Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics Reviews

I am the Associate Director of a company that is a partner of Synapse.

The solution offers strong scalability opportunities.

I would like to see more ready-to-use products from Synapse. Right now, everything seems a bit futuristic without much modern use.

The solution is scalable.

Price is dependent of the use case of the customer. Customers are not likely to only use this as an individual platform/database, they are likely to bundle it with the Azure stack.

Snowflake is a solution that is much more ahead of the game. There are many gaps in Synapse that Snowflake has fulfilled (i.e. usage, and storage).

Be sure to be clear about the ideal pipeline for Synapse, differentiate your needs, and validate based on use-case.

I would rate this solution a six out of ten overall.

We have a huge amount of data, and we need a platform where we can process the data using Spark clusters. We wanted an environment that included databases that are capable of parallel processing, and Azure Synapse was one of the best for that.

This product has given us a lot of processing power with the database, and at the backend as well.

The most valuable feature is the level of processing power, and being able to complete tasks in parallel. This is the feature that attracts us the most because we have a lot of data that we need to process in a short time.

This is a user-friendly environment.

Integration with other products is an area that can be improved.

I have been working with Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics for between five and six months.

Synapse definitely seems like a stable product.

Synapse Analytics is deployed in a cloud environment and one of the best advantages of this is that it provides scalability.

I have not had any experience with Microsoft technical support.

I also have experience with the services available on AWS.

Configuring this solution was easy.

We implemented it with our in-house team. I was part of the team, one of my colleagues was the solution architect, and we have some engineers that assisted us. It was a team effort.

The costs are billed such that we pay for what we use, which is a good thing. For example, we have an environment where we don't need access to certain services, so we don't have to pay for them.

Compared to the services available on AWS, this solution is a little bit pricey.

At this point, Synapse Analytics is fulfilling all of our requirements for the use cases that we have.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

We use Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics for analytics.

If I'm looking for something good in the cloud, I would want it to have better standard connectors.

I have been working with Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics for two years.

We are up-to-date with the latest version.

I have been working with Microsoft, and they have been very helpful.

It's the only product I've used. I'm not sure what's wrong or what could be done better.

I don't know about the price, but I'm trying to get a sense of the cost. I believe having a good comparison would help.

This is the only product I've ever used, as such, it's extremely difficult for me to say anything about it. For example, if I needed a bike, and now I have one and am riding it. If you ask me some questions, it's difficult for me to say, "Oh, I really missed this one on my first bike," unless I've ridden a few bikes. I'm not sure why everything is the way it is. I had a need, and I'm only using it now.

I'm trying to understand what else is out there and how it compares to what is out there.

I am able to use it. If I am able to use it, I would rate Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics an eight out of ten.

It is useful for Azure services. I am using its latest version.

Its seamless integration with Azure services is most valuable. If somebody wants to use all Azure services, it is the best solution.

The ability to integrate with different Azure services from within the Synapse Analytics workspace is also valuable.

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.

I would like to see support for cross-DB queries.

I have been working with this solution for three years.

Its stability is an issue because they're still upgrading the Synapse Analytics workspace.

It is scalable to a certain limit. It is not as scalable as Snowflake, but it is scalable.

There are many available versions of Azure Synapse, such as Azure Synapse SQL Datawarehouse, Azure Synapse Analytics, and Azure Synapse Analytics workspace. You need to be aware of the features that you are looking for and accordingly choose the offering.

I would rate it a five out of 10.

I am using Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics with Snowflake.

The solution has been working well overall.

I have been using Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics for approximately four years.

Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is stable.

I have not needed to contact the support, everything seems to work.

The solution could improve by having better costing information.

I rate Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics a nine out of ten.

My primary use case of this solution is as a data warehouse.

The most valuable feature of this solution is its filling of the gap between big data and classic data warehouses. As a solution, Synapse allows you to do almost everything. 

An area for improvement would be advanced analytics. The product also comes with a pretty steep learning curve, which could be improved. In the next release, I would like an improvement in internal security, which currently doesn't work at all.

I've been working with this solution for about two years.

Initially, the product had some issues with stability, but these seem to have improved with time.

Scalability is one of the main advantages of this solution.

Tech support is ok but more difficult tickets can take a long time to solve.

The setup was complicated because the data must be organized differently from the classic SQL database. There are also different techniques for query performance and managing caches, which makes the process more complicated.

Synapse is a very costly solution, and other products are available for less.

One of the main pros of Synapse is the ability to work with the classic data warehouse and the big data. Another is the ability to use the Spark engine for preparation. Before implementing this product, consider whether it will provide the results you want. If you are already using Microsoft products, Synapse is easy to integrate. I would score this solution as eight out of ten.

Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics can be used for analytics and brings together data integration.

The integrated workspace in Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics where everything comes together, such as Power BI and Data Factory, is very good. Additionally, the ability to do dedicated SQL pooling is a benefit.

Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics can improve querying. I have recently used Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics to connect to the Delta Lake file and I have noticed some issues. It has not been able to read the latest version of the Delta Lake file and I have found this to be a disadvantage that they can improve.

In the future, Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics could improve the performance, there are other solutions that are better, such as Databricks.

I have been using Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics for approximately six months.

On the client's side, there are approximately 100 users of this solution.

Have I reached out to Microsoft technical support in a few instances and we have raised a couple of tickets. A couple of agents have been knowledgeable, but not everyone is.

The installation of Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics was easy. It was not complicated, but I have not explored the VNet Injection or the Private Endpoint though I think it would be straightforward.

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

We have done some comparisons between Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics in many areas, such as processing queries, versus Databricks. We have found Databricks to be better in performance.

I would recommend this solution to others. The client that I am working for, their preferred database is Synapse.

I rate Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics a seven out of ten.

The solution is generally used as more of an Analytical Data Warehouse. It's more of an offline enterprise scale. Sometimes I've used it from a marketing perspective, as a marketing data platform. I've not really used it from a risk and the enterprise center as it tends to be more back office, and therefore less around the customer, and more around the finance procurement of HR risk and that type of thing.

The solution is scalable.

It's better than a similar solution offered by Amazon.

Technical support is okay in terms of the help they provide.

The product could be easier to use. For example, I find Snowflake more user-friendly. They should offer simpler operations.

The initial setup could be faster.

Technical support can get expensive as they charge per use. The product could do more around crowdsourcing to help users find answers or answer questions without having to resort to contacting technical support directly.

The product could be more feature-rich.

They should look at some of what AWS and Snowflake are doing. They've both got a feature stack and also push the integration of things. This is a little bit lacking with Azure.

The analytics side of the solution is pretty weak right now. 

I have used this solution for a while. I used it before it was even called Synapse - when it was just Azure SQL Data Warehouse. It's been three or four years.

Technical support is okay, however, it can get expensive. The more you use it, the more it costs. I do not like this particular model.

I also have experience using Snowflake. I use both products. I originally started using Snowflake in 2017.

The solution takes longer to set up than I would like. There are a lot of questions that need to be addressed with the customer, and this can draw out the process. 

You do have to pay more the more you use technical support.

Clients have had a free year and then a monthly cost that they need to pay for licensing and access.

I don't use it personally, as I'm a consultant. However, if I implement it for clients, I do use it.

I'd rate the solution at a seven out of ten. There's still some work that needs to be done on the product that can make it a lot better.

I would recommend the solution to a company if they were a Microsoft shop. In that case, it's the obvious thing for them to do and it's a good choice.

We have implemented our data warehouse on Synapse.

The solution has been reliable so far.

The product is scalable, or, at least, that is my understanding. 

We've had a good experience with technical support in general. They are helpful. 

The solution has proven to be very user-friendly.

Right now, we are really struggling with the performance. it's not as good as we had hoped. 

I cannot recall coming across any missing features. 

One problem is that getting the query cost is not easy. I need to use multiple tools. It can be accessed through the web, or we have Azure Data Studio, or SSMS, and I only get the query cost in SSMS, the SQL Server Management Studio. In other tools, I'm not getting it. For example, in the web version or in Azure Data Studio, it is not available. They need to make it accessible in both of those places as well. 

I haven't used the solution for very long. 

The performance on offer is lackluster. We were hoping for better. 

That said, it is reliable, and if I get the required performance, I am happy with it. 

While I haven't really tested the scalability, it is my impression that the solution can scale and it shouldn't be an issue for any company to do so.

Technical support is good. They are helping us in improving the performance. We're quite satisfied with the level of service they are offing us. They are helpful and responsive. 

I did not handle the initial setup. That was handled by another party. Therefore, I don't have any insights into the process or how easy or difficult it was to implement. 

I don't have any insights into the licensing process. It is implemented on our client's side, and therefore, I'm not involved in that.

We're just customers and end-users. My company does not have any relationship. It's our client who has a relationship with Microsoft.

I'm not sure which version we are using, however, I would guess it is the latest version. I'm not 100% sure.

Since the solution is still new to me, and I am having issues with performance, it's too early to say if I would recommend the solution to other users or companies. 

I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten.

The healthcare sector is looking for how to accomplish certain processes because currently a lot of it is pure logistics. The goal is to announce and to make processes more transparent and see if they can be made more efficient. This is where business analytics comes in. The organization is using different kinds of information sources, such as electronic client dossiers or HR systems. They will see what kind of knowledge is required, how the patient or the clients are experiencing what quality of health, and create dashboards to see how the organization is doing. This will show which areas they can improve and which areas are already more efficient to make them more visible. This should allow a better understanding from the management, organization, and healthcare professional.

The features most valuable are the simplicity, how easy it is to create a dashboard from different information systems. We are trying to get these organizations to work with the architecture. This should allow these organizations if there is a new product or a new piece of software that is introduced to be able to handle operations themselves. For example, being able to attach the new product to a Power Bl, create a connector, or create interactive information exchange between these two or more different information systems. Standardization and simplicity, are key features.

The solution can integrate well if there is a connector. It will integrate perfectly with the Office 365 suite and Workspace 365.

Indicating what areas need improvement in this solution is a difficult question because the organizations that I am working for are really new in this area. However, an even better more simple interface, or perhaps an extension of a connector app store solution, would be helpful. For example, if your organization, has an electronic client dossier and you want to connect that information system in real-time towards Power BI, you just go to the app store and see if there is an ONS connector, introduce it, set it up, and go from there.

In an upcoming release, it would be beneficial to have the ability to have dashboards on mobile devices to receive a better experience for the user.

I have been using the solution for approximately five years.

This solution is reliable. You have to be aware that you are solely depending on an internet connection. The stability is more about the resilience and reliability of the stability of the network rather than the solution itself.

We have not tried to expand the solution into a very large extension because it is a rather small organization that I am working for. The Azure platform where Power BI is running on is expandable to whatever you like.

We have many organizations using this solution. The care organization I am working for has three customers using it. I am also working as an associate with another company and they have multiple organizations that are working with these solutions. My estimate would be approximately 15 organizations that are working with this solution.

We have plans to increase usage, but these organizations are all at the starting point. This is a strategic solution to improve their processes and business continuity. It is a conservative environment, every change is really hard. It is really stressful to get changes done and it will take some time. This solution changes the way in which work is done, it will take up to three to four years to be widely adopted.

If I ever have to do call Microsoft support, they are really supportive. For instance, on the Office 365 suite, I had an issue and I received a call back the next day by somebody in the United States. They walked me through the issue and they resolved it within a few hours. They have service-level agreements to attend to and there is good monitoring to see what the status is, the support was really good.

In the initial setup, to make it really easy I have, for instance, just a plain Excel sheet retrieving information in and one information system which brings in live data giving you a good starting point. It is not a really hard setup, to do it is quite straightforward. In the Netherlands, there are some major players concerning electronic client dossiers and electronic patient dossiers. Once you go through the complexity once you can then re-use it for a different customer.

The deployment just takes approximately two hours. It is the testing and the acceptance, and what to get out of the product, that is going to take a longer period of time. This could take up to a couple of weeks to a couple of months.

The type of license depends on what you want. This is a perpetual and monthly license, similar to Office 365.

My company pays for the license and  I am not sure about the price. Sometimes my company wants to have a micro business case study to see if it is an actual benefit for us to purchase. It is a strategic solution and we have to make sure that the organization understands this is going to save them money in the long run.

My advice to those wanting to implement this solution would be to "Think big and act small." See what is up ahead. One of the organizations that I am working for, the big picture is population health management. We are not going to start with that, we are going to start to improve one small process, which is a cumbersome process that is been difficult for many years. That is the process that we are going to make transparent towards the organization, to see where the bottlenecks could be or are, and improve that process. 

We want the user experience to improve and that the amount of time you can save is monitored, which can be used for other care processes. Start with a cumbersome problem, resolve them first. You can actually tell within the organization, if the solution is already working, not on the larger scale, but on the small scale. Once you start seeing these results move on to the next problem.

The solution is secure. However, the organization has to be aware that if you use the security by default, the security is there. It has security by design. It is not the optimal security, I would always recommend that organizations use multi-factor authentication for an additional security layer. Additionally, if possible, have a next-generation firewall within their network in use or, if not, start implementing that if they are planning to move forward into an outsource Azure platform-based eco landscape.

I rate Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics an eight out of ten.