generative tools in the solution's future releases. The tool's price can be a little lower. The solution's on-premises support is also very limited. We have to rely on other support services to deploy it on-premises."
"AIML-based SQL prompt and query generation could be an area for enhancement."
"The UI could be more user-friendly."
"We haven't seen any areas that are lacking."
"In my opinion, Snowflake Analytics can be improved by introducing more features, such as additional integration options."
"We haven't witnessed any ROI, however, it's not really a goal of the solution."
"Machine learning in Snowflake isn't as advanced as in other products. I haven't heard of any successful industry-wide use cases of machine learning implemented in Snowflake. It might take a couple of years to reach the same level as Databricks."
"The solution's high price can be an area of concern that needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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."
"The product's pricing is subjective."
"I rate the product price a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price, and ten is high price."
"The solution's price is high and I would rate it an eight out of ten."
"The tool is quite expensive."
"It's not costly if you configure it properly to ensure optimal performance. People don't configure it properly, which is why costs go up."
"Snowflake Analytics is not an expensive solution, and its pricing is average."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price, I rate the pricing a seven. The solution's pricing is high."
"The pricing is on the higher side."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
8%
Marketing Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise21
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Snowflake Analytics?
Snowflake Analytics is quite economical. It does not appear to incur significant extra expenses beyond the solution's initial cost. However, a complete pricing analysis is still in progress.
What needs improvement with Snowflake Analytics?
In my opinion, Snowflake Analytics can be improved by introducing more features, such as additional integration options. I remember using Snowflake Pro, which allows exporting direct data into the ...
 

Also Known As

Microsoft APS, MS Analytics Platform System
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Transport for London, E-Plus Mobilfunk GmbH & Co. KG, Prometeia, Tangerine, SSM Health Care, Service Corporation International
Lionsgate, Adobe, Sony, Capital One, Akamai, Deliveroo, Snagajob, Logitech, University of Notre Dame, Runkeeper
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Analytics Platform System vs. Snowflake Analytics and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.